He patted her shoulder as she thought. She had not said anything in awhile and he had to remind the journalist that he wasn't tapped into her thoughts, well save for his tampering earlier that he was made to to. He had to remind her of this and had her vocalize her plan before he considered it.

So find the elevator in the infirmary and take that down to the area she's likely to be rather than back track and come up from the cloning facility?

Their expecting you to have no recollection of the things that you discovered just prior to running into Rena until now. They expect that you are my plaything for the next day or two since I showed a strong interest in you. Not that I do not find you attractive but that was not my motive for getting you out of there.

But yes, you are to be my plaything tonight, that is the impression I gave to them anyway so disappearing into the night is easy enough. I've seen it in the mind o one of the scientists, the fail safe covers the infirmary, the room in between and the cloning facility are all protected in this way so there will be no surprises there.

Head to head Rena will beat you but there are other thighs to consider. The inhibitor will be off for one hour, while you do not possess abilities that would benefit from this she will be vulnerable while it is down without even realizing it. After the guards are drawn away from her it will be just you and her. She is strong but I got a few equalizers that may help. They're out in the hall ...

"Yeah. While going through the labs would be nice and covert, we're bucking for speed here. And for that, the infirmary is a lot simpler to manage. Only one elevator, no ladders, no unexpectedly bumping into staff who may hold a bit of a grudge against me . . ."

Her tongue lightly snaked across her lips as she found what she was looking for. She inputted the instructions she'd decided upon, pausing only long enough to add a prohibitive condition should the elevator be used before she moved into position and the alarm was tripped. Satisfied, she logged out and stood up straight again.

"Well, if that's where I'm supposed to be, I guess that's where we should rendezvous if I should manage to slip away." she said softly, "We'll want things to be convincing if someone looks into things, after all."

"I never thought it was going to be easy. The fail safe is a pretty good equalizer, but anything I can do to push my advantage towards overwhelming is precious." she uttered gently, still unaware that she could be shouting at the top of her lungs and not do anything to stir her room mate's consciousness. She slipped out into the hallway, tilting her head to the side at the row of small boxes pressed up against the wall of the hallway.

"So, do I go ahead and open them here, or . . . ?" she asked slightly, kneeling down a bit to regard the one closes to her door.

Very well, we will met up at the cove then, I recommend a flashlight, it might give your position away but if you use it only sporadiacally you should be fine and won't end up tripping over things and braking your neck or some such.

This task as you know isn't going to be easy. I have already taken the liberty of having the sprinkler system set up into place so all that's required is accessing the right protocols and well ...

He gave it some thought. He wouldn't normally be taking such an active hand if he didn't think it was remotely possible. He was just equaling things and letting them run their course. He went into the hall with her and nodded. He could control the minds of anyone entering into the vicinity so it was safe to open up the boxes.

Inside were a few things that his “relatives” collect while they walked up here.

The first contained a tool belt that could be used to hold the various flasks here. The glass think enough where it would brake on contact if thrown. /the flasks, about a dozen in nature were filled with holy water.

There were half a dozen syringes, a small necklace containing a cruifix and a small silver dagger.

You need to time it so you get their when the inhibitors are offline in just under two hours now so if there is anything further now woulds be the time to get it.

"Actually --" Juniper began to respond as he suggested she bring a flashlight, then she blinked and cut herself off, "Shit, that's right, you have my camera. Yeah, I'll grab my flashlight out of the desk before I head out." she crouched down and opened up the largest box first, pulling the utility belt out and sticking her thumb through one of the securing loops as if she wasn't entirely certain what it was for, "The camera has a nightvision lens, I was thinking I could just navigate by looking through that without giving my position away. Of course, that would require me to have the damned thing . . . I guess it's better not to risk it in a tussle anyway." she fiddled with the belt's clasp a few times as if checking it for any tricks, then slipped it around her waist and clicked it into place.

"Fashionable . . ." she mused to herself with a smirk, opening the next box. Her eyes lit up a bit as she saw black was seals over a dozen vials, each pressed with the shape of a cross along the top. Pulling one out to inspect it in the light, she found it full of a clear fluid, it seemed that she hadn't been the only one to think of using holy water in a grenade format, "Where the heck did you find these? They're perfect!" she said with a bit of a smile, slipping one into a belt loop. It fit well, it looked like she'd be able to move freely without worrying about them slipping free of the belt, so she steadily fed each of the small vials into it's new home around her waist.

