I'm Getting Sick of the Lies I'm also getting sick of getting behind on this blog. The stuff I'm going to talk about today actually happened yesterday (just like yesterday's entry). So I come in yesterday around noon, after only a couple hours of sleep. The first thing that happens is that Carrie stumbles up to me, in the middle of everyone, and hugs me, saying "oh thank god you're alright. I tried calling, I dropped by your house, but I couldn't find you anywhere. Where have you been?" I look around the room and everyone is staring at us. It's one of the more embarrassing moments of my life. "We need to talk," I tell her, and we walk over to her office and close all the shades. She sits in her chair, her full attention on me. I fumble for the words. "I don't know how else to tell you this Carrie. I've kind of gotten back together with Ellie." Carrie gasps. "What? Are you crazy? That woman is nuts! Do you remember what she did at the hospital? She's a complete psycho! She left you and took all her stuff. Now you want to get back together with her? What kind of loser are you?" "It's not like that. We just had a huge misunderstanding. We worked it out and we want to try again." "Does she know you've been with me? Does she know what you've been doing?" "Listen Carrie, I'm sorry. We've been dating for a long time and I think this deserves another shot." Carrie's face seems to be contorting in rage, but then she subdues it. "You have no idea, do you. You really don't know who she is. God. You are such an idiot. She's been fooling you since day one." Now it's my turn to get a little angry. "What the hell are you talking about?" "Dude, she's a fucking spy. From China. When her name came up on the hit list I started to do a little digging. Turns out she one of the world most wanted criminals. I didn't tell you before because I thought if you brought it up she might kill you." "Criminal? OK, yeah, she's an agent. But she works for the Chinese government." Carrie scoffs at me. "Rrright...Dude...she's a rogue agent. That means she's totally out of their control. Apparently some deal went bad and she wound up killing half her department in revenge. Did she tell you she's a killer?" "Well, yeah, she's had a couple kills." Carrie laughs. "A couple? More like a couple hundred." She swings her monitor around so I can look. "Check this out. Bombings, killings, death squads...apparently when she went rogue she went ballistic. She works for some kind of anti-government group trying to overthrow the Chinese government. I'm starting to put the pieces together. It may be possible that she's been doing at least some of the killings on the hit list." "What? That doesn't make sense. This can't be the same person." "We all have our secrets, Alex. Hers are just slightly more intense than most people's. She's a vicious killer, and apparently she's a part of the plan to control our minds. I think she may also be a financial backer of it. She's earned millions for all the assassinations she's done over the years. She's not the person you think she is." I look at some of the numbers on Carrie's screen. This can't all be true, I think. It's just not the Ellie I know. "Are you sure about all this? I mean, what if it's someone else? What if she's being set up?" Carrie bristles suddenly. "You don't think I did my homework? Jesus, what the fuck do you think I've been working on night and day? I work my fucking ass off to find out this shit!" "Okay, okay, calm down. So let's say she's involved. Do you have any idea on what the plan is?" "I don't know. But somethings going to happen over the next couple weeks. Something bad. They're in the final stages of testing. I'm not sure, but I think there was a run on Chinese food in Atlanta a couple days ago. People lining up for it out of nowhere. It may have been a test of the system. I'm still tracing it, seeing if it could have come from here." Carrie adjusts her seat and leans in to me. "Listen Alex, if you know where she is, you've got to turn her in. The future of this country is at stake. There are enemies out there trying to take us out. I don't know if they represent foreign governments, or if they are acting alone. It looks like Ellie wants a piece of this, and she's doing whatever it takes to protect her interests." I just stand there. "It's not her. It can't be," I mumble. "She wants out of her life, not more of it." "Goddammit Alex, have you listened to one fucking work I've said? That woman is Evil. She'll say or do anything to avoid getting caught. She is playing you like a fucking fool. And you're thinking with your fucking dick like always. Grow the fuck up! She's using you, she's been using you, and if you don't put your foot down, she's going to use you up and you'll be dead. She has a history of covering her tracks. It's all in there. Just tell me where she is, and I'll find the right people to tell. We can bring her in nice and easy, and no one else will get hurt." I rub my temple. A million thoughts fly through my head. Is she really that evil? Could she just be undercover in this plot? I just don't know. There's a swirl of lies and deceit running around my head. "I...I can't. Without knowing for sure, for one hundred percent sure, I can't do it. As long as there's any doubt in my mind, I'm going to protect her." "Jesus T Fucking Christ, Alex. Well, then next time someone shows up on the hit list and gets killed, you only have yourself to blame." A sudden thought brightens me. "But Ellie herself is on the list. Why would she be on her own list?" Carrie shrugs. "Beats me. Maybe it's a deception. Put yourself on the list, and no one will suspect you. I don't know. Maybe some of the co-conspirators are trying to cut her out. I mean, she's not exactly trustworthy, and now that they're close, maybe they're trying to muscle her away. Even more reason to find her. She might want to turn on them too." I think to myself that I've shown her the list, and she didn't blink. I'm starting to feel a little defensive. I know there's much Ellie hasn't told me. I know we've only scratched the surface. "Okay. If she's who you say she is, some mass murderer, then she'll get what's coming to her. You've said there are others. How about I deal with her my way, and then we focus on the others." Carrie huffs at me. "Fine. But we may have to start taking matters into our own hands. We can't let this plan go to fruition." "What do you mean?" Carrie sighs. "If it comes down to it, we're going to have to take out Building Four." "What do you mean, 'take out'?" Carrie spreads her arms. "Poof! We need to take down the building. Blow it up. Destroy everything inside of it." My eyes grow wide. "Come on, Carrie. You can't be serious." She struggles to her feet. "You want to live your life as a zombie? Do you want to have images thrust into your head that you can't ignore? Do you want to be a slave to whoever controls this project? I know we're only two people, but we can put a stop to this. We need to be prepared to destroy Building Four." I don't know. What Carrie is proposing is ludicrous. But if they have that technology, the world as we know it could be coming to an end. We won't be in control of ourselves anymore. We won't have free will. It's not a world I want to live in. "Only as a last resort. Carrie, this is way beyond what I'm comfortable with. It would be much better if we can expose them." "Your girlfriend would help with that--" "I'll deal with her," I say abruptly. "I need to know the truth. Because right now, I find just about everything everyones says to be doubtful." "Well, you don't have to believe me, just believe your eyes. Look at the stuff I've found and make your own judgements." I look though it as Carrie hovers over my shoulder. It all seems inconclusive to me, but when it's all added up, it doesn't look good for Ellie. "What about the massacre last night," Carrie asks me. "She took out an entire building of Chinese nationals. Don't you ever watch the news? This has her fingerprints all over it. A dozen people dead. If you saw her last night she must have said something about it. She went in there and completely carved the place up." My mouth opens, and then shuts. "No, I didn't hear about that," I lie. I was there. We were attacked. She only killed in self defense. For some reason I didn't want Carrie to know. "Listen Carrie, I guess I've been a little dense. Maybe what you're saying is true. Just give me some time to figure it out." "Okay, but we don't have much time. We've got to redouble our efforts to find out who else is behind this. I sent you a list of tasks. If you can get the team working on it, maybe we'll make some progress." I spend the rest of the day tracking transmissions and trying to identify who could be behind all this. Not much else happens, and I actually sleep pretty well last night.