Chapter 1

“You got that? Use seduction to get what I want, and once he gives it to you, knife him from behind,” Tim said placing his hands on the sixteen-year-old’s shoulders. The girl nodded solemnly and packed the knives into her little black knapsack. “You’ve been trained by the best, so don’t screw up. Remember what happened to the girl before you,” he said placing his hand on the girl’s waist and sliding it to the small of her back where he attached the bag loop to her belt. Her heart raced with fear, but she nodded calmly.

The car was waiting for her. She walked out and to the car. Inside was a change of clothes. The short, skin tight, strapless black dress, with stiletto heels was what she was supposed to wear. How exactly was she supposed to wear that revealing dress and also carry a knife? Her eyes moved toward a tiny black bag. Oh, that’s how. Next to the bag was a black hat with a black veil so only the one man she was dealing with would see her when she took it off. She changed quickly for the ride was a short one. The Robot-Form-H did her hair. Since her hair was naturally straight, it took a while to curl and spray into beautiful curls, then pin into a dazzling hairdo. Robot-Form-M did her makeup, just a slight touchup of the eyes and lips. Her nails were genetically altered to always be thick and beautiful like the fake French nails. She felt the car hum to a halt and slowly open to the bright sunshine of midday.

The door opened to reveal an elderly man, not too old, but not too young either, who was of average height and a bit fat. He held Ivy’s hand as she got out, and she lifted the black veil over her mouth and embraced him with a full on mouth-to-mouth kiss. “It’s lovely to meet you,” she said a bit out of breath. The man was stunned, but not appalled.

“Same to you!” he sighed a bit dazed.

“Shall we do our business inside?” she asked innocently letting down the black veil. He nodded. She was all over him in the seducing way she was taught. He breathed deeply into her chest and spoke airily into his ear. She took off her hat when they were safely alone inside. “The papers for your company? My daddy sent me here as a proposal to a trade. Me,” she said getting closer to him, “for the papers. I think it’s a fair trade, seeing as you are quite a dazzling man!”

She was all over him and he accepted the “proposal” without question. “I just have to sign a few things,” he mumbled placing the papers all over the table. To Ivy, the papers were glowing gold. That’s what she was after! He signed the papers and turned around, “All finished, where shall I send them?” he asked.

“I’ll take them to my daddy, and then I’ll come back for you!” she giggled childishly. She scooped up the papers into an envelope. The old man was turned around pouring a glass of alcohol for himself to celebrate the magnificent day, but Ivy came up behind him with the knife and stabbed him right in the back by his heart. She did it a few more times to make sure he was dead, then she washed her hands and grabbed the papers, her handbag with the bloody knife inside, and put her hat back on covering her face.

She got back in the car and they drove off. “Welcome back! Welcome back! Did you get the papers? Yes, yes, good! That was too easy for you. I watched everything! That was magnificent! We will definitely be using you again!” Tim gushed proudly at the sixteen-year-old.

Ivy was totally brainwashed. She did everything she was told, the way she was told. It pleased her to please Tim. If she pleased Tim, she pleased the company, and if she pleased the company, she pleased the system, and the system was law. Anybody who tried to fool the system was taken away; probably somewhere to be brainwashed, and goodness knows how scary a thing that can be. Ivy walked confidently back to her chambers, and used her card to get in. Sitting on her bed was a small note.
Dear Ivy,
This is not what it seems to be.
Get out while you still can.
2FH35J0145

The note was quite strange. The number was wrong. She was 4XC79F0038, but this was completely different. There was a startling knock on the door and Ivy quickly slipped the note into her purse. A man walked in with a smile on his face. “Oh, hi Steve,” Ivy sighed, “You started me!”

“Well I’m sorry, but you will be happy to know that we got you another job for tomorrow, but you have to leave like, right now to get there in time! Same M.O. and same technique. You were wonderful last time and nobody suspected a thing!” Steve was so excited about this new mission, it had to be big, but the note scared Ivy.

“Um, but, I’m sort of, you know, tired?” it was more of a statement than a question, “And I really need my rest. Can’t I just take a T.P. tomorrow morning?”

“No because there is none there! You have to leave now! Come on! Let’s get a move on!” Steve clapped his hands trying to hurry her. Since she was going to be driving overnight, she was using a night car, or N.T.P. where there was a bathroom, a bedroom, and even a kitchen. A regular T.P. was a normal vehicle that transported any person to their destination; it was basically a modern bus or train. And finally the D.T.P. was a Day Teleport, which is basically a normal car driven in the daytime, nothing special.

Ivy was practically herded into the N.T.P. and before she even thought to sit down, they were off, and she was on the floor. Then a thought hit her: Where was Tim? Why hadn’t he given her the job instead of Steve? But, she just shook it off, and didn’t think about it again. This time her skimpy outfit was a bright blood red, short strapless dress, a sparkly blood red handbag, a pair of blood red stiletto peeptoe heels, and a blood red hat with a masking cover. Setting the outfit aside, she fell asleep almost immediately, and woke to the next morning to the sound of her inner alarm so she could get ready. An inner alarm was set whenever somebody though of where, when, and what. Her inner alarm was set for six-thirty in the morning so she could get ready inside the N.T.P. before arriving at the house.

