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AN: Grazie tanto è molti bacci to the wonderful Cassy, a gal with knowledge of genetics. She helped me out with the difficult stuff of gene- experimentation. I'm not going into any details, but she explained me where I was wrong.
This time a big hug goes to the land Down Under! Kat, thanks for stepping in as my beta at such a short notice! (My beta-angel from before didn't step down, she went on a much deserved vacation! Enjoy my dear!)
House of Cards
Part 13
The Major had a long talk with his wife. It was not easy to convince her to back down. He understood well her determination. So many years of sorrow, pain and loneliness. But Charles also knew that his son must not be put under this kind of emotional pressure.
The older couple had sat on a bench for a long time; the Major had held his wife in his arms and talked to her. He had told her that Jarod needed her support now more than ever. He needed her faith and trust, and she must show him that now.
When they returned to the house, Margaret had promised to try and not bring up the issue of Miss Parker anymore. She was the one factor that Jarod had to deal with on his own. If her son was ready to trust this woman, they had to support him in that.
Margaret didn't like what her husband had asked of her. She wasn't used to anyone telling her what to do or think. She had experienced too many decades of loneliness and too many years of sole decision-making to give in easily. But her love for her family had never changed. She still felt the connection to the man she had fallen in love with all those years ago. It felt like one of these miraculous once-in-a-life-time encounters, when even after thirty years of separation, you feel like you've just talked to this person the day before.
And her son. Her son was everything to her. She only wanted to see him happy, finally. Nothing else mattered except the happiness of the people inside the house. She would oversee her own reservations, forgo her own dreams for the dreams of the people in this house. And if Miss Parker was such an integral part of her son's happiness, well, she would survive that too.
But Margaret still had her doubts about the woman, and that place. In her opinion the Centre and Miss Parker where too intertwined to be seen as separate 'cases'. Parker was still there, still working for them. Why? The older woman still had difficulties to understand. Her husband, Ethan and of course Jarod had found reasons for it, but in Margaret's opinion those reasons were just not good enough.
***************
Jarod sat in his room on the bed with his legs crossed and the laptop sitting in his lap. He had taken all of his previous work from the days before as well as Ryan's most recent data.
The pretender was about to get into his most difficult pretend in his life, but not because the genetic work was so difficult.
He had found it almost impossible to block out his feelings. Never before had he been so personally involved. This was about him, about his own family. And the emotional upheavals during the previous day and hours weren't making things easier.
His fight with his mother was still vivid in his mind and nagging at him, and every other minute unpredictable thoughts about Parker flashed in his mind. It took him a long time to finally fall completely into the needed state of total concentration on the matter at hand.
It was completely dark in his room when he returned into a normal state of consciousness. The only light came from the computer screen in front of him; it was already past ten o'clock. He remembered slightly that Ethan had knocked to call him for dinner quite a while ago. His half brother had immediately realized where Jarod was and had quietly closed the door again.
The pretender shook off his pretend from his mind. He had decided on the appropriate action to be taken. He came to the conclusion, that a DNA- tampering on himself or Ryan was absolutely impossible.
His own work from thirty years ago was remarkable. As a young boy he had been twenty years ahead of his time with the extrapolation of the human gene. Jarod silently thanked Jacob and his mother for keeping his notes so secret for all those years.
But no matter how groundbreaking his work had been, it was essentially useless for what Margaret had wanted him to do.
It was eventually possible to block the protein, the substance, but definitely not to change the DNA-strand, though blocking was also only a remote chance because it would have - just as Parker had predicted - fatal consequences. Brain-damage was ultimately inevitable.
The DNA-strand is converted into proteins and those proteins are necessary regulators that control all human metabolism. But each protein interacts with many others and has many different functions. The final result of an alteration of even a single one is virtually unpredictable, in particular for proteins involved in brain functions. Too little was still known about the brain and its metabolism, that a change so radical had as many chances at success as an aimless shot in the dark.
In the middle of the pretend Jarod came to a completely different solution to the experiment. He would turn the entire idea around toward the opposite direction. Since it was not possible to alter his genes, he would alter the RESULTS. He could take some of his and Ryan's tissue-sample and alter the results regarding the EXPRESSION of the gene that was actually involved with showing the pretender phenotype.
