Table of Contents [Report This]
Disclaimer: the Pretender and all of its characters belong to NBC, Fox, and maybe some other people, not me. I'm doing this for fun, not money.
Author's note: There is a spoiler for Island Of the Haunted in here, but its not really important to the movie. I got it from behind-the-scenes images I saw online, I haven't seen the movie. Happy reading, and please send feedback.
Pretender Parker
by Fred
Sim Lab
The Centre, SL-16
7:42 P.M.
He looked down at the table that was between them, obviously avoiding eye contact. What's his problem? she thought. Am I the first girl he's ever seen?
"Is there a problem?" the man asked from the shadows.
"No, Mr. Rheins," Jarod replied submissively. She could tell he was lying, but chose not to say anything to Rheins, Jarod probably had his reasons.
"Good. Then complete the sim."
"It doesn't make sense, sir," she said, doing as instructed. "They obviously loved each other, otherwise, she'd have betrayed him. The rumor is wrong. It has to be."
"Do you agree?" he asked Jarod.
He looked into her eyes once more, then responded. "Yes. They did it for the money, certainly, but they could never have let the greed for the money come between them."
Rheins was silent for a moment, considering their answers. Jarod returned his gaze to the table, and she wondered what was going through his head.
It's no use, siming it, she thought. I don't know him well enough. Again she felt the tears rising up, and fought them down. Far as she was concerned, he was only the second person she'd met in her life, besides Rheins. Sweepers didn't count, they never spoke to her. But then again, considering her memories only went back a few months, she couldn't really be sure. She new she was in her late-thirties, at least. But from her perspective, she'd existed for only these last few months, and had always been here, in this place, doing sims.
Her mind flashed back to the first day of her life, at least the first she could remember. She had woken up in her room, just down the hall from the sim-lab she was in now. Rheins had been there. He had told her she'd been in an accident and had amnesia. He had told her that she was very special, and that he would help her to continue to do the work she'd been doing her whole life.
That was the first time she remembered being called a Pretender, a genius with the ability to become anyone she wants to be.
"Very well," Rheins finally said, interrupting her thoughts. "We will pass this on to our clients."
He then left the room and the sweepers that were always in there, as well as the new ones who'd entered with Jarod separated the two pretenders and escorted them to their rooms for the night.
* * * *
Cairman's Office
The Centre Tower
8:21 P.M.
"So, what do you think?" the Chairman asked after Rheins entered the office.
"The memory blocks we placed in her mind held perfectly. There was absolutely no sign of recognition on Andrea's part," he replied.
"And Jarod?"
"He behaved. Though he obviously wasn't happy with the situation."
"And what is your opinion of her capabilities?" the Chairman asked as he rubbed his left-hand with his right, an old habit.
"She's nearly as good as Kyle and Jarod. It would seem that having the passive form of the Pretender gene does not mean you would be a low-level pretender, just that you need a little help."
Interesting, the Chairman thought. Six months ago, he had gone to the Triumvirate and told them that he believed the only way to capture Jarod would be with another Pretender, which the Centre currently didn't have. He told them he had a plan, but it would require allowing Rheins back in the Centre and eliminating Mr. Parker. He had then told them the plan and offered to take Mr. Parker's place as Chairman. They'd agreed
Rheins was allowed to return to the Centre after two months of exile. Sweepers had entered Mr. Parker's room in the Centre infirmary and hauled him off to a waiting Centre Jet that took him to Triumvirate headquarters.
While her father was being whisked away, Miss Parker was being anesthetized with and air-born sleep agent pumped into her office. She had remained unconscious for nearly a week while Rheins administered a perfected version of the treatment that had failed on Angelo. It was designed to turn a Passive-Pretender into a fully functional Pretender. When she woke up, she had been told that she would be undergoing a rigorous training period in how to do a Pretend, then she would use her new abilities to capture Jarod.
She hadn't been happy.
So Rheins had proposed a variation to the plan, in exchange for being project head for both Jarod and Parker's continued service to the Centre as Pretenders. Lyle had agreed, and Rheins had used a long-perfected Centre technique for blocking a person's memory. After which, he had told her that she was in the Centre so they could help her regain her memories. She had been much more cooperative and Rheins had asked her to perform a test, supposedly related to her amnesia. She had agreed, and successfully captured Jarod.
Rheins then blocked out this portion of her memory, so he'd be able to keep her as a Pretender, feeding her a new story as to her residence inside the Centre. Again, she had cooperated, and had been doing so for nearly five months.
As for Jarod, Rheins had only had to tell him that Miss Parker was now a part of the Pretender Program, with no knowledge of her previous life, or him, and that she would be severely beaten if he didn't cooperate. He'd agreed.
"Good work, Mr. Rheins," the Chairman said at last. "If you believe that they can work together without compromising the situation, then you may proceed."
With out saying a word, Mr. Rheins left. The Chairman didn't miss Rheins's typical look of loathing towards him. Understandable, Lyle thought, glancing at the thumb on his left hand.
