Good evening! Or in some parts of the world, good morning! We're back with the official first chapter. Woo-hoo!

Thanks to YellowAngela, Girlyxxx123, fanaticagenrex, Spektor, Nicky, and Guest for your reviews of the prologue!

Script Initiated:
Chapter One

Rebecca Holiday stood outside of the address she had been given. She saw a rusted metal door, set into the brick wall of an unremarkable alleyway in Brooklyn. Although the door appeared flimsy, there was a keypad next to it, two camouflaged cameras above it, and knowing the person who lived here, it was probably reinforced from the other side.

Rebecca glanced at the cameras and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She straightened her skirt and took a deep breath. While her presence would already be known, she wanted to pretend for a little longer that she was not being watched and was merely visiting an old friend, not setting foot into something so dangerous that it had prompted a man to fake his own death to hide it.

Then again, if he was hiding from Providence and had requested her help especially, the secret had to be a good one. Her nerves were practically buzzing with curiosity.

With that in mind, Rebecca flipped over the cover on the keypad and pressed the call button. There was no reply from the other side, but the door swung open, outwards. Like she had suspected, the door was twice as thick as it appeared, and the extra depth was comprised of military-grade alloy steel. The door allowed access into a small, cubical elevator.

It might have been a trap, but if an enemy of Providence wanted to kidnap her, any information she could offer them was outdated. She was pre-White Knight, after all, and had become a pariah of the scientific community. Essentially, she was worthless of herself and as a bargaining chip.

So, she stepped inside, and the door swung closed behind her. While the elevator descended so smoothly that its speed was unperceivable, Rebecca guessed that it must be taking her six or more stories down. The lair would need to be out of the way of other basements, sewer pipes, and electrical lines.

The elevator eased to a halt, and the back panel removed itself to one side. It opened on a long, dull gray corridor, along which two figures were approaching.

The first, Rebecca recognized. While she had never been particularly close to this agent, he had a distinctive 'look'. He had always favored green, and the green combat armor he wore today looked much the same as the armor he had worn around Providence. He wore his brown hair in the same short cut, and like back then, his eyes were obscured behind black sunglasses, mouth a straight line.

All this time, the sixth most dangerous man in the world had been famed dead. To see Six, unchanged after three years, stepping up to her in the flesh, caused a shiver to race unbidden over Rebecca's skin. It was like seeing a ghost.

At Six's heels, alternatively prying the man with questions or staring at Rebecca with wide, curious eyes, was a teenage boy. He was tall and fit, although not as much as Six in either department, and Rebecca guessed from his dark features that he was from Latino heritage. He wore his black hair slicked back and was dressed in bright orange cargo pants and a tight black T-shirt with two blue stripes on the right sleeve. In the comparative silence of the corridor, his voice carried easily:

"- the first person who has ever visited this place! And she's a babe! Are you listening to me? Why is there a beautiful woman here? Did you do something unsavory? Are you actually some sort of Casanova behind all that stoic stoicism?"

A blush rose to Rebecca's cheeks, but the questions glanced off of Six like oil on water. The two reached Rebecca, and as though only just realizing her proximity, the boy recoiled and stepped back behind Six, staring at Rebecca with a mixture of interest and suspicion. He couldn't have been older than fifteen.

Six stretched out a hand, which Rebecca accepted. "Dr. Holiday. It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you, too, Agent Six. Outside of your memorial photographs, I mean."

"White chose the photographs, didn't he?"

"Yes…?"

The man's mouth twitched toward a frown. "That explains it. Also, it's just 'Six' these days. I'm no longer an agent."

"You were an agent?" the boy hissed.

"Forgive Rex. He doesn't possess human social skills."

"Hey!" cried the boy. "I so too have social skills." Saying that, he squared his shoulders, bit his tongue, and stepped forward, thrusting out a hand. When Rebecca grasped it, the boy shook her hand with so much enthusiasm it hurt and proclaimed, "I'm Rex."

She smiled through her urge to grimace and retracted her hand as soon as she was able. "Nice to meet you, Rex. I'm Rebecca Holiday."

The boy tried, but failed by grinning obviously, to be suave as he said, "And you're a doctor, huh?"

"I am," said Rebecca. She added through her teeth, "I'm a veterinarian."

Rex frowned at this. "So why are you visiting us? Not that I'm complaining, but it's not like we have a dog or anything." Then he whirled on Six, his childlike enthusiasm plain. "Are we getting a dog? No way! That's awesome!"

