Coming of Age

A story by Enterprise1701_d, a prequel to an as of yet unnamed story by Top_Quark.

*****

“I’m really sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Fromthefield,” Doctor Gerard told the couple in the too white sterilized hospital room. The couple’s shock was plainly evident to the doctor, who took a deep breath. He hated this part of his job. Mrs. Fromthefield was a woman in her mid-thirties, light brown hair, nicely built, with a stunning face. Her gentle green eyes stared at him in shock. Mr. Fromthefield was a couple of years older than his wife, and was nice-looking in his own way, with dark-brown hair and a full beard. His blue eyes stood sad, his shock wearing off. He hugged his wife, trying desperately to fight the tears from falling.

“April? My beautiful April? Dead?” the woman asked, still in shock. Her voice was trembling.

“I’m really sorry, Mrs. Fromthefield. We really did everything we could, but the heart muscle was just too deformed to be operable. We tried putting her on a heart-lung machine, but to no avail…” Doctor Gerard stopped explaining when Mrs. Fromthefield buried her face in her husband’s arms, and started crying hysterically.

“I’ll give you some time now,” the doctor said, his voice was soft, respecting, yet at the same time it had enough self-confidence to spare the parents the added burden of second-guessing. Mr. Fromthefield just nodded absentmindedly. Dr. Gerard made his exit after a final sorrowful look at the parents.

As soon as he cleared the room, Dr Gerard’s depressed attitude changed, and a scowling anger replaced his earlier depressed demeanor. He charged to a room two levels down, in the administrative wing. He entered a room without knocking.

“That was the last one!” the doctor shouted at a gray-haired man in a general’s uniform. “That’s four this week! I can’t do this anymore!”

The general chuckled. “Don’t worry, Jean. Those were the only ones we implanted, remember?” Gerard nodded. In his rage, he had forgotten that. “Besides, everyone’s just going to say it was a bad implant job. That’s Hugo’s head, not yours. And think of those two million dollars you’re receiving for this job!”

Gerard nodded angrily. “Those two million…” he whispered.

“Precisely,” the general replied. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some transfer papers to make out. Those four babies will be transported to Zodiac Operations within twenty-four hours.”

Dr. Gerard nodded meekly. The general stood up, extending his hand. “You did a fine job, Jean. We’re very lucky to have all four of them.”

Gerard took the offered hand, and shook it. He looked up. “General, I would like to request a transfer.”

“I thought you might,” the general replied. “Where? Hawaii? Caymans? Wherever you want, I’m sure I can find you a job.”

“Zodiac,” the doctor replied. “I would like to request to be able to take care of those four children I stole from their parents.”

The general looked at the man for a few long moments. “The most I can offer is a job as wet nurse, and that won’t last very long, either way. After that, you might end up in the cleaning crew.”

“I’ll take it,” Gerard whispered. “I feel responsible for them.”

The general nodded. “As do we all, Jean. As do we all. I could use some responsible people like you. Welcome aboard.”

“Thank you, General.”

The general waved it away. “Hey, no problem! Anyway, you can travel with me. We leave in twenty-four hours. Better start packing. Where you’re going, there’s no turning back from.”

“I’ll be ready,” Gerard said firmly. “One duffel bag, right?”

The general smiled, and gave a curt nod. “You did your homework, son, I give you that. Yep. All personal items are limited to one duffel bag each.”

Gerard turned, and left the room after a curt goodbye.

*****

Dr. Gerard walked into a room with a huge glass wall on one side. Through the glass a medium-sized room was visible, containing four small beds. The monitoring room Gerard just entered contained a couple of computer terminals, as well as various types of machinery. The only other person present was the General, whom Gerard now knew as General Perkins. The General was listening to a headphone, pressed to one ear, keeping the other ear clear.

“General,” Dr. Gerard nodded in the General’s direction, after which he turned to look out the glass wall. He knew form experience that the other side looked like a mirror.

“Doctor,” the General replied, putting the headphone down. He pulled it from the machine it was connected to, and immediately sound started coming from the machine. It resembled a piece of music played at ten times normal speed: total gibberish.

“So, what do you think of our little subliminal indoctrination program?” the General asked.

Gerard shrugged. “I wouldn’t know, General. I can’t make out what it says, let alone have an opinion of it.”

The General smiled. “Don’t feel bad, Doctor. I can’t understand it either.” With those words, the General joined Dr. Gerard at the window. “But they… they understand it perfectly.”

“Incredible. If it’s true,” Gerard replied coolly.

The General smiled. “Oh, I believe it is true, Doctor. You see… they respond to a voice played at ten times normal speed like they would to a normally spoken voice.” The General turned to a nearby terminal, and pressed a few keys. The audiotape slowed down to normal. “Don’t worry, theirs is still running at full speed.”

Gerard turned to listen to the tape. Loyalty to your commanding officer is paramount. Always obey the orders of your Team Leader, Phalanx, or your overall commander, General Perkins, or their representatives. You are the first line of defense of the United States of America. Your lives will be in the service of this great country, and you will not hesitate to give those lives to protect the citizens of the greatest nation on this planet.

Gerard shuddered. “Turn it off. Please.”

Perkins pressed a few keys. The audiotape stopped playing in the monitoring room. “This is only the first stage. A light indoctrination into obedience and discipline. The next stage will be for each of them separately, drilling them in their respective roles. Can you imagine? A quartet of genetically engineered super-soldiers. Phalanx, the team leader. She’s stable, and incredibly intelligent. A born leader with great charisma. Then, the second in command, Sagittarius. She’s the team tactician and strategist. A born soldier, without the conscience that bothers in disposing of targets. They’re the core team. And then, there’s Capricorn. Third in command, the perfect war-machine. He’s got ice-water in his veins, and weapons are his life. And finally, there’s Aquarius. She’s the demolitions expert. Has TNT for a heart and nitro for blood.”

Gerard shook his head. “Who are we who do this to children,” he whispered so quietly the General couldn’t hear him. And if he could, he gave no indication of it.

“Of course, we’ll use them more readily for the disposing-ops. Send in Phalanx and Sagittarius to use their female charms to come close to the enemy leader, get them to drop their guard, and then disposing of them.”

Gerard shook his head. “Those girls will be used as whores…”

“Fuck ‘em and kill ‘em,” the General replied, smiling. Turning to Gerard, he added, “Great plan, isn’t it? We’ll be doing what women have been doing for centuries… only ours will be faster, stronger, and better trained than any woman ever had.”

A computer bleeped, and General Perkins turned to look at it. “The indoctrination tape has finished. The burn-in tape has started.”

“Burn-in?” Dr. Gerard asked.

The General nodded. “A dictionary, a thesaurus, and a tape with the basics on mathematics. We’re burning in their intelligence.”

Dr. Gerard nodded, relieved. Finally something he could appreciate. The only phone in the small room started ringing. It was colored on obsessive red, and Dr. Gerard got shivers just from looking at it.

The General answered the phone. “Perkins… Sir? Sir, you can’t be serious! They’re just a month old! … Yes, we have some results! … Sir… Sir, please!” Dejectedly, General Perkins whispered, “Yes, Sir. Understood.”

“What?” Gerard asked the moment the phone shut off.

“Orders from Oversight. Project Zodiac has twenty-four hours to produce results, or Programs Phalanx, Sagittarius, Capricorn and Aquarius will be terminated. Permanently.”

Dr. Gerard’s jaw hit the floor. “What?” he managed to choke out.

“We have twenty-four hours to get them to do something really impressive, or they’ll be killed,” the General whispered. He straightened out. “I’ve already said too much. Doctor, you are confined to your quarters.”

Dr. Gerard started to refuse, but the General had already pressed a button. Two black-clad MP’s stormed into the room. “Take Dr. Gerard to his room, and confine him there. He is not to leave his room under any circumstances. Food will be delivered at set hours. Do not let him leave under any circumstances!”

The two MP’s saluted, after which each grabbed one arm of Dr. Gerard. They roughly hauled him out the door.

*****

Dr. Gerard paced in his small but comfortable quarters. His eyes darted to the clock on the wall. The door to his stateroom had been locked. There were no windows in the underground facility he was in, so that option was out as well. The ventilation shafts were small, and maintained by equally small robots. No crawling through vents. Dr. Gerard sighed again, his eyes darting over the newspaper clippings that announced the deaths of four couples. Usually, he read them to give his work perspective. Now his mind ignored them.

He stopped chewing on his fingernails when he felt some skin give. His face contorted in pain when a nerve was hit. He looked at the sparely bleeding wound his incessant chewing had caused, and it brought his mind out of the fear and helplessness it had been locked in for the past – THIRTY-SIX HOURS??? Dr. Gerard wanted to kill himself with anger.

How he had somehow lost thirty-six hours to what seemed like an hour or two, he would never know. All he knew was that he needed to save the children. Now. He put his shoulder to the door, pressed the handle all the way down, and pressed. The door flew open, astonishing both the Doctor and the two MPs.

The two MPs grabbed for their weapons, clearly intending to use them more as a deterrent as an actual weapon. The doctor was acting in desperation, and a will to survive. He lunged for the MP nearest him, and managed to connect his fist to a specific spot in the lower abdomen. Being a doctor had taught Dr. Gerard where to hit to inflict pain. The MP doubled over, and Dr. Gerard grabbed his hand weapon.

Having never held a gun, let alone fired one, Dr. Gerard stumblingly pointed the business-end of the gun at the second MP. “I… I’ll shoot! I swear!” Dr. Gerard threatened, wiping some fear-sweat of his forehead with his free hand. His pulse raced. Adrenalin of near-psychopathic levels made his skin burn. Dr. Gerard felt afraid for his life.

The MP spread his arms. “Easy, Doctor. Don’t do anything you’d regret…” the second MP tried to calm the doctor down. The first MP lunged for Gerard. With a strength and speed given only to those in dire need, Dr. Gerard’s right hand flashed out, pointing at the first guard, and squeezed the trigger. The bullet, not having been aimed, hit the man in the right arm, spinning him around.

Dr. Gerard stared at the bleeding wound, causing the second MP to think him distracted. His lunged for the gun. Dr. Gerard’s instincts took over. LIVE! DEFEND! His subconscious shouted. The gun flashed. Again. And again. The second MP was shot twice in succession, once in the lower abdomen,, and once through the head. The first MP, trying to rise, received a shot through the head as well.

Dr. Gerard stared at the carnage. He dropped to his knees. Dear God, what have I done? he asked himself, the gun clattering to the ground. For at least ten seconds he sat there, just staring at the two corpses, before he had the presence of mind to remember his mission. Discarding his bloodied robe, the same white robe he had been wearing in the hospital section before this Hell started, Dr. Gerard forced himself to his feet, and, stumbling, made his way to the nursery. Along the way, he seemed to regain some strength as his mind buried the bloody events of mere minutes ago, refusing to think of them as long as he was on hostile territory.

Dr. Gerard started running to the nursery when a creepy feeling made its way up his spine. Normally there would be more people running along these corridors, even in the depths of night. Oh, no… his mind whispered. Please, Dear God, no… his face twisted as he ran. He finally made it to the nursery, and threw open the door. A nurse startled above one of the small beds, holding a syringe with a clear fluid. Howling like an enraged mother protecting her children, Dr. Gerard threw himself at the black man in the white robe holding the syringe.

The two struggled for a moment or two, and Dr. Gerard managed to drive the needle into the black man’s veins. He pressed the fluid completely into his adversary’s arteries. His eyes immediately rolled back, before his breathing stopped. Dr. Gerard, panting, got up.

“Ariana…” he whispered as he identified the child the nurse was about to inject. He looked at the syringe, and the small bottle the nurse had been holding. The child’s eyes opened, and locked with his. The small mouth smiled when the girl recognized the Doctor. Dr. Gerard looked away, at the other children. April was awake too… She always seemed to be whenever someone was in the room. The others could sleep, but April would always be awake. The researchers had seen it soon… only when the room was clear did April sleep.

Dr. Gerard noted that the other two children seemed to be really still. Dread was in his heart and soul as he made his way to the other two beds. Tears streamed over his face. “Ben… Irene… I’m sorry,” he whispered, dropping to his knees, and crying.

Ariana and April, having watched his every move, seemed to understand what had happened, and started crying too. The type of crying only baby girls could produce. It roused Dr. Gerard from his guilt.

He jumped up, his clinical side taking over. As doctor, he was used to making life-and-death decisions. He ran to a nearby closet, and retrieved a box of diapers, two bottles, some food, and two carrycots. “Please, girls… I’m trying to save your lives,” he whispered as he took April from her small bed and tucked her into the first carrycot. The two girls stopped crying, a fact that Dr. Gerard’s battered mind ignored. He packed some of the supplies in the cot as well, before making tucking in Ariana and her supplies. Swinging a cot over each shoulder, he started running. “Please stay quiet,” the Doctor whispered, his heart still racing.

Somehow, he made it out of the building without being seen. All along the way, the clear signs of a hasty abandonment were more and more clear to the running doctor, who was by now convinced that Oversight was planning on destroying the building, and all that remained in it… thus getting rid of the bodies of the four children. Why they wanted to poison the children as well was beyond Dr. Gerard.

He put the carrycot with April on the backseat. He put Ariana’s on the front passenger seat. Dr. Gerard’s car roared off. He made it as far as the front gate. He knew he had to stop before the attendant would open the beam. He also knew that the attendant was more than likely warned. The car shifted gears again. Dr. Gerard pressed the accelerator fully down.

The attendant, seeing the car arrive at great speed, did what he had been trained to do. He drew his gun, and fired, in an attempt to stop the car. He fired five times before having to duck out of the way. As the car roared past, he fired his last shot in the driver’s door.

Dr Gerard was glad the shots had been placed widely when his car crashed through the gate. He kept the accelerator pressed firmly down. Finally, after what seemed like hours, but couldn’t have been more than a minute or two, Dr. Gerard eased off. His rapid breathing was a testimony to his attempts to keep his raging emotions under control.

He noticed a stinging pain in his left leg, and cried out. Thee car almost crashed into a ditch at the side of the deserted country road leading to the nearest city. He pressed the brakes. The car screeched to a halt, and Dr Gerard, grinding his teeth in pain, opened the door. The light in the car flashed on.

“Damn!” the man hissed, looking at the blood spurting from his leg. “I’ve been shot!” Closing his eyes, he tried to recall what to do with a gunshot. He made a hurried pressure bandage to keep himself from bleeding dry. He would need someplace quiet to treat himself. He always had a doctor’s bag with him, in the trunk… for emergencies. Crying in, the doctor closed the door again, and raced off. He needed to find a deserted spot, and if he knew his ‘employers’, there would be black-ops guys chasing him before the sun rose.

*****

Two days had passed. Dr. Gerard had seen no other possibility but to go to the nearest ATM, and withdraw as much money as he could. Of course Zodiac could track him. Of course, they would be after him anyway, so it didn’t really matter. Besides, Dr. Gerard needed money. The two girls were safe and warm in their cots, but they needed food. And food didn’t grow on trees… not the kind of food they required, anyway.

Two days of running had left it marks on Dr. Gerard. Hs eyes lay deep, his cheeks were hollow, and two days worth of stubble adorned his chin. His eyes were bloodshot. He looked bad, his hands skinned from driving on and on, running from Zodiac. Running from the immoral people trying to kill him and the two girls he was trying to save.

Dr. Gerard shot a frantic look in the cot on the front seat. Ariana was looking through the windshield with eyes open in unbridled curiosity. She made happy gurgling noises, and smiled at him when she caught his eyes. Even though Dr. Gerard was literally dead on his feet, he smiled back at the little girl. His eyes went back to the road in front of him.

His leg-wound stung. He grunted, but the smile wavered only slightly. Night was falling. Dr. Gerard turned on the headlights. Suddenly, two lights flashed on behind him. Dr. Gerard startled so much he almost drove the car off the road. He had never seen the other car arrive! He breathed out a sigh of relief when the other driver pulled past him, and disappeared in the now rapidly descending darkness.

His eyes flashing to the rearview mirrors, he tried to think straight. His eyes flashed to the road. Clear. There was nothing behind him. He looked back at the road, his eyes darting to a sign. Welcome to Heaven, California. Let’s hope so, the doctor’s mind added in a whisper. He didn’t even dare think too loud.

Suddenly, his foot pressed on the breaks, and he jerked the wheel. The car swiveled dangerously, screeching insanely as it slid past the black car that had past him half an hour ago. The car was put squarely across the road. Immediately, the black car’s wheels screeched, pulling after him. Dr. Gerard floored the accelerator. The engine howled. The other car followed.

The rear window shattered as a bullet, fired from the other car, hit it. Dr. Gerard startled so much he lost control over his speeding car for a few short moments. The car screeched to the left. Then to the right. And then it stabilized. Dr. Gerard’s adrenalin-charged mind only now registered the crying of the two baby girls.

His face twisted in rage, Dr. Gerard flung his car into the little town called ‘Heaven’. Somehow, he managed to elude his pursuers. Breathing deeply, the Doctor looked over his two charges. The two girls had quieted down again, and he made sure that the icy cold wind, streaming in through the broken rear window, had no grip on the two girls. He put an extra blanket over the both of them, and took off again.

A warning light flashed on his dashboard. Almost out of fuel. Dr. Gerard’s mind went over his wallet. There goes my last fifteen bucks. He had no other choice but to pull up at a gas station. Looking frantically from left to right, he filled up his car, and paid the attendant. He jumped in his car, and took off again. He didn’t have much speed yet. Why his brain chose to comment on that specific building, Dr. Gerard never knew. All he knew was that it was a possible way out…

Saint Mary Catholic Convent.

Dr. Gerard slowed down, his eyes looking at the two girls, who seemed to return his gaze. In the back of his mind he knew the other car was still looking for him. Worse: they had possibly called in reinforcements. The car pulled up, and Dr. Gerard ran around, retrieving the two girls. He scribbled a note; put it with April in her cot.

He ran to the door. The two girls were silent. Dr. Gerard cried silently as he put the two cots down. “I hope you’ll be safe here,” he said quietly. “God will look after you…” sobbing quietly, he ran the doorbell and ran for his car. It took off long before a sleepy sister could open the front door.

Dr. Gerard pulled into Main Street. He could see the outskirts of town. He just hoped that no one saw him put the girls down. Big tears ran down his cheeks. Girls… I hope you can ever forgive me for stealing you from your parents… I’m sorry. He car shifted as Dr. Gerard pressed harder on the accelerator. He entered complete darkness as he left town. He saw a flash coming from the bushes. Dr. Gerard jerked the wheel fruitlessly. The anti-tank rocket embedded itself into his engine before exploding. The combination of the high explosive with the fully fueled car was as devastating as it was spectacular.

The black-clad man released the smoking tube from his shoulder, and righted himself. He walked to the mangled and burning wreckage. “Mission accomplished,” the man, muttered coldly, before taking his radio, and calling in his victory. “This is Eagle calling Nest. The Pizza has been burned. Repeat. The Pizza is burned.”

Is the complete Pizza burned? Came the reply.

The man looked at the molten wreckage. “Affirmative, Nest. The Pizza had full toppings. Nothing remains.”

The voice at the other side sighed. This is stupid. This frequency is scrambled, not to mention top-secret. Just tell me what happened.

The man calling himself ‘Eagle’ smiled behind his mask. “The car was fully fueled when my LAW hit. The inferno melted the steel of the frame. Nothing could’ve survived that.”

And you’re sure that the Doc and the kids were in the car?

“Oh, yeah.”

Good. Return to HQ. Well done.

The man clicked off the radio, and put it back in the pocket he pulled it from.

*****

Mother Superior Anna sat back in her chair while she read the small note for the umpteenth time. Written obviously by a doctor on a medical prescription note, the not was barely legible.

“This is April Fromthefield,” the note read. “The other child is named Ariana Smith. Their birthday is January 12. All I can leave them are the amulets around their necks. There are ample supplies in the cots. Please take care of them,” Mother Superior read out-loud, her 65-year-old voice still strong. She was still an impressive sight, with her stern mouth and piercing eyes. She looked at the two way too large amulets. April’s was a circle with a lightning bolt going through it. Ariana’s resembled a centaur holding a bow and arrow. The sign Sagittarius, the Archer.

Sister Magdalena, who had opened the door and found the two girls, shifted uncomfortably in front of Mother Superior. The older woman sighed, and relaxed. “What would force someone do this?” she asked. “Two young girls. So helpless… who could do that?”

“I don’t know, Reverend Mother,” Sister Magdalena replied quietly. “It must have been big, for someone to give up two young girls, just put them in front of a convent.”

“I have to agree, Sister Magdalena,” Mother Superior replied, looking at the two carrycots, and the two girls who looked back at her, smiling. Despite her stern nature, Mother Superior smiled at the two girls. Out of the corner of her eye, Mother Superior saw Sister Magdalena do the same.

Sighing, Mother Superior righted herself to look directly at Sister Magdalena once again. “Very well. We will shelter them for the night. Tomorrow, we contact Child Welfare. With God’s Will, they might find a good home.”

“With God’s Will, Reverend Mother,” Sister Magdalena replied. After a moment of silence, the younger woman continued, “Where shall I put them for the night, Reverend Mother?”

Mother Superior looked at the two cots once again. “I shall take them to my room,” she decided. “I will give up my blankets to keep them warm.”

“Yes, Reverend Mother,” Sister Magdalena replied, her thoughts dwelling on the poverty of convent, and the fact that the nights could be icy cold. “I wish to share some of my blankets as well,” Sister Magdalena added moments later.

Mother Superior smiled. “God bless you, Sister Magdalena.”

Sister Magdalena smiled, and shook her head. “It is nothing compared to what He did. I live by His example. God’s Love will keep us warm.”

Mother Superior smiled, and nodded. It is rare to encounter such devotion these days… You are a good person, Sister Magdalena. “Yes. God’s Love will keep us warm.”

Half an hour later, the convent was silent once more.

As soon as the Child Welfare office opened the next morning, Mother Superior and Sister Magdalena went to talk to a counselor. An hour later, they came back out. Child Welfare would try to find a good home for the children. For the time being, the counselor found no problem with April and Ariana staying at the Saint Mary’s Convent. Just for a few days.

Those couple of days turned into a week. That week turned into a month, after which formal custody was awarded to the convent, since no home could be found. Heaven was a small community, and children turning up out of the blue was too strange a fact for them to accept.

Meanwhile, April and Ariana liked it at the convent. Ariana babbled one-word sentences by the end of her first month at the convent. April tried to copy Ariana, and babbled only two days later. It was April who took her first steps after only two months with the sisters, barely three months after being born. By the time, the sisters at Saint Mary’s Convent adored the two children, and they took care of the two girls as if they were their own children. True to the earlier development, Ariana wanted to walk, just like April. She did it barely a day after April.

Their progress remained impressive. They could communicate reasonably well by the age of six months, and they even started to learn a couple of words in Latin, thanks to the weekly masses, and Mother Superior’s rugged insistence that they be held in Latin.

By the time they were one year old, April and Ariana had learned to read simple books, books they found in abundance at the local library, thanks to Sister Magdalena, who took the two girls there as often as they wanted.

Unfortunately, life in the convent wasn’t always easy. Money was on short supply, and the heating was turned low, or, more often, it was turned off completely. Hot water was in equally short supply, so all showers were taken in cold water. The girls never seemed to mind, seemingly not remembering anything from before they got to the convent.

The sisters did notice that April and Ariana only seemed to sleep for only four hours a night. Since the children behaved themselves remarkably well for children their age, the sisters found no problems with letting the children dart around the convent for those few hours between their awakening and Vespers.

April, a brown-haired one year old, ran into the dark chapel, a big smile on her face. She was giggling quietly. Halfway down the aisle, her head turned to look behind her, and she listened to the breathing of Ariana, who was about ten seconds behind her. Her head snapped back to face forward, and the girl fell to her knees in front of the altar. Crossing herself, she thought, Sorry to disturb your rest, Lord, shot up, crossed herself again, and ran through the back door. The door fell shut, and April darted off again. She could faintly hear Ariana kneel down respectfully in front of the altar as well. April rounded a corner, shot out of the little-used passage, and crossed the courtyard.

The little girl ran full speed over the courtyard, and turned into the hallway were the sleeping rooms were. Tiptoeing, the girl made her way into the room she shared with Ariana. She silently closed the door.

Soon after, she could hear the faint whisper of Ariana’s feet tiptoeing through the hallway. Moments after, the door opened and slid shut silently, the one-year old dangling from the sturdy antique doorknob. Her darker brown hair flung up as she silently dropped form the knob.

“I win,” April whispered quietly.

“No fair, you know we shouldn’t disturb the Lord at night,” Ariana whispered back. “He likes his rest.”

April looked at the ground, looking embarrassed. She nodded quietly. “You’re right,” the girl whispered. She closed her eyes, and folded her hands. Ariana folded hers over April’s. I ask forgiveness, Father, for disturbing your night rest. WE humbly ask forgiveness, Ariana’s mind added.

The two girls opened their eyes, and looked at each other. Their hands untangled.

“Ari? Can I ask you a question?” April asked silently.

“Sure,” Ariana replied. “What is it?”

“Did you notice how the sisters … you know… need light?” April asked.

“Light?” Ariana asked. She nodded slowly. “Yeah. Even when it’s full moon.”

“Yeah!” April replied, nodding enthusiastically. “Weird, huh? And I don’t think they can hear us when we touch, either.”

Ariana nodded in turn. “Yeah. I think the same… I can hear them when we touch, but I don’t think they hear us back… but then you and I touch, and I hear you, and you hear me…”

“Yeah,” April replied. “And I don’t think they smell like us, too. I mean, I can always find you-“

“Just like I can always sniff you out,” Ariana interjected.

“Yeah, but they can’t sniff us out,” April finished. “Do you think the Lord has a meaning for our gifts? We learn things faster, and we can see better, and smell better…”

“Hey, do you think we can hear better, too?” Ariana suddenly asked.

“I dunno,” April replied, shrugging her small shoulders. “Think we should find out?” she asked, smiling widely.

“Like an adventure?” Ariana asked, smiling. “A secret, just between us?”

“We’re like sisters,” April said. “We’re supposed to have secrets only we know.”

Ariana smiled, nodding enthusiastically once again. “Hey, do you think we could…” Ariana’s voice trailed off.

“What?” April asked, curiously.

“Silly… but… do you think we could hide our thoughts? You know, when we touch?”

April shrugged. “Dunno. Why? You have some big secret you don’t want me to know?”

Ariana flung herself at April. “April! No! You’re my sister! My bestest friend in the whole wide world! I just… thought of it, you know? For when we meet others… like us?”

April stopped struggling, and looked at Ariana. “You’re my bestest friend, too, Ari,” April replied, hugging Ariana. I don’t know if we can hide our thoughts.

Try? Ariana asked. You’re stronger than I am.

April looked confused at Ariana. Why do you say that? I don’t feel anything different.

Ariana now looked as shocked as her friend. I don’t know how… I mean, I just thought it… I don’t know why…

More mysteries. This is like so nuts. Like in the books. Anyway, if you think that, maybe I SHOULD try to mask my thoughts. April’s eyes closed. She imagined some sort of dome falling over her skull. Can you hear me?

Faintly, came the reply. Like you’re far away, or something.

I can still hear you as strong as ever. April imagined the dome to grow thicker. Can you hear me now? When she got no response, she said verbally, “Can you hear me?”

“U-uh,” Ariana replied negatively, shaking her head. April dropped the dome.

And now?

Yes, Ariana thought. “Cool!” she exclaimed. “Come on! What’d ya do? Huh? Huh? What’d ya do?”

“I’ll show you if I can get a word in,” April replied, smiling broadly. She liked it when things worked out.

“Sorry,” Ariana replied, sounding slightly dejected. Come on, show!

April smiled, shaking her head. She closed her eyes. Imagine a dome over your skull… and just make it thicker.

Ariana closed her eyes as well, and concentrated. Her face smiled when the dome descended over her skull. She giggled when it tingled. Then, she made it thicker. Can you hear me?

Faintly, came the strong reply.

Ariana made the dome thicker. And now? “April?”

“Nope. Nothing,” April replied, breaking contact. She breathed a little deeper. “You know, this is harder than running.”

Ariana smiled, and nodded positively. “Yeah.”

Their evolution slowed down; now that they began to reach the limits of the stimuli their environment had to offer. By age six, when they entered grade school, April and Ariana were fluent in English and Latin, and could read both languages without difficulty, but that was basically it. They knew the Holy Bible by heart, and followed the religion almost fanatically.

And then they entered school. Never minding the isolation much, April and Ariana absorbed the knowledge the teachers had to offer, which little it was. Unfortunately, school was focused on one thing, and one thing only: repetition. Time and time again, everything had to be worked out. They grasped the concept immediately, yet were forced into the same tedious and pointless exercises the other kids were. The other kids needed the exercises. April and Ariana didn’t.

Losing interest in class, April and Ariana made sure that they were always seated side-by-side. Their hands always touched, and they spent hours in what they had now dubbed mind-space, a place existing only in their minds, a magical place where thoughts took form and anything was possible. They lived entire adventures there, playing the role of the brave heroes in a book either one of them read recently.

One day, just after April and Ariana had received the Holy Communion for the first time, the two girls were in the living room of the convent, each reading an adventure novel they had borrowed from the library. They didn’t look up when Sister Magdalena entered.

“April? Ariana?” Both kids looked up, able to hear the slight tremor in the sister’s voice. “Mother Superior wants to see you. There is an important-looking gentleman with her.”

Both looked at each other, and frowned. They were seated not far form each other. They shrugged, marked their respective pages, and got up. They started to leave the room when Sister Magdalena called them.

“Oh, and girls? Be nice,” Sister Magdalena told them.

April and Ariana threw her an innocent little-girl look. “We’re always nice,” April replied for both of them. Sister Magdalena smiled, and hushed them out the door.

April and Ariana raced through the maze that was the convent, knowing each nook and cranny of it. They arrived at Mother Superior’s chamber soon after.

April grabbed Ariana’s hand, before the other girl could knock. What do you think this is about?

I don’t know. I guess we’ll jut have to find out, Ariana thought back. She took a breath, mimicking April. Here we go. The two hands released, and Ariana knocked on the door. Mother Superior’s stern ‘Enter’ sounded soon after.

Taking another breath, the two six-year-olds pushed open the door, and entered.

“You wished to see us, Mother Superior?” Ariana asked respectfully. Only April could hear the thumping of Ariana’s heart, and only Ariana knew that April’s was thumping just as hard. When Mother Superior sent for them, it usually meant they had done something bad, and were about to be punished. Usually, it meant isolation for a couple of hours, or being deprived of one or more meals.

“There you are, girls,” Mother Superior said nicely. “Please, have a seat.” She motioned for two chairs, and April and Ariana sat down, now really thinking something wrong. Mother Superior was never nice to them when they were sent for. Something really bad was about to happen, and both girls just knew it. That they didn’t have a clue as to what they had done wrong just made things worse. “This is Mr. Person. He wants to ask you a few questions.”

“Sir?” April and Ariana asked at the same time, turning towards the heavy-looking man in his mid-thirties. They relaxed marginally. This was getting worse by the minute! What had they done to this man?

“Hello April. Ariana,” the man greeted them on a friendly tone. The two girls gulped silently.

“Hello,” April ventured. Ariana just smiled weakly, and dipped her head.

“Don’t worry. I’m here to ask you a few questions concerning school,” the man said, still amicably. “Are you often dreaming in class?”

April and Ariana shot a worried glance at each other. They didn’t dare touch. Not now. Their strangest-green-colored eyes did the communicating. “A little,” April said meekly, trying not to give away too much.

The man nodded, smiling slightly. “You don’t have to be scared. I’m not here to punish you.” When the two girls still didn’t answer, he continued, “Do you often want to just go ahead with the class? Or go out, and explore things on your own? Learn at your own pace?”

April and Ariana shot another glance at each other, a frown on their faces. This wasn’t about their mind-space! What was this about? “Uh… yes,” Ariana replied quietly.

“Could you do me a favor?” the man asked, extending a small book. “Could you two read this? And tell me if you understand it?”

Ariana accepted the book, and opened it. April perched closer, looking over her friend’s shoulder. Two sets of eyes went over the first page. They were touching now, in a way that Mother Superior and Mr. Person thought was a manner for April to stabilize herself. In mind-space, their characters were going over the data streaming in from the book.

April was represented by an Amazon, complete with quiver, bow, and short sword. Ariana had chosen a Sorceress, dressed in a long green robe, and always seeming to float above the ground. The two of them had the most fun while playing their characters in the ever-changing mind-space. Right now, April’s Amazon had put down her arrows and her weapons. Ariana’s Sorceress had crossed her legs, and was floating a little above the ground. The book was nowhere in sight, but the data coming in was floating around the circular room they were in, a room resembling an ancient Greek temple. Through the massive support columns an ocean could be seen, extending form all sides as far as the mind’s eye could see.

In real-space, Mr. Person and Mother Superior knew nothing more than the two girls were reading at a pace of about one page every half a minute or so. The book was thin, only counting thirty pages. It took the girls fifteen minutes to finish it.

“I understand, Sir” April said after Ariana returned the book. Ariana nodded. “Me too, Sir.”

“Then you won’t mind me asking a few questions?” Mr. Person asked.

The two girls shrugged. “No, Sir.”

“What is the derivation of a function in a?”

“The directional coefficient of the tangent in a,” April replied instantaneously. Mother Superior’s mouth opened.

“Okay, that’s the textbook definition. Explain it to me,” Mr. Person said.

“The derivation is the slope of the line in the point a. If function A is a straight line, then the derivation of that function in point a is the slope of the entire function A. If function A is NOT a straight line, then the derivation of the function in point a will be the slope of that particular point in function A,” Ariana replied.

“Is that right?” Mr. Person asked April.

“Yes, Sir,” April replied.

“You got it,” Mr. Person said. “Now, I bet you’re all wondering why I asked you to read that boring book on the basics of math, right?”

“More or less, Sir,” April replied, smiling slightly.

“Well, to be honest, it was a test.”

“A test?” Ariana asked. “What kind of test, Sir?”

“An intelligence test. I received some exuberant test results from you two ladies. You see, I am the principal of an extraordinary school. We’re a boarding school for the best and brightest children in the country. I would like to offer you a scholarship.”

“A scholarship?” April asked.

“How long would we be gone?” Ariana asked, sitting upright all of a sudden.

“Well, the scholarship would run until the school year in which you turn sixteen. You could of course come home during the holidays and summer break, and such. I will leave you with some documentation, there’s no hurry. You can call me when you’ve made your decision.”

April and Ariana nodded dazedly. This was their home… they felt safe here. Mr. Person took several folders and a small booklet from his case, stood up, and bid his goodbye. April and Ariana walked along to the door. After Mr. Person had left, the two girls disappeared along with all the information brochures Mr. Person had left, to their room. They needed to think.

The Amazon and the Sorceress did overtime.

Out of the information Mr. Person, had left behind, Mind-April and Mind-Ariana had constructed a three dimensional map of the premises. The ‘map’ was floating in between the two characters. The temple was still there, but the ocean was now hidden by black walls that had appeared in between the white support columns. Lighting inside the temple remained a constant, though.

Look at this, Mind-April said, awed. Two tennis courts. A large swimming pool. A couple multi-purpose courts, able to accommodate anything from indoor soccer to basketball. And then there are the actual scholastic rooms… A large computer room, kept up-to-date every two years, a physics lab, a chemistry lab…

In addition, all the courses are tailored especially for the bright to very bright. All courses are accelerated, able to go over the same material in half a year that would take three years normally. Courses are diverse, too… ranging from genetics to mathematics, physics, astronomy, music-courses, languages, electricity and electro-mechanics for those interested in working with their hands, and so on… Mind-Ariana added.

Mind-April nodded enthusiastically, almost crowing out with joy. All rooms have a color TV, with satellite access, there is an AV-room with the latest in audio-visual equipment for those caring to experiment with making movies! This sounds too good to be true!

Immediately, the two Mind-avatars stopped their joyous laughter. They turned deadly serious. Okay, so what’s the catch? Mind-Ariana asked, getting up from her cross-legged position fast enough to send her long, regal, green dress flying up.

It normally costs a hundred thousand a year, Mind-April pulled from somewhere, the specific block of relevant data appearing on a nearby wall. Mind-Ariana turned to it, and nodded pensively. She thought of something, and made a hand-motion.

Scholarships are awarded according to academic merit, and financial situation, thanks to the founder of the Institute of Advanced Learning, Multi-billionaire Llewellyn Maddocson, Mind-Ariana read from the wall directly next to the one still displaying the school fee.

Looks like we’re in luck, Mind-April added sarcastically.

Mind-Ariana turned to her friend. The sisters aren’t that bad.

Mind-April nodded, and smiled back at her friend. You’re right. They’ve been really good for us. I shouldn’t think those kinds of things of the people who took care of us.

Mind-Ariana walked back to the map, still spinning in the center of the temple. I only wonder if we don’t hurt them too much… I mean, if we leave…

They’ll understand, Ari. Besides, it’s not like we’re going for ever. We’re coming back every chance we get! Mind-April protested.

Mind-Ariana looked over her shoulder at her friend. Really? With what money? Face it, April. When we’re there, we’re stuck until we earn money to come back.

Mind-April sighed. We’ll earn money; somehow. We have to be able to do something. We’re smart enough.

Mind-Ariana smiled. Maybe Mr. Person will give us an allowance.

Mind-April looked at her friend intensely. Mind-Ariana had by now come to understand her friend, and she knew that April wasn’t really looking at her, but rather, delving into her own mind, looking for that elusive piece of information. I knew I read it somewhere! Mind-April shouted, and a new excerpt appeared on a wall.

Scholarships include a basic allowance of twenty dollars a week, Mind-Ariana read. That’s not much.

But enough if we save up all year, to come home during school break, Mind-April insisted. I mean, we don’t get an allowance now, and we’ve got by just fine. There’s a library on the campus, so we don’t need money for membership fees. We receive three meals a day; we get a warm bed and a roof over our heads. What possible use do we have for money?

Mind-Ariana nodded. You’re right. And there’s a bathroom for every three rooms. Can you imagine a shower with warm water?

Mind-April thought for a moment, then shook her head. No… I can’t.

So? What do you think? Wanna go?

Want to? Oh, yes! Mind-April said wholeheartedly.

And are we? Going?

I really want to, Mind-April replied. I really do.

I vote for going, Mind-Ariana said decisively. But I’m not going without you.

Mind-April looked at her friend’s avatar with mind-tears in her mental eyes. She knew it wasn’t blackmail, just a statement. Ariana wanted to go, but if April didn’t want to go, she wouldn’t go either. They wanted to stay together. Forever.

I vote yes, Mind-April finally said. This is too good an opportunity to pass up.

Great! Mind-Ariana shouted enthusiastically.

Theatrically, the Amazon-avatar of April stood up, and walked to the floating ‘map’ in the temple’s center. She waved her hands. The map disappeared, and the data on the walls went with it. The next moment, the walls disappeared. Mind-April’s voice took on an echo when she said, just as theatrically, We have consensus!

Mind-Ariana got up, her regal dress flowing around her body as she floated up to April. We have! she bellowed, her voice taking on an echo as well. The next moment, music filled the temple, and the stern masks flew from the two seven-year-old faces as big smiles broke out.

Their scholarship would start next September, which meant they would have to leave at the end of August. Those last three-and-a-half months were the longest of their young lives, as April and Ariana couldn’t wait to attend a school where they would be the norm, not the exception.

The sisters, on the other hand, were sorry to see them go. The last seven years had created a strong bond between the nuns and the two girls. Both the girls and the nuns were sad to see it come to and end, but everyone realized that it was for the best… April and Ariana needed a school where their intellects would be stimulated and nourished, not broken down because of its exceptional nature.

Finally, the day arrived that they would leave.

“We’ll come back,” April promised. “We’ll save up our allowances, and we’ll come back net July.”

“Yeah,” Ariana agreed, nodding.

“Oh, girls,” Mother Superior said, with vibrating voice. She hugged each of the seven-year-olds in turn. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

April hugged Mother Superior tighter. “I promise,” the girl whispered. Ariana hugged Mother Superior as well. “Me, too,” she promised.

Mother Super released the girls, and stood up, to mask the fact that there was a suspicious shine in her eyes. The other sisters hugged the girls, and wished them a good and safe voyage under God’s good graces, and a fruitful school year. The girls, in turn, promised to come back and to do their best at their new school.

Finally, the cabdriver who was to take them to airport was getting impatient, so the two girls put their shoulder bags in the trunk, and got in the back. Their entire lives were packed in two tiny shoulder bags: a small gathering of clothes and pictures. They didn’t have much, but they were happy.

The cab drove off, toward the airport. “I wish I could have gone with them to the airport,” Sister Magdalena told Mother Superior.

“So do I, my child. So do I,” Mother Superior replied. “But they preferred to do this by themselves.”

“I’ll never forget that night, Reverend Mother. The night I opened the door, and found them…”

Mother Superior’s usually stern mouth twitched in a small smile. “From the very moment you brought them into my chambers I knew something was special about them. God chose to give us those two children to keep safe, and now He, in His infinite Wisdom has decided to give them the best education society has to offer.”

“We will all miss them,” Sister Magdalena whispered, staring at the stretch of road the cab had long since vanished from.

In the cab, April and Ariana were sitting, huddled together, a little subdued.

“I can’t believe it,” April whispered. “We’re really gone.”

“From Heaven, California to the compound of the Institute of Advanced Learning in Texas,” Ariana added.

The cab pulled up to the airport. “Here you go, girls,” the driver said as he put the car in ‘park’.

