DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters except for the original ones. They are owned by JJ and Company, so please don't sue. I spend more than I earn, technically that makes me bankrupt. Thank you and have a nice day.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Jack is sitting on his chair, waiting for Irina to come enter the Internet chatroom. A message was displayed in his screen.
Mighty Mom wants to have a private chat.
Jack accepted the invitation. Irina's protocol included something about a character in Ana's favorite cartoon, 'The Fairly Oddparents'. Jack researched on that, which he believes that what he did was a bit inane, and familiarized himself with the characters since Irina did not indicate what her chat name would be. He took the name 'Dyno Dad' after the superhero alter ego of the protagonist's father. Mighty mom is the superhero alter ego of the mother.
Dyno Dad: I need info on Gabrielle Rinaldi.
He waited for a while before Irina answered.
Mighty Mom: What do you need?
Dyno Dad: Her background, her location, her training.
Jack took his coffee mug and took a sip of his coffee as her reply flashed in the screen.
Mighty Mom: Do you really want to know?
Jack shook his head and typed back.
Dyno Dad: Of course I want to know. She killed the Macedonian Ambassador. She's an assassin.
Minutes passed by and Irina still hasn't replied.
Dyno Dad: Irina?
Mighty Mom: I'm still here. If I tell you who she is, please promise that you wouldn't hurt her.
Dyno Dad: I can't promise you that.
Mighty Mom: Well, you have no choice. Gabrielle Rinaldi is The Covenant's ammunition against me and probably to you and Sydney.
Jack cocked a brow with the response.
Dyno Dad: What do you mean?
Mighty Mom: Gabrielle Rinaldi is Ana.
-x-x-x-
"Here, taste." Sydney said and gave Vaughn the ladle. She is cooking Pesto.
Vaughn took the ladle and placed it near his mouth. "I think it's a little sour." He answered and gave back to her the ladle.
"But I think the cook is perfect." Vaughn said and kissed her in the cheek. His arms encircled her waist and began to nuzzle her neck.
"Vaughn, if you don't stop doing that, I'll never be able to finish dinner."
"We could always reheat." Was his muffled reply.
Sydney laughed. "Not when it's not yet done!"
The telephone rang. Vaughn gave a slight sound of disappointment. Sydney giggled and took the phone off its cradle.
"Hello, good evening?"
"Sydney."
"Dad." Sydney said and turned to look at Vaughn.
"I'm sorry to call you before dinnertime but, it's really important." Jack said and then paused.
"What is it, dad?" Sydney asked. Vaughn is watching her.
"Dixon asked us to come for dinner. It involves our friend, Gabrielle."
Sydney was confused with what he said but she agreed. "Okay, dad. We'll be bringing the Pesto."
"Okay. I'll see you there. Bring Vaughn too." Jack ended the call.
"What did your dad say?" Vaughn asked when Sydney returned the phone to its cradle.
"He said that Dixon wants us to have dinner at his house. He said it involves our friend, Gabrielle." Sydney replied.
"Gabrielle? You mean Gabrielle Rinaldi?" Vaughn asked. Sydney shrugged and began to continue cooking their dinner.
"I'll be bringing the Pesto to Dixon's." Sydney said then looked at Vaughn. She smiled a bit. "I'm sorry, sweetie." She said and tasted the Pesto sauce once again.
Vaughn smiled back. "It's okay. I'll take a rain check." He said and kissed her lightly on the lips.
"Hmm… I think you need a little bit of pepper."
-x-x-x-
"You want me to fake her death?" Sark asked Katya and Irina. They were in Irina's study.
"It's your call." Katya answered.
"You very well know that I can't get to Ana. They don't want her to see me after she killed five people when she tried to escape. I trigger her memories when she was Anya Ivanovnich." Sark answered. Irina just looked at him.
"As Katya had told me, you were the one who introduced her to Simon Walker." Irina said.
"I know. And I'm sorry I did, but it was the Covenant who bailed me out of CIA-"
"Are you telling me that your allegiance has shifted?" Irina asked. Her tone is a bit deadly.
"No. They know that I know about Anya Ivanovnich. I have been endlessly asked what my ties are to her. They think I'm in love with her." Sark answered. "If she disappears, I will be the first one they will suspect."
Katya looked at Sark. She seemed amused. "They think you're in love with her?"
"Yes. That was how they put it. Sloane even asked me if I have any romantic feelings for her. I can't bail her out at this moment." Sark said.
"Julian, I am currently trying to persuade the panel to let you two work together. That will enable you to stop the signal of the microchip."
"I can do that. But I can't let her disappear. If they suspect me of reversing what they have done, they will kill me. And you will lose a valuable source of information inside the Covenant."
Irina looked at him. "I'll find another way then…" she said and stood up from the sofa and turned to leave the room.