The next box came in a hard case with a clasp, she cocked her head to the side a bit as she opened it up. Sure enough, strapped securely into the foam lined carrying case were a half dozen cartridge syringes, each loaded up with a vial similar to the ones around her belt. She closed the case back up with a nod, they were safe in here for the time being, she'd wait to load them onto the belt until it was time to go.

She turned to the last box, a bit surprised to see a long but shallow box of lacquered hardwood with brass hinges. She clicked the latch open and lifted the lid, her eyebrows arching in surprised as the gently shine that her eyes settled on. Dipping her fingers in, she curled a slender chain around her fingers and lifted out an amulet, a gothic cross swaying lightly with the motion of her hand as she regarded the the way the arms of the cross flared out before tapering to a point and the diamond shaped black stone in the center. She curled it in her palm and squeezed it tight, closing her eyes and uttering a small prayer before slipping the chain over her head and tucking the cross under her shirt.

"Heh, it's funny. I used to have a pendant just like this . . . " she mused, cutting herself off as she looked back into the box. There was a tentative feeling as she looked at the dagger laying in the red velvet, and a lump in her throat. Knives. She had a bit of a history with knives . . . she learned to wield one for the same reason some people learned to fly. They scared the hell out of her after a nasty brush on the wrong neighborhood. Good memories of time spent with Tom and Marian warred with bad that had her sleeping fitfully for years. She swallowed a lump in her throat and picked up the blade, flipping the catch so that she could draw the blade free of the sheath and get a look at the blade. It was an old style, straight-edged tapering into a good solid thrusting point, she brushed her finger over the edge and nodded to herself . . . sharp, but the weapon had clearly been meant for stabbing. She rolled it over the back of her hand until it tumbled through her fingers to grip the handle again, the balance was good. She took a deep sigh, fighting off that apprehension in her guts as she slid the blade back home in it's sheath and found a place for it on her belt.

"Cross, holy water, silver dagger . . . I don't suppose you happened across a battle axe?" she smirked a bit, pushing herself to her feet as she tucked the case of syringes under her arm, "I . . . really don't know what to say. This is above and beyond . . . I'd hoped to find such an arsenal down in the labs, but I didn't dare to dream it would actually be there." she shook her head a bit, "I can't really think of anything else we can do to swing things in our favour . . . well, nothing reasonable anyway."

Aegir had watched as she looked over everything and even prepared herself to embark on this challenge. He had not been in contact with her mind at the time and thus did not realize the memories that blades had bestowed upon her.

I got the supplies nearby, some like the cross were loners from what my relations had. Others like the holy water and that knife came from alternative store houses that were near enough for my girls to access. Telling you precisely where … well, perhaps for the right bargain in the future when you again have the need but I suspect that after today you will not have such a grave need. True you can harm others and make them regret coming after you but the inhibitors will be back in place. Weapons will still be effective but you skills with them with them will be so diminished that they wouldn't do you much good.

I did not find any battle axes in my search He made it sound as if he did so himself and in a way he had since he was essentially at the same point that his nodes were with a little concentration. But I did find a fire ax though ...

Aegir considered. All that was left was to kill enough time so that she didn't arrive too early. In fact there was time for them to depart for it was unwise to leave her by herself. The beam of a flashlight would stand out too much but a camera would not.

Seeing that you will not need that third login there is no sense in keeping your camera as collateral. If it gets damaged I am capable of replacing it. You can hide it someplace outside of the infirmary to retrieve after wards …

They moved the empty boxes out of the hall. He then spent the time going back to the grotto to get the camera since he had not thought it would be needed. They had the the time to kill before the inhibitor was offline.

Arriving at the infirmary a little early she could use the computers to switch over the security settings or have Aegir do so from elsewhere to draw off whatever security that was there. Soon the moment would be upon her to act as the fated hour closed in ...

"Really now, that's interesting. I wouldn't think that they'd be able to get in and out of a store house unmolested." she said, smirking a bit, "That has some interesting implications of exploitable access protocols. Not that I imagine it'll be easy finding a proper document detailing the chain of authorization. But I have time." she shifted her weight a bit to one side and ran a hand through her hair, "Four years worth, right?"

"Ah, don't worry about the fire ax, I was just making an oblique reference to a fictional clan of vampire hunters. Really, I'm good." she waved the comment off, still wearing her thin smirk. She ducked back into her room long enough to grab a slender flashlight from her belongings and a black canvas bag that she could slide the camera into. It'd be a convenient way to stash her camera for pick-up, if nothing else.

