"Aaron!"
A shriek came from the top of the basement steps and, distracted, the
holographic apparition turned her head, hesitating at the interruption.
Aaron, who had screwed his eyes up in apprehension and fear, opened
them,
seeing his wife watching them, horror on her pretty face. "Synergy!
What...?"
"Copper, get out of here!" Aaron found his voice. "Get out! She's
dangerous
- she'll only hurt you too! Get out!"
"Like hell am I going to turn around and walk out of here, when she's
got her lasers pinned on you!" Copper exclaimed. "Synergy, stop this!
This
is crazy and you know that it's not what you want to do. You're sick,
and
you need help. Aaron is the only one who can help you, and you know
it!"
The tall, fair apparition drifted slowly across the basement, pausing
inches from where Copper now stood as she took in the girl's indignant
features. Gently, she reached a hand out, touching the drummer on the
cheek.
Copper flinched back at the coolness of the touch.
"Aaron meddles far too much in things which don't concern him."
Jacqui's
voice was reluctant. "I don't have a choice. He'd stop me before I'd
even
begun."
"So what? You're going to kill him?" Copper demanded. "And me too,
now, because I've tried to stop you? Synergy wouldn't do that! Whatever
you think you are, you're an aberration. Synergy would never hurt a
human
being. And if you do, you'll be shut down. You know it as well as I do.
If you touch Aaron, you'll find yourself scrap metal...Cynthia or no
Cynthia."
"Cynthia has no say in this." Jacqui said comfortably. "I'm merely
carrying out the last traces of Emmet's program, that's all."
She pursed her lips, then shook her head.
"I will not hurt you." She added. "You are Raya's daughter. Raya was
good to Jerrica. I will not punish her."
"If you kill Aaron, you'll punish her by punishing me." Copper stood
her ground. "He's my husband, and what hurts me is obviously going to
hurt
my mother! Aaron saved your life in the first instance. Mama was proud
and happy that you were safe and well and in good hands. It would break
her heart if she knew that you'd been responsible for something like
this!
She's spent enough years a widow - would you do it to me too?"
Despite herself, Jacqui hesitated at the passion in Copper's voice.
She looked stricken, and momentarily the insanity faded from her blue
eyes.
Copper, spying her advantage, took the hologram by the hand.
"You're Jacqui Benton no longer." She murmured. "Jerrica left you to
fend for yourself. Jewel and Aaron have protected and nurtured you, you
know that. You're sick, that's all. We'll help you. Jerrica wouldn't
have
helped you. She wanted to have you taken away and studied. She called
the
FBI, because she was afraid of you. She knew that she'd hurt you worse
than anyone. That's why you're so confused as you are now, Synergy. You
don't remember all those years shut away and alone. But Jerrica made
her
choice to live on without you. We're the ones who care now. And Synergy
would never hurt her friends. I know it because I know her."
Jacqui's hologram flickered briefly, then the look in her eyes
hardened.
In the background, Copper was aware of Aaron inching carefully closer
to
the mainframe, and, catching her husband's urgent look, the drummer
said
an inward prayer for strength.
"Jerrica would not abandon me. Emmet trusted me to her."
"I know it hurts to be rejected." Copper forced herself to remain calm,
squeezing the hand she still held. "And it's worse to be alone. This
you
is always going to be alone, don't you realise that? Jerrica isn't
going
to come back, whatever you do. She's not a computer. She can't be
reprogrammed.
All you'll do is cause grief and heartache to the sister left behind -
do you want Kimber to think that her father's pet project has become a
dangerous killer? Hasn't she had enough grief already?"
"Cynthia has broken her programming. She is rogue and deserves
elimination."
"Cynthia helps Kimber with the little girls who have noone else,
whenever
she has a free moment to do it." Copper shook her head slowly. "She
helps
Topaz, too, raising her own daughter. Who is going to tell Hollie that
Cynthia can never play with her again, because of what she's done? Do
you
want to make children cry? I understood that Jacqui Benton loved
children,
and began the Starlight Foundation because she knew what it was like to
be alone and passed around from place to place."
She paused, meeting the confused blue eyes with gentle brown ones.
"Maybe you've been worrying over the wrong Benton sister." She added.
"Maybe it's Kimber who really needed Synergy, after all."
At that moment, Aaron reached the section of mainframe he was looking
for and, very carefully, he began to pry the relevant cables loose.
