Chapter 2 - Missing in Action

(The Ending to Island of the Haunted - The day Mr. Raines took over power)

* Monday - January 7th, 2002 -6 am – The tower ordered a Tribunal to explain the disappearance of Mr. Parker, the Scrolls and Jarod.  Mr. Raines, Mr. Lyle and Miss Parker were the only survivors of the deadly plane landing on Christmas day, just 13 days ago … but only Mr. Raines and Mr. Lyle were summoned. They were escorted to the dark room of the tower facing a tribunal of THE COMMITTEE. A side that Mr. Raines was not accustomed to sit. He knew that for anyone on this side of the table, had their fate already cast, even before a single word was even spoken. These questions were merely … a formality. A deep voice in the dark blurted out…

THE VOICE:
“Come in … Mr. Raines … SIT …DOWN!” 

* Nothing was said to Mr. Lyle. He was left uncomfortable and unsure what to do. Sit, stand or wait?

THE VOICE:
”Let’s start with your report, Mr. Raines. Explain to us, why some people under your control have died, why some of our pretenders got way and some of your facts haven’t been included in your reports … YET?”

* Mr. Raines reluctantly took his seat

THE VOICE:
“We need all the facts before we can decide what to do with The Centre, You and your family! … OH, before we begin…. Put Mr. Lyle in chains … FOR NOW!”

* Mr. Lyle was taken away and thrown in a cell. Mr. Raines cleared his throat and prepared to speak...

THE VOICE:
“Go ahead… Mr. Raines”

MR. RAINES:
“Well as you know, our last mission on Carthis, which is an island off Scotland, everything went according to our plan. We found the Scrolls, we cleared the leaks on the island and we even captured Jarod … However, we did train him very well and he managed to escape. The Centre is VERY GOOD at what we do. To capture one of our own is constantly trying to out think ourselves. I assure you with each attempt, we not only get closer, but we study every response he
does in his real life Sims. We know how he thinks which brings us closer to our ultimate goal.”

THE VOICE:
”Look at the screen and tell us about each of these files …”

* The lights went out and images were flashed on a large white screen … With a deep raspy inhale, Mr. Raines speaks about each picture image … The Crafty Mr. Raines tells a believable story with his own bias view of the facts …

MR RAINES:
“On this screen … is Mr. Parker …”

MR.PARKER:

"Mr. Parker was our Centre Director. He died trying to stop Jarod from stealing the Scrolls. Jarod had a brilliant and quick escape plan. He freed himself, shot all the Triumvirate agents and sabotaged the circuits just before he tried to parachute out the plane with the scrolls. Mr. Parker took the scrolls back from Jarod but lost his life just as Jarod opened the door to jump. Mr. Parker is presumed dead, but we know approximately where the scrolls landed and will find them … the Legacy will continue”

STATUS: PRESUMED DEAD – (Body was never found)

* The truth was that it was Mr. Raines and Mr. Lyle that killed the Triumvirate Agents and that Mr. Parker stole the scrolls and parachuted out which caused the short circuits and the plane to be damaged. It was Jarod who saved the plane and the lives of Mr. Raines, Mr. Lyle and Miss Parker and then escaped. Although Mr. Raines had no idea where the scrolls were, this explanation did save his life.

BRIDGET:
“Bridget was our “Cleaner” investigating Centre leaks and retrieval of rouge operatives. She has Z-3 status clearance. (Z-3 is an assignation directive order). She died giving birth to hers and Mr. Parkers baby boy. The House and all evidence was completely burned and sanitized.

STATUS: PRESUMED DEAD - (Body was never found)

THE VOICE:

“Did Bridget know why she was chosen?”

MR. RAINES:

“Yes … She volunteered”

BABY PARKER:
“Baby Parker, male, born 5/1/2000. He is in The Centre’s Maternity Sub-Level. We are still running tests but there are no signs showing yet”

STATUS: STILL ALIVE

* The screen changes, Mr. Raines adjust his chair and position … a cold tone was expressed through the voice, as new images flashed to the screen ….

