"Craig," Kyle called, "glad you're taking a shower, man. How is Tina?"

Craig paused outside his doorway, turning and grinning at Kyle, "It seems you're not the only one who says I have been neglecting my hygiene."

Kyle laughed, "Well, you went to the infirmary straight from the plane. I doubt you washed your hands and arms while Tina was being treated. Then you stayed there. I don't know if Hana got you to shower but ..." he paused. "What is going on with Tina?"

Craig sighed, "A lot. She woke up, which is good," Craig smiled as Kyle clapped him on the shoulder, "it appears that one of the babies has a force field type of ability and saved his siblings from the bullet. The Nanos are doing their job, including unlocking things we had no idea were there, so there is more on Tina's plate. I don't want her to worry, but finding out these things is only making her worry more ..." Craig inhaled, propping his hands on his hips, "I don't know what to do to make this easier."

"First, you need to breathe," Kyle said, "it's a lot for anyone. The best thing to do is find out all you can and be there for Tina when she needs you."

Inhaling, Craig nodded, "Thanks," meeting his friend's gaze, he frowned, "but that's not why you came looking for me, right?"

"There is something else," Kyle said, swiping on the screen of an electronic tablet, "the guy that came in here ... the one you said you knew."

"What about him?" Craig asked.

"We've been looking into him, but there is nothing," Kyle said, "no past, no present, no indication that he is looking toward the future. Absolutely nothing."

"What about the name I knew him under?" Craig asked, frowning, "someone cannot totally disappear."

"You wouldn't think so," Kyle said, "but I'm telling you, the man has disappeared. We can't even locate his birth certificate."

Craig frowned, "That's not possible."

"You wouldn't think so," Kyle said, "but it's what we're finding."

Nodding, Craig sighed, "Let me see what I can find out."

"Thanks, Craig," Kyle said, "please ... keep me updated. If there is anything I can do to help in any way, know that I'm here."

"Thank you," Craig smiled, watching Kyle stride away in the direction of the tech room, "I wonder how Tina is?"

"She is fine," Calla whispered through his mind, "take some time for yourself. I'm with her."

Thanking Cara, Craig returned to his suite, making something to eat and thinking. Lately, he had little time for any of that, with all the distractions and emergencies happening. They had taken down the facility they had found, which was good, but it concerned him no other location had been discovered. Pulling out a notepad, he made a timeline of events as he ate. He may not be able to go out with his team, but he could make life a little easier if he could figure out where all this was heading ... and coming from. He couldn't rule out that whoever was continuing with the work had a plan ... probably a diabolical one. Punching in information, he went to work.

"Have you located Morgan yet?" the even, calm feminine voice asked.

"I have," the young person sitting at the computer nodded, "but you're not going to like it."

"Why? Where is he?" the question came urgently.

"The morgue," the young person said, "they have just opened his missing person file across many international agencies and updated as permanently deceased. What does that mean?"

The sharp intake of breath could be heard across the room, "No," the word came in tragic accents. "Morgan was supposed to return to the warehouse to continue with the destructive and disruptive plan put in place. Since when has he been there?"

"Looks like a few days," the youngster said, "why?"

"What does Europe say?" the woman paced, the click of her high heels sounding on the tiled floor, "has Madden two completed his waking sequence."

"Madden Two is still busy," the youngster said, "but I'm not sure what Europe says the information is not coming through to us as it usually does."

"What does that mean?" the woman spun toward the young person, "make sure you know what you're talking about before you tell me things are broken."

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Swallowing hard, the youngster typed quickly before sighing, "Putting all the fragmented information together," glancing at the woman, the youngster grimaced. "One of the facilities was under attack and then ... went ... offline."

A rage-induced snarl filled the air making the youngster giggle, "That was almost the same as Darcia's..." she nodded, "almost."

The sudden air loss to the lungs had the young person gasping, "You're only here because you have a use. I may look similar to her but believe me, I'm worse than she ever tried to be. Madden created me with all the pieces of her DNA he enjoyed the most. Don't think for a moment I will have a problem with terminating you."

"I .." the youngster gasped, "... understand."

"Good," the woman threw the teenager into the chair, "now ... where were we?"

Glaring from where she landed, the teenager panted, rubbing at her throat, "You were snarling over the facility going offline."

