Exiled Memories Part 2 IC

[Joshua Dyre]

In a world not unlike our own, but many years in the future, an apocalypse of lightning and fire has left the land all but barren. Sprawling cities distant from one another occupy the rare places where vegetation still grows.

These cities are all but controlled by the Church of Entropy, operating behind the curtains of the official state Government, the Proteus Council. The Church teaches that the state of the world is Gods will, that only by cleansing the 'evil' from the cities will appease 'him' and so bring about a New Dawn. This so called evil comprises the mutants and rogue mages that are chased day to day by the Goverments Hunter Divisions.

Society lies divided, in the inner sectors of the city life is good, the Church has its presence here, but it is not so much felt as it is accepted. Little is known of the hunts and the greatest fear is that the Resistance, the rabble of outer city 'scum', might somehow break into their lives. In the Outer Sectors life is cheap. KAT, a highly addictive narcotic, is in common use and murder is a daily occurence. Crime is a business here. Almost a way of life for many.

And it is against this backdrop that a number of lives have become entwined.......

[Joshua Dyre]

Cricket's Last Post.

It was hard to contain the nervous excitement she felt. As frightened as she was at the risk, the fact that they were actively doing something to right the situation she found herself in, gave her an odd sort of bravery. Or maybe it was because Malitar was beside her and he seemed optimistic about it. She wasn't certain what they would find out, but somehow Malitar had located someone who could find things out. That her friend had actually made contact with the person and it was becoming more of a possibility instead of a wish, gave her the hope she needed to be brave.

I don't know whether to be really excited or really nervous that we might actually get somewhere...

She whispered to Malitar, reaching out to take his hand.

Thank you, for doing this for me....

She looked up toward him, then smiled crookedly.

I just hope I haven't set you up to walk into a trap somehow. I...I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt because of me.

She shivered slightly, then bit her lip. She didn't know who this contact was, or if they could be trusted. But Malitar was intelligent. He more than likely had already planned for the possibility that the contact was untrustworthy. If this didn't work and they both had to run?

She wouldn't think about that. She needed to find out the truth, for her own sanity. If she knew where and who her enemy was, she'd be better able to avoid them. She'd be better able to move on with her life. She'd be able to move forward without fear that she was endangering anyone else- especially Malitar. Not that he seemed to mind the danger he was in. She smiled at him crookedly again. No. He didn't seem to mind at all.

_________________
Christine "Cricket" Malone

[Joshua Dyre]

Malitar's Last Post

He smiled widely at Cricket. He loved that innocence in her, even though he was not too fond of the fact that she tried to shoulder too much of someone else's blame.

"My dear little Cricket, if I get hurt, it's not your fault. It's mine. When you told me of the dangers that were involved in this situation, I made the conscious decision to move on in and try to help you out. And that's all I'm doing right now, trying to help."

He looked at her seriously, for a moment. He pulled off his glasses so that he could get the true eye to eye connection with her, completely ignoring the fact that others might be around to see. They did not matter to Mal, all that mattered was Christine. His eyes were actually glowing a light gray, for the first time in many years. He locked his eyes to hers.

"Christine, I'll be with you through all of this, as long as you let me. Afterwards, well, we can talk about that when we have finally gotten everything with you all figured out. But I would like to state, for the record, that I would like to see more of you after we've settled your past and, hopefully, your fears."

He smiled at her, seeing a glint in her eye that he thought meant that she would like to see more of him, as well. It did seem as if her nerves were just a little bit calmer after his speech, but he was not positive. She was good at hiding some of her more powerful emotions. He guessed it was simply because they were the one's that surfaced the most in her mind, and the one's she would immediately notice before they arrived in her features.

Still he felt she was even calmer than when he kissed her. He smiled again, just thinking of that moment, and still looking deep into her beautiful eyes.

[Joshua Dyre]

Edward Mantella's Last Post

The pirate had been taking quite a risk in revealing himself to her, but he had little fear of her revealing him, and his instinct it seemed had proved right once more. Edward could see that there was more to her than she was just revealing, but it was enough to start with, and she was offering her help and that is what he was looking for after all.
"I would indeed like your assistance. But you do not see the sort to just five your help away, except to perhaps museums. What is your help going to cost me? And just how is it that you plan to help, for that matter."
He had felt from the beginning that she would be able to help him he just did not know how, and he still did not know how, though it seemed even more certain that she could.

Laila threw back her head and laughed. Her golden green eyes twinkled with true mirth as she gazed at Edward.

"I may have been willing to reveal some aspects of my life, but now you're asking about my trade secrets. Those are off limits, but since you're bound to want to know more for your own peace of mind, I'll tell you this..." She tilted her head to the side as though thinking of how best to word what she was thinking. " I'll just pull strings and toss a little cash around. We'll leave it at that." She uncrossed and recrossed her legs, adjusting her position in her seat.

"As for what sort of payment I require, well, I would have thought you'd guess that by now." Her smile remained though it grew less jovial and more business like in nature. "I want information concerning anything and everything going on off this planet. I also want there to be a continuous stream of information, not just a one time burst." Her eyes narrowed. She wasn't sure how well he'd take this, but she had to set opening terms, and this was what she honestly wanted from him. "I'm sure there are ways to contact Earth from space, and I'm also sure that you should be well versed in codes in case your transmissions are intercepted. We can work those details out tomorrow, but that's my basic request of you."

Edward was not surprised by the request he had figured she would ask for such an exchange.
"Very well. I can agree to that. If you can get my officers out of prison and get me access to my ship, so that we can get off of this damn planet. I will provide you information from outside. In my profession I have made a lot of contacts, I will be able to get you a great deal of information about the off planet goings on."
Edward paused to adjust his glasses as he so often did, but he still had more to say.
"This whole arrangement does require a great deal of trust between us. I have revealed to you who I am. You know a lot more about me than most people do. Of course I don't think you would try to turn me in because I will be providing you with valuable information. Yet, in my profession I have learned not to be overly trusting, the information you have about me, an accurate physical description, voice recognition, etcetera, is also quite valuable. And if you were to sell it that would make my life much more difficult. I have already have a difficult life and I would not be pleased to find it more difficult. So do trust in this fact Ms Davis. If you reveal what you know about me I will find out, and I will make your life quite difficult to, and mostly likely quite short."
He was not threatening her, his voice never changed from its passive tones, he was simply informing her.

She nodded with an understanding smile.

"Yes, but I have also given you valuable information. No one knows my true identity with a very select few exceptions, and those exceptions have either died mysteriously or have given me equally valuable information about themselves." She shrugged nonchalantly. "That's the way things work in this profession I'm afraid. Of course, my concern if I were you would be having your ship boarded in the future now that similar information has been obtained on your officers." She idly glanced down at her overly long fingernails. "Though I suppose I can have those files taken care of as well. I'll keep them, of course, as collateral...to ensure that you keep your end of the bargain." She looked up at him through her eyelashes and smiled.

"Do we have a deal?"

