She had been in luck as she headed out into the room, well sort of she guessed … Gus was no longer standing where he was oogling at some of the clones. Rather he was away from that room that she had been trying to access before though a few of the doctors had gathered around the elevator near him, well not near him, not exactly …

The attention was upon a student with breasts ti die for, double D's perhaps. Unlike the other clones that were scantily clad in clothing that was very reealing (though not too tight or small like the offical uniforms that the students had been assigned further proof that they might not have been monster bait but rather created as eye candy or sexs toys of some sort.

Her nipples were a vibirant pink and hard as if she had been exposed to a great chill, her snatch smooth and hairless. The girl appeared to be about her age, slightly older perhaps and was beautiful with long flowing red hair … she was completely naked but did not seem to be in any sort of duress as if her clothes had recently been shreaded by a resident of the island. In fact she looked calm and rather familiar …

She had seen this girl before and recently too! One of Aegir's pictures in fact, one of his “relatives” he claimed ...

Juniper lingered in front of the door to the office for a few moments, the gathering of scientists (and, incidentally, Gus) by the elevator drawing her eye. She blinked a bit as she looked at the long red tresses that hung over her shoudlers and back, that nagging feeling of deja vu she'd had when looking at the brunette returning unbidden. Except, this time, she had a clear view of the girl's face instead of allowing herself to be distracted by the headgear and the pale glare of the monitor on her face. The hair wasn't styled the same way, of course, but this was definitely one of Cindy's relatives, or more accurately one of Aegir's favorites.

She stood there for a few heartbeats, trying to get a read on the situation. It was probably just a freshy decanted clone who'd been sent down by the chilling vapor for her "orientation", though Juniper couldn't help but wonder at her emotional state. Scared, glazed, eager . . . they'd all say something different to her. She clucked her tongue slightly and openned the door, as closely as her arrival followed Juniper's own she had to assume that the girl had been one of the ones watching her when she'd wandered through the lab. Which meant she'd heard that incredible line of bologna she'd managed to sell the guardian creature . . . but if she inquired after it, she didn't expect that one to hold any water with the scientists down here at all.

She openned the door to the office and stepped inside quickly, not wanting to linger in the woman's field of view longer than she had to. Perhaps, if she didn't jog her memory, she'd be too busy answering the scientsts' questions to ask any of her own.

The clone she could only assume didn't look scared or eager … concerned maybe? All manners of questions were being leveled at the girl though from here Juni only caught a few snipets of words.

FLASH CARDS … COLD … MIKHAIL …

It was then as she moved out of the clone's field of vision that her hair wasn't wet nor did her body appear slimy at all. It looked as if this was just a naked student who was diligently answering questions.

Had she waited a little while longer she would have seen Gus getting on his radio and contacting someone …

The office was quaint and warm though perhaps a little to warm. She no longer felt the deep chill in her piercing though and her nipples were coming down from their hardened state though that was probably on account that this floor was a lot warmer than the cloning chamber upstairs.

There was a computer her on the desk and pictures of two hunters, male and female with a sixteen point buck that the two had taken together.

The screen saver was actually a set of pictures that were snapping by, rather sexy pictures of her favorite nurse Rena … some of which you wouldn't want young kids to walk in on either, or clones for that matter!

Uh-oh, sounded like the jig was up. And she still hadn't found what she was looking for . . . she was going to feel like a damned fool if it had been the room she'd skipped earlier. Still, she could at least grab something for her efforts. She slid out the flash drive and plugged it into the back of the machine once again, crouching in front of the desk instead of sitting in the chair so that she could duck down swiftly it anyone gave the room a quick once over. That, of course, meant that when she picked her head up she was face-level with a particularly intimate shot of Rena.

"Eugh . . . " she stuck her tongue out and tapped the space bar to move beyond the screen saver. Objectively she supposed the nurse was attractive enough, in a statuesque mature sort of way, but there were some details one never wanted to learn about their nemesis. That dimple definitely went on the list. It was time to salvage what she could out of all of this, and get the hell out of dodge. She tried the log-in she'd used upstairs and looked for any other new files, intending to toss them on her portable drive without looking and boogie for the blue double doors.

