Beware of more intensity!
Programmed Part Two
Rated: R
“So, you can’t visit him at all?” Nikki asked, meeting with Pete in his office.
Pete sighed. “No, I’m afraid not,” he said sadly, staring blankly at the surface of his desk. “Every time I try he just goes berserk, completely manic, as if possessed.”
“I still can’t believe this. MacGyver, trying to kill you…”
“I know. Dr. Ladd thinks he’s been programmed.”
“Has he made any progress?”
Pete shrugged. “It’s only been a few days,” he said, “but he assured me that he’s working hard and doing his best to solve this and de-program him.”
“I wonder who would have the resources to do this,” Nikki said.
“Take your pick of any enemy organization we’re aware of,” Pete said, gesturing at the numerous files scattered across his desk. “I sure have. I’ve been researching all past known associations MacGyver has had, and I don’t think I’ve had any restful sleep in the past few days trying, either. I’m absolutely exhausted.” He rubbed his raw, bloodshot eyes as if to emphasize his current uncomfortable situation.
“Have you found anything useful?”
“So far, not really. Nothing conclusive, anyway. It could be anyone.”
“Well, whoever it was, their methods had to be sophisticated,” Nikki said. “You said yourself that nothing appeared suspicious. MacGyver hadn’t been missing, so no one captured him to do this to him. It was as if whatever happened to him was as natural as falling asleep.”
Pete looked up at her. “It’s interesting that you should mention that,” he said. “Dr. Ladd tells me the last thing MacGyver remembers is going to bed the night before he started behaving this way.”
“So someone could have entered his house boat when he was asleep and administered some kind of drug to influence him.”
“Possibly, except there was no trace of any drug in his system. Whoever did this did a thorough job, that’s for sure, no matter what methods they used. It can’t be easy altering MacGyver’s mind. He’s just not the kind of person to be easily manipulated.”
“But he has been before,” Nikki said, staring at Pete with her hard, flinty eyes. “We have to remember there is precedent for this.”
“You’re implicating Brandon’s organization?”
Nikki shrugged coolly. “We have to consider it, after all,” she said. “It’s the most logical connection I can make at the moment.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Pete said. “Do you want me to grant you security access at the federal penitentiary to speak with him again?”
“I don’t know what good that’s going to do. You know he’s not talking, and his knowledge is limited and perhaps outdated now since being isolated from them in prison.”
“Still, he might know something…”
Nikki nodded. “I’ll probably want to try talking to him again at some point,” she said. “Right now, I’d rather see MacGyver first and see how he’s faring.”
Pete looked into her eyes. Where before they had been hard and inscrutable, they were now filled with tenderness and deep compassion. He knew that, whatever their professional disagreements had been in the past, she deeply cared for him, perhaps even loved him.
“Nikki, I don’t know if that’s a good idea right now,” he said. “We don’t know the extent of his programming. For all we know, he could have been conditioned to attack anyone close to him. Your life may be in danger as well.”
“I’ll be all right,” Nikki said firmly, tightly gripping the back of the office chair facing Pete’s desk. “I’m prepared to face it. Besides, he has to know that we’re here for him, that we care for him. I hate the idea of him shut up in that hospital alone. Last time he was there, he got support. I think he needs that again. All I’m suggesting is that you let me try.”
Pete swiveled his chair so it faced the vast cityscape that sprawled beneath him. “Fine,” he said, folding his hands in his lap and staring out the window. “God knows I can’t see him. Someone has to. Go ahead.”
Nikki hated to hear how he sounded, his voice mechanical and devoid of emotion when she knew internally he was suffering greatly, forced to be separated from his best friend for his protection.
“I’ll let him know that you send your regards,” she said, watching him in sympathy. “We’ll get through this. We’ll help Mac, I promise. He’ll return to us as he has before. I know he can overcome this.”
“Maybe,” Pete said, still staring absently out the window. “I hope so.”