Edward didn't really care what was for was not know about his officers, knowledge of them only posed minor problems, but he did not object to Laila's offer to deal with the files, every little bit helped.
"Very well, we have an agreement. To make things a bit easier for you, the men you need to get out are Jean Baptiste, Ross Criton, Gil Stern and Philip Impleza."
Mantella looked out the window of the car seeing that they were nearing his hotel.
"Well, unless we have anything more to discuss at the moment perhaps we should arrange to meet again?"

Laila gave him a curt nod and handed him her card.

"You can reach me at the number listed there. Tell the secretary to patch you through to my mobile number." The car came to a stop, and she reached out to shake Edward's hand. "It will be a pleasure doing business with you." Her lips curled into a smile as the driver opened the back door for Dr. Mantella. "Goodnight."

Edward took the card, scanned over it briefly and then slipped it into his shirt pocket. He shook her had, and then the large man ducked out through the door with a brief nod of thanks to the driver. He turned back momentarily. "Good evening." with that he proceeded into the hotel.

[Joshua Dyre]

Aramis' Last Post

Reality came crashing back down on him like a tidal wave. He shook his head slightly and found Ms Rivers with Wesley's arms around her.

Dammit! I really need to find out what the hell is causing all these flashbacks and stop them. Remembering is one thing, but to be completely incapacitated by the memory is something totally different!

"I'm very sorry, Ms. Rivers, Wesley. I was listening in on a conversation in regards to an attack in the outer circle by the resistance, making sure I was not needed. I hope you can forgive me for breaking into your apartment. I merely needed to gain an identification on the gentleman here and will be my way."

His eyes glanced across her again, and realised she was trembling, so he entered a bit closer into the kitchen in order for her to see, although he was a machine, he was practically human as well.

"You see Ms. Rivers, nothing to fear. There is a real human brain upstairs, so it does all the thinking, not some electrons." He smiled, trying to release the tension of the situation. "Now, I merely wanted to talk to Wesley and understand what is happening with him. Unlike the dear Mr. Alastor you met earlier, I have no stake in hunting Mutants and bringing them in for glory or anything else. The one I am currently looking for escaped from the military, and could possibly do harm to the citizens here."

He failed to mention the one he was really hunting for, but they did not need to know about that.

"And Wesley, you are not the person I am seeking. However, I would strongly advise you to get out of here and find a place to lay low. I would recommend you contact a woman named Helena Travis."

He slowly reached inside his jacket and pulled a small piece of paper and a pen from it, writing the name of the woman and the address.

"She will place you into contact with others like yourself, and those willing to help."

He handed the address to Wesley. "Don't be frightened to just give her a call if you want. She has absolutely nothing to do with the military, or even the resistance. Helena is a big-hearted woman who wants to see mutant kids treated like the kids they are, and not like some run-away criminals. The choice is yours of course, but whatever you do, I would not be here when Alastor came back."

He glanced down at the lithe form of Jem Rivers. "Ms. Rivers, all I can do is ask forgiveness for interrupting an evening you would probably prefer to forget. Unfortunately, Alastor is very good at what he does, and I can only hope you do not get involved in it. I do have one question for you, however. Who were these people you mentioned in your conversation with him?"

He smiled. Alastor is not the only one who can eavesdrop and download video.

[Joshua Dyre]

Jem Rivers' Last Post

Jem wasn't sure who to trust. First there was the man in the hallway...now the one in her apartment. She wasn't sure if trusting the person he stated was even the correct thing to do. Nevertheless she responded politely. "Thank you for your concern."

"Yes, thank you, sir," said Wesley.

For a moment she hesitated, but then asked. "If you'd like to stay a while...I am making some food. It's up to you. As of your question...well, I figured they were assassins. I don't even know for sure. That's the people I told Mr. Slayn about. They wore neat clothing, dark, and were almost uniformed. They had guns as well...more like rifles. But as of who they were exactly, I dunno. Wesley...do you even know?"

Jem didn't know much about Wesley or even what he was running from. Perhaps asking for answers now wasn't the best time, but Jem figured Wesley knew what was best. He knew more anyhow.

"Mutant hunters to be exact. They must've picked up my scent. I usually try to conceil it, but there were too many scouts. I suppose you can say they are assassins, in a way. They hunt mutants, but I guess you could say these particular ones kill only certain mutants. I think they mistakened me for someone else, cause I really didn't think I had a special bounty on my head. I could understand normal mutant hunters coming to kill me...but these are mission based only killers."

Makes sense...

Jem turned to the man and said, "Mr. James...is there anything else we can help you with?"

[Joshua Dyre]

Laila's Last Post

She'd been dallying in her office that evening, waiting until she felt it was finally late enough to actually go to bed without ruining her regular routine. The email had actually caught her off guard. it had been a long time since someone had contacted her through that medium. After all, most of the people she dealt with these days were repeat customers within the government, the Church of Entropy (which might as well be considered the government for all the sway it had), and the Resistance. Still, she hadn't shut down her email network in case someone new wanted to deal with her.

Laila was quite proud of the set up, in truth. She hadn't put it together on her own, but the idea had been hers. The way it worked was brilliant in how it protected her identity even further. A new client would send an email to a basic address that was a part of a large and over-used base server. That address would automatically forward to another address that would be traced to a completely different section of the globe. The email would go through hundreds of transfers and forwards, going through carefully constructed gateways that would take time to hack should the email be traced. By the time someone had passed up the third gateway, the original email would have already reached its destination, and the tracer would be unable to locate it. She had paid an elite group of hackers quite a large sum to set up all the back doors and fake email addresses for her. Their silence had been easy enough to obtain. After all, they were wanted criminals, and she knew everything about them.

She smiled to herself, running her tongue along her top row of teeth. She stretched slowly, arching her back and purring softly to herself then turned her attention back to the computer screen. She quickly typed up a simple response and sent the message back along the labyrinthian paths of the net to the point of origin. with a few clicks, she shut down her computer and stood up. Already she was dressed her her silk nightgown. She ran her fingers through her long hair, casually scratching the backs of her furred ears as she walked out of her study and to her bedroom. She would check for a response from this new client in the morning. In the meantime, he or she would have to wait for their information while she slept.

Mere moments after the message was sent from Laila's computer, it arrived, sporting an address belonging to someone named 'Samantha Johannsen', at the PDA that had sent it.

"You Rang?"

[Laila]

The morning had come plenty early for the mutant. Today she would be hunting down Mantella's officers and pulling what strings were necessary to get them out of jail without any government trails or interferance, getting caught up in her information on a handful of hackers, chasing down what information she could on the Alexander Giselle case for Donovan, and dealing with her new client via email. 'Some days are worse than others...' Laila slid out of bed and threw on a designer jogging suit made of the softest microfibers money could buy. Since she had no appointments in the morning, she had no need to do her hair to disguise the feline ears she sported, or to dress nicely for that matter. She casually sauntered downstairs to her personal study and sat behind her desk, drawing one knee up to her chest.

