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Disclaimer; I admit that none of these characters belong to me, I'm not making any money off this story, so please don't so sue me.



None So Blind
part 1
Sarah Lynn





Broots heard the high heels come clicking down the hall and had to force himself not to hide under his computer table. It wouldn't work anyway, he told himself. In the mood Miss Parker was in she could probably shatter to pieces any shelter he took just by looking at it. The high heels slowed until they stopped. Right behind him.

"So, Broots," said Miss Parker as she slowly spun Broots' swivel chair around to face her. "Sydney here and I just had the most interesting trip." Sydney? Oh, good, there he was. He could calm Miss Parker down. Occasionally. "Really, I wish you could have come. Wyoming is such a hip little joint-" her voice was saturated with sarcasm "-I knew you'd fit in just perfectly. And we had plenty of time to look around" -here it came "-since Jarod left there last week!" By the time she got to these words Miss Parker was looming over Broots, her face inches from his. She took a deep breath, pivoted on her heel, and stormed into her office, calling back over her shoulder, "Even for you, Broots, that's pretty shoddy work."

"Even for Miss Parker, that's a pretty harsh criticism," Sydney commented lightly after the door had slammed behind her. Broots groaned and settled back into his seat.

"I deserved it," the computer technician said miserably. "How could I have been off by a whole week?"

Sydney looked at the man with sympathy. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Broots," he said, calming the atmosphere. "After all, we are trying to outwit a genius. It's not an easy thing to do."

"No, it's not." Broots jumped to his feet and even Sydney turned sharply as Mr. Parker's voice sounded across the room. He was standing on the balcony above the two, Mr. Lyle behind him. "Where's my daughter?" Broots pointed to the office, and the two walked down the stairs after Miss Parker without so much as another glance for either man, which was just fine with Broots. He noticed, however, that Lyle did not look as happy as he had expected Miss Parker's rival to look after she had failed again to capture Jarod. In fact, he looked downright irritated. Broots wasn't sure if this was good or bad.

Miss Parker didn't look up at the knock on her door. "Sydney, just go away," she snapped. "I told you on the plane that I don't want to talk." But the door opened anyway to reveal . . . her father. "Daddy," she said in what she hoped was a calm voice. Inwardly she was bracing herself for the tirade to come. She knew this was unavoidable, but he could have at least given her time to recover from her latest-

"Failure," Mr. Parker's voice in itself was unremarkable. It was the power vested in the person that made Parker's stomach lurch. "Another complete failure," he continued, stepping forward into her office and for the first time Parker noticed Lyle. She refused to think of him as her brother, he was far too- Upset? Parker looked again. No, there was no mistaking it. Lyle's face clearly showed anger and tension, which were not the reactions she had predicted.

"You know," continued Mr. Parker, unaware of his daughter's train of thought, "It's interesting how ideas seem to occur to everyone in this place at the same time. Just now, Sydney was saying that the reason we couldn't catch Jarod is because we can't think like him, an idea that has already been acted upon. We're adding another person to the Jarod Project."

"What!" Miss Parker protested and would have continued if her father hadn't fixed her with a look that said very plainly not to contradict him. No wonder Lyle was upset, he was worried about competition for the glory of returning Jarod to the Center.

"I don't want to hear another word about it!" Mr. Parker thundered and even Lyle, who was standing behind Mr. Parker's back, flinched. Miss Parker braced herself further and asked a question.

"Who is this new person? You implied he could think like Jarod?" The second statement came out sounding rather incredulous, and Mr. Parker's expression darkened.

"Actually, it's two new people and one of them, who happens to be a she, can think like Jarod."

Miss Parker suddenly caught the meaning. "You're putting a pretender on the case?" she whispered in shock. As further possibilities suggested themselves her voice increased in volume; "But don't you think it, ah"-she searched for the right word "-unwise to have another pretender to study the one who got away? I mean, what if he, er, she learns from Jarod's example and figures out how to escape-"

"That won't be a problem," Mr. Parker interrupted with a condescending smile. Parker had long ago given up trying to judge which she hated more; when he was angry with her or when he patronized her. "This pretender is really quite different then Jarod. But" -he overrode her complaints "-you'll soon get a chance to see for yourself."

