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Gemini Is The Answer
pretender_gurl
Laboratory 2
Biological Research Facility
Donoterase, Maryland
April 12, 1994 ~ 11:54
"Jonas! Jonas, what are you doing? Jonas!" Mr. Lyle called to the boy before him.
Jonas was frozen in the middle of a simulation. All around him projectors were displaying images of bodies, burning villages, and soldiers gunning down civilians. But this was not what the young Pretender was seeing. His eyes were glazed over and he was trembling violently, on the brink of a seizure. Mr. Lyle motioned to the techs to cut the projections and the lights came back on. He ran to Jonas and grabbed the boy's shoulders, shaking him.
"Jonas! Jonas, can you hear me?" Mr. Lyle demanded. But it was no use. Jonas was lost in some kind of trance, unaware of his surroundings. Lyle stepped back and slapped the boy, hard.
Jonas fell backwards at the force of the blow and as he fell, he snapped out of his trance screaming. When he hit the ground, he started. Jonas looked around in bewilderment, trying to remember where he was. Recognition clicked when he saw Mr. Lyle standing above him.
Lyle reached down and pulled the boy to his feet by his front collar. Jonas's light blue eyes were filled with fear, both at the vision he had and the man towering above him.
"What the hell was that, Jonas?" Mr. Lyle growled.
"I…I…I…" Jonas stammered, unable to put his thoughts into coherent sentences.
Lyle shook him again, still holding the boy's collar. Jonas fell silent and began to tremble once more, thought not nearly as violently. He tried to make sense of what happened.
"Jonas, settle down!" Lyle urged. God, I hate kids, he thought. Why did I agree to this job?
"P-Please, M-Mr. Lyle, m-may I s-sit down?" Jonas stuttered. He was feeling very faint and was afraid he was going to pass out.
Lyle looked at the boy's poor coloring and nodded with a sigh. Jonas collapsed into a chair and Lyle stood on the other side with his arms crossed. He waited until Jonas had calmed down before addressing him.
"Jonas, can you tell me what happened?" Mr. Lyle asked again, forcing patience into his voice.
Jonas nodded, encouraged by the softer tone that Mr. Lyle used. "I… I was l-letting go, g-getting into the simulation." Jonas took a deep breath and continued, forcing the stammer out of his voice.
"I let my mind relax and it started to travel, but I lost control. I was trying to go into the SIM, but something else was pulling harder. I fought as hard as I could, but I went somewhere else."
"Where did you go, Jonas?" Lyle asked.
"I don't know. I became a man, a young man. He was upset, so angry… He wants vengeance. He was in the dark, but people were watching. I could feel the eyes…pale eyes…" Jonas's voice drifted.
"What then?"
"I began to have a dream. Th-That man was standing in a white room, but he was torn in half, mutilated. Blood was pouring out and running in two different directions. I could see the two paths and I tried to go one way, but I was forced to follow the other stream. It led to darkness. I tried to reach back to the man, but his hand was too far away and the darkness swallowed me."
Jonas looked up. "Then I was back here, on the floor."
Lyle raised an eyebrow, staring at Jonas as though waiting for the boy to throw his hands in the air and say it was all a lie.
"Stay here. If you so much as twitch, I'll have Sweepers on you faster than you can say 'pretender'!" Lyle ordered, motioning to one of the Sweepers at the door.
Jonas had wilted in the chair and he didn't seem to hear Mr. Lyle's threat. Lyle frowned with disappointment - he rather enjoyed intimidating others, especially children.
Lyle walked down the hall and flipped open his cell. He dialed a number and waited for other line to answer.
"Hello?" a voice wheezed.
"It's me. I think we have a problem with the kid."
"Get to Blue Cove now. I'll meet you in two hours."
Office of the Chairman
The Centre
11:52
"You're sure that this will work? I don't need to remind you of the consequences of failing the Triumvirate," the chairman hissed.
"Positive. We have corrected the majority of the mistakes made with the original Prodigy subjects," wheezed Raines.
"What kinds of mistakes?"
"Our research in the late seventies indicated that the age at which cognitive thought and memory development occurs is much early than we originally anticipated. By the age of four, most children have recorded their first permanent memories. Of course the Prodigy subjects would have a greater cognitive awareness, therefore their memories could date back to the second year of life," Raines explained.
"What does this have to do with the subjects?" Mr. Parker asked, obviously confused. Raines knew that the chairman could be ruthless, but he was not the brightest.
"Alex, Eddie, Kyle, and Jarod can all remember their lives prior to their time here at the Centre. The results we can see from this are varied in the subjects. The most documented response in adults who were kidnapped as children is a degree of sociopathy. Alex and Kyle appear to have exhibited this to the extreme. Jarod manifested his kidnapping in the opposite manner. Instead of relinquishing his abilities to show compassion and judgment, he has hyper-developed them. We are just now beginning to see the problems his conscience is causing the Centre."
"And you have prevented this with Gemini?"
"Of course. The Gemini twins were born at the Centre and have remained in Triumvirate and Centre control since then. Neither of them have memories of a previous life outside of the Centre. They have no reason to desire something more. And this gives us complete control."
"Yes, I can see that from the surveillance. The boy is quite cooperative, but I have to wonder about the female. After all she has attempted to escape on several occasions," Mr. Parker asked with raised eyebrows.
Raines scowled. "That is an unfortunate side effect of the coddling she received while at the Triumvirate Station in Mongomo. We have spent the last few years countering this weakness. We're using the latest methods of operant conditioning - instructing Gemini to do everything demanded of them. Should they fail, punishment is immediate and severe. Thus they have learned to equate failure with… unpleasant results."
"And has this method proved successful?"
"We're improving," Mr. Raines said cryptically.
There was a sudden sound of shaking glass as Sydney burst through the door without knocking.
"What the hell are you doing, Parker?" Sydney shouted at the chairman. He was out of control. His mind was telling him to exercise caution around this man, but his spirit was raging.
"What are you talking about, Sydney?" Mr. Parker asked.
"Miss Parker! You know that Catherine wanted her to have nothing to do with the Centre!" Sydney was stand threateningly close to the chairman as Raines watched from the sidelines. "You're using the pain she's had since Catherine's death against her!"
"This is none of your concern, Sydney," Mr. Parker said with a warning in his voice.
"It is my concern, Parker!" Sydney's face was flushed and he was struggling to control himself. "I promised Catherine that her daughter would be safe from the Centre, and by God, I will keep that promise."
"You will be amply rewarded for your efforts," the chairman threatened.
"Hmph!" Sydney grunted as he nodded. Then he turned on his heel and stalked out of the room.
