Sanctify
Chapter 25 - Recycled

With the recent turn of events and the pleas of help from all the major intelligence organizations, The Glass House was up and running as the ultimate source of all information. Filled with Shadow Operatives and the first organization with Ghost Agents no one knew how to duplicate, everyone who operated from out of the Dane-Hawkins estate were vetted, cleaned, and necessary.

From the outside, the estate had been cleaned, fixed, and massive windows replaced the one-way glass, from floor to ceiling, ensuring no one could see in, but those inside could see outside. The house had been redesigned since the arrival of Remedium and many of the rooms were converted into laboratory space, meeting rooms, and special purpose rooms.

In the center of the great estate was a virtual space, where two Shadows oversaw and navigated the mainframe of the networks while maintaining the proper conditions for their Origin, Noriko Xi. At that moment, however, Dr. E was checking over Noriko in the hospital wing, as Michel and Jenna watched from the thick glass window.

Seated on a table, Michel stared at Jenna for a long time before he asked, “So, you’re a Shadow?” His tone was low and he had since recovered from being held hostage by the now, deceased, Sanctus. The first thing he did once free was check in with TriVerse to discover just how bent out of shape they were. He’d gone to the safe house to rest but returned full steam until he found Jenna. Before he found Jenna, he’d bumped into Lady May, who informed him about being signed over to Remedium.

At that moment, Jenna sighed and bit her bottom lip, “Can we talk about this later?”

“She’s fine. And,” he clenched his jaw, “we need to talk.”

Jenna turned from the window and walked out of the waiting room. Michel followed her to a soundproof interrogation room and shut the door. Michel unplugged the camera and muted the microphones. When he turned back to Jenna, she threw herself into his arms, kissing him passionately and very needy. Michel had to pry her off of him but as she stared into his eyes, pleading for intimate touch, he pushed her against the wall before letting loose on her every bit of stress and lust he had felt while away from her. The heat was uncontrollable and neither stopped to think until they were completely exhausted.

Back in the hospital wing, Noriko opened her eyes and sat up. She looked to see the empty window and then at Dr. E, who cleaned her hands of blood and grease. Dr. E smiled, “Jenna and Michel are letting out pent up passion in a secured room. The twins have sealed off access to that part of the estate, and you have four more Shadows awaiting to meet you in person.” Dr. E looked over the updated notes and reminded Noriko in a softer voice, “The first alarm clock will go off in a few months. The collected will wake up soon.” Dr. E looked up at Noriko, “What should we do?”

Noriko nodded and replied, stretching, “We’ll let them wake up and make that decision themselves. However, I’m sure they’ll choose integration. With everyone they love and know fifty years ahead of them,” Noriko sighed solemnly, “the decision isn’t so hard.”

Dr. E smiled and nodded, “I’ll make the proper preparations. You should get to work; we have quite a bit to do.” She walked for the door, “You have to keep drinking the special shake. If you stop, your parts will stop working as well. Like it or not, you’re our test subject,” she added and left the room.

Noriko pulled her long hair back, doing what she could not to think about her intimate encounter with a Shadow she would never see again. She was happy Jenna had found love, but she never found out whether or not Jenna knew who Michel was. That didn’t stop her from letting Michel know what she knew.

Michel stepped out of the shower, a towel around his torso and he stopped. He knew the scent but had avoided bringing Jenna back to the safe house after their team regrouped. He didn’t think he had been followed, but when he heard a chair being pulled out in the kitchen, he pulled on clothes as fast as he could. When he reached the kitchen, he froze. There, seated in the spot Jenna liked, sat Noriko.

She didn’t even look up at him but she did ask, “What are you planning to do now?”

Michel walked over and sat down in his usual seat. “I’m not sure.” He ruffled his hair, longer than what he was used to, before letting out, “I’m not sure of what I want, what to do, who I am.” Noriko turned to Michel as he sighed, “My Uncle was Sanctus. How does that even make any sense?” he demanded.

