Part 3
When Adam arrived at the austere building that was Rylands, he was met by a Doctor Paul Austin, a greying, care-worn man he'd had some dealings with when doing his internship. He was surprised that the Doctor remembered him, but pleased as he recalled having a great deal of respect for the older doctor.
As they walked through paint-peeling institutional corridors, Austin rambled at length and seemed genuinely concerned for the welfare of his patients.
"I do hope this John Doe is the young man you're looking for," Austin said hurriedly, with that manner of speech where someone obviously wants to give his time, but simply doesn't have the time to give. "I've tried everything I can think of, and I'm at my wits end what to do with him. I mean, the only reason he's here, really, is because our facilities stand some minute chance of containing him. Well, that and we get a lot of these hush-hush genetic experiment rejects; official secrets acts can't say a word junket. He could really do with going to a specialised unit, and I trust if he is your John Doe that you'll take him to such a place. And if he isn't, might you take him anyway? After all genetics are your field and. ah! Here we are."
One slightly dented steel door, and producing a bunch of keys Austin opened it.
Adam's lungs ached, he'd held his breath so long. His eyes teared up and his stomach flipped when he saw Jesse standing by the barred window looking out.
"Jesse?" Adam approached slowly, uncertain of what was happening. He knew that Jesse was disassociated from the world around him, but not by how much. Austin said extreme, but he didn't have the comatose look of the catatonic. Quite the contrary, Jesse looked healthy and very much alive, if unkempt and melancholy.
As Adam stepped into Jesse's immediate line of sight, the younger man jumped slightly and drew back, phasing out and looking terrified.
"It's me. Adam," he said, holding his hand out, but not crowding the young man, knowing he could phase right out and be gone, which was the last thing he wanted. Jesse's lips moved, but no words came out and Adam shook his head. "I'm sorry, Jesse, I don't understand." Jesse came forward a little, the beginnings of a tentative smile touching his lips and a light beginning to spark in his eyes. With some trepidation a hand reached out and Adam went to take it, but his fingers passed right through. And the smile slipped, the light died and Jesse returned to looking out the window.
"It's like I said, Doctor Kane." Austin pulled Adam to the side. "He knows we're here if we get close enough to him and most of the time, as far as we can tell, he's as solid as you and I. He leaves footprints in the flower beds and rarely disappears through the floor, but he doesn't seem to be aware of anything beyond a two foot radius. And even then, he can't seem to interact with us. When he's lucid I know he tries, as you've just seen."
"Lucid?"
Austin sighed. "John, uh. Mr uh. Jesse has been living in his own world since he got here. He can't speak, he can't hear or touch, the control of his abilities is tenuous at best, how he feeds himself I don't know. It's a form of sensory deprivation and he's been suffering from it for a long time. A lot of the time he's lost in his mind somewhere, and we're unable to give him either therapy or medication. Thank heaven for small mercies that he hasn't shown any inclination to leave this place."
Adam scratched at his chin thoughtfully. "Not even Sanctuary's safe."
"I'm sorry?"
"Nothing. I'd like to transport him to my clinic, is that possible?"
"By all means," the doctor smiled. "But don't ask me how."
Someone had left a plate of cookies on the table, and he watched as Jesse tried to take one, dropping it through compulsively phasing fingers and mouthing curses. When he finally had it, he crammed it in his mouth like a child, and still he phased out before he could swallow, half of it falling to the floor.
Angrily, Jesse massed and stamped on the cookie, reducing both it and the floor beneath to powder.
"I'll have to come back with some equipment," Adam said thoughtfully. "I'll see you in a few days. Look after him for me."
*****
Looking at the dent in the concrete floor, Jesse spun and tried to slam the wall, howling his frustration, but instead fell right through. It was raining out, so he stepped though the wall back into his room.
It was so unfair! The only people he saw were ghost like wraiths who came and sometimes tried to talk to him, but it was like they couldn't hear him, or didn't want to hear him. He tried to touch them and they'd just fade away. He thought he'd seen Absalom earlier, but then it was Adam and then he was gone too.
It was like there was a wall between him and the world and he was left all alone. But he had been alone for so long now, and it was so rare that any of the apparitions meant anything at all that he was becoming afraid of what was outside of his world. The longer he stayed in there, the safer he felt and the less inclined he was to find a way out. In the early days, he tried every trick; he'd ranted and raved, kicked and punched, tried every means possible to get out, knowing that to be so alone would drive him insane. But that was all such a long time ago, he wondered if he'd gone insane yet.
