AN: Thanks again for reading. Lots of alerts this month. I almost typed "weasel" instead of "easily" several times. I doubt that there'll be an update next month due to NaNoWriMo, and I didn't think there would be one this month either. You've got the creative genius behind When The Day Met The Night to thank for that one. This one was longer on paper than most of the previous chapters. I don't know how much I'm cutting from it, though. I haven't been able to write for the longest time, and I'm glad that I can, but it frustrates me that I seem to be carrying the entire Synlet fandom on my shoulders.

Still don't own The Incredibles.

There's about a two-week long timeskip between the last chapter and this one.

"So."

Alina's voice carried to the people around her despite the dull roar of the lunchroom. Violet had heard bits and pieces concerning her "relationship" with her nemesis, but nothing substantial. The man across from her, her co-star in this act, was chewing some of the overcooked pork they'd all been given. Even his chewing is convincing, Violet thought as her mind wandered, then took a moment to wonder what the heck that meant.

Alina's failed attempt at breaking the awkward silence blanketing the table went unnoticed. Her fellow hero, Rita, was staring off at another table. Enigma was folding her napkin into what appeared to be an origami crane, Draconia was messing with her fork, Violet was staring at Syndrome (though that was to be expected), and Syndrome seemed too fixated on picking at the pile of corn on his plate to notice anything. This was easily the most boring lunch Alina had ever experienced, right down to the mediocre food.

In her utter frustration at going unnoticed, the New Yorker put her fingers under the lip of her plate and flipped it over, making a loud clatter and spraying food all over her end of the table. The other five turned to look at her, surprised by this seemingly random display of anger.

"Have we all completely lost sight of our objectives? This place is boring and painful, and you're all too wrapped up in your own boring worlds to care! Especially YOU!" Alina pointed at Violet, giving her a death glare. "You're the one who suggested we escape in the first place! Now you seem perfectly satisfied just sitting around staring at a certain someone instead of taking any initiative! I'm sick of this place!"

The climax of Alina's speech came as Cara approached their table, distracted from her casual stroll between the tables. By the time she'd arrived, Alina had picked up the dirty plate.

"Psyche-"

Before Cara could get another word out, Alina smashed her plate over Cara's head and ran for her life.

For a moment, the woman just stood there blinking, but by the time she was aware of her surroundings again the entire area had been vacated.

"Everyone at Psyche's table had better get their asses back here, or when I find you, you'll wish you'd never been born! Do I make myself clear?" Cara screamed, pulling out a syringe.

To Cara's surprise, Violet was the first to emerge. "Don't go after her. Hurt me instead. I can take it."

"Oh, well if it isn't Little Miss Altruism. I'd really love to test you again, but that's not how things work around here." The woman in the jacket kicked Violet squarely in the chest, pushing her onto the ground. "Somebody pick a number. Go on, don't be shy."

"One," called out an all-too-familiar voice belonging to a redhead immersed in the crowd.

"Oh, you little-!" Cara screamed, pointing the needle in the general direction of the voice before sticking it into her shoulder haphazardly. "Next time I'll ask for one between two and seventy-four-"

Before Cara could finish her irritated statement, she was on the floor screaming from the intense pain of her own chemicals. Violet took the opportunity to walk over to Syndrome, who was wearing a satisfied smirk.

"Why did she do that?"

"She's insane," he replied with a shrug. "That's all the justification she needs for it. Come on."

The two walked out of the lunchroom, filing through the doors just like all the other heroes and villains. They stayed completely silent, Violet making sure not to lose Syndrome in the crowd, ignoring the people shoving into them for no reason whatsoever. The two ended up outside of an atypical door, one that was steel instead of faux wood. The inventor opened the door for Violet and gestured inside. "Go ahead and take a seat wherever you want."

Violet walked inside and took in some of the sights of his room. It was simple enough, consisting mostly of a bed, a bookcase, and a few drawers, with a hallway near the bed that probably led to a bathroom or something to that effect. Syndrome followed her in and shut the door.

"So why did she jab herself again?"

"That's how her punishments work," Syndrome replied, lying down on his bed as she leaned against the dresser. "She punishes a 'random' person, but if you know which number belongs to which person, you can make them get punished for what you did."

"That's stupid."

"I didn't say it was smart. I just said that's the way she does it."

