Author's note: Sorry for the delay. Real life got kind of crazy last week. The good news is that I think I finally know how to wrap this story up, and it is almost finished. So, hopefully, more frequent updates. :)

CHAPTER SIX- The Search

Chase had never found his capsule in the Davenport lab to be too small or confining. On the contrary, it felt cozy and safe. Like home. Unfortunately, he could not say the same for the capsule in which he was currently locked.

This capsule looked just like Marcus's had looked. It was wider at the base than the one he occupied at home. But this capsule also tapered to a point at the top, making it feel smaller. And the metal bars that criss-crossed the sides made it feel like a cage.

Chase had lost track of time in the windowless basement. He estimated that he had been in the capsule for at least five hours now, ever since the failed attempt to take over Adam and Bree. Douglas had spent the entire time hunched over his computer, working. The two hadn't bothered to speak to each other. Chase was glad for that. However, it was about to change, as he had a problem that could no longer be ignored.

He stretched his stiff legs and rose slowly to his feet.

"Hey," he said, but Douglas ignored him. Chase tapped on the glass and tried again, louder.

"Hey!"

Finally, Douglas looked up.

"I, uh…need to go to the bathroom."

Douglas rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. I'm not falling for that."

"It's true!" Chase said. "I've been in here for hours.

Douglas studied him for a moment, then sighed. "Fine."

He opened the cage and Chase stepped out. He didn't try to run away at this point. He really did need to go, and didn't want to lose that chance.

Douglas led him to a door at the back of the basement. It opened into a tiny, basic bathroom. Just a sink, a toilet, and a bare light bulb. After he finished, Chase took his time getting a long drink of water from the sink.

He heard Douglas knocking on the door. "Hurry up in there!"

"I'm ready," Chase replied. He readied himself, knowing he would only have a second or two to dash past Douglas.

The door opened, and Chase ran out. Douglas made no move to stop him. His super-speed kicked in, and Chase was halfway across the room before a blinding pain seized him. It was like being electrocuted, only worse. Painful heat radiated from his head down to his toes and everywhere in-between.

Chase fell to the floor in a useless heap. He would have screamed in agony, but even his lungs seemed to be seized by the intense heat. He couldn't even draw in a breath. After a few seconds that felt much longer, the pain finally subsided.

Chase lay on the floor, shaking, not bothering to look up. He saw Douglas's feet appear in front of his face. His uncle knelt down in front of him, right in his line of vision.

"Pretty cool, huh? Another upgrade I added to your chip. At the touch of a button, I can contract every muscle in your body and make it feel like you're on fire." He waved a remote in front of Chase's face. "I can also make it feel cold instead of hot. Want to see?"

"No!" Chase gasped. "Don't…don't do that again…ever."

"Behave yourself, and I won't have to." Douglas rose back to a standing position. "Now get back in your capsule."

Chase had no choice but to carefully get to his feet and stumble the few feet back to the capsule. He didn't look up as the door closed behind him with a definite, final "click."

"Anything?" Bree asked.

"No, Bree," Donald sighed. "Not since the last time you asked me."

They were in the lab, trying to track Chase's location using the GPS locator in his bionic chip. But it wasn't showing up anywhere. Donald had used a variety of scanning and locating devices that should have been able to pick up the signal from anywhere on earth, but it simply wasn't showing up. It was as if Chase didn't exist.

"Well, why won't it show up? I thought you could track us from anywhere," she said, exasperated.

"Douglas must be blocking the GPS signal somehow. Or else he removed the GPS locator all together," Donald explained patiently.

Bree glanced nervously at Adam. "Would the GPS stop transmitting if Chase were…dead?"

"Bree!" Adam said, shocked.

She looked directly at Donald. "Would it?" she repeated, forcefully.

Donald looked flustered. "Yes…but it's very unlikely that Donald would kill him. He sees all of you as his creations, and he is desperate to get you back so he can use you to…well, God knows what he has planned. But he would never destroy his creations."

Adam and Bree still didn't look convinced.

"Look, guys, I'll keep searching, for Chase and for Douglas. Maybe I can figure out where my brother has been hiding out all this time." He glanced at his watch. "It's almost midnight, and it's been a long day. Why don't you two get some sleep?"

Both shook their heads. "No way," Adam said. "We'll help you keep looking."

"There's really nothing else you can do right now, guys. And you're going to need your rest. I'll come and get you right away if I find anything. I promise."

Reluctantly, Adam and Bree moved towards their capsules. Bree hesitated as she glanced sadly at Chase's empty capsule. Adam gently rested his hand on her shoulder. They both entered their capsules and shut the door, because there was nothing else they could do.

Somewhere during the night, Chase had dozed off in the unfamiliar, cramped space. He awoke the next morning to the sight of Douglas standing next to the capsule, peering down at him.

He jerked fully awake with a start, remembering the terrible events of the day before. He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times, finally focusing on Douglas. His stomach turned nervously as he remembered the Triton app. What if he's finished re-programming it?

"Good morning," Douglas said cheerfully. "I thought you might need another bathroom break."

