Well in this chapter we get to take a trip to the Institute to see Isaac. Of course I'm sure this only means more questions will be asked then answered. But that's all part of the fun now isn't it?

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Chapter 29: Another Piece, Another Riddle

Mine and Dylan's trip to New York was rather uneventful, full of witty remarks about what had recently happened and the occasional lengthy silence as Dylan would periodically stare off into space. More time given to the search for knowledge, perfection, and peace. I began to notice how much more open Dylan had become over the past few months, it almost took me by surprise every time he would strike up another conversation. eventually I told him the grim tale of the mission to Siberia, down to every detail I could remember. The look in the experiment's eyes, the look on everyone's faces, the bitter cold that could permeate any room and gnaw away at the soul. I also told him about mine and Alex's mission to Seattle, what I had learned about Chu, about Alister and his mysterious employer, it dug up a treasure trove of memories and sensations I thought I had lost the ability to recall.

It wasn't long before we actually reached New York, it was about eight and the star filled sky was blocked out by the bright glow of the high rises that surrounded us. Phoenix always said that she had wanted to go to New York, to see the sky scrapers, the Statue of Liberty, to be a tourist for once in her life; she never got the chance. It seemed so long ago when I had been called to work on the security force at the Institute, the only thing that had changed since then were the names on posters and signs. The Institute was absolute and unchanging, a testament of time in a city that never slept.

The limo pulled into the garage followed by a black van containing Odin's motorcycle. Dylan got out first and headed for the door with his hands in his pockets, I got out and scanned the blank walls of the garage as if I was looking for a change that I would never find. Dylan waited for at the door and put his hand on the handle.

"Come on, let me give you the grand tour." He said almost sarcastically.

It was a side of the Institute that I had never seen before. I had always been in the research department or the holding units, never in the actual living quarters or in the data banks. It was lavish, no expense was paid, almost like the hotel in Paris. I shot a silent glance at Dylan, he seemed rather unreceptive of the luxury that encased us. Instead he continued walking through room after room, hallway after hallway, as if he was unaware that I may linger and lose track of him. Eventually we came to a door with a brass plate on it; it was labeled 'Library'.

The walls were lined with bookcases crammed with tomes of endless knowledge. Files on staff and company history, reports on on every one of the countless experiments ever conducted, disks on the eternal hours of research, and the failure, the never ending supply of failures. It was as if I had found the very records of heaven, nothing could be hidden from one who could spend even an hour in this room. I was dumbfounded that I had never been here before or that I had never heard of it. Dylan chuckled at the expression on my face.

"They try to keep it on a need to know basis, everything in here is classified, even though everything was written by a staff member at one point in time." His eyes trailed off into the depths of the room, the size of the room was astounding, as never ending as a hall of mirrors. The floors was covered in a densely detailed carpet and the room was lit with numerous elaborate chandeliers, the air felt warm and seemed to glow faintly. Dylan began walking along the bookcases to our left. "I'm sure he's in here somewhere." He trailed off into thought, running his fingers over the spines of the various books on genetics. The faint melodies of a piano grew increasingly louder as we went farther into the Library. Dylan stopped in front of a door, glancing back to see if I was following. When he opened it the room was flooded with a white light, and the hypnotic melodies seemed to call us in.

Isaac was sitting at a piano in the middle of the room, his eyes were closed and his fingers glided over the keys. He was like one of the great composers of the past only reincarnated. There was simply no end to his character, it had been a long time since I last saw him, and yet he looked so much more mature, like his soul had aged a lifetime and he didn't. It didn't take long for me to get swept up in the melody, music always had that effect on me, bringing up all kinds of mental images, pleasant, horrific, memories of loss, love and life. every image that had been burned into my mind flashed before my eyes, like I was in the gallery of my subconscious. Isaac seemed to catch on even though his eyes were closed and the melody picked up, turning from light and reflective to dark and foreboding. The room matched the tone and one by one the lights went out. Shadows danced in the darkness, red eyes glistened like rubies, and growls echoed off the walls. The only light that remained was above Isaac, a spotlight surrounded by an abyss. He slowed down, the shadows stopped, and the lights began to fade back into existence. He stopped and the last note hung in the air.

"It's a piece by Nobuo Uemastu, Melodies of Life has always been a favorite of mine." He was staring at the keys, only glancing up at me at the end of his sentence. "I didn't think you would actually come, after what just happened." His tone was blank, he was containing whatever he truly felt. He slid off the bench and paced towards me. "But now that you're here I might as well fill you in on everything." He put a hand on Dylan's shoulder as he walked by us and he slipped back into the Library. We followed him and sat down at three separate couches surrounding a large table. Isaac leaned back and propped his feet on the table, Dylan sat down and folded his arms; I sat down leaning with an elbow on one of the armrests.

"So how long have you been here?" I said glancing at Dylan who bounced the glance off to Isaac.

"About a month, of course I got everything that happened second handed from the reports. My apology is of no value, but I'm sorry about Phoenix, I always thought you two looked so nice together." Part of that comment stung like ice. "Of course Locke's escape didn't go unnoticed either, and from the looks of it, the wolf had eluded your grasp up to this point. Tragic." His eyes never met mine, I kept trying to read him, but to no avail; it was just like before in Paris. He began to chuckle as his eyes halted on a book hidden among the shelves. "She should have died hereafter; there would have been a time for such a word. Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty place from day to day to the last syllable of recorded time, and all of our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

"Macbeth? Is there a work of Shakespeare that you haven't read?" Dylan asked, his eyes shining through his dark blond hair. We all knew the answer, I doubted there was a book in existence that Isaac hadn't read. Isaac smirked at the sarcasm, shaking head head slightly.

