Her tears froze to her cheeks like tree sap. As Jondy ran, adrenaline fuelling her exhausted body, her bare feet struck the steep snow laden incline with vigor which served to join Lydeckers' property to the access road. It was hard going, getting the hell away from the enemy of her enemy.

Jondy was weak, aware of her calf muscles tensing up painfully in the cold and her labored breathing. Her feet were numb throbbing entities smashing like sledge hammers into the knee-deep snow. Multiple times she stumbled into the snowy ground before reaching the wooden gate of Lydecker's ranch.

Yanking it open, Jondy entered the looming forest and summoned her courage. She forced herself to push her way through the undergrowth: ignoring the sting of poison ivy and nettles cutting at her legs as she battled an on-coming sense of disorientation.

A distance away, Lydecker stepped out onto the porch of the house he and his wife had bought together so long ago, his lips pursed in frustration. Sighing, he took out his cell phone and dialed, eyes trained on the blonde blob sparkling in the distant sunrise.

"Cameron? 210 requires medical attention and surveillance. Intercept by Pike's Hill exit and take her to Bravo House. Prepare Operation Foxtrot... You know your orders, son."

Lydecker turned back to his house, wearily running a hand over his face to rid away his exhaustion.

She had forced his hand.

At least, he thought with grim satisfaction, he had taught her something.


After ten hours of low-level firefight they were finally in. Zane watched the enemy warrior fall, bullets riddling his body whilst his last gasp rattled through his bloodied lips. His eyes remained open in death.

Stepping cautiously into the dimly lit bunker, wiping sweat from his brow, Zane took a look around not knowing what he would encounter. Although there were mangled bodies everywhere, it was the sight of the priestess that repulsed him the most. She was collapsed over a tall alter, grey matter sprayed across the back of the chamber. He watched with numb curiosity as blood dripped slowly from her nose and into the bowl beneath it.

His wife had told him a little of their activities, but the sight that greeted him was more brutal than Zane had expected. Three bodies were displayed ritualistically at the base of the Alter, with their throats slit and wrists and ankles bound. Zane swallowed as he took in the details amongst the gore; each of their abdomens had been sliced open and placed on each of their chests was what looked like a foetus. Everyone was dead and deformed.

Disgust filled the pit of Zane's stomach. Not even an animal would treat its kin like this, he thought coldly, comforted by the deep sense of satisfaction growing his chest. It was good to have a justification for the relish he felt in taking out this enemy.

However strong a sense of vindication Zane felt didn't erase the fact that he couldn't wait to get the hell out of there and return to his Jondy.


"Rise and shine!"

Her luminous blue eyes snapped open to stare at the flicking florescent tube light overhead. As Jondy came to her senses a growing awareness dawned on her that its dull intermittent buzzing had permeated her subconscious like a bothersome fly.

Lifting herself up off the cot on one arm, the young woman turned her face wearily in the direction the shout originated. Jondy cast her eyes about, a counterintuitive sense of anticipation thrumming through her veins, to see that she was in a small cramped room. The smell of dust assaulted her senses, giving the X5 an impression that this space was not a routinely used interrogation chamber.

Jondy realized with a jolt that her head was clear: she felt focused. When her roaming gaze came to fall on the tall figure standing in the narrow doorway, she watched momentarily as he stepped over the threshold, before springing to her bare feet. Yanking the IV roughly from her arm, she come face to face with a blond haired man who looked no older than twenty-five.

"Who are you?" Jondy demanded defensively, taking is his six-foot-four height and lithe frame with narrowed eyes. She quickly determined she could use his height to her advantage- one quick roundhouse kick to the back of the knees should give her an extra split second to make a break for it.

"You get your jollies watching unconscious girls?" The young woman hissed when he didn't respond immediately, her voice falling flat and deadly in the small space.

The man cracked a grin seeming unperturbed by her aggression. He had an easy-going air about him that was unmistakable. He held out a hand.

"I'm Corporal Matthew Cameron. Friend of Deck's, friend of yours."

Examining his face, Jondy recalled him from the extraction humvee and remembered the empathy he had expressed- Manticore Black Ops had never behaved like that back in her day.

