Disclaimer : See Part One
Title - A Central Monopoly
Author - KB
E-mail address - gekbruce@melbpc.org.au
Rating - G
Category - Adventure/Alternate Universe
Series/Sequel - Part Four of Total Recall
Spoilers - Many!
Summary - There's a new player in the game...
"A Central
Monopoly"
By KB
Jennifer turned her head slightly and winced from the pain the action caused. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw Sydney sitting in the chair beside the bed.
"Finally. It's good to see you're awake." Jennifer moved her head and glanced around the room, and he stood up and placed one hand on her shoulder.
"It's okay. We're alone."
"Where...what happened?"
"I was hoping you'd be able to tell me. Apparently Lyle and Brigitte were playing around with some things that they didn't understand." He stood back and let one of the doctors, who had entered seconds before, examine Jennifer.
"Well, you're lucky. Considering what Lyle put you through, you're doing very well. Do you want something for the pain?" Jennifer shook her head and the doctor, after smiling at her, left the room.
"Have you told Jarod?"
"No. I didn't think you would want me to. In fact I haven't spoken to him since you first disappeared. There have been no new leads."
"Don't tell him."
"I won't."
***
Jennifer, escorted by Miss Parker and Sydney, slowly walked through the door of her house in Blue Cove. While they were there she tried not to show how terrible she felt but, as they left, she fell onto the couch and carelessly flicked on the television. She had, over the past few nights, dreamt of horrors which she had either imagined or which had actually happened to her - she wasn't sure which. Terrified though she was of sleep, she wouldn't let herself use painkillers, not wanting her judgement clouded by artificial means. She had, by now, lost count of the number of times she had woken up, trembling and sweating, from some half-remembered nightmare. All she hoped was that the bruises on her face disappeared before Jarod found out that she was back at home.
***
Lyle glared at the wall of the cell and muttered angrily. The jacket in which they'd bound him meant that he had almost no movement and, as a further measure, chains around his ankles were attached to the wall with a strong ring. The expression on Raines' face, when he'd burst into the experimental lab, had been enough to show that he'd gone far enough and, although him father had tried to help, the hold which Raines had over the Triumvirate was enough to block the older Parker out of the picture.
Lyle heard the squealing from the cell next to him and, since its beginning, a day earlier, he had understood enough to realise that they were responding to Brigitte's self-imposed hunger-strike by force-feeding her. If it was the same garbage they fed him, it was no wonder she was upset. However the worst part, and the icing on the cake for him, was the fact that his guard during meals was Jennifer's own personal sweeper, Paul, and Lyle could tell that Paul would not hesitate to use the gun he held. The one time he had tried to resist, Paul had landed a punch which had given Lyle a thick ear for three days and had made him rethink his strategy. Remembering the food, he glared at the roof as he lay back on the bed and shuddered, recalling the first time he had tasted it. Optimised nutritional supplements, with something added that had stripped him of any energy and left him helpless and listless. How could anyone survive on a diet like that? And it wasn't only good food he missed. Open air, his car with its personalised number-plate. Lyle-3. He'd had to get another after his second one had also disappeared. There was no guarantee that Jarod had taken it but Lyle was certain he had. Thinking of the prodigy, his eyes narrowed and he muttered angrily to himself.
***
Jarod slipped around the outside of the building. He had been about to enter it the previous evening when he had recognised one of the shadows through the window. The sight of Miss Parker had caused him to withdraw into a nearby bush and it wasn't until later, looking at himself in a shop window as he passed, that he realised that it had probably been one of Jennifer's beloved rose bushes. Now he glanced through the window and saw the figure lying on the couch. His heart leapt and he slipped in through the passage and appeared in the doorway. Jennifer lay with her eyes closed and, taking in the marks on her face and the small gasps, signalling pain, as she inhaled and exhaled, he gripped the doorway to stop himself from swaying. What had they done? Then, as he stood there,she was gripped by a nightmare and he moved quickly across the room.
***
Jennifer, remembering what they did every other time she fought, immediately became still and, with closed eyes, waited for the next prick of the needle. She had never experienced pain like that caused her and, bile rising at the back of her throat, she anticipated it. When it didn't come, and a soothing voice could be heard in her ear while a gentle hand swept her damp, sweaty hair back from her face, she slowly eased her eyes open and stared up, startled, at Jarod. Trembling from the shock, she clung to him for several seconds, breathing deeply and trying to forget the images which had appeared during the dream.