His mind was the only thing left to him right now, and he used it to escape into the past, to when he had friends he could talk and play and fight with. Back when he was a real boy.
*****
A fist swinging, and Adam blocked it, threw a flat hand at the thug's face, breaking the nose and dislocating the offending arm. Another came at him, axe overhead, and Adam threw a kick, sweat pouring into his eyes nearly blinding him. He skidded slightly as a piece of piping swung where his skull had been, sticking his feet out, tripping the wielder, and his muscles ached, his breathing laboured, and the axe-man was back and.
They were all gone, and Adam was left panting on the dojo floor.
"Hey," David trotted up the stairs. "How're you doing? Apart from the black eye? And the sore ribs? And the bruised shin? And the skinned knuckles?"
"All right, all right, point taken." Adam couldn't help but laugh as David threw his lanky frame down on the ground next to him. He'd come back to Sanctuary with such an overwhelming confusion of emotions that he'd brought himself down here to work it off and think things through. He'd come to the conclusion that Jesse was safe enough where he was, and could stay there until such time as he could devise a way of getting him home. Something he intended to get right onto as soon as he'd showered.
David grinned at him. "Anthonius Mosenby? I have an in."
"You do? That was quick!"
"No quicker than your own string pulling. He's a friend of my boss. I met him once." David grimaced. "But he looked at me like he, like he knew what I was. Creepy. Anyway, I have an invite to a small soiree he's holding. For me, plus one."
"When is it," Adam asked, forcing himself to push Jesse to the back of his mind for the moment. Shalimar had to be the focus of his attention now.
"This very evening." David grinned, bouncing to his feet. "Better get your skates on, old man!"
"Hey, I'm not that old!" Adam huffed as he pushed himself up. And then a moment later, "Hey, wait up, I'm not as young as I used to be you know!"
*****
The Mosenby mansion was modern and imposing in its many acres of manicured gardens, and the small soiree consisted of around fifty guests from various walks of life, all either famous in their field or one of the Fortune 500.
Mosenby himself was short, rotund and exceedingly pompous, but did the sociable rounds of all his guests as a good host should. He'd joined Adam and David and paused there, fascinated when he discovered who Adam was and pressing him for details and opinions on genetic outcomes.
"So," continued Mosenby, sipping at his champagne. "Do you not think that any poor creature that has spliced DNA has to be less than human?"
"On the contrary, sir." Adam pushed his impatience side with an ease born of long practice with necessary, but political social functions. "They have talents and weaknesses just like any human being, and have every right to be allowed to live as such."
"Even when they are unable to conduct themselves in civilised company?"
"Mr. Mosenby, splicing an animal's DNA into a human does not turn them into that animal. Some side effects may result in some extended talents, but that is all."
"Are you really trying to tell me that a man who has been crossed with a mongrel won't piss on the carpet?"
Adam looked the man directly in the eyes. "No more than the natural born mongrels that walk among us every day. Now if you'll excuse me." Adam headed in the direction of the cloakroom, unable to bear the man's presence a moment longer.
It wasn't long, but seemed forever, before Mosenby announced a tour of his zoo for those who were interested. About a half were, including Adam and David, and they followed their host out into the garden. It was a short hike across flat lawns, that caused much merriment among those wearing stilettos, to a secret garden hidden by a rose covered wall. When they went through into the enclosed quadrangle, Adam looked about him in stunned horror.
The square included a barn at one end which clearly housed the feed, the veterinary area and suchlike, but the other three sides were made up of small, neat cages, maybe a couple of dozen of them in all.
The cage closest to where Adam stood was home to a cougar that glared at them through the pink eyes of an albino. The cage was certainly clean, but it was barely wide or long enough for the big cat to walk three strides either way. And it was bare, just a small pile of straw in one corner. Nothing to get in the way of the display. The cat looked well fed, but its coat was balding and inner eyelids constantly showing, more likely from stress and distress than from disease.
Adam walked around, sickened by the way Mosenby was showing the creatures off, and more, the way the guests showed no hesitation in taunting them. One woman even asked if the cougar could be sold to her for its fur.
