The Society

Hi everyone! Sorry for the wait, and thanks for coming to read this chapter. Life sometimes gets busy and makes it hard to write, but I'm learning to make time for it. Thanks for being patient with me and leaving such nice comments. As always, feel free to message me, rate, and comment with suggestions and stuff. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

***

"Dad...how...is this really you?"

"It really is, son. It's me."

"How is this..."

"Just come here and give your dad a hug, I haven't seen you in ages." Marshall said as he awkwardly embraced Ethan. The sea of people, which included enforcement agents, workers from almost every other unit, and the citizens, hadn't subsided in the slightest, and still huddled around Ethan and Marshall, amazed at what they saw. They cried out a collective 'Aww' as they saw father and son reunited and hugging once again, lost in the appearance of sentimentality and the moment. Ethan and Marshall whispered to each other's ear as they embraced:

"I don't how in the hell you did this, but trust me, I will find out."

"We'll see." They released their hug and exchanged intense looks, which only looked like more sentiment to everyone around them.

"Alright, everyone, I know you all probably have loads of questions and concerns for me, and I appreciate them all. I will be answering anything you want to ask in a special press conference in two days. Come by if you want to ask me something important! Now, obviously this is a tender moment, but I need a moment of privacy with my son."

"To catch up with each other and tell my dad how old he still looks." Ethan quipped as the crowd bellowed in laughter.

"Of course, always the jokester. Let's reconvene in your office, Ethan?"

"Of course. Everybody, back to work. Thank you for your support during this time." Ethan said as the crowd began to disperse and he and Marshall headed towards his office.

He was being very cautious during this moment, as it was a unique one. Not only was he hit with the bombshell of his father's return, but it was in front of a huge crowd of people from every sector of the Society. An outburst, ill-advised comment, or display of anger would play negatively to the citizens he'd been fighting hard to reconnect with the past few weeks. He needed to play this right.

As he and Marshall entered his office, he activated the privacy and soundproof panels in his office, so that no one would see the ensuing conversation.

"What? Don't want anyone to see the dashing President in his office?"

"No, I just don't want them to have to look at your old, grumpy face. Cheer up old man."

"You thought that comment back there was really cute, didn't you? Your comedy's grown stale in all these years." Marshall sneered as he sat down in the chair across from Ethan's desk.

"Enough small talk, how did you do it?"

"Well, hello to you too son. I thought we were going to catch up, reminisce on old times?"

"Hello, have you been good? Great. Now, answer me. How are you back? How are you here?"

"Come on, you don't want to reflect on all the good times we had together? It'll help you relax, you seem tense."

"I'm fine, and there's no good times to reflect on, unless you want to just make some up like some children's fairytale. You never were the artistic, or the intellectual type though, and who knows? You might not even be able to write anything anymore."

"I can do plenty, and your smart mouth isn't going to help you now, Ethan."

"How did you do it, Marshall?" Ethan said as he started raising his voice.

"Do what? I don't even know what you're talking about." Marshall said as he chuckled and they exchanged cold glares. Ethan could tell, he was trying to bother him, annoy him, get him off balance. Even worse, he seemed to be enjoying it, like a kid's first time at an amusement park. He couldn't get enough of it, and Ethan wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

"You just want me to say it, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Well you should know, since only one of us in here has been dead before."

"Hmm..." Marshall could only muster a grumble under his breath.

"How did you come back? How is it possible?"

"Look, if you want to have all of these pressing questions answered, and it's clear you have a lot of them son, I already told you and everyone else when and where to be."

"No, I'm not going to your ridiculous press conference. In fact, it's not happening. There won't be a press conference."

"What makes you think you can-

"Look,

father,

I don't know how you came back, or if you came back, or if you were really dead at all. I don't know if you used magic or some kind of spell. But I do know one thing: you are not the president anymore. I am. This are my citizens, my people to govern and take care of. You are not in control here anymore. That was a long time ago, and you need to remember that."

