False Reality

Sunday, August 9, 8:30 A.M.

The phone was ringing. Brenda cracked one eye open, and glared at it, or at least in the right direction. She grabbed at it, knocking something- a book, probably- to the floor. She pressed the 'on' button, and held it to her ear. "Hello?" If it was Hades calling again, she'd probably have a heart attack.

Or wake up without coffee again, whichever.

"I have to be at work in forty minutes. How soon can you pick up your coroner?" A female voice asked. "If you get here in under thirty, I'll give you coffee and breakfast."

It took Brenda a good ten seconds to place the voice. Melanie. Doctor. Saw Hades last night… Oh.

"Hades is at your place?" Brenda attempted to squint at the phone, and figured turning the light on would probably help. "He has a broken hand, Doc."

It wasn't quite audible when Melanie rolled her eyes. "Ben has two broken fingers, actually, and minor fractures to the ribs. There was no way I could justify keeping him at the hospital overnight, even for shock, and his address is listed right in the phone book. He borrowed my pull-out couch for the night."

"Oh." Brenda fumbled around, switching on her bedside lamp and getting out of bed. That made sense, she supposed. Why tempt fate by leaving Hades someplace Four could find him? "You said something about coffee?"

"Coffee. Fresh-ground, you'd have dibs on half the pot," the doctor said coaxingly. "All you need to do is get the coroner to work. If you'll look around the morgue for him, I'll give you an extra thermos to go."

"Five minutes and I'll be there. Gotta get Mewtwo first. Will there be meat at breakfast, or are we pandering to the vegetarian today?" She managed to find a pair of jeans that didn't look too bad- only one knee was ripped and there weren't any questionable stains. Better then pajama pants by far, even if they did look a little like the bottom half of a track suit.

"Meat's on the side, so carnivores can rejoice," Melanie said. "You do have time to look around the morgue a little? I don't know if Ben would ask you, but... It would make me feel better to think Mewtwo made sure Four wasn't in the area."

"I'll feel better if Mewtwo makes sure. That's one phone call I don't want ever again." Getting dressed while talking on the phone was tricky, but not impossible. And Brenda'd had practice at working with only one hand. "I just have to wake up Mewtwo, then we'll probably teleport to your driveway. With the car, even."

"It's easy to forget just how much power he has," Melanie said after a pause. "That does make me feel better. In that case, give me ten minutes and I'll have breakfast ready."

"Great. In ten." Brenda turned off the phone, and turned it right back on again. She dialed Mewtwo's number, rather thankful his apartment had come with a phone. Otherwise she'd have to use the police radio, and that was too much of a bother. Once she heard the 'click' and weird hissing sound that told her the phone had been picked up, she delivered her message.

"Melanie wants us to pick Ben up and will even feed us breakfast. Teleport over, would you?"

The phone 'clicked' a second time, obviously hung up, and then Rhonwen growled from the living room. Brenda grinned, and sauntered out.

"Morning," she said.

Mewtwo arched one eyebrow. "Good morning, Detective. I didn't realize we'd been turned into a taxi service."

"Funny. You're real witty this early in the morning, you know that? No, I just think we should check the lab and morgue for Four, in case she's still hanging around."

"Of course."

"You can teleport the car to Melanie's, right?"

"Am I going to?"

"If you want her to feed us breakfast, yeah."

Mewtwo rolled his eyes. "Very well. Let's go, then."

Melanie had said ten minutes; it'd maybe been one since the phone call, by the time Brenda was walking over to the doctor's front door. "Knock, knock," she muttered, and fit actions to words. "Hey! Melanie! Open up!"

"Brenda, I said ten minutes!" Melanie yelled from the kitchen. "Come in, but the coffee's going to be at least three more minutes."

"Hey, we're fast." Brenda grinned at Mewtwo, and nodded towards the bathroom, where she could hear water running. Even as she'd done so, the water turned off. "Melanie says Hades took the pull out couch. What do you think, Smith?"

"I think you're an incurable gossip. Detective." Mewtwo didn't put up his illusion yet, but he'd know when to better then she would.

