Corda and Buffy sat in a small room handcuffed to the chairs they were sitting on. Across from them sat George Overby of the NID. A military officer stood at the door, he thought he was glaring intimidatingly. Corda barely noticed, she was working out a timeline in her head of how long it would take Alexander to get here. Jack would insist on being involved, she was sure, which meant they'd probably take the Altimah to Colorado and then military transportation to Cleveland. Six hours? Seven? No more then that she was certain.

Agent Overby picked up Buffy's personal shield device and said. "What is this thing?"

"A device that produces an energy shield." Corda answered. "One of the reasons why the government has made our company a defense contractor. We hope they'll eventually be used to replace bullet proof vests, which aren't always bullet proof."

"And this?" He held up one of the pulse pistols.

"We call it a pulse pistol. We patented it three years ago. It shoots a pulse of high intensity energy and unlike those ridiculous blasters you were using, has very little energy loss. From what I could see, your blasters lost at least fifty percent of their potential energy before they ever hit their target. That's a significant amount. Makes them much less efficient, not to mention, the size is also ridiculous. Talk about overcompensating."

The military man glared at them. "Those are state of the art!"

"They were obsolete before they were ever conceived, let alone built."

"While I've been able to confirm you are indeed the Chief Financial Officer of a company called the Altimah Project." Overby said. "And I have been able to confirm you're recent status as defense contractors, I have been unable to find out anything else. Apparently your clearance is higher then mine. Which I find curious, especially given your age. Not even twenty one."

"Is there a question there? Or are you just hoping I'll spill secrets you don't have the clearance to know."

"Why did you destroy our project?"

"I didn't, you did. I saved alot of lives by using my own personal shield to contain the blast. You overloaded the nuclear battery powering whatever that thing was. Given that my clearance is higher then yours, that means I could easily find out for myself. So, why don't you just tell us."

"No. I doubt you'd believe me anyway. But it was a very valuable asset of the U.S. government."

"Not the legitimate part, I'm certain of that. Whatever that Frankenstein thing is, no one legally would be allowed to create it. It was alive, it was intelligent."

"What do you mean it was intelligent?" Overby asked.

"It asked us who we were. It was curious, it spoke English. It wasn't a machine, despite the machine parts."

"It shouldn't have been able to do that."

"Why not? It looked like it was part human. Humans have brains. Or at least, they're supposed to. You seemed to have checked yours at the door."

Now they were both glaring at her. 'Ooh, so scary, not. Let me introduce you to a Wraith.' She thought. 'Then we'll talk about scary.'

"Do you understand how much trouble you're in? Prison is the best you can hope for. I understand you're married, to the Chief Executive Officer of your company, what do you think it'll do to him when you're charged with treason for interfering in our project?"

"Since I sincerely doubt your project is remotely legal, I couldn't possibly have committed treason. Falsifying charges you can't possibly prove, especially without exposing your criminal enterprise, is not a good threat. Try again, maybe you'll get lucky and actually sprout a truth."

"We're doing our job, lady!" The military guy was very insistent on that point. "Trying to keep ungrateful, spoiled brats like you safe!"

"From what? Monsters you create? How does that keep me safe? It looks and sounds like it puts me in the danger zone, not the safety zone. Or is it opposite day and someone forgot to tell me?"

"Enough, we're not getting anywhere. Take them to a holding cell. Water only. Let's see what a few hours without food gets us."

"Rumbly bellies." Buffy said, it was the first time she'd spoken since they'd been brought in. "Or at least that's been my experience. What does lack of food get you? Whining? Like a two year old throwing a temper tantrum?"

The guard glared the entire time he was escorting them to a holding cell.

"They took my scanner too." Corda said, once she and Buffy were alone. "And they're probably listening to everything we say in the hopes that we'll slip and give them something they can use. I'm going to take a nap. You stand watch, I'll relieve you in two hours."

"Why are you taking a nap now?"

"Who knows how long it will be, besides we use less energy when we're asleep, we're going to need all we can get."

"Okay, makes sense."

Corda stretched out on the floor and was soon asleep. Military everywhere, learned to sleep when the opportunity presented itself. Besides, it would lesson the amount of time she had to think about the timeline for Alexander's arrival.