Burg: Day 4
Embassy Hotel

Kat blinked, showing a mild amount of surprise but then she regained her composure. Outwardly at least, inside she was freaking out. However, she managed to force out a complete, if a little dry, sentence.

"What makes you think that?"

Burg: Day 4
Embassy Hotel

"Let's call it...Doctor's intuition," Tamara set her cup down and sat back in her seat. "Good lie, actually. Very good one, but it leaves me with just one question. If your father really wanted to know about a cure, why would he send his daughter to ask? Why not send an official person that has to submit reports and papers, or why not just ask me himself?"

"You have a power, don't you?" Tamara asked, staring into Kat's eyes. "You are afraid your father is going to find out and send you away, so you need a cure to keep him from discovering your secret. He probably told you something about the dinner last night, and mentioned me, and you thought this was your perfect chance to find a cure without anyone knowing that you are changed."

Burg: Day 4
Embassy Hotel

Well, the cat is out of the bag now. Might as well let it play out. She crossed her arms, took a deep breath and proceeded with her plan, "right on all accounts. Now, if I was lying to you. There is always a chance that you were lying to me. Were you?" Said she, smiling a bit and generally just trying to look much less nervous than she actually was.

Burg: Day 4
Embassy Hotel

"I'm sorry, my dear," Doctor Lightwood said softly. "But there is no cure, and there never will be. A cure is impossible."

Burg: Day 4
Embassy Hotel

"So I'm stuck! Stuck being like this!" Kat stood up, frustrated, angry and scared all at once. "Look at what I can do!" With that, she transported to the other side of the room, "its not natural, its not right!"

Kat transported back to her chair and sat down, a single tear rolled down her face. "My dad hates freaks... And I'm one of them."

Burg: Day 4
Embassy Hotel

"Shhh, everything will be ok," Tamara said, sitting next to Kat and stroking her hair. After a moment, she very gently pulled Kat into a hug. "You are not a freak. I promise that. You are someone so very special, and the world isn't quite ready for you yet. You are a beautiful, smart young lady, Katherine, the sort of daughter I wish I had."

— 1 PM, Day 2 —
Parksville, Erbaine
Palisade National Park
Parker Mountain

"Loretta!" Terra gasped, bursting through the thick underbrush with Lui at her side. "You're all right! Thank goodness. I can't believe we all managed to escape from those agents. . . honestly, I can't believe any of this. This is like a nightmare you can't wake up from."

Terra brushed her hair, damp with sweat, out of her eyes and caught a glimpse of the vine-shaped tattoo on her forearm, glowing radioactive green. The bandage had slipped off at some point; she couldn't remember when. She took a deep breath.

"We need to put as much distance between ourselves and the cabin as we can before nightfall. We've got to cover our tracks and throw them off the scent, because they will be coming after us soon. I don't know how much time we have before they find out what happened to those government agents, and once they do. . . ."

She trailed off, shuddering.

"We're in trouble, to say the least."

Terra scanned the terrain, trying to get a gauge on where they were. "Hmm. . . looks like we're up on the north side of Parker Mountain—yep, there's the Palatial Gorge, about a hundred yards down. We need to keep going west and find somewhere hide out until we can come up with some kind of a plan."

She then bit her lip, and turned away from Lui and Loretta, suddenly unable to meet their eyes. She knew of the best hiding place in the world, and it wasn't far. No more than a day and a half's hike from here, tops. She hadn't been there in ten years, but she knew she could find it. There were some things she was never going to be able to forget, and this was one of them.

But she didn't want to go back. Since her return to Azurema at age seven, her life had been halfway normal. . . that is, up until yesterday. If there was ever a sign to go back, this was it, but she didn't know if she could face her past, and she didn't know how to answer the questions that would be sure to follow. And if those that were hunting them managed to identify her, look into her history and connect the dots. . . .

If they believed that there was even a chance that her story was true, every bounty hunter and government agent would be trying to find them, and they would stop at nothing to get her to talk.

Terra looked at the glowing green spiral on her arm. They were already looking for them, and they were going to find out who she was soon enough, no matter what she did. And that was enough to endanger the secret, not to mention all of their lives. If they were captured, maybe they wouldn't kill her because they needed her alive—but that wouldn't stop them from killing her friends. And the people who had once laughed at her family's story would now be going over the Palisades with a fine-toothed comb, and no matter how well her parents had hidden it, it would only be a matter of time before it was discovered.

