Mind Trace (21 page)

She brushed by him and walked out to the top of the stairs.
Alice still couldn't understand what he wanted her to see. She saw a glint of
metal a short distance from the bottom of the stairs, so she cautiously made
her way down to look at it.  It was still dark, with only the runway lights
dimly illuminated in the distance and the eerie glow of the plane's cabin
lights behind her.

Just as she made it to the bottom, a dozen bright lights
switched on, glaring cruelly down at her. She shielded her eyes, trying to
adjust to the sudden, piercing light.

"So good of you to join us, Alice…"

No. That's impossible.

She knew that voice. Alice would never forget it as long as
she lived. She had hoped she never would have occasion to hear it again. Yet
there it was, all the same. The speaker stepped into the light.

I must be asleep. This is just a cruel nightmare.

Alice was frozen in place. As Eric stepped forward, the
rest of the area was lit, revealing a multitude of heavily armed men, vehicles
and other effective deterrents for escaping. Their "mysterious destination"
was apparently in the middle of the EngineerCorp airport.

Betrayed?

Her mind could not begin to fathom what was happening. 

Garrett betrayed me? Was everything I knew of him a
complete lie? It can't be... He seemed so sincere. He wouldn't nonchalantly
betray me. What did they do to him?

Garrett came up behind her. She turned around and stared at
him in disbelief, whispering, "Garrett, what have you done?"

"Oh, I'm not your precious Garrett." 

What?

He waved his hands off to the side as two men approached, holding
a struggling form between them, head covered in a dark cloth.

Eric stood back, silently watching. No one made a move,
except for the man she thought was Garrett, who stepped forward and ripped the
covering off the other man's face.

Alice stared at the face of… Garrett?  Her mind flashed
back to the faded portrait in his study.

Twins!

The true Garrett blinked, looking around and trying to get his
bearings. Then his eyes landed on the face of his imposter and Alice saw a look
of pure, unadulterated rage on Garrett's face.

"You!"  Garrett growled.

"Yes, dear brother…it has been so long."

Then, with a superhuman rush of strength, Garrett broke
free of his handlers and leapt on top of the other man. They wrestled for a few
seconds before the two men were able to pull Garrett off and restrain him once
again.

The imposter walked up to Garrett, rubbing a red spot on
the side of his head where Garrett had hit him. He glared at Garrett icily
before turning away. Then, he seemed to reconsider, abruptly spinning back
around to punch him squarely in the eye.

Garrett fell backwards, stunned for a moment before the men
on his sides pulled him roughly back to his feet. He recovered quickly and
shouted at his brother.

"I thought you were dead, Gabriel! You've been working
for
him
this whole time? I knew it... I knew there had to be a reason
for all of this!"

"You mean, beyond your lack of security?" Gabriel
chuckled.  "I had to make sure everyone knew how much of a failure you
really were, Garrett. Mom and Dad always thought you were the best, giving you
everything. You had the world handed to you and you chose this?  Look where it
brought you! If they could see us now, I think they'd know who the better son
really is."

"You never did know when to stop, Gabriel…when things
had gone too far. Just like now! What did you do? Sell your soul to the devil?
I hope it was worth it. You have no idea what you've done."

"No, Garrett. You're still as ignorant as ever. But, I'm
sure you'll have plenty of time to figure it out." Gabriel laughed
maliciously.

Eric stepped forward now, interrupting. "Well, I hate
to end this reunion, but we have business to take care of. Please escort
Garrett to his quarters."

He turned to Gabriel. "And, you…your work here is
done. I believe you're needed elsewhere?"

Gabriel looked back as Garrett was led away, struggling.
Then, he nodded to Eric and stepped into a waiting vehicle.

Alice had begun to inch away slowly as Gabriel was talking
until she backed into something hard and unyielding. She turned around and
found herself staring into the impassive face of a heavily armed guard.