She was in a bit of luck . Sometimes she was just damn lucky as was the case with the guardian upstairs other times not so lucky when her thoughts drifted to the blob outside. Things were getting hectic so it was time to cut her loses and run. The computer was already logged on and had one one extensive file so this was probably someone that had not the clearance for all the general stuff and only had access to what was deemed necessary.

It listed 25, ORTIX, AEGIR AGENT … there were a few other subfiles but she did not have the luxuary of reading them all as she loaded up what information they possessed.

She waisted no time and when she left the room Gus and many of the scientists had gone upstairs so it was easy making her way to the double doors and the long corridor.

As she got to the end of it though before she had a chance to hit the call button there were four security guards standing there surprised to see her. Three of them might have bought a clever bluff, but the forth …

He brought his thumb and four finger over the visor of his cap as he grinned at her. Casanova …

" ... Shit." Juniper cursed. End of the line. There was no way she was going to be able to take on four of these guys and win. Maybe if the corridor was narrower, so she could force them to come at her one at a time she'd have had a slim chance. But by the same token, the hallway was long with no branches to it, they didn't have to spread up or strategize at all to cut off her escape. Gus and whatever other security guards on this level would likely be waiting for her on the other side even if she did manage to make it back to the double doors.

Of course, just because she didn't favor her odds didn't mean she was going to surrender peacefully either. No one succeeds who does not try, as they say. She turned on her heel and broke into a sprint, the soft soles of her running shoes keeping her footsteps quiet as she fought with the lab coat hanging from her shoulders, not wanting to give the guards a handgrip in the form of the fluttering tail end of it. Once she got the coat off, she threw it behind her and came to a sudden stop, pivoting at the hip as she arched a kick back, aiming just below the waist of the guard behind her.

Assuming she planted the kick properly, she'd push off from it and bounce back a few steps, bringing her hands up as she tried to hide her anxiety behind a sneer. If she could just get one more of them, she could try and double back through them and slip by the remaining two. Make a dash for the elevator, fighting to keep them from getting in with her would be a lot easier than trying to pummel them into submission. She couldn't win by running, she couldn't win by fighting, she'd just have to split the difference.

"C'mon then, if you think you're hard enough!" she challenged, hoping that her brashness under the circumstances might at least give them pause.

“BITCH!”

One of the three guards who had not recognized her staggered back as she kicked him, his chest ached though Jet held back in the elevetaor rather than doing what was expected he grined as he go out his radio.

“She's downstairs boss.”

The two other guards spread out a little, one either side and the one she had kicked was more surprised than anything, he was hurt of course but not hurt enough to not be goaded by her as he and the two others pressed in.

Jet just glanced to his crotch. “then smiled again. “You just don't do it for me.” And with that he brought an end to her plan by closing the doors of the elevators. Either trapping her in that corridor or going back up the path he came either for something to to prevent her from escaping this level easily.

In the corridor the man in front of her charged straight ahead, the one to her riught was coming in low and the one one her left coming in high.

Goddamn Yankie pig-fucker Juniper growled in her mind as those silver doors slid closed in front of her. Come up with that all by yourself, didja!? Now she had exactly one route of escape, and it went right through that freezing cloud monster. That, of course, was assuming she'd even manage to get out of this hallway. She kept backing up with her heels raised, hands up as the three guards moved into position. She'd really needed that bloke she'd kicked to be a bit more of a wuss.

She's coming. Juniper thought, her heart beat picking up, The bitch is on her way here, and then, it's all fucking over. her eyes got a bit wider, a bit more frantic, I can't stop now!

