Chapter Eight: Investigations begin
Time Vortex
"The fields of Dorvabos IV are unlike any other field in the universe," the Doctor explained excitedly as he moved around the control board, pulling levers and spinning wheels in the TARDIS. "They're capable of growing and shrinking at will, depending on its mood. Of course, that makes it difficult for people to enjoy the grass and all that, seeing as how it has a a sense of humor, but that's also part of its appeal. It manages to draw in incredible amounts of tourists and picnickers from all over the Yoranda Galaxy."
Now, before this story goes any further, it should be noted that this is not the same version of the Doctor that was, at this moment, making his way to 2009 with his friends and Goddaughter, though he was pretty close. No, this was the previous incarnation of that very entity, the incarnation that had seen the end of the Time Wars, who had ended the Time Wars.
And the woman who was with him was not Donna Noble, to whom time itself would honor one day, though no one would ever talk about her. This was Rose Tyler, who would eventually be supplanted from the universe of her birth and become trapped in another, apart from the man she loved by circumstances beyond either of their control.
Presently, Rose was onto holding the edge of the console as the Timeship bucked. "How does it do that?" she asked, referring to those fields. "Is it alive, or were they constructed like that?"
"Both very good questions, and that is why we're going!" The Doctor turned a knob. "The people there also have this sundae that, if it's eaten fast enough, can actually make someone lose their inhibitions. I'm not affected by it, of course."
"But if I ate it, I would most likely strip and walk around naked, or do something equally crazy. Is that it?"
"Pretty much."
"And you wouldn't mind too much, would you?"
"Are you kidding? I'd probably take pictures, because it would be incredibly fantastic!" His grin suddenly faded. "Of course, if your Mum ever saw them, she'd probably kill me."
Rose smirked. "Not if I did it first," she told him sweetly, reminding him that, despite her being a simple human, she was not someone you underestimated. And she was a whole lot closer.
"Fair enough. Well, we're here." He flipped one final switch, as his beloved ship donged one more time, like a bell, before adjusting his beaten up black jacket. "Okay, the temperature is about seventy degrees, so you won't need a coat."
"Then why are you wearing one, still?"
"I'm not affected by changes in temperature, unless its akin to a volcanic eruption, or a planet completely frozen over."
"That's got to be nice."
He grinned. "Well, come on! I've got a picnic basket packed, with cheesecake!"
Shaking her head in amusement at how quickly he could change topics while remaining within the main conversation thread, as well as being prepared for just about anything, Rose made her way over to the door. Even if it meant embarrassing herself, she thought about trying one of those sundae's. "Anything else I should know about?" she asked.
"They are fantastic," he replied, unlocking the door. "They can go on forever, and are covered in..." he opened the door, "snow." His grin vanished abruptly as that last statement sank in, and he performed a double take. "What the bloody hell...?"
Rose poked her head out, shivering at the cold air. "Maybe it's winter here."
"Two sun star system. They don't get snow."
"Then where are we?"
Moving quickly, the Doctor rushed back over to the massive control chamber, bringing their coordinates up. "What? We're about two galaxies over, and three hundred years, from Dorvabos IV." His brow furrowed. "TARDIS, why have you brought us here, and why didn't you tell me beforehand?"
The TARDIS dinged twice, which meant she had a full explanation ready for him. He blinked at that. "You followed a call of assistance, and didn't have time to tell me. From who?" A very short ding. "Wonderful. You have no idea."
Rose observed the control panel. "You said that the TARDIS has done this before," she reminded him gently.
"Yes, but it doesn't make it any easier prying information from her. The old girl's like me; really secretive." The Doctor grabbed a winter coat, handing it to her. "We might as well look around, seeing as how we're already here."
"And find out who is asking for help," Rose added, putting the coat on. This is why she had come with him; to see the cosmos, and help people whenever she could.
That's what made it so great.
-
The planet, they quickly discovered, was not a complete snowball, but it was still pretty cold. But it was also beautiful in its scope. Snow covered mountains rose majestically towards the sky, like out of a painting. The air was breathable, not as cold as Rose had thought it would be. It wasn't a vacation spot, but it was a place people could live with a degree of success, if measures were taken.
They also quickly discovered that one of the inhabitants was waiting for them, and he was indeed one of the stranger creatures she had ever seen. It was bipedal, wearing a blue suit, a strange device attached to it. The cord attached to that disappeared into a mass of tentacles where a human mouth would have been. And it was staring at them, like it had been expecting them to appear.
"Hello!" the Doctor called out, waving to their host jovially. "Sorry if we're in a No Parking spot, but we've had a bit of a mix up. Could you tell us where we are, and who you are?"
The alien pulled the device off of his jacket, holding it up. "I am Ood Sigma," it 'replied,' the device lighting up. "Welcome to the Ood Homeworld, Doctor, Rose Tyler."
Now that was a surprise to both time travelers, as neither had ever been to this world before, or had met this species before. So how could it know them? "I'm sorry," Rose said, brow furrowing. "but how do you know who we are? I'm pretty sure than we've never met before."
"The Ood have heard of you, Miss Tyler. You will eventually meet members of our race on a space station. And I have met you Doctor, though it will be when you have a different face."
"Oh, okay." He quickly guessed that Ood Sigma was talking about a future regeneration. He had never met the Ood before in the past, especially before the Time Wars. He wished he had, if this one was of any indication. "Well, I don't know how well that went, but I'm guessing you called for a reason. What's going on?"
"Come with me, and your questions will be answered," was all Ood Sigma said, placing the device back on his jacket. He gave no more information to them... audibly.
But Rose, who could see the little things that no one ever spoke of, took note that the Ood's hands, covered in black gloves, were shaking slightly. His movements were twitchy, almost as if he was getting ready to bolt at the slightest hint of trouble. And his eyes... there was something in them. Something that such a species had probably never felt before.
Ood Sigma was afraid. Afraid of what, she didn't know, but it was there, though he tried to hide it from them. And it was enough to make her uneasy.
