+ Month 6

Proxy Blue was positively cheerful in a pixilated kind of way. "Finally, the world awakens! My mailboxes are crammed with stories of drugged water and food, and the strange person living in the haunted house that you're sure must be the mutant responsible for sedating you all. Well, I'm sorry to throw all your fantasies out the window, but before looking at your own doorstep, look at those on high.

"Someone, somewhere pulled the plug on something, and I for one am grateful that they did. But remember people, both humans and mutants were affected. Exceptions to the rule fell in both human and mutant populaces. So how can one of you blame the other? Consider how the politics has changed over the last eighteen months, and maybe you'll see some conspiracies other than the mutant or human ones the media would have you believe.

"On another note, Senator Morrisen's untimely death last month seems to have had little impact on the political infrastructure behind the White House, with the other members, senators and uh, business men taking up the slack. Interestingly enough, Morrisen's replacement as senator, a naïve young man in his fifties, took over Morrisen's seat yesterday on a pro-mutant stand. Quite the reversal.

"Oh, and here's a thought. Timing. How far does coincidence stretch? Keep 'em coming kids, I'm drowning and I love it!"

*****

"This is absolutely ridiculous," Mason Eckhart muttered to Brennan. "I really don't see why it's necessary for me to be here."

"Well, it was your idea," Brennan hissed back at him.

"And if you'd seen fit to inform me that your little doppelganger could impersonate Senator Langley, I would not have included myself in my plan, now would I?"

"But you already knew that Dale could impersonate anyone s/he's seen."

"Well I might have known, but you know full well that I've been somewhat under the weather recently."

Brennan sighed and decided that he wasn't going to win this. Since the Prozac Syndrome had passed Eckhart's episodes of confusion were growing less, almost in direct correlation with the slow decaying of his skin. But with a Michael Jackson surgical mask and Panama hat, he could get away with being an 'eccentric' in these halls of power.

After some persuasion, Dale had revealed that s/he knew where Emma was, as well as who she was, and although Brennan had the gut feeling that there was much the shifter wasn't telling them, they decided to go for a rescue attempt.

They'd arrived with the idea that they would sneak in but, ever helpful, Dale had taken the lead without giving notice. switching to the big burly security chief to get them inside and then to Langley to tour the halls.  With Brennan zapping secured locks and cameras, they quickly found their way down to the lower levels.

Path pulled Emma from her concentrated focus to see the small group who had broken into their home, explaining that she saw a picture of Emma in their minds, especially the elemental's.

Emma felt a surge of happiness that Brennan had come to her, but as the group explored the three they quickly realised what the intruders intended to do.

"We have to get them out of here." Emma was abruptly deluged by the fear that consumed them all, herself included. "They mustn't take us away!"

Just the mere idea of being away from the machine was so horrific to each of them that they turned terrified thoughts inwards. Emma had to pull back. "No! We mustn't kill them, just stop them! Why didn't Dale tell us?"

"Push them out," agreed Path. "Dale is a free spirit, not controlled by me. I only offered hir a deal. Perhaps s/he saw no threat?"

"Perhaps," agreed Cog, "but nevertheless, they are a threat."

And the Psionic Circle pushed them away, focussing on propelling them out of the basement, then out of the building. They only relaxed when the three abandoned all thought of entering the place again, and disappeared into the city.

*****

With Charlotte Cooke having been taken off-continent, it had taken Shalimar and her group a couple of weeks via the black market to get to the camp where she was apparently being held.

It was a work-camp mining industrial diamonds and the security was pretty lax, mostly because there was nowhere to run to. With desert for miles around, the only options were to stay in the camp or die in the unforgiving sands.

At least, that's how it appeared from the vantage point on top of the dune that Shalimar and Paulo looked down from. With the central block being guarded and clearly where the bulk of the mutants were kept, Shalimar felt ill, absently brushing away the blood she could feel on her skin again,.

She caught herself at Paulo's quiet cough, saw the look in his eyes and shivered. That hadn't happened for a while now and she wondered if she'd always feel it. Wondered if a mere touch would always send her back to that bloody hole she'd lived in.

But for now she had a job to do. Get one person out of there and back home where she could do most good by reversing what she'd done to Adam. Without the luxury of a lab to make up an antidote, Eckhart's half-wild plan seemed to make the most sense and Shalimar only hoped the Charlotte was in there, rescue-able and willing to help. She qualified herself with a wry smile. If the first two were achievable, then she would take great pleasure in ensuring the latter happened.

As they watched the camp, something odd seemed to be happening that they couldn't place. They couldn't see much detail; even Shalimar with her exceptional eyesight couldn't make out more than the odd gesture, but it seemed that one or two of the prisoners were very pally with their guards. Or maybe that shouldn't be such a surprise. A supply truck came and left near midday, but that was the only traffic there.

Still, they made their way to the camp under the dark of night, no moon to give them away. No one stopped them as they climbed quietly over the fence and into the compound; in fact, there was no one around at all.