Again, she got dressed, and had her hair and makeup done by Robot-Form-H and Robot-Form-M. This time, her eyes were a dazzling shadow of silver, dark mascara and eyeliner, and blood red lips. When the car came to a halt, she got ready to reveal her young body. The doors swung open gracefully and an older man met her awaiting hand. He kissed it and brought her out. She went in ready for the kiss, but he stopped her.

“Come inside, why don’t you?” he said with an English accent. Ivy followed the man inside unsure of what was to come, seeing as the first part of her plan had already been extinguished. They sat down next to one another on the silky white loveseat in the living room, and the Englishman offered Ivy some tea which she took politely and sipped. “I would like for you to meet Murphy Oliver,” he said as a young man, most likely sixteen, walked in with a smile.

“Oh, my, I didn’t realize you had a son,” Ivy said entirely confused. Her hat and cover was sitting beside her and her face was fully visible. She was distraught. She’d failed her mission, and it was only the second one!

“My goodness, no! He is not my son!” the Englishman laughed heartily, “This is 2FH35J0145! Did you not get the note?”

Ivy slowly pulled the note out from behind her knife in the shimmering bag. She handed it to the Englishman and he nodded. “I am afraid we have gotten to you too late. You have already spilled some blood have you?” he said looking at her blood red outfit and makeup.

“I – I,” Ivy stammered.

“And don’t you think I’m a bit too old for you?”

“I’m sixteen! Everyone is supposed to marry and have a family at age thirteen! I was told I was late and nobody except older men would accept me, and I am perfectly acceptable. There is no law against love between vast age differences,” she paused, “Is there?”

“Alas, not in these times, but there should be. Anyway, we have been waiting for some new potential to show up at this house. Murphy has just been dying to get a new partner and try again!” the man said happily.

“Try again? Try what again?” Ivy asked cautiously.

“To get rid of BioTech,” Murphy spoke. He couldn’t take his eyes off her, she was dazzling. “To be honest, I thought you were going to be a guy. Boy am I lucky I was wrong!”

Suddenly a pang of self-respect took over, and Ivy immediately let down her long golden curls covering her up as best as hair can ever really do. Murphy moved his eyes away and met her gaze. He was quite handsome, but he had to be married already. Most likely for around three years.

“I’m not married, and I never have been, if that’s what you’re wondering,” he stated coolly. “If I had been, I would have been injected with CTFM3, a drug that makes no other woman appealing to me. My wife the same, only with CTFW7. If she were to become a widow or I, a widower, the drug would wear off in a few weeks. The drug completely erases the thought that spouses would cheat on one another, or murder one another, because the couple would have eyes for no other.”

Ivy nodded uncomfortably wishing to disappear. She wished she could go back to the car and cover up her body. She was ashamed of what she’d done. “Murphy, why don’t you gather some clothing for her,” the Englishman commanded. Murphy nodded and disappeared up the stairs. “I do not believe I have introduced myself properly and the name on your report is a fake. See, my name is Trey Dean, and BioTech has taken a notice to me. I used to save people like you all the time, and BioTech got mad. I have many on the inside who help bring test subjects like you, here so I can help you. The reason you have now, out of the blue, self-respect is because you were broken from the chain. The drug PL28KG is what lowers your standards and makes it easy to take advantage of you. Now that the electrolyte chain from your brain to the motherboard has been disconnected.”

“Do any of these drugs have real names? And I don’t understand what the numbering system is for test subjects. A bunch of random numbers and letters?” Ivy asked shyly.

“Unfortunately in these times, drugs come out so fast that it’s virtually impossible to name them all. But, your test subject number does have a meaning,” Trey said, “The first number of your identity is your section number. The two letters that follow are your region area. The two numbers after are your block number. The single letter in the middle is your house letter, and last, the four digit number is your subject number.” Ivy was baffled. She was so confused her mouth was literally hanging open.

“He means that you are subject number 0038 of section 4, in region area XC, on block 79, in house F. It’s basically a way they can tell where exactly you live, and what you will become. Unfortunately for you, they have made you a seducer which means using your body as a way to tempt widower men, but,” he paused for effect, “you are also one who has great knife skill” Murphy explained handing her the clothes. “Bathroom is the first door on the right.”

Chapter 2

Ivy couldn’t get over being dirty. She’d done things she barely remembered, like killing a man. When had she done that? With every passing moment, a little piece of her drugged past was forgotten. It was like being born again at sixteen with no past at all! That thought made her pause. No past at all? What happened to her past? She vaguely remembered a fight with someone who she assumed was her mother, and a bunch of men she thought were cops, but every face was blurred and everything seemed to move so fast. Then one face popped up. A face Ivy would never forget.

She stared at her hands that were entangled with one another and spoke quietly, “I will never forget his face. His eyebrows were dark and angry, and his eyes were like black holes. His hair was long-ish and had a slight wavy curl. He had a thin pointy nose, and his mouth was curled into an evil smile with sharp teeth.” She didn’t know how else to describe him, yet Trey was doodling something on a small pad of paper.