* * * *
Jarod's Room
The Centre, SL-17
9:04 PM
Jarod jumped out of bed and moved to the middle of his small room when the door opened. A Sweeper entered first, followed by Rheins, then a second Sweeper.
"What do you want," he asked, allowing the hatred into his voice.
"I want to know what happened in the sim lab earlier," the man weased out.
Clenching and unclenching his fists in anger, Jarod didn't respond.
"Maybe I should take it up with Miss Parker," Rheins threatened.
"It won't happen again, just leave her alone," Jarod said. Calm down, he thought to himself.
"It better not happen again, for her sake," he replied. "Tomorrow the two of you will be working together again. If you don't cooperate, fully, there will be consequences. Understood?"
"Yes."
"What?"
"Yes, sir," he said, faking submission.
"Sir," he asked as the three men turned to leave. "What was the point of that sim?"
Rheins was quiet for a moment, and Jarod was afraid he'd overstepped his bounds. Finally, the man answered.
"It was a test, for you," he said, his tone making it a threat. "You almost didn't pass."
Returning to the bed after they had left, Jarod sighed. He knew he couldn't escape, or Rheins would probably kill her. Unless he took her with him.
He sighed again. It was the same debate he'd had for the last five months. Attempting an escape alone was out of the question, for her sake. But would he be able to convince her to leave. The few minutes he's spent with her today didn't help. It had been the first time since his capture he's seen her, and she seamed almost happy. It was probably the memory loss. He's just have to find a way to talk to her in private.
Just then, Jarod heard a noise from the air vent. Angelo. Getting up, he moved to the vent just as Angelo swung it open on its hinges. Angelo had installed them during one of Jarod's first sims after his capture.
"Were have you been, Angelo?" he asked. "It's been three days since I've seen you."
"Angelo get help," the man replied. Reaching out, he motioned for Jarod to climb inside the vent.
"What?" he asked. "Were are we going?"
"See friends. They help." Without another word, Angelo moved back into the vents and waited for Jarod to follow.
Jarod climbed in and began to follow Angelo through the maze towards an unknown location. It wasn't the first time he'd been in here since his capture, he'd even been outside once. But with Parker being held inside and unable to defend herself, he couldn't leave.
After nearly twenty minutes, they reached there destination, a deserted office on SL-12. Jarod followed Angelo into the room, and waited. The man just stood there, staring at nothing in particular. Just as Jarod was about to say something, the door opened and their guests arrived. Broots and Sydney.
Jarod backed away, feeling the anger rise in him. He noticed the shock on the men's faces, followed by relief on Sydney's, but he ignored it. He's faking, Jarod thought.
Sydney stopped moving toward his protégée, a frown crossing his face. "What's wrong, Jarod?"
"What's wrong? What's wrong?" he said, unable to keep the disgust from his voice. "How could you two just sit by and let them do this to her? I thought you were her friends!"
"What?" Broots asked.
"Jarod, calm down. We don't know what happened to Miss Parker. We've spent the better part of the last six months looking for her while pretending to be looking for you're father and, clone," he said, hesitating on the last word.
"Wait," Broots interrupted. "Do you know were she is?"
"Yeah, Broots," Jarod replied, still not quite believing them. "She right here, in the Centre."
"Then she's safe," Sydney said with relief.
"Safe? Not hardly. Rheins turned her into a Pretender and erased her memory so she'd cooperate. He then threatened to beat her if I didn't cooperate and do as I'm told. Hardly safe."
The two were quiet for a moment as they digested what Jarod had just said. Broots finally broke the silence.
"We have to get her out of here," he stated the obvious.
"It's not that easy. I don't know were her room is, so I can't get to her. And even if I could, she may not cooperate. Rheins has her convinced she's here so he can help her regain her memory by doing sims. She didn't seam to be troubled by what was happening to her when I saw her today."
"You saw her," Sydney said. "How is she?"
"I just told you, she seams fine. But she doesn't have a clue as to what's really going on."
"What can we do?" Broots asked.
"Hack into the Centre's surveillance system. See if you can figure out were she's staying. I know the sim lab she's using is on SL-16, just off corridor A-12. If you can find her room, we shouldn't have any trouble escaping through the air vents."
"What if she doesn't want to cooperate?" Sydney asked. "What will we do then."
"We won't give her a choice, Syd," he responded. "If I can't convince her to escape with me, then I'll take her by force. Once I've figured out how the Centre's erased her memories, I may be able to undo the damage. If I can do that, I know she'll cooperate."
"How can you do that. If they erased her memories, how can you restore them?" Broots asked, a confused look on his face.
"'Erasing Memories' is a bad term, Mr. Broots. Every waking moment of a person's life is stored in their mind. What you may think you can't remember, you really just can't recall. All the Centre can really do is block her access to those memories. So I have to figure out how, then break down those walls."
"OK," Sydney brought the conversation back on track. "After you're out of the Centre, I'll be waiting in a car to get you two--."
"No," Jarod interrupted. "Parker and I escape alone. I won't risk your safety in this."
"Jarod, you can't escape without help."