"What was it? What did they do?"
"I...don't remember." The lie sounded hollow but she knew that Jarod wouldn't press her for an explanation, in the same way that she never pressed him. However she knew that he would find the DSA which Broots had located and left beside her portable DSA machine and he could play it for himself. He lifted her off the couch and carried her up the stairs and into t he bedroom. She had considered protesting, however the nightmares left her with little energy and it was easy to submit to his attentions. He put her on the bed and then left the room while she changed. When he returned, he kept his arms around her until, finally, she was asleep.
***
Sydney stared at the screen in front of him, unable to believe what he saw. How she had survived the experiments was more than he could understand. It took his several seconds to break out of his trance and answer the phone.
"Sydney? What did they do to her?"
"Have you seen her? Did she tell you anything?"
"No. But I found the DSA." In the background, Sydney could hear the sound of traffic and surmised that, although Jarod had been in Blue Cove, he was no longer there.
"Apparently Lyle was performing similar experiments to those he performed on you. He also pumped her full of sodium pentathol."
"Truth syrum? That's never used any more. It isn't reliable enough."
"No, I know. But Lyle was hoping to find out some information, probably about you."
"Did she tell him anything?"
"According to Lyle's notes, no. There was no reaction to it at all, except apparently some pain and nausea. I was doing a little research and a very small proportion of people react that way. Obviously Lyle didn't know in advance that she would be one of those people."
***
Jennifer woke and stared out of the window. She had felt Jarod leave the room earlier that morning and knew that she wouldn't find him downstairs. This was too close to the Centre for his comfort, or hers either, for that matter. She had arranged with Sarah to go down to the cabin for a few weeks, Raines having given her time off, and she was looking forward to it. A hand pressed across her stomach to try and ease the pain her aching muscles caused her, she moved around, slowly packing.
She had almost finished when a box, tucked away in the corner of the room, drew her attention. It was not the box itself which she noticed, but rather the fact that it was rocking violently. Walking over, she bent down with a gasp for the pain and, opening the box, stared down at the small face which blinked back at her. The big, brown eyes watched her and, scarcely believing, she picked up the small dog from the container. Carrying him over to the couch, she sat down and pulled out the note which had been tucked under its collar.
'My dearest girl. I've been training this little one for you since we first got to know each other. He's eight months old, fully house-trained and quite well trained in other areas too. His owner originally called him Jarod, which was one of the reasons I chose him. Now, if Louise said anything about Jarod, it could mean the dog. Oh, and if Miss Parker threatens to tell the Triumvirate about you receiving presents from me, remind her about a certain small, white rabbit.'
"You look like something the cat dragged in."
"Gee, thanks. It's great to see you, too." Sarah grinned as she held open the car door. However her eye widened as a dog leapt into the car and curled up on the floor.
"What's that?"
"It's a dog."
"Oh, very funny. Couldn't Lyle have taken your sense of humour at the same time?" Jennifer grinned at her friend as she started the car.
"Actually, he's a present. He was left at my house last night with a mysterious, anonymous note tied to his collar."
"Oh, and I don't suppose this mysterious visitor of yours was tall, dark and handsome, by any chance, was he?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Jennifer tried to hide the smile which curled at the edges of her mouth. Sarah snorted with amusement and concentrated on the road.
***
Lyle looked up as the door to his cell was swung open. After so many days in the half-darkness, the brilliance of the lights in the hall dazzled him and, turning aside, he blinked violently until his eyes could stand the glare.
"What is it?"
"Time for you to learn a few things."
"Huh?" Lyle stood up and watched warily as Raines and three sweepers entered the cell. His feet, although still chained together, had been untied from the ring in the wall so that he could stand. Now a strange sweeper that Lyle had never seen before knelt and began to remove the chain. Lyle, as soon as his foot was free, kicked out violently and was rewarded with a punch to the side of the head that sent him over like a tenpin and caused him to see stars. He was jerked violently to his feet and shoved out of the room.
***
Jennifer pushed open the door of the cabin and turned to wave as Sarah drove away. One glance showed her that Jarod was not there and her heart sank slightly with disappointment. She waved the dog, which she was calling JD to avoid confusion, into the building and watched as he gradually familiarised himself with the interior. Finally he flopped down on the mat in front of the fireplace with a sigh and watched as she slowly moved around, putting things away in the kitchen. She knew that Jarod had given her JD as a form of protection and, obviously, had been imbuing in the canine a sense of devotion to her, judging by his constant proximity to her.
