Starting Anew by icd
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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Disclaimer: see part one
~~~~~~~
Starting Anew
Part 2
Discoveries
She quietly walked into the infirmary where her little brother was still passing his days.
His small face lit up in delight when he saw his sister and held out his arms for her to pick him up.
Miss Parker’s face turned into an easy and real smile. “Hey my boy,” she cooed and gently took him out of his bed.
These visits had come to be a daily habit. At first, Raines had tried to intervene but in the end he had backed off and let her have her way.
Her job had gotten rather boring over the last ten weeks. They didn’t get hints as to Jarod’s whereabouts very often and his pretends had become less frequently.
While the Powers That Be were still clueless as to why Jarod had changed his tactic, Miss Parker had yet to reveal that she knew the reason - something she wasn’t about to do.
The Powers That Be were still trying to understand the new dynamics in this game. Sydney had reasoned that Jarod had always had an agenda and that every step he took had a deeper meaning, a purpose.
Miss Parker inwardly smiled at their futile attempts to understand their fugitive pretender.
Sydney was right though. Jarod’s change of the rules had a deeper meaning, a purpose; one that she was aware of unlike anyone else.
Jarod took the responsibility of his younger brother very seriously and did everything he could to protect him from becoming the Centre’s focus. The Centre still didn’t know that Jay was with Jarod in the first place.
She had no idea where the pretender was but he stayed in contact with her via telephone. He had even visited her twice.
Another secret the Centre didn’t know.
She gently caressed the back of her little brother’s head as it lay against her shoulder.
“I have to go soon, my boy. There’s a meeting I have to attend but I will come back to you in the evening before I go home, ok?”
The boy’s head nodded against her shoulder.
Regretfully, she untangled herself from the young child, her arms feeling empty without him. It was a sensation that had been greatly unsettling to Miss Parker at first but one that she had gotten used to by now and that she partly liked because it showed her that she had developed a strong connection to her young brother.
~~~~~~~
“Did you bring ice cream?” Jay asked the minute Jarod walked through the door.
Jarod scoffed, “as if I would forget that.” He grabbed the box of ice cream out of the bag filled with groceries and threw it over to Jay. The boy put the box on the table and got up. He then walked over to the cupboard to get two bowls and spoons, while Jarod put the rest of the groceries away.
The brothers then sat down on the table and savoured their ice cream.
This had become a habit for them. Whenever they bought new supplies, they brought ice cream and enjoyed consuming it together.
“Anything interesting in the Centre?” Jarod asked around a huge bite of ice cream.
Jay swallowed his mouthful. “I’m not entirely sure right now. There’s a file that I stumbled over. It’s decrypted and I have yet to break the code.”
Jarod nodded thoughtfully. “A difficult code?”
“Uh-huh,” Jay nodded, his mouth already refilled.
“Difficult codes never mean anything good,” Jarod grumbled. “We’ll take a look later. Is it a project?”
“I would think so. It’s called: Vars geslag.”
“New generation,” Jarod frowned. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
They went on munching their ice cream but they couldn’t really enjoy it any longer. Somehow they both dreaded the contents of the file.
The siblings still kept a close eye on what was going on in the Centre and they roamed through the data provided in the mainframe. It was curiosity as well as self-preservation. They didn’t want to be surprised by any developments, or worse, by a sweeper-team appearing on their doorstep.
They still didn’t stick around an area for long.
Over the last few weeks that they had been living together, Jay’s emotional state had become more and more stable. The message from their first climbing trip had sunken in.
Jay now knew that he was loved and wasn’t an unwanted family member that wasn’t worthy of staying with the family.
The first climbing trip had been followed by several more in various areas. Jarod and Jay enjoyed a trip whenever possible.
Jay had become just as good a climber as Jarod, just as Jarod had predicted. The routine had made him just as quick and yet careful as his older self was.
