"NO!" Juniper shouted in denial. She tried to grab hold of the first table, use it as a barrier, make them climb over or go around it while she climbed to her feet. Even somewhat out of practice, she was sure a real athlete would out perform these toys with their untested clone muscles. But she didn't get clear, her momentum dropped off too fast when she'd crashed into the other girl. All around her was a forest of bare legs and feet, and she could feel two dozen sets of grasping hands reaching for her.

"Back off!" she didn't hesitate, driving an elbow into the back of a knee to try and knock the closest girl prone. She could see it. The door of the office was in sight, slightly ajar from when she'd passed back out of it, beckoning with it's sweet promise of vengeance if not freedom. She'd never reach it. Even on her best day, this was far and away beyond what she could hope to overcome. But that didn't mean she wouldn't try. . .she'd always fight.

This wasn't what the clones were trained for at all. They groped for any handhold they could get, clutching at her shirt here, grasping for an arm or a leg there. Juniper responded violently, reaching over to punch, twisting her body roughly away where she could, heedless of when the cloth tore or she struck something delicate. She couldn't tell if they were trying to pin her down to the floor or pick her up and stretch her out between them . . . but she could feel as each of the items she'd secreted away were pulled off of her in the struggle. The tape, the rope, the scatter of her picks on the ground . . . she'd tried to snatch back her flash card as she saw one of the clones pick it up, but two more clones grasped her reaching arm. She glared as it was offered to the nearest scientist.

She screamed wordlessly in frustration. Every time she managed to twist something free, they simply grabbed hold of her again, letting her wear herself out. She'd have preferred it if they'd beat her. Pinned her to the ground and just kept hitting until she was swollen and bruised and aching, but that wasn't what they'd been grown for. Her body was burning up from exertion and friction burns, a sheen of sweat covering her and matting her hair to her forehead. It took some time, but eventually they had her, gasping for air, trying to find some hidden reserve of strength, her eyes slightly glazed as she tried to think of something she could do.

It was hopeless she found. So close and yet so far. The clones were no created for this but there were just so many of them that as she struggled to get free another grasped her. When she injured one another took over for the first to recover.

Objects were stripped from her in time, all those things she had collected were taken from her, even her clothes had been torn in places, buttons popped, shirt untucked …

A scientist inspected the flash drive a clone gave to him. He nodded then went into the very office that she was trying to get to to check it out. He disappeared into that office as he heard the eleveator return to this floor. Gus had finally made it back with that naked clone. But while she could only hear them approach amongst her struggles she had a better view as the blue doors opened back up. The guard who had been chasing her had long since entered the chamber but let the clones handle matters now being far to worried about getting hurt but as the doors opened she was looking up into the eyes of two grinning faces.

One was Casanova's strong features, blue eyes reflecting her fear as the other was Rena, attired in a nurses outfit complete with white shoes and stockings though the skirt was short and the V line of her bluse had been unbuttoned showing off more of her bountiful chest.

“Looks like we won't have to wait for your psyical.” She chuckled a little. Take her to the labs, Jet.”

The security guard nodded.

“Can I have fun with her?” Gus and not Jet, both Jet and Rena glanced at him as if that was a stupid question.

“You will be happy with the scrapes I give you drone. Now be useful and go fetch Tin Man, tell him to meet me at lab Four ...”

(insert future labs rp here )



Juni woke up with a start, things were a blur as she struggled to remember but all she could recall were horrid faces though there were no names … no one was coming back to her … Aegir! She could remember her dealings with him and anything associated with him though in some cases it did not make much sense … what was the Aegir Agent? Where had she heard it before?

Beneath her was sand, she was in a grotto of sorts, salt water strong in her nostrils as waves lapped up against the shore.

There was a hole in the East wall that she could climb out of though she soon became aware that she was not alone as she came to.

Good, your up … I was getting worried that you would sleep through it, there is not much time left ...

