All standard disclaimers apply; besides, I'm a broke college student, though I'll hand over the debt if you want to sue me for that.

~*~*~*~

Lisa brushed past him, walking swiftly to the door, but Adrian snatched her wrist and halted her flight.

"Tell me what you were doing."

"Nothing."

"You were doing more than nothing, I could tell, your eyes always get bigger when you're lying."

Lisa stopped trying to tug her wrist from his hold and looked him in the eye. "I swear, I was not doing anything. Now let me go!" She would not give him what he wanted, no matter what.

Adrian's face contorted in an uncharacteristic scowl. "Tell. Me. What. You. Were. Doing." He growled.

"Let me go before I file harassment on you!"

Adrian, still frowning, kept his hold on her wrist. Lisa looked up into his eyes, somewhat unwillingly, and saw herself reflected in his eyes, her red blouse giving his irises an eerie reddish tint. He looked down at her, and suddenly his face softened. "Please let me help you." Was it just her imagination or did his eyes really look less red?

Lisa didn't hear his offer, instead she heard, "Tell me everything."

"Let go of me, you..." She gave her captive wrist a vicious wrench, trying to loosen his hold on her arm, and nearly hit herself in the nose when he let go. He swept out through the door and it closed.

Several seconds too late, Lisa grabbed a pen off the panel and threw it after him. "That... That man! Jerk!" The pen bounced off the door and rolled under a chair.

Alexandra came up close to the permaglass. Can you hear me? She mouthed. Lisa shook her head, and then remembered something. She grabbed an earpiece and put it on. She couldn't use them for overlong because they always gave her a headache, and even though everyone else said that it was all in her head, it hurt enough that she knew it wasn't. She had to laugh though, even though it had been centuries since they were invented, the little gizmos had hardly changed since their first appearance under the name Bluetooth. When she had tried to tell one of her colleagues the joke, however, they had looked at her as though she had something large and green in her teeth. Apparently she was the only one interested in the history of electronics.

Lisa put on the earpiece and said, "Who's Houdini?"

Alexandra roared with laughter. "I knew it! I just knew that would be the first question out of your mouth!" She continued to chuckle, "You could say that he was the best magician who ever lived. There wasn't a lock he couldn't pick or a box he couldn't get out of. Even if part of his tricks were sleight-of-hand there are very few people who could pull off even the simplest of them without serious injury."

"I can see why you would say that then." Lisa paused, and then added, "I promise I will get you out."

"I'll hold you to that." Alexandra said.

"Can I ask who that was? You didn't look very happy to see him."

Lisa pursed her lips, "He's the man I dated in college, and we had a pretty ugly breakup. We try not to talk much these days."

"Speaking of strange people, who was that holographic man who appeared a while ago? He actually made you faint, something I wouldn't have thought possible, given your current situation."

"What do you mean by that? My current situation?"

Alexandra ticked off on her fingers, "You work in one of the most prestigious scientific institutes on the planet, you work in an elite division in that institute, you have been attacked by one of the specimens, and now you are sitting in front of me asking me what is so unique about someone who made a person like you so stressed they passed out. Do you see my point?"

Lisa rubbed the back of her neck, "I guess I see your point."

"So who was he?" Alexandra prompted.

"He was the leader of an organization called TREE and from what I understand..." Her narrative died on her tongue when Alexandra's eyes suddenly flashed blood red.

"What did you say?!" Alexandra's voice had deepened and coarsened and she looked infinitely more dangerous at that moment. Suddenly the barrier separating them seemed all too thin.

"The organization is called TREE and I have unintentionally become a member." Lisa shook as she heard what she said. Alexandra was strong enough to kill her with a thought if she so wished.

The other woman stood very still, and then let out a breath. "Unintentionally?" Her voice was closer to what it had been.

"Yes, I said a code phrase by accident and I had no choice but to accept their offer. What do you know about them?"

"They have pulled the strings of many people over the years, making them dance to whatever tune they desired. They have caused the downfall of several organizations and companies and they are completely ruthless when it suits them. On the other hand, they averted several disasters by preventing the rise or causing the fall of others. They switch leaders every time they feel they need to; in essence, they have an organized mutiny if the head is not doing what they want. This also means that there can be one leader for decades at a time. What kind of man did it seem he was?"