THE VOICE:
”What about the cleanup and containment?”

OCEE:
”Ocee lived on the Island of Carthis. She had the psychic gift of inner sense passed down from her mother. She shares this unique gift with her younger sister. She was warned, by the Centre, never to divulge anything about the scrolls or her bloodlines. Once we found out Miss Parker was on the Island, a Z-3 directive was issued for Ocee and she was killed before any knowledge could be passed down. The truth was contained before that knowledge was released.”

STATUS: CONFIRMED DEAD

BROTHER RINALDUS:
”Brother Rinaldus was a Vespasian Monk that was our eyes and ears on the Island of Carthis... He kept watch and reported anyone getting close to finding the secrets of the scrolls. Once the scrolls were found, his services were no longer necessary. The history died with him.”

STATUS: CONFIRMED DEAD

EDDIE BALLINGER:
“Eddie was one of our pretenders. His abilities were substandard. A Z-3 directive was issued and his projects were terminated, however just before it was implemented, he escaped with Jarod in 1996. He became an NSA Agent and started a family. Eddie was tracked down and killed by one of our pretenders, Alex, under a Triumvirate order. “

STATUS: CONFIRMED DEAD

TOMMY THOMPSON:
”Tommy Thompson was a Centre research psychiatrist. He ran a simulation with Eddie about the Identities of undercover NSA Agents. He was also issued a Z-3 directive and killed by Alex. The truth about Centre connections and ties died with him!”

STATUS: CONFIRMED DEAD

ALEX:
“Alex, aka The Chameleon, was one of our great pretenders,  seconded only to Jarod. When he failed in his escape with Eddie and Jarod, we captured him and took him to Africa for Re-training. He was effective, but we questioned his loyalty. We release him with an order to find and kill Eddie and Tommy Thompson. Once he finished this assignment he went rogued and turned against the Triumvirate and The Centre. He went after Mr. Parker and Miss Parker but was intercepted and chased by Jarod where he fell from a high rise, to his death, attempting to escape.

STATUS: PRESUMED DEAD- (Body was never found)

DAMON:
“Damon was hired by the Centre for his expertise in assassinations and intelligence gathering. He pretended to be Jarod’s friend to get simulation information needed for a military contract. He then betrayed Jarod by killing Kenny, a simple minded person that Jarod befriended. Weeks later, when Jarod found that the true purpose of his simulated caused several deaths, he escaped. Damon had orders commit mass murder using one of Jarod’s simulations. He was tracked down by Jarod but held Broots as a hostage. Jarod was faced with a choice; either let Damon get away, which would sacrifice Broots and many other lives or kill for the first time.

STATUS: CONFIRMED DEAD

*The next image flashed onto the screen. Mr. Raines gave a blank stare.

THOMAS GATE:
“Thomas Gates was Miss Parker’s friend and lover. He was given a Z-3 directive and killed by Bridget when he jeopardized the future of Miss Parker’s involvement with the Centre. The facts were contained. All evidenced and persons involved were silenced. The knowledge of who killed Thomas was exposed to Miss Parker … but not the Why!

STATUS: CONFIRMED DEAD

MR. FENIGOR:
“Mr. Fenigor did much research for The Centre by picking and delivering prodigy children. He was hired by Mr. Parker to work with Catherine. When Mr. Parker found out Catherine’s goal was to rescue some of these children, Mr. Fenigor was threatened and paid to leave. In May of 1998 he was spotted and exposed to Jarod and Miss Parker, but was shot in a bank during a robbery attempt. He broke silence when he told Jarod and Miss Parker about THE RED FILES. His contacts and work to the Centre are still very important and we did not have the time to erase him so he was replaced by his twin brother. His twin was fully briefed and will continue in his place.”

STATUS: REPLACED (Mr. Fenigor was ghosted)

HARRIET TASHMAN
“Harriet Tashman had been a friend of Catherine Parker (when Catherine was still Catherine Jameson). Harriet shielded Jarod's parents and Emily from The Centre on her farm in the early 60’s. She was abducted by Kyle before he went to prison. She almost reunited Jarod with his mother and his sister until the Centre intervened. Jarod does not know where Harriet is now, but we do and she will lead us the Jarod’s Mother Margaret!”

