Cruel Intentions

[Syren Lysandor]

Another sickening wave of pain swept through the body of the Sith Disciple as she doubled over, clutching her stomach. Falling to her knees, her head nearly touched the ground as she grimaced. Red hair spilled over the dirty floor of the abandoned bathroom as a few roaches skittered to the cracks within the walls.

She groaned, gasping for breath, before lifting her head up to stare at the doorway. Her vision was blurred, making everything just a bunch of colors. "Is anybody ... out there? Help ... me," she whispered.

She let go of her stomach and pushed herself to her feet, one hand steadying herself on the wall. Syren took a couple of staggered steps towards the exit then fell to her knees again. The pain had finally passed, but it was minutes before it returned again. She grabbed hold of one of the sinks and hoisted herself up, looking in the cracked mirror.

Her reflection looked back.

She looked away.

Making her way towards the door again, she flung it open with the Force and walked out, running her hand through her hair. She was pale, and just recently she had lost sixteen pounds. Perspiration began to form at her forehead as she carefully walked through the alleyway. Homeless beggars paid her no attention as they rummaged through garbage for their next meal. The sight was nauseating.

Syren finally came out to the end of the alley and looked at the street. Everybody was so happy, in their own little world ... She wanted to make them suffer, like she had. She didn't want to be the only experiment made where her cells would mutate. She didn't want to die.

Her dream at TSE wasn't a dream at all, she realized miserably. It was a fragment of her past ... Closing her eyes, her memory repeated itself once more.

***

The whole interior was white - the ceiling, the walls, the tiled floor, and even the doors. The only other thing that wasn't white was the huge mirror that took up one whole wall. As she tried to sit up, she realized that she was strapped down to some sort of table. Panic began to rise like a lump in her throat as she desperately tried to break free to no avail, for she was too feeble and weak. After a while, she closed her eyes, becoming lost in a realm of darkness.

"Hand me the needle, I'll need it to inject her with the formula." "Here you go, DK .. Just please, be careful. It's never been tested before." "What do you think I'm doing right now?" The mumbling of voices caused Syren to stir and open her eyes. She saw a man and a woman hover over her, each one wearing a white suit with an oxygen mask.

"... What are you doing to me?" She managed to rasp out, her throat hurting with every word.

They both remained silent, and all that could be heard was their breathing. The man held up a clear needle that had a red fluid in it, then lowered it to her arm. The point pierced her skin and the liquid was injected into her body. Her whole body twitched, then remained still, her eyes glazing over. "It was a failure," came the man's voice, who was obviously disappointed. "It seems that it won't activate the mitochondria to -" His words were interrupted by the violent shaking of the patient infront of him. "Jesus .." mumbled the woman next to him.

Syren was having some sort of seizure as changes rapidly occured in her body. The new fluid contained some sort of "virus" and was instantly met by her white cells. About a minute later they were infected and the virus had almost completely spread throughout her body.

***

Syren opened her blue eyes again and inhaled deeply. There was no escaping her fate.

Another wave of pain swept through her body.

[Ian Rockwell]

//-- Mission status:
- Release captives: SUCCESS
- Track known gens: SUCCESS
- Recapture project Aurora: FAILURE
- Recapture project Evao: PENDING

The lamp in the lab was on its last legs, flickering on and off. As the pale light died out, the glow of the computer monitor became the only visible item within the room. The light which it gave off radiated around the stack of the PC system, casting the faintest of green hues onto the figure that sat hunched over the keyboard.

//-- determine location evao
... PROCESSING ...
- Location of project Evao: 1208.2397.122
//-- info on evao
... PROCESSING ...
- Datafile on project Evao: Female, 5'6", red hair, blue eyes, body weight light, force sensitive, mutative...
- Additional information: Time until death - 10 HOURS 43 MINUTES
//-- log off
- Goodbye, Commander Rockwell.