"Breakfast, madam?" Laila looked up and smiled at her droid butler and the plate of freshly cooked eggs and toast.

"Yes, thank you." He placed the try in front of her with a curt nod. "Perhaps you could convince the cook to send out a glass of milk as well." The butler flashed a metallic smile before leaving the room. She knew that he enjoyed bothering the cook, so she often gave him an excuse to do just that. Her requests were usually reasonable, but the cook didn't like knowing that her first tray wasn't perfect. She was an older model of AI, and tended to make all-too-human mistakes. Her makers had thought that the imperfections would make their products more appealing to the masses, but most people wanted perfection to go with the intrinsic intelligence of a computer. Wasn't that the point of androids in the first place? Laila had found the marketing ploy charming however, and had been the company's main customer.

She reluctantly returned her attention to her work. As she had suspected, there was a reply to her email of the night before. Her new contact was apparently a man by the name of Malitar who was looking for information on orchestrated attacks outside the City, specifically ones involving the family of a Christine Malone. Her long nails lightly stroked the edge of a black furred ear as her mind wandered through the stores of knowledge she maintained. Laila seemed to remember hearing about some Church backed hits on families of people with 'useful' traits. Essentially, the Church of Entropy was looking to brainwash a few mutants and mages to help them in their quest for the bright, new world of tomorrow they always preached about. A few clicks led her directly to the file in question.

Her golden eyes grew with her hungry smile. This young woman was indeed someone the Church could use if the leads had been correct. Of course, there was always the chance the religious order who performed the hit had been wrong, but they were usually as thorough in their research as she was. Only once had the TBC, or Templar Brothers of Chaos, utilized her services as an information conduit, and it had been just as dangerous for her as it had been for the people they were hunting. They had taken their name from an ancient band of religious knights, so the title seemed fitting...especially since the addition of the word chaos explained how they didn't follow in the older Templars' footsteps. The TBC were almost more of a terrorist group in how they handled things, but since they were the Church's favored militia and the government was merely another puppet organization of the Church, none of the men were hunted or tried for what would normally be considered crimes.

This was a dangerous predicament. Laila was inclined to turn down any requests from these two virtual unknowns in favor of staying off the TBC radar, but she also sympathized with this Christine. She sat in silence, eating her eggs before they got cold and pondering her options. She didn't acknowledge her butler when he returned with her glass of milk, and he didn't speak, being programmed to know that meant she was too deep in thought to be disturbed. In fact, she didn't move except to nibble on her toast and sip her milk for almost half an hour.

"I'll do it." She started at the sound of her own voice, but quickly moved to respond to the email. Making this work would require an operative meeting with Malitar and Christine, and she didn't trust any of them with something of this magnitude and fragility. That meant she'd have to handle this personally. It had been a long time since she'd done any true field work, but she was sure she could handle it. She had years of knowledge and research in her favor. If nothing else, she'd have plenty of places to hide should things get ugly. First things first though, she sent her reply out to the two who would hopefully send a return message quickly. Laila had plenty of things on her plate for the day, but this one would probably take most of her energy.

"Besides, Donovan hasn't called for that information yet, and the hackers can wait. Mantella's officers should be an easy enough deal to work through. I can take care of that while I wait."

____________________________

Malitar-

I do believe I can help you with the information you seek. The price will be high, and due to the delicate nature of this situation, I'd prefer you meet with me to discuss things.

Please let me know a time and place, and I will be there.

Samantha

[Joshua Dyre]

Joshua examined the label on the little bottle closely. The ingredients were apparently concentrated salt, glucose and Iron. There was one capsule remaining, the other two hundred or so having been shoved down Trigetti's throat so quickly he had choked on them.

Looking at the former Mafioso boss, he felt a little twinge of sympathy. No one deserved the torture the man had seemingly undergone before his death. Fingertips and toes had been hacked off, bones broken and eyes removed savagely by the spoon that lay bloodstained on the desk.

The Mobster's mouth hung open and the big white tablets could be seen there clogging up his gullet. Saliva, still somewhat damp, caked his jowls, and one eye still hung on his cheek by a thread of flesh. Ruther had been more than efficient in his work. Just as he had with the men downstairs.

Although Josh had felt his brother, the only time he thought he'd seen him had been when a mystery hand had chucked a key down to them from the darkness of the stairwell that led to the little dungeon they had been kept in. Now he could no longer feel him. Why had he saved them?

Glancing over at Buzz he saw that she was rooting through the Don's rolodex and then through his drawers with a desperate look in her eyes. Searching for some link to her Brother's whereabouts.

Joshua looked once more down at the label on the bottle. Was it really that significant. Could the drug that they were giving to them all at the lab be nothing more than these three simple ingredients. Sure they were heavily concentrated, but... no, perhaps that did explain his fevers and convulsions. Perhaps the field ate up energy mercilessly in its use.

He upended the bottle over his palm and quickly swallowed the tablet. He felt no different, but maybe it took time to work. Pocketing the bottle, he then began searching the Mobsters pockets.

"We need to be quick Buzz, who knows how long it'll take before the Enforcers are crawling all over this place."

[Khavi]

"We need to be quick Buzz, who knows how long it'll take before the Enforcers are crawling all over this place."

Buzz barely heard Joshua's words as she desperately searched Trigetti's desk for any sign of her brother and his family. A phone number, a name, a location... anything to give her a clue, to help her find him before she went crazy. But the rolodex was full of nothing but business associates in crime and politicians that paid Trigetti for his services and silence.

She pulled the drawers from the desk so violently that they skidded off their tracks, clattering to the floor where she knelt and hunted through them. There was nothing useful here either, just office supplies, a little black book of prostitutes, lighters, cigarettes, a gun. Things one would expect to find in the desk of the city's most infamous crime lord.

She stood again and, in a futile attempt to find something that did not exist here, flipped through the rolodex.

"Nothing," she growled. With a sudden angry snarl she hurled the rolodex against the wall, the plastic shattering, the paper fluttering to the floor. "Nothing!"

She drew in a long, shuddering breath, trembling with a sudden rage. Josh said something, but she didn't hear it. Turning, she moved to the tortured mobster slumped in his chair, and began tearing through his pockets, ignoring the blood that stained her hands as she did so. Anything of importance had already been taken, and she knew it, but that did not stop her looking.

"Fuck," she snapped, kicking the leg of Trigetti's chair. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!"

"Buzz!" Josh hissed urgently, and she looked at him finally. He had ducked behind Trigetti's desk. "Be quiet, someone's coming down the hall!"

She glanced up at the open door, and heard footsteps and whispers from the hallway. Shadows moved, indicating whoever it was was very close. Buzz's eyes widened a moment, and she ducked down under the desk with Josh, the instinct for self preservation cutting through the anger long enough for her act.

The footsteps drew closer and then they were in the doorway, the whispering voices advancing slowly into the room. Josh and Buzz kept still, not even daring to breathe as the men, probably enforcers, moved about the room.