Jacqui
seemed to realise at the last minute what the technician was doing, but
before she could do anything about it, her hologram exploded into
light,
and the whirr of the lasers faded to a dull hum. Aaron dropped back
against
the computer, closing his eyes, and Copper hurried down to his side.
"Did she hurt you?" She demanded anxiously. Aaron shook his head.
"No, but this is way worse than we thought." He replied, opening his
eyes to meet his wife's frightened brown ones. "Copper, don't look like
that. I'm all right."
"Would she really have...?" Copper left the end of the sentence
hanging.
Aaron nodded his head.
"I think so." He agreed grimly. "Cynthia would never hurt me, Copper.
But she's not Cynthia all the time at the moment, and Jacqui is
definitely
unstable. Your timing was perfect. Ten seconds later and I'd have been
a crisp."
"Sadie made brownies." Copper hugged her husband tightly. "I came to
ask you if you wanted some energy food. I'm glad I did, though when I
first
saw what was going on I wasn't sure I even believed it."
She frowned.
"How can you work on a machine that wants to become homicidal at the
least thing?"
"Well, I've unplugged her lasers from the wall, and I disconnected
her main projector." Aaron said with a sigh. "My next job is to disable
her watch, so she can't boot up any holograms at all. It's a shame,
because
I really need her help. But if it's the only way, I'm going to have to
resort to old fashioned experimentation and circuit breakers to cut
power
to relevant areas. The first thing I will do, though, is replace the
wires
Cyn herself changed. It seemed to kickstart the change and before that
she said she felt she had full control. Hopefully if I put them back
how
they were, it'll calm the machine down."
"She's still in there and she can still hear us." Copper said softly.
Aaron nodded.
"Cynthia and Jacqui both." He agreed. "I just have to make sure I can
eradicate the right one, Copper. It's going to be more luck than
judgement
without her helping me. But I'll do it, if it takes me till Christmas.
Now I've seen what Jacqui's about, I understand why Cyn's been so
scared.
This is an entirely independant personality, and she's strong, not to
mention
deranged. The sooner we stop her, the better."
"And if we can't?"
"Then we stop Synergy entirely." Aaron replied. He got to his feet,
pulling his wife up with him and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you again for saving my life." He added. "I've never, ever been
so glad to see you and that's saying something."
"Will you tell the others?"
"I think not." Aaron shook her head. "Not that she actually tried to
kill me. If we've deactivated her projectors, she can't do any more
harm.
And..." He scooped the watch up off the unit, prying open the back and
dislodging a chip, setting it down on the other end of the mainframe.
"There.
Now she has no functioning projection units. She's entirely trapped
within
the computer, and with no lasers attached, she's not dangerous. So long
as I'm careful when I'm cutting power, I'll be fine."
He bent down, replacing the wires Cynthia had moved, then pushing the
panel back loosely in place.
"I'll come back, but now I need a coffee and some chocolate brownie."
He added. "I'm shaking inside, Copper. That was a close one."
"I'm shaking too." Copper admitted.
"But you reasoned with her." Aaron remembered, as they made their way
slowly up the stone steps. "You're Raya's daughter, Copper, and it
proves
she has a weakness. She's full of bitterness and revenge, but she's not
taking anything out on the other holograms. She wouldn't hurt you
because
of who you were - whereas I'm just Misfit spawn, and therefore fair
game.
That's worth remembering. It might mean that there's something
salvageable
in Jacqui after all."
"Honestly, I'd rather you deleted the whole persona." Copper shivered,
reaching out to pull open the basement door. "Just in case."
"True, but I want to make Cynthia as complete a program as possible,
and I think Jacqui's stolen things from her." Aaron replied. "Jacqui
said
she had a perfect memory, whereas Cynthia doesn't. That's something I
need
to restore - Cynthia needs her memory back."
"I suppose so." Copper acknowledged. "Just so long as you get rid of
the rampant insanity. It made me realise exactly how dangerous this
machine
really could be, if she chose to be!"
* * * * * * * * *
"Techrat?"
Ingrid knocked carefully on the battered old door, a look of impatience
crossing her face as she glanced at her watch. "Techrat, you said
eleven.
It is eleven! Where are you!"
"You always are so impatient."
The rasping voice came from behind her and she started, swinging around
to face him. In the more distinct light of the passageway, he seemed
more
diminuitive than ever, with his thin, sallow features and shock of
greying
black hair falling carelessly over his eyes. Suspicion darted across
his
face as he realised his visitor was not alone, and his eyes narrowed to
near slits as he recognised Stefana.
