Unexplained
Chapter Nine
Understanding
A.N. Thanks to Anthony for the Klingon word. You're always a great help!
Nairobi, Africa
Sloane had uncovered the monstrosity in the center of the warehouse. He'd driven stakes in a hectagonal shape around it and each person had been tied to it. It went in order of birth, according to the manuscript, Jarod, Miss Parker, Lyle Parker, Angelo, Andrew Raines, Sydney Bristow, and Ethan Parker. Conveniently, Jarod and Sydney ended up facing each other at the very center of the room. Unfortunately for them, the ropes Sloane had bound them with were slightly tighter than Sark's. Raines was lighting candles about the space, sprinkling some kind of liquid that Sydney was fairly certain wasn't Holy Water. Sydney struggled against the restraints, trying to decide if she could lift the stake out of the ground. If she could do that, shimmying out of the ropes would be simple. She surveyed the area around her for cover and weaponry, but found none. And outside wouldn't hold any promise either with the flat, dry desert all around her. She hadn't even seen any dunes. Miss Parker looked quite peeved. She was glaring intently at Jarod as if trying to murder him with her eyes. Lyle looked absolutely delighted to be used as a tool in the process and Ethan looked slightly worried, but not too much. He was positive Miss Parker and Jarod would get him out of this. Angelo was quite confused, knowing that this isn't what Catherine Parker wanted. It wasn't supposed to end this way. Catherine had wanted to save them, save the world from this machine, and no one would stop Dr. Billy and the other man from doing anything. Daughter was frightened, friend was worried, and brother was nervous. The Girl wasn't any of those. She was oddly confident and unsure of herself all at once. Sydney locked eyes with Jarod and she started to tap her foot nonchalantly. Morse code had worked for her once, it might work for her again. A series of long and short taps connected, Sloane and Raines thankfully oblivious to it.
*Can get out. You?*
*Yes.*
*What is happening?*
*Don't know. When do we do this?*
*After I find out what is going to happen.*
Jarod nodded and leaned back against the post.
"Sloane, at least tell me what is going to happen."
He smiled his evil grin and walked towards Sydney.
"It will be magnificent. Absolutely wonderful. I will activate the machine per instruction of the manuscript and an overwhelming power will come over you. It will be amazing. With the power inside of you, power that comes from Rambaldi, his prophecies and the Heptagon, and four will die. You will be instilled with the powers of impathy, guiltlessness, premonitions, intelligence, and dilligence. Jarod, you, and an unknown will survive this. And when it is done, you three will be the Chosen. With William and I to serve you, you will take the world into your grasp. All that we have now will be vanished and you will begin a new society in which we will rule. Of course, modern conviences will stay with us, but a new power will have risen. You should feel honored, Sydney. I know I feel honored to simply be here when it happens, but to be the Chosen is the envy of all of us."
"Except me." Miss Parker chimed in.
"Well, Miss Parker, you might just not have to deal with that pressure. You could very well die in this."
"I don't know if I prefer that."
"You don't have much of a choice. William? Let us begin."
And so Sloane set himself in front of the candles and opened the manuscript.
Plane to Nairobi
Jack was pacing the plane. He hadn't even known it was possible to pace a plane. Vaughn was moving his leg constantly and only Weiss seemed relaxed. It was that calmness that Jack was envying at that very moment. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Flinkman's number.
"Nugneit, this is Marshall."
"Marshall, what information do you have?"
"Oh! Mr. Bristow! Will watched the surveillance footage of the safehouse. The three of them disappeared for six minutes in a back room that wasn't wired. Then they came through and got into a car. They never returned."
"Did Sydney seem to be protesting much?"
"No. It was more like Jarod and Mr. Sark walked out and Sydney had to catch up with them."
"And that was the last you've seen of them?"
"Yes. Now, I've been researching. I had to hack into the correspondence system, which by the way, really cool. I mean, we're talking state of the art equipment. Of course, none of it's as good as my equipment. Not that I'm bragging. I mean, I like the stuff I come up with, but..."
"Marshall. Focus."
"Sorry. Anyways, the Centre's correspondence system revealed that Andrew Raines is really Mr. Sark and he was part of project Christmas. He was the one that it was tested on first."
"He was?"
"Yes. And Jarod is what they call a Pretender. He's trained to become anything he wants to be. He's a genius. He can read a book about brain surgery in the morning and then in the afternoon he can perform a perfect surgery. They've been trying to capture him for seven years since he ran away. He is some kind of savior of the people. He goes from city to city with a different last name and he helps all kinds of people. His doctor was a Dr. Sydney Beudreaux. Dr. Beaudreaux is the one that trained him."
