LYSANDER'S ROOM – CORPORATION ZERO

"I need the video surveillance looped now." Jarod whispered into the headset. They were

approaching the air vent exit to Lysander's room. He waited a full minute until receiving Parker's confirmation that it had in fact be done.

Jarod turned his attention to the sweeper behind him. "You know what has to be done?" The sweeper nodded, neither man in the mood to provoke the other.

Jarod quickly and as quietly as possible unscrewed the vent cover, before sliding it underneath him. With a quick breath he lowered himself onto the floor.

Turning around gingerly he caught sight of Lysander lying on her bed, her slim figure blatantly visible due to the bright orange of what he assumed was Corporation Zero's 'uniform'. The woman's soft blue eyes met his, surprise evident on her features. Jarod's heart did a nervous flip as her eyes shifted from him to the area behind him. He didn't doubt for a second that Alex was there. Showtime.

The air was whooshed out of Jarod's lungs as he was toppled over. "Always the gallant white knight, aren't we Jarod!" The pretender groaned as he rolled over to meet his assailant.

"Nice to see you again Alex" He said thickly.

"I just knew you couldn't resist. Less than a week away from home, and you came to rescue their subject. I don't doubt that they used your rescue plan to remove the other two pretenders. You really botched it up with this gal though!" Alex replied smugly. He had obviously bought the fake information planted on the Center mainframe, indicating that Jarod had escaped.

"What do you want Alex?" the pretender questioned, trying to keep the man distracted enough to avoid him alerting the guards.

"You, Jarod. I want you. I'm sure you've enjoyed the little game I created. Not only did I almost succeed in destroying the Center, I got your sorry ass locked up back where it belongs. To bad you had to go and ruin that. You know, another few hours in the hospital, and it would have been my guys bringing you in, instead of theirs. Imagine how that could have turned out eh?"

Jarod swallowed nervously. He had to get Alex to move into the center of the room, and only pray that Sam would have the balls to take his shot. They were going to hit him with a tranquilizer gun, if Sam missed, everything could go horribly wrong. One shot, one chance.

"Who are you?" Lysander's accented voice questioned from across the room.

Alex turned and smirked at his female prize. "Lysander, I want you to meet Jarod, Grade A meat as far as the Centre is concerned. You've apparently been selected as his 'good-deed' of the week. Unfortunately his little 'white knight' quest has failed. Now -you both are mine."

Jarod pushed himself quickly onto his feet, trying to look as threatening as possible. He was rewarded with the tip of Alex's gun being jabbed into his chest.

"Now you really don't expect me to believe you're going to use that on me." Jarod smirked.

"You went to all this effort to capture me. At least point it somewhere believable, like my knee."

"Big words Jarod. Your life has no value to me, other than to see you sit in utter misery – back in a cage, where you belong. Now unless you want a bullet through your shin, sit on the bed."

Jarod stared Alex down before backing towards the bed. Lysander quickly sat up, making room for him. He could see her left leg was carefully chained to the bed, which was of course welded to the floor. She caught his eye as he sat down beside her. "I ran." She stated, obviously referring to the chain.

Alex chuckled "It may be medieval, but it's effective. Don't worry Jarod, we'll get you fitted right away for one of your own."

Alex was firmly planted by the door, and Jarod knew it would be a matter of minutes before someone figured out the camera was looped or Alex called for his reinforcements. He needed to do something, now.

Jarod turned to Lysander. "One cannot expect much creativity from a man of his intelligence. Did Alex share his fun little tale with you about his time with the triumvirate after his bungled escape attempt from the Center?"

Jarod was rewarded as Alex stormed over to Jarod, pistol-whipping the pretender in the face.

The pretender grunted heavily as he flew backward, but he was quickly steadied by Lysander.

He glanced playfully at her. "It seems I have hit a nerve."

Alex grabbed Jarod by his hair, and dragged him into the center of the room. "It was your fault Jarod! You left me there to suffer their wrath. I got my retribution against Eddie. Now it's your turnto pay. I - "

Jarod flinched as Alex dropped to the ground, smiling in satisfaction. For all of his grievances against Sam, he had to admit the sweeper had a deadly aim. He wished he could see the look on Alex's face when he woke up.

Looking down at his feet, he noticed the pool of blood slowly forming beneath the fallen man.

Jarod stumbled back. "NO!"

Lysander has instinctively embedded herself into her bed when the shot had rung out. Sam had used a silencer, but the shot still echoed in the small cell.

Jarod stormed over to the vent, pushing Sam away angrily before picked up his earlier discarded head set. Wearing it, certainly would have tipped off Alex that this was not a one-man show. "You promised me it would just be a tranquilizer gun." He snarled into it accusingly, glaring defiantly at the sweeper.