"Rex," said Six, "it's time for tai chi. And no, we are not getting a dog."

"But I've always wanted a dog! I mean, probably. But, wait – Nu-uh," said Rex, crossing his arms in a large 'x'. "No way am I doing boring martial arts while there's a real-live person here."

"Dr. Holiday and I need to talk," said Six dispassionately. "You can see her after your training."

The teenager glowered and hung his head dramatically. "Can I at least do kung-fu, or something that isn't tai chi?"

"Tai chi is important for your mental and emotional well-being; it promotes focus and discipline, and it will relieve stress."

"Isn't it also used for self-defense in combat?" said Rebecca, recalling her college days when she had attended a tai chi class for an elective credit.

"It is," said Six. "But it's difficult. Rex hasn't shown he can handle that sort of challenge."

The man hit the precise button for the boy's motivation. Appearing chagrined, Rex punched one fist into the opposite palm and turned to stomp down the hall. "Then you haven't seen what I can do," he grumbled.

Rebecca chuckled behind her hand once the boy was out of earshot. She gave Six a sidelong glance. "Funny. I never pegged you for a father figure, Six."

Blandly, he said, "People are full of surprises."

"You especially. How are you alive?"

"Let's speak in private." Silently, the ex-soldier led Rebecca through a series of narrow, identical hallways and finally into a wide, circular room. In the center of the floor behind a low bar was a holographic map of the globe; the countries and their borders glowed green and were occasionally speckled with dots of red. Rebecca noticed particularly high concentrations of these dots in Ukraine, Abysus, the Amazon rainforest, and the Congo. Any common Joe could tell what this map showed – satellite readings of EVO activity. Most of the nanite-activated organisms were too small to show up on radar, but particularly large evolutions, or high-density populations, were easy to track from space. It was a good way to quickly find new threats and safely monitor old ones.

The rest of the room was dark, lit only by the blue-white light from dozens of monitors. A glance told Rebecca that many were video feeds, probably from the inside of Six's bunker, while others played news stations from around the world and others still ran pure static. In one screen, she spotted a grimly frowning Rex going through the movements of tai chi with an inappropriate amount of aggression.

Six pulled up an extra chair and invited her to sit. Rebecca did so, letting her eyes sweep around the room one last time. Casually, she said, "This is a nice surveillance lab."

"It does what I need it to."

It was time to drop the pretenses. Rebecca crossed her legs and clasped her hands over her knee, leaning forward intently. "Why did you invite me here, Six? This isn't a social call."

The man's expression was unreadable behind his glasses. Rebecca recalled how much she hated that about him.

"You remember," said Six, "the EVO I was fighting when I disappeared."

"The biomechanical one?" Of course she remembered it. In her time at Providence, it had been the bane, and the doom, of many soldiers. There had been nary an EVO like it in the years since. "After Manhattan, it disappeared."

Suddenly, a suspicious feeling crept through her stomach. Rebecca narrowed her eyes. "Well, as far as I know it did."

Six inclined his head. "You understand that anything I tell you will never leave this facility."

"Six, I'm not going to take this information and grovel with it at the feet of the people who screwed me over – if that's what you're thinking."

"I want to be sure of your reasons for coming here today."

"Call it 'intellectual curiosity'," she said over a tight smile. "Also, I knew that if you were forced to ask me, whatever you are hiding can't be allowed into Providence's hands. I appreciate that sort of work. That is why you asked me, isn't it?"

"I asked you because you were the only person I thought I could trust, Doctor."

His honesty flustered her, but he didn't seem to notice. Instead, he continued with his explanation: "After the EVO 'ate' me, I came face-to-face with its human core. It was capable of speech, and I received information from it which convinced me it was more valuable alive than dead. I was able to strike a deal with it – I would protect it, and in exchange it would dismantle itself."

Rebecca gaped before quickly correcting herself. "You're joking. You're saying all we needed to do was talk to it?"

"Something like that."

"So, what happened to it?"

"True to its word, it disassembled its form until all that was left was its human core. However, the core retained no memories, either from its time as a fully-activated EVO or before. But I believe the EVO still holds vital information, so I've been monitoring it ever since."

Rebecca straightened slowly, digesting the story. Her eyes were draw to the surveillance screens. "Then, that boy…"

"Yes. He's the EVO."

