01 Some Things Never Die... Some Things Do

[Double Fire]

In her room, Mandy stood stone faced with shock. She stared at Matt on her bed. When they heard the call through their com-badges, she grabbed a simple pull on dress from her closet. Throwing it on, she called up her psionic double and sent her down to investigate.

For a moment, she closed her eyes to focus on her duplicate. When she encountered the scene in the kitchen, she shook her head breaking the connection and dissolving her double. She looked at Matt with wide eyes. "Snow's collapsed." They rushed down to assist.

Entering the kitchen, they found Arcas at Sharon's side. Mandy dropped to her knees and took hold of Sharon's wrist to check her pulse. Looking up to Matt with concern, she shook her head.

"Venus and I are on our way." Astral's voice cracked through their com-badges.

Mandy tapped hers to respond. "Understood, her pulse is racing."

As they waited, she accepted the towels Pierre handed her, placing them under Sharon’s head trying to make her comfortable.

When the others arrived, Venus assessed the situation and took charge. She urged and guided Mandy to her feet and back, away from Sharon. Then, she and Astral collected Sharon. The two took care of her leaving the younger adults in the kitchen.

Mandy was tense as she leaned against the counter and watched Matt go to the refrigerator. Still feeling flushed from what happened, added to the concern for Sharon, she gladly accepted the bottle of Coke he offered.

"I'm sure she'll be okay, she's in good hands." He said.

"Right, just another normal day around here." She quipped and forced a smirk to the younger students with a grimace to Matt.

"I know what you're thinking," He said. "Something's not right."

"Something's going to happen and it's usually trouble." Mandy said.

Arcas stepped closer to her. Standing behind her, he leaned in close to whisper. "Then maybe you should dress for the occasion."

She blushed and gasped, turning to him as she scrunched her nose and pursed her lips. His snicker only made her mad and she huffed, returning to her room.

[Torque]

Unable to find Benny, Torque wandered back to the parlor. She stood near the main stairs. pursed her lips and drummed her fingers on her hip trying to think like the tracker he was. Benny not only had a way to block telepathy, he had given her the slip. He was good, among the better trackers The Consortium had but why he was there and why Pierce hadn't mentioned it was beyond her.

She took up her cell phone from the holder on her belt and sat on the third step of the main staircase; close to the wall so people could pass by. She called Pierce.

"How'd your meeting go?" Pierce asked.

"It hasn’t' happened yet." she said. "I'm calling about Benny. He's here."

"Benny no longer works for us." Pierce said. "If you can, bring him in. We have questions for him."

"Yes, Sir, understood," she closed her phone as the women emerged from the kitchen, supporting Sharon between them. The woman she met, Venus, held a serious expression and shook her head as they passed.

"What happened?" Torque asked.

Venus looked from one to the other as they made their way to the elevator. "That's what we're going to find out."

Arcas joined them soon after, wagging his fingers for Torque to approach him.

"I need to do a perimeter check. Care to help?" Arcas motioned with a nod towards the front door. "There are some things the security cameras can't pick up, but they can’t beat this." Winking, he tapped the side of his nose.

"Lead the way," Torque stood and placed her phone in its holder.

Out the back door, Arcas took a deep breath to take in the surrounding scents. “How anything could get past our defenses. This place makes Fort Knox look vulnerable."

Torque grimaced at the claim, skeptical as always. She heard something scream as it jumped from around the corner of the building. It grabbed her, burning her forearms. Her instincts kicked in and she let herself fall back to a roll as she fought with the creature.

"What the...?" Arcas raised an eyebrow. "it looks fire based." Arcas held out his hand and tried to manipulate the fire it created, turning it back on the creature.

That moment Torque unleashed her hydrokinetics. Her water met his flames creating a cloud of steam. She tried taking advantage of it, finding her aim, and throwing a left hook to break the creature free of her arm.