And then they lunged. Juniper made the one play she could think of, she jumped, kicking off the wall to get as much height as she could and bending at the shoulders so that her legs could get as high above the ground as she could manage. It wasn't enough, the man who'd gone high managed to hook one of her knees. Her momentum shifted from upwards to backwards, all of the height she'd gained just increasing the speed with which she slammed into the tile, air rushing from her lungs as her eyes watered.

"Get the fuck offa me!" she shouted, drawing her free leg back and bracing it against the man's shoulder, trying to push herself free as she picked up her shoulders and tried to aim a fist for his face. There wasn't any style or technique in the way Juniper fought, just desperation and a willingness to hurt a man in a way that'd stick.

Prone now the three men would soon be upon her and there was only one way out of her now … no doubt Rena was coming, she could take some solice that the cloud thing probably wouldn't leave the room with the clones but she had to pass through it to get out of here now as best as she knew.

Catchining one guard with an upward kick there was a spray of blood from his nose as he staggered back, still conscious but out of it for the moment. He was not blessed with the same sort of stamina as the first man who pulled up short now and considered how to approach this now not wanting to suffer the same fate.

The other grabbed at his night stick in preference to the pepper spray as he swung it down against her chest. Once she seemed distracted the other man would press in while the second still nursed his broken nose ...

"AH!" Juniper winced, she'd gotten her left arm up as the club had come down, but it still struck with full force against her forearm, jarring it badly. She hissed as she forced herself to roll to one side, getting her knees back under her. The adrenaline must have finally hit her brain, she was moving from frantic and scared to wild. She could save this! She could still turn it around! It was mad, crazy, the last refuge of the desperate. But that tiny little glimmer of madness gave her something to cling to, something to fight for.

She's coming! She's coming here! she thought, her right hand slipping under the hem of the skirt. She was glad that she hadn't landed on that side when she'd fallen, grinding the broken glass into her hip would've severely hampered her ability to move just now, and she needed every iota of it. She pulled the first syringe free of it's tape holder as the other man reached for her and swung hard for the palm of his hand, hoping to push the needle through the bone and then snap it off in his flesh with a twist as she forced herself into a standing position, her left arm coming around in an adrenaline fueled strike for the throat.

I just have to get back to the office. This place still has the failsafe . . . get back to the office and use the computer to set the timer on it. Even if she gets her hands on me, I just have to hold out, and I'll get my pound of flesh! she turned her wild eyes back on the man with the club. Looking to see how he'd come at her next. One more needle . . . but no holy water to fill them, no failing to use them now.

The guard screamed as the needle pierce his hand then was broken off. He staggered away grasping and pulled at the needle drying to pry it from his flesh. Brokne nose was still out of it and thus there was only a single guard to deal with now as he pressed in brandishing his night stick. He was more cautious than the other two or perhaps he was use to having back up.

Regardless he stayed back out of her range at least he tried, feinting a lot but not pressing the attack. Instead of offense he was pure defense as if realizing that all he had to do was delay her and not beat her. Eelay long enough for others to get here and thus trapped her in the corridor suffice it to say this level.

So far she had discovered that the inhibitors weren't working so these must have had been normal humans that she was dealing with for the time being at least.

Juniper weaved and took a quick step back, the man was using his bludgeon to keep her at bay, and more importantly away from the double doors. It was a smart play, in his position she likely would've made the same one, but it was a bit too guarded. Juniper got the impression that, despite his position, the man had never been in a position where he feared for his life. Or, perhaps more importantly, that he'd never tried to pen in someone who had. It had a tendency to shift one's priorities. No one liked to be hurt, but there were circumstances where you accepted it as the price of success.

She flexed the fingers on her left hand, trying to get a feel for how hard he'd clubbed her before. She'd winced where her follow-up blow had struck the needled guard in the collar, off the mark as he'd stepped back clutching his hand, and worried that maybe he'd had enough force to put a hairline fracture in the bone. She was no doctor, but the arm seemed fine as long as she didn't jar it . . . maybe some deep muscle bruising? Either way, she could coax it. She took a step closer to the man, bobbing to one side as he feinted at her but not stepping back this time.