"Right," was all she could bite out, her mind racing. Jondy ignored Cameron's proffered hand of friendship in favor of glancing around the dimly lit room, supposing she was in a bunker. Awareness dawned on the X5 that she was overcome by a strange sense of calmness, one that left her feeling relaxed and almost normal- or what passed as normal for her anyway. Turning back to him, Jondy cocked an eyebrow, "You sure you went through the 'Transgenics 101' training at Manticore?"

His friendly mannerism was something the X5 knew to be explicitly counter to standard protocol for soft-interrogation. Cameron shot her a serious look.

"I sure am Jondy, can't say I agreed with much of it. But my family has known Deck since forever, he's a good guy and well… in this economy when opportunity knocks you don't let it pass you by."

"Somehow I don't think we're talking about the same 'Deck'." Her lips twisted and she threw Cameron a haughty look. "Ya see, I told him what I know. I appreciate the rescue mission and all," she told him side-stepping past his lithe figure, "but I've really gotta head out."

Cameron's hand caught her arm as she went to make her exit. "Easy girl, not… so…fast."

It took all her wherewithal not to drop him like a tonne of bricks as she wrenched out of his grasp, glaring.

"You-touch-me-again-we've-got-a-problem."

"We are on the same side here," Cameron spoke with such calm as he held his hands in the air, it made her pause and listen. Jondy scrutinized him, looking beyond his Manticore Black Ops attire, to see there was something familiar about him. "There are grand motions in play that you need to be aware of."

That spiked her interest. Who was this guy?

"Look-" Cameron went on hastily, realizing just how tiny she was- she couldn't have been taller than five foot two and she was skin and bone, pumped full of fluids laced with Sodium Pentothal that left her face looking bloated and eyes puffy- "how about something to eat before you make a break for it? To go along with those IV vitamins and great reflexes?" He hedged. "There's plenty in the stores here, this being prime dairy country and all."

At his mention of food Jondy suddenly became very aware of her roiling hunger pangs. The tactician in her yelled at her to cut and run, but her impulsive side roared in delight at Cameron's offer of food. She rationalized that without a good feed she wouldn't get far anyway.

Now it was her turn to be curious.

"What kinda food?"

"Come with me." His tone was imploring, expression boyish. "I make a mean fry-up. Plenty of eggs here." The wry grin seemed sincere. "It's a secure location- we're safe. Honest."

Jondy did not read any tell tale signs of deception from the man before her.

"Ok." She grunted with a one-shouldered shrug, knowing that she could overpower him in a heartbeat if need be. "Fine."

Jondy followed Cameron down a dimly lit corridor, light filtering in through dusty window panes striped across the concrete floor. The safe house was warm with a long corridor down the middle and lots of off shooting rooms. Jondy could faintly hear someone moving about in the room at the end of the hall.

"Who else is here?" She hissed to Cameron sharply, suspecting she already knew the answer. For some reason it didn't frighten her as much as she would have of expected it to.

"Look, I know you think Deck is the devil incarnate-" there was a note of amusement to Cameron's voice that led way to desperation "-but you gotta trust us-"

"I-don't-trust-you-"

"Well- let us earn it." He said earnestly in reply. "Starting now. Breakfast and civil conversation. Simple enough."

Her hunger willed out.

"I can't guarantee conversation will be civil where Lydecker's concerned, Cameron." She told the Corporal darkly as they came to a doorway.

"I'd expect nothing less from the tales I've head," Cameron laughed, ushering Jondy through to the makeshift kitchen space.

Somehow it made her feel lighter.

Donald Lydecker sat at the breakfast table, glasses on and a file splayed out on the table before him, reading. He did not acknowledge her.

Jondy felt her insides squirm in anger.

"Take a seat." Cameron instructed, gesturing to the table. "Coffee?"

"Just hot water." Jondy told him in low voice, taking a seat opposite Lydecker, who set aside his file notes and took to visually assessing her injuries. She felt more than a little self-conscious beneath his inscrutable gaze.

"Sir?" Cameron turned to Lydecker, who twitched his fingers in dismissive annoyance.

"How long was I out?" Jondy's voice came out throaty from nerves, compelled to say something to push aside her feelings of guilt and shame about her earlier behavior.

