9: Closing Time

Today was the day that Latnok would attempt to sell the clones to the highest bidders. While having more people like Jessi and myself in the world could be a good thing, the sorts of people we would assume Latnok to be selling to were far from benevolent in their intentions.

Today was the day that we had to stop Latnok. There were only five of us, and Jessi and I are weakened and losing our memories and minds. At home we have our family, waiting for us to come back.

We have to go back. To Josh. To Lori. To Stephen. To Nicole.

And to Amanda, when she comes into Seattle.

We have to stop Latnok today, and stop this terrible experiment. Lives, morality, it's in the balance.


"Well, there's the building," Declan said as they parked across the street. It was a large building, and appeared like an office building of some sort. According to Cassidy and his blueprints, the meeting would be taking place on the thirtieth floor at noon.

It was eight a.m.

"We have a few hours," Cassidy said, "Kyle, what is it you want to do?"

Kyle looked at the building and thought about it. "The buyers probably won't be there yet. If we went in now and caused any sort of scene, they might tell the buyers to go somewhere else. Or reschedule. We'll have to wait until it's closer to the time of the meeting."

"And in the meantime?" Olivia asked.

"In the meantime we can wait here," Kyle said, "Watch who comes and goes."

"Usually they begin to arrive half an hour early," Cassidy said.

"So we'll go in around that time and make our way to the conference room," Kyle said, "It'll take time for us to get up that far, I imagine."

Cassidy nodded, "I imagine there will be a larger number than usual for security."

"Well, what do we have?" Declan asked, "Let's take an inventory."

"No killing," Kyle said, "We don't want to hurt them."

"If they get in the way, they will go down," Cassidy told his half-brother.

"Just don't do more than you have to," Kyle said.

"We'll handle this how we have to," Cassidy told him.

"I saw you fight at the warehouse," Declan told Cassidy, "That was kind of brutal how you beat on that guy."

"Don't do that," Kyle told Cassidy.

"I'll do what's necessary. We're doing this for you, remember," Cassidy said, "As long as you can get there, it doesn't matter."

"It does matter," Kyle said, "Because they're normal people."

"People with guns," Cassidy said, "While we only have one between five of us. Sure, I have my electrical gun, so does Olivia. And you two are losing your powers," he said of Kyle and Jessi, "We're under equipped for this."

"Make do, please," Kyle said.

"We will," Declan said.

"And don't count us out, Cassidy," Jessi told him, "Kyle and I can handle things."

"I hope so," Cassidy said.

"Let's move on," Olivia said, "So we go in the front, and make our way for the stairs. Elevator can be stopped, so stairs."

"Right," Kyle said, "We get up as far as we can, together."

"And where is the conference room?" Jessi asked.

"You'll come out onto the thirtieth floor, and it'll be straight ahead," Cassidy said, "It's simple enough."

"Now we wait," Kyle said.


As the hours passed, they remained where they were. It was quarter past eleven and they saw the first buyer going inside. He was a slightly overweight middle aged man in a nice suit. There were two men in suits leaving the building to escort him in.

"Security," Cassidy said.

As time passed to the eleven thirty mark, they had seen a total of four men and one woman enter. Those were the only buyers that Cassidy was aware of.

"Will they start early?" Kyle asked.

"No," Cassidy said, "Mum doesn't start early."

"She changed locations and times," Olivia reminded Cassidy.

"I know," Cassidy said.

"I think we should go now," Declan said, "I don't want to cut this closer than we have to."

"I'm ready," Jessi said, "Let's go and do what we came to do."

"Remember. No killing," Kyle said, "We're not here to leave people down. We're here to stop an immoral experiment."

"You worry too much," Cassidy told Kyle, getting out of the passenger seat.

Declan and the others got out after him. Declan locked his vehicle and the group made their way to the Latnok facility. Through the large glass doors they could see a single man behind the desk. He noticed them and pressed a button as Cassidy reached the door. It wouldn't open.