Terra realized she didn't have a choice. Her only hope was to disappear and take the evidence with her. No matter what happened, she had to keep the secret safe. She couldn't let fall into the wrong hands—not now, not when all of civilization had been brought to its knees and martial law was reigning as king, not when her secret might be the last hope for freedom and peace. It had been her refuge once before, and it could be a refuge again. She and Lui and Loretta couldn't be the only ones evading capture.

The innocent of the world needed to know the answer to this enigma, and it was selfish of her to keep her silence, to try to ignore it and pretend it didn't exist. She had to protect it for them, just as it had once protected her and her family. She knew this is what her parents would want her to do.

She looked back to Lui and Loretta. Could she trust them? Would they believe her?

She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could utter a word, the sound of a bloodcurdling scream, so filled with pain it scarcely sounded human, echoed across the mountain. Terra paled.

"I don't think we're alone, girls," she said. "It sounds like someone needs our help."

Burg: Day 4
Somewhere beneath the Military Industrial Complex

Thus far the meeting with Cunningham had gone very well. The older gentleman was delighted to have someone to talk with that actually knew and understand his technical jargon as well as be able to give intelligent comments. Lawrence was likewise enjoying being able to discuss his love of technology with someone besides the attentive, yet usually uninterested, Jennings.

"... And that's how your family is tangled up with the military complex in Burg. Bit of a pity your father handed everything over to the government when he inherited this." Cunningham gave a forelorn sigh before stepping out of the elevator an into what appeared to be a small office space. "Welcome to my office, my lad!"

As Lawrence stepped out of the elevator, he quickly scanned the area. There was what appeared to be two desks that had been pushed together covered in all manner of books, files and hard drives with two older looking computers sitting side-by-side in the middle. Large binders of various information were neatly stacked in homemade shelves on the far ends of the desk.

"So this is where they keep you?" Malcolm teased as he began idly looking through the papers on the desk. Aerial Combat Crafts- CLASSIFIED, High-Density Armor- CLASSIFIED, The Best of The Croods: Vol. 1&2.

Cunningham chuckled. "Yes, yes. This is where they keep me so I don't cause them anymore trouble. Seems our lovely military doesn't like it when you question their motives."

"Why does that not surprise me...." Lawrence turned around to face Marcus. "I have to say, I expect your office to be bigger. Especially since you mentioned they had put you as head of military science development."

"Ah... you want to see the whole loft?" Cunningham's eyes sparkled slightly with a child-like mischievousness before the older man walked over to the wall. "You might want to take a step back...." with that word of warning, Marcus opened a breaker box and flipped several small switches.

In quick succession, a football fields worth of industrial lights flickered to attention... illuminating a vast, sunken-in storage room lined with docking bays and shelves upon shelves of metal storage units. Lawrence took a tentative step towards the observation glass of the balcony (which is where he and Cunningham were currently).

"Impressed?" a large grin was now on Cunningham's face. "Something tells me you'll want to go down there and explore." with that, Marcus headed toward the before unseen staircase in left-hand corner of the room. "Shall we?"

-----------------------

"Turns out what they mean by "military science development" is simply a diplomatic way of telling you to get out of the way." Cunningham continued to talk as he led the intrigued Mr. Lawrence through the stacks of stored military devices. "They wanted to keep me around, I suppose because I knew so much about their failed endeavors, so they stuck me down here... where I would bother anyone." Cunningham turned and smiled at Lawrence. "... Hopefully."

"So... are all these just proto-types, then? Or do they actually work?" Lawrence finally asked as he admired a high density fabric armored suit.

"Oh, they are fully functional. Everything down here is." Marcus replied as he moved a rolling storage container out of the way. "Why do you want to know?"

The question was one Malcolm knew would be coming sooner or later, but he still had not formulated a clear response for it. "I... was just curious why they would be fully functional yet not put to use." Lawrence cleared his throat slightly, hoping Cunningham wouldn't push the question further at the moment.

The older gentleman eyed his younger visitor slightly before nodding and answering. "They're costly, Mr. Lawrence. Very costly... and usually wrecked within the first week or so of use. The government doesn't think the cost is worth the possible help to the Man on the Field. So, they stay down here, collecting dust and waiting for someone to take them out and use them as they were meant to be used." at the last bit Marcus turned and looked squarely at Lawrence.

