Chap two
It was that dream again. It was so goddamn realistic. She could feel the snow biting her bare skin, she could hear the wind howling its rage in her ears. Barefooted and without clothing, she raced through the woods and prayed that she might live to see another day. People behind her, screaming, shooting. And a whispering in her mind, her heart. That strange whispering...
A loud roar of thunder shattered the dream. All was dark and quiet. Shuddering,
Laura refused to open her eyes. First, she had to piece together what happened. The guns, the conference... oh god. What had happened?
Eyes still closed, she tasted the air. It smelled moist and dark. And of someone else close by. She heard his breaths and felt his warmth. It was the man she'd saved.
Opening her eyes, the room was pitch black, without even the moon to cast it's cold gaze. Her pupils widened from slits to ovals, and she could clearly see the face of the companion protector, a few inches from her own. His face looked calm and peaceful, like a child's. It was rather odd being this close to another human being, and she fought not to move back. There was a time when she would have howled in rage, and tore out of the room like the wind itself. But there was an aura about this man, something she'd never felt before. Whatever six sense she'd acquired over the years told her that he was, in fact, a innocent human being. That in itself was a rarity.
The only light in the room was the dull red of a digital clock. It was early in the morning, 4:30. She wanted to get up, leave, but her body was refusing to comply. Damn,
I must have been hurt worse than I thought...
There were voices coming from somewhere close by. A man and a woman's.
Without too much strain, she would understand what they were saying.
"How is she?"
"Alright, I checked on her bout' half an hour ago. It's so cute, Renee, Liam's all curled up next to her." There was some chuckling. Laura's eyebrows rose. "Anyway,
Street's on her way over from some rave or whatever in London."
"Good. I took care of the scene from this afternoon... but Sandoval go to those thugs before I did. I doubt they have any info, but still..."
Liam, the man she assumed was beside her, groaned softly and rolled on his back.
She watched his eyes flutter open, and the momentary confusion set in. She held her breath as he turned to her and his eyes caught hers. It was an awkward moment.
"Um... hi there." He tried stifled a yawn with no success, and rolled to face her.
She managed a small grin. His eyes were half closed and his hair was sticking up in oh, maybe sixty directions. Sometimes it was nice to have perfect night vision.
"Hello." That was as much as her battered brain could muster. So much for conversation. She attempted to sit up, and winced. Hopefully the protector hadn't seen that. The whole 'weak' thing was rather embarrassing to her.
"Hey, be careful!" Liam said, alarmed. He gently pushed her back to a lying position. "Are you feeling ok? What did you do to me? What happened to you? Are-"
Her eyes closed at the barrage of questions. She was feeling kind of light-headed and dizzy all of the sudden. Apparently, think was a bad thing to do at the moment.
The next thing she knew, there were people around her. There was a small lamp on a table next to the bed that was coming close to blinding her sensitive eyes. Liam was no longer next to her, but a dark bald guy with interesting glasses was standing on that side of the bed hollering into a room off to the side. A woman was staring at her with clouded eyes.
"I didn't do anything! She just passed out!"
"I didn't say you did, I asked if you'd go get a glass of water Liam, calm down!"
He hurried back into the softly lit room and Auger snatched the glass, and handed it to Laura.
"Hey, here. Drink this, you're prolly' dehydrated." She accepted eagerly and half sat up to gulp the liquid down.
"Alright. My name is Renee, and you are someplace safe. Can we ask you some questions?"
"Renee, she just woke up, don't you think she'd like some rest first?" Liam and
Auger glared at Renee. The lack of sleep was wearing on the three of them.
"It's alright, I feel better now. I owe you for getting me out of there, but if you are gonna ask me stuff, maybe I might get some aspirin and sit up or on a couch or something... I don't wanna fall back asleep right now." Here eyes were now a piercing green. Auger disappeared, and Liam helped her to her feet. She was still adorned in the tattered clothing.
"Um here, you can borough some of my clothing." Liam went outside the room
and then returned with a duffel bag. He pulled out a t-shirt and sweats. She nodded her thanks.
"Um... gimme a minute?" Liam and Renee left the room.
"He Renee... You alright?" Liam cast his gaze to the tense woman next to him.
She just shrugged, but the protector could tell she was tired. "Hey, how bout after this, we go grab some breakfast, alright?" He was rewarded with a soft smile. The whole resistance team had been pressed to the limit lately, but since yesterday... it seemed to be worth the sleeplessness. Who ever this girl was, maybe she could help them.
Auger was sitting on the couch in the main room, clutching a coffee mug to his chest. Liam and Renee sat next to the hacker.
"Me and Liam are going for breakfast later, care to join?"
"Who's gonna stay with the kid?"
"Actually, I really wasn't planning on staying." The three turned to see a young woman dressed in a huge pare of sweatpants (on her) and a large black t-shirt. The darkness under her eyes had faded, and her eyes themselves were bright and aware. "I'll answer your questions as best I can, but I need to be on the move. It's a survival thing,"
She said.