Therefore, he would alter the DNA-sequence and make it appear to work. Jarod would send this to the Centre. Their conclusion must be that it worked; that he successfully had changed his superior brain into a 'regular' one.
The Centre would certainly check and double check the sample, but it would take them time. It would put them under enormous pressure, and the Centre never was at it's best when the runaway pretender was the one holding the cards. He could use the time to disappear and, maybe along the line, find another way to help Parker to do the same.
When he gathered his thoughts again, Jarod knew exactly what they needed to do. He almost buckled as he rose from the bed and put his weight a bit too suddenly onto his legs after been immobile for so long. They were bent and crossed for such a long time that he had to work out the kinks and stiffness in them before he could go downstairs to let his family into the newly formulated plan.
**************
The Centre was as dark and depressing as always. This place not only killed a person's spirit and hopes but people as well. Her heels clicked on the floor and echoed in the hallway. Employees of all sorts became quickly aware of who had arrived.
Two security man, sweepers actually, ducked back into the first elevator available. Without the actual intention of going anywhere, but a run-in with this woman was not something they wanted. Especially after they were ordered to accompany Willie last night to go to her house and later interrogate her older colleague about her whereabouts.
Sweepers of the Centre were not easily scared, they were professionally trained assassins and feared nothing. Well, almost nothing. But anyone carrying the name Parker, could make their skin crawl. One of the sweepers, a blonde mountainous guy who had killed with his bare hands, pondered about how - if she were to find out what they'd been doing last night - she would come at them like Godzilla running over a small Japanese town.
A male secretary almost ran into her, but could avoid an embarrassing - and ultimately dangerous - physical encounter at the last second. Miss Parker passed him by, shooting him a warning look, when she suddenly stopped and turned to call him.
"Yes, Miss Parker?"
"Go and get Broots and Sydney. I expect them in my office immediately!"
She didn't even wait for his reply. Parker was certain that he knew better than to not follow her order at once. She disappeared behind the glass doors of her office, and the secretary almost tripped over himself as he ran to the tech-lab to heed her wish.
With a mug of coffee in hand Parker sat down and looked rather forlornly around. She needed a plan, and quickly so.
Her two trusted co-workers entered her office a few moments later. Parker looked at them but didn't speak immediately. She couldn't help but wonder, just how her relationship to these two had changed over the years. Sydney knew her ever since she was a little girl, but only during the last 5 years she began - slowly and reluctantly at first - to open up to him.
Broots, nervous moronic Broots, had become a dear friend as well. He had always backed her up, he had always been there for her, even if it had meant considerable danger for him. And she would go to hell and back to protect him and his daughter now. It was a feeling of protectiveness that Parker hadn't known before. A few years ago she never considered anyone but her father as important enough to care about, and the woman realized that this side of her was what must have come from her mother: Protecting the people around her from the horrors that this house of hell poses.
Sydney took in her appearance worriedly. She looked tired and he wondered what the memo on Parker that Broots had found in the Centre security-files was really about.
Broots held several printed sheets clutched to his chest. He had come about it this morning while checking the mainframe for anything unusual. And unusual stuff was what he had found. It was what really started to scare him. Not immediately for his own sake, but for his boss, his friend. The woman sitting in front of him, the woman he had started to admire a long time ago, for her strength, her determination, and of course for her breathtaking beauty.
"Miss Parker, Broots has found something that you need to see." Sydney turned to his colleague and waved his hand at him. "Give it to her Broots."
"Ah. Yes, yes. Miss Parker, I.. this morning..I came across some memos on...well ..on."
"Broots! For once, stop the babbling! What is it? A memo on, let me guess: me?"
"Ah. Yes. Miss Parker, Lyle is keeping a very close eye on you. This memo is a report on you. Ah, your..ah, your."
"As I told you last night on the phone, Willie was looking for you at my place." Sydney interrupted the muttering tech.
Miss Parker leaned back in her chair. Her eyes were on Sydney, her look was astonishingly calm. But both men knew that inside she was like a volcano about to erupt.
"Gimme the memo! My demented brother has developed a rather close interest on me. Let's see what he has found out."
