Sofia

by Seven


Disclaimer:  Earth: Final Conflict and its characters are copyrighted by Tribune Entertainment Company.  All rights reserved.



Note from Author:   This is dedicated to Sofia Cerone, LH's daughter



**********



A light was shining into her eyes. Sofia blinked twice, shook her head a little. She analyzed the bulb as being florescent, 250 watts.

"Jonathan, what are you doing?" a woman's voice called from the darkness off of the operating table.

Jonathan Doors turned to Lili Marquette. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"It looks like that project that Liam threw under is back up and running," Marquette said tensely. Sofia looked at Lili. *Lili Marquette, Marine. 32 years of age, single, no children, assigned to attache Agent Sandoval and working as undercover operative for the Resistance.*

*Liam. Liam Kincaid. 30 years of age, single, no children, assigned as personal bodyguard to Da'an and leader of the Resistance.* Sofia fell back as she became dizzy.

Lili grimaced as she watched the woman convulse a little. "Jonathan, you can't possibly sanction this. That woman has a computer for a brain, but it can still be removed."

"It's not gonna be removed," Doors said. "Sofia wanted it that way. She knew about the dangers, but she also wanted this project to succeed." He glared at Lili. "And I am fully aware that I am no longer the Liberation leader, but that doesn't stop me."

----

One of the people was Lili, and the other was a lovely, dark-haired woman that Liam had never seen before. He switched off the screen in his apartment and jogged down the steps to meet them. "Lili, hi. Who's the friend?"

Lili's face twitched oddly. The other woman just stared at Liam, as if memorizing his features. "This is Sofia Markwell, Liam. She's being sent in undercover the day after tomorrow, but she needs a place to stay until then."

"So you volunteered my home?" Liam asked.

Lili shrugged helplessly. "I was hoping you wouldn't mind."

"I don't but... oh, never mind." Liam gestured at the stairs. "You can sleep in my chair."

Sofia spoke for the first time. Her voice was cold, impersonal. "I no longer require sleep."

"No... longer..." Liam stared at Sofia. "Lili, who is this and why is she looking at me like that?"

Lili sighed and closed her eyes. "I'm going to let Sofia explain that for you. The mere mention of it is giving me an ulcer." She strode out the door before Liam could stop her.

Liam heaved a sigh and pulled a plastic icicle from his pocket. "I was just decorating the Flat Planet for Christmas. Augur was going to decorate the trees, but his stocks went through the-"

"Christmas trees," Sofia interrupted tonelessly. "A tradition originating in-"

"Thank you," Liam interrupted. "I, uh, know the history of Christmas trees."

Sofia looked at him for a moment, then tilted her head. "May I have a drink?"

"Sure. Beer, water, wine, ginger ale, Coke?"

"Water will be sufficient."

Liam ducked out of his apartment into the Flat Planet and picked up one of the globals that Augur kept stashed under the bar. Da'an's face appeared on the global. "Yes, Liam?"

"Da'an, is there any Taelon program designed to turn humans into unfeeling automations?"

Da'an went completely blank. "No..."

Liam sighed. "There's one sitting in my home, reciting the history of Christmas trees. I didn't sanction anything like this for the Resistance, so I frankly have no idea what's happening here."

Da'an looked troubled. "I will investigate this further." He cut the link.

Liam filled a glass with ice water, entered his apartment and handed it to Sofia. She downed it and set the glass down on the scuffed end table. Liam sat down nearby. "So, um... may I ask why you're this way?"

"'This way'?" Sofia repeated.

"Well, you've been answering me like a computer. I'd sort of like to know where you're from?"

Sofia stopped and processed the information for a moment. "I am 'from' Chicago. I am a research biologist, working with engineers to enhance the human mind and body."

"Enhance?"

Sofia nodded curtly, once. "Implantation of a specially designed computer chip with synthetic nerve strands causes the human brain to essentially become a computer. It enhances the senses and causes suppression of emotion."

Light dawned on Liam. "So... you're a test subject for your own project."

"Yes. However, my chip is not removable, as the later models will be."

Liam leaned away a little, feeling slightly revulsed. "Why? Why... er, would you want to be a walking organic computer forever?"