STATUS: UNDER SERVAILANCE

THE VOICE:
”Tell us about Catherine Parker, Mr. Raines?

CATHERINE PARKER:
“Catherine Parker, born Catherine Jamison in 1936 Catherine had a very loving soul with a gift of “Inner Sense”. She came to the Centre in the middle 50’s and she married Mr. Parker. She managed and took care of the children. She gave birth to her daughter Miss Parker and Mr. Lyle. Her opinions about the children became conflicted and jeopardize the Centre’s Policies. We had to remove her without tainting the pretender project. We faked her death in an elevator. She later gave birth to her last child Ethan. She unfortunately died during child birth. “

STATUS: CONFIRMED DEAD

* The next image that flashed to the screen was Edna Raines, Mr. Raines’s wife. Mr. Raines choked slightly. A slight emotion of hate filled his eyes. He lost a daughter Annie to a serial killer. Edna, his wife was never the same since. Even here death was very suspicious. Memories of Mr. Raines: He remembers back losing his daughter and his wife

THE VOICE:
”Emotions, Mr. Raines?”

MR RAINES:
“No”

* He answered, but is in his tormented mind, he still questioned what really happened…

EDNA RAINES:
“Edna, the best Physician in her field and worked in Maternity ward. She took care of the children, Annie, Angelo, Kyle, Ethan and sometimes Jarod. Once she started siding with Catherin Parker and her dangerous ideas … she had to be carefully dealt with. After … h, her daughter died in 1975, she broke down, and was placed in institutional care … she recently died in the hospital with an overdose of pain killer medicine. She was a victim of depression. The past secrets and secret of Mirage died with her.”

STATUS: CONFIRMED DEAD

* Mr. Raines looked at the screen, knowing that Jarod rescued this boy and spoiled his attempt to create yet another pretender. He never reported this, so he created a lie. Davey is now secretly living with a loving couple Jarod found for him.

DAVEY SIMPKINS:
“Davey Simpkins was the Centre's latest attempt at creating a Pretender. Davey was a young boy who also underwent testing at NuGenesis; sadly he was another failure with the brain wave manipulation treatment. He was not special … we disposed of him! ”

STATUS: GHOASTED

* Mr. Raines looked at the floor and kept silent for a short while … but the silence was broken by a cold strong voice

THE VOICE:
”Tell us about THE RED FILES!”

MR RAINES:
“The Red Files represents subjects inside the pretender program. Each subject was given a certain path and training in order to complete a predestinated result; I cannot discuss the results in committee. Only Top Secret clearance is
allowed”

THE VOICE:
“How many are there”

MR RAINES:
“There are eight of them”

RF-1: JAROD
“We started the RED FILES with Jarod. Jarod is a natural pretender. He is the prototype for the others. We greatly studied his brain patterns and tried to re-create them in others. His weakness is compassion, which is the first emotion we try to eliminate in every pretender we create. Jarod is different. His brain is like a sponge with total retention. We have plans for him once he returns to Centre’s Control again!”

STATUS: AT LARGE

RF-2: KYLE:
“Kyle, Jarod’s brother, also a natural pretender. We experiment on him to modify his behavior by removing his compassion and creating a controlled sociopath. We set him free under surveillance, but he went rogue and became difficult to control. Kyle was eventually put into a maximum-security prison for the abduction of Harriet Tashman searching for his family. He managed to escape. Jarod found him. The Centre sent orders to eliminate him before he could work with Jarod, Kyle faked his death and again tried to unite with Jarod but was killed by Mr. Lyle.”

