Sometime later, Raines was laid out on a surgical table that had been placed side by side the bio-surrogate that would be the new host for his consciousness-- but only if the transfer proved successful. The doctor hooked several monitors up to Raines even as his nurse did the same to the bio-surrogate. Finally the doctor prepared to hook up the last of the Taelon based equipment that would aid in the transfer. The doctor hesitated in hooking up the last piece.
"Do it, doctor."
"Mr. Raines, are you sure you know you're risking death if this doesn't work?" the doctor asked.
"I am dying, doctor. Now do it."
The doctor nodded and attached the transfer nodule to Raines' right and left temples. He then walked over to where his nurse was standing and nodded. "Initiate the transfer. I'll be monitoring his vitals as the transfer progresses."
"Yes, doctor."
Joshua and Jarod had stayed up late watching the Star Wars marathon. Sydney had been forced to leave, promising to return in the morning. Jarod had kept up a running commentary on the movie and Joshua input a thing or two here and there. They had eaten pizza for dinner and had just finished popcorn.
It was like being a kid again and Joshua found that it was just what he needed right now. Ironically, he felt more at ease around Jarod than he did around his friends. Renee and Liam meant well, but they would've spent their time asking questions, what he'd been through, what Sandoval said. Jarod didn't ask. Nor did Jarod harp on how he felt about his father. He didn't know Joshua's story, so he treated him like just another person . . . which Joshua found more than a little refreshing. He finally felt safe. Joshua threw a piece of leftover popcorn at Jarod, who tossed a handful back at him.
After the Star Wars marathon, Joshua introduced Jarod to the wonderful world of John Wayne movies and half an hour later, Jarod fell asleep on the couch.
Joshua turned down the volume of the TV and slowly made his way to the kitchen. Jarod had moved his silver suitcase there earlier and Joshua had seen him watching something on there.
Slowly, he opened the case and popped a circular disk that he found into some sort of player.
/Jarod? 1975? For Centre Use Only? What the heck is the Centre?/ What on Earth WAS this?
He watched the events on the DSA unfold and when they were over he could feel his initial distrust of Sydney returning. Was this the monstrous organization he had spoken of? Joshua slipped the first disk into his pocket and began to watch a second . . .
Broots sipped on his coffee as he waited for the results to come up, thinking about Miss Parker. For some reason, the fact that they just missed Jarod in Cambodia was getting under her skin more than it usually did. He remembered their trip there, how nothing with unusual about just missing him and nothing seemed out of sorts in Jarod's lair. Nope, Jarod had just left behind his usual, and it made Broots wonder why Miss Parker was grumpier than usual since their return.
"Come on, come on," he muttered as he was getting impatient for the results. The computer seemed more sluggish than usual this morning and immediately he decided that he'd ask someone else in the Tech Room to take a look at it after he was finished. The screen finally flashed:
5 MATCHING RESULTS FOUND
Broots set up straighter in his chair as he shoved the coffee aside, freeing both hands to type his next set of commands into the computer. The first two items turn out to be nothing more than articles from two small town local newspapers in which the name "Jarod" had appeared. The third one was also a waste of time as it lead to a pornographic website while the fourth lead him to a publisher's website where the name Jarod was the name of the hero of a romance novel. Just when Broots thought he would have nothing worthwhile to report to Miss Parker, the information he received nearly made him fall out of his chair.
Downloading the information into his global, Broots hurried out of the tech room, heading toward Miss Parker's office. Turning the corner in a hurry, he was suddenly thrown back when he ran into something or rather someone as it turned out to be as he stared up into the angry expressions of both Mr. Parker and Mr. Lyle.
"Is there a fire somewhere, Mr. Broots?" Mr. Parker growled as it became clear that he was the one that the technician had nearly ran over in his haste.
"O-oh, Mr. Parker, I'm sorry," Broots stuttered as he got to his feet. "I was looking for Miss Parker. Something important just came up that she needs to see."
"Is it related to Jarod?" Lyle asked.
Broots nodded rather reluctantly. "Yes."
Lyle turned to his father who was just collecting his composure again. "I'm going to go check this out. I'll see you later, Dad." Mr. Parker nodded and left them alone in the corridor. Lyle gestured to Broots to walk ahead of him. "By all means, Mr. Broots, lead the way."