'Why do I get the feeling that I'm going to wish that I was still ignorant after this explanation?' she asked herself, remembering the Dalek from just a few short weeks ago.
-
The Ood City was a thing of beauty, despite the chill, or perhaps because of it.
It was the first time Rose had ever seen a city carved out of solid rock, and she had to admit, it was very impressive. There were even openings along each wall that served as windows, allowing natural light to enter each structure. Ood of every age and size were walking around, carrying something in their hands, while others had similar devices like the one pinned to Sigma's coat. Not one of them spoke, though that was understandable. After all, none of them had a mouth like hers. Actual voices seemed to be a rarity.
But despite the silence that surrounded them, the sense of fear was palpable. It permeated the air, like a cloud. The Ood kept glancing up to the sky, as if they thought that it was going to fall upon them at any moment... or worse. Hands shook from the sheer fear they were feeling. It was quite different from what she was used to seeing. Ood Sigma's fear, it seemed, was the norm here at the moment.
"What is it that's got you all spooked?" she finally asked, hoping to get an answer.
"Darkness," was all Sigma said. No more was said, so she didn't inquire further.
They entered one of the enclaves near the center of the city, which had the feeling of a religious center of some kind. It felt like they were entering a whole new world. Warmth enveloped them from the various fire pits throughout the cavern. A dozen Ood were sitting in a circle, almost as if in a trance. But even in here, the fear continued to make its presence felt. In fact, it felt even more prevalent because of the setting.
The Doctor looked around, his insatiable curiosity in full bloom. "Fantastic," he muttered, grinning widely.
Sigma gestured to the circle. "Please sit with the Elder of the Ood," he said, before stepping back, maintaining a respectful distance from them.
Rose and the Doctor sat down in a vacant spot as requested. "Hello," the later stated.
The Elder inclined his head, putting whatever was in his hands down, and extending one towards Rose. And then, to both their surprise, a gentle voice echoed in their minds. "Join us in the Dreaming, time travelers. There is something that you both must see."
Rose accepted the Elder's hand, amazed at how warm and soft it was. She knew from experience that most humans didn't have soft hands, considering that they were physical workers. She took the Doctor's free, shivering from the contact. It always happened whenever she touched him. It was an incredible feeling.
A few seconds later, she shivered again, but this time in horror. Fear from what the Ood had seen in their visions. The sheer viciousness, the cold calculation almost put her into shock. What could only be described as cybernetic zombies swam through her mind's eye, cubes of incalculable power surrounding planets and slicing them and whatever ships they came across into pieces.
"They come to us, Doctor, Rose Tyler. They come every night, haunting our dreams. Beings of such destructive power that they make the Daleks seem like nothing at all. They are without remorse or compassion, traveling throughout the many realities with one purpose; to seize our bodies and technology, and consume our souls. Entire civilizations have been destroyed in their neverending quest for perfection. Others have suffered great losses in their efforts to save their worlds. Victims are turned into monsters, then made to create greater horrors still. Soulless, unstoppable, completely beyond mercy."
Rose broke away from the link momentarily, struggling not to empty what was left of her breakfast onto the Elder's lap. What she had just witnessed were absolutely horrifying in its scope, and she had a terrible feeling that she had only just seen the tip of the iceberg as to what they were capable of. She had never seen such a calculated attempt of genocide and enslavement in her life. And, judging by the anguish on the Doctor's face, neither had he. And that was saying something. He had seen it all, and done more, after all. What they had just witnessed made all of that seem insignificant in comparison. "Doctor," she began, getting his attention, "what are they?"
The Doctor, the Lonely God, looked into her eyes; eyes that could be both so innocent and so wise. They were looking for an answer, and for the first time in his life, he had none. "I don't know," he replied softly, turning to the Elder. "Do they have a name?"
"We do not know their name, Doctor, but we suspect that it shall soon be known to all. For they are coming. After nearly thirty years, trapped at the edge of space and time, they are coming. They are coming for the Trinity."
"The Trinity? What's the Trinity?"
"Go to Twenty First Century Earth, Doctor," Ood Sigma replied, entering the conversation once again. "You will find the answers that you seek, and perhaps more. You may even find peace... from the choice you had no choice but to make."
Rose frowned as she caught sight of the Doctor's gaze suddenly become shuttered. She had seen that enough times to realize what that meant.
He had done something that had gone against his grain, but which he had had no choice. And it was a very recent event.
-
About ten minutes later, after they had gotten all of the information they could on them, the Doctor and Rose made their way back to the TARDIS, the former silent as he organized his thoughts. It was a familiar state of mind for him, and one that happened so often that his companions usually gave it no mind.
But today, the thoughts that occupied his mind were not those of his past, or of strategies, of the worlds that he had been dying to show Rose since their first meeting. They weren't of his goddaughter; dear sweet Alice, or of her mother, his last companion before the Time Wars began.
No, they were focused on what had happened over five years ago... at least, by his measurement of time. The day the last of the devastating Time Wars ended. The day he had forced it to end, in fire and brimstone.
Rose walked beside him, letting him think as she pondered about the visions she had seen. Now that the horror had faded, and she thought about it more objectively. For some reason, those ships, those beings, were familiar to her somehow. But from where? She knew for a fact that they had never run into anything like that before.
"We're going home," she said at long last, breaking the silence between them. "We don't have a choice."
He turned his head slightly at her statement, grinning. "Definitely. If they exist, then we'll find out about them on Earth. Maybe we can get them to leave Earth alone without incident. Maybe they like Fish and Chips."
"... For some reason, I don't think that's going to work. Something about them... I can't say for sure, but I'm pretty sure I've seen them before from somewhere."
"Where, Rose? I've been to all four corners of the universe, and I've never seen them before in my life."
Rose shrugged. "I don't know from where, and I don't know how, but I'm sure I've seen them before."
The Doctor unlocked the TARDIS, pondering this new riddle. Until the Living Plastic, Rose had never met an extraterrestrial. And these zombie-like creatures... the only cybernetic entities that came even close were the Cybermen, and even they paled in comparison to this.