Violet frowned. "So if you did something horrible, you could get me punished for it."

"Yep."

"Would you?"

"I don't know, maybe if I'm feeling sadistic or you're being less than nice to me or something." The villain smirked.

"What's your number?"

"I already gave it to you, and it won't do you much good right now since we're talking in person, but thanks for asking." He broke into a full-out grin.

Violet rolled her eyes with a smile. "I meant your one-through-seventy-four number, smart one."

"Three."

"Who's two?"

"Charlie."

"There are no other guards here?"

"Why would she need them?"

"I don't know," Violet responded, tugging at the hem of her bland grey tank top. Cara had issued uniforms some time ago, but as usual Syndrome seemed completely exempt from her rules. Rather than the grey tee shirt he would've had to wear if he were any other male, he instead donned a long-sleeved white button up; and the uniform grey-blue pants weren't grey or blue or any combination of the two. They just so happened to be black. "Why aren't you wearing the uniform?"

"She's afraid of me."

"Why would she be afraid of you? Isn't it the other way around?"

"To some degree, but I also have a secret weapon that she can't access, and it's impossible for her to find it physically. I could show you, if you want."

"What if she tortures the location out of me?"

"She can't get in anyway. It's impossible for her to find the entrance when it looks like a wall- one that isn't susceptible to her cyberkinesis."

"I guess so."

The villain sat up and got off his bed, opening the door and gesturing at Violet. "Ladies first."

"Doesn't that mean you should go, then?" Violet said with a playful smirk.

"Oh, ha, very funny, Incredigirl. Insulting my masculinity is always good for a laugh." He rolled his eyes.

"Just like your repeated use of Incredigirl to make me seem like a child?" she retorted, walking through the door.

"Yes, but mine is funnier because it's a running joke," he responded, shutting the door behind him and walking in front of her with his characteristic strut.

"Do you really walk like that all the time, or only when you're feeling superior?"

"Feeling superior? I am superior."

"Does your ego's size double overnight every night?"

"What's it to you? What my ego does on its own time is its business, not yours."

"You're such a dork."

"That's such a stupid insult. Where did you find that one? Lying in the halls of your school after it had been thrown at a nerd?"

"I haven't been in high school for three years, oh superior one."

"Well, at least you have the sense to call me by my proper name. Oh, we're here."

"Already?"

"Why would I want to have my secret lab far from my room?" he asked with his ubiquitous smirk, tapping a few spots on the wall. The wall hadn't seemed to be any different from what surrounded it until it opened up, revealing a gaping hole.

"Aren't you worried that Cara could still open it? All she'd have to do is whack it a few times."

"It reads my heat signature. It'd change the controls if it wasn't what it was supposed to be, and she'd have a hard time getting to the main console without me anyway. It would read if I was panicked, too, and it would shoot her down."

"What if she made you calm down first?"

"She'd never think of that."

Violet stared into the inky blackness. "So are we going in or not?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

"Are you kidding? I've never been in there. It could be like walking into a deathtrap! You go in first."

"Fine, scaredy-cat." Syndrome grinned and stepped into the darkness, tailed closely by Violet. The clanking of metal echoed through her ears as the light behind them disappeared, and the mesh-like walkway made her a little paranoid. "When do we get to a lightswitch?"

"We don't. This is to fool Cara and make her think it's more dangerous than it is," Syndrome remarked in a smug tone. "I"ll turn on the lights when we get to a certain point."

The two walked for a while, a glowing green color in the distance catching Violet's attention. Soon, they were close enough to see it clearly, and before Violet knew it, they were directly in front of it.

"It" was a large console topped by a cylinder filled with an eerie green liquid. In the glowing liquid was what appeared to be a blonde human female, fully clothed.

"Genetic tampering. Wonderful," Violet groaned, staring at the tank that looked like it had been taken straight from a sci-fi movie.

"Oh, so it fooled you." Syndrome grinned.

"What?"

"The liquid is a hologram, it's actually an antigravity field. She's not a human. She's an android. If Cara doesn't know she's not human, she doesn't know she can control her until it's too late and her powers don't work anymore."

"Her powers... stop working?"

"Genesis here can make it happen."

"You made an android just for that?"

"Hey, she can do other stuff too..."

