Memories

9/5/87

The scene is set in one of the housing facilities of Jotenen, Planet VI. A tall woman of about 35, with a wicked scar running from temple to chin on the right side of her face is getting into her pilot gear in a hallway. A small child comes running. "Mummy wait!"  The woman picks up the blonde little girl and cradles her in her arms. "Mummy will be gone for a while little one."  The little girl pulls the long braid that hangs down the woman’s back. "I don’t want you to go off again mummy."  The girl pouts, and the woman smiles softly. "I’ll be back in a day or two dearest."  The woman kisses the little girl on the cheek. "Please be good to your father while I’m away!"  The girl nods and puts her head against the soft skin of her mothers neck and shoulder. "I love you mummy!"

One day later, the scenery is the same. A man of average height and muscular build stands, comm link in hand, blonde little girl cradling his leg, a stricken look on his face. His complexion is ghostly pale and with a moan, slowly, ever so slowly, he slumps down, sliding against the wall down onto the floor. The little girl looks small and frightened; she reaches for the man’s hand, which is grasping the comm link, knuckles white from the tension. "Daddy..?"

One week later, in a small chapel. An open casket stands in a quiet room, the man bending over it tears dripping, little girl in his arms. The girl reaches out and grips her mother’s braid, pulling it, the man doesn’t seem to notice. "Mummy? Mummy wake up! Mummy..? MUMMY!"  The little girl cries from fright and cringes in her fathers unresponsive grip.

Damage

21/4/113

At the desk in her quarters in Lustrevik, Adeste scowled as she lowered her datapad. Someone had messed up, and she didn't know who to blame. She struck the desk hard with her fist. A simple hardwiring implant operation resulting in a shift in her ocular filter, thus doing the tiniest amount of damage to her clone's prefrontal cortex. Even though she knew the effects it had had, she'd needed to look it up. "The most typical psychological term for functions carried out by the prefrontal cortex area is executive function. Executive function relates to abilities to differentiate among conflicting thoughts, determine good and bad, better and best, same and different, future consequences of current activities, working toward a defined goal, prediction of outcomes, expectation based on actions, and social "control" (the ability to suppress urges that, if not suppressed, could lead to socially-unacceptable outcomes)." What had they been doing messing around with her other implants anyway? She growled. Apparently she was supposed to be glad that the effects on her behaviour hadn't been more pronounced. Glad?! Bah! Luckily, only Vince had been in Daredevil's to see and deal with her that day, and that was about the only thing she was glad about in this whole mess. What if Kay had been there? That would have been... interesting actually... She almost smiled to herself, but quickly got the scowl back in place.

She cursed the medical facility in question as she brought her datapad up again to re-read part of the message she had just gotten: "...the prefrontal cortex of your clone has, to the best of our knowledge, been restored to its previous functionality... bla bla bla ...it would still be advisable to try the clone out in a controlled environment before putting it to use in pod, and we are of course happy to provide such an environment for you at your convenience." Apparently they wanted her to be a lab rat. Wonderful. Not a chance in hell that she'd give them that satisfaction though. Controlled environment? She'd ask Jude if he'd be willing to help her out. If he could just accompany her to her quarters after she changed clones, he should be able to poke and prod her enough for them to be able to evaluate her clone status. It had to be done soon though, since the wormhole expedition was drawing ever nearer, and this particular clone was what she had been planning to bring all along. It was even the reason for installing all those new implants, so if their "restoration" hadn't gone to plan and the clone would have to be replaced, someone would have to pay dammit! Ad kicked the leg of her desk and winced as her boot impacted with the bolted down metal. Bolts? What kind of interior designer bolts down a desk?! She made a mental note to make some changes to her quarters, and particularly her office, as soon as possible; she had after all been stationed in Lustrevik for more than a month now and should probably be able to consider this a more permanent residence.

Adeste grimaced and gave the annoying message the finger before she pressed "compose" and started writing a new one for Jude. Once she was finished, she stood up forecefully, pushing the chair back quickly enough for it to topple and make a racket. She revelled in the sound with a tight-lipped smile, before turning and aiming a kick at the chair, causing it to slide across the floor and topple the pedestal that held the only other living thing in her quarters - a potted plant she had brought back with her from her last visit planetside. Ad rolled her eyes as the plant crashed to the floor, creating a mess of earth, roots, leaves and shards of pottery. Well obviously that wasn't bolted down, she thought, sending the interior designer a thought that would have had him clutching for his chest and choking, had he known. With a snort of contempt, Ad left her quarters and headed for her agent. She needed something to calm her down, and seeing her missiles fly toward an incoming hostile was probably just the thing.