As they reached the far side, passing albinos and deformed examples of many different species, Adam was further shocked to see a man clothed in just a loincloth sitting against the wall of his cage, despair written in every line.
Mosenby told him to move, to go feral but was ignored. A press of a button on the wall next to the cage, a flash of electricity and a vulpine howl filled the air, the man's eyes glowing gold as he snapped and growled.
There were more very similar cages, and David had to steady Adam when they reached the blonde cat woman. She didn't need to be shocked into performing, but Mosenby hit the button anyway. She had been curled up in a corner, only an animal print bikini to cover her modesty, but suddenly she sprang at the bars, hissing and spitting and promising death.
As the group moved on Adam tried to reach her, and for an instant she calmed down. "Adam?" she whispered, her brown eyes disbelieving before she screamed in outrage and denial. David had to drag Adam away as her broken- clawed fingers tried desperately to do damage through the bars.
*****
She was so tired of being a showpiece in a zoo, but had long since given up trying to escape. There was only so much pain a girl could take.
They all knew that Mosenby was showing them off again, the same pattern of tranq-ing each occupant, cleaning out the cages, giving vitamin shots and denying them food. All to make them look clean, look good, and look ferocious.
When she first came here, she'd have been up at the bars as soon as she smelled them, demanding to run free. But as her energy deserted her it became too much of an effort. She'd gotten to the point where performing for least punishment was the most viable option for survival. And survival was all she knew these days.
For a brief instant, she thought she saw someone from her past, someone who reminded her that she'd been human once, but that was only fleeting before the evilness reasserted itself, more virulently than ever.
*****
Mosenby was too arrogant, and Adam too determined to get Shalimar out of her prison for anything to prevent that from happening. The conditions that the blonde feral was being kept in were abhorrent to Adam in just about every way, which only served to motivate him into making plans to free her the following evening.
With Natasha taking care of the security systems and David taking care of any guards and dogs, Adam and Corey broke into the secret garden.
For whatever reason, the animals and ferals enclosed growled softly, but did not fuss at their presence. However, as they approached Shalimar's cage, she struck out at them, at Adam, screaming unintelligible words and launching herself at him even though the bars were in her way. Adam tried to talk her calm, tried to soothe her before she inadvertently raised the alarm or set the other captives to fussing and drawing attention to the area.
As Adam failed in his attempts, the realisation that she wouldn't or couldn't listen prompting a surge of disappointment, Corey too tried to talk her down. But in the end there was only one option. Corey raised his gun and shot her.
With a long protesting moan, Shalimar gave in to the tranquilliser and slid to the floor as Corey shifted the stone and iron to make a hole. "I wish we could take all of these people, and the animals too, away from here," he said.
"I know," Adam whispered back as he lifted Shalimar up, noting how much lighter she was than he remembered. "And we will close this guy down. Animal rights will be up in arms, and I can see at least half a dozen counts of abduction or kidnapping."
Corey nodded as he put the cage back how they'd found it. "We better make it quick."
Adam smiled wolfishly. "I think your wife is making sure they get an early wake up call in the morning."
*****
Adam stood in the hangar in thoughtful silence as he contemplated the large reinforced Perspex cube that contained a confused, frightened and far from human Shalimar. The cube contained a cot and private facilities, some of Shalimar's own sweatpants and tops, as well as some of her favourite magazines, anything that he could salvage from her room that wouldn't be dangerous. But she eschewed it all in favour of sitting curled in a blanket in a corner, constantly wary and watching, like a cat taken from its home, not knowing if this new place is safe.
He jumped, startled as Corey materialised beside him, a knack the quiet young man had. "Hey, we found something on your elemental, Brennan? It's not good."
"What's up?" They were two for two batting Not Good so far. But, at least Not Good was whole lot better than Terminally Dead, which was where they'd started off.
"Seems that Mr Mulwray didn't like Green Acres very much. Shorted out the entire centre, putting some of the research back by years, and took off. Hasn't been heard of since."
"Damn. Okay, well, why don't you and David work on trying to track him down. You know how to use the scanners, Proxy Blue might have something, and just get out there and look. I'm going to keep working on Shalimar and Jesse until Eckhart responds to -"
"You don't have to wait, Adam," Natasha's voice came over the internal comms. "Mr Eckhart found our little hack and is on the vid demanding your presence immediately."