Looking back at the Ood City, he caught sight of Ood Sigma walking up to them, communication device in hand. "Was there something else?" he asked.
Sigma said only one thing, the one thing, the only thing, that could ever truly catch the mighty Timelord off guard. It was something that, when he thought of the day in later years, he would remember with great clarity.
"Find Faith, Doctor. She is the key to victory."
Rose blinked, surprised by how pale her friend had suddenly become. She had never seen such a reaction before in her life. "What is it, Doctor?" she asked. "Do you know what he's talking about?"
The Doctor nodded, opening the door. "I'll tell you on the way," he replied, gesturing her inside. "But suffice to say... Faith is someone who can change the world, if given the chance. I think she's about to get that chance."
It was a very interesting statement, and yet, shrouded in mystery. And she wanted to know more.
She hoped she would like what she heard.
Los Angeles, 2009
"You're not wiping her?" Dominic asked, disbelief and a hint of fear making themselves known in his voice, despite his best efforts to suppress the latter.
"She is a fully trained neurologist and computer programmer, Mister Dominic," Adelle replied gently, sitting down at her desk. "She may have tried to bring down the Dollhouse, and will most likely attempt to do so in the future at some point, but she is someone who doesn't back out of her commitments. She will behave herself while in here." She smirked as an obvious thought occurred to her. "I can't guarantee anything afterwards."
It was equally obvious that he didn't find their situation funny in the slightest. "What about Rossum? When they find out what you're doing, they're going to bring a whole lot of hurt to you both. They may even put you in the Attic."
"Your concern is touching, but as I have told you before, my bags are not packed. Nor will they be for a good long while. Besides, I suspect that Rossum's Board of Directors are already aware of my decision. The fact that they have done nothing suggests that our mysterious founders could care less. After all, ever since Caroline first arrived here, they have been relatively well informed of our actions."
Dominic nodded. She had a good point there. "Want me to find out how that's possible?" he asked.
"...No... but brief the Handlers and the security staff. Inform them that there will be a performance review, that we will be clearing out the dead weight. If there is a Rossum plant, we don't want to tip our hand, just yet." Adelle's gaze shifted slightly towards the window. "Rossum has something planned for this technology beyond the Dollhouse. I have this sudden urge to discover what it is, and stop it if possible."
He nodded, giving his full support to her endeavor. Despite everything that had happened, despite where she worked now, Adelle Dewitt was still all for the protection of the human race. She would never surrender that duty, no matter what had happened to her in the past that brought her here.
Of course, if she ever found out that he was an NSA Agent, it would be a whole different can of beans. She would either put him in the Attic, or she would kill him herself. And that's only if Caroline didn't finish the job first.
Boy, wasn't his life fun?
-
Caroline finished reading Topher's report concerning his observations of N-7316, frowning thoughtfully. She looked at November's brain scans, then at Topher's. "Something isn't adding up," she said.
Claire looked up from her studying of the various chemicals that the drug was made of, somewhat confused. "Huh?" was all she got out, rubbing her eyes for a moment.
Caroline put the brain scans on computer screen, waiting for her fellow Active to join her. "The architecture between an altered an unaltered brain should be sufficient enough to protect an Active brain from having a complete neurological breakdown," she explained, showing the areas in question. "Most notably, in the hippocampus region, where the mind is completely wiped clean by the tech. This drug is supposed to lower inhibitions. The Actives don't have any inhibitions to begin with. So there should be no way for them to react in the manner they are."
Claire nodded, knowing where Caroline was going with this. It was the same thing that had been bugging her too since that morning.
For most of last night, Caroline and Claire had been poring over every bit of research from Rossum's medical database and Topher's own findings, trying to find out the reason why the Actives reacted the way they did, before Dewitt had them quit and get some sleep. They finally managed to piece a few pieces together, but it left them even more confused than before.
Caroline looked at the screen some more. "The hippocampus region isn't modified that much," she muttered. "The only major change is that most of the neural pathways are shunted into an artificial topography, held in place by the bio chips and regular maintenance by our illustrious Chief Prgrammer. So why would a drug lower inhibitions in a normal human, but destroy man made memory blocks in an Active like they don't exist? Does the drug adapt or something to whatever environment it's in? Or is it something Rossum just didn't think would happen?"
"Good question. But we also don't know a whole lot about the drug," Claire reminded her. "It's still only in the experimental stages, so they haven't discovered all of the side effects. And the drug did act as Ambrose said it would for normal people."
"Yeah, but you can never trust businessmen to give you everything," the other woman replied, standing up. "Especially the Rossum Corporation. They'll create a conspiracy to cover up another conspiracy. Even their legitimate research is being watered down, and used to try and refine the Imprint technology even further." She stretched, scratching her head thoughtfully. "We need to start from scratch... literally. We need to see the drug ourselves."
Claire blinked, surprised by this. "You mean... we should look N-7316 over ourselves?"
"Exactly. We break it down to its individual components, and see if we can't see something their best scientists didn't catch. Hell, we might find something they put in that looks suspicious."
"... I'll go see if Topher still has that vial. You want some coffee while I'm at it?"
"Sure. I could use the caffeine." Caroline watched as she walked out of the Infirmary. "At least Topher remembered that she was a woman," she muttered to herself. "She sure is cute." Grinning at the thought, she turned her attention back to the brain scans. She had to, so she didn't start snooping around the good doctor's infirmary.
"Find something interesting?"
Only reminding herself of their deal, not to mention a healthy dose of self control, kept Caroline from grabbing a pen, getting up, and stabbing Boyd Langton in the eye with it. "You got a death wish, Langton?" she asked through clenched teeth.
Boyd held his hands up in surrender, not afraid in the slightest. "I just came to check on my Active," he replied easily. "Like any good Handler is supposed to."
"Well, as you can see, I have sabotaged nothing here. I haven't tried to escape, or kill Dominic. And I happen to actually like Adelle Dewitt, so your 'concern,' such as it is, is not required in this instance."
"And I thought you trusted me."