Sydney just had avoided being late that morning for his meeting with Miss Parker and Broots as he'd uncharacteristically overslept. He'd been late returning from the cabin last night as he had driven up there. There were no established portal systems in the area near his cabin and even if there had been, Sydney wouldn't have use one yesterday to visit with Joshua and Jarod. No he had to keep the Centre out of this for as long as he possibly could and had he used the portals, they surely would have tracked his movements yesterday.
He arrived at the Centre with just enough time to drop off his things on his desk before heading over to Miss Parker's office where the meeting was to take place that morning. He knocked and waited for her to give her permission before he entered the room. After receiving a curt ENTER, Sydney walked in cautiously even as he attempted to gauge her mood for this morning.
"Good morning, Miss Parker," he said, brightly.
Parker shot him a glare. "Please, Syd, drop the cheerfulness. It's too earlier in the morning to be a Barney wannabe!" He nodded, sitting down in a nearby chair. "So what has you in such a good mood this morning?"
But before he could answer her, Broots came through the doors and before Parker could ask if he'd had heard of knocking before, Lyle strolled in after him. Broots glanced nervously back and forth between the two siblings as he joined Sydney. Miss Parker was less than happy to see her brother.
"What ARE you doing here, Lyle?" she asked.
"Good morning to you too, sis," Lyle replied sweetly. "I'm here because someone conveniently forgot to tell me that you were having a meeting about Jarod."
"Lyle, we have a meeting EVERYDAY about Jarod!" she replied.
"I'm aware of that but it's not everyday that Broots finds something so important that he nearly runs over our father while trying to find you," Lyle countered.
Parker took her eyes off of her twin and turned them on Broots. "You almost ran my father over?" Broots opened his mouth to stammer out a nervous reply but she halted him with a gesture. "Never mind that, Broots! You just better have something important to tell me."
Broots nodded, and taking out his global he walked over to show her what he'd found. After punching in his password, he handed it to her. "I set up this search program to scan for any signs of Jarod during the night and show the results to me the next morning. I call it--" He halted on that train of thought when Miss Parker snapped her fingers. "Anyway, the program turned up five matches. The first two matches were from two small town local newspaper featuring stories about some other people named Jarod. The third match led me to a pornographic website, while the fourth-"
"Broots, I didn't want the encyclopedia set version of what your program found, just the footnotes!" Miss Parker said impatiently. "Is this the fifth match I am looking at?" By now, Sydney and Lyle had joined her at looking at the global. They all stared at Jarod's face on what looked like a WANTED poster.
"Is this from the FBI most wanted list?" Lyle asked.
"Not exactly," Broots replied.
"Then what are we looking at, Broots?" Sydney asked.
"All right it IS from the FBI's most wanted list but this list is rather special."
"And the reason for that is?"
Broots took the global from Miss Parker's hands to tap a few of the controls before handed it back to her. The picture of another man had replaced Jarod's face on the global. "This is the FBI agent who put out an APB on Jarod. His name is Frank Tate, Special Agent Frank Tate. He works for the Taelons."
Parker's eyes widened even as Lyle began to speak the obvious question, "What the . . ."
The rest of what he was saying was drowned out by Miss Parker's, "What is a Taelon agent doing looking for Jarod? How did they find out?"
"You haven't even heard the worst part yet," Broots said, taking the global again to call up yet another file. "Tate works for one Special Agent Ronald Sandoval, who is-"
"Zo'or's personal attaché!" Sydney finished.
"Bingo, Syd!"
"What did Genius Boy do to get the attention of Zo'or's lapdog?" Parker asked as she snapped the global shut before handing it to Broots.
"I don't know. The file didn't say and I can't hack into Taelon databases to find it either," Broots replied as if he were reading her thoughts.
"I'd say that only leaves us with one option," Lyle said, starting for the door.
"And that would be?" Parker asked.
Lyle paused. "I need to have a man to man talk with Agent Tate."
"Don't you mean a rat to rat talk?" Parker asked smiling sweetly at her brother.
Lyle's only reply was an imitation of his sister's glare earlier before he stormed out of the office. As they watched Lyle leave, Miss Parker shook her head as her insane twin disappeared. She immediately turned to Broots. "I want you to find out whatever you can as to why the Taelons may want Jarod and I wanted the information yesterday." Broots nodded and while looking rather green, left her office as well.