"He seemed nice enough, I don't really know until I can meet him in person, but I did not sense any malice." Lisa tapped her lips. "He tried to help me into a chair before I fainted."

"Did he tell you his name?"

"He said it was Jacob."

"Jacob. Jacob." She said the name like a winemaker testing a new vintage, rolling it around in their mouth to get an idea of the quality. "I have not heard of him before. Did he say he was recently appointed?"

"No, now that you mention it, but he seemed very young to be running the kind of group that you say he is. He didn't seem very comfortable with the role either." He is probably a puppet for someone else in the group, though he seemed intelligent, a dangerous trait for a figurehead. Then the question would be whether he knows it or not.

"He's probably a puppet for someone who doesn't want to come out and risk themselves."

Lisa smiled, "I was thinking just that."

"Do you know why they asked you to join? Normally they wouldn't just accept people who accidentally say the code phrase."

Lisa clutched her head with both hands. "No, I don't. I can only assume that they did not know the person who would be coming in. It would make sense, in a warped kind of way. If they don't know who the person is, someone else can't find out who they are and use that person against the organization before the organization has had a chance to sway the newbie to their side. Ugh, intrigue has always made my head hurt." She moaned. "I'd normally ask if you wanted to go get something to eat about now, but..." She paused, trying to joke with the other woman who obviously couldn't go anywhere but Alexandra didn't appear to have heard her.

"Do you know why he asked you though? What is interesting about your team that they would be willing to take one of you in?"

Lisa peeked out at her from under her bangs. "I don't know, Jacob said that he had a personal interest in this project."

Now it was Alexandra's turn to sit on the ground. "A ...sonal intr..." Her voice was too faint for the mics to pick up. Suddenly she straightened up. "See what you can find out about this interest of his, for all we know he could be one of us and "interested" in getting me out."

Lisa blinked at her peculiar choice of pronoun. "Us?"

"I-I meant, like me, a Methuselah, that's all."

"I'll see what I can find out."

Alexandra had spent more time than she ever had in her life thinking. What else was there to do?

She had nothing to do. Nowhere to be. No one to talk to.

So she thought. And now she had something to occupy her thoughts.

She had known about TREE for a long time, though she had never been unlucky enough to run into them. She knew that she couldn't afford to get caught by them, or her life would truly be a living hell.

It had been nearly two days before Lisa had gotten the courage to walk back into the observation room and speak the code phrase. She had had a dream for the last few weeks that had greatly unnerved her. She was a scientist and normally she would dismiss things like dreams as the ramblings of her subconscious, but a recurring dream that lasted for several weeks was not something even the most dedicated scientist could brush off easily.

Lisa shook herself out of her reminiscing; she had work to do. "Anyone here."

There was a short pause, "Yes?" The image of a portly elderly man appeared. "How can I help you?"

"May I speak with Jacob please? There was something that I need to clarify with him."

"Certainly, may I have your name please?"

"Lisa Moravain."

The man disappeared, leaving her with the distinct feeling that she was being put on hold. The only thing that was missing was... And queue the elevator music. Lisa sighed, some person probably thought it was funny to use telephone tactics with holograms. She wasn't amused. Next thing she knew, she would be humming along, and heaven knew where that would leave her.

After about seven minutes and twenty-nine seconds, she saw the telltale foggy fuzz that preceded holograms.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Jacob is preoccupied, could you come back at a later time?" Obviously he was not an employee at the Institute or he never would have dared to sound so self-important. Nobody had ever taken that tone with her and lived, including her boss.

She put on a sugary smile and said sweetly, "Of course, may I ask when he would be available? I have a rather busy schedule myself so it may not be possible to meet with him right away, since I am rather busy here at the Institute. Would you be so kind as to tell me the times when he will be available in the next week or so?"

The man's bushy eyebrows rose, fell, rose, until she nearly burst out laughing and had to choke back the giggles that escaped. "Um, certainly, let me see." His image fumbled around an invisible desk, but she didn't think that he was really looking for anything, other than an excuse to get rid of her. "Here we are, there are very few times he will be available, even in so large of a time span. I believe there is something available in a week but..."

