Disclaimer and such: check prelude.

AN: leochick, ranma8962, Annette, Ginger6, imag1ne and Jerseyno1, you people rock. You truly do. Thanks a bunch for sticking with this story and sharing your thoughts on it with me.

Everyone else who might be reading, thanks for reading. =)

What I must say this time. First: I love Lyle. No, okay, don't shoot. Like I said before, I love Miss P and Jarod of course, plus I'm a shipper. However, I have to confess, I enjoy writing Lyle far more than it's probably advisable. Second: as much as I love writing Lyle, this was the chapter that would not be finished so instead of guilt, thanks go to Shakira for singing Poem to a horse. It's a Lyle thing, please don't ask. Third: the title of chapter fourth is taken form T.S. Eliot and the title of chapter five is taken from the Rusted Root song 'Virtual Reality'. I just had to give those credits.

Ok that's it, on with the show.

Chapter six

Smashing pumpkins is a dangerous pass time.

"I will show you fear in a handful of dust"

-The wasteland. T. S. Eliot.

Lyle had always coveted that office. It was large, well furnished, tastefully decorated…it was a chairman's office. People liked to think that it wasn't the office that made the man, but when it came to the Centre, it certainly wasn't the man that made the office. Proof of it was the fact that despite the 'rotation of power' that the organization had experienced several months ago, the room still looked pretty much the same as it had before. Only the few pictures that had once belonged to Mr. Parker were now gone, but aside from that, nothing else had changed. Voices leaked through the closed door and Lyle was reminded of the reason why he was sitting there. The chairman wanted to see him. Raines wanted to see him. Raines.

To say that Raines was the devil was doing the mythical beast a disservice. The man was, Lyle was sure, the most despicable creature that had ever existed. And he counted himself on that list, along with that freakhead Alex and his own namesake bastard of a foster father. The thing was that Raines had the power to frighten the people he couldn't otherwise convince, which made for a hell of a skill in the kind of business they ran. Lyle was pondering if perhaps the trait was hereditary when the sound of a closing door followed by a familiar squeaking interrupted his musings.

"Well…"Started a wheezy voice as its owner slid behind the large desk. "As we assumed it would happen, they want him as soon as possible".

"Are we going to hand him over?"

"Of course, we can't afford to upset the Triumvirate right now".

Lyle was well aware of this, but he was also well aware of the way his biological father had savored the words, like they were a fine wine. Focusing on the small oxygen tank that stood beside his father's chair, he set his expression in an impassive gesture as he tried to come up with something, anything really, because nothing was making sense anymore.

"You seem, displeased".

His impassiveness was obviously not what it used to be. "Parker will not be happy"

The older man across from him almost laughed, an expression that warned Lyle of the upcoming shift in the conversation.

"Tell me Mr. Lyle, are you sure you are on the right side?"

Lyle didn't even have to try the innocent look.

"If you believe that perhaps your purposes might be better served working directly for our African overseers, then I strongly suggest you take the time you have to arrange for a seat on the transport they will be sending soon to pick up Jarod", or else…Raines hadn't said the words, but he had heard them nonetheless and knew their meaning well. Eying the balding man before him with suspicion, the younger executive quickly pondered his options: Raines had something coming, that was already an established fact; but what was important was that the man usually got what he wanted, which couldn't really be said about his African counterparts.

His decision made, Lyle leaned back and grinning slightly prepared himself of whatever was coming his way.

"What do you have in mind?"

Raines seemed to have been waiting for that answer because he didn't miss a beat. "We'll let them take Jarod, but not before we perform a series of test…gather some samples".

Tests and samples…Lyle's world was finally turning right. "How much time do we have?"

"A week. A transport was to come in three days but I convinced Bekele that his pretender was recovering after a long interrogatory. I'm sure his ailments can be…arranged?"

Lyle looked thoughtful and nodded all the while trying to mask his inner joy: even in the middle of this unexpected and potentially suicidal meeting, good news were still good news.

"Good". Then Raines sat back on his high seat effectively killing Lyle's improving mood: the older man looked so thoroughly pleased with himself that it was nearly impossible not to squirm at the sight. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the chairman restarted the conversation.

"You want to know how I plan to get the pretender back".

Lyle shrugged unsurprised, resigned as he was to have his mind read for the time being. "The thought occurred to me"

"I don't" the older man stated simply. "Jarod has been an excruciating pain for the past six years and perhaps even longer. Having him gone is the best solution to many of our problems".

"I see" He didn't have a clue, but bluffing was a notch above helplessness in his personal scale. Bluffing, unfortunately, can only take you so far sometimes.

"No, you don't". Raines dismissed the lie attempt and went on unfazed, making his son wonder yet again what the hell was going on. "But it doesn't matter. What you need to see is that the Triumvirate believes that Jarod is the key to everything, which is of course, true".

"But…" he played along.

"All keys are replaceable".

In that instant, the Gemini project took on a whole new meaning for Lyle, who suddenly wasn't feeling quite as clueless anymore.

"Mr. Parker", Raines continued rather musing than commenting, "was always reluctant to accept the possibility, and although I tried to convince him that the need for the pretender was barely a matter of interpretation, his want to get Jarod caught and returned went beyond logical reason".

