He had always viewed life as a gameboard and even as Commander Ford clamped the cold cuffs onto his wrist and locked the shackles at his feet, Rubin Zellar knew that his part had not been fully played. He admitted to himself that the play of Kaia Brody and his early identification was unexpected but not a check mate, he smirked thinking of how much more satisfying his victory would be now.

It had been a year prior when two of the greatest downfalls to man, curiosity and loneliness had caused the Warden to awaken him. A lone man left to the isolation of himself, it was an inevitable eventuality. The Warden had become the closest relationship Zellar could ever describe as friendship, unfortunately for the Warden, Zellar had never learned to cultivate such things as camaraderie or fellow feeling. Once his use had been expended, there was no further need of the Warden other than a seemingly breathing body in a cryo pod. The Shock on the Warden's face when Zellar brought the cat and mouse game to an end had caused no pang of guilt or shame, the man had simply been a pawn in a greater purpose.

It had taken some tinkering, bio chemist he was, engineer he was not, to manipulate the cryo chamber into reflecting life signs. Sewing the Warden's fingertips over his own had given him what he needed to access the resources of the prison, UEO and of course allowed him to go through the security gate and onto his greatest want – The SeaQuest.

Zellar's eyes keenly followed the pace of the the young Security Guard, who was obviously trying to hide his nervousness. Zellar had no doubt he was the cause To raise his hackles more, Zellar openly sneered at him, chuckling when the young man stumbled in reaction.

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The Galley Chief had been surprised when he had asked for two trays of dinner, he was stressed, and stress made him eat so he ignored the look of judgement and made his way to find a quiet place. Normally he liked to eat dinner in his quarters, chatting about the day with his boss / best friend but since Kaia was now confined to quarters and not just confined but under literal lock and key with a full security detail, David Junse found himself seeking the solitude of the Sea Deck.

It was quiet this time of day, the fake lighting dimmed for an ambience of evening. Across the moon pool David could see the wiz kid, Lucas, playing with Darwin The Dolphin while simultaneously trying to work on the translation system that let Darwin speak with the crew. David knew that being under the Captain's wing, Lucas and if he was honest probably Darwin too knew more about the sub's goings on than even some Officers. He thought briefly about approaching Lucas with his questions about the Zellar / Warden situation, but then shook the thought away, he hadn't even said hello to the kid before.

The stool at the lab station couldn't be described as comfortable but it gave him a place to sit and take a big bit of his first burger. He barely noticed the taste as he tried unsuccessfully to push Kaia, Jim and Zellar far away, but being the friend he was, his concern would not be recessed.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

David heard a distraction, an annoying one at that. He spun on the stool, trying to find the source. He looked across the pool to see if Lucas was still tinkering and found that in the past moments both Lucas and Darwin had left him alone. No water splashed from their side of the moon pool and his end lay just as quiet.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

He scanned everything, surface after surface, nothing seemed overturned or broken. It was then that his eyes landed on the cryo chamber, more specifically the small pool of water that was forming underneath.

"What the he…" he was hesitant in his approach as the feel of the SeaDeck turned eerie, the hair on the nape of his neck stood, and David found himself waiting for the occupant of the chamber to spring up at him. He looked down at the thawed face before him and knew the face gazing blank eyed up was not the face of Rubin Zellar, confirming what he had heard in the sub's whisperings. Unwillingly, he took a second, closer look to confirm his eyes and it was then that he noticed the small vials laying in the melt around the body. They were small and varied in color, knowing Zellar's knack for bio chemistry, David shuddered in thought as to what they contained. Moving as quickly as his awkward limbs would permit he rushed to the comm panel, "SeaDeck to Dr. Williams…." He cursed himself, having momentarily forgotten Kaia's present circumstances. "I mean, SeaDeck to Dr. Smith." There was a slight sound of amusement on the other end, "This is Dr. Smith." David turned to the cryo chamber again, just to confirm that he wasn't losing his mind, "Doctor you better get to SeaDeck, Zellar … The Warden, whoever he is, is …" He paused for lack of a better word, "… is melting."

"Melting?!" Wendy turned to look at the Senior Officers in her presence. Captain Bridger had gathered them to discuss their prisoner and the situation regarding "The Brody's" as Lt. Ortiz had quipped them. Without a word Nathan and Wendy started for the door, both wondering what more could go wrong.

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In the deep bowls of The SeaQuest, where the Brig found it's place, Rubin Zellar rubbed blood back to where the cuffs had chaffed. Without a glance or even a moment of unease he stepped over the naïve Security Guards prone form. He knew the whole sub would soon know that the Master was at play.