Emerie knocked on the door, and a silky voice wafted through, "Come in".
She stepped in the office, facing Doctor Hemlock's back as his eyes strayed outside the window, deep in thought.
"You called me?" Dr. Karr monotoned.
"Yes, Emerie." He turned to see her. "I wished to talk about CT-9904."
Her eyebrows furrowed, but she had anticipated the question. "He has shown excellent health and recovers quickly against the drugging and shocks passed through him during interrogation."
The doctor inhaled deeply. "You know what I ask, Emerie. Has CT-9904 revealed any further information as of yet? Have you drugged him yet for more?"
"No, doctor. He has not yielded any further information, but I do not see why we should push him for more information, or why do we even need him anymore." Emerie stated, fingers dancing on her datapad all the while. "We needed CT-9904 to reveal Omega's location, but we have the young clone now."
"That was one question that bothered me. However, I believe he is still of use. Anyways, we cannot let him leave the facility."
"Why not?" Karr questioned, confused. "CT-9904 has shown loyalty to the Empire, and he has no means of tracing where his squad is, without using our facility or our means of transport to go off-world. Even if he presents the matter to the Senate, nobody will believe him."
"But if somebody did? Do you not remember the ordeal of Edmon Rampart? How he failed on his stairs to stardom? I have seen years of disgrace, of being of no use to the world while the knowledge in my brain rotted away, and I don't want to go through that again." Hemlock's smooth voice betrayed pain for the first time since Emerie began working with him. "Also, with the Rebel Alliance hungry for information, only one leak will result in our facility being bombed, or worse, our ideas stolen and turned against us. Not to forget, Emperor Palpatine will have our heads for exposing the 'clandestine' operation. And, Emerie, he's the same loyal clone who terminated Lieutenant Nolan on Barton-IV for a clone. So, I don't want to take my chances with a species like him."
"So what do we do with him now?"
"There are so many uses for him, my protégé. Firstly, he can be reprogrammed to become a Commander of great potential once again. Secondly, he can be used to find Clone Force 99. Even though we needed the squad for Omega, we can use them for our cloning program, and for the Emperor's project. Or, we can put another inhibitor chip and control them. Also, using them as bait we can force Crosshair and Omega to show loyalty and obedience." He paused. "For eliciting the answers out of CT-9904, you are allowed to use any form of torture you desire."
Emerie waited, dumbfounded over the wickedness of his mind. Sometimes, her superior was inspiring, other times intimidating. This was one time she found him a mix of both.
"Thirdly, have you studied the case of CT-1409, otherwise known as Corporal Echo, who served in the GAR?"
"The one who exploded at the Citadel, and whom Clone Force 99 rescued on Anaxes?" Emerie vaguely remembered studying the picture of the ghostly white, taut-skinned clone with bolts on his head, who must have been a healthy, rosy boy with black hair like the other cadets.
"Exactly. Do you know what the Separatists did to him? They plugged him to their system and used his brain to signal all the Republic's war plans and strategies against them. The Separatists won nearly every front with that plan – until the Corporal's sentimental captain, CT-7567, traced him all the way to Anaxes."
"So, you're suggesting that CT-9904 should also be connected to the system like his batchmate?"
"Yes. His squad had definitely unique ideas, and it will be most beneficial if he is able to contribute something to our cause, what with the news of Mrs Mothma making up a Rebel Alliance."
"But, sir, there's always a first time for everything. What if-" she hesitated.
Hemlock, who had turned back to his desk to shuffle his files, looked over his shoulder expectantly and said, "go on."
"What if he overrides the controls? What if he rejects to contribute anything at all?"
Hemlock's face was pure hatred as he stood up, and spoke in nothing louder than a whisper, his words dripping with murder, "then he'll be decommissioned. He shall face the same fate as his genius of a brother, but only much worse. You can make clear, he has 35 rotations to seal his fate. You are dismissed."
Emerie turned back, not sure what to feel. On one hand, she was proud that she could be of service to the Empire, but this torture and impending death sent shivers up her spine.
She walked out to Crosshair's cellar.
She pressed her key-card and entered. Crosshair was still bound to shackles, while the adjacent cell was empty.
She came to him.
Crosshair glared daggers at her, but didn't say a word.
She examined her syringe and asked him, "So, CT-9904, how are you doing?"
"What is it to you?" he snarled. Poor guy, doesn't know any other language than harshness.
"You better be OK or else Omega's going to weep her lungs at me" she chuckled lightly, humorlessly. "CT-9904, why did you contact your squad to keep them safe? I heard your transmission, Plan 88, am I correct? Why did you risk your life to protect them when they didn't protect you?"
Crosshair stayed silent.
"They never returned for you. They abandoned you for something you never had in control. They could have never understood how special you are, the destiny you were meant for. They deserve to be behind bars, do they not? They should be punished for every crime. Good soldiers follow orders after all."
"Shut up." He growled.
The rage in his voice quaked her soul. She stared into the seemingly lifeless eyes, now ablaze with devotion and protectiveness.
"It's not your matter to point out if they were loyal to me. They are my brothers, and it is I who decide my judgement for them. But I assure you, lab scrabber." She flinched. "even if I knew where their sorry hides were, I would never tell you. I may be a soldier of the empire, but I'm not a traitor to blood. Get out of my sight."
Emerie felt at the end of her patience, but she trembled as she spoke.
"CT-9904, I shall be really honest with you. Doctor Hemlock has told me to torture you in every way possible for intel on Clone Force 99. If you do not cooperate within a month, you'll be terminated."
Crosshair closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.
She turned with heavy feet, and before she could exit, Crosshair's voice rang out, strangely stronger than ever. "Have you ever had something to love, Dr. Karr? Because if you had, you'd never had asked me to turn over my brothers willingly. I have hunted them down like a hound as long as I had my chip in, but after Bracca and Barton-IV, I'll never let them get harmed again. Not if I can help it. The Empire has taken my vod away, and I won't let them take anything more from me, before I have nothing else left to love."
He might have been crying, but he kept himself composed, steeled all the while. She couldn't bear it anymore, and bolted out.
Sure, she was a clone, but she had a heart, feelings, conscience. Is that what she was meant to do, torture her own kind?
She didn't know if she could do it anymore. Being blind to the clones' suffering.
She didn't know if Crosshair will be able to bear the torture.
She didn't know how long will he hold out. Maybe he'll make it out of here in that time.
She didn't know if she'll be able to do what needed to be done.
But most certainly what she didn't know was another person had heard her conversations with Hemlock and Crosshair.
The little, pure, blonde clone from Ord Mantell.