Broots handed her the sheets. He had been very surprised to read that Miss Parker had been with a man last night. A man that she had taken home and apparently spent the night with.
Parker took the three sheets and quickly ran through the content. It was a sweeper's account of last nights occurrences. With a close description of what Daniel looked like and her 'drunk' behaviour. The lines on Daniel made her a bit nervous, though she was sure that Lyle would conclude that this man was of no immediate interest to the Centre.
Finished with the memo she looked up at her colleagues, smiling dangerously.
"Broots ..." she was interrupted by her phone. With an exasperated sigh she looked annoyed at the ringing device. She had a fair guess who that will be, and she was not in the mood for it now. But it also could help her with something concerning her next step.
"What!"
"I'm surprised you didn't sleep in after last night's ..exhausting occurrences."
Jarod's voice was taunting but she heard the hurt in it as well. There was nothing she could do about it. She had to keep up her appearance.
"You're the reason for my tight work schedule, Jarod. Your game is controlling too much of it, so let me tell you frankenrat: my freetime schedule is none of your damn business."
The pretender knew that this was not a 'real' conversation. Her office- phone definitely was bugged by Lyle or Raines, or both. Nevertheless he was tempted to at least say something.
"Too bad I think. For once, you know, it would be nice to get to know you in your 'freetime'."
"Dream on labrat. The only thing you'll ever know about my freetime is when I walk out of your cell after I catch you. Shutting the door in your face will be my first real freetime activity."
"Right Miss Parker. Keep on deluding yourself. The Centre will never let the bells of freedom ring for you." Again Jarod wanted something more than playing their usual game. He lowered his voice, the tone was still taunting: "Let me ask you something: last night, did you get what you want?"
She immediately caught on with his question. 'What she wanted'. She briefly closed her eyes and prepared for the answer.
Jarod expected her reply with a heavy heart. He was certain that she knew what this was about. A little more than 14 hours ago she had told him that 'she wanted it too.' She had wanted to spend the night with him. But in the end she had left, gone to spend the night with another man. Now he was anxious at her answer.
"I always get what I want, Jarod!" Click.
Parker hung up before she could hear any other reply by him. Aside that it made her heart heavy at how sad and hurt he had sounded, she had got from the phone-call what she needed. If he had done it knowingly or not was of no importance to her.
She rose from her desk and grabbed her coat. "Come on boys. The hunt is on. Broots, call Sam to await us at the car."
While the tech was on the phone, the three hunters were on their way to the elevator. Sydney started to inquire on the mysterious 'lead' they were apparently on.
"He said something about 'freedom' and a 'bell ringing'. What would be your conclusion Freud?"
After a second of confusion, the doctor smiled knowingly. It seemed that they were on their way to Philadelphia.
Arriving in Philadelphia, the four Centre-hunters exited the black town- car. Miss Parker ordered her trusted sweeper to cover their backs from a distance. Sam should pay attention to any other sweeper team that might show up in the shadows of the streets. He was a bit surprised that his boss didn't include the order to watch out for the pretender but on the other hand: it wasn't the first time. He would do as she said, that's what he was here for: to follow her orders, and only hers.
The remaining three hunters strolled down the road until they arrived at the monument the city of Philadelphia was most famous for. Miss Parker walked up a few stairs and sat down. Sydney had been confused for a little while. Jarod had talked about the 'bells of freedom', so why weren't they at the Independence Mall which houses the Liberty Bell? But the doctor knew that she must have her reasons, so he shrugged slightly and sat beside her. As did Broots, but only after a little while. The tech was a bit distracted by the statue on the top of the stairs. He had seen the movie a thousand times, but never had the chance to actually come here.
Miss Parker started the conversation without further ado.
"Listen, I don't know what our lost monkey-boy is up to, but I have the feeling that things are gonna change. Fast. He IS up to something, and we need to be prepared for it."
Sydney had his eyes on her. "Parker?" She turned her head to face the doctor and shook her head. "Sydney, I don't know. Just.. pay attention to anything that seems out of the ordinary." The corner of her mouth went up, into a cynical smile, "and I know, how idiotic THAT sounds."