She sat across from the trio. Auger handed her some aspirin. She nodded her thanks and swallowed them down.
"Do you know where you are?" Asked Renee.
"Resistance headquarters. Washington D.C." Liam's eyes widened.
"How about your name?" asked Auger. She nodded.
"My name is Laura. Actually, I am really known and Jace (j-ase). I am twenty years old." Renee's eyebrows rose. She looked only to be a teenager!
Liam looked seriously at Laura/Jace. "You saved my life. How?"
"And what's with the black cat trip that you pulled?" Auger questioned. She sighed. She did owe these people, but they were asking some questions she did not want to answer.
"Trip?" She eyed Auger. "You have no idea what a 'trip' it is, bud." Her eyes flashed. Liam saw where this was heading tried to soothe the conversation.
"I want to know why you saved me." She averted her gaze to Liam's.
"You were innocent. Believe it or not, I have this bitch of a conscience. It makes me do these 'help people' things occasionally." She shrugged. Liam had the feeling there was more to it than that. "And as for the cat 'trip', that's running personal there. Let's say
I was caught up in some government DNA testing that went bad. That's all." She shrugged again. Renee snorted.
"That is highly improbable. If something like this were to happen, then Doors would have known about it." Auger and Liam looked at Renee.
Jace just blinked. Then started to laugh. It was not a humorous laugh, but a rasping chuckle that seemed to command fear. "Oh really. I see you know everything there is to know, hmm?" She raised her hand above the table, as if to give a high five.
Liam gasped in disbelief as that hand... shifted to something padded and fur-covered.
Dagger like claws tipped black-furred paw-like fingers, each covered with a feline pad.
Only her hand changed, the rest of Jace remained human.
"Tell me what you know about this. Over the years, the human race has pissed me off more than the Taelons ever had. They call themselves god, mess with other's lives, hopes, dream and goddamn DNA. They live only for themselves and their own profit. I saved Liam Kincaid's life because he had the decency to try and warn me of an attack. A rare thing, indeed." Her hand dropped to her side, and returned to normal. Her eyes seemed to glow in anger. "I'm glad you and Doors International know everything. That makes my life that much easier, except for when you want something from me, and then you're all suck-ups." She closed her eyes.
Renee stared in disbelief. Liam felt ashamed and Auger just sat there.
"Now, if you are through, I thank you for your help, but I have to be going." She stood, and made her way towards the elevator. Liam jumped after her, leaving Auger and the startled Renee behind.
"Wait! Laura-er, Jace, wait!" He barely made it into the elevator before it closed. She was simply shaking her head. "I'm sorry!"
"Why should you be? You can't take the blame for your friends. Besides, they are probably just tired." She winced. "So am I." Her eyes seemed to mist over. "Look, how about we just meet up for dinner or whatever. I'll answer what I can and then I can get back to finding new work." She took a pen from him shirt pocket, and scribbled something onto Liam's hand. Then she simply looked, and walked out the church doors into the early morning rain.
Several hours later
The small apartment seemed peaceful and warm, for once. Jace was sprawled out on her top bunked pecking into her Sony laptop. Her insides still felt rather screwed up, and Tylenol was not helping that much. The small bunk's sheets were rolled into a ball, empty chinese takeout boxes were hung neatly in the rungs. A small pill bottle was discarded into an empty box, with no name and label. It's contents had been taken that evening... Jace glanced at the bottle and closed her eyes in pain. She wished the damn stuff would work already. A crash of thunder shook the building. The weather had been rather bad, the darkened sky howled and stormed.
She sighed and laid back against the pillows that were pilled up and the bunk's end. Being a hacker was all right, but doing it for someone else was just... so starting to suck. She was tired of working for assholes. Tired of not knowing when she would have a job.
Her computer beeped, jarring her out of thought. She had received an email;
Hey Jace,
Will you meet me and Renee at Starbucks on Portland Ave tomorrow?
7:30pm
-Liam Kincaid
She blinked. That was kinda... blunt. Alright. She could do that. She stretched and yawned. But first, it was definitely time for some gaming in her new playstation 4.
7:31, Starbucks Café
"You know, I think I am getting addicted to this stuff," Liam murmured into his latte'. The small diner was set back into an old stone building, and the dim lighting and
soft music seemed to soothe Renee's nerves. Liam did well to bring her here.
"Do you see her?" She asked?
"No, not yet..." He peered over the small crowd of people. "There!"
She was dressed in baggy black leather pants and a green shirt. Her short brown hair was now... short red spiked brown hair. She sat across from the pair. Her gray eyes seemed to be flicked with green, matching her shirt.
"Hey."
Renee only smiled. "You look... healthier."
"You mean I don't look like I'm dying."
"That too."
Jace looked sideways for a moment, then returned her gaze to Renee. "I'm sorry
I snapped at you before. For the most part... I simply do not like people."