"Damn, not in the cells, not here," said one of the men. His voice sounded a little muffled. "How the hell did they get out, and where the hell did they go? Jesus I knew the mechanic was resourceful and Josh is just goddamn stubborn but this is getting excessive."

"Crayfish?" Buzz murmured, then immediately clapped her hands over her mouth. The voice sounded familiar, but now they were sure to be found, and taken into government custody, and never seen again.

"Behind the desk!" hissed another of the men, and before either mechanic or solider had time to think, they were facing four men in fatigues and masks, and bearing very large automatic weapons.

"Oh for fuck's sake," said the middle man, and pulled his mask over his head. Mechanical eyes whirred and clicked in his head as he focused on Josh and Buzz hunkered under the desk. "Duck and cover doesn't work, you know. They discovered that back in the stone ages. What the hell were you doing under there?"

"Hiding from you," Josh replied, standing up. Buzz shoved herself fairly gracelessly to her feet, glowering at all around her.

"Looks like someone really worked you two over," Crayfish said, and looked at Trigetti. "Him too, apparently," he added, grimacing. He looked back to Josh and Buzz, and smiling his winning smile. "Well, that's settled, let's get the two of you out of here and to a safehouse of some sort before the government finds you."

"You are the government," Buzz muttered.

"Hence the fatigues and the masks, mechanic," he said, motioning himself up and down. "I like you and don't really want to see you thrown in some off-planet hellhole of a jail before your due time."

"Comforting."

"Just go get in the goddamn van and stop whining."


Showered, dressed in clean clothes, and all matter of bruises and bumps tended, Buzz sat somewhat more complacently on a sofa in the livingroom of yet another suburban 'safehouse.' According to Crayfish anyone looking in the windows saw a normal famil of four going about their business, not two refugees from the government and a government agent illegally sheltering them.

Josh was still in the shower when Crayfish came into the room and sat next to her. The TV was on, but she wasn't really watching it. Some dramatic program or another was playing, everyone on screen emoting and sobbing with great zealousness.

"How are you?"

"Shitty."

"As can only be expected... I told you not to chase him, Buzz."

"You can go die in a fire, Crayfish, if you really expect me to sit here while the last person I love that I know is still alive goes off and tries to get himself murdered."

"A fire? How... graphic."

"Where's my brother?"

"I... don't know. We haven't located him yet, whoever took him has yet to leave us anything useful. That the government says it's the murderous Giselle that took him I can't exactly do much to look elsewhere without telling them I regularly pull the murderous Giselle's ass outta the fire," he replied. "Not to mention his plucky girlfriend's."

Buzz sighed and looked down at the floor. "I'm... I need to go sleep. Wake me up if you find anything."

The Crayfish merely nodded as Buzz stood and walked away, climbing the stairs to the upper floor of the house. She had been given a bedroom with an adjoining bathroom, but she bypassed them and slipped into Joshua's given living space. The last thing she wanted to be alone.

Her jeans were left crumpled on the floor where she stepped out of them, and she sat at the foot of the bed and let out a long, tired sigh. Joshua was still in the shower, steam wafting past the door which was slightly ajar.

Alone, listening to the running water of the shower, Buzz closed her eyes and her brow furrowed. She sobbed once, quietly, then again, putting her face in her hands. The anger subsided quiet suddenly, giving way to a profound sadness as she wept silently, shoulders shivering with each sob into her hands.

[Khavi]

Durr, double. I'm so smrt.

[Joshua Dyre]

Joshua stood in the shower, his eyes closed against the spray of the water on his face, his fists unconsciously balled up. It was one thing after another. Everything they tried to do, the government was always seemingly a step ahead. Everytime it seemed they were free, it was made perfectly clear how trapped they really were.

And then there was the lie. His whole existence. He was a nobody, a non-existant person that somehow existed still. There was apparently some kind of a past, if Ethan was to be believed. A childhood, a family.. but what if what Ruther said was true. What if he was just a copy. A clone. What then?

Somehow that pain seemed to numb in comparison to the pain he felt on Buzz's behalf. To the anger he felt at how the government could target the innocent so callously. He could almost imagine how she was feeling right at that very moment. Lost. Just like he was.

This wasn't like any fight he could remember. The Arena was a black and white affair. You could clearly see your enemy, you could fight him and you either won or lost. There was nothing else to it. This was more like fighting an invisible hydra. Everytime they managed to find and destroy one head, another two climbed out of the woodwork.

"What must I do....?" he whispered to himself, trying to focus his thoughts on the next move. "What can I do...?" That was a better question.

Ethan had already told him that his moles had been unable to locate Buzz's family. The resistance itself had done no better. The message on the phone had been simple and to the point. 'Negative'. That left the growing possibility that neither group actually had them.

That left Ruther. But to what end would his 'brother' have kidnapped the family? To pull him in? Ruther had already shown that he had no trouble at all finding Joshua.. but then he'd also shown a distinct lack of reasoning in his actions.

Joshua switched off the shower and shook his head as he wiped his eyes free of water. Then he grabbed a towel and stepped in to the adjoining bedroom and was momentarily surprised to see Buzz there.

She was still sobbing quietly and he felt a pang of deep guilt. This was all his fault. If not for him then these things would not have happened to the young mechanic. He wondered if she sometimes cursed the day she'd met him, at the Arena.

He crossed the room and opened the top drawer of a chest and withdrew a bottle he had found in the kitchen downstairs. It was glass and full of a dark brown liquid. A rummage through his discarded jeans located his smokes and he sat down beside her and lit one before passing it over to her, and placing the now free hand over her shoulder.

"I found a little something to help you sleep Buzz. I'm sorry, but right now I can't think of anthing else I can do to help..." He said as he now offered her the bourbon.

[Khavi]

Light peered through the crack in the window shades, falling through the window in a thin line across the floor. This same line of light fell right across Buzz's face, and she had to squint against it when she opened her eyes. She sat up in the bed, and had pause to orient herself. She was in an unfamiliar bedroom in an unfamiliar house, and it took a moment for her remember she was in one of Crayfish's apparently many safehouses.

A dull ache started at the base of her skull and moved down her spine into her limbs, which felt heavy and half dead. There were signs that Josh had, at one point, been in the bed as well, but he was gone, probably downstairs. She swung her legs around and placed them on the carpet, standing somewhat gracelessly. Her entire body felt sore and clenched like a fist, and her mouth was dry. She didn't bother finding her jeans before leaving the room, she needed something to drink and to find a cigarette.

Crayfish-- Ethan-- was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. There was half a pack of cigarettes next to his mug. Josh was nowhere to be seen.

"Morning," he said, glancing up at her momentarily. There was a breif pause, then he looked up at her again, his eyes humming as they focused on her. "You look like the walking dead. Where are your pants?"

"Hiding," she muttered in return, and went to the sink to get a glass of water. She downed the glass and half of another, then picked up the cigarettes and headed for the glass doors that lead into the back yard. "I'm going out for a smoke."

"Not outside you're not. Not a soul can know you're here, Buzz. Remember, neighbors think a quaint family of four lives here, not a wanted criminal and his spunky girlfriend. You, spunky girlfriend, cannot be seen."