"Two days due to exposure to the cold." Lydecker told her disapprovingly, taking in her slightly dilated pupils. It was a poor performance- at age 5 she had recovered from overnight exposure in -20C in less than three hours. "Your bruising hasn't healed." He commented with a frown as Cameron placed a plate of eggs before her. "You're running on empty Jondy. Eat."

He didn't need to tell her twice. Quickly summarizing that it was five months since she had last eaten properly, Jondy seized the opportunity to fuel up, polishing her meal off so fast she almost inhaled it.

Cataloguing her emancipated figure, over bright gaze and ratty hair, Lydecker pushed a container of pills towards her. "Vitamins- including tryptophan."

"No psychotropic drugs hidden in there?" Jondy sassed, pointedly moving them aside.

"Considering your current physical condition- no. They'd probably kill you."

"So you considered it then?" Jondy challenged with narrowed eyes, before it hit her that her overly calm mental state was most likely due to some cocktail of drugs Lydecker had administered. "What have you drugged me with?"

"Take them." The Colonel instructed. "They're to aid with blood-loss and infection."

"I don't do infection- the good scientists at Manticore made sure of that." Jondy argued. "What the hell-"

"You just spent an inordinate amount of time running with a group of people who create advanced pathogens for a living Jondy," Cameron cut across her jovially as he plunked a second serving of eggs in front of her and took a seat with a mug of coffee in hand. "Those things tend to be pretty infectious and I personally don't want to be caught in the cross fire- I'd like to have kids some day-" he actually had the nerve to wink at her- "and not to mention I know the lengths we went through to keep you from dying- I'd hate to have almost gotten my hide shot up for nothing?"

"Fine." She ceded in a huff: he had a point. "Whatever."

Finishing her plate and feeling far better than she had in months, she looked up at Lydecker stubbornly. She finally felt ready to play this game.

"So what's your line of reasoning? Why should I stay? Food's great and all, but-"

"You owe it to your sister."

"To Max?" Jondy countered, eyebrow raised. Man's as predictable as rain in Seattle. "I don't think so. I barely know her. Most I saw of her holed up in that dump was once a week at the command meeting."

Lydecker tilted his head to the side thoughtfully, "so if not family loyalty, why put yourself in the lion's den?" He tested her argument, not believing her for a second. "Fulfilling some deep-seated need for commendation Jondy?"

Jondy's eyes narrowed at Lydecker's jibe. "I did it because the opportunity presented itself. It was tactically advantageous."

"Well, I'm glad you haven't forgotten everything I taught you." His sardonic tone was unmistakable.

Jondy bit out a derisive laugh. "Some lessons stuck."

Her lips twisted in response to his skeptical expression. Once again she was reminded that he knew her- could read her motives as clearly as text on a page. Glancing around the room, Jondy shrugged and changed topic, weary of showing her hand too soon and keen to score a point.

"How do you think I ended up in the Mosse's home for 11 years? Off of Manticore's radar?"

Lydecker did not answer. Her disappearance and his inability to find any sort of lead had always been a sore point with The Committee. He watched her calculatingly; he had a feeling he was about to find out why she had proved so elusive.

Taking in Lydecker's stony expression, Jondy felt a deep burn of frustration course through her chest.

"You still don't get it, do you Lydecker?" Jondy finally asked in a quiet voice, her tone contemptuous and because of her anger the words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself; "The Familiars are the oldest and worst of humanity. We are their reckoning- it's why Sandeman made us. He gave us our mission."

Beside her Cameron cleared his throat.

"William?" Lydecker asked with genuine surprise. This was a puzzling development. "He had minimal contact with you kids in Wyoming..." Frowning, he leant closer towards her. "You could have only been three at most when he left Manticore."

Jondy crossed her arms defensively over her chest. Her gaze flicked to Cameron taking in his relaxed posture. She saw a ghost of a smile flitter over his face demonstrating his amusement at her long-running insubordination and it had the effect of making her feel stronger: it was the kind of thing Zane would have done if he was with her to support her. Reigning in her anxiety, Jondy decided to proceed with her course of action.

"You were ever-present scaring the hell out of us when we were kids Lydecker, but there was more going on in Manticore than you were aware of."

