As before, a dark lithe figure was waiting for him on top of a building. He leapt towards her and landed heavily on the rooftops. He was powerful, Midnight Five, but sometimes his power made him clumsier.
She didn't answer him immediately. She was staring straight pass the city line, up at the moon. Full moon tonight, thought Midnight Five. It was very round and bright tonight; the smooth orb lit up the entire black sky. At first he thought it was the light causing her eyes to water, but her lip was trembling; something was wrong.
"Cybersix."
"Midnight Five," she began, her voice suddenly steady, "Something has gone wrong."
"Is it Von Reichter?"
"No... no. Nothing like that. A more personal matter. Kayla... our sister... I brought her back, but the experiment was faulty. She retains no memories of the last twenty or so years. I left her alone to sort things out, and when I returned, she was gone."
"I see." Midnight Five was impassive. It wasn't that he was unconcerned; but he didn't know this woman, although he knew she meant a great deal to his sister. Family ties are strange, he mused, they made a person weak, but it gives him strength too. But we are not normal people. Does this emotion make us strong too?
"She possesses the strength to kill ten strong men in an instant. I'm afraid... I'm afraid she'll hurt herself- or other people; even if she doesn't mean to."
There was truth to her words, thought Midnight Five. He was keen enough to know that that was not the primary reason why she wanted Kayla found... but a confused Cyber on the loose was dangerous.
He nodded. "I will look for her. What does she look like?"
"Like me." Cybersix smiled a little.
"I will keep my eyes opened," he promised.
Kayla slept for the rest of the night, on the streets. She was afraid, but somehow she knew that no one would disturb her; she knew they wouldn't get a chance to.
She dreamed again. She didn't know she was dreaming; few dreamers do.
Birds sang among the gently rustling trees. Here and there shone patchy spots of sunlight in the meadow where she was practicing. Even as she concentrated and focused, she couldn't help but feel a strange sense of stillness; serenity, calm, perhaps even... peace?
She exhaled as her katana sliced through the air and zipped back, Such a graceful weapon; he told her that it was difficult to master yet it seemed she was born holding the blade.
"Have you been here all morning?"
She stopped and straightened silently without turning her head. She said simply, graceful still, "It's not nice to spy on people."
Ryuu grinned like a little boy. The master had been skeptical at first of her; he rarely accepted foreign students, especially female. But she proved him otherwise by defeating his son, Ryuu, in combat. "You knew I was here all this time and didn't say anything?"
"I have nothing to fear."
He walked into her view and sat on a log, staring at her. "You know that's not true; and you, of all people, have many secrets to hide."
"They're not very secretive if you know them now, are they?" She parried.
His boyish grin disappeared, replaced by a softer, more secretive half smile. "I can find out many things that are supposed to be secretive. My father knows more about you, but I know some things. You aren't normal. You're... special."
"That's very sweet of you," she teased mildly, but she was interested as well. He was right; she wasn't normal, not by far. She knew that she needed sustenance to survive, which made her different; but there was something else. She was growing more graceful and stronger every day; it intrigued her, but also disturbed her. The master knew this; that was why he was so concerned about her especially. He seemed to know something about her that she had yet to learn.
She wasn't worried however. The master was a little mischievous old man, but he cared for his students, and was protective of them. Any knowledge of herself that he withheld from her would be for her own good; she intuitively knew that.
She closed her eyes and rubbed them. He was right; she had trained hard. She was tired, though happy.
"You haven't seen the city since you came here, have you?"
She shook her head. "It's so big; I'm afraid of getting lost."
"I'll show you," said Ryuu, offering his arm, "Today we are supposed to relax anyway, not work."
She smiled. "That would be nice."
Kayla stirred, as sunlight teased her closed eyes. Her mind grasped at the remnants of the dream, but it was disappearing quickly from her. She yawned and stretched. It was a nice dream.