Chase stretched and stood up as Douglas unlocked the capsule door. He walked to and from the bathroom without trying to escape. The remote was clutched tightly in Douglas's hand. Chase could still remember the painful shock from the day before.

As Douglas was unlocking the door again, Chase's stomach growled loudly. He hadn't eaten since lunchtime the day before.

"Can I get something to eat?"

Douglas sighed. "I guess you would need some food. Follow me." He led the teen back upstairs to the house's kitchen. The cabinets didn't hold much food, and the items that were there were all processed and canned products, made to last a long time.

Douglas produced a box of cereal and two bowls from one of the cabinets. He poured one for each of them, then topped them off with milk from the fridge. He handed Chase a full bowl and a spoon, and after a moment's hesitation, Chase began to eat.

"I almost forgot that you need to eat. I guess I got too used to Marcus," Douglas explained after a few bites of the cereal. Because of his intense hunger, Chase was wolfing down his share and was almost finished, but he paused at the mention of the android.

"Marcus ate. I ate lunch with him lots of times."

"Marcus ate because he wanted to. Not because he had to," Douglas explained. "All he really had to do was recharge at night and he was good to go."

Chase finished off the last of his cereal and looked back up at his creator. "Did Marcus know he was an android?"

"Of course he knew!" said Douglas. "He thought it was the greatest thing ever. He embraced who he was, unlike you."

"You have no idea who I am," Chase said tensely.

"I know who I created you to be. And I know Donald has distracted you from your real purpose with ridiculous things like 'school' and 'socialization' and 'missions.'"

"My real purpose? How would you know what my purpose is?!"

"Because I created you! I'm the one who gave you all of your abilities!"

"And now you want me to use them to hurt people," Chase growled.

Douglas sighed. "Despite what Donald has told you, life isn't always so black and white, Chase. Sometimes bad people need to be stopped, by whatever means necessary."

"And other times, bad people pay a lot of money for your services," Chase retorted. "That's what you're really after, isn't it?"

Douglas smiled. "There's nothing wrong with making money." He swallowed the last bite of his cereal and set the bowls in the sink.

Chase glanced towards the front door. It was so close…

But Douglas saw where he was looking and pulled the remote out of his pocket. "Don't even think about it." He moved his finger towards the button. Chase flinched involuntarily, bracing himself for the shock that never came.

Douglas laughed. "You do learn quickly, that's for sure." He motioned towards the doorway that led to the basement. "Now get back downstairs."

"Anything?" Tasha asked as she joined her husband in his lab the next morning. She handed him a steaming mug of coffee, which he accepted gratefully.

"No," he sighed. "I've been scanning and searching all night. I also sent surveillance drones to some of the places Douglas used to hang out, but there's nothing there. I'm trying to get a hold of some of his old contacts, but it's been so long, I don't know where any of them are now. And I doubt they would want to talk to me, anyway. Douglas and I don't exactly run in the same circles anymore."

Tasha rubbed his shoulders as he took a sip of the hot coffee. She knew he must be tired; he had not come to bed at all last night. "Where are Adam and Bree?" she asked, noting the empty capsules.

"They got up early to go search. They went to Douglas's old house first. The one that he and Marcus lived in. But it's been completely destroyed and removed. It's like there was never a house there in the first place. So now they're just wandering around town searching, I think."

"Do you really think that's safe, with Douglas out there and possibly looking for them?" Tasha asked worriedly.

"No, I don't think it's safe. But I knew I wouldn't be able to stop them. They want to be doing something, not waiting here. It was all I could do to get them to sleep for a few hours last night."

"Donald, maybe…maybe you should call the police."

Donald let out a clipped, hollow laugh. "And tell them what?"

"That your son is missing, and your criminal of a brother took him."

"You know I can't do that, Tasha," Donald said, his voice rising a bit. "They'll start asking questions, and our whole secret will be found out. Is that what you want?"

"Of course not," she said, trying to stay calm. "I'm just saying that maybe this is more than you and the kids can handle on your own."

Donald looked determined. "We can handle it. We have to handle it. And I don't think Douglas is through with us, anyway."

"What do you mean?" Tasha asked.

"I mean, I think he is once again working out some grand scheme for revenge. He has Chase, and I don't think he will leave it at that. He wants all three of them. He always has. Even if we can't find him, I know that, eventually, he will find us. I don't know what might happen when he does come back. And I'm afraid that it might be a long time before he does. What if he goes underground again for months? Or years? I don't think the kids could handle losing their brother for that long."

Tasha looked at him sympathetically. "I don't think they're the only ones."

"And I don't know what he might do to Chase in the meantime." He looked at his wife sadly. "If this goes on for a long time, Chase might be unrecognizable if and when we get him back."

Tasha looked surprised, then horrified at the thought. Unsure of what to say, she instead pulled her husband into a hug, which he gratefully returned.

"We have to find Douglas first," he said softly into her ear. "And fast."

"So what are you going to do?" she asked as she pulled away.

Donald looked at her at sighed. "I have no idea."

END CHAPTER