The small daemon sprung away as Arcas dove for it catching it by its scrawny neck. He shook the creature and growled. "Who sent you?" he asked.

The little daemon squirmed and with a big silly grin, it spread out its arms. "Mm dah!" and with that it exploded.

Startled, Arcas tried to absorb as much of the heat and flames as possible "Okay, that was useful. Torque, can you put out the bushes?"

"Copy that," she shot a burst of water towards the burning bush. As the flames were drenched, she turned and assessed her body for damage then nodded to Arcas. Examining her right arm, she cringed and grimaced from the pain. "I think we found and lost the intruder."

"I agree," Arcas took off his scorched shirt. "Let's keep going. There might be more."

"After I return to the med-lab." She said. "This is going to leave a mark."

A familiar voice broke over his com-unit. "Arcas, please bring our guest to my office." Garston said.

Arcas tapped the com-unit on his belt. "Understood, right after a visit to the med-Lab." He held the door open for her and led the way to the elevator. "Let's hope that was it."

"Yeah, let's hope," Torque looked back to the smoking bush then followed him inside, the entire time feeling like she was forgetting something.

In the lab, Torque sat on one of the exam tables. Arcas tended her wound. The door opened and Garston joined them.

"How serious is it?" He asked.

"Nothing a visit to Medic can't cure." Arcas said.

"She's in Nevada now," Torque flinched with a groan as he applied a cream to her arm. "She's involved in an experimental program with the Fire Rescue Department."

"So, she has her dream job now?" Arcas asked.

"And Tech is moving there too, so yeah, she's living her dream." Torque said.

With her good hand, Torque pulled the envelope from her back pocket and gave it to Garston. "Courtesy of Triton and he's asked me to catch Benny."

"Good, we can help with that," Garston said.

[Snow Leopard]

The force that attacked Sharon dissipated. It left behind the horrific images and flashes of light through her mind. Her body trembled and was covered in a cold sweat comparable to the effects of night terrors.

Unable to focus, she sought relief by closing her eyes only to be faced with the bursts of light and horrific images of something that couldn’t be described. She tried reaching out with her telepathy, seeking her friends but all she found were the horrors placed in her mind.

There were images of the team, she knew the faces, younger and tortured but she knew them. Some were chained to walls; another onto a stone table, a large muscular blonde woman flashed her fist backhanded across Splitz’s face.

The faces blurred, smeared into the light and graven images. There was no place in her mind for Sharon to escape not even from the sensations of sheer terror and fear as she watched what unfolded. Her own memories of that time flooded in behind the implants, the echo of Arca’s telepathic call to her that sent her back to find the destruction of the manor. She knew it; she remembered it and did not want to.

It was a time of pain and loss, of failures and disillusionment of humility within her. In her mind's self, she envisioned crying out with her telepathy, crying for everything, the collapse of team X-treme, the death of innocence and the moment she believed her mother had been murdered.

The explosion of Daunte’s invaded all the images, flooding her mind with the smoke and flames billowing into the sky. Through it, Garston’s face appeared. His presence comforted her, sooth her and silenced the visions. No words were spoken as the torrential events vanished from her thoughts bringing her peace, leaving her alone with Garston.

Rest Sharon, everything will be fine now. He said. There was a faint echo as he faded from her mind.

Slowly, Sharon opened her eyes and blinked at the harshness of the fluorescent lights above. She looked around and tried to sit up. "Garston?"

Venus set a hand on her shoulder to ease her back. "Easy Sharon, you’ve been out for quite a while." She tried offering a warm and friendly smile.

Sharon looked at her, furrowing her brow then darted her eyes to Venus. She looked back and forth several times. "What's wrong? I can't hear your thoughts."

They looked to each other, then Venus sighed and grasped Sharon’s hand. "You were screaming painfully, I tried to get inside but whatever attacked you prevented that." She hesitated, glancing to Astral then back. "Garston intervened. He suppressed your abilities for the time being."