"I did once, I can do it again. Besides, she'll be there to help me."
Sydney flinched when Angelo touched his arm, a piece of paper in his hand. Jarod had forgotten he'd even been in the room. Sydney took the paper and glanced at the writing on it. A look of confusion passed his feature's briefly, then he handed the slip to the Pretender. Taking it, Jarod glanced down and smiled.
Father, 804-555-0922
"Call my father," he said as he returned the paper to Sydney. "He's already on the run. Tell him I'm OK and fill him in. After I've spoken with Parker in private, I'll tell Angelo when he needs to be in position and were."
With that, he returned to the vent, waited for Angelo to climb in first, then followed the man back to his room. Allowing a small smile to play across his face as he fell asleep on his bed thirty minutes later, he realized that this just might work.
* * * *
Sim Lab
The Centre, SL-16
8:32 A.M.
The Sweepers escorted Jarod into the same Sim Lab he and Parker had worked in last night, then took their usual positions next to the door. Jarod continued in and immediately changed course when he saw her standing by the projector screen.
Just like last night, she was wearing typical Centre-issue clothing. A smaller size of the very same clothes he wore. She turned around when she heard him approach and smiled when she recognized him. He returned the smile, though not as enthusiastically. I've got to get her out of here soon, he thought.
"Hi, Jarod," she spoke up first. "Sleep good?"
"Not really, Andrea," he replied, choosing his words carefully. Rheins had warned him to call her by that name only, or there would be consequences. "I don't sleep very well."
"Sorry to here that. Any reason why?"
"Just some, issues, I've been dealing with for a while. Nothing to worry about," he lied. She should worry. The same things that kept him up would probably haunt her in the future. Memories of captivity in this place, and the things he'd been forced to do.
"What's wrong, Jarod?" she asked, concern showing on her face and in her voice.
"Nothing," he replied, forcing calm into his voice.
Just then, the door to the upper level of the Sim Lab opened and Rheins walked in, followed by a sweeper. Jarod tried, barely successfull, to keep a look of scorn from his face.
"Andrea, Jarod. You to will be working together from time to time on some of our more important contracts. Cooperate, and you'll be rewarded. Now, let's begin."
With that, the projector hidden in the far wall came to life. A Sweeper soon entered with the material Jarod and Parker would need for the sim and Jarod consciously pushed his feelings into the back of his mind, focusing on the sim. For her sake, he thought.
* * * *
Parker's Room
The Centre, SL-16
3:47 A.M. (Four days later)
Jarod silently opened the vent shaft that led into her room and climbed in. Broots had told him the location of her room last night, and they'd planned for him to disable her room's security camera so Jarod could visit her at this time.
Leaving the vent cover off, Jarod shook his head in wonder, then turned to face the sleeping form on the cot. He still couldn't believe the Centre hadn't blocked off the vent shaft in his room. He'd tried to escape through them once, the last time he'd been recaptured, and they'd been ready then. Maybe they want me moving around on my own? he thought.
Pushing his fears aside, he knelt next to the bed and gently shook her arm, trying to wake her up. After a moment, he was rewarded for his efforts.
Jarod noticed her surprise when she saw him and quickly covered her mouth with his hands, motioning for her to be quiet. Broots had informed him that she had a sweeper stationed outside her door at all times and Jarod didn't want to alert him.
Taking her hand, he led her to the vent and helped her in. Climbing in after her, he reached back into the room and lifted the cover back into place. He led her through the maze of shafts, remaining quiet, till finally he reached Angelo's hidden 'room'.
He could see she was starting to get a little woried, but before he could say anything, Angelo rushed out of another shaft and moved to her. "Daughter, scared," he said when he touched her arm.
"What?" she asked, looking to Jarod for confirmation.
"This is Angelo. He's a friend, but he doesn't talk much," Jarod introduced him, watching her for any sign of recognition.
"Hi, Angelo. My name is Andrea," she said.
"Daughter, scared," the empath said to Jarod. "Still scared."
"What do you mean, Angelo? Who's daughter?"
"He's talking about you, Mi--Andrea. Daughter is the name he usually uses when he's referring to you."
"What? Am I his--. No, he's to young."
"No," Jarod explained. "He's, different. He can feel what other people are feeling, but he doesn't usually have any emotions of his own. Some of the time, his mind shuts down and he just sits and stares at nothing. Even when his mind works, it doesn't work like it should. He calls you daughter, I guess, because of the way you feel about your mother."
"My--. My Mother. I don't even know her. I've never met her," she shook her head in despair. "Jarod, what's going on. Why'd you come and drag me out of my room?"
"I needed to talk to you. I need to know how much you remember before you started doing sims for Rheins."
"I've been doing them my whole life," she replied. Then continued when she saw the look of confusion of Jarod's face. "At least, that's what Rheins told me. I can't remember anything that happened before five months ago. Rheins said that doing the sims is the best way to regain my memory, since that's what I spent most of my time on. Why are you asking me this, Jarod? What's Going on?"