Adam swung out a portion of the maintenance desk. "Patch him through here, would you?"
"Adam," greeted Eckhart pleasantly. "Why on earth all this subterfuge if you only wanted to talk. You could have just picked up the phone and called, you know."
"Mason." Talking to his oldest friend, enemy and sparring partner for the first time since the invasion of Sanctuary, Adam felt a sense of welcome normality. "If I'd called or knocked on your door, you'd be looking under every rock trying to find my ulterior motive."
"What makes you think I'm not doing that already?"
"I'm sure you already are. But I also think you know exactly what I'm after. You have a friend of mine with you, I believe."
"I have a lot of your friends here, Adam. Now which one in particular would you be referring to?"
Adam shook his head and forced a smile. "Emma de Lauro? I'm sure you remember her."
"Yes." Eckhart pursed his lips in an expression of distaste. "Rather emotional creature, prone to making people's heads explode. It's so hard to explain accidents like that to the cleaners. I believe she may be in a pod somewhere. Why, did you want her back?"
"Perhaps I could come and discuss the matter?"
"I shall be expecting you."
The transmission ended and Adam prepared to enter the lion's den that was Genomex.
*****
"So, how much is Ms De Lauro worth to you, Adam? How much coin do you put on the worth of a life." Eckhart's tone was soft and seductive, but still managed to cut effortlessly to the core with clinical precision.
"*I* don't, as you well know. Unlike yourself."
"Yes, but what you fail to see here is that I have never pretended to value a life the way you purport to." Eckhart paused for a beat. "So, how much, Adam?"
"You know I can't put a price on a life."
"Oh, well. Does that make Ms De Lauro priceless or valueless? Because to me, she has become valueless. It's up to you to change that."
Adam sighed and tried to find a middle ground that would get him what he wanted without compromising his beliefs. But in the end, he knew he would do, and say, anything Mason wanted him to if it would get Emma back safe. And he knew that Mason knew that too. "I would gladly reimburse you any and all expense incurred by you in your care of her."
"Oh, now that's an interesting way to put it. Almost like one would reimburse a kennel keeper, hmmm?"
Adam bit back a retort. Eckhart held all the advantages and could choose not to co-operate at any time. So he held his silence.
"Very well," Eckhart said suddenly, spinning his flat screen so that Adam could see it. "These are the costs I've incurred, plus a modest little kennel fee at the bottom."
"That's your idea of little?" Adam remarked.
"Are you bartering for Ms De Lauro's life?" Eckhart asked in mock astonishment.
Adam forced a smile. "No, of course not. That's fine."
"Good. We accept all major credit cards."
Adam knew that he would never be able to reconcile with himself the fact that he'd just paid cash for a human being, and he didn't think he'd ever be able to tell Emma that he'd bought her.
*****
Emma walked in her accustomed place, just a step behind Mason Eckhart, in her tailored brown uniform. She liked it here; she got to play with her powers in a challenging assortment of ways. Mr Eckhart liked to have her check the veracity of his employees reports, liked to have her explore prisoners' minds, make them do and say things they would normally never dare.
She liked the power she had. But she was careful not to enjoy it too much. She was very well aware that she could control even Mr Eckhart if she so chose, and he knew it too. But they had a symbiotic relationship. There was only one person she was afraid of. And Eckhart promised to protect her from him, had even proven to her his ability to do so.
It worked for her and she enjoyed her job.
She didn't sense any difference today, so it took her by surprise when Mr Eckhart stopped. And there he was in front of her. The very person she was terrified of. She could feel the whole world trying to climb into her head, could feel her sanity slipping.
"You were supposed to protect me from him!" she cried.
Eckhart turned and shrugged slightly. "I lied," he said. Then vanished into thin air and she was left alone with Adam.
"No!" she screamed, and lashed out with a blast meant to draw out her enemy's worst fears. Only it backfired and drew from Adam the dark entity that was Absalom.
She screamed more as her mind fractured, unable to contain the thoughts and emotions of six billion people, splintering shards spinning out into darkness.
Until she woke up.
She got dressed and went to join Mr Eckhart for his usual daily tour.
Emma walked in her accustomed place, just a step behind Mason Eckhart, in her tailored brown uniform.
She liked it here.
*****
To be continued.