She sat forward with a sharp jerk, her face in her palms, her eyes wide. Something like terror gripped at her chest, nameless, but no less real for that. Scraps of something flitted over her memory, ghostly sensations, things that made her cringe. Her body told her she didn't want to remember, but her mind craved to know. A shuddering breath left her lips as she squinted her eyes closed, the smell of salt water tickling at her nose . . . she couldn't get it back. Whatever it was, whatever she'd found, whatever they'd done . . . it was lost to her.

Why does it seem that whenever I wake up from a nightmare, you're there? she thought. She shook her head slightly, he wasn't reading her mind right now, and the question was just a bit too snippy to say aloud. She rubbed her eyes with one hand, turning a bit to look at him.

"I . . . seem to have lost my place." she shook her head, deciding that her mysteries could wait for now . . . something pressing was on the agenda, "What are we doing? Why is time so short? . . . How long did they . . . how long has it been?"

But he was listening to her confused thoughts looking at her as she sat up with a start. He did not address that one though for he did not think she indeeded to address that one.

It is well past curview amd Rena had your memories stripped from you. But her interests and mine do not coincide and I have blocked her in taking all those memories associated with me. They may not make sense in all cases but I could not have her rob you of all meories my dear. It has already started my favorite underdog … I am most interested in how things would have played out and what I did was trick her … I blocked your memory temporarily. It will all flow back with enough time for you to still do something. Fifteen, twenty minutes and you will have them all back.

I have even commanded Gersham to distract Ortix for you will you take care of things, regretfully things will have to be rushed a bit but if you miss out on the scheduled matentiance then all will be lost for another ten years at least ...

He glanced at her and held out her flash drive. I managed to get this for you, no charge. I am just interested in seeing how this all goes. Unfortunately I do not think you will need that last login … looks as if you wouldn't have to uphold your end of the bargain though I can give you new codes, fulfil my obligations and hold you to yours but lets see how this goes, relax, let the memories return to you.

Amelia? Interesting name. I was able to see your memories as I was charged with striping them. Of course only you and I will know that they have returned and it would be a great service to me if you would keep that little secret. In fact that might be worth renogotiating our earlier bargain for, a secret for three logins instead ...

A piety he would have really like to “join” with her but he was fairly confident that she would seek him out in the tuture for other dealings too.

"Stripped my memories!?" she hissed, a hot red line of anger running through the back of her mind. Her hands gathered into fists, damp clumps of sand slipping from between her fingers as she rocked forward to get her knees under her. She seethed quietly for a few moments, pulling herself into a standing position, "Bad enough to get caught after getting that far . . . bad enough they'd use my body for whatever the hell like it's their fucking right . . . but tearing shit out of my head!?!" she pounded a fist against the rock wall, gritting her teeth, the pressure squirting most of the sand out of her palm with the blow. She dropped the sandy grains and took a deep breath, closing her eyes.

Okay . . . okay . . . steady, June. Don't lose your head, she thought breathing out through her nose, Aegir came through, it's not lost, just repressed. You'll get it back . . . just . . . relax . . . and get moving forward again. she clapped her hands together, brushing the grains of dirt and glass from her hands before she looked around to take in the features of the grotto. Idly, she considered that if they'd gone through the effort to scrub her mind they might've thought she was too much trouble to keep on the menu, that Aegir's interest in her struggle might have done a bit more harm than good in the long run. Of course, she knew herself pretty well, she'd have just uncovered it all again eventually. This way she got to learn from her mistakes.

"Thanks, I owe you one." she said, taking her flash drive back and looking at it. She let her eyes drift from the cave walls to her uniform, trying to figure out where she could keep it secured. "Amelia? Oh, that, yeah, I just picked a name out of a hat. Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, fairly famous the world over. I just wanted to see exactly how out of touch the guy was" she chuckled a bit, "And maybe get him to reveal the location of a plane the school didn't have a line on. Truth be told, I'm not even a fan."