Jarod shook his head in frustration when he heard her answer. "He lied to you, Andrea. Before six months ago, you'd only been a part of one sim. And you were not a pretender at the time."
"Huh? I thought being a Pretender was genetic?"
"Sort of. There is a certain gene that gives those who have it the potential for being a pretender. But the gene comes in two forms, active and passive. An active form of the gene results in a natural pretender, but a passive form justs results in a person who's very intelligent. They need help to become a pretender. You have the passive form of the gene."
"Then how can I be a pretender?" she asked, a little frustrated.
"Forty years ago, the Centre isolated a group of eight children with the pretender gene. Five were natural pretenders of varying skill. The other three, including you, were passive. Rheins devised a variation to a procedure known as electrolysis that could basically re-wire a passive pretender's mind so they could function as an active pretender. That's what happened to Angelo. He was one of the three passive pretenders. Rheins used the technique on him, but it failed. Instead of opening up the appropriate portions of his brain, it closed off other portions. Rheins later perfected the technique and used it on you, six months ago."
"But, why?" she asked, visibly holding back tears. "Why would they need to use it on me if they had five natural pretenders already?"
"Because they didn't have any of those five left. Two escaped within ten years of their isolation here. Rheins took a third, my brother, and corrupted him," Jarod paused, fighting his own sorrow as he remembered what he'd learned about his brother. "Eventually, Rheins lost control and Kyle escaped. He was killed a little over three years ago by the current Chairman of the Centre." No need to add that her own twin is the Chairman. Not yet.
"What about the other three?"
"Two of us, me and a man named Eddie, escaped five years ago. During the escape, the last pretender, Alex, was killed. At least we thought he was. He somehow survived and the Centre corrupted him. He killed Eddie less than a year ago, then jumped off of a six-story walk way. I'm the only one of those five still alive."
She was quiet for a while, and Jarod let her dwell over the truck-load of information he'd just given her. Finally, she spoke up.
"If you escaped five years ago, why are you here now?" she asked quietly.
"I--," he began, unsure of how to say this. "When I escaped five years ago, you were assigned to bring me back. You're father was the Chairman at the time and many believed you were the only one that had what it would take to catch me. You never did though. Six months ago, a man named Lyle, the third passive-pretender, made a deal with the Triumvirate. He handed you over to undergo the treatment and training, turning you into a full-fledged pretender. Then you would be forced to use your new abilities to recapture me. Rheins, who'd been in exile from the Centre for a couple of months, was allowed back and put in charge of your treatment and training. After your treatment, Rheins told you what you'd have to do. You, apparently weren't to happy and didn't cooperate. So Rheins used a technique to block your memories. Afterwards, he was able to trick you into using your abilities to capture me. Then he blocked that portion of your memory so he could feed you ! a new story and continue to use your abilities as a Pretender. After I was captured, Lyle was promoted to Chairman. I don't know what happened to your father then."
"This, no. This can't be true. Rheins wouldn't do this. He's not that kind of person. He never--"
"Andrea," he said soothingly, interrupting her. "He is one of the worst people I've ever met. He," Jarod paused, wondering if he would tell her this part. "He's killed people for no reason, with no regrets. He's a power-hungry, greedy, pathetic excuse for a human being who's little more than a walking corpse."
Jarod stopped when he saw the look on her face. He'd let his anger at the man take control. Calm down, Jarod, he told himself.
"Andrea," he said after he'd regained control. "He's betrayed your family over and over again. I'm sorry, but this is the truth."
"No," she said, quieter than before.
"Jarod, friend. Speak truth. Trust Jarod."
She looked at Angelo when he said this, whipping at the tears starting to roll down her face. Jarod watch her expression change from disbelief and anger to pain and sorrow. Angelo's curious behavior seamed to have convinced her.
"Jarod," she paused, catching her breath. "I, I don't know what to do. Rheins may be evil, but what I'm doing here is good. I'm helping people. I can't just walk away from that."
Jarod sighed. The memory loss had changed everything about her, right down to the core. "Andrea," he began. "I used to think the same thing. But the Centre takes our findings and corrupts them. They sell them to people who use them to hurt innocent bystanders. The Centre uses our abilities to do harm, in exchange for money and power."
They were silent for a while, and Jarod wondered what he should do next. He decided to do the one thing the old Parker would have wanted the least, he drew her into his arms and held her. She didn't resist, drawing on him for support.
A moment later, she gently pulled away. Jarod could see that she still had a little doubt, but she was in control. I guess a part of her survived the memory block, he thought.
"What do we do, Jarod?" she asked.
"We escape. Then we make the Centre pay."
"When?"
"Soon. There are some people here, friends of yours, who are helping us. When the time comes, I'll come get you out of your, room. Until then, you have to pretend like you don't know what happened. Even when you're alone. Every square inch of this place is being monitored."
"Alright. But, Jarod?" she asked.
"What?"
"Please. Hurry."
He nodded. They stood there for a moment longer, then Jarod led her back through the vents to her room. He helped her in and watched her get settled. Then he returned to Angelo, gave him a message for Sydney, and went to his own room.
