Roslin woke slowly, the first thing she felt being a sharp, throbbing ache above her left eye. Light stabbed into her brain, making seconds feel like hours until her eyes adjusted to the dim illumination. Every time she blinked, her vision blurred briefly. She laid there for what seemed like forever, trying to evaluate her condition. She was laying on her back, on a hard surface. A sub-dermal governor pressed into the back of her neck, and Roslin vaguely remembered feeling it being implanted. If only it would work on her empathy as well as telepathy.
Her thoughts were disconnected, forming slowly, but eventually Roslin realized she'd rather not face whatever was coming flat on her back. She started to sit up, but a searing pain engulfed her right shoulder. She couldn't help the gasp that escaped, and she closed her eyes tightly until the worst of the pain faded. Only then did she attempt sitting up again. This time she managed, but she spent several minutes curled up around the injured shoulder.
Between her head and her shoulder, Roslin found it hard to think. Her thoughts were moving sluggishly even when she could hold on to them. All too many simply slipped away. Roslin knew that wasn't good. Something told her it was worse than not good.
Finally her vision stopped blurring, as long as she didn't move her head too quickly. Roslin scanned the room. There was something about the gray concrete walls and tiled floor. Something she should know. When the thought, memory really, arrived, it slammed into her mind with a force that left her gasping for breath. The Centre... the holding rooms at the Centre.
Roslin's breathing slowed long before thought caught up with memory. When it finally did, it did nothing to ease her fear. It wasn't the Centre she was in, not anymore. It was Genomex, or rather the GSA since they were the ones opening and using the sub-levels. That meant she was in trouble, but she couldn't figure out what to do about it. No doubt Eckhart had plans for how to make her atone for betraying him. He didn't know her ability would make just being around him or Thorne into torture.
Roslin knew she had to do something. After doing her best to put her thoughts in order, she attempted to run through some of the centering exercises she'd learned. They seemed to help a little, at least in focusing her thoughts. If she could get herself focused enough, could she reach out to Emma? It wasn't likely she'd manage it, but what if she did? It would be worth any pain the effort might cause.
Her efforts came to an abrupt halt, dropping her back into the reality of her here and now, when the door opened.
Roslin's stomach lurched at the sight of Thorne and at the twisted satisfaction and sadistic enjoyment he was feeling.
"Ms. Briggs. How nice of you to return to us. Mr. Eckhart was quite disappointed when you left."
"No doubt." Roslin's voice wasn't as strong as she wanted it to be, but it wasn't shaking. And her sarcasm came through clearly enough.
Thorne smiled coldly.
"He had high hopes for you. Now that he knows just how special you really are, his hopes have changed somewhat, but his expectations are still high."
She held tight to her thoughts, refusing to let them slip away and give Thorne any clue just how badly off she was.
"I'm guessing he was a bit miffed to learn I was one of the 'anomalies' he hunts down."
"He did mention something to that effect." Thorne nodded at the door. "Come on or you'll be late for your appointment."
Roslin's heart stopped for second. Her thoughts raced frantically, trying to find a way to stall. Finally something came, but at the cost of a stabbing headache joining the existing ache in her head. It was almost all she could do to keep it from showing.
"You might want to let me clean up a little, Thorne. Eckhart has a thing about germs."
The agent's lips thinned at the way she addressed him, but then he smirked and Roslin felt her heart sink.
"If your appointment was with Mr. Eckhart, I might allow it. But there's no need since your appointment is with Dr. Harrison. He was most insistent that you be brought to him as soon as possible."
Roslin thought she might vomit then and there. Her eyes closed and she swallowed against rising bile. Thorne was obviously enjoying this and she refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing how terrified she was.
You couldn't work at Genomex and not know who Dr. Kenneth Harrison was. As Genomex's chief bio-geneticist, everyone knew of him. Most employees had heard at least rumors of the kinds of experiments he ran. No doubt Eckhart had put the doctor in charge of finding out how Roslin had slipped through the genetic screening all Genomex employees were subject to.
It took the help of the wall to get to her feet, and once she was there she wasn't certain for several seconds that she could remain standing. Feeling Thorne's amusement gave her just enough strength. The room still seemed to spin crazily and even closing her eyes didn't help at first. A couple of deep breaths did seem to help though and slowly the vertigo faded until she was able to open her eyes again.
The world was still trying to tilt and spin, making her first few steps shaky, but soon she adapted to the sensation. She was shaking inside, off-balance in so may ways, but there was no way she was going to let Thorne see that. As much as the idea of being one of Harrison's experiments scared Roslin, she knew that it would be easier to be around him than Thorne. Rumor had it that Harrison was completely unemotional when it came to his test subjects. At least he was unlikely to cause her emotional pain, unlike Thorne or Eckhart.
