Disclaimer: No part of this story, with the exceptions of my characters and my plot, are mine. So please don't send your blood-sucking hounds of hell, (aka lawyers), after me.
Rating: A PG-13 probably. Not sure.
Summary: Nope. Not his time. No surprises, no nothing! (Besides, I've run out of plot summaries.)
Feedback: (Shadow Elf has escaped the mage, {by the way, his name is Maverick} and is now hiding in a secret basement of a peasant who was kind enough to hide her. She has gained the feedback she required to travel to the next realm, and now needs to get to the portals summoning area)
"Thanks again for letting me hide here until things die down."
Peasant man: No problem. Anything to get back at Maverick.
[There is a pounding at the door and Shadow Elf quickly hides. The peasant opens the door and five of Maverick's soldiers are there]
Soldier: We have reason to believe that a bard is hiding here. Do you know anything?
PM: (innocently) No.
[In basement] "God, please don't let this man screw up."
Soldier: we'll give you twenty gold pieces for her location.
PM: No way bub.
(Still praying) "Please god, please don't let him screw up."
Soldier: We'll throw in five chickens.
PM: [rubs chin] Five chickens eh?
[Shadow Elf groans] "Somebody up there clearly doesn't like me."
-----ShadowElfBard
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I thought I saw the story! I did, I did see the story!
11:38 AM
Blue Cove, Delaware
The Centre
Broots' Computer In Ex-Pursuit Teams Main Office
Broots felt horrible inside. He'd told Ms. Parker and Sydney about the suspicions of the Centre, and how they thought he'd been planning on letting Jarod escape. He hadn't told them though; that that was exactly what he had been planning on doing.
Part of him felt bad for not telling them the whole truth. After all, they were as close to being friends as you could come in the Centre. But the other part, the one he'd chosen to listen to, had told him that no mater how close you got, you couldn't fully trust anyone here.
The thing that had surprised him though, was that neither Sydney or Ms. Parker had known about Jarod's capture!
And when Ms. Parker had found out that Lyle had been the one to bring him in, she'd almost gone off to grab her gun and kill him. She probably would have to, if Broots hadn't pleaded with her not to. Thus far Debbie didn't know that Broots was being held here against his will. He tried to keep his daughter from learning about his true job as much as possible. If she saw Ms. Parker, (her idol and role model), yelling at her own brother about Jarod and how she was supposed to be the one to capture him, well, Debbie wasn't dumb. She'd figure that something was going on.
Ms. Parker had felt so sorry for him that she'd asked him to, well actually ordered, him to let her take Debbie out to breakfast and to continue watching her until the Centre let him leave.
Sydney's reaction to the news had of course been well veiled, but Broots had seen the sorrow in the man's eyes, and the spark of anger that he'd not been informed. He'd gone straight down to he Director's office and when he'd returned Ms. Parker was out having breakfast with Debbie. After Broots had been told what the Director had said to Sydney though, he was glad that Ms. P hadn't been there to hear it.
Sydney had told him through clenched teeth that Raines and Lyle were in charge of Jarod, and that Sydney had a new set of orders never to contact Jarod in or out of the Centre. Ever. The ex-pursuit teams' reassignments would be given out later, and everyone was to calmly and quietly get settled into their new positions and not think at all about their former objective. Jarod was, as the director had put it, no longer their concern.
If Ms. Parker had heard that, no one could have stopped her from reaching for her .44.
So, Broots was now sat, bored out of his mind, in a chair at a computer that had been his loyal and trustworthy companion for nearly two years, finally having to say goodbye.
"Good bye old buddy," he said, tapping the monitor fondly. "It's been fun."
He suddenly heard footsteps behind him and turned expecting Sydney. Instead, he saw his own reflection in the dark sunglasses of a sweeper.
"W-Willie?"
Willie sighed. "I'm sorry Broots. I have orders from Raines."
Another sweeper came forward. "Come on Willie. Just take the tech and let's go. We need to get him to the room the doc ordered us to bring him."
Willie reached for Broots' arm, but Broots swallowed and shook his head. "No. Th-That's okay. I'll come."
The other sweeper shrugged. "Suit yourself. Just follow me and Willie."
"Will I need anything?"
"No."
Broots gulped and followed them out, wondering what the hell he'd gotten himself into.
11:44 AM
Blue Cove, Delaware
The Centre
SL-26 Holding Block 14
Elf 17 paced back and forth restlessly, her agitation growing by the second. She was constantly shifting in and out of transformation and kept curling and uncurling her fingers. She felt so anxious. She had so much energy in her that was screaming to be released that it was almost painful. She felt like shredding up her blanket or biting down on leather.