Soon, he thought. We'll be free soon. And this time, I'll make the Centre pay.
* * * *
There's More to come. Unless everyone hates it, so let me know.
Author's note: There is a spoiler for Island Of the Haunted in here, but its not really important to the movie. I got it from behind-the-scenes images I saw online, I haven't seen the movie. Happy reading, and please send feedback.
by Fred
Sim Lab
The Centre, SL-16
7:42 P.M.
He looked down at the table that was between them, obviously avoiding eye contact. What's his problem? she thought. Am I the first girl he's ever seen?
"Is there a problem?" the man asked from the shadows.
"No, Mr. Rheins," Jarod replied submissively. She could tell he was lying, but chose not to say anything to Rheins, Jarod probably had his reasons.
"Good. Then complete the sim."
"It doesn't make sense, sir," she said, doing as instructed. "They obviously loved each other, otherwise, she'd have betrayed him. The rumor is wrong. It has to be."
"Do you agree?" he asked Jarod.
He looked into her eyes once more, then responded. "Yes. They did it for the money, certainly, but they could never have let the greed for the money come between them."
Rheins was silent for a moment, considering their answers. Jarod returned his gaze to the table, and she wondered what was going through his head.
It's no use, siming it, she thought. I don't know him well enough. Again she felt the tears rising up, and fought them down. Far as she was concerned, he was only the second person she'd met in her life, besides Rheins. Sweepers didn't count, they never spoke to her. But then again, considering her memories only went back a few months, she couldn't really be sure. She new she was in her late-thirties, at least. But from her perspective, she'd existed for only these last few months, and had always been here, in this place, doing sims.
Her mind flashed back to the first day of her life, at least the first she could remember. She had woken up in her room, just down the hall from the sim-lab she was in now. Rheins had been there. He had told her she'd been in an accident and had amnesia. He had told her that she was very special, and that he would help her to continue to do the work she'd been doing her whole life.
That was the first time she remembered being called a Pretender, a genius with the ability to become anyone she wants to be.
"Very well," Rheins finally said, interrupting her thoughts. "We will pass this on to our clients."
He then left the room and the sweepers that were always in there, as well as the new ones who'd entered with Jarod separated the two pretenders and escorted them to their rooms for the night.
Cairman's Office
The Centre Tower
8:21 P.M.
"So, what do you think?" the Chairman asked after Rheins entered the office.
"The memory blocks we placed in her mind held perfectly. There was absolutely no sign of recognition on Andrea's part," he replied.
"And Jarod?"
"He behaved. Though he obviously wasn't happy with the situation."
"And what is your opinion of her capabilities?" the Chairman asked as he rubbed his left-hand with his right, an old habit.
"She's nearly as good as Kyle and Jarod. It would seem that having the passive form of the Pretender gene does not mean you would be a low-level pretender, just that you need a little help."
Interesting, the Chairman thought. Six months ago, he had gone to the Triumvirate and told them that he believed the only way to capture Jarod would be with another Pretender, which the Centre currently didn't have. He told them he had a plan, but it would require allowing Rheins back in the Centre and eliminating Mr. Parker. He had then told them the plan and offered to take Mr. Parker's place as Chairman. They'd agreed
Rheins was allowed to return to the Centre after two months of exile. Sweepers had entered Mr. Parker's room in the Centre infirmary and hauled him off to a waiting Centre Jet that took him to Triumvirate headquarters.
While her father was being whisked away, Miss Parker was being anesthetized with and air-born sleep agent pumped into her office. She had remained unconscious for nearly a week while Rheins administered a perfected version of the treatment that had failed on Angelo. It was designed to turn a Passive-Pretender into a fully functional Pretender. When she woke up, she had been told that she would be undergoing a rigorous training period in how to do a Pretend, then she would use her new abilities to capture Jarod.
She hadn't been happy.
So Rheins had proposed a variation to the plan, in exchange for being project head for both Jarod and Parker's continued service to the Centre as Pretenders. Lyle had agreed, and Rheins had used a long-perfected Centre technique for blocking a person's memory. After which, he had told her that she was in the Centre so they could help her regain her memories. She had been much more cooperative and Rheins had asked her to perform a test, supposedly related to her amnesia. She had agreed, and successfully captured Jarod.
Rheins then blocked out this portion of her memory, so he'd be able to keep her as a Pretender, feeding her a new story as to her residence inside the Centre. Again, she had cooperated, and had been doing so for nearly five months.
As for Jarod, Rheins had only had to tell him that Miss Parker was now a part of the Pretender Program, with no knowledge of her previous life, or him, and that she would be severely beaten if he didn't cooperate. He'd agreed.
"Good work, Mr. Rheins," the Chairman said at last. "If you believe that they can work together without compromising the situation, then you may proceed."
With out saying a word, Mr. Rheins left. The Chairman didn't miss Rheins's typical look of loathing towards him. Understandable, Lyle thought, glancing at the thumb on his left hand.
Jarod's Room
The Centre, SL-17
9:04 PM
Jarod jumped out of bed and moved to the middle of his small room when the door opened. A Sweeper entered first, followed by Rheins, then a second Sweeper.
