Breanna ran her hand distractedly through her hair, realising the implications of what had happened.

"Has she been experimenting on them?" Breanna asked.

"Yes. We're connected. Although I'm not an experiment …" the words drifted off as fury filled David's expression, "I'm not leaving them here."

"No one should stay here. Where are your clones?" Breanna asked urgently.

"In here," Tina said, moving the side of the room pressing a button where a panel slid open to reveal another room. Four identical faces turned toward them and stood simultaneously.

"Come on," Tina said. Four bodies moved in unison; they all wore white hospital scrubs, "we're leaving now."

"But Darcia said I need a shot later," one of them whispered.

Breanna stepped forward, "I'm sure you know who I am. If not, I'm Breanna," she said quietly, gasping they backed away. "Darcia's twin. You need to understand whatever she told you is a lie. You don't need anything she is offering. Take the necklaces off ..." she looked at Tina, who complied immediately. The others followed, "leave them here or drop them in water."

Moving to a nearby table, the five women collectively dropped their necklaces into a glass of water. It fizzed black and stayed black. Another new development.

It seemed surreal to watch them move as one, but Breanna could only wonder if this was due to being tied to Tina.

"Fiona says we need to move," Cara spoke urgently, "Darcia is aware of their actions. Clio is nearing the control room. She can get the others released if we can keep Darcia busy. She says Darcia just passed the hiding place. She's on her way."

"David, take them out the way we came in," Breanna said, checking her gun and ammo magazines. "Cara, make contact with Oran and give him the location for the extraction and where to find them. Tula and Reilly will protect them. They need to know what is happening. You and I will hold off whoever Darcia sends our way as long as possible and then rendezvous with Clio and the others."

"See you on the other side," David said, nodding, "come on, Tina's let's go."

Breanna covered the entrance while Cara communicated with Oran before moving with Breanna into the facility's centre.

"What is with, see you on the other side?" Cara mimicked, "does he think he's an assassin or something."

"I don't think Assassins say things like that," Breanna chuckled, "besides in the movies. Look at it this way; it's sweet he wants to see us on the other side."

"Of what?" Cara said, "all of this."

"Well ... yes," Breanna nodded smiling, innocently at Cara.

"Men," Cara muttered, "come on the passageway is clear."

Moving into the area of the fake fighting, they found a few bodies lying motionless.

"Looks like Clio's work," Breanna muttered, "what is that?"

Crouching behind wooden crates packed against one of the walls. They listened.

"Fighting," Cara muttered, "I think it's our team engaging."

"Let's go see," Breanna whispered, edging toward the gunfire.

Crouching behind a cabinet, Cara gasped as she stilled and closed her eyes, "Tula and Reilly are with David and the Tina's."

"The Tina's?" Breanna frowned.

"That's his sister's name," Cara grinned.

"Good. Tula will keep everyone calm, while Reilly keeps them hidden," Breanna whispered, "Darcia is close. I can feel her."

"So can I, but after the initial thought when everyone ditched their necklaces," Cara shook her head, "I can sense her intentions, but not her thoughts. She may be blocking me."

"Don't strain yourself, Cara. The closer I get to Darcia, the more I'll sense and vice versa," Breanna said, "we need to get the team out once the control room is down and everyone extracted. Cara, the only one that can stop Darcia is me. No matter what happens, I need to make sure everyone, injured and whole, gets out," she locked gazes with Cara, "even if I'm not there."

"But Bre, you're our leader," Cara stared at her, "what will we do without you?"

"Clio, Reilly and Valencia are all there," Breanna whispered, "between them, everyone will be fine."

"No offence," Cara grinned, "but those three combined may hold the group together. They do not lead us. By the way, what are we waiting for?"

An explosion shuddered through the walls and under their feet.