“Something like this?” he asked turning the paper around to show Ivy.

Her eyes widened with excitement, “That’s it! That’s him! Who is he?”

“That just so happens to be the one man that invented BioTech and owns pretty much all of this city; Collin Fellis. He’s the one we are trying to get close to, and I believe,” Murphy sighed, “that you were brought here for this reason. He created BioTech, but he doesn’t abide by the laws he’s mandated. He has a wife who does take the drug, but he’s also got a bunch of other mistresses.”

“I just got my dignity back, and I don’t want to touch that man! He looks dirty,” Ivy shivered. “Hey, just out of curiosity Murphy, what were you trained to do?”

Murphy cleared his throat and thought for a moment. “I was trained to be able to work any electronic weapon device thing, uh, not many made it in my field because they were sort of, um, blown up. Anyway, I haven’t seen an electronic weapon anywhere but BioTech so I’m sort of, useless,” he said lowering his voice towards the end.

“Build one,” Ivy shrugged.

“What?” Murphy inquired surprised by her statement.

“Build an electronic weapon. You know you know how, so why don’t you?” Ivy asked.

“Why didn’t we think of that?” Trey asked chuckling to himself.

“Even if we did think of it, we don’t have the supplies,” Murphy moaned. Trey rolled his eyes. “But… I was trained so I can improvise?”

“You got that right,” Trey laughed heartily.


Murphy was pretty much locked in his room tinkering with little pieces of metal and plastic. Ivy and Trey were sitting in the living room sipping warm tea. “You must be heading out soon, but remember, you must not act any differently than you were trained. They will notice if you act strange, so you must be confident and unfortunately, act the way you used to.”

Ivy looked down at her hands again, and nodded. “Can I at least wear these clothes in the car?” she asked. She was wearing long blue jeans, long pink t-shirt, and comfortable black sandals. She didn’t want to wear the revealing strapless outfit.

“No. I’m sorry but the car would be checked after you got out. Here,” Trey said handing her a large manila envelope, “Give this to Steve. Hopefully he will be able to pull some strings so you will work under him.”

Ivy nodded and stood up. “I will get changed then, and be on my way,” she sighed holding the envelop loosely in her hand, “And I will deliver this to Steve.” Off she went to change into her very red and seductive paraphernalia.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Steve walked calmly down the hall, hoping he wouldn’t bump into Tim. “Hey, Steve!” Tim called from behind him. He halted and closed his eyes for a second before turning around and replying. “Did you use my girl?” Tim interrogated.

“As a matter of fact, I think I did,” Steve said a bit sarcastically, “I lost my seducer and I needed to borrow one.”

Tim walked straight up to Steve and shoved his finger at his chest, “I’ll let it slip this time, but she is mine! You have to apply for a substitute and not just use mine.”

“It was an important mission, and I didn’t have time to apply. I will not do it again,” Steve said throwing his hands up like he was surrendering, “I promise.”

“You’re damn right you won’t,” Tim growled and left. Steve let out the shaken breath he’d been holding and shook his body as if ridding himself of stress. He walked outside and waited for Ivy to return. When the car arrived, Ivy handed the envelope over and walked inside. She walked the way she was trained in her stiletto heels, but now it just felt clumsy instead of graceful.

Calmly, she walked to her room flashing her card everywhere needed. Ivy’s home was a little dorm-like grey room. The three walls in the back and on the sides were grey indestructible plastic, and the wall with the door was just a wall of glass with a glass door. The metal wire-frame bed had a thin white springy mattress, and a single white pillow. Next to the bed was a small grey bedside table with a white chair beside it. At the end of the bed was a small food distributer. Food was teleported from the kitchens to the distributer when the button on the top was pressed. The meals were never fancy, but they weren’t unappetizing either.

When Ivy arrived at her room, she saw Tim standing there waiting for her. “Hello Tim,” she said walking in taking her hat off. “What can I do for you?” she asked taking his arm and standing beside him. Her makeup was still fresh and bright, and her dress was still tight and showy. She looked up at him smiling.

Tim shook her off so hard, one of her stiletto heels broke and she fell to the floor. “You can start by telling me where the hell you were last night!” he growled not helping her up off the floor.

“I went on a mission Steve gave to me. I assumed,” she winced from the radiating pain in her elbow, “that you were busy and you asked him to deliver it to me.” She got up slowly and held her limp arm in her other hand.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I forgot to tell you that you only accept missions from your advisor, or me,” Tim apologized. He took her limp arm and looked at it for a moment. “It’s broken,” he stated. The area around her elbow was turning a deep purple, and every time he made a slight movement, Ivy winced. He took her stilettos off and walked her out of her room and to the emergency center.

“Oh, hon,” the nurse sighed, “How in the world did you manage to do that?”

Ivy looked at Tim who was glaring at her, “I fell when my shoe broke,” she stated calmly. It was the truth, but not the whole truth.

“Well if you’d just carefully set your arm right here, yes, here,” the nurse rambled, “We’ll have that fixed in jiffy, then perfect in a night’s sleep!”

