Scott was in hell. He sat on his bed, propped against the head board not even giving the impression he was trying to sleep. The mournful piano music he could just hear, muffled by the thick walls of the house, fitted his mood perfectly but also broke his heart that little bit more.

Virgil hadn't been seen for the rest of the day. He hadn't heard the conversation that had followed Jeff's pronouncement of an open mind but, Scott supposed, it probably didn't matter. Virgil probably knew everything that had been said in the room anyway.

"But I am willing to listen" Jeff had said and Scott saw, physically saw the moment Oracle threw caution to the wind and decided to trust them anyway.

"Alright" she said.

"You said that you didn't believe you were real either" Jeff started. "In his report Virgil indicated this might be because of a medical condition, CIPs, I believe, but it wasn't was it?"

"It absolutely was" she countered. "At first anyway. Looking back now I see that they" she searched for the word "fostered that and used it to their advantage to get me to fall in line. And to help bring the others in line."

Scott frowned at the mention of others.

"How would you not thinking you're real help bring other biomechanoids in line?" Jeff asked.

"I was so young when I was converted" she explained. "The children's' hospital thought I was about seven and I don't think I'd been in the home more than a year after that before it happened."

"That's impossible" Jeff interrupted. "All the information we have says that a conversion can't be completed until the subject has finished puberty."

"Surprise" she said just a little sadly. "Your information is wrong. The accepted best age for conversion is between 12-14. The human system has to fully integrate the nano teach and accept it as its own for there to be any kind of long-term benefit. That's why nanites are removed from hospital subjects. Most people won't accept them and most hospital patients are adults. Eventually, once the host system has finished dealing with whatever it will turn on the nanites. But if they system isn't fully developed the nanites are accepted and training can begin."

"So, if you don't think you're a real person it makes you more compliant" Jeff summarised and Oracle inclined her head in agreement. "And if you're compliant then the others, presumable converted later, will be compliant as well." Oracle nodded again a slight smile showing she was pleased that Jeff understood.

"Jesus Christ" Scott said feeling physically sick. "You said you had to be deprogrammed but you didn't mean that in a computer sense, did you?"

She shook her head.

"I don't have any memories from before the hospital, the only reality I knew was the one the masters told me and they told me I wasn't a real person. Any feelings I had weren't real and that I should ignore them." She gave a half smile, "unfortunately for them I was rather bad at that second part."

Scott forced his mind away from what it felt like to be told you were nothing, treated like you were nothing.

"Who deprogrammed you?" he asked.

"Dr Leonard" she said. "I overstepped. I became a liability so the masters had to get rid of me. A part of me even agreed with them at the time" she said sounding disgusted wither herself. "But, there's no sense in them losing out entirely so I got put in a fight with a white monster. It was a great boon to them, I understand they made a fortune from selling tickets."

"What sort of monster?" Gordon asked.

"I don't know what it was" she said. "I think maybe they made it? It was taller than me on four legs but more than twice my height when it stood on two. It had massive great claws and teeth" she shuddered and quickly drew on the composure from earlier. "The thing bit me nearly clean in half and I stabbed it in the eye. Death for both of us. Then I woke up in Dr Leonard infirmary with him arguing that they couldn't afford to waste resources like that and he'd take responsibility for my rehabilitation training. I have no idea why I didn't die."

Something passed over Jeff's face then. A look of understanding, as though a missing piece of a much larger puzzle had fallen into place. Scott didn't know what that was and he didn't get a chance to ask.

"Dr Leonard then deprogrammed you? How did he do that?" Jeff asked.

"Slowly" Oracle said. "I was a real bitch about it too, I didn't believe a word of what he was saying to start with. I think if I'd have been capable of getting up off the bed in that first week, I probably would have throttled him" she laughed to herself. "He persevered though. Convinced the masters that I was no good for the arenas for a while and that he'd retrain me as a field medic." Something passed across her features then and, if Scott had had to name it, he would have said she looked haunted. "Honestly, I think it was patching the kids back up that was the thing that finally started getting to me. I shouldn't be resetting dislocations or giving multiple stitches to a ten-year-old. Especially not the same ones, week in week out."

"You said there were other biomechanoids at the facility?" Gordon asked and she nodded warily. "Why did Dr Leonard choose you instead of one of them?"

"Convenience I guess?" she said, but it convinced no one.

"It could have been" Gordon said carefully. "But I think it has more to do with how you ended up in Dr Leonard's care in the first place. Something gave him reason to believe you could change and I'm willing to bet it's whatever you did when you 'overstepped'."

"I'm not getting into that" she said flatly. "It was the right thing to do but it didn't change a damn thing and I ended up dying for it."

There was more there, Scott knew there was but he didn't want to push for it. He didn't want the answers lurking under the surface of that comment because the ones he had were bad enough. He almost could understand things like this happening in war torn countries, places run by megalomaniacal dictators, but this was England. Things like this weren't supposed to happen in proud first world countries like that. But if they could happen, and clearly they had, then they could happen anywhere and Scott felt a small layer of safety he hadn't even been aware of slip away.

"So, Dr Leonard showed you that you were a real person?" Jeff asked and Scott was pleased to see his eyes full of kindness and sympathy rather than the out and out suspicion from before.