"What do you want," he asked, allowing the hatred into his voice.
"I want to know what happened in the sim lab earlier," the man weased out.
Clenching and unclenching his fists in anger, Jarod didn't respond.
"Maybe I should take it up with Miss Parker," Rheins threatened.
"It won't happen again, just leave her alone," Jarod said. Calm down, he thought to himself.
"It better not happen again, for her sake," he replied. "Tomorrow the two of you will be working together again. If you don't cooperate, fully, there will be consequences. Understood?"
"Yes."
"What?"
"Yes, sir," he said, faking submission.
"Sir," he asked as the three men turned to leave. "What was the point of that sim?"
Rheins was quiet for a moment, and Jarod was afraid he'd overstepped his bounds. Finally, the man answered.
"It was a test, for you," he said, his tone making it a threat. "You almost didn't pass."
Returning to the bed after they had left, Jarod sighed. He knew he couldn't escape, or Rheins would probably kill her. Unless he took her with him.
He sighed again. It was the same debate he'd had for the last five months. Attempting an escape alone was out of the question, for her sake. But would he be able to convince her to leave. The few minutes he's spent with her today didn't help. It had been the first time since his capture he's seen her, and she seamed almost happy. It was probably the memory loss. He's just have to find a way to talk to her in private.
Just then, Jarod heard a noise from the air vent. Angelo. Getting up, he moved to the vent just as Angelo swung it open on its hinges. Angelo had installed them during one of Jarod's first sims after his capture.
"Were have you been, Angelo?" he asked. "It's been three days since I've seen you."
"Angelo get help," the man replied. Reaching out, he motioned for Jarod to climb inside the vent.
"What?" he asked. "Were are we going?"
"See friends. They help." Without another word, Angelo moved back into the vents and waited for Jarod to follow.
Jarod climbed in and began to follow Angelo through the maze towards an unknown location. It wasn't the first time he'd been in here since his capture, he'd even been outside once. But with Parker being held inside and unable to defend herself, he couldn't leave.
After nearly twenty minutes, they reached there destination, a deserted office on SL-12. Jarod followed Angelo into the room, and waited. The man just stood there, staring at nothing in particular. Just as Jarod was about to say something, the door opened and their guests arrived. Broots and Sydney.
Jarod backed away, feeling the anger rise in him. He noticed the shock on the men's faces, followed by relief on Sydney's, but he ignored it. He's faking, Jarod thought.
Sydney stopped moving toward his protégée, a frown crossing his face. "What's wrong, Jarod?"
"What's wrong? What's wrong?" he said, unable to keep the disgust from his voice. "How could you two just sit by and let them do this to her? I thought you were her friends!"
"What?" Broots asked.
"Jarod, calm down. We don't know what happened to Miss Parker. We've spent the better part of the last six months looking for her while pretending to be looking for you're father and, clone," he said, hesitating on the last word.
"Wait," Broots interrupted. "Do you know were she is?"
"Yeah, Broots," Jarod replied, still not quite believing them. "She right here, in the Centre."
"Then she's safe," Sydney said with relief.
"Safe? Not hardly. Rheins turned her into a Pretender and erased her memory so she'd cooperate. He then threatened to beat her if I didn't cooperate and do as I'm told. Hardly safe."
The two were quiet for a moment as they digested what Jarod had just said. Broots finally broke the silence.
"We have to get her out of here," he stated the obvious.
"It's not that easy. I don't know were her room is, so I can't get to her. And even if I could, she may not cooperate. Rheins has her convinced she's here so he can help her regain her memory by doing sims. She didn't seam to be troubled by what was happening to her when I saw her today."
"You saw her," Sydney said. "How is she?"
"I just told you, she seams fine. But she doesn't have a clue as to what's really going on."
"What can we do?" Broots asked.
"Hack into the Centre's surveillance system. See if you can figure out were she's staying. I know the sim lab she's using is on SL-16, just off corridor A-12. If you can find her room, we shouldn't have any trouble escaping through the air vents."
"What if she doesn't want to cooperate?" Sydney asked. "What will we do then."
"We won't give her a choice, Syd," he responded. "If I can't convince her to escape with me, then I'll take her by force. Once I've figured out how the Centre's erased her memories, I may be able to undo the damage. If I can do that, I know she'll cooperate."
"How can you do that. If they erased her memories, how can you restore them?" Broots asked, a confused look on his face.
"'Erasing Memories' is a bad term, Mr. Broots. Every waking moment of a person's life is stored in their mind. What you may think you can't remember, you really just can't recall. All the Centre can really do is block her access to those memories. So I have to figure out how, then break down those walls."
"OK," Sydney brought the conversation back on track. "After you're out of the Centre, I'll be waiting in a car to get you two--."
"No," Jarod interrupted. "Parker and I escape alone. I won't risk your safety in this."
"Jarod, you can't escape without help."
"I did once, I can do it again. Besides, she'll be there to help me."
