Manipulation
by Time Guardian

Chapter 3 - A Question of Loyalty
Somewhere in Maine-

The solitary figure ran through the night. His conditioning allowed him
to run great distances at a time, and on some nights it came in handy.
He was trying to quiet the frenzied thoughts that ran through his his head.

-Why couldn't I kill him? That name he used. It was so familiar, and
somehow I knew it was for the dog. How can this be?-

He broke into a sprint once he was in sight of the hotel.
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His room was on the top corner of the top floor. He always had a habit of
picking that particular room whenever he stayed somewhere. It usually made
him feel safe, and he could usually see an enemy coming from miles around.

Opening the door, he entered the room. The furnishings were few, but he
didn't want to attract attention by staying at a nationally known hotel.

He sat down at the desk in the corner and took out a laptop from his backpack.
Placing it on the desk, he quickly powered it on and tapped out a series of
commands. In response, a communication window opened and a shadowy figure
appeared.

The voice that issued from the speakers was grainy and distorted.

"You are late. Report."

He ran a hand through his blond hair nervously. The person he reported to
never tolerated failure, especially from him. He had been trained,
conditioned, and educated not to fail.

He spoke quickly. "There was a dog in the house that distracted me. I- was
unable to finish my task."

The voice from the speakers became agitated.

"That does not please me or Dr. Zin. We have both given you
the best training that money can buy in order for you to help his research.
In return, all he's asking for is for you to kill one man and steal his
invention. Do you want to be sent back to him as a failure? He loves you like
a son, but I can assure you that your punishment will be harsh."

He cringed, remembering the times he had been punished before.

"No. I don't want to disappoint him. I can carry out this mission."

He could hear the tapping of keys in the background as the voice replied, "Well,
luckily we have some time before Dr. Zin activates phase two of his plan. You
will have another opportunity to finish your mission over the next few days.
There is a local high school in the area I would like for you to go to under the
guise of a normal high school student named Zach Alexander. Dr. Quest is due
to lecture there in two days time, so I want you to mingle and survey the site."

"Yeah, I can do that," he replied absently. He kept playing back the
whole incident in his head, questions still rolling around in his mind.

The voice took on a harsh tone, snapping him back to the present.

"Do not fail me again. Dr. Quest is an enemy that can stop my
plans and take you away from me, do you want that?"

He shuddered in reply.

"No. I will not fail you again, father. When the time is right,
I WILL kill Dr. Quest."

He shut the connection down and closed his laptop.

Laying down on the bed, he breathed a sigh and thought
about the encounter he had with Dr. Quest. His mission was clear,
but for some reason he still couldn't get that encounter out of his
mind. However, the events of the night caught up with him. His eyelids
drooped, and soon was fast asleep.
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Next Morning-
Quest Compound-

Race came downstairs after showering to find his daughter standing behind
Dr. Quest in the main living room. He was seated at the main table intensly
focusing on the contents of a computer screen in front of him.

"Whats got your interest, Benton?"

Dr. Quest looked up from the screen. "Im using a program I borrowed with
the permission of a forensic artist friend of mine. It ages children's pictures
based on input of attributes from the parents."

"He's already scanned in pictures of Jonny, Himself, and Jonny's mother,"
Jessie piped up.

"Now I just need to make a few adjustments."

Dr. Quest typed in calculation after calculation, and soon a 3-d image appeared
on the screen. It held the basic contours of a face, but lacked features. To
the side of the image, the program offered three different options for each facial
feature, including the hair.

"The program offered me these options based on the attributes of the photos
I scanned into it," he thought out loud, quickly tapping in some options, "now
if I remember right, my friend told me to type in this command and-"

He pressed the final button in the series. The program sprang to life,
trying different facial feature combinations until the program stopped.

"viola."

Race came over behind the two of them to take a look at the screen. The face
that stared back at them was complete, and with the exception of the blond hair,
bore a striking resemblance to Dr. Quest.

"Uncanny, isn't it?" Dr. Quest quietly asked.

"Yeah," Race replied as he took a seat beside Benton, "now that we have an idea
of what he may look like, we will need a plan."

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So, the plans are starting to form. ;) Find out their plans in the next chapter.

Till next time,

Time Guardian