"My brother's missing with his family, I was kidnapped yesterday, I've been shot in the last week, I've been very nearly shot to death on several occasions in the past few days, and I've lived in more safehouses then a wanted mobster. So if you think you are going to tell me I can't go outside and have a smoke then, so help me Crawdad, I cannot be held accountable for what I'm going to do to you!" she snapped. Crayfish's eyebrows raised in surprise at her outburst.

"I didn't say you couldn't smoke... I just meant you couldn't do it outside," he said. He pushed the chair across from him out with his foot, and motioned her to sit. "And I should have clarified, you can't go outside yet."

Buzz lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply from it, closing her eyes. She held it in for a moment then exhaled a large cloud of smoke, and looked through it to Crayfish. "Yet?"

"The lovely family that lives here is going on vacation later this afternoon. After another dye job, you and Josh get to be dog and house sitters," he replied. "Then you'll be allowed outside, walking the dog and such, you just won't get real close to anyone. Hopefully this charade will last a little longer than the others did. We need time to figure out who has your brother and to through both the government and the resistance off your respective trails. Won't be easy considering you did blaze those trails with gunfire and robbery."

"Dog sitters?" Buzz inquired. "My brother's family is probably dead... and I'm dog sitting?"

"There's nothing else you can do, Buzz. There's not much any of us can do until whoever has them either leaves us a clue or sends us a message," Crayfish said solemnly. "I'm sorry, Ellie, I really am. I know what it's like to lose family, and trust me, I hope to God you haven't lost them forever."

Buzz sighed, and tapped her cigarette on the ash tray. "I know," she said softly.

Just then the front door opened, and Buzz tensed, worry etched in her face. Then there was a scrabbling outside the kitchen door, and the sound of skittering across the hardwood of the kitchen. Something warm and furry collided with Buzz's bare leg.

"Here's your lovely charge now," Crayfish said, ducking to look below the table. "I think he's happy to see you again."

"...Again?"

Buzz also looked under the table and saw a familiar large black dog sitting there, looking at her with large brown eyes and a big doggie-smile. His fat pink tongue lolled out of his mouth.

"Puggles!" Buzz said, and laughed. She slid from her chair to kneel and scratch the dog behind his ears. "You know I never thought I'd be quite so happy to see an animal."

[Elijah Morteron]

Stupid alts ;-P

[Joshua Dyre]

The drink still lay heavy in his head. He'd waited till Buzz had fallen into the waiting arms of restless sleep, then had made his way downstairs and out the door, despite being stopped in the hallway by Ethan.

"You almost got yourself and Buzz killed last time. Don't do this Josh. What exactly do you hope to gain from disappearing into the night?" Without the cybernetic eye that Ethan usually wore, the government agent looked disconcertingly human. It wasn't a face Joshua either needed or wanted to see right then.

"I'm not disappearing. I Just need to see somebody. It's complicated."

"Life is complicated. People are complicated Josh. She needs you here, not off killing yourself."

"I'm not going to kill myself."

"You're doing near enough the same. Do you have any idea how many people are looking for you? Do you have any idea how many poeple are relying on you? And yet you'll ignore both to fulfill some foolish sense of impotent bravado you have building up inside yourself."

"You don't understand Ethan..."

"No.. I don't.. and neither will anybody else unless you decide to talk about it. Josh."

"We're wasting time here..."

Ethan's eyes betrayed a sadness then. "I'm sorry you feel that way." There was a long pause where neither man spoke. "So what do I tell Buzz?"

"Nothing. If she asks, I've gone to stock up on the food supplies."

"Fine."

The conversation still echoed about in his head as Josh followed that unexplainable urge he had inside. It was like a message, but at the same time it wasn't. It was more like a beacon, drawing him towards a signal tower near the main airport. Without understanding it completely, he knew it was Ruther calling him.

There he had stood, it might have been hours, perhaps only minutes, in the shadow of that tower, it's lights blinking red ad yellow repeatedly. He was just about to turn, call the whole thing nothing more than a foolish whim, when he heard it. Distinct, clear, and yet there was no sound but for the rushing of the wind.

"Joshua."

[Khavi]

Sitting on the floor with Puggles proved to be relaxing. His happy mood lifted Buzz's own, and her muscles were no longer so tense. She was petting the dog when it struck her that she hadn't yet seen Josh that morning.

She looked up at Crayfish, her brow knit.

"Have you seen Josh today?" she asked. "He was gone when I woke up, I assumed he was down here, but..."

Ethan looked momentarily stricken, then cleared his throat. "No I haven't... That is, earlier... He went out for food," he finished lamely. "There's not much in the fridge so he went out."

Buzz frowned and stood up. "I thought we weren't supposed to leave."

"You try and stop him," Crayfish replied flatly, looking away.

Buz took a slow step closer, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "You're lying. Where is he really?"

Crayfish was silent.

"Look at me, Ethan," she said. He looked up. His face, even his emotionless mechanical eyes, betrayed him. "Tell me where he went. Please."

With a defeated sigh, Crayfish looked back down at his newspaper, and motioned for Buzz to sit again. She complied, but didn't take her eyes off of him, as though she were trying to burn an answer out of him with her gaze.

"He left early this morning, but didn't say where he was going, wouldn't tell me when I asked him. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen to me," he said. He shook his head and met her gaze, all facade of mirth gone. "He didn't want you to know he was leaving, told me that if you asked, he wanted me to tell you he went out for food. If I had to hazard a guess, I would he's going somewhere fairly dangerous. Maybe he knows something we don't."

"He told you to lie to me?" she asked, her voice pained.

"I don't think he trusted you not to chase him," Ethan said, shrugging.

"What else did he say?"

"That he had to meet someone. That I don't understand what's going on, that we're wasting time just sitting here. Even though we're not just sitting, I've got my boys on the job at all hours, hunting for any sign of your family and who took them. We're no good until we know that," Ethan said, a hint of anger in his voice.

"But he's got a dick four times the size of his brain, and he has a tendancy to lead with it, always has," he muttered, then looked up at Buzz. "Sorry."

"I'm beginning to agree," she said softly. "I'm going to go take a shower and get dresses. Holler if anything happens."


As she was dressing after her shower, Buzz began to get a little angry again, as she thought about Josh tearing off on his own.

"Why does he get to run off on his own and I have to stay here and wait?" she murmured to herself, pulling her jeans up and buttoning them. "Why can't he just tell me where he's going, instead of having Crawdad lie to me for him?"

She stalked downstairs, and saw Ethan had moved himself to the livingroom sofa, and was watching the news. Joshua's face was on the screen, with a phone number to call for sightings.

"I'm going to go chase his sorry ass down and bring him home," she said. "He's going to get killed and that helps no one."

She turned and started for the door, but before she could even get her hand to the knob Crayfish caught her arm and turned her to face him.

