The Cost of Morality

John was in total shock. Not only to see his best friend, Lea, along with KJ and Chief Roman, but to realize he had officially been arrested. They must have caught up with him while he was unconscious. They even restrained him, which, considering everything that’s happened, was reasonable.

“What is this?” John asked, his voice flat.

“You know what this is,” Chief Roman said plainly. “You broke the rules on multiple occasions. And now they’re saying you prevented us from acquiring the satellite codes.”

“That wasn’t the deal,” John snapped. “I was supposed to lead you to Peter. Lead you to stop him, and to eliminate the satellite.”

Roman shrugged. “Oh, come on. We never promised to get rid of it! We just said we’d help you stop your brother.”

John shook his head, biting back a laugh. Typical CIA bullshit. Of course they’d want to keep the satellite, but he hadn’t realized just how deeply they wanted it. He felt like a giant failure.

He’d thought he could convince them to let Peter live, and Peter died. He thought he could save Tokyo, and now there was a giant crater that said otherwise. He promised Noreen he’d protect Mango. He promised Mango he’d always have her back. And now she was gone. In the hands of Laz and his crazy sister.

He sighed heavily. “Wait… Laz. What about Laz?” he asked.

“What about him?” Chief Roman asked.

“You don’t know?” John said, his eyes widening. “He’s with my sister!”

“Your sister?!” said KJ. “Wait, what? Is there something I’m missing here?”

“Oh yeah,” said Lea. “His brother and sister are the original targets that needed to be eliminated.”

“Go ahead and cross my brother off the list,” said John.

“Woah, woah, woah… you’re THAT Nero? I thought it was just a coincidence! I read about you online! Dude, you’re supposed to be dead!” said KJ.

“And it was supposed to stay that way until just recently,” said John. “Now, not only have I exposed myself to be alive to people outside the family, I also have to stop my sister, but my senior agent has now switched sides, and I’m the one in cuffs.”

Lea and Chief Roman exchanged glances. “What do you mean he’s with Jade?” Lea asked cautiously.

John leaned forward slightly, the handcuffs clinking against the rails. “While I was trying to retrieve the codes, Jade showed up and convinced him to side with her. At least temporarily.”

“Impossible,” Chief Roman said immediately. “Laz is as straight-arrow as they come. The guy only cares about climbing the CIA ladder.”

“Exactly,” said John. “And she knows it. She told him there’s a hidden organization that controls the entire underworld. She claims if he helps her eliminate them, he’ll not only save the world but walk away as the greatest agent in history. She even gave him evidence to bring back.”

Roman ran his hand through his hair and began pacing the room. “If what you’re saying is true, I’ll have to report this to the Deputy Director. But for now, I can’t confirm any of it.”

“He was bringing the Deputy the codes before all this happened! It’s not any better if we use it to enforce the law! How come he’s not on some watchlist?”

“Because that’s his job! It’s our job! We work for the fuckin CIA, you guinea! Do you know how much trouble you’ve caused me?”

“And in the meantime, I’m still under arrest?” John asked.

“Yes! You disobeyed direct orders.”

John yanked against the cuffs, enraged. “Are you serious? So Laz gets a promotion and I get a prison cell?”

“What do you want me to do?” Roman shot back. “I don’t make the calls! I’m just here to bring you in.”

“They let us come because we’re your friends,” said Lea. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t even get this much. Did you really rob a CIA front in Italy of thousands of dollars and jewels and then steal two cars to get away in?”

“Well, when you say it like that, it sounds bad!”

“How else am I supposed to say it? You really stepped in it this time, you dumbass!”

Roman turned toward the door. “I’ll make the call. I need to confirm what you’ve said before anything can happen.”

John fell back against the bed, defeated. Even his friends couldn’t help him. What was the point? If he ever did get out of this, what was he even supposed to do? It was over.

He was captured. Powerless. And for the first time in his life, truly alone.

KJ put his hand on John’s shoulder. “This might not be the right time, but did you use my inventions to pull all this off?”

“Yeah. I got the most use outta the grapple belt. I used it to cling to the side of a boat, snag onto a helicopter from a train, and save myself from a free fall by clinging onto a passing biplane. I didn’t get a chance to use the darts. I’ll put it in my report.”

KJ nodded. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, that sounds really fucking awesome, dude. That might be some of the coolest things I’ve ever heard someone do with my stuff. Thanks, man.”

KJ sighed and went over to the door to hold it open for the Chief. Chief Roman stepped out of the room and immediately pulled out his phone, dialing.

Noreen walked up to John and placed a trembling hand on his.

“Where is Mango?” she asked softly.

John looked away. The words were caught in his throat. He couldn’t say anything. Then Noreen’s face twisted in sudden rage. She grabbed his hospital gown at the chest and began shaking him violently.

“Where is she?!” she screamed. “I told you not to get her killed!”

“She’s not dead!” John said, wincing. “She’s not! I swear!”

“You don’t know that!” Noreen shouted.

She slapped him hard across the face. Lea rushed forward, grabbing Noreen and pulling her off of him, though Noreen kept yanking toward John.