On screen, Rex stepped on the trailing pant leg of his loose cargos and slipped, falling on his bottom. He growled out a curse, glanced directly at the camera, and leapt to his feet again, throwing himself with increased vigor into the motions.

He looked human. Most importantly, he acted human. "Is he cured?" she breathed, eyes not leaving the screen.

"No," said Six. "He hasn't displayed any of his abilities, but his nanites are still active. He hasn't been cured."

"But does he know what he is?"

"I thought it best if I kept that information to myself."

Rebecca continued to stare at the boy on the screen, biting her lip. To her knowledge this, an EVO able to change its form at will to such an extreme degree, was unprecedented. It was true that some humanoid EVOs were able to conceal their mutations, but for a rampaging EVO that was once as tall as a building to revert into a fully functional human form – it was unheard of. It would require active manipulation of the nanites.

She didn't know what 'information' this EVO might hold that Six was so interested in. But its value to the scientific world was unparalleled. It was doubtful the sword-master had had that in mind when he decided to conceal the boy from Providence, but Rebecca was no less glad he did. Back then, Dr. Fell would have dissected Rex without a second thought and not have left a trace. Even now, there was no guarantee that Rex could survive if he were discovered. There was no telling what the White Knight would do with him.

She poured over her brief interaction with the boy. Based on Rex's reaction to her, the words he'd said and his behavior, he'd been kept down here without human contact for the last three years. That meant she was the first person Six had let in on the secret. So, why her specifically, and why now? What had changed?

She might as well be blunt about it. "What do you need me to do?"

Six turned to the monitors and pulled up a video on one of the inactive screens. It seemed to be a recording. "Rex has been displaying strange behavior over the last few months." In the video, Rebecca could see Rex sitting cross-legged in the middle of a small, shadowy basketball court, glaring into the middle distance and repeatedly punching the floor.

"He's been aggressive, rebellious, and has been experiencing inexplicable mood swings. He deflects all of my attempts to approach him about this. I'm afraid that there might be a disturbance in his nanites, but because I'm not a specialist, I have no way to find out. If something in his biology has changed, it has the potential to be very dangerous for everyone living in the city of New York.

"I prepared a sample of recordings from the last three years so you could see what I mean." Six pressed another button on the control panel, and a video compilation began to play. Rebecca rolled her chair closer to the screen and for the next fifteen minutes observed Rex's life in the bunker.

Six's recordings showed that when the EVO first arrived there he had been nothing more than a boy – wide-eyed and curious, small and vulnerable. Rebecca found it difficult to imagine him as the biomechanical creature that had terrorized the world back then. In fact, it was almost impossible, so she stopped trying and instead decided to view Rex as just that. Rex.

Upon arriving, it seemed much of the boy's time was spent with Six doing various sports or martial arts, or pouring over books. In his room, he would play video games until he nodded off to sleep. He was fidgety but energetic, and was always talking, mainly to ask Six questions about his past in an effort to get the ex-soldier to "crack".

Dated about six months into his stay there, a certain clip showed Rex in his room, frowning directly into the camera. Using a chair, the boy climbed up and reached out a hand, and the video feed turned to static. After that, there were no more clips of Rex in his private chambers.

By the time a year had passed, Six had stopped appearing so often in the clips. On his own, Rex continued to train and study, and he filled the silence by either narrating his own actions or singing songs in Spanish.

In the second year, Rex seemed to grow very suddenly. He shot up in height, and his arms and legs turned lanky and clumsy. He often stumbled over his own feet while jogging or dribbling basketballs. It was also during the second year that Rex stopped talking to himself.

By the third year, Rex resembled the boy she had met at the elevator, although in the videos he rarely smiled, and he would often pause in his activities to stare into space or glare into corners. A number of incidents showed him striking out violently. On one occasion he kicked a practice dummy so hard that it broke in half, and in the shooting range, rapidly emptied his gun into the target and continued to shoot long after he had exhausted the weapon's bullets.

The compilation ended with the same footage Rebecca had seen at the first – Rex in the basketball court, beating his fist against the floor. Then the video turned to static.

"I want you to give him a medical examination," said Six, startling Rebecca from her stupor; she had almost forgotten the man was in the room. "Specifically, I want you to look at his nanites for anomalies."

Rebecca debated over how to say her next words tactfully. "Six… I realize I should still give Rex the examination, but his behavior seems typical of any teenage boy, especially under the circumstances…"

One of Six's brows rose up above his sunglasses. "I never acted like that as a teenager."

