Tye walked, with bold steps, through the streets of Seattle. It was mid-afternoon and the morning's rain clouds had just blown away. People of all sorts mingled on the sidewalks, wandering in and out of cheap shops or detouring through the alleyways on more important missions. A kid on a bike zipped past Tye wearing a company jacket "Jam Pony. Ride With Pride." Tye felt sorry for the poor guy.
The map from the back of a sector cop's clipboard etched into Tye's memory, he unerringly wove his way through the crowd to Sector 9 and Foggle Towers. Tye stopped and stared at the tall building from across the street. This building had been his objective for four days, the target that all his thoughts centered on. And now he was here. Now he would learn the truth about everything.
As he stood there, his mind wandered briefly, wondering what Aliana was doing miles away from here. Catching himself in the act, he pushed the thought away with a pang. He had to focus. Without further hesitation, Tye crossed the street with purposeful steps. He entered the wide glass doors, keeping his head down and turned just slightly away from the security camera. The stairs were to his left, and he headed towards them.
It was a long and boring climb, involving picking a couple of locks to gain access to the roof, but he was rewarded when he reached the very top. There was a skylight. A pair of skylights, to be precise. Tye moved between each, peering cautiously into the richly furnished penthouse below. Interestingly enough, Tye observed that the glass was relatively easy to remove. One in particular seemed looser than the other, and as there were no alarms in sight, Tye went to work.
It was a 5.6 meter drop into the penthouse. Tye took one last look over the Seattle skyline, took a breath, and dropped silently down.
When Kat awoke, she found herself lying on a cot, shoved up against the cold wall of a strange room. It took another minute for the drugs to fully wear off and Kat to remember what happened. Her last memory, the glimpse of cold eyes staring, sent a shiver down her spine and Kat sat up quickly. Her head complained instantly at the action, so Kat obligingly moved slower as she swung her legs over the edge of the cot, biting back a groan. It wouldn't do any good to try anything else; her head had no qualms about throwing tantrums in the form of migraines. Yep, it was a good idea to stay friends with her head.
"I was wondering when you'd wake up." A feminine voice said coolly from across the room. Kat glanced at the speaker, startled by the presence of another person in the room. A young woman about her own age was leaning back into a corner, observing Kat. "How's the head?"
"Fine, thanks. What's it to you?" Kat snapped sarcastically, suspicious of this small offer of kindness. Her initial surprise of not being alone had worn off quickly, leaving in its place suspicion and mistrust of the little brunette. She glared, giving the girl an automatic once-over. Kat always sized up the competition when she happened to meet a new girl. It was one of those things every woman did, whether they realized it or not. If she had met this particular girl in a normal social situation, she would have despaired of picking up guys near her. Unless, of course, guys preferred blondes. Otherwise, it was hard to compete. Besides being pretty, the girl was short and petite, with the healthy, tanned look of someone who exercised regularly outdoors. Still, Kat was fairly certain she could take her if it came down to a fight. She couldn't possibly know as many dirty tricks Kat did.
Breaking off the staring contest they were having, the girl replied with a shrug. "Nothing, I guess." She turned her eyes towards the door, a reinforced steel monstrosity. "I just figured since you're in the same jam as me, we might have something in common."
"How do you figure?" Kat asked cynically. Her tone was still untrusting. The girl remained silent. Slowly, Kat rolled off the cot and walked to the door.
"Already tried that," she commented. "Door is pretty damn secure. So unless you've got some sort of super powers to beat it down with, I wouldn't waste the energy." Kat turned and stared at the girl, a sharp retort on her lips. Then Kat took a closer look at her companion. Her face had dried streaks from tears on it, her hair was dirty and snarled, and her hands looked pretty badly cut up. What had this girl gone through to get here? Kat glanced down at her own hands and moved her shoulders a little. Aside from a little soreness, she was unhurt. She was struck by the thought that the other girl would most likely only know about the headache slowly creeping up on Kat if she too had been drugged. And Kat was a believer in the saying 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.' Not that she was planning to trust her any farther than she could throw her yet.
"Look, let's not get off on the wrong foot. We're stuck here, we might as well get along." Kat said. The brunette looked at Kat for a moment, then nodded ever so slightly.
"My name's Aliana." She offered, the harsh defensive look on her face softening a bit.
"I'm Kat." The two girls looked at each other for a moment. "So, why are you in here?" Kat finally asked. Aliana clenched her jaw for a moment, and then took a deep breath.
"I assume because I know something about someone that I'm not supposed to know." She said simply. Kat was looking at her quizzically.
"Funny, same here." Kat replied. Again, neither said another word for a long moment. Kat walked away from the door and went back to sitting on her cot. A memory of Teli's voice floated through Kat's mind: Who knows, these people were experts at cloning and genetic engineering. For all I know, there are four of me out there. Kat looked back at Aliana. "What does the person you know look like?" She asked cautiously.