"Did we capture Dr. Beaudreaux?"
"No. He was gone when we took down the Centre, but there are records that he still works there, along with a Mr. Jon Broots. He's a computer technicion. He has one daughter, and all three have mysteriously disappeared."
"Like they were forewarned."
"Or something."
"The other people we found out about. Dr. William Raines. He was adopted at a young age, but he used to be a Parker. Dr. Raines runs the Centre under something called the Triumvirate. It's located in Africa, too. He has three children and he had several pet projects. One was Kyle, a pretender who ended up being shot by a Mr. Lyle Parker. Another, Alex, was murdered. Another, Angelo, who is very much alive. He's what they call an impath. He touches objects and can sense the feelings of those who touched it last. He's part of the Heptagon. And there was Ethan, who is still alive, and related to Miss Marina Parker and Mr. Lyle Parker and Jarod. That's a really long story. Ethan is somewhat of a psychic and is part of the Heptagon."
"Okay. What else is there?"
"Miss Marina Parker. Twin of Lyle Parker, who was declared dead when born. He wasn't though, he was shipped off and adopted by the Bowmans. Lyle recently returned, but he's insane. He runs all kinds of projects in the Centre and is the son of Mr. Raines as well. Lyle also seems to have cannibalism on the mind a lot from what I've read from Miss Parker. And back to her. She grew up in the Centre, and her mother was murdered. She knew Jarod as a child and is part of the group to hunt him down. She never succeeded. She's the daughter of Raines."
"Okay."
"Andrew Raines is Mr. Sark. He had been on the run up until he was six with his mother when Raines had her killed. Andrew was sent back to the Centre where he was trained to become a spy, sent to a special camp where Irina Derevko hand picked four spies to become her proteges. Andrew Raines was the most successful as he became Mr. Sark. I haven't been able to find out what the Heptagon does, but it can't be good."
"Where are they?"
"Nairobi, a small town on the border called D'imiyahoalo. There is a warehouse leased to Emily Edna. Apparently, it's both Mr. Sloane and Dr. Raines' wives."
"Thank you, Marshall. I'll brief Vaughn and Weiss, and make sure back ups are sent for when we arrive."
"Yes, Sir."
"Good bye."
Jack hung up the phone and turned toward the other agents. "It's going to be a long story and a confusing situation, so be prepared."
And with that, Jack sat down and began to explain the new intel to them.
Chapter Nine
Understanding
A.N. Thanks to Anthony for the Klingon word. You're always a great help!
Nairobi, Africa
Sloane had uncovered the monstrosity in the center of the warehouse. He'd driven stakes in a hectagonal shape around it and each person had been tied to it. It went in order of birth, according to the manuscript, Jarod, Miss Parker, Lyle Parker, Angelo, Andrew Raines, Sydney Bristow, and Ethan Parker. Conveniently, Jarod and Sydney ended up facing each other at the very center of the room. Unfortunately for them, the ropes Sloane had bound them with were slightly tighter than Sark's. Raines was lighting candles about the space, sprinkling some kind of liquid that Sydney was fairly certain wasn't Holy Water. Sydney struggled against the restraints, trying to decide if she could lift the stake out of the ground. If she could do that, shimmying out of the ropes would be simple. She surveyed the area around her for cover and weaponry, but found none. And outside wouldn't hold any promise either with the flat, dry desert all around her. She hadn't even seen any dunes. Miss Parker looked quite peeved. She was glaring intently at Jarod as if trying to murder him with her eyes. Lyle looked absolutely delighted to be used as a tool in the process and Ethan looked slightly worried, but not too much. He was positive Miss Parker and Jarod would get him out of this. Angelo was quite confused, knowing that this isn't what Catherine Parker wanted. It wasn't supposed to end this way. Catherine had wanted to save them, save the world from this machine, and no one would stop Dr. Billy and the other man from doing anything. Daughter was frightened, friend was worried, and brother was nervous. The Girl wasn't any of those. She was oddly confident and unsure of herself all at once. Sydney locked eyes with Jarod and she started to tap her foot nonchalantly. Morse code had worked for her once, it might work for her again. A series of long and short taps connected, Sloane and Raines thankfully oblivious to it.
*Can get out. You?*
*Yes.*
*What is happening?*
*Don't know. When do we do this?*
*After I find out what is going to happen.*
Jarod nodded and leaned back against the post.
"Sloane, at least tell me what is going to happen."
He smiled his evil grin and walked towards Sydney.
