"I hate this."
Sadie made her way slowly through the corridors of Misfits Music's
upper levels, pausing at each open doorway to check for company. The
shock
she had encountered in the basement of the Starlight Mansion had put
all
of her nerves on edge, and she had no way of knowing where Cynthia
was...if
she was even in the building.
"I have to take the chance that she might be, though." She murmured
under her breath, as she approached the main offices. "I have to get to
the bottom of this. And Aaron - I have to find Aaron. He's the only one
who even half understands how she works, aside from Sylva's aunt - and
I have no idea how to explain this to a friend, let alone a virtual
stranger."
"Sadie!"
As she reached the end of the hallway, a voice made her jump and she
swung around, taking a deep breath as she registered the music
company's
chief executive. Jetta shot her a strange look.
"Are you okay, kid? You look wound up."
"I...I'm fine." Sadie struggled to get a grip on herself, offering
a smile. Inside her, wisps of paranoia tugged away at her mind, and she
found herself checking her superior over for signs of holographic
projection.
Jetta frowned at the sudden scrutiny.
"Are you sure you're all right?" She demanded. "You look like you're
on another bleedin' planet."
Sadie met Jetta's grey eyes and something in them reassured her. She
blushed.
"I'm sorry. I've been jumpy all day." She admitted. "I...I had a funny
dream last night and it's left me a bit weirded out."
She smiled sheepishly. "Do you know if Aaron is around?"
"Aaron?" Jetta shot Sadie another odd look, then shrugged. "Sure, love.
He's in my office, settin' up me new printer. Though I didn't think the
technology side o' things was your department."
"It isn't. I wanted to discuss something else with him." Sadie
responded
vaguely. "In your office? Thanks."
"Welcome." Jetta pursed her lips, then, "An' get a grip on yourself,
huh? Walkin' round Misfits Music as if you expect to be mugged ain't
gonna
get you anywhere."
Sadie blushed again.
"I'll try." She promised. Then, before the executive could ask any
more searching questions she was gone along the corridor, pulling open
the door of Jetta's office and slipping inside.
"Hi, Sadie." Aaron emerged from behind the desk, a length of cable
in his hand. "What brings you up here?"
"I need to talk to you." Sadie crossed the floor, grabbing Aaron by
the wrists. "Look at me for a moment, will you?"
"Er...sure." Non-plussed, Aaron did as he was bidden, and Sadie met
his gaze with a searching one. At length she sighed.
"Okay. You're definitely Aaron." She said.
"And who were you expecting?" Aaron looked confused. "Superman?"
"No." Sadie shook her head. She looked awkward. "I'm sorry, I know
it seems freakish. I just...I need to talk to you, and I had to make
sure
you were you before I could."
"Sadie..." Aaron faltered, then, "I hate to ask this, but are you
feeling
quite, er...yourself?"
"I'm fine. Just rattled." Sadie assured him. "Aaron, listen. Is Cynthia
here?"
"Yes." Aaron nodded. "She was in here just a minute ago, but Aunt Phyl
called her to fix something in the studio."
"Has she been with you all the time?"
"Sadie, I'm not her minder." Aaron frowned. "And it only takes one
tech to install a printer. She poked her head around the door five
minutes
ago, but I think she's spent most of the morning downstairs, rewiring
the
network while Jemima's on leave."
"So you can't tell me what she's been doing?"
"I thought I just did." Aaron looked bemused. "Didn't I?"
"No." Sadie bit her lip. "I know I sound crazy, but it'll all make
sense in a minute. I think there's something terribly wrong with..."
She faltered, then lowered her voice.
"With Synergy."
"Wrong?" Aaron was startled. "In what way?"
"You haven't noticed anything strange?"
"She's been tired a lot." Aaron responded. "But that's about it. What
do you mean, something's wrong with her?"
"I hate to break confidences, and I'm gonna be breaking them all round
here." Sadie looked troubled. "But I think I have to. You're close to
the
two people in question, so hopefully they'll understand."
"Instead of babbling to yourself, Sade, could you just explain what's
going on?" Aaron set down his cables, taking a seat.
"It kinda began when Steffi came to Flash Studio the other night."
Sadie told him. "She told me that Syl had gone for her in a restaurant
downtown, in front of Darren McMillan and Marissa. I told her it was
crazy,
because Syl had been with us all day, but she told me she knew it
wasn't
Syl. She said it was Cynthia."
"Cynthia?" Aaron stared. "What made her think that?"
"She said that the girl was wearing Cynthia's watch, and when she
stared
at her, she could see something not real in her eyes." Sadie responded.
"I didn't believe her...or at least, I did, but I thought there was
some
other explanation. We know crazy things have been happening around
here,
after all."
