Authors note:  Keep your eyes peeled for several links in this story.
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"A nasty bug." Techno 1529, head of the Genesis Section, summarized, calling up a sequence of notations on the overhead that represented the strain of virus that had taken them most of the day to isolate, "This piece-" here, he circled a largish block, "is keyed here and here to explicitly target half a dozen different key cells in as many subsystems, one of which is the skeletal system.  This subpiece here seems to commandeer the genetic machinery to produce large amounts of deliberately flawed proteins.  It doesn't kill the host cell outright: just makes the cell unable to produce the proper proteins to repair itself."

Von Richter, sitting in his wheelchair at the table, nodded thoughtfully.

"That would stunt the growth of the bones and make healing nearly impossible," Techno 932 pointed out, "but not the bone deterioration directly.  What causes that?"

"Still working on that." 1529 replied.  He glanced at Von Richter, who was frowning, "Something wrong, Father?" he asked.

"The third quintet."

Techno 1529 took a green pen and underlined the section that was 40% of the way from the beginning of the sequence, "This one?"

"Yes.  It looks familiar, but I can't put my finger on it."

1529 glanced at Techno 1251, who nodded, turned back to the computer terminal in front of her, and began typing in commands to initiate a search against the massive DNA databases using the Beowulf cluster, "It'll take a while." she sighed.

"Haven't got the time." 1529 said brusquely, "Flush the Cyber verification checks and get all the CPUs working on the search."

Von Richter sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "No.  It's not as if they're waiting..." he muttered as 1251 typed in more commands into her terminal.  He glanced back up at the DNA chart, frowning, trying to remember where he'd seen that particular sequence before.

His cellphone beeped.  He pulled it out, "Yes?"

"Cyber 1217, Father."

Von Richter frowned: Cyber 1217 was head of the Intelligence section of the Cyber Training Review Board, and thus also in charge of Security"What's the problem?"

"It's about that phone call you wanted to make to Dr. Charles Sorbie."

"What about it?" Von Richter said irritatedly, the image of Maria pointedly reminding him that he needed a nap coming to mind, "Sorbie had a patient with similar problems, and he might have a clue about how this damned pathogen we've found works!"

"It's part of the security procedures.  Techno 312, as the telephone operator, had to check the name and number against the threat database.  We don't want tracing a phone call back here.  Not, at least, without any defenses activated."

"Mph." Von Richter conceded grudgingly, "But the man is a MEDICAL DOCTOR, and one of the most esteemed in Canada!  How can he be a threat to us?"

"312 didn't get a hit on him.  Just on a former employer of his.  Gen Core."

Von Richter paused for a moment, "Gen Core." he repeated, in a tone of voice that made every techno in the room stop what they were doing and turn to listen to him.

"Yes sir." Cyber 1217 said valiantly.

"Don't tell me.  Let me guess.  They STILL haven't been taken care of, right?"

"They've been red tagged, sir, which means-"

"I KNOW what being red tagged means!" he sighed and shook his head, "Not the devil.  Only his kid brother." he thought.

"Father, these bastards operate in very unstable areas, taking advantage of the  chaos and their high tech gear to make a quick buck.  By the time any Cybers near them have secured the situation and went to engage, they've already skipped town.  They're very good at not making mistakes."

"No one's perfect.  They've GOT to make one sooner or later, 17!"

"Well, we ARE still trying to make heads and tails out of what happened during an african slaver and poaching operation a while back.  They provided surveillance and reconnaissance services for the bastards."

"Oh?  What happened?"

"Their operative seemed to get a conscience and slaughtered most of them.  3114 arrived shortly afterwards and finished the job." 1217 chuckled,"She noted in her report that a Cyber would have been more thorough and neat, but not any more effective. 'Oh ICK!' is a statement that comes to mind, among others."

Von Richter grinned despite himself: The women of the Cyber 3014 Batchset were notorious for being far too prissy for their own good.  Consequently, they became the butt of practical jokes and pranks whose inventiveness was still the stuff of legends around the dinner tables.  That each and every last one of them was assigned to "muggy, buggy, ICKY!" Africa was probably the first, and last, time that the Cyber DIs had agreed upon anything unanimously, "So, I can't call him?" He asked the Cyber.

"No father!  The only way for us to be totally safe is to do nothing, which is NOT an option in this situation.   We just need time to get some counter tracing measures in place when you do."

"Okay.  The sooner, the better!"

"I'll let you know when we're ready, father."

"Good."

"Oh!  And one other thing."

"What?"

"After you make that call, I'm elevating the family security status to Orange."

Von Richter shut his cell phone off thoughtfully, this mind running over Cyber 1217's last remark.

"What's a red flag?" A techno asked 1529.

"It designates a threat to humanity beyond the reach of national or international law enforcement," 1529 replied in a low voice, "Cybers are allowed to go AWOL to eliminate the threat.  Loss of life, up to 50 innocents or the entire family, is considered an acceptable tradeoff in view of the threat's capabilities."
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"How's it coming?"

