RAINBOW CONNECTION
by Newly Human
Synopsis: Just as Kaia and Syl think they're home free, X5-494 gets closer. Friendship, intrigue, action, and most importantly… hope.
Timeline: The following takes place in between seasons 1 and 2.
Disclaimer: Dark Angel the series and all it's characters belong to Fox, Cameron/Eglee Productions and other respective owners. I don't mean to infringe so please don't sue. Kaia Kilbourne and the plot are mine.
Author's Note: I'm back! I had to put this story aside to concentrate on study, but the storyline was in my mind the whole time. Whether that's good or bad, my exam results will tell us for sure. I hope everyone's still interested. I didn't realise how many plotlines I had going until I sat down and wrote this chapter. And rewrote it, and re-rewrote it... It's extra long to make up for the lengthy wait. Apologies in advance for bad action sequences. Enjoy! -- Newly Human
CHAPTER 12
Ghosts...
X5-494 burst out of Dr. Kennedy's office.
They were working together, the X5 intruder and the woman masquerading as a doctor. How could he have not seen it? 494 couldn't believe he had fallen for her superiority act. 494 gave himself a mental slap for having relaxed into such a foolish sense of security. It was such a human thing to do...
He cursed silently to himself as he headed towards where he had last seen the dark haired impostor.
494 was determined to find them.
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Kaia pressed Dr. Howard's security pass against the pad to gain entry to the restricted access lab. The door beeped and let her in. Inside, the walls were lined with shelves and refrigerated storage units full of drugs and various other concoctions cooked up by Manticore. Kaia made her way along the wall, scanning her eyes over the different labels. Finally, her eyes rested on a tray of vials filled with a deep red liquid solution. She read the corresponding tag.
"Nemacol." Kaia breathed.
Quickly, she opened the glass door and slipped all four vials into the inside pocket of her lab coat. She replaced the now empty tray on the shelf, took one last look around to check that everything else was back in place, and left the lab. Swiftly, but casually so as not to attract attention, she headed towards the exit.
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Syl jogged quickly down the hall towards the window they had planned for her to escape from. She slowed down as she neared a junction, recalling which way she was supposed to go. The prospect of being free of this place was so close she could almost touch it.
Syl hadn't realised how hard it was for her to be back here until she had seen Ben's face. He had reminded her of everything they had here at Manticore. And everything they had taken away from her.
The sudden sound of feet on tile behind her made her stop. She slowly turned and listened. Whoever it was wasn't close yet, but they were getting closer. At this rate her pursuer could catch up to her before she reached the SUV. She'd end up leading him right to Krit and Logan's position.
Syl couldn't let that happen.
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Logan glanced over at Krit. He was sitting with his eyes trained on the edge of the clearing, watching for any signs of Syl or Kaia through the foliage. By the intent look on his face Logan knew that nothing would - or could - break Krit's concentration until they arrived.
Logan turned back to the laptop sitting on his knees. The screen told him that the surveillance feeds from all the security cameras were still scrambled; the monitors not corresponding to their correct rooms. Everything looked like things were still going according to plan - for once - so he began to type. Logan used a backdoor and Lydecker's old passwords to gain access to the confidential files of all the Manticore projects. He opened up a search window and typed in a serial number. X5-452.
Immediately, screen after screen of information popped up before him. He stared at an image of the beautiful girl he had held in his arms just two nights earlier.
Max.
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494 clipped the radio back to his belt as he finished reporting his findings to Security Control. It had taken the monkeys in the office a few minutes before they realised they should block Dr. Howard's access code and report the impersonator to all guards on patrol. 494 wondered how they ever got their jobs.
He reached a junction and un-clipped the holster on his belt, getting ready in case he needed to quickly grab his gun. He had been tracking someone just ahead of him for the last few minutes. At first 494 thought it was another X5 on patrol, but as he ran to catch up to them they had quickened their speed too. It had to be the female X5 rogue.
494 stopped to listen. He couldn't hear her anymore. He closed his eyes and focused hard on listening to his surroundings, trying to pick up anything that would reveal her position. Where could she be?
As if to answer his silent question, the sudden cocking of a gun sounded behind him.
"Looking for me?" A female voice asked.
494 froze, keeping his back to the X5 rogue. Carefully, he began to move for his gun, but made it appear like he was surrendering.
She seemed to know what he was thinking.
"Don't." the voice warned. He stopped, not wanting to make things any worse.
"Disengage your weapon." She instructed steely.
Cautiously, 494 did as he was told. Within seconds he had pulled the gun apart. He scattered the pieces across the floor and away from the both of them. It would take a few moments to put the gun back together. That was the point.
"I see you haven't forgotten any of that good ol' Manticore training." 494 goaded in his typically smug way.
"Shut up." She snapped at him. "Turn around."
494 slowly turned. The X5 rogue stood holding her gun steadily pointed at him. When she finally had a full view of his face she audibly gasped.
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Kaia made her way past the labs and entered a different section of the facility. All the rooms in this area of the building had been set up for analysis and observation - like a hospital ward. She peeked in through the tiny door window of one of the rooms to see a young boy lying in a bed with various machines attached to him. He looked pale and weak and probably wouldn't make it through the next few nights.
Kaia moved to the next room to see an older soldier, about 25, strapped to the bed and shaking uncontrollably. Kaia felt the spasms of pain from the man, even through the thick metal door between them. The drugs that were dripping into his system weren't working. She put her security pass against the pad by the door to get into the room. She wanted to help somehow. It beeped twice and rejected the card. Kaia tried again. No luck.
Reluctantly, Kaia turned away and continued down the hall. A few doors down the patients didn't look entirely human, but other than that each room contained a similar scene to the first two. Whatever the reason, Manticore had these people stuck in rooms so that their doctors and scientist could watch and poke and prod.