She whirled around, pinning him with her nuclear glare, as Bennett had called it. It was a glare that she had used to defeat all comers whenever her best friend was in trouble. "No, Echo trusts you, because she doesn't really understand. I do not, because I know better. I know you're not doing this out of the goodness of your heart." She rose from her seat, stalking over to him. "Why are you here?" she asked.
He shrugged nonchalantly. "Besides protecting a valuable asset?" he replied. "I wanted to see what this place was like on the inside. Under Dewitt's control, this Dollhouse has had the most Actives leaving alive of any House."
"That's because she has a heart, which I'm not entirely sure you do." She left the rest alone, knowing that there was more to it than simple curiosity. "Our deal is still on?" she asked instead.
"It's still on. I don't renege on an agreement, especially if my own neck is on the line." That day in his office was still fresh in his mind. "Safer that way."
"Smart boy. Now, please leave. I have work to do."
He quickly did so, knowing full well that she was speaking the truth. And it was a good thing too, as Claire finally returned with the vial. "Topher had it in his little fridge, right next to his soda," she groused, unaware of the confrontation between Handler and Active. "He is such an idiot."
Caroline had to stifle a laugh at that, the last few minutes now pushed back to the back of her mind. "Ah, leave the poor child alone," she said. "He can't help but be immature." Now here was trust; knowing that you could talk to someone without having to worry about them spilling your secrets, without double meanings. The kind of friendship she had with Bennett, and hoped she still did. Never mind that this woman was a doll, and never mind the fact that she was strangely attracted to this woman, which had rarely happened before.
Shaking off that last thought, Caroline focused her attention back on the task on hand, watching as the good doctor put a sample of the drug under the microscope. 'Here were go,' she thought, turning back to the screen.
"Oh, and here is your coffee."
Caroline smiled, turning back to accept it. Thanks to Boyd, she had completely forgotten that she had asked for it. Of course, coffee became the last thing on her mind as their fingers brushed against one another. A jolt of electricity passed through her fingers at the contact. 'Probably just static electricity,' she thought, taking a sip to calm her nerves. She didn't want to think about the alternative.
Claire backed up a little, having similar thoughts, though she knew that it was a lame excuse. It always seemed to happen whenever she touched Caroline during a regular physical, and had no idea why. She was just better at hiding it from the world. Though, for some reason, she had had to force herself not to stare at Echo when she showered. She looked into the microscope to cover her blush.
It worked, though for entirely different reasons than what she was hoping for. "What in the-?" Tat couldn't be right. She took peered into the microscope again, then looked up. "Caroline, as you seeing this?"
Caroline's own tawny complexion had become far darker, as anger began creeping into her mind. Oh, she saw it, and it enraged her. "Dewitt is going to flip when she sees this," she growled. "Then I'm going to flip Rossum!"
-
Motel
"You said the birthmark glowed?" Meredith repeated.
Tru and Jack had decided to wait until morning to talk to Meredith about it, as the plane ride had done a number on them all. They were waiting for Ballard, anyway, so morning was the ideal time to talk about it. If anyone could give them an answer concerning their family and its eccentricities, it was her older sister.
Tru nodded. "It glowed gold and pink, like a couple of neon lights," she said. "Right along the lines. It was faint, but definitely noticeable if anyone was watching. I also know that it's never happened before."
Meredith did not let her down in this case. "If I had to take a guess, and I do, I would say that it starts doing that whenever you're in the general vicinity of one of our sisters," she surmised. "It's akin to a pull of some kind. The closer you are, the stronger the glow. Other than that, I have no idea why it does that." She grinned. "Either that, or you've suddenly acquired neon light sticks in your butt."
"Thanks, Merri. I knew I could count on you to add that insult."
Jack was sorely tempted to throw his two cents in, but he decided to wait until later, when there was no sister in front of him, and no brother sitting only a few feet away. There was also the little detail that he was sitting next to Tru, who could easily belt him over the head. So instead, he opted to be the bigger man and stuck to the matter at hand. "So, can we use it to find Caroline?" he asked, reminding them of why they were in L.A. in the first place.
The eldest sister shook her head. "I don't think it works like that, Jack. It can't pinpoint an exact location, only that she's there. And more to the fact, none of the other families I've known are like ours." She shrugged apologetically. "You, Caroline, and Faith are one of a kind."
"So we still have to find them the traditional way, looking." That worked just fine for Tru, as it was how she did most of her work. Sometimes, looking was the only thing she could do. There just weren't enough clues, or a phone call from Davis with a theory.
As she thought of her good friend and colleague, her cell phone rang. She quickly checked the ID, smiling. 'Speak of the Devil,' she thought, accepting the call with a slight grin on her face. "Hey, Davis. What's going on?"
Now, in later years, whenever he thought back to this day, Jack would never be able to tell you how he had known what the call was about, but he wasn't shocked when the smile fell away, only to be replaced with disbelief. He simply waited for her to confirm it.
"Thanks for the heads up, Davis." Tru deactivated her phone, looked at it for a moment, then focused her attention on the rest of them. "We should have waited for a few days."
Meredith and Jack traded looks of understanding, realizing what she meant. "Faith?" the former asked gently.
"Faith. She apparently sought him out, found out where Caroline was, then had had words with Richard." The young woman looked up again, her eyes wide. "She knew about us."
"She knew?"
"Before we knew of her, apparently."
Harrison had to admit; he hadn't seen that one coming. "If she knew about... well, you two, why the hell didn't she come?"
"Maybe she didn't know where we live," Tru replied. "Maybe she couldn't come, because it would put us in danger from her enemies. Which means she has a really screwed up life."
"Don't we all?" Meredith replied unhappily, recalling her drug addiction a few years before, and the extreme level Tru had to go through to get her to see reason.
Harrison rubbed her shoulder in commiseration. "Don't worry about it, Mer. We were all screwed up when Mom died."