"Yes," the word whispered in the air, "find out why and find out if Morgan's body is viable for reprogramming."

"Sure," the teenager whispered, glaring at the woman and quickly returning to work with hunched shoulders and reinforced determination to find somewhere else to work as soon as possible, "whatever you say."

Groaning, Craig pushed up from the wooden table, "Where am I?"

Looking around, he took in the suite. The stiffness in his neck made him moan as he stretched, noting a lot of notifications in the corner of his laptop screen. The smell of fast food wafted to him, telling him it was days since he had last eaten.

"He's awake," Gina whispered, "where is his food?"

John appeared with Gina trailing him, sliding the plate onto the table and stepping away quickly as though he expected punishment for his actions. Craig looked at the plate and then at the children waiting for his reaction.

"Where did this come from?" Craig asked, rubbing his face and the back of his neck.

"John made it," Gina said quickly, hiding behind the older child.

"You can cook?" Craig asked, looking at the young boy.

"I had to learn," he whispered, "not all the children were fortunate to be allowed into the mess hall. If we couldn't steal food for them ... someone had to feed them."

"I don't remember the last time I had a burger," Craig smiled, "thanks. Have you two eaten?"

"We'll eat in the kitchen," John said quickly, already walking backwards, taking Gina with him.

"No," Craig said, "you won't."

The children froze, "You're part of a family, and a family eats together."

The children looked at each other before looking at him, "Which means?"

"Bring your burgers and sit at the table here," Craig said, "plenty of seats, and we can talk while we eat."

Smiles broke out over their lips, accompanied by nods as they raced into the kitchen, collected their food and returned bouncing into the chairs.

"Great," Craig grinned, "what do you want to talk about?"

"We can talk?" Gina asked, her eyes becoming large with wonder.

"This time together is the best to be able to chat about what you have done, your thoughts, fears, likes, dislikes ... anything," Craig said, "so ... what do you want to talk about?"

"The other Madden and Darcia," John said.

Craig stilled, staring at this child, "Excuse me."

John shifted, glancing at Gina, who nodded and looked at Craig, "There is another Madden and Darica."

"How do you know about Madden and Darcia? They're dead," Craig said, biting into his burger, "nice burger John, very tasty."

John smiled at the praise, "Glad you like it," he said, "we heard some of the other adults talking about how all of this should stop as Madden and Darcia were dead. We assumed those were the originals because the pictures we saw were close to the ones we know but not exactly the same."

"They are fakes, or engineered or enhanced," Gina said, "or all three."

"The real Madden came to the facility you destroyed in Europe," John said. "I spent some time there," he shuddered. "He had someone with him as an assistant, and when he wasn't looking, the person either took notes or photos of what was being done, gene molecules, DNA strands ... everything."

"Why would they do that?" Craig asked.

"I saw that same person at one of the other facilities after the real Madden was dead," Gina said. "She was working on something using the information the original Madden and Darcia had in their facilities."

"Wonderful," Craig sighed, "more and more mad scientists to deal with."

"Not all agree with these two," Gina said, "instead of using clones, they are forcing humans to work for them. There is a girl who is very clever on computers," Gina said, "she doesn't like what is done, has known both sets of Madden and Darcia and is a prisoner to their will. If she goes against them, her entire family will be killed."

"Sounds like something they would do," Craig shook his head, "how big is her family?"

"I think it's the parents, two younger sisters and a brother who is still a toddler," John said, "why?"

"She will work to keep them alive," Craig nodded, "definitely their style. Thanks for telling me."

Biting into his burger, he was surprised by Gina's question.

"Anything you want to talk about?" she said, her eyes twinkling mischievously, "anything at all?"

Craig met her gaze, chuckling as he chewed and swallowed, "Nicely done. Yes, there is, and it's about how we will work as a family."

John and Gina's gazes locked with each other, worry and concern clashing.

"Relax, you two," Craig said, "no matter what happens ... arguments, happy things, fighting between ourselves. We're still a family. We look after each other and look out for each other ... so remember that. It'll take some time to get used to, but Tina and I are here for both of you. Can we talk about logistics?"

John inhaled, his shoulders dropping, "Let's talk turkey."

Craig grinned at the mature phrase, "Let's."