CONFIDENTIAL: FOR YOUR EYES
ONLY
To:
Mr. Parker
From: Pretender Background Committee
Subject: Background of Recaptured Pretender: Jarod
We
have created an extensive background for the Pretender named; "Jarod" to
coordinate his loyalty and support of the Centre and it's directives.
To
avoid unwanted questions, all of the family members must be dead. His parents died from different types of
Cancer a couple of years apart. His
mother June died of Breast Cancer in 1986, his father Daniel of Colon Cancer in
1989. There was a second son named Ricky
that died at birth. He would have been
3 years younger than Jarod. We have established
the family name as Jacobs.
NOTE: Records, family pictures and graves have
been established to support this scenario.
Both
of his parents were doctors. His father
worked on exotic airborne diseases and his mother was a psychiatrist. They were both long time employees of the
Centre until they died. Recognizing
Jarod's exceptionally high I.Q, he was volunteered into the Pretender program
by his parents. The Jacobs lived on
Centre grounds to cut down on outside distractions and for their own
safety. Jarod's father had received
threats by terrorists for eliminating some dangerous pathogens.
Dr.
Sydney Greene has acted as his mentor since his acceptance into the Pretender
program. His parents worked with Dr.
Greene to create a program that they felt would allow Jarod to reach his full
potential. He was trained at the Centre
but has attended several colleges. His
personal security is still of paramount importance. Miss Parker, his friend and confidant has acted in this capacity
for the past five years.
Jarod
lives at the Centre to be close to his work.
We have established a suite of rooms on SL10. We chose not to house him in the rooms he had occupied before as
Dr. Sydney Greene felt that he could have subconscious memories of his earlier
residency. We have established a
high-tech workspace that combines ergonomics and encourages relaxation and
comfort.
NOTE: Evidence of his manufactured past exists in
this living space in the form of verifiable Degrees, family pictures and "knick
knacks" taken from confiscated items of his former hideouts.
Jarod is retained
to do consultant work for the Centre.
His Pretender background allows him to work in any field, in any
discipline. He is a great asset to the
Centre and receives an annual salary equivalent to the level of Executive
E5. This adds another justification for
his personal security. There could be
kidnapping potential. He has never been
married but dated several women in college.
He has known Miss Parker since childhood and they have always been best
friends.
He
was attending a seminar in Denver and despite the advice of Miss Parker, chose
to drive up into the mountains for the day.
After his accident, he was immediately returned to the Centre for his
recovery.
Miss
Parker has been assigned living quarters next to Jarod's at the Centre. She insists on retaining her home in the
mountains for weekends and getaways.
Her personal items have been moved to support this background
story.
All
records have been established by Mr. Broots and can withstand close
inspection. All personnel that will
have access to the Pretender have been thoroughly briefed. Any violations of the guidelines set here
will not be acceptable. It comes from
the highest level that inappropriate references or behavior will be grounds for
extreme termination.
Please
refer all questions to the Pretender Background Committee
Mr. Parker read the file and nodded. Standing up, he walked over to his picture
window and looked out at the cove this area was named after.
"Good, that is taken care of. Angel, you can fill him in on his background now. Get him situated and back to work as soon as
possible."
Barely turning around, he tossed the file onto his
desk. His casual discard of the file
symbolized his equally as casual discard of his daughter's life. He turned back to the window giving Miss
Parker a non-verbal dismissal.
Miss Parker didn't reply to this, just turned and walked
from the room. Her emotions
telegraphing through the loud click of her heels as she stalked down the hall
towards the infirmary.
Miss Parker was both angry and relieved.
Angry because she had been promised a return to corporate
when she brought in the Pretender. She
wanted out of the clandestine darker side of the Centre. She had bargained this with her father when
he first transferred her out of corporate.
Now she was sold back into the slavery called the Centre. She had been written into Jarod's new life
to keep tabs on him. What about her
life? What about what SHE wanted?
After she had vented her anger, she thought of why she was
relieved. Jarod would be back in
Sydney's care. Mr. Raines and Lyle had
"hands off" orders. At least he would
be safe. He would get a nice little
life all planned out for him. With her
influence in the background story, at least he would have more freedom in this
life. She had to admit that Jarod had a
gentle, compassionate soul, when he wasn't being an Ass and baiting her. This Jarod had not done anything like that
since he woke up. He was less
confident, more insecure. No surprise
since he couldn't remember anything about himself. That was her job now.
Convince him that he had lived the life they made up for him. A life that secretly took away his freedom,
and now hers.
By the time she reached the infirmary she was ready to put
on her "long time friend and personal security person" face. She took a deep breath and stepped into the
room.
Sydney was sitting beside the bed. They were talking about Jarod's medical condition when she walked
in.
"Well, how are you feeling today Jarod?"
"Tired, sore. I will
be glad when I can sit up without getting dizzy."
"I hear that should be soon. You are coming along better than can be expected after what
you've been through. I tried to talk
you out of your little joy ride, at least you could have rented a roadster!"
"Huh?"
Swallowing the lump in her throat that telling him lies
brought, she began to tell him the carefully constructed story of his past.
Jarod was silent when she finished. He didn't meet Sydney or Miss Parkers eyes
when he asked to be alone to absorb the information. Sydney put a reassuring hand on Jarod's shoulder and said he
would return later to check on him.
Miss Parker jumped into the role and leaned down and kissed Jarod on the
forehead.
With honest feeling she whispered, "I'm glad you're
safe. I missed you. I'll check back later."
She stepped out of the infirmary and saw Sydney waiting just
a little bit down the corridor. Her
warm feeling quickly dissolved into irritation knowing that she was going to
get the "Shrink" treatment from him.