"Some of us, more than others," Tru grumbled bitterly, feeling Jack do the same thing for her. Seeing the man that had killed her mother, while she watched, hidden in the closet, had left a hole in her life. Just thinking about it still enraged her. And to learn that Richard, the man she had thought was her biological father had been responsible for the whole, made her want to go to him, and inflict every possible torture she could upon his undeserving hide. Those were the reminders that, no matter what she did, from here until the day she died, she could never get her mother back.
But she held herself in check. If she had taken retribution on her stepfather, then she would be no better than him. And she wasn't going to fall into that abyss.
There was a moment of silence as all four of them thought of their own sins or pains, knowing that each one forged them into who they were today. But the moment was broken when there was a knock at the door. They all looked at one another, then at the door. "Yes?" Tru called out.
"It's Ballard."
She quickly went over to the door and opened it, admitting the former agent. "Is everything alright?" she asked, giving him a once over. "You look somewhat ragged."
"For good reason." He held up a small device. "I just found this in my heating vent," he replied. "Best as I can figure, this was how they knew what I was doing."
Tru took the device, then handed it over to Meredith. "What do you think?"
Meredith took it, looking it over for a second. "Interesting," she mused. "I would have to open this to see its insides, but at first glance? This is a new generation surveillance camera, complete with audio capabilities. I don't think the CIA's got anything this advanced, and they've been using surveillance equipment like this for years."
Ballard sighed. "That's what I was afraid of." He held up a DVD case. "On the good side, I brought the disc. I hope you're all ready to see it."
Everyone got comfortable as he slid the disc into the DVD player, wondering if this was going to be an informative lesson for them all.
-
About five minutes later, the DVD ended. Not one of them said a single word throughout that period of time.
Tru had been shocked to see just how... normal Caroline was. She had originally assumed that, like herself, she had been exposed to a tragedy at some point in her life, or simply couldn't rest in her crusade to change the world. Instead, she had been a college graduate from Fremont, had friends and had a career. She had a dream, an ideal to strive for, but it hadn't been her whole life.
"She's got a lot of pluck," Meredith commented. "She kind of reminds me of Mom."
"I know what you mean," Tru replied, her own memories coming to the fore. "But in order for her to do what she did, she would have to be. So, how does someone like that find her way to the Dollhouse?"
"Probably with great difficulty." Ballard leaned in. "They would have had to make a deal with her, probably to protect someone else. That would probably be the only thing they could have done to get her."
"That sounds right." Jack grinned. "There's a theme going with your family, Tru. Always helping others."
"And getting in over her head," Harrison added, grinning. "Kinda like you, Tru."
"Ha, ha, and ha, Harry," Tru stated sarcastically. "Our penchant of getting into other people's business aside, we need to talk to former employers, anyone working at Fremont at the time she was a student..."
Paul nodded. The plan was sound, and they all had questions that needed answering. "Well, looking through the file you gave me, I found that very place of employment. She worked at ENCOM Incorporated as a computer programmer, until she was fired on embezzlement charges. The thing is, I don't think she was aware that she was fired for that. She didn't even get her mail before she disappeared."
"I don't think she went back to her apartment for any reason," Tru replied, shaking her head. She knew of ENCOM"S reputation as one of the preeminent computer companies in the world. The problem was that she had a feeling they were getting some of their funds through less than legal means. "Probably thought they were watching it." She looked at the picture for a moment. "Besides, I doubt she had anything there worth going back to." Her gaze hardened. "Maybe it's time we talked to her former bosses."
-
"Caroline?" Alan Bradley sighed. "Haven't heard that name in a long time."
Ballard nodded, somewhat surprised by this. "So you remember her," he stated, as the two of them walked along the sidewalk before the ENCOM building. The last executive he had spoken to had denied ever knowing about her, while the one before spewed off some jargon about her being a blight to the company. To hear someone who had a soft spot for her... was a bit unsettling.
Bradley grinned. "It would be difficult to forget her," he replied. "I was the one who hired her, right out of college due to her gifts. She was one of the best computer programmers I had ever seen, and a rising star in the business. Some even said that she was the next Kevin Flynn, reach the top of the company by the time she hit thirty." His grin fell. "Then came the allegations of embezzlement, and the Board almost unanimously had her fired without so much as an inquiry."
"I'm going to assume that you were one of the few that believed otherwise."
"I was the only one, and that's because of a few things that didn't add up."
Ballard observed him for a moment. "Too neat?" he asked.
Bradley shook his head. "Too accessible," he replied. "Any programmer at Flynn's level would have found a way to hide any kind of illegal acts without tipping off anyone, and Flynn was an honest man. She was set up. Unfortunately, the rest of the Board didn't agree with me."
"So they wanted to get rid of her support base."
"... The Rossum Corporation."
The agent's eyes widened in surprise. "She was investigating Rossum?" he asked.
Bradley shrugged. "It's actually the obvious conclusion," he replied. "Caroline's been known to take up causes that others figured were lost, and finding a way to make them succeed. She's just got that kind of will. And there were rumors that Rossum was using animals in their experiments. Why do you ask?"
Ballard frowned thoughtfully, before deciding to take a risk with this man. "Sir, what do you know about the Dollhouse?" he asked.
"Just the usual urban myths. Programmable humans can be turned into anything a person can ever want." Bradley paused for a moment. "Though, if it's true, it could explain a great many things. ENCOM is the company that sold Rossum the majority of its computers since they were founded in 1994. There has been an eight percent increase in profits ever since, which can't be explained by even record sales."
It didn't take long to put a few pieces of the puzzle together, and the picture became a little more defined, if somewhat scarier. "Thank you, Mister Bradley," Ballard said, grinning. "I think you may have just helped me come closer to solving a case I have."
"No problem. And, Mister Ballard... try and help her if you can."
"I will."
-
Tru looked up from her book as Ballard got into the car. "We got a lead?" she asked, correctly interpreting the expression on his face. She would have rather asked the man himself, but Ballard had erred on the side of caution.
"And a connection," Ballard replied, buckling up. "The Rossum Corporation."
