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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Part 32
"The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing out own good, in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it."
John Stuart Mill
Recovering
"Welcome, Mr Lyle. So good of you to join us."
The man arched an eyebrow as he was forcibly seated opposite the long table. "Your invitation left little choice."
Jarod fought back a grin, dying to laugh as he sat in the spotlight that lit only him and left the others in darkness. "At my last visit to this place, Mr Lyle, you spoke words that are forever engraved in my memory. As you said then, so I will say now. The world is changing. Mr Parker is gone. Mr Raines is gone. You and I are here. And, this time, I'm in charge."
"You missed one," Lyle retorted sharply.
"Miss Parker?" Dramatically, Jarod snapped his fingers, which action caused on light to be turned on and which revealed Miss Parker sitting beside him.
"Hello, dear brother."
Lyle glared at her. "Are you in on this despicable coup as well, Parker?"
"A 'despicable coup'? Now why would you call it that?"
"Parkers are always in charge of the Centre. And Jarod..."
"Not quite," Jarod interrupted the possible argument. "If you will allow me to show you the other leaders of this ‘despicable coup’, I have no doubt you’ll agree that we have as much right, or more, to be here as you or anyone else have ever had."
"But..."
"Enough! Sam, I'm sick of the sound of his voice. Stop it for me."
The sweeper stepped forward and placed a gag over the man's mouth. With his arms bound to the chair, there was no way for him to remove it and he could do nothing but glare.
"Now, Lyle, perhaps you would like us to show you this mystery leader of the take-over. I, as you do, only take orders." Jarod glanced over and the light above one figure was switched on.
There was a muffled exclamation from the gagged figure as his eyes adjusted to the light and he recognised the figure sitting in it. The similarities to his sister were enough to make it obvious who she was and Lyle, although having little respect for his father, had always secretly adored an image of his mother that he had created in his own mind. To be confronted with the real thing, particularly when, as far as he knew, she had died years before, was enough to throw him well off balance. Catherine’s expression was stern.
"My son, I am very disappointed in you. Through something that is, admittedly, only partly your own fault, you have become weak and unstable. However, you have never tried to resist the life which has been thrust upon you and, as your sister managed, to retain a sense of your own independence and self-belief. It hurts me more than I can say to see you this way and to know that there is nothing I can do to help you. Knowing that you would resist everything that I or anyone else could do leaves only one option and one which I do not appreciate having to perform."
Lyle's eyes begged to able to ask a question and Catherine nodded at Sam, who removed the gag. "How are you here?"
His voice was hoarse and his eyes held only terror. Through Angelo, Jarod, Miss Parker, Sydney and Catherine were all able to realise that the only thing he was feeling was fear. There was no compassion, no regret and no sorrow for what he had done. All five of the people who knew what he was feeling could realise that there was no hope of him ever becoming like them. Jarod's plan was the only answer. But first Catherine had to make him understand.
"You may think that the man you believe to be your father is telling you everything he knows, but this is not true. He kept from you the fact that I have never died. I know that you are aware of my staged and supposed death in the lift shaft in 1970. You may not know, however, that the DSA depicting my death at the hands of Raines some months later was also fake. I made a deal with Mr Raines and Mr Parker. I was to work for the Centre for the rest of my natural life on the condition that your sister would never be the subject of any experiments within the Centre. I was told, as you are no doubt aware, that you had died in childbirth. Raines had several years to work on you before I found out about your existence and for me to have tried to rescue you would have put your life in danger. Thus, for thirty years, I have been working within the Centre, keeping up my part of the deal. Even after you and the others took over, Raines convinced me to remain quiet. Then Sam and Cox came to rescue me."
"Cox?"
"Hello, Lyle. So you thought that I was going to help you? Sadly, you were mistaken." The man smirked and stood up from his seat between Sydney and Broots, performing a mock bow.
The group could tell that Lyle was at breaking point. All of the beliefs that he had held onto for so long were crumbling around him and, with no morals to which he could cling, he had nothing to hold on to. But there was one more point which had to be made and Jarod was determined that it would be done. He stood up.
"Your mother mentioned the man who you thought was your father, and you stated that Parkers are always in charge of the Centre. This places you, by your own logic, far out of the running. You are not a Parker, Lyle. Your correct surname should be either Jamison or Miller. The man who is really your father is a man named Ben Miller, who has a Bed and Breakfast in Maine." Jarod turned to Cox and nodded. The man stood and moved over to a door that was partially hidden by the darkness.
"Catherine, Miss Parker, I arranged a surprise for you. And for you too, Lyle. May I present, Mr Miller."
Cox opened the door and a man stepped through it and into the room. At the same instant, the lights were switched on overhead, fully illuminating the figure, at which Catherine rushed immediately.
Jarod turned back and was not surprised to see an almost painful expression on Lyle's face.
"One final thing, Mr Lyle. One other person is interested in speaking with you. I appreciate your patience, Mr Tanaka. May I invite you now to say something?"
"Thank you, Jarod. Mr Lyle, you once made a deal with us and I am going to hold you to that deal. During a private meeting, you claimed that, if anything went wrong, you would do anything to make up for it. I think the time has come for you to make good on that deal. A plane will be sent to you this morning and you will be brought here. I cannot promise that the work we require is pleasant. However I'm sure that, having worked on so many experiments before, you won't mind."
The man nodded once and ended the transmission.
Sydney looked across at the broken man. "Surely, Lyle, with the way you have treated everyone in this room, you were not expecting mercy or kindness."
"I...hoped..." He stopped and, although his face worked with some strange emotion, no sound came out of his mouth. Those capable of knowing could see the turmoil of emotion that was moving in his mind and Sydney, at least, recognised an onset of madness. Sam and Steve came forward, at a sign from Jarod, and returned the man to his room.
"At least he'll never really be aware of what they do to him," the psychiatrist murmured.
"So now what do we have to do?" Parker demanded.
"Augeas - the discovery and treatment of all of the other projects within the Centre. And I have just the person to help us do it."
Jarod looked across and Cox again opened the door. This time, the figure that stepped through it was smaller and younger than the first but still recognisable to many of the occupants. At the sight of him, Catherine gasped and disentangled herself from Ben's arms. She rushed across to the figure with her own arms outstretched and the boy responded to her embraces with some of his own. Only her words were audible. "Ethan! My son!"