"They sure have." Aaron grimaced. "Just this morning someone cut the
main feed to the lights on the bottom floor."
"Well, I asked Cynthia about where she was...that Stef thought she'd
seen her." Sadie twisted her hands together. "I didn't mention exactly
why, but Cyn said she didn't remember seeing Stef. She asked me to come
to the Drive Through with her. Aaron, she told me she'd been having
lapses
in her memory...and that she'd ended up at the Drive Through the other
day without remembering how she got there."
"She's said nothing to me." Aaron's brows knitted together. "Are you
sure?"
"Yes. She didn't want me to tell you, because she didn't want you
fussing
over her." Sadie bit her lip. "She said she'd been responsible for
wrecking
Jerrica's marriage and she wasn't going to be the reason for tension in
another - with asking you to constantly spend time fixing her instead
of
at home with Copper. I told her you shared her secret so it was
different,
but she didn't seem to think so."
"So what? You think that someone is somehow controlling Cynthia's
projector
and making her do odd things? Or that someone is framing her?"
"I thought about both of those." Sadie responded. "And it gets worse,
Aaron. I mean, someone accosted me by my car just this morning. They
looked
and sounded like Stefana, but I knew it wasn't really her. There was
something
odd...just like Stef had said. Something in the eyes. It wasn't like
she
was real. So I went home to consult Cynthia. But the watch was gone and
her mainframe was unresponsive. It had a picture on the screen and the
initials JB all over the place."
"This is sounding more and more like some kind of sci-fi movie." Aaron
frowned. "I think you lost me. If Cynthia was here, at work, her watch
would also have been here. So that's no big mystery."
"But you don't know for sure she was here, and not somewhere else."
Sadie pressed. "Plus, how do you explain the mainframe? I don't know
who
the people were in the photo, or what the significance is of JB...but I
know it keeps coming up. The girl at the club who was so hostile to us
- she had it on her hat. The Stefana I spoke to this morning...she was
wearing a bracelet with the same initials. It's like some kind of
digital
stamping. Like an identity mark."
Aaron rubbed his temples.
"And you're certain that it's Cynthia doing this, and not some outside
influence?" He asked at length.
"As certain as I can be without knowing how any of it works." Sadie
nodded. "I'm scared, Aaron, but most of all I'm scared for her. I don't
know if she was lying to me about her memory loss, or whether this
really
is all happening without her knowledge. But either way, something
is...and
it's serious. More, Stefana is scared out of her senses and I can
understand
why. The hologram that spoke to me this morning tried to get me off the
case by telling me that Stef had lied under the influence of drugs."
Aaron was silent for a moment.
"There's something I don't understand, though." He said at length.
"You said something about her eyes looking unreal. And Stef said the
same
about the Syl at the restaurant - yes?"
"Yes."
"Cynthia's holograms are perfect." Aaron responded. "You can't look
into her eyes and see pixels."
"But Cynthia's projections haven't been so perfect recently." Sadie
remembered. "She's been tired, we know that. And she did mention
something
about her projector maybe needing an overhaul."
Aaron's expression became grim.
"I don't like this." He admitted. "All of what you've told me...if
you're right, Sadie, it's not good. Beyond not good."
Before Sadie could respond, the office door opened to reveal the
hologram
herself. She cast the occupants a grin, dropping her screwdriver down
on
the desk.
"All finished." She announced. "No more glitches."
Sadie and Aaron exchanged glances, and Cynthia frowned, pushing the
door shut behind her with a click.
"Is something amiss?" She asked softly. "You both seem upset."
"Cyn, I'm sorry." Sadie murmured. "But I told Aaron about our trip
to the Drive Through. And...and why we went."
Confusion flickered in Cynthia's gaze.
"I don't understand." She said. "I thought...it was supposed to be
in confidence."
"And it would've been." Sadie nodded. "But Cyn, that was before
something
happened this morning. And Aaron is the only one I knew to come speak
to.
I'm worried. I think we both are."
"This morning?" A stricken look crossed Cynthia's face, but she quickly
quelled it. "What about this morning?"
"Were you fixing Jemima's computer system all this time?"
"Yes." Cynthia frowned, but there was something in her expression that
gave away the fact she did not entirely believe what she was saying.
"Except
when I came to speak to you, Aaron, and then went to help Phyllis.
Why?"
"You didn't come see me?" Sadie pressed. "At Alex's apartment?"
"Why would I do that?"
"I think it's fair to say you weren't yourself at the time, Cyn." Aaron
sighed. "You should have told me you were having amnesic episodes."
"I only told Sadie because I thought I could trust her." Cynthia
responded,
directing a hurt look at her blond friend. Sadie got to her feet,
crossing
the room and taking Cynthia by the hands. Carefully she looked deep
into
the hologram's violet eyes, a frown touching her lips.