***
Lyle fought as he was almost carried into the room and tied, spread-eagled, to an x-shaped board. Once fully immobilised, Raines came and stood before him.
"Having shown us how much you enjoy experiments, we thought you'd like the chance to be the subject of one." Lyle shrank from the penetrating gaze that swept over him and frantically tried to imagine what Raines could be about to do to him.
Having politely waited for a response and received none, Raines continued.
"The Triumvirate had felt that only death would be a sufficient form of punishment, however I presented my own suggestion to them and they found it sufficient. The part of you which is of any value to us at all is your brain. We considered simply removing it and allowing the rest of your body to die, however what we have planned is even better." Lyle began to suspect what was about to happen and he lunged against the restraints. However it made no impact.
"I see you begin to understand me. However, if you will remain still, this won't hurt. Or not for too long."
***
Jennifer curled up the corner of the couch with the dog's body pressed up against her own and she looked up in surprise as the door opened.
"Did I give you a key for that?"
"Well, no. But a locksmith is an easy job."
"I should have guessed." She lifted her face for his kiss and he looked down at the dog who, although he wagged a tail politely when Jarod touched him, had not moved.
"I taught him well."
"He's a wonderful present. Thank you Jarod."
"What are you going to call him?"
"Well, not Jarod. It would be too confusing. No, I decided on JD."
"JD?"
"Yeah - Jarod Dog. Much more simple, don't you think?" Jarod roared with laughter and Jennifer, who had known about Jarod's association with Argyle, let her eyes twinkle at him. "Very clever."
"I thought so."
***
Brigitte looked around the inside of her cell from the corner where she remained for most of each day. The only exception was when food was brought to her - then she was strapped to the bed and it was forced down her throat. Despite her struggles the lack of sugar was doing wonder for her health - she just hated to admit it. Without a clock she had no idea of time or day and that was a feeling she hated. Some time before she had heard Lyle being removed from his cell and, as far as she could tell, he had never been returned there. She had wondered when her husband would come and rescue her from the predicament however, as time passed and he failed to appear, she surmised that Raines had persuaded the Triumvirate to give him control over her situation. Sometimes, briefly, she wondered what was happening to her son. When she had returned to work, four months after giving birth, he had been left with a nanny that her husband had hired. However she had long since lost any feeling that she may have had for her son and the only feelings she had were hatred for the people who put her in this situation.
***
After four months Jennifer was getting used to the lifestyle she was leading. The experiments had caused no lasting damage, except for the nightmares she still had occasionally, and she was gradually getting used to Jarod stopping by every few weeks. In that time she had not returned to the Centre, although she occasionally kept in touch with Sydney or Miss Parker by telephone. JD was almost fully grown and the sight of a German Shepherd outside the cabin was a deterrent to most visitors. One day she had inquired about Lyle.
"Do you know...what have they done to him?"
"You mean...you haven't heard?" It was the first time that Jennifer had heard Miss Parker so uncertain.
"It's...Raines was furious. He convinced the Triumvirate that?"
"What?"
"Jen, Lyle is a quadraplegic." There was a pause and then Miss Parker continued. "He didn't actually sever the spinal cord but instead he injected something in which caused it to swell and, well, it's permanent."
"So he's..."
"Strapped into a wheelchair. He gets injections every day to keep him alive, so that Raines can use the ideas he comes up with, but otherwise he's useless."
Try as she did, Jennifer couldn't remove the image of her brother from her mind. She compared the memory of the boy, developing into a man, running around the house and driving scores of pretty, Asian girls, for whom he'd always had a liking, around the town in which they'd lived, with the images which Broots sent to her, of him strapped, helpless, into a chair and forced to comply with the will of Raines and his helpers. It was a comfort to know that Paul was no longer involved with that work. He had, in fact, vanished from the Centre a month after she had been brought out of the infirmary.
