"Time to go in," the man called from his station at the stairwell.

"Already?" Daisy called back, "can I come out tomorrow morning after breakfast?"

"No," the woman shook her head.

Shrugging her shoulders, Daisy started walking toward them, "You're the ones who will have to clean up the mess then."

The pair looked at each other but said nothing.

In the apartment, Daisy was allowed to use the bathroom and taken back to the bedroom. Previous mornings she had been tied to the bed when returning; this morning, the man looked at her strangely and then shut the door. Fighting returning nausea, she sat on the bed. Leaning against the headboard, resting her head against it, she stared at the blank wall. Had she gone far enough for someone to see the change in signal?

Closing her eyes, she sighed. After yesterday's tug on her abilities, she worried about her sisters. Deep within, she knew they knew she was alive. Sitting up and crossing her legs, Daisy began absently playing with a tassel on the bed cover. If only she could shake this foreboding feeling that something terrible was coming toward herself, her sisters and her newfound family. A desperate urgency nagged at her that she needed to be away from this place before it arrived.

"We are ready," the technician stated, "when do we deploy?"

"Soon," Dr Madden said quietly, "very soon. Breanna will not know what hit her."

"Sir, how do you know the target will be there?"

"She is the opposite of her sister," Madden smiled coldly, "Darcia would abandon anyone in trouble, but Breanna will never leave anyone behind."

"Understood, we still have not had final instructions from Darcia," the technician said.

"No," Dr Madden sighed, "we will continue with her plan until we do."

"Yes, sir," the technician moved away as Dr Madden turned toward the window of a high rise apartment in the city. Staring out toward a group of apartment buildings.

"Darcia, my love, may you be alive," Dr Madden whispered, "we have much to accomplish."

If his love were dead, the person responsible would pay. They would pay dearly. If she wasn't, he would finish what she started while continuing with his own. Her existence in this world was not mandatory to continue with what he had always wanted. Complete control and power.

Michael put the phone down carefully. The intense and highly vocal dressing down he had just received from Phoenix left his ears ringing. Phoenix was unhappy that the request had come through. He was more disheartened that his assistance was needed. Understandably, he wanted to live quietly away from anything associated with this sick world his sister had made.

"Any luck with Phoenix?" Craig asked, pushing open the study door.

Michael massaged the inside of his ears before responding, "He is not happy his downtime was interrupted. He is also not happy we need his help, but his sister wants to visit with Tina, and they will be here this evening."

"That is good news," Craig nodded, "will it take long to put together?"

"Apparently a day," Michael sighed, "now I have to fireproof a suite for them."

"Don't you love your job?" Craig grinned as his brother glared back at him.

"Do we have an extraction plan for Daisy?" Michael asked

"Yes," Breanna said, walking into the study, "we have one formulating. Phoenix?"

"Will be here this evening with his sister," Michael said.

"Good," Breanna slid a grin at Craig, "I'll tell Tina."

Turning, she left the study.

"What do you think she meant by that?" Craig asked, frowning at his sister's retreating back.

"You and Tina, hey," Michael grinned, "thought you would never be with a girl again."

"Nothing is really going on," Craig frowned, clearing his throat, "we simply get along."

Michael remained quiet, nodding as Craig strode from the room, irritation in his long strides.

It would be good to see his brother open his heart to a woman. He knew it was better for Craig that it was an ordinary woman who understood his world.

"Hey Jasmine," Hana called, "I found your backpack ..." her words trailed off as Jasmine turned to look at her, "who hit you?"

"Tina," Jasmine said, "I deserved it. What I said was out of line and she let me know."

"I can look at it if you'd like," Hana said, looking over the bruise, "you heal quickly don't you?"

"I guess so," Jasmine frowned, "why?"

"The bruising is nearly cleared," Hana gently touched the spot, "but I see by you wince the pain isn't."

"I'll be fine," Jasmine smiled, "thanks for being interested, not something I'm used to. Where did you find my backpack?"

"It was in with supplies we needed to bring with from the evacuation," Hana said, "now you have something of your own."

"Thank you Hana," Jasmine smiled, "I'll take it to my room ... wherever that is."

