THE CENTRE

Gabriel was sitting in his office, thoughtful and troubled.

Miss Parker had demonstrated a huge strenght. The love for her children was so inconditionate that she was probably ready to die for them. He didn’t understand this kind of connection. He had never felt such a bond with anyone.

Sure, Chuntao was his partner and she had never disappointed him. But Gabriel couldn’t feel “love” in the most literal sense. Maybe that was the secret of his cleverness. He was detached. He never relied on anyone. So he couldn’t be deceived.

Jude knocked on the door, “Sir! You won’t believe this.”

“What?”

“Mr. Lyle is back. And you’ll never guess who’s with him.”

Gabriel covered the distance between the office and the lobby in a minute or so. He needed to see the man with his eyes. The Triumvirate had thought him to be dead, but he should have known better than to believe this kind of crap.

Sydney was a survivor, like the pretender. He was older than he looked in the last picture the Centre held of him, but he was just the same man that had left the Centre ten years before.

“Gabriel. Here is my first delivery.” Lyle grinned.

“What?!”

“May I introduce you to Sydney? He was our most well-known psychiatrist when the pretender project started.”

“I know who he is, you idiot!” Gabriel shouted, for the first time in his life overwhelmed by what was happening around him. “How did you find him?”

“He didn’t find me. I contacted him.” Sydney replied, serious and firm on his feet.

“Jude. Cuff him and bring him down to the cell next to Miss Parker’s.”

Sydney backed up, “I’m not here to be a captive. I’m here to resume my job.”

Gabriel stopped Jude with a snap. He stared at Sydney, willing to hear more.

“It is my opinion that you are in possession of Ethan Kyle.”

Gabriel laughed, “And you think I’d believe that you consider the boy an item?”

“I don’t want to spend my last days on Earth watching my back from the Boogeyman. Jarod’s imitation of life has unfortunately come to an end. You have Miss Parker, you have the children, and I assume that they are still alive, because you need them. But me? I’m expendable. I don’t want to be the next one to be disposed of. If you promise me not to hurt Parker and the kids, I will cooperate.”

“Basically Sydney realized how much life costs in the old age if you don’t have a valid medical insurance. He wants to work for the Centre again. He’s ready to deceive Jarod.” Lyle was trying to look sincere, but it was difficult not to sweat when that damned earphone was hidden in his ear.

“Work for the Centre. Again.” Gabriel murmured.

“Yes. I believe I might be able to work with Ethan as I did with his father. He knows me, he already trusts me. It won’t be difficult to manipulate the boy.”

“And I assume that you want me to spare your life in exchange.”

Sydney sighed and nodded. He wasn’t sure if this was a good idea anymore.

Gabriel made a couple of steps in Sydney’s direction, his face now right in front of the older man’s one.

“You know, that old saying, You hear a story too good to be true…it ain’t.”

 

Jarod was secretly listening to the conversation thanks to the earphones. He had nothing to blame Sydney and Lyle for, they were respecting the plan. But Gabriel was a tough nut.

 

“You know, there’s a way to find out if your loyalty goes to the Centre or to Jarod.” Gabriel looked at Jude, “Call Chuntao and ask her to bring the prisoners to the SIM lab.”

Jude nodded and disappeared, Gabriel intimated his two guests to follow him, so Lyle and Sydney started to walk behind Gabriel.

 

“Sydney, try to convince him. Tell him about the importance to have a good training.”

Jarod’s voice made Sydney and Lyle flinch, but fortunately Gabriel was pacing in front of them, he couldn’t see their faces.

“I believe that the best way to train a pretender is to make him discern the good from the bad, Gabriel. The only sane pretender the Centre ever had was Jarod. And he had me as a mentor. I was the one who taught him to distinguish what’s good and what’s not.”

“Well, he’s got a point.” Lyle tried to reinforce Sydney’s statement. “I was designated to train Alex in Africa. I must admit I didn’t do a very good job. Sydney was the best in this…uhm…working environment.”

“Alex was a mad man.” Gabriel replied, still walking and guiding them through the bowels of the Centre. “Maybe your training was the final straw, but he’s always been corrupted. And Sydney, you’ll be surprised to know that Jarod is not the best pretender the Centre ever had. I am.”