Sharon rubbed at her forehead. She was trying to let it sink in to make sense of what Venus was saying. It would have been easier if it weren’t for the massive headache she had. She felt Venus pat her shoulder.

"The creature Arcas and Torque encountered seems to have been the source." Astral stood off to the side with her arms folded. "We're still not sure what it was, so we don't know the extent of your injury."

“Get some rest Sharon; we’ll get this figured out.” Venus said.

“If you don’t mind, I’d rather be up in my own room.” Sharon said.

“I’ll see her upstairs,” Astral offered.

Venus shook her head and walked away as Astral helped Sharon. Giving her a shoulder to lean on and wrapping her arm around Sharon’s own shoulders they made their way up to the main level and the back stairs to the woman’s dorm rooms.

Inside room seven, Astral stood protectively while Sharon changed to some sleepwear then slipped under the covers.

As she got comfortable, Astral tucked her in. “Is there anything I can do?”

Sharon rubbed at her forehead again. “Yeah, there is, would you call my mom?”

Astral nodded. “Usual code again?” She asked.

“Right,” Sharon adjusted her pillow and sunk into it. "Thanks, Astral."

Her friend closed the curtains and turned off the light then left the room to make the call.

[Double Fire]

Still in the kitchen, Mandy sat at the table with a Warsteiner Verum in hand. She took a sip then lowered to the bottle to stare at it as she picked at the label.

"Mandy, do you have a moment? We need to talk." Chill dropped into the chair opposite her, resting his arms on the table.

"What's up?" She wasn't in the mood for anyone’s demands on her at the moment. As she turned, her bottle of beer slipped off the table shattering on the floor. She cursed quietly and moved to pick up the shards of glass.

Chill moved to help her clean the mess, going to the butler's pantry to fetch a broom and mop. "I think something's wrong with Dr. Yates."

"You're a bit too late," Mandy, tempted as she was to be sarcastic, she turned with a glance and in that second chose not to be. What happened had nothing to do with him. "She had a telepathic assault. They're not sure what attacked her."

"Is she all right?" Chill asked.

"We don't know. It literally just happened," she dumped the collected glass into the trash bin then swept the mop over the floor. "I spoke with Venus. Astral's taken her upstairs. She's awake but it doesn't look good."

"Thank God she's all right for now," Chill sighed in relief. "has Garston said anything? Are we going to do something?"

Mandy rolled her eyes and tromped over to the refrigerator, grabbing another Warsteiner from the back. "I said she was awake, but it doesn't look good," She grabbed an opener from the draw and made quick about removing the lid. "We don't know what attacked her or the extent of the damage.... " She paused to take a long swig from the bottle then set it on the counter. With a pause she looked up to him. "It did something to her, Garston had to suppress her abilities."

"I see," Chill said. "Whatever attacked her must've been strong for Garston to resort to that measure. Is there anything we can do to help?"

"I don't know," Mandy said.

She leaned back against the refrigerator with a hard thump and picked at the label on the bottle before looking to him again. "Garston's in a meeting with the woman Achilles and Arcas brought in."

"She's from The Consortium, that’s a meeting I don't want to interrupt," Chill said. "I've already checked the security videos. Maybe we could do a sweep of the grounds? We might catch something with our eyes that the cameras didn't."

"Sure, whatever," she pushed away from the refrigerator and tossed the bottle cap at the trash can. Lowering her sunglasses over her eyes, she stepped out the front door and let it slam as she walked out. She was angry and really didn't want to speak with anyone, not about her feelings or anything in general.

[Archivist]

Originally Posted by - Hollow

Matt had witnessed the whole thing, but unlike what had grown into the usual for him. Having followed Torque and Arcas, he stayed invisible and fixated upon the daemon before the blast sent him flying back into a wall, knocking him out.

Coming too he looked around seeing students still there, starting to think he was just having a hallucination until he heard their words. They spoke of the creature, and their concern for Sharon. Some, those who had been there when Matt had first become a student, remembered but didn’t speak of it. Matt knew they didn’t want to share the horrors they went through. Forcing himself to his feet, he headed out back.

