Work Text:
BELL
I was at the Watergate on Tuesday morning because a man - Oliver Green - had offered me a lot of money for a few hours of tourist work.
VANN
Did he indicate the kind of work?
BELL
No. You... you don't ask ahead of time about things like that.
SHANE
Do you regularly contract with people who aren't locked in?
BELL
I've only done it a few times before, when I needed money quickly. This time it was because of Abrams-Kettering... the NIH grants are drying up and so pretty soon it's only going to be people who can afford it who can hire people like me. And they say it'll foster a competitive market, but... well. A Day In The Park doesn't pay the bills. Even Hubbard has been hiring me less and less lately. I guess I know why, now.
SHANE
What happened when you got to the Watergate?
BELL
Oliver opened the door. Or should I call him Johnny, since that was his real name?
VANN
Schwartz was using his body, so if it were a normal integration session...
BELL
That's the name I'd use. Schwartz was in Johnny's body, but as far as I knew, Oliver Green just wanted to spend a few hours using someone else's face. As soon as he pulled out the headset, I started feeling weird. I thought it was just a firmware push at first, but it didn't get better after a few seconds like they usually do. The lightheadedness went away pretty quickly, but I still felt weird, and that's when I realized I couldn't move. It wasn't normal. I kept trying to take over, but couldn't do it. I couldn't break free, no matter how hard I pushed.
SHANE
What do you remember about Johnny Sani's death?
BELL
Not a lot, I'm afraid. I was kind of distracted trying to get control of myself. But it happened pretty much just like Hubbard said. I did start paying attention when Johnny broke the window. That'd be hard to miss, right? And when Johnny said what he did, about knowing what 'they' were doing, I had an idea of what was happening. Or at least that I wasn't the only one.
And then Johnny broke the glass and cut his throat, and I couldn't even look away. Until I could. It was closing my eyes that tipped me off. I didn't know what to do so I fell back on my training.
VANN
If the person you were integrating with gets in trouble and you can't stop it, you stay put and call the authorities.
BELL
Except I didn't know what I'd say to any authorities. The guard showed up a minute or two after I was free. He took one look around, pointed his taser at me, and told me to sit down and shut up until the real cops showed up. Which they did, a few minutes later, and by then I'd figured out how to open things with the detective. I figured it was better to get in trouble for definitely taking on a tourist than maybe killing a person. Not that it did me any good.
When I woke up after the Metro cop zapped me, it was just like before. I couldn't move, it wasn't me.
SHANE
Did you realize it was Hubbard controlling you?
BELL
Not at first. Between the fact that I've worked with him enough to know how he moves and the fact that Sam Schwartz showed up when I - my body - couldn't have called him, I had an idea, though. At least I did after I calmed down and started trying to figure things out.
VANN
What happened after you left our custody?
BELL
Nothing I hadn't already planned for that point in the day. I went - Hubbard took me - to Accelerant, since he'd already booked me for the evening and he'd have needed to keep up appearances. It was at the office that things really got scary. He called Schwartz to make sure they both had their stories straight. It wasn't like those movies where the bad guys spill the whole plan right away for people to overhear, but it was enough to make me worried. Schwartz said he'd told Brenda Rees that he was helping Accelerant test a more efficient interpolator, so if the connection dropped for a few minutes she should just play it cool until they got it back up. He bragged that she didn't suspect a thing. I guess it's right what they say about the best lie being the truth.
Schwartz hung up the call and Hubbard went to Marcus Shane's campaign dinner. That was all pretty boring, no offense-
SHANE
None taken.
BELL
And I started to relax a bit.
SHANE
What did Hubbard discuss with m- with Marcus Shane?
BELL
He didn't say anything that would have indicated his plans, if that's what you're asking. Shane was mostly after pledges of support. The usual political tap dance. Hubbard wanted to talk Abrams-Kettering. He kept asking how Shane would address it if he were elected. I think he was trying to find out how he could use your father's campaign to his advantage. Mostly I was just angry that Hubbard was using Cassandra's words, her ideas, when anyone who's spent more than five minutes with the man knows he only ever does anything for his own benefit.
VANN
Did you notice when Schwartz disconnected from Rees?
BELL
Yes, especially because Hubbard noticed it. I knew it wasn't because of some beta test, but what could I do?
I had no idea what Hubbard was thinking at any given time. But sometimes, just for a second, if he was very angry or scared, I'd feel it. That's not normal in an integration. I think it was because of the level of control he had, some instinctual physiological responses couldn't help but bleed through to his... to his host body. God.