She fought her urge to point out that Six couldn't exactly be described as 'typical'. Her eyes drifted back to the live feed of Rex. The boy had taken a break from the tai chi drills and was now squatting Turkish-style, staring off into one of the mirrors set into the wall. His face was melancholy.

"You probably weren't kept prisoner underground for three years straight," she said, quietly. "Why does he think he's here?"

"He knows there are people out there who would kill him."

"Even if he knows that… Six, he's still a kid. I understand it isn't my place to say this, but I think it's natural he would feel moody and restless here. He needs to be around kids his own age. He needs to be in school."

"Out of the question," the man replied. "I can't monitor him there. If something were to happen-"

"So? Put a tracker on him."

"He would break it. He's destroyed all of the cameras I've tried to put into his bedroom."

Good, thought Rebecca, pressing back a smile. She was glad to hear that the kid was fighting back against Six, even in a small way. Six's coldness was beginning to wear on her.

She shrugged and leaned back with forced nonchalance. "You wanted my professional opinion. I'm giving it to you. Nip this problem in the bud, Six, or that boy may resent you forever."

"I don't need him to like me. I need him to be safe. Will you examine his nanites?"

Rebecca swallowed her irritation. For science. "I will."

"Good. I have all of the equipment you should need." Abruptly, Six stood and pressed a button on a nearby panel. "Rex," he said, and on the screen the boy's head flew up. "Meet us in the medical bay in two minutes."

A smile broke the gloom on Rex's face, and he scrambled from the practice room.

Six strode to the door of the surveillance lab, saying over his shoulder, "Let's do the medical exam. Whatever happens, don't reveal your true purpose to Rex."

Rebecca sighed but followed the man, shaking her head.

Six's medical bay was everything she expected it would be – small but not cramped, well-stocked but not cluttered, totally efficient in the same way as the man it belonged to. It was lit from above by unfeeling white florescent lights, but otherwise was styled in the same dull gray metal as the rest of the bunker. The only difference was that the floor was concrete and equipped with drains so it could easily be cleaned. Amidst the shelves and supplies were two thin medical beds supported on steel frames, covered in white plastic sheets. No pillows.

Rebecca shivered. Her veterinary clinic was more welcoming than this.

Standing in the middle of the room, checking the 'heartbeats' of various pieces of electrical equipment with a stethoscope, was Rex. He must have sprinted to have reached the room first and still had time to goof off.

When he heard them enter, the door of the room sliding automatically to one side with a hiss, Rex pulled the stethoscope from his ears and tossed it haphazardly onto a shelf, grinning. "I wasn't doing anything," he lied shamelessly.

Rebecca tried not to stare. Six looked at her pointedly, and his message was clear: The boy doesn't know. Don't you dare give it away.

So she adopted the same mechanical smile she had often worn around Providence. It was scary how easily she remembered it. I guess it's natural when you start walking on glass; you have to do certain things to survive.

Then again, Six surely wouldn't kill her if she did anything wrong. Right?

"Hi, Rex," she greeted the EVO. "How was tai chi?"

Rex took a deep breath in preparation for a rant. "Man, it was aw…" and then changed his mind. "…some. Yeah, it was awesome. You know," he added, waggling his brows, "real men do tai chi."

Six saved her from having to respond. "Dr. Holiday is here to give you a medical examination. Please cooperate with her."

"Isn't she a vet?"

Rebecca plucked the stethoscope Rex had been using from the shelf. "Don't worry, Rex. I was a people doctor before I started treating animals. I'm more than capable." She patted the nearest bed, smiling warmly for the boy. She felt like a taut wire.

Rex hopped up on the bed with ease. His feet swung above the floor, and she noticed for the first time that he was barefoot. "I'm not worried," he said, smiling.

Rebecca retrieved a notebook and pen from her purse. She considered what she was supposed to do here. Ultimately, Six wanted her to examine Rex's nanites, to find out if there were any abnormalities. She should hide that fact under a 'routine physical' so that Rex wouldn't become suspicious. Six said he had all of the necessary equipment for her. Rebecca glanced at the man, where he was leaning against the wall, arms crossed. He nodded curtly.

"So, tell me about yourself," she said conversationally as she began to take the EVO's vitals.

"Besides that I'm awesome?" he preened. Then suddenly, he deflated and looked off to one side. "There isn't much to tell."

Rebecca instructed him to take deep breaths as she listened to his lungs. She made some casual notes on a spare page in her book.