***
Jarod had taken the news well and, Jennifer couldn't help suspecting, considered it sufficient revenge for death of his brother. He had stayed only a few days before leaving again and, this time, she knew that it would be at least six weeks before he returned. All that she knew was that he would be somewhere in South America. He never told her where he was going and she preferred not to know. However she had decided to leave Delaware. In the time that she had before he came back, she packed all of the things from the house and moved. Her grandfather had had a farm close to Boston which had been under the care of neighbours since his death, years earlier. The organisation, moving and settling in took almost the entire six weeks and the house was completely set up by the time Jarod was due back in the States. She had informed him of her move and the location of the house, which was almost impossible to see from either the air or the road. Gradually, with some help from her neighbours, she had everything running smoothly. It was not a large farm, with only a few sheep and hens and a couple of ducks floating on the pond and it was located on only three acres.
***
She heard Jarod enter through the door which she always left open and, waiting behind a semi-closed door, heard him pick up the envelope which lay on the table. She heard him remove the contents and, as she had anticipated, his reaction was totally silent. When she appeared in the doorway, he looked up at her with a face full of shock.
"What's this?"
"It's an ultrasound."
"It's...I'm...You mean?"
"Yes, Jarod. I'm four months pregnant. You're going to be a father." He sat for several minutes staring at the spectacular valley which was visible through the large window.
"I wanted to tell you when I first heard, but I didn't want to interfere with your work."
"I can't believe it. I mean, it's a little unexpected."
"I know."
"Which is it?"
"A boy."
"A boy...I'm going to be a father?"
***
Lyle looked down at his helpless hands and feet and struggled to make them move. He could still remember the red-hot feelings, like fire, which had burned down the length of his body, leaving numbness and immobility to follow the agony. He had never been returned to his cell but, instead, was strapped into the chair and moved around to the different places that Raines wanted him. The feelings of helplessness had initially terrified him but, now, they only angered him. He had not seen his father since the operation had been performed. On occasion Miss Parker had passed him in the corridor, still in search of leads of Jarod, and he ignored her. The expressions which had formerly made others, such as Broots, tremble before him, no longer had any effect and this, too, he deplored. Sometimes he wondered what they had done to Brigitte or to his new brother. It never last for long thoughts. His thoughts nearly always came back to his own situation.
***
Jennifer was terrified when, with still twenty-eight days until the baby was due, she went into labour. Jarod was not at home at the time however as Sarah and her husband were staying for a few days, Jennifer was rapidly in hospital and, several hours later, her son was born. Although the boy was immediately taken off for tests and spent several hours in a humidicrib, he was soon well enough to be taken in to see his mother. Once he was returned to the nursery and Jennifer was sleeping, Sarah began frantic efforts to contact Jarod. Within two hours, he was at the hospital. With his son in his arms, he went into the private room where Jennifer lay and watched until she woke up.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"That I wasn't there."
"It doesn't matter. You're here now." Jarod moved over and sat on the bed.
"He's beautiful."
"He's just like his father."
At that point Sarah came in with her Polaroid and took a photo. She gave it to Jarod, who pocketed it.
"For Sydney?"
"How did you guess?"
"Oh, I know you pretty well by now."
***
Lyle looked down at his right hand and, with extreme concentration, watched as it slowly flexed. Although Raines had intended the treatment to be permanent, the very slow movement which he was regaining convinced Lyle that with time, and patience, he could recover. Unfortunately his stock of patience was limited at the best of times and now he just wanted to throw the chair away and leave the Centre for good. He muttered angrily to himself but fell silent and began to mentally coax the muscles in his legs to move.
***
Jennifer looked from the small face, framed in wavy brown hair out to the view from his bedroom window. She was just in time to see a car rattle its way up towards the house and JD's actions told her who was coming. She picked up her two month old son and by the time she was in the doorway the car was parked under the protected area near the house. He got out of the car and picked up his son, at the same time draping his arm over Jennifer's shoulders and the two walked into the house. Jarod had been tempted on several occasions to give up his travelling and stay with the two people who made up the only home he knew, however Jennifer was aware that this would be like caging a wild animal and had dissuaded him from doing so. Jarod knew that she had put his feelings before her own and he loved her even more for it.
***
Miss Parker stormed through the Centre. Her temper had become worse since Jennifer had left the Centre and not even the phone calls which the two made almost every week were enough to please her. Raines was on her back constantly, not only about Jennifer but Jarod also and the Triumvirate was demanding results as the trail left by Jarod gradually grew weaker. The hints which he had once left were no longer to be found and the team had to rely on sightings and reports for all of their information. Equally frustrating to her were the actions and behaviour of her father. He had withdrawn even further from her, almost as though he resented her being the only other family member who wasn't being punished. It was painful to her father to see Lyle in his current state, she knew. And he had begun to spend less time at his house, as though the sight of his new son made him ill. Remembering her new brother and his mother her glare deepened and, as she flung open the door of Sydney's office, her expression caused Broots to try and disappear into a corner. Sydney, on the other hand, remained in his seat, looking at the card in his hand. As Miss Parker sat on the chair facing the desk, he pushed the card over to her and she saw Jarod holding a small baby.