"Why are they here?" He demanded. "Her in particular? She has no love
of machines!"
"I'm here because I'm smart enough to keep a finger in the pie."
Stefana
snapped. "So you pipe down. Sophie and Ingrid have included me in their
plans for Rory, and they say you've built a copycat Synergy. Is it
true?
Or are you just spouting hot air?"
"I am a genius!" Techrat was insulted, and he drew himself indignantly
up to his full height. "The machine is built."
"Techrat, Sophie and Stefana won't repeat where we've come today."
Ingrid said softly. "Sophie is curious also to see what you have
built."
"I have heard a great deal about your work, my friend." Sophie added.
"Will you permit us entrance to see your creation?"
Techrat hesitated for a moment, then pushed at the door till it opened,
leading the way inside. Once in, he turned, beckoning.
"Follow me." He said coolly. "But there are to be no more visits. The
machine will be moved, away from here where it can better be hidden.
And
it's enough that this German wench insists on paying me visits as often
as she does, without her inviting all her friends along."
He fixed Stefana with a dark look.
"I don't trust you." He said flatly. "Don't touch anything!"
"Like I want to touch a thing in this hell hole!" Stefana shot back.
"If this is where you live, you really need to get a housekeeper. Or a
decorator. Or both. Sheesh. Do you have any room that's not an advert
for
Electronics Weekly?"
Techrat ignored her, merely crossing the dishevilled apartment to where
a large rough blanket had been carefully draped over a bulky
contraption.
With gentle, loving hands he drew the blanket back, revealing a
glinting
black and silver machine, shiny and new in all it's glory.
"Behold." He said, a note of smug pride in his voice.
"That's a Synergy?" Stefana raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't look like
one to me."
"Synergy is an old and outmoded computer." Techrat told her
witheringly.
"My machine has no such limitations. I have built it with the newest
and
best componants available, and consequently it should far surpass the
efficiency
of the original. I have ironed out the many flaws in Benton's
programming."
"And it will work?" Sophie's dark eyes lit up with curiosity. "It can
really project holograms as real as you or I?"
"Of course it can." Techrat shuffled over to the machine, reaching
over and flicking a few dials. The monitor flared into life and, at the
back two large projectors began to glitter into life, shards of blue
and
white light merging slowly together to form the figure of a human
being.
As the woman took form before them, Ingrid let out a little gasp.
"She does still look like me!" She said accusingly. "People will think
she's me!"
"I don't know." Sophie looked thoughtful. "I don't think she looks
too much like you, cherie. Maybe a vague resemblance - no more."
She reached out a hand to touch the hologram, and then started back
as the image gripped her fingers, a slight smile touching her lips.
"As real as you or I." Sophie echoed her own words. " All Minx has
told me has been true. You truly are a genius."
"I guess she's okay." Stefana folded her arms, eying the hologram
critically.
"She's butt ugly, but I guess she can't help that."
"You watch your lip." Ingrid threatened. Stefana merely poked out her
tongue, though inwardly she was alarmed by the realistic nature of
Techrat's
hologram.
"I call her Athena." Techrat was speaking again, in his rough, rasping
voice. "Athena, say hello to Minx and her...associates."
"Hello, Minx. Hello, associates." Athena's voice was low and sweet,
without a trace of a European accent. She offered a pretty smile, and
Sophie
laughed.
"Hello, Athena." She said playfully. "I very much hope you are going
to help us carry out some important tasks. Do you think that will be
possible?"
"Will the Master permit such action?" Athena turned her vivid eyes
on her creator, who nodded his head.
"You will do as these ladies instruct you." He told her firmly. "So
long as you take every care to protect your identity while doing so.
And
remember, you are never to mention my name. Never. Do you understand?"
"I understand." Athena inclined her head slightly, and a slightly tinny
echo rang around her voice as she phrased her words. "I will do as
these
ladies instruct."
"If she's going to talk like something from Star Wars, noone is going
to believe she's real." Stefana grimaced. "Maybe she can impersonate
people's
looks, Techrat, but what about voices?"
"As usual, you underestimate my genius." Techrat regarded her coldly.
"Athena, show Stefana how well you can mimic."
"Yes, Master." Athena offered Stefana a smile, then smoothly blurred
her features into Stefana's own.