***
Nikki dreaded entering the psychiatric hospital again, knowing that despite the humane care and treatment MacGyver was receiving, the interior of the facility seemed inhospitable and uninviting, its bare, scrubbed, severe walls reminding her of a prison and smelling just as much of rank, stale urine, the stench of humanity in its most degraded form. After checking in with security and going through all the appropriate protocols as a visitor, she met with Dr. Ladd in the corridor outside MacGyver’s room where he was expecting her.
“How is he?” She asked.
“He’s frightened and confused,” Dr. Ladd said. “He doesn’t understand why he should be confined here, as he doesn’t remember attacking Pete.”
“How strange.”
Dr. Ladd shrugged. “It could be part of his programming,” he said. “I’m still working with him. It’s going to require intensive time and effort. It’s not easy to decipher the code of instructions that have been planted in his mind and convince him not to act on those impulses once they have been hard-wired into his subconscious.”
Nikki nodded. “Can I see him now?” She asked.
“Of course.”
They entered the room, and Nikki felt pity for him when she saw that he was once again restrained. Stubble grew on his face and his hair had a shabby, wild appearance. He did not seem to need the restraints as his body was quite immobile on its own. He stared up at the ceiling, seemingly oblivious to their entrance.
“Hey,” Nikki said, gently stroking his arm. “It’s me. It’s Nikki. How are you feeling?”
MacGyver did not respond, continuing to stare. She looked at Dr. Ladd in concern.
“He appears to be quite docile and not in need of restraint for the moment,” Dr. Ladd said, carefully removing them. “I’ll be monitoring this room closely, however, and should be become violent my staff will not hesitate to react within a moments notice to secure him.”
“Thank you,” Nikki said.
Dr. Ladd smiled at her and nodded. “Remember, I’ll be right outside should you need me,” he said.
Nikki watched him leave, waiting until the door was completely shut behind him to return to MacGyver. He blinked and stirred, seeming to become more aware of his surroundings. He began to push himself upright, struggling to sit up.
“Here, let me help you,” Nikki said softly, taking his hand and pulling him up.
As she did so, she studied his hand for a moment, admiring its long, graceful, elegant, yet strong and masculine beauty. His clasp was gentle yet firm, and she found it difficult to believe those hands had held a knife, ready to butcher his best friend mindlessly. She shuddered when she imagined what might have happened had he succeeded in his programmed mission, ending up in prison instead of the psychiatric hospital. Neither situation was ideal, but at least in the hospital he could be shielded from the brutal environment of prison life and not abused or reminded once again of his torture or worse, haunted by an act he wouldn’t have had any recollection of committing, reminded and tormented constantly of Pete’s death and realizing his culpability. A part of her knew that whoever had programmed him had planned on him being confined again, one way or another, but preferably with his programmed orders successfully carried out and Pete murdered.
Once MacGyver sat up fully, he swung his long legs around so they dangled over the side of the bed. Nikki sat beside him, observing him. He looked as if he had just awakened from a long, peaceful slumber, rubbing his eyes and yawning, his hair adorably tousled. He seemed not to take any notice of her for a few minutes until his dark eyes, wandering around the room, at last settled on her. He looked at her in surprise, taken aback by her presence as if she had miraculously materialized before him from nowhere.
“Nikki?” He asked. “When did you get here?”
“I’ve been here for the past few minutes,” she said.
“Really?”
“You didn’t see me?”
“No. No, I must have…been out of it.”
“That’s all right. Pete says hello. He wishes he could be here.”
He stared ahead, frowning. “I don’t understand what’s happening to me,” he said. “Dr. Ladd said I tried to kill him, but I don’t remember it. Now, he won’t let me see him because he says I try to attack him any time he’s around. I’ve been so lonely, locked away in here. You can’t imagine. I believe I’m sane while everyone else is calling me a crazed killer. I’m unsure what to believe anymore. I don’t even know if I can trust myself.”
