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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Chapter 22
pretender_gurl
Simulation Laboratory 2
Centre Biological Research Facility
Donoterase, Maryland
April 14, 1994
05:30
Jonas stood in the center of the SIM lab, patiently awaiting instructions from Mr. Raines on today's simulation schedule. He suppressed a yawn as Raines walked into the lab. Jonas had not gotten any decent sleep last night since Mr. Lyle's Sweepers had made sure that any sleeping position was painful. But Jonas knew that it was his own fault. After all, emotions were a sign of weakness and there was no room for weakness with Mr. Raines.
"Jonas," Mr. Raines greeted the boy as he entered the lab.
"Good morning, sir," Jonas returned.
Instead of walking up the observation deck in the lab, Mr. Raines stood directly in front of Jonas.
"Jonas, I know that you learned some troubling things yesterday, but the important thing for you to know is that the Centre is now your family. We will protect you, but you have to help us in return. You have been gifted with the intelligence designed to help others. Your emotions will only get in the way of your work, and so will dwelling on your family. They're gone Jonas. It's time to forget the past and look to the future," Raines said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Yes, sir," Jonas mumbled, looking at the floor. Mr. Raines was right. He should be grateful for everything the Centre had done for him. Jonas decided that he would follow Mr. Raines's advice and stop dwelling on his past. "My allegiance is to the Centre, Mr. Raines."
Raines straightened up with a smile. This was the twin who would redeem the Centre. Gemini was still the answer.
McCarthy Household
Dover, Delaware
05:38
Evelyn woke up to the shrill ringing of the telephone. She turned to wake Sam, but he wasn't in bed beside her. Evelyn picked up the handset and mumbled hello as she threw back the covers. She slipped into her robe as the caller asked for Sam. Evelyn asked him to hold for a moment, and padded down the hallway to Lucy's room.
Sam had fallen asleep in the rocking chair beside Jira's bed. Evelyn gently shook him awake.
"Someone named Sydney is on the phone for you," she informed.
Sam thanked her and grabbed the phone.
"Sydney? Did you find anything?"
"I'm not sure, Sam, but I think so. In any case, it's our best bet so far."
"I took the morning off. Can you get over here?" Sam asked.
"I'll be there in an hour."
Sam clicked the 'off' button as soon as he heard the dial tone. Evelyn had gone back to their bedroom where Joey was crying. Sam stood up, stretching his stiff body and yawning.
"Daddy," said a small voice from behind him. Sam turned to see his daughter sitting up in bed. "Daddy, why is that girl so quiet?"
Sam walked over to Lucy's bed and knelt down beside her. "She's very sick, Princess. Some mean people did bad things to her."
"But you're going to make it all better, right Daddy?" Lucy asked with a confident smile.
Sam smiled back sadly. "I'm going to try. Now go back to sleep for a little bit, Princess. You don't want to be tired at pre-school later."
Sam tucked his daughter back into bed. He smoothed back her golden locks and kissed her forehead. Checking on Jira one last time, he went down the hall to his own bedroom where Evelyn was rocking Joey.
"That was Sydney," Sam said, referring to the phone call. "He thinks he may have found something. He'll be here in a little while."
Evelyn nodded and gently laid Joey back down in his crib. "I'll go make some breakfast while you get dressed."
Parker Mansion
Blue Cove, Delaware
06.58
Miss Parker rolled away from the sunlight streaming in through her windows.
"Don't cry, Miss Parker. Please don't be sad. I'm never sad when I'm with you. After all, you've given me the sun."
"Yeah, and then I put you through a T-Board," Miss Parker grumbled as she recalled Jarod's words from so long ago.
Miss Parker opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was the framed photograph of herself and her mother that had been taken after a piano recital when Miss Parker was ten years old.
"Oh, Mama. What am I doing?" Miss Parker lamented aloud.
The phone rang and Miss Parker chose to ignore it. The answering machine clicked on and Miss Parker waited through the pre-recorded message until her father's voice came on the machine.
"Angel, where are you? You were supposed to be here an hour ago! Now, I understand that you're a little upset about yesterday's T-Board, but you're a Parker for godsakes! Pull yourself together and get to the Centre now!
Miss Parker reached over to the answering machine and yanked it from the wall, sending it flying across the room where it shattered against the opposite wall.
