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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Actions & Consequences
Lily was about to ask why, when the door opened. Joan stood there with two members of the Retrieval Team. "Hello Jarod. I am Dr. Joan Stedman. I think it's time that you come with us to SL 27."
Jarod's eyes grew big with fear as he heard that sub-level number. He looked around the room to see if there was any other possible escape.
Lily looked at Joan. "Why are you taking him to the Re-Adjustification level?"
"I'm sorry Lily. He knows too much and we're going to have to take care of that."
Jarod looked at Joan. "You have no reason to worry that I will reveal anything about you or your organization."
"I can't take that chance Jarod. I have to think about the safety of the people that live and work here. Now please don't make this difficult." Joan motioned to the men.
Lily put herself in front of Jarod and the men stopped. "There is no way I am going to let this happen Joan. Do you know what that program will do to him?"
"He will forget about seeing you, Becky, and being in this facility." Joan retorted.
"You can't just erase a couple of days. You will have to erase weeks. What if something goes wrong? You are going to leave him defenseless out there with the Centre looking for him. Why don't you just wrap him in a red bow and give him to the Centre!" Lily's fury was showing.
"Let me remind you that you caused all this young lady. I am just trying to clean up your mess." Lily tried to hide her hurt look. "Now the procedure is completely safe. We have used it before and the people were fine."
"What procedure are you talking about?" Jarod asked now trying to pull himself completely up to a sitting position.
"It's a procedure where we erase that part of your memory that holds the information that you have been here." Joan replied.
"I can't be brainwashed. The Centre has tried and failed." Jarod tried to explain.
"This is a very intricate procedure Jarod. It has a 100% success rate." Joan bantered.
"Have you forgotten Joan that I designed that procedure and there is a 6.5% chance that the person can be left with a permanent amnesiac state. This man is being hunted by people that you have told me for years are brutal and unmerciful. Can you in good conscious leave him out there for them to just pick up and do as they please?" Lily gave that stare to Joan that Joan knew meant that she wasn't going to win. "So you can try to take him by force, but know that I will be there fighting you every step of the way. And I will stop you even if I have to take down every computer in this place." Lily put her hands on her hips and stood her ground. 'And you know that I can."
Joan looked at Lily and then the ceiling. "What am I suppose to do Lily? Just let him walk out of here. And what about the Parker woman? She works for the Centre."
For the first time Lily realized what name both Jarod and Joan had said. "Parker." She looked at Jarod. "You called her Miss Parker." Lily was confused and looked at both Joan and Jarod. "Is she relation to Catherine Parker?"
*************
Lyle was pacing in his office talking to Mr. Raines on his headphone. "No. I am doing everything possible to locate Jarod and the child. Yes. I know that this puts another delay in the Gemini Succession Project. I can't tell you where the breech in Security is yet Sir. My men are working on it. Yes, we will put more men on the case." Lyle heard a click on the other end of the phone. "You'll get yours soon enough. Dad." Lyle went back to his desk and started to make a phone call. He was tapping a folder that had the words "Succession Project" in bold letters. Angelo backed slowly out of the airshaft he had been sitting in watching Lyle.
Once out of the vent, Angelo went to his computer. He initiated an e-mail to Jarod. It held a single phrase.
Must stop Gemini Succession Project.
He hit send.
*************
Sydney walked into Broots' office. "Anything Mr. Broots?"
"I have been trying to research every piece of architecture that holds an angel, but so far no matches." Broots replied. "I've heard from Mort in car pool that Jarod has messed up one of Lyle's projects big time. Raines is furious. And that whatever he did, he took Miss Parker."
"Yes Broots. I had heard that yesterday from Angelo. It's not like Jarod. He wouldn't take Miss Parker with him and endanger the child." Sydney was trying to reason what Jarod was doing.
"Maybe they are working together now? They did work together on that island off Scotland." Broots replied.
"When Miss Parker came back from Carthis, it did not look like there was an alliance. No, something's wrong. Care to do a little reconnaissance in Lyle's computer files?" Sydney asked with his eye raised.
Broots got that sick feeling in his stomach. "I was afraid you were going to say that." Broots went to work on trying to hack into Lyle's computer files.
**************
Joan looked sad at the mention of Catherine Parker.
"She is her daughter Lily." Jarod enlightened her.
"The e-mail I received said that a Mr. Parker runs the Centre. Is he her father?"
Jarod laughed. "Yes, for all intent purposes, he is her father."
Lily looked confused. "For all intent purposes? How could she be Catherine Parker's daughter and work for the Centre?"
"I'll have to explain that to you later. If I have a later?" Jarod looked at Joan.