“He believes you might have been programmed,” Nikki said. “Can you think of how that might have happened? Can you remember anything unusual?”
MacGyver shook his head. “No,” he said. “Dr. Ladd has been asking the same questions, trying to find information, but I don’t have any answers for him. I swear I just don’t know.”
He looked at Nikki with a lost, innocent, and vulnerable expression, one that was familiar to her. She had seen him look at her that way the last time he had been institutionalized, seeking answers that eluded him. His dark eyes were troubled, pleading, and forlorn, looking moist as if he were about to cry. She hated seeing him that way, as if he were a traumatized, helpless child instead of a strong, independent adult. She reached up and cupped her hand around his cheek, feeling his short, bristly stubble rub roughly against her soft skin.
“We’ll figure this out, I promise,” she said. “Everything is going to be all right.”
MacGyver closed his eyes and held her hand, pressing it harder against his face, nuzzling against it and sighing. He then took it and kissed it.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” he whispered. “You have no idea.”
“I’ll be here for you as long as you want me to. I know this isn’t easy for you to be back here again, but it won’t be for long, I know it. You’re going to get better again.”
Opening his eyes, he looked at her with an unexpected sweetness that she had never seen before, even during their most intimate, private moments together. He smiled at her and reached out, gently stroking her hair. She smiled in return. Then, she saw a bizarre and frightening transformation occur, his expression abruptly turning from sweet and boyish to hideous and menacing, glaring at her with pure hatred, rage, and bloodlust, his dark eyes glinting with uncontrollable mania. Before she could properly react he struck her, sending her crashing to the floor, unprepared to defend herself against his blow. She released a surprised cry, holding her throbbing cheek, feeling a trickle of blood near the corner of her lips. He advanced towards her in the same threatening, predatory, and vicious manner, a cruel, sadistic smirk on his face.
“MacGyver, don’t do this,” Nikki said, crawling away from him.
He lunged at her and wrapped his large hands tightly around her throat, squeezing it, crushing it. She wheezed and struggled, fighting for breath, feeling herself slowly asphyxiate, growing dizzy and weak, blackness gathering around her eyes. She desperately tried to fight him, but he was stronger and more determined, refusing to release his grasp no matter how much she hit him with her fists or kicked him. The intensity in his black eyes was eerie to behold. As she began to fade, feeling her body grow limp, losing consciousness, she was unaware of the burly men who burst through the door and barely cognizant as they dragged him off of her, battling to restrain him. Dr. Ladd’s shouts echoed around her, sounding distorted as if in a dream or hallucination. She felt hands on her and voices asking if she was all right, but she could still barely breathe and couldn’t respond. Someone lifted her gently off the floor and hurried her out of the room, and for a moment she blacked out.
***
“Mrs. Carpenter? Mrs. Carpenter…are you all right, Mrs. Carpenter? Can you hear me?” Nikki vaguely heard Dr. Ladd’s soothing voice as she regained consciousness, finding his blurry shape standing over her.
“Doctor,” she gasped weakly, still straining to breathe, her throat feeling bruised, sore, and still constricted, as if MacGyver’s hands were permanently wrapped around it.
“You’re going to be fine,” he said. “Remember, he did this to me before, too. It will feel unpleasant for awhile, but you should recover without any permanent damage. I’ve arranged to have you moved to the local hospital so that you can receive proper treatment for your injuries.”
“Mac…MacGyver…”
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Carpenter. He has been restrained and sedated. I have another session with him soon, so I will discuss this incident with him and see if he remembers it.”
“He…won’t…” she said, closing her eyes, a few tears leaking from beneath the lids as she thought about how much agony he would undergo when he learned of what he’d done to her. She forgave him and knew he was blameless, but she knew he would never forgive himself.
Dr. Ladd sighed. “I’m afraid you’re right,” he said. “It now looks as if he’s been programmed to kill you, too.”
To be continued…
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer."
--Henry David Thoreau
brains+brawn+beauty+personality=MacGyver