"Care to explain to me why you looked so uncomfortable during the last part of that conversation, Syd?" she asked as soon as they were alone.
Sydney smiled at her. "I don't know what you mean, Miss Parker."
"Right, Syd, and I'm the Queen of England," she replied sarcastically. Sydney shrugged, getting up to leave the room when she grabbed his arm. "If I find out you know what's going on, that Jarod's contacting you, I won't be able to stop the Triumvirate from finding out and removing you from the case . . . or worse."
"Miss Parker, even if I had been in contact with Jarod and I knew what was going on, I wouldn't tell you from the reasons you just gave. The Triumvirate would crucify anyone that they've found helping Jarod," he replied, silently adding: And I won't risk your life as well as mine by telling you what I know... He shrugged off her grip on his arm. "If you'll excuse me, Miss Parker, I have some work that needs my attention."
Sydney arrived back at the cabin early the next morning. Jarod was conked out on the couch but Sydney didn't see Joshua at first. He went into the kitchen and stopped dead in his tracks, /Oh no!/
Joshua's head lay pillowed on his arms, the DSA player sat open and a disk was playing in it.
Jarod, who had just woken up, came up behind Sydney, "What's going . . ." he stopped midsentence, seeing Joshua and exchanged a glance with Sydney.
"I assume you did not show that to him." Sydney stated.
"No, I fell asleep. He must have seen me fooling with it earlier."
"You know how dangerous this is, especially for him!" Sydney exclaimed.
"Of course I know that Sydney." Jarod said, slight irritation in his voice. "I lived in the Centre for practically my whole life."
"I'm sorry Jarod. I wasn't able to protect you and Miss Parker, nor any of the other children from the Centre. Jonathan Doors knew from the start that they were no good but couldn't do anything either, to protect his family. I'm not going to allow his son to be pursued by the Centre."
Jarod reached over and shut off the player, popping the DSA out. It made a clicking sound, startling Joshua awake. "I see you enjoyed a third 'movie' marathon after I went to sleep."
"I think you both have some explaining to do, especially you Sydney." Joshua turned to Jarod, "How can you trust him? How can you?"
Jarod stared at him, "Do you trust me?"
Joshua nodded, "Yes." He needn't even think about that answer.
"Then trust me, Sydney is a good guy but don't ask more questions. Please. Don't."
Joshua considered and then nodded again.
Sydney spoke, "I know what you have seen on those has shaken your trust in me but there is something I need to warn you about. One of Agent Sandoval's lackeys, an Agent Tate, has put out an APB on both of you. Jarod, the Taelons are becoming very interested in finding you. I would daresay that you're in more trouble with them than Joshua is right now. Miss Parker also suspects that I know more than I'm saying . . ."
"We've got to get out of here right now." Jarod said with certainty, beginning to gather his things.
Joshua looked at him quizzically, "What is it?"
"I have a nasty feeling that someone followed Sydney out here." Joshua didn't have a response for that, save to help Jarod get stuff together.
Sydney said, "I don't think so but with the Centre you can never be sure about those things. It might be best if you do leave."
Ten minutes later, Jarod and Joshua left the house and hurried away as fast as they could. In the distance both could hear the sounds of helicopter blades . . .
"Aren't you worried about him?" Joshua asked when they were a few minutes away from the cabin.
Jarod nodded. "He'll be all right."
"What if they ask him why he was at the cabin in the first place?"
"Sydney told me he'd tell them that he was visiting Jacob."
"Who the heck is Jacob? I didn't notice anyone else there at the cabin when we got there and this doesn't seem to be the most crowded neighborhood of the state," Joshua replied.
"Jacob is or rather was Sydney's twin brother. He passed away a few years ago and was buried on the property," Jarod explained.
Joshua nodded. "Do you think they'll buy that?"
Jarod hesitated in replying. "I don't know. I hope so."
Lyle sat back in the passenger's seat as Willie drove the car through the back roads. He hoped they would beat both Sandoval and Miss Parker to the shuttle because they would then get first shot at the clues, if any, that were left behind.
Agent Tate sat in the back, glaring at the sweeper next to him. Earlier Lyle and his . . . goons had come to the Taelon embassy demanding answers. Sandoval had avoided several questions and Lyle had threatened to leak information to the media. At that point, Sandoval had ordered Tate to tag along with Lyle, giving minimal information about their encounter with Jarod. Meanwhile, Sandoval and Miss Parker were both conducting their own separate investigations.