The secure lab Thorne led her to was in an area of the building she was unfamiliar with, but she'd expected as much. New GS agents were only allowed in the upper sub-levels. She and the other Pretenders had been housed in the lower sub-levels. The area in between she'd never seen. Thorne opened the door, ushering her in with a mocking bow. He followed, closing the door and remaining in front of it. He must have thought she was stupid if he thought she was going to try to escape. It tool all of Roslin's concentration just to walk straight and keep her thoughts from slipping away. And that didn't even take the sub-dermal governor into account. Even as scattered as her mind was, she wasn't that out of it!
"Ms. Briggs, Mr. Eckhart has told me some very interesting things about you. Please sit down and let my assistants get you prepped. You will be subject Alpha-1 for these tests and experiments."
Dr. Kenneth Harrison was thin, almost to the point of emaciation, but otherwise completely forgettable. Unless you were a mutant. It wasn't that the man took joy in causing pain. It was that his research subjects might have been bugs as far as he was concerned. They weren't people to him. Any pain a test subject felt was only important as a measurement that proved or disapproved his current working hypothesis.
Harrison's assistants were surprisingly gentle as they cleaned the cut above her left eye and evaluated her shoulder. Faint feelings of pity and sympathy filtered through the pain in head. The assistants knew their boss all too well. At least this session shouldn't be too bad - Harrison needed to establish a baseline to compare his experiment results with. That was as far as Roslin could think at the moment.
Thorne finally seemed to realize she wasn't going to try anything and he reluctantly handed the governor control over to Harrison. In return he received a rather absent dismissal from the doctor, which didn't improve his mood any as he left. Roslin barely noticed. She'd already closed her eyes and was trying, as much as her wandering thoughts and physical condition would let her, to focus and raise her mental walls a bit higher. A hovering presence caused her to open her eyes, only to find Harrison studying her.
We were all on edge. There had been enough time since the busted raid for Genomex to revise their security, so getting into their systems took longer than usual. Most of my hacks had been cleared out. Once we did get in, our searches came up empty. I was frustrated, and I'm pretty sure the others were too. Even Emma didn't seem to be having any better luck, since she hadn't reappeared from wherever she'd gone. I couldn't help growling under my breath as another search came up empty.
I started at the screen for a while before it hit me. Inhaling sharply, I looked over my search parameters before activating my com-link.
"Guys, what name are you searching for? Are you looking for Roslin Britton?"
Bren and Shal both confirmed that was the name they'd been searching for and I nodded to myself.
"The GSA doesn't know her under that name. They only know her as Rose Briggs. Rerun your searches under that name. I'm going to get into the security video and see if I can find out where and when they brought her in."
I heard my team mates groan as they realized what should have been obvious. They dove back into their searches with renewed energy though and finally began to get some results. After narrowing down the time, based on when the GSA had grabbed Roslin, I was starting to find some information as well. It took time, but less than it could have, before I found the footage of Roslin's arrival at the main Genomex facility.
It was anything but reassuring, given that she was unconscious, but we'd known that was likely. Unfortunately, it was the main facility they'd taken her to. Somehow I didn't think they'd be keeping her in any of the areas we were already familiar with. Hopefully the video feeds would help me figure out how to get to her.
"She's awake. It's just emotions, so I'm pretty sure Adam's right about the governor."
Emma's voice drew my attention away from the feeds. I hit pause as she came up the stairs. She had a slight air of distraction, which meant she still had some connection with Roslin. Emma's pace faltered and she stumbled to a stop, closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, the look she shot in my direction was full of alarm.
"Oh my god. Harrison. . ."
That name, while Emma was in contact with Roslin, could only mean one thing. Roslin was in Harrison's hands. I cursed out loud. I have a history with the good doctor and it took me a minute to get a handle on my feelings and refocus.
I flashed a tight smile at Emma and dove back into the security feeds, tracing the pathways to the secure area feeds. The were better protected, but once I found them, getting in was just a matter of time and attention. It might take all night, but I would crack them. In the meantime, Brennan and Shal worked on mapping out the 'non-secured' areas of Genomex, so that we wouldn't be going in blind.
It took too long, but I eventually found the right feed. As soon as I saw Roslin, I slowed the playback to normal speed. The room had to be in one of the sub-levels she had told us about. I was able to follow the feeds from camera to camera as Thorne, a familiar face, escorted her to Harrison's lab.