"We'll do a perimeter check." Setes said to Chill. The words seemed to ring in Matt's ears as he turned to the men walking towards him.

Phasing into visibility just before them he'd speak for the first time in what felt like ages to him. "They're gone... for now... and believe me, if there were anymore, there would be nothing you two could do. Trust me..." His looked from them to Mandy, only to find her gone.

He'd have to find her later. Returning his gaze to the pair he was talking to. "The only things that can be found when they come are horror… Horrors beyond what you two can even imagine. You weren't here when they first came to the Mansion. Those of us who were remember what we went through won’t speak if it. The best thing to do is to stick with the herd, then to wander alone." He wasn't sure if they would head him, frankly, he didn’t care at the moment, he just wanted, needed, to be with Mandy.

Looking to the dirt on the ground he noticed the freshest tracks, he hoped they were Mandy's. Following them to the rose garden, he knew where to go from there. Matt phased to invisibility.

Making his way through the garden labyrinth he pushed through a hidden door. Only vines blocked the way here, no thorns to worry about. Coming through he found her sitting on a stone bench with a very unhappy look about her. She nursed a beer which was something he had never seen her do. The place she was in, only they knew, aside from Garston who knew every inch of the campus. Sitting next to her he revealed himself.

"Hey beautiful..." He forced a smile through his nervous fear. He knew she'd recognize it as a forced smile, but he recognized the smile she forced too.

"You see it too?" he asked, nervously.

Mandy nodded slowly. "What was it?"

He could hear the anger for whatever it was that attacked Sharon in her quivering voice. Shaking his head slightly he looked deep into her eyes. "It's best if you don't know..."

"Matt, you can't decide what I should know and shouldn't...I'll look into the security tapes if I have too!" She persisted.

"Mandy, don't... Nothing scares me except the thought of losing you, so if this has scared me so much, I couldn’t help Sharon, then why would you want to see it?" His voice was almost pleading, like any other guy; he hated admitting when he was scared, or what he was afraid of. Not that he had a big list: losing Mandy, his little brother, and what the daemon signified still existed, what he had had random nightmares over for years.

Closing her eyes forcing back the urge to do anything irrational to him, she was in no mood to be told what to do, not even from Matt. Maybe it was the beer or her emotions at play. She had to see the tapes. She had to know. She wanted and needed to remember.

From behind her, she could hear Matt's calls for her to stop, summoning her back to him. As much as she hated it, she ignored him as she rushed through the maze of bushes and went into the mansion.

[Double Fire]

Mandy was angry all right; something was going on and she felt she’d been involved with it before. Her instincts screamed for her to remember. Her mind reflected on what she did remember- a time that to her felt like the beginning of the end for many things. Filled with the sensations, she swerved around barely stopping at the French doors, calling back to Matt. “You’re either with me or you’re not!”

Not waiting for his response, she swung the door open and charged inside. She was tense, entering that military mode she’d learned from her time in CAP and being an Air Force officer’s daughter. She glanced at others as she passed them. Even Arcas offered her a warm greeting as he spoke with Achilles and Chill.

“What’s the rush, Splitz?” Achilles asked.

She was too preoccupied with her thoughts to answer, and then Matt appeared in front of her, grabbing her arm and stopping her. “Don’t do this Mandy, please.”

Sucking in her breath, she released it slowly. “I’m giving you three seconds to let go of my arm.” There was a clear undertone of threat to her voice. “One….”

“I know what this is, and I remember how hard it was for you.” Matt bravely stepped closer. “Trust me, you don’t want to remember.”

She jerked her arm free from his grasp. “Maybe you’re the one who doesn’t want to remember but I need to know.”

"No, you asked Snow to take your memories." Matt said. "It was that bad. You couldn't…"

“What’s going on here?” Achilles, their leader, was not about to ignore the scene and placed himself in their path.