It was clear by the look on the older mans face that he knew why Lawrence was there. Somehow, someway he knew. Good heavens, has everyone guessed who I am? "So... if someone was going to use one of these, how would they get it out without being seen?"

Marcus smiled at the transparent question. "This storage hall is contacted to a old military strip on the outskirts of Burg. It's been abandoned for at least fifty years, so you won't have any trouble getting in or out."

Malcolm gave a slight smile at the information. That also means another way of getting in... "Mr. Cunningham, I do have to ask... how do you know about... well, me?"

Marcus laughed at this question, a goodhearted laugh. "It was rather obvious when you suddenly perked up at my mentioning what division I worked in. Besides, your alter ego has been causing quite a stir around here. Based on the vague descriptions and the bike he has, I put two and two together and... here we are."

The man before him was definitely a smart older bloke, but could he be trusted? "I thank you profusely for all this, Mr. Cunningham, but I'm still a tad... wary of all this." Before Lawrence could continue, Cunningham raised his hand to silence the hero.

"I completely understand not fully trusting me at this point. Let me assure you, though, that your secret is safe with me and that I'll do everything in my power to help you AND to keep our mutual acquaintances off your tail." Marcus paused for a moment before continuing. "I have no love for our government as you well know and I'm grateful to actually some of you, er... "special individuals" actually taking charge of this new situation. I trust you, Lawrence. Just don't do anything stupid to make me regret where I put my trust."

Lawrence let out a barely noticeable sigh of relief and then shook Marcus's hand. "I'll do my best not to let you down, sir."

"That's what I'm counting on, my boy."

— 1 PM, Day 2 —
Parksville, Erbaine
Palisade National Park
Parker Mountain

Not a minute after Terra proclaimed that rather sagacious collection of noises produced by her vocal cords. Cameron woke up and proceeded to drop out of the sky. When you have a bad dream, waking up usually involves the sensation of falling. Now imagine if you actually were descending through the atmosphere at an extremely rapid rate. Then and only then do you get a pretty good idea of what the air-force pilot was undergoing at that particular point in history.

Needless to say, his vocal cords were about to rip apart. The canopy of pine trees were approaching expeditiously and he couldn't do a darn thing about it. Two hundred feet, one hundred Feet, fifty feet and then right before the trees, he tensed his muscles, closed his eyes and prepared to meet his maker.

But he didn't, and instead he impacted the ground with all the force of a freight train. The meeting between man and ground caused a mini-earth quake that would have measured a 5.5 on the Richter Scale, if there had happened to be one of those things around. Meanwhile, all the trees within a thirty yard radius were knocked over as the ground buckled and a spray dirt flew into the air, seemingly of its own free-will.

The end result of this comedic destruction was a twelve foot deep crater, a small dirt-filled mushroom cloud. And an unconscious Cameron lying in the middle of it all. The stupid bird who started the whole mess? Well he was no-where to be found.

Burg: Day 4
Embassy Hotel

Doctor Lightwood remained quiet, letting Kat cry. She said nothing until the girl's breathing had steadied and her sobs had subsided. She felt bad for this poor girl, who obviously felt that she was little more than an amenity to her father's goals and plans, something that was nice, but not necessary. Whether this was true or not, Tamara could not tell. Worse yet, there was very little she could offer this girl. Q9 was no safe haven. She briefly considered sending her to Malcom, but immediately discarded the idea. Malcom was embracing the change, while Kat feared it and wanted to run. Further, if she was captured, there was no telling how or when she might break.

Which raised a greater concern for Tamara. If she let Katherine go, what would happen if she was brought to Q9 at a later date? The chances that Lightwood could get to her first were thin--if not nil.

"What now, Katherine?" she asked softly, brushing a stray hair out of Kat's face.

Arida: Day 3
De Mon Estate

Candi straightened her frock and stepped into her study, pushing the door to. The room was more crowded than usual, with extra furniture and valuables moved up from the lower levels, which were crowded with people who had lost their homes--or abandoned them. Still, it was navigable, as most of the excess furniture had been moved into the spare bedrooms. The young mistress of the estate had thought it wise to keep the newcomers concentrated in certain areas, so it would be easier to tell if someone was up to know good. The majordomo had agreed, pleased that her kindness was tempered with wisdom. As long as he felt that way, Candice knew he would stay wrapped around her finger, ready to follow her off a cliff. And she planned to keep it that way.