Noriko smiled a little as she asked, “You never knew your parents, did you?” To this, Michel looked up at her and she explained, “Your biological father was Topher Chase and your biological mother was Diane Emery.” Michel felt his breath catch as Noriko added, “You can check the sealed DNA records, but it’s true. You have Topher’s Mom’s eyes but Topher’s face.”

Michel thought for a moment and then the way Diane stared at him made sense. The way she seemed to want to cry whenever she looked at him. The endless and unexplained affinity she had for him. How eager she was to reach out to him, how quickly she messaged him when given the chance, and how willing she had been to sacrifice her last moments for his escape. Michel felt winded as painful realization unleashed something within him.

He turned to Noriko, his eyes filled with tears, “Why did they give me up?” The question he had always wanted answered but never knew whom to ask rolled off his tongue.

Noriko sat up and leaned forward, “They didn’t want Sanctus to replace you, to use you, to hurt them.” Noriko watched understanding melt into Michel and she sat back. “One day, Michel, if we have the time, I’d like to tell you more about your parents. I hope that time comes soon,” she added and stood.

Michel looked up, “Where are you going?”

“Home, to The Glass House,” she smiled gently, “It can be your home, too.”

Michel swallowed, “What am I going to say to her?”

Noriko knew what he meant and shrugged, “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. You are, after all, the son of the smartest people I’ve ever known.” She waved and walked out the door. Michel sat very still for a few minutes and then ran out the door after her, suddenly, very eager to see Jenna.

In a meeting with Lady May, Noriko went over the specifics of what was needed for The Glass House to function properly. Because no one bothered naming her first two Shadows, Noriko continued with calling one Alpha and the other Beta. Both remained quiet, stuck forever looking 16, when others were around and both only liked speaking to Noriko.

Lady May sighed and nodded, “We’re looking to bring in a few more scientists and specialists in the human integration arena, along with some mathematicians, biologists, chemists, and the like, just to keep our technological advancement ahead of the rest of the world. This is quite an undertaking, especially since we’re not even sure how we’re going to compete with the other more established organizations.” Lady May looked at the twins and then back at Noriko, “Lucky for us, we have the Haven and the Guardians along with that.” She folded her arms across her chest and added, “I’d feel better if you’d tell me what’s going on in the catacombs.”

Noriko didn’t even look up as she replied, “That’s all being handled. Dr. E and Kanon will oversee it all, as they have been all along. I’ll leave the weeding and hiring process to you. I’m sure you’ll replace just what we need in the world of today.”

“What will you do, then?” Lady May asked, annoyed with the superior way Noriko seemed to handle everything and everyone. She liked even less the reverent way everyone treated her.

Noriko closed the files and gathered them in a stack, “I’m going to keep us ahead of the game and invisible to the world. It’s not about asserting our power but letting the others know just how powerful we are. I expect you to vet everyone appropriately as well,” she added, standing with the folders in her arms.

The twins stood with her and Lady May sighed. “It’s not as though I could stop you.”

Finally, Noriko looked at Lady May and asked, “Stop me? We’re on the same side, aren’t we?”

Noriko left with the twins following her, and in an empty room, Lady May asked, “Are we?”

Noriko stepped into a room where seven waited for her. She looked at each and frowned, noting their differences in age, build, and the way they met her eyes. She’d never really thought about what her other Shadows did, but now that she was meeting them, she wondered.

Jenna, however, took the lead and stated, “I’ve been a discreet protection detail for Marks. The twins oversee the protection of Remedium and those within our network. Admittedly, I’ve yet to meet the others.”

Noriko smiled and stepped forward. She reached out and the first one also grasped her hand. Noriko saw through the visor, into the eyes of a 30-something builder. Noriko noticed the roughness of her hands and asked, “What is your name?”

“Deni,” the woman replied, her voice deeper than Noriko had thought right.

But Noriko nodded and smiled, “It’s nice to meet you. I look forward to getting to know you.”

Deni nodded and then released Noriko’s hands. The next one to hold Noriko’s hands was in her mid twenties, and her voice was very much like Jenna’s, except her personality was very flat. “Evgenika,” she stated as her game, and then added, “Jenna was created just after me.”

