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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Discovering Connections
pretender_gurl
Laboratory 2
Biological Research Facility
Donoterase, Maryland
April 12, 1994 ~ 01:23
Jonas was tapping a pencil lightly on the metal table in the middle of the lab. He had just completed his third simulation in a row and was exhausted. The irregular beat of the pencil helped Jonas to stay awake as he waited for his performance evaluation of the simulation. Usually the research assistants that scurried about the building would read off his numbers - completion time, accuracy, hesitancy, and other numbers that Jonas rarely paid attention to.
Now approaching the twenty-fourth hour of sleep deprivation, Jonas's eight year-old body was screaming for rest. If he didn't know better, Jonas would have said that his eyelids were made of lead. When their weight became too much, Jonas felt himself nod off for a moment before jerking himself awake.
Unfortunately, in his awakening, Jonas let his pencil fall to the ground. It rolled across the cement floor until it hit the wall on the opposite side of the room, right beside the open door. Jonas looked around nervously, but the room was like a morgue. Carefully pushing his chair back, Jonas lowered himself to the floor and began to crawl slowly towards the door. When he reached the pencil, Jonas smiled in relief. He was about to return to his table when the sound of voices in the corridor made him move closer to small crack in the doorway. Jonas couldn't make out faces, only two pairs of black shoes.
"Is it done?" the first voice asked. Jonas recognized it as Mr. Lyle's.
"Yes. All of them are complete," replied a voice Jonas could not place.
"Wonderful! Have the results sent to Blue Cove immediately," ordered Lyle.
"To the Centre? Why there?" asked the first voice.
"Mr. Raines would like to compare the results with the other twin. The female is not performing as expected and we've been forced to bring in another Pretender."
"Do you think that's wise?"
"Of course not! But we have very little choice in the matter. If the Triumvirate hadn't found out about Gemini, we could have kept both twins here. Fortunately, Jonas has been producing enough results to keep the Triumvirate at bay. Now we just need to get his other half to do the same."
Jonas gasped. They were talking about me! The other twin…the female…my other half… It could only mean that… No, that wasn't possible. I would have known! Still…
Jonas's breathing had quickened. He felt something tickling his nose. At the realization of what was coming next, Jonas cupped his hands over his nose and mouth. But the sneeze came anyway. Jonas grabbed the pencil and ran back to the table. He threw himself into the chair and was scooting forward as the lab door opened and Mr. Lyle and a stranger entered the room.
"Jonas?" Mr. Lyle asked, clearly surprised at the boy's presence. "What are you doing in here?"
"I'm waiting to be taken back to my room, sir," Jonas replied meekly. His ears were burning as he tried to look innocent.
"Where's Eric?" Mr. Lyle asked.
"Eric, sir?"
"The Sweeper who brought you here, where is he?" Lyle asked again, less patiently.
"I - I don't know, Mr. Lyle," Jonas replied. He was trying to focus on Mr. Lyle, but the stranger was staring intently at Jonas with a crooked half-smile on his face.
"I see. Well, let's go then," Mr. Lyle said. Jonas got up to follow the young man out of the room. Mr. Lyle turned abruptly and asked, "Jonas, did you hear anything while you were waiting?"
"N-no sir. Nothing at all," Jonas said, looking at his soft, gray shoes.
Mr. Lyle gave the boy a hard stare and then nodded, satisfied with his response. After all, Project Gemini had been programmed to never lie. It was highly unlikely that Jonas could lie so easily. He motioned for Jonas to precede him out of the room.
Jonas walked quickly out of the room with his ears burning and his stomach tied in a thousand knots. He had never lied before and he didn't like the way it made him feel, but something inside of him said to keep this a secret.
When he was alone in his room, Jonas lied on his back on the cot and let his thoughts swirl about in his head. Twin? His other half? It all added up to one thing - he had a sister. But who was she? And where could Jonas find her?
SL-23: Room 2309
The Centre
April 12, 1994 ~ 05:17
"Nooooo!"
Jira bolted upright in her bed. Her pajamas were damp with cold sweat and she was panting for breath. Jira looked around the dark room, but couldn't remember where she was. As her eyes began to adjust to the dark, she could make out her surroundings. When she placed them, she let out a small groan. The Centre. I'm still at the Centre. Jira lied back down and turned so she was facing the wall. She wrapped her arms around her knees in a fetal position, holding herself. She was afraid to fall asleep, refusing to submit to the nightmares that claimed her subconscious.