Melanie didn't turn away from the stove, but did look thoughtfully at the bacon in the pan. "I do believe I heard Brenda say she'd like to avoid the meat this morning. How nice to know she's watching her saturated fat intake, there'll be more for me."

"Hey!" Brenda swung a punch at Mewtwo when he chuckled, not at all bothered when she missed. "Fuck that, I like meat. Come on, people get on my case about being social all the damn time, then when I do that, they freak at me. Make up your mind! Do you want me grumpy?"

"If anything had gone on, do you think I would have invited you over for breakfast?" Melanie asked. "Give me some credit, Brenda." She glanced at the coffeepot. "You can pour yourself a cup, if you like. The mugs are over the sink. If you'd like anything different, Mewtwo, I have juice in the fridge and tea next to the coffee machine."

Mewtwo arrowed straight for the fridge, the freak. Passing up caffeine like that. Brenda grabbed two mugs, and poured Melanie a cup. "Here. Thanks for breakfast. How freaked is Hades, do you think?"

"So far, he's only had rational ideas about when to be nervous. His address is publicly listed, so he didn't want to go there last night. He'd rather not start work until you two can tell him Four isn't hiding somewhere in the morgue." She flipped the omelet in the pan. "And no problem about the breakfast. It's nice to have a reason to cook."

"You don't cook for yourself?" Mewtwo, for lack of options, grabbed a coffee mug for his orange juice. Brenda smirked at him; he ignored her.

"The new rules say that residents can only work eighty hours of the week, and of course the hospital wouldn't dream of breaking regulations." Melanie's expression belied her words. "I'm also only supposed to work thirty-six hour shifts. Cooking doesn't happen all that often."

"Oh." Brenda frowned. "I could maybe talk to someone official? Cop official, who could talk to hospital official?"

"Thanks for the offer, Brenda, but every hospital's the same. If I'd actually stayed on schedule, I would have had my ten hour rest period." She had been five minutes from done when the receptionist said that Brenda Johnson was there to see her, and two broken fingers were easily mended. Broken ribs were even easier. "It's our way of proving that we can handle the life."

"Sounds stupid. Then again..." Brenda tilted her head as she thought. "The cadet way of proving they can handle the life is getting up at freaking four in the morning, working until midnight, then getting up to do it all over again."

"Doctors just do it in lab coats, and they don't let us have guns," Melanie said, turning off the heat on the stove. "I don't anticipate any problems at the lab, but I can write up whatever paperwork Ben needs for special provisions."

"What's taking him so long anyways?" Brenda asked. She arched an eyebrow at Mewtwo, who had his illusion up. "He eavesdropping on us or something?"

"He can't use his left hand, at the moment," Melanie said. "I'd imagine that would be part of it."

"Detective, don't start." Mewtwo shook his head, and looked over at Melanie. "She's thinking about broken limbs, and I think they might have been hers. Distract her, please?"

"Help me set the table?" Melanie asked. She pulled open cabinet doors and the silverware drawer. "Don't get me distracted, either, Vahan," she said. "Thank you for being conscious this visit." She had heard the bathroom door open, and guessed that 'Vahan' would fit his illusion better.

Brenda frowned at Mewtwo. "Hey, I'm not thinking about my broken bones. I've only ever had one... Two... Melanie, how many bones are in the forearm? The long ones." She half turned, keeping an eye on the kitchen door, and relaxed when she saw a flicker of blue. Enter Hades.

Hades was looking a little less put together then she would have liked. He was still pale, though not deathly pale any more. His last three fingers had been splinted together. His hair was damp and stood up in spikes; Brenda had to shove her free hand in her jeans pocket to keep herself from neatening it for him. "Morning, Hades. Going to share some orange juice with the wimp?"

"Two bones in the forearm," Ben answered for Melanie. He held out the splinted hand without prompting, and the doctor examined it briefly. "I'll have a cup of coffee first, detective." He guessed that 'the wimp' was Officer Smith, but couldn't imagine why.

"Much better," Melanie pronounced after looking closely at the broken fingers. "Simple breaks, they should heal nicely. If over-the-counter painkillers won't help, I'll set you up with something stronger."

