Brennan was sitting in the main room, eating froot loops out of the box and watching the news on the holo-screen.
"Hey, they're knocking down Genomex." He said as Mason walked in.
"What?"
"...representatives have been unavailable for comment. No explanations have been given for the destruction of the facility. Demolition is due to begin this afternoon." The reporter straightened his papers. "Now we'll join our outside broadcast unit at the scene."
"Adam!" Mason called.
"Yeah?" he said, walking into the room.
"Look." He pointed at the screen. A woman was standing in front of the main building, giving random, but non-incriminating information about the complex. "They are planning to destroy Genomex. This is a travesty." He shook his head. "Why was I not informed?"
"Well, I'll admit it is a shame. But I really can't bring myself to care."
"Does it not bother you that decades of research will be destroyed?"
"Well, yes. But maybe it is for the best."
"What on earth do you mean?"
"We have both spent ten years of our lives trying to fix what happened at Genomex. Perhaps it would be better if the world never knows of the technology we used there."
"But surely you cannot be happy for that to happen. You do claim to be a scientist, after all."
"Will you two knock it off? Bickering like a couple of kids." Brennan shook his head.
They both turned to look at him, shocked and a little ashamed.
"Perhaps it would be a good a idea to take a look." said Adam. "Brennan, go and gather the others."
"All right, just let me finish my breakfast."
# # #
Emma was sitting at the top of the steps of the dojo."How're you feeling today?" Shalimar asked, sitting down next to her.
"Oh." Emma broke out of her trance and looked around. "F-fine. I'm okay. Really."
"If there's anything worrying you, talk to me, all right?
"Adam says there's nothing wrong with me, so quit worrying so much."
"How can I not worry? It's pretty serious if someone is messing with your mind."
"But I don't really feel like I've got someone in my head. I'd know if I had. I don't even remember what you said happened."
"Aw, c'mere." Shalimar hugged her. "It should be you that's worrying and me telling you it's gonna be fine."
"Hey, yeah you should!" Emma laughed.
"Oh yeah, Adam said there's something going on at Genomex, so we're going to go check it out. You feel up to it? 'Cause if not, I'll stay here with you."
"Shalimar!"
"Okay, okay."
# # #
Some time later, the double helix landed on the roof of Genomex.A van and several machines could be seen parked on the main parking lot. Three men in yellow jackets milled around absently.
Mason and Emma walked up to them.
"Can I 'elp you?" One of the men asked. He was leaning on the bonnet of the van and smoking a cigarette.
"May I ask what you are doing here?" Mason asked.
"This place is comin' down, they don't use it any more 'pparently."
"I think you have been misinformed."
The man looked thoughtful for a moment, and blew a smoke ring. Mason glared at him.
"Nope, it says right here." He waved vaguely at some non-existent papers. "They want the place flattened by the end of the week. Gonna build a shopping complex or sumthin'."
A shopping complex? "Who are 'they'?"
"The local county council. They gave us the job, don't know any more than that."
"This is a definite mistake. I'm afraid I can't let you do this."
"Whoa, we've gotta do our job." He took a drag on his cigarette.
"I want to speak to the supervising officer."
"That'd be me. And I've gotta tell ya, we can't have the general public interfering with the works."
"Do you have any idea who I am?"
"Nope, not a clue."
Mason gave Emma a look. She unfocused her eyes and concentrated on a single thought.
"Wait a minute." said the man. "Oh, Jesus, I don't think we've got the right place." He turned round. "All right men, back to the depot."
# # #
The aboveground part of the complex looked the same as ever. The entrance area was exactly the same as it always was, except more dimly lit and completely devoid of people.Shalimar stopped. She kept perfectly still, listening for the sound again. There it was. A faint rustle. Her eyes glowed yellow.
"What's up Shal?" Jesse asked, turning round.
"I heard something. There's someone here." she said.
Emma closed her eyes. "Yeah, I can feel them, too."
"I'm gonna check it out." Shalimar whispered.
"I will accompany you." Mason said.
"I can handle this. Don't worry I'm not gonna let 'em get away."
He gave her a disapproving look; but she was off, prowling silently down the corridor, listening intently for signs of her prey.
# # #
Chris thumbed through yet another filing cabinet full of disappointing legal vehicle defect reports. The flashlight clamped between her teeth showed her page after page of exactly what went wrong with every vehicle in the year of 1992.The computers were useless, since there was no power, and she didn't feel like lugging a dozen hard drives round with her.
"Having fun?" A voice whispered in her ear.
She fell forward, dropping the flashlight in the drawer and slamming her forehead into the top of the filing cabinet. She fumbled around in the drawer, and when she found it, pointed it at the figure behind her.
It was a woman with wild blonde hair, standing with her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face.
Chris's heart thumped. She bit her lip. She thought the place was empty, since it was going to be knocked down.
She'd do anything to get back to looking through useless files, or even to be back at her boring job at O'Leary's.
"Not really." She replied eventually.
"What are you doing here?" Shalimar asked.
"Er...err...nothing." Yeah great, she thought, I'm just here doing nothing. Great cover. If Proxy was still around, she'd be ashamed.
"Nothing, huh? Funny place to be doing nothing." For a moment, Chris thought the woman's eyes glowed.
"...yeah...you know I haven't seen anything classified -- you don't need to kill me." She couldn't help but think this was a laughably poor choice of last words.
But Shalimar just laughed. "We're not gonna kill you." Chris breathed a sigh of relief. "Come on, lets go. Don't ya know this place is gonna be demolished?"
# # #
"I found her snooping around some files." Shalimar reported, loosening her grip on the girl's arm. She seemed to go willingly, but she wasn't going to give her a chance to run. Chris pulled her arm away and glanced at her sulkily."Wow look, it's Proxy Blue." said Brennan.
Chris grinned.
Mason's eyes widened as her recognised her. It was the silly girl from the cafe. Irritatingly, she recognised him too.
"Oh, it's you. Didn't know you had more than a passing interest in this business. So, you here to unravel the mysteries of the old Genomex place?"
"Not exactly."
"Really? Then what're you doing here?"
"I might ask you the very same question."
"I asked first." She crossed her arms.
Mason stared at her, but she wasn't going to be intimidated. He took a moment to regain his composure, then said. "Nothing you would find interesting. Now, for your answer."
"Well, erm...y'see I just came here on my lunch break, I managed to duck under the barriers the demolition guys put up. Had to hide from them, but I got round to the front of the building and I found the front doors were open so I thought I'd have a look around..."
"A gripping tale, I'm sure. Now go." He pointed down the corridor behind him.
"Wait, Mason, who is she?" Adam asked.
"She is a waitress who works at a nearby restaurant. It was there that I had the great pleasure of meeting her."
"Fine. There's nothing interesting here anyway. But don't think I'm not gonna get to the bottom of this." She smiled and walked off down the corridor.