The room went pitchblack, as the shadowy figure withdrew a small datadisk from the computer. He rose up to his feet and looked about in the blackness of the room. Eden Tech had been destroyed by Aurora and her meddling, even after strict orders from Diktat Lynx for her to be killed. He'd failed one time to end the life of one of the renegades, what better way to regain his standing than to recall the classified Evao project? The sound of metal clicking against the floor was heard as he jogged quickly away from the desk he'd been sat at. Within a few minutes the security system would pick up on the unauthorized log on by the former Commander, and would have a team out to neutralize him.

Luckily, he knew his way around the building, and was able to make it into the emergency escape shafts before being intercepted. A quick trip down through the air vents and he was back on the outside of the compound, climbing into his speeder. Ian revved the engine and knocked the stereo on as he pulled back out away from the huge building. It wouldn't take him long, with the aid of the tracking device he'd downloaded from the mainframe, to locate Evao - and in the condition she was in it'd not take much to take her out.

He grinned, "I love the smell of death in the morning."

[Eve Siren]

"Syren."

As Syren looked up, she saw Eve. Eve wasn't sure if Syren was mad because she left or not, but decided to come over to see what's wrong anyways. She leaned slightly, looking at Syren once more. She remembered this, when they were younger. It always worried her. She put her hands on Syren's arms, to prevent her from falling to her knees.

"Syren, is it still hurting you ?" She asked softly.

***
"Syren !"

The little girl was being transported back into her cellroom. Aurora saw the needle mark on her arm. the black-haired girl reached her arm out, trying to grab a hold of her friend, but got electrocuted by the guards.

"Shut up !" They yelled. "Bring her in."

Syren's cell was just in front of Aurora's.

"Syren, Syren, Syren, Syren !" She continued screaming.

But then, she got pistol whipped by one of the guards, sending her crashing to the floor.
***

[Syren Lysandor]

"... Huh?"

Syren looked up to see Eve, her first and only friend. Her vision was becoming distorted again and she shook her head slightly to clear it.

"Eve, is that you ...?"

She reached up with one hand to touch Eve's cheek, then quickly withdrew it. How naive she was acting, but ... Eve had left TSE without even giving her notice.

"It hurts so bad..."

[Eve Siren]

As if it was a reflex, Eve took Syren's arm and put it over her shoulders, while her hand slipped down Syren's back. She tried to make Syren stand up, she knew how painful the "virus" could get. She looked at Syren again.

"Syren, it's me, Eve. Say something .."

[Syren Lysandor]

Syren weighed so little now that it took almost no effort for Eve to support her body. Her legs were trembling as she finally straightened her back and returned Eve's gaze. For awhile she didn't say anything.

"I can feel it inside of me ..."

A tear rolled down her cheek and fell to the pavement with a little splash as Syren quickly looked away. Eve couldn't possibly understand.

[Eve Siren]

"Syren, you shouldn't stay here, what if DK's men find you here ? You're exposing yourself like this !" Eve immediately replied.

She shook Syren lightly, as if to make sure she'd react, to make sure she'd hang on.

[Syren Lysandor]

The sudden shaking of her arm caused Syren to snarl, yanking away from Eve.

"Then let them come! I can take care of my-"

Her words were cut off as she crumpled down to the ground. She was so weak, Eve was right.

"Eve, help me ..."

As Eve helped her to her feet, Syren pushed her red hair away from her pale face. Her vision wasn't distorted anymore - no, it was ... better. Extremely better. She could even see the homeless man crouched behind a trash can concealed in the shadows. She looked quickly at Eve, bringing her hand up halfway to her face.

"What's happening to my eyes?!"

The pupils basically took up her eyes, like a cat's in the dark.

"... You're right about DK. You best get out of here, that way they won't try to get you, too."

[Eve Siren]

"Nonsense ! Come on !" Eve groaned as she pulled Syren forward.

She didn't want to get caught, but she especially didn't want Syren to get caught. She yanked forward and onto the crowded street so that they won't be spotted outside.

[Syren Lysandor]

"In nature, a wounded animal sends out some sort of signal towards the predator ..."