"Guess we have to break it," Cassidy said.

"You can't," Jessi said, looking at the glass, "It's not normal glass." She put both of her hands on it, "But I can."

With her abilities she began to crack it. The glass shattered in moments. It didn't matter how strong it was, breaking glass was an easy task for herself and Kyle.

As they hurried in, the man behind the desk panicked and reached down, pulling out a handgun. Cassidy lifted his arm and pressed the button on his electrical weapon, sending an arc of electricity into the man. He collapsed as electricity coursed through him.

"Stairs," Cassidy said, running towards the desk and grabbing the man's weapon. He ran after them, turning to see two security guards running from the other side of the room, "Faster!" he shouted at his group.

The men drew their weapons as they stopped and started to fire. They missed as the group started through the door and up, but Cassidy, being the last one in, took a shot to the leg.

He collapsed halfway, shouting and cursing in pain. Olivia turned to him, "Cassidy!" she called, descending to him and grabbing him, helping him manage the stairs.

"Hurry!" Declan shouted, looking up. He could see two men descending from above, but they didn't waste their time firing yet.

Jessi pushed past Declan, "Let me," she said.

"Jessi," Kyle said, grabbing her arm.

"I know," she said, looking him in the eyes, "Be careful."

She broke his grip and ran up the stairs. When there was a single flight between her and the two men, she leapt up the flight, landing right in front of them on the top step and grabbing each one on the chest. From such a close distance she had minimal problems using the water in their bodies to repel them into the wall behind.

Or maybe it was desperation. Desperation of knowing she'd be dead if it didn't work.

As the rest of the group reached her, they could hear the two guards from below making their ascent. Cassidy stopped by the two downed guards, grabbing one gun and putting his arm through the gap between the stairs going down, and the railing of the next set below.

He didn't look, as he had no space to. He simply pulled the trigger a few times, letting shots fly down. He didn't plan on hitting anything, and he knew they would already know the group was in the stairs, so making sound wasn't a huge concern, other than telling exactly where they were.

The shots slowed the two down, buying the others more time to continue on up. Cassidy dropped the weapon and took Olivia's help to head back up.

Once they hit ten, Cassidy stopped, "I can't keep going like this," he told them.

Kyle hurried to his half-brother from halfway up the next flight. He looked to Jessi and Declan, "Keep going!" He crouched down by Cassidy's leg, putting his hands on the wound.

"It doesn't matter!" Declan told him, "You're the one who needs to get up here! Not us!"

Jessi moved down, "You go. I'll help Cassidy." She looked at Olivia, "You go with them."

"I won't leave him," she told Jessi.

"He's in my hands," Jessi said, "They need you more."

Cassidy nodded, "I appreciate the loyalty, but think of the mission. Go with Kyle."

She nodded only after Cassidy told her, "Ok," she said, "Because you told me to."

Olivia hurried up the stairs with Kyle and Declan, leaving Jessi and Cassidy behind.

"Any plan when they catch up?" Jessi asked him.

"I have my gun, and my electric weapon," he told her, "That's plan enough for me."

"Good, because I don't think I can do much," she said. Healing alone was going to leave her almost useless.

"Then stop healing me and go," Cassidy said. He looked at the door at his side, "I'll go in the tenth floor and keep them off of you guys for a bit, if I can."

"You won't get far with your leg," she said.

"I know," he said, "But let me do something."

"Kyle wouldn't want me to."

"Forget what he wants!" Cassidy told her, "You don't like me. Get rid of me!"

"But I do care about Kyle, and what he thinks," she said.

"Just let me do this!" Cassidy shouted.

"No," she said, continuing to heal him. They could hear the two men. They were probably two flights below at this point.

Cassidy withdrew his firearm, "Ok then," he said, pointing it down he flight of stairs.


As Kyle, Olivia and Declan reached the fifteenth floor, they heard gunshots below. Nobody said anything, they just continued on.

"We're over halfway there," Declan said.