-- -- --

Two hours passed slowly. Too slowly for Juniper's tastes, she'd been like a kid on Christmas Eve, pacing around the grotto excitedly. Her emotional spectrum was bleeding a rainbow of different hues, dread one moment, excitement the next, then anger followed by by a brief moment of clinical introspection before cycling back to either excitement or dread depending on how her image planning had panned out in her head. She bounced lightly on her heels a few times, bobbing and weaving as if shadow boxing, but never throwing any punches back.

As they wound there way down to the final half hour, she sat herself on a rock in the cave and ran both hands through her hair, grabbing fistfuls of the tawny brown mane and closing her eyes. She focused on her breathing, deep inhale through the nose, long exhale from the lips, her nerves buzzing with nervous energy as she tried to settle her heart. All the drama of the last day was coming to a head, and soon it would all be either validated or proven as the desperate struggle of a silly little girl fighting back against something so far beyond her. What happened after was inconsequential, she had to focus on executing the plan, precisely, forthrightly, and without hesitation.

She rolled her wrist over and pressed the button on the watch that caused it's LCD screen to light up in the dark cave, the sound of lapping waves on the shore still echoing against the stone walls. It was time to get moving. It was time. She took one last deep breath, opening the hard case and sliding each syringe home into it's place on the belt. She was gambling a lot on the element of surprise here.

"Alright, I'm heading out." she announced, one hand settling lightly on the hilt of the dagger at her waist, a finger lightly tracing along the tip before her hand slid down to rest against the crossguard. She'd chosen where to hang the sheath carefully, tilted slightly forward so that she could draw and stab smoothly, "If things go badly . . . well . . . I guess I won't remember what you've done for me. So, thanks. I owe you something big." She hesitated a bit before she grabbed up her bag and tapped two fingers to her forehead in salute, ducking out into the night.

Normally they can't. I have implanted some of the girls her with nodes, with their permission of course. The nodes in a sense are immature children of mine that you can think of in better terms as radio towers where I can add to the effective range of my abilities.

I am aware of where one is, and can project my powers through them. I can communicate at range with them and tell them what I need for instance and have them get it while using my powers to adjust things in their favor … otherwise they would have been caught quiet easily but yes, four years worth of time … now you understand why some of the girls are my relatives, I was not referring to the girls themselves though I suppose you can classify them more as tools until they awaken since they have no intelligence of their own until then.






He watched her fret for the better part of two hours and while Aegir wondered about the changing emotions that were filtering through her head he remained detached from it. He could always rummage back to this moment to see what she was thinking of but for the time being he did nothing of the sort.

When she mentioned that she was ready to strike out he perked up a bit, that would mean he would be heading out too if only to trip the alarm remotely to draw security out of the infirmary as discussed. It was the last thing that he could help her with, after that she was on her own …

He grinned in that odd way of his. I am quiet vain my dear. You will find that any memory you have of me can only be surpressed for so long before it comes back … they will not be lost though someone attempting to erase them will think they have succeeded. I worked that in at the labs. But, good luck and thank you for at least making the last day interesting.




When the alarm had been tripped the time to act was upon her. T minus one hour. The inhibitor was now offline for whatever good that would do. Two security personel left, there was probably another two inside though it was late so there was the pssibility that there were only 2 guards that just left ...

Juniper breathed shallowly in darkness, her eyes looking through narrow slats into the hallway in front of her. She could barely move, her shoulders pressed together as she'd jammed herself and she felt pressure against her hips. Her "cunning" hiding place had been a bit smaller than she'd first surmised . . . or she'd gotten a little bigger than she'd thought since the last time she'd pulled this stunt. Fortunately, the sound of hardnobbed boots clomping on the tile floor told her that the security guards were rushing towards her diversion, the squawk of a hand radio reassuring her as they bustled passed. Letting her breath out gently to give her a little more wiggle room, Juniper lifted the small latch and stepped out into the hallway, closing the stand-up locker quietly behind her.

As laid her hand against the slightly ajar door into the infirmary, the guards having been in too much of a rush to worry about propriety as they'd gone to investigate. As she stepped in, she checked the digital read-out on her wrist . . . everything was on schedule so far, she'd set everything up as soon as she'd arrived and then gotten herself out of sight. Now she just had to make her way to the closet and access the secret elevator, making the trip down to the hidden office and stepping out before her countdown trapped her in the elevator shaft. That would've been awkward to explain.

