Author's Note: For those interested in reading more details on the origins of Buffy and Anne (summarized in this chapter) check out my story "The Slayer 314 Project". This chapter represents the end of the first story-arc, titled "The Get-Together". The next arc, presumably about four chapters long as well, will be called "Power Politics" and play in the West Wing world.

Oh, and Harry2? More details about Faith's past and her connection (if any) to Logan will be unveiled in time. You'll just have to stay tuned. Thanks for reviewing, everyone. Keep it up!

Enjoy!

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Chapter 4: Leaders & Followers

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Grand Central
Time indeterminable

Parallel 000

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Internal system's diagnosis complete. Displaying results:
- Internal power sources operating at 100% efficiency
- Gyroscope operating within defined parameters
- Motor Control operating within defined parameters
- Promethean Metal operating grid integrity at 100%
- Data base integrity at 100%
- Primary Personality Matrix integrity at 86%
- Secondary Personality Matrix integrity at 100%

Display diagnosis details on Primary Personality Matrix
Please wait ... Displaying diagnosis details:

Primary Personality Matrix integrity compromised due to agitation of Primary Personality, designation: Buffy Summers. Stress factor above safety limits. Combat subroutines online and standing by.

Displaying threat parameters:
Outside threat parameters: Green. Subject: Angelus not currently in scanning range. No other hostile presences detected.
Internal threat parameters: Yellow. Integrity of Primary Personality Matrix comprises possible risk to continued operation.
Option: Emergency Response Program. Upload Secondary Personality, designation: Anne, into Emergency Response Grid? Y/N

Waiting ...

Emergency Response Program aborted.

Your name is Anne, at least that is what you call yourself. Your creators gave you a serial number and the designation Adam One, but you don't like either of those. Your current name was given to you by the woman you share a body with, her own second name to be exact. Seeing as your own personality is patterned after hers that name fits like a glove.

Most of the times the sharing of a single body between the two of you goes smoothly. You have had a long time to get used to it. There are times, though, such as the present, when it presents some problems. Even though your own personality is a copy of Buffy's you do have different opinions about some things.

Also, you like to think that you are not as stubborn as the former Vampire Slayer.

Despite your near-human characteristics you are a computer program and, as such, you are quite capable of handling several different tasks at once. Even as you listen to the conversation (a polite word for something very close to a shouting match) between Buffy and the living quantum computer Willow 12 your internal systems are routinely reviewing recent events in order to predict what might come next and how to handle it.

It is more or less the equivalent of a human thinking: "How the hell did I wind up in a mess like this and how do I get out of it?"

Memory data flashes through your processors with speeds no computer except Willow 12 could possibly match. Decades of life experiences compress into a single stream of data and analyzing subroutines go over everything, working out patterns.

Your own life began in a flash of agony, an explosion of fire and pain. Adam One, as your name should have been, was meant to be the ultimate fighting machine. A perfect warrior, created from an unholy fusion of magic and technology and given the memories, experiences, and fighting skills of the world's greatest supernatural warrior, the Slayer. Only things didn't quite turn out the way her creators, a group called the Initiative, had planned.

Buffy Summers, the Slayer, died in the same fires that heralded your birth, but her mind survived, downloaded into your mainframe during the accident. Ever since then you have shared a body, for better or worse. A body that won't age and, as far as your experience goes, is practically indestructible.

None of which helped you even a bit when the same crisis that Willow 12 now wants to clean up after destroyed your home dimension. In the blink of eye you and Buffy lost everything. Your world, your friends, your family, even the man Buffy loved and planned to spend eternity with, Angel. All gone. You survived through sheer chance, an odd interaction between your own unique nature and a probe Willow 12 had sent to investigate the destruction of yet another parallel. It brought you to the dubious safety of a parallel world, one where you saw all the people you had lost, only they weren't the same people.

Driven by Buffy's (and your own) need for revenge you joined the battle at the beginning of time, only to learn that it was another version of Buffy Summers herself who had caused all this mayhem and destruction. In order to defeat her you had to interface with her, use the same technology that had originally sucked the mind of your world's Buffy Summers into your indestructible shell, and you learned of all the horrors she'd had to endure. Not an experience you would like to repeat anytime soon.

