Contingency by ndv
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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
"Sister..." Ethan began, slipping a warm mug of cocoa into her cold hands. Briefly, he wondered if he'd have to close her fingers around it as well. They'd seated themselves at the large oak dining table at the back of the house, he, his father, his sister. There was no chill in the air, as one might have expected, though the bite of mystery settled close around them. Jim had yet to reappear from his venture upstairs, and both of the men were growing restless as she had remained silent. "Sister, what is going on?"
"Why didn't you call me Miss Parker - just then?" she asked, sipping the warm liquid. Gathering her thoughts, her wits about her.
"I wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do, if it was who you wanted to be now," he lowered his gaze, hand cutting through the air, "after all of this."
Her eyes flicked from her brother to his father, and she sighed. "Jarod, while a genius, has this amazing ability to not think about things, to feel a little too much. I do not want him involved in this, because... well, he would get himself hurt, quite frankly. And that's the last thing I want right now, there are enough people walking around with battle scars from the Centre, and he already has his fair share. This... it has nothing to do with him."
"We won't call Jarod," Major Charles nodded, "if you'll tell us what is going on."
"I'm not ignorant, Major Charles, Ethan. Far from it, if you believe me. I am a Red File just like Jarod, but my mother and my... well, Mr. Parker, whomever he may be to me - if any relation at all - fudged the results a little bit. The Centre, the Triumverate, whoever it is that sanctions Pretender testing, or any of it, knew that I was smart, knew that I may someday develop my mother's gift, but didn't know ... just what the strength of it might be." She sipped from the old mug, squirmed in her seat. Her eyes were slightly sunken, a little darker than usual. She was tired - so very tired, but the story had to be told for them to see why she needed their help, why she needed to be away from this place, from him. "My mother's inner sense began to develop when she was an adult, around the same age mine did. Ethan's... well, his was... enhanced," she cut her eyes to him as he let out a bark of sarcastic laughter, "by the same process that destroyed Timmy - Angelo. The inner sense is different in men than in women, it is not a naturally occuring phenomena. The Centre used methods to mutate the portion of his brain that would be affected by the possession of an activated, dominant gene. It's much like the Pretender gene, though it's the same gene, just a different mutation. You see, the genetic mutation that makes Jarod a Pretender... it's slightly different, but hereditary all the same. But, Major Charles, have you ever wondered why *you* don't possess the same branian qualities as your son?"
"Margaret and I... we assumed NuGenesis had something to do with it," his words were slow, his eyes clouded with thought. How could she possibly know these things? Where had her information come from?
"Right you are, old man. NuGenesis exploited the gender of your child - nothing more, nothing less. Margaret and you each carry a recessive genetic mutation, that, when activated by the pairing of another recessive gene with the same mutation, leads to a child with a mental capacity far greater than that of it's parents. Except the gene can only be activated in males. In females it remains dormant, to be passed on through future generations. That's why the Centre never actively attempted to take Emily from you - not that it couldn't, but simply because she was of no use to them. Like me, I guess you could say. The genetic mutation is there, but it wouldn't *help* the Centre any, to possess a tool they could not use. This... mutation, it doesn't pass from generation to generation, exactly. Jarod's children won't have it - which is why they cloned him, rather than attempt to create one of his children, his grandchildren... will. A father cannot pass it to his child. Only a mother is guaranteed to pass on that gene, without knowledge that she, herself, even has it. What lies dormant in her, is hyperactive in her sons. Her daughters may be carriers for the gene, but her children will only possess it if the father of her child also carries the dormant gene - like it was with you and your wife. Emily's children will likely never be Pretenders, she is only useful to The Centre as a threat to you," she shrugged. "Now, with the Inner Sense, it is much the exact opposite. In boys, it can be activated at childhood but it becomes almost like shizophrenia, with dozens of voices speaking at once, some contradicting each other. Only with training and patience can the false voices be blocked out while the one true voice - who happens to sound like our mother," the brunette sat her mug on the table and took her brother's hand in her own, eyes sparkling wistfully, if only for a moment. "With women... it only occurs in the middle of - what the Centre terms - her child-bearing years. It happens naturally, gradually, always starting with a traumatic event. But in females, it's more than a voice - like when we learned of Tommy Thompson at the same time... it comes in the form of premonitions - like when I knew you would save me from the burning house, Ethan; visions..." her laughter was choked, loud, "sometimes I see ghosts of people I've never met! The lucky few can master it themselves, the others receive training."
