Two days passed in a flash before Ryan was summoned by the President of the United States. These two days gave him some time to rest, but it also gave the leaders of this country time to process what happened and prepare for the future.
"I have seen all the recordings, Ryan. I must admit, it is highly disturbing." In a secret meeting room, the President said quietly. Disturbing was an understatement. The HD quality of the videos transported every bit of brutality into the meeting rooms. The President himself felt his stomach turn multiple times.
In front of him, Ryan stood tall. Once again, they were the only two people in the discussion.
"Indeed," Ryan answered quietly. "The creatures we encountered in World Alpha were menacing, and we have reasons to believe they are on the bottom of the power pyramid over in that world."
"My advisors came to the same conclusion." The President nodded. As soon as all the information was brought back, they were observed by dozens of government elites. These were generals and officials and professors, the best of Earth. Their task was to develop a plan on what to do with World Alpha.
"The current plan is to deploy more Phasewalkers and additional armaments into World Alpha. The Phasewalker Corps will build a foothold and gradually expand our influence. At this point, the Phasewalker Corps has already been expanded to include 400 units, with 300 combat personnel. Plans are in place to recruit 500 more in two weeks." He paused. "I am assuming you want to know why we are continuing our operation with World Alpha, even after all the casualties."
A lot of people would die from this order. Both people in the room knew it.
"It is not my job to ask why." Ryan was unflinching. "That's not why I'm hired."
In a sense, he hated responsibilities. Responsibilities were burdens, burdens he had no choice but to honor to the best of his abilities.
But the President wasn't ready to let him go that easily.
"Well, your job has changed. You are one of the four survivors of the vanguard, Ryan. Your opinion is worth more than any of my advisors."
"The best of Section X has gone through the gauss weapons you brought back. They are at least twenty years ahead of what we have now, and in World Alpha, they are just basic weapons held by militias. We have gauss weapons, but they are experimental railguns impossible to utilize in most warfares. It is sufficient proof that our military technology will benefit greatly if the Phasewalkers can retrieve more weapons from World Alpha for us to analyze."
"I see." That made sense.
"The military technologies aren't the only thing World Alpha is ahead of us on. They have colonized the Moon and Mars. Now, I know the fallout of their civilization must've damaged their technology progress, but if the Phasewalker Corps can retrieve something, anything, then that might bring us to the stars much sooner than before. It's an objective worth every bit of sacrifice." The man looked at Ryan. "What is your opinion?"
"I will do whatever has to be done," Ryan repeated.
"Noble sentiment, yet my concern is the rest of the Phasewalker will not be as willing to sacrifice as you." The President sighed. "General Kennedy has reported that many Phasewalkers have been asking around for what happened to the vanguard. He ordered the other three Phasewalkers that returned with you to keep their mouths shut about their encounters in World Alpha, but that is not a permanent solution."
"You are worried that if the recruits know the horrors of World Alpha, they will quit." Ryan concluded, a look of understanding in his eyes.
"Yes I do. Again, Ryan, you are their brother-in-arms. What is your opinion? What should I do?"
Ryan lowered his head briefly before looking back up. "Back in World Alpha, if only a single one of us broke, then the entire mission would've failed. You have seen the recordings. When we were in those Humvees and some of us had to die, if just one of us decided his life was more important than the greater good, then all would be lost."
"The sacrifice of your comrades will be remembered." The President tossed forward a small praise.
"My opinion," Ryan continued, ignoring the praise. "my opinion is that we tell the recruits everything. Not only that, but we also show them. We show them the recordings from Christian and Ava's cameras when they were slaughtered. We show them the recordings from all of us when we were ambushed. And then, we tell them clearly what is on the other side of the Portal. We tell them, clearly and precisely, that if they go across the Portal, they may never return."
"A lot of recruits will quit unless I order a law prohibiting that."
"Perhaps," Ryan persisted. "but having them quit here will be infinitely better than having them rout on the battlefield, where the breaking of one man can lead to a catastrophe. Plus, if we make things clear to them now, then those who stayed will have time to mentally prepare themselves. Sir, the fact is we can't keep these things secrets forever. Sooner or later, they will be discovered. Trust me, sir, we are stronger than people give us credits for."
"And having Section X actively tell them that is better than hiding it and failing." The President was well aware of the harms of a secret out in the open. Those who didn't know the secret before would feel betrayed. In the foreign environment of World Alpha, that feeling could turn into a mutiny and then a disaster. "Very well. I will talk to my advisors about this. Anything else?"
"Yes." Ryan took a deep breath. A certain look on his face. "My President, I would like to remind you of something."
"What? Please, speak freely." The President knew very well that whenever Ryan had this expression on, he was being dead serious.
"My fallen comrades, whether they're Ava, Christian, or Hemley, they went down to honor the deal they made with Section X. They may have fallen, but the obligations for Section X to respect the same deal remains." Ryan declared. "I hope you can personally make sure that is the case. Otherwise, I will do whatever I can to fight for what they deserve."
The President nodded once again. He knew what Ryan was referring to. With the Phasewalkers dead, continuing to pay their families or treat their sick parents seemed to be a futile endeavor, one that would waste resources with nothing else to show for it. Given the case, some in the government might elect to back out from the deal and hope to get away with it.