She watched Lydecker's mouth form a thin line at her words. "I had complete authorization over your unit. Over project X5. I was fully aware of what actions were carried out under my command."

Jondy let out a frustrated sigh and moved to lean forward, her folded arms resting on the table between them.

"Sandeman knew his project was getting corrupted," she told Lydecker authoritatively. "The government funding was initially a front- a legitimizing force- then it became something else: a breeding ground for the perfect US soldier," she explained as her parents had done. "But for us -X5- his true project- favors and all-" she took another shot at Lydecker "- Sandeman wanted us gone. Out from under The Committee's clutches."

Jondy responded to the cold disagreement she witnessed in Lydecker's expression.

"It was never our idea!" She exploded. "How do you think Zack had the wherewithal to command the escape? He had never been on the outside before!"

The old Colonel's gaze was shrewd, his tone contemplative as he humored her, "so what was the plan? Farm you kids out to families Sandeman had chosen?"

Jondy nodded. "I think so. But then-"

"The Pulse happened. I doubt William had factored that into his plans."

"No," Jondy agreed, "and the night of the escape…" she felt cold to the bone just remembering it "- we were left scattered. I was the only one to make it to the rendezvous point. You caught Zack. Krit and Syl had to change course. I lost Max. And Eva-" her voice cracked and she briefly closed her eyes in an attempt to block out her reality and keep speaking. "Eva was dead."

"Eva?" Lydecker questioned and there was something in his expression that evoked the deep ache of grief within Jondy.

"Sandeman gave her the mission brief." Jondy stated tensely, thinking back to that night. Lydecker was watching her face closely. "Eva was the reason we left- Max's seizures were the motivation Zack needed to breach op sec."

Unspoken emotion passed between the X5 and her former commander.

"Did you meet the contact?" Cameron prompted, seeking to defuse the tension in the room.

"Corporal, you're excused." Lydecker stated brusquely, not taking his eyes off of the young woman before him.

At his words a sudden anxiety built in the pit of Jondy's stomach and when the younger man went to exit the room Jondy jumped to her feet; "No! Stay!"

Cameron turned to observe her.

Lydecker frowned at her behavior.

Pacing the room with tears pricking the back of her eyes, inwardly cursing Lydecker for evoking such a high level of panic within her, in her tumult Jondy missed the concerned expression that crossed over the Colonel's features, before her overly bright gaze flicked to his seeking permission.

"I-I want him to stay. Please." Desperation coloured her plea.

Jondy could not have explained it aloud, the feeling that was clawing its way through her insides pushing to get out, but she didn't trust herself to be alone with Lydecker - not after the other night. Her hands were shaking, the little light in the room acquiring a distinct brightness she associated with the on-set of seizures as her thoughts continued to run wild.

"Sit down." Lydecker ordered, watching her carefully.

Heart thumping as she hugged herself tightly, Jondy dropped to the linoleum floor with her legs crossed in one fluid motion. Lydecker's only acknowledgement of consent to her request was that Cameron re-took his seat at the table, a reassuring presence in the room.

Approaching her hunched figure in the middle of the floor, her face hidden behind a curtain of blonde hair, Lydecker crouched in front of the young woman to silently observe her agitated state; her fraught expression, averted gaze and trembling clenched fists pressed stiffly to her knees.

"Jondy?"

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Her childhood was screaming at her inside her head.

"What did you give me?" Her hoarse demand fell flat in the quiet room. In her peripheral vision she saw Cameron approach as Lydecker moved away from her side.

"Sorry sweetheart," Cameron was saying with a soft expression as he bent down to take a good look at her, Jondy failed to take note of his shrewd gaze and with her pounding head she struggled to take in his following words, "I may've added a little something to your breakfast earlier to hurry things along. We've unfortunately got a time crunch- and you and I both know you aren't much of a talker."

"I should have known," Jondy muttered bitterly to herself, turning her head away from his easy going smile, "trust no one."

"It's not a case of 'trust'," Cameron said to her kindly, gently checking her pulse at the side of her neck. "It's a case of intel, sweetheart. Surely, you can appreciate that." He turned to his commanding officer. "Her vitals are a bit high Deck and the tremors are possibly stress induced- otherwise we are ok here for the time being."

