#aka the part where Lady's painful past is mostly solved by stabbing real good

[sparkledeerfr]

Dear Director pt 2

[Pt One here]

Lady was angry, and yes some of that anger was directed at herself, but a good chunk of it was at how stuck she felt.

She knew the Director was lying- whether it was to protect herself or another didn’t matter at the moment- the point was others could be in danger and Lady did not know how to find the truth. She could roll up to Lightning territory herself, but likely the Director would see her coming a mile off. Lady had destroyed her last corporation and laboratory in a fit of altruism, after all. It wouldn’t happen a second time. That meant Lady would need help, but from where?

(read more link)

Of course there were plenty of people she could ask and no doubt they would help, but that would mean revealing her past, what she had done. She did not mind that so much if it got the job done, but the problem was being certain that the job would be done correctly. Viltri could certainly lawyer the place to oblivion, but Lightning types were nothing if not masters of corporations and shell games. The first official paperwork sent their way and the shredders would get to running and the answer would be buried under another five aliases. This wasn’t a job for Daud, or Adeline (if they could even find the time)...but who else was there?

Lady ran names through her head as she paced, trying to think of someone. If only Max hadn’t left! That was exactly the type of person she needed- a spy. But of course they no longer had a spy unless you counted Vice and Hox policing the underground, and they would be about as useful as taking a hammer to the situation, which honestly she almost felt like doing.

Finally her mental deck went to the cards of the Casino Quarter- entirely useless of course aside from a gift here or there. There was no way she could call on any of them for help unless it was something that directly affected them or the safety of the cities. The lesser members...Bells, Lysander, Vaughn...nope. Though Vaughn could probably track their expenses like a champ and follow the financial trail if she got him the information. Snow? No way. Jesse?

Jesse. Now that was a thought.

----

Jesse’s natural curiosity got the better of her when the invitation to meet Lady for a ‘special side job’ was put forth. The ridgeback was nothing if not ruggedly dependable and lawful, so the thought that Lady could use her for something was deliciously tempting.

They met at Prizma’s, which was of course the place anyone of importance did their underhanded work and/or drinking and/or socializing. It was a sort of holy ground for all factions- everyone knew you didn’t start crap there, not unless you wanted to get a whole heap of it back on you. Jesse spun a coin on the table as the ridgeback sat down at her booth and Prizma herself came over to take their order. The way Priz eyed them told Jesse that even she found this unusual, though not quite enough so for the midnight ridgeback to care. Priz made a lot of money off of not caring and keeping her mouth shut, after all.

But Lady surprised Jesse again by ordering three martinis, the first of which she downed like a shot. It was empty before it hit the table.

“That bad?” Jesse asked, spinning a coin and taking a sip of water with lime.

“Want one?” Lady asked.

“I like to keep my head clear when considering a job,” Jesse replied. “Now what matter of job can’t you complete on your own? I shudder to think.”

“I’d like to give you a bit of background so that you understand why this needs to be done, but it's something quite personal and something that I’ve never told another dragon, not even those in my old clan. If I tell you this, it can never leave this table. Can you agree to this?”

“Personal is one thing,” Jesse said, eyeing the ridgeback before looking down to spin her coin again. “But never ever I can’t promise, I’m afraid. Things have a way of coming back that might pose a danger to someone else, but I can promise that I’m good at keeping my mouth shut unless that danger shows up.”

“A reasonable distinction,” Lady said, sitting back to think as she sipped on her second martini. “Basically I was involved with some genetic manipulation and child rearing programs designed to create a sound individual. For my end I merely helped design the genetic code and lent my expertise in robotics. I had no idea the program was actually loaned eggs from families and experimented on them.”

“Genetically sound individuals?”

“I thought it a fanciful pursuit- could we design a dragon that could, for example, withstand Plague territory without being Plague born? Could a dragon that could do that also see in Shadow territory, or withstand the magical arcs of Arcane? To me it really seemed like research into the limits of dragon kind, until I found out that some were serious about it.”

“And they experimented on eggs? Children.”

“Oh yes. Once I found this out I was of course furious,” Lady said, her eyes somewhat glazed as she sipped more of her drink. “I raised a stink and got the program entirely shut down, but it was too late. Some children were already changed by what we- what I- had done. They were still being taught and overseen by the program.”

“And they...lived?”

“Some,” Lady said, looking even further away as though thinking. “You know West?”

“Yes of course,” Jesse said, at first wondering where this was going and then it dawned on her. “Oh. Oh dear does he know?”

“I think he just believes that he was in a very high end school,” Lady replied. “I don’t think he even knows what he can do. And of course the real problem is Eights.”

“How is this more of a problem?”

“Eights is not identified in any paperwork. I know there was another dragon going further with the research without supervision. I’d heard her refer to ‘mistakes’, and when the program was shut down I made sure she could never work legitimately again, but still. I don’t know what happened to her ‘mistakes’. I had thought she was just referring to defunct lines of genetic code, but now I can’t be sure. West and Eights have too many similarities. I have to be positive that she’s not harming others, that this isn’t still going on.”