"Fine," Miss Parker said through her teeth. "When does this pretender get here?"

"About three hours ago," Mr. Parker laughed as he went through the door. "Go down and see her. She's in SL 25. Name's Rachel." And with that he was gone. Lyle trailed after him, but paused at the door to say; "This is all your fault, you know."

Parker gave him a cold smile. "I don't see you doing much better. You'd better hurry, if you don't catch him quickly, you're not going to be able to ride on his coattails."

Lyle matched her smile. "It's funny how after all this time you still won't say the words 'our father'." Before Parker could think of a snappy comeback, he was out the door. She sat down in her chair, feeling her ulcer throb and tried to will it to stop. After a minute she felt well enough to go see this new addition to the Centre freak show and went storming out of her office, almost crashing into Broots and Sydney, who were right outside. Sydney was as inscrutable as ever but worry was written all over Broots' face, next to the ever-present guilt.

"We couldn't help overhearing," Sydney said apologetically.

"I'll bet you couldn't," Miss Parker seethed. Sydney said nothing, and after a moment Miss Parker snapped "Well, have you finally run out of words?"

"I don't think there's anything to say," Sydney replied evenly. "I believe our wisest course of action is to see this new pretender before we decide what to do next."

"Where do you think I was going when you two got in my way?" Miss Parker shouldered past Sydney, Broots almost leapt out of her way, and the three of them proceeded to SL 25.

As she stepped off the elevator, Parker realized she had no idea what room the new pretender was in. Come to think of it, why wasn't this pretender on SL 26? As far as she could remember, there was only one possible room where a pretender might be kept on SL 25 . . . She hoped she was right and strode off confidently, Broots and Sydney following her. Parker knew she was right when she almost crashed into Lyle, who was heading the same way she was.

"What's your rush, sis?" he said with a slimy smile.

"Let's just get this little meeting over with, shall we?" Parker said curtly, striding ahead of him through the halls to Room G17. Sure enough the door was locked, but opened at a sweep of her Centre ID card. Parker tossed her hair back and entered.

For a containment room, it was enormous. In fact, it was similar to the room she worked in with Broots and Sydney with a balcony overhead. But instead of computer equipment, the balcony was lined with bookcases, onto which a teenage girl and a woman in her early forties were unloading thick books from boxes. Even though the door had made almost no noise, the girl stood and turned around to face the door. The woman saw and rose also. For a moment Parker just stood, taking the new pretender in. The girl was short and a few pounds on the heavy side. Her black hair (which was in a shoulder length cut more practical than stylish) and dark eyes accentuated her pale complexion, as did the black shirt and slacks she was wearing. And for some reason, the girl was staring at the air a few feet to Parker's left- But before she could observe more, Lyle pushed her out of the way and strode into the room.

"Rachel?" he said, trying to assume a voice of control.

"That's right." The pretender's voice was soft and low-pitched. She reached in front of her for the handrail and let her hand glide along it as she walked over to and down the stairs.

"I'm Miss Parker," that person said, striding forward. "And I'm Mr. Lyle," Lyle introduced himself testily after it became clear that Parker wasn't going to refer to his presence. Sydney noticed that the girl's companion watched her carefully, but didn't say anything, letting the girl handle introductions.

"A pleasure to meet you," Rachel said with a faint smile. Parker was taken aback. Few children at the Centre would have given that response, either through rebellion or apathy, let alone a smile. Rachel sounded almost normal, but the way she continued to stare at empty air clearly indicated that something was wrong with her.

An awkward moment passed, until Parker decided to take charge. "So," she said with what attempted to be a friendly smile but failed completely, "Do you know yet what you're here for?"

"Yes," the girl said in her quiet voice. "To help you catch a runaway pretender named Jarod." Parker blinked. She hadn't expected the Centre to tell the girl that much.

"Correct," Lyle recovered from his surprise first.

"So, when do I get started?" The shocks just kept coming with this kid. She sounded like she actually wanted to work.

"Perhaps we should all sit down?" Sydney entered the limping conversation for the first time. Rachel's head snapped in his direction.

"Is someone else there?" she called. Parker stared at the girl in confusion. Sydney and Broots were perfectly visible . . . Wait a moment.

"Are you blind?" Parker asked sharply.