“I need to see the security footage.” Mandy said.

“We were about to review them,” Achilles said. “Why don’t you join us?”

“Bad idea…” Matt started.

Achilles raised his hand. “It’s all right Hollow, I understand where you’re coming from. Still, I think Mandy can handle it.” He set a hand to her shoulder as he guided them to the security room in the lower levels.

Inside, Venus was seated at the controls going through the various recordings. They watched the fight Arcas and Torque had along with several others.

Mandy paid close attention, not sure what she was looking for. She just knew there was something familiar about all of it. She was shaking her head slowly when she saw it, the daemon that made things click for her. A fiery little red beast bloated itself and turned into a bouncing yellow smiley face. It attacked two students then zipped down the hall with a cackle.

“Mojo,” Matt said.

Unconsciously, Mandy stepped back from the monitors as the memories flooded back; the invasion, the capture and imprisonment, being shackled to a dungeon wall.

It made her sick to remember, to see what the camera’s recorded. The little girl inside her, that still cried for her father, urged her to run to Sharon. The mature and trained Psionic stood firm with a clenched jaw as the memories invaded. She closed her eyes, refusing to tolerate the emotions and pain from the past. She barely felt the hand on her shoulder.

“Careful Splitz, you don’t want to be like Zetes.” Achilles’ concern was clear in his voice. “I remember as well as you do.”

She shook her head and took a step back giving him a look of anger and pain. “You weren’t over there. It was like being in hell.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there, I do regret that,” Achilles gently squeezed her shoulder. “Now that we know what we’re dealing with things will be different.”

“They damn well better be.” Her firm tone surprised everyone, including herself. She turned on her heel and stepped out of the room.

Reaching the main levels, she crossed paths with Arcas and Torque emerging from Garston’s office. She folded her arms and was about to say something when a hand clapped down on her shoulder.

“Get back down there Splitz,”

Freezing, she turned slowly to see Achilles as he lifted his hand and pointed over his shoulder.

“Sim Training,” He ordered. "It's the best way to get it out."

“I was going to see Sharon.” She claimed. What she really wanted to do was find her Glock and do some damage.

Achilles motioned with his hand again. “I think you need time in training maybe the firing range?"

"I need my Glock," She looked from him to Garston, standing at his office door. A faint smile twitched at the corner of her lips. Without another word she headed upstairs.

[Snow Leopard]

Sharon felt too restless to stay in bed. Despite what Garston had to do, her instincts were still sharp, and something nagged at them. She couldn't ignore that tic in the back of her mind. Tossing off the covers, she dressed in jeans and a t-shirt then made her way down to her office. She wanted to look at the information she received.

Reaching the back of the library she unlocked her office and stepped inside. She left the door ajar as she flipped on the light and booted the computer. At the brief counter behind the door she poured water into the coffee maker and set the grinds pack into the basket. Selecting a mug, she grabbed a cloth and wiped it out. She rather liked her little Brewmeister; it was quick on the perk. Fixing a cup for herself she then sat at her desk and turned to her computer.

She rubbed both hands over her face fighting a yawn. She flexed her shoulders and tapped the keyboard to bring up the files. She glanced over the chart her computer produced from the reports. Red dots littered the image of Europe, forming a spiral shape. Furrowing her brow, she leaned closer to the monitor. “That can’t be.” She whispered.

She sat back as memories flashed through her mind of that dark period for the Garston Institute. She worked to pull up a more focused map of the area, bringing up pictures of the area. What she saw practically raised her stress levels. “Valencia.” She whispered. Her eyes locked onto the monitor and the stone castle at the epicenter.

Unconsciously, she had pressed her hands back to her face, as if that would remove the memories. Images she knew no one wanted to remember. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” She whispered. Leaving her office, she headed to Garston's.