"We're waiting for that," Breanna said, stepping out moving forward in a crouch. Aiming with their guns, they assisted Kyle, Oran, Fiona, Clio and Tania, taking on Darcia's forces. Clio stood to one side, staring at the group coming. Although she was shooting at those in the front, Breanna noticed those at the back were also falling. Fiona had found a higher position and picked off anyone who gave her a clean shot. One by one.

Looking at the continuous stream, Breanna knew they were outnumbered.

Cara gasped next to her, suddenly grasping Breanna's shoulder as she closed her eyes. Breanna heard Clio's voice run through her mind "hit the deck on the count of three. One… two… three."

The group dropped out of sight. Breanna pulled Cara down next to her as a force rippled over them. It felt like one of those breezes that suddenly hit you in a heatwave. Breanna recalled those superhero film characters with strange powers. She wondered where the idea came from and how true they could be. Glancing under her arm, watching Clio's focussed stare, elbows bent, hands raised to her sides, palms facing outward, legs braced apart. If the rate of dropping bodies was anything to go by, those movies could have something to them.

Breanna watched as Clio began walking forward, clearing the corridor while moving toward the oncoming forces. Rising from her position and following Clio, Breanna ordered the others to do the same.

"We have to be careful," Cara said, "other minds have abilities nearby. They may not be friendlies."

"To the left," Tania called, "there should be a circular door somewhere along here."

On the left, a large round door protruded from the wall. Breanna's senses suddenly heightened. Her sister was close. Very close. "Stop."

The group stopped staring at her.

"Darcia is very close," she whispered, "complete your missions and get out," Breanna handed Cara a second firearm, "take that you may need it. Your ammo is low."

"What about you?" Clio asked, "how will you get out?"

"I'll find a way," Breanna whispered, "there is more happening than we suspect. Remember my orders," she looked at Cara, "now go."

"You have company in the ceiling," Cara whispered, following the others.

The group moved toward the round door. Taking up protection posts while Kyle and Oran opened the heavy, vault type door. Oran stepped through to the room. Kyle indicated the others to follow while he covered the corridor. When all were safely inside, he silently saluted Breanna before stepping through and closing it.

Breanna waited, bracing her feet apart, closing her eyes and breathing steadily. Slowly opening her eyes, she turned around. Darcia was so close she could feel evil vibrate in the air around her. Someone looking like her in every way rounded the corner at the bottom of the long passage. Breanna had to admit it was creepy and disturbing. No wonder refugees and escapees were startled when seeing her.

"Breanna," Darcia spoke on a dramatic sigh, spreading her arms wide as though she greeted a friend, "so good of you to drop in."

"I wasn't dropping in," Breanna said, scanning the corridor for the sensation of eyes on her. Looking up, she found the focal point on the ceiling tiles a few feet in front of her. Cara was correct, "you can tell your fanatics to come down now."

"Always so perceptive," Darcia smiled, "perceptive and stubborn."

"Only around you," Breanna said, raising her mental shield as she felt pain stab through her chest. "I see you still cannot decide who you are," Breanna pointed to Darcia's hairstyle, "coping me again, are you?"

Breanna looked into her sister's insanity filled eyes as her abilities sought answers.

"Trying to see if I am telling the truth or not? Tut tut tut, shame on you, Breanna."

"Simply reciprocating. You're trying to kill me or have me killed," Breanna responded, "besides, it's one thing I will always need to know about you, Darcia. You were never good at telling the truth," Breanna said.

Her sister's intentions had never been pure, and that had not changed, regardless of what she may say while facing her.

"Why do you want to kill me, Darcia? Removing DNA strands will certainly do a lot of damage."

"I admit that's what I wanted to do at first," Darcia sighed, trying to cover the flicker of alarm in her eyes, "but now I want to strengthen that link between us."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Why?"

"Can't you see, I want to be one with you," Darcia said sweetly while her eyes glittered, "we were meant to be one person. Don't you see that? Don't you understand our destiny? We never got along because we were separated."