"A good reporter never outs her sources, don't worry." she quirked her eyebrow a bit when Aegir said he'd "commanded" Gersham . . . of course, she didn't really know who Gersham was, but it was an intriguing line of thought. Did Aegir have underlings, prestige, or was he just willing to crack the mental lash when it wasn't quite as interesting to watch things follow their natural course. "You say that Gersham's distracting Ortix . . . but I didn't get my weapon. I can't beat Rena in the field, it's got to be the failsafe."

"Where is she?" she asked, her resolve bubbling up, "In the Infirmary or the Lab, I can try and make it work. In the infirmary she'll have no back up, but I can't guarantee the inhibitors will be down, in the lab . . . well, what can they do to me that they haven't already done?" she grit her teeth.

I'm going to drown that bitch in a puddle of her own frothing flesh . . . she growled mentally as outwardly she cracked her knuckles.

I was only aware of it since they brought me in to do it. I did not so much as eradicate the memories as instructed but rather blocked you mind from recalling them to make them think the memories had been lost to you. They were timed to return after you regained consciousness. My price for blocking your ridding you of your memories was a few secluded nights with you, an excuse I used to get you out of the labs to here.

After all there is much that you may need. From your memories I was able to ascertain some obstacles and decided to level the playing field a little to keep you with hard fought knowledge and to deal with things for you like the slime, free of charge of course.

[color=#BF0000][i]Oh, yes, I know much of your history. Gersham is rather dense when it comes to mundane matters of a modern age. He will do what I instruct him to do, he has no choice and the slime will be handle so the area near the inhibitor will be free of immediate danger … you are welcome for this but since I am really interested now there is no charge. Against an adversary like me that can read minds and not be easily suckered or some of the more cautious creatures Rena is a hot head that can be goaded as you have found …

Oh, I figure that you'll need something one of these days so I'm not too concerned with missing out but ... He paused as he considered something, his mouth tendrils curled into a grin. If you want to celibrate afterwards … Ortix is in the wilderness but Gersham will take care of him and Lurker resides inside but primarily deals with the clones. But there is another way into that facility, perhaps I will get those codes for you in lieu of another logon, it will be more useful.

Rena thinks you will be here for a few days so she is at the labs. By the time you get to the dorms your memory will return. There were a few things I have to get, a few matters and get you ready, there is time but we would have to act soon. Another thing you will have to consider is drawing out security or getting yourself capture with the hope that Rena uses a more personel approach … if you miss your chance you will have a hard time of matters over the next four years when they're hard enough as it is.

Okay, Juni, fight with your head, not with your fists . . . Juniper thought, stepping back to rest her back against the grotto wall. It was uneven and uncomfortable, and the way it narrowed towards the ceiling meant that her chin was tucking against her chest, but she still settled in. He was right, but then, he was the expert. Bits of it were filtering back into her conscious mind . . . no way to tell what was still missing, but it seemed to be starting with the important ones.

"I don't think I can beat that vapor-thing, and I won't be able to bluff him twice. I didn't see another way down from the side I took . . ." she said. She rubbed her chin a bit, if she'd just managed to get into the elevator, she'd know the other entrance to that lab. In hindsight, that kind of knowledge could have done a lot more good than whatever she'd managed to steal off of that PC before getting nabbed . . . she turned the flash drive over in her fingers, unconsciously bringing it up to kiss the cross as her mind wandered, glad to have it back. Even if the scientist had stripped it clean when he'd looked through it, it was a good touchstone for home.

She tried not to look at his grin, with the way his facial tendrils writhed at the ends it wasn't exactly a comforting image, and she was still mentally off balance. It seemed like every time she was about to wriggle off the hook, something came along to put he right back on. Of course, that fit with her amateur profiling on Aegir so far. She didn't doubt that he enjoyed watching her struggle, but knowing that when she came up short, when she was up against the wall, she had no one to turn to but him stroked his ego nicely. Idly, she wondered how often he actually got a taste of gratitude . . . she was certainly indebted to him enough for pulling her fat out of the frier down in the labs.