Suddenly, flashing lights appeared in their rearview mirror. "What is going on?"
"County sheriff, Mr. Lyle." Willie said, slowing the car, "And we were speeding slightly."
They stopped and the sheriff climbed out of his car, followed by two deputies. "Going a little fast there don't you think son?"
"We're in a bit of a hurry." Suddenly an idea hit Lyle, "We're looking for these two men. They're wanted by the federal government and we're in charge of looking for them."
The man studied them and shook his head, "I ain't seen anyone like them. But I'm afraid the four of you will have to come with me to our little station."
Lyle rolled his eyes.
"For an employee of the federal government you seem to have a severe lack of respect for law enforcement, Mister." The sheriff eyed him, "One might believe you aren't who you say you are."
"And I bet it was one of these men that put that idea in your head wasn't it? I suggest that unless you want trouble . . ."
"Sir, why don't you just come down to the station peacefully so that we can straighten this thing out? If you really are who you claim to be then there is no need to make a federal case out of this." The sheriff then chortled at his own bad pun.
Lyle made a movement with his hand, as if reaching for a gun, but before he had moved more than an inch, there were three guns aimed at the car. He retracted his hand and the sheriff instructed his deputies, "Arrest em boys." Lyle cursed under his breath. Jarod was going to pay for this.
Tate wasn't too keen on being arrested, but his identity would check out perfectly, and he'd be out of here shortly. Lyle and his sweepers might have more trouble getting out of this. He went along peacefully, knowing that the better he behaved, the quicker he'd get out.
Jarod led Joshua to yet another hidden car and they began their second long drive. This time they had no problems with local law and Joshua soon recognized the familiar landmarks of the outskirts of D.C.
"Are you sure it's really a good idea to head right into D.C.?"
"No one will expect it." Jarod offered.
"That's true, but it wasn't what I asked either."
"We're not really going into D.C." Jarod said, "Just outside it. We're meeting my contact, who'll take you to your new home."
About ten minutes later, Jarod pulled in front of an old warehouse. "I was told that you were to go in alone. Are you okay with that?"
Joshua nodded, "I'll be fine." He looked over at Jarod, as if unsure what to say. "Thank you - for everything." It wasn't enough.
"You're welcome." Jarod smiled, "Now go on. And be careful. Don't do anything stupid."
"You be careful too. Sandoval's gonna be after you."
Jarod nodded. "Don't worry. He won't catch me."
Joshua entered the warehouse slowly, cautiously. He half expected Sandoval to jump out and arrest him again, a squadron of Volunteers in tow. He found himself wishing that he had a weapon.
"Joshua! Thank God!"
He jumped and turned, "Renee . . ."
She hugged him, "I didn't think Jarod could do it. I've been worried about you. Sandoval wouldn't tell me anything . ." she trailed off, hands resting on his shoulders, studying his face, reading his eyes. Finally she cleared her throat, "I'm sorry we didn't get you out of there sooner."
Joshua mustered a smile, "The important thing is that I'm out now. And I'm going to be okay."
Renee nodded quietly.
Joshua read her look and reemphasized, "Renee, I am going to be okay. It'll take some time, but I'll get there."
"You know if you need anything, someone to talk to . . . I'm here."
"Thanks Renee." He grinned, "So where is my new home? Jarod said you were gonna show me."
Four hours passed before attorneys hired by the Centre managed to get Lyle and his team of sweepers released. Tate, much to their annoyance and relief, was released an hour after they arrived at the small town jail. Gloating, the FBI agent was handed his global as he walked past their cell, and pausing momentarily Tate said: "I wish I could say that it's been real nice working with you 3 nimrods but it's been anything but." A few minutes after speaking with Sandoval, Tate departed to rejoin his boss who was currently leading the search for Jarod with the other Centre team.
Four hours in one medium sized holding cell that was already inhabited by 2 drunks, homeless by the looks of it, and 3 prostitutes. There were eight people in that cell with far too little places to sit because the drunks were passed out on two of the four benches they had in there and the prostitutes took up the third along with half of the four. To make matters worse, the drunks were polluting the air with the foul smelling breath and unwashed body odors.