"His son?"
"Apparently." Sydney tried to hide his pleasure at the sight, however Miss Parker was not fooled and shot him a venomous glance.
"Enough of the Happy Families, Syd. Have you run a search on him?"
"Yes...well...I mean?"
"Spit it out, Broots."
"There's something wrong with the system. We can't run any searches with the name "Jarod". There's a block somewhere in the system."
"Well, find it and fix it."
"I...we can't. The system doesn't recognise that there's a problem and, until it does, it won't allow us to enter with the passwords."
"So, use the passwords."
"I can't. They've been changed and I don't know what to."
"Then keep trying."
"Each time we try three wrong words the system shuts down and, although the computers start, the system doesn't boot up."
"Which means?"
"If we don't look - no searches. If we do - no computers."
"Then contact Jennifer."
"I tried. Her number's changed and a search of the scanner we put on her car leads us to her house in Blue Cove - and she moved from there just after the incident with Lyle and Brigitte and no-one knows where she went." Miss Parker snorted and moved behind the desk and glared out of the window.
"M...Miss Parker? What do you want me to do?"
"Keep trying!"
***
Lyle stretched as he pulled himself out of the air-vent and into the freedom of the woods just outside the walls of the Centre. It was, although he didn't realise it, the same path that Jarod had taken just after his escape years earlier. Tentatively, his legs still heavy from crawling along the tunnels, he began to make his way down the path, the gun he had taken from his guard heavy in his hand. He hoped fervently that he wouldn't have to do any shooting, feeling that the shaking of his hand would ruin his aim.
***
Miss Parker sat and stared blankly at the piece of paper which Sam had given her. It was a report written by the sweeper who had found Lyle's unconscious guard in the former prisoner's cell and it showed the probable escape route. Finally she snapped her head up and glared at the man.
"Well, what are you standing around for? Go and find him. Now!"
"Yes Miss Parker." She could hear the muttering as he went through the door. Then, as the phone rang, she glared at her useless computer screen and picked it up.
"What?!"
"My, feeling cheerful today, aren't we?" Miss Parker could hear the tracer which she had ordered on every line cut in and she hoped fervently that it, at least, was working.
"Jennifer, hi. God, nothing else could possibly go wrong today. Enough has already."
"Oh yes, what with Lyle escaping, the mainframe being damaged and no new leads on Jarod, I can see how frustrating that would be."
"What did you...how did you know about that?"
"Oh come on, Miss Parker. I designed the system. I can always find out what's going on at the Centre. In fact..." Miss Parker stared as the computer screen in front of her flickered and an image appeared. She saw Jennifer sitting on a sofa, with a small child on her lap that Miss Parker recognised instantly. However it was only when Jarod moved around from behind the camera and sat next to her, taking the baby and grinning infuriatingly at her that Miss Parker reached for the button to activate a search.
"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you." The words stopped her. "After all, it would be terrible if the system were just to collapse on you without warning, wouldn't it?"
"You mean you're...you've been..."
"Working for the Centre yes. But my loyalty was always with someone else. Meet my future husband, Miss Parker, and the father of my son. Isn't it nice that I finally have a family? After all, the Centre took from me as much as it took from you, maybe more. You can't deny me this happiness." Miss Parker buried her head in her hands and dropped the receiver, however the speaker switched itself on and she could still hear the voice.
"Now, Miss Parker, make sure you tell Broots not to bother with the system. I can control it very easily from here and anything else...well, it would be terrible if all of the information I typed in was to be lost, wouldn't it?" Jarod chortled with laughter and Miss Parker glared at the security camera in the corner of the room. At the same time, the baby began to cry softly.
"Oh, gotta go. Well, it's been lovely talking to you. We must do this again some time." The phone and computer instantly switched themselves off but the computer immediately rebooted and began its usual start-up process as Miss Parker blindly watched. Nothing, surely, nothing else could go wrong now. Miss Parker's head was so deep in her hands that she completely missed the sound of footsteps and the squeak of an oxygen tank as they made their way into her office.