“I think the MPD might want to come and check this place out Julian, I’ll leave these guys tied up in a corner somewhere for them. I’ll have a look around to make sure we have enough for an article.”
Julian shook his head in disbelief whilst sending an anonymous message to the local MPD.
A knock came on the door behind Julian, and Ally poked her head round the corner.
“Hey Jools, I’m going to head over to see Xander and the guys, anything you want?” She asked. Ally had been living with Julian for the last week. It had taken some adjusting, but she found the company good for her.
“Erm, I think we’re good thanks Al,” Julian replied, muting the comms to Quartzig. “Say hi to the gang for me.”
“Will do, any sign of Prime?” She asked, before leaving. Prime had disappeared soon after The Fall, and everyone was keeping an eye out to try to find him.
“Nothing yet, sorry,” Julian replied. “Always keeping an eye out though, we’ll find him,” he added.
“Thanks, I hope so,” Ally turned and shut the door behind her.
CHAPTER 72
Ally
Ally made her way across the Boulevard. The daylight was just fading and the neon lights were flickering on like waking eyelids.
“Ally!” A voice called out from across the way, causing her to dart a glance. Her adrenaline spiked and her hand moved to her bo-staff; coiled in its holster.
Her eyes finally landed on the source of the voice and she realised it was Ava rushing through the crowds to meet her.
“Ava! Hi,” Ally smiled as she arrived.
“How are you?” Ava said as she walked in line with Ally.
“I’m ok, still adjusting to… well everything, really.”
“Understandable, since Owen's death, I have had a lot to process.”
Ally gave a sympathetic smile. Of all of them, Ava had the biggest loss, though due to her nature, she seemed to be the least affected by the events.
“So, you’re working with Xander now?” Ally changed the topic.
“Yes, he felt we worked well together, so asked if I wanted somewhere to work whilst I sorted things out. I had no better options, so I agreed,” she replied.
“And Mollie too?”
“Yes, she also needed something to focus on. It’s been good for us both I feel,” Ava said.
“I’m glad,” Ally said, with complete sincerity.
They had arrived at Xander’s office, the door on the outside now read ‘Xander Investigations,’ with no letters missing.
“I’ve got to take these upstairs,” Ava indicated to the bags she was carrying and the apartment above the office. “We must catch up properly soon,” she said and then headed up the stairs which lead off the main corridor.
Ally walked into Xander’s office. In the two weeks since the collapse of the CyBio building, she had taken time to process the information and she was ready to continue what she started that night.
Inside Xander, sat behind his desk, it was filled with paperwork from several cases which he had gotten in the last few months. On the sofa to the side of the room, Mollie lay, playing with an anti-grav ball. Throwing it up, it hovered for a second in mid-air, then dropped back to her nano hand.
“Hey guys,” Ally announced as she entered.
Mollie looked up and smiled, jumping to her feet, leaving the anti-grav ball hanging in midair, she ran over and gave her a hug.
“Hi Mollie,” she returned the hug.
“How you holdin’ up Al?” Xander asked, pouring a whiskey into a spare glass before passing it to her.
“Getting there, lots of questions and no one to answer them,” she smiled and took the drink.
“I hear ya,” they clinked the glasses together.
Mollie returned to the sofa and caught the ball as it fell.
“Things look… busy?” Ally nodded to the papers on the desk.
“Yeah, since Julian put the article up about the CyBio corp going down and the work we did to stop it, we’ve been inundated with cases.”
“Sounds good, and you’ve got Mollie here to help out now?” Ally smiled.
“Sure, she’s pretty handy with a laser pistol when push comes to shove,” Xander smiled. “Ava is great too, I think she needed somewhere she felt like she could belong after everything.”
“Glad you could give her that,” Ally replied, as she sat in the chair opposite.
“So, is this just a social call or…” Xander let the question hang in the air.
“I want to find out who my parents were,” Ally answered. “I want to know who my coding was based on and find some semblance of a family. For me and Prime. I tried to track down Razz but he’s disappeared from the Underpass.”