"Rossum?" Now that made no sense to her. The Rossum Corporation was the leading force behind the development of new medicines in the battle against neurological diseases, as well as groundbreaking research into the same field. Their Alzheimer's treatments were second to none, and everything she had heard about them was on the up and up. So why would they risk such a sterling reputation with something like the Dollhouse? Unless...
"If they're the ones controlling this Imprint technology," she muttered thoughtfully, a new theory forming in her mind, "then there's a good chance that every bit of research they have been performing has been nothing more than a cover... to hide whatever they're planning."
"And their primary specialty is neurology, which can't be a coincidence." He started the car. "But we're missing something."
"... I think that's something only Caroline can answer," Tru replied.
-
"Twenty people remember Caroline," Meredith said as they exited the main building at Fremont.. "In fact, two of them think they saw her during that drug scare two days ago, though they think it was probably a drug induced hallucination."
"Yeah, but wearing pink pantyhose?" Harrison shook his head. "That's gotta be the Dollhouse. No sister of mine wears pink anything."
Jack refrained from mentioning to Harrison that Tru did indeed own several pairs of pink underwear, bra and panties alike. Why burst his little bubble of security now? Of course, that meant he wasn't going to tell him how he knew, either. He might take it the wrong way. "They also said that a student drugged a whole bunch of students, then committed suicide," he said instead. "That has to be the Dollhouse's work as well."
Meredith nodded. "That's what I was thinking too. It's just too clean cut, too neat."
Harrison shrugged. "Well, we now know that Caroline's not being held hostage, and we can use this information to find her. That's all I care about."
"Harry, Caroline is our top priority, but maybe the only way to find her is to unravel the mystery of the Dollhouse. If Caroline was here, then that means something big had to have happened. We should piece together what really happened here."
Jack grinned. "I kinda agree with Meredith, Harrison," he said. "We solve this mystery, it might bring us closer to Caroline along the way. So let's head back to the hotel. Tru and Ballard should be back by now."
The other two agreed with that. There was nothing more they could learn here anyway. And so, they all piled into the rest-a-car, and drove off...
...unaware that they were being watched by less than friendly eyes.
Dollhouse, Dewitt's office
"What am I looking at?" Adelle asked, slurping chow mein noodles down quickly before setting her carton aside. If this was going to be one of those world shattering revelations, she didn't want to choke or spew her meal all over her desk.
Caroline hit a button on the remote, magnifying the image on the screen. "As best as we can tell, this is a form of nanotechnology," she replied, fighting to keep the growl out of her voice. "This is at the heart of N-7316."
"And probably the reason why Caroline and the other Actives were affected the way they were," Claire added, her gaze stormy. "We're starting to the think that it was no coincidence that a lowly college student would know what this drug was, and what it could do. Nor do I think it was a coincidence that Ambrose wanted Actives at Fremont, instead of their own security forces. We're thinking it was an experiment."
Caroline plopped down, grabbing up her Sesame Shrimp platter, and dropping one in her mouth. "So, here's what I'm thinking went down," she said after swallowing. "Rossum lets the information slip out into the public somehow, knowing that someone desperate would try and steal it. Then they have you send in every Active you can to try and find that vial, having hidden it in the secret lab. Then they watch the dominoes fall, record the results for future testing, and let the Dollhouse clean up the mess afterwards."
"Except they don't count on you coming to Fremont, despite my efforts to keep you away," Adelle mused thoughtfully. "Which, in the hindsight, was a good thing that you did. We would have never discovered the thief's identity otherwise."
"Oh, it gets even better." Claire took a sip of water, collecting herself. "I did a brain scan of one of the Handlers that had been infected, and discovered something interesting." She took the remote, flipping it to a new screen. "There was a slight weakening in activity in the hippocampus region. It's not enough to cause real damage, and hopefully no permanent changes, and I almost missed it."
"But it is there."
"Yeah. I'll do another scan in a few days, just to see if anything changes."
"But we already know one thing," Caroline slid in smoothly. "It means that whatever Rossum's doing, it's not for the betterment of mankind." She sighed, old memories resurfacing. "Then again, I already knew that."
Adelle caught the bitterness in her tone, and could sympathize. "And I'm beginning to truly understand why," she assured her young charge. "If this was an effort to make the Actives more docile, and a botched one at that, then the Dollhouse is indeed only the beginning." She frowned. "Caroline, can you access the Rossum Corporation's mainframe computer?"
"Only if you want Rossum to find out that one of their own Houses is trying to find the dirty laundry. I'm an exceptional programmer. Doesn't mean I'm an exceptional hacker."
"And I'm no better," Claire added. "And I really don't want that loathsome slime Topher anywhere near my computer."
Adelle grinned. "I had something else in mind."
-
"Isn't this supposed to be dangerous?" Caroline asked about thirty minutes later, sitting in the Imprint chair. "I mean, you told me that you can't imprint a personality over an existing one, otherwise your brain would implode."
"And she remembers!" Topher stated, gleefully. "If we were uploading a new personality into your brain, then yeah. But all we're going to be putting into your cute head is good old fashion information. Right, 2.0?"
"Call me that again, and the traction threat becomes real," Sierra replied, putting the last touches on the program in question. "And we are good to go."
Caroline shook her head. "It's really weird, talking to myself."
"Think about it from my perspective. I'm looking at myself, which is a whole lot freakier."
"... … Fair point. Everything alright from your angle, Claire?"
Claire nodded. "Vitals are slow and steady," she said. "If you weren't talking, I would seriously have to check and see if you were breathing."
"It's absolutely incredible how calm you can be," Ivy stated, as the data was transferred into a wedge. "Though not as impressive as this. I've never seen such thorough work. Plenty of flexibility for upgrades, yet the few openings for a hacker."
"Building information, making it work and making it safe are two particular gifts I have," Sierra and Caroline replied at the same time. "It was the reason why I was hired to ENCOM."
"And we would appreciate it if only one of you spoke at a time," Adelle requested as she entered the Imprint Room, chuckling at them. "At the moment, it would appear that Mister Ambrose has not been made aware of what we are planning. I also suspect that the ignorance will not last. Are we ready here?"
