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“I’ll worry about ‘the future’ when it gets here,” Wyatt countered, continuing to follow him. “I’m interested in the present at the moment. The Agletarians were calling to negotiate for our surrender and the safe return of the hostage which you then killed in front of them!”

“I needed him to get angry enough to bring Poacher into the room. Without Poacher there to secure the position, they could have simply turned off the transmission before we were all through the screen.” He picked up a clipboard and started to survey the data it contained.

“What did you expect, Wyatt?” Monty asked him seriously, his voice almost pitying again.

“That we could somehow talk them down? That they’d just throw up their hands once confronted with the blinding light of reason?

That their generations of seething hatred for us would be overcome by your natural charisma and they’d realize that they were wrong all along and simply go home in peace?

” He shook his head sadly, apparently still genuinely feeling sorry for Wyatt.

“The world just doesn’t work that way, Wyatt.

I know you wish that it did, but it doesn’t .

And the sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll all be.

I wish I didn’t know what you’re going to soon find out.

But I do. And I make no apologies for it. Because I’m an adult.”

“You have no conscience, do you?” Wyatt asked in horrified amazement. “You killed all those people…”

“Having a conscience merely reveals a lack of conviction .” Monty straightened his suit, his voice resuming its normal conceited and disinterested edge.

“Nonviolent solutions are useless when dealing with violent problems and violent people. A fight was unavoidable. So, I pissed them off and goaded them into doing something unwise. I minimized our casualties in the best way I could, but people were always going to die. Whether your plan or mine, friends were going to die. Innocent people were going to get caught in the crossfire. And you’re right: death is stupid and unfair and doesn’t make sense.

” His voice hardened. “But shit happens . That’s the price of going to war, Wyatt.

That’s business. And if something’s worth killing for, then it’s worth dying for. Grow. Up. ”

“I can’t help but notice that once again you and your department managed to survive a bloodbath relatively unscathed.” Wyatt pointed towards the door. “I didn’t see you out there sacrificing yourself and paying ‘the price of war’ by dying for your worthy cause.”

“I don’t see how you could possibly know who was out there and who wasn’t , since you weren’t out there either.

” Monty countered. “If you were sooooo concerned with the lives of the new members in the Security Department, perhaps you should have sent them to safety in the Undersea Base, where you and everyone else you cared were hidden, before the first shot was fired.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “But you didn’t, did you?

Because you didn’t think they mattered as much as other people .

You thought they could be sacrificed, if it came to that.

So don’t you come in here, all puffed up and moralizing, acting like you’re somehow better than me.

You left them to die. And so did I. I’m simply more honest about it than you are and am not a hypocrite. Because I see the big picture. ”

“I was unconscious.” Wyatt reminded him.

“Yes, that’s seemingly your story every time you make a catastrophic mistake.

” Monty said humoringly, then returned to the argument.

“They served their purpose and did their job. And so did I. They were pieces on the board which had to be sacrificed so that the game could continue. And the team won the day as a result.”

Wyatt rolled his eyes. “Oh, don’t give me that ‘team’ bullshit.

” He pointed at the man in anger. “You don’t give a damn about the ‘team’ or the ‘big picture,’ you care about you.

” He tilted his head to the side. “And where is all the high-tech Agletarian body armor and weapons, Welles? Because it was here earlier and now it’s suspiciously missing. ”

“Huh.” Monty made a show of looking around.

“It does seem to have vanished, doesn’t it?

” He nodded. “I shall have to have Higgins open an investigation on its whereabouts. We wouldn’t want that kind of power falling into the wrong hands, now would we?

” Monty raised his own hand to his shoulder and snapped his fingers to draw his bodyguard’s attention without looking back at her. “Make a note of that, Hildy.”

His zombie companion didn’t move, she simply bared her teeth in a sinister taunting smile at Wyatt.

“You really think I’m going to let you get away with stealing it, Welles?” Wyatt asked him coldly, stepping closer to the man threateningly. “That I’d ever let you have that kind of power?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Monty responded unemotionally, pretending he didn’t even notice the threat. “I’m as surprised by its disappearance as you are.”