Jacinta glanced up at Magdalena, her mother, standing in the doorway, "Pretty bad!" she sighed, "The math sub is not as good as Dr. Zack.  I just can't seem to get the knack factoring polynomials."

Magdalena sighed, "When WILL he be back?"

"Rumor has it he's back in town." she chuckled, "Somebody saw him this morning.  He was the passenger on a huge Harley Dee, hanging on for dear life while roaring through Angel Plaza."

"Harley Dee?"

"A huge and expensive Yanqui motorcycle, mom."

"Um hmm." Magdalena nodded, trying to picture the scene, "Milk and cookies?" she offered, smiling.

"Yeah!" Jacinta grinned, "Although I could use some help on this homework!"

"Well, don't look at me!" Magdalena laughed, turning to get the promised snack.

She had just set the plate down on Jacinta's desk and had selected a chocolate chip cookie to munch on when the doorbell rang.  She frowned, "Who could that be?" she wondered, the cookie half-way to her mouth.

"Dora?" Jacinta suggested maliciously.

"Oh spare me!" Magdalena rolled her eyes at the thought of her mooching downstairs neighbor at the door again.  She turned to answer the door, chewing on the cookie.

Jacinta sipped some milk, ate a cookie, and returned to staring at the definitely unhelpful "If you need help" help page in her Algebra book, trying to will some comprehension out of the parenthenses, letters, digits, and colored arrows.

"Jacinta!"

"What mom?" the girl responded.

"Visitor!"

Jacinta blinked: If it wasn't On-The-Dole-Dora at this time of night, when who COULD it be?  "Oh well," she thought as she got up, "It'll be a break from algebra-"

She walked into the living room, only to stop, flustered, when she saw the visitor sitting on the sofa.  "M-Mr. Seidelman?" she stammered, surprised to see a teacher from her high school in her small, hole-in-the-wall apartment.  She felt uncomfortable and embarassed, not only because of the surroundings, but...

"Good evening, Jacinta." Adrian inclined his head, interrupting her thoughts, "Sorry to pull you away from your studies, but I wanted to have a talk with you."

"About what?" Jacinta asked, sitting down in a chair on the other side of the small coffee table, putting it between herself and the visitor, "I'm not in any of your classes, although you did sub for Miss Testerman when she was sick."

"But you have a friend that is."

Jacinta flinched slightly, "Lori?"

Adrian nodded.

Jacinta laughed nervously, "You came here asking for advice about her crush on you?"

"Oh god no!" Adrian responded a bit angrily, flushing slightly, "I'm here to talk about her, umm, propensity to walk on the other side of the law from time to time."

Jacinta sighed, wishing her mom, who was sitting in her favorite padded chair not two feet away from Adrian, wouldn't smile so smugly, "Well, I don't know anything about that, although her gang..."

"Attempted to assault me." Adrian interrupted, frowning, "Only Mr. Amato's timely intervention prevented things from getting worse.."

"Oh, THAT." Jacinta thought a moment, weighing her loyalties, "Lori really regretted that happening.  She didn't like the way you put her down in class, and I guess her gang decided they wanted to prove their loyalty to her."

"What?" Magdalena frowned, looking at Adrian reprovingly.

Adrian smiled back amiably, "She passed me a card that said, 'I think I love you', and openly threw kisses at me in class while I was reading Shakespeare." he explained.

Magdalena's eyebrows went up at that information, and she mouthed a silent, but knowing, "ohhhh."

"I've talked about that incident to the police." Adrian said, turning back to Jacinta, "And I have it, on very good authority, that Lori and her gang are involved in well-timed petty thefts.  Liquor.  Cigarettes.  CDs.  Especially CDs."

"But I don't know anything about Lori doing THAT kind of stuff!" she said defensively.

"You're known by the company you keep." her mother put in suddenly.

Adrian glanced at Magdalena, blinking and nodding, "Yes, we are." he said approvingly, "From what I hear, Jacinta, you're a good student and a good girl.  I'm here to help you stay that way.  I strongly suggest you find better friends to go with than Lori."

Jacinta bit her lip, "I've got good friends already, but to drop Lori...  I-I-can't do that."  she said, "She's a good friend, and doesn't seem to get me into trouble."

Adrian nodded, "I admire your loyalty, Jacinta, but you need to place it on someone or something more worthy of it.  Besides," he leaned forward, "it's just a matter of time before she's going to test that loyalty in a way that WILL get you into trouble.  That would not make her a very good friend, now would it?"

"I'll face that when it happens." Jacinta replied.  She glanced out the window behind the sofa at the glowing windows of the tenement across the street, thinking, vaguely aware of her mother waving a hand at Adrian: "Give her time to think" was the obvious message.

Jacinta sighed, "What DO you know about Lori, besides her criminal activities?" she asked, turning her gaze back to the teacher.

"I know more about her romantic leanings than I like to." Adrian said, "And I have a good idea of what she does to get, and keep, the loyalty of her gang."

"THAT'S no secret." Jacinta admitted, "Look, maybe one or two other girls, besides me, even dare to be friends with Lori.  She IS fun, in a way, but the fact is, she needs us.  If you knew what she's been through-" she paused.