"And you need to remember this, The Society as it is currently constructed is my creation. The order, cleanliness, everything. It's here because of me and my regime, and the people,

your

people as you call them, have not forgotten that."

"There isn't going to be a -

"There you go again. Understand this, Ethan. I may not be in control, or have any intentions of being in control. Hell, for all you and everyone else knows, I might just be happy to be fucking alive. But don't let that fact cloud your judgement. Just because I am not in control does not mean you are. Control and power are complex concepts son, and they aren't acquired just by saying you have them."

"I don't need a speech from you about power or control. Especially not now. I know what I'm doing here, I'm actually helping these people, something you never gave much of a damn about."

"Oh, I'm sure you're helping them plenty. Look, if you're so confident in your position as President of the Society, why not just allow the press conference? Something so miniscule couldn't possibly endanger your position."

"Fine, I'll let you have your little conference. Now that you're back, you and I both know that people are going to have questions and they won't subside until somebody gives them some answers. I've seen it first hand, since you've been away taking a nap while I did all the work."

"Grrr..." Marshall only let out a low growl. As much as he hated to admit it, he liked when was able to stop his father with his smart comments. Marshall was also known for having a steady disposition, and although more aggressive than Ethan, it was difficult to get him off balance as well.

"But if you try anything sneaky or I suspect foul play, I'll shut the entire thing down and have the enforcement agents contain you. Two days from now."

"Fine by me."

"Good. Now, get out of my office, I have work to do. I would tell you get some rest, but you've already done plenty of that." Ethan said as he scrolled through his computer and prepared for the rest of the day, with Marshall still sitting there.

"I'll be just fine, Ethan. I'll see you tomorrow evening." Marshall said as he slowly got up and walked out of Ethan's office.

While Ethan continued with his work, he thought more about Marshall. He didn't care that he just seemed happy to be alive, or made comments about not wanting to be in control. He knew his father, probably better than anyone here, and he knew he was plotting something. Ethan's job was to find out what, before it was too late.

***

Ugh, what time is it? Oh wait, I almost forgot...

Kodi awoke suddenly, as one of her notepads and a few pens fell to the floor. She was unsure about what time it was, or even what time of day it was. The only way she was able to tell before was from his arrival after working at his 'job'. That would tell her that it was probably the end of the day, but even then, time just felt strange in space. At least on Earth, there was daylight and nighttime to regulate things from a time perspective. Out here, on the space station, it was more complex, but she was sure the Society had some type of artificial lighting system to give its people the appearance of morning, noon, and night.

As she stretched her arms out and shook her afro, she still felt tired and realized that her sleep cycle was out of whack too. Besides the amount of work she'd been doing to get the schematics on the Phantom Link right before working on hardware and a prototype, her first nights here were also a partial culprit of her fatigue. The long metal table, being exposed to those weird devices as punishments, combined with the general fear of him in the beginning, made peaceful sleep impossible. She had to admit, in her first days here, there were probably better nights down on Earth.

But although it was adding to the fatigue, she was determined to finish this work on this new device. As she scanned the room, she saw a familiar sight lately: the crumbled-up pieces of paper and notes everywhere. On the floor, on the small desk where she sat and took notes, and even on the bed. It was a natural byproduct of her ambition. She was so entrenched in the coding and schematics that she rarely stopped to clean up during the process. It was only towards the end of the "day", when she felt that he might be coming back soon that she decided to halt her fiery path of labor and tidy things up a bit.

I swear, this paper seems to come out of nowhere!

Kodi thought to herself, surveying the mess she'd made.

She got up and started picking up papers, skimming through them to see if there were any notes or leftover blueprints that might be useful. She found a few interesting ideas that she'd mistakenly tossed and set them inside the neat notebook, which would be the final draft of calculations and ideas that she'd give to him.