She blinked a bit as she looked around the receiving area to the Infirmary. Everything was exactly the way it had been when she'd stepped in here before. She wasn't surprised to learn that they'd put a new door up in a hurry, but she was looking at exactly the same hardwood desk she'd seen before. At least the paperwork seemed different, check-up papers for some of the girls who wouldn't have been available tomorrow for one reason or another. She brushed passed the clerical area with little more than a tsk of annoyance . . . this place was surreal. It was almost dream-like how completely they could cover up such violence.

She made her way up to the closet, closing her eyes and taking another quick breath as she set her hand on the doorknob. She twisted it to the right, feeling a mechanical latch pop into place, and then hopped back as the door swung out automatically. Though the door was a bit narrow, she recognized the broad elevator car as the one she'd seen down in the labs that had deposited the security detail in front of her. At least it was empty this time, she stepped inside as the door automatically swung close behind her, insuring that carelessness would not spoil the closet's illusion. She pressed her thumb to the center button and shook out her hands, trying to keep loose.

She reached into the collar of her shirt and pulled the cross out so that it could sit boldly atop her chest, hoping that it would make Rena less willing to make a grab for her. Then, she grabbed the lips of two of the vials on her belt between her fingers and slid them free, tucking them into her palms. She was going to milk her unannounced arrival for all the damage she could manage. She waited as the elevator plunged down into the cold earth, idly thinking that elevator music somehow lacked sufficient poignancy for the moment.

Everything was in place as she moved into the elevator. It was similar to the one she saw before, not the same elevator that she had seen before as it descended downward into the room beneath. There was only one button on this elevator which would bring her down to the research and development room. There was two elevators their on opposite sides of the room she would soon find, this one going to the research area and infirmary as the other went down from the research area to the cloning facility that she had been in.

The trip down took more than half a minute, her fail safes ready to trip as the elevator door dinged announcing her arrival on this level as the doors opened.

Juniper was fact with a large room with one large central desk that had a few computer terminals on it to run various simulations. The two security guards that had been hear had been gone now and only the nurse remained her, Rena … she looked up from the computer screen wondering why the security had returned so soon but grinned at what she saw … Juniper. Here? Aegir had to have been behind this, the telepath was to experienced for this to occur.

She grinned and while there were a few scientists still in the cloning facility she did not seek to contact them as she felt confident that she could handle this one and deal with Aegir's treachery later …

“Physicals are still a few hours away, dearie, but in your case I will begin early.” And she rushed forward as the fail safes had not yet kicked in for some unknown reason. Someone must have actively thwarted her attempts to activate it remotely.

Juniper's heart froze in her chest for a second when her eyes lighted upon Rena's amber gaze. She couldn't help herself, monsters were like so many things in life, your first one was special. Everything that Shokushu represented, the lies, the perversion, the desperate struggle, for Juniper it was all poured into a tight nurse's uniform with sheer white stockings. This was her one chance to start her life at university on the right foot, not as another of countless victims, but as a fighter, a survivor. As Rena stood up from the desk, Juniper cocked her arm back and threw her first two vials, aiming for her chest but hoping she might get a lucky splash to the face as she took her own first steps forward, silent compared to the harsh "clicking" of Rena's heels.

"Actually, I thought maybe this time I'd play doctor on you." she wasn't running away this time, instead she was moving to meet her, hands already reaching for her next weapon, "You just made it seem so fun, after all."

Her dense body was quick, quick and strong. She had a good head on her shoulders too though she was not as gifted as some of the others she was gifted enough in that realm when it came to medicine and doping things out and that was what she was doing with the Aegir regent after all in relations to it's effects with the clones.

However, she was a hot head and over confident to boot so that at least work in Juniper's favor. She twisted out of the path of the first flask that went sailing and shattered harmlessly behind her though that brought her into the path of the second and she tried to bat that one away seeing that she could not evade it. The flask shattered on contact with her hand though and Rena howled as her hand became saturated with the holy water. She had assumed holy water … the pain causing her to drop her illusion so that she was that same red slimy humanoid with brilliant yellow eyes.

She sneered. “BITCH! You want to play doctor?”

There was steam sizzling off her hand as she rushed forward without hesitation intent on closing that gap before she could toss many more of those things.