Sofia looked down. "I do not wish to speak of it."

*Evidently not suppression of ALL emotion*, Liam thought, picking up the glass.

----

Da'an waved the holographic screen into view. Zo'or was on it. "Zo'or, is it true that you have been *programming* humans into biological machines?"

Zo'or smiled a little. "Of course not. Where did you obtain this information?"

Da'an stopped, thinking fast. "Major Kincaid. He encountered a young human woman with such characteristics."

Zo'or's eyes flickered, as if he could sense that Da'an was lying. "Very well. I assure you, I am not responsible for anything such as that." He cut the think.

----

Zo'or looked over at Sandoval, across the bridge. "Agent Sandoval, why have these human experiments never been made known to me?"

Sandoval looked troubled and a little angry. "I assure you that I will find out, Zo'or. One way or another."

----

Liam woke up to hear a coffeepot burbling. He got up, poured the coffee and exited his apartment into the Flat Planet. The place was spotless. Liam ran his hand under the bar; even that was free of dust and spilled food.

"Are you ready to leave now, Major Kincaid?" Sofia asked from the door of the women's room.

Liam groaned. "How did you know when I was going to wake up?" She hadn't, from the look of her clothes, slept.

"Your eye twitchings signalled that you were coming out of REM sleep," Sofia said.

Liam took a sip of his coffee and almost spit it up. He could almost hear Lili saying, "That coffeemaker never made coffee just hot, it has to be volcanic," as she had the first time he had made coffee. Sofia watched as Liam grimaced and gasped until his mouth cooled down. "Perhaps you would like a drink?" she asked.

"Yes, please," Liam wheezed.

Sofia poured a glass of water and handed it to Liam. He began drinking it. "Major," she said in a different tone. "Last night I observed that during a particular dream, your palms lit up with a white light."

Liam was sufficiently startled that he spewed the water across the floor. "What?" he spluttered.

Sofia lowered her eyelids. "It has become apparent that you are not all you claim to be. According to records of William Boone, which I have memorized, I would say that you are in possession of the shakarava, an ancient organ in the palm of the hand that the Taelons have deactivated in themselves." She looked at him fearlessly. Liam slid into a table and covered his eyes.

"I informed Captain Marquette, and she replied with information about your heritage," Sofia continued. "I must ask, why have you hidden this?"

Liam looked up at her. "Because if the Taelons find out, I'm dead. Very dead. And most of humanity wouldn't be too thrilled either." He leaned back. "So what can I do but lie?"

Sofia's full lips quirked with a shadow of a smile. "You remind me of-" she said with warmth, then stopped. "No one," she finished coldly. She turned around and began to rummage through the cabinets.

----

Sandoval's face appeared on Zo'or's datastream. "We've had no luck finding this woman," he reported. "We found an abandoned Liberation lab, but it appears that it was never meant to be kept."

"Was there anything in the lab that would assist you in your search?" Zo'or asked tensely.

"Yes." Sandoval's dark eyes showed satisfaction. "We found components of a chip and artificial nerves similar to the ones that Taelon medical procedures use, as well as a DNA pattern. We're waiting for a match."

"Work quickly, Agent Sandoval," Zo'or said. "The sooner you find this woman the better. These chips may prove as... useful as your CVI."

----

"Sofia, what's wrong?" Liam asked.

Sofia did not turn around from behind the bar. "I do not understand what you mean," she said flatly.

Liam shifted in his seat near the bar. "Your chip is supposed to suppress the emotions of the user, but I keep seeing these flashes of emotion from you. And they're... painful. What drove you to use this procedure?"

"Nothing."

"Was it pain? Fear?" Liam saw her tensing. "Sofia, those emotions are still inside you. You can't deny them, you have to let them out." He got up. "You can tell me, I won't tell anyone. Why have you done this to yourself?"

For a long moment, Sofia said nothing. Then she turned around, her pale face haunted. "My husband," she said huskily, "was killed by an experimental Taelon procedure, designed to fight a lethal nervous degeneration caused by an accident. The procedure, now used on accident patients, destroyed his central nervous system. Brian was..." Her previously mechanical voice choked. "... *used* as a lab rat. I later discovered that the procedure had not been fully tested, but that Brian's reaction was documented and used to prevent the deaths of future patients."