Xander scanned Ally’s face, he could tell this was important to her.
“Of course we’ll help,” Mollie said, before Xander could reply. “Won’t we Xander,” it wasn’t a question.
Xander took a sip of the bourbon and sighed, “Of course we will,” he smiled at Ally.
Ally stayed to finish her drink and discussed what she knew about her parents from the discussions she’d had with Yuri and Owens about them, filling in any details she could think of. Ally and Mollie then returned to less serious topics as Xander compiled the information.
“Have you heard from Julian at all?” Mollie asked, knowing full well that they were living together.
“I have, he’s been helping Quartzig adjust to a more physical world than he’s used to,” Ally replied, not giving anything away.
“That can’t be easy for him?”
“He’s getting there,” Ally laughed.
“Are you back working at the Valkyrie yet?” She asked.
“Not yet, I need time to sort things out before I do, I think.”
They continued to talk about things, before Ally made her excuses to leave.
She walked out of the office and down the street until she was back on the Neon Boulevard. A fine mist of rain had just fallen, blurring the neon into streaks of colours reflecting off the wet pavements. It would take time for her to adjust to her new life, the feeling that she didn’t fit into the world anymore. Yet somehow, she also felt more comfortable knowing where she came from, and a little more of her identity. She knew she’d find her way though, with the help of the friends she had made.
CHAPTER 73
Epilogue - Jacob
Before The Fall
Jacob opened his eyes and evaluated his location, he was laying in the medical bay of the CyBio building. He tried to piece together his thoughts; Peter had attacked him and was sure he was dead. Yet here he was, fully healed in the medical pod. He looked around the room; he was also alone, free of the escort he’d had since they left the church. Free to complete his plan.
He got to his feet and checked the pocket of his robe, the twin to the unit he had installed on Ava earlier in the server room was still there. A smile crept across his face, his Plan B was still in progress. He headed out of the medical bay and heard the sounds of fighting taking place in the distance. He would need to get closer to Ava to complete his plan, a risk he would have to take.
Making his way towards the sounds, he carefully rounded each corner until he could see Yuri and Prime battling, with Prime suddenly taking advantage. The rest of the group were engrossed in the fight, giving Jacob the time he needed. Not too far away from him, he saw Ava embraced with Owens.
Jacob slowly made his way closer to her and pulled out the small receiver, two clicks and it kicked into action. Within moments, small message beeped along the side of the unit
[Download Complete]
Jacob smiled again, he was surprised it had been this easy. He took another glance at the fighting before he noticed Julian looking directly at him. He quickly ducked away, hoping he was far enough away to not be recognized. Now he just had to get out of the building, fast.
Now
The small room Jacob was holed up in wasn’t ideal for his needs, but i
t would suffice for now. He had rigged up a small digital workbench on the table that lined one wall. It had taken him a few weeks to scavenge all the parts he needed; he hadn’t dared return to the church or access any of his previous funds, in case anyone was still looking for him.
He flicked a switch, and the workbench lit up like a firework display, an open space in the center was the only unlit space. A small square of about two feet lined along the bottom with a smooth metallic surface.
Jacob plugged the small receiver into a slot on the right side of the bench, it auto-booted up and a short loading system activated. In the space on the table, a holographic bar appeared, showing its progress. A word flashed up on the screen:
[Password:]
Jacob typed in the word he had learned from Owens.
[Excelsior]
A moment later and the the bar disappeared and the space went dark again. Slowly forming one small pixel at a time, a face emerged in the space. A three-dimensional holographic head finally developed and looked around, taking in its surroundings.
“Where am I? What has happened to me?” The head queried.
“I’ll explain everything Yuri, and you and I are going to do some amazing work together,” Jacob smiled as he pulled up a chair next to the bench.
CHAPTER 74
Epilogue -Mollie
Mollie stood outside the back of Xander’s office building, a small square courtyard surrounded by buildings on all sides. The residence of all the buildings had tried to make it a small garden area, with a water feature in the center. She looked up, the neon lights of the city merging into a haze of colour.
