Blue Cove, Delaware:
The Centre
 

'Another pretender?' Nikita thought. "Another pretender?" She repeated,this time aloud. After 23 years at the Centre- for as long as she couldremember- she had never faced such a daunting, yet exciting possibility.She could already imagine the fun they could have together; she had neverhad a real friend before. But where was he? She had never seen anyone elselike her here.

"I'm afraid so." interrupted Mr. Raines.

Her fantasy shattered. She snapped her head up and returned to reality.Yep, just wheezy.

"He escaped almost 5 years ago and he's been on a killing spree sincelast week. All our efforts to stop him have been thwarted; he's just toosmart. What makes it especially sick is he helps these people before hekills them. He likes to play the hero." He took a dramatic pause as ifhe felt for the victims. He'd been acting weird since he found God. " Anyway." He said returning from his reverie." The important thing is that youcatch him. I'll give you my best people to work with and every resourceat your disposal. Understood?"

"Yes sir." She said not revealing her disappointment.

"Good. Ms. Parker, Sydney, and Broots will be waiting for you outsidemy office. They will brief you on anything you need to know about Jarod.You may leave now. " Jarod, huh? She thought. Funny that Wheezy hardlymentioned his name. She suppressed a chill as she passed by him on theway out. He always gave her the creeps.

Outside waited an odd pair: A tall brown haired woman w/ nice clothes,Miss Parker, she assumed, and an older distinguished looking man in hissixties. No, make that an odd group, a balding man was slightly coweringto the side. She walked up to the woman and stuck out her hand. " Hi, I'mNikita. Nice to meet you, Miss Parker."

"You must be the other pretender. " She took Nikita's hand and muttered."Any relation to Frankenboy?"

"No." She said "Is that German?"

Ms Parker laughed. The older man nodded in her direction. "Sydney."

Nikita turned to the cowering man- that had come in a little closer-and said, " You must be Broots."

He looked up at her as if startled. " Uh yeah, that's me. If you everneed to know anything about Jarod, oh or computers, I'm your man. " Hechuckled nervously.

"Don't worry. We don't let him out at night. " Ms. Parker said to Nikita.

Broots looked at Nikita, a little embarrassed. "She's just kidding."He laughed again.

Ms Parker snorted and changed the subject. Taking her arm and leadingher to her office. " So, where shall we start?"

******

Five hours later she had assimilated everything Jarod had done on theoutside. Focusing especially on his actions over the past week. It justdidn't make any sense. How does someone go from being altruistic to serialkiller? Drugs; or maybe a mental breakdown that had been coming for years?

"Hey Sydney, you have known Jarod almost all his life, right? Why wouldhe suddenly snap? "

"I don't know Nikita. He was never meant for the outside world. Whoknows if he can even distinguish between right and wrong anymore? That'swhy we need to get him back. " Sydney felt a little twinge of guilt forlying, but if he thought she could get Jarod back . . . . .

"Okay; I think I know where to find him. " She said with some reservation.She had a feeling they weren't telling her everything. " I narrowed itdown to two newspaper clippings, and Intel from one of the places indicatedhe wasn't there. I got a positive confirmation from this one here." Sheprinted out the clipping, handing a copy to Sydney, Broots, and Ms. Parker.

Ms Parker quickly scanned over the article. She looked up and flashedwhat was sure to be a rare grin. "Today's my lucky day. The jet can beready in 15 minutes"

"Wait. " Nikita said to Ms Parker- who was already halfway out the door-" I think we should try a different approach. Every time you have gonein waving your guns he gets away."

"And why is that? " She pulled a cigarette out, lit it, and inhaleda deep long drag before she leaned forward, blowing it in Nikita's face."Are you saying I don't know how to do my job?"

Before Nikita could answer, Sydney jumped in. " I think Nikita has apoint, maybe a more discreet approach could work."

"Great, now Jarod has another mommy. " She waved her hands emphaticallyat the last word. "What are you suggesting?" She asked in a more restrainedvoice.

"I could go undercover. When I get close to him, I grab him."

"Yeah and we could be your backup, " Broots nodded enthusiastically.

"Shut up Broots." Ms. Parker turned back toward the younger woman. "Nikita,they let you outside?"

"Yes, unlike Jarod I was allowed to work on the outside for certainSims, but I was always safe. There were sweepers nearby to ensure my safety."

"Safety, or presence? " Asked Broots, laughing at his own joke.

"And they didn't worry about you, umm. . , escaping? " Ms Parker soundedsurprised.

"Why would I want to leave the Centre? It is the best place to fullymaximize my potential." She responded. Her cobalt blue eyes stared at Ms.Parker innocently.