Noriko nodded, “I see.”

“I fix problems,” Evgenika confessed and then Jenna frowned. Jenna had known of her, but not ever met her. She wondered if she would have become more like her had Jenna Witte not been created for her. And then Evgenika looked over to Jenna and added, “When she’s normal, she’s more like me.”

Noriko smiled, “I got it.”

Noriko turned to look at the last two and then frowned, “Twins?”

One pulled off her mask to reveal a very deep scar starting from where her right ear had been, down to midway down her right arm. “We were identical until we were sparring one day with some of the other Shadows.”

Noriko frowned, “Are you that rough when sparring?”

But the last one pulled off her mask and showed off porcelain white skin. “She challenged one of the less careful males. Now, he only works with her.”

Noriko smiled, “So, it’s romantic?”

The one with the scar interjected, “Its physical. I’m Tamra.”

“I’m Tiphne,” the whiter one stated and then pulled back on her mask, as if sensitive to the light.

But Noriko didn’t mind. From what she could tell, all of her Shadows were glimpses of herself. And so, now knowing better who they were and what they did, she watched them somewhat look at each other in turn. And then, Noriko stated, “I hope to get to know you guys better.” And they all shared that sentiment.

Some time later, in a studio apartment located in downtown Los Angeles, around where Spring met Third Street, Ryan Christensen fixed his tie on his suit. He looked himself over and sighed, knowing that was as good as it was going to get. Unable to afford being late for an interview that had called him back, he grabbed his backpack and hurried out the door.

Stepping onto the street, he hurried to the subway station, just in time to catch the departing train. He plugged in his ear-buds and let Avicii sooth over his nerves. He wasn’t sure what sort of future awaited him, but having a PhD in Math, he hoped to land a gig, and soon. His parents didn’t like his chosen field and often pressured him to return home, for some halfway stable job at a slow-paced retail store in the middle of nowhere. He wondered how his parents’ thought that idea to be tempting, but scraping by every month as a part-time tutor wasn’t cutting it for him anymore.

After switching through a couple trains, he hurried up the steps of the station, down the street, and into an office building. He noticed quite a line up of people in similar attire and hurried to check in. The receptionist handed him a number, checked off his name, and told him to take a seat without even looking up at him. Ryan was used to the ‘California approach’, some called it, but longed for the personal connection of feeling like he belonged. Awkward though some found him, he was often never given a chance to prove he had a good head on his shoulders.

When he took a seat, no one looked at him. He found himself staring out a window as names were called and people arrived and left. He didn’t know where this path would take him, what the specs were for the job he was applying for, and he didn’t really care. He just knew that he was just another rat in the race of life. He sighed, resigned to accepting his fate in that nowhere town and the unattractive and pointless job, as the receptionist called out, “Ryan Christensen.”

Ryan entered a room and sat down in the open seat. He looked around at the eggshell colored walls and then the overhead PA system crackled to life. “Turn on the computer and begin the test.”

Ryan frowned and opened the laptop in front of him. Watching the IBM machine turn on, Ryan sighed, reading, ‘ERROR: VIRUS DETECTED’. In most situations, Ryan would have walked to the other available computer, but this was something that was meant to test him. He did his best to stay calm as he surveyed his options.

There was no other computer in the room. Just the one. He doubted them allowing him to use his smartphone for the test, due to the obvious blunders and mistrust in big companies when they searched for smaller cogs and gears.

He turned off the computer and removed the battery. Looking around, he pulled out the bottom plate of the laptop and noted the missing screws that indicated someone had tampered with it. He looked at the motherboard and picked his way around. He removed a small bug and replaced the metal plate. He turned on the computer and made it past the error message. He smiled and opened the only document on the desktop.

He typed and marked according to what he believed was right. When he finished, he saved the document and emailed it to the address already in the address line. So advanced were the ways the more advanced technological companies had gotten. The most impressive had been for a nuclear research company, where he believed he would die from an unknown disease, only to replace out it was a relative of the common cold that cured itself within hours.

One thing that was for sure was, he never forgot it.