"Ah . . . shit." she pressed her thumb and forefinger to her forehead, "I think I'm going to have to take you up on that offer. When they're doing maintenance on the Inhibitor, the clones should be tucked away in their bunks for the night, so if I can take the elevator down I should have a pretty straight shot to her." Assuming, of course, that Rena wouldn't be tucked away in the room where Mikhail had been. Having to avoid that damned cloud was getting to be problematic. Well, it was getting dark, maybe she'd luck out and his shift would be ending or something . . . monster's got to eat sometime, right?

She went over the steps in her head. Get back to her dorm, use the intranet to set up the failsafe on a timer, distract security, and then get back to the lab and ensure she hurts The Bitch as much as possible.

"Tch . . . how am I going to distract security? Somehow, I don't think they'll go easy on me if I set something on fire . . . and I'm not sure how to fake a suicide attempt and then fade when they go to investigate. Trip an alarm somewhere on the other side of the campus? Could I do that remotely?" she wanted as small of an audience to her little showdown as she could manage. Interference would only reduce her effectiveness, after all.

"An excuse is easy." Juniper said, rubbing a thumb along her other wrist with an odd look on her face. It seemed fine, but . . . "Just blame it on an undocumented mental ability, something that the inhibitors normally suppress, but while the field was down for maintainence there were "unforeseen ramifications." she shrugged a little bit, "You can't get in trouble for something that was shut off, and it would explain why I'm following through with a plan that "already failed" once in the same day."

She listened carefully as he laid out the details. He was right, of course . . . this was moving beyond being an accomplice, with this level of involvement he could be nothing less than a full-blown co-conspirator.

"I figured the infirmary would be watched, given Rena's preperations for the physicals in the morning." she said a bit sullenly, as if the notion had never occured to her. Or, at least, the notion that she could get away with it. She ran her fingers further up her arm, still squeezing here and there.

"I don't mean to be a party pooper . . . but . . . we're sure I'm unimplanted, right? This whole scheme is going to come apart at the hinges if she's been listening in on all of this." she said. She couldn't feel anything squirming around in her guts . . . but that didn't mean it wasn't there.

"If she has to come up the elevator to get from her room back to the infirmary, I should be able to set the system to respond to that. Wait until she steps out of the closet and then have everything slam closed to lock her in. Try to tie the remote alarm back to me somehow also, take a hair ornament out of my drawer if you have to. Frankly, I'd rather everyone assume I somehow managed this on my own."

"And, they might catch me, but it won't be without a fight. . ." she paused a bit, thinking of the redhead with the ample bosom for a moment. She wanted to ask what she had been doing down there ... but if time was short, and she was likely to forget again anyway, it seemed silly to ask. "I don't plan to blunder into a gaggle of cloned bed warmers this time."

That should be sufficient to deceive them, they may be suspicious but not overly so/ It seemed like a good idea that he could brooch if the matter ever came up. He considered things of course though she had one chance at this it seemed so there was a lot riding on this matter.

You are unimplanted, I can sense brain waves of even lower caste creatures that are deemed to be mindless. I can sense the electrical impulses in your body, though she could not implant you not until tomorrow night at least ...

He waved his hand in front of him as he considered it best that she did not remember that. She would, at least recall a vague impression of why she couldn't but such memories would return only vaguelu after a week or so at least. He did not need such things distracting her.

He nodded as she recommended planting evidence to incriminate her. He could sense her train of thought about the red head though. True there was not much time left but it would not take long. There was a bit of disgust in his voice, at least initially.

A cheap copy of Miss Tanaka … she is the first of the new batch and why I can't disagree with their desire to make such a copy why you would tamper with the genomone of the original makes no sense to me ...

He held out a tentacle assisting to her feet before slither along side her. He had to go with her to the dorms at least to get the evidence. Hopefully the others would have enough time to collect what they needed by the time they arrived. He could use his powers though them remotely.