Ivy did as she was told, and when the nurse turned the machine on, she began to scream. The pain was magnified by a billion. No wonder she’d been strapped down. Her agonizing yelps and terrifying screams rang out through the entire BioTech building for an entire five minutes. Ivy was sobbing with black tears running down her cheeks when it was over. “Sorry hon,” the nurse said solemnly, “It was worse than I’d expected.” Ivy’s arm was wrapped in a soft cast and she was ready to go.

Tim had to pretty much carry Ivy out. Her legs were basically unusable, and her eyes were blind from makeup tears. “Garbage can, garbage can,” she whimpered. Tim walked her over to the nearest garbage can, and she proceeded to throw up the nothing that was in her stomach. Tim not only held her up, but he held her hair back through the entire ordeal. When they got back to Ivy’s little dorm-house, Tim helped her get to bed, and left Ivy there, still sobbing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


“I present to you,” Murphy said proudly hiding something behind his back, “a laser knife!” He held the small, thin, cylindrical object in his hand with a small button on the rounded side. Trey looked at him as if he were crazy. “Demonstration? Anyone? Anyone?” Murphy said proudly looking around as if there were a crowd of people expecting something fantastic. He pointed the small object at an empty wooden chair and pressed the button. Almost immediately after he finished “slicing” the chair, the back fell to the ground with a thump.

“Alright,” Trey said leaning forward, “But that’s just wood. What about metal?”

Murphy pointed the object at the metal base of the chair he’d just ruined, and after a moment or two, he stopped and pulled the base apart.

Astonished, and impressed, Trey leaned back and nodded. “You owe me a new chair.”

Chapter 3

The healing of her broken elbow had taken a lot out of Ivy. She’d stayed in her dorm-house for three days, and Tim allowed it. “You broke her arm?” Steve exclaimed, exasperated, “And you come at me for borrowing her and bringing her back completely unharmed?”

“I didn’t do anything! It’s her fault she broke her arm!” Tim growled back. Steve threw his hands up in the air and mumbled something about blaming other people as he walked way. Meanwhile, Tim was walking towards Ivy’s room with a nasty look on his face. She was leaning over the white garbage can next to her bed and dry heaving. “I let you have three days off, now it’s time to get back to work. You are very behind. Go to the car and change. I will give you your instructions there.” With that, he was gone. Terrified of what was to come next if she didn’t obey, Ivy scampered as fast as she could to the waiting car.

Tim was already there, and he wasn’t happy. “Get changed and I will give you instructions as we go,” he commanded. Ivy looked around the vehicle. There was no separated area to change, but she kept silent, and managed to hide most of her body while she changed into what scant clothing there were in front of Tim.

“His name is William Petes, and he recently became a widower so he’s,” Tim paused and cleared his throat, “still grieving, but we need those architecture plans for the new scientific research facility,” Tim said hastily.

Ivy knew now that when Tim cleared his throat, he was thinking of a different way to say the drugs hadn’t worn off yet, so he was still blocked off from feeling any other feelings for another woman. Almost knowing the answer Ivy asked, “Will I use the same technique I used last time?”

“Not entirely,” Tim said as he watched Ivy’s makeup being put on. This time her outfit was green and silver, but with soft pink lips. “You must not be so forward with him, be a little softer and sympathetic. It’s the same theme, but just be careful.” Ivy nodded. Her heart ached as she placed the long shiny dagger into her green shimmering handbag.

The car hummed to a stop and Tim moved out of sight as the door opened. A hand came to meet Ivy’s and lead her out. “Welcome, m’dear,” the old man said.

“Thank you,” she replied lifting the veil over her lips to give him a proper kiss on the cheek. Lowering the silver veil, she said kindly, “I’m sorry for your loss, I wish there was something I could do.”

“Thank you,” Mr. Petes said, “Do come in.” He led her inside and into his office. He sat in his chair behind the desk, she Ivy sat on the corner closest to him.

“I assume my father made an agreement with you?” Ivy said trying to keep her throat from closing, and her eyes from tearing as she took off her hat and veil.

“Yes, but you see, I’m not quite ready for another wife. I’m still,” he cleared his throat and discontinued his sentence.

“I know, I know,” Ivy said apologetically. She placed her slender hand on his shoulder. “But,” she said hoping off the desk and standing close beside him, “I can make you forget for just a moment. I can make you happy if for just a moment.”

“I don’t know,” Mr. Petes hesitated.

Ivy’s heart beat so loud she was sure he could hear, but she ignored it. “I can make you so happy, and that’s a promise,” she smiled encouragingly, but inside she was mush. “But first, you must sign all the papers to my father.” She looked down at the papers on Mr. Petes’s desk and they didn’t glow. Ivy assumed that was because she was no longer connected to the motherboard thing.

“I would like a taste of this moment of happiness,” Mr. Petes said thoughtfully.

This is what Ivy had worried about. When she was drugged and delirious she didn’t care what happened, but she couldn’t kiss him and make him happy for a moment, then kill him in cold blood. Why hadn’t Steve convinced whoever that he needed her more in the three days she was sick? She gulped and leaned down placing her lips against the man’s, and kissed passionately.