She'd tried to get rid or her excess energy by playing with the new security camera, and for a while it had worked.
A new motion dependant security camera had been installed and it was smaller and more hi-tech than the old black and white, fixed position camera that had been in. This one was behind a bullet proof glass casing that had a large enough radius to allow the camera to move quickly and without hindrance. It was programmed to follow her every movement and was pretty fast. She'd leapt from the ground to the bed off of the wall to the sink, moving swiftly and hardly making a sound. The camera had been good, but she'd evaded it more than once.
Soon, she'd gotten bored. She didn't know why she was unable to relax. She thought she knew half of it, but knew that the reason she'd come up with wasn't all of it. Her explanation was that she was worried for Broots. After all, what else could it be?
You know. An annoying little voice taunted her. You're worried for Jarod
She waved the thought away. It was ridiculous. Just because she couldn't find a way out of this dump didn't mean that he couldn't. He was after all, the master Pretender. She'd be extremely surprised if he was even in this state right now.
Yes, Lyle had teased her and said that he'd been caught. Yes, Raines had thanked her for bringing him in, but she still didn't fully believe them. And like hell she was going to pretend to be either one of them to find out. Becoming either of those two would just be…wrong. Very, very sick and wrong.
So, she was going to stick with being worried about Broots and whether or not her performance on the test was enough to keep him safe. Raines had told her that she'd be informed once the results were back in, but she didn't trust that man as far as she could throw his oxygen tank. Which was why she was surprised when sweepers came in to take her to the exercise room.
She was thrust in the room forcefully but easily kept her balance. The two sweepers shut and guarded the doors and she curled her lip at them before turning her attention to Raines. Her eyes flared with brief anger when she realized that Lyle was seated next to him.
"Well?" She asked Raines calmly, her reaction at seeing Lyle well hidden.
Raines laughed. "That eager to find out?"
"I'd like to know whether or not Mr. Broots has to die," she answered coldly, doing an impression of an 'ice queen' with as much intensity as Ms. Parker herself could do it. She briefly wondered if her agitation and worry were affecting her mood but she ignored the pesky thought.
Raines was quiet for a moment and Elf 17 looked over at Lyle. Their eyes locked and the two glared each other down, both with their own personal reasons of loathing for the other.
"Well," Raines said slowly, drawing her attention towards him. " Based on your tests, the judges have reached a most delightful conclusion."
Elf 17's heartbeat quickened. He's not supposed to be this happy…
"Let me congratulate you Elf 17," Raines said smirking. "Your approximate intelligence and pretender skills are officially Jarod's equal."
She had to remind herself to breathe. "I-I'm sorry sir. Perhaps I misunderstood. Are you saying that I am at Jarod's level?"
"That is precisely what I am saying."
She felt like collapsing. Not out of joy, but out of pure and uncontrollable terror. She'd known that passing the test would turn out to be a double-edged sword, but she hadn't guessed that the edges would be so sharp.
"There has to be some mistake. I am not, I'm-"
Lyle looked like he was holding back a laugh and Raines frowned. "Really Elf 17, you should be happy. You are Jarod's equal, if not his better."
"Sir, I can't be. I mean he's, I'm-"
Lyle grinned. "I don't think I've ever seen a pretender go speechless before."
She snapped her head around to glare daggers at him. "And what exactly are you doing here Mr. Lyle?" she growled, memories of hanging upside down from a snare and meeting his icy gaze running rampant through her mind.
"Mr. Lyle is here as a result of your score." Raines told her.
Her eyes narrowed. "What?"
"The director wanted me to oversee Jarod's reintroduction but I wouldn't have had enough time to work with both projects. So Lyle and myself are now in charge of both of you."
Elf 17 blanched. "Jarod's still here?"
Raines looked at her in half-fury. "Of course he is! Do you have that little faith in the Centre?"
Yes. "No, I'm just amazed that the Centre could be so…resourceful."
She couldn't think of anything more to say. Raines had basically told her that the sky was falling and she'd begun to feel the pieces hitting her head.
Raines began walking to the door and the sweepers moved aside for him. "Mr. Lyle will be in charge of your physical stimulation, exercising and such. I will come for you tomorrow to take you to a new room that is being prepared."
"A new room? But you just remolded my old one."
"Yes, but you're now an extremely profitable investment. We can't have you remaining in SL-26. You'll have to be transferred down to SL-27. Enjoy your exercise." Then he was gone.
Lyle smiled at her, and she groaned.
12:00 PM
Blue Cove, Delaware
The Centre
Interrogation Room
Broots swallowed nervously against his rising fear as the doctor who'd hooked him up to the lie detector test prepared to look over his results.
Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God…
If he wasn't a religious man before, he was now.