"Thank you, son. Jondy," Lydecker, who took note of her hesitation when she shifted her gaze to his looming figure, resumed his earlier position crouched in front of the young woman, "did you meet William's contact?"

Jondy sat, trembling.

"I want you to-answer-my-question."

She could not drive away the impulse to respond. Clearing her constricted throat and opening her mouth, her heart skipped a beat when she met his steely gaze.

"Yeah... I met the contact." Her softly spoken words hung in the air between them. She almost couldn't believe she had said it, had decided to confess- to trust him- but now the words were out there was no taking them back. When Lydecker inclined his head for her to continue, words came spilling out of her mouth of their own accord; "he took me with him to a- house… I had never been inside one before- it-it was beautiful." Her gaze never broke from her former commander's as she hugged her trembling arms to herself so tightly she worried she may re-fracture a rib. "Old furniture, plush carpets… I never knew his name." Jondy ran her hands over her tired eyes and rested her chin on her hands, elbows digging into her knees staring at a point past Lydecker's shoulder. She felt numb, sitting there shaking on the dusty floor. "Then he gave me to Martha... Told me I was to live with her. And I did- until one of your men almost killed me in New York when I was 17."

"Their orders were expressly to capture you alive." Lydecker asserted as he gently took her chin in his hand to turn her head slightly towards him.

Meeting his eyes, Jondy dismissed his platitude in one breath, "Whatever."

Her stomach was in knots at their close proximity and the fact that once again he blocked her one exit from the room.

"So you lived with Martha Mosse and her husband for 10 years. They are Familiars?"

"Mm," Jondy nodded, swallowing past the tightness in her throat.

Lydecker waited for her to continue, concerned the dose of psychoactive drugs Cameron had administered earlier had not accounted for Jondy's starved countenance and fast metabolism.

"They had been chosen by Sandeman to take me in- when the time was right. I don't know which families the others were supposed to go with… They had to explain the world to me- parents, school- all of those normal things X5 super soldiers don't get to partake in." She rolled her eyes sarcastically, while behind Lydecker Cameron gave a small self-affirming nod.

"When I got older I learnt the history, their origins- my origins-"

"About Manticore? William's vision for it?"

"Yes. Why Sandeman made us… special." Jondy spat out bitterly for lack of a better term.

There was something disturbingly like anticipation in Lydecker's expression. "Proceed."

Jondy left out a shaky breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"My foster parents- and Sandeman- belong to a sect that disagreed with the orthodoxy of the Conclave- it thinks the Familiars have a responsibility to guard humanity from a plague, not end the world as we know it." She paused overcome and for a moment felt she may finally breakdown.

Lydecker watched the young woman visibly swallow, seeming to summon her inner resolve and knew this was what White had contended with on a daily basis, what had sent the S.O.B mad with frustration.

"Sandeman made Manticore to make the Guardians," she was telling him, "he hid us in your camp Lydecker, so we would be the best of the best…." The X5 hesitated, heart thrumming and then said all in one whispered breath, "it's-what-he-asked-you-to-do-isn't-it?"

That one question had been burning within her for years: it was the only explanation Jondy could fathom for her abusive childhood, which had included months in psy-ops, advanced drills and torturous interrogation exercises all with the aim of enhancing familial bonds. Jondy knew none of the other X5 series had been treated the way Unit 9 was- she had confirmed this suspicion when she had checked Manticore's records through Logan Cale.

"I was trying- to build something, the perfect solider- the perfect weapon."

When Lydecker stated those worn words, ones he had told himself for the past twenty-five years, Jondy felt her cheeks flush in anger the glib response, felt herself rise instinctively from the floor to once again stand before him in outrage.

Lydecker mirrored her movements, appearing unfazed.

"Your unit was our biggest success and by far our biggest disappointment." His tone was so matter of fact- as if 'disappointment' equated to a poor grade on a test not murder or brainwashing for weeks on end- it made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. "Which of you kids are William's supposed 'guardians'?"

Jondy released a breath she didn't know she had been holding and pushed aside her anger, reminding herself that they had just struck an accord.