Lyle took the only space left available on the bench as Willie and the sweeper took positions to discourage the other people in the cell from approaching him. Lyle sat glaring at the wall, thinking of how he would make Jarod pay for this, once the Pretender was caught. He wouldn't stand for anyone making him look like an idiot. And Jarod had done that - one too many times in his opinion.
The attorneys got the paperwork filled out as fast as they could, knowing that with Lyle's personality type it was best to not keep him waiting. The consequences of that could be less than desirable. Lyle sat looking very annoyed while Willie began to pace the cell, glaring at the other occupants.
The attorneys got the paperwork filled out as fast as they could, knowing that with Lyle's personality type it was best to not keep him waiting. The consequences of that could be less than desirable. Lyle sat looking very annoyed while Willie began to pace the cell, glaring at the other occupants.
Finally, Lyle spotted the welcome sight of Randolph M. Balding, the Centre's senior following one of the sheriff's deputies towards their cell. Lyle stood up and was at the door, waiting for the deputy to unlock it even as he spoke to Balding.
"What took SO LONG, Balding?" he asked.
Balding suppressed the urge to sigh. He HATED dealing with any of the Parkers, much less Mr. Lyle. "There was paperwork and other items of legal red tape we had to cut through before the sheriff would agree to release you, Mr. Lyle. I'm sorry but there was just no way around it." Just then, the deputy unlocked the door.
"Try to stay out of trouble!" the deputy said.
Lyle stepped out of the cell, followed closely by Wille and the other sweeper. "Let's get out of Hickville, South Carolina before I get nauseated!" he muttered to Balding before leading the charge out of the jailhouse.
Balding waited until they were out of the jailhouse to give Lyle back his global while the other attorneys with him gave the two sweepers back their personal belongings. As he handed Lyle his global he spoke again, "Oh, sir, Mr. Parker wants you to join him at the merger talks at Doors International as soon as you're finished here."
"He's taking me off the Jarod pursuit?"
"Yes, sir. He left you a recorded message on your global if you have any questions."
Lyle viewed the message and he knew then that there'd be no talking Dad out of the decision. He'd have to go to the merger talks and leave the capture of Jarod up to his sister and Agent Sandoval.
Joshua entered the hideout cautiously, following Renee. She hadn't said much as they had made their way here and he was beginning to wonder if he'd done something wrong.
Liam turned around and greeted him, "Joshua! We're glad you're okay. You're looking better than the last time I saw you."
"Thank you for helping us out on the mothership like that."
"Not a problem." Liam said, "I was a little unsure of what was going on at first."
"We've been worried about you, what they were doing to you." Renee finally spoke, quietly.
Joshua could sense that Renee was digging, in concern, for what they had done to him, "Let's just say that they were very unhappy with what I did and they showed their unhappiness time and again. But thanks to Jarod, I'm going to be fine now. And I want to help. I'll do whatever I can. Just tell what I can do. This can't go on. They killed my father, destroyed my life. It just can't go on."
"I have something for you to do." Liam said.
"What is it?" Joshua asked.
Liam said, "I think you should run the resistance."
Lyle entered the meeting, and Mr. Parker glared at him. He was obviously late . . No, make that very late.
Renee Palmer glanced over at Lyle for a moment before continuing her sentence, "I'll consider your offer and bring it before the board but this sounds very promising, Mr. Parker. I think the merger will probably be approved shortly. The Centre has been nothing but accommodating regarding this and we appreciate it."
"My pleasure Miss Palmer." The man said, gathering his things and getting up to leave, followed by several other people from the Centre. "Mr. Lyle, a moment of your time please."
Lyle could tell that his father was not pleased with his failure or his lateness. "I'll be there in a minute." First he had something he wanted to do.
Coming up behind Renee as she was gathering her stuff, he said "Join me for dinner tonight?"
She turned around and regarded him with disbelief . . . as if she couldn't believe the question he'd asked. "Excuse me?" her tone was icy. It vaguely reminded him of his sister.
"My name is Lyle. I'm with the Centre. Since I missed most of the meeting, I was thinking that maybe we could get together and discuss the merger talks in greater detail . . . . among other things."
"I'm afraid I have other business to attend to." Renee stated.
"More exciting than me?" Lyle asked, "I'm hurt." He grabbed her arm, "Surely, you'd have some time to run by my place this afternoon. I'd make it worth your while. I'm a fair cook and I've been told that I have an interesting taste when it comes to food." He raised his eyebrows suggestively.