Lisa nodded as though she believed the bullshit that he was spewing. When he paused for breath, she interrupted him by sucking a breath through her teeth. "Ah, I'm sorry; I'm going to be in meetings all through next week, perhaps something sooner?" He stuttered, but she continued, "After all, being a researcher here does tend to fill up one's schedule, and I went to all the trouble of clearing today so I would have time to see him, I guess the matter I needed him for will just have to wait..." She trailed off.

"I-I-I'll see what I can do. I will contact him immediately, yes-yes, immediately. Just one moment please." He walked out of the reception field of the transmitter, only to return a few seconds later in bits and pieces as he appeared to bow someone onto the transmitter pad.

Lisa snickered; it was so easy to manipulate someone else's dogs.

As Jacob appeared, she composed herself and ran over what she wanted to say.

"Lisa, is there something that you need to talk to me about?"

"I see."

"There is one more thing I wanted to ask you." She paused, picking the words she wanted to use. "Is there anything that you wanted to know in particular? So I know what to look for when I am reporting back to you. It would save us both time if I can tell you only the information that concerns you, rather than the tremendous amount of trivial and occasionally redundant information that I would otherwise be forced to pass on to you. I think that it would be far more prudent to have me filter out the necessary information instead of..."

"I would much appreciate it, except I don't really know what I am looking for myself."

Lisa mentally inclined her head at his clever dodge. "I will simply tell you everything then." She hoped she would at least not have to send him a paper report so she could have a chance to read his expressions.

"That would be wonderful." He looked over his shoulder. "Yen, Lisa is to be allowed to interrupt anything in order to give me her report, so don't occupy her time for any reason." Faintly in the background she heard something that sounded like, "Yessir." and she grinned. He sounded rather cowed.

"Well, that's that, I suppose, if you will excuse me." With a bow he stepped off the transmitter pad.

And reappeared a few seconds later. "Could you give me summary of her so far?"

:Of course. Lately she seems to have recovered from her previous weak state, though the cause of her recovery is still unknown." Jacob smiled. Knowingly? She wondered. She paused, unsure of how to continue, "May I assume that you already know about her records, and I do not have to reiterate what happened previously?" Jacob nodded. "Though the cause of her weakness is still unidentified, we have determined that she has reached levels of strength that were previously unknown. There have been several different speculations as to why her condition has improved, among them that someone slipped something into her food." She watched his face carefully for a sign that he understood her hint and was rewarded when his eyes widened slightly and flashed away from hers and back again.

She kept her face composed and continued, "There were no other changes except that it seems that she somehow seems to possess other unknown abilities whisch she has not demonstrated, though some others hope it is only a matter of time before they surface."

"And you? Do you hope these abilities 'surface' as you say?"

Lisa hesitated before answering carefully, "I think that if she were to use her full strength we would pay a large price for satisfying our curiosity."

"Do you speak from experience perhaps?"

Yes. Her stomach clenched as she answered. "I speak from reason. Such power would not be something that any reasoning being would use rashly, and since she is still here she must possess enough reason to know that if she was to escape, she would force everyone to acknowledge her, and that would be the downfall of her species."

"I see." Jacob bowed to her for the second time that day. "I bid you good day."

Jacob turned off the holo-transmitter and thought about what Lisa had said. She had been hinting at something, and those suspicious scars on her neck only proved that it was something worth looking into.

He had known about Methuselah for a long time, but there was something about that woman that didn't sit right with him. He could not put his finger on what it was, but something was off.

Why had she refused to show herself? She should have known instantly that he wanted to help her whether she could see him or not, but she had kept herself hidden. He shook his head; there were some things he would never understand.

Even as long as he had lived, he had never seen anything to pique his interest the way that woman, Alexandra, did.

Lisa collapsed into a chair. "I don't think I have been that stressed that much since my first job interview."

Alexandra stepped out of the corner she had been standing in. "I trust him."

Lisa lifted her hand off her eyes to peer at her friend. "Really?"

"Ieh. I mean, yes."

"Alright. I trust you then."

***End Chapter 9***

Es tut mir leid! Gomen! Sumimasen! I'm sorry! I really didn't mean to get this far behind on my updates, things just didn't go the way I planned.

PS. If you didn't get all the hints that there is more to some people that you think, go back and read it again and I guarantee that this chapter will qualify as angsty.