She hadn’t been back to the Underpass since she and Prime had came up through the lift and she was feeling the pull to return. Not that she wanted to go back, she had found new friends up here on the Boulevard; people who cared about her. It was her condition which was the problem. She closed her eyes, trying to fight the pull of it which had taken hold again.
‘We’re waiting Mollie.’
A voice echoed inside her head, Vladamir, she had been expecting it before now and it didn’t come as a surprise. She replied inside her mind.
‘I want to stay here.’
‘It’s too late for that Mollie, we balanced the books, there are no favors left,’
‘I... I know, give me another job, something to turn the scales back in my favor’
‘No more favors, it is time Mollie, either you return or we will come to find you. And will kill anyone that stands in our way. You must be feeling the bloodlust.’
Vladamir kept the lust at bay for anyone who he was in debt to, but once the balance was restored, he strengthened it, in doing so keeping his disciples in debt to him.
‘You will need to feed soon Mollie, return to me, let me help you.’
Mollie opened her eyes, if anyone was watching her, they would have seen a flash of red glint over them as her teeth spiked, each one twisting into razor sharp fangs. She shook her head, fighting the bloodlust that burned through her body.
She needed to choose her path.
CHAPTER 75
Epilogue -Prime
Prime sat on the edge of a skyscraper in the Boulevard's heart. Looking down at the lights below, he couldn’t help wondering what it would be like if he leaned forward and let gravity take its pull on him.
He had been struggling with his thoughts for some time after The Fall, wondering who he was now. The knowledge that Peter was still out there somewhere also troubled him. He hadn’t had a good look at the body that Peter had taken over, just that it was a female and had been the last surviving clone left. On top of all that, he had had strange thoughts, violent thoughts of hurting people for his own gain. So far, he had suppressed them to just thoughts and not actions but he wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold on. He wished he could talk to the others about what was happening but he wasn’t sure they would trust him, or would they think he was turning into Peter.
The rain was falling and Prime stood up, taking one last look over the city, he turned to head back inside the building. What he saw caused him to freeze in his tracks. Laying on the rooftop just behind where he was sitting was a body. A young woman with bloodied wounds across her body, next to it a comms device sat with a small paper note stuck to it with tape;
Say ‘hello’
The body hadn’t been there when he had got onto the roof. Prime hesitated for a moment, before picking up the unit.
“Hello?” He said, as he clicked the open comms button on the side.
“Good Evening Prime,” a female voice rang through the static.
“Who is this?”
“Oh come now, just because my voice is a few octaves higher, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to guess,” the voice chimed back.
“Peter?”
“Bingo, though I think a new name would suit this body more, I was thinking Persephone perhaps, what do you think?”
“Who… who is this woman, what have you done?” Prime stammered.
“Who? Oh the dead meat, that’s just an appetizer for the main course, Prime. I know that I planted my subconscious somewhere inside that clone-brain of yours, somewhere laying dormant just waiting to be activated. So we will play a little game, you and I. I will continue what I was working on way back before I got exiled by Jacob, and you, you will try to stop me.”
“How is that a game?” Prime asked, not understanding.
“It’s simple, the more you see, the more my dormant personality will start to take a hold on you, until you’ll start to find it hard to remember if it was me or you that killed. Your job, is to try to stop me before it comes to that!” Persephone laughed down the unit.
Prime could think of nothing to say, he had already felt the urges of violence sneaking into the peripheral of his thoughts.
“How do I stop you?” He said, thinking out loud.
“I’m not giving you all the answers Prime, though lets just say, there’s a clue with the body you’re standing over. Oh, but don’t take too long, I’ve already tipped off the MPD and if they catch you there, I’m sure the fingerprints on the victim will be an almost perfect match for yours,” another laugh. “Time’s ticking Prime! Whose it going to be, you or me?”
The unit went dead.
Prime looked down at the girl, the rain seeping into the clothing and cause the blood to run; the neon reflecting off the glistening blood.
He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
THE END
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