When Adam arrived at the austere building that was Rylands, he was met by a Doctor Paul Austin, a greying, care-worn man he'd had some dealings with when doing his internship. He was surprised that the Doctor remembered him, but pleased as he recalled having a great deal of respect for the older doctor.
As they walked through paint-peeling institutional corridors, Austin rambled at length and seemed genuinely concerned for the welfare of his patients.
"I do hope this John Doe is the young man you're looking for," Austin said hurriedly, with that manner of speech where someone obviously wants to give his time, but simply doesn't have the time to give. "I've tried everything I can think of, and I'm at my wits end what to do with him. I mean, the only reason he's here, really, is because our facilities stand some minute chance of containing him. Well, that and we get a lot of these hush-hush genetic experiment rejects; official secrets acts can't say a word junket. He could really do with going to a specialised unit, and I trust if he is your John Doe that you'll take him to such a place. And if he isn't, might you take him anyway? After all genetics are your field and. ah! Here we are."
One slightly dented steel door, and producing a bunch of keys Austin opened it.
Adam's lungs ached, he'd held his breath so long. His eyes teared up and his stomach flipped when he saw Jesse standing by the barred window looking out.
"Jesse?" Adam approached slowly, uncertain of what was happening. He knew that Jesse was disassociated from the world around him, but not by how much. Austin said extreme, but he didn't have the comatose look of the catatonic. Quite the contrary, Jesse looked healthy and very much alive, if unkempt and melancholy.
As Adam stepped into Jesse's immediate line of sight, the younger man jumped slightly and drew back, phasing out and looking terrified.
"It's me. Adam," he said, holding his hand out, but not crowding the young man, knowing he could phase right out and be gone, which was the last thing he wanted. Jesse's lips moved, but no words came out and Adam shook his head. "I'm sorry, Jesse, I don't understand." Jesse came forward a little, the beginnings of a tentative smile touching his lips and a light beginning to spark in his eyes. With some trepidation a hand reached out and Adam went to take it, but his fingers passed right through. And the smile slipped, the light died and Jesse returned to looking out the window.
"It's like I said, Doctor Kane." Austin pulled Adam to the side. "He knows we're here if we get close enough to him and most of the time, as far as we can tell, he's as solid as you and I. He leaves footprints in the flower beds and rarely disappears through the floor, but he doesn't seem to be aware of anything beyond a two foot radius. And even then, he can't seem to interact with us. When he's lucid I know he tries, as you've just seen."
"Lucid?"
Austin sighed. "John, uh. Mr uh. Jesse has been living in his own world since he got here. He can't speak, he can't hear or touch, the control of his abilities is tenuous at best, how he feeds himself I don't know. It's a form of sensory deprivation and he's been suffering from it for a long time. A lot of the time he's lost in his mind somewhere, and we're unable to give him either therapy or medication. Thank heaven for small mercies that he hasn't shown any inclination to leave this place."
Adam scratched at his chin thoughtfully. "Not even Sanctuary's safe."
"I'm sorry?"
"Nothing. I'd like to transport him to my clinic, is that possible?"
"By all means," the doctor smiled. "But don't ask me how."
Someone had left a plate of cookies on the table, and he watched as Jesse tried to take one, dropping it through compulsively phasing fingers and mouthing curses. When he finally had it, he crammed it in his mouth like a child, and still he phased out before he could swallow, half of it falling to the floor.
Angrily, Jesse massed and stamped on the cookie, reducing both it and the floor beneath to powder.
"I'll have to come back with some equipment," Adam said thoughtfully. "I'll see you in a few days. Look after him for me."
*****
Looking at the dent in the concrete floor, Jesse spun and tried to slam the wall, howling his frustration, but instead fell right through. It was raining out, so he stepped though the wall back into his room.
It was so unfair! The only people he saw were ghost like wraiths who came and sometimes tried to talk to him, but it was like they couldn't hear him, or didn't want to hear him. He tried to touch them and they'd just fade away. He thought he'd seen Absalom earlier, but then it was Adam and then he was gone too.
It was like there was a wall between him and the world and he was left all alone. But he had been alone for so long now, and it was so rare that any of the apparitions meant anything at all that he was becoming afraid of what was outside of his world. The longer he stayed in there, the safer he felt and the less inclined he was to find a way out. In the early days, he tried every trick; he'd ranted and raved, kicked and punched, tried every means possible to get out, knowing that to be so alone would drive him insane. But that was all such a long time ago, he wondered if he'd gone insane yet.