She frowned, as she thought deeply. It was hard to concentrate with the noise made by the shuffling crowds, but she blocked out the other people. She wondered if it was a memory, or a dream. It was so different from the other dream. She was happy, calm, enjoying herself. Was it real? Perhaps they were both real... or perhaps neither of them. Perhaps they were simply that: dreams. She sighed; she wasn't going to get into this today- it gave her a headache.
She stuffed the blanket in one of her bags and moved to a public washroom. Today she was going to look for a job. If she had to lie, perhaps not knowing whether it was true or not would make it easier.
She pinned up her long, dark hair. First impressions were important, she thought. She liked her hair up anyway; it was neater, and more sophisticated.
Just before she left, she reached into her jacket pocket and touched something. She pulled it out. They were a pair of small, oval-shaped glasses, silvery gray in color. She unfolded them and put them on. She glanced at the mirror. There was a stately dressed woman with dark hair pulled away from her face, and pretty dark eyes framed by thin glasses smiling at her. She smiled back.
"You have an impressive background, Ms. Diedrich. Unitech is one of the world's most renowned IT corporations and it seems your former employer recommends you highly."
"Thank you, sir."
"I haven't confirmed your reference to NYU, but I see already that you are an honest, industrial worker, Ms. Diedrich. It isn't often we have someone as experienced as you come to Meridiana, especially one so young."
She tilted her head. "I'm 25, sir."
"Oh!" He was surprised. Well, he should be, she thought, since I'm not. Like in the dream, she had no idea how old she was, but she estimated herself to be around 22... but definitely not 25. "You look like a university student!"
She smiled. "Thank you, I take it as a compliment."
"Well, I see no reason to delay. I expect you to start before the week ends. Your first check will come in approximately a week after you begin working." He rose to shake her hand. "Welcome to Tritel, Ms Diedrich!"
"Is something wrong, miss?"
"What?" She was disoriented. "Oh... nothing... I'm sorry. Yes, thank you sir. I'll... begin working as soon as I can," she said dazedly.
She left the office quickly, holding her head. What was that?
She sat stonily on top of the office building, leaning against a gargoyle statue. She didn't jump around often, because she sensed it was not normal; she rarely saw anyone at such heights. But she felt that she needed to be alone, especially to hear her thoughts.
"What's happening to me?!" she cried out loud in frustration.
The sky did not have an answer. She closed her eyes. For a moment in the office, she was somewhere else. Her mind remembered the images... but it did not know what they were. It was as if she had been outside her mind, watching the memories of someone else, the sounds, sights, smells… it was as if she was watching from a television. It really was a strange sensation. It only lasted for a moment, a second really. She concentrated. There was a boy- about sixteen. He had red hair and solemn brown eyes.
Maybe it was a fluke. Maybe it was simply her mind wandering, a break in concentration. Yes, that was it. The more she thought about it, the stronger she believed in it.
I have things to do, she thought, I have been under stress. That's all.
That afternoon, she was in luck. An apartment building, Marina Towers, had space for rent. It was a posh affair, stately and had a wonderful view of the sea. She went inside to apply.
It was a beautiful apartment. It was amazing. It was perfect. She fell in love with it at first sight.
The woman was greatly impressed that she was working at Tritel (Kayla had, of course, refrained from mentioning she didn't begin working until the next week), and the amount she asked for seemed steep, but reasonable for a person in such a high-earning field. She signed the contract "KAYLA DIEDRICH."
She still had no attachment to the name, nor acknowledged it as her own. It was all a play, she thought; the name seemed no more hers than Allison, or Kim. She considered it a fake name, just like her fake papers. But those papers and bank accounts were under a person named Kayla Diedrich. She had to use the name to get to her money and her things. But it didn't matter. As long as she could make money and own an apartment, she didn't care what her name was.
She had dinner at a Chinese restaurant downtown. As she waited for her bill, she skimmed through an old notebook she found with her things. It was written in German, but somehow, she knew German. It was not written by her, but by a woman named Marryn.
" Von Reichter is brilliant; he confides in me that he sees solutions to our problems in his dreams; formulas, equations, chemicals. I do not know if this is true, but his 'dreams' are certainly very accurate.