Jarod got up from his seat and took his bowl over to the sink to be rinsed later. He then went into the living room and sat down in front of the laptop that Jay had left running. He quickly typed in a few commands and then closely observed the screen.
Jay drew up a chair next to Jarod’s and his older brother responded by scooting over to give him more room and a better view.
The next few hours were spent in trying to decrypt the data. They discussed possible procedures and tried some. In the end they were both frustrated and Jarod was getting more and more agitated and irritated.
The Centre had secured that data extraordinarily well - a definite sign that the contents were not mere toilet paper bills. It looked more like a heavily guarded secret.
Jarod paced the room while Jay still tried an approach on their problem.
“I don’t like that,” Jarod grumbled.
“Neither do I but could you please sit down. You’re making me edgy,” Jay replied without looking up from what he was doing.
“I’m already edgy. That data is something vital; something that we need to get our hands on. They’re planning something and we need to know what to protect ourselves against it,” Jarod said tensely but he complied with Jay’s wish and sat down in front of the computer again. He unconsciously started tapping his fingers on his leg.
“Jarod, stop that,” Jay snapped after a while.
“Sorry,” Jarod mumbled and got up to walk over to the small kitchen again.
“Got it,” Jay exclaimed suddenly and Jarod was back at his side in a flash.
The two brothers scanned the contents of the file with growing disbelief. Jarod sprang to his feet when he reached the bottom of the document and his mind started spinning over the news he had just read.
“They haven’t. They couldn’t,” he stuttered, while again pacing the room.
Jay’s eyes narrowed when he read the information again. “I fear they did, Jarod. I fear they did.” He shook his head.
Jarod growled in anger. “They’ll pay for that,” he vowed and then snatched out his cell phone.
“Get packing,” Jarod ordered when he waited for the other person to pick up. “We’re leaving.”
To be continued…
Oh, about the vars geslag: I really do hope it’s right. I’m not speaking Afrikaans and I just looked it up in some online dictionary. So, you can blame me for being stupid enough to believe everything the internet offers, if they are wrong.
~~~~~~~
Part 2
Discoveries
She quietly walked into the infirmary where her little brother was still passing his days.
His small face lit up in delight when he saw his sister and held out his arms for her to pick him up.
Miss Parker’s face turned into an easy and real smile. “Hey my boy,” she cooed and gently took him out of his bed.
These visits had come to be a daily habit. At first, Raines had tried to intervene but in the end he had backed off and let her have her way.
Her job had gotten rather boring over the last ten weeks. They didn’t get hints as to Jarod’s whereabouts very often and his pretends had become less frequently.
While the Powers That Be were still clueless as to why Jarod had changed his tactic, Miss Parker had yet to reveal that she knew the reason - something she wasn’t about to do.
The Powers That Be were still trying to understand the new dynamics in this game. Sydney had reasoned that Jarod had always had an agenda and that every step he took had a deeper meaning, a purpose.
Miss Parker inwardly smiled at their futile attempts to understand their fugitive pretender.
Sydney was right though. Jarod’s change of the rules had a deeper meaning, a purpose; one that she was aware of unlike anyone else.
Jarod took the responsibility of his younger brother very seriously and did everything he could to protect him from becoming the Centre’s focus. The Centre still didn’t know that Jay was with Jarod in the first place.
She had no idea where the pretender was but he stayed in contact with her via telephone. He had even visited her twice.
Another secret the Centre didn’t know.
She gently caressed the back of her little brother’s head as it lay against her shoulder.
“I have to go soon, my boy. There’s a meeting I have to attend but I will come back to you in the evening before I go home, ok?”
The boy’s head nodded against her shoulder.
Regretfully, she untangled herself from the young child, her arms feeling empty without him. It was a sensation that had been greatly unsettling to Miss Parker at first but one that she had gotten used to by now and that she partly liked because it showed her that she had developed a strong connection to her young brother.
~~~~~~~
“Did you bring ice cream?” Jay asked the minute Jarod walked through the door.