"Yeah, I thought I'd start by testing your reflexes--" she retorted, leaning forward a bit as she broke into a run of her own, knowing she wouldn't be able to launch another volley before Rena closed the distance. Instead, her fingers were closing around the black hilt of the silver blade Aegir had stolen for her benefit. The curse was gratifying, it gave Juniper a surge of hope, it meant that she'd hurt the bitch. The flash of long claws on her sizzling hand was enough to remind Juniper not to get too elated just yet though.

This moment had been what all that image training in the grotto had been for. Juniper was quick, she knew how to move. She knew that Rena's reflexes were every bit the equal of her own, probably even superior now that she wasn't doped up, but she lacked a predator's killer instinct. She was a scientist, a tormentor, used to her targets offering themselves up while she lurked behind her authority and camouflage. Sure, she was enraged, she was used to things being easy, the Inhibitors made that a given.

There was a quick flash under the fluorescent lights as Juniper brought the knife out of it's sheathe into a quick slashing arch, bobbing her body to one side and taking a step to try and spin out of Rena's strike as she slashed the blade along the inside of her forearm. Juniper had spent the last two hours mentally preparing herself for this match-up, imagining all the ways she would use her power and her claws against her. She had a game plan and counters set up in her mind to execute as she recognized a movement. Her opponent, however, while spurred on by pain and anger, had never considered Juniper a threat, confident in her physical supremacy.

Overconfident? Time would tell.

"Now I'm going to check your vitals." Juniper said with a mean look in her eyes.

They were at close range now and while that dagger came out and slashed Rena had not tried to evade it. She had not caught the glint of silver that coated the blade. There was a reason why weapons were confiscated for even with the inhibitors they could still be deadly. The skill of the weilder had been reduced not the effectiveness of the weapon though Rena wasn't expecting silver but an ordinary dagger to which she would have been immune.

As it was her arm jerks back on reflex alone as a wicked jut slashed against the inside of her arm. It burns greater than the holy water still dampening her hand though the slime on her flesh melts some of the dagger corroding it like an acid.

Rena takes a step back, grimmacing pain and reevaluating her approach. She glares at Juni, then sneers. She was going to enjoy strapping this one down to her examination table. She does not understand why Juni is so fast matching her reflexes.

She keeps back as a yellowish blood and slime seep down her arm as a sphere of flame springs up in her undamaged right hand. She lobes it at the student instead of pressing forward. “You will find that everything is in order, my dear.”

Juniper's eyes opened wide reflecting the light of the ball of fire that had just materialized in the monster's outstretched hand. The files hadn't said anything about that! Was it just an assumed facet of demons, or was Rena keeping secrets? Either way, it meant that Juniper's idea of Rena's abilities were not quite as complete as she would've liked.

Speculation was thrown out of her mind as the demon lobbed the fiery globe at the student, a bit of panic settling in. Juniper took a step back before falling to the floor, the sizzling orb missing her chest by bare inches as she tucked into a ball and rolled backwards. A third vial of holy water had cleared her belt, and Juniper broke the seal with the back edge of the knife before plugging it with her thumb.

"Are you certain? No new burning sensations you'd like to discuss?" she asked, flicking her wrist to empty the vial at the other woman with a spray of burning droplets. She'd registered the change in the blade, of course, like any purifier it seemed that silver had a limit before it was corrupted in turn. That was unfortunate . . . the file hadn't intimated that Rena might have any regenerative powers either, so Juniper had hoped to bleed her out a bit, keep her moving as she slowed down and became increasingly woozy from blood loss before the student tried to close fo the kill.

If this devolved into a ranged fight, however, Juniper was going to have problems. She only had nine vials left, after all, and who knew how long Rena could lob hellfire? She supposed she was lucky that she wasn't laying down a suppressive stream of the stuff, at least she could dodge spheres.

The hell fire was standard for her species, so much so that it wasn't even listed no in the basic file anyway. Had she gotten better access codes she might have had access to someone that had all the 411 on her … well, not all …

She could only do spheres at the largest unfortunately. Juni dodged the first though she could keep this up indefinately that over confident was swarming in. She was just a student, a well prepared student but a student nevertheless.

Still she had been injured, her regenerative powers so slight that they could barely be considered regenerative properties. Furthermore, if she were killed she ceased to regenerate.

Time to end this though, time to reveal something else that she could do that wasn't in the basic file.

She vanished, transporting herself to a spot behind Juniper, trying to wrap her up with that single good arm while her other crept to her crotch giving a little rub as her index finger pulled back and ignited.

“Funny, I should ask you the same thing dearie.” She cackled as if in triumph, her grip quite firm and powerful.