Sarjevane, April 23, 2010

Stryuss was still tending to the five, while Thirteen was briefing them: "And you're sure that Doerner wasn't with them?"

"We'd have found her if she was." Max assured him.

"Anyone ever even thought her kidnapping is not fucking related?" Ginger wondered.

"If so, we'd have found her by now." Thirteen told her, "If it were just amateurs kidnapping her for some stupid reason, they'd leave enough clues for us to find them. And if it were professionals needing her for her power, we'd have realized their use of it already."

"So in other words..." Al whined, "You're not letting us go yet."

Jason, who doesn't talk, had his own way of expressing how he feels about that realisation, by punching a hole into the nearest wall.

"Although I don't like him trashing the place any more than you do..." Stryuss started, "... I agree with him."

"Do you think I like keeping prisoners?" Thirteen wondered, "The world is already under attack by too many things to name. We can't have another threat on top of it. So I'm sorry, but both Largo and I are just doing what we must do."

"Funny." Max snorted, "Aren't you in some way responsible for the death of the president, Wally Sheridan?"

Thirteen was used to hearing that, but he still didn't understand one thing: "You know about that?"

"Yes." Max replied, "But just now, you almost sounded like him."

"Or anyone else that followed." Ginger agreed.

Thirteen didn't know what to say to that.

"What about you, Snake?" Al started, "You've been unusually quiet. Even for you."

He was right, as Snake appeared to be spacing out at the time. He couldn't understand why this guy Kenny would trust only him. But that idea got him to think of something else. As Kenny is trying to save his girlfriend, it got him to think of what he's been told about her kidnapping. She may indeed be used to put the will of her kidnapper on their minds, and easily be more vulnerable if she knew that he were dead, but now that he knows that it's not the case, this shouldn't be a problem. He never thought of himself to be cupid, but he always considered himself to be a free man in a not-so-free world. With that in mind, he realized just how chaotic the world would become if she were to be in control, or rather the man controlling her would be in control of everybody, including himself. Altogether, he has all reasons to not turn away from this.

"Snake?" Al repeated.

Snake got up at last and made his leave from the room, but Thirteen tried to stop him: "Where are you going?"

"To find that girl." Snake replied.

This surprised everyone in the room, but Max was the one to talk: "That's strangely noble of you."

"Don't even start!" Snake exclaimed, "Even if the kidnapper is not trying to built a giant robot, I'm sure that a girl who can control people's minds will cause more trouble if she stays where she is now."

Jason heard him talk, and realized he was right. Knowing what Tess could do, who knows what she'd do to people like him. She could make him do things he doesn't want to do, or make people pester him more. Or worse, she could turn him against Ginger, or Ginger against him. With that in mind, he stepped towards Snake.

"You're with me?" Snake asked him, after which Jason nodded, "Good."

Ginger didn't know why Jason would do that, but she did know that if he would make such a decision, he'd have a good reason to do so. So she said: "If you're going, then I'll go too."

"This is so out of place here." Thirteen remarked.

"Maybe not." Max said, "I've known one man in my life who tried to control me back in Manticore, I won't live through that again!"

"Looks like y'all made up your minds." Al remarked, "But I'm sure you'll need help from someone like me."

This made Thirteen come to the following conclusion: "Well then, I suppose this changes a lot of things."

"How so?" Snake wondered.

"I don't have to force you guys to do anything anymore." Thirteen answered, "That's a relieve."

"Don't push your luck just yet." Al told him

New Jersey

Meanwhile, one of Group W's planes landed in New Jersey, where one of it's passengers got out, to meet with a man, who waited for him at the airport. The latter was Morris, who tried to get the blueprints to the client before. But Morris was surprised to see who delivered him the package.

"Mr. Ovronnaz?" Morris questioned.

"Expected someone else?" Ovronnaz asked him.

"I just thought that Winch would bring this to me himself." Morris said, "I mean, he's not known to trust so many people."

Ovronnaz laughed at that: "Then I should be flattered."

"Anyway, my client is getting impatient, so where is it?" Morris finally asked him.

Ovronnaz brought up his briefcase, opened it, and showed it's contents, which Morris recognized immediately.

"This answers it?" Ovronnaz asked.

Without another word, Morris just took the briefcase out of Ovronnaz's hands and got in his car, rather than the fancy limousine he used before. Just before that drove away, Ovronnaz noticed something weird about how it started. It's rear end seemed to sink down, as though a heavy cargo was loaded onto it. Morris noticed this too, but he thought the car malfunctioned somewhere, so he didn't pay much attention to it.

The car drove the same spot where the transaction was supposed to have happened. There, Morris met with somebody, but it wasn't Tracy.

"I thought you had it covered." Morris told that somebody.

"It is not my fault that not I alone am interested in that technology." the other man spoke, with a strange accent.

"And I thought you had the power to take down everyone that stands in your way." Morris reasoned, "I'm beginning to wonder why I even took you seriously, Doctor."

The man had enough of Morris talking like that. All he did was stretch out his hand, and the briefcase, somehow, flew into the Doctor's hand. Morris backed away at the sight of that.

"Not to worry." the Doctor said, "You'll be rewarded gravely for this."

Morris still had one question: "Er... I do kinda need an excuse why Tracy didn't..."

"THAT'S YOUR PROBLEM!" the Doctor replied.

Somewhat surprised to see this, Morris ran back to his car, got back in and drove away.

As he was driving away, Morris tried to think of a way to cover himself from this. There was only one thing he could think of doing, so with that in mind, he took out his phone and called Ovronnaz.

"Mr. Ovronnaz?" he started, when the call was answered.

"Morris?" he sounded surprised, "Is there a problem?"

"Yeah there is." Morris replied, "Those things you gave me, they're not the blueprints."

"What?" Ovronnaz couldn't understand at first, but then realized why that was the case: "You must have gotten the thief's plans."

"Excuse me?" Morris didn't understand at first.

"The man who stole them from you." Ovronnaz explained, "He tried to built his own machines. They must have accidentally given me those."

Morris was relieved to hear that there is a way out of this: "Well then, where are the real plans?"

"They're in a secret location." Ovronnaz answered.

"Take me there." Morris insisted, "I have to be sure I get the right ones this time."

Ovronnaz sounded quiet at first, but then said: "Let me talk to Winch first."

Morris agreed to that. It was a lie that the wrong prints were given, but if he could give Tracy those other prints, he'd be happy none the less, and nobody would suspect him of being a mole.

Sarjevane

Thirteen was talking to Largo over the phone, telling him how the five have decided to go through with everything, without anyone forcing them.

"The moment they have something to gain out of it themselves, they are very helpful." Largo remarked.

"I suppose." Thirteen agreed, "At least we don't need to do things which we'll regret later."

That's when his phone warned him that he was getting another call.

"Will you excuse me for a moment?" Thirteen asked Largo, after which he pressed the button to switch to the other caller, "Mac Lane."

"It's me, Caine." Caine said.

"Caine? I haven't seen you in a while." Thirteen replied, "Pardon the pun."

"This is no time for jokes." Caine sounded unusually serious.

"Where are you anyway?" Thirteen asked him.

"I hitched a ride to New Jersey." Caine replied, "You wouldn't believe what I just saw here!"