"Yes, she is." Rachel's companion was leaning over the balcony railing, looking at the four Centre employees in amusement. "I'm Dr. Scott. I don't believe you did introduce your two friends."

"Sydney and Broots," Parker snapped, jabbing her thumb at each one.

"As Rachel said, a pleasure," she said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Sydney is the one who just spoke."

Parker was about to snap that she was perfectly aware of that fact when she realized that the comment was for Rachel's benefit. The faint smile crossed the girl's face again as she nodded in Sydney's direction. Parker was still trying to figure the pretender out. Her blindness accounted for the staring into thin air thing, but why did she seem free of the psychological scars that marked other children in the Centre? Dr. Scott briskly moved down the stairs.

"How about we all sit down?" she suggested.

"Let's not," Miss Parker snapped, but Dr. Scott was already taking Rachel by the arm and leading her to one of the chairs surrounding a table at the left end of the ground floor of Rachel's room. The other end held a bed, chair, and desk with a . . . computer? What was going on?

"If Miss Parker has other things to do, this could wait," Rachel protested to her caretaker.

"Nonsense, Rachel," the doctor said in a pleasant voice which contradicted her expression as she looked back at Parker. "I'm sure Miss Parker and Mr. Lyle can spare five minutes of their time to help a new Centre employee get settled into her job."

Parker earnestly hoped no one noticed her jaw drop for a moment before she got herself back under control, but it seemed Lyle, Sydney, and Broots were all too shocked to notice anything. Someone (probably this Scott) had tricked the girl into thinking she was doing this voluntarily. How the hell had she done that?

There was only one way to find out. Parker suppressed a sigh and sat down across from the pretender and her caretaker. Lyle quickly grabbed the last chair, leaving Sydney and Broots standing in the background.

"So why don't you tell us something about yourself," Lyle said, turning on the charm. Miss Parker rolled her eyes, but Rachel answered the question.

"Well, I . . . um . . . Have you read my file?" Miss Parker shook her head no, then caught herself and murmured a negative. "Oh. Well, my parents were both pretenders with the Centre, so I've lived here all my life, with Dr. Scott to take care of me. My parents couldn't, of course, since they were so busy," she added in an aside.

I'll bet they were, Miss Parker thought and wondered how much of Rachel's story was true and how much had been fabricated by the Centre.

"There's not really much to tell," Rachel leaned back, her brow creased in thought. "I've been doing sims since I was six, and I'm fairly good at them, though not the best," she said with no trace of false modesty. "So, how about you two? Oh, excuse me. You four. You aren't pretenders, right?"

"Right," Broots said quickly into the silence, and then gulped as Parker and Lyle both glared at him. Rachel tilted her head.

"Is that Broots?" she asked. Parker rolled her eyes as Broots nodded and Sydney said out loud "Yes."

"And that's Sydney," the pretender muttered to herself. Parker got the impression that she was trying to memorize their voices. Rachel's head came up again. "You don't have to stand over there by the door. I believe there's another chair at my desk, and someone can take my seat."

She started to get up, but Broots stuttered out "No! Don't worry, I like standing!" Rachel turned in his direction uncertainly.

"You're sure?" she said, half out of her seat.

"Quite," Broots said. She smiled again! and sat down as Sydney reached for the fifth chair.

"There's no need for that, Sydney," Lyle rose to his feet, quickly followed by Miss Parker. Rachel heard the sound of chairs scraping and stood again, her face confused.

"Yes, I think that's enough for now," Dr. Scott said sweetly. "Rachel, why don't you familiarize yourself with your new room, while I talk to Mr. Lyle and Miss Parker outside?" Lyle shot her an evil look, but she ignored it and marched out the door.

"Alright," Rachel agreed, unaware that her companion was already gone. She extended her hand, "It was nice to meet you." Miss Parker rolled her eyes, but gave the girl a quick handshake. As soon as she had done so, Lyle leaned over and clasped the girl's hand in both of his with what Parker suspected was intended to be warmth. The pretender blinked.

"What happened to your thumb?" she asked.

Dr. Scott was leaning against the wall outside the door when Lyle and Parker came out, followed by Sydney and Broots. Miss Parker estimated her to be a few inches shorter than she was, and a few years older, though her red hair didn't show a trace of gray. Probably dyes it, Miss Parker thought. As soon as the door swung shut, the doctor straightened up.