"I'm not sure what he intended." She told her former Colonel shortly. "All I know is Eva was. I am, Max is and Ben would've been- if he'd made it to the rendezvous point that night. Zack was only ever our brother, our leader." Jondy added in answer to Lydecker's unasked question.

"Which is why you took the mission for Max?"

Suddenly feeling bone-weary Jondy could not look at her former mentor as she moved to take a seat the table, fumbling due to her trembling fingers. She irritably scrubbed her hands over her face, pressing the palms of her hands into her tired and itching eyes. When she finally looked up at Lydecker's overbearing presence, although her eyes glistened with unshed tears, her gaze was hateful.

"I did it for Eva," the X5 bit out harshly in frustration. "To complete the mission she started."

"Which was what?" Lydecker pressed coolly in clipped tones, ignoring her anger in favor of intelligence.

"To know my enemy… To take out the Conclave- I was the only one who could achieve that objective." Jondy informed him, her expression haughty and her tone bitter.

"Why?" Lydecker demanded.

"No!" The teenager exploded, banging her fist loudly on the table. "You-don't-get-to-do-this. First I have your word- your word Lydecker- you will recall Zane from the field- unharmed- once his mission is completed!"

Lydecker took in her tantrum dispassionately. "I have ways of making you cooperate 210."

"Jondy. My name is Jondy." She spat the words at Lydecker as she got up in his face, her eyes flashing. "I have ways of making myself not care Deck- about any of this- about any bit of this damned war."

Lydecker's lips twisted sardonically as he looked down at her. "I highly doubt that. I'd wager your parents' wellbeing is paramount to you."

Jondy's heart skipped a beat at his pronouncement.

"What do you mean?" She demanded in a low growl, panic clawing its way up her chest. Her parents had promised her they would leave the country for France.

"My people have intelligence that the French Government has its eyes on the Mosses. I can ensure no harm finds them aboard provided you do your best to cooperate."

For some unexplainable reason she believed him.

Jondy swallowed, suddenly feeling overwhelmed her question came out in a whisper; "did- has something happened in Paris?"

"These past months, there have been many attacks." There was no mistaking his grave tone. "I will have one of my agents make contact, check up on them."

"Ok. And Zane- I have your word?"

"Only if you tell me what the hell you were doing infiltrating the Conclave. None of your obfuscating, I want a complete brief Jondy. Now."

"Yessir." It came out in a sarcastic mutter as she cast her eyes about her to retake her seat for the third time that morning, gathering her thoughts, foot jigging beneath the table.

"In answer to your question: White didn't know I was transgenic- my parents' sect was separate to his and Sandeman's secret went to the grave with him- well only one of the Council knew; my mother…." At Lydecker's frown, Jondy knew she had to explain herself. "But when White saw my newest set of tattoos- he suspected and I… my position was compromised."

"Tattoos?" Cameron asked sharply, expression alert.

Jondy swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry as she glanced at Cameron. "Wh-when you extracted me- did you not see them?"

"It was O'Neil who extracted you." Cameron took in her blank expression. "Remember?"

"There was nothing reported," asserted Lydecker as his eyes raked over her visible limbs, taking note of the vein pulsating in her neck, the sweat on her brow.

Letting out a sigh, Jondy steeled herself to demonstrate her commitment to their alliance. Reaching behind herself for the hem of her shirt, in one fluid motion she pulled it over her head, hugging the fabric around her chest.

"My back," she said quietly, once again looking past Lydecker's shoulder. "The last set was there."

She sensed rather than observed both men move behind her.

"May I?"

To her great surprise Lydecker sought her permission to touch her body. Swallowing nervously, Jondy nodded, "y-yeah. I mean, ok."

The young woman jerked when her former mentor's dry fingers came in contact with her bruised skin, examining the strange markings across her shoulder blades and triceps. Fighting the urge to flee the room, her trembling increased ten fold.

"Are-" Jondy's voice died in her throat. She took a breath, swallowing against her profound discomfort –please stop touching me- and cleared her throat. "Are they still visible?"

"Yes, they're faint." He squeezed her shoulder briefly. "Hold still. Cameron, photograph these." Lydecker ordered before coming to stand in front of her, noting her bright red cheeks, his expression impassive.