"Sydney helped you." Ethan nodded, glancing at Major Charles, whose face was set in a grim line, brows furrowed. Ghosts?
"Yes, he did. Some of the skills I've developed come from the gift of the Inner Sense itself, but to harness those... a woman needs a mentor. It also helped that mine was the same as my mothers."
"But, I'll hazard a guess, your ability... it's stronger, isn't it? Than your mothers?" Major Charles finally questioned.
"I don't know, Major, but I'm beginning to wonder that myself." Her face was down-turned, a weary expression upon her face.
"Where did you find this out? How? And why did you come here, running from Jarod? And what's going on with this... creating another child of mine?" he finally blurted out all of the questions that had been bubbling to the surface, "How can we trust you? You're not going to return to the Centre?"
"My mother told me, a long time ago... I just, I didn't know what it meant. The one thing Jarod never found was what was in her safe. It was beneath a section of subflooring in her studio at the summer house. I had forgotten it was there when I had the room boarded up, and then Tommy..." her voice trailed off, and for a moment she was lost to them in thoughts of her own. "Then Tommy, he... tore down the wall, and took me back to what was lost, to my mother's room, her paintings. He never found the safe, though. If not for the dreams... I never would have remembered it was there. The file... it's in my car, under the passenger seat, in my briefcase." As soon as the words passed her lips, Ethan stood from his seat and headed for the front door. "Jarod... he always tries to fix things. You can't fix what's been broken this long, Major Charles. And he can't... he can't fix this. Raines' little cult, his "children", he wants them all together, and he wants to lure Jarod back there. I gave up wanting him in that hellhole quite a few years ago. I don't want to be a part of it anymore. Mr. Parker promised me once that when Jarod was back in a cell, I was free. Mr. Parker is gone, and I don't believe the deal was ever valid anyway. It's taken me a long time to reach the point where my family - that family - no longer matters. It's the family of my own making - Sydney, Broots, Ethan, Angelo, my mother's voice... even Jarod... they matter. And with this, they're being threatened. I came to you because I need your help, Major Charles. Before I left The Centre, I destroyed quite a bit of their precious cyrogenics lab, and they're probably quite angry with me about it. I'm afraid they'll hurt Sydney and Broots - and Broots' daughter - if I don't return, begging forgiveness. I urged them to leave when I made my run for freedom. There's nothing more they can take from you, Major. Your children are far from harm's way, though they may be scattered, and Ethan and I, we will help you find Margaret. That's what he's here for, and I'm here for him. I need your help to make sure that the people I care for are safe. There's no way I can ensure their safety, when I'm going to be too busy covering my own ass for a little while. Jarod... he taunts the Centre with his freedom, and he's so idealistic. He's a good son, Major Charles, but he can't help me with this. He puts himself out there far too much, and if I were to go to him for help, I'm afraid he'd blow the whole operation. I know he wants to close the Centre for good," she paused as the door to the kitchen swung open and Ethan handed the file to his father, who flipped it open but remained watching the Catherine-replica in front of him. "But what Jarod doesn't realize is that to close the Centre would be to condemn us all. Sydney, Broots, Ethan, Jarod, Angelo... they would all be sent to jail for their part in the travesties that place perpetuated. To erase their records, would be to erase Kyle, Angelo, Ethan - if you erase the data on the people that committed the crimes, you have no victim, either. It would all cave in on itself, on top of Jarod's answers, my answers. To erase everything... would allow for it to rise again, just as the scrolls predicted may happen. We have to create a foolproof plan, and I'm afraid that's not possible, not right now. And no, I can't go back. If I do that, I will be killed before I pass through the front door. You... you have nothing to lose, Major," she reiterated, "They can't take any more of your genetic material, it wouldn't be viable..." she sighed awkwardly, "and I will make sure you aren't harmed. Essentially, all I really need you to do is help me reroute some money to foreign bank accounts and make some phone calls, but they can't be made from here. If you would allow Jim to help, it would probably proceed much faster."