I know you will not go without a fight but if it's any constellation if you succeed I will keep that matter intact at least.

She gave a soft sigh of relief at his insurance that her body was not yet a shared space, though that pressure against her remembering why galled her. She decided against meditating upon that, however, the reasons behind it would return to her in time she was sure. Instead, she laid the outrage next to the rest of her psychological ammunition, another hot length of mental iron to work into a blade before she was face to face with Rena.

"Well, unless they wanted to wait nineteen years for their toy, some tampering was bound to happen." she said as his tendril slipped around her arm and he helped her to her feet. Idly, she considered the texture, cool to the touch under his moist membrane, but it clung to his form to help keep him from being slimy as he'd said earlier. "Though innate servitude seems like it would take all the fun out of things to me."

She took a few half-jogging steps towards the cave entrance before she realized that she was pulling ahead of him. She cocked her head to the side a bit . . . not too quick on land, was he? Well, she supposed, he didn't really have to be, given his other mental abilities. She started a more liesurely pace as he caught up, trusting his mental illussions to allow them an unmolested path back to her room, standing a bit far to one side to make sure she wouldn't step on any of his slithering lower tendrils.

" . . . This does kinda read like a suicide mission on paper, doesn't it?" she said after a bit, the need for haste neccessitating the lack of clever maneuvaring or back-up plans.

Yes, many of the denziens here prefer eroding the wills of their chosen. I prefer a student making their own choices so if they were subservient that sort of defeats the purpose. The inhibitors her already stack so much in our favor and it would be boring to simply take all the time, it is too easy to accomplish and I do enjoy forming a rapport with people rather than the former.

He reflected on those events. Much too easy had he of wanted to he could have taken her already but to her luck he was rather different from the normal denzens most of the time. He did enjoy the aspects of failure too and didn't mind loosen on occasion either. It happened but he was patient enough to realize that opportunities came back around.

For instance, he had told June that he would get three pass codes for her, he had gotten two and while he could dig up a third to meet their agreement it was going to of little, if any use to her. He tended to keep to the spirit of agreements and not the letter. But he realized that her nature would bring her back to him in the future and other opportunities would arise.

He had noted that she was aware that he was not very speedy on land though he seldomly had the need for speed. He had other methods … one of which he used on Vitalis when they encountered one another and had to work out their differences amicccably. They were fighting over a stupid tree of all things, well more than a tree …

They moved along, unhindered by any of the hunters, she was his “prize” others would have assumed if he allowed them to close rather than driving them away with his mind.

I suppose you can look at it that way. No back ups, you won't die if you fail though Rena may make you wish you had.

They would make their way to the campus where he would dawn his Cindy Eva Von Hessler disguise or rather Cindy “Adams” that he had told her about. In such a form Aegir would raw less attention even though it was past Midnight now.

So, should I be walking around a little robotically, maybe a dazed expression on my face, or are you usually subtle enough that people look normal when you're directing them around through a mental illusion? she thought, wanting to be convincing, but also fishing for a little data while she was at it. She couldn't help it, it was her nature after all.

Finally, they made their way up to her room, and she glanced over her shoulder at him and pressed a finger to her lips. Inside stirred a single slumbering mind, Juniper's room mate whom she hadn't seen all day. The last thing she needed to do was to wake her up to the vision of Juniper stumbling back into their room with torn clothes and another girl in her wake, she'd never live it down. She pulled up on the door slightly feeling it shift on the hinges before she turned the knob slowly, the latch silently slipping free before she pushed the door open and into the dark room.

Taking care where she planted her feet, Juniper moved through a mess of wrinkled clothes navigating by the light from the hallway that spilled through the cracked door. She heard a body shift under the covers of the other bed, but while she brushed up against consciousness her roomie didn't seem to wake. Juniper pulled the top drawer of her desk open and pulled out a white floral hairclip, she'd worn it her first day on campus so it was the one most students would associate with her. She pantomimed a throw to Cindy to warn her, and then tossed it end over end aiming for the center of her chest. She took a moment to tear a length of tape off and pressed her flash drive against the underside of the desk inside the top drawer, deep enough in that someone would have to feel for it so long as the tape held.