Although the puzzle was taking form, the younger man settled for the safety of his thoughtful look accompanied by a slight nod. He might not be clueless but he was still terribly uninformed, and the more he could get out of his interlocutor, the better. His silent approach seemed to work because the chairman decided to grace him with another fragment of speech.

"As you have no doubt deduced, I don't share my brother's obsession. The stakes are too high to leave everything pending on the reeducation of a man who will gladly die before cooperating. There are more important things to focus our attention on right now… that is, if you truly plan on staying within the bosom of your family…"

There it was again, that ever-present unspoken threat; Lyle, who had enough self preservation instincts to make it on the wild regions of the Congo, didn't skip a beat before replying with a polite but believable 'of course'.

"Excellent" was the answer he got from his mentor, who was probably expecting nothing less. "Get in touch with Dr. Marks from the synthesis labs; he knows exactly what needs to be done. And please don't put off your…questioning of the pretender too long: he must be fully recovered one week from now. That's the deal we've cut."

Having finished imparting instructions, Raines lowered his eyes focusing on some papers on his desk. Lyle figured this was a good time to show himself out and slid quietly out of his chair. He was halfway to the door when the sound of his name being called broke his stride and made him turn.

"Mr. Lyle. Do you remember the Darwin project? He wanted to think it was just paranoia that was making the alarm bells in his head go off, but the nonchalant tone of the question was making it hard to pretend.

"The Centre's genetic engineering initiative... It was in the very early stages when Jarod blew it up along with the Donoterese facility and most of our Genome research.

"It was?"

The chairman had yet to look up form his desk and Lyle knew for sure he was definitely not being paranoid. Maybe he had that so called sixth sense, after all. Mentally shaking his head the younger man left the room. Many things could be said about Raines, but the bastard was most definitely a worthy adversary.

…

Right after setting foot outside the chairman's office, Lyle's mind had began to spun the facts it'd been recently fed. First was the news that the pretender was leaving for Africa, which didn't really constitute a revelation as that was meant to happen sooner of later. However, that Raines was willingly giving up his prize was motive enough for concern. The balding ghoul had gone as far as to admit that Jarod was replaceable; replaceable, but necessary if his insistence of having the genius in one piece was any indication. Also, the replaceable part was probably a new development since just three months ago, the chairman had been more than intent on catching the pretender…or maybe… Reaching his destination, Lyle put his train of thought on pause so he properly address his new recruit.

"Broots! Did you get my DSA"

"Yes, sir". It still amazed Lyle what the treacherous actions of a person could do to blindly devoted coworkers. Three days ago, after returning to the centre with his twin and the shackled pretender in tow, Lyle had taken upon himself to relaying the basic facts surrounding the pretender's capture. As he'd told his tale to the shrink and the technician who had gathered in his office, Lyle had seen disbelief, followed by the deep disappointment hiding behind the stunned looks the two men had worn. Not that he could blame them, he had been (and still was), stunned too. But he'd found a certain beauty in the submission he'd encountered in the two former hunters after revealing the extent of Miss Parker's ... commitment: he'd sent Sydney to sulk in his office and put Broots to work under his command. Neither man had offered resistance at all.

Too bad for Parker, Lyle figured: the babbling moron was really good help when he wasn't interfering. And he did have a way of finding lost data on the Centre's mainframe. Fingering the DSA of the recent T-Board meeting, Lyle considered his next move.

"I want you to find something else. I need you to scan the mainframe for any information available on project Darwin. I want anything and everything: memos, reports, mentions in non-related documents as well as a complete list of all directly and indirectly involved. And Broots, I want it now". Not waiting for a response from the techie, the Lyle turned on his heel and returned the way he'd come.

First he needed to see the pretender, rattle him a little. Then he could get back to Broots and the useless information the geek was digging up for him. If his suppositions were right, there was nothing to be found in the mainframe, or anywhere else for that matter, that could put the old DNA recombination project in a new light. The way Raines had asked about his knowledge of it…it was a test. There was something he was supposed to be aware of but wasn't, at least not yet. Stopping by his office to get the DSA player he needed, he tried to keep putting the pieces together.

He knew something had happened in the past three months. Probably had been happening for a while, if he matched Raines statement that Mr. Parker knew Jarod was not a necessity. But it was in the past three months that the situation had been redefined. At least The Centre's situation. The Triumvirate was obviously still caught up in getting the pretender back. Which brought him back to the pretender being necessary for the Centre, but not irreplaceable in the grand scheme of thing…And that brought him to the scrolls and the annoying reminder that he still didn't know what was written in the accursed things.

Rubbing his ungloved hand forcefully against his face, Lyle tried not to become exasperated. He was thinking in circles and the same blanks remained in the equation. And yet, his gut was telling him the key to everything was standing right before his eyes, he had only to step back and look at the situation from another angle.

As he made his way through the now scarcely populated hallways and towards the elevators, Lyle cheered up: this upcoming meeting with his charge was going to be the highlight of his day. Unless, of course, he managed to pick up a new girl on the way home… a warm bed and a new culinary project were just what he needed to put the stress aside for the night.

AN2: To my sister for being so silly. To my brother for being so cool.