Disclaimer: The Pretender is not my creation nor are the characters of Miss Parker, Sydney, Broots, Jarod, or any other recognizable characters in this fanfiction. All other characters are of my own making. I’m not making any money off this so please don’t sue.




The Peter Pan Project
part 1
by Cathryn



Somewhere inside the Centre...

It had been a month since she had helped with the capture of a pretender named Jarod. It had been easy locating him. She was far superior to him. The Triumvirate’s scientists had made her that way. Well actually it was the people at The School who made her that way but that didn’t matter because it was all in the same. The result was the same. She was eight levels above Jarod on the pretender scale.

Angel had always thought of herself as an nonomy. Which meant that she though of herself as a reject. Who wouldn’t it wasn’t only that she was genetically altered all the HLRs were. HLR stood for Hybrid Lab Rat, it was an inside joke to the others like her.

Sitting alone in her new room at the Centre she thought of the irony of it all. Jarod had probably been the one that help come up with the design. Triumvirate had used Jarod’s design of a perfect warrior and pretender against him.

Angel hadn’t wanted to bring Jarod in but she had to. To cover up her real intentions. getting some of the younger children out. Of course there were still others she had to save. Among them was her best friend Peter. She’d known Peter all her life ever since she was thrown in with the other nonomies. Angel hated to think about that part of her life so she distracted herself by thinking of other things.

She heard someone coming down the hall. They were still far away but she could hear them all the same.

***

Miss Parker’s office...

Miss Parker was rather surprised when after she captured the Centre held up their end of the bargain and agreed to let her leave. Parker still had no idea where the anonymous tip came from but she was grateful for whoever it was. Now maybe she could get on with her life.

Parker was nearly finished with her packing when Sydney and Broots entered the room. Broots was carrying a file.

“Broots found out where the anonymous tip came from?” Syndey said.

“Where?” Parker said in her usual commanding voice.

When neither answered she asked again. This time she got a prompt answer.

Spilling the contents of the folder on her desk. Sydney proceed to explain. “The tip came from a Triumvirate branch in Montana. Broots back tracked the call.”

“Upon farther investigation I came across what they are doing in those woods.”

Parker stared as if to say go on.

“They’re doing genetic experiments there involving children.” Broots said thinking of his daughter.

In the back of Miss Parker’s mind she was hearing Jarod’s mocking voice asking what would your mother have done. She pushed the voice into oblivion. “How do you know this?”

“The tipster lured Jarod with this file,” Sydney said.

Parker looked though the papers on her desk. It was information on Jarod’s family. Not his mother or father but siblings that were at the complex. The contents of the folders detailed the experiments that went on at this place which the author referred to as the School.

“So? I’ve done my job we have your lab rat back and I’m leaving.”

“But Parker you need to see this picture,” he said handing her a picture of a girl who didn’t look to be more than 20. The girl looked amazingly like herself. Parker’s heart jumped into her throat when she seen the girl.

“Wh Who is she?”

“I could only find code names on her, but they mostly refer to her as Thinkable or subject one one nine. TB for short,” Broots offered. “She’s the one who brought Jarod in.”

“She’s a pretender,” Sydney said. He pulled a DSA out of his jacket. “Broots downloaded this, this morning.

The DSA showed the girl from the picture she was dressed in a paper tube top shirt and lose fitting pants. Miss Parker noted the girl was pretty, a rarity with anything having to do with the Triumvirate, even before noticing the wings that the girl possessed.

“Parker?” Sydney asked.

“Yeah, Syd.”

“You ok?”

“What else do you know about her?”

“She’s part of a project call Peter Pan. The project’s goals were simple create the ultimate solider, the ultimate fighting unit. A continuance of the pretender project. All of the Soldiers from what I gather are all trained pretenders. But I’ll know more later. I’m going to met TB later today,” Sydney answered. “The Triumvirate thinks it’s a good idea to have someone keep an eye on Jarod for a while. To make sure he doesn’t exscape again.”

“She looks like me Syd I want to met her,” Parker said.

“Well, you’ll have to wait until tommorow.”



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Disclaimer: The characters of Miss Parker, Sydney, Broots, and Jarod are not mine. Nor are any other recognizable characters.


The Peter Pan Project
part 2
by Cathryn

Angel’s room next day....