[Archivist]

Originally posted by Hollow

The sound of the speed back could be heard coming from the gym. A wrapped ungloved fist slammed into the bag as another one replaced it rhythmically, keeping the spring sack of sand moving.

Everything going on was getting to Matt and sometimes sitting in the middle of a rose garden didn't help relieve the tension or stress. Letting his frustrations out all at once he hit the bag so hard it ripped the spring out of the base.

Propping an arm on the wall, he leaned against it, breathing heavy and drenched in sweat. He grabbed his towel and dab at his forehead. Bared chest, he was clad in blue jeans and urban assault combat boots. His shirt lied on the floor, across the room by the larger sandbag.

"You do know other people use that too, right?" The voice came from behind Matt.

Turning, he saw Garston in the doorway. "Yea, sorry, didn't mean to break it..."

"Talk to me Matt.” Garston stepped closer, one hand in pant pocket. He had the ‘father-like’ sense about him, the way he did when one of his students was in need. “Tell me what’s wrong."

Looking Garston, all the things happening weren't Garston's fault, and he didn't want to take it out on him. He tapped his head lightly. "Like you don't know..."

"I remember when you were all taken,” Garston knelt, picking up a handful of sand then letting it fall between his fingers. He looked up to Matt with a crooked smirk. “I may never know the horrors you experienced, not firsthand but I do remember."

"I wouldn't want you to go through my memories of it... Believe me I'm doing you a favor." He sat on the ground, rubbing a scar on his right shoulder.

"I get it," Garston grimaced. At the buzz of his cell phone he dug it out of his pocket. Seeing the name on the call screen, he held up a finger. "Triton, good to hear from you…. Yes, I've spoken with Torque." He waved to Matt and walked away as he talked. "I have a few students in mind. Some have graduated. We'll have to track them down."

Matt watched him leave then returned his attention to the bag giving it a firm punch with his left fist.

[Adam]

Originally posted by Hollow

"One of the daemons attacked the school prematurely, sir." Adam looked to the screen at the silhouette of his boss. Occasionally he would glance to Eve, his sister, who stood behind the monitor.

"Those idiots! The psionics cannot know I live still, that will ruin all our plans!" The silhouette on the screen moved, raising a fist to shake it.

"Sir, he was sent to nab a psionic from New York, not the school.... but what does it matter if Yates finds out? Her team can't match our armies now that we've doubled our forces. And two of their team we don't have to worry about, one's dead and the other we have."

Eve grinned as Adam reported this. She stepped around the console to his side, with a gloating smile. "In fact, it is the team leader.... the one who gave us the most trouble."

"What about the girl who dispersed heat through microwaves?"

"She was with him; she was killed during the attempted capture…" Eve said.

"I see..." Their boss cooed. "So that narrows Yates' team down to what four or five?"

"Yes, and only two are at the school with Yates...."

"You mean only two that you know of... I will not allow you to foul my plans with your over confidence. This time we wait!" With that the screen went black.

"Don't worry brother," Eve nudged him with her shoulder. "We will be victorious."

"Unlike last time?" He asked. "I fear that he's right. That we might be overconfident in this."

"We underestimated them last time." Eve grabbed up her 9mm to secure it in the holster on her hip. "That won't happen this time."

"Remember who we're dealing with." Adam said.

"Of course," she laughed. "That's why we have the daemons."

[Torque]

After watching the training session, Tami made her way to the library looking for a quiet place to sit. Dropping down near one of the windows, she opened the manila folder again to review the photographs. She was grateful for the fact that they were in black and white.

Studying the images of her case, she knew the style, suspected who the perpetrator may be, and it chilled her to the bones. She searched for something the field investigators might have missed. “I know you’re there.” She whispered.

Her long fingers glided over the 8x10 glossy of the latest victim, pulled from the Potomac. Something caught her eye, just a spec but enough to put her on her feet. She tried getting a closer look by turning and viewing the image in direct sunlight.