“And you would like me to check this out?”

“Yes,” Lady said, looking down to the smaller skydancer. “They’ll see me coming a mile off, as I was the one to destroy the program last time. I need you to find out what’s going on, please.”

Jesse sat back and considered, though her mind privately was already made up. “I’ll need all the information you have, of course.”

“I can’t pay as much as Swank.”

“My dear if what you say is true, I will do this job for free. And if I find anything like you describe I will burn everything to the ground.”

“This is precisely that outcome I would like.”

----

The Lightning corp knew how to hide things, but they were not prepared for Jesse. Of course few are.

She was prepared to wait, prepared to look in the small corners, to smile at the terrible in order to get the job done. After all she had done it before.

Swank sent her messages wondering where she was, but Jesse was determined and only sent a message that she would be back later. Lady was not one to lie, and Jesse despite herself would do whatever she could to save an innocent that needed it. She would find Lady’s mysterious doctor and determine what had happened at all costs. And if Lady had lied, well...

At all costs of course turned out to be compliments and and a bit of snooping. Jesse went to Iman first and determined that the Director was nervous but prepared to cover for the mysterious other doctor that Jesse only knew as Maria. It was not the kind of nervousness Jesse knew as covering for a friend- the kind of anger underlying ‘please don’t test this’. This was covering one’s own butt because once long ago you did so for another that did not deserve it. She found the trail easily enough. Posing as a skittish but willing intern seemed almost like cheating once she had uncovered how to unseal documents thanks to Lady.

The deepest of Maria’s trail ended at an abandoned underground facility that had been sealed tight, littered with traps and plastered with warnings- but all that to Jesse just meant she was in the right place. The first level was rather boring to her, no information and nothing but outdated equipment left to rot and gather dust. A few yellowed notes and printouts of no interest.

But the basement...the basement was filled with giant vials, each large enough for a skydancer to grow in. She found preserved bodies of everything from hatchlings to grown adults, each with a decayed corresponding note telling why they had failed and why they were preserved here. Each had a number and no name.

But one she had found was empty- number 88. Vaulted because they were determined to be too weak and small to survive. It was broken open. Someone long before her had seen that 88 was alive and saved them. A mystery to be sure, but not one that she was concerned with right now.

Jesse’s hand clenched involuntarily as she read the notes on the other preserved dragons. How many others had been alive that Maria had decided to preserve? How many others had she decided to end because they did not meet her expectations? How many had lived and what did she do with them?

Jesse checked each of the giant vials, smashed them open and buried the bodies in rubble because they at least deserved this, what she could give them. Someone would care that they had died. Some bare part of her hoped that one would be like 88, but none were. Each were pale and lifeless despite their dark coloration. She set fire to what was left.

Jesse clenched her jaw and determined the she had a new purpose. This would happen to no one else. They would know what a dragon declared to be inferior at a young age could do. 

---

Maria was found dead three days later, and the inn keepers were she had stayed were disturbed. She had always seemed so kind, but the way she had died….they alerted the authorities and slept with a light on at night.

---

Director Iman was on edge. She was first alerted when Lady had written her, knowing that the ridgeback was as tenacious as the Stormcatcher himself, and was prepared to out Doctor Maria should it be necessary to save her own career. Iman had set up the necessary paperwork trail and had run through a few lies in her head to smooth things over should things come to that.

Director Iman was prepared for Lady- a lawful member of society who chose mercy above all else.

She was not prepared for Jesse, the intern who smiled nervously and wore large nerdy glasses and dutifully did all of her paperwork. When she heard about Maria, Iman only grew more anxious but she was glad for her reliable and supportive colleagues, including this intern who smiled and asked if she’d like these copies stapled. Security around here was tight, and honestly Maria being gone was perhaps a blessing in disguise.

Director Iman died on her office chair after Jesse had determined nothing else of her old corporation was left aside from Lady and the few project dragons.

After all Jesse had thoroughly checked.

---

“The job’s completed,” Jesse said, passing the paper that was on 88’s vial to Lady. “They were the only one left alive I’m afraid, but I don’t know who saved them. I may be looking at that on my own time.”

“Perhaps another doctor grew a conscience,” Lady said, eyeing the note carefully (Jesse turned her head at this, knowing there was no other living doctors, because she would have found them and asked them). “This sounds so….detached. I’m glad they at least survived. Thank you, Jesse.”

Lady was disturbed for a moment at the way Jesse was looking her over. “You will let me know if anything like this happens again?” Jesse asked, her voice level as she sat with her chin resting on her hands.

“Yes of course. Thank you again, knowing what they are really helps….but what happened to Doctor Maria?”

“It was a burn to the ground kind of scenario I’m afraid,” Jesse said, her red eyes burning into Lady’s bright blue ones. “And you I like, but if this thing of you deciding to help others changes and turns into what I saw, you know what happens my darling.”

“I would be glad for the correction.”