CHAPTER 24

This is interesting.

Diana was in her private office, studying the logs and records of Juliet Parrish's suspended conversion. Recordings of everything the human experienced during all her sessions in the conversion chamber – her physiological responses, the fantasies imposed on her mind by the conversion chamber, everything she had revealed under interrogation, even comprehensive detailed reconstructions of her memories – were arrayed on her data display monitors.

She was searching through a selection of those memories now, specifically ones that dealt with conflicts with her comrades in the local rebellion. There weren't many; clearly this young woman was someone her companions trusted implicitly and respected without reservation.

I don't quite understand why they follow her. She's so young – younger than most of them, actually – and is so completely inexperienced as a leader of a fighting force. She doesn't even want to be their leader. And yet, despite all this, at least as far as what I can conclude from analyzing her memories go, she doesn't seem to have had many incidents when she came into direct conflict with any of her comrades.

But there have been e a few.

And most of them involved Michael Donovan.

To Diana's dismay, as far as she could tell none of these conflicts engendered any strong feelings of antagonism between them. Whatever strong emotions Parrish experienced in the moment appeared to be fleeting at best. But it was beyond doubt:

This connection to Donovan seems pivotal. If nothing else, there is a unique tension in this particular relationship.

Diana navigated her computer's interface, looking for some of the notes she took on a few of Parrish's memories. She then pulled up the reconstructions of those memories.

One of them happened just a few weeks ago:

Parrish was with one of her comrades, whom Diana identified as Mark McIntyre. They were all huddled in a small space filled with computer equipment and other machines, dressed in black commando outfits. The counterfeiter, Dan Pascal, was with them.

Diana recognized the scene before her. This was when Parrish's group somehow managed to acquire Eleanor Dupres' special pass into the Los Angeles Medical Center.

Another rebel joined the three. Elias Taylor was sweating profusely, breathing hard. He'd evidently been on a bit of a run. His quick entry surprised everyone.

"Where is he?" Parrish asked Taylor.

"Donovan's still up there," was Taylor's reply. He couldn't miss the flash of worry on Parrish's face upon hearing this; neither did Diana. "Look, I'll go back for him."

Parrish looked up at Taylor, shaking her head. "No, you can't."

"Why not?"

"Because we can't risk everything for just one person, no matter who it is. We've got to go," Parrish said. When nobody moved, she repeated, more forcefully, "Let's go!"

Diana watched Parrish bite her upper lip, hitting her leg with an open hand in a gesture of frustration and worry and upcoming regret.

She certainly does command a lot of respect.

Having said that, I think there definitely is something to this connection to Donovan.

Diana moved her hands on her controls, fast-forwarding the computer reconstruction of that particular memory. Parrish ran towards Donovan, who himself was running towards her. She embraced him tight as they met.

"Hey, leave a couple of ribs intact," he said as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Oh, I was so worried!"

Donovan held her, looking down into her eyes. "You were?" he asked. "How worried?"

Diana saw the blush on Parrish's face as she stammered, "Well, I… I was just as worried… as I would be… if anybody – "

Donovan smiled at her. "You were a little more concerned about me?"

Parrish returned his smile. "You have an awfully high opinion of yourself, don't you?" she said in a quiet voice.

"I'm beginning to get an awfully high opinion of you," he said, just as quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Very interesting.

Diana wrote some more notes down into her computer, then pulled another one of Parrish's memories for her to study:

In this one, Parrish and Donovan were alone together, somewhere in the dilapidated building that served as the rebel hideout. Diana noted when this incident happened.

This was just a week before John's announcement at the medical center.

"Can I talk to you for a moment, Donovan? In private?" Parrish said to Donovan, gesturing for him to follow her.

Donovan nodded, then let her lead him into a room filled with communications equipment, maps, and sundry other items. Diana guessed that this was the rebels' strategy room. She watched Parrish close the door and turn towards a wall, not wanting to look at Donovan. Diana noticed that Parrish's eyes were starting to wet with tears.

"Well," he said. His tone was nonchalant. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I can't believe you did that." Parrish's voice was quiet. "I never thought you could be such an asshole."

"What are you talking about?"

Parrish walked over to a desk, still not looking at Donovan. "I know you went to see Kristine Walsh."

"How did you find out about that?"

"Stanley told me before he left. You obviously told him what you'd been up to when he gave you a ride here from his place."

Donovan was silent for a moment. "Julie," he said. "Look. My son – you know he's up there." She still kept her back to him. "What would you do if you're in my shoes? I have to do something to get him back." He approached her. "I don't think Kris is helping them – "

"I don't care!" she exploded, smashing a hand on the desk as she finally turned around to face him. "You jeopardized everything when you acted on your own! You put your trust in a traitor!"

So, Diana thought, Kristine was already less than loyal before I killed her.

"What do you expect me to do? They've got my boy!"

"I expect you to think of us before you think of yourself," Parrish said, still angry. "You risked all of us, Donovan. You don't even care about us!"

"That's not true," Donovan said, stung, as he closed the distance between himself and her. He touched her upper arm, holding it loosely. "You don't understand… it has nothing to do with you."

What a curious thing to say.

Parrish was silent as she looked up at Donovan. "Mike, we need you," she said finally, her voice soft and quiet. "I need you. But unless you can give us your best, you should go before you really hurt us."

With that she turned away, opened the door, and left Donovan alone in the room.

Diana watched the reconstruction of the memory again. Parrish's words echoed in her mind: "Mike, we need you. I need you."

Very interesting indeed.