"I've decided that I will not require you to go through the procedure." She turned and walked to the door with the two guards right behind her. "But it comes with a price."
Jarod and Lily looked at Joan with curiosity.
She turned and looked at the two. "You will become a member of Angel's Hope. That means that you follow our rules and you never leave this facility again." She swiped her card and a click opened the door.
"What about Miss Parker?" Jarod asked.
"She will be offered the same deal. If either of you can't live with it, then you go through the procedure and are placed back in the outside world. Miss Parker will be coming off her IV soon. I think both of you should be there. Larry will be right outside the door when you're ready." Joan swung the door open and walked through before Jarod could comment. The door clicked shut after the two men followed.
Jarod was visibly angry. "I can't stay here. I have work to do. People to stop." He noticed that Lily had her head bowed down and was trying to stop tears from flowing down her cheek.
"I'm so sorry Jarod." She moved away from the bed and walked over to the dresser. "This is all my fault. If I hadn't left, hadn't gone to Blue Cove, then you............."
Jarod unsteadily got to his feet, steadied himself, and went over to Lily. He turned her around. "For whatever reason you did what you had to do. The passion I saw in your eyes when you thought I was going to hurt that child was real. You were right, the Centre is evil." He put his arms around Lily and gave her a hug.
Lily just stayed in that hug for a moment. It had been awhile since she had let anyone comfort her. And for some reason she felt a connection to this man that she had never seen before three days ago. She then pulled away and looked at Jarod. "All I can say is - I'm sorry and welcome to my world."
**************
Parker opened her eyes. The world around her was blurry. "What the hell happened to me?"
"Now, now Miss Parker. Is that anyway to come back into the world of the living?"
She could hear Jarod's voice, but the only semi-clear thing she could see was a nurse messing with her arm and a strange room she had never seen before.
"Damn-it Jarod. I feel like a tank truck ran over me. I need a drink." Parker opened and closed her eyes a couple of times. Then her vision focused and she could see Jarod at the end of the bed she was lying on. Behind him was the woman Jarod had been arguing with.
"Hello Miss Parker. Can we get you anything besides an alcoholic beverage?" Lily asked.
"Oh I'm peachy keen Mary Sunshine." Parker tried to sit up.
"Slowly." Jarod moved up closer to her, trying to help her. Holding her hand. "You've been sedated for three days. It's going to take a little bit for you to get your footing."
"Three days! Who the hell knocked me out for........ You. You did this to me." Parker barked at Lily.
"Miss Parker. I did not do this to you, the head of this facility did." Lily started to explain. "She was protecting Becky and I. She thought that you were going to harm us. I would like to welcome you to Angel's Hope."
"Angel's Hope. What the hell is Angel's Hope? And are you the resident pain in the ass?" Parker lay back down, dizzy for the moment.
"Parker!" Jarod snapped at her. "Don't make a bad situation worse."
Lily shook off what Parker said. "It's a special place." Lily thought about what she was about to say. Whether she should or not. "We help those in trouble, do scientific research, and try to make the world a better place."
"Oh great, I've been taken into the world of Goody Gum Drop Land." Miss Parker was getting increasingly angry. She hated not being in control.
"We were founded by a very special woman who said that it was always her mission, her life's work, to help those in trouble. To fight the evils that she had seen corrupt this world. That woman was Catherine Parker."
Both Miss Parker and Jarod were stunned. "My Mother", Parker caught her breath, "founded Angel's Hope?"
"Yes, over forty years ago. She brought the original children here for sanctuary. They had been drugged and tortured. They were in really bad shape. Then periodically other people, her guardians, brought children here. Each group was categorized by a color. Blue, Green, Yellow. I'm not sure why. Becky and I were part of what they called the Red Files."
"Red Files?" Jarod asked. "You have information on the Red Files?"
"The only thing Joan ever told us was that the children of the Red Files had to do with the birth of twins. Special twins with remarkable gifts. We have the other girls here that were part of the Red Files. We are all twins. Becky and I, Renee and Cathy, Elizabeth and Nancy, and Kristen. "
"What happened to Kristen's twin?" Jarod asked while Parker laid in bed in disbelief.
"We never knew. We just knew that she was alone when she came." Lily looked at Miss Parker. "She was a wonderful person. Now that I can see you better, you look just like I remember her."
"You knew my mother?" Parker asked.
"Yes. She is the one who gave me to the guardian to come here."
There was a knock on the door. The nurse came in. "I am here to help Miss Parker get freshened up and dressed. Dinner is at six o'clock."
"We can help her do that ." Lily told the nurse as she moved closer to the bed.