"Six tells me you have amnesia."

"Yeah," he said. "I can only remember the last three years. The rest is a total blank."

"So none of your memories have come back in all that time?" She began to check his ears, eyes, and throat.

"Nope. Well…" He pursed his lips. "Sometimes I have weird dreams. But when I say 'weird', I mean, like, 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' weird. I can't tell if they're memories or if I ate too many tacos." He chuckled. "But it's probably the last one."

Rather than ask about the dreams, which would be too personal a question for a stranger, she said, "'Fear and Loathing'? I'm surprised you've seen that movie."

He shrugged. "I watch a lot of movies."

"Do you know how old you are, Rex?"

"Six thinks I'm fifteen. I guess I feel fifteen. I'm not sure what fifteen feels like, though. Can…" At once he seemed bashful. From annoyed to happy, from proud to melancholy, from amused to shy, all within two minutes. Rebecca wondered if these drop-of-a-hat changes might be a side-effect of his isolation. "Can I ask about you?"

She blinked. "Sure, Rex. But first, let's check your reflexes."

With a small hammer, she tapped one knee, then the other. Rex was delighted when his legs automatically responded.

"Woah! That actually works? No way!"

"Very way," she drawled. "Humans are remarkable like that, aren't they? So, what did you want to ask me?"

"Well," he said, tugging on an ear. He narrowed his eyes at Six, who simply raised a brow, then Rex hid his mouth behind one hand as he whispered, "Are you two… you know?"

"I'm not sure I do…"

Rex was clearly flustered now. "You know!" He lowered his voice to barely a breath. "Do you have… a thing?"

Rebecca balked. "Absolutely not," she said, with perhaps more force than necessary. But really, the idea of having a relationship with that robot of a man?

"Ah. Okay." The EVO looked away, nodding to himself, it seemed, more than to Rebecca. His face was flushed red.

"Anything else?" she said, dreading what more his teenaged mind would dream up.

"Um, so, if you were a doctor, why'd you become a vet?"

She blinked, taken aback. She hadn't expected the boy to ask such a personal question as that; rather, she hadn't expected him to care.

"It's a long story," she said. "But you could say that I didn't care for the work environment." The real story was too demeaning.

Rex frowned. "Didn't you and Six used to work together?" He turned to Six. "And you worked for the government, as some sort of 'agent'." He framed the last word in doubtful air quotes.

"My past is and will remain a mystery, Rex," said Six. He adjusted his sunglasses.

"That's not fair," Rex pouted.

"How about this," said Six. "Tell me your past, and I'll tell you mine."

The boy gawked. "That's even worse!"

Rebecca couldn't help but laugh. It was strange – unexpected – but she could tell that Six was teasing Rex. Small as it was, seeing something lighthearted from this man was somehow refreshing.

While the atmosphere in the room was relaxed, Rebecca figured she should start in on her true objective. "I'll need to take a reading of Rex's nanites," she said. "What kind of equipment do you have for that, Six?"

Rex turned rigid, and his face paled. "You need to do what?"

Rebecca's eyes flickered to Six, but she couldn't read anything on the man. "It's standard medical procedure, Rex," she fibbed. "Ever since the Event. They say that abnormal or agitated nanites may be the first warning sign of an EVO transformation."

"I thought there wasn't any way to know," said Rex.

"Most of the time that's true, but there have been some special cases."

"What if you find something?" he asked, studying her face. His fists were clenched tightly in his lap.

Six walked between them, toting a metal cart covered in specialized equipment, all of which Rebecca recognized from her time in the field or had read about in the latest nanite research journals. "We'll cross that bridge if we come to it," he said. "Now stop being fussy."

Rex squirmed on the table, clearly uncomfortable. I thought Six said he didn't know he was an EVO. Why is he so nervous?

Rebecca surveyed the equipment on hand. She tried not to hesitate as she got started; any of this equipment she had used had been with unconscious, non-humanoid EVOs. There had been no need to be gentle back then.

First, she pricked Rex's finger with the portable blood tester; she gave him no warning, and afterward he sucked on his finger with betrayal written across his face. Rebecca understood the look – the doctor's visit had stopped being fun. Part of her wished for some candy or a sticker to give him. Childish as the gifts would be, something told Rebecca he would like them anyway.

Immediately, the PBT beeped at her, four high-pitched tones informing her 'yes, this is an EVO'. "So far so good," she announced. "No active nanites."