After the kiss, Mr. Petes was satisfied and signed all the papers over to Ivy’s “father” while Ivy was trying not to puke. He handed the papers over to Ivy and smiled. “I’m sure this is the best trade I’ve made in my life!” he said quite happily.

“Hmm, I’m sure it’s not,” Ivy mumbled quietly, turning her head and scratching the back of her head as she spoke. She took the papers off the desk and dropped them on the floor along with her purse. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered letting a tear slip down her cheek. She drew the shiny dagger from behind her back and stabbed him in the heart before he had the chance to do or say anything. “I’m so sorry.”

Ivy cleaned up slowly and made it look as if she’d been in a struggle. She wiped away her messed up makeup, and pulled a few of her perfect hairs out. Her face was red, but she made up a story about how he’d tried to stop her and he hurt her. She threw on her veil and hat and threw the freshly cleaned dagger into her handbag. Grabbing the papers, she left the house quickly and unnoticed and ran into the car.

Tim noticed immediately Ivy’s haste. “I – I had to do it, but he spotted the knife and he attacked me and I finally managed to kill him, but I was so scared,” she sobbed into Tim’s shoulder. “I don’t know if I can do this!”

Tim was thrown off by her sudden attitude change. He soothed her in the fatherly type way, then calmed her down enough so he could get a few words in. “I promise I won’t give you any other tough ones like this,” he said quietly stroking her hair. They sped back to BioTech and Tim led Ivy to her room. After he dropped her off, he walked quickly away. Ivy was starving. She hadn’t eaten anything in three days because she couldn’t keep anything down. She pressed the button on top of the food distributer, and soup appeared there a few seconds later. Beneath the little cup of soup was a note.
Perfect, just as planned.
Tim has just transferred you in for a new seducer.
Nice quick thinking with that story you made up.
You’ll be perfect for you new upcoming mission.

Tim returned with a grim look on his face. Ivy quickly hid the note. “Another mission, Tim? Will I ever have time to eat something?” Ivy asked cutely. “What’s wrong?”

“I have turned you in for another seducer. You obviously don’t have what it takes to be on my team,” he said.

“But, but Tim! I do have what it takes! I promise! I was just a bit rattled that’s all!” Ivy protested.

“You are not suitable for my team,” Tim repeated, “I have scheduled you for a tube session.”

Ivy’s eyes widened. For some reason she knew it was bad. “I don’t want to have a tube session! I like what I do! Please! Give me another chance!” Tim ignored her pleas and walked out. Ivy was terrified. She’d already been scheduled for another tube session, but Steve was going to get her before that, right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Two men in white came to Ivy’s dorm-house early in the morning; around six o’clock. Ivy was told to undress and wrap herself in her robe. She wiped her nose multiple times. She’d been crying all night. She stripped down to her undergarments and wrapped herself up as the men waited outside with their backs to her. Wiping away a few more tears, she put on a brave face and turned, facing her upcoming fate.

When the door opened, the men grabbed Ivy’s arms and led her down all the halls, back to the tube room. There was a tube waiting for her, already filled to the stop point. The men led her to the stairs and then stopped. She was to go up and meet the other two men dressed in white who would lower her down into the water. Slowly, she took off her robe and dropped it to the floor. She was lowered down, up to her shoulders, then the wires were attached, and she slowly drifted down. The water was up to her neck, then her chin, and then Steve ran into the room frantically.

“Stop! Stop! I need her the way she is! Don’t dunk your head under, Ivy!” Steve yelled. Ivy was up to her lips in the water, and she began to kick her feet frantically trying to stay above the water.

“I’m sorry, she was scheduled for this session. We need to proceed,” one of the men in white said.

“I need her and I got a signed form to release her from this machine,” Steve panted, suddenly out of breath. He handed the form to the man in white at the bottom of the stairs and he read it over. He signaled to the two men at the top to haul Ivy out of the tube. They did so, and she wrapped herself back in her robe.

Steven hustled Ivy down the stairs and out into the many hallways. Ivy had tears streaming down her face, but a smile upon her lips, “I thought you forgot about me, or you wouldn’t make it.”

“I was having trouble getting the attention of Mr. Fellis for your approval. He’s the only one who can stop it once it’s begun,” Steve said with his hand on Ivy’s back, pushing her quickly down the hall. “Your next mission was approved but you have to leave now. I will fill you in when we get into the car.”

Chapter 4

They were silent for the next few minutes it took to scan their cards to get through the hallways to the car. When they were safely in the car, Steve began talking slower and calmer. “This is your last mission for them,” he said making little hand motion quotes, “We need to stage a mission gone wrong because you cannot go back. We are going to the safe house where Trey and Murphy will meet you. There you will stage your failed mission, and then you will return to Trey’s home. When you get there your real mission will begin. Murphy will fill you in there.” Suddenly Ivy realized they were parked. She opened the door and almost stepped out.