McCarthy Household
Dover, Delaware
07:03
Sydney looked up at the house and double checked the address Sam had given him. The small house was a pale blue color with white painted shutters. Tasteful shrubbery surrounded the house and Sydney couldn't help but smile at the tulips that grew along the pathway to the door. Sydney quickly admonished himself. Just because Sam worked at the Centre as a Sweeper didn't mean that he couldn't have a normal home life. He rang the doorbell and waited as footsteps came to the door.
Sam answered the door wearing Calvin Klein jeans and a faded University of Delaware sweatshirt. On his hip was a baby boy in a blue onesie.
"Thanks for coming, Sydney," Sam said as he held the door open for his guest.
Sydney stepped into the house and was wiping his feet on the mat when he noticed a curly blonde head darting out from behind the corner to catch a glimpse of this stranger.
"Lucy," Sam called, addressing Goldilocks. "Lucy, this is Sydney. Daddy and Sydney work together. Sydney, this is my daughter Lucy and this little guy is my son, Joey."
"You have beautiful children, Sam," Sydney told his colleague.
Sam nodded his thanks and led Sydney into the kitchen where tantalizing aromas met his senses. Standing before the stove was a tall, lean woman with flaxen hair that was pulled into a ponytail.
"Sydney, I'd like you to meet my wife, Evelyn," Sam said as he kissed the woman's cheek and handed her the baby. Evelyn wiped her hands and turned to greet her husband's guest. Evelyn's lustrous green eyes were brighter than any Sydney had seen before and he couldn't help staring at them as he shook the woman's hand.
"It's so nice to finally meet one of Sam's co-workers," Evelyn said. "I'm afraid that breakfast is not quite ready yet, but it shouldn't be more than five or ten minutes."
"Oh, that's quite alright. Actually, I'd like to see how the girl is, if it's not too much trouble."
"Not at all. She's in Lucy's room right now," Sam said, leading the way to the bedroom.
Sam pushed open the door that had been left ajar and Sydney followed him into the bedroom. The ivy colored carpet from the hallway also decorated the bedroom. The walls had been painted a very light rose color that matched the antique doll border that surrounded the room near the ceiling. The blinds were drawn across the two windows in the room and a white valance with ivy bows hung from the top of the windows. There were two twin beds in the room, made from cherry wood with a low head and footboard and matching quilts. One of the beds was made with a monogrammed pillow that said 'Lucy Elizabeth' and a doll that bore a remarkable likeness to her owner.
In the other bed, Jira appeared to be in the throes of a nightmare. She kept throwing her head from one side to the other and was whimpering loudly. Her pale skin was coated in sweat and her long braid was coming undone Sydney was surprised to see Sam rush to the rocking chair beside the bed and stroke the girl's head with a tenderness that Sydney would never have expected from him. Sydney watched as the girl began to calm down at Sam's soothing words and touch. The scene was reminded him of the first week Jarod was at the Centre.
*****
February 7, 1973
21.23
Sydney was packing up for the weekend. This week had been an emotional rollercoaster for him. Four days ago, a little boy who couldn't have been more than three or four was brought to the Centre as a new subject in the Pretender Program. Eight months after his application to be given a subject in the project, Sydney's request had finally been granted. This subject was his.
They were calling the boy Jarod. Based on the tests they had been running, Jarod appeared to be the most gifted of all the Pretenders currently in the program, and he was so young! Sydney had high hopes for the project. The Centre's Pretenders could do so much to help mankind, not to mention the knowledge he could obtain from studying the physiological and psychological attributes of the Pretenders. The project would be the golden goose of the Psychogenic Research Department.
And yet, as elated as he was over the prospective success of the Pretender Program, Sydney's conscience was nagging at him. He reached over to the closed circuit television on his desk and turned it on. Immediately the surveillance feed from Jarod's space came onto the screen. The boy was curled up in a fetal position, hugging the limp pillow to his chest, but he wasn't sleeping. Sydney turned off his record of Brahms and turned up the volume on the television. Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1 in d-minor was replaced by the muffled sobbing of the little boy in his light blue cowboy pajamas. Sydney's stomach twisted violently.
He turned off the television and sighed. There wasn't anything he could do about it without compromising the integrity of the study. The boy would get used to living at the Centre and forget his family with time. Besides, if the Tower found out that Sydney had interfered, he would loose his subject. Sydney picked up his briefcase and coat and left the office. Sydney walked down the empty corridors of sublevel 21 and boarded the elevator at the end of the hall. But instead of going to the lobby, Sydney found himself pressing the button for SL-14 where the child subjects were kept. Taking a deep breath, Sydney left the elevator and took a right down the hallway to Jarod's space. He left his briefcase and coat by the wall underneath the access panel and swiped his keycard. The lock clicked open and Sydney walked in.