Jondy sat ramrod straight avoiding Lydecker's gaze while her runes were quickly documented. Behind her Cameron cleared his throat. "I'm done..."

She nodded, quickly drawing her shirt back over herself and hugging herself defensively. When Cameron retook his seat at the table his gaze fell on her, full of sympathy and concern.

"White tortured you?" Having observed the deep bruises, burn marks and grazes across her back, he wanted an answer.

"Ye-es." Jondy replied in one long low breath drawing her knees to her chest as her entire body began to shake anew, her stomach feeling as if were full of live snakes. She closed her luminous blue eyes briefly, forcibly shutting down her emotions. "He was happy to torture me, to enact revenge on his father- because I am the worst of the worst." Her words were flat and cold. "Taken young enough and raised like him- to defeat him and his."

Across from her Lydecker paused pacing to pinch the bridge of his nose and when he spoke his tone was skeptical, "and how are you kids- you 'guardians'- going to achieve William's objective?"

"With your help." Her stomach sunk as she said the words.

The Colonel took in the battle weary youth before him and knew she had capitulated to his long running agenda of command. He nodded, satisfied, "go on."

"I'm a Spare-"

"You are not a clone." There was a note of derision in his tone as he made sure to correct her; too much effort from the brightest minds of America's Superpower Age had gone into making her, to have her confuse herself with an effortless carbon copy. "You're a prototype, Jondy. One of a handful of Officer class-"

"No," Jondy shook her head and hid her surprise at his response, it almost bordered on affection. "I mean: Sandeman knew there was a possibility not all of his Guardians would make it to adulthood, he could foresee the path Manticore was taking- with it's 'animal-testing' and experiments for private industry for advanced chemotherapy, bone and skin-regeneration- neuropath manipulation. All-" She added for Cameron's benefit "– with the Committee's blessing- on live X series subjects," glancing away satisfied at his sickened expression, she told Lydecker, "so he made 'spares'- Ben was Max's I think, I am Eva's."

"And Zane?" Lydecker enquired with keen interest, resting both hands on the table as he looked down at her. "Don't tell me he has no role in this."

"Not as far as you're concerned," Jondy quickly asserted darkly. "Zane's mine. Mess with him, I'll mess with you."

The promise of severe bodily harm was unmistakable by her tone.

"Got it." Lydecker nodded. "And I'll remind you, Jondy, that you know the consequences that await you," he lectured, his steely eyes boring into her, "if you fail to fully corporate with me."

At his pronouncement, Jondy felt an invisible hand squeeze her heart and driven by an impulse borne of irrational fear, her next words escaped her mouth by unconscious accord, "Yessir, Colonel Lydecker."

"Does this cult bullshit ever end?" Cameron chimed in sarcastically as he flicked through the photographs of Jondy's runes on his phone, attempting to break the tension in the room. "Spares?" His tone was coloured by disbelief.

Jondy turned to frown at the younger man.

"Yeah," she answered in a clipped low tone, "and I wish it was bullshit Corporal. Thing is, it's real."

And something is telling me you know that too.

Cameron regarded her thoughtfully for a moment.

"So Sir," He began, directing his attention to Colonel Lydecker, "Sandeman encrypted messages into 210,"-Jondy bristled at his casual use of her designation-"being a 'Spare' and all. And thanks to her escape from Manticore at the tender age of seven-" he gestured to what Jondy presumed must be her Manticore file on the table- "she got to grow up with a family of these Familiar psychos. Therefore," Cameron concluded turning to look at the teenager seated beside him and gestured at his phone, "you have a full understanding of what these messages say and what they mean?"

Jondy nodded, not trusting herself to speak lest she say too much too soon.

"Well," The Corporal drawled, leaning back on his chair, grinning from ear to ear, "aren't you a wealth of A grade intel, sweetheart."

Simultaneously feeling her stomach clench and her cheeks flush, Jondy retorted darkly, "I'm not your sweetheart."

It seemed almost impossible, but Cameron's grin grew wider at her words.

It was a strange sensation, the X5 thought perturbed, to knowingly handover power to the enemy.

Well, former enemy.

For the foreseeable future anyway.


End of ACT 1.

Feedback much welcomed.