Eric turned to look at her. His face unfolded into a slow
grin, partially exposing a perfect set of bleached white teeth. 

"I knew you couldn't stay away."

Chapter 14

Alice was completely trapped. No matter what she tried, she
could not get past the army of trained men surrounding her. Clearly, Eric was
taking no chances this time around.

Why hadn't I listened to my instincts?

"Would you care to join me?"

"Do I have a choice in the matter?" Alice replied,
icily.

Eric laughed. "There's no need for hostility, Alice. I'm
not such a bad guy, once you get to know me. Now, why don't we go somewhere a
little more…
comfortable
?"

He held his hand out to her, offering an escort. Alice gave
him an incredulous look, and then strode past him toward the waiting vehicle.

I might not be able to win here, but he's crazy if he
thinks I'm going to be happy about it.

"Suit yourself, my dear."

It was a large cargo vehicle, similar to a Hummer. She
walked around the back of the truck, where the door was open. In the back of
the vehicle, situated in some sort of dock, was the same type of motorized
restraint vehicle that she had unwillingly used before. She unconsciously took
a step back when she saw it, but a hand was placed on the small of her back,
pushing her forward.

Eric sarcastically gestured toward the chair. "Your
throne awaits…"

She gritted her teeth and allowed herself to be carried up
and strapped into the chair. Now was not the time to waste her energy in a
fruitless battle. Alice briefly thought of Garrett. She was not the only one
that received a shock tonight, but she was glad to know that he had not been the
one to betray her.

I wonder where they're taking him. I hope it's better
than where they're taking me.

The truck began moving along the darkened streets of the
EngineerCorp campus. A considerable entourage followed silently behind them. After
going through a series of gates and security checkpoints, the truck rolled to a
stop at the back of a nondescript building. A large ramp led up to an equally
large and impressive steel door.

This must be the place they use to deliver more
sensitive materials. Materials they don't want to send through the main
warehouse. Or, it's the entrance for their special "guests."

A man got out and took care of opening the door. It swung
back on massive metal hinges, showing a long corridor filled with harsh
artificial lights. Alice was wheeled out of the car and up the ramp, into the
building.

Here we go again…

A short elevator ride later, they arrived at her all too familiar
cell. Eric opened the door and she was deposited inside the room. Before they removed
her from the chair, Eric stepped forward to speak to her.

"I've had my engineers make you a little gift while
you were away."

He picked up an item on the desk and held it up. A thick
metal band formed a smooth circle in his hands.

No. Not that!

"You have the honor of testing this prototype for us.
We have been developing it as prisoner control for the military. It is placed
around a prisoner's ankle, where it can only be removed by a wireless signal
sent from the device server. While in use, it emits a radio signal at all
times, telling the server the exact coordinates of the prisoner. If the prisoner
should happen to venture outside the acceptable area as programmed by the
administrator… it will inject the wearer with a nice dose of sedatives before
activating at least a dozen different alarms.

"And, until I say otherwise, the 'acceptable area' for
you ends at that doorway."

He gestured to the door. Eric then handed the band to a man
at his side, who snapped it around her ankle.

"You have to be kidding!" Alice blurted out.

Eric said nothing, only turned away from her and motioned
for the guards to release her. After doing so, one of them wheeled the chair
from the room. 

What am I going to do now?

Eric observed her face, which was frozen in an incredulous
expression.

"You're more than welcome to test it out, Alice. The
first one's on the house. Although, I imagine you will wake up with a killer
headache."

He smiled and stepped away from the door to let her pass.

Alice said nothing. Instead, she wearily sat down upon the
bed. She knew exactly what it was when he first held it up. EngineerCorp had
been working on the project for some time. Long before Eric finished talking, her
mind had given her all the gory details. She did not need to test it to be sure
of its potency.

Eric laughed, and left the room saying, "See you soon,
Alice."