Jarod had his head buried in the flimsy pillow and Sydney assumed that the boy hadn't heard him come in. Sydney crossed the room to the corner where the bed was and knelt down beside it.
"Jarod? What's wrong?" he asked softly.
Jarod sprang up in the bed, still clutching the pillow, and looked at Sydney with big, round eyes. Sydney got up and sat on the edge of the bed.
"I-I had a b-bad dream," Jarod said, his lower lip trembling.
"Would you like to talk about it?" Sydney asked again.
Jarod shook his head, then seemed to think better of it.
"Sydney?" he asked. Sydney leaned in closer to show the boy he was listening. "Do my mommy and daddy not love me anymore? Is that why they sent me here?"
Sydney leaned back, trying to think of the best answer. "I'm sure that your parents love you very much, Jarod."
"Then why did they send me away?" Jarod asked, his brown eyes filling with tears.
"I think they knew what a special little boy you are and that the Centre is the best place for you to maximize your potential and help people," Sydney explained as much to himself as to the sad little boy before him. "Now, you should go back to sleep, Jarod, and I'll see you in the morning."
Sydney stood and turned to the door.
"Sydney?" Jarod called in a timid voice.
"Yes, Jarod?"
"Do you think you could tuck me in?" Jarod asked.
Sydney smiled and walked back over to the cot. He helped Jarod lie back down and then pulled the sheet and thin blanket over him. Sydney gave the boy's hand a comforting squeeze and went to stand up, but Jarod held onto his hand. Sydney knew that he shouldn't, but he sat back down on the edge of the bed. He tightened his grip on the boy's hand and ran his other hand through the boy's soft hair, staying long after Jarod had fallen asleep.
*****
"She seems to have nightmares constantly," Sam was saying.
"Yes, I talked with her for a while and she seemed…plagued by her past," Sydney affirmed.
"She doesn't deserve a life like Angelo's, Sydney. Can you help her?" Sam asked hopefully.
Sydney sighed. "No, Sam. I can't."
Sam looked up in shock. "But you said - "
"I can't help her, but I think you can," Sydney finished.
Office of the Chairman
The Centre
07:05
"She's not answering," Mr. Parker told the wheezing man across the desk.
"I told you this wasn't a good idea," Mr. Raines hissed back. "She's too much like her mother!"
"Catherine may have been her mother, but I am her father and I raised her! She's a Parker, dammit!"
"You could have fooled me," Mr. Raines muttered.
"How long has it been since the girl disappeared?" Mr. Parker asked with a glare.
"Sixteen hours and still no sign of her."
"Do you think that Jarod knows where she is?" Mr. Parker continued with his interrogation.
"It doesn't matter anymore. He's unconscious down in the infirmary and probably will be out of it for a while. But I'm telling you, that doesn't matter! We should re-focus on the boy. Jira's talents were sub-par, stunted by her time with the Triumvirate," Mr. Raines insisted.
"So what course of action do you propose, Raines?"
"Drop the recovery of the female from high priority to low. We can run routine scans of hospitals, schools, and other areas with high traffic by children. If something comes up, we'll investigate. But in the meantime, we increase the security around the boy and accelerate his training. By the time he is twelve, we will have a Pretender matching Jarod's skill level," Raines explained.
"Hmm. I like that, Raines. Set it up. However, the boy has four years to go until his twelfth birthday. In the meantime, Jarod is still our greatest asset," Mr. Parker reasoned. "I'm bringing Sydney back in as Jarod's mentor. Perhaps he can bring Jarod out of his catatonic stupor."
"I never liked Sydney," Raines growled between clenched teeth. "His brother and your wife were too close. Both of them may have had a hand in Catherine's plans to cross the Centre."
"Sydney is the only one who can get Jarod to cooperate these days. We need him."
Mr. Parker pressed the button on his intercom.
"May I help you, Mr. Chairman?" a sing-song voice came.
"Have Sydney paged with the message that he has been reassigned to Jarod," Mr. Parker instructed, cutting the woman off before she could confirm his request. Then he turned his attention back to Mr. Raines. "And how is the boy progressing, Mr. Raines?"
"Swiftly. We had a minor setback when he went searching for information on his family, but it has been taken care of and seems to have solidified his loyalty to the Centre. The male Gemini is ours, Mr. Parker."