"We never got along because we were different," Breanna said. "Frankly, I'm glad I got to live in my own body without having you dictating my every move, word and decision."

"You will never understand what we, as a whole, are capable of," Darcia strode forward, insanity gleaming in her eyes. "We can have it all, be it all, know it all."

"Will we be able to choose for ourselves? Who will be the principal character? How will we make decisions?"

"Always being negative," Darcia sighed, "always looking for an excuse. This is why we could never bond. But now," she whispered in excitement, "now we can. I have a way that we can be everything."

Breanna took in her sister's words, the depths of the insanity in her eyes and realised that they may look alike, but nothing else held the two together. Inhaling painfully, Breanna realised Darcia was beyond her reach. The awful truth of the permanent loss of reality tasted bitter in her mouth. When the dust settled on this disagreement, only one would be standing. Preferably neither died. But seeing Darcia's treatment of someone like Tina, she realised Darcia had no moral compass in pursuing her goals. This Darcia could not continue. The knowledge rippled through Breanna like a wave running to the shore.

How far had her sister gone?

How far was Darcia's reach?

What had she done?

What careful planning did Darcia not want her to find?

Breanna needed to find out, which meant engaging Darcia in superficial, detestable chit-chat was required.

"Have you seen our parents recently?" Breanna asked; Darcia nodded.

"How are Mom and Dad?" Breanna continued, buying time for the team.

"They are well," Darcia smiled; something about the way she spoke chilled Breanna to the bone. "Mom is going to have a baby, another set of genetically perfected twins."

"What? When did mom fall pregnant?" Breanna frowned, "what do you mean, another set of genetically perfected twins?"

Darcia grinned, looking very pleased with herself, "Oh yes, you don't know," Darcia chuckled, embarrassed by her slip up. "Our parents are part of the programme now. Do you want to see them?"

Intense nausea rolled in Breanna's gut as she stared at her sister. Her parents were not perfect, not a pair to model parenthood on but for one of their daughters to find sick happiness in experimenting on them.

"Darcia, what did you do?" Breanna whispered, afraid of the answer.

Darcia cocked her head slightly to the right as Breanna waited, ignoring the posed question Breanna played for time.

If Cara could get the much-needed information to the team and the military, all of this would be worthwhile. They needed to know how far Darcia had gone. They needed to know if this was the next level indicated on the stolen flash drive.

Darcia reached to the side of her pressing an unseen button. Breanna watched five black-clad bodies lower themselves from the ceiling. Darcia walked down the passage before turning into a nearby passageway, a bounce in her step reminding Breanna of one of Santa's jolly elves. The enhanced security detail followed her silently, bringing to mind obedient lapdogs. Breanna glanced at the black-fatigued figures and noticed the regulation necklaces hanging around their necks, red armbands on every left arm. Cautiously she followed them. Something was not right about them. Her senses went to full alert. She felt she would never walk away from this encounter the same. If she didn't survive, at least the necessary information would be available to those who could use it for the good of others.

Following the coordinates Tania had reluctantly given him, David came to a stop at the corner of the last passageway they had seen Breanna. The extraction of many missing personnel and civilians was a resounding success. Not only was the nearby military camp happy with who was retrieved, but the humans rescued were glad to be out of the hell hole. The refugee process was laid out according to what Breanna did with each escapee she had helped. Necklaces were disposed of, the colour of each recorded in the relevant folder, and everything the person settled in a safe house. That part would be happening after the military debriefed their own. Everything was as it should be, except Breanna had not returned to the surface. He understood her orders. He would have done the same himself, but she hadn't given him those orders, and he refused to leave without an entire team.

Concerned Darcia may have pulled some trick and captured Breanna, David had followed the route they had taken to the last point of contact. Easing up against the wall of the passage when hearing voices. Peeking around the corner, he was in time to see Breanna following Darcia down another route with five black-clad personnel. Understanding dawned. According to their new intelligence received, those were her personal fanatics. Enhanced, loyal until death and brutal in carrying out all of Darcia's commands.

