"Fringey…"
Summary: Sarah and her sisters see there's an even darker side to Dyad's little cloning-fest…
(Not sure about this one but while I await more details for "Nessun Dorma" I'll play round with this darker one and see how it goes. Afraid you'll have to consider this the Allison-Donnie-friendly corner of the OB multiverse. After all, she can't be veering toward insanity and he can't be a rat in every universe…)
Disclaimer: No copywrite infringement intended.
Part XII…
"So it boils to two problems for you…" Leonard eyed the two clones where they sat on bench across from his chair…Howard, Delphine, Amy, Sheldon, Raj, Bernadette, and Agent Broyles also in chairs next to his… "This poor kid…And what those people plan to do with the other…" he looked over to where Louise lay flat on Amy's lab table. "And determining the nature and extent of Dyad's functional genetic manipulations."
Still a trip to see them together like this…Whoa…Especially with the differences in dress and manner belied with things like the exact nod in unison… "Beth" and Cosima nodding in synch.
"Cos is already sick, Leonard." Sarah noted. "And since Katja was…We can assume more, perhaps most or all of us, will get that way soon enough…"
"You said you have the complete sequence Dr. Leekie provided for you, Cos?" Howard asked.
"Yeah, along with my patent label…" Cosima, wan grin…Pulling out her laptop and bringing up the sequence on screen as the group clustered round her…
"That's insane…" Sheldon shook his head at the screen. "Didn't I say J. Craig was insane when he started patenting everything in sight, Leonard? And this is insane. They should test molecular genetists for this sort of insanity. I can recommend someone…"
"They must have figured, back when they started this project the Republicans would stay in power forever…" Howard shrugged. "And getting people reduced to the state of corporateownable property again would be easy once cloning was perfected."
"Well, they still seem to hope the patents will be valid…One day at least…" Cosima shrugged. "They wanted us to sign release forms, not quite sure what that was about."
"Establish a legal relationship between you and Dyad…" Raj noted… "It could give them a way to get you into courts…They drag out the cases, while completing the project. My sister and several cousins are lawyers…I'm afraid I wouldn't be surprised if some of them are writing briefs for Dyad right now."
"Dr. Leekie didn't try this before though…" Sarah noted. "Why bring up the contracts now rather than just deny everything and try to prove us crazy…They could even have taken…Us…Like they tried to take Sarah's daughter."
"Yeah, but you've upset the apple cart, now…You know you're being experimented on…" Howard smiled. "If they want to see the project through to conclusion, they have restore controls and balance…This is a fallback to try and get the program back on track…"
"That's what Donnie said Leekie kept on about when he was pretending to be Harkness' director…Getting Ally back on track…" Sarah nodded.
"And if we don't get back on…And you and I didn't, Beth…?" Cosima eyed her.
"You're of less use to Dyad and the project." Amy, quietly. "Still desirable to follow and all, but operating outside the experimental parameters."
"Meaning at some point we'll be of too little use and too much cost…And then what, Helena?" Cosima eyed the group.
"Very likely…" Amy nodded. "Terminate the experiment, sacrifice the subjects and see what can be gleaned."
"Great." Sarah, coldly.
"But they clearly want to hold off on that option for as long as possible…Which buys us some time." Leonard, hastily.
Winning a wan smile from Cosima…
Pretty…No, Penny…Penny…He told himself…Lets not go down that way.
Oh…He eyed Delphine giving Cosima a rather intense kiss on the lips.
Problem solved…Great…
"Wait…" Broyles raised a hand… "What about Ms. Mannings' daughter? Who took her or tried to?"
"Tried…But Sarah's foster brother got her smuggled out to safety…" Sarah explained. "It seems Kyra's of interest to Dyad, probably cause she's the only offspring of one of us."
No need to give all our info at once…She thought.
"I see…And where is she now?" Broyles eyed her.
"I can't tell you, sir." Sarah, calmly. "I'm sorry but I've made a promise not to divulge that."
"We're in on that too…" Cosima added, hastily… "Though only Beth knows…We thought that was best."
"You realize I can't help you protect the child if you don't trust me…" Broyles noted. "Are you sure you don't want to reveal her whereabouts?"
"Sir…I trust you." Sarah, carefully. "But I can't be sure everyone around you can be trusted. As you just heard we agreed even most of us shouldn't know."
"Ok…" he nodded. "You may be making the right decision, I'll leave it to you. But should you change your mind, don't hesitate to call us in." he paused, staring…
God, that bloke has an intense stare…Sarah thought.
"Is there anything else? Any other reason why Kyra is important to Dyad?" he asked.
"Not that I'm aware of, sir." Sarah, calmly.
"It would be remarkably interesting to know why the little girl is the only offspring…" Sheldon noted. "She must have unusual genetic qualities…I were the folks at Dyad…I mean if I were Evil and working with them…I'd sure want to peek under the kid's hood."
"Sheldon…" Leonard hissed.
"No, he's quite right." Sarah nodded. "That's exactly what we think…They want to see what allowed Sarah to give birth when the others all seem…Well, far as we know…To be sterile."