"Alright," she said in a very different tone of voice. "I don't know what idiot sent you two clowns down here without giving you any background on Rachel-"

"The idiot would be me," Mr. Parker said as he walked around the corner,"-and these two clowns are my children." Miss Parker took satisfaction in seeing Scott wince. "Now perhaps you'd like to fill us all in on Rachel's background." Dr. Scott swallowed, but when she spoke there was no hint of emotion in her voice. "Rachel has, as she told you two, been raised in the Centre, or rather an annex of the Centre."

"Where?" Parker cut in.

"That information is irrelevant," Scott said coldly. It was clear that Parker had made herself another enemy. "To continue. Previous training of pretenders has always been based on the goal of getting the pretender to work like a machine, which is foolish. A pretender is human, and there are much more effective ways to manipulate humans to get them to give that extra push, namely the rewards and punishments system. When Rachel does her work well, she is rewarded with privileges, such as extra rest periods or new Braille books. When she fails, these privileges get taken away."

Lyle interrupted, "That's ridiculous. If she's getting more free time, her work output won't match that of the other children."

Dr. Scott smiled again. "I was hoping you'd ask that. Yes, Rachel's work output is at about 85% of what's normal, but only if you measure in quantity. In fact, her work happens to be of a far higher quality since she still possesses creativity and the freedom to express this."

This time Miss Parker cut in, "But if she possesses the capability to think for herself, eventually she will want to think entirely for herself and run away."

"No, she won't," Dr. Scott said with a surprising grin. "Rachel may have creativity, but that doesn't mean she thinks for herself. Every person grows up with a basic set of beliefs, and since we had control of Rachel from the start, we were able to control those beliefs. She believes that to be a pretender and spend her life working for the Centre is one of the highest honors life can offer. Furthermore, she is dependent upon others. Rachel believes that because of her blindness she would be unable to function in the open world. The Centre is her shelter; she likes being here because she feels useful and respected and she is afraid to risk those two things for what is to her an abstract concept of freedom."

There was a moment of silence.

"So, how long did you practice that speech?" Parker asked sweetly. Dr. Scott's eyes narrowed but before she could say anything, Mr. Parker broke into the conversation.

"Angel, that was unnecessary," he scolded, then turned to Scott with a smile. "Doctor, my congratulations on your excellent work." Scott flashed a triumphant glance at Parker as she smiled back at Mr. Parker simperingly. Miss Parker didn't respond. You've won this battle, she thought darkly, but don't fool yourself that you've won the war.

"Dr. Scott," Mr. Parker continued, again unaware of his daughter's thoughts, "Your request to work with our newest arrival has been granted, so why don't you fill these two, er, four in on how to work with Rachel and then head down to SL 26?"

"Sounds good," Scott smiled and kept smiling until Mr. Parker was out of sight, at which point she turned back to Lyle and Parker's stony faces. "OK, kids, listen up. The first thing is when you're with Rachel, pretend that you respect her. Second, Rachel has been brought up to suppress her own needs for the needs of others. While this means that she'll do anything for you, it also means that she is unable to care for herself. If you're working with her, you need to make sure you tell her to rest and eat, otherwise she will literally work until she drops."

Dr. Scott finished with a smirk that faded slightly as Parker and Lyle continued to merely stare at her. She looked at them, waiting for a reaction, and when she got none she finally just tossed her head and stormed away down the hall.

As she vanished from view, Lyle turned to Miss Parker. "You know, sis," he said reflectively. "With the new competition from the evil scientist there and her tame pretender, don't you think it's time we put aside old rivalries?"

Miss Parker turned to him in disbelief.

"Don't give me that look. I'm serious," Lyle said with as much earnestness as he could muster. "It would make sense. If we work together, we can bring Jarod in without the girl, and that would put us both further along our way to accomplishing our . . . shall I say goals?"

"Dream on," Parker said evenly and walked away in the opposite direction from Scott and Mr. Parker, barely noticing Broots and Sydney trailing behind her. She needed time to think. She didn't know what effect Rachel was going to have on her hunt for Jarod, but that's what it was; her hunt for Jarod and no freak of nature was going to change that.





Okay, that's my first story.









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