“Thank you, sir,” April replied, getting out. Ariana followed her friend. They took their shoulder bags from the trunk. The driver waved as he pulled away.

April and Ariana looked at the large building. “The airport,” April whispered.

“I never thought it would be this big,” Ariana said, awed. April could only nod, stunned. After a few moments of gazing, they entered the glass building.

“Departures,” April read, pointing to a sign. “I think that’s where we have to go.”

Ariana looked at her ticket. “Continental Airlines,” she read. She looked at the baggage check-in. “Do you think we have to go there?”

April looked at the thin pieces of paper. “Not a boarding pass,” she read from the tickets. “Yep. I think that’s where we have to go to get our boarding passes.”

Ariana nodded, and started walking, April in tow. The two girls stopped at the check-in line. Actually, there were two lines. “VIP and first class,” Ariana read from the sign at the small line.

“We’re not Very Important Persons, but these are first class seats,” April said, looking at the tickets. “I think we’re in luck, Ari.” The two girls stepped into the small line, and immediately were allowed to advance before the other passengers. The ticket clerk looked annoyed at them.

Until they handed him their tickets, after having to stand on their toes to do so. The tickets were processed immediately, and boarding passes were handed out. They didn’t have any luggage except their shoulder bags. They would be taking the small bags with them as carry-on luggage.

After having claimed their boarding passes, the two girls were shown to embarkation hall.

They had to put their bags through the X-ray scanner, and had to walk through a metal detector. The two girls found it all exciting. April and Ariana walked straight to the embarkation hall, where April pointed at a monitor.

“Flight CA756 to Dallas leaves in thirty minutes,” April said. Ariana nodded.

“Gate 30. Let’s hurry,” Ariana said, grabbing a firm hold on her shoulder bag. April nodded, and the two excited seven-year-olds started running towards gate thirty. They were having a splendid time, certainly when they stopped dead in their tracks. A large window gave them an uninterrupted view of the airplanes.

“What a big thing,” Ariana said, hushed.

“Will that thing make it into the air?” April wondered. Ariana pointed to a similar airplane in the background that just detached itself from the ground, and lifted into the air like a majestic bird of white-painted aluminum.

“The answer’s yes,” April answered her own question. She looked around. “We’re at gate 25. Come on, Ari. We can’t afford to be late.”

Ariana nodded, and docilely followed her friend. The two girls ran to the waiting are at gate thirty. Boarding hadn’t commenced yet.

*****

The two girls left the airplane in Dallas, and looked around. “Now what?” Ariana asked.

“I don’t know, Ari. They said someone would be here,” April replied. After a few seconds, she added, “Come on; let’s start walking towards the main gate. Maybe they’re waiting for us there.”

Ariana nodded and shrugged. She followed her friend, looking around the Dallas airport as they walked. Her friend did the same. As they reached the main disembarkation hall, they saw someone hold up a sign with their names on it. The two girls made their way to the man, who was dressed in an impeccable business suit.

“I’m April,” April said. “This is Ari. Are you from the Institute?”

The man smiled at the two girls. “Yes, I am. Come on, get your luggage. It should be coming in on…” the man threw a look at a nearby monitor. “Carrousel 5. Then we can go. We’ve got a long drive ahead of us.”

“This is all we have,” Ariana replied, a little self-conscious. The man’s mouth opened slightly at the sight of the two shoulder bags, but decided not to comment.

“In that case, let’s get going, shall we?” he said with a nice smile. “By the way, my name is Bert. I teach math and social sciences at the Institute.”

“Nice to meet you, sir,” April said for the both of them. The man laughed.

“Call me Bert. Everyone else does, so why not you? I see myself more as a friend than a teacher. See me as your guide through the wonderful world of knowledge.”

“Okay… Bert,” Ariana said, not entirely comfortable with calling a superior by his given name.

“This way,” Bert said, leading them to the parking lot. He continued, “You’ll find that most, if not all, teachers at the Institute of Advanced Learning, are like me. We all care passionately about our subjects, and as such, inspire passion in our students.”

April and Ariana threw their shoulder bags in the boot of the Buick Bert drove. They scooted onto the back seat. “Anyway, since it’ll be at least five hours, I brought some lunch. Hope you girls like sandwiches and Coca Cola.”

“Sure!” April and Ariana assured the man at the same time. Coca Cola had been one of those things that had been a real luxury at the convent. Water was the standard drink, and sodas only came onto the table rarely.

After a couple of hours, Bert pulled over at a bench along the road, and unpacked the lunches. After everyone had their fill, they were underway for the couple hours that were left.

*****

April opened her eyes, and got up. As was her custom, she was fully awake as soon as her eyes had opened. The room’s lights were off. April put on some clothes, left her room, and stepped out into the little hallway.

The layout of the building was quite easy to understand. There was a large main hallway, off which small hallways branched off perpendicularly. Each branch sported three rooms and a bathroom. When looking directly at the branch, there was one bedroom on the left of the branch, one on the right, and one at the deep-right side. On the left was the bathroom.

April stepped out of her room on the right of the branch, slowly made her way to the door on the opposite end, and let her hand slide across the door. April’s head looked around to see whether she had waked anyone else.

Ariana left her room mere seconds after April had ‘knocked’.

Their hands met. Ready? April asked.

Yep, Ariana answered. Holding hands, the two girls left the branch they were housed in. They entered an elevator.

Two minutes later, the two girls were jogging leisurely around the building. “You were late,” Ariana said.

“So I overslept,” April gave in response.

“Not you custom, April,” Ariana insisted.

April shrugged. “It was my own fault. I was up too long studying for basic trigonometry. Sorry, Ari.”

Ariana was silent for a few seconds. “I overslept too,” the other girl admitted. April shot her friend an amused look.

“Trig?” she asked.

“Trig,” Ariana replied. Both girls burst out laughing, comfortable in the knowledge they were now jogging along the wing of the building dedicated to labs of various kinds. Labs neither of them had access to yet. Neither of them minded… they knew beforehand that the first six months of their stay at the Institute would be filled with getting them through High School.

Not an easy feat under any circumstances, but a feat necessary to show which of the students possessed the necessary capacities to cut it in the hellish pace that Institute maintained.

“So, how far does that put us ahead?” Ariana asked after half a minute of silence.

“I’m ahead four chapters in Trig, three in English composition, and six in American history. In other words…”

“… You’re almost done,” Ariana added with a smirk.

“I’m almost done,” April agreed. “And you?”

“Same courses, three, four, six. About even.”

April nodded. “It’s almost seven thirty. Come on, I’ll race ya to the bathroom!”

“Okay!” Ariana shouted, racing off after her friend.

The two girls burst into their bathroom ahead of Kelly, the third girl in their branch. Ariana already started stripping while April turned the shower to ‘freezing’. After being used to it in the convent, warm water just felt plain wrong to April and Ariana. April shed her clothes, and jumped under the shower with her friend. They washed each other, and were out of the bathroom in under five minutes.

As usual, they were one of the first to make it to the dining hall, where all three hundred best-and-brightest gathered three times a day. They filled some cheese and salami on their plates, grabbed a few slices of bread, and filled their glasses with freshly squeezed orange juice.

“I still can’t believe some of these kids have the nerve to call this food bad,” Ariana started the conversation after the two girls had sat down.

“Most of the others never had it like we did,” April replied, taking a bite of her cheese-salami sandwich. She threw some orange juice down her throat directly after it.

Ariana nodded. Suddenly, she looked up, and dipped her head in a certain direction. Ten children, raging in age from nine to fifteen, had just entered the dining hall. There were four boys and six girls, all dressed in uniform. The girls were wearing gray skirts, white socks, a white blouse, and blue jacket. The boys were wearing gray pants, a white shirt, a blue jacket and matching blue tie. All proudly displayed the gold-and-ruby pin of a phoenix on their chests.

“The phoenixes,” April whispered in awe. “How I’d like to be part of them…”

“We’ll give it everything we’ve got, April,” Ariana added. “Two majors and at least one additional stand-alone course can’t be that bad.”

April nodded. “It’s a lot of additional work, too, Ari. There’s that ten errors a month rule… Only ten errors a month! And all subjects are added up!”

“But imagine the prestige!” Ariana interrupted. “Sure, it’s a lot of hard work, but look at the benefits! Unlimited access to the library and the labs, the authorization to experiment with whatever we feel like experimenting with…”

“And the tank,” April ended.

Ariana nodded. “And you get to join the think-thank that look into all kinds of interesting problems.”

“What a load of pressure. Think we can cut it?” April asked, suddenly sounding very unsure of herself. “Do you think we can overdo it? You’ve heard of those kids that are pushed too far…”

Ariana shook her head. “Urban legends, April. There are loads of psychologists monitoring us. Don’t worry; they won’t let us kill ourselves. Those that crack don’t belong here. Besides, the phoenixes are for later. You have to be nine before you can join.”

April sighed, and nodded. She shoved her worry aside, and looked at Ariana. “Have you decided on a major yet?”

“I’m still doubting,” Ariana replied quietly. “Electro-mechanics or car mechanics?”

April looked at her friend. “First: those are high school-level courses. And second, you want to get your hands dirty? Why?”

Ariana shrugged. “Sam reason you want to take bagpipe lessons, and want to learn Japanese. Those courses just interest me, that’s all. Besides, they’re short courses. Three months, high-intensity.”

April shrugged, then smiled. “I’d like to see the face of the instructor that has to teach an eight-year-old girl to repair a car.”

Ariana snickered. “About the same face as the guy who has to teach you how to hold a set of bagpipes.”

April burst out laughing, soon joined by Ariana. “You know, I think I am really going to like it here. There’s no pressure except for the pressure you put on yourself,” April said after the laughing fit had died down somewhat.

“Except when you join the phoenixes,” Ariana said.

“That’s your own choice, so it’s basically still your own choice whether or not you put the added pressure on yourself,” April said, throwing a look at the table where the phoenixes were busily discussing god-knew-what. It appeared to be an interesting and very intellectual discussion, since several phoenix-members were rubbing there foreheads, obviously thinking hard.

Ariana nodded. “Maybe you’re right,” she said with a sigh. “Anyway, I’m done. I’ll see you in class?”

“Hang on, I’ll go with you,” April replied, throwing the remainder of her orange juice down her throat, and making the last of the sandwich disappear just as easily. The two girls deposited their trays, and walked to class after going to their rooms and collect some writing materials and some books.

*****

Hello everybody,

Good news! We graduated High School magna cum laude! So, now it’s all down to our majors… Mr. Person told us we could take a couple of weeks off, but me and Ari decided that we’d best get started. I’ve decided on taking mathematics and computer sciences first. During the High School courses, we got some computer courses, and a computer really speaks to me. I mean… when a computer doesn’t do something, it’s because I screwed up, not because it doesn’t like me for being smarter.

Anyway, Ari decided on her majors, too. She’s taking a course for industrial engineer, with electricity, electro-mechanics, and such. Why she wants to get her hands dirty is beyond me, but it’s her choice. She’s also taking computer sciences with me, so we’ve got those classes to be together. I can hardly wait.

Everything’s going great here at the Institute, too. The teachers are both funny and friendly… and the best thing of all is that they manage to teach us something! Me and Ari can’t get over the fact that things are so different here, compared to the grade school back in Heaven. Nothing bad on Heaven Grade School, but Ari and I need some pressure to perform. Everyone here agrees on that.

We’ve made our first friends, too! For the first time, we’ve got friends! I’m so happy I could cry… Kelly’s the girl next door in our branch. She’s so sweet, a genius with words. She’s taking courses in half a dozen different languages, French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Ancient Greek. I asked her why she didn’t take Latin. She replied that Latin would be for next year, when her courses end, and she takes her next batch. Sweet Kelly.

We’ve also become friends with Grace. She’s twelve, and a phoenix-member! I can’t believe it! We’ve got a phoenix member for a friend! It happened in a strange way, too. Let me tell you about how it happened.

You no doubt remember that we never sleep for more than four hours. So, one night we were taking our early-morning jog, and we run into Grace, only we don’t know her name then. So, we bump into this girl, who’s sitting on a bench outside, looking at this thick volume, obviously in some sort of trouble.

Since we got to the Institute, there are a few social-things we learned. One of those things is that just showing interest might be enough for a problem to be solved. Just talking about it, you know? So, we sit. I sit on the girl’s left, and Ari sits down on the right.

“What’s wrong? You look like that book’s about to eat you,” I asked.

The girl sighed, and looked at the both of us. “It’s physics. I’m not good at physics. I prefer biology.”

“No offense, why did you take it, then?” Ariana asked.

The girl started fingering her phoenix pin, and we kinda get the point. “Think tank stuff. A company has a problem, and they asked us to help solve it.”

So, Ari and I offer to help, and the girl smiled and opened the book at a hand-written page. Just one page. Now, since getting to the institute we’ve become known as the fastest readers in our age group. So, we read the hand-written page in about ten seconds flat.

After reading the page, we started leafing through the advanced physics book she brought with her. And you know what? We started talking! Sine neither Ari nor I had taken this level of physics yet, we asked questions to coincide with the book… And Grace tries to answer them. With the three of us, we solved her problem. I’ve never seen anyone so happy, I swear!

The next morning, Grace actually introduced us to the rest of the phoenixes! And you know what? They’re not as different from us… we always saw them as these cool super-kids, but it turns out they’re just like us! They’ve got doubts, and problems, too.

Anyway, I’ve gotta go now… breakfast’s about ready.

Miss you all much, and hope to see you soon,

April.

*****

April and Ariana made good on their projects, and within six months, both girls could sport two college degrees. Having gotten a taste for number crunching, April decided on tackling Physics and Quantum Mechanics next. She also kept taking her course in Japanese customs, enabling her to learn the language, and behave according to the Japanese customs, teaching her the local foodstuffs, and so on. April found it a fascinating country.

Ariana decided on taking History, as well as Political Sciences. She too, took a stand-alone course during evenings, Car Shop. She liked get her hands dirty, trying to find out what’s wrong with a car. As such, she could drive within weeks… if a little clumsily due to her length. The course would take about six months… And given her tendency to fully delve into a subject, Ariana would be able to build a car by herself by the time the course ended.

April also kept going to the library, trying to find more books on computer programming languages. She started absorbing one language after another; C, COBOL, FORTRAN, Assembly code,… the list went on. April, when not busy with anything else, late at night, closed her eyes, and let her mind build code… just for code’s sake. Program after useless but fun to work on program passed the revue. And then… then April started thinking. DOS was still the leading operating system. Good as it may be, it was not user-friendly. She set her mind on a monumental task. A task to build a new operating system, one that would not require the operator to learn lots of useless things… an operating system that would be operated by the human voice.

Ariana usually joined her friend, going through book after book on historic events. First came prehistory, and her hunger was awakened. She loved the Sumerians with their strange writings. Next came the Egyptians with their mystery pyramids, and she loved them, too. Then she got to the Greeks, and she became best friends with the likes of Pericles, and Alexander the Great. And then there was Rome. Glorious Rome, with it Julius Caesar, its Emperor Augustus, and its Hadrian (along with the wall he built in Great Britain), before she erupted into the dark Ages. Her eyes shining with excitement, Ariana’s mind absorbed names, dates, places and battles without a hint of trouble. She truly enjoyed the ancient battles… and as such, started to track down anything she could find on ancient tactics, long-ago commanders, and armies of the different eras.

The courses ended, and both April and Ariana decided on staying with them… upgrading their bachelor’s degrees to doctor’s degrees. Ariana’s car shop course ended, and she now joined a wood shop class, just to keep her hands busy (and dirty!).

Both girls were halfway through their doctor’s courses, both already working on their thesis when, one evening, April and Ariana were in April’s room.

“Ari, I have GOT to show you something,” April immediately burst out. “For half the day, I was so excited about telling you that I needed to keep myself in check. I actually had to let Learning April out to do the work!”

Ariana’s eyes opened wider. “You had to run a mind-avatar for half a day? Under actual conditions? Did it work?” Ariana asked, excitedly.

“It did. But that’s not the point, Ari! I found something new!” April burst out, sounding just as excited as her friend.

“Really? What?” Ariana asked, sounding curious.

“Look!” April said, lifting her hand and pointing her index finger at a book. The book lifted. April opened her hand, and the book raced towards the girl. Her hand snapped shut, grabbing the book. “Psychokinesis!”

Ariana’s mouth was as open as it was able to. “How… how… did you manage that?” she stammered.

“Well, I was going through my Advanced Physics course, and suddenly I saw that the page was lifting by itself. So I start experimenting over lunch…” April explained. “And it’s not a matter of power, but of control! I mean, I could lift a page without any knowledge whatsoever, just like that… but, when I started to experiment, I could lift a book without trouble, once I started focusing!”

Ariana looked at the book April had put down in between them. She reached for it, closing her eyes. “Don’t force the book to come to you. Don’t will it to do what you want. It’s more like… feel yourself reaching out, is the best I can explain it. Then gently manipulate it. Fell yourself becoming one with the book, and lift it,” April preached, her voice sounding uncertain. This was new to her, too.

Ariana held her breath. The book shuffled form left to right, and a smile displayed itself on Ariana’s face. Then, the book flew up, directly towards Ariana. April’s eyes barely had time to open completely. Ariana’s arm blurred, shot out, grasped the speeding book out of mid-air, and held it firmly in place.

“Wha… How did I do that?” Ariana asked meekly.

“Your arm moved… fast!” April stuttered. “I… I… your reflexes! I… I… we need to do some tests on that,” she added.

Ariana had put the book down, and stared at it as if she willed it to roll over and die. She blamed the book for the psychokinetic failure. Calming herself, she said she was going to try again. April nodded, holding herself ready. Ariana closed her eyes, and took another deep breath.

“Try to keep your eyes open. Maybe you over-focused,” April suggested. Ariana shrugged, and opened her eyes. She looked at the book. Once gain, it started shuffling, then lifted calmly. Ariana started smiling widely.

“It works! I can move things with my mind!” the girl shouted enthusiastically.

“Try shouting. I’m sure that the people in Papua New-Guinea didn’t hear you,” April said sarcastically.

“Sorry,” Ariana whispered quietly, still looking at the book. “Come here, you,” she told the book affectionately. The book drifted over, snapping into Ariana’s opened hand. She bounced up and down with excitement.

“This is so cool!” Ariana shouted. “We can move things with our mind!”

April nodded, smiling broadly as well. “Mind-space directives?” she asked.

Ariana’s excitement died down a little. She nodded. “We have to keep things a secret. You’re damn right.”

“Ari! Baby Jesus doesn’t like cursing!” April accused.

Ariana calmed down immediately. Her face sobered up, and she nodded. After turning towards the simple crucifix in April’s room, Ariana closed her eyes and folded her hands. A quick prayer later, she reopened her eyes, feeling relieved. “I’ve been picking up bad habits from the workshops,” she apologized to April.

“I told you not to get your hands dirty,” April said with a smile, indicating she this was more a tease than anything else.

A gentle rap at April’s door startled both girls, making them jump literally half a meter into the air.

“Why didn’t we hear her?” Ariana asked quietly, so quietly only April would be able to hear her.

“Too absorbed with our own things,” April replied just as quietly. “Enter!” she said out loud. The door opened, and April and Ariana threatened to lose their eyes, so far did they come out of their sockets.

Four phoenixes had just entered April’s quarters.

“I told you guys they would be here,” Grace told her three companions, whom both younger girls knew as the most senior members of the phoenixes: Rick, Arial, and Jean. Seniority in the phoenixes was not related to age, but rather to the amount of time that particular member had been a phoenix. Rick, a blond boy, had been a phoenix for about three-and-a-half years, and was the most senior of the group, although he was only thirteen. Arial, a brunette of fifteen, had been a phoenix for about three years. Jean, a redheaded girl of fourteen, had only been a phoenix for two years, a little longer than Grace.

Most members of the phoenixes couldn’t maintain the savage pace the group maintained, or they could but just didn’t have the energy to keep up the pace. It was said that the average amount of sleep a phoenix member got was about five hours a day, with many members going through the night at regular intervals. As such, the club of ex-members grew steadily, while the actual amount of members stayed steady at around ten.

April and Ariana looked at the four members in the room, for the first time up close to the other members. They startled. Rick was looking at them with eyes that looked so tired. Arial looked a little better, her exhaustion hidden beneath an artful appliance of make-up. Jean and Grace still looked fresh.

“We couldn’t find you,” Grace explained to her two friends, “So I brought them here. I hope you don’t mind?”

“They won’t, not after what we’re about to tell them,” Rick interrupted. His voice sounded strong, still, and the girl started to think that Rick’s exhaustion was only superficial. He turned to the two girls. “Even though you’re only eight-and-a-half, we’ve decided on making an exception. If you want to, you can take the appliance test for the phoenixes,” Rick told a very stunned April and Ariana. “They start next week.”

Arial nodded, and handed them each a small book. “The rules and regulations,” she explained. “Read it well. It will be the code you live by, for as long as you are a phoenix member.”

“The appliance exam will be a timed exam, covering every imaginable topic. There are books in the library on the more common subjects we ask for entrance. Ask Mac where they are,” Jean added, referring to the librarian. “You will have thirty minutes to finish the exam.”

“And don’t think about cheating. It’s not a scantron test,” Rick finished, referring to the type of multiple-choice test where little circles had to be blacked out, enabling a computer to correct the test at a faster pace than any human could hope to achieve. “In fact, the tests will be corrected by the current members of the phoenixes. Don’t expect any leniency. The phoenixes are elite. We all want to keep it that way. The only reason we’re permitting you to enter is because of the formidable record you have achieved while you’ve been here.”

April and Ariana nodded. “Good evening, then,” Rick said, nodding to both girls. April and Ariana smiled at him, and said good evening as well, while the phoenix members filed out of the room.

The door shut after Grace gave them a final thumbs-up, and an encouraging smile, before leaving as well. April and Ariana looked at each other.

“We’re going to be phoenixes!” the two girls shouted excitedly, hugging each other, unable to contain their enthusiasm.

It took a couple of minutes for the girls to come down from their high, and they looked at one another. After all these years, their hands came together naturally.

Library, then? April asked.

Library, Ariana agreed. I have to do write a comparison paper on the empires of Alexander the Great and Caius Julius Caesar, and I’ll need to do some research anyway.

Comparing what? April asked.

Political and military institutions, Ariana replied. Care to help? Two minds assimilate faster than one. And four hands type faster than two.

April shrugged. Sure. I’ll take politics. You take military.

Ariana smiled, and hugged her friend. Thanks, girlfriend.

April shook it off. Consider it a repayment for helping me with my thesis on the Theory of Everything.

Ariana’s face became stern, and she put her hands in her sides. April’s hand remained on Ariana’s leg, maintaining contact. Ariana’s mind-voice sounded stern. The Theory of Everything: Hoax or Genius? she said. Immediately after, both burst out into giggles. Come on, let’s go the library, Ariana said, getting up, taking April’s hand with her. April nodded, and got up as well.

“Hello, Mac,” April and Ariana greeted the Scottish librarian as they entered the huge library of the Institute. A library that was reputed to have about the same amount of books the Library of Congress had. No one knew for sure. No one had tried to count them yet. Mac knew, but he wasn’t telling. When someone asked how many books there were, he just answered that there were enough, and that was about all they could get from him on the subject.

“Good evening, lasses,” Mac replied. The man was in his mid-fifties, with slightly graying hair, but with keen green eyes that seemed to burn into your very soul. His eyes shot to the clock. “Pulling an all-nighter?” He asked with a slightly Scottish accent.

“I’ve got a paper to finish, comparing the military and political structures of Alexander the Great’s empire to that of Rome during Caesar’s reign,” Ariana replied.

“And I need to get some books on getting into the phoenixes. We just got selected to enter the tests next week!” April exclaimed happily. Mac smiled.

“Good for you!” he said while looking behind his desk, and retrieving some cards. “These should get you started,” he said, holding the reference cards out to April. He also handed Ariana a couple of cards. “And these are on military tactics and political structures. They should get you started.”

“Thanks, Mac,” the two girls replied happily, bouncing off to fetch their books.

“Better hurry, lasses,” Mac told them as they bounced off. “You know the rules.”

“No one except the phoenixes is allowed in the library after 11 PM, and before 7 AM,” April said over her shoulder. She smiled at the librarian. “Don’t worry, Mac. We’ll be out of here in ten minutes.”

Andres ‘Mac’ McGinnis shook his head. How do they do that? Some people I know need half an hour to find a book, even with the reference cards… Mac smiled, and shrugged. But then again, those two are about the smartest kids ever to walk these halls. He looked at the place the two girls had disappeared between the racks of books. And they’re really nice kids. I hope they never change.

And indeed, ten minutes later the two girls passed by Mac’s desk, each carrying a pile of about a dozen books, ranging in thickness from a couple hundred to a couple thousand pages. Some reference books were literally s thick as a full-scale dictionary. The two piles were neatly deposited on Mac’s desk.

“Got what you were looking for, lasses?” Mac asked as he started writing down the books the two borrowed from the library.

“Yes, Mac,” April replied. “As usual, thanks for helping out.”

Mac smiled evilly. “Lesser of two evils, lass. Last one to go in there without a reference card took two days to come back out. With no book.”

April and Ariana laughed as they accepted the pile of books back from Mac. “Well, we’d better get busy. Good evening Mac,” the two girls told the librarian.

“Good evening, lasses. Enjoy your material.”

“I’m sure we will,” April replied, shooting a smile at the librarian. They darted off. Mac shook his head. So enthusiastic. And always in a good mood.

April and Ariana ran through the nearly empty halls of the Institute of Advanced Learning, silent as ghosts. Even at full speed, they somehow managed to remain absolutely quiet. They burst into April’s room, where they hurriedly deposited the two piles of books on April’s desk. A flick of April’s wrist locked the door.

“You know, that is so cool,” Ariana said. “We can do stuff no one else can!”

April smiled a little sadly. “And we can’t tell a soul about it.”

Ariana shrugged. “Yet another secret between me and my sister.”

April’s smile wasn’t sad now anymore. “Come on, sister. Let’s crack these books.”

Ariana nodded enthusiastically. “Let me try,” she said, and focused on April’s pile of books. The pile lifted slowly, and then drifted slowly away form the desk. It deposited itself near the dresser. “There. Out of the way.”

April clapped her hands. “Well done, Ari! You know, when we get this down, this will be so cool!”

Ariana nodded just as enthusiastically. “I can’t wait to see the face of someone trying to hurt us. I mean, a psychokinetic burst of power would disrupt anyone sense of reality.”

“True,” April allowed. “But I don’t think I like the idea of hurting someone. Come on, let’s get these books!”

Like a couple lionesses, burning with a hunger for knowledge, April and Ariana divided the books between themselves. To make sure that they maintained contact at all times, April’s left hand held onto Ariana’s right one, their free hands flipping the pages until they realized that their psychokinetic powers could just as well do the trick.

The mind-temple buzzed with activity as the High Sorceress and the Amazon Priestess stared at the information flowing through the temple. Ariana’s High Sorceress was now dressed in a red gown, the very air around her bristling with suppressed magical energy. April’s Amazon Priestess was dressed in a bright golden version of her old armor, and she was now wearing a set of antlers on her head. Her eyes burned with magical might.

At the moment, Ariana and April were looking in two different directions. Ariana was looking at a map showing an overlay of Alexander the Great’s empire with Julius Caesar’s Roman Empire. Various colors indicted various expansions.

At the other side, April was looking at two different mid-air screens detailing the different political structures. A third screen popped up, where April started writing her part of the paper.

Ariana had by now pulled up text on the different armies, styles of combat of tactics used by the two rulers. She too, opened a new screen, and started writing.

“Done!” shouted the Amazon Priestess that was April’s avatar in this mental realm.

Ariana’s High Sorceress threw a look over her shoulder. “Almost done myself,” her flowing voice replied. She turned back to her work, and seemed to gather her thoughts. More information raced through the mind-temple’s air. “Yes!” Ariana exclaimed. “THAT’s it!”

April looked at the information, and shrugged in incomprehension. She let Ariana finish her part of the paper, a task that took less than five minutes. A look at her always-accurate internal clock told April that Ariana finished her work three-and-a-half minutes after she did.

All the external information disappeared, as did the unnecessary screens. All that remained were the two screens with the text for Ariana’s paper. The two avatars stood side-by-side in the middle of the circular temple, and each brought their screen closer to the center at a gentle pace.

“Merge,” Ariana told the two screens. They floated closer together, until they literally merged, the text in the right screen, April’s, adapting to fit Ariana’s more down-to-earth style of writing. “Merging complete,” Ariana stated superfluously.

“Now all you need to do is write,” April told her companion.

Ariana shrugged. “We both have it stored. Let’s wait until tomorrow, get into the computer lab, and type it out. Let’s do a class-A job.”

April smiled, and nodded. “That’s more or less become a standard policy with us, huh, Ari? So, care to start on the phoenix material? I can hardly wait!”

Ariana shot her friend an amused grin. “Sure. Bring it on!!”

“You got it, sister! Here it comes!” April shouted enthusiastically. For a moment, Ariana wondered what April as talking about, when a screen opened in front of the two avatars. The real world, and the pile of books to be exact. Ariana could see the reference books piling themselves up, and switching place with the phoenix-books, which subsequently landed on the desk.

“That is so cool!” Ariana screamed. “How do you do that?”

“Well, it’s like opening any other screen in here. Only, the feed doesn’t come from the memory, but from the senses. That’s how I let Learning-April run for an entire afternoon. She ran my mind and body, while I stayed in here, supervising her. I wouldn’t want anything to go wrong, now would I?”

“So I open a screen,” Ariana said, outstretching one hand. The screen opened. It was blank, and virtually see-through. “Sensory input,” she told the screen. It displayed a back, black question mark.

“Think sensory input, Ari,” April told her friend. Ariana smiled. The screen’s question mark disappeared, leaving the two words ‘sensory input’ in its place.

“ARI!” April shouted, semi-offended. “This isn’t a joke, you know!”

“Come on, April! Live a little! You’re so serious all the time,” Ariana replied, turning back to the screen. The view from Ariana’s eyes filled the screen, and the sound coming through Ariana’s ears filled the air of the temple.

April, meanwhile, was still staring at her friend. “I didn’t know you thought of me that way,” the girl said quietly. “I didn’t know you saw me as a bore.”

Ariana sighed, throwing her arm around April’s shoulders. She pulled the other girl closer. “April, you’re my best friend in the whole world. We’re sisters. We’ve shared everything, probably since we were born…”

“I don’t like the sound of this,” April whispered. Ariana smiled.

“Listen, what I’m trying to say is… you’re always so serious. You should relax a little. I mean, we’ve done more in our eight years than most people do in a lifetime. We’ve got college degrees; multiple ones. We can work for a few years and retire on the salaries we can make. What I’m trying to say is… we should have fun! Sure, we should do our bests, but it’s not like what we’re doing is vital for survival.”

April sighed. “I know… but… I can’t help feeling that somehow, what we’re doing here IS vital. It’s this feeling… like we’re supposed to be doing something, but I don’t know what.”

“You’re not going paranoid on me, are you, sister?” Ariana asked.

April laughed, and shook her head. “No, of course not! Come on; let’s hit the books instead of having dangerous conversations that could destroy relationships if we’re not careful.”

Ariana smiled, and nodded. Ariana’s sensor-screen closed, and the audio-feed disappeared with it. The next moment, the air in the temple was bristling with streaming lines of text.

“This might take a while,” Ariana grunted.

“No kidding,” April replied on an equal tone. “Looks like we’re not going to get much sleep the next few days.”

“Makes me wonder why they told us so late,” Ariana said to her friend, while going over some little-known facts of Mendel’s genetic laws.

“The phoenixes are all about stress and endurance. They probably told us so late to see how we’d cope with stress, and how we achieve under that stress,” April replied, her mind busy with Freud’s Penis Envy theories, a theory April found gross, not to mention totally wrong. How could men walk with something dangling between their legs was beyond her.

“Possibly,” Ariana agreed, nodding her head, while absorbing the gravitational equation for the planets in the solar system.

The week passed in a haze of absorbed knowledge, the two girls spending barely an hour a night in bed, the rest of the time they spent locked together, going over book after book of phoenix material. They actually managed to go through the seemingly endless supply of phoenix reference material by the night of Wednesday to Thursday. Going through the night, the girls kept themselves busy with jogging continuous laps around the parkland that surrounded the Institute. Thursday itself went well, although actually following class didn’t go as fast, nor was it as much fun as linking.

That evening, both went to bed early, thinking that the exhaustions of the past week entitled them to at least eight hours of uninterrupted bed rest. Tomorrow, Friday, would be the Big Day, the day of the phoenix-test.

Five-and-a-half hours later, April wandered the parkland, unable to sleep. She sat down on a deserted bench overlooking a small pond. She wasn’t surprised when Ariana sat down fifteen minutes later.

“Five-and-a-half hours,” April muttered, looking at a duck that was floating on the gentle water’s surface.

“Five-fifteen,” Ariana replied. “Took me twenty-five minutes to gather the courage to leave my room, and five minutes to sniff you out. I must say, you gave me quite a run of the facility. You passed by science labs one, two, and three, you went past the library, the AV room, and the computer lab, before coming out here.”

April gave a short laugh. “I thought a walk would get me back to sleep. Instead, I’m more awake now than ever. I just can’t believe it. We set ourselves up for eight hours of sleep, and we can’t get more than five and a half. What’s the matter with us?”

Ariana snorted. “We’re freaks. Ever since we were small. We never slept more than four hours. Reverend Mother told us so, remember?”

April laughed, her eyes taking on a distant look. “Poor Sister Magdalena. We used to keep her up so long. Poor woman must have been driven to exhaustion by us.”

Ariana smiled, her eyes becoming distant as well. “Yeah. What a great time we had at the convent. Sure, it wasn’t as free as this place is, and it was cold, and there wasn’t much food…”

“But it was home,” April finished emotionally, voicing the feelings of both girls.

“Yeah, it was,” Ariana added.

April stood up, wiping some tears from her eyes. “Come on; let’s take a jog before going to breakfast.”

Ariana nodded, doing her best not to show that she too, had some tears at the thought of home. The two girls’ emotions settled on the rhythm of totally silent footsteps.

The day went well, and both girls found it totally strange that they didn’t have any sort of nervousness toward the big test after class. Lunch came, and lunch went, and still there were no jitters. Classes ended, and dinner came. Over dinner, both girls just stared at the food that disappeared into their mouths. Neither spoke, and both felt the same thing.

We couldn’t have finished those books. They’re supposed to be the epiphany of phoenix-knowledge. Sure, just the basics, but still… there’s no way we could have finished them all. We missed a pile. Must have.

Five students in all were gathered outside the phoenix-lounge, the special lounge where phoenix-members could sit, talk, read, or use one of the only computers outside the computer lab.

All were too nervous to talk, and April and Ariana admitted that they, too started to feel the nerves hit. Grace opened the door, allowing the applicants in. Ranging in age from eight-and-a-half to fourteen, the two girls and three boys filed into the room, one of the only times non-phoenix-members were allowed in there.

“Take a seat,” Grace said, motioning for the five desks, neatly arranged side-by-side. “Your names are on the desks.”

April and Ariana found it disappointing that they had been put on either side of the long row, April on the far left and Ariana on the far right. The three boys were put in the center seats, obviously in some sort of arrangement to keep friends split up.

Rick came round, carrying five packages of paper. “These are your tests. They’re individualized, to prevent cheating. Ariana, Ben, Marc, Luc, and April,” he read, handing the tests out from right to left. It was probably done to confuse the applicants, both April and Ariana thought at the same time.

“On each desk is a #2 pencil, and an eraser. You can begin… now,” Rick said, pressed a button on a remote. A digital clock, paced at the front of the room, started counting down from thirty minutes. The five applicants broke the seal on their respective tests at the same time. They all started scribbling.

*****

April handed in her test after twenty-five minutes. Rick, Grace, and some other members of the phoenixes stared at the girl.

“No one ever finished one of these,” Rick said, hushed. April, in consternation, looked over her shoulder. Indeed, the three boys were still only ¾ through the test. But… Ariana got up.

“Done,” she said, handing her test to Rick.

“Shh!” April grunted in Ariana’s ear. “We’re the first ever to finish the thing in the time allowed!” she spoke verbally, because telepathy would have aroused suspicion.

“What?” Ariana asked, a little louder than intended. The three boys looked annoyed as they continued their test. The clock neared zero. Rick and Grace threw open April’s test.

“Correct… correct… correct… correct…” they whispered, each one checking the questions they were best at. Grace threw the test shut, and grabbed Ariana’s copy. More or less the same situation followed. The clock had reached zero by now, and the three phoenix members collected the remaining tests. The three boys joined April and Ariana.

Rick shut Ariana’s test gently, and put it on top of the pile. “Do you know what this means?” he asked.

“We… eh… failed?” April asked, trying to keep her legs from shaking. “I only got four out of 50 questions right…”

Rick rubbed his forehead, and closed his eyes. Grace tried her best to stifle a laugh.

“April, Ariana… it means that you two did what no one has done before you. You got ALL the questions right, do you know that? And did you know that these tests were put together by Mensa? Ideal IQ to pass the test is about 180 to 190. This test is accurate up to 240. Now, you two had time to spare, and it didn’t seem to cost you that much effort to do so, either. You were smiling all the way through the test. I saw not a single frown of concentration, nothing,” Grace explained.

“That’s because it was fun,” Ariana replied.

“Fun?” Marc shouted. “FUN!?! I slaved for days on those books! I slept for two hours a night if I was lucky! And that test… it came from hell!”

“It was fun,” April agreed. “A challenge. For the first time, we got challenged by a test.”

Rick looked at Grace. The three other phoenixes look at each other as well. “They said that one day we’d get one of you,” Grace said.

“We just never thought there would be two of you,” Rick said.

“One of us? What do you mean?” April asked.

“Remember Srinivasa Ramanujan?” Rick asked.

“Indian mathematical genius,” Ariana replied. “Proved many mathematical problems.”

“And he did it all after reading a book on grade school math,” April finished.

“Right. Think of him, and now of you,” Rick said.

“You mean…” April started.

“Ramanujan managed to deduct tremendously complex mathematical functions from a simple book of grade school math. He was reputed to be one of those people whose intelligence literally had no limit,” Grace said enthusiastically.

“And you think…” Ariana picked up.

“We know,” Rick said, hitting the test. “Your intelligence is off the scales.”

April and Ariana whistled. “That’s… new,” April allowed finally.

“No kidding,” Ariana replied. “Intelligence off the scales…”

“A super-genius, able to do things no other person is capable of doing,” Grace said, almost reverently. “You two can do everything you want to do.”

“And die young, like the other great super-geniuses,” Ariana replied deadpan. “Great. Just great.”

April sighed. “Mozart. Ramanujan, whom you mentioned, they all died young… great minds take their toll on the body…”

“Don’t be so pessimistic! Who knows what science will bring?” Rick said, standing up, and smiling. Theatrically, he turned to his fellow phoenixes. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are in the company of greatness!”

“Stop that!” April grunted. “We’re just like everybody else, okay?”

“Okay,” Grace said, smiling. She hugged each one of the girls in turn. “Welcome on board.”

“Thanks,” each girl said in turn, as they hugged Grace.

“Now I know why you were able to help me with my physics problem,” Grace said, smiling, as they disengaged. Meanwhile, Rick had turned to the three boys, who were looking lost at the scene.

“Don’t worry guys. You’ll have your results by tomorrow. This by no means changes your chances of getting in.”

Three small smiles broke out, and they left soon after, leaving April and Ariana behind in the phoenix lounge.

“Too bad all uniforms are specially tailored, and the badges are made by special request only, so you can’t show off until next week, at least. But we can give you these,” Grace told her two friends, extending two magnet-cards. “These will grant you access to the lounge, the library, the labs, the computer lab, the AV room, and everywhere else. Only phoenix-members have them, and they have to be returned when a member quiets. They can keep the uniform. Ex-members can even keep the pin, if they’ve been a member for more than two years. A reward, so to speak.”

April and Ariana accepted the magnet-cards, and looked at them. They were a simple off white in color, with one side displaying a roaring phoenix, an almost exact replica of the badges the two girls saw the others wear. The other side was just plain off white, and sported the black magnet strip.

“Welcome aboard, April and Ariana,” Rick said, sounding official. “By the way, each phoenix-member has a secret name, one they select for themselves, and one only the other members know.”

April and Ariana looked at him. Rick shrugged. “We’re super-intelligent kids. That doesn’t mean we’re not kids anymore,” he replied.

“Well, it’s a cool idea,” April said. “I think… I’ll take… Phalanx. A battle-order for armies sounds cool to me.”

Ariana fingered her archer-amulet. “Sagittarius,” she said, looking up. “I’ll take Sagittarius, the archer.”

“Phalanx and Sagittarius, welcome to the ranks of the phoenixes,” Rick said, smiling, and hugging them. The three other members hugged them as well, each one addressing them by their recently chosen names. They felt oddly comfortable to the two girls. Neither of them questioned why, and just assumed that it was the friendly atmosphere that did the trick.

*****

April was seated at the center of a computer table, three keyboards, and three monitors, were present in front of her. Her nimble fingers raced the keyboard directly in front of her, her eyes locked on the center monitor. Her right hand shot out, and pressed a few keys on the keyboard to her right. The right monitor changed a little, and April nodded in satisfaction. She returned to her center keyboard.

Ariana opened the door to the computer lab, and closed it behind her. She was dressed in the phoenix uniform; a uniform mimicking the one April now wore as well. For a moment she looked over her friend, the look of total concentration etched on her features, her eyes shooting form left to right to center. She seemed to be working on three computers at once, and Ariana knew she had to warn her friend… she could distinctly see the keys on the keyboard on the left moving by themselves.