Sydney flinched when Angelo touched his arm, a piece of paper in his hand. Jarod had forgotten he'd even been in the room. Sydney took the paper and glanced at the writing on it. A look of confusion passed his feature's briefly, then he handed the slip to the Pretender. Taking it, Jarod glanced down and smiled.
"Call my father," he said as he returned the paper to Sydney. "He's already on the run. Tell him I'm OK and fill him in. After I've spoken with Parker in private, I'll tell Angelo when he needs to be in position and were."
With that, he returned to the vent, waited for Angelo to climb in first, then followed the man back to his room. Allowing a small smile to play across his face as he fell asleep on his bed thirty minutes later, he realized that this just might work.
Sim Lab
The Centre, SL-16
8:32 A.M.
The Sweepers escorted Jarod into the same Sim Lab he and Parker had worked in last night, then took their usual positions next to the door. Jarod continued in and immediately changed course when he saw her standing by the projector screen.
Just like last night, she was wearing typical Centre-issue clothing. A smaller size of the very same clothes he wore. She turned around when she heard him approach and smiled when she recognized him. He returned the smile, though not as enthusiastically. I've got to get her out of here soon, he thought.
"Hi, Jarod," she spoke up first. "Sleep good?"
"Not really, Andrea," he replied, choosing his words carefully. Rheins had warned him to call her by that name only, or there would be consequences. "I don't sleep very well."
"Sorry to here that. Any reason why?"
"Just some, issues, I've been dealing with for a while. Nothing to worry about," he lied. She should worry. The same things that kept him up would probably haunt her in the future. Memories of captivity in this place, and the things he'd been forced to do.
"What's wrong, Jarod?" she asked, concern showing on her face and in her voice.
"Nothing," he replied, forcing calm into his voice.
Just then, the door to the upper level of the Sim Lab opened and Rheins walked in, followed by a sweeper. Jarod tried, barely successfull, to keep a look of scorn from his face.
"Andrea, Jarod. You to will be working together from time to time on some of our more important contracts. Cooperate, and you'll be rewarded. Now, let's begin."
With that, the projector hidden in the far wall came to life. A Sweeper soon entered with the material Jarod and Parker would need for the sim and Jarod consciously pushed his feelings into the back of his mind, focusing on the sim. For her sake, he thought.
Parker's Room
The Centre, SL-16
3:47 A.M. (Four days later)
Jarod silently opened the vent shaft that led into her room and climbed in. Broots had told him the location of her room last night, and they'd planned for him to disable her room's security camera so Jarod could visit her at this time.
Leaving the vent cover off, Jarod shook his head in wonder, then turned to face the sleeping form on the cot. He still couldn't believe the Centre hadn't blocked off the vent shaft in his room. He'd tried to escape through them once, the last time he'd been recaptured, and they'd been ready then. Maybe they want me moving around on my own? he thought.
Pushing his fears aside, he knelt next to the bed and gently shook her arm, trying to wake her up. After a moment, he was rewarded for his efforts.
Jarod noticed her surprise when she saw him and quickly covered her mouth with his hands, motioning for her to be quiet. Broots had informed him that she had a sweeper stationed outside her door at all times and Jarod didn't want to alert him.
Taking her hand, he led her to the vent and helped her in. Climbing in after her, he reached back into the room and lifted the cover back into place. He led her through the maze of shafts, remaining quiet, till finally he reached Angelo's hidden 'room'.
He could see she was starting to get a little woried, but before he could say anything, Angelo rushed out of another shaft and moved to her. "Daughter, scared," he said when he touched her arm.
"What?" she asked, looking to Jarod for confirmation.
"This is Angelo. He's a friend, but he doesn't talk much," Jarod introduced him, watching her for any sign of recognition.
"Hi, Angelo. My name is Andrea," she said.
"Daughter, scared," the empath said to Jarod. "Still scared."
"What do you mean, Angelo? Who's daughter?"
"He's talking about you, Mi--Andrea. Daughter is the name he usually uses when he's referring to you."
"What? Am I his--. No, he's to young."
"No," Jarod explained. "He's, different. He can feel what other people are feeling, but he doesn't usually have any emotions of his own. Some of the time, his mind shuts down and he just sits and stares at nothing. Even when his mind works, it doesn't work like it should. He calls you daughter, I guess, because of the way you feel about your mother."
"My--. My Mother. I don't even know her. I've never met her," she shook her head in despair. "Jarod, what's going on. Why'd you come and drag me out of my room?"
"I needed to talk to you. I need to know how much you remember before you started doing sims for Rheins."
"I've been doing them my whole life," she replied. Then continued when she saw the look of confusion of Jarod's face. "At least, that's what Rheins told me. I can't remember anything that happened before five months ago. Rheins said that doing the sims is the best way to regain my memory, since that's what I spent most of my time on. Why are you asking me this, Jarod? What's Going on?"
Jarod shook his head in frustration when he heard her answer. "He lied to you, Andrea. Before six months ago, you'd only been a part of one sim. And you were not a pretender at the time."
"Huh? I thought being a Pretender was genetic?"