"It will be magnificent. Absolutely wonderful. I will activate the machine per instruction of the manuscript and an overwhelming power will come over you. It will be amazing. With the power inside of you, power that comes from Rambaldi, his prophecies and the Heptagon, and four will die. You will be instilled with the powers of impathy, guiltlessness, premonitions, intelligence, and dilligence. Jarod, you, and an unknown will survive this. And when it is done, you three will be the Chosen. With William and I to serve you, you will take the world into your grasp. All that we have now will be vanished and you will begin a new society in which we will rule. Of course, modern conviences will stay with us, but a new power will have risen. You should feel honored, Sydney. I know I feel honored to simply be here when it happens, but to be the Chosen is the envy of all of us."
"Except me." Miss Parker chimed in.
"Well, Miss Parker, you might just not have to deal with that pressure. You could very well die in this."
"I don't know if I prefer that."
"You don't have much of a choice. William? Let us begin."
And so Sloane set himself in front of the candles and opened the manuscript.
Plane to Nairobi
Jack was pacing the plane. He hadn't even known it was possible to pace a plane. Vaughn was moving his leg constantly and only Weiss seemed relaxed. It was that calmness that Jack was envying at that very moment. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Flinkman's number.
"Nugneit, this is Marshall."
"Marshall, what information do you have?"
"Oh! Mr. Bristow! Will watched the surveillance footage of the safehouse. The three of them disappeared for six minutes in a back room that wasn't wired. Then they came through and got into a car. They never returned."
"Did Sydney seem to be protesting much?"
"No. It was more like Jarod and Mr. Sark walked out and Sydney had to catch up with them."
"And that was the last you've seen of them?"
"Yes. Now, I've been researching. I had to hack into the correspondence system, which by the way, really cool. I mean, we're talking state of the art equipment. Of course, none of it's as good as my equipment. Not that I'm bragging. I mean, I like the stuff I come up with, but..."
"Marshall. Focus."
"Sorry. Anyways, the Centre's correspondence system revealed that Andrew Raines is really Mr. Sark and he was part of project Christmas. He was the one that it was tested on first."
"He was?"
"Yes. And Jarod is what they call a Pretender. He's trained to become anything he wants to be. He's a genius. He can read a book about brain surgery in the morning and then in the afternoon he can perform a perfect surgery. They've been trying to capture him for seven years since he ran away. He is some kind of savior of the people. He goes from city to city with a different last name and he helps all kinds of people. His doctor was a Dr. Sydney Beudreaux. Dr. Beaudreaux is the one that trained him."
"Did we capture Dr. Beaudreaux?"
"No. He was gone when we took down the Centre, but there are records that he still works there, along with a Mr. Jon Broots. He's a computer technicion. He has one daughter, and all three have mysteriously disappeared."
"Like they were forewarned."
"Or something."
"The other people we found out about. Dr. William Raines. He was adopted at a young age, but he used to be a Parker. Dr. Raines runs the Centre under something called the Triumvirate. It's located in Africa, too. He has three children and he had several pet projects. One was Kyle, a pretender who ended up being shot by a Mr. Lyle Parker. Another, Alex, was murdered. Another, Angelo, who is very much alive. He's what they call an impath. He touches objects and can sense the feelings of those who touched it last. He's part of the Heptagon. And there was Ethan, who is still alive, and related to Miss Marina Parker and Mr. Lyle Parker and Jarod. That's a really long story. Ethan is somewhat of a psychic and is part of the Heptagon."
"Okay. What else is there?"
"Miss Marina Parker. Twin of Lyle Parker, who was declared dead when born. He wasn't though, he was shipped off and adopted by the Bowmans. Lyle recently returned, but he's insane. He runs all kinds of projects in the Centre and is the son of Mr. Raines as well. Lyle also seems to have cannibalism on the mind a lot from what I've read from Miss Parker. And back to her. She grew up in the Centre, and her mother was murdered. She knew Jarod as a child and is part of the group to hunt him down. She never succeeded. She's the daughter of Raines."
"Okay."
"Andrew Raines is Mr. Sark. He had been on the run up until he was six with his mother when Raines had her killed. Andrew was sent back to the Centre where he was trained to become a spy, sent to a special camp where Irina Derevko hand picked four spies to become her proteges. Andrew Raines was the most successful as he became Mr. Sark. I haven't been able to find out what the Heptagon does, but it can't be good."
"Where are they?"
"Nairobi, a small town on the border called D'imiyahoalo. There is a warehouse leased to Emily Edna. Apparently, it's both Mr. Sloane and Dr. Raines' wives."
"Thank you, Marshall. I'll brief Vaughn and Weiss, and make sure back ups are sent for when we arrive."
"Yes, Sir."
"Good bye."
Jack hung up the phone and turned toward the other agents. "It's going to be a long story and a confusing situation, so be prepared."
And with that, Jack sat down and began to explain the new intel to them.