“I’m in my robe! I can’t go out!” Ivy protested. Steve gave a little shrug and a sly smile. Ivy sighed and stepped out. She was greeted by Murphy who she could tell was excited to see her. He held out his hand, waiting to take hers, but she looked at it and her eyes began to tear up again. He brought back his hand and put it in his pocket.
Leading her inside, he said, “I’m sorry. One more dress and this is the last one. I promise.”

“I killed him,” Ivy said breaking down in the middle of the doorway. “He was so sad, but he wanted a kiss so I kissed him, because he wouldn’t sign the papers and I didn’t want to, but I did and I will never forgive myself!” she cried. Murphy embraced her in a comforting hug, and took her to her room.

The outfit lying on the bed was very different from the others Ivy had worn. There was a mustard yellow sundress with tank-top straps and a bow that was to be tied on the side. It was longer than the other dresses she’d worn, almost reaching he knees. The hat was the same weird sharp shape, with a mustard yellow veil. “Honestly, why does everyone feel the need to make every outfit the same color for,” Ivy paused holding up a mustard yellow stiletto peeptoe with a disgusted face, “everything? Though, I must say I like this dress a lot better. Thanks for letting me keep my dignity in this one.”

Murphy nodded with a smile and closed the door giving Ivy the first real feeling of privacy. She changed quickly and stepped out taking a deep breath all the way to her abdomen. Robot-Form-H pulled her silky dirty blond hair into a tight, high ponytail with beautiful curls at the bottom. Her makeup was little with slight pink lips, and a bit of eye touchups. The messed up hair and extra makeup had to be done manually. Trey and Murphy had practiced many times before on life-like dummies, so they hoped their makeup artist skills were good enough.

“You have no idea how hard it was to find all this stuff,” Trey chuckled as he powdered on dark blue-purple, and black face color to make an area of her face look like a bruise. He made a bruise across Ivy’s left cheek while Murphy was painting fake cuts onto her hands like defensive wounds. After they were done making Ivy look very beat up, Trey took a bottle of deep red corn syrup and poured it on the corner of the light mahogany desk and on the floor. Trey was making the finishing touch on the large gash that ran down the right side of Ivy’s face while Ivy, herself, messed up her hair.

“It’s quite a shame because I really liked this hairdo,” she murmured as she loosened the hair tie and let more hairs go. Soon they were ready to call Steve, who would call Collin Fellis.

“Now, it is extraordinarily important that you don’t move a muscle when Collin gets here. No breathing, no blinking, no swallowing. I suggest leaving your eyes only very slightly open so they don’t dry out, but you can also see things going on. A good friend of mine will be coming to act the part of the man who killed you, and Collin will act like he was your father,” Trey informed Ivy of everything that would go on. It happened at every scene, fake, and sometimes unfortunately real. Collin never knew the difference because the scenes all looked a lot alike in the sense that there is a dead person who really looks dead. Trey introduced Ivy to Clyde and then they all just let the day pass. They waited for Steve’s call so they could get ready.

“Five minutes,” Steve said quietly then hung up.

Ivy, covered in fake blood and bruises, laid down on the floor with the bloody gash on her cheek facing the floor. She set her arms and legs in the position Trey had showed her, then she held the knife loosely in her hand. Trey and Murphy hid in another room while Clyde got ready, holding his “bloody” pocket knife.

Nearly five minutes later, Steve and Mr. Fellis arrived and walked in on Clyde holding the pocket knife in a defensive position. Steve immediately went over to Ivy to check her pulse. Looking at Mr. Fellis, he shook his head sadly. “I – I can explain!” Clyde stuttered.

Ivy had to give credit to the older man and Mr. Fellis, they were both terrific actors. Clyde stumbled telling his story about how Mr. Fellis’s “daughter” attacked him and he fought back. He didn’t want to kill her, and he was terribly sorry. Mr. Fellis actually looked sad sincerely. “My beautiful daughter,” he said biting his fist.

“Sir, I will take the pictures and clean up here if you wish,” Steve offered. Mr. Fellis nodded, and escaped quickly to the car waiting outside for him. Everyone waited for several minutes before beginning to even think of moving. “I will definitely hear it about this one,” Steve sighed helping Ivy to her feet.

“Why?” Ivy asked confused.

“You are too covered up and Collin is going to be riding my tail asking why I dressed you the way you were instead of the more appealing way,” he retorted, “And Tim will really mad I killed off his sexiest sixteen year old.” Personally, Steve hated the way Collin Fellis was dressing the young sixteen year old women. Trey, Clyde, and Steve apparently shared the same ideas, and frankly, so did Ivy. Murphy, not so much but that’s only because he was the appropriate age for her.

“Clean up and we can get back home, there is a real job out there that needs to be done,” Trey clapped his hands once.

“But,” Ivy hesitated, “I thought I was done?”

“Don’t forget about the other mission Steve told you about in the car. You do want to find out about your background, right? Your mother, your father?” Trey asked with a sly smile.