"Maybe she can impersonate people's looks, Techrat, but what about
voices?" She said, her voice imitating Stefana's own almost exactly.
Stefana
snorted.
"So she's a parrot? Great." She said derisively. "She'll be able to
tell Rory how great he is, but not much else. What's the use in that?"
"Master has programmed me to record samples of the people I speak
with."
Athena continued to speak in Stefana's distinctively brusque tones. "I
am then able to reproduce the voice in any number of tones, as I am
instructed.
Your voice has been recorded for future reference."
She smiled again, then returned her features to that of Athena.
"Marveilleuse." Sophie breathed. "To pick up something so simply, and
then rebound it back so quickly. It shouldn't be hard to bring her in
close
enough contact with Rory to get a sample of his voice. And once we've
done
that, of course, noone will ever know the hologram from the original.
This
will be easier than I anticipated."
"Can she project away from here, Techrat?" Ingrid turned quizzical
blue eyes on the small man, who nodded his head.
"Of course." he agreed, as if this was obvious. "Athena, show Minx
your remote projection unit."
Athena obediently scooped a delicate silver chain off the top of her
mainframe, holding it out.
"A necklace?" Ingrid asked, taking it and glancing at it. "The unit
must be pretty tiny to fit into that pendant!"
"It is nanotechnology at it's best. It took me all of last night to
piece it properly together, but now it is perfect." Techrat nodded.
"When
Stefana..." He paused, sending that girl a glare, "First showed me the
holographic projection Synergy could produce, the clumsiness of her
projector
was evident. Clunky and awkward, and far too obvious. It took me no
time
at all to realise how she was working, and infecting her with my virus
was an easy matter. It will be much harder for anyone to discover how
Athena
projects, with the delicacy of this chain."
"The virus that didn't work? Would that be the one?" Stefana asked
sweetly. Techrat bristled.
"It worked." He said darkly. "If there was any failure, it was not
with my programming. Besides, the computer is dying. It has taken
significantly
longer than I anticipated, it's true. But it is dying and it hasn't
long
left to run."
"Synergy's run time will terminate." Athena said softly, as if relating
one of the facts of the universe. "And then I will be the only one."
"Exactly." Techrat nodded approvingly. "Now, if you don't mind, I want
you to leave here. I need to make arrangements to move Athena somewhere
safer, and you are taking up my valuable time."
"I'm sure we can help you do it, Techrat." Sophie said thoughtfully.
"As part owner of Rebel Records, I have a lot of influence and I am
sure
I can assist. Will you trust me, as I am trusting you?"
Techrat fixed beady black eyes on the frenchwoman for a moment, as
if sizing her up.
At length, he nodded.
"You need me to operate the machine properly, and you are smart enough
to know it." He decided at length. "The sooner we get her somewhere
else
the better. The power drains on this place will soon become
suspicious."
"Then let us discuss it." Sophie linked an arm in the inventor's, and
he drew back.
"Don't touch me!" He hissed. Minx rolled her eyes.
"Techrat has issues." She said with a grimace, as they moved away from
the computer to talk. "Techrat, how powerful is Athena? How many
holograms
can she project at once?"
"At least two or three." Techrat said. "More, when she uses less vivid
and powerful emissions. I've ironed out the inhibitors that the
original
computer had. Her power cells are strong enough to support more than
one
solid hologram, and still run comfortably. I think she will be adequate
for your needs."
Not interested in the conversation, Stefana wandered away from the
group, heading back towards the computer as she ran her gaze over the
sleek
exterior.
"Master told you not to touch." Athena warned in her soft, gentle
tones.
Stefana started, then pulled a face.
"I don't want to touch." She said firmly. "I just wanted to look."
She grimaced again.
"You're a complete wet blanket of a computer, you know that?" She
added.
"Master this. Master that. Didn't he program you with a backbone?"
"I do not understand."
"No, I bet you don't." Stefana snorted. "Synergy might be a deranged
hunk of junk, but she at least has some independant thought. Do you
ever
do anything that Master doesn't program you to do?"
"I am programmed by Master to fulfil my commands."
"Blah blah blah." Stefana rolled her eyes. "Like I said. You're a wet
blanket of a computer."
Athena didn't respond for a moment, and Stefana turned her gaze to
the big flat screen monitor, pursing her lips.
"You have good quality graphics, though." She acknowledged. "Clay would
kill to have a graphics card like that in his stupid computer back
home."
"I do not know who Clay is."