Liam touched Sofia's shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

Sofia lowered her eyes. "I became part of the Resistance, but that did not allow me to suppress emotion. I perfected this chip and have had myself implanted with it." She looked at Liam. "The chip is not removable because I did not wish it."

Liam sighed. "Emotions aren't just something you can suppress, Sofia. And those emotions aren't gone, they're still inside you." He squeezed her hand. "I lost my mother a short time ago. And when I miss her, I only remember that she's watching me, and that she wants me to keep living life as it happens."

Sofia bowed her head, eyes beginning to swim. Liam continued, "Brian would have wanted nothing else for you if he loved you, Sofia. He wouldn't have wanted you to shut your mind away inside a chip."

Liam felt a tug at his heart as Sofia uttered a strangled sob and left the room. He shut his eyes, feeling horrible.

----

"Zo'or. We have a DNA match. Her name is Sofia Markwell, a scientist who used to work for the Taelons. Now, she apparently works for the Resistance."

"Apprehend her at all costs."

----

Liam awoke the next morning to find Sofia gone from the Flat Planet and a note from Lili taped to the door. She said that Sofia was being taken to her undercover assignment aboard the mothership. Liam felt disappointment that he and Sofia were now on such bad terms.

Liam showered and dressed, then went up to the mothership. During the shuttle's trip, he waved up Da'an's datastream. "Any luck, Da'an?"

"No. I have questioned Zo'or about this, but he seems to believe that it is Resistance in origin. Is this true, Liam?"

"Not that I know of, but I wouldn't put it past Doors to do this behind my back." Liam let a little anger seep into his voice. "Just the sort of dumb stunt he'd try, endangering Sofia like that!"

"Sofia?"

"Miss... Markwell," Liam said hesitatingly. "The woman I mentioned. She apparently had herself given this chip because... well, to put it bluntly, she was running away from herself."

"You sound as if you know her well," Da'an said with a little smile.

"Not very. And now I think she hates me." Liam felt a stab of pain that he had riled Sofia like that. What had he been thinking?

----

Lili and Sandoval were on the bridge, talking to Zo'or when Liam arrived. Several Volunteers were going to and fro on errands. Lili excused herself from the conversation and went over to Liam. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I was looking for Sofia."

"Good grief, Liam! Do you want to get her killed?"

"I don't want to talk to her, just make sure she's okay."

Lili sighed. "Well, if you must know, she's-"

"OVER THERE!" bellowed Sandoval. Every head on the bridge snapped around to look at Sofia, dressed in the jumpsuit of a mothership Volunteer. She broke into a sprint, her face artificially calm. Sandoval raised his arm.

"NO!" Liam shrieked, running to intercept the skrill blast. But he was too late. The blast hit Sofia in the chest, slamming her against the wall. Liam reached her and gently lowered her to the floor.

"Get a medivac team!" yelled Lili, running in the opposite direction. Sandoval followed her, more slowly.

Sofia's eyelids fluttered open. A faint smile touched her lips. "Hello, Major," she said softly.

Liam began examining the burn. "You'll be fine, you'll be okay," he babbled. "Just hold on until the medics get here."

Sofia shook her head slightly. "I won't make it... Liam. You know... after Brian died... I never feared dying... because I knew there would be no one left to miss me. To everyone... I was just an obnoxious scientist."

Liam shook his head. "I never saw you that way."

"I know... that made you different... more like me I suppose..." Another quavering smile. "Or perhaps... I wasn't enough like you. Will you... miss me, Liam?"

Hot tears began to pour down Liam's cheeks. "Yes," he whispered.

Sofia smiled one last time, closed her eyes. Liam began to sob, mourning the person who had, perhaps, been more like him than anyone else.

----

Later, Liam Kincaid stood in the medical center of the mothership, staring at the chip that had been removed from Sofia's brain. Tendrils of artificial nerve protruded from it. For a long moment, Liam stared at the chip.

Then he pressed his flaring shakarava against the container. It melted, destroying the chip.