Revenant: Changeling

CHANGELING

The large black SUV weaved down the highway, barrelling down at a speed far higher than the law typically allowed. Of course, the highway’s automated system saw the plates, and immediately granted an exception. ONI clearance, top priority.

In the SUV, five figures were seated. Each was tall, well built, straining the already sizeable proportions of the car. Up front, at the wheel, the youngest of the group, Victoria, her eyes scanning the road ahead. She glanced over to her companion, in the front passenger seat. Augustus’ nose was buried into a book, diligently reading it.

Normally, they carried the tags G013, and G139,, but today they were Crimson 4 and Crimson 5. At long last, they were in the big leagues. Sure enough, they were only on an escort mission, but they were carrying call signs for Crimson Team.

The three Spartans in the next two rows of seats held the other call signs. Crimson 1, 2 and 3. Ajax-013, Elise-070, and Mel-038. They were Spartan-IIs, the best of the best. Mel was in the back seat, taking up the entire row, while Elise was sat inspecting her firearm in the centre right passenger seat. Ajax was leaning against the window, staring out of it, his normally peerless focus lost in the sea of cars.

Each of them was in plain clothes, jackets and trousers, with tactical vests underneath, and padded linings, intended to deter some level of impact. They had a collection of small arms, mostly M20 SMGs or hefty M6 sidearms, light weapons.

Elise looked up from her gun briefly, setting it aside, and spied Augustus’ book. She leaned forward, and in an effortless motion, snatched it clean from his hands. She immediately flipped the book and looked at the pages.

“So, what is our wannabe book worm reading today?” He turned around, trying to swat at it and protest, but quickly lost the will to fight. He sighed and went back to his seated position.

“It’s a book about historical interpretations of illness.” He answered, quite curtly.

Elise gave him this look of ‘too long, didn’t read’. Augustus sighed again.

“Changelings. It’s about Changelings.”

Elise pulled an even funnier look. Ajax didn’t even pay any interest. Mel seemed to be asleep entirely.

Augustus rolled his eyes, and leaned over to get closer “So back in medieval Europe, people didn’t really understand while babies got sick. Medicine wasn’t as advanced, so they had to find a way to rationalise babies who suddenly got sick, babies that had developmental problems, things like that. So, they way they saw it, babies were taken by fairies, and whisked away, and in their place they left a changeling. These were inhuman, usually a fake, or a fairy child. The fake child would die or leave, and the human would forever stay with the Fae. Interesting stuff...” Augustus began to trail off when he saw the atmosphere had rapidly changed.

Elise shifted uneasily in her feet, and Ajax was now glaring directly at Augustus. He relented and turned back around, still feeling the glowering eyes of Ajax in the back of his head. Elise reached her hand across and took Ajax’s gently squeezing it. That was her sign, she was with him. The story of a stolen baby rang true with them.

Mel’s head rolled around, as if waking from her nap, though the truth was she was probably never asleep. “So, what is the job? Who’s so important they’re sending three of us and the kids?” Victoria balked at the kid comment.

“We’re to meet and escort a scientist that’s part of the UNSC ‘s genetics program he’s called AJ Santangelo.” Elise said, holding up a transmitter for a holographic screen. His picture was of a man in his mid-thirties, with a thin, gaunt face.”

AJ... it’s actually listed as his birth name.” Mel sneered, leaning forward to look closer “His parents musta hated him more than Ajax’s folks did.” She laughed, her Irish brogue briefly seeping through.”

Ajax didn’t respond, barely looking at the document

Victoria scowled a little “Why are we babysitting somebody like this?”

Elise looked over to her younger companion “Well, out scientists have recently become a target for enemy agents. He seems pretty important. Involved in UNSC genetics programs, biological engineering, nano-machine research. He’s got more PHDs than Mel has brain cells.” There was a fierce knock to the back of Elise’s head and a dissatisfied grunt from Mel. “You know, he looks a little like you.” Elise smiled, looking to Ajax. Ajax either wasn’t listening, or ignored the comment, still looking out of the window.

Breaking free of the highway, the SUV pulled into lot of the Demeter regional space port. Rather than drive into the pedestrian lot, they pulled into to a secured gate, the gate recognising their approach and opening in response. They pulled into a secured loading dark at the back. For the first time today, Ajax seemed to awaken from his stupor.

“Crimson 4, stay at the wheel, and keep the engine running. Crimson 5 you have perimeter security. Maintain radio contact.” He ordered calmly, stepping from the car with his SMG at his hip.

Both responded in turn. August lifted his gun to his chest and hopped out, moving to the side. Victoria slid her gun onto her lap and waited behind the wheel, nodding to her compatriot as he got out. Ajax, Elise and Mel got out and headed inside, seamlessly falling into formation without an order or a word.

They walked into the space port terminal, flashing their badges at any lock or guard who tried to bar them. Eventually they came to a secure lounge. Scanning their badge again, they stepped into the room. Inside was a barely furnished lounge, meant for brief stops and nothing longer. Slumped in a chair was their VIP, holding a cane close to his chest. He stood up, as they walked in, using a cane to steady his body. He was surprisingly tall, but the gaunt features of his face were matched in the thinness of his body. He was lanky, but still hit 6 foot five inches. He had dark hair, and sunglasses shielding his face, with a long coat hiding much of his body.

“Are you my escort?” he asked, his accent was difficult to pin down, but seemed to be from Earth, at least.