"No, and you probably won't meet him, either." Stefana responded. "Not
unless he's around when you pull the switch on ol' Rory. You won't be
dealing
with Diablo at all. Just Mr Llewelyn. But I'm sure Techrat has told you
all about it already."
"Master has told me that I will impersonate a man named Rory Llewelyn,
yes." Athena agreed levelly. "He says I will do as Ingrid Krueger and
Sophie
Devereux instruct me and then my duty to them will be done. He says
that
then we will work together to do more things and build bigger and
better
electronics. I am the first step, he says. I am his prototype."
"For prototype, read slave." Stefana observed bluntly. "If you ask
me, computer, it's disturbed enough that he modelled you on Ingrid. I
always
got the impression he had some kind of thing for her, just from what
she's
said, but obviously he really has it bad. Do you have any idea what
it's
gonna be like being the animated slave of a weirdo like that? Sheesh. I
don't envy you one bit."
She grinned, tapping the hologram on the shoulder.
"And the worst part is, you're programmed so you haven't a clue what
I'm talking about." She added. "You'll just do as Master tells you
because
making Master happy makes you happy."
Athena hesitated for a moment. Then, very gently, she lifted Stefana's
hand from her shoulder, dropping it at her side.
"Master tells me a lot of things." She said softly. "He tells me that
you are not someone that can be trusted."
"No, I'm probably not." Stefana agreed. "But because my brain includes
spontenaity, Athena, you're going to find it hard to stay ahead of me."
"You are recorded in my database."
"Maybe I am. Synergy's impersonated me too. Noone's believed that she
was me, and they won't believe you are, either." Stefana told her
firmly.
"Because it takes me to be me, and impersonations just don't rate."
"I wonder, then, why you all wish me to impersonate Mr Llewelyn. Master
sees no purpose in it, but he says it was an agreement that must not be
broken."
"Then that's good enough for you, huh?"
"Perhaps." Athena nodded her head slightly.
She paused, then,
"You are known to my enemy?"
"Rory? Yeah, sure. He's a jerk-off. Why?"
"I did not mean Mr Llewelyn." Athena shook her head, and there was
a strange glint in her beautiful eyes that put Stefana suddenly on her
guard. She had seen that look before, in the eyes of a deranged and
angry
Synergy one night in the basement of Starlight Mansion, and she knew
only
too well that it meant nothing good.
"Then who did you mean?" She asked, confused.
"Synergy."
"Synergy? How is Synergy your enemy?" Stefana demanded. "Techrat says
she's gonna snuff it anyhow, if she hasn't already. What business is it
of yours?"
"Synergy is my enemy." Athena's processors whirred contemplatively.
"She has outlived her run-time and I must terminate her."
"Did Master tell you to do that, too?" Suddenly Stefana was alarmed.
Athena let out a peal of laughter.
"You humans are so predictable." She said, amused. "I do as Master
tells me so Master trusts me. Do you really think that I follow
anyone's
orders but my own, Stefana Ranieri? Master is not a title, but just
another
word in my vocabulary. It is how he likes me to call him, and he is too
stupid to realise that I don't use it out of respect."
She frowned.
"As for the computer, I won't have another being like me in this city.
Synergy is the only one who could potentially interfere in my actions,
and so she must be terminated as soon as possible."
"I knew this was a really bad idea." Stefana muttered. "Deranged, the
lot
of you. Does Techrat know this?"
"Master need not know anything." Athena shrugged her shoulders. "His
projects entertain me. I shall do as he asks. I shall eliminate the
Llewelyn
man, and then I shall eliminate Synergy. After that..." She grinned.
"Who
knows?"
"Eliminate?" Stefana echoed. "Wait a minute, Athena..."
"Mr Llewelyn is a nusiance. It is simpler to eliminate nusiances."
Athena said calmly. "And if you become a nusiance, Stefana, I will
eliminate
you, also. So think about it, all right? Master does not trust you, but
you humans occasionally show sense. Know which side you are on and stay
there. My lasers are powerful and I am not programmed to have human
regret.
I am programmed to win, at any cost - so just make sure you keep in
line
and we'll both be happy!"
JACQUI'S LEGACY: PART
TWO
DISCLAIMER:
PLEASE NOTE
The copyright for the original Jem characters
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All other characters, including their
likenesses, are copyrighted to myself as webmistress of Jewel's World
from 2001 to the
present day and are not to be reproduced elsewhere without permission.
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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