She proceeded and picked up something off the bed. That bed. The bed where he'd been inside her for the first time. Where it felt so good, so titillating that she started getting a little moist from thinking back on it. She stopped and started playing with herself, sitting on the bed and remembering those sensations. As odd as it felt to think it, she actually kind of missed him, the mysterious man, her captor. She missed his firm, strong grip on her voluptuous body, and the feeling of him inside her. Just as she lay back and began to rub her moist pussy lips and let her breasts free, she suddenly her noises coming from outside the room.

He was back. Maybe he would be in the mood and want her again, as he had three other times. Maybe she wouldn't have to rub herself until she came, and he would do it himself, in his strong, almost forceful way. Kodi wasn't able to see anything beyond the force field he put up, nor was she able to control it or take it down. She was at his mercy, and had to wait for him before leaving the room or doing anything outside of it. The collar around her neck reminded her of that. Kodi heard him looking through some of his storage, probably to grab some devices. She also heard clanging on the metal table, which was probably him sitting his stuff down.

But as time passed, she realized that it was taking longer than usual for him to release the force field and ask her about her day and everything. Was something wrong?

"Umm sir? Are you there?"

No answer.

"Hello? Can you release the force field? I wanted to show you something!"

Still nothing.

Kodi also noticed that she didn't hear him walking around anymore, nor as much clanging. He must've been sitting down, probably to work on something. And he was ignoring her. Things felt pretty good between them after the other night when she took him inside her for the first time, and she wanted to show him the progress she'd made. But it was becoming increasingly clear that he didn't want to be bothered tonight, and wasn't even going to interact with Kodi. Something must have happened, or been troubling him for him to change moods this drastically.

Even on difficult, long work days, he'd come down and talk to her for a second before telling her to get in the sedation pod. But tonight was different, which was made even more evident by the sounds of the sedation pod opening while Kodi remained behind the force field later on, about an hour later. During the first part of the day, Kodi would occasionally fall asleep behind the force field in his room, to take breaks like he said. But at the end of the day, however, she

always

went to sleep in the sedation pod, besides maybe one night. He always slept in the room, on his bed. She never saw him get in the sedation pod before, but clearly their sleeping arrangements were going to be different tonight. She picked up a few more notes off the bed before lying down in it and falling asleep, clouded by her worries and more questions about him.

***

The next morning, Ethan woke up with a lot on his mind. The abilities of the sedation pod, his own invention, helped to calm him a little and get some sleep, but it couldn't solve all his problems. He groaned and grunted as he exited the pod, feeling pretty good physically but still feeling mentally heavy from the myriad of thoughts swirling through his mind. He got dressed and headed up to his office to participate in his morning ritual of looking out the window, after making sure Kodi was taken care of. He was always up a little earlier than most people in the Society, but he made it to his office even earlier than usual to ponder while looking out at space.

Besides his father's generally annoying personality, something else was bothering him. Something potentially serious. From their conversation, it appeared that he knew something about the Society and what's changed since he was away. He knew things, possibly things that couldn't be observed just by looking at new technologies or a fresh common room design. And if Ethan was right and he did know about the happenings around the Society in his absence, that could only mean one thing: he had someone helping him. He figured this anyway, based on whatever method he used to come back, or heal himself or whatever it was.

But there was something else that bothered Ethan as well, something that amazingly troubled him even more than the possibility of losing his position as President, and the impending danger that would ensue if such a thing came to task. Something he couldn't stop thinking about...

Kodi.

So far, Kodi's presence on the Society's space station, along with the fact that she was alive, had remained a complete secret. There hadn't been close to any questions raised about her, besides an outburst from the General, which was easy for Ethan to manage, and Alyssa's sudden curiosity about it the other night. In both instances, he was able to convince them that Kodi was nothing to worry about and that she was dead. Coupled with the fact that the rest of the citizens in the Society seemed to be feeling safer with the new security measures, he was actually feeling reasonably confident that he could keep Kodi's presence a secret.