“April?” Ariana asked quietly.

The rattling stopped, and April’s eyes locked with Ariana’s. “Ari? I thought you were going to bed?” April asked, a frown of concern on her face. Ariana shrugged.

“Couldn’t sleep. Thought you might like some company,” she replied. “Now, care to tell me what you’re doing?”

“Remember AVATAR?” April asked, grinning slightly. At Ariana’s not-comprehending nod, she resumed, “Guess what I’m teaching the Institute Mainframe?”

“You’re programming the mainframe with an Operating System you designed yourself? Do you have any idea how much trouble we’re going to be in if Mr. Person finds out?” Ariana asked, pulling up a chair and sitting down next to April.

“We?” April asked, shooting her friend an amused glance.

Ariana shrugged. “You know me. When there’s trouble, I like to be in it. Like that time I helped Hope with that still in the biology lab…”

April’s fingers, about to resume their rattling, lifted away from the keyboard once again. April’s shoulders shook in laughter as she thought of the only phoenix member who actually didn’t want to wear the uniform. It wasn’t that Hope didn’t like many colors… she liked black, and black… and black. So, her make-up consisted out of a lot of black eye-liner, black nail polish, and white blush to accentuate the dark colors of her eyes. She also liked music April and Ariana had first designated as ‘being recorded live in hell’. Hope, deciding that the goody-two-shoes attitude was passé, had taken the two younger girls under her wing, and had taught them to appreciate the darker side of life.

April nodded, her laughter subsiding. “So now all phoenix members have access to alcohol. Let’s hope Darla never finds out.”

Ariana nodded gravely. Darla, the biology teacher, wasn’t likely to just accept a homemade still in what she considered her laboratory. “But, you have to agree, it’s good stuff.”

“Good stuff with 30% alcohol content,” April replied. “I swear, I was drunk after a single glass.”

“Admit that it’s getting better. And as long as the teachers don’t find out, the three of us are the heroes of the phoenixes,” Ariana said.

April shrugged, and nodded. With a sly grin, she added, “The teachers are ignoramuses. You can’t let a bunch of high-IQ kids have free access to a biology lab, and not expect them to be able to brew their own booze. The only thing we needed was that bacterial culture to ferment the sugar-water. Which reminds me, where do you think Hope got the culture from?”

Ariana shrugged. “I don’t know, and I don’t care. Anyway, weren’t you doing something to this poor computer system?”

April nodded. “I was. Until someone started chatting to me,” she replied, shooting a small grin at her friend. Ariana played the proverbial ‘little angel’ part when she looked back at April. She cracked her knuckles, and readied herself. “Here we go,” she said, and her fingers started rattling once again.

Ariana watched for a couple of minutes, before April broke off. “How about we make this more fun?” she asked.

Ariana turned to her friend. “More fun? How?”

“Like this,” April retorted, grabbing Ariana’s hand, and pulling her friend along with her into mind-space. Ariana’s High Sorceress-eyes looked into April’s Amazon Priestess’s.

“And now what?” Ariana asked curiously. April grinned, and opened a screen with a flick of her hand. April’s vision filled the screen, centered on Ariana for the moment.

“We’re going to use our psychokinetics to do the job faster,” April said, turning to the screen. The view changed, and the computers filled the screen. April cracked her mental knuckles, and prepared to start typing. Ariana opened her own screen, and turned it to the computers as well.

“Here we go,” April said, pulling up a screen with the thousands of lines of computer code. Code she had spent hundreds of hours improving upon, so each and every line was as strong as she could make it. Not only did this make the program smaller, it also made it faster. April’s simulated fingers started typing. And then it broke off.

New screens had opened in the temple, and April and Ariana stared at them.

“This is a complete list of the hard drive,” April muttered, looking at one screen, making it scroll.

“And this is what you’ve already entered of the AVATAR OS,” Ariana said, looking at a second screen. She tried to scroll it up and down, but failed to do so. “And I can’t make it scroll, April!”

April’s head whipped around, and she stared in concern at her friend. Her eyes focused on the screen in question. The screen scrolled when April told it to. Ariana, meanwhile, looked at the directory listing on April’s first screen. Once again, she failed to make it scroll.

“What IS this?” Ariana asked, sounding distraught.

“I… I don’t know, Ari,” April whispered. “It looks as if we’re not totally the same… I can access a computer directly.”

Ariana crossed her arms. “No fair. I want a power of my own, too,” she said, leaning angrily against a pillar.

April put a hand on Ariana’s shoulder. “Come now, Ari. I’m sure you’ll find your own power soon, too.”

Ariana sighed. “I guess so,” she replied, not sounding convinced. “But I don’t have to like it.”

April smiled. “I’ll feel the same way once you get your power, and see how much cooler yours is.”

“You think so?” Ariana asked.

“I’m sure,” April replied. “Come on, let’s experiment. I want to see how AVATAR does its job.”

Ariana shrugged, and turned to look at the second computer-screen, where April’s aborted attempt to enter the source code was displayed. “Here goes nothing,” April said, outstretching her hand towards the completed source code in her mind. “Merge,” she told the computer-screen and the mental screen. The screens merged. Ariana stared at the sensor-screen, to see the monitor suddenly flash the completed source code. Using her psychokinetic abilities, she scrolled the screen in the real world. It was all there.

“That is so cool!” Ariana exclaimed. “Come on, April! Let’s see how it works!”

April smiled, and nodded. The next moment, the two girls awoke in the real world. April sat down at the center console. She entered the menu, and chose ‘compile’. “Compile,” she said, before actually pressing the ‘enter’ key. The computer started compiling.

“Estimated time remaining – FOUR hours?” Ariana asked. “That’s too long! They’ll figure us out! And we need to install it, too!”

April held up her hand. “Don’t worry, Ari.” She pulled up the left keyboard, and entered a few commands. “There. Now the mainframe, and every computer connected to it, will divert 99% of their resources to compiling the source code.”

“Twenty minutes remaining,” Ariana read off the center screen. “That’s better.”

April nodded. “Now all we need to do is wait.”

“My turn”, Ariana said.

“Your turn for wha–” April started to ask, when Ariana suddenly reached out, and grabbed April’s hand. April’s question drowned out as the two girls entered the mind-world.

“My turn to pull you into mind-space,” Ariana replied, grinning. She opened a sensor-screen. “There. Now we’ll know when they’re done.”

April looked at the screen, and nodded. “So we will. And whatever shall we do, O Great One?”

Ariana smiled. “Arial taught me a game. Chess.”

April cocked her head. “Chess, huh? I’ve read a lot about it… I’ve always wanted to try it.”

“Some thing I said, right before she taught me. And then I kicked her ass,” Ariana replied.

April’s eyes opened. “Cool. How many tries, and what kind of handicap did she give you?”

“Second try, if you count the game in which she taught me. And HEY! I resent that insinuation! I did not get a handicap!” Ariana grunted, putting her hands in her sides. The High Sorceress’ form looked impressive, in her red, regal gown, and the air crackling with suppressed magical energy, begging to be released.

“Okay, okay! Set up the game, already!” April replied, sitting down on the black side of a mental chessboard, throwing a look at the sensor-screen, just to make sure.

“We’ve got twenty minutes. That’s ten minutes each,” Ariana said. “By the way, here are the rules.” Yellow lines streamed through the temple, and April nodded.

“Got it,” April said, reaching for the chess clock, and double-checking it to see if it had been set correctly.

“Here we go,” Ariana said, motioning for the clock. April, taking black, set the clock in motion. Ariana’s started counting down.

Ariana made her move, and pressed her side of the clock, to start April’s clock. The two girls played for the next fifteen minutes, before Ariana mated April.

“Cool game. Too bad I got my ass handed to me,” April replied, a little dejectedly.

“You were a better opponent than Arial was,” Ariana told her friend. “I rather like this game.”

April smiled, and cocked her head to one side. “That’s because you’re good at it, probably. Just like all those military tactics and strategies you’re so good at. Honest to God, I don’t know how you manage to see all those things.”

Ariana shrugged. “I just like going over ancient battles, and see how the battles could have turned out.”

April nodded, and said, “I can imagine how it’s fun, but writing a fifty-page essay on how the Germans fucked up in World War Two seems a little… excessive.”

“Like those thirty pages on World War One? Or the forty pages on how Napoleon could have done better against the Russians? And the twenty pages on the Franco-Prussian war? And the…”

“Ari! I get the point!” April said, giving a semi-annoyed smile.

“Sorry, I guess I went overboard. But… it’s just so much fun! I mean, it’s like I can see the troops moving in my mind. And I can just feel what kind of supplies they’ll need, and when they’ll need to service their equipment…” Ariana broke off when she found April staring at her.

“Ari…” April whispered.

“You’re scaring me, sister,” Ariana replied.

“I think I just found your power. I can’t believe we never saw it before! Lord, we must be stupid! We’re so stupid!”

“What?” Ariana asked, a frown on her face. “What’s my power?”

“Tactics! Strategy! That’s your strength! You can see how to behave in order to get the desired effect!” April shouted.

Ariana’s mouth opened slightly, then snapped shut. “I… see…” she said, closing her eyes. Her mind went over different stages in her life, and Ariana opened her eyes moments after. “Yes, I see it, too! You’re right, April! That’s MY power! That is so cool! You can talk to computers, and I can out-maneuver everybody!”

April smiled widely, and nodded. “Yeah!” she threw a look at the sensor-screen. “The computers are done.”

“Okay,” Ariana replied, and the two girls opened their eyes in the real world. April’s hands rose, to start typing, when she froze in mid-air. She threw a look at Ariana, and smiled. Closing her eyes, April thought about the direct interface. Before her mind’s eye, the computer-screen became visible. She gave it the command to install the AVATAR system.

April pulled out. “Cool!” Ariana exclaimed, seeing what April had done. “So you can give it orders as well? Not just put in some information?”

“Appears like it,” April replied, staring at the screen, where a progress bar was visible. The OS took ten minutes to install itself.

Welcome to April’s Verbally Activated Totally Adaptive Rationalizer, the computer said with metallic-emotionless voice, coming from the two speakers connected to the only computer present with a sound card on board. They had been promised that the next shipment of computers all would have sound cards on board.

The screen was black, with a single green line, which acted as an oscilloscope for the computer’s metallic voice.

“AVATAR, this is April Fromthefield. Acknowledge,” April said in the microphone connected to the same computer. The green line oscillated with April’s voice.

Fromthefield, April. Designer. Acknowledged.

“AVATAR, software check?” April asked.

Self-adapting core is active and operational, the computer stated. Drivers have been installed, and are operating smoothly. Network has been detected; the nodes have been contacted, and the nodes have replied. Network settings have been set, and the network is operational.

“A verbally activated self-adapting operating system,” Ariana said, in awe. “April, you did it!” the two girls high-fived.

“I can’t believe it! It actually works!” April shouted. Turning back to the microphone, she said, “AVATAR, this is April Fromthefield. Allow user name Ariana Smith full unrestricted access.”

Acknowledged. New user, please state your name, preceded by the word ‘AVATAR’.

“AVATAR, this is Ariana Smith,” Ariana told the microphone.

User name Ariana Smith acknowledged. Full and unrestricted access has been granted.

“AVATAR, stealth mode. Access restrictions apply,” April told the computer.

Acknowledged. Stealth mode engaged.

The green line disappeared, and the MS-DOS cursor reappeared. April ran windows 3.1, just to make sure that everything was as they had left it. Everything was in order.

“So, let me get this straight. You installed an experimental verbally activated operating system of unknown capabilities on this network, and nobody knows about it?” Ariana asked.

“And no one ever will,” April replied, smiling. “AVATAR is designed to upgrade itself. As technology increases, so will AVATAR. Am I good, or what?”

“The next Bill Gates,” Ariana said, laughing.

“Willamina,” April corrected. “I don’t have the right accessories to be a ‘William’, huh, Ari?”

Ariana burst out laughing, and hugged her friend. “No, but you’ll have other assets, once you’re older!”

April started laughing as well. “As long as people don’t treat me different because of those ‘assets’, it’s fine with me,” she replied dryly, breaking the hug. “Let’s go back to our rooms… I feel the need for some sleep.”

Ariana checked her wristwatch. “For the hour or so we’ve got left,” she added. Linking her arm through April’s, she continued, “I’m game, sister.” Armed together like that, the two girls exited the computer room, leaving behind one of the most advanced operating systems ever designed… and totally unknown to the rest of the world.

*****

Ten-year-old April knocked on her friend’s door. She received no response, and checked her watch. It’s already four in the morning, she thought. Since she had knocked her usual way, which meant trailing her hand over the door, April decided to knock again. This time she did it the ‘normal’ way, namely by tapping her knuckle against the door. Again, she received no response.

Sighing, April put her ear to the door, and closed her eyes. She heard no heartbeat or breathing on the other side. She took a slow breath through her nose, and detected Ariana’s scent. Okay, so she left. I should’ve checked THAT the first time, April grunted to herself. She sniffed at the exit of the branch, and turned to the right resolutely.

Following the scent, April walked down the hallway, stepped into an elevator, and sniffed out which of the buttons Ariana had pushed recently. She was in luck, only two buttons showed up: the button to the level their rooms were on, and the garage. Since April knew her friend wasn’t on their level, she pushed the button for the garage, and waited patiently for the lift to descend.

April once again took a breath of air, and followed Ariana’s scent, now masked by oil, grease, and petroleum derivates. Her mind cancelled out the unimportant smells, and focused solely on Ariana. April stepped through the maze of cars without a hint of trouble.

“Hi, Ari,” April greeted her friend, who was bent over a Honda’s open engine. “What are you doing?”

Ariana kept wrenching away at was must have been a stubborn part, while replying, “Hello yourself. As to your question: I’m walking the dog.”

April smiled slightly. “Just make sure it does everything it needs to do someplace outside the compound of the Institute. I wouldn’t like to get my shoes dirty by stepping in dog-business.”

Ariana chuckled, straightened out, and took a step back. She pointed at the engine. “Who tightened you? A gorilla? Release, I tell you!” a grunting sound was audible, followed by a nut flying out the engine, and snapping into Ariana’s hand. “I knew those powers came in handy.”

April shook her head, smiling. “So, is this just an overhaul, or are you trying to actually do something to this thing?”

“Just an overhaul,” Ariana replied, looking pointedly at April. “And I know how much you hate getting your precious little hands dirty, but could you at least refer to this with its proper name? It’s called a Honda Civic. And this part here, is its engine,” Ariana said, pointing at the open hood.

April raised her hands. “Sorry, Miss Down-to-earth-grease-monkey. I just came to ask you if you were interested in some more cartoons, but I guess you’re busy.”

“Just give me ten minutes. I’ll tighten this nut back up, and change the oil. I’ll be with you in ten minutes.”

April shrugged. “If you say so,” she replied dubiously.

“I do say so,” Ariana said, smiling. The nut lifted into the air again, and disappeared into the engine compartment. “Could you hand me that pan over there?” she asked, pointing at a certain object on a nearby rack.

“Yuck!” April said, looking at the obviously over-used oil pan. “No way am I touching that.” The pan lifted into the air, and floated over the Ariana.

Ariana sighed, psychokinetically took over the pan, and shoved it right under the engine. She snapped her fingers, and the plug to the car’s oil pan floated up to meet her. “There. The oil’s draining,” Ariana said, using a rag to wipe the excess grease off her hands. Closing her eyes, she pushed the rest of the oil out of the engine using her powers. “I don’t like doing this, but if you want speed, I’ll give you speed,” Ariana said, continuing to wipe her hands as the old oil was removed from under the car, and the plug placed itself back in place. A oil can filled itself from a drum of fresh oil and floated up.

The oil filler cap lifted, and the can started pouring its contents into the engine. “Here’s the tricky part,” Ariana said, closing her eyes once again. Before her mind’s eye, a sensor-screen popped up. She looked at the oil-gage. When it had about reached ‘nominal’, she closed off the flow of oil from the can. The watched the oil-level rise for another few seconds. It stopped precisely at nominal.

The top screwed itself back on, and Ariana put the almost-empty oil can on the cart, while the pan with the old oil, emptied somewhere, placed itself on the bottom level of the rack. Ariana rubbed her hands, smiling. “There. All done!”

“Just take a shower first,” April grunted. “You smell like a grease-monkey. And you could have dressed in something other than the phoenix uniform. Your white blouse looks black and gray.”

“Sure. Whine a little, why don’t you?” Ariana teased. “Yes, Mom. I’ll take a shower. And I’ll change clothes, too. I’ll even bring these personally to Mrs. Watson from the cleaning service.”

April shut up, and looked at the ground. “Sorry, didn’t mean to smother you. Sometimes, I just can’t help myself.”

Ariana shrugged, and smiled. “That’s what you have me for! To bring you back in line every now and then, so you don’t get cocky.”

April smiled slightly. “Thanks, girlfriend.”

“Hey, no problem! Now, I’ll go take a shower. You go to the AV room, and set up the next tape,” Ariana said, stepping off into their branch. April nodded, and ran for it, her footsteps totally silent as she ran.

Ten minutes later, the two girls were sitting side-by-side in the darkened AV room, facing a projector screen. Next to April lay a big remote control.

“So, what’s the latest thing Jeanine lent us?” Ariana asked.

“Actually, this time, we have a choice. The last season of ‘Dragonball Z’, or the last season of ‘Sailor Moon’?” April asked.

“Let’s go with Sailor Moon first. I’m in the mood for some laughs,” Ariana suggested. April shrugged.

“Did you lock the door?” April asked, starting to manipulate the controls on the remote.

“Yep,” Ariana replied. “Get on with it, already!”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t be so impatient. Here we go,” April muttered, fumbling with the keys. The screen lit up, and gibberish came through the speakers. The screen flashed, ten times faster than normal, matching the sound.

The two girls pulled into mind-space, where their mental avatars were already seated in a couple of comfortable chairs. A large sensor-screen decorated the wall in front of them, while the rest of the temple had been darkened, most lights extinguished. Bypassing their eyes, the two girls were now able to enjoy the ten times accelerated frame rate, a feat their eyes were just unable to handle.

The screen stopped flashing, exactly one hour later. The gentle lighting that came on automatically found two girls hugging.

“I hate those kinds of episodes,” Ariana said, sniffing.

April blew her nose, and smiled through some of her tears. “I know what you mean. I don’t like crying either.”

“It was a beautiful ending, though,” Ariana continued, wiping the last of her tears away.

“It was kind of expected. The good guys won, the bad guys lost, and nobody died. Permanently,” April replied, chuckling. Ariana chuckled as well, and nodded in agreement.

“Come on, give is DBZ! I need something to wash the gooey stuff out of my body with,” Ariana said, gently elbowing April, who smiled.

“Okay, here we go,” the ten-year-old replied soon after, after having first fought a little with the remote control. The lights dimmed once again, followed by the sound and picture running at ten times normal, and two girls who pulled into mind-space.

*****

“Okay, that was better. I needed some good old-fashioned bad-guy trashing to clear my head,” Ariana said after the screen clicked off, and the gentle lighting returned.

“No kidding,” April replied. “They kept going higher…”

“And merging,” Ariana replied. “I mean, we had Trunks and Goten merge into Gotenks, we had Vegeta and Goku merge into Vegetto…”

“And they still got trashed, until the very end,” April replied, grinning. She got up. “Come on; let’s put this room back the way we found it. It would attract attention if someone found we had calibrated the system to run at ten times normal.”

The two girls left the AV room ten minutes later, after having put everything back in order. First thing they did was walk to the phoenix lounge.

“Hey, Jeanine,” April greeted her friend, a fifteen-year-old brunette who had been a phoenix member for about seven months now. “Here are your tapes. Thanks for lending them to us.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Ariana added.

“No problem, guys. Did you enjoy them?” Jeanine asked, accepting the stack of videos back from April.

“Sappy ending with Sailor Moon,” Ariana grunted. “The damn series made me cry.”

April elbowed her friend. No swearing! Her mind shouted at her friend on the brief contact. “Good thing we had Dragonball to wash things down with.”

Jeanine looked from one to the other. “You’re talking as if you watched them all, one after the other. Don’t tell me you went through the night to watch them all? There was at least twenty hours worth of material on these tapes.”

April shrugged. “Actually, twenty-four hours and twenty minutes.”

Jeanine’s mouth opened. “I stand corrected,” she replied. “So, tell me, did you watch all these tapes in succession?”

Ariana grinned. “Secret,” she replied enigmatically.

“Once we started watching, we couldn’t stop. We HAD to know how things ended. Especially in Dragonball. The story goes on and on…” April added in.

Jeanine grinned. “Addictive, isn’t it? I warned you that Anime has that effect on people.”

“No kidding,” Ariana grunted.

“Want a nightcap? Or rather, breakfast?” Jeanine asked, throwing a look at the clock.

“Sure,” April replied, sitting down in a couch on the other side of the table Jeanine was sitting at. Ariana pulled up a couch as well, and sat down in between her two friends.

Jeanine, meanwhile, had walked to the cabinet the phoenixes kept their homemade booze. She poured three small shots, and walked back to the table, where she sat the shots, and the bottle, down.

“To anime,” Jeanine toasted.

“And to good friends who lend out their tapes,” April added.

“And to the Japanese, who give us the art form in the first place,” Ariana finished.

“Hear, hear,” the two other girls replied, and they finished their glasses.

“Another?” Jeanine asked, holding out the bottle.

“No, thanks,” April replied. “Alcohol has a much stronger effect on us than on that fifteen year-old body of yours.”

“I’ll take one,” Ariana said, holding out her glass. Jeanine filled it, along with her own glass, and both took a sip. They would make this one last. April got up, and retrieved a can of Mountain Dew. They spent the hour-and-a-half before breakfast in a pleasant conversation. After their second drink, both Ariana and Jeanine stopped drinking alcohol, to make sure they wouldn’t be drunk before the day even began.

*****

A stunning fourteen-year-old brunette walked into the bio-med lab of the Institute of Advanced Learning. She was dressed in a phoenix uniform, the phoenix pin displayed proudly on the right of her chest. She took a needle and syringe, the type normally used for a blood test, and she ties off her left arm. Disinfecting the inward crook of her elbow, the brunette takes the syringe, and finds a vein.

She winces when the needle slides in, and starts filling the small vessel with her blood. She kept breathing in short bursts, not liking the feeling of the needle whatsoever. Finally, the container has been filled, and the girl pulls it out of the syringe. She quickly pulls out the syringe, and rubs some cotton wool over the small puncture mark. After that, the girl puts a small circular band-aid on it.

“I hate pain,” the girl whines, disposing of the needle and syringe in the appropriate bin. “Why do I do this again? Oh, yeah… Because I’m in the final month of my PHD for genetics and microbiology,” she girl replies to her own question. Taking the blood-container, she starts going through the motions required for a DNA test.

A couple hours later, another stunning brunette walked into the bio-med lab. This one had a darker shade of brown hair, but looked just as stunning as the first girl. They could be sisters.

“Hey, April. How’s it coming?” the newcomer asked.

“Not good, Ari,” April replied. “Take a look at this. I think I screwed up somewhere.”

Ariana frowned at her friend, and sat down next to her. Only then did she look at the monitor. “What is that?” she exclaimed.

“My DNA profile,” April replied. “That is my fucking DNA profile! I screwed up somewhere, but I can’t find where! I ran the test three times!”

“I’m not the one studying genetics, but I know that a human is supposed to have a double helix. That is–” Ariana said, cut off by April.

“A triple helix. In other words, it’s not even DNA. Deoxyribonucleic acid is a double-stranded molecule held together between the base pairs, the nucleotides, normally, adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine, A,G,C,T. Now, I have three… and the nucleotides no longer fit one-on-one. Each strand is exactly one third of a circle removed from the other two strands, so they fit two-on-one. I have FIFTY percent more genetic material than anyone else!”

Ariana started laughing. “That is one big miscalculation, April. Maybe you should try it again.”

“I did! I drew my own blood two times, and I did the test three times! THIS IS MY GENETIC PROFILE!” April shouted, looking at her fiend with tears in her eyes. “Either I turned stupid overnight, and I can’t even do a simple test as outlined in my books, or…”

“Or you’re right, and there’s something freakishly wrong with you,” Ariana finished. For a few seconds, both girls remained quiet. “Here. Test me,” Ariana said, holding out her right arm. “Maybe that will help you.”

April smiled slightly, and hugged her friend. “Thank you, Ari. You’re a really good friend.” April released the hug slowly, and retrieved the syringe she needed for the test.

*****

Two girls stared at the split-screen computer monitor. On the right, the side was labeled ‘April’. The left one was labeled ‘Ariana’. Both sides displayed a triple-helix.

“We’re both freaks,” Ariana replied, hushed. “We both are genetic freaks.”

April shook her head. “No. this isn’t right. I must have done something wrong. I turned stupid overnight, and I can’t do a simple DNA test. I’m burnt out. That has to be it. There’s no other explanation.”

“Hide this,” Ariana said. “Hide this, and try one more time. We were found together on the convent’s doorstep. It is possible that we’re both from the same parents. Test someone from phoenix… someone we trust… and see the results.”

April sighed. “I… I don’t know, Ari. This… is impossible. I think I did something wrong, or my brain’s shutting down…”

Ariana grabbed her friend, and shook her. “Listen to me! Before you start doubting yourself, you should make absolutely sure! If there is one person who won’t burn out, it’s you! I’ve seen you do the impossible, over and over again! I know you, April! I believe in you!”

April took a deep breath, and nodded. “You’re right.” She hugged her friend. “Thanks, Ari. I needed that.” She got up, and ran to the phoenix lounge, carrying a small tray with a syringe on it.

A couple hours later, April and Ariana were staring at a perfectly normal double helix. “I… I…” April squeaked.

“We… we’re freaks,” Ariana muttered. “What… How…?”

April hung her head. She began crying. Ariana hugged her friend, who immediately clung back to her. Together, the two girls cried long heaving sobs for long moments.

“We need to find out more,” Ariana whispered through her tears. “We need to find out who did this to us. It’s not natural. Someone must have done this to us.”

April lifted her head from Ariana’s shoulder, her old resolve returning. “Yes. You’re right. And I’ll find them! Come on, Ari!”

“That’s my girl,” Ariana replied, running after a resolved-looking April, and silently thanking that neither of them appeared affected by the crying.

In the computer lab, April sat down behind the first computer terminal she could lay her hands on.

“AVATAR, awaken. Authorization April Fromthefield.”

The monitor turned black, with only the standard green line displayed. AVATAR ready, the computer replied, the line oscillating with the computer-voice.

“AVATAR, download genetic profiles from the bio-med node of the test subjects April Fromthefield and Ariana Smith.”

Download complete, the computer dutifully replied half a minute later.

April silently thanked the computer business’ increased computer speed and increased storage. This would have taken a long time back when AVATAR had first come online.

“AVATAR, post messages on news forums dealing with keywords ‘government conspiracy’, ‘government secret programs’, and ‘Government genetic engineering projects’. Message should read as follows; ‘I have come across these genetic profiles. I can’t tell you where I got them, because my sources wish to remain unknown. If anyone can tell me anything about them, please contact me at ‘April@youcantknownmyaddress.com’. Thank you.’ “

Message recorded, the computer answered.

“AVATAR, attach genetic profiles, without name or place references, and send message.”

Order executed.

“AVATAR, start the web browser,” April said, grabbing the mouse and keyboard of the computer. The web browser opened, and April started typing. She sat up half a dozen different internet accounts, ghost emails to bounce the message from and to, until it would finally drop into an anonymous mailbox.

“AVATAR, engage stealth mode,” April whispered, a couple minutes later. The computer reverted to the Windows 95 operating system it had been using normally.

Barely a few hours later, when both girls had about half an hour before breakfast, an answer came in that astonished both of them.

“Project Zodiac, Programs Phalanx and Sagittarius,” April read.

“Let’s skim it,” Ariana muttered, grabbing her friend’s shoulder, and pulling both of them into mind-space.

April opened a connection to the computer almost immediately after arriving in the temple. “Full speed!” she yelled at the computer-screen in her mind, which immediately followed the order, the text moving at literally mind-boggling speeds through both girls’ brains.

“That’s not much,” Ariana muttered, after blinking, and looking back into the real world.

“We’re genetically engineered freaks,” April muttered. Her flat hand hit the desk. “Who DID this!?” she screamed. “Who has the AUDACITY to do this to us? WHO?”

Ariana looked at her friend, never having her like this before. “April? Are you okay?” she asked slowly.

April took a deep breath, and looked at her friend. “Sorry, Ari,” she whispered. “It’s just… I… I don’t know if I’m strong enough to take all of this… and it’s easier to just get mad, you know? I feel so scared… and… and alone… and… violated. I just want to know who is responsible for ruining our lives, you know?”

Ariana sighed, and grabbed her friend in a hug. “It’s alright, April. I understand. I feel scared too. And violated… everything we ever believed in… I mean, we’re not even human.”

“We are,” April said. “We’re just composed of different bits and pieces, but we’re human.” April chuckled through her tears. “At least that’s a comfort,” she said sarcastically.

Ariana shook her head, and chuckled slightly as well. Suddenly, she pulled away slightly to look April in the eyes. “You once said that AVATAR does everything you ask of it. Do you think it can break into the military mainframe?”

“You mean, to find out more?” April asked. She thought for a few moments, and then shrugged. “It’s not connected to the Internet, so we’ll need a phone number. And I don’t think the phone numbers to the modems of secret government mainframes are listed.”

Ariana sighed, rubbing the last of her tears out of her eyes. “Too bad we don’t know anyone in the circuit. It’ll take months to find the phone number, and then we still need to get passed the password.”

April looked at her friend with that peculiar thinking-expression again. “AVATAR,” she then said. “Search and locate. Pentagon Mainframe. Full phonebook, all locations and media.”

Search underway. Estimated time to completion is ten hours.

“AVATAR, continue search in stealth mode, and enable background searching,” April said.

Background operations enabled. Stealth enabled.

“There. Now anyone can work at these computers, and find no drop in speed, while all free cycles are used to search for the mainframe numbers,” April said, more to reassure herself than to enlighten Ariana, well aware of the fact that Ariana knew this just as well as she did.

*****

General Perkins stared out the window of his post, the one he had held for the last fourteen years. Out his window was a construction site. Perkins sighed deeply. “Oh, what a world we live in. What bitter irony. Me, who once was in charge of the most secret of operations, am now commanding officer of the construction troops. One barracks after another, with a road thrown in here and there to balance things out.”

Perkins swiveled his chair around, facing his desk once again. He took a rapport from right in front of him, and stared blankly at it. “Almost out of concrete,” he muttered. He took the appropriate blank form, and started to fill in the order for more cement, when the phone rang. A quick look at the phone revealed that it was being called directly, instead of through his secretary.

Perkins’ forehead frowned. Not many people knew how to call him directly, and it annoyed him that he didn’t know who it was. He picked up.

“Perkins,” he replied.

“It is a nice day of the year,” the voice on the other side replied. Perkins sat up straight, his eyes growing big as saucers. Really large saucers.

“For a barbeque,” Perkins replied. “I will supply the beer.”

“And I’ll bring steaks,” the voice replied. Perkins let out his breath, and fell back in his chair. The voice chuckled. “I want you to look at something,” the voice went on. “It came on the newsgroups earlier this morning.

“What do you wish me to see, sir?” General Perkins asked.

“Look at your mailbox. I’m sure you’ll know what to do with the email,” the voice replied. “I’ll wait.”

Perkins gulped. Okay. This is NOT good. Oversight contacts me, after FOURTEEN years, to look at something. And then he’ll WAIT for me to read it!? What’s going on? World War Three? Perkins’ fingers shook as he accessed his email. A message popped up, heavily encrypted. A password prompt popped up. Perkins typed in his access code. A code he hadn’t used in fourteen years, and it sent vibrations of dread through his body. Something appeared on his screen.

“Sir… this…”

“My thoughts exactly,” ‘Oversight’ replied. “We need you back. Your transfer orders should be arriving just about…”

“Sir, Department of Defense wants to talk to you, on line one,” his secretary called through the intercom.

“Now,” ‘Oversight’ said. “I expect to see you in two hours. Don’t be late.” ‘Oversight’ hung up, leaving Perkins to stare at his receiver for a few seconds; before he remembered the flashing light of the D.O.D. he pressed ‘line one’. “Perkins here…”

*****

April and Ariana stopped their game of ‘Doom II’ the moment the last girl left the computer lab, around closing hour, eleven at night. “AVATAR, results?” April asked.

A list of results appeared on the screen, in order of probability. Search is not yet complete. Do you wish me to continue?

“AVATAR, stop search. Start calling the numbers, in list of probability,” Ariana said.

Acknowledged.

After thirty minutes of calling numbers, the girls finally seemed to get somewhere. April’s computer powers also enabled her to circumvent passwords, and ability that was put to good use.

“I think we’ve got it,” Ariana whispered. “Project Zodiac. Program Phalanx. Program Sagittarius.”

“Look at this, Ari,” April whispered. “A list…”

“Four HUNDRED different donors?” Ariana asked, choking.

“Look at this… a comment that not all donors were voluntary,” April whispered. “Some of the names on this list… Look at this, Ari.”

“List is not complete. Classified names available for higher clearance only,” Ariana read. “How many people are on this list?”

“There are three hundred and fifty names on the list,” April whispered. “That leaves fifty-two classified names.”

“We’ve got everyone here… from Bill Gates to someone named James Potter, who used to live in Great Brittan,” Ariana said.

“Potter? Some poor schmuck is actually called Potter?” April chokes out. It was a testimony to the fragile state of her mind that April found the name amusing. She, who had never judged anyone by whatever reasons, was now laughing at a name of someone she had never met before.

“What? It’s a name like everybody else’s,” Ariana replied, seemingly ignoring the implications. “Besides, we’ve got more important things to do… there’s more to this file.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” April whispered. “Both about the name and the file.”

Ariana returned to the previous screen in the file, and soon found something else. “Added genes?” she asked.

“What would that mean? We’ve seen all the genes they added,” April replied, her voice rising in volume a little. “Follow it, Ari. Let’s see what it means.”

The screen that popped up made the two girls’ blood run icy cold.

“Canis Lupus?” Ariana asked.

“European Wolf,” April whispered. “And the Crocodylus Johnstoni… the Australian freshwater crocodile, too? And Felis Leopardus, the leopard…”

“I don’t understand! Why the animals?” Ariana shouted. “We’re not even HUMAN! We’re… we’re…”

“Freaks. Mutations. Monsters,” April whispered dejectedly. “And as to why… isn’t it obvious? All these animals had something to contribute. The wolf enables us to see by night, and gives us enhanced hearing, and enhanced smell. The crocodile has that third eyelid, that enables us to see without blinking, and to dive without closing our eyes or risk damage… and the leopard gives enhanced endurance and speed…”

“Damn,” Ariana whispered. She buried her face in her hands. “Dear Lord in Heaven, what have we done that is so wrong?” she asked, her voice sounding so frail is seemed to be a thin piece of rice paper. April could only nod, all her strength to speak gone. She rested her head on Ariana’s shoulder, and hugged her friend. Tears stained her cheeks. She just reached out, and terminated the connection. Neither had the strength to keep going.

*****

“We’ve got them!” One of the operative shouted at General Perkins. “We just had an unscheduled entry into the Zodiac files on the mainframe, and I checked up on it. Sir, we’ve got them. There’s no other way. It has to be them.”

Perkins stood up from behind his desk at one end of the room he and his team were in. Zodiac no longer had to monetary leverage it once had, and they were now housed in a small building. Perkins walked to the desk of the operative.

“Why does it have to be them?” Perkins asked, looking at the read-outs on the screen.

“First of all, they only accessed the Zodiac files, which are deeply hidden, and whoever this way specifically searched for them. And secondly… there was no login or a password recorded. Sir, only someone with a direct link–”

“Can do that,” Perkins finished. He reached over, and pushed the red button on the wall. “Red Alert. We’ve found April.” He took the phone, and pressed a key. “This is Eagle. We’ve confirmed April.” He looked at a second computer screen, where a second operative had traced the call, back to something called the Institute of Advanced Learning. Perkins resisted the urge to whistle in appreciation. The call had been routed through dozens of countries, including a couple of satellites. No one short of the Pentagon could ever have found them.

Perkins burst out of his appreciative reverie; the school records had already been consulted. “We’ve got a confirmation on Ariana as well, sir. Both girls are registered under the names we assigned them. The location is the Institute of Advanced Learning, in Texas.” Perkins listened for a few moments, and then replied, “No, sir. I don’t know either why we didn’t find them earlier, if their original names were kept. But then again, I was in the construction business for the last fourteen years.” Perkins glowered at the next words. “I apologize for my inconsiderate words, sir. It will not happen again. I will make immediate work of it, sir.”

*****

The next morning, April and Ariana were jogging dejectedly around the building. Both girls hadn’t slept the previous night, their minds wandering to the gruesome fate they had uncovered.

“It’s just so unfair,” April whispered as they jogged. “We’ve never done anything to anybody… and now… this.”

Ariana shook her head as well. “I don’t understand either, April. And did you read the note? We won’t live past thirty-five.”

April snorted. “The candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long,” she replied. “At least we won’t die of old age.”

Ariana chuckled. “My sister, the eternal optimist.”

“Optimist? Try realist,” April grunted. “Right now, I’m not feeling the need to be optimistic.”

Both girls stopped running, and they looked at one another. Their hands met. Did you hear that? April asked.

There’s someone in the bushes, Ariana replied. Trying to hide. We’re being followed.

April took a breath, and slowly turned around to look at some nearby bushes. The parkland surrounding the Institute of Higher Learning contained bushes and trees in abandon. Her eyes only saw millions of shades of gray, all color gone in the darkness. It was a side effect of the wolf-genes. During daytime, they could see colors the normal way, but at night, they only saw gray-shades. A good thing was that there were lots of shades of gray, so it wasn’t crippling, just annoying.

I see movement, April whispered, even her mental voice was trying to be quiet.

Ariana turned around, and looked at the same bushes. Slowly, the two girls started to advance. Big mistake. Suddenly, two men rounded the corner of the building the two girls had been jogging towards, raised tranquilizer guns, and shot.

April and Ariana, hearing the men behind them, twirled around, and were just in time to see the darts arriving. Silently, they sank to the ground, their world blank.

The two shooters approached the limp bodies, each using the tip of his boot to nudge the bodies, to see if there was any life left in them. “Package secured,” one man said in his microphone. He clicked it off, and turned to his companion. A third figure, a woman, approached from the bushes.

“Fast bitches,” the woman muttered quietly.

“Very fast. Could’ve dodged the darts if they’d been trained correctly,” the first shooter replied. Just then, a completely silent helicopter appeared, floating over a nearby open patch of grass. The two shooters each picked up one of the limp bodies, and the three operatives raced to the helicopter, bracing themselves against the downdraft. They winched the two girls inside, before climbing aboard themselves.

*****

April slowly opened her eyes, and groaned against the pounding pain in her head. She tried to sit up, and fought the urge to vomit. Slowly, she looked around. She was in a concrete cell, not very deep, with one wall being nothing but heavy metal bars. The other walls were solid concrete, not even a ventilation shaft visible. April was lying on a cot against the far wall. She saw Ariana rising on the cot at the foot-end of her own bunk, also against the wall furthest from the bars.

“Ari?” April whispered, her voice sounding broken.

“Come back in a few hours,” Ariana whispered back, groaning as she sat up. “Can’t remember my name right now.”

April wrestled herself to her feet, and struggled over to Ariana’s cot. She fell down next to her life-long friend. “What happened?” April whispered.

Ariana shrugged, the motion sending shots of pain through her head. She winced. “Don’t know,” she replied. “My head is pounding. I can’t remember, even if I did know.”

“Same thing,” April replied, letting her head rest against the wall. She closed her eyes.

“So, our two guests are awake,” a bass rumbled outside the cage. Two sets of eyes opened.

Both girls looked the speaker over. He was tall, and seemed to be in his late forties or early fifties. A muscular appearance was almost-hidden under the suit he wore. April decided that to be the first to break the silence. With a tiny voice, quivering with fear, she asked, “Who are you?”

The man grinned without humor, his eyes remaining the same cold electric blue that had terrified both girls from the start. “Just call me Oversight. Everybody else does.”

“Overseeing who?” Ariana asked, suddenly regretting her decision to speak up as the man focused his cold eyes on her.

This time, his smile seemed to be at least a little genuine. “I oversee Zodiac, of course.”

At the mentioning of the name ‘Zodiac’, the two girls almost shed their skins. They jumped together, hugging each other. “Wha… what will you do to us?” April asked, subdued.

‘Oversight’ smiled humorlessly once again. “I just wanted to see what had become of the two most glorious fighters ever created.”

April and Ariana remained quiet, hugged together in the center of the cage, their fearful gazes locked on the man calling himself ‘Oversight’. He started pacing in front of the bars. “I was overseer of the Zodiac project, fourteen years ago. We impregnated four hundred females with our genetically enhanced prototypes. Only four made it full term. You two, a girl named Irene, and a boy named Ben. You were glorious!” the man said, his voice taking a strange pitch, as if he was proud of something, and his fist balled itself. “You would have been glorious! Fighters without remorse, stronger, faster, and better trained than any warrior ever before in humanity’s history!” ‘Oversight’ shouted, his pacing becoming agitated.