"About as ready as we will ever be." Topher gestured grandly. "Do the honors, Ivy."
"Gee, thank you, almighty master," Ivy grumbled at the tone, accepting the wedge while Sierra and Caroline flipped Topher off and Adelle laughed. But she took solace in the fact that he wasn't having her go get him food and the like. Inserting the wedge in the drive slot above the chair, she then began to type in commands. "And here we go." She pressed the ENTER key.
The chair slowly slid down into place, the head piece activating upon doing so. Caroline was immediately bombarded by pain, like a million needles were being jammed into her brain pan, all at once. A constant barrage, over and over again, like clockwork.
Like the last time, she fell back into her memories... though the memory she found herself thinking of, she wasn't entirely sure if it was hers, or someone else's...
Daniella Fertanado laughed at the joke that her male escort had made, even though she didn't really find it funny in the least. If she ever went to Venzuela, it would definitely not so she could see if one of the mountains there was shaped like that particular male organ. And seriously, why did all of the rich men she had dated over they years have to be so... boring? The women were far more entertaining... though in some cases, that wasn't saying much. She should seriously consider looking at the middle class. She might somebody actually worth talking to.
She was about to excuse herself and get herself a drink( a stiff one, if anyone cared,) when movement caught her eye. Turning around, she caught sight of a woman wearing a masquerade mask approaching them...
...being escorted by the most gorgeous creature she had ever seen before in her life.
She was slightly taller than Daniella, and slimmer, wearing a dress that molded perfectly to her body. Her eyes sparkled mischievously with warmth and desire, and an energy that could fill up a room. She moved with such grace, such confidence, that she almost looked like she was gliding, like she had never had an accident before in her life. The mere sight of her transfixed Daniella.
Then their eyes met, and she had trouble breathing.
Looking back at her date, she noticed that he was smiling, and immediately guessed that they had been expected, and that this was going to be a scene of sophisticated girl-on-girl action. Surprisingly, the desire to have this woman right here and now was incredibly strong, but it wasn't the only desire. She also wanted to take this woman to a much quieter spot, and simply talk to her, to learn everything she could about her. And there was a flicker of something else, a sense of familiarity that should have been impossible. She had never seen this woman before.
The woman seemed to have the same thoughts. There was a flicker of familiarity as she stopped in front of Daniella, reaching out to stroke a cheek...
"And... download complete."
Caroline shook her head, trying to clear her mind as her head pounded. That was extremely weird. Whose memories were those? Hers, from an engagement? Or was it something else? Her subconscious trying to tell her something important?
Those questions could wait. She could literally feel the information as it moved in her head. She was amazed, but also thankful. "I am now a hacker," she said aloud. "Now, somebody point me in the direction of a computer. I feel the need to break Rossum's impenetrable files."
Adelle grinned, gesturing grandly. "This way, m'dear," she replied. One way or another, she was quite certain that things were going to start popping very soon.
And then they would see what Rossum had to say for themselves.
-
Motel
The Davies motel room was buzzing with tension. The two groups had compared everything they had learned, and beginning to put together a puzzle with only half of the pieces available to them. So far, they were doing a pretty good job.
"Okay, here is what I think happened," Tru stated, speaking for the first time in a half hour. "Caroline returns to Fremont for the first time in two years, probably against the Dollhouse's wishes, and tries to locate a specific lab within its walls by going through some secret passage, some place that she probably remembers subconsciously. She has help from someone; a student probably struggling with money issues at home, who probably wants whatever is in that lab. They find it, but her accomplice turns on her, tries to hurt her, then makes a break for it. She follows, trying to stop him, and manages to do so."
"The Dollhouse cleans up after itself, covers Rossum's ass with that story of the student who drugs his classmates and then commits suicide," Ballard added. "But whatever happened here also affected the Dolls, which I'm pretty sure they weren't expecting."
Jack frowned thoughtfully as he processed the information they had gained. It was probably the best theory any of them could have come up with, but something was missing. "Okay, here's a question. How in the hell did Caroline even know where to look? I mean, she graduated from Fremont back in 2006, and I'm pretty sure she didn't spend her time trying to deal with conspiracies from medical companies."
Meredith grinned. "Well, here's an answer for you, Jack," she replied. "There are only two ways for someone to find a hidden lab. You either look around and stumble on it by accident, or you go to the city planners and get the original blueprints, probably through bribing whoever is there with some money. She gets the blueprints, and discovers the hidden lab."
"So why don't we ask the city planners about it?"
"Now that'll be a cheerful conversation," Harrison griped. "They probably fired the guy already for doing that, if they ever found out."
Ballard grinned. "Then we find out who it was."
-
Dollhouse
"Someone else accessed Rossum's database," Caroline stated without preamble, looking up from her work. "About a few hours before me, in fact."
Here was an interesting tidbit that none of them had known. Of course, considering that Caroline had started working on the problem thirty minutes ago, there was much they didn't know. "In what way?" Adelle immediately asked, making sure to look around.
"Well, we're trying to access their medical journals, locate any possible encrypted files that they don't want people to see, that sort of thing. But whoever did this was accessing their personnel files. Which means they were looking for someone in particular." She frowned. "What surprises me is that Rossum's security was unable to stop the breach."
Adelle smiled at that little bit of information. The poor board of directors needed to have their backsides handed to them every once in a while, as a reminder that there were other forces in the world besides theirs. "It appears Rossum has had an encounter with magic."
"And I'm not even going to say a word about that," Caroline stated, knowing that there was a lot concerning Adelle Dewitt that she didn't know. "Anyway, back to the matter at hand. I didn't find anything remotely incriminating in the database, which unto itself is very telling."
Claire nodded. "It means they're keeping it on a separate server. They wouldn't want a hacker from a rival company trying to steal their secrets, or a federal agent finding out about their dirty little secrets."
"And as such, we will have to find a way to penetrate that particular system at a later date... unless..."
Caroline looked at Adelle as she trailed off, seemingly lost in thought. "What?" she asked.