"I suppose that it was fitting for the situation at hand, although I must say I underestimated how morbid it would come across." He paused, thinking intently about what he was going to say next. "I would ask how he broke out, but I'm sure after being there that long he knew everything. Father says that they should have erased him when they had the chance all those years ago, unforeseen consequences make life all the more interesting don't you think?" He was grinning, but he was trying to hide it with a hand. Dylan had started to stare off into space again, but an eyebrow rose at Isaac's last comment.

"They're a sign of poor planning or poor execution." He muttered in rebuttal.

"If they had taken that long he would have expired all on his own? Oh the mortal bond, how you drive us to take risks." Isaac retorted closing his eyes. He opened one of them and looked at me. "At a loss for words?" He didn't try hiding the grin this time. "Or are you simply having a long awaited epiphany?"

"Well it isn't the latter, and now it isn't the former. Although, the latter would be nice."

"Wouldn't it be?" Dylan said, finally coming back form his trance. "I believe that the three of us could each use one." Isaac's grin vanished before my eyes and he shot Dylan a rather displeased look. "That is along the lines of what you said to Alister before you sent him on his way, isn't it?" Alister? my eyes snapped open and the two of them took notice.

"Alister Lynch, so you're the poor soul they sent to guard Chu, I'm sorry for the inconvenience." I didn't respond. "I was the one who gave him the mission to take Chu out of the equation."

"Against the advice I gave you so many times before." Dylan added. Isaac shot him a look that ordered silence.

"He's been a thorn in my side for too long, and if I let him continue to move across the board, there's no telling how much interference he could cause. How much damage he could do to the company and it's projects." Another piece to the puzzle, a rather large one. Isaac was the mysterious employer, the one who hired Alister and his men in the first place. He's the one that wants Chu gone. Chu was a threat because of his line of work in chemical manufacturing and nuclear power, he was a benefactor for the recombinant DNA project and was trying to get some of the experiments for his own purposes. Isaac was simply eliminating what he saw as a threat. But it all came with unforeseen consequences.

"Why is Chu such a threat? Isn't he just another man out for his own piece of sadistic pie?"

"At first glance yes, but he wants to have Itex manufacture the seventy-seventh generation like weapons and use them to take over the world no less. I will not allow us to be mass produced, rapid genetic engineering is only a lethal step back from progress, and progress cannot be halted." How true that statement hauntingly was, I was part of the seventeenth generation, actually the first of the seventeenth. I found it hard to believe that among all of those other generations only now, at the seventy-seventh, had they seen the light of day. Of course being the first successful batch in a while, it made sense that they would be put to some sort of use. After all, the breed was. But to be used as weapons? Something wasn't adding up, and the skin on the back of my neck crawled at the thought an army of avians.

"Of course, the two of us, being the only free avians haven't thought the best of this little endeavor. I wonder what are rogue variable has to think about this." Dylan said, reminding me of what I despised, Locke. He was free to do whatever, and for all I knew, he could be plotting to take over the company for revenge, or the world for that matter. Some part of me refused to believe that, it wasn't like him to do that.

Think harder. I know you can.

Even though the trail was cold he could still find me. I wasn't safe anywhere, not from this. I would have shouted towards the heavens, burst out in rage and probably rip apart the first stationary object my paws could find. I would have, but The Chairman came in the room and shattered the silence by slamming the door behind him. He smiled at the three of us, the shield of calmness in his eyes were hiding a blaze of fury just below the surface.

"Son, Dylan." He paused when he looked at me. "I haven't seen you since the company meeting in Paris, I assume that you're here on assignment." I simply nodded back. "Good to here, I must say though, quite a shame what happened to Alpha pack, they were such a promising bunch." The sincerity in his voice, if there was any, was spread very thinly. My hands balled into fists and I blinked slowly. So it was true, they really didn't care.

Another illusion rent. Maybe now you'll be able to see clearly.

The air grew awkwardly still, I didn't respond and yet The Chairman expected me to. It grew into a staring contest, like the ones me and Alex would get into, a battle of wills. The tension was thick enough that it became tangible.

"Father, didn't you say that you had a meeting with Dr. Gunther-Hagan today. You wouldn't want to keep the good doctor waiting, I'm sure he's as busy a man as you." The Chairman blinked at Isaac's statement, the battle was over, a stalemate at best. I shot a glance back at Isaac and Dylan. Isaac looked as though a great scheme was unfolding, and and Dylan sat there shaking his head. The Chairman looked at the grandfather clock wedged between two book cases and frowned.

"I'll leave you to your business." He let out a quick sigh and spun around, when the door closed behind him it slammed shut. Isaac let out a sigh as if a burden had been lifted off of his shoulders. He grinned weakly. I shook my head, mimicking Dylan. These two could get away with anything, why couldn't I? Dylan's eyes snapped open as if he had received the epiphany that we had been anticipating.

"The doctor said that he wasn't arriving until tomorrow." Isaac's smile grew devilishly.


Yay! Isaac and Dylan, this can only get better. Right? Let's hope, because events are being set into motion that cannot be undone. Felix still has to talk with Dr. HGH, and Locke's still on the lose. Please continue to read and review. TBC, so all in due time.