Ivy didn’t say a word, but had a look of astonishment on her face. She had a mother and a father? Was her mother in her dream? What about her father? She ran to the shower and cleaned up as best she could. The dyed syrup had been in her hair for a while, turning half her hair a light shade of pink. Lying on her bed when she got out was a nice, big, peach, cotton t-shirt and a pair of jeans. The shoes were on the floor next to the bed; they were white rubber-plastic flip-flops. She was ready in less than five minutes and standing at the door of the room with a smile on her face. She was ready to meet her mother and father for the first time ever!

As she was led out of the house, she took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. She was going to start her life over, and everything was going to be perfect! How could it not? The car hummed as it swerved around other vehicles while driving itself at over a hundred miles per hour. Ivy sat next to Murphy in the car, and though he thought Ivy didn’t notice he was looking at her, she did. “I like the pink tint in your hair,” he said trying to make small talk.

“Thank you,” Ivy smiled and blushed. Even with the big, unflattering shirt Murphy complemented her. She could potentially really get to like him someday. The drive was long and a bit uncomfortable. It was cramped in the small car with three people.

Eventually when the ride was over, they all stumbled out of the car and onto the soft green grass. In the car Trey had informed Ivy of everything. She would live in his house for a while, like Murphy, until the entire mission was accomplished. The entire mission meaning all the minor missions leading up to the “Big One” which Ivy needn’t worry about at that time.

Ivy was led to her room by Murphy. It was huge with large windows, and even a small chandelier. There was a window seat with a sun-bleached red seat and sun-bleached red, green and tan polka-dot pillows. The walls were a light tint of light green, and the bed had a red, green, and tan polka-dot bedspread. Ivy loved the room. The red wasn’t blood red, but a lovely sun-bleached red as well as the green and tan. It was very homey. She had her own personal bathroom with the same color theme, and a closet full of regular clothes. All the types of clothes in the closet were a variety of black or white shirts ranging from sleeved to tank-tops, with boot-cut to skinny jeans of all different shades from blue to black. The shoes were on the bottom of the closet ranging from black sneaker, to stiletto, to combat boots.

There were a few light raps at the door. Ivy opened it revealing Trey who looked especially anxious. “What’s wrong?” she asked urgently.

“BioTech has scheduled you mother for death row.”

Chapter 5
“We need to break her out of jail now,” Trey stated grabbing her hand and dragging her out of the room. Murphy, coming out of nowhere, quickly grabbed a long sleeved shirt, black skinny jeans, and black combat boots, and ran out after Ivy and Trey. They hustled to the waiting N.T.P. where Trey stopped and let Murphy in after Ivy.

“Aren’t you coming?” Ivy asked anxiously.

Trey shook his head, “I’m not very popular there and I can’t hide as easily as you. Murphy will inform you.” he shut the door and with a sudden jolt, they were off. Ivy looked at Murphy not very confident about what Trey had said. Also, some other things bothered her. Why was it that Murphy never needed to be filled in? Why was everyone going nuts around her, while they know everything themselves? Why don’t they tell her earlier?

She didn’t ask the questions because she was sure it would be too complicated not only to understand, but also to explain. “So we’re going to get your mother,” Murphy explained through the closed door. Ivy was in the bedroom of the N.T.P. while Murphy was in the other. They were changing into the dark clothes, but Ivy didn’t understand why. “You’re one of the lucky ones that still have at least one parent. I don’t know your story from birth, but I do know that a few weeks ago for some reason or other, you mother was arrested. We need her alive because she, we believe, has information that could help us, but Fellis has control of nearly all the city and everything inside. He knows she has information she shouldn’t, and he’s decided now would be the best time to get rid of her while she’s in jail.”

“Why is she in jail? Why don’t I remember her?” Ivy asked sliding the black gloves on with the rubber palms.

“Most likely because of the tube session,” Murphy bit his lip, “But I’m not entirely sure what the process does or how it works, but I know that it trains us for whatever BioTech wants us to be. Whether it fudges our memory or not, I don’t know. I have no recollection of my parents ever. Or my past,” he said sitting down on the long seat and looking out the window at nothing. Ivy was now leaning against the doorway.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered sitting down next to him. She realized he was wearing a bright blue long sleeved shirt and blue jeans, but she didn’t say anything.

“Anyway,” Murphy said shaking his head and clearing his throat, “You probably want to know how we are going to break your mother out. Well, the prison she’s being held in is not the most secure building. But, if there is a big bust, or something as big as getting rid of someone who knows too much, the security gets tighter. A lot tighter. There will be two guards standing in front of her cell. One will be guarding the cell door, the other will be guarding the other.”

“How do you know that?” Ivy asked.

“Priority killings get priority security to ensure that nothing happens. They probably should upgrade their system every few months or so, just so it won’t be too easy for us,” Murphy shrugged, “but Fellis believes you are dead so it’s not as bad as it could be. I mean, your mother could be put in a much more secure prison.”

The car hummed to a stop and Murphy stood up. He told Ivy to slide under the seat and to be very quiet. The door opened and a man wearing a white shirt was there. Under his shirt Murphy could tell was a vibration/shock absorbing bullet vest. The man looked quickly around the seemingly empty car and nodded letting Murphy out.