Sliding into a doorway, David watched Breanna follow Darcia down a second passageway. Where was Breanna going with Darcia? Why? What could she possibly be up to? Had Darcia threatened them? Had she said something to Breanna to make her follow? Did Breanna know something they didn't?

Torn between following them and looking after those on the surface, David huffed out a frustrated breath. An idea lit in his mind. Following the route, he returned to the surface and the edgy group.

"Cara," David whispered, "are you still connected to Breanna?"

"Yes, why?"

"She went with Darcia," he said, "our goal is to finish the mission and get everyone out. Including Bre. Keep tabs on her, listen in. Can you do that?"

"Yes, I can," she nodded, "but what exactly do you want me to keep tabs on?"

"We need to know if Darcia does anything to Bre," David said, "if she does, then we go in and get her."

"That wasn't her orders," Cara said, "she won't like it."

"Neither will we if Darcia gets to do her final experiment on her sister," Clio said urgently, "who will have the abilities to stand against her."

"Fine," Cara nodded, "I'll let you know what is happening. Let's get these people out of here."

Following Darcia through the maze of corridors, Breanna kept her distance. Finally, entering a viewing room reminiscent of those used in training, she eased up to the glass. Breanna looked into a sterile examination room below. Lying side by side strapped to stainless steel examination tables, she saw the bodies of their parents. They looked like they were both recovering from a minor procedure of sorts.

"What have you done to them?" Breanna asked, battling her rising anger, "what are you currently doing to them?"

"Have done ... breeding off them," Darcia's matter-of-fact coldness stunned Breanna, "currently doing ... also breeding off of them. The programme is successful in some ways. This is going to be the breakthrough I have been trying to achieve."

"Are you saying you've been making genetically enhanced children?" Breanna swallowed her rising nausea.

"Not children … babies, sister dear," Darcia smirked, rubbing her hands together, "there have been five successful pairs. They are already enhanced. Everything they need is already in place. Ready to do what is necessary for the furthering of our success. Now the question I know Father would ask you, Breanna. What have you been doing with your life? Lazing on a beach in Mexico? ignoring your sister's invitations to visit?"

"You have to stop doing this to people Darcia," Breanna said, "you are playing with innocent lives. First mine and now our parents' lives."

"Oh, you sound just like Michael," Darcia pouted, turning away, "always on my case to treat people right."

"Who is Michael?" Breanna asked, feeling disorientated.

"Oh yes, that is one thing I did keep my promise on," Darcia's sly smile felt like a snake crawling over Breanna's skin, "I freed you from your family."

"That doesn't answer my question," Breanna waited as Darcia paced.

"Michael is our brother," her smile slithered over her lips, "so you see, I have freed you from your family. Mom and Dad are here, you don't have any memory of Michael, and then, of course, there is me."

"Darcia, you have to stop manipulating people," Breanna tried again, "you are hurting everyone you touch."

"What nonsense, Breanna," Darcia said testily, "no one feels that way."

"What about the people you have in here or the babies you have sired off our parents? Do you hear yourself? You have gone from manipulating the minds of grown men and women to controlling every aspect of a child's life. That isn't advancing …" Breanna frowned, "that is regressing."

Darcia stared at Breanna before shaking her head, "You were never able to see the bigger picture. Yes, you were the one born a half hour before me, got the good grades, the one everyone thought of first, to speak to, to play with, to invite out. No one saw you for who you are. A fraud."

Breanna looked at Darcia, disbelieving the hurtful words from her sister's mouth.

"I'm confused," Breanna said, "how did all of that make me a fraud?"

"I knew our problem went back to our genetics," Darcia whispered coldly, "so I studied everything I could to solve the problem. When I tried to help you, you ran away."