SHANE
It's all right if you need a few minutes. I could get you a drink from the vending machines.
BELL
I'm fine, this is just all catching up with me. Hubbard was definitely angry when he saw that Brenda was having trouble pretending to be Schwartz. I don't know what he expected.
I could tell something big had happened when half the people at the dinner got phone calls all at once. All I could think at the time was "don't be a Haden. Please don't let whatever this is be about a Haden, that's the last thing anyone needs." But at the same time, I knew. If the only people they could use like this were Integrators, then the only people they'd be able to frame would be Hadens.
VANN
Where did Hubbard go after the dinner?
BELL
I book private sessions in six-hour blocks, so Hubbard was safe being himself until midnight. He went back to his office and started making phone calls. He had his PR company draft a statement of shock and outrage for the media. He called Accelerant's head of security and they talked about what heightened security measures they could implement quickly. And then he asked his CFO to quietly figure out what a fair buying price for Loudoun would be in light of recent events.
She told him she'd met snakes with warmer blood than him. But he convinced her to do it. He told her it was for the good of the people who may otherwise be out of their jobs soon.
Hubbard eventually made a show of "having to" let me go so I could turn in for the night. But I knew he'd booked me for the rest of the week, so nobody would be expecting me to work for anyone else.
I suppose I should be glad he remembered to feed me after he took me to my place. It was sleeping that was weird, though. My body slept, I'm not sure how, but I stayed awake for most of it. It was just... just dark. I think I might have slept at some point. You'll have to ask Hubbard if you want more information on how that works.
VANN
What happened on Wednesday and Thursday?
BELL
On Wednesday, Hubbard spent the day doing his standard work at Accelerant. There were meetings and such, but nothing that hadn't already been scheduled until Thursday morning. That's when Zoey Cain - she's Hubbard's CFO - sent Hubbard her valuation of Loudon. As soon as he could get away from people, he locked himself up in his office and called Jim Buchold using his own voice. He had a relay set up in there that let him do that. Hubbard made the offer . Other than that, pretty much everything he did as himself was publicly documented.
When he got back to my place, though... he emailed Cassandra, from my email. He said I wanted to see her in person over the weekend, and how would Saturday around lunchtime work? God. When I get home I am changing every one of my passwords and disabling auto-login on everything.
SHANE
What do you know about the explosion at the diner?
BELL
That night, Schwartz texted Hubbard telling him to turn on the news. I guess that was their "Job Done" signal. And then there was the "break-in" at Marcus Shane's house. There was another text after that, but I didn't know the person Schwartz had used this time. When I saw what had happened, when I saw the video that was supposedly Brenda's, that's when I knew for certain why Hubbard had taken me over for so long. I was going to end up dead too, and he was going to use me to... to... don't make me say it.
VANN
To kill your own sister first.
BELL
I honestly don't remember much about Friday. I was too busy fighting him. I stayed awake, I kept pushing every second hoping I'd find some way out. Maybe the connection would go weak. Maybe he'd get distracted. I just knew that if I didn't fight as hard as I could to save Cassandra however I could, I'd be spending eternity never being able to forgive myself.
SHANE
What can you tell us about what happened earlier today?
BELL
Probably not much you don't already have recorded. That morning, Hubbard packed the backpack with the weapons and then recorded "my" suicide note, to be posted not long after he'd arrive at Cassandra's apartment.
As soon as I got a good look at the cradle and saw someone who wasn't my sister, I knew somebody else had to know what was going on. Hubbard had no idea, though. It's not like I have a lot of pictures of my sister's face. I mean, it's her body, but it's never been her. And then there was the threep. I knew she wouldn't have accepted delivery on something like that unless she never intended to use it.
Anyway, once I realized it wasn't Cassie, I noticed the woman in the cradle wasn't breathing. Hubbard didn't. You know how I mentioned there was emotional bleedthrough? The son of a bitch was actually excited. It's why it took him so long to notice there wasn't any blood, too. That's when he got scared.
I kept trying to stop him while he ran, so I didn't even notice the car until it hit me.
VANN
Sorry about that.
BELL
No you aren't. If you hadn't done that, Hubbard would have run me straight off a bridge into the river or something.
SHANE
Is there anything else you want to say?
BELL
That covers pretty much everything, I think. But I think I'll take you up on those vending machines...