"Then I've only broken two bones," Brenda said. She peered around Hades' shoulder to look at his hand. "Hey, cool. Metal splints. The ones I've had have always been wood."

"Metal's much better for fingers," Melanie said. "It's especially useful when certain patients will go off and use the hand for delicate tasks the next day," she said without any heat. She plated the scrambled eggs and bacon, and carried them over to the table. "I thought we were going to talk about something besides your old injuries, Brenda. All the stories I know are protected by doctor-patient confidentiality."

"Hey!" Brenda turned and shot a glare at Mewtwo when he chuckled. "It's only confidential if I say it is. Anyways. Ben, Smith and I are on babysitting duty until you're feeling better, m'kay?"

Ben didn't quite stare at his plate, but he didn't meet her eyes. "I can still do my job," he protested. He had hoped they would come for their appointment early, to make sure that no one else was there. He didn't need people following him when there was work to be done.

Mewtwo sat down, half turning the chair so his tail- currently hidden to the humans- wouldn't get crushed against the chair back. "What the Detective means is we can check the lab and morgue for any visitors, and there may be several things I can do as a psychic. I still need to think on that, though, so I'm making no promises."

"Think fast," Brenda muttered, before forking up some eggs. "Hey, these are good!"

Ben shrugged his right shoulder. He hadn't expected tact from Detective Johnson, but it did make him wonder what the reaction at work would be. Most of the cops at the scene had been sure he had confused a clone with a heavy door slamming on his fingers. "If it's not too much trouble. I don't think she'd be hard to find, for a psychic." He could mention details on the ride to the morgue.

"Woman of many talents, what can I say?" Melanie was eating rapidly, and could only increase her speed by neglecting table manners. "Pity that one of them isn't finding missing clones, but I leave the psychic business to Vahan. He's good, Ben."

Mewtwo narrowed his eyes. "Finding a pokemon mind, particularly the one I searched for before- quiet, please, Detective- is easier then searching for a human mind, even an insane human mind, in a city of humans. The pokemon happened to be a psychic as well, making it even easier."

"One of its bodies, anyways," Brenda said. She tapped her fork against her plate. "So you can't find Four. Damn."

"If I'd been able to, I would have done it before now."

"What would you need to know?" Ben asked. If they were willing to say that much in front of Melanie... he was curious.

Brenda shrugged. Mewtwo's mouth was full, and unless he wanted to reveal his telepathic ability- apparently not, since he hadn't started talking- it was up to her. At least she knew a little bit about psychics.

"Looking for a human in a city of humans would be a little bit like looking for a mareep in a field of mareep, right Smith?" She looked over, and waited for Mewtwo's nod before continuing. "And hey, lots of insane people in a city, so that further muddies the water. It'd probably take a month or three to find Four psychically."

"Longer," Mewtwo said. "Much, much longer."

Melanie frowned. Her guest had been in shock the previous night, but she had kept him talking on the way back to her apartment. Ben had finished a full cup of coffee, and was working on a glass of orange juice, but he was barely eating. "What about finding people that are looking for you?" Melanie asked.

"Again, not very easily. If they were psychic, they would be like... Oh, imagine all the human minds in the city as fireflies at dusk. You can see them, but there's enough ambient light to make it difficult. Some of the fireflies are brighter then others- those are the psychics. Some of them are blinking at a different rate. The closer you are to the fireflies, the easier it is to see them."

Mewtwo paused, though he didn't have to stop talking in order to eat. Then again, he wanted to gather his thoughts, make sure he didn't confuse anyone.

"Someone that's looking for you is going to be 'closer' then someone that isn't, but there are still so many people nearby that it's practically useless. Unless the 'firefly' is completely different from the others- glowing neon green, for instance- then it's nearly impossible to do a psychic search for one specific person."

"Unless you're working with a population of under a hundred," Brenda added.

Mewtwo nodded. "What I can do is set up an... I guess it would be called an 'alert system'? I'm not sure- I know what it is, I just don't know how to explain it."

"What does your alert system let you do?" Melanie asked.