This was her window of opportunity. Only one man between her and the door . . . she could make that dash. He was armed, he could hurt her, badly if she caught a swing the wrong way, and he was too experienced to over commit himself to a strike. But he was down a hand for grabbing, and the hallway was wide. The next swing came as a thrust towards her face, a feint to the eyes to try and make her back up reflexively. Instead she ducked low and crossed her arms in front of her face, trying to protect her head as she pushed off with the ball of her forward foot. No attack for this man, no, she tried to sprint passed him on his armed side and make a break for the door.

He feinted in again perhaps expecting diferent results, perhaps expecting a defensive reaction, maybe a counter but clearly he had only partially expected her to drop beneathth the feint, his chest exposed, Harry expected a yard blow to follow up but it did not come.

Instead she ran making an X over her face to ward off the blow and by the time he could come back with the back swing she would have been well past him. He instead reacted differntly though his body was twisted there was no telling how much force he could manage to place behind it as it was more a reaction than anything as his right leg came up as she sought to hurry past him on that side intending to knee her in the gut …

Meanwhile needle boy was wrenching the needle out of his hand, which was a mistake as blood splurted more freely now. He grunted out in pain but was pressing himself weakly back up to his feet but he wouldn't be joing the fray any time soon and Nose who was bleeding all over the place was still a dazed wuss on the ground yelling about how the little bitch broke his nose but yet to press back up into the fray as if he was a beaten fighter already yielding to a supieror one.

"ULF!" She stumbled when the knee caught her, slipping passed her braced elbow to pound into her ribs. The momentum carried her sideways until her shoulder bounced off the white wall, but she didn't stop. She'd already committed, and though she'd expected him to bring the club back and around to smash into her exposed back she'd still kept loose enough to ride the impact through. She sucked in wind harshly, the blow to the ribs echoing the way she'd had the wind knocked out of her with her rough landing.

But she kept running. Like hell itself was riding her heels she let the guard position in front of her face drop and swung her arm with the next step. She swore if she ever got out of this in one piece she'd never neglect her training again, blinking away tears as she exhaled through her teeth, tunnel vision kicking in as she focused on the blue doors at the end of the hall. Skirt fluttering behind her, she watched as the two doors that pushed open from both sides rushed up, sure that the echo of hard soled boots would be clattering after her any moment now. Gus, at least, was probably waiting on the other side of that door.

As she reached the door, she decided to take the percentage shot, jumping to keep as much momentum as she could before she hit the floor in a baseball slide looking to kick the door open in front of her and take the legs out from under anyone who was trying to block her escape. If there was no one there . . . well, she'd lay back and slip passed the first row of tables where the clones were being programmed, cutting through the center of the room instead of going around it as she had been doing so far. She wasn't sure that she could trust the girls to let her pass easily, but she did think she was light and quick enough to navigate the tables faster than any of the uniformed guards could.

The guard had to reset his leg before turning at the still running student. It fell to him now as Harry was the only one up though Juni passed by quick enough where their was no chance to recover from is swing before she pressed onward. She could soon hear boots eeching on the white tiled floor gaining some ground on her initial though falling in pace as she had. Now they were the same speed, maybe she was even a little faster as her actions were fueled by sheer adrenline and his had not been.

She hit the door sliding and collided with someone knocking a clone off of her feet but others were setting upon her in mass now. It was apparent that the order had been given to detain her and while it would have taken Gus time to come down to this floor again someone mucst have phoned down letting the scientists know what was happening and thus the clones wer emade ready for her should the guards be insufficent in hanling her. Most had been near that door, others asigned a position near the elevators and others still were clustered in the center of the room as if intending her totake the long way around.

The naked clone and Gus had been absent, on their way upstairs before the alert came in from Jet so they'd have to wait for the eleator to make that long ride to the floor above before coming back down to this level.

“GET HER!” A scientist cried as the masses of clones near her side of the room sprung to action attempting to grapple her as they obeyed without question.