Olivia nodded, "How much farther before we reach resistance, though?" she poised.

As they went up another few, they saw two men on the landing above them, but they weren't armed.

"What's this?" Declan shouted at them.

"Do you remember me?" Olivia questioned them, "Olivia Archer. You used to work for me." Of course, they were just security. She didn't know them personally, but she hoped to get to them.

Neither man spoke. Kyle looked at his two companions and moved onto the set of stairs, "Please, move aside."

As soon as he took his second step, so that he was full on the flight, he noticed some wires running around the stairs. One man pressed a button that Kyle hadn't noticed in his hand.

The stairs crumbled out from beneath him. He almost fell, but Declan grabbed him and pulled him back.

The two men left, walking up farther instead of keeping an eye on them.

"Now what?" Declan questioned.

"We'll find the elevator and take it up one level," Olivia said, "One level should be fine."

"No," Kyle said, "If they detonated this specific set, then I'm sure they're keeping an eye on the elevators at this floor as well. They won't let us up."

"Then we'll climb the shaft," Declan said.

Kyle stepped back, took a breath, and ran, jumping when the ledge ran out. He barely landed on the landing for the next set and turned back, "I'm going on alone," he told them.

"What about us?" Olivia questioned.

"Find a way," he said. He noticed the railing was gone too, so they couldn't cling to that. They could try walking on the sloped wall, but one wrong move would result in a fall.

Declan noticed it too, and jumped onto it. He looked straight down, down all the flights down. He positioned himself so that he would walk one foot in front of the other, and was about to go.

"Declan, no," Kyle told him.

"Kyle, Foss trained me," Declan said, "And I won't leave you."

One foot. He moved the other one in front, keeping relatively good balance. It wasn't perfect, but he was making his way up. Olivia stood and watched, having no intention of trying the same thing.

Once he was over halfway there, he lost his balance and almost went over. Granted, he would only fall onto the flight below, but the fall would still hurt and probably impede his ability to walk. But he regained it and continued up, jumping off to land next to Kyle.

"Keep going!" Olivia called, "I'll go find the others!"

"Good luck," Declan told Olivia, running up ahead with Kyle.


Meeting around the fifteenth floor, Olivia, Cassidy and Jessi saw no choice but to enter the actual building. There were guards coming from above and below. Perhaps Olivia and Cassidy were a threat, and those two had to be eliminated, while Kyle and Jessi – unfortunate to be with those two – were meant to keep going on for something pertaining to the experiment and presentation.

"Ok, now what?" Olivia questioned.

Cassidy cast his empty handgun aside, walking with minimal help, "I think it might be best to try the elevator."

"Why?" Jessi questioned.

"We get as far as we can, then we climb out," he said.

"I like that," Olivia said, looking down the corridor. They moved down, but after that they encountered a few Latnok workers. One of them hit a buzzer for security while another one fumbled in his desk.

Cassidy pulled his weapon and shot an electric arc into him, just in case he had a weapon. He kept his weapon out as they backed towards the elevator, going for the thirtieth floor. As soon as it arrived, and it was empty, the three climbed in and ascended.

"When they stop it, we climb straight up," Jessi said, "Olivia, lay down."

She didn't question it once Cassidy gave her a look. She laid on the ground in the middle of the elevator, and Jessi put her feet on either side of her. With a little focus Jessi began to levitate upwards, high enough to open the panel. She descended and stepped aside so Olivia could get up.

"We have our escape route," she said, watching the floors as they headed up.


Declan and Kyle stopped at the twenty eighth floor. Declan looked down and drew his weapon, "Kyle, go."

"Declan, no," Kyle said, "You're my protector and friend, but I'm not going to let you stay behind like this."

"Kyle, for all we know, they'll kill you," he said, "Let me buy you time."

"Declan, I won't let you die for me," Kyle told his friend, grabbing his arm, "I told Lori that I'd send you out to talk to her when we were done planning. I didn't, because we all left. You still have to talk to her."