His mind was the only thing left to him right now, and he used it to escape into the past, to when he had friends he could talk and play and fight with. Back when he was a real boy.
*****
A fist swinging, and Adam blocked it, threw a flat hand at the thug's face, breaking the nose and dislocating the offending arm. Another came at him, axe overhead, and Adam threw a kick, sweat pouring into his eyes nearly blinding him. He skidded slightly as a piece of piping swung where his skull had been, sticking his feet out, tripping the wielder, and his muscles ached, his breathing laboured, and the axe-man was back and.
They were all gone, and Adam was left panting on the dojo floor.
"Hey," David trotted up the stairs. "How're you doing? Apart from the black eye? And the sore ribs? And the bruised shin? And the skinned knuckles?"
"All right, all right, point taken." Adam couldn't help but laugh as David threw his lanky frame down on the ground next to him. He'd come back to Sanctuary with such an overwhelming confusion of emotions that he'd brought himself down here to work it off and think things through. He'd come to the conclusion that Jesse was safe enough where he was, and could stay there until such time as he could devise a way of getting him home. Something he intended to get right onto as soon as he'd showered.
David grinned at him. "Anthonius Mosenby? I have an in."
"You do? That was quick!"
"No quicker than your own string pulling. He's a friend of my boss. I met him once." David grimaced. "But he looked at me like he, like he knew what I was. Creepy. Anyway, I have an invite to a small soiree he's holding. For me, plus one."
"When is it," Adam asked, forcing himself to push Jesse to the back of his mind for the moment. Shalimar had to be the focus of his attention now.
"This very evening." David grinned, bouncing to his feet. "Better get your skates on, old man!"
"Hey, I'm not that old!" Adam huffed as he pushed himself up. And then a moment later, "Hey, wait up, I'm not as young as I used to be you know!"
*****
The Mosenby mansion was modern and imposing in its many acres of manicured gardens, and the small soiree consisted of around fifty guests from various walks of life, all either famous in their field or one of the Fortune 500.
Mosenby himself was short, rotund and exceedingly pompous, but did the sociable rounds of all his guests as a good host should. He'd joined Adam and David and paused there, fascinated when he discovered who Adam was and pressing him for details and opinions on genetic outcomes.
"So," continued Mosenby, sipping at his champagne. "Do you not think that any poor creature that has spliced DNA has to be less than human?"
"On the contrary, sir." Adam pushed his impatience side with an ease born of long practice with necessary, but political social functions. "They have talents and weaknesses just like any human being, and have every right to be allowed to live as such."
"Even when they are unable to conduct themselves in civilised company?"
"Mr. Mosenby, splicing an animal's DNA into a human does not turn them into that animal. Some side effects may result in some extended talents, but that is all."
"Are you really trying to tell me that a man who has been crossed with a mongrel won't piss on the carpet?"
Adam looked the man directly in the eyes. "No more than the natural born mongrels that walk among us every day. Now if you'll excuse me." Adam headed in the direction of the cloakroom, unable to bear the man's presence a moment longer.
It wasn't long, but seemed forever, before Mosenby announced a tour of his zoo for those who were interested. About a half were, including Adam and David, and they followed their host out into the garden. It was a short hike across flat lawns, that caused much merriment among those wearing stilettos, to a secret garden hidden by a rose covered wall. When they went through into the enclosed quadrangle, Adam looked about him in stunned horror.
The square included a barn at one end which clearly housed the feed, the veterinary area and suchlike, but the other three sides were made up of small, neat cages, maybe a couple of dozen of them in all.
The cage closest to where Adam stood was home to a cougar that glared at them through the pink eyes of an albino. The cage was certainly clean, but it was barely wide or long enough for the big cat to walk three strides either way. And it was bare, just a small pile of straw in one corner. Nothing to get in the way of the display. The cat looked well fed, but its coat was balding and inner eyelids constantly showing, more likely from stress and distress than from disease.
Adam walked around, sickened by the way Mosenby was showing the creatures off, and more, the way the guests showed no hesitation in taunting them. One woman even asked if the cougar could be sold to her for its fur.