But now that Marshall was back in the fold, an entirely different and more dangerous threat to he and Kodi had arrived. Not only was he more familiar with both the Society and Ethan than almost everyone, his personality would prove to be a unique challenge. Marshall was the type of person who could smell danger, sniff a rat out from a mile away. His combination of military experience, cunning as a strategist, and extreme skepticism made him almost impossible to fool.

It was his ultimate reputation, and a source of fear and intimidation for everyone around him. It was only because of Ethan's specific relationship to Marshall, coupled with his own intellect and ability to read situations well and react properly that he hadn't already slipped and revealed Kodi's presence.

If he was getting help, then that meant he was even more of a threat than ever. Ethan needed to find out who he was working with, quickly and subtly. He didn't want to think about what would happen if he found Kodi, if any of them found Kodi. For some reason, he was growing protective of her, and wouldn't give her up to someone as conniving and menacing as his father. He wouldn't lose her. He couldn't.

"Hello, sir?"

"Sit down, Alyssa. Go ahead and get my appointments in order, then we'll proceed from there."

"Oh, okay." She said nervously as she sat down and begun rummaging through meetings on the calendar. Ethan remained standing at the window, silent.

A little while later, after he had attended some meetings and Alyssa had worked on some documents for him, Ethan was back at the window, thinking about Kodi once more. It was then that Alyssa did the one thing she always hated to do, but felt she needed to.

"Umm, Mr. President?"

"What is it, Alyssa? Something wrong with the computers?"

"No, everything is fine over here. I was just...wondering if everything was alright with you. You've been awfully quiet today."

"I've just been thinking, getting my thoughts in order and preparing for some of the new technologies we have coming up."

"Oh..."

"This job does get a little busy every now and then."

"Right, of course. Well, okay then, just checking."

"Alyssa?"

"Yes, sir?"

"I'm guessing you heard about the news that Marshall is back, right?"

"I heard. It was kind of hard not to hear about it. It's all everyone's been talking about." As she glanced over at Ethan, still not turned to face her, she worried more. She knew this was most likely what was causing his extended silence.

"How do you feel about it?"

"Feel about it?"

"Yes. About him coming back."

"Umm well, it's obviously great that somebody who we thought we'd lost forever is back. It's always good news when we know a citizen of the Society is safe and sound."

They might not be safe and sound for long

, he thought.

"Of course."

"And I mean look at him, he seems like such a nice, cool old man." Alyssa said as she gazed outside the doors of Ethan's office with a warm smile.

Ethan turned around and saw Marshall not far from his office, a few room back. He was doing something that Ethan rarely ever saw around the Conners household: being nice. He was talking to an elderly lady, laughing and helping her carry some items back to her room. They looked to be having a good time, but Ethan knew better. He knew that Marshall probably didn't even like the lady, and couldn't wait until her little errand was over. Moreover, Ethan suspected that it wasn't a coincidence that this wonderful exchange happened right outside his office. His father wanted him to see this, to see him. To get in his head.

It only confirmed what he already knew: that the growing conflict between him and Marshall was going to be dictated by their images, the way they were viewed by the people. It was a battle of public perception.

"Yes, he's...very nice it seems. The people seem to have taken a renewed liking to him."

"Exactly, I would be that happy and cheery too if I was pronounced dead and was given a second chance. Who wouldn't?"

"Anyone would. Second chances are a rarity in this world, and especially on this space station. He's a lucky man." Ethan said, knowing luck had little to do with it.

"He really is. And we could probably use some of that kind of energy around here. You've been doing your best to help move us forward, but the people could use a little boost. Maybe this is it."

"Maybe."

"The only thing I don't get is how? People don't just come back to life, do they?"

"They're not supposed to, no."

"Have you ever heard of anything like it before?"

"No, I haven't."

"Well, whatever it is, it's like a miracle or something."

"Alyssa, did you heard anything about this, any rumors about someone coming back or Marshall at all? Maybe I missed something, you know how I get when I dive into my work." Ethan said as he turned and walked to his desk, and stared right into Alyssa's eyes with his blue glare.