She picked her way over to the closet and grabbed a new shirt from a hangar, shrugging her way out of the damaged white one and dropping it into the hamper before she pulled on a long sleeved black t-shirt. She tried the SOLOMON account first, wondering if they'd managed to deduce who's log-in she'd been piggy backing off of before. If not, well, she'd just have to start circling around to some of the ones she'd spun off of it.

How long before you set the alarm off? I don't want this thing to trigger when the security guards take the elevator up, after all she thought, hunched over the keyboard so that her body would block most of the light from the monitor, Well, unless it activates in her little office too. In which case, I kinda do.

People appear quiet normal for the most part. Sometimes they might be doing odd actions but it's at my direction. I can have them laying prone caught up in an illusion of their mind or could have them doing the same things in their mind while having them lay prone at my discression.

But you need not fish for information, feel free to ask me what you will.

He could feel the mind within the room, he had felt it before when his “relatives” came here. It was a simple matter for him to reach out into the sleeping mind and stimulate portions of her mind to ensure that she remain sleeping regardless of any other disturbances. He allowed Juniper of making a show of things, silently sneaking into the room. The others were nearly done as he directed them to collect what they could.

His vision was quiet good In the dark and while he was slow his coordination seemed to be outstanding. He caught the hair piece, turned it over in his hands and watched at she changed shirts. He seemed to silently approve of what he saw though by that stage his “relatives” were dropping off small boxes in the corridor outside the room at his urging. He cloaked them in an illusion of invisibility not that he was overly concerned about anyone seeing them. The illusion would only work on minds that he touched upon so Juniper, who he had agreed not to touch mentally would see the boxes as they were, thus far it was only her roommate and a few neighbors that had been affected.

The SOLOMON login didn't work but she was still able to get into the system through her back doors.

He did not answer her so he was either honoring the fact that he said he would stay out of her head for the next day now (initially it was three) or he was real good at pretending that he was not in it. Did he deduce earlier that she was digging for information based on what he knew about her ahead of that agreement?

He slithered up to her looking at the computer screen with his hand setting upon her shoulder as he looked. What are you looking up?

Sorry, reporter's instinct. she thought with the faint trace of a smirk on her lips. It felt good to be doing something again. Her fingers danced over the keyboard as she traced over her old steps.

When I was in here before, Rena's failsafe could be set to a timer remotely. I'm out of my league, so I can't guarantee that I'll be able to trigger the shutters manually. she let the light from the screen dance in her eyes for a few moments, Now, I can plan around a time limit, but I'm going to go ahead and see if there's a provision of conditionals.

She glanced over her shoulder at him. Really, she hadn't noticed any of his work on her room mate and had rather assumed that she was just managing to be quiet. The fact that he could do things like that kind of slipped her mind in the heat of the moment.

In an ideal world, assuming that the failsafe includes Rena's office between the lab and the infirmary, what I'd like to do is set it so that when the elevator arrives in the infirmary to drop off the security guards rushing to check the alarm, it triggers a count down. Then, after they rush by my convenient hiding place, I slip in behind them, take the elevator down and step off just a little before the two of us are locked in a room together. she looked from his milky white eyes up to the ceiling.

When everything's gone down, one way or the other, if I emerge triumphant I'll lift the lockdown myself and pop back up into the infirmary, then disappear into the night. In the worst case scenario, I run into, what, two guards? Jethro has got to be off shift by now, I'm not too scared of that. she looked back at the screen and resumed typing, Then it's just a matter of covering my tracks . . . and I'm supposed to be a pseudo vegetable at your tender mercies tonight, so establishing an alibi won't be that hard