"How are you feeling Miss Parker?"
"How do you think Syd?
I should have been back in corporate now, instead I get to play
nursemaid. My only hope is that he
settles into a nice little routine and I can get my life back."
"Jarod is empathic, he will be able to feel your anger or
deceit if you are not convinced that you are doing the right thing for him."
"Thanks Syd, I'm aware of that." She stalked off to her office.
Sydney mentally compared what she had said against what her
face had shown when she walked out of the infirmary. He headed for his office to review the stack of potential
simulations for Jarod's return to work.
Jarod closed his eyes and tried to fight off his whirlwind
of feelings. He couldn't remember any
of the things he had been told. His
whole life was blank. Some of what he
had been told felt familiar but he still felt overwhelmingly lost.
His attempts to force his memory brought back the
headache. He was rubbing his temples to
try and relax his head when the door opened and the younger, well-dressed man
came in with a big smile. Jarod
remembered that he had been in the room earlier and seemed to have some issues with
his lack of memory.
"Hello again, I don't think I introduced myself before. I'm Lyle Parker, Miss Parker's twin. I wanted to have a minute alone with you to
let you how sorry I am about that confusion earlier. There are a lot of politics at our executive level and I was
miss-informed by my staff on the extent of your injuries. When I checked my sources I realized that it
was posturing within my own department.
I have taken care of my little problem. I hope that we will be able to work with each other as we have
in the past. You rest and get
better. We'll talk after you are up and
around again."
Lyle shook his hand and still smiling, left the room
confident that he had set things straight between himself and the Pretender.
Jarod was reviewing the conversation in his mind when the door
opened again. This time it was the
older man with the oxygen tank. He had
been identified as Mr. Raines.
"Jarod, are you feeling better?" rasped Mr. Raines.
"I guess, considering what I have been through, I am doing
okay."
"I understand that Miss Parker has briefed you on your
forgotten memory. Did you have any
additional questions?"
"What exactly was I working on?"
"You had completed your last project so you attended the
seminar in Denver. We were preparing
your next project during your absence.
Perhaps when you are feeling better we can send you the preparations to
keep you occupied during your stay in the infirmary."
"I would like that.
I think a little distraction would make me feel less disoriented."
"I'll arrange to have some files sent to you right
away. I'll leave you to your rest."
The squeaking of the oxygen tank sent shivers up Jarod's
spine. He couldn't hold back the
feeling that the last two visits were not ones he would have welcomed in his
past.
His head still hurting, he closed his eyes and drifted off
to sleep.
"Jarod, come here and eat, you can play with your plane
when you're done."
Young Jarod turned towards his mother, deeply banking the
plane to a new flight path. Climbing to
a higher altitude he raced towards the blanket and picnic set up in the
shade. His father and Kyle were already
digging into the fried chicken. His
mother hugged him and kissed his forehead.
"Come on Captain, land your plane…"
Her tone indicated that no argument would be
accepted. Jarod made a perfect landing
with the plane and grabbed a drumstick.
"That was a pretty good landing son, that could have
passed for a carrier landing."
"Really! Can you show me?"
"After you eat," his mother interrupted.
"After we eat son, the Commander-in-Chief has
spoken." His father said laughing.
In his darkened office, Lyle continued his plotting. He had the list of the accepted Sims that
Jarod would be working on when he left the infirmary. It would be easy for him to insinuate himself into the workings
of them. Picking up the recorder, he
left a list of instructions for his assistant.
So much was at stake here.
Having the Pretender back and helping could end this quickly.
Mr. Raines was alone in the technician room viewing the
surveillance tapes. He raised an
eyebrow when he saw Miss Parker kiss Jarod's forehead. Against his advice, she had entirely too
much power in this manufactured story.
She was going to require close monitoring to ensure she kept up her
part. Now that this scenario was going,
he could insert his own people into key positions.
His mind was re-focused when he saw Mr. Lyle drop in. Miss Parker he suspected, Mr. Lyle he
totally distrusted. He had no place in
the manufactured Pretender's history.
With this unscheduled visit, he had successfully written himself
in. Mr. Raines called his assistant and
issued new orders.
Sydney quietly stepped into the darkened infirmary. It appeared that the Pretender was
sleeping. As he turned to leave, he was
stopped by Jarod's voice.
"Dr. Greene?"
"You used to call me Sydney."
"I wish I could remember that."
Sydney crossed the room and sat next to the bed.
"How are you dealing with this?"
"I'm overwhelmed. A
few days ago I had a life that I don't remember any part of. Who am I?
My head hurts every time I try to remember."
"The pain will recede.
Your brain is trying to repair damaged pathways. Luckily the damage was only to your memory
and not to the functions of your brain.
You can start creating new memories, find yourself again."
"Dr. Greene, I mean Sydney. I am afraid. I don't
know who I am."
Sydney thought of all the other times that he had heard the
Pretender say that.
"But we've told you who you are. The rest we can work on together. I understand that Mr. Raines had some research material sent down
for you to review."
"Yes, I read through it.
I'm anxious to get to work.
Something just doesn't seem 'right' about being here."
Uncomfortable, Sydney scrambled to come up with a
response. Desperately he spoke the
first thing that came into his mind.
"I think you are emotionally connecting with Miss
Parker. She and you were developing a
closer relationship than she told you.
She was concerned about discussing it with you now that your memory is
gone."
"Closer than friends?"
"She thought it would be in your best interest to keep that
to herself. She didn't want to put any
more pressure on you than you were already feeling."
Sequel