"What do you care Jarod." Was Parker's reply. "Spare me the lecture, just get the girl and get the hell out of there. You can lecture us about our ethics once you two are safely in the back out here. Focus Jarod. He's better off dead, we're all better off with him dead."

"You had no right to make that decision with out consulting me. " Jarod growled back.

"To bad your little brother was around still – I hear it was his area of expertise." Parker snarled back. "Sam, get him under control." She ordered.

Jarod had to fight the nausea that threatened to overcome him, as his stomach clenched involuntarily at Parker's harsh mention of Kyle. Alex had been a thorn in his side for quite some time, and Jarod could never forgive him for the way he had murdered poor Eddie in cold blood. He was still haunted regularly by what he had done to Damon, let alone the faceless victims of the hundreds and hundreds of sims he had performed over the years. He had a spent a whole lifetime dealing death, without even realizing it, and swore the second he escaped, he would NEVER do it again - no matter who it was. Now after years on the run, he had once again allowed the Center to manipulate his work to do mortal harm.

Jarod's thoughts were interrupted as Sam pushed the pretender against the wall, gazing into the pretender's eyes. "We need to finish this." The sweeper snarled, accurately sensing the pretender was close to a breakdown. The pretender's eyes drifted to Alex's corpse, but Sam slammed him heavily back against the wall. "Free the girl." The sweeper ordered.

Jarod shook his head, as if trying to escape from the images taking over his brain. He had to keep it together, so that he and Lysander could get away from these people.

He angrily pushed away the sweeper. "I need something to pick her lock." He demanded.

Sam hesitated, but offered up the lock pick. Jarod wasted no time, and in seconds Lysander was free. As she stood up, she gazed into Jarod's troubled eyes. "Thank you." She said, gently grabbing hold of the pretender's hand, sensing Jarod's near panicked state. "He's better off that way – you don't know what that man is capable of." She whispered softly, her eyes betraying how badly she had been violated.

Jarod studied her face, giving her a small smile and softly squeezing her hand.

Sam walked over to them both, pulling out his own gun.

"Get in the vent - now." He ordered at the two.

Jarod sighed heavily as Lysander stared accusingly at him. "I thought you were my white knight?" She spat out sarcastically. "This is just a Triumvirate Rescue mission after all! And you're just another spineless project doing their dirty work!"

Jarod shook his head sadly. "I had no choice." Meeting Lysander's eyes he gave her a small wink, hoping she would catch on that things were not quite as they seemed.

Both the pretender and the predictor were roughly pushed ahead when they failed to move. "I said, in the Vent. Don't make me ask again." Sam threatened.

"Or else WHAT." Lysander grumbled, ready to defy the sweeper's order, but thought differently as the trio became aware of a commotion down the hall – the guards had clearly been altered to something amiss. "Fine – I'll take my chances with you two clowns." She mumbled.

Without hesitating, the trio rushed to the vent, Jarod pulling himself in last. He quickly screwed the vent cover back into place. Sam knowingly handed him a small power device, and he quickly attached it to the vent via a small circuit, temporarily electrifying it. It wasn't much, but it would buy them valuable time if someone tried to follow them into the vents. Jarod spoke into his head set, giving confirmation that they were safely back in the vent system, just as he heard the door to Lysander's cell fly open.

The race was on.

As they climbed through the vents, Jarod checked his pocket for his prize. The commotion had distracted Sam enough to forget to retrieve the lock pick from the pretender. Jarod was one step closer to freedom.

TUNNEL ACCESS – CORPORATION ZERO SUBELVEL 1

Jarod was nearing exhaustion as he finally made it back to ground level. They had climbed up the equivalent of nearly fifteen sublevels. His arms felt like jello. Upon regaining his footing, Jarod spoke confidently into his headset. "We're at the access point, release the phantom getaway vehicle now." In order to further keep up the charade, two sweepers, one male, one female would be dashing across Corporation Zero's land into a planted escape vehicle. This would draw out most of the Corporation Zero's security, as they would unwillingly be chasing the wrong vehicle.

Jarod waited as Lysander and Sam climbed up behind him, watching as the sweeper gave his vocal confirmation to Parker. Jarod gazed over to Lysander, trying to get her to play along with what was to come next. Fortunately Sam had seemed oblivious to the looks that had passed between the two throughout their crazed jaunt through the airvent sytem.

The sweeper pulled out his gun. "Alright, both of you, on your knees, hands on your heads, backs to me."

Jarod stepped away from the sweeper, trying to get Lysander out of Sam's field of view so she could surprise the sweeper from behind. Unfortunately, the sweeper stood his ground.