"Yes" she said heavily. "Though I can't honestly say I always believe it." At Jeff's questioning look she continued. "I'm confronted daily but the fact that the world doesn't recognise my existence. I can't get a job because I don't have a name to put on a bank account, I can't get a home for the same reason. The citizens record that Thunderbird Five created for me is amazing" she said her eyes shining. "It's meant to be impossible but he made me real, at least as far as the government is concerned, and he created Jasmine, initially for me to hide behind but actually, suddenly I didn't need to hide anymore. But it still nags" she said deflating. "Dr Leonard said I could choose, right and wrong, good and evil; he said I was well aware of which was which and I should stop hiding behind this idea that I was lesser and unable to comprehend such things and take responsibility for my actions." She shook her head slightly. "But it's really hard" she breathed. "Because the world doesn't always seem to know either. If someone attacks someone else, that's wrong but if I intervene I'm wrong and I don't know why?" She searched each face in the room sighing when no one offered her an answer. "I got told not to take the law into my own hands but then law doesn't recognise me and you can't ask. There's literally no one to ask. I broke the hand of a guy who was forcing himself on a woman and the club owner fired me and I don't know why."

"Sometimes" Scott said reaching out to put a reassuring hand on her, "Things don't work out the way that they should. If that woman was being molested then you were right to help her. The club owner was only thinking of his reputation, not of the woman you helped." He didn't know why he did it. Some part of him recognised that she needed the human contact and, in that moment, the rest of him realised he'd made his mind up about her.

Oracle nodded but didn't look convinced. She had been staring at his hand on her knee but she bought her gaze up to meet his. He was surprised to find her eyes a little watery, her breathing slightly unsteady.

"That's why I did it" she said quietly. "I had to know if I really was capable of making the right decision. I didn't know much about International Rescue but everyone seems to love you. You help people and so when I heard about this threat to you, I realised I could do something about it. It was the right thing to do. Right?"

Scott realised she was asking him. This wasn't some rhetorical question; he could see the self-doubt in her face.

"Yes" he said. "You did the right thing by coming forward and offering to help us."

She took a shaky breath and nodded.

"Okay, then this is alright then" she said one hand moving towards the collar. "If you this is what you need to feel safe whilst I'm here then, that's okay. Maybe, if I can prove to you that I really don't mean any harm to any of you or anyone else for that matter, maybe you'll think about letting me go after this is done?"

It was the hope on her face that had finally killed Scott. Sitting in his room now it crashed upon him. Instead of saving people she was asking International Rescue to spare her.

Virgil's piano music filtered through his thoughts. Scott moved. He needed his brother right now. If there was anyone who could calm the swirling tide of thoughts and emotions in his mind it was his closest brother.

It didn't take Scott long to find Virgil, he just followed the gentle but sad music through the manor until he came to a stop at a glass door. Virgil was lost his in own mind, playing the piano without seeing the keys he stared sightlessly at the wall in front of him. Scott was about to reach for the handle when Virgil spoke.

"How long have you been watching me?" He asked.

"Long enough that it's creepy" replied a female voice with just a little humour in it. Scott froze, their father had ordered her room sealed pending a family discussion in the morning. Oracle had agreed. His temper flared. No wonder she'd agreed, she knew she had a way out. Maybe that's all everything earlier was; just her biding time until she could make her getaway?

But then why hadn't she left?

Oracle walked through the rooms other entrance and seated herself next to Virgil on the piano stool. Scott wanted to pull her away as she casually invaded his brother's personal space but Virgil didn't seem to mind.

"I didn't know you played" she said indicating the piano. "You're good."

"Not really" Virgil said quietly. "I'm good enough for what I want to do is all."

Oracle leaned back, making a show of studying him.

"Nah" she said stretching the word out. "Lots of things look good on you Virgil Tracy but false humility isn't one of them. You know you're good" she concluded. "So? Go one then" she bumped her shoulder lightly onto his. "Show me what you've got."

Virgil regarded her a moment clearly trying to decide if she was making fun of him or not before a slight smile cross his features.

"Alright" Virgil replied stretching his hands slightly before laying his fingers on the keys.

Scott never had the musical ear his brother did but this time even Oracle caught on to what he was playing before Scott could – if her appreciative eyebrow was anything to judge by. After a few bars Gershwin's Summertime filtered through the glass. Though it seemed a little more ornate than usual.

Is Virgil showing off? Scott wondered. If he was unsure before he was left in no doubt at all as Virgil moved into an improvised solo that had Oracle laughing in glee, a look of pure delight on her face. As the solo ended and the verse began once more Oracle joined in, her voice adding a rich alto. Virgil's head shot up in surprise but he never missed a note, smiling as she followed him through the slight variations he added. He repeated the ending phrase, drawing things out until Oracle found a final note that was pure jazz. They turned and smiled at each other. A private smile, found in a moment and meant only for the two people in it. Scott suddenly felt like an intruder.

Oh, he thought succinctly as he realised exactly what he was looking at.

Shit.

If you'd like to hear the piece that inspired the final scene copy this link:

watch?v=0yDSbN653lI

I always think this is the way Virgil would play.

Due to too many Christmas concerts I won't be able to upload next week but please be sure to drop in and let me know if you're enjoying it. Comments make me very happy.