Today I heard more Jews screaming. I have become used to their cries of pain, but this was different; bone-chilling. It came from Von Reichter's lab, the place where no one dares step foot, and I have only seen twice. He is doing something to them, but what?"
Von Reichter... the name sent shivers down her spine. For once, something was familiar to her. She heard that name before... she didn't know if Cybersix mentioned it, but something within her stirred; anger, pain, hatred... fear. Intuitively, she thought, This is the man who created Kayla... who created me. This is the man who wanted to own the world. He is a killer. He destroyed the cybers. He killed me.
The bill came. She paid, and left, still reading the book. She skipped a few entries, skimming here and there. This woman was extraordinarily smart; she was cold, at first, seeing the Jews as nothing but test subjects. But she was also compassionate; she liked her colleague even if she feared him, and she loved her work. Soon, even she could see that Von Reichter was insane. She had left the project- their team was trying to create life from dead tissue, and frozen eggs- before it was completed.
There were formulas recorded. One prominent one was the creation of "sustenance". The woman had a major part in its discovery, she and Von Reichter. Kayla was fascinated.
As she walked home past the homeless people, her fingers turned the ancient pages of the diary. She glanced briefly at the people she passed by: dirty, forsaken, sad. There were prostitutes lined up on the side of an alley. Her lip curled in disgust. Prostitution… she could never stoop that low.
"Downtown. I was going undercover as a prostitute," said Kayla casually, "He sells information, and very good information at that."
"Oh." Cybersix didn't know what to say. "Did you-"
"Of course not. I have standards, you know."
She stopped. It happened again! Did it? What was that?
It had lasted less than five seconds. Was it a flashback? She felt like she was being ripped in two; she had no idea of anything anymore. But it was so slight, so vague. For all she knew, she was daydreaming; pretending that she did have memories. She continued to read the book. Her heart froze at the next page.
"Sustenance is the key to reanimating one of Von Reichter's creatures as well as electricity..."
She paled, as her grip tightened.
This is the experiment!
Trembling, she read the rest of the procedure. This thing... it was responsible for her birth; no, not the rebirth of Kayla, the birth of her.
Then her logical side took control. With this book, a person had the knowledge of creating monsters, genocide, viruses, plagues... the knowledge to create life... and to bring it back. Suppose it fell into the wrong hands?
The people were paying no attention to her, a nicely dressed well off woman. They were huddled around an oil tank with a bonfire started in it. She continued to think, torn.
No one deserved this knowledge; not this woman, not Von Reichter, not humans, not Cybersix, not her... no one was ready for it. With this knowledge, a man could become invincible. Unstoppable. She had to get rid of the book.
She glanced at the men in rags. They shivered despite the fire. Fire...
She turned into the alley and threw the book into the fire and kept walking. She did not look back.
"He killed thousands! Thousands!" Adrian practically shrieked.
"They meant nothing to him because he is driven. He must be allowed to succeed. Then the destruction will stop. He can't help what he is, can you? I can do more good serving him, allowing him to succeed at his project, then I can by fighting him. Who cares who rules? With his science, he could make the world a paradise." Mike said calmly.
"He'll make it a nightmare!" Adrian shouted. "He's insane. You can't think this will produce something good!"
"It produced you." Mike countered.
"He considered me his worst failure!" Adrian snapped back.
"I must serve him. Jose must become Von Richter. I must find a way to make it happen."
Adrian shook his head. "But you care."
"I care." He stated, nodding his head.
"Then don't do this. He's dead. Let it all die with him."
"When Von Richter achieves his destiny he will bring humanity to a new level of greatness. He is evil. I know that but I believe in what will become of it. I have to. It's all I have."
The two stopped on a deserted area of the road. They looked at each other and stopped talking for a moment. The wind whistled dry leaves past them. Somewhere, something broke. A tear rolled down Cybersix's cheek.
"I will stop you." She said.
"I know." Midnight Five wiped the tear off her cheek. "Good bye sister."
"Good bye brother."
There was fluid motion in opposite directions. And then the street was empty, except of wind and leaves and dust. *