As they reached the far side, passing albinos and deformed examples of many different species, Adam was further shocked to see a man clothed in just a loincloth sitting against the wall of his cage, despair written in every line.
Mosenby told him to move, to go feral but was ignored. A press of a button on the wall next to the cage, a flash of electricity and a vulpine howl filled the air, the man's eyes glowing gold as he snapped and growled.
There were more very similar cages, and David had to steady Adam when they reached the blonde cat woman. She didn't need to be shocked into performing, but Mosenby hit the button anyway. She had been curled up in a corner, only an animal print bikini to cover her modesty, but suddenly she sprang at the bars, hissing and spitting and promising death.
As the group moved on Adam tried to reach her, and for an instant she calmed down. "Adam?" she whispered, her brown eyes disbelieving before she screamed in outrage and denial. David had to drag Adam away as her broken- clawed fingers tried desperately to do damage through the bars.
*****
She was so tired of being a showpiece in a zoo, but had long since given up trying to escape. There was only so much pain a girl could take.
They all knew that Mosenby was showing them off again, the same pattern of tranq-ing each occupant, cleaning out the cages, giving vitamin shots and denying them food. All to make them look clean, look good, and look ferocious.
When she first came here, she'd have been up at the bars as soon as she smelled them, demanding to run free. But as her energy deserted her it became too much of an effort. She'd gotten to the point where performing for least punishment was the most viable option for survival. And survival was all she knew these days.
For a brief instant, she thought she saw someone from her past, someone who reminded her that she'd been human once, but that was only fleeting before the evilness reasserted itself, more virulently than ever.
*****
Mosenby was too arrogant, and Adam too determined to get Shalimar out of her prison for anything to prevent that from happening. The conditions that the blonde feral was being kept in were abhorrent to Adam in just about every way, which only served to motivate him into making plans to free her the following evening.
With Natasha taking care of the security systems and David taking care of any guards and dogs, Adam and Corey broke into the secret garden.
For whatever reason, the animals and ferals enclosed growled softly, but did not fuss at their presence. However, as they approached Shalimar's cage, she struck out at them, at Adam, screaming unintelligible words and launching herself at him even though the bars were in her way. Adam tried to talk her calm, tried to soothe her before she inadvertently raised the alarm or set the other captives to fussing and drawing attention to the area.
As Adam failed in his attempts, the realisation that she wouldn't or couldn't listen prompting a surge of disappointment, Corey too tried to talk her down. But in the end there was only one option. Corey raised his gun and shot her.
With a long protesting moan, Shalimar gave in to the tranquilliser and slid to the floor as Corey shifted the stone and iron to make a hole. "I wish we could take all of these people, and the animals too, away from here," he said.
"I know," Adam whispered back as he lifted Shalimar up, noting how much lighter she was than he remembered. "And we will close this guy down. Animal rights will be up in arms, and I can see at least half a dozen counts of abduction or kidnapping."
Corey nodded as he put the cage back how they'd found it. "We better make it quick."
Adam smiled wolfishly. "I think your wife is making sure they get an early wake up call in the morning."
*****
Adam stood in the hangar in thoughtful silence as he contemplated the large reinforced Perspex cube that contained a confused, frightened and far from human Shalimar. The cube contained a cot and private facilities, some of Shalimar's own sweatpants and tops, as well as some of her favourite magazines, anything that he could salvage from her room that wouldn't be dangerous. But she eschewed it all in favour of sitting curled in a blanket in a corner, constantly wary and watching, like a cat taken from its home, not knowing if this new place is safe.
He jumped, startled as Corey materialised beside him, a knack the quiet young man had. "Hey, we found something on your elemental, Brennan? It's not good."
"What's up?" They were two for two batting Not Good so far. But, at least Not Good was whole lot better than Terminally Dead, which was where they'd started off.
"Seems that Mr Mulwray didn't like Green Acres very much. Shorted out the entire centre, putting some of the research back by years, and took off. Hasn't been heard of since."
"Damn. Okay, well, why don't you and David work on trying to track him down. You know how to use the scanners, Proxy Blue might have something, and just get out there and look. I'm going to keep working on Shalimar and Jesse until Eckhart responds to -"
"You don't have to wait, Adam," Natasha's voice came over the internal comms. "Mr Eckhart found our little hack and is on the vid demanding your presence immediately."