Mewtwo shrugged. "I won't be able to pick up thoughts- unless you're 'yelling' them. The Detective does that all the time, I generally ignore that sort of thing now." He moved his leg out of the way of her kick, and continued. "Essentially- if you're in danger, I would know, and I would know where you were and could teleport there."

"That might be useful for a case like this, if neither of you would mind," she said. "It'd make me feel better. I have enough to worry about with Brenda, now that she's seen how shiny the finger splints are." Melanie collected empty serving platters and her dishes. "Last call for juice, toast, apples for the road... I need to head into work in about four minutes."

Brenda muttered at her plate. "It's not like I want to get hurt, it just happens... Melanie?" She tilted her head, thinking. "No offence or anything, but I think I'm going to walk you to your car."

"Putting in an 'alert' will only take a minute, besides," Mewtwo put in. "Though it's helpful if you can put yourself in a trance. Otherwise, I'll have to do that for you, and it will be two minutes."

"I've been halfway there all morning, I think," Ben said. "It shouldn't be any trouble. Thank you for breakfast, Melanie, and for letting me stay over."

"Uh, Smith? Give Melanie an alert too." Brenda lifted her chin. "Maybe I'm just the paranoid cop here, but Four's crazy, right? Crazy people do crazy things."

"It was my pleasure, believe me. Cases involving Brenda tend to wind up in my apartment, and at least this time it was on my terms," Melanie said. "I doubt Four would recognize me, Brenda."

"She doesn't like doctors," Ben said. "If Officer Smith wouldn't mind... Four hates doctors, even if you haven't had direct contact with one of the clones."

"Right," Brenda said. "Be tough finding another doctor who can find her own ass." She flicked her eyes towards Mewtwo, and shrugged. "Up to you, really. Smith?"

Mewtwo rolled his eyes, and shoved away his plate. "Easily. Doctor?"

Melanie sat at the table again. She didn't think it was necessary, but would rather have an extra precaution. "In a moment." Twenty seconds later, she'd slipped into the light receptive trance doctors learned for diagnosing psychic illnesses.

It was easy to work with an organized mind like Melanie's, as compared to, say, Brenda's. The difference was nearly horrifying; Melanie had a proper mental shield, keeping out minor psychics and empaths. For a psychic of his caliber, it was child's play slipping past the shield, and setting up the deep level alert. Only he would be able to hear the 'alarm', and only he would be able to find her with it. In only a minute, he'd left her mind, and relaxed.

"Alright, it's done."

Melanie opened her eyes, blinked, then grinned. "That does make me feel better, but I need to go to work. Lock the front door behind you, please?" He was an incredibly powerful psychic, but she was more impressed by his control. She had only noticed the alarm because he had let her.

"Sure," Brenda replied. "Can you do that, Smith?"

Mewtwo arched one eyebrow. "Do you still want a door, Melanie?"

Brenda rolled her eyes before the doctor could reply. "Never mind, I'll break out my lock picks... what?"

"It's a dead bolt. You just pull at the door handle after you've left to be sure that it's caught," Melanie said, amused. She glanced at Ben, who was fully into a trance. "Call me if either of those fingers looks the least bit off will you?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, let's make sure you get to your car safely." Brenda pushed away from the table, and stepped up into proper guard position; to the right and a little behind Melanie, so she could pull her gun and shoot safely.

Mewtwo ignored their leaving, and turned his attention to Ben. "Alright then. Shall we begin?"

Mewtwo smirked to himself, and went to work. Ben was the same as Melanie; an organized mind, well protected by a mental shield, though the shield hadn't been lowered. It was easy to bypass the shield and get to work laying in the alert, and he was done in nearly the same amount of time as he'd taken with Melanie, perhaps a little more. "Alright," he said, pulling away from Ben's mind. "I'm done."

Done, and with a few scattered images he'd picked up. He would deal with them later. For now, he had a coroner to get to the morgue, and a morgue to inspect for intruding clones.

Ben stood, bracing himself with his right hand. "Thank you. You and Detective Johnson needn't stay with me any longer than you had planned, Officer Smith, I am quite capable of finishing the work planned for today."