The remainder of the guards left with him, door shutting
behind them. Alice leaned back against the wall and wrapped her arms around her
knees, drawing them to her chest and hugging them tightly.

How will I ever escape this?

***

After Gabriel returned to his quarters, he found himself feeling
strangely nostalgic. Usually he did not indulge in such emotions, but seeing his
brother brought forth feelings he put aside long ago. He looked about his
domain and reflected on the events that brought him there.

Gabriel was born exactly three minutes after his identical
twin. His parents claimed equality in their upbringing, but it seemed as if
there was always some reason why Garrett was more successful, at least in his
eyes. He saw his older brother as a threat, even from the beginning.

He could not have been more than five years old the first
time his parents asked him, "Why can't you be more like your brother?"

It was the first of many occasions that he was humiliated
by that question. He grew to hate his parents for asking, and hate his brother
for providing a focal point of all the things he would never be.

Raised in the same household, anyone would have assumed
both boys would have the same morals and concept of right and wrong. Gabriel's
conscience began to fade as he chose more and more unconventional means to
achieve his goals.  Nothing was off-limits. Gabriel had to win, no matter what
the cost.

When it became clear that Garrett was extremely talented in
the field of cyberspace, Gabriel committed his life to study the same. He became
brilliant at programming and an expert at hardware, but he didn't stop there.
His talents with computers evolved into an obsession with hacking and
destroying others, especially Garrett.

His parents turned a blind eye to Gabriel's "dirty
dealings" in favor of their shining approval of Garrett. Gabriel moved
away at the age of seventeen, going where he would be free of such biased judgment…or
so he thought. 

As his passion for hacking continued, so did his criminal
record. When he was caught, it only fueled his desire to do more damage. But
each time, the expenses of lawyers and trials forced him to find money wherever
he could…even if it meant borrowing from unscrupulous people.

Garrett made it a habit to discretely monitor his brother,
concerned for his safety. When Gabriel managed to get himself into a
considerable amount of debt with the wrong people, Garrett approached him to
offer him the money he needed.

At the time, Cyberconn had just launched and his business
was booming. Gabriel was furious. To him it felt like a slap in the face. He
turned his brother out, and told Garrett never to speak to him again.

But this time, Gabriel had gone too far. His debtors began
to threaten him, and when that did not work, threatened to harm his family.
Gabriel flatly told them that if they did anything to his brother, they would
be doing him a favor.  His parents on the other hand… He did not want harm to
come to them, even if they had always favored Garrett. It was only because he
had not had the chance to prove himself properly.

Gabriel assured his debtors that he would have the money
soon. But, instead of paying them back, he became so focused on ruining his
brother that he ignored the danger they posed. 

A man named Eric approached him then. He somehow knew of
his desire to ruin Garrett, so he provided the perfect ammunition to do so.
Eric wanted to make it seem as if Garrett had stolen intellectual property from
EngineerCorp, even offering the information he needed to make it legitimate. That
would allow Eric to take over the market and gain the edge he had been seeking.
Gabriel was only too happy to comply.

Shortly after that, Garrett was in ruin and his parents
disowned him. Everything was starting to turn around, until he realized his
fatal mistake. Gabriel still had not paid back his debts, and his time was up.

Not long after that, his parents were found dead in their
home.  The murder weapon, a pistol, was found with his fingerprints all over
it. Additionally, a large sum of money was stolen from their private
safe…making it seem as if Gabriel had murdered them for the money to pay off
his debts.

Gabriel was left running from the law and desperate.

Eric came to him again, mysteriously knowing the circumstances
of his predicament, and gave him an offer he could not refuse. In exchange for
his freedom and absolution from his crimes, Gabriel had to work for him
indefinitely.

He could spend his time doing what he loved, and Eric would
have someone with unparalleled skills to work on special projects.  In order to
ensure that no future problems arose from his past, Eric removed all record of
him, making it seem as if he had never existed. Just like that, Gabriel was
erased.