"Well, then I guess someone finally realizes where they belong. Oh,and we are going with you. " She grinned at Broots, " So if you are wrong,we can serve you up on a silver platter to the Triumvirate." She pulledout her phone, " Fire up the jet. " She ordered and clicked it shut. "Saddle up boys. We're going to Texas. "

******

Austin, Texas:

Jarod looked up from his paper, grinning, it read: Al Bore arrestedfor attempted assassination on president elect Jeorge W. Gush; FBI agentshard work to thank.

"Job well done everyone. We always knew this one would snap, " saidone of the special agents, "We just need to tie up a couple of loose endsand finish some paper work. So, we can all go home."

"Good, those secret service agents were starting to annoy me. They can'teven baby-sit the President by themselves. " said another. Everyone laughed.

Home, Jarod mused. Where should he go next? They would never think tolook for him here- too public. They'll come eventually though. I probablyhave a week. He excused himself from the room and called Sydney.

"Sydney here."

"Hi Sydney."

"Jarod, how have you been? It's been a while."

"I tried your office; where are you? Sydney, are you in an airplane?"

"Very clever Jarod."

Jarod tensed up slightly, " Where are you going?"

"Oh, I'm overdue for a vacation. Why so interested?"

Jarod laughed. " I thought you had already found me."

"No, I didn't find you; although, as Ms. Parker would say, the worldis changing. Just be careful, okay? Ghosts from your past can come backto haunt you."

"And I thought it was my job to play games with you. "

Sydney let out a forced laugh. " Just watch out for ghosts, okay Jarod?I have to go."

Hmm, Jarod thought, that was strange. As if anything to do with theCentre wasn't. What did he mean about ghosts, though? Someone from hispast that he brought to justice? But they weren't dead. Dead? Oh no. Heremembered about 24 years ago the Centre told him that he had accidentallykilled someone's parents. A young girl; she was four or five when she wasbrought to the Centre. They said he had given the Centre faulty informationon a sim. Mr. Raines told him he couldn't mention her to anyone, or meether, because she would hate him for killing her parents.

One of the first things he did when he got out was to check that out.It turned out that Mr. Raines had kidnapped the girl just like he kidnappedhim. He knew nothing else about her, if she was still in the Centre, oranything. But still, if he had been responsible in any way . . . Sydneywould tell him. He looked up and realized he was back at his apartment.He barely noticed that he had been driving. He pulled into the drivewayand went inside.

He sat at his computer and fidgeted nervously at the screen. Finallyhe grabbed his phone and called Sydney.

"Hey Sydney. " He said anxiously.

"Jarod. " Sydney responded enthusiastically.

"Tell me about something. " Jarod continued.

"About what? "

" 24 years ago there was a little girl, 4 or 5. The Centre said I killedher parents with faulty sim information. She was a pretender too. Theysaid I couldn't mention her to anyone. What was her name? I don't know;I did some digging, no pun intended, on Raines' story and it didn't checkout. Records show her parents died in a car crash. I came across a codenamefor her project: Scorpio. Maybe her sign?" he hurried.

"Slow down Jarod "

"And I don't even know if her parents are dead- they said the car explodedand burned for a while- no remains were found. Sydney, I have to know ifI'm responsible for her parents' death- for bringing her to the Centre." His voice was filled with a mixture of guilt and disgust.

"I'm sorry, but what do you want from me? "

"I need the Centre mainframe access code for tomorrow. "

There was an awkward silence. " I don't think I can help you with thisone."

"Why not Sydney? "

 " Because, you might not need to find her." Sydney hung the phone.

'Hmm.' He thought putting the phone down. Maybe she will find me.

******

Austin, Texas
The Centre Jet

"Finally, we're here. " Ms. Parker fumed. " We could have walked herefaster ".

"Actually, it would take about 8 days to walk here; but who's counting?"

"You're a genius all right; but an hour to get clearance to land? Andthey went through all our stuff."

"It's probably because of what happened with Gush and Bore; tightersecurity. " Nikita replied.

"You think? " Ms Parker snipped. " I didn't even vote for that moron,but he found a way to ruin my day. No, it was probably Special Agent JarodSykes' fault; he knew we'd come eventually. But this time were not onestep behind." she flashed a wicked smile at everyone. " I wonder what I'lldo with him first? " she pulled a cigarette out and twirled it around inher fingers. Sydney and Broots exchanged an amused look. " What? " Ms.Parker defended herself with a galre. " He's put me through so much, allof us. Except maybe you Nikita " Sydney looked away and shifted uncomfortably." what is it Syd? Don't tell me Jarod did something to Nikita too? " Sheasked sarcastically.