The long strands of her blonde hair fell over her left shoulder, catching the sun which radiated off the image and into her eyes. “Bah!” She flinched and stepped away from the light. Rubbing at her eyes, she took several steps away from the window. As she turned, she noticed a door to the back of the library was cracked open. There was a dim light coming from it and the sound of rustling papers. Curiosity got the best of her and she investigated. Stepping to the door, she noticed the name plate:

Dr. Sharon Yates PhD
Professor of Biology

Tami started to put her hand on the knob then held back, deciding to push the door instead. Someone was inside; the computer was sorting through files and deleting them, papers were being sifted through on the desk. Tami leaned back against the door frame with a sly smirk on her face. “I could’ve sworn Garston said the offices were always locked.” She folded her arms waiting for the person to notice her.

The papers stopped moving, the only sound came from the computer in a monotone voice. “File deletion complete.”

“Damn it Torque,” Benny lowered his invisible shielding. “What the hell are you doing here? How did you see me?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I had an accident, what’s your excuse?”

“Tracking someone and erasing their tracks as usual,” He stepped in front of her and raised his hand to her cheek. “You know I can't talk about what's classified from Versailles.”

She grabbed his wrist and pulled it away, holding it down while piercing her nails into his skin. “Don’t even try that garbage with me.” She hissed at him. “Benny Quinn, you may be a good tracker but don't expect me to believe you're working for Headquarters now."

“I have my orders….” He pried her fingers from his wrist and sneered at her. He glanced at her before turning to shut down the computer. “You’re the one who's not supposed to be here.”

“That's where you're wrong,” She said. "I'm the one here on orders. You don't work for us anymore." She pushed him, forcing him down to the classic wooden office chair. Then she whacked him in the back of his neck, with just enough pressure in the right spot. Moving quickly, she caught him before he slid out of the chair. “Sorry to rain on your parade.”

Once again, she was distracted from her assignment. She tied Benny’s hands behind the chair and started looking at the papers he was sifting through. She had no love loss with the trackers, especially Benny Quinn. Their job was to track new psionics and approach them, letting them know The Consortium was available. Sometimes, they also mentioned The Garston Institute. It was about letting new psionics know there were people out there to help them. Some had a way of interfering and screwing things up for trained field agents.
What she found among the papers baffled her, the printouts of different profiles from teachers and students already part of Garston Institute.

She searched him, whatever he was up to, it looked official. He had the equipment usually assigned to a tracker on dispatch: com-watch, scan-shades which were basically fancy sunglasses with computer chips installed. She checked his coat pockets, not sure what she was looking for, but she knew him too well. What she found on his leg made her furrowed her brow. He wore a metal band around his ankle which she knew allowed The Consortium to track a bad tracker. “So, you have been misbehaving, haven't you Benny?”

She stood, placed her hands on her hips, and drummed her fingers as she looked down at him. Noticing part of a chain around his neck, she pulled it out from under his shirt. A flash drive swung free and dangled on the ring that held it to the chain. “Who are you working for?”

She was now more than curious as to why he had collected copies of files on teachers and students at Garston. Connecting the flash drive to Sharon’s computer she found the same files in electronic form. "What the hell are you up to?"

Gathering up the information she found a file folder for them and dropped the flash drive inside. Leaning on the desk, she tried to think of what she could do with Benny, she just wasn’t sure. She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and made a call.

"Torque, I hope you have something for me." Joe Pierce said.

"One moment Sir, I'm patching in Garston." She said.

"No need I'm right here." Garston joined her, stepping through the door.

She handed him the file then folded her arms tight across her chest. "Benny's working for someone else and it looks like they're using Consortium tech."

“Benny Quinn, who are you working for?" Garston asked.

The tracker groaned and mumbled as his head flopped from the side forward.

"I might've hit him a little too hard." A smirk twitched at the corner of her mouth.

"Let's see what's going on inside his mind." Garson moved toward Benny, turning the chair so Benny faced him.