"Sort of. There is a certain gene that gives those who have it the potential for being a pretender. But the gene comes in two forms, active and passive. An active form of the gene results in a natural pretender, but a passive form justs results in a person who's very intelligent. They need help to become a pretender. You have the passive form of the gene."
"Then how can I be a pretender?" she asked, a little frustrated.
"Forty years ago, the Centre isolated a group of eight children with the pretender gene. Five were natural pretenders of varying skill. The other three, including you, were passive. Rheins devised a variation to a procedure known as electrolysis that could basically re-wire a passive pretender's mind so they could function as an active pretender. That's what happened to Angelo. He was one of the three passive pretenders. Rheins used the technique on him, but it failed. Instead of opening up the appropriate portions of his brain, it closed off other portions. Rheins later perfected the technique and used it on you, six months ago."
"But, why?" she asked, visibly holding back tears. "Why would they need to use it on me if they had five natural pretenders already?"
"Because they didn't have any of those five left. Two escaped within ten years of their isolation here. Rheins took a third, my brother, and corrupted him," Jarod paused, fighting his own sorrow as he remembered what he'd learned about his brother. "Eventually, Rheins lost control and Kyle escaped. He was killed a little over three years ago by the current Chairman of the Centre." No need to add that her own twin is the Chairman. Not yet.
"What about the other three?"
"Two of us, me and a man named Eddie, escaped five years ago. During the escape, the last pretender, Alex, was killed. At least we thought he was. He somehow survived and the Centre corrupted him. He killed Eddie less than a year ago, then jumped off of a six-story walk way. I'm the only one of those five still alive."
She was quiet for a while, and Jarod let her dwell over the truck-load of information he'd just given her. Finally, she spoke up.
"If you escaped five years ago, why are you here now?" she asked quietly.
"I--," he began, unsure of how to say this. "When I escaped five years ago, you were assigned to bring me back. You're father was the Chairman at the time and many believed you were the only one that had what it would take to catch me. You never did though. Six months ago, a man named Lyle, the third passive-pretender, made a deal with the Triumvirate. He handed you over to undergo the treatment and training, turning you into a full-fledged pretender. Then you would be forced to use your new abilities to recapture me. Rheins, who'd been in exile from the Centre for a couple of months, was allowed back and put in charge of your treatment and training. After your treatment, Rheins told you what you'd have to do. You, apparently weren't to happy and didn't cooperate. So Rheins used a technique to block your memories. Afterwards, he was able to trick you into using your abilities to capture me. Then he blocked that portion of your memory so he could feed you ! a new story and continue to use your abilities as a Pretender. After I was captured, Lyle was promoted to Chairman. I don't know what happened to your father then."
"This, no. This can't be true. Rheins wouldn't do this. He's not that kind of person. He never--"
"Andrea," he said soothingly, interrupting her. "He is one of the worst people I've ever met. He," Jarod paused, wondering if he would tell her this part. "He's killed people for no reason, with no regrets. He's a power-hungry, greedy, pathetic excuse for a human being who's little more than a walking corpse."
Jarod stopped when he saw the look on her face. He'd let his anger at the man take control. Calm down, Jarod, he told himself.
"Andrea," he said after he'd regained control. "He's betrayed your family over and over again. I'm sorry, but this is the truth."
"No," she said, quieter than before.
"Jarod, friend. Speak truth. Trust Jarod."
She looked at Angelo when he said this, whipping at the tears starting to roll down her face. Jarod watch her expression change from disbelief and anger to pain and sorrow. Angelo's curious behavior seamed to have convinced her.
"Jarod," she paused, catching her breath. "I, I don't know what to do. Rheins may be evil, but what I'm doing here is good. I'm helping people. I can't just walk away from that."
Jarod sighed. The memory loss had changed everything about her, right down to the core. "Andrea," he began. "I used to think the same thing. But the Centre takes our findings and corrupts them. They sell them to people who use them to hurt innocent bystanders. The Centre uses our abilities to do harm, in exchange for money and power."
They were silent for a while, and Jarod wondered what he should do next. He decided to do the one thing the old Parker would have wanted the least, he drew her into his arms and held her. She didn't resist, drawing on him for support.
A moment later, she gently pulled away. Jarod could see that she still had a little doubt, but she was in control. I guess a part of her survived the memory block, he thought.
"What do we do, Jarod?" she asked.
"We escape. Then we make the Centre pay."
"When?"
"Soon. There are some people here, friends of yours, who are helping us. When the time comes, I'll come get you out of your, room. Until then, you have to pretend like you don't know what happened. Even when you're alone. Every square inch of this place is being monitored."
"Alright. But, Jarod?" she asked.
"What?"
"Please. Hurry."
He nodded. They stood there for a moment longer, then Jarod led her back through the vents to her room. He helped her in and watched her get settled. Then he returned to Angelo, gave him a message for Sydney, and went to his own room.
Soon, he thought. We'll be free soon. And this time, I'll make the Centre pay.
There's More to come. Unless everyone hates it, so let me know.