"Where is Jacob?" Sark asked. He has a feeling he knows where Irina will be asking 'help' from.
"Oh, he's with his father."
-x-x-x-
"Marshall, do you have any knowledge of a technology that could control a person?" Jack asked Marshall as he entered the office.
"Mr. Bristow… uh… yes, I do believe I have heard that kind of technology but I haven't heard of it being used… to a real person." Marshall answered as he scrambled to stand up straight.
"Do you know how it works?" Jack asked.
"Uh yeah… you see, a microchip will be implanted on a person. It can be anywhere, but if it was me, I'll probably put it at somewhere in the head. You know, somewhere near the cerebrum. You would want to control the temporal lobe, the occipital lobe and the frontal lobe." Marshall said and looked for something in his pile of papers.
"Ah… here it is." Marshall mumbled and showed Jack a picture of the brain. "Now, the temporal lobe is involved with memories and dreams. It also has a memory mechanism. Of course if you want to control a person, you want to wipe off his or her memory."
He pointed to another part. "This is the frontal lobe. It controls voluntary motor patterns and organization of motor units necessary for speech, original thinking and evaluation of ideas. Now, I'll want to control those parts so that I could give orders to this person without worrying about his or her moral beliefs."
Jack just look at him and analyzing what Marshall is saying. He can't believe Marshall has a poster of the human brain inside his gadgets office.
"And lastly, the occipital lobe is the primary center for vision. But it also seems to operate in the preservation of the individual, you know, the fight or flee thing, and reproduction." Marshall said.
Jack gaped at his last word. "Reproduction? You mean… the sex drive?"
"Uh… yeah." Marshall replied as he rolled his brain poster. When he looked up, he saw that Jack has the most unusual expression in his face. It was a mixture of alarm, confusion and comprehension.
"How can you control this microchip?" Jack asked.
"Uh… well, you could use a remote control. You know like a television. But it must have all the commands or else the remote control will be useless."
"So if I give you a sample of the controller, you could make a jammer?" Jack asked.
"I could." Marshall answered. "But, it would be better if it's a copy of the microchip." He added.
Jack nodded his head and turned to leave.
"Uh… Mr. Bristow?"
Jack faced him.
"Uh… can Mitchell and Jacob sort of have a play date? You know, when he's with you?" Marshall asked.
"A play date?" Jack asked. Marshall nodded.
"Uh… what about next week?"
-x-x-x-
[A few days later…]
Sark was whistling the tune of the Birthday song when he entered Ana's hotel room. Katya managed to convince 'the powers that be' to make 'Gabrielle' and him work together. They are currently in Mexico, to kill and steal.
As he went inside, he saw Ana sitting in the middle of the bed, watching TV.
"Gabrielle, what are you doing? We have a job in three hours." Sark said as he closed the door. She just waved off his comment.
"Have I told you before that ever since Nadia went away, I only remember bits and pieces of what I'm doing?" She said then looked at him. "Julian, do you know what I've been doing?"
The question caught Sark off-guard. The new microchip the Covenant implanted on her changed her personality and her moods. It also enabled them control her memory. As Gabrielle, the 'sort-of' harmless side, she's elegant, affable, childlike and polite. As Gabrielle the killing machine, she's robotic, unfeeling and bloodthirsty. But when Ana breaks out from the control of the microchip, she turns hysterical and afraid. She remembers everything she has done and gone through.
"What are you watching?" Sark asked as he sat down beside her. He didn't answer her question.
"I don't know. But it's about a sponge and a starfish." She answered. "You know, I think I've seen this cartoon before, but I swear to you, I didn't know such television show existed."
Sark looked at her. Spongebob Squarepants is one of Ana's favorite TV shows. But he's quite sure he speaking with 'Gabrielle'.
"And you know what's weirder? I can't understand why I've been dreaming about my mom with a baby in a park. I was with her in the Ferris wheel and I was holding the baby. But Julian, my mom died when I was a baby and I am certain that I'm an only child."
'That's Gabrielle Rinaldi's past. Not yours!'
She rolled the sleeves of her sweatshirt. "And this! I don't know how I got these bruises!" She exclaimed as she showed him the purplish marks on her arms. "I even have scratches in my back!"
Sark placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Everything will be okay. I promise."
Her gray eyes probed his, as if measuring the truth in what he said. She then smiled and kissed him on the cheek.
"Thanks. I'll go and change." She said and climbed out of the bed to go to the bathroom.
Sark lightly touched the place to where she kissed him. "Happy seventeenth birthday, Ana." He whispered and took the remote jammer Jack Bristow gave him from his pocket.
He intends to return Ana back home.
-x-
A/N- Hehe… a birthday treat to all the readers. :D