Title: The Assistant, part 31
Author: Sweetdoggie
Email: (stirling_summer@yahoo.com)
Pairing: B/G
Rating: R
Summary: More about the Initiative
Spoilers: season 4
Disclaimer: No permission has been granted to use the characters. They are owned by their creator, Joss Whedon, Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, WB, and Mutant Enemy. This story is non-profit and is intended solely as entertainment. No copyright infringement is intended.
Buffy and Giles were provided with security clearances that allowed them to tour the most visible parts of the Initiative. They were blindfolded and taken to an undisclosed location. Buffy could tell by the scent of the place that they were in the Lowell dormitory. It was one of the more interesting perks of being the Slayer that her senses were heightened. Except, of course, it meant that she smelled demon even more strongly than humans did. Sometimes they could be quite revolting.
They descended by elevator, the drop taking several minutes. When the small box stopped, they were very deep underground. She wasn’t naturally claustrophobic, but the weight of the earth combined with the almost overpowering scent of demon and antiseptic made her feel queasy. They were led into what felt like a large open area and the blindfolds were removed. She blinked at the bright lights and looked around. White floors, walls and ceilings reflected the unflattering fluorescent lighting and made the shadows in the corners fall in strange ways.
Looking around, she saw odd, open rooms each holding some variety of demon. There were Fyarls and Thuvats, Hell Hounds, Vampires, and many others that she didn’t recognize. Giles was likewise taking in the massive prison. He turned to the smugly proud Maggie Walsh.
“How do you keep them all contained?”
“It’s a special technology designed for containing prisoners in a totally visible way. Each cell is closed with a substance similar to plexi-glass, except, of course, this won’t break. It’s also ionically charged with an electromagnetic field that will induce a severe shock for any creature touching it. We can knock them out for experimentation by inducing a gas into the cubicle. Food is dropped from a chute in the ceiling. Waste products are automatically washed out of the cell twice a day. In effect, we have isolated these creatures. No human need come into contact with them at all.”
Buffy was horrified. Yes, they were demons and most of them were actively hostile to humans, but she saw several that were neutral and a couple more that believed strongly in the live and let live policy. And she didn’t care if they were hostile, she realized. These were living, sentient creatures and killing them was one thing but keeping them to study and experiment on was something else altogether. She schooled her face into an expressionless mask, but she vowed one way or another, this place was going down.
They walked around the compound looking at the pathetic creatures locked away in the tiny rooms. Maggie Walsh kept up a running commentary throughout the tour. There was an operating theatre in the center of the open area. Giles wondered if this was a deliberate cruelty—to make the demons know what was in store for them.
As they passed one room toward the back, Buffy heard a familiar voice calling to her.
“Slayer! Slayer! You’ve got to help us.”
She turned and was amazed to see a vampire with bleached blond hair calling her name.
“Spike? What are you doing here?” she asked it.
“You need to help us, Slayer.”
At her blank look, he continued impatiently. “You remember me, don’t you, pet?”
“ Oh, yeah. I remember you. You’re one of Angel’s childer”
“He’s my grandsire. Word is, you two were tight for a while. You need to get me out of here.”
She said nothing but her eyes were very expressive. Riley stepped forward and put his arm in front of her as if he were protecting her from the vampire. She rolled her eyes, but only Spike and Giles saw it.
Maggie Walsh stepped forward. Ignoring the vampire, she addressed Buffy. “Do you actually know this creature?”
Buffy shrugged. “Nope, not really. I mean we’ve sort of met, but I am familiar with his line.”
“What does that mean?” the Doctor wanted to know.
Buffy looked at her, not terribly surprised at her ignorance. “Vampires have lines of descent, just like people. This one comes from Aurelius, a very, very bad boy. He created Masters and Lieutenants like other vamps sire Minions.”
“I don’t understand this terminology,” Walsh admitted.
“Vampires have a hierarchy ranked by power and status. A master is in charge of a nest or family depending on how feral and powerful his group is. Aurelius sired the Master who in turn sired Darla and Luke. I don’t know Luke’s get, but Darla sired Angel who turned Drucilla who turned Spike. Each one of these creatures was a Master vampire.”