"Pixels." She murmured.
"Pixels?" Cynthia stared, pulling her hands away. "I beg your pardon?"
"Cyn, Sadie says there have been a number of incidents recently where
a hologram has been impersonating people." Aaron said slowly.
"Specifically
Sylva at the restaurant the other day, and Stefana this morning. We
need
to know what's going on."
"And you think I would do such things?" Cynthia's indignation flared
into hurt anger at this. "What could I possibly have to gain by
pretending
to be people I am not? I would jeopardise my safety, my secret and the
friendship of people around me. Why would I conduct myself in such a
fool-hardy
manner?"
"We don't know." Sadie shook her head. "But I'm pretty sure you are
doing them, Cynnie."
"Well, and it is good to know what my friends really think of me."
Cynthia sounded bitter. "They claim to trust me, but the moment that
something
involving holograms happens, it must be down to me."
"This time it is." Sadie said gently. "Cyn, this morning I came back
home to speak to you...I thought it was someone else doing these
things.
But it's not. When I got home, Synergy was unresponsive. The screen had
this, like, big picture of a woman and a little girl in the middle. And
the initials JB were all over the place. The hologram this morning and
the girl in the club - they both had JB somewhere on them, too. And I
think
the girl in the club was also a hologram."
Cynthia stared at her friend in stricken silence for a moment.
"I can't remember." She whispered.
"Noone is saying you're doing it on purpose, Cyn." Aaron hurried to
reassure her. "Someone from outside could have hacked into your
mainframe.
Or, alternatively..." He trailed off, then, "Perhaps it's worth
considering
the possibility that you've got some kind of program error in your
registry.
That somehow certain programs are firing without you consciously
loading
them up."
"You mean, I've become schizophrenic?" Cynthia demanded. Aaron spread
his hands.
"I'm just looking for ways to explain what Sadie's told me." He
responded.
"I really don't know. But I do want to help put it right - whatever it
is. So if you do know anything that you haven't told us, you probably
should
start sharing. I'm serious, Cyn. If all of this is as bad as I think it
is, it could have serious repercussions for a lot of things. Not just
your
secret, but your other duties."
Cynthia's eyes became big.
"Like looking after Hollie?" She deduced. Aaron nodded.
"That was one of them, yes." He agreed.
"Do the initials mean anything to you, Cyn?" Sadie asked. Cynthia sank
down onto a chair, burying her head in her hands.
"Jerrica was Jerrica Benton before she married. That would be J.B."
She said softly. "But I do not think this is about Jerrica."
"You do know something!" Aaron exclaimed. Cynthia shook her head.
"No, I wish that I did." She replied. "At least, I can make no sense
of what you are telling me. But..."
She faltered.
"But what?" Sadie came to sit beside her, putting a gentle arm around
her friend's shoulders. "Cyn, we want to help. Whatever it is...tell
us."
"I admit I do not feel well." Cynthia raised a sad pair of violet eyes
to her friends'. "I have suffered memory blackouts, and I have had
episodes
where masses of disjointed and fragmented data have surged through my
sensors,
paralysing any other programs from running. I am also so tired these
days,
and my projectors do feel worn. I have encountered photographs on my
mainframe
monitor before, without calling them up consciously. The pictures are
always
the same - they relate to Jerrica's childhood, and are often of her,
Kimber,
Aja and Shana as small girls."
"Why didn't you tell me!" Aaron demanded. "Hell, we could have looked
into this already! How long has this been going on?"
"Long enough." Cynthia sighed. "Oh, I will be truthful. The memory
black-outs have become progressively more intrusive, but I have not
felt
myself in some months. Not since..."
She swallowed hard, then,
"Not since I buried my sister."
Aaron cursed.
"That was months ago, Cyn."
"I know." Cynthia sighed. "The truth is, I don't know what damage my
rogue emotions might have done to me then. You must remember that my
reason
for being was to protect Jerrica. Now she is dead, I suppose there is a
gap in my programming. I am not quite sure what drives me, exactly. And
the emotions I had after Jerrica passed on were strong. They made me
unpredictable.
Even dangerous. I did my best to re-route them. Perhaps I failed."
"Programmed to protect Jerrica..." Aaron's eyes widened. "Cyn, who
was that program based on?"
"Jacqui Benton...you know that. Why?"
"Jacqui Benton. JB." Sadie breathed. "Aaron, do you think that's it?"
"I think it's something to do with it." Aaron nodded. "Copper and Syl
both mentioned you seeing Jacqui's 'ghost', Cyn. Maybe it wasn't
someone
else's inferior projection, but a leak from your own. Producing Cynthia
takes up most all of your projection capacity, and you never
consciously
push it beyond what you know it can take. But subconsciously? It's more
than possible. And it would explain why it was you who encountered
her."