“And then the stupid fucks in Washington stopped our funding. We had to terminate all projects immediately. We managed to terminate Ben and Irene. But then, a doctor by the name of Gerald, Jean Gerald, saved you two by killing the nurse responsible with your termination. He got you out, and we thought you all destroyed. It was only recently that we found out you were still alive. Because of a message posted on the Internet, a message containing two genomes I knew well, for I helped create them…”

“Ours,” April whispered.

“Yours,” ‘Oversight’ said, smiling that cold smile again. “I see that all that intelligence wasn’t wasted.” He opened the briefcase he had put down earlier, next to the only door. He pulled out two folders.

“Let’s see. Mechanics. Electricity. Computer sciences. Political sciences. Physics. Mathematics. Microbiology and Genetics… and the list goes on,” ‘Oversight read from the files. “You developed your intellects. Now, I want to know… how did your other abilities surface?”

“What other abilities?” Ariana asked, immediately regretting it once more.

Oversight chuckled. “What abilities, indeed. Tell me… can you move things with your mind?”

April and Ariana looked at one another. One moment of eye-contact was all that was needed. To their credit, both girls had the presence of mind to look shocked back at ‘Oversight’. “What?” April asked.

“That’s insane!” Ariana shouted.

‘Oversight’ chuckled once again. “I know enough. You would have been the best of the best, one of only four in the entire world. But thanks to bureaucratic nonsense, that will never happen.” He walked to the door, put the files back in his briefcase, closed it, and opened the door. it was a heavy steel door, and was operated by a keypad, locked with a ten-digit code.

“Come in,” ‘Oversight coldly ordered. Three big and mean-looking men entered the room. All three were dressed in the standard green camouflage outfits of the army, and all three were carrying assault rifles.

I know those things… April’s mind whispered. Somehow…

I know, Ariana whispered back.

“Kill them,” ‘Oversight’ ordered. “But be careful, those two are still more than capable of ripping you to pieces.” He left the room, and the heavy metal door shut behind him.

The three soldiers looked at the two shaking fourteen-year-olds. The one soldier that appeared to be the leader looked at his two companions. “Those two? Dangerous?”

The two others chuckled. One was a large black man, while the third one was a Caucasian of medium built, but with very leering eyes. “You know, I bet we could have fun with them before we dispose of them,” the third soldier grunted, rubbing his crotch obscenely.

April and Ariana shuffled closer together. They going to RAPE us?!? April’s mind shouted so loud it made Ariana’s ears ring.

Oh, God, no… Ariana whispered, too shocked to notice the ringing in her ears.

The leader smiled, and looked them over. April and Ariana had developed just as Zodiac had intended. Both girls were eye-catching. He smiled wider. “Sure,” he replied. “Armin, open the door,” he ordered the black man. “And grab one. John, keep the second one in your sight. We don’t want them to get lose,” he said with a chuckle.

“Yes, sir!” the white soldier said, grinning. The black man had by now opened the door, and started for Ariana.

“C’me h’re, honey. Armin will show you a really good time,” the black man said, grabbing Ariana and pulling her.

“NO!” April shouted, struggling to keep her friend in her arms. “Let her go!”

John coldly butted her on the back of her head with his rifle. April gave a small grunt, and the world blacked out for a moment or two. When she regained vision, she was being dragged by John to a spot in the middle of the room. Armin had by now struggled Ariana face-down onto the table. John wrestled April to her knees, and pressed the barrel of his rifle to the back of her head.

“Huh. She’s a fighter,” Armin told his commander. “She’s a real cat… I’ll enjoy breaking her of those nasty habits.”

“NO!” Ariana shouted. “Please! Don’t!!”

“Hush, honey. Uncle Armin is going to make you squeal with pleasure in a moment or two,” Armin whispered in her ear, pressing himself on top of her, and reaching in between her legs for the panties under the phoenix uniform both girls were still wearing.

Ariana squealed when she felt his hands on her intimate parts. April, shocked, was still sitting on her knees with the barrel of M-16 against her head. Then, as Ariana squealed, something snapped inside her. She knew it was the right thing to do.

John was watching Ariana struggle against Armin. He was fully distracted. April howled, distracting the three men for just a second. She shot up, and around, kicking the riffle out of the way. The next moment, she had crossed the distance to John, and he kicked him right in the family jewels. John groaned, his eyes crossed in pain, and went down.

At the same time, the leader lifted his rifle in April’s direction. Armin, distracted by April and John’s fight, wasn’t really paying attention. He thought that the 80 kilos he had on his quarry would be enough. He was mistaken. Ariana’s foot lifted backwards, kicked him in the nuts, and threw him off her.

She saw the commander aim for April. Ariana screamed. Her psychokinetic powers formed themselves around her body like a mold, and she jumped at him. She slammed in him with enough force to break his breastbone, and landed. The commander was catapulted backwards, hit the wall behind him, groaned over the audible noise of snapping bone, and sunk to the floor.

Ariana twirled around, and raced for Armin, who was on all fours, trying to get up. She kicked him in the face with enough force to knock him out cold. April was standing there, watching it all, in shock. She never noticed John groaned as he got to his knees. But Ariana did. Her psychokinetic powers were still around her. She snarled, jumped up, and crossed the distance of at least five meters nearly instantaneously. She slammed into his face, and could feel one eye socket, one jawbone, and his nose break. She thought she felt his nose break in three different places, but she wasn’t sure.

“Come on, we have to go!” Ariana shouted at her friend, and raced to the door. April shook off her shock.

“Right,” she replied, and ran after Ariana, who had by now stopped in front of the door, and was readying her psychokinetics to blow the door to pieces. She knew it was a long shot. She had no idea how much effort it would take to break the massive metal door.

“My turn,” April whispered, and closed her hand over the keypad. The keys turned from red to green, and the door slid open. Ariana shot her friend a smile, and raced through the open door. April was right behind her.

“Garage. Maybe we can get a car,” Ariana grunted, following a sign marked ‘garage’.

“We’re going to steal a car?” April whispered, sounding shocked at her friend. “Thou shall not steal!”

“They were going to rape us, and kill us,” Ariana grunted. “Don’t be such a damned nun.”

“Ari!” April shouted, forgetting where they were for the moment. “No swearing!”

Ariana took a deep breath. It was the stress. She knew it was the stress, and she knew her friend had been affected worse than she had been. “I’m sorry, April. But, think for a moment. We don’t know where we are. We might be in the middle of some desert. We should take precautions; get a car, for just in case we need it. They’re government. They’ll never miss it.”

April sighed, turning yet another corner. “You’re right,” she allowed. Ariana pushed open a door, and the two girls burst inside. “I’m sorry, Ari. I don’t know why I yelled like that…”

“Forgotten,” Ariana replied. “Here, let’s get in,” she said, using her psychokinetic powers to pick the lock on a low profile white Nissan.

“Over here!” they heard a female someone shout. “Help me! Please!”

April and Ariana halted for just a second. “Who’s there?” Ariana barked. Both girls could hear that something was off with the voice. Adrenalin still raged through their bodies. They lacked the peace of mind to focus on what was wrong.

“The name’s Carol! Please! I need help! They got me trapped up here!” the voice sounded urgent. “Quickly! I don’t know how much longer I can keep them from finding you!”

April and Ariana blinked. Their hands locked. Whoever this is has been helping us? How? April asked. Ariana shrugged.

“And how–” Ariana began.

“I hacked the security system, and overrode the cameras as soon as I saw you take out those goons. Come on! We don’t have much time!”

April shrugged, and Ariana sighed. The two girls raced to the origins of the voice. What they found made their jaws drop. A white car was up on a raised platform, its wheels spinning in mid-air.

“Help me! Lower the ramp!” the car begged. “I can help you!”

“How?” Ariana asked, concerned.

“No time!” April grunted, pressing the button marked ‘down’. “Tell us underway.”

The ramp lowered, and the car shot off it, backwards. The front doors clicked open in mid-flight, and neither girl wanted to miss the ride. Ariana jumped behind the wheel. April jumped in the front passenger seat. The door closed without them doing anything.

“Hang on!” a female presence on a small screen in the center console urged them. The car took off in direction of the gate. It started lifting. “I hacked the gate controls, but the security system is resetting its codes. We’ve got another five seconds… four… three… two… one…”

Alarms went off, and the gate plummeted to the earth behind them. “There’s the front gate,” the female announced. “Hang on!” the car accelerated, and crashed through the chain-link fence, right next to a massive iron gate. “Always hit them where they’re weak!” the female hollered, and raced off.

“Now, who are you,” Ariana barked. “And let me drive!”

“Can you drive?” the female asked, curiously.

“Since I was eight! Now let me drive!” Ariana shouted. The female on the screen shrugged. One of the numerous lights blinked off, and Ariana immediately grabbed the car’s wheel. It twisted a little as Ariana recovered from the shock of suddenly being in command.

“Now, as to who I am… I am Carol. Don’t ask me why, because it’s just a name. They were going to liquidate me. Outlived my usefulness, you know?”

Ariana shot a worried glance at her friend, then over her shoulder to check for pursuers. “Don’t worry, I’ll tell you when we’re pursued. Built-in radar system,” Carol assured the driver.

“Okay,” Ariana replied distractedly. Right now, she would accept anything at face-value. She was feeling a little queasy. “April? You okay?” she asked, concerned.

“Stop… the car,” April whispered. Ariana stood on the brakes, marveling at the strength of the brakes. The car skidded to a halt. Immediately, April threw open the door, fell out the machine, onto her knees, and started vomiting. Ariana got out from the other side, and knelt down next to her friend, holding on to her shoulders.

“Sick,” April whispered. “So… blood… violence.”

Ariana let out a deep breath. “I know. I feel sick, too,” she assured her friend.

“Let’s… not do that again,” April whispered, still shaking. “When I think of it…” the rest of her sentence was drowned in heaves of whatever was in her stomach.

When it seemed to be over, Ariana hugged her friend. “I promise. We’ll try to avoid them next time.” April just nodded, and allowed Ariana to help her into the car.

“Are you okay?” Carol asked.

“As long as we stay away from them, yeah,” April whispered. “I hate violence.”

“Don’t worry,” Carol said. “I’ll keep them away from you. Both of you.”

“By the way, what are your capabilities?” Ariana asked, just to have something else to focus on.

“I am running on a uranium power core, with a half-life of five hundred years. Engine is completely electric with 650 Newton-meters worth of torque. Zero to hundred kilometers an hour in three-point-five seconds.”

“Electric engine. That’s why we didn’t hear you,” Ariana whispered. “When we’re excited, our hearing shifts to normal human hearing and ultra-sonic frequencies of an electric engine go right by us.”

Carol’s imagine chuckled. “I have an aluminum frame, with a Kevlar shell. Bullet proof up to quite a big caliber. Same with the windows. And now, the fun stuff.”

“Fun stuff?” Ariana asked.

“Armaments,” Carol replied. “Since I have a limited supply of ammunition, the depleted-uranium machine guns shouldn’t be used unless necessary. For every-day use, I have an electro-magnetic pulse gun, running off my power core. It will kill an engine, no matter what type, and knock out a human. Or kill him, if you charge the gun far enough. Depending on your preferences.”

“Carol! You won’t kill someone,” April ordered. “EVER!!!!”

Ariana nodded in agreement. “You’d better keep those machine guns retracted. Too much of a temptation otherwise.”

Carol sighed. “Great. The most fun to use, but I can’t use them…”

“CAROL!” April grunted.

“Just kidding,” Carol replied with a smirk. Suddenly, the smirk disappeared. “Pursuers!”

*****

“What do you mean, they broke lose?” ‘Oversight’ yelled at the commander of the small group.

“As I said, sir… one moment we have everything under control, the next moment they’re ripping us to pieces,” the man replied, shaking.

‘Oversight’ slammed his hand on his desk. “Perkins!!” he yelled. General Perkins came running, full-speed.

“Yes, sir?”

“Get me the security tapes! NOW! And organize your men to find them! And shoot them on sight! Got me??”

“Yes, sir,” Perkins replied, running from the office. He was back within thirty seconds. “I’ve sent out all three remaining teams, sir. And this is the tape of the cell.”

Exactly ten seconds later, ‘Oversight’ sunk back in his chair. “Their genetic memories awoke…” he whispered, looking up at the commander of the small force, sitting in a wheelchair with temporary bandages wrapped around his broken ribs. A support collar was around his neck.

“Do you have any idea what you DID?” ‘Oversight’ yelled, jumping up from his chair. “We encoded the expertise of an entire SEAL team in those girls! Demolitions, communications, weapons, and tactics! We encoded every martial arts style we could find, and added to it every ranged and hand-to-hand weapon! You and your damned FUN just awoke an entire genetic LIBRARY of combat expertise in two genetically engineered super-soldiers! Do you have any idea what that means??”

The man, pale because of his injuries, turned even whiter. “You just activated two operatives that, by themselves, rival an entire SEAL team in expertise! And there are TWO of them!”

The man gulped.

“We have one lucky stroke,” Oversight said, calmly, while turning to look out his window. “They weren’t trained. They have no idea what they’re capable of.”

Suddenly, the door was thrown open. ‘Oversight’ was planning to kill whoever disturbed them, and he would do it personally.

“Sir! They took Carol!” Oversight’s jaw dropped.

“Stop perimeter search, and go after them… and may God have mercy on all of us,” ‘Oversight’ whispered.

*****

The small screen in the center console showed a top-view map of the area, rather than Carol’s electronic figure. The showed a small white car, them, and a slightly larger black car, their pursuers. From the white car, red lines radiated outwards, showing the radar signals. The distance between the two cars indicated that some time was still available.

“Give me command!” Carol screamed excitedly. “I can take them!”

Ariana grunted, and shot a confused glance at her friend, still looking pale in the passenger seat. April nodded. “Just don’t kill them.”

Ariana pressed the button accompanying the light that had gone out earlier. The light came back on, and Carol screamed in glee as she executed a full bootleg turn. Targeting crosshairs appeared on the windshield. An indicator marked ‘EMP-gun’ flashed next to the crosshairs. Directly below it, a second indicator showed that the gun was charging.

The two cars raced together, and Carol grew quiet. April gasped in a deep breath of air, and held it. Ariana started to sweat. “Carol…”

“Let’s play chicken,” the AI muttered. The driver in the other car obviously got the same idea. The two cars raced closer, head-on. Ariana’s hand snapped to the ‘control’ button. She pressed it. The light went out. It came back on.

“CAROL!!!” Ariana shouted.

“Our Father…” April whispered, closing her eyes.

The windshield-HUD indicated that there were six seconds to impact at current velocity. Five seconds. Three seconds. One second. Carol screamed. The black car swiveled, and spun out of control as the driver barely missed the white car. It landed in a ditch. Carol spun the car around once again, and came to a halt next to the almost-intact wreckage in the ditch next to the road.

“Never… EVER do that again!” April ordered.

“Come on… it was fun…” Carol replied. “I wouldn’t have killed you… you’re all I have now! You’ve got to believe me!”

“You will ALWAYS give back control when either of us presses the button,” Ariana said, her voice eerily level.

“MOVEMENT!” Carol shouted. The two girls’ eyes flashed to the wreckage. The driver got out of the wreckage, looking fine, if bruised a little. He grabbed for something in his belt.

“He’s armed,” Carol informed them. “I am bulletproof. He can’t shoot you. But his bullets will dent the bodywork.”

Ariana pressed the control button. The light turned off. She pressed the accelerator firmly down, not expecting what came next. All conventional internal combustion engines, be they gas or diesel fueled, used gears. It could be an automatic transmission, but the engine used gears. An electric engine has two gears: forward, and reverse. When Ariana pressed the accelerator, the car shot off like a rocket, and would have continued to do so. In three-point-five seconds, they reached one hundred. The ride was smooth, without hiccups from transmissions or otherwise.

“Wow,” Ariana breathed five seconds later, her foot releasing the accelerator, only to catch it so they would remain at a constant speed.

“Why didn’t you let me stun him?” Carol asked. “Now he will call in where he saw us.”

“Carol, never hurt anyone unless it’s absolutely necessary. That man was no threat, except for some dents in the paintwork. Running saved us the dents, and him the trouble of waking up with a headache from an EM pulse,” April preached. She still felt awful. “Anyway, Ari… I’m going to try and catch some sleep.”

“You still look sick,” Ariana informed her. “You do that. I’ll try and keep Carol in line while you’re out.”

“Hey!” Carol protested weakly. She ‘turned’ to April. “I hope you’ll feel better once you wake up.”

“So do I,” April whispered. “Thanks for the concern, both of you.” She closed her eyes, and nodded off, feeling secure in the knowledge that Ariana wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

“Now what?” Ariana whispered to herself. “Carol, do you know where we are?”

“Nevada. Roadmap is coming right up,” Carol informed Ariana. “May I suggest you go to Las Vegas? Lots of people, very eccentric, so they won’t notice us. And there are lots of credit transactions there, too.”

Ariana frowned in confusion. “Credit transactions?”

“To hide you ripping off the government, of course,” Carol replied, chuckling slightly. “Do you see that little indentation in the center armrest? Press your thumb to it.”

Ariana’s gaze shifted from the windshield to the center console. She saw the little thumb-shaped indentation, and released her right hand from the wheel. She pressed her thumb to the indentation, which immediately lit up white.

“I’ve got your thumb-print scanned,” Carol informed her, as a lid opened up, revealing a hidden compartment in the center armrest. In the lid itself, a golden-looking credit card was hidden, pressed to the lid by a rubber band. In fact, there were several dozen cards there, all in different colors, ranging from pitch-black to virgin-white.

“With the gold card. It’s a special operative’s credit card. Untraceable, and unlimited. But, just in case, we can hide ourselves even further. The other cards can be used in different places all over the world… most major countries are represented.”

Ariana nodded, resisting the urge to whistle appreciatively. April was still sleeping in the passenger seat. So far, the conversation hadn’t bothered her. Ariana didn’t want to press her luck. “Okay. Vegas it is,” she whispered, and threw a look into the chidden compartment itself. “What are those syringes for? And are those fountain pens?”

“I’ll explain once April’s awake,” Carol replied. “I wouldn’t want to give the same explanation twice. But I think you two will be enthusiastic. It’s really cool… the latest in communication technology, and the last gizmo to be added to me, before they decided to scrap me.”

A silence descended, Ariana thinking about the ‘cool feature’, and Carol just processing the latest events. “Tell me, Carol, if you don’t mind me asking that is, how many operations did you go on?”

Carol was silent for a few seconds, and Ariana opened her mouth to apologize, when Carol answered, “Two.”

“Two?” Ariana asked.

“A surveillance mission, and an information retrieval mission,” Carol replied. “I was originally conceived to be working with operatives like yourself… enhanced, if you know what I mean. That’s why I outlived my usefulness. They tried to add some stuff so I could work with normal operatives, but it just didn’t work out.”

Ariana patted the dash. “Poor thing. Well, you’re with us now.”

Carol’s electronic image smiled. “Yeah,” she whispered. “I’m with you now…”

*****

April opened her eyes about thirty minutes later, stretched, and yawned. “That was a good nap,” she purred.

“Feel better?” Ariana asked.

April smiled slightly. “Yeah. Not great, but better. So, what have you two been talking about while I was out?”

Ariana shot an amused glance at her friend. “You were really out of it, weren’t you? Well, me and Carol have been talking a little about her features, and some of her past.”

“Okay, fill me in. If you don’t mind that is.”

“Not at all, Carol replied. “As I told Ari, I was originally conceived to be working with operatives like you; genetically enhanced operatives. They installed some added features, so I would be able to work with normal operatives, but it just didn’t work out… so I outlived my usefulness, and they tried to cancel me.”

April shot a look at Ariana, who didn’t seem to mind Carol calling her ‘Ari’, so April let it be. “I’ve only been on two operations… the first was a stakeout. The second was simple data gathering. Hacking a computer system, in other words. That was it.”

Ariana pressed her thumb against the indentation in the center armrest. The compartment slid open. “And we’ve got a couple dozen credit cards, valid I most major countries. Virtually unlimited and practically untraceable credit cards,” Ariana said, grabbing the gold US-card, and holding it out for April to see.

“We can steal from the government?” she whispered. “Ari, we’re not going to use them. Even if they are practically untraceable, they’re still traceable. Somewhere, somehow, a flag will be raised, and they’ll know where we are. Besides, it’s morally despicable.”

Ariana sighed, and replied on a reasonable tone, “We need money. In these outfits, it won’t take two hours for Zodiac to find us. We stand out, wearing these schoolgirl uniforms.”

April took a deep breath, held it, and thought for a few seconds. She let out her breath. “Damn, I hate it when you’re right. I don’t like it, though… those are tax-dollars…”

“So am I,” Carol replied suddenly. “Does that mean you wish you hadn’t freed me?” Carol’s tone sounded carefully neutral, as if the car tried to hide her true feelings.

April looked at the small screen, directly at the electronic representation of Carol. “I… I… that’s different!”

“Why?”

“You’re alive! At least, I think you are alive… we saved you from being killed. That’s not theft. That’s rescue.”

Carol chuckled. “Glad you feel that way. But, sometimes, you need to do something… see of it as choosing between two evils. You can take the card, withdraw a couple hundred dollars, or maybe even a couple thousand, get you some clothes and a ticket to some god-forgotten country, and go under ground. Or, you don’t use the card, and starve to death, if Zodiac doesn’t find you first. I won’t run out of fuel, since my nuclear battery lasts over five thousand years, but you need food and drink. I can supply a bed to sleep in, but you need sustenance.”

April sighed, and nodded dejectedly. “Hey, Ari. Can you stop at that phone booth? I think I’ve got an idea,” she said, perking up a little.

Ariana frowned, yet started to pull over the car.

“Why?” Carol asked.

“To make a phone call?” April replied, smirking. “Why else?”

“Because I can phone just about anyone,” Carol replied. Her face disappeared from the screen, and a keypad took its place. “Just enter the number.”

April dialed, while Ariana concentrated back on the road.

Rick Bergman, the answer came, and Ariana shot her friend a huge smile.

“Hey, Ricky!” April greeted the ex-phoenix-member. Rick, eighteen by now, was working as one of the big shot programmers at Microsoft.

“April!” Rick replied. “Good to hear from you! How are things at the Institute?”

“I wouldn’t know,” April replied sadly. “Listen, Rick… we’re in deep trouble. Really deep trouble.”

“How deep?” Rick wanted to know.

“We hacked something we shouldn’t have,” April replied.

“Like what?” Rick asked, suddenly sounding very interested.

“Pentagon. Something called the Zodiac files. It’s got something to do with genetic engineering,” April whispered. “Anyway, Rick, they got us. They came for us last night sometimes, but we managed to escape. Ari and I don’t know for how long. We need to get out of the country. Fast. Remember the ‘what if’ scenarios we used to play at phoenix? Well, right now, we’re going to do a ‘what if you woke up a wanted murderer with a shoot on sight order’ scenario.

“Okay,” Rick replied, voice pensive. Suddenly, he seemed to have a solution, and replied, “I’ll leave ten goats at box fifteen, Blue Mountain Airport.”

April’s mind immediately translated. Ten g’s in locker fifteen at the Redmond train station. “Just remember the chess results,” Rick cautioned her. “Anyway, I have to go now, before anyone gets suspicious. If you ever need something, call me.”

“Thanks, Rick. That truly means a lot to us. We’ll pay you back. We promise.”

“Once a phoenix, always a phoenix. You’ll always be my kid sisters. Anyway, I have to go. I hope never to hear from you again.”

“And we hope never to have to call you again,” April replied, before pressing the ‘disconnect’ button. It was what had been said, rather than how it had been said. Rick had expressed his hope they would never need his help again, a sentiment mimicked by April.

“What does all of that mean?” Carol asked. “It sounded like gibberish! I couldn’t make out a single thing. It sounded as if he helped you, but I wouldn’t know what. And I don’t know any blue mountain, let alone a blue mountain airport.”

“It’s a code, Carol,” Ariana explained. “Ten goats mean ten g’s… ten thousand dollars. Locker fifteen in just that, box fifteen. Blue Mountain is a cover for Redmond, where Rick works. The airport means the train station. If Rick had said the station, then it would have been the airport.”

“And the chess results?” Carol asked, sounding as if she were enjoying herself.

“That’s the code for the locker’s combination lock. One loss. Five draws. Six wins. The chess results,” April explained.

Carol shook her head, impressed. Ariana looked at the hidden compartment, still open, and something jarred her memory. “Carol, you said you were going to explain the syringes and the pens once April was awake,” Ariana reminded the AI.

“Right. With all the stuff that’s been happening, I forgot. Anyway, the syringes contain four tiny micro-machines each. Two attach themselves to each optical nerve, while the two remaining attach themselves to the auditory nerve. The four tiny machines have two separate functions. One, they transmit to me what you either see or hear. It allows me to see what you see, and hear what you hear. The second operation is a tracking beacon. The codes and frequencies are set by me, so only I can trace them.”

“That’s so cool!” April shouted. “And the pens?”

“They’re not pens. They’re injectors,” Carol explained. “They contain a bio-neural implant. You press the pen to the back of your head, just between the spinal cord and the skull, and press the button. It will inject the implant into your brain. Two results: One, it will hurt like hell. Second, it will enable me to talk to you, send you information, and download programs directly into your mind. Pay-off, the injector may miss, and fry your brains instead.”

“Eww,” April and Ariana replied. “Let’s stay with the normal links first… We’ll see about the implants later,” April said, after exchanging a look with Ariana, who nodded in agreement.

“Then give me command, and inject yourselves. Any vein will do… the micro-machines will search your nerves by themselves,” Carol told them.

“What about power?” Ariana asked. “Don’t we need to recharge them?”

“Good question,” Carol replied. “No, you don’t. They’re small enough to be able to sustain themselves on the small electric currents from your nerves. You might experience a drop in vision and audio reception, but your brain will compensate within minutes. These were designed for normal humans… enhanced girls like yourselves should find no drawbacks.”

Ariana sighed, pressed the command button, and took the first of four syringes available. She rolled up her left sleeve, removed the protective cap from the syringe’s needle, and clenched her teeth. She brought the needle to the vein in her left arm, and pressed the clear fluid into her bloodstream. “It’s water, used as an agent to carry the four microbots,” Carol said. “Don’t worry about any drawbacks.”

Suddenly, Ariana yelped, and clenched her eyes hut, her hands snapped out, as if trying to hold her eyeballs in. It was followed immediately after by a second yelp, and Ariana clenching her ears.

“CAROL! What’s happening??” April shouted, jumping towards Ariana, trying to hold her quiet. The girl quieted down almost immediately.

“The bots locked in place,” Carol replied. “Sorry, Ari. I didn’t know it would hurt.”

“No problem,” Ariana whispered, rubbing some tears from her eyes. “I don’t feel any different… vision’s normal. So are my ears…”

“I am receiving you,” Carol said, the screen displaying the sight received from Ariana’s eyes, in a vertically split screen.

“I hate pain,” April whispered, taking the second syringe. “I hate needles. I hate pain. I don’t want to do this,” she whimpered, already starting to shake slightly as she rolled up her sleeve. “Please, don’t hurt. I hate pain,” she continued softly as she removed the protective cap. She took a breath, and whispered, ”Here we go.”

She closed her eyes. “Hey! Look where you’re sticking!” Ariana shouted, causing April’s eyes to open.

“Oh, right,” she replied goofily. “Wouldn’t want to miss the vein.” She clenched her teeth, and took another deep breath. Slowly, the needle slid into her vein. Since she had recently drawn blood from just about anybody for her DNA tests, April was quite adept at sticking needles in the human body. She didn’t feel it. She didn’t feel the syringe emptying itself in her veins. She pulled the needle out, and put it with Ariana’s in the empty ashtray.

Then, she yelped as a painful stab made itself present in the back of her eyes. They felt as if they were being burned, pushed outwards, and exploding, all at the same time. Just as the pain in her eyes subsided, the second stab in both her ears made itself known. She howled as her head seemed to fill with pain, every nerve in her brain on hyper-overload. It only lasted two seconds. They were the two longest seconds in April’s life. Finally, she opened her eyes, and could wipe the flow of tears from her face.

“It hurt,” she whimpered. “It hurt so much. Good thing it’s over.”

“I know,” Ariana replied. “Believe me, I know.”

“I’m receiving you as well,” Carol said, showing April’s eyes on the screen. “Anyway, whereto now?”

“Well, since April officially put us on ‘get the hell out of here’, we’ll first need to decide where we’re going to run to,” Ariana replied, looking at pointedly at her friend.

“First, let’s go to Redmond. Locker fifteen at the station holds some money for us. And after that… I suggest a cargo plane to somewhere,” April said.

“A cargo plane?” Ariana asked, surprised.

April ignored Ariana’s question, and turned to Carol. “Carol, could you make a fake passport? And, if you can, to what countries can you do it?”

Carol seemed to grow a little with pride. “I can get you into whatever country you want. Of course, there are some countries you don’t want me to get you into.”

“Muslim countries,” April and Ariana said at the same time, and burst out laughing. By now Ariana had gotten the point as to why April wanted a cargo flight. Carol.

“So, where are you planning on going?” Carol asked.

“You know I used to study Japanese culture, customs, and language, right?” April asked. Ariana looked at her friend, and nodded.

“You want to go to Japan,” Ariana stated.

“Yep. You don’t have to come with me, if you don’t want to. In fact, it would probably be safer if we split up, and let Carol decide who she wants to go with,” April said.

Ariana’s foot hit the brake, catapulting April forward in the protective harness of the four-point seatbelt. “I am NOT leaving you,” Ariana stated flatly. There was something dangerous in her tone. “We’ve been together all our lives. We were found on the convent doorstep together. We went to the Institute together. We learned together, laughed together, and cried together. I am not leaving you. Not now, not ever. And if that makes us easier to track, that’s their problem, not ours. Carol’s more than capable of protecting us.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Carol replied with a slight chuckle. She turned to April. “I have to agree with Ari. Splitting up may be the superior tactical decision, but splitting up a team like yours… you haven’t been trained, April. If you had been trained, I wouldn’t have a single problem with it. But right now, you’re two schoolgirls with some psychokinetic powers. That’s it. You don’t know how to exploit your strength, tolerate pain, or use your genetic memory.”

“Our what?” April and Ariana barked at the same time. Carol seemed to flinch.

“Your genetic memory. What? You didn’t think that fifty percent added genetic material would give you some nifty enhancements? Here. This is what’s in there. First of all, there is the Navy SEAL training, which gives you a pretty good basis in survival and weapons training. On top of that, there are the specialist survival courses for the arctic and the Antarctic; desert survival training, jungle training, and the Australian survival course. You have a fourth Dan black belt, or equivalent, in half a dozen martial arts styles, ranging from Judo over to Karate to Jiu-jitsu and Thai kickboxing. You have knowledge of hand-to-hand weapons, small firearms, rifles, shotguns, snipers, portable rockets and artillery.”

“What kind of hand-to-hand weapons?” Ariana asked, seemingly the only one capable of voicing the thoughts spooking through the two girls’ minds.

“Knives, swords, and staves. Of course, all those skills were designed to be flexible. You can pick up a piece of lead pipe, or a two by four, and use it as a staff. You can use any piece of sharpened metal as a sword. Any knife will do. You two are walking genetic libraries of fighting and survival skills.”

“We’re monsters,” April whispered, looking at her hands. The two same hands that had skillfully manipulated computer keys, papers and pages now seemed to be the hands of a monster.

Carol sighed. “No, you’re not. Your acts so far have proven that. Listen, we’re standing here. Mind getting us under way again? We need to remain inconspicuous.”

Ariana mindlessly pressed the accelerator. The car shoved off. “Now. Both of you. Look at me. Ari, let me drive.”

Ariana nodded just as mindlessly as before, and pressed the control button. Carol took over, and the girl let go of the pedals and wheel. She looked at Carol, mimicking her friend.

“You two are not monsters. You are two beautiful girls, scared, confused, and feeling betrayed. That’s understandable. But you’re not monsters. You never hurt anyone. You were protecting yourselves. You were even kind enough to help someone in danger, while you yourselves were being hunted,” Carol said, feeling oddly uncomfortable.

“But… but we hurt people,” April whispered. “We hurt people…” she repeated, her voice tiny.

“To protect yourselves!” Carol shouted. “What? You would rather have those guys rape you? And kill you? Do you really want you would have gone out like that? With the last look on this Earth being some guy gaining pleasure from your pain? Pleasuring himself at your expense?”

“No, but-” Carol cut April’s reply off.

“No buts! This world isn’t good and evil. There’s more gray than anything, and sometimes you need to do bad things in order to keep yourselves safe!”

April nodded silently. Ariana put her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “She’s right,” Ariana whispered. “Heaven knows that a car is giving us advice on life. We’ve been too sheltered. We don’t know what life is all about.”

Carol smiled slightly, not resenting the fact that Ariana referred to her as a ‘car’. She was a car, and it was something Carol had no problems with.

April closed her eyes, and nodded silently. A small smile formed itself on her lips. “Yeah, you’re right,” she whispered. “Right now, we need to focus… before they catch us. Carol, to Washington State, and Redmond to be exact.”

Carol saluted. “Yes, ma’am!” April and Ariana chuckled slightly, sat back, and relaxed in the car’s plush seats. Their hands found each other’s by second nature. They closed their eyes, and pulled into mind-space.

Carol drove on, keeping one camera on the girls as she did so. The two girls looked peaceful in their slumber, and it stirred up emotions in Carol. She looked away. Damn emotions. They keep getting in the way, she thought in her CPU. She looked back at the girls, and an involuntary smile spread across her lips. She adjusted the seatbelt slightly, allowing for some more leeway. She gently lowered the two seats, putting them in a more comfortable position.

But if my emotions hadn’t been here, would I have helped them? Carol asked herself. Or would I have just taken off, leaving the only two people ever to care enough to help me, instead of see me as a fancy computer with no real value?

Carol sighed. She didn’t like the answer her CPU supplied. The mission objectives are paramount. She would have left the girls… Carol’s imager pulled up the faces of Ariana and April. Carol’s imaging software supplied her with the image Carol had demanded of it: April and Ariana, staring in mute shock at her, as she sped away, to freedom… leaving her rescuers behind. Carol immediately erased the image. She turned toward the girls, and saw April twitch a little, pulling up her legs as if trying to get warmer.

Carol smiled, and adjusted the electronic climate control. The air turned nice and warm, and a small smile crept upon April’s features as she relaxed. Carol sighted, shaking her slightly at the two occupants of her interior. Sleep tight. You’ll need it. As an afterthought, she added, and thank Zodiac for that conscious-sleeping ability. You can sleep whenever you want to sleep, making time zones meaningless, and enabling you to be fresh at all times.

Carol continued the journey, her thoughts her own, and her one sensor always turned toward the two occupants of the car, her interior adjusting to their comfort. Yes, this was one time Carol didn’t mind having emotions.

*****

“Got it?” Ariana asked as April dumped herself on the front passenger seat.

April held out a briefcase. “Haven’t opened it yet.” She reached for the control button, and Carol took over the controls, getting them underway. April fiddled with the combination locks on the briefcase, set to the same code as the locker. The two locks clicked open, and April lifted the lid. Inside the briefcase were bills of twenty dollars. Five-hundred of them, making an exact ten thousand dollars in easily used and inconspicuous-looking denominators.

“Good old Rick,” Ariana whispered, looking at the money. “Trust him to think of using small bills.”

“And now what do we do?” Carol asked. “I can keep touring the city endlessly, mind you, but I’m sure you need some food in your stomachs and some new clothes on your bodies.”

“Clothes, then food. And then we need to find a cargo flight to Japan,” April decided. “Carol, can you pull over at the nearest JC Penney? Ari and I are going shopping.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Ariana agreed.

“While you’re in the store, I’ll start making phone-calls to freight companies, and see what we can do about getting the three of us shipped to Japan. Will anywhere do, or do you prefer a specific location?” Carol asked.

“Somewhere out of the way, if you can find it. I hear the northern island of Hokkaido is out of the way, and has less crowds. Easier to disappear if you go camping out high in the mountains,” April replied. “But any location will do. I know Japanese culture and language quite well, and we shouldn’t have any trouble finding how to get away.”

Carol pulled over at the store. “Okay. I’ve got the phone book, and I’ll start calling,” she said.

“We’ll be back shortly,” Ariana assured the AI. “But just to be sure, keep a tag on us. You never know.”

Carol chuckled. “I’m never letting you out of my sights, don’t worry.”

*****

Half an hour later, the two girls reappeared from the store, both dressed casually in a pair of jeans, a black sweater and a matching gray vest. A careful appliance of make-up made the two fourteen-year-olds appear as sixteen-year-olds. They got inside, and opened the glove box, where they deposited two velvet jewelry boxes. Some packages disappeared on the back seat.

“You dumped the uniforms?” Carol asked, not sounding surprised.

“Too conspicuous. We only kept the phoenix insignia,” April replied. “We just couldn’t part with them… After being phoenixes for five years, we just couldn’t give them up.”

“They’re a link to your past,” Carol said. “It’s good to have something like that. Now, I have some good news. I called around, and found a freight company.”

“Really?” Ariana asked, perking up. “That is good news. So, where and when do we go to wherever it is we’re going?”

“We leave from Seattle cargo airport, tomorrow at noon, and we’re going to Hokkaido, just like April had asked, to the regional capital of Sapporo. Now, the bad news. It’ll cost us nine hundred dollars, provided you’ll stay inside the car, and require nothing to eat or drink.”

“Money’s not a problem,” Ariana replied. “Now, passports. Can we get in?”

“I’ve entered your information into the country’s database. Now, for the papers itself, I’ve been working on them. They should be ready by tomorrow, and they’ll be delivered to the airport.”

“Won’t that let them know where we are?” April asked, suddenly sounding concerned. “Using the contacts from Zodiac, I mean…”

“They’re not Zodiac contacts. I was very careful about that. They’re so-called ‘independents’. They work for whoever pays them. Five hundred dollars. Pay on delivery.”

April shrugged. “If you say so. I’ll trust you.” Ariana nodded in agreement, and pulled over into a Macdonald’s drive-in.

“What do you want?” Ariana asked her friend.

“I suddenly realize I’m famished,” April noted. “How long has it been since we’ve eaten anything?”

“Too long,” Ariana replied. “I’ll have… let’s see… two Big Macs, two large fries, a salad, and a large coke.”

“Same for me, but leave the salad and coke. Give me a quarter-pounder with cheese and a chocolate milkshake instead,” April said, not bothering to look at the menu.

“Hungry devils, aren’t you?” Carol asked, chuckling slightly. “Do you go here often? I mean, you didn’t bother to look at the menu.”

“I memorized it a while back,” April replied. “Just like I did with the menus of… let’s see… Wendy’s, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken…”

“I get the point,” Carol grunted, as the small jam moved a spot. “Next question. Why? Did you go out that much at the Institute?”

Ariana and April looked at each other, and started laughing. “It was a bet, actually,” April answered. “I bet Arial twenty dollars I could memorize anything she wanted me to in ten minutes, as long as it wasn’t more than ten pages. Of course, I can do twenty pages in ten minutes in my sleep, but she didn’t know that. So, she took the bet, and gave me the menus of fast-food joints.”

Carol started laughing. “Basically, you cheated your friend out of twenty dollars,” she added in a chuckle.

“Arial came from a rich family. Twenty bucks made no difference to her,” April replied. Ariana pulled up to the post where they could enter their orders.

“Good evening,” Ariana said. “We’d like four big Macs, four large fries, a quarter-pounder with cheese, a salad, a large coke, and a chocolate milkshake,” Ariana said. The lady on the other side told them how much it would be, and April took the appropriate amount of bills from the briefcase. It took them another two minutes before they could pick up their orders. Ariana pulled over at a nearby parking spot, and the two girls made short work of the fast food.

As they were eating, Carol couldn’t help but make a comment. “You do know that most teenage girls would kill you if they saw you like this, don’t you?”

“Hmpf,” Ariana grunted, washing down the last of the second Big Mac with some coke.

“They’d kill for your figures, and they’d kill you for the amount of food you’re putting into them,” Carol continued.

“And we’ll kill you if you don’t let us eat,” April rumbled good-naturedly. She rubbed some ‘secret sauce’ from her chin with her napkin, and drank some chocolate shake.

Carol shut up, shaking her head in amusement. They eat like starved Special Forces soldiers, too. Damn you, Zodiac. They can’t even eat normally.

April put the trash in her bag, while Ariana did the same with hers. The two girls looked at each other in quiet amusement as they crunched the bags together with their psychokinetic powers. Carol whistled in appreciation as they chucked the small balls into a trashcan.

“You know, I knew you two had activated your powers from the security tape at Zodiac HQ, I mean, with the way you moved, it was obvious. I never thought you’d have this level of control.”

The smile wavered a bit. “We’ve been practicing since we were eight,” April replied quietly. “It was a fun game, a secret just between the two of us. We never told anyone.”

“No kidding,” Carol grunted. “You’d be carved up in a lab if you were lucky, and put in a mental ward if you weren’t.”

Ariana chuckled. “We could produce evidence. Option number one seems more likely.”

“Of course, we could have escaped easier from a lab than from Zodiac,” April added.

Carol chuckled. “True, but you couldn’t have rescued me from a lab, could you? Listen, it’s getting dark. Maybe we should find a place to stay?”

“The first motel we come across, we’ll take,” April replied. “We don’t sleep much, so we’ll be underway to Seattle early.”

They came across a motel half an hour later, and checked in without mentionable difficulties. After only four hours and fifteen minutes of sleep, April and Ariana took a cold shower, and dressed in the same clothing they had worn yesterday. The night clothing they had bought disappeared back into the JC Penney bags. Not feeling too cheery after a haunting night, both girls walked to the car.

“Morning, Carol,” April greeted the white car.