He walked up the steps and into the building to the sign in desk. “I am here to see a Ms. Lewis,” he said cooly.

“Sorry sir, that is in the restricted area and nobody is allowed to go there,” the man behind the desk replied.

“Come on man,” Murphy whined, “She just lost her only daughter, and I just want to make sure she’s okay. I was her daughter’s friend and I just–” he paused as his eyes began to tear up, “She raised me after my parents died. I just need to see her!”

The man looked at him up and down. “Hey Don! Need a pat down, metal scan, and body scan here,” he said gruffly. Murphy mouthed a thank you and proceeded to get himself checked for everything. After the five minute ordeal, Don led Murphy to the room. When he walked in with Don, a blond haired woman jumped. She was standing in front of the cell door.

“Oh, Don!” she sighed, “Please, I’ve had to use the restroom for the past hour and I don’t think I can wait much longer! Please, if you let me go I’ll bring you scone from the coffee shop! Please, please, please let me go!”

“Fine,” Don grumbled, “but first answer me this: why are you so opposed to using the police toilets here?”

“Because the bathrooms always smell like vomit!” she answered quickly, “Please let me go! I’ll bring back a chocolate chip scone!” Don glared at her, but finally nodded. She smiled quickly and ran out of the room.

“You have until she returns,” Don said.

Murphy nodded. “Ms. Lewis,” Murphy called through the metal bars. The woman looked up. She was wearing an all white jumpsuit and she was barefoot. When she saw Murphy she smiled and sighed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The blond haired woman ran out of the building and towards the N.T.P. that was, strangely, still open. The guard that had checked the N.T.P. was standing there with a perplexed look on his face. “This N.T.P. must be defective,” he said scratching his head.

“No, you have to just shove it down like this,” the woman said shoving the door down. Before the door clicked into place, the woman threw a tiny piece of folded paper into the car. It bounced and rolled until it came to a stop right in front of Ivy’s nose. Reaching out from under the seat, Ivy grabbed the small paper and held it in the little light that was there.
When I pass by again,
throw the small metal cylinder
out the cracked window.
Do not press the button.

Ivy was frightened, but did as she was told. When the mysterious woman passed by again, Ivy chucked the little thing out the small crack of the open window. The woman caught it behind her back casually, not even looking at it. Ivy watched as she slipped it into her pocket and walk back into the building. Nearly a minute later, Murphy returned and they left.

“Did the drop-off go well?” he looked at her. She nodded and handed him the note. He looked at it for a moment with a strange look on his face. “That’s odd… this handwriting looks familiar, but I can’t place it.”

Murphy tucked it into his pocket, and they soon arrived at Trey’s house. Murphy sat on the couch by the roaring fire, examining the paper with a magnifying glass, as if it really needed that. Ivy sat at the coffee table with Trey. He was trying to reassure her everything would be okay.

“Why wasn’t I told this was a drop off?” Ivy asked.

“Simple,” Trey replied taking a sip of his tea, “so if you were caught you would have no idea what was going on.”

“But I knew we were going to break my mother out of jail,” Ivy insterted.

“But you wouldn’t have said that,” Trey responded confidently. Ivy didn’t fight it. She knew she wouldn’t have told either.

The main door handle jiggled and everyone stood up startled. The blond haired woman entered followed by another woman with auburn hair. When the auburn haired woman saw Ivy, her face lit up with excitement. “Ivy! Ivy, my baby!” she squealed running up to Ivy and embracing her in a tight hug. “Do you remember me? At all? I came to visit you as often as possible!”

Ivy was speechless. She hadn’t expected their meeting like this. She stood statue still with a look of fear on her face. Murphy was standing on the couch, heads taller than everyone in the room. “Chloe!” he yelled. Jumping off the back side of the couch, he rammed into the woman with a hug, much like Ivy’s mother had done. Trey stood alone with a wide smile.

“We’ll catch up, don’t worry,” Fiona said patting her daughter’s arm. Ivy was still shocked into stone. “Trey, I must thank you for all you’ve done. Is there any way I can repay you?” Fiona asked.

“Well, yes,” Trey said, “Would you be willing in telling us all you know about BioTech? We are trying to bring it down, you see.”

“Absolutely! Anything to bring down those monsters!” she said angrily, “But can I have just a few moments?”

Trey nodded. “Mom?” Ivy asked finally getting her bearings. Fiona spun around and smiled at her daughter. “Why can’t I remember you?”

That ripped the smile clean off Fiona’s face. “I came to visit you every time I could, which wasn’t often, but you haven’t seen me since you were eight. I’m sure it’s difficult to remember something from eight years ago when you are sectioned off from the rest of the world,” Fiona said more to herself than her daughter.

Ivy nodded, thinking to herself. “I remember a fight, but no faces except for one, and I was told he was Mr. Fellis. What happened to my dad? Where is he?”

Fiona glanced quickly at Murphy who had a sad frown on his face. Even more sad that she already was, she said “Why don’t we go sit down and I will explain everything. Then I will spill all I know about BioTech.

Trey nodded, and led everyone to the couch by the fire.