Aliana didn't want to answer the question, not to this person she barely knew. Besides, who knew how many listening devices were planted in their little cell? But Aliana had never been one for letting mysteries go unsolved, and she was smack in the middle of the biggest one she'd seen yet.
"Tall, dark tan skin, dark brown, almost black hair, green eyes." Aliana finally answered. Maybe by giving information, she would get some too. Kat just looked at her wide-eyed. "What?" Aliana finally asked.
"That description... it's the same as the person I know." Kat said, tripping over words in her shock. Was it possible Teli really did have a clone? At Kat's words, Aliana put the pieces together. She almost smiled.
"His sister. You must know his sister." She told Kat simply. Kat didn't seem to follow at first. "My friend. He said something about having a twin sister. He never knew about her until a few weeks ago. You must know her." Aliana explained. She almost laughed as Kat's expression went from confusion to understanding. She could almost see the pieces fit together in her mind. "Your friend didn't know she had a brother?" Aliana asked after a moment.
"If she didn't, she's in for one hell of a surprise!" Kat replied.
A presence literally dropped into Teli's mind, waking her from her much needed sleep. Like what she had felt right as she left the computer when getting out of the Manticore network, the presence pressed into her mind, a gentle urging that was not to be ignored. Teli slowly sat up and rolled out of the comfortable bed she found herself in. Her last memory was of lying crumpled on the floor in a seizing heap.
Teli padded softly to her door and cracked it open to peer out. She could see a little way into the hallway, but not enough. Slipping past the door, Teli stepped silently through the hall, stopping at the next corner. She peered around. A crouched figure was turning slowly, as if scanning his surroundings.
Tye immediately remembered his trip through the computer as he landed softly in the penthouse. Presence, a presence calling from behind him. He turned around. Green eyes met green eyes. Tye rose hesitantly.
A hundred thoughts, memories and emotions whirled through Teli's mind the moment their eyes met. She watched him stand, taking in the disconcertingly identical face of her twin. It felt so strange to see a male version of herself gazing back at her.
Neither twin said anything for a moment. Both stood frozen, staring. Memories seemed to flood into each mind of their childhood. Fighting drills, classrooms, pools, guns, and older soldiers. A woman with dark, curly hair leading them through the long hallways, leaping over the tall perimeter fence. A car ride, a man in a wheelchair, the same dark woman protecting them. Through it all they had been together. And now, after so long, they were together once again.
Teli opened her mouth to say something, and then shut it, uncertain of what to say. Another moment of indecision passed, then she broke into a run and crossed the little hallway that now seemed to put a million miles between her and her brother.
Tye stepped into Teli's embrace. He hugged her tight, relieved at last to have found his sister. Teli felt happy tears well up in her eyes. Finally, she had discovered a part that had been missing – her brother.
"Well Teli, Tye. I see you two have met." A friendly voice spoke behind them. The siblings turned towards Max, identical smiles on their faces.
"Whoa, Tye. When did you get here?" Jondy asked, sounding surprised as she rounded the corner and came up behind Max. Tye shrugged, it hadn't been long.
"Who's here?" Zane asked, sounding slightly guarded, as he joined the group.
"Tye decided to drop in." Max replied, glancing up at the skylight with a smile. She briefly wondered how many times she had used that very skylight for her own entrance purposes. Zane glanced between the two twins, glad to see that Teli looked much recovered since her rough entrance the night before.
"Teli and Tye. How on earth did you come up with those names, Maxie?" Zane asked, breaking the moment of silence.
"Lion," Max replied, indicating towards Tye, "and lamb." She nodded towards Teli. "It's an old Native American language. Plus, I thought T would be the appropriate first letter." Max finished, glancing almost sadly towards Jondy, who almost imperceptibly nodded. If Zane noticed, he didn't react.
"Why do you think we didn't come up with matching names then, huh?" Zane asked after a beat, surprising Teli with his light-hearted, almost teasing tone. Jondy snorted.
"Matching names with you?" She shot out, teasing in her facetious way.
"Oh come on, you could be... Zanita." Zane replied brightly. Jondy raised a skeptical eyebrow. Teli and Tye exchanged a glance; they were used to the tough, cold exterior of a soldier in Zane and Jondy, and neither had seen this kind of comfortable banter in them before. They both fought back snickers at the look on Jondy's face, faced with a cherubically innocent Zane.
"Gosh, I'll have to remember that next time I fill out my tax forms." Jondy replied, sarcasm dripping from her words.
"I think it suits you." Zane replied, pretending to take her literally. Jondy just glared back. Max glanced between the two, then looked at Teli and Tye, a half grin on her face.
"Are ya sure you're happy to be reunited? 'Cause I'm not sure I'd be wanting to claim these two as my siblings..." Zane and Jondy simultaneously punched Max in opposite shoulders; she winced. Teli and Tye exchanged an amused glance and laughed.