The central building loomed. Shalimar couldn't bring herself to look inside so Paulo did, peering through a gap in the wall. And laughed.

"Do not be frightened, Chiquita, things are not as they seem," he said, motioning for her to look.

Heart battering at her rib cage, she swallowed hard and peeped in. The relief was immeasurable and she sagged back, Paulo catching her briefly before letting her go to lean against the wall. And as the shock overwhelmed her, she started giggling.

This wasn't a work-camp, it was a summer camp. The soldiers and the inmates were inside and getting along just fine. They were having a party, in fact, the supplies having included copious amounts of cheap vodka.

The door suddenly flung open. "Come on in, boys and girl," someone called, "we know you're out there!"

Shalimar, Paulo and one of his men stepped out while the other two remained hidden.

"And the other two!"

Guns were trained on them, and they all stood in silence before someone pushed through, a big bear of a man. "Shalimar Fox!" he said and raised his hand to the others on his side. "She has to be a friend, she helped set up the Freedom Fighters."

The camp's occupants lowered their weapons and went back to partying, ignoring the newcomers.

"Jeff?" asked Shalimar, taking a moment to place him, he was so far out of context. "You went with Emma! Do you know where she is?"

Jeff looked at her sadly. "We were captured. Julie and Emma were taken away. I was told that Emma was executed and, and…" Here the big man's face lost all life and hope. "They said that Julie tried to escape, tried to get to me…" He couldn't finish, but didn't need to.

Giving him a moment, Shalimar then asked, "What are you doing here? What's going on? We came here expecting to rescue, uh, someone, but it looks like you got it all under control."

Jeff shook his head. "We were lucky, overpowered the guards, but you know, where was there to go? There's the supply truck, is all. There's no one here who wants to fight any more. We talked with the soldiers and decided to sit the war out." Jeff shrugged. "We don't know who we're fighting anymore, what's wrong, what's right, and our loved ones are either dead or wish we were."

"It's always worth fighting for your rights," Shalimar told him. "Always. And don't you want to find out what happened to Julie? Maybe she did die, or maybe they were messing with your mind. I'm not going to stop looking for Emma or the others until I see undeniable proof with my own eyes."

"You think maybe Julie's still alive?" A brief glimmer of hope in his eyes made Shalimar wince.

"Quite honestly? I don't know. But if someone thought that telling you that would break you, why not?"

And hope flared bright.

"So," continued Shalimar, "I don't suppose one of these party people would by any remote chance be a mutant by the name of Charlotte Cooke? We'd kinda quite like to take her home with us."

Jeff grinned. "Funny you should mention her. She would do almost anything to get out of here. Give me ten minutes and we'll be ready to go."

"We?" Shalimar raised her eyebrow.

Jeff's grin broadened and he suddenly looked ten years younger. "Charlotte's a little fragile, needs a big strong man to take care of her."

Paulo's eyebrows also rose, but he had the common sense to stay quiet.

*****

Jesse didn't really care much for the outside world as it only brought pain, uncertainty and humiliation. He knew there'd been a change of things, because Adam came in to see him periodically instead of Morrisen, but the rules remained much the same.

Adam looked vaguely familiar but, being unable to place him, Jesse didn't worry about it, especially when Cyber told him he was okay.  But also, the man himself didn't bother him like Morrisen had, just came in for a report once in a while and that was all.

In cyberspace, however, things were a lot different. Cyber helped him with whatever he was doing, but she was more like an imp playing a game than someone out to actively assist him. Still, she was fun, and speeded up his manoeuvres.

And he was almost there.

It was like a game of chess, and that was something he was very good at. But so was his opponent.

He could see his victory in just a couple of moves, but he could also see that the other could also block and win too, which he had to prevent.

Distraction.

He threw in a diversion, but was distracted himself. Proxy Blue continued to fascinate him. She talked about a world that was so far outside his own it made for compelling listening.  He could verify a lot of her words by surfing other sites, and found himself missing things, few of which he could relate to.

One such thing, and perhaps the biggest he could identify, was the yearning for human company. Proxy talked at him, and Cyber played with him, while Adam was just cold. Morrisen may have been a bastard, but at least he'd paid Jesse some attention which he'd both loathed and craved. He was so lonely for some genuinely caring kind of contact it actually hurt.

Seeing his opponent's block stopped in its tracks, Jesse went for the killing blow, but couldn't quite bring himself to do it.

Proxy had her own servers that were only loosely tied in with Cyberteam's, like they were allies but not the same thing.

He couldn't make a decision as such, because he wasn't allowed. But he could take his orders to the letter. He'd been ordered to acquire Cyberteam, not Proxy Blue. Never even mentioned her in his reports as it hadn't been relevant until now, and no one had asked. He would have told them if they'd asked.

So following the decision he hadn't made, he cut Proxy Blue loose before unleashing the killing blow on the Cyberteam Central Control.

Within seconds, the all-clear codes had been over-written and released with a new Central Control. And when he saw the acknowledgements from the other members, it felt so right he almost smiled a genuine smile.

*****