The entire interrogation had gone exactly as Broots had expected it to, and his expectations hadn't been very high to begin with. He'd come in followed closely by the sweepers and had stared into eyes that seemed devoid of any emotion beside and mild curiosity. He was a doctor, (about as close to a doctor as Raines was), and Broots had felt much like a sheep in the wolf's den. He also had a thin, smaller looking man as an assistant who, during the test, had never once looked in his direction.
He'd been hooked up to a lie detector, with electrodes on his forehead and arms, and he'd ordered his hands to keep from shaking too visibly. They'd disobeyed.
"So, Mr. Broots" the doctor had said, sitting across from him in a chair. The assistant had stood by a computer screen, watching the test as it ran its course. "Let's do a test run shall we?"
"Uh, sure. Okay." He'd responded meekly.
"Answer yes to this question, are you the Pope?"
"Yes?" Broots had said in light-hearted confusion.
"Lie." The assistant had said in a monotone. "Test successful."
The doctor had smiled. "Good, now on to the real questions. Answer truthfully from now on Mr. Broots, and please don't make any comments as to what my assistant is saying."
"Oh, o-okay."
"Did you stay with Elf 17 during the entire trip?"
"No."
"Truth." The assistant had said.
"Did she leave you more than once?"
"No."
"Truth."
The doctor had nodded in confirmation. "When she had left you, did you know where she was going?"
"No." Broots answered truthfully.
"Had she gone after Jarod?"
"Yes."
"Were her reasons at the time of going after him to bring him back to the Centre?"
"I-I'm not sure. I think so." He'd begun to sweat then, and the rest of the questions had focused mainly on what had been spoken of at the cabin. Broots had had to lie a few times, and was certain that it had shown up on the screen.
That had been over twenty minutes ago. The doctor had already been handed the data by his stone-faced assistant and was now going to input it into the computer to get a printout of the results.
Broots sat nervously in the chair, the only thing keeping him from jumping down onto his knees and confessing were thoughts of his daughter. He would stay strong, if for no one but her.
He heard the printer starting up when there was a knock at the door. The doctor frowned and waved his assistant over, and the small man nearly jumped out of his skin at who stood in the doorway.
"M-Mr. Raines! Oh p-p-please, come, come in." He scurried out of the way and looked at his boss in wide-eyed terror.
Broots was frightened himself, and remained looking down at his shoes. But the hair on his neck rose as he felt Raines gazing at him. He knew that the scary "wheeze-bag" hadn't forgotten whom it had been who'd thrown him in front of the T-board meeting.
Broots sat silent, but keeping his ears open as to why Raines was here.
"Mr. Raines," the doctor greeted with false pleasantry. "I've finished the test as you've ordered. The results are print-"
"There has been a change of plans." Raines wheezed. " You are to give me the information you are now printing and let Mr. Broots attend his new assignment. He is now allowed to leave the Centre."
He looked over at Broots and Broots reluctantly met his gaze. "You, Mr. Broots, are free to go."
Broots perked up. "You mean I can quit? As in forever?"
Raines gave an amused chuckle. "Don't be an idiot Mr. Broots. I meant that you are no longer under Centre orders to remain in this building after work hours."
"Oh."
The doctor looked horrified however. "B-but sir! We were going to run him through an interrogation next and-"
"Are you questioning my orders?"
The doctor paled at the thought. "N-no sir."
"Good."
Raines turned and raised an eyebrow at Broots, and Broots got the message.
"Th-thank you Mr. R-Raines."
"Don't thank me just yet."
Broots held back a shudder and then scurried out as fast as his legs could carry him.
Mr. Broots had just become a firm believer in the Lord.
12:04 PM
Blue Cove, Delaware
The Centre
Exercise And Training Facility
Elf 17 no longer needed to release any excess energy. In fact she was doing her best to retain what little she had left. Lyle had worked her, and was still working her, non-stop. There were treadmills set at speeds that she thought no treadmill would even have on their control settings. She'd climbed up and down ropes, lifted barbells, and had done enough chin-ups, push-ups, and sit-ups to make the sweepers look like little girls with pigtails.
And all the time Lyle had been there. Yelling at her, taunting her, daring her to make a move. She had been able to hold back so far, but that was only because she was able to envision what might happen to Broots if she screwed up.
"Break!' Lyle finally yelled at her, as she completed her seventy-fifth one-armed push-up.
"About time." She grumbled.
She staggered over to him, trying to stand as tall as she could, but nearly tripping over her own feet. She sat in a chair and was handed a water bottle. She raised it to her lips, but paused. She sniffed the water and then seemingly satisfied, slowly downed its contents.
She felt tired, but happier now that she had the cool water in her system. Her eyes slowly began closing and she would have drifted off to a peaceful slumber if Lyle hadn't ruined it. As usual.