"Don't be stupid, Buzz. You did that same thing a few days ago and you almost died. Don't make the same mistake twice. Josh wants to go out and get his ass murdered so be it, let him. You can't always be there to save him from himself, he has to learn on his own."

[Joshua Dyre]

The wind tugged at his hair as he stood at the railing overlooking the city. His back was to Ruther, a testament to how much things had changed in such a short time.

"He's still alive?" He couldn't help the disbelief that coloured those words.

"Yes, brother. He is the reason for all this don't you see. We have been nothing but pawns on a chess-board, moving to his whims."

"The implant..."

"Inhibits... Its a control. Kelbecki didn't create us, he tagged and collared us. Us and the others. We were to be used to kill our own kind."

"Our own kind......"

"Yes... Joshua.... you and I... the others... and our mother. Countless others in hiding in the slums.. some perhaps living double lives, by day civil servant, by night monster of the aftermath. A cancer in the eyes of the Church. A cancer that would threaten to reveal the truth. A cancer that must be cut away."

"The truth?" He turned now to look at his brother, the suprise as the stability he now found there long gone.

"That we are a natural evolution. Not a medical accident, not the result of experimentation.. but nature's way of adapting to a new world.. a world beyond the protection of this walled existence.. a world of wastelands. Lands where the air is too thick with poison for the 'normals' to survive."

It was so much to take in.. this and everything before.. everything was different now. Then he remembered his reason for coming here, awash as his mind was with new thoughts and ideas.

"Where is Buzz's family?"

Ruther smiled then, a little whistfully. "Strangely enough, they are at the pleasure of family. At the behest of a would-be father-in-law."

"Why? What does he want from me? Why all this debacle..? Why Trigetti? I thought it was the government that wanted me?"

"Joshua... The Church is the government. The real government. The puppetmasters behind the little marionette play that is the council. Trigetti was a pawn, he didn't know who was really paying his wages."

"But why...? Why not just use the implant to call me, to control me like Kelbecki controlled me?"

"How close did Kelbecki have to be to you to use that power over you? I'm guessing pretty close. I found that it was only when I was in the same room as that creature that he could make me dance to his tune. Or when I was asleep. Then... there were nightmares and I would wake to find that I had done terrible things."

Joshua thought of his own nightmares.. but as far as he could tell he had done nothing during his sleep. Ruther seemed to catch his train of thought.

"You fought it. Somehow you were able to fight off that control. I tried once, but the sickness was too much.. the pain was too much."

So that had been the reason for the fits and the fevers. Attempts at control through the implant.

"And now they have no control over me." So saying Ruther pulled ope his jacket and lifted his shirt to show a jagged messy wound, hastily sewn up. "Or my memories. And now.. if you will extend your new found trust in me, just a little further.." , he continued, drawing a knife from his left boot. "I shall return your own memories to you. Your exiled memories. And you, as I, shall know the truth."

[Khavi]

The TV was on, but Buzz wasn't listening. It was on some inane soap opera, something she would never normally watch, but she wanted it on just for backround noise, something she could hear but not pay any attention to.

She was staring slightly blankly at her hands, twisting the little platinum band on her finger. It was her wedding band from when she had been 'married' to Joshua in their previous cover... When she had been Elena and he had been Felix. She wasn't sure why she hadn't taken it off when they had run from that particular charade.

"He'll come home, Buzz," said Crayfish quietly. Buzz looked up, saw him standing at the door to the livingroom. He had been in the back yard, talking on his cell phone. He had called some mysterious informant, though for what information Buzz wasn't sure. Before he had left the room, she thought she heard a woman on the other end of the line.

She sighed and looked back down at her hands. "Who were you talking to?" she asked, avoiding the topic of Joshua. She wasn't sure if she was angry at him, or if she missed him or if she was worried. Either way, she didn't want to talk about him.

"Just a friend I haven't talked to in a while. Someone I like to keep in touch with. She... finds things for me," he said, and shrugged. He sat down next to her. "Why in God's name are you watching this shit?"

"There... wasn't anything else on. And I'm tired of watching the news and seeing my face."

"That's all well and good but that's no reason to watch... daytime television," he said in slight disgust. He picked up the remote and started to flip through the channels, evetually settling on movie station. "Quality cinema, right in your living room."

"My life feels like a bad movie, Crawdad, I'd really rather not watch a bad movie on TV too," Buzz said. She sighed and sat back, watching as the young stud movie star of the day ran across the screen, pulling some helpless young starlet behind him as things exploded in the background. "Boy, that looks like a regular Tuesday morning for me."

Crayfish laughed. "Not thrilled with your exciting life, I see."

"No, not terribly," Buzz replied flatly.

After a while Crayfish stood and stretched. "I have to head downtown for a while, Buzz, check in with the higher-ups and make sure no one suspects I'm harbouring wanted criminals in unregistered safehouses. I'll be back in a few hours. I'm going to leave you my cell phone. If anything happens, call the number listed as Emergency One, okay?"

Buzz looked up at him, perplexed.

"Don't look at me like I just poked you in the eye and kicked your kitten," he said. "I highly doubt anything's going to happen. But we can never be too careful, so just call the number is anyting happens, all right?"

"Fine. But whose supposed to pick up on the other end?" she asked.

"Just do it," he said, making a face at her. He started for the door. "If I find anything about your family or Joshua, I'll call." Then he slipped out the door and was gone. Buzz frowned as she watched him through the window, walking down the patch and getting into his car.

She turned her attention back to the television. The movie's credits were rolling, and she sighed again and stood, picking up the remote to turn off the television. Her stomach rumbled a little, and she moved to the kitchen, picking Crayfish's phone up off of the coffee table as she went.

The phone was left on the counter as Buzz rifled through cabinets, figuring out where everything was located. She pulled out a plate and set it on the counter, then set to rooting through the refridgerator for sandwhich supplies.

Suddenly the phone rang, and Buzz, startled, hit her head against the top of the fridge as she stood up quickly. She cursed and put a hand over the part of her skull that had been struck, and turned to glare at the phone.

Picking it up, she saw the screen read 'Contact L Calling.' Pausing, Buzz pondered whether or not she should answer it. Whoever it was would probably leave a message, but maybe she should write it down, just in case...

"Hello?"

"I think I found that information you wanted about the Ludwig family."

Buzz had to struggle not to drop the phone. The woman on the other end of the line had information about her family. Her missing brother.

"Ethan?"

"Ethan's not here... who is this?" Buzz stammered. "What do you know about my family?"

[Joshua Dyre]

It had been by no means a comfortable sensation. Like waking from the dead, or from a long endured drunken stupor. The clarity was both glorious and sickening. It was essentially the hangover from hell.

Two hours had passed since the implant had been removed and in that time 24 years had been replaced in his memory. The gaps were so full it felt almost like his head would explode. He remembered his father, a ghostly image with a full black beard, like a phantom from his nightmares. He remembered Ruther and that filial feeling of brotherhood was restored. He remembered the training.

Barely four years old and being experimented on by his own father. There were catches of conversation.. his father likening the curse of the mutants to the great beast in myth.. to the leviathan, sent by God to punish humanity...