“You promised me!” she sobbed. “You said you’d take care of her, and now she’s gone! God knows where and you’re just sitting there like a log!”

“What do you want me to do?” John barked back. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been arrested. If there were something I could do, I would!”

Noreen broke into tears, her body wracked with sobs. Then, without warning, she looked up at John and smiled bitterly, tears streaming down her face.

“Of course,” she said through her tears. “This is so typical. My family always gets screwed and there’s never anything we can do about it.”

“Let’s get some air,” Lea whispered, gently guiding Noreen toward the door. Before leaving, she gave John a sad glance. She shook her head in disappointment as she left.

The doctor, now alone with John, sighed and stepped forward.

“I’m sorry about that,” the doctor said. “Sounds like you’ve got… a lot going on.”

“You have no idea,” John muttered. "I'm fine though. Can you at least take this thing off my face?"

"Yeah. I'm sure you don't need it anymore," said the doctor, and he removed the breather. The doctor examined John’s face. “Are you sure you’re fine?”

“Yeah, well… falling out of the sky on a burning blimp does that to a man,” John replied. “Sorry, I’m not exactly jumping for joy.”

"You what?! When Noreen brought you in, you were passed out! She said you were in an accident! Well, that explains the slight burns. You're covered in cuts and bruises. I mean your shoulder was dislocated, your forearm was torn open and fractured, your ankle is twisted, your wrist has a hairline fracture and you have two broken ribs."

"To be fair, the crash isn't what broke my ribs. And I'm pretty sure I dislocated my shoulder when I grabbed the plane."

"You hurt yourself walking onto a plane?"

"... Sure."

"You certainly seem to have a dangerous lifestyle."

"I swear it's not on purpose. I’m supposed to be behind a desk right now, sorting accounting files if you can believe it."

Just then, there was a knock at the door. In walked the doctor's wife and their son. He now recognized the same family from the train. The boy held a giant teddy bear, a balloon, and a colorful gift bag.

As soon as John saw the “Get Well Soon” balloon, his face felt hot. He had been to the hospital several times, but he wasn't used to such a simple and honest gesture. His dad used to take him to a "private" hospital. You wake up either surrounded by standard flower arrangements and someone asking you who they need to kill.

It was nice to get something simple, like in a movie. The woman and her son beamed at the sight of him. The child ran forward and hugged John tightly around the chest. John winced at the contact on his ribs.

“Don’t hurt him,” the woman laughed, gently pulling her son off. “He looks like he’s seen better days.”

“What… is this?” John asked.

“What does it look like, silly?” the woman said. “We never got to properly thank you, so… we brought you this.”

She placed the gift bag on the nightstand and leaned in to kiss her husband.

“Ew!” said the small boy. “Stop that!”

The couple laughed. The woman turned back to John. “I guess we were never properly introduced. My name’s Riley Dole. And I hope my husband hasn’t been too rude to tell you his name.”

The doctor scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Well… a lot happened when he woke up.”

Riley tugged his ear hard. “You’re always so rude! This is my husband, David Dole, and this is our son, Kyle.”

Kyle waved enthusiastically. John gave a small chuckle. Families like this were rare in his life. His own family had once been this happy, this whole. He wondered if things had gone differently… would he have grown up in a world like theirs?

“Hello,” John said, “my name is… uh…”

“His name is John Nero,” Dr. David Dole said. “And apparently, he’s the last son of an international mafia boss.”

Riley’s smile faded, and the warmth she entered with quickly vanished.

“…What?” she asked, with a chilly, scared voice.

“Cool!” Kyle exclaimed. “Does that mean you smoke cigars?”

John shook his head. “I’m not a mafia guy. I work for the American government.”

Riley sighed in relief. “That’s good. I was afraid you were on that train to… start trouble. But you were saving people, weren’t you?”

John shrugged. “That wasn’t my intention. I was there to… identify someone. Then go home. I wasn’t even supposed to be there.”

“But you were,” said Dr. Dole. “And if it weren’t for you, we might not be here.”

He picked Kyle up.

“I know you’re going through a lot,” he said, “but I can’t express how grateful I am. The truth is, I only patched you up. You were already alive when you got here. So, in a way, I still owe you.”

John laughed and choked when he felt the pain in his ribs. He looked down at his right arm.

“No,” John said. “You’ve done more than enough.”

“No, he hasn’t,” Riley said, grabbing David by the ear again. “He forgot to invite you to dinner, didn’t he?”

“Dinner?” John asked, eyebrows raised. “Well, that’s going to be a little difficult,” he said, jangling the handcuffs on his bed rails. “Seems like I’ve gotten myself into a sticky situation.”

Riley stared at the cuffs, her eyes widening. “…You were arrested? I'm guessing that wasn't your intention either."

Kyle quickly squirmed out of his father’s arms, darting over to the handcuffs. He began inspecting them, poking and playing with the locking mechanisms.

“Whoa,” Kyle said in awe. “So you're like... a badass?”

Mrs. Dole immediately swatted her son on the back of the head. “What did you just say?”

“Uh… nothing,” Kyle mumbled, stepping back, rubbing his head.