“You? How?” Sydney asked, now actually intrigued by the conversation.

“I was trained by the Triumvirate. I was their legacy, not their property.”

“So you had a normal life?” Lyle asked, beginning to resent this man.

“I lived my life like your beloved Miss Parker. A private education, with good opportunities. But I had no bonds. No connections. They forged me. The shaped me into the best pretender I could be and they paid me for it. I never looked for my family because I simply already had one. The Triumvirate made me the man I am today.”

 

“What a job.” Jarod murmured. Lyle smirked without getting noticed.

 

“I met Alex. He worked with me for a couple of SIMs. That’s how he knew everything about the Scrolls, many of his SIMs were aimed to locate them. I think this is why he ran away. He thought he could beat me, that he could beat Jarod. He should have known better, though.”

 

Jarod was listening to every single word. Many pieces of the puzzle were going to their place. Gabriel was really the key to discover the majority of the secrets of the Centre.

 

Gabriel stopped and turn around. Sydney noticed that they were in front of the elevator where Catherine’s supposed death had been staged.

Gabriel pressed the button to call the elevator, but it was already at their floor. The doors opened and the three men entered.

“There’s one thing I still don’t get. If you are so damn god, why do you want Jarod back?” Lyle asked.

Gabriel smiled sadly, “As you know, the Scrolls were the key to the Centre power against the Triumvirate.”

“Actually, none of us ever read them.” Sydney corrected him, “Except Mr. Parker. We don’t know what they actually said.”

Gabriel looked at them and started to laugh.

“The Scrolls were found just a few hours after Mr. Parker’s geronimo, Sydney.” He explained. “I studied the plane route and analyzed the black box. I was able to retrieve the exact location of Mr. Parker’s jump and we retrieved the Scrolls on a beach of the Morocco coast.”

The elevator stopped at its destination and the group stepped onto the floor. Both Lyle and Sydney were almost in filbrillation. Sydney was really looking forward to see Miss Parker and the kids, he had to know if they were safe. He recognized the path they were taking as the faster way to reach the SIM lab. How many times had he walked down those corridors when Jarod was a kid?

 

“Ask him about the Scrolls, Lyle. I want to know what they say.”

Jarod’s voice was so authoritative that Lyle decided to keep going with his request.

“So, what did they say? Were the Scrolls real…prophecies?” Lyle asked.

“The text mostly expands upon the topic of human power. Power is gained with control. And the main concept is that only control can govern an uncorrupted world.”

“Sounds like a dictatorship.” Sydney replied.

Gabriel smiled at him, “So you won’t be surprised to know that the Scrolls predicted the advent of the Centre.”

“This Centre?” Lyle asked, incredulous.

“Well, the text suggested the creation of a corporation the purpose of which was gain control and make a social change.”

“How?” Sydney asked the question to Gabriel at the same time that Jarod askd it on the earphone.

“By raising superior minds to rule the world. Genius to lead purer races of people.”

“And where does Jarod fit with this nice picture?”

 

Jarod was curious and impatient to hear the rest. He had been wondering about those damned prophecies for ten years.

 

“Jarod is the Chosen, Sydney. He is said to be the key to the Centre growth. But the Scrolls also talked about his escape from the Centre and they foretold the years of darkness after his disapperance.”

“So, it all comes down to Jarod? This is funny.” Lyle muttered.

“But he was the key, Lyle. All those years, we managed to achieve incredible outcomes thanks to his simulations. He was the reason of the success of the Centre.”

Sydney’s words came out of his mouth so innocently that Gabriel believed for the first time that he wasn’t faking it.

“After Jarod’s betrayal, the Centre would lose his global power. Only one man would bring the Centre back to its former splendor. A genius with the pretender’s same intelligence but vowed to consecrate his superiority to the ultimate sacrifice.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Lyle inquired him.

“That someone else had to continue Jarod’s work. Someone with the same abilities but without his velleities for freedom.”

“Somebody like you.” Sydney understood.

Gabriel nodded. He stopped in front of the doors of the SIM lab. Sydney noticed that the whole space had been renovated.

“Well, all this chattering doesn’t answer my question. Why do you want Jarod back so madly, if you are supposed to be his substitute?”

“Because…I am dying.”