Angel had only been in the Centre for two days. Her objective her was simple. It was her job to evaluate both Jarod and a man named Sydney. If they failed the evaluation they were both going to be terminated. That simple. However, neither of them knew just how close to death they were, and never would. Angel had a plan that would get Jarod, herself and some of the others out of the Centre in a few days. All she had to do was be patient and watch were they were keeping Jarod. Of Course she’d have Angelo’s help if Jarod was moved.

In mid-thought the door opened. In came two men and a woman, Angel had never met before. The older man seemed to be in his early sixties and balding. The younger man was in his mid thirties and looked harmless and even scared; she knew who this was she had met him once back in the late eighties.

The woman on the other hand looked exactly like the woman in her dreams except she dressed differently. Angel knew it wasn’t the woman in her dreams because something was different. She could feel it. Angel knew the first name of the woman in her dreams. Catherine.

“My name is Sydney,” the older man introduced himself and the others. “This is Miss Parker, and this is Broots. What’s your name?”

At first Sydney got no response from her. Only a blank stair. One that looked right through him. Sydney stuck out his had and Angel took it.

“I’m one one nine,” she said introducing herself with her ID number. “I’m sure you were aware of that.”

From the moment Parker entered the room she couldn’t take her eyes off her. She looked like something out of a story book. A twisted story book. The girl had blue and silver wings with small patches of black. Her wings alone were amazing. Could this young girl fly. Parker wonder as she watched her watching them. Parker notice several other things about her appearance she had not when she watch the DSA. The girl had leopard like spots leading from her navel up and down from either side, not from skin tone but they were fine feathers. She also had these same spots leading down her spine. Her eyes were blue and every catlike in shape.

“What are you starring at?” Angel asked. When Parker didn’t answer she said. “I know I’m just a freak and you can’t help but look can you?” Angel gave a sly smile.

Sydney still shock on her introduction of herself asked if there was something else they called her.

“Yes, Tinkerbell.”

“I mean is there something you call yourself. Not a code name but a real name?” He inquired.

Angel thought for a moment and decided to tell him, “Angel.”

“Nice to met you Angel.”

“Why aren’t you calling by my project name. All the other keepers do.”

Sydney didn’t answer. He noticed that Miss Parker and Broots hadn’t said a word since entering the room.

Angel had also noticed this fact so she decided to change it. “Miss Parker you look so much like her. I mean Catherine.”

“You knew my mother?”

“No and if you want to get technical she was our mother,” Angel said making the connection between her and the woman in her dreams.

Miss Parker breath a sigh of relief. “So your not-”

“No, I’m not your kid.”

Sydney tapped Miss Parker, “You two have to leave now. You’re not suppose to be here.”

Reluctantly Miss Parker and Broots left them alone.

She had a sister. Parker couldn’t help but smile at the though. There were so many time as a child she’d wished for a sister. Now she had one and needed to learn more about her. Who her father was and why she was here at the Centre.

***

Jarod’s room...

He was back at the Centre again. Home sweet, home was how Lyle put it. All of his attempts to escape had failed. It seemed as though they knew what he was going to do before be did it. Laying back in the cot that served as his bed he wondered how the Centre had found him. They had to have some help he had been on the run for four and half years and he had been careful.

Sydney had said that he was going to met another pretender today. Jarod wondered who he was talking about could it have anything to do with the folder he had received a week before his capture.

Jarod’s mind drifted back to 1972 the year he did a sim that involved making a hybrid pretender. Could the School be a place where they did human/animal experiments? Was he the cause of their suffering. What monsters had he helped to create. He couldn’t bear the thought of causing someone to go through what he had for the majority of his life. When he got out again he would attempt to get them out.

***

Angel’s room...

There had been five minutes of silence after Miss Parker and Broots had left. Sydney didn’t really know how to approach such an unusual young girl. Well she wasn’t exactly a kid she was twenty-six, however, that was young to Sydney. He wanted to know so much about her but where to begin. Sydney didn’t think she’d give up much information about herself because of her reluctance to even tell her name. Maybe Angel would tell him about were she came from. Damn she was hard to read. With Jarod he could always tell what his feelings and emotions were, but Angel seemed so stoic. To Sydney’s surprised it was Angel who broke the silence between them.