Adam swung out a portion of the maintenance desk. "Patch him through here, would you?"
"Adam," greeted Eckhart pleasantly. "Why on earth all this subterfuge if you only wanted to talk. You could have just picked up the phone and called, you know."
"Mason." Talking to his oldest friend, enemy and sparring partner for the first time since the invasion of Sanctuary, Adam felt a sense of welcome normality. "If I'd called or knocked on your door, you'd be looking under every rock trying to find my ulterior motive."
"What makes you think I'm not doing that already?"
"I'm sure you already are. But I also think you know exactly what I'm after. You have a friend of mine with you, I believe."
"I have a lot of your friends here, Adam. Now which one in particular would you be referring to?"
Adam shook his head and forced a smile. "Emma de Lauro? I'm sure you remember her."
"Yes." Eckhart pursed his lips in an expression of distaste. "Rather emotional creature, prone to making people's heads explode. It's so hard to explain accidents like that to the cleaners. I believe she may be in a pod somewhere. Why, did you want her back?"
"Perhaps I could come and discuss the matter?"
"I shall be expecting you."
The transmission ended and Adam prepared to enter the lion's den that was Genomex.
*****
"So, how much is Ms De Lauro worth to you, Adam? How much coin do you put on the worth of a life." Eckhart's tone was soft and seductive, but still managed to cut effortlessly to the core with clinical precision.
"*I* don't, as you well know. Unlike yourself."
"Yes, but what you fail to see here is that I have never pretended to value a life the way you purport to." Eckhart paused for a beat. "So, how much, Adam?"
"You know I can't put a price on a life."
"Oh, well. Does that make Ms De Lauro priceless or valueless? Because to me, she has become valueless. It's up to you to change that."
Adam sighed and tried to find a middle ground that would get him what he wanted without compromising his beliefs. But in the end, he knew he would do, and say, anything Mason wanted him to if it would get Emma back safe. And he knew that Mason knew that too. "I would gladly reimburse you any and all expense incurred by you in your care of her."
"Oh, now that's an interesting way to put it. Almost like one would reimburse a kennel keeper, hmmm?"
Adam bit back a retort. Eckhart held all the advantages and could choose not to co-operate at any time. So he held his silence.
"Very well," Eckhart said suddenly, spinning his flat screen so that Adam could see it. "These are the costs I've incurred, plus a modest little kennel fee at the bottom."
"That's your idea of little?" Adam remarked.
"Are you bartering for Ms De Lauro's life?" Eckhart asked in mock astonishment.
Adam forced a smile. "No, of course not. That's fine."
"Good. We accept all major credit cards."
Adam knew that he would never be able to reconcile with himself the fact that he'd just paid cash for a human being, and he didn't think he'd ever be able to tell Emma that he'd bought her.
*****
Emma walked in her accustomed place, just a step behind Mason Eckhart, in her tailored brown uniform. She liked it here; she got to play with her powers in a challenging assortment of ways. Mr Eckhart liked to have her check the veracity of his employees reports, liked to have her explore prisoners' minds, make them do and say things they would normally never dare.
She liked the power she had. But she was careful not to enjoy it too much. She was very well aware that she could control even Mr Eckhart if she so chose, and he knew it too. But they had a symbiotic relationship. There was only one person she was afraid of. And Eckhart promised to protect her from him, had even proven to her his ability to do so.
It worked for her and she enjoyed her job.
She didn't sense any difference today, so it took her by surprise when Mr Eckhart stopped. And there he was in front of her. The very person she was terrified of. She could feel the whole world trying to climb into her head, could feel her sanity slipping.
"You were supposed to protect me from him!" she cried.
Eckhart turned and shrugged slightly. "I lied," he said. Then vanished into thin air and she was left alone with Adam.
"No!" she screamed, and lashed out with a blast meant to draw out her enemy's worst fears. Only it backfired and drew from Adam the dark entity that was Absalom.
She screamed more as her mind fractured, unable to contain the thoughts and emotions of six billion people, splintering shards spinning out into darkness.
Until she woke up.
She got dressed and went to join Mr Eckhart for his usual daily tour.
Emma walked in her accustomed place, just a step behind Mason Eckhart, in her tailored brown uniform.
She liked it here.
*****
To be continued.