Roslin wasn't in good shape. From how unsteady she was on her feet, I was guessing she had a concussion. It looked like something had happened to her shoulder. I don't know how long I stared at the images, but it took everything I had to look away and get back to tracing the feeds.
It took time and concentration. I had to follow the guards from camera to camera, mapping out the route from the areas we knew to Roslin's cell and Harrison's lab. I couldn't skip the details - the route itself wasn't enough. I had to note all the security measures as well. Knowing the route would do us no good if we tripped an alarm along the way. I could feel the anxiety and tension from my team mates and that didn't make the job any easier. I was putting the finishing touches on the map when Adam startled me, leaning over my shoulder to take a look.
"Upload it to the simulator and let's see what we're up against, Jess."
I did what he asked, but all I could see, now that job was done, was Roslin's condition in the feeds.
Roslin was cooperating with all the tests Harrison was running. Truth be told, her head was spinning and her thoughts too scattered to do much else. At least there was emotional quiet in the lab. She'd take that for as long as she could get it.
A wash of perverse pleasure and hatred swept into the room, causing Roslin to open her eyes. After blinking a few times, her vision cleared enough for her to find the source. An observation window was visible above her, and she felt Mason Eckhart on the other side. She didn't have enough control to stop the shudder of revulsion. It earned her a rebuking look from Harrison as he attached a sensor to her temple. The emotions coming from Eckhart made her want to throw up, and Roslin had no doubt that it was showing up on the doctor's scans.
She closed her eyes again, trying to focus enough to block the emotions out. Just as suddenly as they'd come, they disappeared. She let out a slow breath hoping the tests were almost over. Somehow she still had to find a way to escape, but she needed quiet and concentration to even start working on it.
The phone on Juliana Nolan's desk blinked and she picked up the handset.
"Mr. Eckhart, this is Juliana Nolan with Paragon Research Group."
"Ms. Nolan, how can I help you?"
Eckhart's voice contained a trace of impatience.
"I believe we share a mutual interest in one of your former employees. One Rose Briggs?"
Juliana kept the irritation out of her voice, at least for the moment.
"Oh? And just what interest could we share in someone I no longer employ?"
A hint of curiosity touched the voice that was straining to remain bored.
"I believe Ms. Briggs exhibited some unusual abilities in the course of leaving your employment, Mr. Eckhart. Abilities that you, as the head of the GSA, can not help but be interested in."
"You are very well-informed, Ms. Nolan. It is true that the termination of her employment was both unexpected and involved certain elements we were unaware of at the time."
"Elements that Paragon Research is responsible for, Mr. Eckhart."
Juliana kept her voice even, but her smile was smug as she continued.
"Ms. Briggs is part of a study we began a few years ago. She was a blind participant, unaware that we did some adjusting to her genetic structure. We would very much like to have her returned to us so that the study can be completed. We would, of course, be happy to share all information from the study with you."
"I might be interested in your proposal if I had Ms. Briggs in my custody, Ms. Nolan. Unfortunately, that does not happen to be the case."
"But it does, Mr. Eckhart. My people were attempting to locate her when they saw a GS agent take her into custody. They followed the vehicle to Genomex."
A bit of satisfaction leaked into the woman's voice despite her efforts to disguise it. Juliana heard the displeased sigh before Eckhart replied.
"Very well, Ms. Nolan. Ms. Briggs is indeed in our custody. However, my chief bio-geneticist is currently in the process of determining how she passed our genetic scans when she was hired."
"Dr. Harrison is more than welcome to observe and assist. His reputation precedes him. And if he can not attend physically, we would be more than happy to set up a video link for his use."
"You make a most compelling argument, Ms. Nolan, except for one matter. Mr. Briggs betrayed Genomex and the GSA. We can not allow that to happen without consequence."
Juliana allowed a small amount of amusement color her voice.
"Oh, if consequences are what you desire, Mr. Eckhart, I think letting Paragon have her will suit. From what my people tell me, the tests and experiments they intend to run will be quite painful. It is my understanding that they do not believe the test subject will survive the process. And, as I said, we are more than willing to share all our records, written and video, with you."
"Well now, that does put a different light on the subject, Ms. Nolan."
Juliana smiled, knowing by his voice that she had him hooked.
"We will take full responsibility for Ms. Briggs, including coming to Genomex to retrieve her. We can discuss the details when I arrive and set up a data link so you can track the test results in real-time."
"I trust I will be seeing you soon then, Ms. Nolan."
Mason Eckhart hung up and dialed the extension for Harrison's lab.
"Dr. Harrison, finish whatever test you are doing and then return Ms. Briggs to her room. Report to my office when that is done."