"Please don't tell me that you made her for some sort of sick entertainment-"

"No!" he snapped. "She can manipulate life force to some extent, hence the name. I wouldn't make a robot for THAT. Lights on."

At his command, all the lights turned on to reveal a large white room. "I modeled it to feel like my old computer room. It's smaller though, not as deep."

"I can see that," Violet replied, noticing that the walkway below her didn't plunge down into an abyss as her father had described. In fact, they were only about a foot off the ground. "So if Cara comes in or you're panicked. What happens?"

"The 'activate' button turns to 'destroy', so if she hits destroy, it'll launch Genesis through a hole in the bottom to be activated. Also, all the little buttons stop working and instead become a game. You know that one with the lights you have to press in the right order? It starts doing that on a huge scale. If she loses, it beeps at her with that ominous explosion countdown beeping. It's pretty funny, actually."

"What if she doesn't fall for it?"

"She's really not all that smart, Violet," he said, staring at Genesis. "She's pretty much just good with chemistry and anatomy. It's all she needed."

"She seemed pretty smart to me."

"Cunning and clever are not the same as smart." The villain frowned. "Come on. We should go. She might get suspicious."

"Shouldn't she already be?"

"She SHOULD be, but I don't know if she is." The villain stuck his hands in his pockets and headed toward the exit. Violet, however, stayed where she was.

"You coming?"

"You never told me why you changed your costume."

Syndrome stared at her for a while before fidgeting with his silver gauntlets. "The story behind it isn't really all that interesting."

"That doesn't make me any less curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat."

"But satisfaction brought it back."

The villain glared at her. "I don't really-"

"Just tell me."

"Well, think about it for a minute. You heroes see everything as black and white, right and wrong. I thought I was doing people a favor for a while. I really did." Syndrome paused, sighing. "Then I found out I was on the wrong side of the morality line. You're not as super as you think you are. It's always been charcoal grey and silver. You've killed people, I've saved lives. There's no such thing as black and white. There never was. There never will be."

Violet opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. The girl walked toward the door in silence, and Syndrome followed suit. The door slid open as she walked and shut after her nemesis, leaving a clean wall as though nothing had ever been there.

"We need to talk."

"We just did."

"I mean about... other things."

"What-"

"Hey there, lovebirds!" Cara exclaimed, walking down the hallway. "Where have you two been?"

The pair stared at the woman, shocked. "How did she get here so fast?" Violet inquired quietly as she approached. Syndrome shook his head a little, then announced his response to Cara. "Around."

"Really? It didn't look like that on the cameras. They told me that you two went into-get this-a hole in the wall behind you. The cameras don't lie, Miss Goody-Two-Shoes-Of-The-Year."

Violet bit her lip. "We were just talking."

"Oh, I'm sure, talking about how to escape no doubt. Well, joke's on you, Incredigirl."

"What?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough." Cara pulled out a syringe. "If you come willingly, this won't be as painful. I promise."

"How do I know you won't break it?"

"That's the beautiful part!" Cara said, cackling. "Even I don't know whether or not I'm lying!"

Violet took a few steps back, intending to turn tail, but she was quickly restrained by Syndrome. One of his arms was shaking a little, though Violet couldn't tell whether it was really man or machine holding her back.

"I"m sorry," he whispered into the hero's ear as Cara stuck the needle under her skin. The last thing she felt was the inventor's warm cheek against hers before she lost consciousness.

"You love her, don't you?"

Syndrome gave Cara an odd look.

"Oh, I know you're faking the relationship. But you actually like her, and this is the only way to-"

Syndrome pushed the limp hero at Cara, who only just managed to catch her. "She's a pawn. A piece in my plans. I want to make her love me so she'll cooperate better. I hold no feelings for her."

"Your plans are ones to escape, I assume?"

"No," he said coldly, staring at Violet. "My plans are for revenge. My only intent is to break her."

"I can't say as I believe you, but I see no reason to press further. You should get some rest." Cara started to drag Violet down the hall.

"What are you going to do?"

"Screw up all of your plans, of course. You're MY pawn, remember? Now go to bed."

"It's four in the afternoon."

"Oh, trust me, Syndie." The villain gritted his teeth at the nickname while Cara chuckled. "You're going to need it."

As Syndrome headed toward his room, he frowned. He was going to have to modify some plans, namely the one involving Gemini.