When everything was done you hoped to start a new life elsewhere. After some travels you found a world where a window of opportunity opened up. That world's Buffy Summers died, gave her life to defeat the mad god Glorificus. Buffy, your Buffy, took her place, inserting the two of you into a world that was somewhat familiar. You hoped to pick up your life there, to find a place for yourself.

Only it quickly became obvious that this was not to be. As Willow 12 told the assembled team only an hour ago, an object from one parallel can not safely be inserted into a different parallel for any length of time. Differences in quantum frequency began to play havoc with the local space-time continuum after but a few weeks of your staying there. The barriers between the dimensions, weakened both by the crisis and events on that parallel itself, were starting to and buckle and crack.

In the end you had no other choice but to leave. Then the realization started to sink in. The simple fact that, with your own parallel destroyed, you would never again be able to call some place home.

All these memories took you but a moment to sift through and, all the while, you kept listening to the barely civil conversation between Buffy and Willow 12.

"This is the worst idea you ever had," Buffy growls at the living computer. "And that is saying a lot, considering all the ways you already messed up."

"I have told you my reasons," Willow 12 replies evenly. You automatically cross-reference your memory files, displaying the reasons you have been given. Regarded from a purely logical point of view they are sound. It has been quite some time, though, since you have been able to think and act in a purely logical manner. Come to think of it, you have never been able to do so. Computer program or not, the mind you are patterned after has made too deep an impression on you for that to be possible.

"A nearly infinite number of parallel worlds to choose from," Buffy continues, oblivious to Willow 12's attempts at civility, "and you just have to choose one where Angel was never cursed to begin with. You bring Angelus here, the most vicious killer ever. Not only that, you choose one who is ten times as powerful as the standard model. Believe me, girlfriend, none of your reasons help make sense of that."

Willow 12 sighs, or gives a pretty good impression of doing so. You remember a time not too long ago when the quantum computer was only capable of appearing human as a holographic image. That was, of course, before you gave her a sample of the magical metal your body is made from. While Willow 12 hasn't been able to reproduce all the unique characteristics of your form (a state of affairs you can't help but feel a little smug about), she has managed to build herself quite a capable simulacrum.

The similarities between the two of you, two living machines patterned after people who were best friends, has not been lost on either of you. It has made working together on this new venture pretty easy so far. At least until Willow 12 made her choice which version of Angel to bring into this team they were building. A choice she did not consult Buffy or you on.

"You know as well as I do, Buffy," Willow 12 says softly, "that this job we want to do here is not going to be pretty. Odds are it's going to be downright evil at times. We need someone to do handle the dirty parts of it."

"We can do that ourselves," Buffy huffs. Being as close as you are, though, you know she is not really certain about that part.

"Really?" Willow 12 asks, calling her on it. "Tell me, Buffy! If the only way to save a parallel from collapse is to summarily execute a hundred innocent people, could you do it? Or would you ask any of the others to do it?"

She walks closer, laying one crimson metal hand on your shoulder.

"I know you, Buffy, and I know Anne. You both, together, are one of the most powerful and capable entities in all possible worlds. There is no one I'd rather have as field leader of this team. But there are some things you simply can't do. Or maybe you can do them, but you will destroy yourself in the process. Neither of which is acceptable to me."

Buffy looks down and your thoughts begin to mesh with her in quiet conversation

*She is right, Buffy.*

*This is just like you to take her side. Is this some kind of computer solidarity?*

*Stop being stupid, okay? You know better than that.*

*I know him, Anne, and so should you. You have all my memories.*

*Yes, I know that he will betray us first chance he gets. But since we know that, we can be prepared for it. Besides, we might need his power on our side, especially if a case like the one Willow 12 just mentioned should ever come up.*

*I just ... I don't know whether I can handle this, you know? It's only been a few months since I lost Angel, then the whole thing with the new life we tried to build, and now ... now I'm going to see him every day for who knows how long, but it's not him.*

*You can handle it, Buffy. I know you can. You are strong. I should know that.*

Buffy gives you a reluctant nod of consent, but retreats to the back of your shared consciousness with a huff. You know how she gets when she is in this kind of mood. It's one of the drawbacks of your shared existence. Buffy has fallen into the habit of pushing you into the driver's seat when she doesn't like the way things go. Sometimes you worry about that, as it can't exactly be healthy for Buffy's state of mind. Seeing as at least two of the many minds with whose characteristics you have been programmed were trained in psychology, you are almost sure of it.