"Really?" said Rex. He let out a breath he'd been holding and visibly relaxed.

Rebecca elbowed him gently in the side. "What, did you think there would be?"

"No," he said, too quickly. "It's just…" He rubbed the back of his neck and did not say anything else.

"Rex is afraid of turning into an EVO," Six stated bluntly.

The words were obviously true, because Rex crumpled under them and didn't argue.

Rebecca's heart began to hurt, and it grew hard to hold her smile. "Well, that's nothing to be ashamed of," she told him. "Everyone's afraid of that. Me too." Maybe her words comforted him. She could not tell.

Next Rebecca picked up a full body scanner, careful to angle the screen so that Rex could not see it – no matter how well he craned his neck. The nanites in Rex's body, while too small to be seen with the naked eye, were numerous enough to appear on screen as light particles, as was typical of an EVO. But that was all that was typical. First, most active nanites were yellow – Rex's were blue. Then, their luminosity was strangely low, as though he had a low number of them in his system, again something she'd never seen or heard of in a nanite-activated organism. Regardless, the nanites were active.

Truly, the whole situation surrounding Rex was atypical. She needed a blood sample.

She rapidly grew annoyed. If Rex's nanites did turn out to be 'special', how was she to know his normal condition? And if she couldn't know that, how did Six expect her to deduce whether or not his nanites might be affecting his mood, which was close to impossible to begin with? This was science, not magic! Did that man really expect that throwing a specialist at his problem would produce a miracle?

Knowing that, she ignored the rest of the expensive equipment Six had prepared for her. "Rex, I need to take a blood sample."

Rex grimaced. "I thought you did that already, with the finger thing?"

"I need a bit more blood than that," she said. Rebecca easily found what she needed among Six's shelves. "But I'm very good at this. You won't feel a thing."

She had the boy extend his arm at one side. His muscles were tight under the skin, and his veins full and blue. As Rebecca tied the tourniquet above the crook of Rex's arm, she said, "Six works you hard, doesn't he?"

Rex hissed at how tight the rubber was and flexed his fingers. "I guess."

"Some people say the tourniquet – the rubber band – is the worst part."

He acted instantly relieved. "Really?"

"But I don't recommend watching. Why don't you tell me about your day-to-day?"

Rex closed his eyes, and Rebecca began to feel for his vein. Brow furrowed, he said, "I wake up, eat breakfast, exercise, study, exercise, study, wash rinse repeat, all day, every day, every week of the year. But after dinner, I have free time. So, I play video games. Watch movies. Read comic books."

While he was talking, Rebecca slid the needle under his skin. He didn't seem to notice.

"What kinds of exercises do you do?"

"A bit of everything – basketball, baseball, tennis, martial arts, swimming, archery, gunmanship, swordsmanship…"

"That really is a bit of everything. Does Six do these with you?"

Rex shrugged, the sudden movement taking her by surprise. She reacted quickly so the needle didn't slip. "Sometimes. Most of the time he just gives me a schedule and he monitors with his cameras. He checks my homework, too, and if I don't get something, he'll explain."

"It sounds like you spend a lot of time by yourself."

The boy frowned deeply, eyes still closed. "What choice do I have? It's not like there's anyone else to spend time with. Just me."

The first vial was full; Rebecca replaced it with a second. It was never a bad idea to have extra samples. "I'm going to take just a little more blood, Rex. You're doing great."

The frown faded, and slowly became a smile, albeit one tinged with melancholy. "Of course I am. I told you. I'm awesome. I can do anything."

"I think that's probably true, Rex," said Rebecca, and she was glad his eyes were closed, or else he might have seen the tears misting her own.

She finished drawing blood and secured the samples; there was a small fridge nearby especially for that purpose. Hopefully Six would also have a lab she could use to examine them. With what she had seen so far of his bunker, it was very likely he did.

Rebecca removed the tourniquet from the boy's arm and wiped the puncture clean with a sterilized cotton swab. She grabbed another swab and a band-aid, but when she looked at the wound again, it had stopped bleeding. That was fast.

Pulling her latex gloves off with satisfying 'snap's, she announced, "That's all, Rex. You've survived your first medical exam."

"Awesome," he said, jumping off of the bed. His bare feet slapped the floor. "Do I get a sticker?"

"How did I know you'd ask me that?" she said, smiling wryly. "Sorry, I don't have any on me."

"I guess dogs and cats don't need stickers, huh," said Rex. "And I guess this means you're leaving now."