His mother arguing.. pleading and her screams ...

Abandonment on the streets... bleeding.. dying...

Then salvation... two loving souls came into his life.. saved him and nurtured him to health and casting the nightmare of the past into the recesses of his mind.. but always trying to remember his brother.. the one that had not escaped. For escaped he had.. at least for a time.

Then the crash... the murder.. And his anger at Ethan.. his friend.. because of their different views. The rest was what he'd always really known somehow. He'd joined the resistance and trained hard until he had been chosen to enter the government, to find out about the extent of Leviathan.. but in that choice he was not seeking to help the resistance.. no he only wanted one thing. Revenge.

Unbeknownst he had stepped back into his father's pincer-like grip. And what had been begun before was started again. The implant... the replaced memories... and the lost real ones, all designed to remake him as a tool of his father. The Intended hatred for Ruther had obviously been designed to keep the brothers as far from each other as possible.. lest they find a way to escape. Lest just seeing each other, looking into each others eyes might spark a recall of the truth.

His father wanted him to reach the resistance.. had been keeping him safe, in a strange round about way. No orders to kill him had ever been made and he believed that somehow the man was pulling strings from above to ensure that the police were looking in the wrong places.. perhaps in way he was also controlling Ethan.. feeding him what he needed whilst turning a blind eye to what he was doing.

Yes.. even Kelbecki, the pawn, had been used only to spur Joshua into action.. to push him towards the goal, despite the man's apparent delusion of some grander convoluted scheme. There would have been nothing in the datapad that led back to the resitance.. except that number, and as Josh had found, the resitance were not so simple as to open their arms to anyone who simply turned up.

And Buzz's family... they're taking was not to force Joshua to do anything.. only to make him think that he had to. To make him go to the resitance.. turn himself over completely to them and once there.. the implant would do what it was really designed to do.

He imagined his father sitting there with a pad.. waiting for confirmation that Josh was there.. in the 'safety' of the resistance.. having got there because he had 'chosen' to.. having been fully accepted back. Then he would have pressed the button.. and let the mayhem ensue.

Though that was merely conjecture.. perhaps there was something else, but now that he understood a little of who his enemy really was, and how he thought.. he could make the educated guesses.

But his father had not counted on Ruther.. had not counted on the implant being removed. Had not realised that perhaps his control of the situation might be lost. Had not counted that Joshua would do exactly what his father DID NOT want him to do.

There were still questions he wanted answering. Was his mother still alive somewhere? Were there others? What was the meaning for the tattoo his mother had placed on him after his birth?

But now he knew who he was. And he knew what he was going to do. All that was needed now was to request a favour from Ethan.

With that thought, and a new sense of hope, Joshua headed back to the safehouse.

[Laila]

"Ethan's not here... who is this? What do you know about my family?"

Laila was barely able to keep her calm as she did some quick thinking. The plans she'd made earlier to meet up with the mysterious 'Malitar' had fallen through when he failed to communicate with her, so she'd gone to work on her other projects. The phone call from Ethan had come as a pleasant surprise to bring an end to the monotony her day was shaping up to be. He always wanted interesting tidbits of information for his government work, and his superiors always helped him pay well for what she found. The real surprise was in the information he requested. The family of Elizabeth Ludwig was being held by the movers behind official government business, so Ethan shouldn't have needed or wanted to know anything...a puzzle that had been plaguing the mutant until the unfamiliar feminine voice keyed all the pieces.

"Oh Ethan, what have you dropped into my lap this time?" She was sitting on a possible goldmine, though Ethan's job would likely be on the line unless he could give a good reason for having his personal phone in the posession of someone so wanted by the authorities. The question she had to answer for herself was whether or not she wanted to put that man's career in jeopardy, or if she wanted to utilize the information at a later date. "I take it you're Elizabeth?"

"Buzz." The voice on the other end sounded impatient.

"I'm Ethan's informational contact. He only knows me as L." She licked her lips as her mind began running through the myriad possibilities of how this situation could be played to the greatest benefit. "I'm afraid the news I have for you isn't good."

"It never is. Where are they?"

"I haven't been able to pinpoint their exact location, but they're deep on the inside...the Church has them." Laila paused for a moment to let that sink in. No matter where you stood in the battle between government and resistance, everyone knew that once the Church got involved things were in dire straights. "I can trace them through the networks pretty far, but the clearances needed for the rest of the information are higher than I can manage from here. I'd have to pull several strings and call in all sorts of favors to get the rest of the way there."

She twirled a strand of her dark hair around a finger as she listened to the measured breathing on the other end, trying to read the thoughts of a woman who had been dragged into the midst of a war that so many people were able to ignore in their daily lives. What she tried not to do was think of her own hazy memories of life in the custody of the powers of the city. 'This is not the time to get sentimental, Laila. It could cost you everything if you throw your hand in and fail...But it could gain you so much more if you play your cards right.' There it was again. That curiousity that had been her besotting sin since she was a child was rearing its head.

"Look...I can get more information, maybe even get close enough to find them, but not from outside the government servers. The Church guards their secrets too well to let outside hacks get anywhere near the valuable stuff. If you think our friend Ethan can spare a hand, I might be able to find out more for you, but I'd have to get inside. Even my connections can't get me in the door without help." She bit her lower lip and waited, though somehow she knew that it wouldn't be long before she had her answer. Somehow Laila knew that Buzz wouldn't just sit back and let her family go without a fight.

[Khavi]

Buzz only paid attention to about half of what the mysterious L had told her past the information that the Church of Entropy was holding her family. She was staring sightlessly at the tabletop, a feeling of hopelessness spreading from her heart, sending a chill down her spine. Once someone dissappeared into the Church for anything other than Sunday morning mass, it was not often they were heard from again.

"...think our friend Ethan could spare a hand, I might be able to find out more for you, but I'd have to get inside. Even my connections can't get me in the door without help."

Crayfish's name stirred Buzz out of her surprise, and she frowned. Part of her felt that asking Ethan for any more help would be unfair, that the risk for him and his career would be too much, but a greater part of her wanted to get her family back, by any means necessary.

"I'll talk to him," she said. "He'll probably be willing to help. He's got fingers in everything. Maybe he's got contacts in the Church, I don't know... " She sighed, resting her forehead against the palm of her free hand. "I'm getting tired of all this intrigue shit, you know? No one can just fight it out anymore. I'll call you back when he gets home."

"I look forward to it." The line went dead.

Buzz pulled the phone away from her ear and sighed at it. This L woman could find her family, with Ethan's help. Buzz hated waiting, hated relying so much on other people. But what choice did she have? She was powerless to do anything but wait.

Snapping the phone shut she placed it on the table and went to find something to eat. No sense in waiting around hungry.

Maybe twenty minutes later the door opened and clicked shut, and Buzz heard somewhat angry talking in the front hall. Shee looked up from the remnants of her sandwhich as Ethan walked into the kitchen, talking on yet another cell phone. He seated himself in the chair opposite her, winked, and chattered a little more into his phone.