"Nice try Jarod. On your knees now, or I'm getting Parker in here."

Jarod complied with Sam's command, confident an opportunity would present itself to overpower the sweeper. Lys, however, remained standing.

"What part of that didn't you understand?" Sam questioned the woman.

"What are you going to do, shoot me?" Lys quirpped back. Jarod smirked from his position on the ground. She definitely had a lot of spirit.

Sam raised his eyebrows. "If that is what it takes. You have ten seconds, or a bullet is going through your knee."

"I think you're bluffing, what are you going to do, carry me out?"

Sam chucked. "No dear, but he will." The sweeper stated, motioning to Jarod's back.

"Five seconds, what's it going to be?" Sam questioned the defiant woman before him.

She did her best to stare the sweeper down, before kneeling down beside Jarod.

"This is your plan?" She whispered sarcastically as they heard Sam rummaging around for their manacles.

The two flinched as a pair of handcuffs landed squarely between them.

"Cuff yourselves together."

Lysander laughed. "What kind of rescue operation is this? I don't do threesomes." She spat out, immediately feeling the butt of a gun at the back of her head.

"Now." The sweeper warned.

Lys made a big show of shaking her head in disgust, picking up the handcuffs and attaching one end to Jarod's right wrist. "Thanks." He muttered, as she locked the other half on her left wrist.

She turned her head to face the sweeper behind her to best of her ability. "Now what?"

Sam jabbed his gun into Jarod's back. "Time to go for a walk. If you two so much as glance in the wrong direction, one of you is getting a bullet through their knee. Got it?"

The pair remained silent, as they coordinated their efforts to stand up.

"Move." Sam commanded, giving Jarod a strong push forward. The pretender lurched forward with an exaggerated step, giving his handcuffed right wrist a forceful tug. The strain on the chain threw Lysander violently into Sam, knocking the gun out of the surprised sweeper's hand, as he toppled over. Lysander followed suit, but was painfully pulled back by resistance on the handcuff chain.

"Ouch." Lysander commented dryly, a smirk on her face, as Jarod moved in to steady her.

"You always use your fair maidens as projectile objects?" She joked.

Jarod chuckled, handing her the gun he had recovered from Sam. "Only the special ones."

"Now what? We're going to sprint out of here like conjoined twins?" Lysander questioned, pointing the gun at the furious sweeper beneath her.

Jarod frowned as Parker's voice sounded in his headset, requesting Sam's confirmation.

"Jarod, what's going on?" His huntress yelled into his ear after Sam failed to respond.

"Sam and I are just taking care of a bit of business." he responded cattily, while removing the lockpick out of his pocket. "Gotta go." He finished, throwing off his headset. He easily removed the handcuffs keeping him and Lysander tethered together and focused his efforts on the tracking device still attached to his left leg.

Lysander kicked the fallen handcuffs over to the sweeper. "Your turn." She said sweetly. "My shooting range is not limited to below your knee cap, so I suggest you don't hesitate." She could hear Jarod's grumble of frustration as he failed to free himself from the electronic leash.

Sam glared daggers at her, but complied with her order. "You will pay for this. Both of you."

Lysander shrugged. "I've been threatened for half a lifetime by brainless goons like you. Your threats mean nothing to me."

The two fugitives became aware of a commotion down the tunnel as Jarod desperately wrestled with the tracking device. "Jarod we've got to move now, I can see them." Lysander pleaded.

He gave the device on his leg one last desperate jiggle, and was relieved as the metal fell off his skin.

"It's been fun Sam." The pretender taunted. "Say goodbye to Miss Parker for me, will you?"

The sweeper grunted his response as Jarod rose to his feet, gauging how far Parker's entourage was behind him before gently pulling Lysander in their desired direction.

"Ready?" He questioned. She nodded, giving a concern glance back towards their pursuers as the two took off in a desperate sprint.

About two hundred feet down the tunnel, they quickly rounded a corner, stopping at a small manhole.

Lysander looked up at him expectantly. "You have a little more spine that I originally thought." She panted, her tone light.

Jarod smiled at her. "We have to crawl down two more levels, there is a sewer access point. We can escape from there." He explained, pulling the manhole cover off. "Ladies first."

Lysander scrunched her face at the mention of sewer. "Didn't anyone ever tell you about the noble steed that is supposed to accompany the white knight?" She teased.

By the time Parker and the sweepers made it around the corner, the manhole cover was secured back in place.

Jarod and Lysander had vanished.

Parker leaned heavily against the wall. "They're gone." She whispered into her headset.

She hit her head against the wall in frustration.

"Miss Parker?" The frantic voice of Broots called into her head set. "They know you are in the tunnel, you have to get out, and fast!" Parker swore.