Declan looked at him, "She'd understand."

"I won't tell her that you died," he said.

"I won't let her know you died either," Declan said, "Better me than you." He aimed his weapon down the staircase, "Go. Please."

"Declan, give me your clip," Kyle said, holding his hand out.

Declan looked at him, but had no time to argue. He released it from his weapon and passed it to Kyle, who promptly went about removing each bullet, placing one hurriedly on each stair before hurrying back up to Declan, "Do you have a lighter?"

Declan handed him the lighter he had in his pocket. The two waited, and as the group of men came into view, they raised their weapons.

Kyle moved in front of Declan, but nobody fired. Declan seemed to be the target, and Kyle was meant to live.

"Don't come any closer," Kyle told them.

"Send the other one down here," one of them told Kyle, "We have orders that you live. You and the woman. Everyone else dies."

"I won't send my friends to their deaths," Kyle told the security guard, holding the lighter tight against his palm, "We're going to see the meeting."

"You won't," the man said, taking one step up onto the flight of stairs, "I can still blow your kneecap out."

Kyle put all of his energy into this. He feared having to do anything else after, because he doubted he would have the strength to do so. He opened the lighter, starting a flame.

Each bullet on the stair went off. The gunpowder in each one blew the stair open with force, creating an ugly looking gap, but a gap none the less.

"Kyle!" Declan shouted, grabbing his arm and pulling him away as the startled guard shot. He pulled Kyle up to the twenty ninth floor, and then up towards thirty as the guards shot straight up in an attempt to stop the two.

Standing before the door for the thirtieth floor, Declan looked down; making sure the guards weren't following. "They might take the elevator."

"I know," Kyle said, opening the door. They looked down the corridor, seeing the glass meeting room, seeing the five buyers and Grace.

There was a video playing that they could see a part of. Kyle recognized some of it as things he had done while under guard by Latnok. They were showcasing his abilities already, and it wasn't noon yet.

"We have to hurry," Kyle said, running. Declan ran a moment later, just behind Kyle as they went down the corridor.

Just as they were about to reach it, they came into an open area. Four guards were poised there, weapons directed at the two of them. These were tazers, however. Not firearms. Crossfire was being avoided, and they apparently didn't want the lethality right outside of the buyer's presentation.

"Stop," one of the guards said, "Put down your weapon."

Declan's handgun was visible in his pants. He reached down slowly for it while Kyle looked into the room. So close. But they weren't able to be seen by the buyers, unless one would turn around. There was apparently some sort of soundproofing as well, or people talking outside were ignorable. Kyle guessed the former.

Declan slowly lifted the empty weapon from his belt. Kyle looked around and looked Declan in the eyes. He glanced up in haste, telling Declan what to do, he hoped. Declan seemed to understand, as his actions slowed.

"Put it down now!" one of the guards shouted at Declan.

"It's empty," he said, "See? No clip."

Kyle span around, knocking the tazer out of the hand of the guard next to him. He propelled himself with a jump across to the guards on the other side, grabbing one's arm and twisting it towards the other guard on that side. The guard Kyle had fired on accident, taking down the other one. Declan span around, pistol whipping the fourth guard while Kyle pulled the other one towards him and then towards Declan.

Declan grabbed him and lifted the gun straight up, firing the round in the chamber, emptying his weapon.

The gunshot was loud enough to hear. The buyers and Grace turned to look, seeing the three downed guards – about to be four – along with Kyle and Declan. Kyle walked to the door, pulling it open as he walked inside.

"This is the boy?" the female buyer asked.

"This is 781227," Grace said, "XY. Kyle Trager."

"Her son," Kyle said of Grace.

"Son?" the heavy set man asked, "Well, that's interesting."

"I'm impressed you made it here," she told Kyle, "Then again, you are very impressive."

"You're impressed I made it this far because of the virus, right?" Kyle asked.

"Virus?" one of the other buyers asked. He was Asian.