"Help me. That was not helping me; it still doesn't make me understand how I am a fraud," Breanna said, looking around for the exit sign, "it makes no sense at all."

"You made everyone like you," Darcia said, her hand fisting and relaxing, "you had all the fun when you knew something was wrong, and you did nothing to fix it."

"What was wrong?" Breanna frowned, "we had a wonderful childhood, with a family who loved us until Craig died."

Darcia twitched at the sound of their eldest brother's name. Breanna frowned; where had that information originated? Until now, Breanna couldn't remember any other family besides Darcia and her parents. Could she have two brothers? Careful to keep her face expressionless, Breanna slowly moved in the direction of the exit sign.

"Don't move," her sister snarled, "I can destroy you quicker than you think."

"By taking a piece of my DNA out or fusing us," Breanna blew out a breath rolling her eyes, "it will kill us both whichever way you go. Darcia, did you skip that class in Science 101?"

"The process may kill you, but it will make me invincible," madness sparkled once again, "you will be no longer, and I will be eternal."

"How exactly will it make you invincible or eternal?" Breanna whispered.

"I need the whole gene in the DNA string for me to be unstoppable," Darcia sighed. "Imagine me being able to do anything, go anywhere, and nothing will be in my way. No one will talk down to me again. No one will tell me I cannot do as I wish."

"Darcia, I'm not getting it," Breanna frowned, "you haven't listened to anyone your entire life. You have taken everything you wanted. You live the way you want. Why do you want more?"

"There is no such thing as enough," Darcia bellowed, her eyes widening, "there is never enough. There is always the next level. The next step."

Breanna backed away instinctively; this person was not the person she had grown up with. This lunatic inhabited her sister's body.

"What happened to you, Darcia?"

"I improved myself," she whispered conspiratorially, following Breanna's retreat, "I enhanced my intelligence, my strength, my memory, basically everything about me. All I need is the other half of my missing DNA to make me … more."

"How can you improve yourself, Darcia? Did you do the procedure on yourself?"

"No, I did the process, and someone else completed the procedure," Darcia smiled, "I am perfect now."

"Perfect? Haven't you always been perfect?"

"No," Darcia sneered, "there was always you in the way."

Sudden realisation hit Breanna like a punch from a gorilla's hand; Darcia always thought she was the perfect one. Darcia believed it so fully she had been enhancing herself to the point of insanity.

"If you don't let me take that gene from your DNA, I shall kill our parents," Darcia said as though she were discussing the flavour of ice cream.

"Bre," Cara spoke in her mind, "Hana says the people on the exam tables are already dead. They are kept alive by machines to be used as breading pods".

Looking at the exam tables, Breanna knew what would push Darcia from this prim, perfect host to the insane person she was. Not relishing experiencing the receiving end of that outburst, but if they wanted to know Darcia's true capabilities, she would have to push buttons.

Breanna stared thoughtfully at her parents, staring until Darcia did as well.

"What are you looking at?" Darcia asked.

"At our parents," Breanna said, "more to the point their bodies."

"They are a work of art," Darcia smiled, "aren't they?"

"Not really," Breanna said, "I thought since you killed our parents, you wouldn't mind switching off the machines. I'm pretty certain they wouldn't wake up … its what you call an experiment?"

"Would you like me to try that?" Darcia asked slyly.

"If I did or if I didn't," Breanna said, "you would decide for yourself anyway. You always did."

"You decided for yourself," Darcia suddenly yelled, "I had to manipulate people to get the space to decide for myself. So Breanna, what is it to be?"

"I'm not taking that choice from you," Breanna shook her head, "you want to decide for yourself, Darcia? Then decide. One way or another, I'm not deciding for you."

Darcia screamed in rage, "You never did what you were told to do."

Darcia moved toward Breanna in a streak. Breanna gasped as she felt the bite of nails in her neck from Darcia's firm grip. The rising fist connected with her jaw, snapping her head back. Sudden and complete darkness fell.