"OUT-NOW!!" She commanded at her team.

SEWER ACCESS – CORPORATION ZERO BIOTRACT 12

Jarod breathed in the fresh air gratefully as he slid the sewer grate from above his head. Freedom had never smelt so beautiful, especially after trudging a better part of a mile through raw sewage. It was not the most elegant of escapes, but it had done the trick. He quickly popped out of the sewer access, before reaching down to pull Lysander to safety.

Jarod was grateful that the timing of their escape allowed them to emerge in nightfall; it would make it much easier to get off the property without detection from either the Center or Corporation Zero. Fortunately Corporation Zero's headquarters were located in Texas, as a midwinter escape would have been impossible from one of the northern states, given their state of dress. They would have been frostbitten in a matter of minutes.

The two fell to the ground in exhaustion, taking a moment to enjoy the feeling of grass beneath them. The night sky was dark and uninviting, as a few stars struggled to shine through the mass of clouds that had taken over. But for the two people who had spent their lives in places where the lights were never out, darkness was a welcomed reprieve. Only the sound of their huffing breaths could be heard.

Lysander was the first to speak after inhaling some much needed oxygen. "I can't believe, after all of this, I'm free. What can I ever do to repay you??"

"Nothing, you owe me nothing. We both know what it's like to be on the wrong side of their bars." Jarod replied softly.

"I don't know how much longer I could have survived in there. Alex, he… he was capable of horrific things." Lysander admitted, surprising herself at how easy it was to expose her vulnerability to the man before her. "I can't believe he used to be one of us." She added brokenly.

Jarod turned onto his side, reaching his hand to Lysander's shoulder in comfort. "We do what we have to do to survive. Alex wasn't strong enough, and somewhere along the way, he lost himself completely."

Lysander shuddered, as the tears she had been suppressing for past month began to surface.

"It's why I fight. It's why when they say sit, I stand. Submitting to their will terrifies me. I'm afraid I could plunge so deeply, I'll never find my way out again. Alex, he pushed me closer to that edge then I've ever been before. I should have known he was already far past the point of no return himself."

Jarod smiled sadly at the woman in front of him as he sat up into a kneeling position, gently pulling Lysander up with him. "You survived. That's all that matters." He comforted, squeezing her hands.

"Is it?" She questioned. "What if that's not enough? What if I can't forget what I saw? What was done to me? What I did?"

"It has to be." Jarod replied. "What else do we have to get comfort from?" He gently wiped away the tears that were falling down Lysander's face.

"My rebellion is all I have Jarod. Everything else about my life is controlled. He almost took that away! I've never felt so vulnerable, so helpless, so broken."

Jarod pulled her into a strong hug as the sobs overcame her body. "That's not true. You have yourself, your emotions, your thoughts, your dreams. As long as you don't let them in your head, those things they can never take from you."

"I gave up dreaming years ago." Was Lysander's sad reply. "The nights are too long to be tortured by what could have been. People like us don't get to have the luxury of dreaming."

"I find myself too often haunted by what was." Jarod admitted. "But without my dreams, I wouldn't have found the courage to hope for a better future, the courage I needed to escape."

Lys smiled sadly at him, wiping the last of her tears away. "Look at me, five minutes of freedom and I'm a complete disaster. Could I be more of a girl?" she joked, desperately trying to lighten up the mood. For the past two decades she had been hiding her inner turmoil from those around her. She was slightly unsettled by how easily she had opened up to the man who had rescued her. Then again, given his own life was likely spent in the same dismal atmosphere as hers, he could understand her suffering in a way few ever could.

"Not with those clothes." Jarod joked, referring to Lys' unfortunate state of dress in the bright orange scrubs that made up Corporation Zero's inmate uniform. In order to keep up the 'escaped Jarod' façade, he had been granted his old wardrobe back.

She glared at him in mock anger, pulling herself to her feet, offering her hand to Jarod, to help

him do the same. "I assume we can't lounge around here indefinitely?"

"We're not completely safe yet." Jarod warned, standing up himself. "We still have a few miles to cover."

"You got us this far. I must admit that I do hope the next portion our journey is a bit less demanding. Are you sure our rank smell won't give us away?" Lys joked.

Jarod chuckled lightly. "Shall we?" He questioned lightly, holding out his hand. "There is a treeline just over there, once we reach that, we should be mostly out of harms way!" The pretender said, pointing in their desired direction.

"Onwards and upwards!" Lysander responded, taking ahold of the pretender's hand and following in Jarod's footsteps. "Let's hope there is a nice warm shower at the end of this yellow brick road."

They only made it twenty steps.