On the Plane to Florence, Colorado--Sunday Morning
Shifting in his seat after the plane finally reached cruising altidude after a number of delays at the Dulles airport, Jarod finally dozed off, and dreamed.
A twelve-year-old Jarod sat across a lab table from a slightly younger boy, thin, with floppy hair and an innocent smile. Behind the glass were Dr. Raines and Sydney, as always, but for now, Jarod was just happy to see someone his own age. The boy was named Kyle, another Pretender, but Kyle had Dr. Raines as his mentor.
He was an interrogator that day, trying to get information out of his suspect (Kyle) by threatening him with a vial of acid. He hated Dr. Raines's SIMs. Sydney didn't usually make him hurt other people, or think he was hurting them.
Jarod complained, hoping that his trainer would call a halt to the exercise. "Sydney, there's no point to this. The anticipation of pain is more effective than pain itself!"
Raines had answered instead, voice cold and raspy. "Finish the SIM, Jarod."
Jarod had reluctantly opened the vial and poured its contents over Kyle's right hand. He would never forget watching Kyle's face as the other boy felt the burn of real acid on his skin. His screams as he jumped back out of his chair and looked at Jarod for an instant as if Jarod had betrayed him in a fundamental way.
Sydney had shouted, "You bastard!" at Raines, which Jarod remembered because Sydney hardly ever cursed, and demanded that sweepers take Kyle to the infirmary immediately. As Kyle was taken away, Jarod had kept crying, "Kyle! I'm sorry! I would never hurt you! I would never hurt you!"
Jarod's eyes flew open when he felt the tap on his shoulder and he shook his head at the flight attendant offering him juice or coffee with a bright smile.
As she continued on to the back of the plane, he rubbed between his eyebrows and repeated quietly, "I would never hurt you." He wouldn't be sleeping any more for a while.
[ooc: NFB due to dream and distance. Taken almost exactly from canon--first season finale "The Dragon House."]
A twelve-year-old Jarod sat across a lab table from a slightly younger boy, thin, with floppy hair and an innocent smile. Behind the glass were Dr. Raines and Sydney, as always, but for now, Jarod was just happy to see someone his own age. The boy was named Kyle, another Pretender, but Kyle had Dr. Raines as his mentor.
He was an interrogator that day, trying to get information out of his suspect (Kyle) by threatening him with a vial of acid. He hated Dr. Raines's SIMs. Sydney didn't usually make him hurt other people, or think he was hurting them.
Jarod complained, hoping that his trainer would call a halt to the exercise. "Sydney, there's no point to this. The anticipation of pain is more effective than pain itself!"
Raines had answered instead, voice cold and raspy. "Finish the SIM, Jarod."
Jarod had reluctantly opened the vial and poured its contents over Kyle's right hand. He would never forget watching Kyle's face as the other boy felt the burn of real acid on his skin. His screams as he jumped back out of his chair and looked at Jarod for an instant as if Jarod had betrayed him in a fundamental way.
Sydney had shouted, "You bastard!" at Raines, which Jarod remembered because Sydney hardly ever cursed, and demanded that sweepers take Kyle to the infirmary immediately. As Kyle was taken away, Jarod had kept crying, "Kyle! I'm sorry! I would never hurt you! I would never hurt you!"
Jarod's eyes flew open when he felt the tap on his shoulder and he shook his head at the flight attendant offering him juice or coffee with a bright smile.
As she continued on to the back of the plane, he rubbed between his eyebrows and repeated quietly, "I would never hurt you." He wouldn't be sleeping any more for a while.
[ooc: NFB due to dream and distance. Taken almost exactly from canon--first season finale "The Dragon House."]