Syren glanced around before leaning over towards Eve's head, whispering in her ear.

"I'm the prey."

It would only be a matter of seconds before somebody had tracked them down. She knew that Eve would help her, but how much could they handle ?

[Ian Rockwell]

She was right - it was only a matter of seconds. The speeder crashed through the city streets with total disregard for anything around. It screeched loudly as the breaks kicked in, sliding the transport to a grating halt some 20 feet away from where Syren and Eve stood. The sleek black side door of the car slid upwards and Rockwell pushed himself out into the street. He tugged down the visor he wore on his helmet over his left eye and the heat sensor kicked in.

Evao, being in the late stages of mutation, would have a piqued body temperature. With a sweeping glance around the area, he picked up on two figures; undoubtably Aurora and his target. He fished back into the car and retrieved a Force null shield, slipping it under his jacket, and a pair of twin pistols before closing the craft.

"...And here's your predator," he murmured as he began to make his way towards the two, trying not to grin.

[Eve Siren]

"Get away from her !" Eve yelled.

She pulled Syren back. Syren may be in no shape of fighting, but it was the opposite for Eve. She growled under her breath, stopping the man as she pulled out her silver steel gun and pointed it at him.

"You know very well what I'm capable of .." She said, angrily.

[Syren Lysandor]

She had already heard the speeder before it landed, crushing people beneath its massive weight. Frowning slightly, she could feel the pain emitting from dying bodies and quickly turned away, facing Eve. Somebody had already stepped out, equipping themselves before heading their way.

Eve pulled on her collar hard, causing Syren to stumble forwards. A stone skittered away when it came in contact with her foot. She took in a deep breath and turned around again, facing the man who tracked her down.

Eve had already pulled her out her gun to shoot but Syren put a hand on the gun, lowering it slightly.

"Maybe it was fate, Aurora ... Maybe I was designed to die."

[Ian Rockwell]

"X452, stand down,"

The man rose the visor he wore and looked straight at Eve, a slight smirk coming to his lips as Syren pushed away the butt of the gun. As she did so, he rose his own - the aim trained on the red haired girls forehead.

"This is the enevitable, inavoidable fate of your life, project Evao. It is pleasing to see that unlike your counter part here, you have embraced it."

[Eve Siren]

Eve's hand shook as Syren lowered the gun. Her eyes widened, already filled with sadness. Her lower lip trembled as she stepped back and watched Syren and the man. He seemed to know everything about them, but ...

"Put the gun down." She muttered. "Or you'll regret it."

[Syren Lysandor]

"You won't kill me," she sneered.

Syren's right hand clenched into a fist as another wave of pain crashed into her.

"Eve !"

She clawed desperately at empty air as her back arched, then fell to the ground. Her head rolled to the side and she whispered something that only Eve could hear.

"Mitochondria ..."

It was meant to be a warning, to let Eve know of the dangers .. But no more words passed through the woman's chapped lips as the veins in her arms began to show through the almost-translucent skin.

[Ian Rockwell]

"Aurora - you have no place here. Run,"

Rock well narrowed his eyes.

"Now."

She showed no sign of movement.

"Or I'll bow your head off too."

Shaking his head, he looked down to the trembling frame of Syren and smirked. It seemed almost like a waste to kill her, she could have been such use - alive - to the corporation, but it would be impossible to transport her back there in this stage of the change. So, he rose the gun, poised his finger on the trigger, and trained the aim onto her forehead.

"Any last words?"

[Syren Lysandor]

With a conscious effort, she lashed out with the Force, knocking the gun out of the man's hand. Syren growled slightly as she struggled up to her feet, gasping for breath.

"Y-you think ... think that you c-ca.. can kill ... me ? Just ... like that ?"

She ended the sentence coughing, spluttering over the words. How could this be the end .. She was so young .. and .. But who would care ?

Eve would, but would anyone else ? Hell, even her own Master seemed to vanish off into nowhere. Nobody knew her, nobody cared .. so why should she ?

"Just .. G-go away!!"