Parker turned her head into Broots direction who sat on her other side. "Especially the secret mainframe, Broots! You hear? If Jarod decides to play a new game, he's gonna hack in there, as usual. I need to know EVERYTHING!"
This time a big hug goes to the land Down Under! Kat, thanks for stepping in as my beta at such a short notice! (My beta-angel from before didn't step down, she went on a much deserved vacation! Enjoy my dear!)
House of Cards
Part 13
The Major had a long talk with his wife. It was not easy to convince her to back down. He understood well her determination. So many years of sorrow, pain and loneliness. But Charles also knew that his son must not be put under this kind of emotional pressure.
The older couple had sat on a bench for a long time; the Major had held his wife in his arms and talked to her. He had told her that Jarod needed her support now more than ever. He needed her faith and trust, and she must show him that now.
When they returned to the house, Margaret had promised to try and not bring up the issue of Miss Parker anymore. She was the one factor that Jarod had to deal with on his own. If her son was ready to trust this woman, they had to support him in that.
Margaret didn't like what her husband had asked of her. She wasn't used to anyone telling her what to do or think. She had experienced too many decades of loneliness and too many years of sole decision-making to give in easily. But her love for her family had never changed. She still felt the connection to the man she had fallen in love with all those years ago. It felt like one of these miraculous once-in-a-life-time encounters, when even after thirty years of separation, you feel like you've just talked to this person the day before.
And her son. Her son was everything to her. She only wanted to see him happy, finally. Nothing else mattered except the happiness of the people inside the house. She would oversee her own reservations, forgo her own dreams for the dreams of the people in this house. And if Miss Parker was such an integral part of her son's happiness, well, she would survive that too.
But Margaret still had her doubts about the woman, and that place. In her opinion the Centre and Miss Parker where too intertwined to be seen as separate 'cases'. Parker was still there, still working for them. Why? The older woman still had difficulties to understand. Her husband, Ethan and of course Jarod had found reasons for it, but in Margaret's opinion those reasons were just not good enough.
***************
Jarod sat in his room on the bed with his legs crossed and the laptop sitting in his lap. He had taken all of his previous work from the days before as well as Ryan's most recent data.
The pretender was about to get into his most difficult pretend in his life, but not because the genetic work was so difficult.
He had found it almost impossible to block out his feelings. Never before had he been so personally involved. This was about him, about his own family. And the emotional upheavals during the previous day and hours weren't making things easier.
His fight with his mother was still vivid in his mind and nagging at him, and every other minute unpredictable thoughts about Parker flashed in his mind. It took him a long time to finally fall completely into the needed state of total concentration on the matter at hand.
It was completely dark in his room when he returned into a normal state of consciousness. The only light came from the computer screen in front of him; it was already past ten o'clock. He remembered slightly that Ethan had knocked to call him for dinner quite a while ago. His half brother had immediately realized where Jarod was and had quietly closed the door again.
The pretender shook off his pretend from his mind. He had decided on the appropriate action to be taken. He came to the conclusion, that a DNA- tampering on himself or Ryan was absolutely impossible.
His own work from thirty years ago was remarkable. As a young boy he had been twenty years ahead of his time with the extrapolation of the human gene. Jarod silently thanked Jacob and his mother for keeping his notes so secret for all those years.
But no matter how groundbreaking his work had been, it was essentially useless for what Margaret had wanted him to do.
It was eventually possible to block the protein, the substance, but definitely not to change the DNA-strand, though blocking was also only a remote chance because it would have - just as Parker had predicted - fatal consequences. Brain-damage was ultimately inevitable.
The DNA-strand is converted into proteins and those proteins are necessary regulators that control all human metabolism. But each protein interacts with many others and has many different functions. The final result of an alteration of even a single one is virtually unpredictable, in particular for proteins involved in brain functions. Too little was still known about the brain and its metabolism, that a change so radical had as many chances at success as an aimless shot in the dark.
In the middle of the pretend Jarod came to a completely different solution to the experiment. He would turn the entire idea around toward the opposite direction. Since it was not possible to alter his genes, he would alter the RESULTS. He could take some of his and Ryan's tissue-sample and alter the results regarding the EXPRESSION of the gene that was actually involved with showing the pretender phenotype.