“Sleep well?” Ariana asked, opening the door on the driver’s side.

“Good morning, girls,” Carol greeted them cheerfully. “I don’t sleep, so I have been scanning the vicinity for anything resembling Zodiac. I think you’ll be happy to know that I’ve found nothing.”

The two girls smiled, their bags deposited on the back seat. They looked at each other. “Listen, Carol… usually, we go for a jog, you know? It calms the mind,” April began.

“Hey, I understand. Go ahead and go for a jog. I’ll keep a tag on you,” Carol said, not sounding concerned. Silently, her CPU added, I do SO not want to be anyone trying something on you two. If your genetic memories unlock, you’ll take them apart in seconds… And there’s always me. Her CPU ran a quick diagnostics program on her weapons systems. One 500 rounds-per-minute machine gun firing fifty-caliber armor piercing depleted uranium shells. Remaining supply: five hundred rounds. Carol chuckled. I love that toy. She went over her EMP guns, and found them in working order as well.

“Thanks, Carol. We’ll see you in half an hour or so,” Ariana replied.

“Hey, I’m not your mother. It’s my place to give advice, not fuss over you. If you want to go for a jog, go for a jog,” Carol replied with a smile. “I’ll see you later, girls. Enjoy the jog.”

“Thanks, Carol,” April said, clicking open her door.

“Yeah, Thanks a lot,” Ariana said as well, getting out of the car. The two girls jogged off, Carol’s sensors keeping a lookout through the eyes and ears of her two companions.

After they had been jogging for fifteen minutes, April and Ariana decided it would be best to turn back now. Their night-vision had come on completely, and it had colored the world millions of shades of gray. It resembled the infrared images seen on some TV-shows, only brighter and more diverse, giving the girls a look on the world devoid of color, a look resembling a black-and-white picture.

They had been jogging in that peculiar way of theirs, totally devoid of sound, next to a forest. They were five minutes under way back to Carol when a dark shadow suddenly lunged from the forest. Or, it would have been a dark shadow if the girls had been normal. In their black-and-white view, they could see the man like any normal person could see him. The man had a small beard, a mustache, and his eyes stood leering. He was holding a survival knife, something the girls had once seen John Rambo carry. He took out a flashlight from somewhere, and flashed it in their eyes.

“Lookie here,” the man grunted, his eyes going over the two girls. “What are you two pretties doing here?”

April and Ariana squinted their eyes against the bright beam of the flashlight, before their eyes adjusted to the light. They looked directly into the flashlight. Another advantage of the canine vision was the anti-flash protection… shining a light into a canine’s eyes didn’t reduce the surroundings to black, like a human’s vision would be affected.

April and Ariana were the same way. “We’re just jogging,” Ariana replied, calmly.

The man chuckled. “And now you’re going to show me a good time,” he added, looking at his prize once again. “And if you’re good, and show me a really good time, maybe I’ll let you go.”

April took a breath. Somehow, this man didn’t seem half as dangerous as the men at Zodiac had seemed. Have I changed that much? April wondered for a few milliseconds, before turning back to the man. “Please, sir. You don’t want to do that.”

The man chuckled. “And why not, honey?” he asked, licking his lips. “Is John not good enough for you?”

“I can’t tell you,” April replied, dejectedly. “But you don’t want to touch us.”

The man grinned, keeping the flashlight aiming at the two girls’ eyes. He was certain they couldn’t see him. He lunged, intending to cut the one with the sassy mouth, thus shocking her companion into silence and cooperation. He didn’t get halfway when something seemed to explode, the world turned a bright red of sheer agony, and he rolled up into a fetal position, moaning in pain.

*****

The moment the man had shown himself, Carol had ignited her engine. Being electric, it had one huge advantage: it was totally silent. At high speeds, the airflow can be heard, but at low speeds, she was as quiet as the night. Her route-planner came up with the roads to take, and Carol flew off, not bothering to turn on hr lights. She guided herself by infrared and ultraviolet.

It took her two minutes to pull up behind the girls, making sure to keep her speed down so she couldn’t be heard. She was sure April and Ariana had heard her… her electric engine whined in the ultrasonic spectrum, a spectrum both girls’ ears should be more than capable of receiving.

Machine gun – single shot. Her windshield-HUD displayed. She targeted his head. A single shot would take it off. Carol grinned evilly as she took aim. Then, a message played back inside her CPU. April’s voice, ordering her; you won’t kill someone. EVER!!!!

The machine gun deactivated, and Carol deployed her EMP guns. Single shot, incapacitation charge. She aimed for his heart. That’ll take him out. Carol had been monitoring the situation, and she thought things over. April seemed to have him talking. He thinks with his dick. How about I show him that’s a bad idea? Carol asked her self. She chuckled, and her targeting system aimed for a completely different location. When she saw him lunge, she never hesitated. She pressed the firing trigger, and a white orb of electromagnetic energy left her gun.

The man went down, and crawled into a fetal position, whimpering like a little girl. Carol chuckled to herself. Mission accomplished.

“CAROL!” April shouted at the white car.

“You told me not to kill anyone,” Carol replied. “He’ll live.” A slight halt later, she added, “He’ll just wish he didn’t.”

“You shot him! In the… unmentionables!” Ariana grunted, looking at the girlishly whimpering man.

“Is there any permanent damage?” April asked, looking concerned at the pile of man on the ground.

“Not really… He might not be able to get it up for a few days, and there might be some slight burn marks, but nothing permanent,” Carol chuckled. She clicked open the doors. “Come on, we have to get going.”

“Could you… put him out of his misery?” April asked. Ariana looked strangely at her. April as sure Carol was doing the same thing. “What?” she asked.

“You want me to put him don like a dog?” Carol asked.

“No, I want you to stun him!” April protested. She looked back at the whimpering ball of misery. “Give him a headache as well.”

“I like you, girl!” Carol replied cheerfully, slightly charging her EMP gun, and taking careful aim. The man whimpered louder for a few seconds, before passing out. The two girls jumped in the car.

“Hey, it was out of mercy,” April grunted. “He was in pain. We couldn’t just leave him like that.”

Ariana shrugged. “The man was an ass. He deserved it.”

“Oh, and Carol?” April asked, turning to the car’s center screen. “Next time, just stun someone. Don’t get creative… unless we ask you, okay?”

Carol chuckled. “‘Get creative’. That’s a whole better way of putting things. They used to call my sense of humor ‘psychopathic’. Okay, I won’t get creative unless you want me to. So, can I get creative on Zodiac forces?”

“Not unless we ask you to,” April replied. Ariana raised an eyebrow, and looked at her friend with a curious expression. April shrugged. “You never know when you need to extract some information…”

Ariana and Carol burst out laughing. April’s adrenalin-induced emotional blockade give out, and she file bile rise in her throat. She swallowed it down.

“Hey, are you okay?” Carol asked, suddenly concerned.

“Violence,” April whispered, swallowing again. “I hate violence.”

Ariana let out her breath. “You’ve got it bad, April. I mean, we just tranquilized him… there wasn’t even any blood, and no real violence.”

April let out a small chuckle, and righted herself. She still looked pale, but color was starting to return slowly. “Probably why I didn’t react as violently as last time,” she replied. Opening her window, April took deep breaths of fresh outside air. Her color returned fully. “Looks like it was just a minor attack this time.”

Ariana nodded. “A couple hours to Seattle,” she said, indicating a passing by sign. April nodded, opened the glove compartment, and took out a book.

“What are you doing now?” Ariana asked, eyeing her friend strangely.

“Learning to drive,” April replied casually. “First, I think it’s starting to be time for me to learn to drive Carol. Second, I need something to take my mind off recent things. And third, I want my turn to drive after I’m done here,” April added the last reason with a chuckle.

Ariana shook her head in amusement. It was Carol who replied. “No problem here. After you’re done there, I’ll show you the traffic code.”

“Traffic code?” Ariana asked.

Carol didn’t even sound surprised. “Let me guess. You learned to drive a car, but haven’t learned the traffic code yet.”

“Eh… something like that,” Ariana said, nodding slowly, while keeping her eyes on the road. “I mean, it’s not like driving is hard. Most rules are either well-known, or point themselves out.”

Carol shook her electronic head. “Whatever you say. Just a small piece of advice. I’m bulletproof, not invulnerable. If you hit something, I will be damaged.”

“Then I’d better not hit anything,” Ariana replied with a dry chuckle, electing a similar response form her friend on the passenger seat.

Carol sighed, yet smiled. “Where is Knight Rider when you need it?” she asked sarcastically. “I could use some invulnerability paint…”

“I think it was called a molecular bonded shell,” April muttered, flipping yet another page in the book, her eyes flashing over the contents as a considerable pace.

“And it took a day or so to dry before it became invulnerable,” Ariana added in.

“Oh, and it wasn’t really invulnerable. If you had a second object with the MBS, the two items were damaged, instead of both items not being damaged at all if total invulnerability were the case,” April took over, not looking up from the book.

“And I think there was this one time the bad guy found a solution to break down the shell…” Ariana started once more, when Carol interrupted her.

“Enough already! I get the point! What were you two doing at the Institute? Specializing in contemporary television shows and movies?” she asked with a chuckle.

“No, just during weekends and holidays,” April replied, the book now nearing its end at a fast pace.

“And we preferred Japanese anime and comics, but every now and then we enjoyed a normal TV show,” Ariana finished. A thoughtful look passed over her face. “We’re never going to see the Institute again, are we? And the sisters…”

April looked up from the book. “We’re leaving the United States, leaving behind everything we ever known… probably never to return. I didn’t realize until now just what we’re doing.”

Ariana sighed deeply. “I didn’t realize it either, until we talked about the Institute in the past tense, not even realizing we were doing it.”

April closed the book, and put it in the small compartment in her door. “I’m going to miss everyone,” she said, voice thick.

“So am I,” Ariana whispered quietly, her voice sounding just as thick as April’s was. “Zodiac destroyed our lives, even if they didn’t manage to kill us.”

April nodded. Tears flowed down her cheeks. “Carol, I want you to do something,” she said through her sobs.

“Whatever you want, April,” Carol replied. “I’m sorry if I brought all this up. I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s not your fault,” Ariana told the AI. “It was bound to happen.”

“Anyway, this is what I would like you to do,” April continued, blowing her nose. “I want you to break into any database you can think of, and compile all the information you can find on Zodiac.”

“That will take weeks, maybe even months,” Carol replied.

“I don’t care,” April whispered. “I want the information.”

“And blackmail them?” Ariana asked.

“And maybe get public opinion on our sides, and have Zodiac shut down,” April replied.

“It might work,” Ariana said pensively. Carol shrugged, and got to work.

“I’ll compile the database. But, as I said, don’t expect quick results.”

“We won’t,” April assured Carol, after exchanging a look with Ariana.

*****

The two girls pulled up to the cargo airport of Seattle with a full hour to spare. After clearing the necessary papers, Carol was secured on board the transport plane, and the two girls were shown how to get to it. They would make the journey inside the car.

April and Ariana then made their way to the drop-off point, where Carol’s contact would give them their Japanese passports. They had no problems with the man, since they knew better than to ask questions. They paid him, he gave them their passports, and they said goodbye. The whole meeting took less than five minutes.

Feeling a little hungry, the two teens got something from the cafeteria, and slowly started going back to the plane. They were planning on getting into Carol, and spending the rest of the time in her company.

Something seemed off when April and Ariana walked up to the berth were the plane was standing. When they had dropped off Carol, there had been a flurry of activity. Now only the cargo door on the side was open, the cranes were busy somewhere else, and there didn’t seem to be any people in the vicinity.

One of the crew they had met before walked up, and the two girls felt relieved. They ran up to him. “Excuse me, sir, but where is everybody?” April asked in her best ‘sweet girl’.

“We’re done loading,” the man replied. “Captain’s registering the flight plan. We should be out of here in thirty minutes. Better get on board,” the man said, not unkindly, before climbing the ladder, and disappearing inside. April and Ariana looked at each other, then slowly around the airport.

“The last look of American soil,” April said.

“Goodbye to those who ruined our lives,” Ariana grunted coolly. “We’ll always have each other, and that’s more than enough for me.”

April nodded emotionally. Fresh teas welled up in her eyes. “But it’s still home,” she whispered.

Ariana sniffed. “I know,” she replied quietly, dropping her arm around April’s shoulder, and pulling her closer. “I know…”

“You don’t have to pretend to be so tough,” April whispered, looking at her friend’s face, and discovering two tears sliding down her cheeks.

Ariana chuckled. “No, but I like to… I think it’s a survival reflex.”

“Well, isn’t this cute?” a female voice drawled, from behind them.

Aril and Ariana turned around to look at the woman. She was dressed in black. “Well, we’re leaving, possibly for ever,” April replied. “So don’t blame us for getting emotional.”

The woman grinned. “That’s where you’re wrong, honey. Because… well, you see, we can’t let you go,” she said, drawing a gun. At the same time, five men ran out the hangar, and surrounded the two girls.

April pressed herself closer to Ariana. She started to tremble. There was something about Zodiac operatives that scared the living daylights out of her. April could feel Ariana tense up as well.

“Please… let us go,” April whispered. “We won’t hurt anyone… and we won’t tell. Just let us be,” she begged.

“You stole something from us, honey,” the woman continued. “We want it back. Now, tell us where the CAROL unit is, and we’ll make it a clean and painless death. Don’t tell us… and we’ll make it last for weeks.”

April closed her eyes. She could feel calmness enter her mind, and she detached herself from Ariana, who was steeling herself in a similar manner. April knew that it was merely an illusion. She hated violence. She was beginning to feel sick, just from thinking about what was going to happen.

“I hate violence,” April told them. “Please, let us be…”

“Can’t do that, honey,” the woman said. She turned to Ariana, thinking April’s begs would make her give in more readily. “Now, where’s Carol? Or should I put a bullet through your friend’s kneecap? You know, she’ll never be able to walk straight again.”

Something snapped inside Ariana. No one threatened April with permanent physical harm; no one. Ariana’s mouth twisted into a fierce snarl. She balled her fists.

“I wouldn’t do that,” the woman cautioned Ariana. “I’m still pointing my gun at your teary friend. And so are the rest of my men.”

Ariana closed her eyes, and forced herself to think. I need to get their weapons away from them. All at once. Then I can take them out. Before her closed eyes, the mental temple appeared, with herself as High Sorceress in the exact center of the circular construction. In front of her, a massive sensor-screen displayed a 360° view of the entire scene. How it was possible was beyond Ariana, but she could survey all around her without moving a single muscle. She could see the five men, the woman, and April. She could see all six guns. All side arms. Everything seemed to be moving really slow, and Ariana knew that she was now operating at the full speed of thought, not the normal speed of the every-day world.

I need psychokinetics. But more precise than I’ve ever used before. Faster, more precise. A second screen popped up. It was labeled ‘Psycho-control’. Ariana stared at it. She heard a really slow voice coming in through her mental ears. She ignored it. She would decipher it after everything had come in; the psycho-control screen was drawing her attention right now.

The screen was displayed a single hand. Deciding that this was the ordinary manipulation, Ariana knew she had to take a chance. Her life, and the life of April, was at stake. She pointed at the screen, and five extra hands became visible, making six in total. She turned back to the full-surrounding sensor-screen. The six guns were already highlighted in red.

Ariana smiled. Activate. At the same time, she was kicked out of mind-space, and opened her own eyes in the real world. The six operatives were staring at the six guns in front of Ariana’s feet.

“Let us go,” Ariana stated. The two men nearest April charged her. The three men nearest Ariana charged, following the lead of their two companions. Ariana snarled. She felt her psychokinetic abilities flow around her, forming the mold once more.

Ariana jumped up a couple meters, somersaulted, and planted her two feet in the neck of the guy to reach her first. She flew up again, and landed in front of the two men storming toward April. Her hands were open, and she pushed them against the chest of the two men. A psychokinetic detonation followed, yet only April and Ariana could tell. The crunch of snapping bone filled the air, and the two men were blasted backward, and hit the metal walls of the hangar.

Ariana jumped up once again, and landed on April’s other side, directly in front of the two remaining men who had originally been racing toward her. She touched the floor only shortly. The moment she touched the floor, she flew toward the two men, her legs and feet horizontally behind her without touching the floor. Her two hands were balled into fists, and Ariana could feel her powers starting to give. She snarled loud, planted her fists in the stomachs of the two oncoming men, and made them go down.

Ariana stood straight, taking deep breaths. She turned to the woman. Sweat pearled on Ariana’s face. “Leave,” Ariana stated in a dead voice. Dead tired, but the woman couldn’t know that. She mistook the tone for the tone of her death. Nodding stupidly, the woman took a few steps backwards, turned, and ran.

Ariana’s power gave. She sunk to her knees, and April was with her in seconds. Then the world blacked out for Ariana.

She came to about ten minutes later, seated behind Carol’s wheel. Alone. “Carol? Where’s April?”

“Thank God you’re alright!” Carol said, sounding concerned. “We thought you really overdid it! And April… April’s outside. She needed to… eh… you know.”

Ariana winced. “The guys? How bad are they?”

“Broken bones, nothing they won’t survive,” Carol said in a dead tone, indicating she wouldn’t have minded if they had died.

“Poor April. Was she affected badly?” Ariana asked, concerned for her friend.

“About the same as after Zodiac. From what I can see, she’s done, and on her way back here. Apparently, Zodiac has some pull, at least, since the bodies have been cleaned up already. April can only see some blood, but no hurt men. Oh, shit…” Carol cursed.

“What?” Ariana asked, righting herself explosively.

“Blood. April’s heaving again,” Carol replied. “Looks like she really isn’t the right type for this line of work.”

“No kidding,” Ariana whispered. “Neither am I.”

April sat down moments later, shaking slightly, and looking pale as a ghost. “I hate blood,” she whispered. Turning to Ariana, she continued, “It’s good to see you awake again.”

Ariana smiled slightly. “I totally overdid it. I should train, get my mental strength up. I have control, but no endurance.”

April nodded weakly, and sighed as Carol turned the heat up. “Whatever they are, Zodiac’s effective. The injured men are already gone.”

“Yeah, Carol told me she noticed, through your eyes. Say, April, there’s something I have to show you. Something I discovered during the last fight,” Ariana said, turning to her friend.

April looked confused at her friend. “Really? What is it?” she asked, curious.

Ariana smiled secretively, grabbed April’s hand, and pulled them both into mind-space. Carol just smiled, locked the doors, and made sure the car was comfortably warm.

*****

‘Oversight’ hit the desk with his right fist. The thundering resonated through the room, making General Perkins flinch. “They are fully active!” ‘Oversight’ shouted.

“We knew they had psychic control back when they escaped,” Perkins reasoned.

“But not to this extent!” ‘Oversight’ shouted. “Last time, it was a pure reflex! This time, Ariana fought with full control! She was in charge all the way! Look at this, General,” he grunted, throwing a brown envelope to the man, who expertly caught the object. He pulled out a stack of X-ray pictures.

“Two hairline fractures in his skull and a large concussion,” ‘Oversight’ told Perkins in explanation of the first picture. “She landed on the base of his skull, pushing his head against the floor. He was lucky she didn’t kill him!” Perkins held out the next two pictures, seeming to be identical. Well, the wounds were similar, and both X-rays showed a ribcage.

“She hit those two men with her hands. One has a left imprint, and the other has a right imprint. Where her hands touched, the bones shattered.” General Perkins winced as he held the pictures to the light, and saw the imprints of a fourteen-year-old hand on each cage, the bones having shattered where the hand had touched. “Again, both men were lucky the bones didn’t puncture their lungs, or that the subsequent heavy landing against the wall didn’t do any additional damage.”

Perkins put the pictures down. He took the last two, which showed two intestinal caverns. “Those two had a ruptured stomach, spleen, and liver. Painful, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed. Those wounds were sheer physical force, while the first ones were clearly psychic in nature.”

Perkins put the pictures down. “She ran out of energy,” he whispered. “Somehow, she discovered her full muscle strength.”

‘Oversight’ jumped up from his desk. “She didn’t discover anything, Perkins! That girl knew exactly what she was doing, every step of the way! She ran out of mental energy, switched to full physical force, and completed her objectives!”

“You talk of her like she were an operative,” Perkins said, looking confused at his superior.

“Perkins, you’re a fool!” ‘Oversight’ shouted. “Ariana could have been an operative! As she is now, she’s unlocking her full potential, and I hate to think about what she’s going to be capable of after she’s begun to train!”

Perkins let out his breath. “I know, Sir. The good news is that April seems to be staying behind.”

‘Oversight’ fell back in his chair. “You’re an idiot.”

“Sir?”

“Moron, ignoramus, devoid of brainpower!” ‘Oversight’ raged. “You’re a stupid ass with the intelligence of a freshly-spawned amoeba!”

“I don’t have to take this!” Perkins shouted.

“April’s unlocked just like her sister, you idiot! You can see it on the tapes! She’s fighting it every step of the way!”

“But those instincts are dominant…”

“And she’s fighting them! She’s going to go insane, and THEN things are going to get messy. An operative with her abilities and skills, insane, and running rampart through modern society. Do you have any idea what the damage will be?”

“The police won’t stand a chance,” Perkins whispered.

“The police? The police will get their butts handed to them! That girl eats SWAT teams for breakfast! They’d need to get a fucking Navy SEAL team to take her out, and even then, it’s gonna be close! April, fully active, and insane, is the biggest military weapon this side of the Atom Bomb! And Ariana, sweet little Ariana, with her genetically ingrained loyalty to her leader will be the icing on the fucking fruitcake!”

Perkins sunk into the visitor’s chair. “We created a monster,” he whispered.

“No,” ‘Oversight’ replied, looking sternly at Perkins. “You did.”

“What?” Perkins whispered, looking up angrily.

“You were in charge. You should have terminated all Zodiac projects fourteen years ago. You allowed two of them to escape. You are responsible for this mess.”

Perkins turned white, and he started to shake. “Sir, I…”

“Don’t worry. I won’t liquidate you… Yet. Get back to work, General. And tell our forces in Japan to report the arrival, but to leave those two alone. We no longer have the manpower to take them down. I’ll need to make a lot of phone calls about getting at least some backing on this, and there’s no reason to push them even harder than we already pushed them. They’re on the run. We want to keep them there, not deciding that offense beats defense.”

“Of course, Sir. Thank you, Sir,” Perkins whispered, getting up. He saluted, turned on his heel, and marched out of the office. The door shut.

“Dismissed,” ‘Oversight’ said, chuckling.

*****

April and Ariana climbed out of the plane, and walked to the exchange office to exchange her dollars for yen. After having exchanged a couple hundred dollars worth, the two girls made their way to the cafeteria for something to eat. They hadn’t eaten since… time differences had screwed them up. All they knew was that they were hungry. April played translator, and both girls made quick work of the food.

Since the cargo airstrips were somewhat out of the way of the passenger terminals, the two girls had to cross a couple of deserted cargo strips to reach the one where their plane was disembarking Carol. Or so they hoped. April and Ariana tensed when they crossed a deserted location, a place where they were far from everybody. They didn’t like it, and started running. Something felt wrong. On their left and right were warehouses, with a chain-link fence directly behind the right row of storage facilities. Behind the fence was the public road, with cars passing at great speeds, thus providing no help whatsoever.

They were right. A bola was thrown from one of the warehouses, and flung itself around April’s legs. The girl fell forward, landed on her hand, and instinctively pushed up and over. She landed on her still-tied feet, without any noticeable damage. Her hands stung a little, but weren’t even skinned.

Ariana, on the other hand, felt her psychokinetic armor arming itself. Two men raced out of the warehouse. Both threw bolas at Ariana, who simply dodged them, allowing the weighted ropes to clang harmlessly to the chain-link fence marking the barrier between the public road and the cargo strips. She didn’t even deign the discarded weapons with a single look.

She raced forward, her hands open, as if ready to repeat the ribcage damage from the Seattle airport. For all they were worth, these two men appeared to be better trained than the guys from Seattle. They managed to dodge the enraged girl, and even managed to double-kick her in the back. Since she had already been moving, the kicks did little more than give her added momentum, momentum she used to launch herself into the air, push her feet of the steel wall of the warehouse the two men had come from, and go after the two pursuers, who were now very much aware of what had happened.

“She flew!” the first man said to the second, in Japanese.

“I knew we shouldn’t have done this!” the second man replied. “Orders were formal! Do NOT engage the targets!”

“They’re two girls! They shouldn’t be a match!” the first man insisted.

“Are you done now?” Ariana asked, standing in front of them, her arms crossed, her face looking downright scary.

“Ari!” April shouted, her voice trembling. “Don’t play with them!”

Ariana nodded. She dropped, swept the first man’s legs from under him, jumped up, put her foot in the second man’s face, knocking him out cold, and returned. She dropped down, straddling the first man, and hit him square in the face with her fist. His eyes closed, his mind out cold.

April sunk to her knees, her entire posture radiating an emotional shock the likes of which Ariana hadn’t seen before. Slowly, oh so very slowly, April brought her hands up, and buried her face in them. Her shoulders shook. “Isn’t there nowhere we’ll be safe?” she asked, sobbing. “We’ve run halfway around the world, just for more violence!” she was now crying, through her tears.

Ariana knelt down next to her friend, and put her arms around her. April buried herself against her friend’s chest, threw her around Ariana, and cried. Ariana just held her friend, knowing that the worst was yet to come… this was just an emotional outburst to the attack. The Sickness was yet to come.

“Come, April. We should get to Carol, before more of those guys come back,” Ariana whispered, slowly getting to her feet, and gently pulling her friend up along with her. April followed Ariana to her feet docilely, still in shock. They hadn’t taken five steps, or April fell to her knees again, fresh tears accompanying the terrible heaves that emptied the girl’s stomach of its contents. Ariana held April as she vomited, comforting her friend with her mere presence. For the moment, it was all they had. After April more or less stabilized, Ariana gave her friend some mineral water from a bottle she had bought at the cafeteria. April took a couple of small swallows, and Ariana capped the bottle once more.

“Come on,” she said gently. “We should get out of here.”

April nodded weakly, and followed her friend. Actually, Ariana half-carried April, who was supporting herself on her friend’s shoulders. It seemed as if April had done more fighting than Ariana had, and it appeared to have sapped all her reserves. By the time they got to the cargo lane where their plane was being unloaded, April somehow managed to at least walk under her own strength, although the girl’s ashen complexion still looked far from healthy.

They were in luck, as Carol had already been unloaded, and the two girls climbed inside, Ariana having to help April. As soon as she hit the seat, April curled up, and closed her eyes. Looking concerned at her passenger, Carol looked April’s door as soon as it had shut, and raised the inside temperature to comfortable for a sleeping person.

Ariana got in behind the wheel.

“How bad was it?” Carol whispered.

“Two guys,” Ariana replied. “It was worse this time.”

“Because you just left everything behind, for nothing,” Carol replied. She turned back to look at April. “Poor thing, she looks dead to the world.”

Ariana sighed concernedly. “She had a breakdown, Cary. First an emotional one due to the stress, then a physical one due to the fight. I had to support her for some of the way back. She could hardly walk.”

Carol sadly shook her head. “We need to help her. Fast. She needs to come to terms with all of this… she never had a chance to adjust. Which, by thee way, you seem to have done wonderfully.”

Ariana snorted. “Yeah, right. I’m fighting for my life, and for hers. When I think of things, I get sick. Not as sick as April, but still sick. So, I don’t think. I’m on the run. I can’t afford to think.”

Carol let out her simulated breath. She’s the total opposite of April. April can’t stop thinking. Ari refuses to think at all. I’ve got a couple of nutcases on my hand if things don’t improve. I just wish I could help… but I was designed to kill, maim, break, and steal. I’m not a psychiatrist; I don’t know what to do… I have zero life experience!

“So, where are we going?” Carol asked.

“Mountains,” April whispered. “Mountains… safe. Hard… to find… there. Central… mountains.”

~“You heard her,” Ariana replied. “Mountains it is.”

Carol nodded. “Okay. Here we are. A way deep into the mountains.”

“But first, let’s stop at a store. We need some supplies,” Ariana decided.

“Do you speak Japanese?” Carol asked, curiously.

“I can understand some of it, but I don’t think I can speak it,” Ariana replied. “We used to watch a lot of Japanese cartoons, but that kind of language isn’t appropriate for use in real life.”

“I… will speak,” April whispered. “Just… five more… minutes. Sleep.” With those words, April’s head sunk sideways, her body finally given into the urge to sleep.

“Let’s give her thirty minutes,” Carol whispered, pulling over in an empty parking space. “Maybe you should get some sleep, too. I’ll wake you.”

Ariana shook her head. “Not tired. Now, let’s be quiet.”

Carol just nodded her agreement.

Thirty minutes later, Ariana gently waked April, who dazedly opened her eyes. She looked at little better, and some of the strength had returned to her voice and her body. She walked into the grocery store along with Ariana.

*****

Hisho Morimoto, Master in the arts of the ninja, had finished his tour through the city. He had managed to get all of the rare herbs he needed, and at a reasonable price, too. Now he was preparing for the journey back to his home village, a trip that would take several hours by public transport. He entered a grocery store to buy some supplies.

While he was making his selection, he noticed two western girls entering the store. One of them was looking like death warmed over, while the second one looked more like a trapped cat, looking around nervously for anything that even remotely appeared dangerous. The first girl, the weak one, whispered to her companion in English, apparently translating the notes on the racks. Master Morimoto didn’t understand English very well.

When he saw the first girl close her eyes, and the second one hold on to her to keep her from falling, Master Morimoto knew something was definitely wrong. The first girl seemed to be exhausted, and by the constant looks the second one was throwing around the store, there was something threatening them, something that had awakened the instinct he knew only too well: supervision. The second girl was keeping tabs on everything and everybody, constantly scanning for trouble.

Master Morimoto made a decision. He knew he was capable of helping, and they obviously needed help. Smiling slightly to appear harmless, Master Morimoto advanced silently on the two girls, the first one having turned back to the racks and food items, while the second one had by now detected him. Her eyes kept darting to him. If he had been anyone else, he would have felt uncomfortable.

“Excuse me, Miss,” he said on a friendly tone to the first girl, the weak one. “Is there something wrong?”

The second girl looked from her companion to him, and back to her companion, scared, confused, and obviously over-protective. The first girl turned her tired-looking head towards him. “Just a little tired,” she replied, putting a hand on her friend’s shoulder. That simple gesture calmed the second girl, and made a short-circuit in Morimoto’s brain. She knows her companion well, and that one gesture calmed her down… they are behaving like a team that’s been trained for years! What happened to them? Why is one so exhausted, and the second one so alert? What could have… oh-oh. They’re running from something, and they look too well behaved to be running for the law.

Morimoto, keeping the gentle smile on his face, silently bowed his head slightly, and retrieved something form his pocket. A small tablet. Never leave home without these. “This will help you, Miss. It will help you restore your strength.”

“How can I repay you?” the girl whispered, gratefully accepting the tablet.

“Put it under your tongue, and let it melt,” Morimoto instructed. “I was in the position to help. It is a favor.”

The girl put the tablet under her tongue, detached herself from her friend, and bowed formally. “I thank you,” she replied, using the appropriate politeness forms. Morimoto was impressed… her Japanese almost had no accent at all, and she knew the proper forms of addressing someone. She must have received extensive training, or have grown up in Japanese culture herself.

Morimoto returned the bow. “It was nothing.” He had to keep from staring as he righted himself. The color was returning to the girl’s face, and it was doing so, fast. Either she wasn’t totally exhausted, or she must be one of the strongest people I have ever met, Morimoto thought. And seeing how her friend had to support her earlier, I think option number two is more likely.

“Allow me to repay your generosity,” the girl said, her voice sounding stronger. Her companion looked flabbergasted at the girl, to Morimoto, and back to her friend. The two exchanged some English sentences, and the first girl turned back toward him.

“I must return to my home village,” Morimoto replied. “My student is expecting my return.” He knew that she knew that she couldn’t make an offer without knowing him better. He also knew it was his duty to allow for an opportunity for her to make an offer, so both wouldn’t lose face. “I must catch the bus shortly.”

The first girl’s face lit up. Morimoto had guessed correctly. They had come in by car. The first girl turned to her companion, chattered something, to which her companion replied with a smile in his direction, and a nod. The first girl continued, “Then allow us to drive you to your home.”

Morimoto bowed. “Thank you.”

The first girl returned it. “It is nothing.”

“My name is Morimoto Hisho,” Morimoto introduced himself. “Pleased to meet you.”

The girl smiled, and bowed slightly. “Hajimemashite.” Pleased to meet you. “My name is April.” With a small motion of her hand to her friend, she continued, “My friend’s name is Ariana. Unfortunately, she does not speak Japanese.”

Morimoto bowed to each girl, saying ‘pleased to meet you’ to both of them, even though Ariana couldn’t understand him. He did give her credit for returning his bow. She seemed to have at least guessed at the conversation, and Morimoto valued someone who could deduct.

Five minutes later, Ariana had packed her groceries and Morimoto’s groceries in the trunk. Ariana had taken the back seat, leaving the more spacious front passenger seat for Morimoto, and letting April drive for a change. Carol had hidden herself, her TV screen displaying a navigation system.

It was a pleasant surprise for the two girls to find out that Morimoto lived high up in the mountains, in a small village. His house was the last one on the main street, where the road had long since gone to a small gravel path, which had about the width of a car and a half.

April pulled Carol up to the house, and Morimoto invited them for dinner, since the sun was already setting, and it was nearing the hour for dinner. April threw a look at Ariana, and the two girls exchanged some English, after which April gratefully accepted the invitation.

As soon as they exited the car, April started bringing Ariana up to speed on Japanese customs, so that by the time dinner came around, Ariana at least wouldn’t offend their host.

“This is my student, Yahiko,” Morimoto introduced a fifteen-year-old boy with raven-black hair and a friendly face. He bowed to them, a bow both girls returned. Morimoto identified them to his student, and told him to make sure that the girls were comfortable. Both girls were pleased to note that Yahiko spoke English, to some extent. Pleased to have someone making sure that she didn’t get any of the details wrong, April continued her lecture.

Dinner was pleasant, both girls having no problems with the exotic tastes found in Japanese cuisine. They were eager to try, and found it all enjoyable.

Morimoto had a hard time concealing his enjoyment. April and Ariana were balls of energy, and he found almost no traces of what had plagued them earlier. April seemed to have fully recovered from her exhaustion, and Ariana seemed to have relaxed the state of readiness she had been in. Morimoto could still see the glances the two shared at times, and he could read the sadness in their eyes. Something was definitely wrong with these two girls, and Morimoto couldn’t think of what.

They were friendly, enjoyable company, and really seemed to appreciate him helping them out earlier. They’re sweet. What could have happened? Who could do something to two sweet girls like them? I don’t think anything natural could cause them to be on the run, so someone must be after them. Who? Who could harm two sweet girls like that?

Morimoto hid his thoughts as he took part in a conversation with April, who seemed to be interested in places where one could get away, even though she didn’t put it like that. She asked about mountains, little villagers, and places with little other people. She claimed she and her friend wanted to ‘see the not-tourist version of Japan’. Morimoto could read between the lines. Something in her voice told him that she was sad about something, a type of sad he had never thought he’d hear from a fourteen-year-old girl.

Next to him, Yahiko and Ariana were having a conversation in English, Yahiko doing his best to keep his accent down, and Ariana doing her best not to speak too fast, or use too many exotic words. They were talking about hiking, camping, fishing, and the local wildlife. He had no problems with telling her about any venomous animals they might have in Japan, nor had he any problems with talking about fish or wildlife that was fit for human consumption.

After dinner, April told Morimoto she had enjoyed the meal, and his hospitality, but that they really had to go now… they had to find a hotel to stay. Morimoto could hear the undertone, and if he could guess it correctly, April had no intentions of finding a hotel. It was that undertone of fear and sadness again, and it triggered something in Morimoto. He wanted to know them better, to see if he might be able to help in some way.

“In that case, allow me to offer you shelter,” Morimoto offered. April and Yahiko startled, and Morimoto suppressed the smile he had felt. April had most definitely been educated well. She knew that most Japanese people didn’t generally invite people into their homes, unless they were really good friends or relatives. But Morimoto wasn’t any ordinary man. He wanted to help these two girls, find out what was wrong, and maybe help them in whatever way he could.

April overcame her shock, and Morimoto was dismayed to see a flare of protective anger come over Ariana, as if she were ready to pounce whoever said or moved in a way that didn’t stroke with her thoughts. And the way she was looking, nothing stroked with it. April smiled, and gently shook her head in Ariana’s direction. The girl calmed down immediately, clearly feeling embarrassed over what she had done.

April, meanwhile, bowed in Morimoto’s direction. “Thank you for your hospitality, Morimoto-san,” she said, and noticed Ariana still sitting up. He invited us to stay. Japanese normally don’t invite people into their homes, she whispered under her breath. Bow, April instructed. Ariana’s enhanced hearing picked it up, the girl startled for a moment, smiled in Morimoto’s direction, and bowed.

“I will show you around, while Yahiko takes care of the dishes,” Morimoto said, getting up. April, Ariana, and Yahiko did the same. Yahiko turned to his sensei.

“Sensei, may I have one moment of your time, please?” he asked respectfully. Morimoto looked form his student to the two girls.

“Excuse me for a moment,” Morimoto apologized. The two left the room. Of course, April and Ariana could listen in, if they wanted to. Respecting the privacy of their hosts, they didn’t. Ariana wouldn’t have understood the conversation anyway.

“What is it, Yahiko?” Morimoto asked.

“Sensei, is it wise to invite two strangers into our home?”

“Those two girls need my help, Yahiko. Just like you needed help.”

“Help, Sensei?” Yahiko asked, stunned.

“I do not expect you to read emotions like I do, Yahiko. But I do expect some common sense. April was pressing me for information on where to hide, even though she didn’t word it as such. Her tone of voice held an undertone of fear and sadness. They have left something, or someone, or possibly both, and are running from someone.”

Yahiko bowed his head. “Ariana has been asking about camping sites, poisonous plants and animals, and which plants and animals are edible,” he whispered. “I didn’t know, so I gave the information.”

Morimoto nodded. “I gave April the information she requested as well. I offered them shelter because it is my opinion they were not planning on finding a hotel. They were going to run. I intend to find out what is wrong, and help them.”

“But… what if they are running from the law?” Yahiko asked. “We could be harboring criminals…”

“You lack understanding, Yahiko. Do they look like the types to be criminals?” Morimoto asked, suddenly sounding angry.

“No, Sensei.”

“And do you think I would invite them into my home if there had been any doubt about them?”

“No, Sensei. I apologize,” Yahiko replied, subdued.

“Now, allow me to return. You have dishonored us long enough by keeping me from taking care of our guests.”

“Yes, Sensei. I apologize. It will not happen again.”

“It is good to question. It is not good to do so until the time is right,” Morimoto replied, before walking back into the room, and showing the girls around his home.

*****

April opened her eyes, and was immediately fully awake. She sat up, and stretched. Ariana was not in sight, and April closed her eyes to tune up her hearing. Smiling, her eyes opened once again, and April walked to the backyard. Morimoto’s house had been built on top of a small hill, leaning into a mountain. As such, the back yard ended on a small cliff. Not very deep, but deep enough to really hurt the unfortunate person to fall off it.

Ariana was sitting on the edge, her legs dangling over the edge of the cliff. April sat down next to her friend, her night vision allowing her to enjoy the spectacular view. One thing neither of them had was fear of heights, which they both thought of as a good thing at the moment.

“Morning,” Ariana said.

“Morning,” April replied.

“Do you feel better? I mean, you seemed okay last night, but you fell straight to sleep, which did worry me,” Ariana asked.

April nodded quietly. “Some. It’s just so depressing… we left everything… all for nothing.”

Ariana sighed deeply, and nodded in quiet agreement. “I know what you mean,” she said. “I refuse to allow myself to think about it… every time I do, I feel sick to my stomach. Not as bad as you, but still sick.”

April closed her eyes, and gently put her hand on her friend’s shoulder. She pulled Ariana into mind-space along with her, and soon both were looking at the cliff on a sensor-screen.

“I wanted to teach you Japanese,” April said. “We’ll need it if we’re going to run. We’ll need to fit in, so our language shouldn’t be a source of concern.”

Ariana nodded. “Good idea. Teach away.”

April smiled slightly. “Let’s hope this works. Usually, we study together. We’ve never actually tried copying knowledge form one brain to the other.”

Ariana frowned, and looked at Mind-April. “Sure we did. When we’re writing a report together. You write one part, I write a second, and then we merge it. That’s copying.”

“Five or ten pages is nothing compared to an entire library on Japanese customs, traditions, and language,” April whispered in reply. She spread her hand to one side.

The black walls appeared in between the support columns of the mental temple. Four screens appeared. “Grammar,” April told her friend, who found it quite easy to make the screen scroll. Her mind absorbed the knowledge.

By instinct, April felt when it was time to start downloading verbs and vocabulary. Two extra screens opened, downloading vocabulary and verbs into Ariana’s brain. The grammar rules ended, and the four primary screens took over some of the data stream.

Ariana’s High Sorceress was sitting cross-legged in mid-air, staring blankly at the screens. Six screens were pounding knowledge upon knowledge upon knowledge into Ariana’s mind. She accepted it all, and craved more. April, feeling her friend’s need somehow, started smiling. Sweat drops appeared on, April’s Amazon Priestess-face as she opened a seventh screen. Data was now flashing by at tremendous speeds, in seven streams at a time.

Ariana was sweating, too. Her face saw as white as chalk, but the gleam in her blank eyes stayed. The data streams ended, and Ariana shook her head to clear the cobwebs.

