Chapter 42: Confirmation of Complications

The death of Lord Morehouse would be felt by his followers once they were free of Master PC. I wasn't sure how I would address that. For that matter, I wasn't sure it was my responsibility. More than likely the entire Mind Magi Council would have to address it. Either they would find a replacement House leader or allow those members to join the remaining Houses.

Standing up, I pulled out my cell phone to call Michael. I turned away from Morehouse's body. Knowing that I couldn't save him made me sick. He deserved to be punished, but not killed. At least not like that.

Just as I pulled up Michael's number, I heard the rush of footsteps. If Lord Morehouse had more Dragons, even former Dragons, under his control, they may have felt his death and were rushing to his aid. I lowered my phone, waiting to see who approached.

The door burst open and a tactical unit moved into the room. Guns were trained on me and orders were barked.

"Get on the floor! Now!" One of the unit leaders said.

Surprised that this many people were free of the Master PC server, I held up my hands but didn't do anything more.

Two of the men approached me, the rest moving around the room to cover me from a range of angles and to check for anyone else.

By the time the two men got to me, I had my hands on top of my head. Having recovered from my shock, I wondered why they were there. If Lord Morehouse wanted some form of protection, he would have had a Dragon or two around, not armed soldiers.

One of the two men stopped in front of me.

I met his gaze and asked, "What's going on here?"

"No questions," he responded.

The other man moved behind me and attempted to pull one of my arms down, but I held my pose. He pulled and tugged, but there was no use.

Still staring at the man in front of me, I said, "If you want my cooperation, answer my question."

The man in front of me, seeing that his companion was having difficulty with me, stepped back and pointed his gun at my face. "You are under arrest."

"Under whose authority?" I asked.

"That would be the United States Government," said someone from the doorway.

I looked and spotted Agents Conway and Ellison stepping into the room with their own weapons drawn but pointed at the floor.

The unit moved to let them through, but I was still confused. "Why are you two here? Vikkor isn't here."

Conway shook his head. "No, but Morehouse is."

He moved passed me and found Morehouse's body. "What happened?"

"Someone killed him," I said simply.

"That much is obvious," he said. He stood up and looked at me. "Should we be taking you into custody?"

My curiosity regarding their freedom from Master PC was too much. "You're not here for his murderer."

Conway didn't flinch. "Our reasons for being here are not your concern."

I dropped my hands. Some of the armed men made it plain that I had moved too fast. Several guns were trained on me again. "You thought you could get the location of the Master PC server out of him, didn't you?"

Conway twitched at that. He exchanged a look with Ellison and Ellison gave orders for the unit to withdraw. Once they were out of the room, Ellison and Conway approached me.

"How do you know about Master PC?" asked Ellison.

I shook my head. "I'm not answering any of your questions, either of you."

"Mr. Setton, we know all too well what you're capable of..." started Conway.

"Then you know that you're in over your head," I said, cutting him off.

"That's where you're wrong," Ellison said. "That unit has already been modified by the program. They are now the elite. They are the soldiers of our future."

"Then you already know or have an idea of what's going on with the server," I said.

Conway nodded. "If I'm reading you right, we're working toward the same goal."

I shook my head. "No. Where you're trying to secure the server and make sure nothing befalls the populace, I'm looking to dismantle it. It's too dangerous."

The Agents exchanged another look. "You can't mean that. Think about all the things that server could do for us, not just the United States, but the whole world."

I nodded. "I know what it can do, but have you considered what would happen should someone like Charles Manson or Ted Bundy got a hold of that program. That may just be a local problem, but what about someone like Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro, or even Osama Bin Laden?" I shook my head again and started walking away.