STATUS: CONFIRMED DEAD

RF-3: ANGELO
Angelo has a gift as an empath. He was raised within the Centre since he was four and was originally named Timmy. He suffered the effects from a Brain Wave Manipulation Experiment. Angelo now has a remarkable skill to Profile a person who owned the object he holds and often helps us to locate a person. Angelo is harmless. He is both smart and dim witted. We have always had him under our control. He poses no threat“

STATUS: AT CENTRE NO THREAT

RF-4: DANNIE:
“Dannie was the second attempt in our mind-altering experiments in SL-27. He showed great intelligence but had mild depression. Dannie suffered the effects from a Brain Wave Manipulation Experiment. He was no longer depressed, but exhibited psychosis and multiple personalities disorder. His personality fractured into Dannie and the more powerful and dangerous personality Einnad. He is  currently under Sydney's care in the psychology ward. The brain wave  Manipulation Experiment has been abandoned.”

STATUS: IN HOSPITAL CARE UNDER SURVAILANCE

RF-5: ETHAN:
“Ethan, code named The Mirage Project, was an experiment of creating a pretender with the inner sense of Catherine Parker. Ethan was conceived involving Catherine Parker impregnated with Major Charles sperm (Jarod’s Dad). He is very intelligent and we trained him as an expertise with explosives. He suffers headaches with conscience and “Voices” in his head. We sent him on a mission to blow up a subway train station for Centre Business. That mission
failed. We believe he survived the explosion and is in hiding with Major Charles.”

STATUS: AT LARGE

ONE OF THE VOICES IN THE DARK YELLED OUT:
“ETHON GOT AWAY under your supervision … have you forgotten that?”

MR RAINES:
“Yes, we let him get away. We have a plan to use him again. It will not be long! He is the trap for his Brother … Jarod.”

THE VOICE:
“We will soon see about that! … Tell us about this one!”

MR RAINES:

RF-6: CLASSIFIED:

"#6- is sealed … You know I can’t discuss it”

STATUS: CLASSIFIED – TOP SECRET

THE VOICE:
“Very well … Continue”

RF-7: MR. LYLE:
Lyle is the twin brother of Miss Parker's. He was pronounced still born at birth so we could keep him hidden for his upbringing and training. He is ruthless and a little outside of normal criteria, but he is a loyal asset to The Centre. His mother was Catherine Parker.

STATUS: ACTIVE - AT CENTRE

THE VOICE:
“Does he know about himself yet?”

MR. RAINES:
“No”

THE VOICE:
“Maybe it is time that he does … Continue Mr. Raines”

RF-8: MISS PARKER:
“Miss Parker is the eighth person we have been tracking. She was born to Catherine Parker and has the inner sense, but she does not know how powerful. The resemblance to her mother is strikingly accurate. When Jarod escaped she was brought in to capture him. She is currently kept active following his progress. She is tormented by the death of her mother and Thomas Gates. While she was in the hospital sedated, we ran many tests … she could be the one. But she is dangerously snooping into things she is not ready to know yet…We have to be careful.

STATUS: ACTIVE – AT CENTRE

THE VOICE:
“How much does she know?”

MR. RAINES:
“Only what we have been instructed to tell her … she does not know the real reason she is here!”

THE VOICE:
“Why are these next few people slipping through your fingertips?  Starting with Gemini … HOW ARE YOU GOING TO GET HIM BACK?”

* MR. RAINES continues ...:

GEMINI: (JAROD’S CLONE)
“As you know Gemini, a younger version of Jarod, was born in 1985. He was the first clone to survive in many designed experiments. His DNA Code is very complicated. He requires an essential enzyme supplement that needs to be administrated monthly or his body will automatically start to shut down.  THERE IS NO CURE! He does not know it, but we put it into his food. He has been gone for eleven months now. So if not captured or returned within the next 3o days or so, our problem will take care of itself. Further cloning experiments are on hold, pending the outcome of Gemini.”

STATUS: DYING – ONE MORE MONTH TO LIVE

MAJOR CHARLES - (JARODS FATHER)
“Major Charles is very good at covering his tracks. He is clever and resourceful, but does shares the same weakness as Jarod, compassion. We believe GEMENI and Ethan are with him. He may be the final and essential component with further experiments within NuGenisis. We will know once we capture him.