"I don't give a shit. The alternative is you get fired. No, I... No. What? Shut the fuck up and do it. I'll call you back in... Fuck's sake, can you stop talking? I'll call you back in fifteen minutes."

He snapped the phone shut and laid it on the table, sighing dramatically. "It's so hard to find good help these days," he said, shaking his head. "And how are you, my disgruntled friend?"

He picked up her soda can and took a sip of it while he waited for her answer.

"Put down my soda, jackass. Your friend L called."

Ethan choked and sputtered on his drink for a moment, and he set the can down. "L called? She's fast, that one... You talked to her I assume?"

Buzz nodded.

"And?"

"The Church has my family. She said she needs your help to pinpoint their location, though. She doesn't have enough clearance or something."

Ethan frowned at the table. His mechanical eyes clicked and buzzed in his skull. "That makes things harder.If the resistance or the government had them extraction would be simple, but... Did she say what exactly she needed from me?"

"No. Just that she would need your help. She needs access to the government servers, or something like that. I don't know. I fix cars, Ethan, this espionage crap is not my game," Buzz said, and shrugged. "I need to know if you can help, though, I said I'd call her back."

Ethan was quiet for a long time. Finally he pulled a little notebook out of his jacket pocket, and flipped quickly through it. He pursed his lips in thought, and after a moment looked back up at Buzz. "Call L."

Buxx plucked the phone off the table and flipped it open, dialing Ethan's mysterious contact. It rang once before L answered.

"Hello?" purred the silky voice on the other end of the line. "Who may I ask is calling?"

"Buzz. I got Crawdad here, he wanted me to call you but I don't know what he wants."

"Tell her I've got access codes and passwords that might help. I don't know how far they'll get her from wherever she is, but it's worth a shot."

Buzz repeated the message.

"Delightful. I'll see if I can't hack into whatever they have hidden on their high clearance servers."

Ethan passed his little notebook to Buzz, and tapped the page where the numbers started. Then he picked up his phone, dialed a number, and held it to his ear as he walked through the glass doors at the back of the kitchen, to stand in the back yard as he talked. Buzz looked down at the little book, and began to read the numbers to L.

As she recited the passwords, Buzz could hear the clicking of a keyboard in the backround. L was probably inputting the numbers as they spoke. When Buzz reached the end of the list she paused, waiting for L to say anything.

"Well... that didn't work," she said finally. "These servers won't allow remote access, I have to get to them physically, connect on a direct line. Ask Ethan where they are."

Buzz stood up and walked to the still-open glass door, and called to Ethan, "Didn't work, we need an address. She needs to see them in person."

Ethan said something into his phone, then put his hand over the mouthpiece and looked up at Buzz. "Tell her..." he frowned, pausing, obviously thinking as quick as he could. "Tell her to meet us downtown in half an hour. There's a little cafe we can rendezvous at, close to the location of the servers, and go from there." He gave her an address, which she repeated to L.

"He says if you can meet us there in half an hour, we can make a plan. It's close to the servers, so I'm assuming that's our destination afterwards."

"All right. I'll meet you both there in half an hour. I just need Ethan to get me direct access to those servers, and I can handle it from there. I hope he understands this is going to cost him extra, though. Danger pay, that kind of thing."

Buzz laughed a little, in spite of herself. "I'll let him know."

"I'll see you in half an hour."

Buzz was about to hang up when she said, "Wait, L..."

"Yes?"

"You don't know... This means a lot to me, your help. I owe you one. A big one. I just, er... Thanks."

The line was quiet for a moment, and Buzz thought maybe L had hung up, until the other woman spoke again, her voice just a hair less buisnesslike.

"Of course. I'm sure we'll figure something out." And then the line really was dead.


Not much later Buzz was shrugging into her jacket, trying to adjust to the feeling of the gun under her arm, resting in a shoulder holster given to her by Ethan. He said she would probably need it, which was of no comfort to her. As they made for the door, Ethan paused.

"What about Josh?" he asked. Buzz pulled her cigarettes out of her jocket, and lit one. Exhaling a plume of smoke, she looked back at him.

"We can't wait for him. We've waited too long already. My brother and his family are closer to lost every second we stand around. I left him a note, telling him to call you when he gets in," she said. "If we don't hear from him by the time we're done with our operation here... Well, we can burn that bridge when we get to it. He's on his own, right now."

"When did you go all commando on me?"

Buzz laughed and shook her head. She pulled the door open and started down the stairs to one of the cars parked out front. They had decided it was best not to take Ethan's car, as it was easily identifyable as his.

As they pulled out of the driveway and started towards the city, Buzz smiled and looked over at Ethan.

"Besidesl, he gets to run off on little adventures by himself all the time. Why shouldn't we for once?"

[Joshua Dyre]

It was perhaps the last thing he had been expecting. The safe house was empty, though Ethan's car was still parked outside. He'd found a note from Buzz with just three words, 'Call Ethan. Buzz' and a phone number.

He'd decided to call later, he had a lot to do, and Ethan having gone pushed his plans back a little. The next twenty minutes were spent pulling out the drawers in the kitchen and in the rest of the rooms and plundering the bathroom cabinet until he had a pile of sundry items.

He'd then set a pan over heat in the kitchen and upended certain medicinal bottles and innocent cooking ingredients into the pan and mixed them slowly and carefully. As it cooked he pulled of his shirt and checked the stitching on his wound, then set a mirror on one of the worktops near the sink and began methodically removing his hair with scissors, then a razor.

It wasn't long before he was standing, in the shadows afforded by a narrow alleyway, watching a Cycle-Enforcer writing out a ticket for a car that had been stationary too long on the main road. The traffic this late at night was minimal, both off and on the road, perfect for what Joshua had planned.

Ducking back a little he whistled, then kicked an old soda can out into the street. A moment or two later the enforcer, gun drawn, cautious in light of the news, inched slowly passed him. Joshua waited, just until the guy was a little further in, then he swung, bringing the hammer's flat about with enough force to punch through the back-plate armour. The enforcer crumpled, his gun skittering away.

Joshua checked the street again, but his attack had been unnoticed. Quickly, he removed the man's helmet and checked for a pulse. It was there, faint, but he was sure the guy would recover. Unstoppering a bottle of whisky, he poured the same over the guy and down his throat, before fastening the man's hand around it with a little smile.

To the camera's that watched these streets it looked like an enforcer had checked the alleyway and returned to the street with a slight adjustment to his helmet. At this early hour it would have taken an unusually alert operator to have noticed that he seemed to have grown an inch or two and that he was now carrying a backpack that seemed to be full to bursting.

As Joshua climbed aboard his new motorcycle, he checked the standard issue sidearm was clear in its holster, then examined the shot-gun that was holstered in the side of the cycle itself. Tapping the comm in the helmet he radioed in a report of a drunk John Doe needing immediate medical attention. Then he set off. His next destination: City Electrical, the plant that supplied almost all of the City's power.