At this, holographic tears began to slide down Cynthia's cheeks.
"What is happening to me?" She whispered. "Aaron, I don't even know
myself. I am scared to shut off Cynthia, because I do not know where I
might find myself when I once more boot her up. Areas of my memory are
scrambled or irretrievable. And now my friends accuse me of things and
I am unable to say for certain that I did not do them, because I do not
remember!"
"If we follow the theory that these things happen when you haven't
got conscious control of Cynthia, then it might explain too why you
feel
so tired." Aaron continued softly. "If you're not actually shutting
down...maybe
your circuits are suffering from overuse. That might be making things
worse."
He got to his feet.
"Either way, I suggest that we make our way to the Starlight and do
some investigation." He added. "I'm done here, anyhow, and if Aunt Phyl
doesn't like it, she can lump it for once. This is important."
"If there is trouble, I will take the blame." Cynthia promised, her
eyes still tearful. "I know I should have told you, but I was afraid of
myself. I have done things that I would never have done before Jerrica
died...and I have perfect memory of those things. It would have
destroyed
me to have you all draw away from me when I needed you so badly...and I
did not want to put myself between you and Copper. I hoped it would
settle."
"What do you mean, you did things you would never have done?" Sadie
linked a supportive arm in her friend's, as they made their way slowly
out of the office towards the stairwell.
Cynthia bit her lip.
"If I told you, Topaz would never let me near Hollie again." She
whispered.
"As it stands, Cyn, if we don't fix this bug in your system, I will
tell her myself that it's not a good idea asking you to babysit." Aaron
said bluntly. "I'm cross that you didn't talk to me about something
that's
obviously going to have repercussions for other people. What if you'd
had
a memory lapse around Hollie?"
At this, Cynthia's tears began to fall once more, and Sadie hugged
her.
"Aaron, Cyn is scared." She said quietly. "And you know now. So you
can go in and fix it. Right?"
"Maybe." Aaron pursed his lips. "I don't know exactly what we're
dealing
with, but it sounds to me like Aja's rebooting her after Jerrica died
was
more desperate than we realised. I should have seen there'd be
problems.
When she first booted up, she looked like Synergy used to look, not
like
she did when I first rebuilt her. She'd regained some connection with
her
old core program and by increasing her geographical range we tapped
into
yet more of that old circuitry. That's asking for trouble."
"But she was programmed to take care of Emmet's kids, Aaron. How can
that be a bad thing?" Sadie looked confused.
"Emmet's program was fine." Aaron agreed. "But you didn't see the state
she was in when I first found her. Her core program was badly warped. I
had to reroute a lot of things and only a small section of it was safe
to bring back online. I'm wondering if all this tampering we've done
has
brought more of the damaged program back into operation."
"Jacqui Benton." Cynthia murmured. "Before I realigned my emotions,
I had dangerous impulses. They linked to Jerrica and to her death. Are
you saying that whatever it is operating inside of me...it's really my
original program trying to patch up it's commands?"
"Yes, something like that." Aaron said grimly. "But it was pretty
messed
up, Cyn. Putting all of those things together, you probably get a
highly
dangerous, and possibly obsessive computer program. Possibly one
deranged
enough to carry out individual acts of revenge."
Cynthia blanched.
"Perhaps you are right." She admitted.
"Meaning?" Sadie cast her friend a glance.
Cynthia bit her lip.
"After Jerrica died, I confronted Rio and blamed him for her death."
She murmured. "And I would have killed him, had Rose not disturbed us.
She brought me back to myself, but for a moment all I wanted was to
throw
him from the top storey window and let him die for what he'd done."
"Cynthia!" Sadie's eyes became huge, and Aaron shook his head slowly.
"I wish you'd told me." He repeated.
"Don't you see why I did not?"
"I do, but if this has been going on this long..." Aaron paused, then,
"And you can't remember everything that happened, either. Maybe you
didn't
re-route your emotions. Maybe you just numbed yourself to the times
they're
in control. If you could have killed Rio in a rage, you could have hurt
any number of people without remembering it. We need to get to the
bottom
of this and we need to do it now. Who knows what you might do next?"
JACQUI'S LEGACY: PART
TWO
DISCLAIMER:
PLEASE NOTE
The copyright for the original Jem characters
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interpretations
to Christy Marx and the other writers of the Sunbow Jem series. Their
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All other characters, including their
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from 2001 to the
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The Teenangel Outsiders, Jesta, Flame, Ryan
Montgomery
and the future interpretations of Aja, Danse and certain of the other
original
characters are all or in part the concept of Gemma Dawn whose teenangel
outsider
fiction world is twinned with Jewel's World. You can visit her site at
www.teenangeloutsiders.com!
All events in the stories on this site are
based
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