Jarod scoffed, “as if I would forget that.” He grabbed the box of ice cream out of the bag filled with groceries and threw it over to Jay. The boy put the box on the table and got up. He then walked over to the cupboard to get two bowls and spoons, while Jarod put the rest of the groceries away.
The brothers then sat down on the table and savoured their ice cream.
This had become a habit for them. Whenever they bought new supplies, they brought ice cream and enjoyed consuming it together.
“Anything interesting in the Centre?” Jarod asked around a huge bite of ice cream.
Jay swallowed his mouthful. “I’m not entirely sure right now. There’s a file that I stumbled over. It’s decrypted and I have yet to break the code.”
Jarod nodded thoughtfully. “A difficult code?”
“Uh-huh,” Jay nodded, his mouth already refilled.
“Difficult codes never mean anything good,” Jarod grumbled. “We’ll take a look later. Is it a project?”
“I would think so. It’s called: Vars geslag.”
“New generation,” Jarod frowned. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
They went on munching their ice cream but they couldn’t really enjoy it any longer. Somehow they both dreaded the contents of the file.
The siblings still kept a close eye on what was going on in the Centre and they roamed through the data provided in the mainframe. It was curiosity as well as self-preservation. They didn’t want to be surprised by any developments, or worse, by a sweeper-team appearing on their doorstep.
They still didn’t stick around an area for long.
Over the last few weeks that they had been living together, Jay’s emotional state had become more and more stable. The message from their first climbing trip had sunken in.
Jay now knew that he was loved and wasn’t an unwanted family member that wasn’t worthy of staying with the family.
The first climbing trip had been followed by several more in various areas. Jarod and Jay enjoyed a trip whenever possible.
Jay had become just as good a climber as Jarod, just as Jarod had predicted. The routine had made him just as quick and yet careful as his older self was.
Jarod got up from his seat and took his bowl over to the sink to be rinsed later. He then went into the living room and sat down in front of the laptop that Jay had left running. He quickly typed in a few commands and then closely observed the screen.
Jay drew up a chair next to Jarod’s and his older brother responded by scooting over to give him more room and a better view.
The next few hours were spent in trying to decrypt the data. They discussed possible procedures and tried some. In the end they were both frustrated and Jarod was getting more and more agitated and irritated.
The Centre had secured that data extraordinarily well - a definite sign that the contents were not mere toilet paper bills. It looked more like a heavily guarded secret.
Jarod paced the room while Jay still tried an approach on their problem.
“I don’t like that,” Jarod grumbled.
“Neither do I but could you please sit down. You’re making me edgy,” Jay replied without looking up from what he was doing.
“I’m already edgy. That data is something vital; something that we need to get our hands on. They’re planning something and we need to know what to protect ourselves against it,” Jarod said tensely but he complied with Jay’s wish and sat down in front of the computer again. He unconsciously started tapping his fingers on his leg.
“Jarod, stop that,” Jay snapped after a while.
“Sorry,” Jarod mumbled and got up to walk over to the small kitchen again.
“Got it,” Jay exclaimed suddenly and Jarod was back at his side in a flash.
The two brothers scanned the contents of the file with growing disbelief. Jarod sprang to his feet when he reached the bottom of the document and his mind started spinning over the news he had just read.
“They haven’t. They couldn’t,” he stuttered, while again pacing the room.
Jay’s eyes narrowed when he read the information again. “I fear they did, Jarod. I fear they did.” He shook his head.
Jarod growled in anger. “They’ll pay for that,” he vowed and then snatched out his cell phone.
“Get packing,” Jarod ordered when he waited for the other person to pick up. “We’re leaving.”
To be continued…
Oh, about the vars geslag: I really do hope it’s right. I’m not speaking Afrikaans and I just looked it up in some online dictionary. So, you can blame me for being stupid enough to believe everything the internet offers, if they are wrong.