“Done,” she said. “Intense.”

April took a couple deep breaths. “No argument from me. I’ve never felt speed like this from my mind before.

“Me neither,” Ariana agreed. “How long did it take us?”

April opened the biological clock of her mind, accurate to within one thousandth of a second. “Two minutes.”

“Damn,” Ariana grunted. “Two minutes.”

The Amazon Priestess and the High Sorceress looked at one another for a few seconds, as if both are waiting for the other to say or do something.

“We should practice psycho-control,” Ariana finally whispered, looking away, towards a screen she had just pulled up. It was labeled ‘psycho-control’.

April closed her eyes, and nodded dejectedly. Ariana moved closer, and hugged the avatar-form of her friend. “I know you don’t like it, April. But it’s necessary… We need to be able to protect ourselves against Zodiac.” Ariana felt April shudder at the name ‘Zodiac’. She hugged tighter. “I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.”

April sighed. “I know… I am being irrational… But I just can’t help it… I hate hurting people. The thought of it… it just makes me sick to my stomach.”

Ariana kept hugging her friend. “You still need to learn to use your psychokinetic powers. See it as personal development, a way to better know yourself. Get to know who you are, what you are, and what you are capable of.”

April nodded, and released the hug. “You’re right,” she whispered. “You’re right…”

“Come on,” Ariana said, smiling encouragingly at her friend. April found herself returning a shy smile, and she turned to the psycho-control screen. She stretched her hand out, and a second window popped up, right next to Ariana’s. Six hands appeared in it.

Closing her mental eyes, a full-screen popped up, enabling April to see 360° around her. Various stones were shown in red. Ariana clapped her hands in glee as the stones lifted into the air. April smirked slightly. She put the stones down. Her head cocked to one side, though, and her face got a curious look on it. A look Ariana never thought she’d see again, and it warmed her to her very core. April was enthused by something, and it filled Ariana’s heart with hope… hope that her friend was not beyond help.

“Do me a favor, Ari,” April whispered.

“Anything,” Ariana replied immediately, recognizing the same tone April had used countless times, back at the Institute. It told Ariana that April was on the verge of some discovery, and wanted Ariana’s help in double-checking.

“Reach out to that stone with your mental powers. Don’t lift it. Just try to feel the stone with your mind,” April replied, still looking engrossed at the stone, medium-sized, but appearing tiny because of the distance it was away. Ariana nodded, told her psycho-control screen to use a single ‘hand’, and reached out to the stone. She tried to do as April had asked her to, and tried to feel the surface of the stone.

Her grip a lot softer than usual, Ariana finally felt the sensations her psychokinetic abilities were feeding her brain. Just like with a normal hand, when gripping something tightly, you fail to feel the texture of the item. Letting a psychokinetic tendril gently rub across the surface, Ariana could feel every tiny impression, every tiny expulsion of the stone’s surface. She could feel what kind of material the stone was made of. It felt incredible.

Ariana gasped. April turned to her friend. “You felt it too, didn’t you?”

“So… sensitive,” Ariana whispered. “Almost sensual. I could feel the rock… I know that rock. Or, at least, it feels like I know the rock.”

April chuckled, reached out, and brought the stone closer. “I knew how it would look like before I saw it,” the girl said. “Just from touching it…”

Ariana nodded. “I know.” After a few seconds of silence, she added, “What I don’t understand is why we’ve never noticed it before.”

Now it was April’s turn to nod silently. After a few seconds of deep thought, she said, “I think it has something to do with the way we’ve been using our psychokinetics up until now. We told it to fetch something, and it did. We never asked it to ‘feel’, until you discovered psycho-control, and told it to create hands.”

“So, a normal psychokinetic blast is without sensations, but a psychokinetic hand has sensations?” Ariana asked, looking at the twin psycho-control screens.

April shook her head. “A psychokinetic blast has normal sensations. We could feel it picking up whatever we told it to fetch, remember? But the psychokinetic hand must have increased sensitivity…”

Ariana shrugged. “I think that sounds right… Come on, let’s experiment with it!”

April chuckled. The stone, still labeled in red, sunk to the ground next to the two girls. Ariana pulled up some more rocks, ranging from pebbles to medium-sized rocks weighing about ten to fifteen kilos.

*****

Morimoto had donned his standard uniform, and opened the sliding door leading to the back yard, so he could start his early-morning workout. The moment he had the door open, and he had thrown one look outside, he froze. April and Ariana were now facing each other, sitting cross-legged on the ground. They were holding up their hands, palms touching. Around them, stones of all possible size and shape were flying.

Morimoto blinked, stepped outside, and closed the sliding door. That shows why they were afraid… they are carrying secret abilities. Immediately, the rocks dropped to the floor, and the two girls shot up, looking fearfully at him.

“Impressive,” Morimoto said calmly, walking toward them. The two girls took a fearful step backward, obviously uncertain of his motives. Morimoto stopped his advance, and smiled gently. “I am curious. Who taught you how to do that?”

April’s mouth opened, snapped shut, and opened once again. “You… you’re not…”

“Scared?” Morimoto asked. “Angry? Should I be? Would you hurt me?” Morimoto asked, still smiling disarmingly.

Ariana relaxed, and April looked embarrassed at the ground. Morimoto immediately recognized what had happened… Ariana had understood him.

“Morimoto-san… allow us to explain…” April whispered. Ariana shot her friend an angry look. Now Morimoto knew Ariana had understood the Japanese words, and it only served to fuel his curiosity.

“In that case, why don’t we talk inside, over a cup of tea? It will relax us, and provide the atmosphere necessary for this kind of conversation,” Morimoto offered, turning sideways, and reaching for the sliding door.

April and Ariana nodded, and followed the Ninjitsu master inside. Yahiko, obviously just awakened himself, was told to make some tea. Morimoto sat the girls down around the table, and this time April no longer had to remind her friend on how to sit at the table. Ariana sat down on her heels, as custom required.

Yahiko appeared with the tea some minutes later, minutes April and Ariana spent in quiet contemplation on how to tell their story without appearing downright insane, even with the evidence they could provide. Every second of those couple of minutes made the fear increase in the two girls. Their increased-strength hearts were beating hard and fast. Morimoto, feeling the anxiousness of his guests, allowed them the time to order their thoughts.

Finally, Yahiko appeared, and served the tea.

“I… eh… we’ve never told this to anyone,” April whispered. “The story of our lives…”

Morimoto held up his hand. “Only tell what you feel comfortable with sharing.”

Yahiko kept quiet, not wanting to have a repeat performance of the previous evening. He had no idea what was going on, except for the fact that his master had somehow stumbled across the secret of the two girls. A secret, it seemed, they were reluctant in sharing.

April closed her eyes, and pulled back into her mind. A screen popped up, providing her with a time-line of what the two girls had uncovered up until now. She pulled up the Learning April program, and prayed that the program would be able to do the dirty work for her. Her prayers went unanswered, and April opened her eyes once more.

“Thirty years ago, the government of the United States funded a black research program. A program with only one goal: to create a genetically enhanced super-soldier. They started doing research into the human genome, and the possibility of inter-breeding different species of animal into this genome. It took them nearly fourteen years of experiments before the scientists were able to create an enhanced genome… and what a genome it was. It contained fifty percent more genetic material than a normal human. Entire martial arts disciplines were encoded into it as genetic knowledge, a sort of instinct. Sixteen years ago, the scientists started their gruesome experiments,” April told the two.

Ariana took over. “They infiltrated a clinic specializing in artificial insemination. Four hundred women were implanted with their genetically enhanced embryos. Out of those four hundred, only four made it to full term. The couples with full-grown babies were killed. No evidence was to be left behind. Those four babies were scheduled to be trained at the facility established by the researchers. They would have been monitored, but the training was in the hands of the military wing of the Zodiac Project.”

“Then, the government cancelled funding. The Cold War was over. There was no need for genetically enhanced killing machines,” April told, her voice full of loathing. “They wanted to kill the babies, before blowing up the facility itself. They managed to kill two of the babies… the other two were rescued by a doctor. That man paid with his life, but not before he managed to find a place for the two girls to grow up, safe from Zodiac.”

“For the first seven years of their life, they lived at a convent, before being allowed to attend the Institute of Advanced Learning, in Texas. The girls’ genetically enhanced minds went into overdrive in this place, a place where the best and brightest got every chance and every possibility they wanted. But, this wasn’t all. They also found that they could do things. Different things. They could talk to each other mentally when they touched, they could move object with their minds, and they could even pull back from the world altogether, entering a place they called ‘mind-space’, where they had full control over their minds, and its processes,” Ariana said.

“For seven years, they were happy. Then, one of them took a genetics course. For fun, she decided to test herself. She found the genetic abomination that is her genome. Thinking herself faulty, she tested her friend, and got a similar result. Now, REALLY thinking herself stupid, she tested a third person, and got a clear result… meaning her methods weren’t defective. The girls knew not what to do, so they sent out the genomes over the Internet, asking for someone to help them with information,” April said.

“They got a reply. It was short, and contained some information about Zodiac, its methods, and what it was supposed to have been about. One of the girls, who could directly interface her mind with a computer, told the computer to start looking for phone numbers of military mainframes. After a teen-hour search, the computer had found a secret phone number, and the girls hacked into it. They retrieved most of the reports from Zodiac. Unfortunately, Zodiac was better than two girls who barely knew what they were doing. Zodiac found them out, and kidnapped them,” Ariana told.

“They would have been killed, if their abilities didn’t surface. At the exact time one of them would have been raped, their genetically encoded martial arts abilities unlocked. After making short work of the three guards, the two girls ran. In the garage, where they were planning on obtaining a car, they found… Carol. Carol was an experimental car, containing a unique Artificial Intelligence system. The car would have been scrapped, since normal humans had trouble working with the AI, which had been originally designed to work with genetically enhanced soldiers,” April said.

“The two girls ran for their lives,” Ariana concluded. “They first managed to get a loan from an old friend from the Institute, and then they rented a space on a cargo plane. They ran to Japan, where two more agents of Zodiac were waiting for them… So here we are.”

Yahiko stared at them in open shock, obviously not believing a word. Morimoto sadly shook his head. “What a cruel world, that two fourteen-year-old girls should have to run for their lives,” he whispered. Looking up, he said, “I would like to help.”

“Thank you, Morimoto-san,” April replied. “But we really can not abuse your hospitality, nor endanger your lives.”

“My name is Morimoto Hisho, Master in the ways of Ninjitsu. I can help you understand who and what you are, if you will allow me to do so,” Morimoto said. “It would be my honor, and my privilege, to help you.”

“Sensei!” Yahiko protested. “This story is… unbelievable. Why do you trust them?” Yahiko held himself back before saying something that would get him in trouble.

“Because of what I’ve seen,” Morimoto replied calmly.

“Allow me, Morimoto-sensei,” April replied, keeping in mind that this man would now be their teacher. Ariana had also heard the word play. She had no problems with it… the surroundings were beautiful, and Morimoto seemed like a good and reasonable man. That did not mean that Ariana would not keep an eye out for trouble. She may like the man, but trust had to be earned. She had trusted him by telling their story. The rest had yet to be earned. April looked at her teacup. The small porcelain cup lifted into the air, to April’s lips, and tilted slightly. After drinking, April put the cup back down.

Yahiko stared open-mouthed at the cup. “How… what…” He shook his head. “I am sorry for doubting your judgment, Sensei.” He bowed to April and Ariana. “I apologize for doubting your words.”

April and Ariana returned the bow. “It is understandable,” April replied. “No offense taken.”

*****

After dinner, April and Ariana were sitting in front of the small shrine, located at Morimoto’s dojo. Most of the day, Morimoto had shown them around the house, and the surrounding grounds, a time he had also used quite well in making the girls understand what the training would entail. April and Ariana introduced Morimoto and Yahiko to Carol, who was glad to finally be able to talk again. Morimoto, April, and Ariana had decided to start the formal training tomorrow, giving April and Ariana a chance to digest everything that had happened in the last few days.

April sighed. “Lucky us,” she whispered. “We’ve found someone to help us…”

Ariana nodded. “Let’s hope it’s a fruitful partnership,” she replied. “I like him, and I like the surroundings. I think we can be happy here.”

Now it was April’s turn to nod in agreement. “Ari?” she asked in a quiet, fearful, voice. The tiny voice so laced with sadness that Ariana could not help but shudder as she looked at her friend. “Do you… do you think we’re monsters?”

Ariana threw her arms around her friend. “No, of course not, April!” she shouted, hugging her friend close.

April shuddered. “What about Zodiac? We’ve hurt so many people… I… I know I can do the same things you can… I felt it when that one man threw his bola around my legs, and I moved out of my fall. I could have hurt him, Ari! I felt my body burning, begging to let go… Ari, I’m scared!”

“There’s nothing to be scared of, April,” Ariana whispered, gently rocking her friend. “Morimoto-sensei will teach us how to control our minds and bodies. He told us he would. We have to trust him… as master, he knows what he’s talking about.”

April clenched to her friend. “But what if he can’t? He’s human. We’re not. Who says that we are even able to be controlled!? What if we’re loose cannons, ready to shoot at anything?” April asked, her voice begging, reaching for what meager scraps of support Ariana could provide.

“Whatever Zodiac is, they’re not stupid. We were supposed to be controlled, the ones sent behind enemy lines. We can’t afford to be loose cannons, or we’d blow our cover without good reason.”

April nodded, relaxing marginally. “Yes… yes, that would make sense,” April whispered. For a couple of seconds, the two girls sat there in silence, hugging each other. Then, April looked up at Ariana. “I’m still scared, Ari… we’re genetic monsters. I… I wouldn’t want to hurt someone accidentally. I know I’m capable of it, and I don’t want it to happen!”

Ariana hugged her friend tighter. “That’s why we’re here. Morimoto-sensei will teach us how to use our abilities when it counts, and how to keep control over them at all times, so we don’t hurt people accidentally.”

“Do… do you really think it’s possible? Control over our abilities?” April whispered, her voice sounding so small it almost resembled a small child’s voice. It sent pangs of pain through Ariana’s heart. She too, had her doubts. But, for April’s sake, she couldn’t let them show. She had to be strong, support her friend’s frail mind, help her recover. Maybe then… maybe then, she could start looking at herself. Right now, April was the most important thing. Ariana knew she had to help her friend.

“If there’s one person who can, it’s Morimoto,” Ariana replied with conviction.

April nodded quietly, then released the hug. The two girls sat there, staring at each other, for the next couple of seconds. Then, they returned to their previous positions, facing the small shrine. The dojo’s atmosphere breathed peace and tranquility, an soon both April and Ariana were deep in thought. One thing hadn’t changed, however. Their postures still oozed with negative emotions.

*****

Morimoto walked out of his house. The sun had set, and the master walked to the edge of the small cliff at the end of the yard. Breathing in the clean mountain air, Morimoto surveyed the nocturnal nature. His thoughts dwelled on April and Ariana.

They’ve really been through a lot, he thought to himself. In the last couple of days, they’ve been kidnapped, attacked multiple times, and had to leave home and country to run halfway around the world… only to be attacked here as well. So hurt, even, that they had to tell their story as if it happened to someone else. They had to distance themselves to keep from breaking down.

Morimoto turned toward the dojo, a small building located not far from the house. I need to help them in any way I can. I first need to help their minds before I can help their bodies… it probably won’t be easy, but it has to be done.

He had a good idea where the girls might be, and he walked toward the dojo. Just as he had thought, they were inside, sitting in front of the small shrine, obviously deep in thought, their postures radiating the fear and pain of the last couple of days. April seemed to have it worse than Ariana, but Morimoto knew enough to know that Ariana was forcing herself to appear strong, rather than let it all out.

He stood there for a few seconds, at indecision as to what to do now. Just as he was turning to leave again, he heard a shuffle. Turning back toward the girls, he saw that both April and Ariana seemed to be done with their meditation. Quietly, he approached the two girls.

“Is everything alright?” he asked, hoping to start a conversation. If he read body language correctly, both girls needed desperately to talk to someone. Morimoto knew that he was the only person with at least some hope of helping them.

“Morimoto-sensei,” April whispered quietly, as if noticing him for the first time. She remained quiet for a few seconds, seconds he gladly gave her to order her thoughts. “Can you… do you really think… you can help us?” she asked in a quiet voice.

Morimoto chose not to take that as an insult. “I honestly believe I can,” he replied. “It will not be easy, but I think it is possible.”

“How?” Ariana asked suddenly, forgoing all Japanese customs. April winced, but somehow couldn’t find the strength to stop her friend. “I mean, no offense, but we’re not normal. How can you be sure we can be helped?”

April nodded quietly. “We’re genetic monsters, born… bred… to fight, hurt, and kill. We may be beyond help.”

Morimoto closed his eyes, and sighed. He sat down in between the two girls, and looked at the shrine. “You look human to me,” he replied.

April sighed. Ariana snorted. “We’re the combination of four hundred genetic donors, and a couple dozen different animals. One third of our genes are genetic memories on how to fight, sabotage, hurt, maim, kill, and so on. We’re unable to have children, because our genetic structure is further away from homo sapiens than the common trout is.”

Morimoto decided that tact and diplomacy wouldn’t cut it. They had convinced themselves that they were monsters. It served as a shield… they were being hunted, ergo they were monsters. They were at fault for all the bad things that had happened. Only by force could he hope to get through… either it would help them, or break them entirely. Morimoto prayed his gamble would work.

“That’s enough!” he said, forcefully. “If I hit you, don’t you hurt? If I prick you, don’t you bleed? If you’re hurting, don’t you cry?”

“Yes, but-” April whispered. Morimoto, contrary to his usual self, didn’t allow April to finish. He had to break through, and it was now or never.

Softer, he continued, “April, Ariana, being human isn’t part of your genes, or what was done to you.” He put his hands on both girls’ hearts. “Being human is what you feel inside, in your hearts. I’ve seen enough of you to know that you are two sensitive and sweet girls. I now ask of you to accept that, and accept the fact that you’re human. Because, if you don’t, if you truly believe that you’re monsters, than Zodiac will have won. You might as well give up.”

Ariana was sitting there, staring unseeing at the shrine. April’s mouth rhythmically opened and closed, but no sound escaped her lips. She let out a deep breath. “I don’t want to give up, Morimoto-sensei,” April whispered, looking up at him like a little girl would look up at hr parent. “Help us… not to give up.”

Ariana’s shock was ebbing away slowly. She only nodded quietly, unable to bring out a word. Morimoto congratulated himself. It had worked. More or less. He would still have to show them how to accept who they are, but that was a problem for later. For today, he had managed to show them how he thought of them, and how they should see themselves.

“I… I think I’m going to bed now,” April whispered, standing up. “Good night, Morimoto-sensei.” She looked at Ariana, who was still looking sadly at the shrine.

“I… I’ll be in later,” Ariana whispered. April nodded, and even managed a simple smile. She bowed to Morimoto, and slowly walked out of the dojo. Morimoto looked after her, and saw how incredibly old April had seemed. He cursed Zodiac. Ariana remained, staring at the small shrine, for at least a couple of minutes. Morimoto, sensing that something deeper had been awakening in the girl, remained.

“Thank you,” Ariana finally whispered. “For your words… I… I… don’t know how much longer I could have kept going…”

“It was my pleasure,” Morimoto replied. “I am always available if you need to talk, and I will always try to give you the best answer I can.”

Ariana nodded, and looked at the floor in front of her. “I… I had to be strong,” she finally whispered. “For April. She’s always been the softer one, you know?” she asked, turning to Morimoto, who smiled encouragingly at the girl. Ariana returned a weak smile. She, too, seemed incredibly old. “I took courses to work with my hands. But not April. No, she always had her nose in the books. When… all of this started, I protected her. April can’t stand the sight of blood, or the sight of pain… it makes her sick. I couldn’t afford to feel pain, or to feel sick. I had to be the strong one, the protector.”

Morimoto stared sadly at the girl. “You can feel it now,” he whispered. “It’s not healthy to keep it in. Let it all out, and it will make you feel better.”

For a moment, Morimoto didn’t think she had understood a word he had said, as Ariana just continued, “I had to keep her supported… April was on the verge of collapse. She had trouble dealing. I couldn’t deal… I had to be the strong one.” She looked at Morimoto with tears in her eyes. “I’m tired of being the strong one, Morimoto-sensei! I can’t handle it anymore! I’m only fourteen! I should be in school… not… fighting… for my… life…” The last words came out through heart-wrenching sobs, and Ariana buried her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook as the emotional discharge, postponed for so long, finally came.

Morimoto sat there, and sadly put a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “You’re not on your own anymore, Ariana,” Morimoto whispered. “I am here now. I will do my best to help you. You have my vow.”

Ariana’s mind, finally releasing days’ worth of pent-up emotions, only felt the gentle hand, and only heard the gentle tone. The words themselves didn’t register, but the intent behind the words did. She threw herself around Morimoto, clenching at him while crying. For a moment, Morimoto’s Japanese upbringing, and the subsequent aversion to physical contact, surfaced. It only lasted for a tenth of a second before he realized that Ariana needed someone to hold her, to comfort her, to tell her that everything would be all right.

Morimoto’s arms went up and around the small, sobbing frame. Holding her tightly, he continued to whisper gently to the girl, who finally released all of the mental anguish she had been storing. When the sobs subsided, Morimoto finally looked at the girl… to find her asleep.

Poor thing was exhausted, Morimoto thought. I am beginning to seriously dislike this Zodiac. Gently picking up the girl, he carried her inside, and put her to rest next to her friend. For a few moments, Morimoto remained in the room, and looked at the two sleeping girls. Smiling gently, he closed the sliding door, and left to find his own bed. He knew that his sleep would be plagued that night. The things he had heard would present themselves in his subconscious.

Over the course of the next month, Morimoto, who had studied some Chinese arts to complement his Ninjitsu-skills, started the girls off gently, with Qigong exercises to help them find balance in their minds and bodies. Helping them as well in this early period was the Zazen-meditation routine Morimoto taught them. It was the same meditation routine used by Zen Buddhists, and it helped them calm their minds. After only a few weeks, he added some gentle Tai Chi routines to help them expand their bodies’ reserves, while keeping up the Qigong exercises to purge the toxins from their bodies and their minds.

After that first month, the recovery of the two girls was well underway, and Morimoto gently started his instruction. By now, both girls had more or less started to become calmer, and they started to find peace with themselves, and what they were. It was something that had happened without their will, and it couldn’t be helped. It was then that a first problem popped up.

April had been talking to Carol, and it was something the AI dropped that got April’s gears working. At first, she hadn’t believed the conclusions she had drawn. But, now that her mental strength was returning, April was able to acknowledge the memories of those two faithful days, and she had come to the conclusion that she had been right. She had been a selfish pig.

Ariana walked up to her friend, as usually sitting cross-legged at the edge of the cliff, and looking out over the expanse visible from the position. Ariana sat down next to her friend. She didn’t say anything, allowing April to finish her gentle morning meditation-routine. It was something April had taken to, something she had been more or less forced to take to, a qigong mental exercise to release negative energy from the mind.

A deeper breath showed Ariana that April was waking up. The eyes fluttered, and April looked at her friend. “Morning, April,” Ariana greeted. She felt something was off. Instead of replying as she usually did, April looked away sadly, staring back over the nature-scene in front of her, even though the sun wasn’t up yet.

“I’m so sorry, Ari,” April finally said, tears starting to form. “I’ve been such a pig… Dear Lord, how I’ve been a pig.”

Ariana, feeling concerned, looked at her friend in confusion. “What do you mean, April?” Ariana asked, her voice sounding confused and fearful at the same time.

“I’ve been so depending on you… I kept dumping my stuff on you… and I never realized how much you needed my help as well,” April whispered, closing her eyes, and bending her head. Tear slid down her cheeks. “I’m sorry, Ari. I’m not worth being your friend. I’m a selfish, egotistical, self-centered–”

Ariana grabbed her friend, and forced the crying girl to look at her. “Never ever say that again, April!” she shouted. “You are my friend, and you always will be! I am the stronger one. It’s only reasonable that I helped you!”

April sighed, closed her eyes again. “Yes, but… but I should have paid attention to you as well… It was all about me, me, me… and I didn’t realize you needed help, too.”

Now it was Ariana’s turn to sigh. She moved closer, pulled April in for a tight hug. “That’s all over, April. Sensei has helped us both…”

April hugged her friend back. “Tell me,” she whispered. “I need to know… I want to be there for you. I need to be there for you. To help you, like you helped me.”

“You’re my friend, April. My only family,” Ariana assured April. “I don’t need proof of your loyalty. Please, let it go… you’ll always be my friend, and I’ll always have a special place in my heart for you. I don’t need proof,” she repeated.

“But… but–” April stuttered, before Ariana cut her off.

“You really want me to bare my soul, huh?” she asked. April nodded.

“You helped me… every time we talk; it’s about how I feel, or what I want. Now it’s time we go back to the Institute, where it was what we felt, and what we wanted,” April said, every word laced with sadness.

Ariana closed her eyes, and nodded. “Okay. But not like this,” she said, and pulled her friend into mind-space. The High Sorceress and the Amazon Priestess looked at one another. “This is more private,” High Sorceress Ariana said. Amazon Priestess April nodded quietly.

“Okay, here goes,” Ariana whispered, sitting down, cross-legged, in mid-air. April sat down on an almost identical height. This was to be a long conversation.

*****

Early morning, January 12^th. The sun had yet to rise and chase the inky darkness away. April was sitting in lotus position on the verge of the small cliff. Contrary to usual, she wasn’t meditating. Her face stood a little sad as she stared with her night vision out over the nature scene.

She heard Ariana before the sliding door had even opened, and a small smile crept up on her face. Some lingering sadness wasn’t chased off, however. Ariana sunk down next to April, letting her legs dangle over the edge.

“Morning, April,” Ariana greeted her friend exuberantly. “Happy birthday.”

April smiled wider now, and turned to her friend. “Happy birthday, Ari.”

Ariana smiled, and turned to the scene in front of her. “I can’t believe a year has passed already… Lord, time flows so fast.”

“That’s what I was thinking about… last year; we were still at the Institute. And all the stuff that’s happened over the last seven months… it’s been massive,” April whispered, bowing her head slightly.

Ariana nodded in contemplation. Her smile assumed its rightful place on her face once again, and she turned to April. Throwing an arm around the girl, Ariana said, “Come on! Don’t let your head hang! We’ve got a beautiful home, a nice Sensei, and a fellow student. What more do we need?”

April smiled, and this time, the smile reached the girl’s eyes. “Yeah, I guess you’re right, Ari. No sense dwelling on the past. One can not spend his entire life looking back, or one will never move forward.”

Ariana laughed, loudly. “You’ve been listening to Sensei too much, April! You’re talking like him!”

April smirked, and answered, “Great minds think alike.” With a routine gesture, April threw her chestnut hair over her shoulder. With a played arrogance, she added, “It takes brilliance to admire greatness. Do not be envious of those brilliant, or those great.”

Ariana’s mouth opened slightly. “I will get you for that,” she promised. “One day, when you least expect it, I will get you for that.”

April threw herself against her friend, laughing. “I’m sure you will, Ari,” the girl said, laughing. She sobered somewhat, and added, “It’s been so long since we’ve had fun like this…”

Ariana nodded. “Yeah… but it’s all getting better now. At least we’re able to laugh again, instead of sinking into depression every time Sensei shows us something and we get it immediately.”

April chuckled. “Poor Yahiko. It took him weeks to get that one kata down, and we got it right the second time we tried it.”

Ariana laughed quietly as well. “It’s a good thing that he got over it… He knows we’re different, and he now actually tries to accommodate us, instead of working against us.”

“I think that he’s actually enjoying that,” April answered. “I think he likes putting us to the test.”

Ariana chuckled. “And I think I don’t mind being tested. It was nothing different at the Institute. We were phoenixes. We were the best of the best. We were put under stress, and we remained there for five years. An absolute record.”

April couldn’t agree more. “Morimoto-sensei judges us higher, too. I think I like it… we’re special. We shouldn’t be held to the same tests as normal humans… we’re faster, stronger, and brighter. No reason why we shouldn’t be judged higher, too.”

“Yep. Right. It’s only fair. We have superior bodies. We should be held to higher standards.”

“Come on,” April urged her friend, jumping up from her lotus position. “Let’s do some katas.”

Ariana chuckled as she got up. “You really like this stuff, don’t you?” she asked.

April shrugged, a little guiltily. “It’s a great way for me to learn about who I am, and what I can do, without actually having to hurt someone. I hate the sparring parts.”

Ariana shrugged. She herself had no trouble with sparring. She went into the stance next to April. Together, the two girls moved with the grace and fluidity of ballerinas, the scene illuminated by the gentle rays of the early sunrise.

After about an hour and a half, the girls broke off their early morning training session.

“I wonder what’s keeping Sensei,” April said.

Ariana shrugged. “Maybe he overslept. Come on, let’s go check.”

April grinned slightly. “Sensei doesn’t oversleep. I hope nothing’s wrong,” she said, slightly worried.

Ariana dropped her arm casually around April’s shoulders. “Don’t worry so much, Sister. You’re going to give yourself an ulcer if you keep this up.”

April chuckled. “That’d be the day. According to Carol’s research, we’re not supposed to get sick. Our immune systems are so perfect the only things allowed in are the bacteria needed for digestion.”

Ariana chuckled as well, keeping her arm around the other girl. April looked at Ariana. “You know… it’s been so long since you did that. I kinda forgot how it felt like.”

Ariana stopped, dragging April with her. “Did what?” she asked in confusion.

“Call me ‘sister’. It’s been so long I almost forgot how it felt like,” April whispered.

Ariana laughed quietly. “I promise, from now on, I’ll start doing it again. Sister.”

April smiled gratefully. “Thanks. Sister.”

In silence, the two girls traversed the backyard to the house. April opened the sliding door, her ears at peak sensitivity. She heard breathing, from both Yahiko and Morimoto. They were in the tatami room, the room used for meals, and as spare bedroom.

Tatami room, April told her friend. Ariana nodded, and the two girls walked to the room, quiet as ghosts. Ariana opened the sliding door to the room, and the two girls slipped inside, to find Morimoto and Yahiko drinking tea. The very sight of finding Morimoto in the tatami room, drinking tea, instead of being outside training startled the two girls into total silence.

“Good morning,” Morimoto greeted them, together with Yahiko.

“Good… morning, Sensei,” April whispered, slipping to her knees by the low table. Ariana did the same, after wishing them both a good morning as well.

“Happy birthday,” Morimoto added, while Yahiko poured them a cup of the strong green tea.

“Yeah, happy birthday,” Yahiko added as well.

April and Ariana smiled at the words. “Thank you, both,” the girls replied, bowing in Morimoto’s direction before doing the same to Yahiko.

“And a present, of course,” Morimoto added, pulling two packages from next to him, where they had been hidden from view. He handed the packages to the girls.

“Thank you, Sensei,” both whispered, looking at the bright-red gift-wrapped packages, unsure of what to do.

Noticing the two girls’ stares, Morimoto asked, “Is something wrong?”

It was April who first shook her head. “No, Sensei… it… it’s just that… we’ve never received a gift before.”

“What? Never?” Yahiko asked.

Ariana smiled sadly. “We lived in a poor convent, Yahiko-kun. And then, we lived at the Institute… we never had money for such things.”

Morimoto smiled slightly. “Well, then. You can consider this to be the first time of many,” he assured the girls.

“Thank you, Morimoto-sensei,” both girls whispered.

Now what? Ariana asked her friend, seemingly making a random contact through pushing her shoulder against April’s.

The wrapping is as important as the gift, April quoted. Thus, unwrap the present gently, don’t tear it off, and fold it neatly. Only then, look at the present.

Okay. Will do, Ariana replied, releasing the shoulder-contact. Both girls started unwrapping their presents. After a good minute or so of careful releasing of tape, they had the wrapping released, and they folding it neatly. After that, they looked at the item inside.

“A Ninjitsu do-gi,” April whispered, letting her hand trail over the black fabric of the training uniform. They no longer would have to train in a second-hand do-gi! “A do-gi of our very own…” she added, reverently. She sniffed a little, and turned to Morimoto with tears in her eyes. Ariana wasn’t in any better condition.

“Thank you, Morimoto-sensei. This… this means a lot to us…” they said, bowing deeply. Morimoto returned the bow.

“It was nothing,” he replied. “Your trust has honored me. I should honor your birthday.”

“It means a lot to us, Morimoto-sensei. Acceptance, both into your family, and as normal people,” April said, gratefully.

Morimoto accepted the words with a smile and a small bow of his head. In the western world, silence is often perceived as uncomfortable. But, in Japan, silence is often comfortable, a way for people to be together. People unable to appreciate the ‘wisdom of silence’ would find it hard to understand, but April and Ariana, used to being together in silence, found it not at all hard to comprehend.

*****

Yahiko, April, and Ariana were seated in the tatami room. Morimoto had brought in a large number of crystals, and had put them out in front of his three students.

“This is citrine,” Morimoto said, handing a crystal of gentle-orange color to Yahiko. “It is used to break up energy blockages in the body, it strengthens the will, vision, and self-balance, and it helps in letting go of addictions.”

Yahiko looked at the small piece of crystal for a few seconds, and handed it over to Ariana after twisting it around to see it from every angle. Ariana accepted the crystal, and closed her eyes. It floated above her hand, allowing her psychokinetic ‘sensor’ to scan the crystal. It started spinning as Ariana’s abilities penetrated its surface, allowing the girl to know the crystalline structure of the beautiful stone.

The crystal settled, and Ariana opened her eyes. Smiling, she handed it to April, and the process more or less repeated itself. After she finished, April gently returned the crystal to Morimoto, who put it back on the table, and retrieved a piece of transparent crystal.

“This is clear quartz. The purer it is, the stronger it is. It is a powerful transmitter, it amplifies and directs thought forms, it balances healing energy, it promotes clarity, and it attunes one to one’s higher self,” Morimoto said, handing the crystal to Yahiko. Like most of the crystals Morimoto showed them, the crystal was shaped like a tiny obelisk, with a square footing and a tip at one end.

Yahiko apparently liked the crystal, as he held on to it for just a tiny amount longer than the previous crystals. Finally, he handed it to Ariana. She closed her eyes once more, and prepared to repeat the scan. The crystal didn’t lift. Instead, a small amount of energy shot out its tip, straight ahead, and blew a hole in the wall before disappearing.

“What the…?” Ariana screamed.

“It appears the crystal reacted to your thoughts,” Morimoto replied, looking at the tiny circular hole the small bolt had burnt in his house.

“I’m so sorry, Morimoto-sensei,” Ariana said, her voice shaking. “I really didn’t know…”

Morimoto held up his hand. “None of us did,” he replied.

April shook her head. “It amplifies and directs thought forms. If psychokinesis isn’t thought, I don’t know what is… we should have known,” she whispered.

“That… thing… blew a hole in the wall,” Yahiko stammered.

Ariana nodded, clearly upset by the events. “The crystal accepted my psychokinetic touch, but instead of lifting, it amplified it, and directed it out through its tip.”

“So, the crystal can’t be touched through psychokinesis?” April asked, gently rubbing the crystal with her finger.

“I’m not keen on trying,” Ariana replied. “I don’t want to blow another hole in Morimoto-sensei’s house.”

“Then let’s try it outside. This is something that needs to be examined,” April said. “A crystal than can manipulate the energies we give out… what a discovery!”

“That is a good idea,” Morimoto said. “But let us first finish the lesson on crystals. After all, there might be other crystals that react to your abilities. That way, you can experiment with all of them at once.”

“Of course, Sensei,” April answered, putting the clear-as-glass crystal down on the table.

“Now, this is obsidian, and it protects sensitive people, wards off negativity, reduces tensions, is good for letting go of old love, it is good for travel, and it strengthens prophesies,” Morimoto explained.

An hour and a half later, four people were standing outside. Ariana was holding the clear quartz crystal, the tip pointing toward the forest. She closed her eyes, and appeared in the mind-space temple.

April, having put her hand on Ariana’s shoulder in the real world, appeared right next to the High Sorceress in mind-space. A sensor screen opened, showing Ariana’s eyes. The screen showed Ariana’s right hand, holding the crystal.

Psycho-control opened. “Gently,” Ariana told herself, and a small hand appeared in the screen. “Gently…” the crystal on the sensor screen turned red, and it moved slightly. Then, as the energy necessary for lift was put on it, the crystal seemed to flash a really bright red, and a bolt of mental energy left its tip. It burned a neat, and perfectly circular, hole in the first tree it encountered.

“Not good,” Ariana replied in mind-space. “Really not good.”

“We need to learn to control it,” April whispered. She pulled up a screen showing optical physics laws. “Maybe we’re in luck, and the crystal amplifies mental energy like a lens focuses light.”

In the real world, Ariana mindlessly handed the crystal to April. In mind-space, April connected her own psycho-control to the crystal. She too, told it to go gently. Her mind calculated possible refraction rates, and she told psycho-control to lock on to a couple specific points on the crystal, instead of the whole crystal.

She lifted. The crystal moved, and then started to float. Psycho-control changed from a couple of fingers to a hand, and started its scan. Her mind seemed to know instinctively how to touch the crystal, now that April had shown the way on how to handle it. The crystal started to spin slowly, and April’s mind built a mental image of the clear rock.

April let out her breath. “Damn, that’s hard,” she whispered. “That crystal is almost unmanageable.” Gently lowering the piece of quartz in Ariana’s hand, April continued, “Here. You try.”

Ariana, having seen the contact points, and the physical laws behind those points, had almost no trouble lifting the crystal into the air. The problem was scanning it. After a few moments of deliberation, she thought she had found it. The tip of the crystal was pointing upwards, now, and a bolt of mental energy left it.

“Enter near one of the larger side-facets,” April whispered. “That way, it gets refracted, rather than focused. It’s the refraction we need.”

Ariana complied, and entered her psycho-sensors through one of the larger facets that made up the sides of the crystal. It started spinning slowly; and Ariana too, began to build a mental image of the quartz-crystal.

A week passed, and the two girls were standing in the middle of a natural clearing, not far from Morimoto’s house.

“Ready?” April asked, standing behind Ariana.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Ariana replied, standing still.

April took out the quartz crystal. Only, now it had been tied to a band of cloth, a band April was now tying around Ariana’s head. “Remember,” April began, “Focus through the crystal, not on it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ariana interrupted her friend’s explanation. “And we can only use two psychokinetic beams when the crystal’s in use. One crystal-enhanced and one normal.”

April nodded, and stepped back. Ariana turned around, the crystal tied securely to her forehead. April sighed. “Okay, you got it. Now, let’s see how well it performs,” she said.

Ariana nodded, and April stepped back, leaving the clearing to Ariana. Remaining in the middle, Ariana kept her eyes closed, and focused on mind-space. The 360-degree sensor screen popped up, and Ariana pulled up psycho-control. The screen morphed, indicating it had connected to the crystal, and was using its enhancing abilities.

She pulled up her psychokinetic armor. The next moment, her eyes flew open. Ariana jumped up, towards the tree line. In mid-air, she flipped around, so that her feet were facing the tree. She bounced off, and started doing somersaults in mid-air. She landed, rolled forward, and jumped up straight into the air for at least a dozen meters. High, but not high enough to come out above the trees. Only April could see her.

Ariana landed in a crouch, jumped up, and started doing her katas at speeds incredible. Her face showed a near-perfect concentration, her body moving fluidly and with obvious power… but without a hint of strain. Finally, she stopped.

April walked up to her friend. “Incredible,” Ariana whispered. “So strong!”

“Cool, huh?” April asked. “Good thing we found out how to manipulate the crystal, and how to use it.”

Ariana nodded. “Who would have thought that it was the proximity that caused the reaction in the first place? The nearer it is to us, the stronger it reacts to our power.”

April chuckled. “A lesson understood is a lesson learned. All we need to do is keep it more than 30 centimeters away, and it doesn’t react unless we connect to it specifically.” Shrugging, she added, “It’s Coulomb’s law. The energy required is directly proportionate to the distance that energy has to cross.”

Ariana nodded, and untied the headband. “Your turn?” she asked, handing the headband to April.

April accepted the item, but shook her head. “I’m not keen on it… I keep feeling as if my control is slipping. I don’t want to become one of those people who can’t control their own power.”

Ariana nodded solemnly as April put the item away. “April, sister, you’ll need to let your body act sometime… martial arts are all about letting your instincts and reactions guide you. If you insist on keeping everything on the conscious level, you’ll be too slow.”

April shrugged, and smiled at Ariana. “I’ll have you nearby to do the fighting, Ari. I practice the arts to get to know myself, and what Zodiac did to me.”

Ariana shook her head in amusement, and dropped her arm around April’s shoulders. “Yeah, you’ll always have me, April. I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”

April hugged her friend. “Thanks, Ari. That means a lot.”

Ariana shrugged. “You’re my best friend, my sister, and everything else I need. I’ll defend you with my life.”

April didn’t answer, but put her head on her friend’s shoulder. Ariana smiled, and the two girls kept walking. They didn’t need to talk. Their understanding was instinctive.

*****

Night had fallen over four hours ago, and only now did April signal her friend to halt. The spot she had selected sported a beautiful waterfall, its splendor diminished only slightly because of the gray-vision. After clearing the ground of leaves and branches, Ariana started a fire while April rolled out the sleeping mats. Both girls had been in Japan for almost two years now, and it showed. Both had put on some muscle, and both moved with the quiet grace of a martial artist.

The two girls sat down at the fire.

“It’s nice to be out here,” April said, looking up at the starry expanse, and drawing in a deep breath. The clean air entered her nostrils, her nose registering the scents of the forest.