"That's fine, but I think we'll all feel better making sure Four isn't still in the vents." Mewtwo stood up, and walked with Ben to the door. "Besides, the Detective will insist."

"Damn straight," Brenda said. "Don't know what I'll insist on, but I damn well will."

"I don't need a keeper."

"No, you need guards. Who was it that got a broken hand, again?" Brenda opened her car's back door, and waited. "In, Hades."

"I wouldn't call it a broken hand without damage to the metacarpals, actually."

"Stop dithering."

"Dithering, Detective?"

"I can hurt you, you know."

"It's not dithering, it's accepted terminology among coroners. I am quibbling, but that's different."

"In!" She eyed him, pleased that the vacant look in his eyes was gone. About damn time.

Brenda nearly slammed the door, and got into the driver's seat. She waited for everyone to be at least sitting before backing out of the driveway. Mewtwo hissed, and fumbled at his seatbelt. "Shut up, I'm trying to drive. Hades, why the fuck were your fingers broken anyways? I was kind of having difficulties hearing after a certain point, my sirens were on."

"I'll guess that you don't want to know about the physics."

"Ben, this is the Detective. The fewer scientific facts, the happier she'll be." Mewtwo smirked. "She missed her time, don't you think? She'd have made a great Neanderthal."

Considering the driving thing, Brenda thought it would be a bad idea to strangle her partner. Maybe at the next stop. She glanced back in the rearview mirror, and bit her lip. Yeah, there was a reason people said she had no social skills. Hades was almost back to looking the way he had last night, all vacant and confused. Mewtwo had the right idea. She really shouldn't try talking to people who weren't used to near death experiences.

Sunday, August 9, 10:50 A.M.

After a visit to the morgue, Brenda needed one thing, and that was coffee. After tramping around more of the lab then she really wanted to see, she needed coffee desperately. So, quick stop at the local Tim Horton's before heading off to do her job. It worked.

She paid for her coffee, and headed out of the coffee shop. Mewtwo was waiting in the car, working on a laptop he'd conned out of someone in Requisitions. He wasn't even using it for work, she didn't think. He'd mentioned something about checking the police station's 'firewall', whatever the fuck that was. Probably something illegal, but so long as he wasn't caught, who was she to care?

She walked out, sipping at her coffee. A quick snarl and glare at Mewtwo stopped any computer based ramblings, so she was able to sit in peace. Peace lasted about five minutes, when she ran out of coffee.

"Alright," Brenda growled. "Time to get to work."

Mewtwo made a sound of agreement, still busy on the computer.

Brenda sighed, and did her best to concentrate on driving, but it wasn't easy. She was used to sniping with him, and now he was ignoring her, and damn it, she'd never wanted a partner anyways.

"You must've gotten some sleep, you're actually working," she said, and nearly groaned. Why'd she have to be the one to break the silence?

Mewtwo looked up, and shut the computer off. "I suppose I did. Or perhaps it's because we're not going to a crime scene? Without a sense of urgency, I have time to actually do things."

"Just- look, I don't want to hear any more about whatever you're doing on the computer."

"You hate anything technological." Mewtwo looked out the window, probably to hide a smile.

Brenda bared her teeth. "No, everything technological just hates me. For fuck's sake, how hard is it to program a VCR? Alison's shown me three times, and I still can't do it."

His chuckle should have been annoying, but it wasn't. She decided it was progress, and focused on her driving. The new car was a bit more responsive then her old one, and a hell of a lot more powerful. Until she was more used to it, she'd actually have to pay attention to what she was doing.

At least, that was what she was going to claim, in case Mewtwo or Hades asked why she'd been silent earlier that morning.

"Perhaps you have a disease," Mewtwo said.

"I hate you. In fact, I hate all technologically adept people. Okay? Fuck you all."

"I don't think you have the time."

"I can invite Alison over, you know. Any time I want. So shut up."

"Certainly, Detective."

"That counts as talking."