His words were so bitter and full of hurt that, although Rebecca had only met him not even an hour earlier, she felt guilty to be the one causing that pain. She looked at the boy's guardian and hazarded, "Actually, I need a couple of days and a proper lab to run analyses of these samples. I thought Six might allow me to do that here."

Rex stared at Six, hope gleaming in his young eyes. The older man tugged at the corner of his sunglasses. "Considering the circumstances, it is best for Dr. Holiday to do her work here."

"Do you have a lab for me?" And a bed?

"I think my lab will meet your needs. You can also live here in the meantime."

"Yes!" exclaimed Rex, pumping a fist at his hip.

"This doesn't mean you are allowed to slack, Rex," said Six. "Don't be a nuisance. Speaking of which, what are you supposed to be doing right now?"

The boy looked at the clock on the wall and, pouting, said, "Calculus." Six said nothing, but after several seconds of that nothing, Rex groaned loudly and dragged himself from the room.

The ex-agent turned to Rebecca. "Let's return to my surveillance lab."

Back in the lab, Rebecca crossed her arms and stared skeptically at Six. "Any reason we have to talk here?"

Six gestured to one of the active screens. It showed Rex in some sort of cafeteria, opening books and pulling papers from a binder. Glowering at this stuff, the boy began to scratch out numbers with a wooden pencil. "It's the only place where I can be sure he won't eavesdrop."

"You really do never let him out of your sight."

"I can't afford to. The moment I slip might just be the moment that he loses control."

Rebecca held up her notebook. "Rex is definitely an EVO, but his nanites seem to be unique. I won't know for sure until I run further tests, but unless you have previous data for him, and I don't mean video recordings, I probably won't be able to tell you if anything is anomalous. You don't have any data for him, do you?"

"…no."

She pursed her lips. "I thought as much."

"Is there anything you can tell me?" said Six.

"I can tell you this – that boy is suffering from severe social isolation. He is lonely, bored, and probably depressed. I can tell he is very bright, but his emotions are on a roller coaster. If you are worried about a distressed mental condition signaling or even triggering his EVO state… you need to fix this."

One of Six's brows rose. "You could live here permanently. Keep him company."

Hot rage bubbled up in her stomach. "I'm not a replacement for society, Six. Try to think about it from his point of view! After spending day after day, alone, he relaxes by reading books and watching movies, seeing people living lives he'll never be able to. He probably knows all about things like friendship, love, family, but he doesn't have any of them. Does he even have a dream? Anything he wants to be when he grows up?"

"You're angry," observed Six.

"Because you are being cruel. I thought you were bad when you were a part of Providence, but that is nothing compared to now. At least back then you didn't torture anyone."

"I'm doing what I have to in order to protect the world from EVOs."

"He isn't a threat! He's just a teenage boy."

"I'm not letting him go outside," said Six. "That's my decision."

"Then I'm not going to run your tests," said Rebecca. "That's mine." She turned on her heel and made for the door.

As the door slid aside to allow her departure, Six said, "Wait." Rebecca stopped, but she did not turn around. The door hovered, waiting to see what she would do. "I'll… think about it."

"That's just a soft way of saying 'no'. Not good enough." She stepped through the door and continued walking. If he really wanted her to stay, he would have to make an effort.

"Fine," came his voice behind her after a few seconds; she had hardly moved down the hall. He's trying to hide it, Rebecca realized, but he must be desperate. "I'll do it. But I want you to stay here and help me with him."

"You want me to move away from my home and live underground?" And have access to study an EVO that the scientific world has never seen before? To leave my humiliation and return to doing what I love? To save an innocent boy from this injustice?

"I'll pay you twice as much as you are earning now," said Six.

"…I'll do it," said Rebecca. She turned, and locked her green eyes on the man. She hoped they burned into him like acid. "But you'll pay me three times as much. And you will keep up your end of the bargain. You'll treat Rex like a human being, or I will leave."

"I seem to be making a lot of bargains," said Six, and his mouth stretched into a thin smile. "But I agree. I'll be counting on your assistance in that matter."

Rebecca nodded curtly. "Now, if you'll show me to my lab…"

Right now it's spring break here in Japan, and for an ALT (assistant language teacher) like me, that means a whole lot of sitting at my desk doing nothing. I've been using the time to write this story. That's productive and totally worth my paycheck... right?

Therefore, the next chapter's close to finished. Please look forward to it in about a week's time.

T.F.C~