STATUS: AT LARGE

MARGARET – (JAROD’S MOTHER)

“Jarod’s Mother. She and Major Charles are also the parents of Kyle and Emily. She is Brilliant! We are closing in on her location now as we monitor Harriet Tashman. We know what she is capable of doing … She hasn’t divulged any of her secrets … yet ….

STATUS: AT LARGE

EMILY - (JARODS SISTER)
She may be useful in the next phase of experiments. Emily was born in the late 60’s after Jarod and Kyle were taken. Major Charles lost contact searching for his two sons. It is believed that Emily grew up with her mother. Emily was a journalist. There was a failed attempt to silence her when she became too close to the truth of Mirage (Ethan), also her halfbrother.  The Centre didn't want anyone to know that Ethan was Major Charles and Catherine Parker's son. We believe she is now in hiding with her Father Major Charles recovering from the attempt on her life.

STATUS: AT LARGE

* The screen went blank and Mr. Raines sat up in his chair, a slight nervousness in his voice as he finished …

THE VOICE:
“Is there anything else?”

MR. RAINES
“No”

THE VOICE:

“You will now have to wait while we discuss your … testimony! Take him away…”

* 7:49 am … Mr. Raines was taken to the lower levels and thrown into a 10x10 foot cell block. He walked around in circles, wheezing and murmuring to himself! Breathing very heavy

MR. RAINES:
“Four white walls, my oxygen out, (Breathing heavy) I am a Parker, we survive! They can do nothing to me… (Breathing heavy)… they need me. I know more information then they cannot afford to lose … This is not my fate … I am a Parker!”

* 10:01 AM - A few hours had pasted before the loud squeak as the metal bar doors clanged as they opened. Two sweepers came to escorted Mr. Raines back to the tower interrogation room.

THE VOICE:
“Mr. Raines … We have reached a decision!”

THE VOICE:
“The committee has accepted your explanation on matters concerning the Centre. Your expertise in this matter has presented you, as the best candidate. You are now given the title of Chairperson and complete charge with the running of The Centre. … under of course the direction of the Committee!”

THE VOICE:
“You have our support, what will be your first set of orders?”

MR. RAINES:
“Oh, I think I know exactly my first order of business, RELEASE MR. LYLE!”

* January 7th, 2002 - 10:16 am The confused but relieved Mr. Lyle was escorted into Mr. Raines’s office….

MR. RAINES:
“Mr. LYLE, I think it is time we had a talk …”

*A short time later … and minus again one thumb …………

MR. LYLE
“Good talking to you … Dad”

* The Next two weeks were bad. There were “Creeps” flying in from all around the country. What was Mr. Raines up to now? Were they searching for the lost scrolls or planning something else? Miss Parker was sent on every lead they found. Once, she was sent to a garbage dump to find missing shredded paper. Broots was ordered to search every line of code and look for any breach or intrusions in the company database. He created a new fire wall. As for Sydney, it was business as usual, couple experiments here, a couple there …Was he stalling for time?  Did he have a secret agenda? Or is this just his way?  There were no concert leads on Jarod for over three weeks. Everybody thought that this was hell … but they did not realize that it was only a warm up!  Sunday morning, January 20th 2002, 9:30 am. Miss Parker had been working for over 13 days straight. She just flew in, drove home, took a shower and started breakfast. It seemed that this was the only day off that she had for months. She wanted a martini, but it was early for that so she just put something special in her coffee. She starts to talk to herself

MISS PARKER:
“I have been sent to every place in God’s green earth, looking for things that don’t even exist. I am fed up. Mr. Lyle now has a swollen head to compensate for his missing thumb. He thinks that he is in charge and is backed by Mr. Raines…  No one knows where Jarod is. My phone is monitored. My locations are monitored. I don’t even know if I should smile for the hidden camera … If I do find someone there, it will be the last picture that they will ever take… I swear, I am going to find Jarod and when I do, I’ll get the hell out of this place. But no matter how bad it was these last two weeks, I have a gut feeling … that tomorrow will be worse!"