"Yeah…" Cosima…Slight downcast tone…
Cos?...Sarah eyed her wistful look…
Sorry to be glib about it…I didn't think…
Cosima putting up a hand gently…No prob…
"Hmmn…What could cause that sterility in the subjects?" Leonard mused…
"More to the point…"Amy noted… "How could Sarah be the outlier? What was different about her? After all, it's not surprising a clone might be sterile."
"Mules are sterile…" Cosima, vague smile… "I'm thinking of Isaac Asimov's Mule…The genetically super mindcontroller who was one of a kind, like us…But was that intentional?"
"I think…" Delphine sighed. "If not intentional, expected. After all, an adult nucleus was used in the initial egg you all spawned from."
"But Sarah and Helena were twins, natural…More or less…Twins…That must've played a role." Cosima noted.
"Yes, that make sense…" Amy nodded. "There was an additional separation from the adult nucleus which might have cleared some of…Whoa…Beth?"
"Yeah?"
"I hate to sound a trifle gross but is there any chance we might get a gander at Sarah's genetic material?"
"Excuse me?"
"Just to confirm if the hypothesis is true…It would also be good to have a sample from Helena…"
"We have blood from Sarah…" Cosima, hastily. "Beth got it earlier…And we might have something from Helena."
"That would do nicely…I don't mean to offend…" Amy, apologetically. "It might be a crucial reason why Dyad wants Kyra for study."
"She'd confirm your guess about Sarah…Are you sayin' Helena was first and Sarah split off?" Sarah asked.
"It could be…Or there could be other explanations…But learning more can only help us…" Amy noted.
"I can get the blood sample from Sarah here by tomorrow." Cosima nodded. "As for Helena, that's a matter for Beth…" she eyed Sarah. "Your police department should still have those items with her blood available…We might possibly get lucky."
"Yeah, I'll get right on it…" Sarah noted.
"Well, I can't remember when I've found Biology nearly so interesting…" Sheldon, eagerly. Quieting at stern look from Amy…
"As we try to bring Evil to Justice…" he added, solemnly.
"Thanks, Dr. Cooper." Sarah nodded. "We appreciate what all of you are trying to do here…Really."
"Not at all…" Sheldon nodded. "Much as I appreciate the excitement of fringe science there's nothing I hate more than seeing violence and harm done and laid at Science's door. We mustn't rest until these people are brought to the dock and charged with their crimes."
"Without question, Dr. Cooper." Agent Broyles nodded. "But, lets remember that there's also the issue of a possible terrorist or mock terrorist attack being planned. We can't charge Dyad Industries without solid proof but I don't want to wait until the West or East Coast is struggling with a nuclear or biochemical crisis before we deploy."
"But if Dyad's admitted to the…Ladies…That it conducted an illegal human cloning experiment…" Howard noted.
"We might be able to take some action…But, unfortunately one of the ladies signed the Dyad release…That was a calculated gamble on their part." Broyles noted. "They only needed one signature and they got it."
"What do you mean?" Sarah stared.
"By accepting Dyad's release, your sister Allison gave them some legal standing…They should lose in court eventually, of course, the project is still illegal, but they now have grounds to fight and claim it was done with consent…We can't act until a judge rules unless we come up with something linking Dyad to human abuse on other grounds."
Damn…Sarah frowned…
"Believe me, I've discussed this in detail…" Broyles noted. "We will get an injunction on the project and we will have a warrant in time, but Dyad is clearly more interested in trying to complete as much of the project as it stands in what time they have before courts can rule."
"So we should have gone public…Right from the start…" Cosima sighed.
"Perhaps…Perhaps it would have been too dangerous…They would have tried to stop you." Broyles considered. "But at least you should have come to the Bureau or someone in the federal government…But I understand you felt you didn't know whom you could trust. I can only hope now you are willing as Beth says, to put some trust in me."
"We want to, sir…" Sarah nodded. "But we've been burned…A lot…" wistful sigh.
"I understand…" Broyles, faint smile. "I've had the experience myself."
"I should get on trying to get that blood sample…" Cosima suggested, rising…
"And I'd better try and reach our temporary Beth Childs and see if she and Art can help get that stuff of Helena's out here…" Sarah noted.
"In the meantime, Howard, Sheldon, Raj, and I will try to see if there's any way we could trace the quantum signal controlling your sister…In case they try activating the one or others they still have." Leonard rose. "But first…Is anyone as hungry as I am?"
"Oh, yes…This is Thai food night…" Sheldon noted to Cosima. "We like to keep things sane and stable as much as possible even when forced to the urban nightmare that is Los Angeles."
"Thai sounds good to me…" Sarah nodded.
"Good…We've managed to locate an acceptable place in the city since Leonard refuses to travel to Pasadena to our usual place when we're in the city. He's rather unreasonable on such things…"
"Me?" Leonard stared…But repressed with sigh.
"Well, we can hardly ask the FBI to send out a team to retrieve KungPao chicken, can we? And it's not like those shapeshifters from the parallel universe will be hanging around…"
Cosima, Sarah, Delphine staring…
Howard and Raj rolling eyes… Amy looking a bit embarrassed.
"Dr. Cooper…" Broyles, coolly. "What have we discussed about classified information being disseminated in public or even among friends?"
"It's a no-no…Sorry…You didn't hear that." Sheldon noted.