Her hand slid along the base of the shelved books, her fingers lightly tracing the text on the binding. She realized she was no longer playing at the part of being powerful. Now, she actually had a chance to be in control. Her late father's distrust of the banking systems left her with huge supplies of on-hand cash and gold, while the majordomo's flair for order and the havoc in the city would compel people to stay with her, for the time being. It was up to her, however, to find a way to harness their emotions and make them loyal to her.

Ah, finally. Just what she had been looking for. Candi settled into one of the window seats and opened The Prince. It had been a long time since she had read over it. Now, she needed a refresher. Now, she needed to become the Princess.

Arida: Day 3
De Mon Estate

It had been a bumpy night with some bizarre dreams, but nonetheless, a restful one. After having gone nearly a week on the move with only a few hours of sleep, if even that much, Chris was thankful for a genuine bed and some downtime.

After getting dressed in the freshly cleaned clothes that were laid out for him and washing up a bit, the bounty hunter made his way downstairs. The mansion was huge, but was quickly filling out with various refuges and their belongings... if any. Despite the seemingly "open door" policy of kindness that their host was showing to the freshly damaged world, there was still a sense of hollowness to the generosity of Candi de Mon. Chris shrugged off the thought as he snatched an apple off of a passing tray and gave a mischievous wink to the young maid as she hurried by.

Ducking into a side door in the hall, Christopher found himself face to face with an ornate wooden gargoyle. Huh, doesn't look a thing like the real ones... the man thought as he meandered his way through the stacks of various books, pieces of furniture and other collectables nearly haphazardly stacked everywhere.

Rounding one particularly large collection Chris saw the woman of the house, Candi, sitting in one of several window seats on the far end of the room. "You really should hire better interior decorators, miss De Mon." Chris said dryly as he inspected one of the golden mermaids perched on a stack of old books.

Arida: Day 3
De Mon Estate

"Indeed," Candi said, turning the page then closing her book and leaning slightly toward Chris. "My mother fancied herself a collector. Never could change it before she died, and afterward I was never home enough to care to do more than shuffle the most unsightly pieces out of sight. As you can see, they've now come back to haunt me. Or not--she actually had worse ones."

Candi smiled and looked down at her book.

"Sorry, that's probably not the best way to start the morning. What can I do for you, Chris?"

Day 2
Arida, the Convent

"Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me," while the calm and polite voice might have been better suited for a dinner party it belied the fact that there was a barrel of a gun, mere inches from Allee's face. The man holding the pistol was dressed in dark blue combat fatigues, his face was calm. In spite of the blood running down his cheek, where the broken glass had cut him. But his face also displayed another characteristic.

Inhuman indifference to what he was about to do. Which he did. Pistol-Whipping her in the temple, all in an effort to knock her unconscious. It was a crude method, but brutally effective. Sam had used it before, this sort of thing was old-hat to the young man. He even managed to yawn while slinging the girl over his shoulder. When he was on a mission, Lance Corporal Samuel Talon was a robot. "Mission accomplished," he radioed into Mission Control, "I'm bugging out."

And so he did, he carried Allee over to the window and rappelled down from the building. After that, it was off to his favorite place on Earth, in a sadistic sort of way. Q9.

Embassy Hotel

"I guess, I'll just go," replied a dis-heartened Kat. "Thank you for your consideration though," the doctor was a very nice one. As far as doctors go, most of them were just interested in needle sticking. And stuff. So, in order to make good on her word to leave, she stood up and prepared to walk out the door. She didn't make it more than three steps, for as soon as she stood up she felt dizzy and then collapsed. By the time she hit the floor, she was out. Stone cold.

Burg, Day 4
Embassy Hotel

"I am sorry, Katherine," Doctor Lightwood said softly as the girl's eyes closed. "But you are a liability I just cannot afford."

She gently lifted her up, and laid her out on the bed before finding her small mobile device and calling Jeeves.

"I need a transport team, Jeeves," she said, gathering her papers and beginning to pack. "I have one patient with me, and I will also need a team to go down to the military base and let General Talon know his daughter will not be coming home for a very long time. Tag the patient as Katherine Talon, Teleportation. And Jeeves, this time, try to get her into my area of the facility as quickly as possible. Do not loose this one to Doctor Ford, again."