“We are sir.” Elise said, securing the door behind them. “Security services are running a sweep of our exit, and your luggage, which should be with us within the next half hour.”

“Ah, that’s fine. I’ll sit back down.” He said, returning to a slumped position

Elise stayed by the door, while Ajax remained at the corner, weapon on his side. Mel, however, sat down opposite him “I sure hope you’re more interesting than the last guy we escorted. The guy designed magnetic couplings from Starship engines, and had never even left Mars. Can you believe that?” she snorted

AJ gave a short chortle “Well, I hope I can provide a good story.” It was impossible to tell where his eye sight fell, but he clearly moved his head to meet Ajax and Elise “You’re... not what I expected for Spartans.”

“Well, we don’t go everywhere in power armour.” Elise smiled

“Ah, no, I just expected you to be less... human... it sounds rude when I put it that way.” He said, rubbing his head awkwardly.

“Nah, you’d be surprised how many people expect us to be weird skinned robots with glowing red eyes. Don’t worry, we’re as human as you are, more or less.” Mel smirked “But you’re dodging the question.”

“Crimson 3, this is diverting from parameters.” Ajax grunted, his grip tightening around his gun.

Mel just waved him off “Come on, tell us about yourself then.” She smiled, looking at the rather amused scientist.

“Why not then. Born back on Earth, in England, to be exact. My childhood wasn’t all that interesting until I was.... six.” He took a moment to think about it “There was a crash. My parents and my younger sister died. I was left orphaned. I was adopted by the Santangelos, and I kept their name.”

“So why did you become an egghead then? It better be juicy.” Mel grinned, rubbing her hands expectantly.

“Ah, well, it happened around the time I was 7.” He began, sighing a little “I fell ill. It was very suddenly. I suffered a degenerative neural disorder, that affected my muscles.” He tapped his leg with his cane “It was the first. It was followed by several other genetic disorders.” His smile turned to a frown. “By all rights, I should be dead, but my adoptive parents, they did everything they could, they took me to see specialists, they put a lot of money into my treatment.”

He paused a moment, clearing his throat “I survived it, or at least, most of me did.” He gave a weak chuckle “The way I went from a healthy child to a sickly, frail thing... it just made me intrigued in genetics. The way my entire body rebelled against me was where I got my start.”

Ajax moved. He twitched, almost imperceptible to most, but Elise saw it. She knew his body language, and something was definitely not right.

“I’m performing a perimeter check.” He said flatly, moving to the door and buzzing himself out. A few minutes of silence descended on the room. After a moments, Elise turned her back to the room, and placed a finger to the radio on her ear

“This is Crimson 2, radio check.”

Mel started it by looking at her with a nod. She heard her loud and clear.

“Crimson 4 here, transport still secure.”

“Crimson 5 here. Perimeter looks good.”

There were a few moments of silence “Crimson 1, do you copy?”

Elise turned back to Mel. She shot her an expression of concern. She then thumbed her radio again “This is Crimson 2, performing sweep.” She opened the door and stepped out. She flicked the safety off on her SMG and moved it up to her shoulder. Her body hunched over, moving to a ready position, gun at the ready. Every one of her senses sharpened, and all her muscles tensed.

As she moved along the corridor, she heard a crash from the bathroom. She levelled her weapon to the door, then coiled, and kicked it down. The door splintered under her kick, and she charged straight in, gun at the ready. What she saw... it was something she could never have predicted.

The bathroom was a mess, with all the mirrors smashed to pieces, one of the sinks had been torn from the wall, and another cracked in two and scattered on the ground. Across the wall, tiles were smashed, bloodied smears showing where they’d been struck by a fist.

Ajax was on the floor, legs splayed in front of him. His hands were on his head, his whole body shaking. Blood was streaming from his knuckles, with white chips of porcelain, and slivers of mirrored glass embedded in them. There was blood on his face too. There was nobody else in there, it was only Ajax. He was sobbing, and barely coherent, mumbling to himself. Elise had never seen Ajax like this, not for a long time. He seemed so vulnerable, and utterly defeated. Elise dropped her SMG to her side, and fell to her knees beside Ajax, placing her hands on him to settle his shaking.

“Ajax.” She said, scanning his injuries “Wh-what happened?”

He just stared at his hands, bloodied, bruised.

“I... I didn’t want to believe it, but she really did it. It really was a Changeling...” his gaze was unfocused, like he was staring past it.

“Ajax, what the fuck is going on?” she asked, cradling his head

He just shook his head, as if trying to deny something he knew was true. Elise called his name, she shouted for him, but Ajax was lost to her, consumed by a darkness of his own creation.

Mel rested her gun back into her lap. She glanced back to the door, and huffed a little. She then glanced back to her charge.

“So, I gotta ask, your ID says your name is AJ?” she smirked

“Ah...” he said, scratching his chin “That one’s a little embarrassing. So, my father was quite fond of his Greek myth. He liked the heroes, the battles, the journeys, that whole thing. One of his favourite things was the Trojan War. He decided he wanted to name me after one of his favourite heroes.” He gave another weak chuckle.

Mel leaned in “Don’t leave me hanging. So, what’d he name you? Achilles?” She gave a gasp “Was it Agamemnon?”

He smiled again. “No, the birth name my parents gave me, it was...Ajax.”

Mel’s laughter stopped dead. It felt like a great leaden ball was dropped into her stomach, with a cold sweat coming over her. A frightening realisation came to her, something she’d put to the back of her mind for years.

We were replaced