"Hold on," Hana smiled, pulling a small electronic tablet from her pocket, "we are here," she turned it to show Jasmine, "you need to follow this corridor and turn right into an adjoining one your room will be fourth door on the left."

"Thank again Hana," Jasmine said, finding her direction and wandering off leaving Hana watching her thoughtfully.

Feeling stiff, Valencia pushed up from the dining room table. Groggy and disorientated, she called for coffee. The replicator sprung into life. What had been happening since she lost the battle? The journal lay open on a random blank page, the pen loose in her hand. Flipping the pages back to her last entry, she began to read. Whoever the other person living in her body was, had obviously read what she had written. They were angry ... at her ... for something she didn't know about. She began to read. Working through the many pages of words, she realized this other part of her was angry, hurt, feeling rejected, and didn't want to have their life chosen for them. She understood every emotion. This part of her had fueled her all those years when Tyler was alive. She didn't want to go to school when she was sent to a particular school. Felt angry every time they moved without any notice or explanation. Anger at having to make more friends, start over, learn to live in another city, another town, another neighbourhood. This was the side of her buried years ago to be found acceptable to everyone around her. She was still angry, but these emotions seemed to be coming from a different person, with different reasons and most of them seemed to be aimed at her.

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When had that happened?

When had she become two people?

More importantly, how was she going to make it right?

Walking to the mirror, she looked at herself or should she say ... them. An idea struck. Placing the journal open on the square table under the mirror, she listed questions and a wish list for the other person. Looking at her reflection, she inhaled deeply, exhaling slowly, "here goes," she muttered.

"Hello to the person living in the same body as I am.I understand how you feel. Thank you for writing it down. I would like to get to know you better. There is a list of questions I would like you to answer. I know you don't like to be locked up, and frankly, it's beginning to work on me, but they won't let either of us out if we cannot live and work together."

She felt the shift coming, "Another thing," she felt it stop, "please don't knock me out so completely that I'm not any help to you at all. There's a lot of dangerous stuff you don't know about. We may be the cause of that and it cannot go on. Both of us need to aware of what is happening and be able to respond."

The shift came more gently as though the door had been closed while she was awake. She could handle this. She was still conscious of what was happening but not in complete control. It was a step in the right direction. When the door opened, she felt released ... functional. Looking down at the journal, she blinked a few times. Her questions had been answered, and her wish list had been added to.

"Talk to each other," Valencia murmured, "I would like that."

"What is your name?" looking in the mirror, she waited. Deep within, she felt a door open, and a cautious side of her peaked out, whispering in her mind.

"Birgit," she whispered, "you are Valencia."

"Yes," Valencia smiled at her reflection, "I assume you know what my enhancements are. Do you have any?"

"Look in the book," she disappeared behind her door again.

"Wait," Valencia sighed, "she's gone."

Picking up the book, Valencia moved to the sofa. Sinking into it, she started at the top of the page and read. Birgit was very informative. Working through the questions, she came to the one about enhancements.

"Oh," Valencia shifted a little, "this is ..."

"New? Weird? Disgusting?" the tentative voice said from a place close to the door.

"I didn't notice you coming out," Valencia said quietly, "I was going to say your enhancements are unexpected."

"Would you accept me with them?" she whispered.

"Yes," Valencia nodded, "I would. Birgit, you're a part of me; you always have been. Now you have a voice, and I'm glad."

"Really?" Birgit sounded unconvinced.

"Yes," Valencia smiled, "do you think we can learn to work together. I'm getting anxious about what my friends may be experiencing on the other side of that door."

"Did we really cause them all that trouble?" Birgit asked, "did they feel so unsafe around us that they locked us away for their safety?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Valencia sighed, "we were hurting the people in our group. We were hurting our friends."

"I don't have friends," Birgit said, "one of them said they would kill me if I hurt you."

"Breanna," Valencia said, "my best friend. She only said that because she cares about me."

"Do you think they would care about me?" Birgit asked.

Valencia felt Birgit's caution and concern. She needed to tell the truth.

"After what you did to the others, it may take time," she sighed, "you'll have to earn their trust."

"Whose trust?" Birgit sounded interested.

"Everyone's Birgit," Valencia said quietly, "all of us have been at the hands of Darcia. We all need to be able to trust each other."

