*Author's note: Sorry FOX and TnT...
Chapter 10 Die Wahrheit
"We should start the program today, Mr. Cox," said Raines.
"Why don't we simply use it on Jarod? It would be a lot more timely."
"Decimate a mind like his? Too risky."
"Is he really of much value to us, though? We have the disks-"
"And we need more. Leigh may be intelligent, but she is not as much as Jarod. She was raised outside of the Centre, whereas he was raised in this sheltered environment. Do not forget that he is the key to the Centre. Without him, we would not have the means to compete with other more "traditional" companies. She is better in that field anyway."
"Yes sir, I will start the program today."
"It was all a dream, Sydney, a whole fucking dream."
"I know Leigh, they have done something like this to Jarod before."
"But it was so real, I could touch things and feel the texture. It was more than a dream; the people, the places, were so real! And everything happened like I wanted, like I knew it would."
"It combined what both of you wanted to happen. Jarod wanted to find his parents and you wanted… justice."
"Does Jarod know?"
"He recognized the effects of his program during the link; there were several problems near the beginning. Lyle did not put him into it for a while so we could stabilize him after he was wounded."
"By Lyle," she added.
"Then Lyle brought him out of it for a second time later on. There were some complications, but Jarod agreed to continue."
"What was the problem?"
"I think you tried to Read him during the link. It caused him to relapse and relive old memories. With him, memory lane is Route 66."
She remembered seeing Jarod sprawled out on the floor of the summerhouse, wondering what he had gone through.
"Is that why he hid the DSA's from me, to hide what the Centre did to him?"
"Yes. He tries to protect you. The Centre is more dangerous than you can imagine. It is a horrible place for a teenager like yourself."
She bowed her head sadly. "And Jarod. What will happen now?" she asked.
"Lyle said that they may explore the new opportunities that the success of the link has opened up."
She shivered at the thought; "Will it ever end?"
Sydney stared into her eyes; he wanted to relieve the pain she felt. He knew there was nothing he could do. "I don't know Leigh. I honestly don't know."
Harsh voices came from behind her door. Sydney turned around as Cox opened the door to her room accompanied by two sweepers.
"You may leave us, Sydney," he said.
Leigh sat down on the bed. It took all her might not to stand back up when Cox sat next to her. She looked away as he began to talk.
"We need you to help us. Your gift would be best applied if we could help you to understand it. It would be a pity to let it go to waste."
"As your slave? I won't let you control me."
"We can. We did with Jarod, but he was easier to subdue as a child."
"You are lying, he fought you and he escaped."
"Why do you think he stayed in the link?"
The question hit her hard. She had wondered that since Sydney had told her he had agreed to continue it, "No, he couldn't…"
"He chose to stay. The program was his 'greatest creation'," he said in an eerily calm voice.
"But Raines made him create it!"
"No, Raines helped him to create it."
"Then why does he hate you, Mr. Cox?" she shouted at him.
He seized her arm and pulled her towards him. She struggled to pull her arm free, but Cox held it tightly and whispered in her ear, "Because he is a fool."
He pulled her off the bed and to the door. With the sweepers encompassing them, Cox dragged her through hallways and down stairs. The corridors became darker as they went further.
"He is a fool who does not know what is best for him, but we will use you to get him to cooperate." Cox said in a powerful tone.
"I won't help you."
He ignored her and stopped in front of a door. He opened it and shoved her inside. There was an operating table in the middle of the room, which the sweepers dragged her to. As one strapped her legs to the table, the other undid her handcuffs. When he removed them, she whipped her arms out of his grasp. Desperately, she fought against him, trying to tear her legs free. The sweeper tried to grab her arms, but she struggled. In frustration, he hit her across the face and hastily tied down her arms.
Leigh opened her eyes slowly and returned her frosted glare to Cox.
"You have been here for quite some time. Not once have you willingly done anything for the Centre. The only reason you gave us Jarod is because Lyle used a truth serum. You still resisted. Recently, Raines and I developed a certain program of drugs that will ensure your cooperation. Some of the drugs include monohetris, which you have been given steadily already, LSD, propranolol, and phenosarapine. Eventually, the drugs will 'change' your mind."
She stared into Cox's blank face. No emotions were held in the man's eyes, and it gave her the chills. He returned her stare and they locked eyes. She glared at him and whispered, "Damn you Cox." He released a spray of fluid from a needle into the air and looked at her grimly. The sweepers twisted her arm towards him.