The magical metal of your face ripples and changes as you assume control, something you almost did a few minutes ago in order to stop the shouting, but decided against. Now the face of your shared body changes, adapting the ones copied from Buffy's original flesh-and-blood body until they were subtly but notably different.

"We don't like it, Willow," you tell your friend, "but we'll trust your judgment in this matter."

"And fully reserve the right to tell me 'I told you so' if things go wrong?"

"Of course. Did you expect anything else?"

Willow 12 just nods. It's true that you and her have become better friends than Buffy and her. You don't know whether that is because you both started out as 'mere' machines. Maybe it's simply because neither of you has anyone else with whom you can hold super-fast, highly complex conversations. Buffy's mind might be housed inside a computer these days, but her thought processes were still human and, from your point of view, rather slow.

"So what do you think of our other recruits, now that we have met them in person?"

You think over that question, data streams connecting inside your mind, gathering all the relevant information together.

"All of them are powerful, that much is for sure. I have a hard time figuring out Faith and Giles, but the former might just be because she has so little clue about herself. Superficially she's the same brash young woman I knew, but that's just a mask she wears. Also, I did some analysis of her body. I doubt she is as young as she appears. And Giles ... well, he is very different from the man I knew, and not just because of his power levels. I think being betrayed by his disciple really damaged his confidence, though he is hiding it pretty well."

"He'll get over it. One doesn't become Sorcerer Supreme by being a wimp. He just needs time."

"Oz might be a problem. He hates what he is. In a combat situation he might hesitate before deploying his full strength."

"And Xander?"

"He might actually be the most level-headed of this team, which is kind of ironic, I guess. He is 112 years old, so immaturity should no longer be an issue with him. If we let him I think he can become the heart of this team we're building. Also, having a few other immortals around to hang with might be good for him."

There is a moment of silence between the two of you before you speak it out loud.

"And then there is Angelus."

"Yes."

"Combat-wise I think he can be a tremendous asset. I'm just afraid that, even with you blackmailing him into cooperation, he will be a disrupting factor."

"That's a chance we'll just have to take."

Activating one of the holographic screens via radio-telepathy, you call up an image of Richard Wilkins and Roger Tribby.

"So I guess we'll start with this case, right?"

"Yes," Willow 12 nods at you. "I've currently mapped 17 different convergences we need to deal with. This one is one of the most harmless, at least at the moment, and I think it's a good way for our team to get their feet wet, so to speak."

The images of your teammates flicker through their processor once again and you almost manage to keep from cringing when Angelus' face appears. In the back of your mind you feel Buffy, still huffing.

"Are you certain we should take the whole team? The more foreign bodies enter a parallel, the quicker the disruptions begin. Besides, I don't think we'll need all our firepower to handle a yet-to-ascend Richard Wilkins. In my world Buffy beat him with arrows, two flame-throwers and some explosives and that was after he became a greater demon."

"On future missions we might reduce the number of participants to those absolutely essential, but as I said, I want this mission to be a kind of team-building exercise for everyone involved. That includes the two us, too."

You give her a wistful smile, thinking back to when the three of you started working this thing out. Willow 12, while capable of mobile operations due to the form you helped her make, is far better suited to a command & control function, providing information and keeping her eyes on the big picture. You and Buffy, on the other hand, are much better at getting your hands dirty. Buffy has led teams such as this before, but never quite with such an odd combination of individuals.

Saying that this is going to be interesting might just a tremendous understatement.

"Let us gather the troops then," you say with as much enthusiasm as you manage to muster. "It's off to work we go."

End Chapter 4

NEXT: Swords, fangs, and claws in the West Wing