"Ah, ah, ah." He scolded, wagging a finger. "No sleeping until we're done here."
She instantly snapped awake. "We're not done yet?!"
"Not by a long shot."
She stood up in fury. "What more could you possibly have me do?!"
He narrowed his eyes. "You'd be surprised."
"I doubt it." She spat.
Lyle looked calmly at the hate coming off of her in waves. He then snapped his fingers and Elf 17 stared at him in confusion before the back of a gun was rammed against her skull.
She hit the ground, still conscious, and carefully turned her head around to see both sweepers from the door standing behind her, one of them holding a gun in his hand. She felt her control over her transformation lessen and closed her eyes to concentrate. Don't do this. Think of Broots, think of Broots…
The two sweepers reached down and grabbed her arms, hauling her to her feet without any resistance. She kept her transformation in check but that didn't stop her from giving Lyle a death glare.
He took a step towards her and then smiled before punching her square in the jaw. Elf 17 winced at the heavy blow but didn't cry out. Lyle firmly took her chin in his gloved hand and gave her a patronizing look. She could feel the blood in her mouth and knew it was possible that she now had a loose tooth.
He leaned forward, his hot breath surrounding her so thickly that she almost choked on it. "I'm going to give you fair warning right now. Your life, what little of it you had before, is gone. Say goodbye to it. You wanted the attention of the Centre, and now you have it."
She had a strong urge to tell him that she had never wanted any attention, and would be more than happy left alone and forgotten in a dark corner of one of the sublevels, but resisted it and allowed him to finish speaking.
"So I'm going to lay down the rules right now and make this real easy to understand. The Centre owns you, has for a long time. You have no say in anything that happens to you. You have no thoughts about what we do with you that matter. You are a commodity. An expensive and rare commodity that could be bought or sold at anytime. If we choose to break your arm, then we are going to break your arm. Simple as that. You don't talk back, and you don't fight back."
She swallowed some of the blood in her mouth to be able to speak without it dribbling down her chin. "I-I don't think that Raines would approve of that."
He let go of her chin and gave a mixed laugh of exasperation. He shook his head. "For a pretender you don't know much do you?" He got right up in her face again. "Raines is no longer your biggest concern or provider. He and I are now have equal ownership rights. You are as much mine, as you are his." He traced a finger lovingly down her cheek and she fought against recoiling in disgust. "I don't have to pass what I choose to do by Raines. As long as you remain alive and able to sim, I'm off the hook."
He stepped back away from her and went to get something from a table.
Elf 17 directed her hate at the floor, not trusting her control enough not to rip out Lyle's throat. It was as she was staring that she heard an odd click, and felt her controller anklet fall off. She looked at her ankle in confusion, and saw that she had indeed been liberated from the metal band.
She gazed up and saw Lyle holding the control pad to her band. He'd released her from it but why would he-
Then she saw what he had in his other hand and her face paled. She let a savage cry escape her throat and became blinded by her transformation. She fought against the sweepers viciously, and they struggled with all of the strength in them to keep a firm hold on her arms. Lyle just walked over casually, a grin on his lips. She bared her teeth at him and tried to lunge but was still held back. The two sweepers knocked her onto her knees and one grabbed her hair and pulled back on her head, exposing her pale white throat.
Lyle then fastened the metal collar around her neck and snapped it shut. The two sweepers released her and she made a move to run at Lyle but was halted by the constricting metal on her neck, and the electrical shock going through her nerves. It was so painful. She collapsed on the ground and started shaking wildly, but still Lyle kept his hand on the pad.
When he was apparently satisfied he stopped, and she remained laying on the ground, her hands clenched in fists of fury and despair, as her head hung low and silent sobs racked her small and almost fragile looking body.
Lyle sneered at he sight. "We'll finish the exercise tomorrow." He said coldly, and after giving the sweepers orders to take her back to her room, strode confidently out.
Elf 17 hardly even felt it as they dragged her back down to her cell. She was in too much pain, and the humiliation of being collared, like the wild animal she'd always strived to control, was worse than any physical torture than Lyle could have devised. And worst of all, the bastard knew it too.
And because of the focus she had on her pain, she never heard the scrambling and frantic murmuring in the air vents above her.
"Jar-Jarod forgotten, in pain. Elf hurts, hurts real bad. Must get help from friends. Friends must help."
And then Angelo scurried along, a man on a mission.
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So, so, so, so, so, so, so, so sorry for this being late. Please don't hold it against me. [Shows audience puppy pouting face] How can you ignore this look? How can you- Hey? Hey! Hey where are you going? No, wait! Come baaaaaaaack!!!