Birgit shuddered, "I don't like Darcia," she shuddered again, "I lied about knowing who she was, but I think I answered the question being asked. I don't want to go back to that place."

"We won't be," Valencia said gently, "but we all know what it was like there. We are all close to each other because we all survived."

"I understand," Birgit said, "can we talk to them?"

"We can, but we need to work together before they trust us out there," Valencia said, "if only we can get information about what is really going on."

"We can," Birgit perked up, "I did it once."

"How?" Valencia said quietly, "exactly how did you do that?"

Birgit shuffled on her spot, "I demanded to be let out."

"I take it they didn't let you out," Valencia couldn't help smiling.

"No, they could hear me through the camera at the door. I read messages on the large black screen," Birgit said.

"Well, in that case," Valencia stood, "let's talk to them."

Walking toward the door, she looked at the camera, "Is anyone there?"

"Look at the screen," Birgit said.

They looked toward the screen as the words appeared, "Who am I talking to?"

"We're both here," Valencia said, "Valencia and Birgit."

The screen scrolled again, "What do you want?"

"Hmmm, that is a little chilly," Valencia frowned.

"Told you," Birgit said quietly, "we better not bother them."

"We would like to know what is happening," Valencia said. She could feel Birgit cringe at her words.

Looking at the screen, she waited. Nothing appeared.

"Jesse," Valencia turned to the camera, "if you are on the other side, please, Birgit and I are trying to work something out."

The screen scrolled, "What are you trying to work out?"

"What we can do to fix the mess we made," Valencia sighed, "you probably don't trust either of us right now, we understand, but we really do want to help."

"They won't listen to you," Birgit whispered, "leave it alone."

"No," Valencia said aloud, "I'm not leaving it alone. We want to know. This is the choice we made. Right?"

"Yes," Birgit said, "why are you talking so loudly?"

"I'm talking loudly, so whoever is on the other side knows we are talking to each other, and it's not a fabrication or a trick," Valencia said. "If you'd like to step up here and say hi, maybe they would believe me quicker."

Valencia waited. She felt Birgit's hesitation. They would be staying in this room a lot longer with no information. She began to turn away when she felt Birgit stand up, filling the space next to her. A silent question vibrated between them. Valencia motioned with a hand for Birgit to go ahead.

"Hi," Birgit cleared their throat, "the last time we talked, I was not very pleasant and threatened to kill Valencia," she cleared their throat again, "I was ... scared and angry. Thought I was back in Darcia's pain factory. Valencia explained a lot to me and she is right. We would like to help."

They turned to the screen, "Who is this? Where is Val?"

"I'm right here," Valencia said, "you're busy talking to Birgit. She is a little new at this conversation thing."

"How do we know it's Birgit and not a trick," the words screened on the screen.

"Told you," Birgit said huskily, "they won't listen. I tried to get us out in Darcia's Facility, but she only put me back behind the door."

Valencia felt herself still, "What are you talking about?"

"She only wanted you," Birgit whispered, "she silenced me and locked me away. Whatever Jasmine did to you broke down the wall between us."

"You've always been there," Valencia frowned, "that was you screaming in my dreams."

"Yes," Birgit whispered, "I could only get through to you when you slept. I just wanted you to notice me. You and I would chat in your dreams, but when you woke, it was as if you never knew me."

"I didn't even know you were there," Valencia said, "but you're here now. We want basically the same things."

"What do you want to know?" words scrolled on the screen.

"You're up, Valencia," Birgit said, "ask your questions."

Picking up the journal, Valencia turned to a page near the front where she had written all her concerns and questions. Someone had added more. Birgit shifted.

"You were worried as well," Valencia said, "seems we can work together after all."

"Of course, we can," Birgit chuckled, "we have been for the past few years. You just didn't know it."

"This is what we want to know," Valencia turned the book toward the camera, holding it slightly higher and away from herself.

"Please let us know so we can help," Birgit said, "a mess was made ... mainly by me, and we need to clean it up."

Valencia remained silent. Hoping whoever was on the other side would agree. They looked at the screen. Waiting. Hoping. Finally, the words scrolled.

"Will see what we can do."