Ariana nodded. “It was great of Morimoto-sensei to allow us to go hiking.”

April chuckled slightly, and lay down on her back, her hands under her head. “Yeah. Really nice.” Both girls were silent for a few more moments, before April picked up again. “Ari?”

“Hm?” Ariana asked, her back against a tree, gazing at the waterfall. Hr thoughts had dwelled on the fact that April really knew how to pick her sleeping spots.

“Have you ever thought about… you know… staying here?” April asked.

Ariana was silent for a few seconds. “To be honest, I haven’t really thought much about… afterward; what to do after we’ve finished our training with Morimoto-sensei.”

“Well, I was thinking about maybe staying here… Carol can get us permanent visas, so legally, it’s not a problem. I just don’t want to keep leeching off Morimoto-sensei.”

“I know what you mean,” Ariana answered thoughtfully. “Maybe we could find ourselves a job here? Japan is a high-tech country. With our knowledge and intellects, getting a job shouldn’t be too hard.”

Again, a silence descended, and both girls instinctively thought the same thing. “We can’t prove it,” they said at the same time. It was April who continued, “Zodiac will find us as soon as someone checks our Institute records.”

Ariana nodded, remaining silent.

“Worries for later, I guess,” April said, getting into her sleeping bag.

Ariana shrugged. “Maybe. But, for as much as it’s worth, I don’t think we’ve outstayed our welcome with Morimoto-sensei yet.”

April chuckled. “A good think Yahiko didn’t decide to wage war after that one incident. I mean, he really could have made things interesting for us.”

“I really felt for him… he really liked you, you know?” Ariana asked.

“Yeah, I know,” April replied, a little thoughtful. “I didn’t know how to deal with it… I was lucky something useful popped into my mind.”

“You didn’t handle it that badly, I think,” Ariana replied. “At least you didn’t lead him on.”

April shrugged. “He is my friend. I told him I cared for him, as a friend, but that we could never happen, that we’re too different. I acted as I thought I should act… tell him the truth instead of trying to be tactful, and maybe making things even worse.”

“He didn’t speak to any of us for days after that,” Ariana mused, looking at the fall again. “And then, he just went back to the way he was… no resentment. I don’t know. Maybe he was happy you didn’t lead him on, or maybe he realized that things really couldn’t work out between you. Whatever the case, he found someone else soon after.”

April nodded solemnly. After a few seconds of silence, she said, “Maybe it was just a crush, one of those passing things… Poor Yahiko. He would never allow me to slow down for him, and he’d kill himself trying to keep up. It’s a good thing he found a new interest… I don’t know how things would have turned out otherwise.”

Ariana nodded. “He’d die out of exhaustion, if nothing else… how much have we slept in the last three days? Ten hours out of seventy-two?”

“Something like that,” April replied. “Still… I felt really bad about hurting him, back then. I wish there could have been some other way, some way I hadn’t hurt his feelings.”

“You couldn’t have done anything… unless you had stayed with him, doing the girlfriend-thing, and sacrificed your happiness for his, just so you wouldn’t hurt him,” Ariana replied. “You have a heart that’s too kind, April.”

April sighed. “Maybe,” the girl whispered. “It’s a good thing we can laugh about it now, with Yahiko taking the lead on jokes about it. Too bad it was really hard at the time.”

Ariana shrugged, and nodded. “I know… It is a good thing we can laugh about it, isn’t it?”

April chuckled slightly. “Yeah… Anyway, I think I’m going to catch some sleep.”

Ariana got into her own sleeping bag. “Good idea. Sleep tight, Sis.”

“Sleep tight, Sis,” April replied, turning over, and closing her eyes. She was asleep within seconds, just like Ariana.

The next day, at around lunchtime, the two girls were climbing to the top of a small mountain. It wasn’t a high one, more like a glorified hill, but it still took the girls half an hour to get to the top. Of course, they could have just flown up there, but that would have been cheating.

“Here we are,” April said, releasing her backpack, and sitting down.

“Yep,” Ariana answered, sitting down next to her friend. Both girls looked around.

“Nice view,” Ariana commented.

“Yep,” April replied. Again, silence descended as both girls looked around the top. It was small, oval in shape, and not very large. Large enough for maybe a dozen people to lie comfortably in the mellow grass, but not exactly large.

“Bored?” April asked finally.

“Yep,” Ariana chuckled. “I’d expected much more.”

“Now we know why there aren’t any people up here,” April replied, getting up. “Come on, let’s go down. Maybe we’ll catch something along the way. I’m getting a little hungry.”

Ariana nodded. “Let’s hope we catch two somethings. I’m rather hungry myself,” she answered with a chuckle. April laughed out loud, soon joined in by Ariana. The two girls descended along the opposite side they had climbed.

Halfway down, April stopped. Ariana came to a half next to her friend. “What’s wrong?” Ariana asked, looking confused at April. Her friend was just standing there, staring intently at the hill.

“I think… I feel something familiar,” April whispered. “Look, Ari.”

Ariana let her psychokinetic powers enter the rocky side of the hill. “I feel it too,” the girl replied. “Is that what I think it is?”

“Quartz,” April answered, closing her eyes. Psycho-control entered her view. Demolition, ready, the screen read. April slammed the psychokinetic equivalent of a hammer and chisel into the rock. It groaned, and a huge piece of it fell forward, causing both girls to instantly jump back. Unfortunately, the narrow path they were on didn’t allow for them to jump back. So, they jumped, started falling, and instinctively started to float as their psychokinetic powers caught them.

They flew back to the location April had hit. The piece of rock that had detached, had hit the ground below with much cracking and snapping sounds. But… inside the hole… both girls found a piece of glass-quality quartz. It was big, about thirty centimeters in length, and about fifteen centimeters wide. They could look right through it; that was the clarity of the crystal.

“That is one big piece of quartz,” Ariana replied. “Damn, April, you’re sensitive. You could pick up that quartz through the rock… still; it’s a big chunk, but still. I didn’t feel it until you told me to.”

“Maybe I’m just more alert,” April replied. “Being the one who doesn’t want to hurt anybody, I’m always on the lookout for anything or anybody, so I can avoid before a confrontation happens. Anyway, we need to get that rock loose.”

“Maybe you’d better…” Ariana replied. “You’re better at the minute stuff.”

April shrugged her consent, and focused. Gently, the rock around the pillar-shaped crystal began to crumble, before the entire thing just gave way, and fell out. April’s hand shot out, and grabbed. “Here we go,” she stated.

“Cool,” Ariana said, receiving the crystal from April. “That thing’s heavy… can you imagine what this would do to our powers?”

April chuckled. “Not much, probably. It needs to be polished, and cut before it’ll amplify.”

Ariana shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. So, what will we make from it? A headband? A necklace? A bracelet? This thing’s big enough… let’s do all three,” she said, laughing excitedly.

April laughed as well. “Who knows what’ll happen,” she answered her friend euphoria. “Let’s just put it away, and decide what to do with it after we get back. Right now, I’m feeling the need to catch two somethings, just for myself.”

Ariana laughed at her friend’s words, and handed over the crystal, which April put away in her backpack. “Come on, let’s go,” Ariana urged. “I need two somethings myself.”

Laughing together, the two girls continued their journey down.

*****

‘Oversight’ was sitting behind his desk. His general appearance was one of lingering illness: pale skin, bloodshed eyes, three days worth of stubble on his chin and cheeks, and his hair was badly in need of a cut. He finished his cup of ultra-strong coffee, and poured himself another cup, the fourth one this morning.

“Where are those bitches?” he muttered quietly, opening the umpteenth report. All said the same thing. April and Ariana were gone. Couldn’t be found. No trace.

He pulled up his phone, and pressed the line for his secretary.

“Yes, sir?” she asked, professionally polite. No one was polite to him because they wanted to anymore. He had lost all respect he had once held, simply because of his failure to locate, let alone detain, the two escaped girls. ‘Oversight’ was tired of the underlying tone of disrespect. He’d find the girls, and he’d get them back.

“Get me Eric Woodman,” he grunted.

“Sir, Eric Woodman has retired, and announced he wanted nothing more to do with the black ops community.”

Did that voice mock him? ‘Oversight’ closed his eyes. I am becoming paranoid. I am hearing things that aren’t there. “Convince him. Send a small team, and obtain his wife. I am sure that’ll change his mind.”

“Yes, sir,” the secretary replied, and ‘Oversight’ hung up.

He sighed deeply. “What has gone so wrong? Why can’t we find them?” he asked the empty air of his small office. Zodiac was still located at the small facility, funds still hadn’t been reestablished, and all kinds of legal problems had worked their way to his front door. ‘Oversight’ had been fighting the bureaucracy for his right to do his job, and he had been fighting his own men to maintain some measure of respect.

He wasn’t sure he had succeeded in either way.

‘Oversight’ stared at the bottom of his empty cup. He poured himself a fifth one. Looks like no sleep for me tonight, either. Oh, well, nothing new there. I haven’t slept right in weeks.

About four hours later, ‘Oversight’ was staring empty-eyed at his computer screen, where a screensaver indicated the device hadn’t been used in twenty minutes. His secretary buzzed the telephone.

“Yes?” ‘Oversight’ asked, his voice not indicting the state of unrest he had been in earlier.

“Mr. Woodman to see you, sir,” the woman on the other side replied.

“By all means, let him in!” ‘Oversight’ replied, sitting up straight, and attempting to straighten up his disheveled hair. Nothing he did in those few meager seconds could hide the state of ruin his health was in.

Eric Woodman, a man 5’ 10” tall, and with short-cropped blond hair, was escorted in by two deadly-looking soldiers. “You!” the man shouted, hitting the desk with his shackled hands.

“Ah, Mr. Woodman. Good to see you again,” ‘Oversight’ said. “Coffee?” he offered.

“You can give me my wife,” Eric grunted, falling backward in the chair. The two soldiers kept standing on either side of him.

“If you give me two girls,” ‘Oversight’ replied, getting up, and fetching himself a fresh cup of coffee. “Are you sure you don’t want some?”

Eric sighed. “I though it would be something like this. Listen, I don’t DO that kind of work anymore. And yes, I’m sure I don’t want coffee.”

“Oh, but you will, Mr. Woodman,” ‘Oversight said, sitting down with as much grace his exhausted body could muster. He sat up straight, and his face turned deadly serious. Even though his body looked next to dead, his voice was still very much capable of peeling paint. “You see, if you don’t comply, I will personally make sure that dear Sandy will meet a very unfortunate fate. And trust me, Eric. I can make a fate very unfortunate. The last one took weeks to die.”

Eric sunk back in his chair. “Who do you want me to find?” he asked, dejectedly.

‘Oversight’ smiled. “That’s the spirit! Now, I am giving you three months to find these two girls… anything you want, you’ll get. All except for your wife, of course. Now, the longer you take to find our targets, the longer your lovely wife will be our… guest.” ‘Oversight’ snickered at the word ‘guest’. He pressed the button for the intercom. “Micky, give Mr. Woodman access to the Phalanx and Sagittarius files. He’ll need them.”

Eric sighed, and got up. He knew when he was dismissed. The soldiers took the shackles off his hands, and escorted him out the door.

“Good luck,” ‘Oversight’ whispered. “You’ll damn well need it.”

*****

April was sitting on the edge of the cliff with her eyes closed. She was playing a Japanese flute, and a slow rhythm disappeared into the night sky. She had always enjoyed arts, ever since she took the bagpipes-course back at the Institute. So, Morimoto had consented to teach April the flute, as well as the art of calligraphy. Both soothed April’s over-active mind, which had the continuous tendency to worry too much. Arts kept her mind pinned down, giving the girl something to focus on besides the world in general.

By now, April and Ariana had been with Morimoto for almost three years. Only two months away, and they would celebrate their third year together. April continued playing, the thought of being in peace for almost three years bringing a smile to her face. Ariana sat down silently, letting April play.

April, however, broke off her playing. “Morning, Ari,” April greeted her friend.

Ariana shot her friend a smile in return. “Morning, April. So, today’s the test, huh?”

April nodded. “Yep. I wonder what Morimoto-sensei has in mind for us. His tests are always fun.”

Ariana chuckled. “Yeah, they are. I’m wondering, too. He left around noon yesterday, to prepare things for us. He returned very late.”

In comfortable silence, the two girls sat side-by-side over the edge, each in thought, staring out over the nature below. Finally, they heard the sliding backdoor of Morimoto’s house, and the two girls got to their feet.

“Good morning, Morimoto-sensei,” the two greeted him, bowing.

“Good morning, my students,” Morimoto replied, returning the bow. He motioned for the forest. “Let us depart.”

April and Ariana dipped their heads, and followed their teacher. After a hike of a couple of hours, Morimoto stopped near a gorge.

“All you are allowed are your do-gis,” their master spoke. “You must travel down this path, to the bottom of the gorge, and retrieve the additional equipment. I will not tell you where, only that the first step is down in the gorge. You must use what I have taught you about observation to find your first instructions, and the equipment allowed. The instructions will tell you the second stage, where you will find more equipment, and more instructions. The test ends when you make it into my house, fully equipped, without making a sound, or alerting me to your presence. Know that I will do my best to hinder you along the way.”

April and Ariana looked down the path, leading into the gorge. The first step seemed easy, but April and Ariana knew better. Nothing was as it seemed, and both girls felt themselves preparing for whatever lay ahead. “We will not fail, Morimoto-sensei,” April assured the man, bowing. Ariana bowed as well, the expression on her face mimicking April’s.

Morimoto returned the bow, and walked back into the forest. April and Ariana looked at each other, nodded curtly, and started walking down the rocky path, barely wide enough to comfortably accommodate one person. They had to press themselves against the rock-face and shuffle along on more than one occasion.

After they had traveled for about twenty minutes, April stopped them. “These rocks aren’t natural,” she told her friend, looking intently at some stones in the rock. Using their powers never entered in their minds. Their sensei had said only gis, so they would use only gis. Using their bare hands, April and Ariana wrested some of the stones out of the hole they had been jammed in. Indeed, a hole became visible behind the stones.

April reached in, and retrieved two sets of Shuko, and a hand-written note.

Congratulations on your first stage, the note read. Travel down into the gorge, until you find a sign telling you to climb the rock wall.

April looked at Ariana, who shrugged. After folding the note neatly, April put it away. Ariana, meanwhile, had put on one set of Shuko climbing hooks. They looked like gloves, with the biggest difference being the fact that claws had been attached to the palms. The Shuko were suited for climbing, but also for combat purposes, and a trained ninja-warrior was very much able to catch, and sometimes even break, the blade of a sword.

After April had put on the second set, the twosome continued their way down. They reached the bottom of the gorge about an hour later.

April and Ariana looked from left to right. “Which way?” April asked, confused. “Do we go left, or right?”

“Morimoto-sensei must have left some indication,” Ariana replied, looking around.

“Probably,” April answered, joining her friend. The two girls soon found an indication, namely a broken twig. They continued their journey. Since they couldn’t walk as fast as they were accustomed to, April and Ariana walked at what would be considered a good pace for any normal person.

Suddenly, after about twenty minutes of travel, both girls froze, their instincts having warned them of something. The next moment, it was too late. Ariana felt something sting her neck. The next moment, she was down on the floor, her nerves feeling ablaze with pain.

April fell down, next to her friend. Her eyes shot from left to right, and she sniffed the air anxiously. Her hearing was stretched to its limits. She detected the smell of Morimoto, but it was receding, indicating he was on his way to whatever else he was planning.

Morimoto didn’t really feel anything at this point. After repelling down from the rock, he had ambushed his two students. As he had thought, their relative familiarity with being alone in the wilderness, and their belief in their genetically engineered bodies, had made them blissfully arrogant. Their guards were almost completely down. Morimoto was sure they had learned their lesson. The poison would burn in into their consciousness.

April knelt next to her moaning friend, very much concerned.

“Ari?” she asked, trying to do the best to keep the fearful tremble out of her voice.

“Burns,” Ariana whispered. “Burns so bad. Feel… like my nerves… are on fire.”

April took a deep breath to steady herself. Poison, she told herself. Let’s see… Ari’s sweating, pale, and her nerves feel like they’re burning. She’s not throwing up, and she hasn’t lost muscle control. By now, April had dragged her friend to the protection of the rock wall, under the cover of some shrubs.

“April?” Ariana whispered.

“Shh,” April comforted her friend. “It’s only a mild poison. I’ll go and prepare an antidote. Stay still, it’ll limit the spreading of the poison.”

“My fault…” Ariana whispered. “Ninja should… be one with environment… I… distraction…”

April shook her head forcefully, sending mid-back length brown hair flying. Right now, it was tied in a braid, which hung loose on the girl’s back. “We’ll be more attentive. It’s not your fault. I was distracted just as much as you were. We’ll focus. Morimoto-sensei has taught us a valuable lesson. We can’t rely on your gengineered bodies, or we’ll fail.”

Ariana brought out a few sounds, and closed her eyes. Worried, April’s hand shot out to Ariana’s head, feeling the temperature. She let out her breath. For a moment, I feared I had misjudged the poison, April thought. She got up. “I’ll be right back, Ari.”

April shot out of the hideout. Now that she wasn’t looking for signs as to where to climb the rock, she would use her body’s natural speed to its fullest. April guided herself by her nose and ears, her eyes perpetually shooting from left to right. She could faintly detect Morimoto, but he was almost out of range of her nose by now. She couldn’t hear him anymore, and her nose detected no other humans, except for Ariana, in the vicinity. She collected herbs at a fast pace, and returned to the hideout within twenty minutes.

She rolled the herbs together into a tight ball. She knew that the best way for this to work was to squash the herbs, and let Ariana drink the juices. But, she didn’t have a cup to crush them in. so, she held the little ball out for Ariana to swallow.

“Ari, come on, wake up, Ari. Time for your medicine,” April insisted. Ariana slowly opened her eyes. She opened her mouth, and April put the tiny ball inside. Ariana swallowed.

Within minutes, color started to return to her face. Within ten minutes, she was sitting upright, and in another five, she was standing on her feet, ready to go.

“I hope Morimoto-sensei doesn’t try that trick on Yahiko,” Ariana told April.

“If he’s as stupid as we were, he deserves it,” April replied coolly. Her eyes, ears, and nose were wide open. There was no doubt in her mind she wouldn’t allow Morimoto to overcome them a second time.

Ten minutes after the two had resumed their walk, they reached a funny-looking tree, nothing more than a stem with three thick branches. One of those branches was pointing slantwise up the rock wall.

The two girls knelt down at the base of the tree. April retrieved a small pouch from the dirt at the base of the tree. Congratulations on your second stage. Move up the rock, and move to your right. You will find your next set of instruction there. Also buried in the dirt were ten shuriken, the infamous ninja throwing stars. Both girls took five, and shoved them in their respective belts. Not exactly safe, since the little devices were razor-sharp, but they would have to make do.

April and Ariana managed to climb the near-vertical rock wall without too much trouble. April was the first one up, and she immediately rolled to one side, her eyes, ears, and nose sweeping the area for ambushes. She found none, so she motioned for Ariana to come up. The two girls started walking to the right, just as their instructions had indicated.

After a couple of hours, the two girls uncovered their next note. With this one came two ‘combat uniforms’, the tight-fitting black robes that came with hood, mask, and plenty of space to hide weapons. Grateful that they no longer had to carry the throwing stars in their belts, the two girls changed outfits.

Over the course of the day, the girls uncovered their lunch, a set of nunchucks each, one blowgun with two darts, and a sword each. By the time they made it back to the house, it was dark. April and Ariana huddled together under the cover of the trees, their sharp vision looking across the back yard, toward the house.

April put her hand on Ariana’s shoulder. We haven’t heard or seen Morimoto-sensei since that attack on you. I don’t like it, she sent, voicing the same thoughts Ariana was having.

Agreed, Ariana replied coolly. Who knows what he might have in store for us?

April anxiously sniffed the air. Except for the normal smells found in the nature, the faint smell of Morimoto’s house, and the degraded smells of Morimoto and Yahiko, she found nothing. He could be hiding down-wind, she muttered to Ariana, who just nodded.

This is as good a time as any to get going, Ariana muttered. I suggest we split up. One stays behind, covers the other with the blowgun.

I’ll stay, April whispered. The one last is the most at risk.

Okay. Ready? Ariana asked, her eyes darting over the empty yard. April confirmed her readiness, the Ariana shot out of the tree line, out into the light of full moon, high up in the sky.

April had readied the small tube with a tranquilizer dart, and was aiming left and right, covering her sprinting partner. Ariana huddled against one wall of the house. After peering around the corner, she raised her thumb to April, and motioned for her to come. April lowered the gun, secured it in her uniform, and shot across the lawn. She huddled behind her friend within seconds.

Nothing, Ariana thought to her friend, after April reestablished contact.

April closed her eyes, and let her own senses double-check. She too, came up empty. I know, she answered. Together, the two girls slid around the corner, toward the back door. We need to get in without being detected. And, if I know Morimoto-sensei, he has some kind of trap on the doors and windows. He’ll know we’re inside.

Ariana sighed, and nodded. Here goes nothing. She eased her sword in between the door and the wall, and went around the perimeter of it. If there had been strings attached to the door; they were gone now. April, meanwhile, could detect two faint respiration sounds; Yahiko and Morimoto. They were both far away, but that meant nothing. Morimoto could be breathing shallowly to keep the sound down.

Ariana looked through the crack, but saw nothing. I think it’s clear.

April’s hand grew into a clamp, keeping Ariana from opening the door. Listen, Ari. I think I have an idea…

*****

Morimoto was waiting as quiet as a cat, his eyes locked to the back door. He had seen a sword go around the edges, effectively removing the traps he had connected to it. You’re good, girls. If I hadn’t had the luxury of knowing you were coming, I would never have stood a chance.

He raised the blowgun, and aimed for the door. It started sliding open, and Morimoto readied himself. He went to one knee, and steadied himself, the small tube aimed for the door. This dart contained more of the same poison he had used earlier, only in a more concentrated form. This would induce a deep sleep, not just agony. The sleep would last for about a day and a half, but would leave no lasting effects.

The door continued to slide open. He saw a black shadow slide inside. Not feeling anything, he blew. The dart raced towards the shadow. Suddenly, the shadow rolled to one side, making the dart avoid the figure altogether. The shadow had raised the nunchucks, and was racing towards him, swinging them dangerously.

Morimoto jumped up, and drew his sword, preparing to teach his student a lesson. The next moment, he felt a curious sensation. The tip of a sword pressed against the back of his neck.

“Good evening, Sensei. Please lower your blade,” he heard April say. “We beat you, fair and square.”

He lowered his sword, and felt the sword at his neck ease away. Ariana had thrown back the hood and mask, and was smiling slightly. April came around, her hood and mask thrown back as well.

“We thought you’d be waiting for us,” Ariana said, smiling. “So, April thought we should make use of our numerical superiority, and split up.”

“Ari continued on the back door, while I opened the window in our bedroom, and came in that way. I snuck up behind you, and while you were busy with Ari, I surprised you,” April finished, her smile mimicking her friend’s.

“Well done, girls; really well done. You have earned the right to wear those uniforms you are wearing,” Morimoto said. “Congratulations.”

“Morimoto-sensei… what… do you mean?” Ariana asked.

“Those uniforms are now your property, my students,” Morimoto answered, smiling slightly to indicate his satisfaction.

Both girls bowed to him. “Thank you, Morimoto-sensei. We will not disappoint you.”

Morimoto smiled a little wider. “I am sure you will not,” Morimoto replied.

*****

“Here,” Eric Woodman said, throwing a file on ‘Oversight’s’ desk. “I flew to Japan, and tracked down those two girls for you. It made me sick to my stomach to read what you did, but that’s not my concern any more. I want my wife.”

‘Oversight’ leafed through the file, and found pictures, among other things.

“Impressive. It only took you two months,” ‘Oversight’ replied. He looked up, and closed the file. “Very well, Mr. Woodman, I will get you your wife.”

Eric grunted. “Thanks.”

‘Oversight’ got up, and showed Eric to the same cellblock that had originally housed April and Ariana. He unlocked the cage, and the wife flew across the open space, into Eric’s arms.

“Just tell me one thing,” Eric grunted as he, his wife and ‘Oversight’ were being escorted outside.

‘Oversight’ shrugged. “Depends on the question.” Damn, how I want to kill that asshole. He really knows too much… but he’s the best in the field. If I had him killed, I would join him and his wife soon after. There are guys who want him alive that are a lot stronger and have a lot more pull than I have.

“They got into a motel without a credit card. They booked a place on a cargo plane. They got into Japan with a car and not more than a couple of JC Penney bags. How? Anyone else would have had a lot of problems doing that, and they didn’t get as much as a clearance check.”

‘Oversight’ chuckled. “They have a basic mind-manipulation ability. It makes people want to trust and help them… but stress blocks the use of that ability. So, during combat, our guys are safe from its influence.”

Eric grunted. “Poor things. Why don’t you just let them be?” Eric asked, rather angry.

“They’re evidence. Evidence needs to be eliminated,” ‘Oversight’ replied, ice-cold. “Here we are. Good luck, Eric.”

“Huh,” Eric huffed, as he and his wife stepped into a car, and drove off. The gate hadn’t fully closed yet, before ‘Oversight’ turned to one of the soldiers that and escorted them.

“Get me a full level-one strike team, on the double. We’re going to Japan, and we’re going to get those bitches.”

*****

Eric turned the car onto the main road before glancing across at his wife. He could see the tension radiating off her as she bit her lower lip. Her body seemed to have shrunken down, her arms wrapped across her chest as she stared down at her feet. He reached his arm over and gently tugged her body into his as he continued driving with his other hand. She sank into his side and began sobbing, turning her face into his chest.

"Shhh. It's alright," he soothed her gently, stroking her back with his hand. "We're going to be ok."

"It's never going to be ok, is it?" she cried. "You quit and they're still making you do things."

"Sandy, you don't have to worry, ok? I'll take care of you. Even when those bastards took you, I knew that I'd have done anything to get you back safely," Eric assured her.

"It's never going to end. Whenever they need you, they'll just take me and force you," She sobbed piteously.

"No, I don't think so. I'm going to get these bastards. I know what they want, and I'm going to prevent them from getting it," he stated coldly. "They're going to pay for what they did."

"No, don't do it. They'll kill you," Sandy begged him. "You don't know what those people said to me. They were going to kill me in there. They told me that if you tried anything funny, they'd kill you too."

"Shhh. Don't worry about it. I'm going to correct what they made me do. After I fix it, I'll come back to you and we'll disappear for awhile," he promised her quietly.

"Will you be safe?" she asked, lifting her head to look into his eyes.

"Yes. After I get to the airport, I want you to take the car to your mother's place. I'll meet you there in three days," he told her. "Everything will go smoothly. They need time to prepare for anything, and I don't. I'll be able to slip in and out before they even know what's going on."

"Slip in where? My God, you're not planning to go back to that place are you?" she asked incredulously.

"No, I have to warn some people in Japan; two little girls who haven't done anything wrong. If I don't do anything, they'll die. Because I was the one that found them, I can't live with that on my conscious. I have to do this, I don't have any choice," he stated calmly. “I know how I’d feel if someone went after Caitlin.” The mentioning of their daughter’s name seemed to convince Sandra Woodman, and she nodded quietly.

"I love you, Eric. Come home to me as quickly as you can," she told him quietly, laying her head back down onto his chest.

"I love you, too. I'll be back as fast as I can."

*****

The Woodmans separated at the airport with a quick goodbye on both their parts. Sandra drove the car off and Eric stared at it until it disappeared in the distance. Sighing, he turned and entered the building. Keeping a careful watch to make sure he wasn't followed, he made his way to the courtesy desk. He kept his eyes sweeping back and forth, eyeing each person that came into his range, and mentally filing their faces away in his memory for comparisons later. If one of those faces turned up again, he felt confident that he would recognize them. His life usually depended on his ability to recognize patterns and reoccurring people.

Finally reaching the courtesy desk, he placed his hands on the counter and waited. The young brunette was currently talking to someone on the phone, and held up a finger to him as she finished.

"Yes, sir. May I help you?" the young woman asked politely.

"I need to have a man named William Pierce paged."

"Sure, not a problem," she smiled at him. She picked up the phone again and dialed the public address system. Eric calmly filed that little tidbit away as useful information and listened as she paged the requested name. Smiling his thanks to her, he turned to scan the crowd. He stood there for several minutes before spotting the man he was looking for. He sighed as the tension he was feeling relaxed a bit.

Intercepting the man before he could make it to the desk, Eric held his hand out in greeting. "Mr. Pierce, I was told to look you up if I ever had need of your services."

William shook Eric's hand, but didn't say a word. He just looked at Eric and waited. Eric remembered that the man was incapable of speech, ever since his tongue was somewhat forcefully removed after a drug run had gone bad.

"I need to get to Japan as quickly as possible. I have a meeting to get to, and time is of the essence. In fact, you could even say it was a matter of life and death," Eric stated calmly. "Two people need to be warned in person. That's all I can tell you at this time."

William looked like he was deep in thought for a couple of seconds before nodding his agreement. Signaling to Eric to follow him, he turned and walked back into the crowd. Beginning his scan of the crowd again, Eric followed silently.

William led the way to his plane, an old prototype that had been salvaged from a government scrap auction. It was in a two-seater arrangement, one behind the other, and looked fast. Eric whistled his appreciation while William began his preflight inspection. Two jet engines thrust themselves out from under a twin tail-wing design. The sweptback wings were graceful, giving the aircraft an appearance of speed and beauty. The fuselage was almost boxy but had a strong look to it. Three external fuel tanks hung from below the plane, two from the wings, and one from the fuselage. Combined with the sharp nose cone, the entire plane spoke of a military background. Except for the Candy Apple Red paint job, Eric mused to himself with a grin. He didn't recall any military units using that color before.

William finished what he was doing and motioned Eric to climb the ladder into the rear seat. Handing a thick envelope over, Eric complied and settled into the bucket seat, glancing at the arrangement of different screens around him. William reached in and set the restraint harness into place before climbing into his own seat. Not being able to see what William was doing in front, he turned his attention to what was going on outside the aircraft. The ladder was removed by the ground crew, and the chocks pulled away from the tires. The entire aircraft vibrated with power as the engines were fired up one after the other.

Feeling a little apprehension, Eric sat as calmly as possible as the plane taxied to the runway. Well, can't turn back now, he told himself. Then his heart leapt into his throat as the engines were pushed to afterburners and the craft pushed his body back into the seat with enough force to crush the breath from his lungs. Then the plane pointed upwards and shot into the sky at a sixty-degree angle from the ground and Eric said the single most mundane thing he'd said in years as he watched the earth pull away from him. Very loudly. "Ohhhh, Shiiiiiiit!"

*****

The flight was over fairly quickly. After landing, Eric went through customs with the speed of a veteran traveler. Securing a rental car, he arrived at Morimoto's house at noon. Checking over the terrain, he felt horrible over what he was about to destroy. Peace and tranquility were precious things, he thought, and once again I'm going to destroy them. Sighing over his fate, he walked to the front door and knocked gently on the wooden frame. It was opened almost immediately by a teenaged oriental boy who said something in Japanese that was beyond Eric's comprehension.

"I need to see April and Ariana, please," he told the boy.

The boy didn't blink at him, but he said something else and indicated that Eric should wait. Shortly, an older oriental gentleman opened the door, bowed, and swept his arm forward to point the way inward. Eric returned the bow and walked in. The man led him through the house to the yard in back. Standing in front of him was one of the girls he had been told to find. The old man turned and walked back into the house leaving Eric alone with the girl.

"Are you April or Ariana?" Eric asked.

"How do you know my name?" the girl asked gently. "And how did you know where to find me?"

"I'm a tracker. I find people for a living. I was told to find you for Zodiac. I did-" He was interrupted when the girl’s hand suddenly snapped out.

“Ari, don’t!” the girl shouted to someone behind him. Eric whirled around, and found the second girl standing there. How she had managed to come so close, without him hearing her, was beyond him. He was impressed, to say the least.

"You work for those killers?" the second girl snarled at him.

“He hasn’t provoked anything,” the first girl said in that gentle tone of hers. She looked around, as if trying to find someone. To his surprise, she sniffed the air. “Besides, we’re clear.”

The second girl sniffed as well, and calmed down somewhat.

"Do you have any weapons on you?" the compassionate one asked him.

"Yes, I have a pistol and a knife. The pistol is in my holster in the small of my back and my knife is in my right boot," he told her.

"May we remove them?" the gentle one questioned.

"As long as I get them back after we’re done, sure," he replied.

"Ari, if you would please," the first girl said, her gentle voice relaxing Eric. The second girl was on him in under a second. He felt the knife and gun being removed, virtually at the same time. The girl snapped into place next to her partner.

"By the way, I'm April." the gentle girl said. "This is Ariana," she added, motioning for her now relaxed companion. He nodded his greeting to her. Both girls were standing, side-by-side, obviously waiting for him to speak. So, he spoke.

“My name is Eric Woodman. As I was trying to say before I was interrupted…” he said, shooting a grin at Ariana, who shrugged, and returned a little apologetic smile. “I am a professional man hunter. Approximately two months ago, my wife was taken prisoner by Zodiac. I was told to find you or they would kill her." He turned his head downwards. "I didn't want to do it, but I didn't have a choice. So… I found the people they were searching for… you. My wife is the most important person in the world to me. I would kill for her safety, without hesitation, without remorse." He nodded when the first girl seemed unsettled at that remark. "But all I was to do was find you. I turned your location over to them this morning. After seeing my wife to safety, I came straight here to warn you. They'll be here soon. What you do when they arrive is up to you. I promised that I would come home safely, and I intend to fulfill that promise. So you're on your own."

"Why are you warning us, Mr. Woodman?" April asked.

"Because… I don't know… I felt that… you were… innocent, I suppose. It's hard to put into words. You didn’t have any control of what they did to you, and yet they want to… get rid of you to protect themselves. I will give you this advice, information is what they fear. They work in secrecy and in the dark."

"Thank you, Mr. Woodman." April said to him, walking over. She hugged him, and he was surprised at the strength in her grip. "You took a large risk coming here. For this, you have our thanks, and our gratitude. Go in peace to your wife."

Eric handed her his business card and told her, "If you ever need help, give me a call. I won't put my family in danger directly, but I can offer temporary shelter, advice, and contacts."

April bowed as she accepted the card, Japanese style, both hands taking the card. "I wish you well, Mr. Woodman. We will call if we have need." She looked up, and smiled. “And I am sure you will find us when you are in need of our help.” Eric kept his mouth shut. He could feel that something powerful lurked beneath the surface of these two girls. He decided not to comment.

As April stepped back, Ariana hugged him as well. “Sorry about earlier,” she said, pulling back. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Yes, you did,” April shot to her friend, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, well… good luck… you're going to need it. I hope to see you again," Eric whispered, and then turned to leave. April and Ariana showed him to the door. Keeping in line with Japanese customs, they waited outside the door until the car was out of view before going back inside. Or, they would have gone inside, if they had felt the need for it.

April suddenly seemed agitated, and raced over to Carol. Ariana, surprised at her friend’s emotional state, followed. April dumped herself behind the steering wheel.

“Carol, did you get that conversation?” April asked.

“I did, sweetheart,” Carol replied. “What a bunch of assholes… kidnap someone’s wife to make him work for them?”

“My thoughts exactly!” April shouted. Both Ariana and Carol stared at her. April rarely shouted. She took a couple of breaths, and more relaxed, she told Carol, “Carol, do you remember that file I asked you to compose on Zodiac, back when we first started running?”

“I do, sweetheart. I’ve got five hundred Megs on them, including your genetic profiles, scientific research and backgrounds, files on every possible and impossible doctor, nurse, soldier, and officer involved, and I even managed to find some senators involved,” Carol answered, tone neutral, not really knowing where this was going.

April smiled. Evilly. Ariana blinked at the expression. “Okay… good. I want you to compose a package, upload it to every public newsgroup and chat-server you can find on the Internet. And then send it to every major newspaper and TV station in the world. Just make sure you remove all the names, and scramble the voices electronically first. We wouldn’t want the whole world to know who we are, just who they are.”

Ariana’s mouth, open during the request, snapped shut. “You’re going to expose them?”

“Let’s hope it works,” April replied. “If we can get public opinion behind us, Zodiac won’t have much of a choice. By they way, Carol, those files do include pictures, right?”

Carol smiled wickedly. “Hon, there are enough pictures in these files to create three-dimensional images of every spider that ever crossed the threshold at Zodiac HQ.”

April returned the smile. “Good. Now, let’s hope things work out… We’ve got plenty of evidence, but people might not believe it anyway.”

Ariana smiled. “I’m sure things will work out, April. Besides, even if it doesn’t work, I am sure that they won’t be able to be so public about it. Some people may draw the right conclusions.”

April just nodded.

In only forty-eight hours, the entire world knew about Zodiac. Papers printed big headlines, and the story was on every major news channel in the world. Everyone was talking about it, scientists were looking at the research, and various religious groupings were issuing a call to arms, some for the extermination of the gengineered soldiers, and others to find the soldiers, and exterminate the diabolical government responsible for it. In other words, the world was turned upside-down overnight.

Unfortunately, the mayhem didn’t last. Within a week, various different reports were released. Some scientists called the file a fraud, wile others praised it for its brilliant work.

And the U.S. government kept denying the existence of Zodiac.

*****

In a non-descript office, a man was shitting in the shadows, hiding his features until they were little more than a faint outline. He folded the paper he had been reading, put it down on his desk, and then swept it into the garbage bin standing next to his desk. “Stupid asses,” he grunted as he reached for the phone.

“This is Agent Zero-One. Have you heard?” he asked the receiver.

How could I not? the reply came.

“What I want to know is how they got funding to continue. Those asses were put out of business over seventeen years ago.”

According to this, the Voice replied after a few seconds of silence, ‘Oversight’ reestablished Zodiac three years ago, after the genomes first made their way onto the ‘Net.

The man nodded. “I remember. Those genomes were contained. Security breach was minimal. Where did ‘Oversight’ get his funding?”

Private donations, mostly from the companies involved in the first place. Funding has been limited, and their headquarters is a small building in the Nevada desert now.

The shadowy man nodded. “I want Oversight, Perkins, Zodiac, the companies, the soldiers, and anyone lese involved removed from this plain of existence. Yesterday. About those two gengineered bitches: let them go. They did nothing except try to protect themselves. They remained under wraps for three years, only to reappear once they had been found. They are not a threat. Zodiac, in its stupidity, is.”

The Voice chuckled. Of course. I’ll institute plan Gamma-Five on Zodiac and its backers. Expect them removed within twelve hours. Be advised: it will not be pretty.

“As long as it looks like an accident, I don’t care.”

The Voice chuckled again, the chuckle evolving into a laugh this time. That’s what we do best. The nice little Feds will write what we tell them to write in their precious little reports, and the public, blind and stupid sheep as they are, will eat it like pie.

“Good,” the shadowy man said. “I will call back in twelve hours.”

Very well. The Voice hung up, and the shadowy figure started snickering as his receiver started traveling down to the machine. “You are so dead,” he added, chuckling slightly, thinking of ‘Oversight’ and his group of cowboys.

*****

‘Oversight’ looked annoyed at the telephone. He had finally managed to get some sleep, and was now looking a lot better than last time, thanks to Eric, and his tracking skills. ‘Oversight’ picked up. “‘Oversight’.”

Gamma-Five. The receiver went dead. ‘Oversight’s’ mouth was open in shock as he stared at the horn.

“What the…?” ‘Oversight’ grunted, just before the building shook on its foundations.

Alert! Alert! A voice announced two seconds later. Invasion! All forces, defending positions!

‘Oversight’ shot up from his chair. In the hallways, M-16 fire could be heard, and ‘Oversight’ ran as fast as he could to the storage facilities. Along the way, he stopped at a door, and pressed a few keys. The door opened.

“Okay, men! Storage facility, with me! We’re going to leave through there, and we’re going to bring the X-five with us!” he shouted to the fifteen men inside the room. They didn’t seem to be particularly interested in the alarms, since they were all still in their bunks, but ‘Oversight’s’ voice got them into action. In less then thirty seconds, the men had all dressed up, and armed.

‘Oversight’ led them from the rear. They burst into the storage facility, and started firing at anything that moved, their own men included. ‘Oversight’ stared at the dead bodies in the storage facility.

“Quickly!” he urged his men. “They’ll know their team has been stopped. Get the X-5, and get in on that truck! We need to get away!”

Ten men jumped up on the truck. Three others picked up a case the size of a man, and lifted it toward the truck. The two remaining men jumped behind the wheel and front passenger seat. ’Oversight’ sat in between the two men in the cabin.

A sharp knock on the back indicated that the crate marked ‘X-5’ had been secured. “Go, go!” ‘Oversight’ urged, and the driver shifted the truck in gear. They busted through the gate, and ran over some of the Gamma-forces besieging the headquarters. ‘Oversight’ grabbed a remote from his inner pocket, and pressed a code. Behind them, the building, exploded.

“Let them think we all perished,” ‘Oversight’ grunted. “But we’re going to finish the job. April and Ariana, you will die!”

The driver chuckled evilly, shook his head, and continued driving. “You know, you’re a great boss to work for,” the driver commented. “You have the best jobs…”

*****

“… and our top story tonight, the United States Government is still denying the existence of a ‘Zodiac Project’, as well as the existence of two genetically engineered super-soldiers. Various scientists have looked into the matter, and have concluded that the genetic profiles are indeed probable, and the research contained in the so-called ‘Zodiac files’ is valid. Attempts at getting the various people mentioned in the Zodiac files to give a statement have not been successful as of yet…”

April switched off the TV, and sighed. “Damn it.”