Mewtwo chuckled again, and Brenda grinned. She sobered pretty fast, though. Elizabeth Taylor still wasn't returning her calls, and it was high time they pulled the scientist in to interview. That would probably be a headache and a half. The bitch would probably lawyer up before getting read the Revised Miranda.

"Why'd you didn't offer me a psychic alert?"

"Detective?" Mewtwo looked over again, and arched an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you want one."

Brenda snorted. "Please. But still."

"One, it's not necessary. We're together nearly all of the time, and you're certainly capable of handling most dangers on your own. Two, you wouldn't let me even if I did offer. Three, with your mental shields broken the way they are, if you did get into trouble you couldn't handle, all you would have to do is think my name very loudly… Well, you've done that before."

"I have?" Brenda asked, then mentally hit herself. "Of course I have. When we met, and when you were on that rampage. Why didn't I do that last night?"

"I have no idea." Mewtwo shifted a little, so he wasn't leaning back on his tail, and sighed. "It's a pity I can't transform, the way my… parent… can."

"That'd be Mew?"

"Yes."

Brenda shook her head. "Remember, Islanders hate Mew. The less you're like him, the better. Think that's Taylor's house?"

"It's the right number. Why do Islanders hate Mew, again?"

"I can lend you the book. The Trickster, by Ryan March. He nearly got scalped five times just compiling the stories." Brenda turned the car into the driveway, and then turned it off. "Okay, let's go. She's probably going to be very, very pissy."

"Not at work?"

Brenda looked over as she got out of the car. "I think she's keeping work with her."

Mewtwo's illusion looked grim. "You think Taylor has a clone with her."

"Michael Dekker did," she pointed out. "Let's go ruin her day."

The house was typical for the suburban area; cream colored bricks on the first floor, tan colored siding for the second. Two garage doors; a large, white painted front door, the majority of it taken up by a stained glass window; only two windows in the front, one over each garage door.

Brenda took point, moving to knock on the front door before she saw it. She frowned, and crouched a little, ignoring how her knee ached when she did. The door handle was… warped. It was supposed to be a fancy latch type handle, but the top part…

"I think someone's broken in," she said. "Someone strong enough to bend metal out of shape." She pulled her sleeve down over her hand, and depressed the latch. "And break the lock."

The door swung open under her light push, and Mewtwo sniffed at the air.

"I don't think we'll be pulling Taylor into interview today," he said. "I smell blood."

"Well, shit." Brenda looked back at her car. "Stay here, I'm going to call it in, and get my crime scene kit."

"Crime scene kit?" Mewtwo asked, but she ignored him. He'd see it in a few minutes.

She half sat in the front seat, and turned on the radio. "Dispatch, this is Johnson."

"Acknowledged, Johnson. This is dispatch."

"Got a possible dead body, certain break in." She rattled off the address, then took a deep breath. "My partner and I are going to enter the house, in case… Well, just in case."

"It's your ass, Johnson. Sending a second car over, radio back if it's a homicide."

"Sure." Brenda took a deep breath and turned off the radio. Sometimes, the informality of Viridian City's dispatch was annoying. Right now, it wasn't. She hated entering other people's homes.

She got out, got her crime scene kit out of the trunk. Latex gloves, booties for her shoes, a few other things she always found useful. Every homicide cop ended up carrying a kit like this, though what was in them sometimes varied.

"Make your illusion wear gloves and booties like mine," she said, and pulled out the mentioned items, pulled them on. Mewtwo eyed the kit with interest, and made the adjustments to his illusion.

"Is that a tool kit?" he asked.

"The box, anyways. Come on, let's go risk our necks." Brenda left her kit just outside the door, and stepped into the house. "Ms. Taylor? This is the police. Your door's been broken open. Are you here?"

No answer. Brenda looked over at Mewtwo. He nodded towards the stairs, and she sighed.

"Second floor it is."

She pulled her gun, standard procedure, and ignored how her stomach was doing flip flops. She hated this, walking through the house, straining her hearing for any sound. Was that creak the home owner walking towards them? The refrigerator turned on suddenly, and she jumped, only just keeping from shooting herself in the foot.

"Detective?"