"Miss Parker, there is a lot of bad blood between your family and mine," he watched as she nodded. "You can understand why I might hesitate?" Again, her answer was a quiet, sad nod. "Your mother and my Margaret, they were like sisters. And I have been watching you, listening to what Jarod and Ethan have been saying, and I know that there is more of Catherine Jamison in you than you want the world to realize. I'll assist you in any way I can, so long as my family is not put in any danger. It's going to be... awkward, to say the least, lying to Jarod about it, though, even if it is for the best. And you know he will appear here before too much time has passed, especially if he suspects you've come to your brother."
"I will be out of your hair in a few days, if you'll just... help me do this."
"No!" Ethan shouted. "No," he repeated, more quietly after watching his sister jump nervously in her chair. "You are family. You stay here, with me. If you leave, I will follow you, Sister. I have to follow you."
Major Charles lifted the file and began to scan its contents even as he peered at the two over the top edge, curiosity plaguing him as always. His fingers shuffled quickly through pages and pictures and graphs, all bearing the Centre logo, dates and times and names, verifying her words. On the back flap, there was a thin leather bag akin to a night deposit bag for a bank, and inside, he traced his fingers around the edges of three DSAs.
"Ethan...?" her words were filled with a mixture of resignation and query.
"Her voice, it says... to stay with you, to not leave you. She says... you need me now. She says..." his eyes narrowed and he stood quickly, throwing back his chair, "You lied!"
"Ethan!" her voice raised to a shout, as she stood nose-to-nose with him, "Ethan..."
He reached a hand forward, pulling her hard against his chest with one arm. "You told me you were okay," his eyes were wet with tears.
"I am, Ethan. I got away, I'm just fine. And I left quite a few sweepers a little worse for the wear." At that, Major Charles let out a dry chuckle, laying the file flat on the table. His countenance was nervous, and he watched as Jarod's clone entered the room just past the two siblings.
"You're not okay, I can hear her voice, she says you need help, that you're not okay, that... I have to protect you," he eased away from her, his one hand sliding down to her elbow. His free hand fell to her waist, and cautiously it slid open-palmed over her stomach. "Her voice, Sister, it says... it says you're carrying the future in your womb."
All movement ceased, except for the heaving of her chest as she began to sob, her exertion finally winning as she felt her body sink to the floor, wrapped in her brother’s arms.
"Why didn't you call me Miss Parker - just then?" she asked, sipping the warm liquid. Gathering her thoughts, her wits about her.
"I wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do, if it was who you wanted to be now," he lowered his gaze, hand cutting through the air, "after all of this."
Her eyes flicked from her brother to his father, and she sighed. "Jarod, while a genius, has this amazing ability to not think about things, to feel a little too much. I do not want him involved in this, because... well, he would get himself hurt, quite frankly. And that's the last thing I want right now, there are enough people walking around with battle scars from the Centre, and he already has his fair share. This... it has nothing to do with him."
"We won't call Jarod," Major Charles nodded, "if you'll tell us what is going on."
"I'm not ignorant, Major Charles, Ethan. Far from it, if you believe me. I am a Red File just like Jarod, but my mother and my... well, Mr. Parker, whomever he may be to me - if any relation at all - fudged the results a little bit. The Centre, the Triumverate, whoever it is that sanctions Pretender testing, or any of it, knew that I was smart, knew that I may someday develop my mother's gift, but didn't know ... just what the strength of it might be." She sipped from the old mug, squirmed in her seat. Her eyes were slightly sunken, a little darker than usual. She was tired - so very tired, but the story had to be told for them to see why she needed their help, why she needed to be away from this place, from him. "My mother's inner sense began to develop when she was an adult, around the same age mine did. Ethan's... well, his was... enhanced," she cut her eyes to him as he let out a bark of sarcastic laughter, "by the same process that destroyed Timmy - Angelo. The inner sense is different in men than in women, it is not a naturally occuring phenomena. The Centre used methods to mutate the portion of his brain that would be affected by the possession of an activated, dominant gene. It's much like the Pretender gene, though it's the same gene, just a different mutation. You see, the genetic mutation that makes Jarod a Pretender... it's slightly different, but hereditary all the same. But, Major Charles, have you ever wondered why *you* don't possess the same branian qualities as your son?"