Ariana put her arm around April’s shoulders. “Hey, at least the files have been taken seriously enough to be studied. Those genetic experts said they were valid.”

“Pf,” April puffed. “And others are paid to say it’s a total fraud. Most people believe the government’s scientists, rather than the independent ones. No, Ari. I’m afraid we’ve failed. People aren’t listening. It’s too wild. They’re too ignorant to believe the truth, just because the truth doesn’t fit in their established view of the world.”

Ariana just sighed, and looked dejectedly at the ground. “Come on, April. I’m sure something will come out all of this.”

Carol remote-controlled the TV set. “Girls? Could you come out here for a moment? I think I’ve got something that you want to see.”

“Sure, Carol,” April replied, getting up. Ariana got up as well, and Carol shut off the TV. The girls went outside, and sat down in Carol’s plush seats.

“Here. Take a look at this,” Carol said, pulling some data up on her screen. “I tried to get into the Zodiac files. They were all gone. All, except for this little piece of information I found in a database where there wasn’t any info on Zodiac before.”

“Gamma-five program enabled?” April asked. “What does that mean?” Ariana nodded her agreement to that question.

“Gamma-five means total extermination. In other words, Zodiac has been terminated. Exterminated. Everyone who backed them is dead. Every company that funded them is gone. Protection has been cancelled, and everyone has met an ‘unfortunate accident’.”

April slapped her hand to her mouth, and turned white as a ghost. “They killed everyone?”

Carol nodded. “Zodiac is gone, girls. Mission accomplished. You’re free. The orders on you have been retracted, and you’ve been catalogued as ‘non-dangerous individuals’, the same classification most UFO researchers have… you’ll not be bothered, but don’t try anything stupid, or they’ll go after you again.”

“So, if we stay here, in Japan, leading our quiet lives, they’ll leave us alone?” Ariana asked.

Carol nodded. “Basically, yes. You have nothing more to fear from Zodiac, or the government, as long as you keep your mouths shut to the press. Besides, all info you’ve got, you already leaked to the press, and no one believed you.”

April nodded, still looking pale. “Yes… we’re free… at the expense of so many people…”

“All those people would have been terminated anyway,” Carol replied. “Everyone killed was involved with the project, and knew enough about it to be a security risk. They covered it up by killing those who knew. Don’t worry, no innocents were killed. The gammas are the best in the business when it comes to cleaning up messes,” the AI said, sounding convinced.

“You sure?” April asked, voice so much like a little girl’s that it pained Carol and Ariana to hear it. It was the same voice she had used back in the days she got sick from the violence.

Carol smiled reassuringly. “Yes, Hon. I’m sure. Don’t worry, no innocents were killed.”

April nodded. “Okay. That’s good… I mean, we’re free now!”

Ariana smiled, and hugged her friend. “Yeah, we’re free, April. Totally free.”

*****

Two days later, Ariana and Yahiko were strolling down a street in a nearby town, larger than the small village Morimoto was living in. Every now and then, they stopped at a store.

“You’re sure Megumi won’t mind you being out with another girl?” Ariana asked, smiling at her friend.

“We’re just shopping,” Yahiko replied. “Besides, I’m comfortable in the knowledge that she won’t rip my head off with her bare hands when she gets mad at me.”

Ariana chuckled, and turned to a window. “April would do worse than just rip off your head,” Ariana answered, chuckling. “That pen-set looks nice.”

Yahiko smiled as well. “With Sensei’s knowledge on herbs and poisons, I don’t doubt it,” he answered, and looked at the set Ariana indicated. “I don’t know. Would April like a pen-set? The most I ever see her use are the brushes for calligraphy, or Carol’s computer. I never actually see her write.”

“It would be the thought that counts,” Ariana answered. “She used to like writing… back at the Institute. She insisted on writing everything by hand before transferring it to computer. I never bothered.”

Yahiko shrugged. “I don’t know why you asked me to come,” he said. “You know her better than I do.”

“Sometimes, it’s good to have a second opinion,” Ariana answered. “Like in this case, for instance. I just realized that you’re right, and April hasn’t written much of anything on paper since leaving the Institute.”

“Why are you getting her a present anyway?” Yahiko asked. “I don’t know why you think being with us for three years is a good reason for you to be getting her something.”

“Because this time, it’s special,” Ariana replied. “This time, we’re free, not constantly living under the sword of Damocles. Besides, I’m sure she will have something for me.”

Yahiko smiled, and shook his head. They continued their stroll, and Ariana stopped at yet another store.

“Hm… how about that pendant? It’s not that expensive, and it looks great,” she asked her friend. He looked at the silver chain, with a simple, single red stone hanging from it.

“Yeah, that looks great. And I bet she’ll like it, too,” Yahiko answered. Smiling in satisfaction, Ariana entered the store. The twosome reappeared five minutes later, and Ariana shoved the small package into the inner pocket of her jacket.

“Okay, let’s head back home,” Yahiko said. Ariana nodded in agreement, and together, the two started walked back toward their home village, since they decided that it was a nice day for a walk, and had left Carol at home. Half an hour later, Ariana and Yahiko could see their village in the distance. All that lay between them and it was a small gathering of trees.

The twosome kept a pace that was brisk by Yahiko’s standards, but rather normal for Ariana. They walked past the couple dozen trees, when suddenly, Ariana’s sharp senses warned her of something. The trees didn’t smell like they should. Or rather, there was a smell that shouldn’t be there.

Immediately, she halted Yahiko, and dropped into a combat stance. He, realizing that something must be off, did the same next to her.

Ten men, dressed in black uniforms, jumped out of the forest before Ariana had a chance to say anything. They pointed their M-16s at the twosome. Ariana didn’t hesitate. She charged. Yahiko turned, and charged in the opposite direction.

Ariana smacked her elbow in one guy’s stomach, making him double over. Her leg shot out, kicking a second in the nose. She dropped to the ground she had left a couple of seconds earlier, and spun around, to find her next targets.

Yahiko had engaged one soldier, and he would have kept him at bay too, if a second soldier hadn’t slammed the handle of his M-16 into the boy’s neck. Yahiko went to all fours, seeing entire galaxies worth of stars. The first solider kicked him in the stomach. The second one hit the curled-up boy in the back. Yahiko moaned, and tried to shy away, trying to get up. The first soldier kicked him in the face. Yahiko’s world went dark.

Ariana saw him on the ground, blood seeping from his face. She forgot all about the soldiers, and flashed to his location as fast as her psychokinetically enhanced body could carry her.

The soldiers surrounded them, even the two Ariana had managed to incapacitate joined in. she didn’t notice them. She could only look at the bruised face of her friend. She looked up, her eyes wild. Reaching into her jacket, she pulled out the crystal-headband. It was tied around her head in half a second, thanks to her psychokinetics.

Ariana got up, screamed, and charged. In mind-space, psycho-control registered a crystal-enhanced psychokinetic armor. She reached the first soldier, and hit him. Ribs could be heard cracking, followed by a hollow cry of sheer pain. She bounced off him, somersaulted in mid-air, and extended her leg as she flew towards a soldier on the opposite end. She hit him in the stomach, and a second moan of pain filled the air.

She grabbed the rifle of one of the more nearby soldiers, and pulled it backward, throwing it behind her back into the stomach of yet another soldier. The barrel entered his stomach, and the man flew backwards for a couple of meters before hitting the ground, growling like a pig. She grabbed a fifth soldier by the collar, lifted him effortlessly, and smacked him into a sixth soldier, both soldiers flying a couple of meters back.

Then, the four remaining soldiers used the opening Ariana had left them: their rifles. In her rage, she had forgotten to take their rifles away. Safeties were jammed off, and full-automatic modes were engaged. The first bullet hit her torso-armor. The armor was bulletproof, thanks to the crystal. Unfortunately, the impact felt like a baseball bat. Ariana doubled over, and bit back a curse of pain. She erected herself, and started to charge. By now, the other soldiers were emptying their guns at her.

Each bullet felt like a hit by a major-league baseball player swinging his all-time favorite baseball bat. Hr energy was limited, and the armor was strongest on her head and torso, where the vital areas were… Ariana felt one stray bullet go straight through the armor of the left arm, through the arm, and out the other way. A second bullet penetrated her right leg, but somehow managed to miss the major artery.

Ariana fell to the ground, coughing up blood. There was internal damage, thanks to the bruising of the bullets. She fell sideways, and crawled to Yahiko, who had somehow managed to regain consciousness. Ariana tore off her Sagittarius necklace, the one she had been found with on the convent’s doorstep, and pressed it into Yahiko’s hand. “Tell her… I’m sorry,” Ariana whispered.

“Leave him. Take her,” the commander of the soldiers said. “We want him to notify the second girl. This one’s the fighter. The other one will come docilely.”

Ariana moaned in pain when two soldiers roughly picked her up under her armpits, and dragged her off to a concealed van. Her shot left arm burned like wildfire, and Ariana couldn’t do anything to stop the small moans of pain from coming. She wanted to kill these people. Unfortunately, her energy was gone, and she had blown her chance. She should have gone for the instantaneous kill, instead of trying to be the nice guy, and let them live. Ariana realized April would never have forgiven her if she had killed them without a second thought, and instantaneously regretting the thought from ever coming up.

*****

April was sitting peacefully in the back yard, a squirrel sitting on her lap. She was petting the furry animal as she looked out over the tranquil nature. Her inner peace was absolute. As long as she was at peace with herself and her environment, the environment was at peace with her.

A small bird landed on her right shoulder, and April turned to smile at it. It started singing, and April turned back to her view. The hand that had been petting the squirrel lifted to rummage slightly through the feathers of her winged friend. The hand left the bird, and returned to the squirrel, all without disturbing her inner peace.

Suddenly, her eyes opened, and April felt something… a feeling of foreboding. The bird stopped singing. April could feel the squirrel tensing under her hand. She took a couple of breaths, trying to reestablish inner peace. The effort was in vain, and the bird flew off. Moments later, the squirrel hopped off to the forest. April didn’t try to stop the creatures. She had lost her inner peace, and there was no sense in forcing nature.

What is wrong? I feel something is definitely wrong… She cast out her senses, her eyes frantically shooting from left to right. She tried to identify any of the sounds, or any of the smells. Everything was normal. She disliked normal.

Walking to the cliff, April tried to bring her disturbed body to a state of rest, an effort that remained unrewarded. April got up, and went out to the street, to see if anything had happened. Closing her eyes, she cast out her hearing senses, and picked up the wail of an ambulance.

Hmm… an ambulance. Has Magamoto-san’s heart given out? He’s 94 after all… April asked herself. No. That’s not it. This is worse. The wail disappeared in the distance, and April was still looking confused at the road.

The feeling started to subside, and April started to think that it wasn’t all that bad, after all. She returned to the backyard, and tried to resume her meditation. Ariana and Yahiko weren’t supposed to be back for another half an hour to an hour, so that left her plenty of time to try and get her squirrel friend back.

Fifteen minutes later, Morimoto hurriedly made his way up to his student. April could hear his heart thumping, the shallow breathing, and the hurried steps. She jumped to her feet, out of full lotus position. “Morimoto-sensei? What’s wrong?” she asked, immediately concerned.

“Yahiko and Ariana were attacked… Yahiko is in the hospital,” Morimoto said, somehow managing to keep his voice somewhat calm.

April’s eyes went really big. Then they tightened. “We’ll take Carol, Morimoto-sensei.” She started to run at full speed. By the time Morimoto made it to the car, April had already pulled it out of its hiding place, and had the door open, waiting for him.

“Carol, full speed. Hospital,” April choked. “What in hell happened?”

“I don’t know, Hon. They asked me not to follow them, so I didn’t. And right, now, both Ari’s hearing and optical implants are giving out static.”

As Carol flung them through the narrow streets, April asked, “Both audio and visual? You don’t think that’s strange?”

Carol sighed. “They blocked the signal. I’m still trying to boost the gain, to cut through the interference.”

April grunted. “We’ll find out at the hospital what happened. I hope.”

Five minutes later, April and Morimoto were standing at the bed of Yahiko, who had been bandaged up. He had a couple of cracked ribs, and a lot of bruises, but nothing had been broken. The egg on the back of his head and induced unconsciousness, and had resulted in a light concussion. He would have to remain in observation for a while.

“I… sorry,” he whispered to April. He held out Ariana’s necklace. “Couldn’t… protect her…” his cracked ribs protested his speech, and he winced with each word.

“Don’t speak,” April choked through her tears, taking the necklace. “It wasn’t your fault… Ari… they… took her?”

The boy just nodded, and winced when the egg at the back of his head stung. April took his hand. “I am grateful she had you with her,” April said, voice thick with emotion. “I can’t think of anyone I’d like more to be with her in those moments.”

Yahiko just smiled faintly, and then dozed off into sleep, thanks to the painkillers. April finally looked at the necklace. Tears streaked down her cheeks as she uncovered her own Phalanx necklace. She took the Sagittarius necklace, and snapped it onto her own, so it looked as if the circled lightning bolt was covering the archer.

April hung the combined necklace around her neck, and hid it. She sunk into a chair. Morimoto sat down in the second chair.

“I’m sorry, Morimoto-sensei,” April suddenly said.

“What for?” Morimoto asked, confused.

“For dragging you into this. Now they … have Ari… and… and… Yahiko is…” She broke down, crying. Morimoto got up, knelt to one knee next to her chair.

“We knew what was involved, April,” Morimoto assured her. “Right from the start. Granted, I had hoped it would never happen, but it did.”

April closed her eyes, and blew her nose. “I miss her, Sensei,” she whispered. “I miss her so much… I’m so scared for her…”

“Can you find her?” Morimoto asked.

“Maybe… I don’t know, Sensei,” the girl replied. “And even if I did? Then what? I… I can’t fight! Fighting always hurts someone!”

Morimoto was silent for a few moments, and then said, “You have taken the non-violence of Ninjitsu to your heart, April. Yes, you shouldn’t fight, because it always hurt someone. But, there is also a second rule.” When April looked up at him, confused, he continued, “If you must fight, make sure you win.”

April smiling for a moment, before the eternal sadness replaced it once again. Morimoto placed his hand over hers. “Some people never learn, April. They only understand violence. Their hearts can’t be reached by kindness, only by pain, and misery.”

“You… wish for me to fight, Sensei?” April asked.

Morimoto shook his head. “That is a decision that is yours. I am merely pointing out your options. If you fought for anybody but yourself or Ari, you would lose, because your heart would not be in it.”

“I… I need time to think…” April whispered.

“I will remain here,” Morimoto said. “With Yahiko. He needs me more.”

“Of course, Sensei,” April replied, getting up, and bowing to the man. He returned the bow as soon as he had gotten up. “Call Carol when you need a lift… I will be needing someone to talk to.”

“Of course,” Morimoto replied, seeing a very dejected girl leaving the room. Sighing, he sat down next to his pupil’s bed. “And you, young man, you will get better.”

Fifteen minutes later, April was sitting on their cliff. Her eyes were closed.

The Amazon Priestess stared sadly at the sensor-screen. “I miss her so much,” the avatar whispered into empty air. She realized something. You never know what you have until you lose it. “I miss Ari…” Eric’s voice filled the air of the temple. My wife is the most important person in the world to me. I would kill for her safety, without hesitation, without remorse.

“Would I… kill for Ari?” Mind-April asked herself. “Could I kill for her?” the avatar’s face hardened. “They took her. Hurt her. Can I just let that happen?” her face fell. “I can’t do it! I’m not a violent person!”

Mind-April stared at the sensor-screen once again. They run us out of our home, and we run. They make us leave our friends, and we run. They drive us out of our country, and RUN! And now they split us up! What kind if a friend am I? Mind-April thought, sinking to her hands and knees, crying and sobbing like a little girl. The avatar didn’t even notice the proud antlers she had been wearing falling on the ground.

Mind-April’s hands hit the floor, making the entire temple shake. “I am a miserable friend! I can’t even bring myself up to the moral courage to go and fight to free her!”

She sat back up on her knees, and stared at the screen. A scowl entered her face, and April gritted hr teeth. “No more,” she whispered. “This time, they have gone too far!” she yelled, getting up. “Ari! I will free you! I promise!”

“And I can help,” a voice suddenly sounded. Mind-April shot up, looking around frantically. Her gaze stopped on a butch-looking version of herself. This butch April had clearly pronounced muscles, cold, piercing blue eyes, and was dressed in black fatigues. “Call me Might.”

“Who… what are you?” April asked the figure, looking confused at the butch version of herself. “I don’t remember creating a mental program called ‘Might’.”

Might chuckled. “That’s because you didn’t create me consciously. I am what you repressed: your genetic memories, the instincts to fight. You repressed those urges and instincts, which were dominant in your genome. Normally, this would lead to insanity. In your case, they lead to something else… a split personality. I am the fighting part of you, and I can help you get Ari back.”

“How?” Mind-April asked curtly.

“I will teach you what you need to know about your genetic memories. You will know how your body reacts, and how to use those reactions. But first, I want to give you something.” she erected herself to her full height, and spread her arms. “This is the next stage of mental control! Full control over your conscious and subconscious mind!” the temple disappeared, and the two girls found themselves in a totally black space of some kind.

Might sat down in a comfortable chair that just stood there, seemingly floating in mid-air… or standing on a floor just as black as the surrounding air was. How they could see was beyond April. “This is something I call the Special Applications Command Establishment, or SPACE for short.”

“Impressive,” Mind-April allowed, looking around the black void.

Might chuckled. “You ain’t seen nothing yet, Commander,” she stated, and started opening diagrams and screens. A sensor screen popped up, showing every visual angel possible from her body. Three-hundred sixty degrees in all directions, flat on the screen. After a few moments, the screen began to make sense to April, a fact which startled her.

The next to show up were three indicators. “Mental energy, physical energy, and endurance,” Might explained. Next to come was a psycho-control window. Some other screens popped, which Might told April were conscious and subconscious programs, a sort of programmable instinct. Then came a green wire-frame of her body, mimicking her body’s lotus position. April smiled. She preferred a wire-frame over a realistic model… since a realistic model would show her status, be it bruised, battered, and bloodied, it would distract her too much. Red lights on a wire-frame wouldn’t, while still giving the information required.

“And now… Allow me to teach you,” Might said, standing up and approaching April.

*****

April’s eyes blinked open. She stood up, her face neutral. Then, anger replaced the neutrality. “Zodiac! I can never forgive you for what you did! I will make you pay for what you’ve done!” her mid-back length chestnut hair braided itself, then tied itself around her head, so it would be out of the way.

She lifted into the air, and floated over to the house. Thirty seconds later, she emerged with the large chunk of quartz crystal she and Ariana had once found in the mountains. She floated over to the small pavilion Morimoto used as a work-area. She was sure to find what she needed there.

“First, let’s see how useful you are,” she told the crystal, and focused a probing-psychokinetic beam at it. The crystal started spinning. Mind-April looked at a diagraph screen, showing every little nook and cranny inside the crystal, as well as on its surface. The crystal was, for the lack of a better term, absolutely perfect. April couldn’t detect a single fault.

An outline of what April had in mind overlaid itself on top of the crystal diagraph. She duplicated it. “Good. I can make two… Now Ari will have one, too.”

Mind-April started by splitting the crystal in two equal chunks, one for each of them. She took her part, and started chipping. The crystal spun in the air, bits and pieces of quartz flying off it in different directions. After five minutes, the spinning stopped, and April smiled at her handiwork, a rod of crystal, with a small expulsion along the outer edge, at the height of the middle of the rod. “Good,” she muttered. “Absolutely perfect.”

April then looked around, to see if she could find the materials she needed. She smiled slightly when she found a length of chrome pipe Morimoto had used to fix the water-drain with. Taking the piece, she measured it using her psychokinetic powers, before cutting off two lengths of it.

She took a deep breath. “This will hurt,” she muttered. Her eyes hardened. “And I don’t give a damn,” she added. The two pieces of pipe started floating above her hands, and then started spinning, picking up speed at astonishing rates. The shiny metal pipes started glowing red as April’s psychokinetic powers heated them. Sweat pearled on her face. Screaming, her psychokinetic powers tore into the pipes, squeezing them around the crystal rod, leaving the center-expulsion clear.

Finally, April dropped the metal-crystal construction, her breath ragged. Mind-April took a good look at the energy read-outs. Her mental energy had depleted to the point where physical energy was channeled into her mind. The endurance readout had dropped, trying to regenerate her mind and body; both readouts climbing steadily back towards maximum. Endurance regenerated as well, but that one didn’t reach maximum any more.

“Total reserves, huh?” Mind-April muttered while looking at endurance. She shrugged.

In the real world, the red-glowing metal had cooled down, and April picked up the shiny metal sheets wrapped around the crystal rod. Her fingers touched the exposed crystal rim, and she felt her psychokinetic connect to it. Channeling some power into it, April smiled at the result. “Perfect,” she whispered. “Now, the finishing touches…”

Ten minutes later, April, sunk behind Carol’s wheel, dressed in the combat-gi. The mask and hood had been thrown back. She pressed her thumb to the center compartment, which obediently slid open. April took one of the ‘fountain pens’.

“Can you help me with this?” she asked the AI.

“Hon… you don’t want to do that… it might kill you,” Carol whispered in reply. Cold eyes focused on the screen, and Carol had to bite back a shudder. This in no way even resembled anything she had ever seen before on April.

“I need your help getting Ari back,” April replied. “This will help me. I trust you. People who create monsters like me can create an interface to go with her, too.”

Carol swallowed a simulated lump down her simulated throat. “I can help you with it, Hon,” Carol replied, showing a diagram. It was April’s head, shown from the side. April took the fountain pen, and pressed the business end to the base of her skull. The diagram on Carol’s monitor showed that she need to go lower, and more to the left. April followed directions for a few seconds, before the pen on the display lit of green. April pressed the button.

Immediately, it felt as if she had shoved a red-hot iron poker through her skull and into her brain. Oh, great! It’s gonna kill me! April’s mind shouted. He next moment, blurred vision returned through the red haze, and she could faintly hear Carol say, “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” April slurred, sitting up straight. She blinked a couple of times, and her vision cleared.

Can you hear me? April heard Carol’s voice in her head.

Just fine, April thought back to that part of her brain that was connected to Carol. She didn’t know how this was possible, but she knew exactly how to handle the implant.

“Good,” Carol answered. “You scared me for a moment, Hon. Your heart rate went to two-fifty, and you stopped breathing at the same time. And I didn’t like the brain-graphs I was receiving, either.”

“It hurt like fucking hell,” April replied. She accessed the implant. Her cybernetic lobe, in the form of Carol, came to life. Her mind went over the receptors linked to Ariana’s micro-machines. She started learning, her infinitely adaptable organic mind linked to the precision of an artificial mind. She and Carol worked together as a team. Within five minutes, April knew where Ariana was being kept, the conjunction of biology and technology wielding tremendous results.

She no longer held on to the wheel, her mind driving by ‘remote’, so to speak.

*****

Ariana was on the floor of the abandoned factory, somewhere in Japan. She had no idea where she was. Her shot left arm was burning, as was her shot right leg. She was sitting on the floor, her arms tied behind her, around a metal I-beam support post. The room she was in was empty, stripped of machinery some time go. There were four men in the room with her, three soldiers and the man called ‘Oversight’.

“So, Ariana… we meet again,” ‘Oversight’ said, chuckling. “I must confess, you gave us quite a run for our money. What you see here are the last remnants of Zodiac… everyone else who knew about the project was killed. Because you exposed us.” He knelt down next to her. Still friendly, he continued, “You know, that really wasn’t nice. Why did you do that? We could have been such good friends… think of all the things you could have done if we had only shown you that you could do them!”

Ariana managed to look at him. She amassed what little spit she had, and spat it in his face. “Fuck… off…” she croaked. “April… doesn’t fight. She… won’t come… Smart. April… Smart.”

‘Oversight’ chuckled. “Believe me, she’ll come. You have loyalty towards her. She has loyalty towards you. She would sacrifice you for the good of the mission, yes. But this isn’t a mission, and you are too valuable to her… being the only one who is like her.”

Ariana groaned, and let her head hang. Thanks to some rat-DNA, her wounds had closed, but they still hurt. A rat had amazing regenerative capabilities… as well as resilience no nuclear radiation. Ariana was grateful for the common rat… and its healing abilities.

“Don’t let her out of your sights,” ‘Oversight’ told the soldiers as he stood up, rubbing the spit off his face. “She’s a nasty little bitch. Just ask the guys she tackled with.”

“Don’t worry, sir. We saw what she did to five of our friends,” one of the soldiers spoke. Ariana recognized him as the one who had first opened fire on her.

Asshole. Use an M-16 rifle against an unarmed girl, Ariana thought to him. Bastard. I should rip off your head and piss down your neck.

As ‘Oversight’ turned to leave, the brick walls of the building started trembling. The next moment, a hole the size of a large man was blasted into the sidewall, and April floated in. She landed not far into the room. ‘Oversight’ turned, and smiled. “Shoot the injured bitch,” he ordered.

The soldier didn’t hesitate. He had already been aiming at Ariana. He pressed the trigger, and Ariana closed her eyes at the clap of the shot. Then, her mind realized something: she had heard the shot. When you hear the shot, you are still alive. Since a bullet travels faster than sound, it will hit you before the sound does. If you hear the sound, you are alive.

Ariana opened her yes, and saw something that made her blood run cold. April was standing, next to the line of fire, both her hands extended, as if swatting a fly. She had caught the bullet by pressing one hand on it from below, and one from above.

In neural space, April was looking at the graph that sowed her body’s wire-frame. All her chest muscles, and all her arm muscles were showing red. Her physical energy had dropped by fifty percent. So had her mental energy.

In real space, a single drop of blood made it way through April’s middle finger and her ring finger from the bottom hand. The tiny red drop dangled from the hand for a few moments, before dropping.

Mind-April followed it, almost with disinterest.

It hit the floor.

To Mind-April, that drip sounded like a medieval cannon going off. She opened her hands, letting the bullet drop to the floor. Both her palms were bloodied and blistered from stopping the searing hot supersonic bullet. She balled her fists.

‘Oversight’s’ eyes went wide. “How… how did you do that?” he stammered. He looked around. All the other soldiers were frozen in shock as well.

April grunted through her closed mouth, her face displaying an anger Ariana had only rarely seen on her friend’s face. April’s body glowed in an amber light, and Ariana felt pressure rise in the air, almost as if a plane was taking off. She felt a gentle shudder go through the ground.

“More anger!” Mind-April shouted at the emotional read-outs.

April crouched, her closed-mouth growl of anger morphing into a groan through clenched, and bared, teeth. All the windows in the factory blasted outward, and the air-pressure released. However, the glow intensified, growing into yellow, and the ground was starting to quake. April opened her mouth, the groan becoming a yell.

The concrete floor exploded around April, cloaking the girl in a cloud of concrete-dust, and filling the air of the room with the smell of burned concrete. Cracks radiated out from April’s location, cracks that grew wider as the artificial earthquake picked up. Her anger-filled voice filled the air, and Ariana was sure that everyone in a wide radius could hear her screaming.

The scream became a howl, and inside her protective cloak, April sunk to her knees, pressing her hands to her head. It felt as if a thermo-nuclear explosion went off behind her eyes. Never before had she attempted anything remotely like this.

The men all took a step back when beam of white-hot energy lashed out from the cloud, to the skies. The heavy roof was sliced as if it weren’t even there.

‘Oversight’ stumbled further back. “What have I done…” he whispered. “Dear God… what have I done?”

Then, the beams stopped. The cloud dissipated in a wind that hadn’t been there moment before. April emerged, and even Ariana’s jaw hit the ground. The other soldiers stepped back, shrinking back in utter fear.

April’s braided hair had detached itself, and was now standing erect on top of her head, colored a bright gold instead of the gentle chestnut. April’s eyebrows had also shifted color into gold, but that wasn’t the biggest change.

April was now dressed in a bright red glowing combat-armor, reaching from the tips of her fingers to her middle. She was also wearing a red armored combat-skirt, which reached down to her knees. From her knees down, she was wearing red combat boots. At April’s hip, a sheathed sword was visible, its cross guard seemingly ‘biting’ down on the sheath.

But that wasn’t the biggest change either. April was now engulfed in a bright golden aura, reaching higher than her hair. In the aura, electrical-blue sparks shot like tiny protuberances from her body, making energy noises as they did so. The aura ‘waved’, as if on a wind, and it too, made energy noises, albeit of a different nature.

April’s arms were crossed. A pair of eerily dangerous turquoise eyes stared out at ‘Oversight’. She looked every bit like the souped-up, pissed off, genetically engineered fighting bitch from hell she was designed to be.

I always knew she had more power! Ariana’s mind shouted. She didn’t want to believe me, but now she won’t have any other chance but to!

“You stole our lives, our friends, and our home. Now you tried to steal my soulmate. For this, I can never forgive you. I will make you all pay for what you’ve done,” April said, her voice resonating through the damaged factory, as if it came form everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

A fourth soldier, who had heard the noise from the gunshots and April’s transformation, burst into the room. He seized up the situation, and assumed April was playing tricks. He aimed, and fired.

April never bothered to look to her right. She swept her right hand. The bullet clattered against a support beam. I am not going to make the mistake of trying to stop those things ever again, April thought to herself.

She stretched out her hand. “It is considered rude to interrupt someone when she is talking,” April lectured. The man lifted into the air, his head disfiguring, as if a huge hand was lifting him by it. “Die.”

The man’s head exploded. The headless corpse fell unceremoniously to the ground, and April returned her arm to her chest, where it crossed with her left arm once again.

“Don’t just stand there!” ‘Oversight’ shouted, the death of one of his men returning his presence of mind. “Get her!”

The soldiers snapped out of their stupor, and leveled their guns with April. “Fools!” she shouted. Her hand reached for the sword. The cross-guard opened its lock on the sheath. A broadsword-blade appeared, glowing in the most eerily intense white light Ariana had ever seen.

A psychokinetic blade! Ariana realized. So much energy that it actually becomes visible! That thing can cut anything, as long as it has energy!

April wasted no more time. She flew towards the soldier that had tried to shoot Ariana, and drove her sword through the base of his head, up into his brain, and out through the top of his skull. Blood, gray matter and chips of bone were sent flying, and the man just gurgled a little as life left his body. April withdrew the blade cross-wise, ripping it out through the side of his head. She flew to the second soldier, flashed past him, and made a ninety-degree turn. The blade left her fingers, tumbling along its width toward the third soldier. First the tip was in his direction. Then the handle, and then the tip again. The sword stabilized itself, and the tip entered the guy’s throat. The cross-guard caught him, pulled him backwards, and pinned him to an I-beam support. She opened her hand. The blade disappeared, only to reappear in her hand.

The three corpses hit the ground, virtually at the same time. April turned around, to face ‘Oversight’.

April sheathed her sword.

“Almost out of energy. Good thing that’s the last one,” Mind-April grunted, looking at her statistics. She looked at Ariana, and walked over to her. “Damn it!” Mind-April shouted, “I can’t help her!” she shouted desperately, her outer body not giving a single indication as to her true emotions.

“But I can,” A robed April figure muttered, appearing out of nowhere.

“Who are you?” Mind-April shouted.

The figure shook her head. “I can’t tell you. I am the part of you that you have never used before. It is dangerous to experiment with my abilities on your own. All I can say is this: Go to a place called Hogwarts. It is a school, and there you will learn how to handle me. Now, let me heal Ari, and I’ll be off.”

Mind-April motioned for the screen. “By all means, go ahead.”

The mysterious robed girl took command. In the real world, April’s scowl hadn’t left her features yet. She stretched out her hand towards Ariana, and said, “Curatio et Medicor.” Heal and live.

Immediately, Ariana’s eyes opened completely, and her wounds disappeared. Her energy was still as good as gone, but at least her body was back in one piece.

Mind-April cursed all the gods in the universe. The mysterious figure had left, but had left April with about zero energy. That healing had taken a lot of power. Thankfully, the entire exchange with the robed figure and the healing had only taken five seconds.

April turned to ‘Oversight’, trying very hard to conceal her accelerated breathing and the sweat that pearled on her skin.

“Ho… how did you do that?” he stammered. He shook his head a single time, clearing the cobwebs. “Doesn’t matter. Luke, get her!”

Luke turned out to be a soldier, dressed in what appeared to be some kind of metallic skin-tight suit. “Meet Luke, April. He is the top of technological power, the prototype X-5 cyber-bionic enhancement suit.”

April reached for her psychokinetic sword. No… I don’t have the energy to sustain it. I barely have the energy to maintain the Super-program. Mind-April’s hands flashed from left to right, ‘drawing’ patterns in the black sky. “Convert body fat to energy,” she told the interface. Her ‘endurance’ went up, and her body and mind started to regenerate slowly.

“Time for secret weapon number one,” April said, reaching to her back, and pulling out the chrome-crystal rod. Grabbing it like a sword handle with both her hands, she focused a weak psychokinetic energy beam on the crystal. A beam of white energy lashed out form it, creating a sword-like appearance.

Luke smiled. He charged. Fast. Faster than her. April had no other choice but to fly backward, blocking Luke’s punches and his kicks with every fiber of her speed and strength. I need more speed! And more strength! He’s fresh! I’m not!

Mind-April snarled. “Convert muscle mass into energy!” she shouted. Her engineered muscles had more energy than her now gone fat-reserves had held, and as such, her endurance shot up, and her mind and body regenerated almost as fast as if April had been fresh. It had a downside, though… It was highly dangerous to the body. April started to retaliate.

She punched at his face. Luke ducked, grabbed her arm, pulled her over him, and slammed her into the floor. The energy blade collapsed, and the handle skidded over the cracked concrete floor. April groaned as pain shot through her body. The Super-program had deactivated.

Luke jumped up, intending to land on top of her. She rolled aside, lifted into the air while rolling, grabbed the handle, and righted herself. April landed on her feet, her face bruised, and some blood dripping from a cut. Her brown hair had settled on her back, her eyebrows had changed back to normal, and the aura had dissipated.

April was back to normal. Luke charged, howling like a madman. April activated the energy blade, and charged. She ducked under a horizontal swing by his right hand, dodged a vertical hit by his left, and slashed as him with the energy rod. Luke jumped backward, avoiding the hit.

“How can he be that fast?” she grunted; now no longer bothering to hide her panting.

“Simple, my dear,” ‘Oversight’ said, chuckling. “Technology always beat biology. Too bad we only finished this prototype. We could have created these suits for the entire army… but no! They had to shut us down, and blow up all our research!”

Luke shrugged. “Because once you put on the suit, you can’t take it off,” he answered ‘Oversight’s’ question.

“Fine,” April grunted. “Secret weapon, number two.” The solid energy beam became flaccid, and grew in length until it was abut the length of a bullwhip. She started lashing it at Luke, whose eyes had grown wide, and barely had the time to duck.

Bit by bit, he managed to come closer. Suddenly, he materialized a pistol from somewhere. April’s eyes went wide. The shot went off. By pure instinct, she dropped the energy whip, and flashed the bullet out of the way. Unfortunately, this was just what Luke had wanted. He pushed off, chipping the concrete floor as he did so, and launched toward her.

His punches landed fast and hard, and April only registered pain. Her arms were up, trying to defend her face from his vicious punches, her right hand was still holding on to the deactivated handle.

I need to fight back! He’s faster, and stronger! I need to use my assets! I am a girl, which means lithe and agility! I need to use my agility, and my brains! April grabbed one of his arms, and guided him into an I-beam support, face-first. He wasn’t even stunned, and charged again. April managed to start blocking again.

She dropped to her heel, grabbed his feet, and pulled them out from under him. He went down, and she would land on top of him, full psychokinetic rage ready. He had rolled aside, and April slammed with her full power into the concrete floor, creating a crater that rivaled the earlier crater in size.

Luke was on top of her in no time, holding her from behind, pinning her arms to her side. April growled and snarled, trying to break free. His grip was too strong. She pulled herself up in his grip, and crashed with both her feet onto his, hoping that pain would get him to release her. His grip wavered, and April used that moment to manage a break-out.

She rolled over the floor, and jumped up. Her beautiful body looked the worst it had ever seen before: her face was bruised, battered, and cut, her ninja-gi was torn, and cuts showed through it.

“More energy!” Mind-April shouted. More muscles were burned, and converted into energy to feed her mind. Mind-April knew she would fight to the death. Ari was in no condition to fight. It was her duty to protect her.

April growled, activated the energy blade in the first setting, and charged. Thanks to the energy boost, her attacks were faster and more ferocious than they had been moments before, and they caught Luke off-guard. He stumbled back, trying to dodge the high-speed sword attacks.

He howled in pain when his right hand was severed from his arm, and sparks flew out of the cyber-bionic suit, coupled with blood from his human body. Luke jumped up, and planted his two feet in April’s chest. The girl was catapulted back against the wall, and fell forward, to her hands and knees. She wrested herself to her feet, taking the handle with her.

Luke stared at the stump on his right arm. The wound had closed, stopping the flow of blood. He looked at his hand, lying uselessly on the floor not far away.

“You bitch!” Luke shouted, and the word was laced with more venom than April had ever heard someone put in a single word. He charged. Faster than before, his adrenaline enhancing the bionic suit’s speed.

He kicked at her face with his left foot, a kick she blocked. She had not seen his left hand, however, and it planted itself in her stomach. She doubled over, and Luke kicked her with his right foot. April spun around like a rag doll, and Luke grabbed her from behind, his left hand linking to the stump on his right arm. This time, he would crush her!

April felt the breath being forced out of her body. She activated the energy blade in a desperate attempt. The blade was facing forward. It was useless in her paralyzed arms, pinned to hr sides. All she could use were her hands.

“Secret… three,” April grunted. On the bottom of the handle, a cap flew off, and a second blade appeared. At the angle with which she had been holding the handle, the reversed blade penetrated Luke’s body through the liver and stomach, as well as through his spine. His grip tightened only for a second, before it slipped. April spun around, the forward blade slantwise halving his body, from the right shoulder to the bottom right of his torso. Luke stared at her, flabbergasted, for only two seconds. Then, his body started sliding apart, and the two pieces fell to the ground.

“Thank you, George Lucas,” April said, deactivating the two beams. She took the bottom cap, and put it back on her handle. She clipped it to her belt, and walked to ‘Oversight’, who cowered in a corner. Reges eos in virga ferrea tamquam vas figuli confringes eos, April thought. Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron, and shalt break them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Psalm 2, verse 9. Only, in this case, it’s chrome and psychokinetic power instead of iron.

Her hand reached out grabbed him by the top of his head, pulling him to his knees. “Are these the last?” she asked. ‘Oversight’ screamed.

“TELL ME!” April barked. “Don’t make it harder on yourself!”

“Nuh… nuh…” ‘Oversight’ grunted.

April grinned, and slammed into him with every bit of mental energy she had left. Every neural connection in his brain became supercharged, and for a moment, April could read everything in it. These were the last soldiers… Zodiac had indeed been destroyed. Then, the brain just couldn’t cope anymore. The neurons literally vaporized. All functions stopped, including antonymous functions like the heartbeat. ‘Oversight’ died from massive and total brain failure.

April turned to look at Ariana. “Safe now…” April whispered, her voice straining to be audible. All energy was gone. The world turned dark on April with such speed that she never even heard Ariana’s startled cry.

*****

Ariana opened her eyes. Immediately awake, she sat up, and looked around the room she shared with April. It had been two days since April had taken care of the last of the Zodiac forces. She had slept for thirty-six hours before finally waking up. Ariana sighed as she remembered the toll it had taken on her friend… she had lost fifteen kilos of body weight, all of it converted into energy. Yesterday, after finally waking, April had done little more than eat. She had eaten like it was her last day on Earth, and than had fallen back asleep, her body and mind totally exhausted.

Ariana noticed the bed next to hers was empty. Throwing her legs out of bed, Ariana started to get up when her eyes caught something. April’s circled lighting bolt-necklace, as well as a little package. The girl grabbed the necklace and the package. Immediately afterwards, she jumped up. Oh, no… Don’t do anything stupid, April!

Ariana, still dressed solely in T-shirt and a pair of panties, ran to the back yard, where she found her friend.

April was standing on the edge of the cliff, her eyes not looking at anything, tears flowing down her cheeks. Ariana let out her breath. She was still in time.

“April…” Ariana whispered, walking to her friend.

“Stay back,” April whispered, not bothering to turn around. “Please… leave me alone. Let me die. I deserve it.”

“But… you can’t!” Ariana shouted, freezing where she was. She wasn’t about to let April do this.

April snorted, and looked at the sky. “I killed six people. I blew up one person’s head with my mind, killed three with my mental blade, one with my crystal-blade, and raped the last person’s mind before killing him by blowing every neural connection in his head. I’m a monster.”

Ariana took a step closer, and halted when April took a warning stance, almost looking over her shoulder at Ariana. “April… you fought… for me… for us. For our safety, for our survival, and for the survival of Morimoto-sensei and Yahiko-kun. Even if we had run, they would have grabbed Morimoto-sensei and Yahiko to get at us. Zodiac kidnaped someone’s wife to force him to work for them. They would do it, and you know it… you saved us all, April!”

“And killed six people in the process.”

Ariana took another step. “So? Everyone in that room had killed before. They were all monsters. You don’t think there was a single innocent in that room, did you? What you did was execute the punishment those men… those monsters would have gotten if the law had been able to touch them.”

April sighed. “Who gave me the right to play judge, jury, and executioner?” she asked quietly. “I am a murderer. I killed in cold blood, and didn’t even care at the moment. I just wanted you…