Thoughts of her mother came to her. All that she must have gone through just by being here, just by choosing to go quietly...
Kaia was brought back to reality by a feeling that seemed strangely familiar - a sense of sadness and yearning that seemed to pull her towards one of the rooms further down the corridor. Kaia drifted towards the door as if she was being called and had no control of her own.
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Syl had doubled back to confront her follower, but now, as she stared at the man who had her brother's face, she deeply regretted that decision. All the same, she couldn't tear her eyes away.
She was staring at a ghost.
The soldier looked at her, intrigued and wondering what could have her so spooked. After a short moment of silence he opened his mouth to speak.
"Where's the good doctor?" He asked, cheekily.
Syl snapped out of her daze, realising what he was really saying. He knew that Kaia wasn't who she was pretending to be.
Syl began to worry that Kaia could be in trouble. She reached up to activate her comm. link to let the others know that Kaia's cover had been compromised.
"Command, come in." The only answer she got was loud static. She tried again.
"Kaia?" Again, no response. Something was wrong with the connection.
Syl's moment of confusion was enough of a window for 494 to knock Syl's gun from her hands. It crashed to the ground loudly as 494 bent to wipe a sweep kick across the floor. Syl felt her feet being swept from under her.
As Syl fell on to her back, 494 dived for her fallen gun. She stretched out her leg, trying to kick the gun out of his reach. Instead, her heavy boot connected with 494's hand. He let out a cry and clutched at it in pain. Syl swung her leg up and made contact with his head. He stumbled backwards, trying to regain some sense of balance. In a moment, Syl was once again upright. She advanced, not waiting for 494 to compose himself. Syl managed to connect a few blows before 494 regained his stability and began to fight back. They sparred evenly, until Syl suddenly found herself in a headlock... and realised she couldn't breathe.
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Logan skimmed through the files and files of information on Max, pausing only once when he thought there was a transmission from Syl or Kaia. When the only thing coming through was static, he turned back to the screen in front of him.
Logan skipped the parts he already knew. Born in July 2000. Escaped in 2009. Surfaced in Seattle in 2019. Logan paused when he arrived at more recent documentation. Most of it was too classified for even him to get to, but he was really only looking for one thing... reports of her death.
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Syl struggled fiercely, but 494's grip around her neck stayed firm.
The edges of the world began to blur and darken as the oxygen was cut off from her lungs. Syl continued to struggle as best she could, but she felt her legs begin to buckle and slowly collapsed to her knees. 494 stayed with her, intent on bringing her down.
Through the blurriness, Syl felt something cold, hard and metallic against her leg. She fumbled clumsily at it. 494 didn't seem to notice. He probably thought she was thrashing about in desperation.
Her hand finally found its grip on her fallen gun. Syl brought it up quickly and pressed it to the soldier's neck.
494 felt the metal against his skin and loosened his grip slightly. It was enough to let Syl breathe again. Air rushed into her lungs and her eyes came back into focus. When she nudged the gun deeper, he finally let go. Syl thanked him by elbowing him in the jaw.
494 fell to the floor gasping. Syl took that chance to move away completely from his reach. She stood over him with her gun aimed confidently, and prepared to fire.
494 chose that moment to turn to look up at her. She had made him bite his lip with that last blow and blood began to trickle down his chin. Her finger on the gun's trigger hesitated.
With his arms out in a gesture of surrender, 494 looked at her. He looked so defeated... Syl couldn't do it. She felt her gun start to lower.
494 breathed in relief. He had assessed correctly; living out in the world had made her soft, sentimental, easy to predict. He couldn't help but be amused.
Syl suddenly brought the butt of the gun to his head and 494 fell on the floor a final time, unconscious. She may be sentimental, but she wasn't an idiot.
Syl stared at the fallen body, a lump forming in her throat. Ben, Max, Zack... they all died victims of Manticore. She feared that in the end, this place would take them all. But there was more than one way to fall prey to Manticore. Even though 12 had escaped, Manticore still had a hold on all of them. Syl hated them for that. And every part of her wanted revenge for her fallen brothers and sisters, but no matter what, she couldn't kill this man. That would make her what Manticore always intended her to be. She wouldn't let them win. She wouldn't be made another victim.
"For my family..." Syl managed to whisper as she holstered her gun.
Syl began to back away as she took one last look at the unconscious soldier. After a few more steps she turned, and raced to find Kaia.
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Kaia looked through the little window. Inside the room a stunning woman lay unconscious. She looked exhausted and Kaia recognised the signs of a recent operation. Her dark hair lay spread out on the pillow, framing her tanned skin and the exotic features of her face. Kaia watched her breathe to the rhythm of the loud heart monitor beeping beside her. The woman's eyes twitched as she dreamed violently. Kaia felt the horror of her nightmare before she suddenly calmed and a wave of sadness washed over her. The overwhelming defeat, the heart wrenching angst, the deep longing... Kaia felt it all.
The woman's strong feelings subsided as she drifted into a dreamless sleep. Kaia couldn't help but feel sympathy for this woman. Even though she was here at Manticore, and Kaia assumed just another brainwashed soldier, the woman seemed to have life inside of her. Independence. Individuality. Defiance. Things Manticore certainly didn't drill into their subjects. It felt as if she had lived... and lost.
The sadness became a little too much for Kaia to bear so she continued down the corridor. She briefly glanced into the next - and last - room at the end of the hall as she passed, but what she saw made her eyes widen.
"Zack..."
Author's Note: It was so hard to write Syl, knowing so little about her. I hope the "victims of Manticore" paragraph wasn't too much. As always, let me know what you think! -- Newly Human
© June-July 2004 NHmedia