"Latnok and Grace Kingsly infected me with a virus in January," Kyle told all of them, "They wanted to terminate me. If it isn't treated, I'll die in a few days. But I'm here to stop this before that happens."

"Stop this?" the Asian man asked, "What do you mean?"

"Do you understand how immoral this is?" Kyle asked. "You'd be purchasing humans made especially for the sake of your ownership. They would have wonderful abilities, yes, but they would be slaves. They would have no lives of their own."

He gestured his hand out towards Grace, "Latnok is attempting to play god. They've succeeded, and made two of us. But if they continue, they'll be making more and more humans that shouldn't exist. Humans that can be made into weapons."

Grace looked outside, "We don't have to look far to see what he means," she said, "Isn't it…wonderful?"

"Wonderful?" Kyle questioned her, "How can you say such a thing?"

"Purchasing one of them means that you have someone who can do almost anything for you. Security, anything technological. You've seen the video. You know what he can do, and they can do the same for you."

One of the buyers looked at Kyle. An older man, probably around eighty, "Tell me something, Kyle. You think this would be immoral. What if a purchase would be made, and the boy would be put to work helping people with his talents?"

"That's what I'm attempting to do with my life," Kyle said, "I do think that would be good, but another problem lies in the fact that you're still having a human created for you. A human who would still be doing what you told them to, even if it is a good cause. Creating humans like that is wrong."

The last buyer, a forty or so year old man, asked a question, "I've supported Latnok for years. I remember…two or so years ago, there was someone else in charge. A younger woman. Archer, I think her name was. I remember hearing of this project, and I asked her what had become of it. She said it was on hold.

"I asked her what else there was. She said it was all on hold, for the most part. Now, before that I was used to dealing with Grace Kingsly. I've invested in various projects. I've purchased various projects, including a C.I.R. for a hospital I own, and it's been a tremendous help there.

"Now, this was before this project was brought to anyone's attention. I never had an issue with the things Latnok did. I don't know if I'm alone in this, but I agree with you, Kyle. I believe this project is immoral and wrong. I've stood with Latnok many times, but today, I cannot."

"Thank you," Kyle told him, "I appreciate it."

The man rose from his seat and looked at Grace, "Terminate this project. Destroy everything. Or I will pull all of my funding out."

"We'll survive," she said.

"There are five buyers in this room," he said, "I believe we represent the majority of the cashflow to Latnok, do we not?" She didn't say anything, "I will see to it that all of our money is gone."

"You can't persuade them all," Grace said.

"I'm out," the woman said, "Playing god? No. Human projects are much different than the usual, and I don't like it. I'm a humanitarian."

"We take human life very seriously in my family," the Asian man said, rising.

"I like the project," the heavier man said, "You have my support, and the funding of my company."

The older man looked at them all, "I'm an old man with no family. When my son was still alive, and I still had my wife, I never believed in using a nanny. I'm too old to deal with a newborn at my age, and too old to remarry," he said, rising and going to stand with the others.

"You have me," the heavy man said again.

The elevator opened, putting Jessi, Olivia and Cassidy into view. They hurried over, entering the conference room as well.

"Mrs. Archer," the younger buyer greeted.

She gave him a nod.

Cassidy looked at them, "Well, looks like your money has abandoned you, mum," Cassidy said.

"Your son?" the woman asked.

"Michael Cassidy," he introduced.

"Robert's child," the older man said, "I quite liked Robert."

"I'm not my father."

The other man said nothing in response.

The heavy man got out of his chair and moved to Grace's side, "If I may?"

"What?" she questioned him with an acidic tone.

"You're not going to last long with only my money, as much as I would like you to be able to. I'm afraid our partnership is at its end, but not of my own accord," he said, walking to the door and moving past the others.

Grace looked at all of them, shaking her head, "What are you going to do with me?" she demanded.

"Nothing," Kyle said.

"No," Cassidy said, looking at his mother, "Olivia came and forced you out. It's time for a repeat of that."