"Margaret and I... we assumed NuGenesis had something to do with it," his words were slow, his eyes clouded with thought. How could she possibly know these things? Where had her information come from?
"Right you are, old man. NuGenesis exploited the gender of your child - nothing more, nothing less. Margaret and you each carry a recessive genetic mutation, that, when activated by the pairing of another recessive gene with the same mutation, leads to a child with a mental capacity far greater than that of it's parents. Except the gene can only be activated in males. In females it remains dormant, to be passed on through future generations. That's why the Centre never actively attempted to take Emily from you - not that it couldn't, but simply because she was of no use to them. Like me, I guess you could say. The genetic mutation is there, but it wouldn't *help* the Centre any, to possess a tool they could not use. This... mutation, it doesn't pass from generation to generation, exactly. Jarod's children won't have it - which is why they cloned him, rather than attempt to create one of his children, his grandchildren... will. A father cannot pass it to his child. Only a mother is guaranteed to pass on that gene, without knowledge that she, herself, even has it. What lies dormant in her, is hyperactive in her sons. Her daughters may be carriers for the gene, but her children will only possess it if the father of her child also carries the dormant gene - like it was with you and your wife. Emily's children will likely never be Pretenders, she is only useful to The Centre as a threat to you," she shrugged. "Now, with the Inner Sense, it is much the exact opposite. In boys, it can be activated at childhood but it becomes almost like shizophrenia, with dozens of voices speaking at once, some contradicting each other. Only with training and patience can the false voices be blocked out while the one true voice - who happens to sound like our mother," the brunette sat her mug on the table and took her brother's hand in her own, eyes sparkling wistfully, if only for a moment. "With women... it only occurs in the middle of - what the Centre terms - her child-bearing years. It happens naturally, gradually, always starting with a traumatic event. But in females, it's more than a voice - like when we learned of Tommy Thompson at the same time... it comes in the form of premonitions - like when I knew you would save me from the burning house, Ethan; visions..." her laughter was choked, loud, "sometimes I see ghosts of people I've never met! The lucky few can master it themselves, the others receive training."
"Sydney helped you." Ethan nodded, glancing at Major Charles, whose face was set in a grim line, brows furrowed. Ghosts?
"Yes, he did. Some of the skills I've developed come from the gift of the Inner Sense itself, but to harness those... a woman needs a mentor. It also helped that mine was the same as my mothers."
"But, I'll hazard a guess, your ability... it's stronger, isn't it? Than your mothers?" Major Charles finally questioned.
"I don't know, Major, but I'm beginning to wonder that myself." Her face was down-turned, a weary expression upon her face.
"Where did you find this out? How? And why did you come here, running from Jarod? And what's going on with this... creating another child of mine?" he finally blurted out all of the questions that had been bubbling to the surface, "How can we trust you? You're not going to return to the Centre?"
"My mother told me, a long time ago... I just, I didn't know what it meant. The one thing Jarod never found was what was in her safe. It was beneath a section of subflooring in her studio at the summer house. I had forgotten it was there when I had the room boarded up, and then Tommy..." her voice trailed off, and for a moment she was lost to them in thoughts of her own. "Then Tommy, he... tore down the wall, and took me back to what was lost, to my mother's room, her paintings. He never found the safe, though. If not for the dreams... I never would have remembered it was there. The file... it's in my car, under the passenger seat, in my briefcase." As soon as the words passed her lips, Ethan stood from his seat and headed for the front door. "Jarod... he always tries to fix things. You can't fix what's been broken this long, Major Charles. And he can't... he can't fix this. Raines' little cult, his "children", he wants them all together, and he wants to lure Jarod back there. I gave up wanting him in that hellhole quite a few years ago. I don't want to be a part of it anymore. Mr. Parker promised me once that when Jarod was back in a cell, I was free. Mr. Parker is gone, and I don't believe the deal was ever valid anyway. It's taken me a long time to reach the point where my family - that family - no longer matters. It's the family of my own making - Sydney, Broots, Ethan, Angelo, my mother's voice... even Jarod... they matter. And with this, they're being threatened. I came to you because I need your help, Major Charles. Before