Ryan has made it clear that he wouldn't see it occur. It just so happened that the President didn't either. The money that had to be paid for the deal might be a small burden, but they were a necessary price. If Section X chose to save on even that and news end up getting out, then the entire Phasewalker Corps was at risk of rebelling.
At that point, even Ryan wouldn't stand by him. It was too much of a risk to justify saving this little money.
"I will make sure of that, Ryan. You have my word."
---
As Ryan left the room, the President sat back in his seat before reaching out to his computer and pulling up a video. Inside the video, Caity was being questioned by a Section X individual in white, who walked into the room and sat down across the table from Caity.
"Ms. Hunter, I am Doctor Andrew. I am a psychologist, and I am here to examine your mental status."
Caity visibly sighed. She has just returned from World Alpha, and she has already been questioned enough times that her patience was thin. "What is there to talk about, doctor?"
Doctor Andrew slowly opened a stack of files.
"I will be straightforward. I went through your helmet camera recording, and I find them as informative as they were disturbing." He held out a picture showing a naked Katherine laying on the bed. It was from Caity's perspective. "What did you feel when you first saw this scene?"
Caity glanced away, trying to erase the image of Katherine from her head.
"Anger. I was furious. You saw how I dealt with that guy in the room. I wanted him to go down screaming for what he did."
"What else?" Indeed, Caity did make the man pay with blood and steel. The psychologist pushed on. "What else did you feel besides anger?"
"Well," Caity tilted her head. "maybe fear."
"Fear of your own safety?" The man's eyes lit up. "Were you afraid you would be captured and assaulted too?"
"Not really." Caity replied quietly. "To be frank, I only felt a bit scared after I killed that guy and heard Katherine's story. I realized how similar the human civilization in World Alpha was to ours, and if they can be turned to this...apocalyptic jungle," She gulped. "then the very same can happen to us. All the killing and raping. That can happen to us too, one day," She suddenly held her fist tight.
"And it is up to us, the Phasewalker Corps, to keep that from happening."
The man's mouth opened, as if he wanted to say something, but he paused before changing his mind. He replaced the first picture with another. This time, it showed the sight of Christian's and Ava's mauled corpses. That was followed by a few pictures of the Mutated Wolves striking down Phasewalkers.
"Moving on. What did you feel here, after seeing the bodies of your comrades?"
"Anger. Still anger." Caity bit her lips. She did feel a lot of grief, but that grief was quickly transformed into the gasoline that fueled her fury.
"Anger, huh?" Dr. Andrews frowned. "Towards who?"
A frown climbed onto Caity's face. "What do you mean towards who? Those things, of course! Those monsters that killed my comrades!"
"But your comrades wouldn't even be there to be killed if Section X didn't force you through the Portal."
Caity stared into Dr. Andrews' eyes before slowly laying back in her seat. An impatient looked on her face as she came to a sudden realization.
"Ok. Here's the thing, doc. I know what you are doing here. You're trying to find out if I'm disgruntled toward Section X and the program because of all that has happened. Look, I am tired and I am in grief, so I will say this once."
She leaned forward so the doctor could hear her clearly.
"I am not a saint. I am not a hero. I have flaws. I dream of sleeping with cute guys and I love binge-watching Netflix, and when I see my own people cut open, I feel terrified."
"But at the same time, I am a member of Earth. This Earth. Everyone I know, my family and my friends and my teachers and my comrades. They all come from this world, and to protect them, to make sure they don't get slaughtered and tortured and raped and mauled, I was and still am willing to give my life. We all were! You saw it yourself! Testing my loyalty is meaningless. Everything Section X did was to protect Earth, and if that means sacrificing some of us, then so be it!"
The psychologist's mouth hung open for a brief moment before two Section X sentries walked in and reached for the man's arms. The psychologist's expression changed as he suddenly called out to Caity.
"Listen to me, Caity! They are manipulating you! Section X! The government! They are luring you to die with money and glory! You have to see this…"
His words were cut short when one of the sentries shot him with a taser gun. Without another word, the two sentries forcibly escorted the man out of the room. Another officer walked in and said to Caity. "Ms. Hunter, you are free to leave."
Caity Hunter nodded slowly. As she stood up and left, her thoughts turned. Dr. Andrews had a point. Section X was in fact seducing the Phasewalkers with wealth and glory, but it was a mutually beneficial transaction. Plus, Earth had to change. Caity didn't know about the others, but after learning about all the threats outside that could devour her world, Caity couldn't just go back to a normal life. She had to either protect Earth or die trying.
Like she said to Dr. Andrews. She wasn't a saint, but she was human. She had ties to her people and her culture, and these ties meant if anyone, anything, wanted to lay ruin to Earth, they had to do it over her cold, dead body.
In his office, as the video concluded, the President silently picked up a phone.
"Mr. President?"
"Where is Dr. Andrews now?"
"He is being interrogated by Section X personnel. General Kennedy suspects he may not be working alone. He may be part of a greater scheme by an unknown faction to infiltrate and threaten the Phasewalker program."
"Have General Kennedy report to me as soon as possible."
"Yes sir."
The President turned back to the video, which froze on the sight of Caity Hunter leaving the room. A flash of hesitance crossed his eyes, but it was quickly turned into resolve.
As Caity said, when the stake of the world was on the line, the sacrifice of a few was tragic, yet completely acceptable.