"There may be some past there " Sydney responded. " you never know inthe Centre ".

"Nikita, here's your ID"; he printed out the rest of the informationfor her. Special agent Nikita Wilkes. She absorbed the rest of the information;filing it back for later reference: current status: undercover- investigatingspecial agent Jarod Sykes. Undercover ID: the room service lady; objective:break into agent Sykes' computer, get any information on fowl play. Nikita'sactual objective: get caught and exposed as an undercover agent. Got it,she thought. So when he knows
I'm lying, he'll think its just about being a room service lady. "Got
it ", she said to Broots, and stuck the paper in the shredder. " wedon't want anyone else to see this ".

"Lets go " said Ms. Parker. Funny, Ms Parker thought, Sydney has beenawfully quiet; she could've sworn she heard him talking to Jarod earlier.

Nikita stepped out of the plane, not waiting for the others; she smiledand inhaled. Ah, fresh air, she thought. Sydney, Broots, and Ms Parkerlagged behind a little.

"Man, what kind of lies have they been feeding her, Syd? " Ms Parkerasked.

"The same we fed Jarod " Sydney sighed and looked away. " She's verybright, it's only a matter of time before she finds out the truth."

"Well, just in case her loyalty doesn't last, " Ms Parker opened herjacket revealing her gun; letting the sentence finish itself.

"Hurry up! " Nikita yelled back at them.

"Curious Georgette goes to the airport. " Ms Parker muttered to them.

"Coming! " She said loudly enough to be heard.

"I guess this is frankengirl's first field trip."

"What's this?" They heard a giggle from ahead.

"Come on, we better catch up. " Ms Parker replied.

They arrived to find Nikita staring at a piece of pizza. " So let meget this strait, you make a container out of bread, and you pile all ofthese . . . pieces of sliced processed meat and vegetables-"

"They're called toppings. " He interjected.

"On top." She finished. "I see. May I have one piece please."

"Okay, that's gonna run you 3 big ones." Nikita looked a little perplexedand reach into her wallet. "I have three regular sized ones." She handedhim $3.

"Funny." He said. "Hey, where is she from guys? Who hasn't heard ofpizza?"

As Nikita was wandering away and eating her pizza, Ms Parker leanedin and told the man, "She's a little, " She pursed her lips and glanceddown for a second and gave him an innocent look, "you know, slow; everythingis kind of new to her. "

Broots giggled loudly.

"No comments from the peanut gallery. " She glared at him. Her innocentexpression left faster than it had appeared.

"We'll have 3 more slices, thanks. I think we'd better be going now."Said Sydney.

Ms Parker grinned at them, "Wait till she finds out about shopping."

"Careful Parker, you might be starting to develop a normal relationship."

She tried to shrug off that ridiculous notion, but couldn't help butrealize the similarities between Nikita and Jarod. If circumstances hadbeen different with Jarod . . .what am I thinking, she chided herself.

"Lets go guys."

They finished their pizza and hurried to their hotel; stopping onlyfor occasional explanations and miraculous discoveries by Nikita.

When they arrived, they checked into their rooms with Nikita and MsParker sharing one, and Broots and Sydney sharing next door. After theyunpacked and settled in, Broots set up Nikita's computer/ workstation.

"Here you go, Nikita, " said Broots. He took the mouse and explainedthe system, where everything was. "You have unlimited access to the Internet.And...." He said grinning, and looked around as if someone might be listeningto them; he lowered his voice. "...if you need to get into any top secretfiles, I made this excellent decryption program- guaranteed to get youin any military and civilian system (excluding the Centre) in two hours.Welcome to the Quantico FBI academy." Broots said, pulling up her firsttraining exercise.

"Thank you Broots. " She flashed him a smile as she slid into her chair.

"Come on yawl." Ms Parker drawled . "Lets go check out the mini bar."

"If you don't mind Nikita, I'd like to stay with you " Sydney said withrestrained anticipation.

"Sure." said Nikita.

"Good, you won't even know I'm here." said Sydney, setting up his videocamera.

"Look they're making a video " Broots commented innocently.

Ms Parker let out a snicker, but quickly contained it.

"What? " Broots asked.

"The way you said that? " she gave in to her snicker, no longer ableto help herself. She led Broots out the door and patted him on his back."Let's just say it's the kind of movie that you need your mommy with youto see. "

"A . . .puh puh ... " Broots trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

"It's called a porno..." She laughed, articulating the last word. "...onedayI'll tell you all about it."
 
 

feedback : nikita_eve@excite.com
 
 

Part 2