Note: Don't own anything you recognize except for my character...Enjoy!
The leggy woman who haunted his dreams was striding his way. Broots, a super techno-genius, stood his ground in the little rotunda with his co-worker and friend Sydney standing beside him. When they had arrived back at the Centre after Miss Parker's ordeal at the bank, she had been whisked away by her father. Broots and Sydney, the man who practically raised Jarod, could only wait for her to become free so they could see how she was and to hear what happened.
"Broots," she called, pulling out her cigarettes.
"Yes, Miss Parker? How are you after what happened?"
"Oh, fantastic since I don't have better things to do than be locked up with Wonder Boy and the man who holds all the answers to my mother's death. Any word on Fenigor, Syd?"
The psychiatrist folded his arms in front of himself and shook his head.
"They took him down to the Infirmary but no one is allowed in except Raines and your father."
"Perfect. I'll need to find a way down to see him. He said something at the bank about a project called Prodigy. Have you heard about it?" she asked, tapping a cigarette on her case once before lighting it.
"I'll search the mainframe for any mention of the project," Broots offered.
"There's something I need you to do first. I need the employment records for Kate Simpson, Katherine Jamieson, and Kate Reid."
"I knew Kate. She died a few months ago. Her apartment was broken into and there was blood everywhere. She had said something about an abusive boyfriend one time so it's believed she was murdered."
"Jarod and I weren't the only ones in the bank who knew about Fenigor. Sydney, this anomaly that Jarod has which makes him a Pretender, how rare is it?"
"How do you know about the anomaly?"
"In my office," Miss Parker ordered, ushering in the two men.
The door whooshed closed behind them and she stalked to her desk where she leaned against the edge. After another long drag, she snubbed out the cigarette and looked at the two men. Broots, with his receding hair line, could almost be considered a minion but Sydney was an equal, maybe more friend than co-worker at times. Like when he comforted her after her mother was killed and through everything that has been turning up recently.
"There was a pregnant girl in the bank who knew about Fenigor and the Centre. She knew who we were and Jarod told me she was the one who tipped him off about Fenigor and the bank. She couldn't have been more than 25, her hair black with pink streaks and wore all black. Katie, this girl, mentioned the anomaly and that she had it."
"Katie? Wait, you think she was those employees."
"I know she was since she was the one who told us. Syd, she said that she's a Pretender and was playing a game with the Centre. Now how rare is this anomaly?"
"Our research shows that the anomaly only appears in those with AB- blood. Since less than 1% of the American population have that blood type, that's rare in itself. We don't have specific numbers but I would guess at maybe 3% of those."
"So 0.03% of the population. Until Jarod's mother told her, the girl thought she was a genius. Since then, she's held 3 jobs within the Centre with no one catching on and has broken into the archives."
"Impossible. Any intrusion into the archives without clearance is tracked back to the source and the person is dealt with. Kate didn't have the clearance," Broots explained.
"Are you 100% sure about that, Broots?" she asked through clenched teeth.
"You say that Jarod's mother was the one who told her?"
"She was in university working on something like her millionth Master's. I want those employment records on my desk in an hour."
Sydney and Broots left Miss Parker in her office thinking about everything. She should have mentioned Katie to her father but needed more information on the girl before doing so. Maybe the way to get Jarod back to the Centre was to collect the girl and use her as leverage.