Wyatt didn’t turn around, calling to his friend who he knew would back him. “Syd?”

“Thaaaaaaat’s bullshit.” Poacher announced from his position behind Wyatt. “This whole place stinks of Monty’s stooges. He stole it.”

Monty made a show of complete bafflement.

“I really don’t understand what you’re so angry about.

War is about taking away your enemy’s ability to ever wage war against you again, no matter the personal cost. It’s about hate .

Hate in its truest, most virulent form.” His voice hardened.

“Life is about winning, not about playing fair or making sure everyone makes it home. My mission, as always, was to win . And in order to win, I will sacrifice anything . You. The city. Me. All of our coworkers. Everything . Because at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many pieces you lose in the process.

It only matters that you’ve won the goddamn game .

” He stood straighter, his face hidden in the shadows cast by the brim of his top hat.

“ That is who I am, Wyatt. Who I’ve always been and all I’ll ever be.

” He met Wyatt’s gaze with cold unfeeling eyes.

“You all knew that going in. You all knew who I was and you knew what I do. And I was tasked by your wife with sending our enemies a message about the consequences of getting in our way. I sent it. ”

Wyatt looked into the man’s emotionless eyes for a long moment, feeling like he was staring into an abyss. The man simply had no pity. No reason. No soul.

“You’re done, Montgomery.” Wyatt told him flatly. “You went too far this time. You hear me? Harlot didn’t mean this. She didn’t mean blowing up a country and killing dozens of innocent people!”

Monty watched him silently, the look of sincere pity returning to his face. “If you think that, then you don’t know your wife at all.”

Wyatt’s voice took on a threatening edge, and he could tell he was about five seconds away from killing this man now.

“I don’t want to see you around our headquarters anymore.

” He warned flatly. “I don’t even know where our new headquarters will be now, thanks to you, but you’re not welcome there.

” He met the other man’s gaze again. “Are we clear?”

Monty processed that and nodded slowly. “And my workers?”

“They’ll just have to learn to do without your abuse.

I’m sure they’ll miss their cruel overlord desperately, but I think they’ll adjust to finally being treated like people and not machines.

” He crossed his arms over his chest. “The Purchasing and Production department is no longer your concern . You’re a goddamned madman and we’re through with you.

” He jabbed his finger into the other man’s chest to accentuate the words and to drive the point home. “You’re. Fired .”

Monty stood still for a long moment, then simply turned on his heel and marched off.

“You can’t fire him for doing what Harlot told him to do.” Poacher informed Wyatt, sounding disapproving. “That’s not fair.”

“He’ll get over it.”

“Harlot’s never gonna let that happen and you know it.

” Poacher shook his head. “You love your wife too much to go against her and she loves the Consortium too much to fire any of us, even if you think they deserve it. The fact of the matter is that Harlot outranks you here. To most of us, this is still her team. She told him to do it, he did it. End of story. You fire him for that and no one is going to want to listen to her anymore.”

“He took advantage.” Wyatt spat out, recognizing that Syd was probably right about that, but was unwilling to back down. “He knew she was worried and scared, and he was only too happy to step in and seize more power for himself.”

“Maybe. But Harlot’s a clever girl. I think he did exactly what she wanted him to do.

He just took it further than she might have liked.

” He shrugged. “We’re stuck with Monty for the duration, Wyatt.

He’s not going anywhere, and you know it.

All you’ve done here is piss him off.” He let out a long, tired sigh.

“These are uncertain times. Things are changing, Wyatt. I’m not a smart man, but even I can feel it.

A new era is coming. Something dark. Hungry .

And I’m not sure how we fit into it anymore.

There’s some messed up shit going down and we’re catching the brunt of it.

And I genuinely believe this isn’t as bad as it’ll get.

Not by a longshot. So, we’re going to have to change with the times or get changed by them . ”

“What do you want me to do, Syd? Huh?” He gestured to their hopefully ex -coworker. “Leave someone like Monty in power?”