"No Miss Lily. Dr. Stedman requests that you and the gentleman join her in her office." The nurse pushed past Lily and waited for Jarod to move.
Jarod looked at Parker and then at Lily. Parker waved her hand at Jarod. "Go. I can take care of myself."
"Just knock on the door Miss Lily and the guards will escort you." The nurse informed Lily.
Lily knocked on the door and the guard opened it. Lily and Jarod walked through the door. Jarod stopped before the door closed and looked at Parker. She was giving the nurse a hard time, saying something along the lines that she didn't need any help. Jarod smiled and proceeded to follow Lily.
"Do you always have the lovely escort wherever you go?" Jarod asked below his breath.
"Not usually. I have a feeling that Joan does not trust me anymore." Lily responded also under her breath.
"Maybe it's that she doesn't trust me?" Jarod whispered back.
"No. Then there would be only one guard." Lily looked behind her to see Larry and Fred keeping five paces behind them. They entered the elevator and they went to sub-level 4. Everyone got off and Lily proceeded to the right. This level looked much different than the level they had been previously on. There were offices and windows. Five offices down, Lily pointed to a door. "This is my office."
"You have an office?" Jarod asked.
They walked one door further. "Where else would I do my work?" Jarod looked sullen. "This was Catherine Parker's office. It has been kept the exact way she left it. Joan wouldn't have it any other way. They were very close." They went one more door down and Fred knocked on the door.
"Come in." They heard from inside. Fred opened the door and allowed Lily and Jarod access to Joan Stedman's office. Joan was standing behind her desk. There were three chairs placed in front of the desk. "Please. Come have a seat." Joan motioned to the chairs. Lily took the chair to the right and Jarod took the one to the left. "I want to give you a better welcome than I did before. Sometimes work consumes me and I forget my manners."
"It's all right Dr. Stedman. I understand that you are trying to protect what you have achieved here." Jarod surveyed the room. He saw that there was a door that led to what he assumed was Catherine Parker's office.
"I want you to get acclimated to the surroundings. Fred will let you know areas that at this point you are not allowed access to and Lily can give you a tour. That is if you have decided to stay?" Joan looked questioningly at Jarod.
"Yes, Dr. Stedman. I have decided to stay." Lily looked shocked.
"Very good Jarod. I'm glad to have you on board." There was a knock on the door. "Come in." the door opened and Miss Parker pushed her way in. She was wearing a pair of shirt, jeans and walking shoes. "Welcome Miss Parker."
"Will you please tell me who the hell picked out these damn clothes?" Jarod and Lily snickered. "And where that witch of a nurse took my clothes?"
"The clothes you are wearing are general issue informal clothes worn here at Angel's Hope. You will find that your closets will have been stocked by the time you return to your rooms with whatever you will need during your stay here." Joan informed Parker and Jarod.
"During my stay here? I'm not staying here lady. I just want to know how you know my Mother?" Parker barked at Joan.
"Lily. Did you not explain the situation to Miss Parker?"
Lily shook her head no. "I didn't have a chance to before the nurse came in."
Joan motioned for Parker to have a seat. "We have a little dilemma here Miss Parker. You and Jarod are not supposed to be here. Your knowledge of this facility jeopardizes everything that I have worked for over the years."
"You mean what my Mother worked for." Parker added. Joan looked at Lily.
"I told her that her mother founded Angel's Hope. I didn't see any harm in it." Lily tried to explain.
"Yes. Your Mother's vision is what I have been working on all these years. I have taken her dream and made it a fully functioning reality. But as I was saying, you and Jarod are not supposed to be here. Yet you are. And that leads us to the dilemma of what to do with you." Joan continued.
"Dr. Stedman has offered us a choice Miss Parker. We can become a member of Angel's Hope; we follow their rules and never leave this facility again." Parker sat up in her chair and went to say something. Jarod put his hand up. "Wait till I'm finished." Parker threw herself back in the chair. "If we do not take her up on her offer, then we will go through a memory altering procedure and be placed back in the outside world. Unfortunately the procedure can have devastating results and leave us without our memory at all."
"Forever. There can be no medical treatment to reverse the results." Joan got up from behind her desk, picked up a framed picture from her shelf, and walked over to the group. "And I offer you also Miss Parker something you have never had your whole life."
"And what is that Dr. Stedman?" Parker coolly said.
"I can give you the information you have craved your whole life. I can give you your Mother." Dr. Stedman turned the frame around and revealed a picture of Catherine Parker holding a baby standing in front of a statue of an angel. Next to her was granite sign that simply stated "Angel's Hope."