The older woman looked up. "Caroline, do you remember what I told you about the Attic?" she asked, a rather disturbing thought coming to her. What if there was more to the Attic than what she had read of it? A darker, more sinister purpose?
"Yeah. That's where defective Actives and traitorous employees go where they can't do anymore damage. It's like the ultimate device, forcing them to relive their worst nightmare forever." The Active shuddered. She hoped never to go in there for any reason.
"That is the gist of it. But I'm beginning to believe that it is more than that." Dark eyes, as dark as Caroline's own, turned towards the window, looking at the night life. "I'm beginning to think that the Attic is where they keep their deepest, darkest secrets. Secrets that you can't pull out with a simple hack."
"Which means that some of those 'traitorous' employees simply found out something they weren't supposed to," Claire said, catching the gist of it pretty quickly. "Or they just couldn't take it anymore and tried to warn the world." The mere thought of it was enough to terrify her.
"I'm beginning to suspect the same thing myself."
Caroline frowned thoughtfully. This new information certainly made some sense to her. If Rossum was going to hide any kind of information, it would be in the one place no one would ever dream of going to.
Her frown deepened as another thought occurred to her. "What if the Attic isn't what we think it is?" she asked. "What if it's more than even a hiding place for Rossum's baggage?"
Adelle and Claire traded surprised looks. "Come again?" the doctor asked.
-
"The computers at Rossum use some sort of bio algorithm to operate their systems," Caroline explained, as the three of them made their way to the Dollhouse's computer core. "Now, such an algorithm would have to be based off of human brainwaves, right?"
"Of course," Adelle replied. "Our brains are natural motherboards. The creator of the tech found a way to hack it."
"Exactly, which brought the Actives into being in the first place, and allowing the Houses to create anyone they ever wanted. But, why bother putting someone into an Attic when you would have to constantly monitor their vitals, their brain patterns, and everything in between? Why not simply put their original personality back into their head, then either set them up or kill them? Both are reasonably cheaper, and have the added advantage of not needing all of that equipment."
"So... what are you thinking?" Claire asked, confused.
"I'm thinking that the Imprint tech is being used for something else... like creating a very sophisticated processing core for themselves, using the collective processing power of every person in the Attic."
Adelle's eyes widened at the implication. "It would mean that we have been feeding the Rossum Corporation new processors every single time we wiped someone clean. Increasing their processing power considerably each time," she said, even as Claire paled at the thought. "We have been helping them do this. But what is the endgame?"
"I don't think the Attic's part of whatever diabolical plan they've created," Caroline said. "In fact, I think it's just a convenient way for them to work their computers without having to worry about limiting their storage space." She quickly pried a panel off of one of the processors, checking the wiring. "As for N-7316... we would have to contact or hack the other Houses directly, see if they had any problems recently, or or ask if there are any pet projects that they had been working on." She sighed. "Then there's also the problem of the dead alien in our Morgue."
Claire nodded, finally having something to latch onto that wasn't so terrifying. "I haven't been able to remove its suit yet," she said softly. "It's made of a material that I have never seen before, and it's stronger than my tools. I broke two scapula's trying."
Caroline nodded. "Well, considering the fact we are dealing with a cybernetic creature, what say we go about it in an entirely different way?" She put the panel back, shaking her head. "We aren't going to be able to do anything with these," she said. "No bio chip controller."
"Of course not," Adelle replied, now knowing what Caroline was looking for. "If you had told me that was what you were looking for, I would have told you that the signal comes from a Rossum controlled satellite. High orbit, powerful transmitter. It maintains the connection without having to worry about messy wires or containing the Actives in their pods when they don't have an engagement."
"Wireless? You think I could have the Packers games downloaded into my head?"
"Doesn't quite work that way."
"Aw, nuts."
Claire sighed, while trying to convince herself that she wasn't just looking at Caroline's butt when she was bent over. "Back to the problem," she stressed. "How are we going to get into his head?"
"Dollhouse style, I'm sorry to say," Adelle replied. "We're going to hack his brain." She pulled her cell out. "Time to bring in the resident master of the art into our little conspiracy."
Deep Space, Oa
If there was ever a point of origin for the universe itself, there was a fifty-fifty chance of it being occupied. And, in this case, that was the truth.
At the exact center of the universe lay a star. And, like most stars out there, it had planets. That unto itself is not important. What was important was the fact that one of these planets was capable of supporting life, and was.
The planet's name was Oa, and it was the home and headquarters for the Green Lantern Corp, the universal police force. Run by a group of diminutive blue men known only as the Guardians of the Universe, not to be confused with the Guardians of Existence(because really, who could mistake the two?) they had been the protectors of freedom and justice since time immemorial.
But, like the Gods themselves, they were unsure on how best to proceed concerning this latest threat. It was a threat that they had known was coming, but had no idea when, or where, or even how it was going to strike.
Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern from Earth, strode down the massive corridors of the Lantern Citadel, his gaze pensive. Four Lanterns had gone to very edge of time and space in an effort to locate this enemy. None of them had returned just yet, and that alone was troublesome. They were among the best in the Corp. He had begun thinking that it would be a cold day in hell before they were taken out.
'Looks like it's freezing below,' he thought mournfully, making his way towards the Council Chamber. 'We still have had no word from Sinestro, and it's driving me crazy!'
Of course, Sinestro's mission was slightly less dangerous. He was just going to collect a few Lanterns, one who had resigned from the Corp almost four years ago after a situation arose. The other one wasn't indigenous to this universe. He probably went for her first, if the reports were true.
Taking a deep breath, the greatest of the Green Lanterns stopped before the great Council Chamber, gathering himself. If what they said was true, then this was a threat even greater than the Red Lanterns. And if that was the case... then they would have to take desperate measures.
With that thought, he pushed the doors open, and stepped inside.
It closed behind him.
Then, all was silent in the great Citadel.
My apologies for taking so long with Chapter Eight. I was trying to decide how I was going to do it, though, as I have another chapter being put together. And the Green Lantern Corp will be the only DC invention in this story, as I have a storyline for one of them in mind.