Therefore, he would alter the DNA-sequence and make it appear to work. Jarod would send this to the Centre. Their conclusion must be that it worked; that he successfully had changed his superior brain into a 'regular' one.
The Centre would certainly check and double check the sample, but it would take them time. It would put them under enormous pressure, and the Centre never was at it's best when the runaway pretender was the one holding the cards. He could use the time to disappear and, maybe along the line, find another way to help Parker to do the same.
When he gathered his thoughts again, Jarod knew exactly what they needed to do. He almost buckled as he rose from the bed and put his weight a bit too suddenly onto his legs after been immobile for so long. They were bent and crossed for such a long time that he had to work out the kinks and stiffness in them before he could go downstairs to let his family into the newly formulated plan.
**************
The Centre was as dark and depressing as always. This place not only killed a person's spirit and hopes but people as well. Her heels clicked on the floor and echoed in the hallway. Employees of all sorts became quickly aware of who had arrived.
Two security man, sweepers actually, ducked back into the first elevator available. Without the actual intention of going anywhere, but a run-in with this woman was not something they wanted. Especially after they were ordered to accompany Willie last night to go to her house and later interrogate her older colleague about her whereabouts.
Sweepers of the Centre were not easily scared, they were professionally trained assassins and feared nothing. Well, almost nothing. But anyone carrying the name Parker, could make their skin crawl. One of the sweepers, a blonde mountainous guy who had killed with his bare hands, pondered about how - if she were to find out what they'd been doing last night - she would come at them like Godzilla running over a small Japanese town.
A male secretary almost ran into her, but could avoid an embarrassing - and ultimately dangerous - physical encounter at the last second. Miss Parker passed him by, shooting him a warning look, when she suddenly stopped and turned to call him.
"Yes, Miss Parker?"
"Go and get Broots and Sydney. I expect them in my office immediately!"
She didn't even wait for his reply. Parker was certain that he knew better than to not follow her order at once. She disappeared behind the glass doors of her office, and the secretary almost tripped over himself as he ran to the tech-lab to heed her wish.
With a mug of coffee in hand Parker sat down and looked rather forlornly around. She needed a plan, and quickly so.
Her two trusted co-workers entered her office a few moments later. Parker looked at them but didn't speak immediately. She couldn't help but wonder, just how her relationship to these two had changed over the years. Sydney knew her ever since she was a little girl, but only during the last 5 years she began - slowly and reluctantly at first - to open up to him.
Broots, nervous moronic Broots, had become a dear friend as well. He had always backed her up, he had always been there for her, even if it had meant considerable danger for him. And she would go to hell and back to protect him and his daughter now. It was a feeling of protectiveness that Parker hadn't known before. A few years ago she never considered anyone but her father as important enough to care about, and the woman realized that this side of her was what must have come from her mother: Protecting the people around her from the horrors that this house of hell poses.
Sydney took in her appearance worriedly. She looked tired and he wondered what the memo on Parker that Broots had found in the Centre security-files was really about.
Broots held several printed sheets clutched to his chest. He had come about it this morning while checking the mainframe for anything unusual. And unusual stuff was what he had found. It was what really started to scare him. Not immediately for his own sake, but for his boss, his friend. The woman sitting in front of him, the woman he had started to admire a long time ago, for her strength, her determination, and of course for her breathtaking beauty.
"Miss Parker, Broots has found something that you need to see." Sydney turned to his colleague and waved his hand at him. "Give it to her Broots."
"Ah. Yes, yes. Miss Parker, I.. this morning..I came across some memos on...well ..on."
"Broots! For once, stop the babbling! What is it? A memo on, let me guess: me?"
"Ah. Yes. Miss Parker, Lyle is keeping a very close eye on you. This memo is a report on you. Ah, your..ah, your."
"As I told you last night on the phone, Willie was looking for you at my place." Sydney interrupted the muttering tech.
Miss Parker leaned back in her chair. Her eyes were on Sydney, her look was astonishingly calm. But both men knew that inside she was like a volcano about to erupt.
"Gimme the memo! My demented brother has developed a rather close interest on me. Let's see what he has found out."
Broots handed her the sheets. He had been very surprised to read that Miss Parker had been with a man last night. A man that she had taken home and apparently spent the night with.
