Standing in the centre of the control room, alone, Madden snarled as the destruction of his life's work hit home; he could feel the telepath in his head. He could not close a door to her nor shake her grip.

Looking out of the glass between him and the destruction, he saw his containment units clearly after the explosions brought down the concealing structures so carefully built around them. Residual energy, still seeking its origin, crackled in the air, looking for anywhere to land. The crater dropping to the ocean gave away many of his secrets of how he had come to visit Jasmine's father secretly. She never knew his hold on her father nor that he watched her every time. Desiring her to be one of his ... circle. When her father couldn't pay the final instalment, the request for Jasmine instead of the chosen currency was concluded without hesitation. Disgust ran through Madden. What kind of a parent sold his own children to save his skin? But had it really saved the savage man named Calderon? Madden grinned at the thought of what was done to Jasmine's father after she had escaped and returned home.

It would never have happened if Calderon had notified Madden immediately of his daughter's whereabouts. A week after Jasmine escaped, the facility and this estate were unacceptable in Madden's books, and the irritation was eliminated.

The sudden crack of energy meeting the computers and running along the control panels startled Madden. Moving to the viewing room window, Madden bellowed his rage at the emptiness around him.

"I'll find you," he muttered, "find all of you, and I'll kill you."

Unstoppable fury mounted, twisting into agony until the pain filled him from his neck to his groin. Holding on to the nearby railing, he gasped.

"What is happening?" Madden groaned as the pain increased, "no, it's not possible."

Moving to the metal desk in the corner, he sank into the chair and pulled open a desk drawer,

displaying many folders. Flipping through them, he extracted one, opening it to a specific page and reading quickly. The slice of betrayal added to the twisting of emotions deep within; his eyes widened as he found what he looked for.

"She didn't..." he gasped in pain, sinking to the floor, "... she said she suppressed that bitch."

"Yeah, that would be me," Birgit said, walking into the room, "Val, tell Jasmine to bring Kyle ... it's a go."

"Who are you talking to?" Madden said, leaning against the wall as he tried to find his feet.

"She's talking to me," Valencia said, smiling slowly, "I'm the one in your head."

"It's not possible," Madden shook his head, "she said she had handled you. She didn't..."

"Didn't what? Obey your every command," Birgit asked, "did something you didn't want her to do?"

"She never knew my plans," Madden snarled, "I kept them from her for a reason."

"Would that be because you didn't want her to know that you lusted after other women?" Jasmine asked from where she had phased in with Kyle.

Kyle remained silent, observing Madden as he moved toward the control panels pushing USB drives into slots and placing his hand on Madden's personal computer.

"What is he doing?" Madden spluttered, trying to lunge toward his desk but crumbling to the floor instead.

"What he does has nothing to do with you any longer," Valencia said, her gaze remaining on Madden's whimpering form, "get what you need and get out."

"What are you going to do?" Jasmine whispered.

"Finish this," Valencia murmured.

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Kyle retraced his steps nodding to Birgit and Jasmine, "It's done."

Jasmine wrapped her arms around him, phasing out of the room, leaving Valencia and Birgit to face Madden alone.

"I can reverse what Darcia has done," Madden bartered, "I can make you normal again."

"No, you can't," Valencia said quietly.

"What are you doing to me?" Madden groaned, writhing on the floor.

"The same thing you have done to so many other people," Birgit said, "tortured them without a thought. For your own pleasure and gain. For your own ..." Birgit grimaced, "... happiness."

"You cannot know that," Madden wheezed, "I never told anyone about the pleasure I received from what I did. We agreed she was supposed to suppress you, kill you."

"She did suppress me," Birgit said, shaking her head, "but not permanently. We lived as she left us but as long as we did what she asked and remained out of the facility."

"Why did she want that?" Madden hissed, pushing himself onto his knees and trying to look at the woman who literally twisted his emotions.

"You should know," Birgit gritted out, "you put the serum together after all."

"We were creating beings from extracted genes," Madden said, "that is the only specialised serum I made."

"Did you think you were the only one who knew how to make a serum?" Valencia asked calmly, "the only one who could manipulate a gene strain or gene-related serum?"

Madden's eyes darted from one side to the other in their sockets as Valencia's words struck home, answering unasked questions.

"Did Darcia ever tell you what she did with your serums?" Birgit narrowed her eyes.

"Of course, we shared everything," Madden blustered, groaning as the pain increased. "We grew humans from it using sperm, harvested eggs and stem cells," Madden moaned deeply, crumpling to the floor.

"Is that what she told you?" Birgit shook her head, "where did you store the serum? Where did you put the end result?"

Madden frowned, "She took the serum and the end product before I saw it," suddenly lunging for something under the desk, rolling to a crouch with a gun aiming at Birgit and Valencia. "But now you're dead."

"No, we are not going to die," Birgit said, extending her hand, closing her eyes and slowly fisting her hand into a tight ball.

Screaming, Madden dropped the gun, his eyes widening; realisation in his eyes, "She told you. Why? Why would she do that?"

"You know what she was doing, and you stole the serum and the end product to create your own .... super race of people obedient only to you. Telling us was insurance."

"If I told you what you want to know," Madden gasped in renewed agony, "what is in it for me?"

"Nothing is in it for you," Valencia murmured distractedly, "but we could do many things with them."

"Use them," Birgit said.

"That is one," Valencia said, "monitor their way on the outside while they roam."

"Oh, what about freeing them completely," Birgit said, "wow ... the options are truly endless."

"I ... I don't have them anymore," Madden stammered, "I ... let them go."

"He's lying," Valencia said, sighing, "but I know where to start looking."

"Let's do this," Birgit said.

"After you," Valencia sighed, "it's getting a little boring here."

Birgit stretched their arms out. Looking at their hands closing them, she flicked them open at the crackling panels.

Madden cried in anguish as the machinery popped and exploded, delicate fingers of fire running along the control panels and the screens shattering in the heat. Passing a broken mirror, Birgit and Valencia glanced at their retreating form.

"You're warping into an explosive ball of flame," Valencia said, "that will drain a lot of your energy."

"He tried to kill you, and he lied to us," she murmured, closing the door behind them, holding the handle longer than required. When releasing it, the metal of the handle was warped and melted into the door's frame. Trailing her blazing hand along the wall, Birgit took them toward the stone exit they discovered, "I think its time to leave."

A sudden wash of intense energy brushed past them. Valencia gasped, staggering a little while Birgit continued moving forward undaunted.

"I think Bre just lost her temper," Birgit chuckled, "if that has happened, it is definitely time to leave."

"Birgit, the others are planning on coming back for us," Valencia said, "we have to get into the tunnels as quickly as possible."

"We shall," Birgit said, looking back at the burning wall, "that should keep him warm."

"Yep, that should work," Valencia said, panic bubbling, "but if we don't go, I'm going to be burnt alive."

"That can never happen," Birgit smiled blandly before turning and running down the stone passageway toward the tunnels, beach and exit.