John laughed. A real, genuine laugh. They seemed so normal. So happy. If only he’d been born as someone else, he might've been able to feel this way all the time.

“I bet you were trying to help someone,” Mrs. Dole said, shifting Kyle onto her hip.

“I was,” John replied, eyes lowering. “There was a bit of a mix-up. I was trying to stop someone from doing bad things, and I ended up the one in cuffs somehow. And now… the powers that be are going to hurt a lot of people. I tried to stop them.”

John swallowed hard. “I tried... but I failed. And now, they’re going to do terrible things.”

Mrs. Dole gave him a kind look, then kissed Kyle on the head. “Well,” she said, “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Just get some rest.”

Before John could reply, the Doles exited the room. Dr. Dole placed a comforting hand on John’s good shoulder.

“Listen,” he said, “that day on the train… you had a gun. You could’ve used it to wave around and threaten us, take our money, control the scene. You could’ve forced the other criminals to obey you, or worse, helped them. But you didn’t.”

John shrugged. “I don’t know about all that.”

“I do,” the doctor said. “I saw how you fought. You used your weapon to protect innocent people.”

John sighed. “If only you knew… there's someone out there doing the exact opposite. Someone using their weapon to protect criminals—and control innocent people.”

“And that’s what makes you different,” the doctor said. “You chose the right thing.”

He looked toward the door. “Because of that choice… I get to be here with my family again. Even if you live to regret it, I’m eternally grateful.”

John gave a quiet chuckle. “I’d never regret something like that. But… I don’t know if it’s worth it anymore. Doing the right thing… doesn’t seem to be a very popular option. There's just too many of them.”

Dr. Dole stepped to the door, turning one last time. “Yeah, well, someone has to. Or else people like me couldn’t live in this world.”

Then, he was gone. John leaned back in bed, the doctor's words stirring in his mind.

It was true. John never wanted to see people get hurt, especially people who didn’t deserve it.

Suddenly, the FOCUS AI spoke to him.

<<<>>>

[Do you want your mission results?]

<<<>>>

“No,” John answered aloud. “Why on Earth would I want to hear that? I'm not going to be, nor do I want to be, an agent anymore.”

<<<>>>

[Why do you do that?]

<<<>>>

"Do what?"

<<<>>>

[Why lie when you want to say something else? It is conflicting.]

<<<>>>

“Is conflict a problem?”

<<<>>>

[Yes. I am to do what you ask of me.]

[However, because I am in your mind, I am getting two commands.]

<<<>>>

John exhaled, long and tired. …Alright, he thought. Give me the results.

<<<>>>

[Mission: FAILED.]

<<<>>>

Yeah, somehow I picked up on that.

<<<>>>

[Objective: Acquire codes — Failed.]

[Objective: Stop Laz — Success.]

<<<>>>

Success? John thought. I didn’t stop him from doing anything.

<<<>>

[Incorrect.]

[You stopped Laz from giving the codes to the CIA.]

[Profile deletion of Mango — Success.]

<<<>>>

How do you know that it succeeded?

<<<>>>

[Jade's hacking device was on her person.]

[When I analyzed it at the beginning, it required user action before going autonomous.]

[She had a 99% chance of using it as planned before her extraction.]

<<<>>>

So… I didn’t completely fail.

<<<>>>

[Correct.]

[The timer is still going. The mission isn’t quite over yet.]

[While you were out, I processed the data XP.]

[Skill: Face Changer (1) → (2)]

[I used the data of you being hit in the face all this time and it changing from bruises as data.]

[Agent Hawk gave me the last bit of data I needed.]

[What do you want to do?]

<<<>>>

Great. Glad I could help while getting my face beat in.

John sat silently. Then he cursed himself.

Don't do it, he thought. Sit here in this bed and don't get up. Don't think about the family you helped or the fact that you hate giving up. Let it go. It's bigger than you...

Peter had inherited the boldness, the raw muscle, the iron will. Jade had absorbed their family’s cold intelligence, their cunning, their schemes.

But John? He inherited something…

Something deep inside him refused to let anything end, not until every last "i" was dotted, "t" was crossed and every problem was fixed. It was almost as if he craved the rush...

John sighed. “Even if I wanted to,” he said, “there’s nothing I can do. I don’t even know where Mango is… or where Jade has taken her.”

Then, a faint buzzing sound broke through the room’s silence. John turned his head.

His phone resting on the nightstand was vibrating.

“Dr. Dole?” John called out. “Can you come in here, please?”

The doctor stepped in quickly. “What’s wrong?”

“Can you get my phone?”

Dr. Dole nodded and walked over to the nightstand. He picked up the phone and glanced at the screen.

“That’s strange,” he said. “Your GPS shows you’re in Hawaii.”

"My GPS?"

He obviously wasn’t in Hawaii. The GPS signal wasn't his location.

It was tracking his watch! The one that Mango stole! If the tracker was in Hawaii, then so was she.

For the first time since waking up, a surge of hope rushed through his veins. If he could just get out of here, he might be able to do something.

He looked up at the doctor with a smile. “Doctor… is Lea still out there?”