"No need," she said, "I'll take a cue from you and go into my own exile."

"Good," Cassidy said, "Latnok isn't yours anymore."

Grace walked away from them, out the entrance on the other side of the room, leaving them alone.

"Well, what's going to happen then?" the Asian man asked.

"First, we need to get the virus out," Cassidy said, "And then, I'm taking over Latnok."


With the help of Latnok's staff, now under Cassidy's direction, the vaccine was located and provided to Kyle and Jessi.

"I can feel my power already," Jessi said, "And the pain is gone."

"My mind is clearer," Kyle said.

"Scan them," Cassidy said, "Let's make sure."

The two of them stepped into a scanner, similar to Emily's. They watched as their bodies were displayed upon being scanned. The virus was receding, being destroyed.

"Thanks, Cassidy," Kyle told his half-brother.

"You helped me get here," Cassidy told him, "And I've grown quite fond of you," he smiled.

"Listen," Kyle said, "Can I give you advice?"

"You're my brother," Cassidy said.

"Let Latnok die," Kyle said, "The organization, even as old as it is, is better off dead."

"What makes you say that?" Cassidy questioned.

"After the things Grace did with it, after this corruption…will its name ever be the same? Start new, Cassidy. Take these people, and start new. Let the name die, let the legacy die. Begin your own legacy, your own organization. Use it to help people."

He sighed, "Well…I don't want to be thought of by my mum, when people hear the name," he said. It was his way of agreeing.

The two of them made a quick embrace as brethren, before Kyle pulled away and looked at Jessi, "Well, let's go," she said.

"You destroyed it all, right?" Kyle asked Cassidy.

"All of it," he assured.

The two of them made their way out, leaving Cassidy behind, Olivia walking over to his side to start anew with him.


[Start "Seven Day Mile"]

Kyle and Jessi left the facility, planning on going home. It was getting late at this point, and Declan had already been told to go on ahead, to see Lori and tell everyone that they were coming.

"So…now what?" Jessi asked Kyle.

"We go on with life," Kyle told her.

But Jessi's question was one I also had. Now what? Things are going right, we stopped Latnok and the experiment. Grace Kingsly is gone. I can trust Cassidy to do the right thing with his new organization.

But what do we do next? The end of this journey has come. Years have been spent on this, and it's over. I know that life can finally go on, but what life is that? What do I do with it at this time?

I have my dreams, but are my dreams meant to be pursued at this moment? Or do I hold off? These questions plagued me, and they were my only real questions, finally. Without Latnok, life questions came to me.

I was beginning to understand the thoughts of someone going to college. What would they study? What were their plans for life? This was starting to become new to me, and it was exciting.

But as I looked to Jessi, another question came to my mind.

Amanda might be home by now. Which woman? Who did I love more? Who do I want to be with?

But soon, I'll have to answer these questions. Soon, I'll have to find what to do with my life at the moment. Soon, I'll have to choose someone to love, and express that love to.

But for this moment, it was just myself and Jessi. And we had done it. We had stopped Latnok.

For now, I could be happy. Be at peace. Be content.

Because there was plenty of time to figure out what came next in the days to come.

[End "Seven Day Mile"]


This was a fun chapter for me to write. I enjoyed the culmination of everything up until now, in that Latnok finally fell. Or at least, as it was, it fell. With Cassidy leading it, there won't be problems. Cassidy isn't his parents, for one thing, so he won't start doing these immoral experiments. So they did succeed in stopping the corrupt Latnok by having Cassidy lead it (or whatever it becomes).

Of note is that when Cassidy shoots down the stairs after being wounded. He doesn't like Kyle's more pacifistic tendencies, so the no killing thing doesn't apply to him as much. He does what he has to. That's how I've always felt about his character. Even if that means killing people who really aren't that bad, because they work for bad people, and he knew he would die otherwise. Of course, Kyle doesn't approve, but understands it.

Ok. One more chapter for you guys. I hope you enjoy the finale. I know I enjoyed writing it.