A.I. Evolution: The Fall of Lucien

Chapter 71

The two guards move forward again and unfasten me from the chain on the table. One pulls me to my feet as the other re-attaches the handcuffs back on my wrist, which are now behind my back. I am roughly pulled out into the hall and through the Guards headquarters back to the Palace. Will and Henri follow behind Smit who keeps an eye on my back as we move along.

I can hear Will speaking to Henri. "How come Smit had to knock down the door to Murphy's quarters? How could it have gotten locked from the inside?"

Henri responds in not much more than a whisper. "That is just one of the questions that I have. The one that disturbs me the most is, who has these ability's and why are they framing Lucien. Any person that can accomplish everything that has happened, would be someone to fear."

I listen to their questions and I agree with Henri, but who can it be and where did they get the Nanos from. The memories from my mother are somewhat scattered, but I remember a colleague at the Firm who was to take over her research. "Could it be him? But why?"

We arrive at the door to Pope Francis's private quarters, and Smit steps up to the guards. "Stay here and make sure nobody enters his Excellency's quarters. There will be the five of us to protect the Pope if need be."

They nod their head and open the door for our small precession to enter. Smit moves in first and stops in front of the chair at the back of the reception room. He goes down on one knee and looks up to Pope Francis. "Son Lucien is here as you requested. I have interrogated him and there is room for speculation as to what happened."

Pope Francis nods his head but narrows his eyes as he raises from his chair. "That may be so, but it does not make any difference now. The damage to the church has already been done. We will either be condemned for promoting a killer or having to admit that we had someone like Murphy right here in the Vatican."

He steps around Smit and stops right in front of me. "You have no idea what you have done. This event that Cardinal Moran was planning was the end game of a carefully laid plan to expose him and the others that participated in using the church for their own purposes. It was planned so that you would be one of the people responsible for exposing this atrocity. Now the others will fade back into the shadows and you will be charged with the murder of Cardinal Murphy Moran. What do you have to say for yourself?"

I stand up as straight as I can with the two guards holding my arms from behind me. "I did not do it. I was across the room when he started to get out of the tub. If you would allow me to, I can open up my mind to you and you can see exactly what happened as if you were there."

Francis looks to Smit, who in turn looks to me and shakes his head. "I would not recommend that, your Excellency. We still have a lot of investigating to do first before we can even begin to prove anything."

Will speaks up from the back. "I would trust him. I have known him since he was born, and I believe that he is a victim in this affair."

"Henri, what do you think?"

"Your Excellency, I agree with Will. It may be the only way we will ever know for sure."

Pope Francis turns to me. "The reports from all the other Cardinals concerning your progress have been very good and I am inclined to believe their evaluation of you, so show me what happened."

I settle myself and concentrate on reaching out to his mind, only to find that I have been blocked, which is something I did not expect. The room is silent as I push a little harder against the mental wall and can feel it start to give. I close my eyes and push harder, slowly building more force against it. I am just about at my limit and am ready to give up when the block suddenly disappears and the full force of my probe slams into his mind. The moment it strikes I know that I have been played as the force of it rips through Pope Francis's mind, destroying everything in its path.

I open my eyes to see Francis's eyes roll up into their sockets and he slumps to the floor as blood pours from his ears and nose. The two guards throw me to the floor and drop down on top of me, almost crushing my ribs with the full weight of their bodies.

The room explodes in a flurry of activity with yelling for medics and guards rushing to surround the Pope on the floor. The last thing I see is Will looking to me with tears in his eyes at what he knows is my final chance at redemption fading away into oblivion.

Two guards forcefully lift me from the floor and throw me out into the hall to land against the far wall, stunning me so I cannot seem to think straight, which was their intent. I shake my head to clear it as they rush over and again lift me from the floor and drag me by my arms down the hallway with my feet dragging on the floor behind me. I am by now so defeated and lost in a sea of confusion and disbelief that I offer no more resistance.

We make it to the end of the hall and as we turn to enter the stairway, I can see one of the guards following us with his revolver drawn ready to use it at the slightest provocation. I put my head down and close my eyes, acting as if I was already dead, which to my thinking I already am.

The trip to the cell at The Swiss Guards headquarters is lost to me as I withdraw into myself, trying desperately to shut out the recent events. The floor of the cell is cold on my cheek as I hear the cell door slam shut and the guard's heavy footfalls echo against the solid stone and steel bars of the cell block. I cry uncontrollably now that I am alone, feeling the tears run down my cheeks to pool on the floor.

I just lay there till the tears do not come anymore, almost wishing that I had cried enough that I could drown myself in the puddle under my face. I eventually lift myself up and move to the single cot against the wall and flop down on it, driving my head into the thin mattress as hard as I can in frustration, to no avail.

The look of finality on Will's face as the guards subdued me in the Pope's quarters, haunts me every time I close my eyes now, and when I open them, I am reminded of my fate, by the bars that hold me secure in the cold damp cell.