Hardbingers

11

The Oculus called Davis aside as Miller and the rest prepared to debark.

Of all the yeniceri, he felt closest to Davis. He trusted them all, knew each was ready to die protecting him, but the yenigeri life had hardened many of them. Inevitable, he supposed. Not every Alarm involved violence and death, but the vast majority did. Which meant that these men were, in many ways, contract killers with one client: the Ally.

Difficult for anyone to retain his humanity under those circumstances, but the rest of their quotidian existence—no family, no permanent ties to people outside their MV unit—exacerbated the situation.

They were weapons—the Ally's spears. And spears had no branches.

The Oculi were insulated from the violence. They didn't order it, merely passed on the content of the Ally's Alarms. And they had children. Nothing was so grounding as a child. He cherished his relationship with his daughter. Diana was his jewel. Just as the yeniceri would die for him, so he would die for her.

But Davis, despite everything, had managed to maintain more of his human core. He had a hard shell, but traces of warmth and compassion remained in the heart beating within it.

"I'm sorry it had to be you," he said when Davis came to his side.

"We do what we have to do. It's all for the greater good, a cause bigger than any one person—or any three persons, right?"

The Oculus sensed that this must be the soul-saving mantra Davis would be repeating over and over to get him through this.

"We must trust the Ally."

Davis's expression was bleak. "Yeah. Trust the Ally."

"You have the vehicles?"

Davis nodded. "Snatched from the LaGuardia long-term lot. Doubtful they'll be missed too soon."

"Very well. When you return, come to my office—come alone—and we'll talk."

He had a feeling Davis would need a sympathetic ear after this ordeal was over.

The Oculus saw them off, then trudged up to his office. For what, he didn't know. He didn't want to sit and brood. Better to spend the time with Diana, drilling her on her studies. At least that would take his mind off what was about to happen.