“What’s a Master exactly besides a leader?”
Buffy’s amazement peeked through momentarily. “You don’t know?” She shook her head. “A Master is a vamp who comes through the transformation with its senses intact-with all its marbles, if that makes it clearer. Aurelius’ line breeds true.”
“How can you tell if they’re Masters or not?” Walsh demanded.
“I feel their power. Plus, they usually get special, uh, gifts. Most of them can thrall their victims; some of them have other abilities.”
“We should find this Master Aurelius,” Maggie Walsh declared. “He could be an invaluable subject for study.”
Giles spoke up, pride in his voice. “I’m afraid that won’t be possible. He has been dust for centuries. And as for his get, the Master, Buffy, ah, eliminated his threat over three years ago.”
“Then we should pick up one of these other creatures. Luke or Darla would do.” The doctor was practically salivating.
Giles was already shaking his head. “Sorry. They too have gone the way of all flesh. Buffy finished Luke just before dusting the Master. Darla was eliminated in a brawl.”
Maggie Walsh looked Buffy over very carefully. “Just exactly how many Master vampires have you killed?”
Buffy furrowed her brow. “Let me see. Uh, Lothos, the Master, Luke, Darla, Balthazar, or whatever his name was, and oh, I don’t know a dozen or so more.”
“Oi! You took out Lothos? That was you? I heard over a hundred vampires died that night!” Spike said in surprise.
Buffy shrugged. “Most of them were fledglings.”
“Lothos was nearly a thousand though,” Spike replied. “He’d offed at least a dozen Slayers over the years.”
“He shouldn’t have tried to kill my Watcher,” Buffy replied. “It’s one of those things that just get my back up, you know?”
Riley was looking at her in awe. “You’ve killed a hundred vampires?”
“No. I’ve killed way more than that.”
At his continuing look of worship, she sighed impatiently. “Riley, it’s what I do. I’m the Slayer, I kill vampires and demons and assorted creatures of the night.”
Spike leaned close to the glass door of his cage. “Slayer, you’ve got to get us out of here. These people don’t know what they’re playing with. They’re doing some kind of scientific crap on us. They kill demons and cut them up for spare parts. I haven’t been able to see all they do, but it’s horrible. None of us want to be parted out like a junk car. It’s coming down to war, Slayer. The monsters against the humans—when this breaks, it’s not just going to be these military jobbies that get their throats ripped out, I can promise you that!”
Buffy turned to Maggie Walsh. “What about these experiments, Dr. Walsh. You said yourself you’re working on these creatures. What’s that all about?”
Walsh smiled with her most superior look. “What if we could harness the power of these creatures for the United States military, Buffy? What if we could make our soldiers more powerful or invulnerable to enemy fire, or allow them to heal more damage at a faster rate? Isn’t that worth the sacrifice of a few sub-terrestrials?”
Buffy slipped her hand into Giles’. He gave her a squeeze to answer cautiously. “Gosh, I don’t know, Dr. Walsh. I’m sure you’re doing a bang-up job here, but it seems sort of cruel to torture these creatures…”
“All in the name of science, Buffy. You’re basically still just a child, but you need to understand that you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. In this case these creatures are the eggs.”
Buffy felt herself pale at the concept. She killed these things on a nightly basis, but that was just business. They tried to kill her, she tried to kill them; it was the way things worked. Nobody captured people from the other side for scientific experimentation. It was just wrong in a way that she couldn’t explain. As they walked up the corridor of cages, Demons began crying out to her, in English and in their own languages. “Slayer, help us! Slayer, help us!”
Giles put a steadying hand on her shoulder and she was able to finish the tour without making eye contact with any of the captives.
“Well, this has been terribly fascinating, Dr. Walsh. Thank you for the tour. Um, do let us know if we can be of any assistance.” Giles talked fast. He didn’t want Buffy to say another word.
Walsh smiled coolly. “I’m sure you can see where your primitive methodology is lacking, Mr. Giles. Modern technology has brought science into play and when put up against your so-called magic, well, I’m sure you can see the difference.”
“Oh, yes. I can. Quite clearly as a matter of fact.” They were reblindfolded and got into the elevator without any more conversation.