Renee was surprised to hear her apology, she hadn't expected that at all. She nodded.
"Now, ask what you need, because I don't like being surrounded by people like this." The companion protector quirked his eyebrows. A kind of weird thing for a teenager- er, twenty-year-old to say.
Renee pulled her global from her side. "Here's the list: Who are you, really? And do you need our help?" Laura blinked in surprise.
"With what?"
"You seem to be a mystery, Jace. You technically don't exist. You are far more equipped to handle injury than any of us are. According to your DNA and medscans... you aren't even human." The girl's eyes grew narrow, and she closed her eyes, as if to hide some dark emotion within. She only whispered... I know. Liam could tell they had hit some kind of nerve.
"Jace..." He reached out, and touched her arm. "That's what we mean. You don't have to do this alone... we'll help you." His eyes were kind and sincere. Jace was in a state of shock, not willing to believe that someone, a human being, had offered that.
She didn't have time to reply, because the beeping of a global interrupted her gaping.
"Major, will you please come to the mothership? There is something I need to discuss with you." Da'an inquired over the global. Liam nodded.
"I need to leave... I'll be back as soon as I can, Renee." He stood, smiled at Jace and left. Renee was left alone with the young woman.
"Yes, Da'an?" The protector asked as he entered Da'an's chamber aboard the
mothership. The Taelon was facing a computer monitor. Zo'or was behind, looking over his shoulder.
"Thank you for joining us, Major. There is an issue we need to discuss," Zo'or quipped. Liam stopped dead in his tracks when he saw that screen; it was Laura! Or a younger version of the Laura he knew.
"Do you recognize this human child, Major?" Asked Zo'or. Liam nodded.
"She's the one that was involved with the pharmaceutical incident a few days ago... Laura Denoven.
We never found who she was." Zo'or's grin grew wider. Liam swallowed. That was a bad look...
"Did you notice anything strange about her, Major?" inquired Da'an. Liam shook his head. "We do not believe she is human." He widened his eyes, trying to look shocked.
"There was apparently some genetic testing done a few months after our arrival on earth... our technology was already in the hands of thieves and resistance," He sneered, "There was a project conducted by a sub-governmental group in the united states. The project, named 'Genova', apparently used our technologies and tried to re-write the human DNA and RNA buy using that of another earth creature. We have known of this project for some time, and until now, we believed it to be a failure, as in our testing with the Taelon/human hybrid. We were... ill informed.
"There were a few successes..." Da'an fiddled with the keypad, and the faces of other young kids were shone... Laura/Jace's was among them.
"We thought they were all deceased... until you and agent Sandoval's encounter with them earlier." Da'an explained. "They are... a protootype that was never meant to be... we wish you to find the last of them, Major Kincaid." Zo'or smiled his evil smile, and left the room.
"Major... I do not wish the child to be harmed. Here is all data I could find on her." He handed his protector a data disk. "She does not have much time left, I fear, between her nature and Zo'or's intentions for her. Go, find her Liam."
In his office a while later, Liam held his head in his hands. Jace was in very real danger... He looked back at the screen in horror.
Genova Entry log, June 12th, 2000
As of 15:00 hrs, specimen drw-2002 is still stable, but we do not know for how long. Her
RNA is not transporting the new encodments, and her body is threatening to shut down,
like all the others. It is amazing she has survived this long. Somehow, her body is able to
withstand the pain of repectunation without drugs, and she remains conscious. For
reasons unknown, she is the only remaining prototype of the Genova project left alive...
Genova Entry log, July 20th, 2000
Drw-2002 has revolted against her captors. We have barely been able to sustain the
damage from her rage. She has grown too powerful, and can produce massive amounts of
damage with a horrifying amount of power. While she is growing resistant to all forms of
physical pain, only the emotional and psychological treatments are effective to control
her. While this is considered progress, we are afraid that we have pushed the limit of
human suffering too far and she may soon be impervious to all forms of containment. We
have begun testing a new neurological drug specifically designed to shut down the
subject's immune system. We fear that it may be the only hope of containment in the near
future.
Genova Entry log, September 4th, 2000
At 07:00 hrs, drw-2002 had effectively escaped from the confinements of the camp. It has
been over 5 hrs, and we have been unsuccessful in retrieving the subject. A small amount
of the hangmen's drug, I.E. polybutranic serum 4560, had been injecting into the subject
i.e. an ineffective tranquilizer gun shot. Hopefully this will cause massive infection when
introduced to bacterial and viral contaminants. If this fails, a backup virus was implanted
in polybutranic serum 4560, It will eat away the immune system of the subject at a rate of
15/hg per day. At such a rate, the subject will not live long without the anti-virus.
"We do not know how long she has to live, Liam... but perhaps we can help her and in turn learn about her..." Da'an spoke as he walk up behind the shaken Liam. The protector stood, and looked at the Taelon...
"I'll find her if I can, Da'an."