This dream had been so real! She had been in a large room sitting in a plastic bubble that was suspended from the ceiling. Her whole body was aching from the tension in her muscles. Her head was pounding from intense concentration.
Jira lifted her head trying to see outside of the plastic bubble, but the lights that were trained on her made the glare too bright to see. From a bud in her ear came a familiar voice.
"You are the pilot, what do you see?" asked Mr. Lyle.
Jira responded in a voice that was not her own, clearly a male voice. "I - I can't see, the sun is too bright. I'm going to take it below that cloud."
"What are you feeling? Focus on the simulation!" Mr. Lyle prompted.
"I'm nervous. I shouldn't veer too far off the flight plan, especially in this smaller plane."
"What do you do?"
"I'm going to risk it anyway and fly in the clouds for a time."
"Good. Now, what do you see next?"
"At first all I see is the fog from the cloud. I'm second-guessing my decision. This wasn't a good idea! Wait, there's something up ahead - it's a wing! There's a commercial jet! I can't pull up, I can't pull up! We're going to crash!"
The boy Jira was empathing shook his head and began to relax his muscles, coming out of the simulation.
"He couldn't pull up, Mr. Lyle."
"Did he know it was wrong to leave the flight plan?" Mr. Lyle asked, ignoring the boy's input.
The boy paused, recalling the feelings of the pilot. "Yes, yes he did, but he couldn't find another way."
"That's very good, Jonas," Mr. Lyle said.
Jira felt herself leaving the scenario. As she was about to disappear, she turned back to look at the boy she had become.
That was when she screamed. The boy looked just like her!
Jira shuddered in her bed as she recalled his face. What was his name? That's right, Jonas. Who are you, Jonas? And how did you get into my mind?
SL-15: SIM Lab 1
The Centre
April 12, 1994 ~ 07:54
"Jarod! Stay with the simulation!" Sydney instructed.
"I'm sorry, Sydney," Jarod said, his shoulders hunching in defeat. "I'm having trouble focusing today."
Sydney sighed and motioned to the tech to bring the lights back on. Sydney approached his charge who appeared perplexed and frustrated with himself.
"What is it, Jarod?"
"I… I'm not entirely sure. It's like there's a wall between me and the man in the simulation. I can't get to him," Jarod said.
"I don't understand! You've done these types of simulations many times before!" Sydney reasoned.
"I know! It's not the simulation. It's me. I… I…" Jarod stammered.
"What?" Sydney asked. When Jarod didn't reply, Sydney let out an exasperated sigh. "I can't help if you won't let me in, Jarod."
The young man looked past Sydney with a dark expression on his face. "It's the eyes…"
Sydney cocked his head to the right and prompted Jarod, "Whose eyes, Jarod?"
"I don't know, but I have seen them somewhere before," Jarod whispered. "I can only see the eyes… haunting me. They're so pale and lifeless, like everything beautiful in the world has been destroyed. They're always watching me Sydney, begging me."
"Who?" Sydney asked again.
Jarod began to pace about the room. "I've been having this dream for the past few nights. It always starts differently, but I soon find myself in a white room and when I look down, I'm bleeding like… like I've been torn in half."
"Go on," Sydney said when Jarod paused in his account.
"I watch the blood pool at my feet and then the image shifts. I see a boy and a girl, but they are separated from each other. Both of them are crying out, so I try to comfort them. I stretch one arm to the boy and one to the girl, but I cannot reach them and they are swallowed up by the darkness."
"Then what?"
Jarod looked up at Sydney. "Then I wake up."
Sydney returned Jarod's curious gaze, trying to decipher the elements of Jarod's nightmare. He was fairly certain it had something to do with Gemini since Jarod reported the dreams beginning around the time the female was transferred to SL-23. The only problem was that Jarod was not supposed to know anything about Gemini's true origins. In fact, Sydney himself was uncertain that his hunch was anymore than an old man's intuition. Thinking on the fly, Sydney offered a bogus analysis.
"The dream is probably associated with the kidnapping simulation you performed last week. You were fairly shaken when it was completed, remember?" Sydney prodded.
Jarod looked thoughtfully at Sydney. "You're probably right, Sydney. I'm just over - analyzing the situation."
Sydney smiled with relief. He was afraid that Jarod would reject his interpretation of the dream and press Sydney for answers.
"All right. Now that we have that settled, let's return to work."