"Don't," she muttered, and then sniffed. She still couldn't smell anything, no rotting bodies or anything. Which didn't mean shit, but she had to try.

Mewtwo gestured towards the hall, to their right, and she led the way. It was probably pointless, Mewtwo was a hell of a lot more dangerous then she was, but she was the senior officer- and she wanted him at her back. She'd feel a lot less jumpy so long as she knew who was behind her.

There were three doors off the hall. The first led to what looked like Taylor's bedroom, all pale colors and frills. Girly, and empty of anyone, living or dead. The second door was a bathroom, also empty, with a door to Taylor's bedroom.

The third door, at the end of the hall, was closed. Brenda eased it open, and took a deep breath.

"Well," she muttered, and shook her head. "I'm going to have to contact dispatch again, we've got… something."

"Someone will also have to search nearby parks," Mewtwo said.

"No shit. Let's get out of here, this place is giving me the creeps."

Sunday, August 9, 11:15 A.M.

Taylor had been stuffed in the large, practically industrial freezer in the garage, right after someone had cleaned it out. Mewtwo hadn't smelt any rotting meat, because it had only been two or three days; the meat wasn't yet that bad. A little off color, certainly nothing no one would want to eat, but there weren't any insects, and it was all still wrapped in plastic or paper, depending.

"Can't have been that long," Brenda muttered. "We saw her two days ago." She leaned a little closer to the body, nearly crawling into the freezer herself. "She's frozen, not solid, but damn if the frost isn't two centimeters thick."

"I'm surprised," Mewtwo said. "She almost looks like she's asleep."

"Except for the ice. Alright. If you can get her out, you can bag and transport." Brenda waved at the ET's, nearly grinning as they sighed. "Watch out for the unfrozen goods."

Mewtwo walked towards the door into the house, looking back as Brenda followed. "You seem calmer."

"I hate empty houses," she replied.

He wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he didn't. "What next?"

"I want to take a second look at that bedroom before Crime Scene gets at it."

Mewtwo nodded, and trailed after her to the back of the house. The bedroom in question wasn't quite as bad as some crime scenes. There was blood on the floor, just inside the doorway, and the bedcovers were mused. The worst part about it was the smashed mirror, and the knowledge that there had been a clone here. Now there wasn't.

Brenda stepped over the blood stain, and started examining the room. Mewtwo studied it from the doorway, if only because he didn't want to knock anything over with his tail.

The room was small, the walls painted a cheerful yellow, with floral wallpaper covering the top foot of the walls. The bedspread matched the wallpaper; the pillows and sheets, the walls. There was a lot of open space, and no chair at the desk.

"Huh," Brenda said, and gestured at something in the closet, something Mewtwo couldn't see. "Wheelchair. Guess this clone had problems with her legs or something."

"Explains the lack of things on the floor." Everything was up on shelves, or on the desk or nightstand. There were glass shards and the remains of the mirror, but that was obviously a new addition.

Brenda nodded, and folded her arms. "Looks like a typical teenage girl's room. Except the wheelchair, that's busted."

Mewtwo was about to reply, but was interrupted.

"Officer? Detective?"

He turned around, and Brenda moved to peer around him. They both arched their eyebrows at the uniformed officer standing at attention in the hallway.

"Yes?" Brenda asked.

"We found the girl, sir. In Greenwich Park, just two blocks over." The officer shook his head.

"Right." Brenda looked up at Mewtwo. "Let's see this, then get her to Hades. I'm getting sick of this."

"So am I." Mewtwo narrowed his eyes in thought. If they found Four, they would stop the murders. And if they found the scientists, they could stop the whole project. "Let's make sure we don't find any more, then."

"Your lips to the gods' ears."

End Notes

Aeris, keep reading to the Epilogue. You'll get yours for your contribution to this story. And before you say I'm coming up with something to apease you, it's something I've been considering since we first started talking about it. It's just firmed up and given a name now. Or, two names and a doctorate.

So, the problem with giving chapter titles according to song lyrics is you quickly run out of what fits the best. Obviously, this means I have to finish the story up before I start repeating myself.