I left The Centre, I destroyed quite a bit of their precious cyrogenics lab, and they're probably quite angry with me about it. I'm afraid they'll hurt Sydney and Broots - and Broots' daughter - if I don't return, begging forgiveness. I urged them to leave when I made my run for freedom. There's nothing more they can take from you, Major. Your children are far from harm's way, though they may be scattered, and Ethan and I, we will help you find Margaret. That's what he's here for, and I'm here for him. I need your help to make sure that the people I care for are safe. There's no way I can ensure their safety, when I'm going to be too busy covering my own ass for a little while. Jarod... he taunts the Centre with his freedom, and he's so idealistic. He's a good son, Major Charles, but he can't help me with this. He puts himself out there far too much, and if I were to go to him for help, I'm afraid he'd blow the whole operation. I know he wants to close the Centre for good," she paused as the door to the kitchen swung open and Ethan handed the file to his father, who flipped it open but remained watching the Catherine-replica in front of him. "But what Jarod doesn't realize is that to close the Centre would be to condemn us all. Sydney, Broots, Ethan, Jarod, Angelo... they would all be sent to jail for their part in the travesties that place perpetuated. To erase their records, would be to erase Kyle, Angelo, Ethan - if you erase the data on the people that committed the crimes, you have no victim, either. It would all cave in on itself, on top of Jarod's answers, my answers. To erase everything... would allow for it to rise again, just as the scrolls predicted may happen. We have to create a foolproof plan, and I'm afraid that's not possible, not right now. And no, I can't go back. If I do that, I will be killed before I pass through the front door. You... you have nothing to lose, Major," she reiterated, "They can't take any more of your genetic material, it wouldn't be viable..." she sighed awkwardly, "and I will make sure you aren't harmed. Essentially, all I really need you to do is help me reroute some money to foreign bank accounts and make some phone calls, but they can't be made from here. If you would allow Jim to help, it would probably proceed much faster."
"Miss Parker, there is a lot of bad blood between your family and mine," he watched as she nodded. "You can understand why I might hesitate?" Again, her answer was a quiet, sad nod. "Your mother and my Margaret, they were like sisters. And I have been watching you, listening to what Jarod and Ethan have been saying, and I know that there is more of Catherine Jamison in you than you want the world to realize. I'll assist you in any way I can, so long as my family is not put in any danger. It's going to be... awkward, to say the least, lying to Jarod about it, though, even if it is for the best. And you know he will appear here before too much time has passed, especially if he suspects you've come to your brother."
"I will be out of your hair in a few days, if you'll just... help me do this."
"No!" Ethan shouted. "No," he repeated, more quietly after watching his sister jump nervously in her chair. "You are family. You stay here, with me. If you leave, I will follow you, Sister. I have to follow you."
Major Charles lifted the file and began to scan its contents even as he peered at the two over the top edge, curiosity plaguing him as always. His fingers shuffled quickly through pages and pictures and graphs, all bearing the Centre logo, dates and times and names, verifying her words. On the back flap, there was a thin leather bag akin to a night deposit bag for a bank, and inside, he traced his fingers around the edges of three DSAs.
"Ethan...?" her words were filled with a mixture of resignation and query.
"Her voice, it says... to stay with you, to not leave you. She says... you need me now. She says..." his eyes narrowed and he stood quickly, throwing back his chair, "You lied!"
"Ethan!" her voice raised to a shout, as she stood nose-to-nose with him, "Ethan..."
He reached a hand forward, pulling her hard against his chest with one arm. "You told me you were okay," his eyes were wet with tears.
"I am, Ethan. I got away, I'm just fine. And I left quite a few sweepers a little worse for the wear." At that, Major Charles let out a dry chuckle, laying the file flat on the table. His countenance was nervous, and he watched as Jarod's clone entered the room just past the two siblings.
"You're not okay, I can hear her voice, she says you need help, that you're not okay, that... I have to protect you," he eased away from her, his one hand sliding down to her elbow. His free hand fell to her waist, and cautiously it slid open-palmed over her stomach. "Her voice, Sister, it says... it says you're carrying the future in your womb."
All movement ceased, except for the heaving of her chest as she began to sob, her exertion finally winning as she felt her body sink to the floor, wrapped in her brother’s arms.