Parker took the three sheets and quickly ran through the content. It was a sweeper's account of last nights occurrences. With a close description of what Daniel looked like and her 'drunk' behaviour. The lines on Daniel made her a bit nervous, though she was sure that Lyle would conclude that this man was of no immediate interest to the Centre.
Finished with the memo she looked up at her colleagues, smiling dangerously.
"Broots ..." she was interrupted by her phone. With an exasperated sigh she looked annoyed at the ringing device. She had a fair guess who that will be, and she was not in the mood for it now. But it also could help her with something concerning her next step.
"What!"
"I'm surprised you didn't sleep in after last night's ..exhausting occurrences."
Jarod's voice was taunting but she heard the hurt in it as well. There was nothing she could do about it. She had to keep up her appearance.
"You're the reason for my tight work schedule, Jarod. Your game is controlling too much of it, so let me tell you frankenrat: my freetime schedule is none of your damn business."
The pretender knew that this was not a 'real' conversation. Her office- phone definitely was bugged by Lyle or Raines, or both. Nevertheless he was tempted to at least say something.
"Too bad I think. For once, you know, it would be nice to get to know you in your 'freetime'."
"Dream on labrat. The only thing you'll ever know about my freetime is when I walk out of your cell after I catch you. Shutting the door in your face will be my first real freetime activity."
"Right Miss Parker. Keep on deluding yourself. The Centre will never let the bells of freedom ring for you." Again Jarod wanted something more than playing their usual game. He lowered his voice, the tone was still taunting: "Let me ask you something: last night, did you get what you want?"
She immediately caught on with his question. 'What she wanted'. She briefly closed her eyes and prepared for the answer.
Jarod expected her reply with a heavy heart. He was certain that she knew what this was about. A little more than 14 hours ago she had told him that 'she wanted it too.' She had wanted to spend the night with him. But in the end she had left, gone to spend the night with another man. Now he was anxious at her answer.
"I always get what I want, Jarod!" Click.
Parker hung up before she could hear any other reply by him. Aside that it made her heart heavy at how sad and hurt he had sounded, she had got from the phone-call what she needed. If he had done it knowingly or not was of no importance to her.
She rose from her desk and grabbed her coat. "Come on boys. The hunt is on. Broots, call Sam to await us at the car."
While the tech was on the phone, the three hunters were on their way to the elevator. Sydney started to inquire on the mysterious 'lead' they were apparently on.
"He said something about 'freedom' and a 'bell ringing'. What would be your conclusion Freud?"
After a second of confusion, the doctor smiled knowingly. It seemed that they were on their way to Philadelphia.
Arriving in Philadelphia, the four Centre-hunters exited the black town- car. Miss Parker ordered her trusted sweeper to cover their backs from a distance. Sam should pay attention to any other sweeper team that might show up in the shadows of the streets. He was a bit surprised that his boss didn't include the order to watch out for the pretender but on the other hand: it wasn't the first time. He would do as she said, that's what he was here for: to follow her orders, and only hers.
The remaining three hunters strolled down the road until they arrived at the monument the city of Philadelphia was most famous for. Miss Parker walked up a few stairs and sat down. Sydney had been confused for a little while. Jarod had talked about the 'bells of freedom', so why weren't they at the Independence Mall which houses the Liberty Bell? But the doctor knew that she must have her reasons, so he shrugged slightly and sat beside her. As did Broots, but only after a little while. The tech was a bit distracted by the statue on the top of the stairs. He had seen the movie a thousand times, but never had the chance to actually come here.
Miss Parker started the conversation without further ado.
"Listen, I don't know what our lost monkey-boy is up to, but I have the feeling that things are gonna change. Fast. He IS up to something, and we need to be prepared for it."
Sydney had his eyes on her. "Parker?" She turned her head to face the doctor and shook her head. "Sydney, I don't know. Just.. pay attention to anything that seems out of the ordinary." The corner of her mouth went up, into a cynical smile, "and I know, how idiotic THAT sounds."
Parker turned her head into Broots direction who sat on her other side. "Especially the secret mainframe, Broots! You hear? If Jarod decides to play a new game, he's gonna hack in there, as usual. I need to know EVERYTHING!"