She jerked her arm away, "Somehow I doubt that anything having to do with you would be worth my while, which means I have even more work to do."
"How so?"
"Well, if the Centre has someone like you working there, maybe I need to question the entire merger . . ." she said sweetly as she grabbed the last of her things and left.
Joshua stared at Liam in shock, "You want me to what?"
"Sandoval has become extremely suspicious of me. I think he's having me followed. I'm not capable of giving the job my full attention, and it's not fair to everyone else. Renee can't do it either. She's running Doors International now. You have the time and I know you have the motivation."
"But Liam, I know nothing about running a resistance movement!"
"But you know about making decisions - big, important ones. It's not that different from running a multi-national corporation."
"You just said you would be willing to do whatever it took. You want to get back at them. Can you think of any more perfect revenge than helping to revive the resistance your father created? And what's more, people will rally behind because of who you are. I know you don't like it, but people will take notice because you are Jonathan Doors' son. You can use that. And you also have a personal testimony about the true nature of the Taelons. Plus you can actually be vocal and known - I can't."
Joshua opened his mouth but ended up nodding. Liam had some very good points.
"You won't be doing it alone. Street, Renee and I will be helping you." Street looked up and smiled, Renee nodded at him once. "And you can run it from here, like your father did."
"Okay," Joshua said tentatively, "So I'd live here? Underground?"
"You know that dear old Ronnie will never let you return to living up there." Renee said.
"I know." he sighed. "Okay, I'll do it. If you will all help me then I'll do it." Joshua couldn't believe that they had given him this . . . he also couldn't believe he was stupid enough to agree to it. How could HE run a resistance? Sure, he admitted that he probably had the knowledge to do it, but to actually lead something like this? That was a big step.
Joshua took off his jacket and threw it over the back of a couch. He moved to one of the computer terminals and began to go through some of the files that Liam had suggested he look over, detailing how his father had run the resistance. He didn't notice that the DSA in his pocket, which he'd forgotten about, fell out onto the floor.
Renee sighed as she stepped into the former resistance headquarters, which would now probably return to its former purpose. It had been a long grueling day at work, and then, to top it all off Agent Ronald Sandoval had come poking around. He probably suspected she had something to do with Joshua's rescue. After a nice long talk, during which Sandoval did most of the talking, he had let her go. If only the man knew . . . his escapee was now running the Resistance. Sandoval would love that.
She tried to imagine the expression on Sandoval's face when Joshua finally decided to officially announce his new role. Livid mixed with furious with a dash of the "if looks could kill" deal. Multiply that by a billion or so and that would be about the look on Sandoval's face.
After Jarod had brought Joshua back to them she had tried to get Joshua to open up and tell her what had happened. Oddly enough, he had been rather vague on it. It was as if he'd dealt with his feelings already, had already worked through them. And he had not wanted to discuss it - that much had been plain.
She glanced around and found that Liam was no longer there. But Dr. Belman was still hanging around, hovering over near Joshua, who was pouring over computer files. Belman had insisted on checking Joshua out. He had relented, but afterwards had gone right back to work, as if nothing were wrong. Renee had seen the results of Belman's exam - evidence of the torture was plain.
Renee pulled a chair over beside Joshua, watching as he read some more files. "Why?"
Joshua jumped, "What? Oh Renee, you startled me."
"Why have you thrown yourself into this? I saw the medical report. You should take it easy."
"Renee, for the last few months, I've sat around on the mothership. I've been experimented on, beaten, and tortured. I know that there are other people up there too going through that right now. That's two reasons why I can't - maybe I can't save them, maybe I can. The Taelons should not be able to do this to people though." His voice was passionate, believing that just as ferverently as Jonathan had, perhaps more so because of his experience.
She nodded, understanding, and turned to handle some of her business.
"Renee," Joshua called, looking up from the screen, "Thank you for what you did. I know you took a risk asking for help to save me."
She smiled and nodded, "No problem at all. I love doing anything I can to annoy Ronnie. Besides, I couldn't leave a friend of mine in that mess."
Joshua nodded back at her and turned back to the computer files. Renee moved to the other side of the room and started to leave, but something caught her eye. A small shiny circle sat on the floor. She picked up the disc. /Better check this out when I get back to my apartment/.