“So are you going to look at me all day or what?” Angel asked knowing she caught him off guard.

Sydney smiled, “Of course not. I’m here to get to know you. I’d like to ask you some questions.”

“About what?”

“Where you come from.”

“OH, that’s easy, a cabbage patch.” Angel said. She thought he was going to ask her something easy like how did she find Jarod. The joke did make Sydney smile. “Accualy a place called the School.”

“What do they do there?”

Angel had been instructed to only tell what she needed to about the School so she proceeded to tell enough so Sydney would stop asking. She also needed to get to Jarod. “I’ll tell you all about it,” she said. “It’s a place similar to the Centre in the aspect that pretenders are trained there. However the pretenders are genetically altered enhanced if you will. We all have wings and are all super strong, it’s in our design. We’re all trianed in hand to hand combat. They designed us to be perfect soldiers. Many of the keepers at the School have backgrounds in the military. I’ve heard them say the training that we received is like boot camp twenty four/seven. The School has many scientists that work there, they engineer us and put us through sims. Is there anything else you want to know?”

“Yeah, how did you know Catherine was your mother?”

“I didn’t until I met Miss Parker and had a feeling. I probably should tell you I’m an empath, better than Angelo. So don’t even think about lying to me.”

“What kind of feeling?”

Angel just shrugged. “So when am I going to met Jarod?” She changed the subject.

“Right now, and just one question.”

“What’s that?”

“Why all the guards?”

Angel smiled. “Jarod’s not the only one who has pulled a disappearing act. Back in eighty three me and about thirty other HLRs decided to leave the School.”

“How’d they catch you, again?”

“They didn’t, Peter and I came back on our own.” Angel said

“Why?”

“You’re full of questions aren’t you? The School had prepared for a possible escape and they made us so we die if we don’t get a nutritional supplement. They don’t want us to go AWOL. Now can we go?” Angel said getting impaticent with Sydney.

Sydney had more questions but decided not to push it.

***

Miss Parker’s office.....

“Anything?” Parker asked Broots as he walked into the door

“Not much, but I was able to download another DSA.”

“What are you waiting for?”

The image of a room with barics displayed itself on the DSA player. This one was dated April 13, 1983. The room was empty except for three figiures. Rains, Angel and someone who looked like Angel. Rains was mad about something he opened fire on the one of them. She fell down dead. Then Rains turned to Angel and said “Clean the mess up and I want a full obtopsey report on my desk in the morning. Is that understood?” Angel seemed uneffected and said, “Yes sir.”

“Is that all?” Parker asked recovering from the intial shock, although those words Rains had spoken would stay with her the rest of her life.

“The next morning Angel led the others to a revolt and they all escaped. Six months later Angel and a subject named Peter came back. Because of a dietary need that wasn’t met the others were asumed dead.”

“How do they know they were dead?”

“Angel and Peter came back nearly dead.”

“Any information on her father?”

“Just some identification numbers. However I cross referenced the number and came up empty until....”

“Until what Broots?”

“Until I cross referenced the number with all Centre employees. Remember that optomistrist that Sydney got all worked up about. Sydney was in one of his files and in that file was one identification numbers.”

“Are you saying that Sydney’s Angel’s father?” Parker asked worried about how this information would effect Sydney.

“It’s one posibility. The most likely. But I don’t think the Centre is aware.”

“Why?” Parker pressed.

“Sydney would be worse off then Jarod, because from what I could find she’s at least five or more levels above Jarod on the pretender scale. Angel’s parents were the perfect combination for the pretender project.”

“Is there anyway to find out for sure?”

“A blood test.”

***

Jarod’s room....

Jarod had been transported to the sim lab by a sweaper. Jarod had been left alone in the lab for half an hour. When the door opened Sydney and a woman in. He couldn’t see her well. She looked to be about five feet and maybe a hundred pounds at most. Even though he couldn’t see her well he felt her eyes on him. Watching him. They both came down the stairs. When Jarod had a more clear look at the young woman he realized that she had wings.

Jarod felt his heart jump to the back of his throat. He had known he was right about the School but it wasn’t real until he met her, the person in the picture. He had many questions for her. Would she answer them? Or was she with the Centre?


TBC


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