The skeptical looks both adults gave her made her bite her lip and continue, "Lori's not living with her real parents, but with their cousins.  Her parents, brothers, and sisters are circus performers.  Acrobats.  The best in South America, if you care to believe it.1  She suffered physical abuse at the hands of a clown who was a good family friend, but couldn't tell anybody.  She got so messed up that the circus school couldn't help her, so she was sent here, to Meridiana, so she could be in a more normal home environment.2  I don't think she's told any adult, so please-"

Adrian put his hand up, "I won't tell her.  I had no idea!" he sighed, "That explains a lot about her behavior.  I take it the gang gives her a sense of protection and control?"

Jacinta nodded, "I don't have the stomach to do what she has to do to maintain that kind of control over them, but she needs girl-time too, which I and the others give her." she smiled, "It was quite a surprise to see her first falling for Mr. Amato, then you. That was quite a step for her emotionally.  I couldn't see her and Mr. Amato as a pair for the life of me, but you-"

"I can't-" Adrian started.

"I know!  I know!" Jacinta laughed, "Teacher ethics and all that."

"Hmm" Magdalena mused, "Perhaps your professionalism acts as a controlling agent that gives Lori some sense of security?"

Adrian smiled lopsidedly, "I suppose so, although I can't help but feel that the class, Romantic Literature, has something to do with it."

"Probably so!" Magdalena laughed.  She turned to Jacinta, "I've heard rumors about Lori and her gang, and was very worried about you.  I suppose having a second person worrying with me about you is SOME help to me, so at least I appreciate you coming here, Mr. Seidelman.  As for you and Lori, well, I suppose I'm in a muddle now.  I'm still concerned, of course, but a bit proud too."

"Of what?" Jacinta asked.

"Sticking up for your friends, and helping one out of the mess life handed her."

"Well-" Jacinta started.

Adrian leaned forward, "What?  The others?"

Jacinta shrugged, "We're all sorta outcasts.  Whacky lives and all." she waved at her face, "My eyes make me stick out.  No dad or family outside of mom to speak of.  Why not get together and keep ourselves warm emotionally?"

Magdalena shook her head and smiled, "Just like my parents.  Always helping the underdogs."

Adrian stood up, "Sorry to disturb your evening, Jacinta. Mrs. Velasquez, but I was concerned." He looked at Jacinta seriously, "Lori is the head of a gang, and so tends to try to get her way.  You'll have your hands full keeping her, and yourself, out of trouble.  Good luck."

"And if I keep her out of your hair?" Jacinta asked, grinning.

Adrian smiled and shrugged, "If I'm still around, maybe I'll slip a few extra credit points to you when you're taking my class."

"I'd prefer some help with factoring polynomials."

Adrian grinned, "I've heard the weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth myself.  Have no fear, for Dr. Zack is back in town, and will be in class tomorrow.  I'll talk with him and see if he can extend some mercy."

"Sounds good to me." Magdalena remarked, getting up.

After seeing their visitor off, Magdalena turned to Jacinta, "Back to work for you." she said.

"Yes, mom." Jacinta sighed.
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The sattellite phone in the small Peking apartment began beeping insistently.  Scowling, the woman who had been reading a book got up, went to the bookcase where it was hidden, yanked a shelf of books off that were in the way, and grabbed the receiver, "What is it?" she demanded.

"This is Cyber 1217, 1512.  We need Mouser on-line right now to head up a phone trace block."

"Dammit, this is PEKING!  Do you know what time it is?"

"I imagine, given his wierd hours and your tone of voice, 12, that he's in bed."

"And your imagination would be right.  Call back later!"

"This is important, 12!"

"How important?" she asked skeptically.

"Does the name Gen Core ring a bell?"

She paused for a moment, then sighed, "Hold on.  I'll get him."

She put the phone down and went into the next room.  She crawled onto the twin bed and shook the occupant, "Hon?  Wake up."

"Mph?  Wha-?"

"Call from Cyber 1217 at the Compound."

"Ohh!  What IS it?" Mouser rolled over.

Patiently, Cyber 1512 rolled him back upright to face her, "Father needs to make a phone call."

"Techno can punch the digits for him." Mouser rolled back over.

Sighing, 1512 rolled him back again, "They're afraid he'll be traced back to the compound." she said, leaning over his face.

"So scramble the damn call," Mouser rolled back over.

"The guy he wants to call worked for Gen Core."

Mouser rolled back upright by himself, propped himself up on his elbows, and looked at her, "Gen Core?"

"Gen Core." she confirmed.

"Son of a BITCH!" Mouser twisted himself out from under the covers and sat on the edge of the bed.  He glanced at the clock, "Grab the high gain antenna and hide it in the south facing ventilation duct.  Try not to be seen."

She reached under the bed, pulled out a suitcase, opened it, and pulled out a small box with a dish antenna attached.  She opened the window and stepped out as Mouser pulled a laptop out of another suitcase hidden under the bed.
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Adrian returned to his apartment.  The moment the door closed behind him, clothes started flying off as Cybersix made a beeline for her closet.  In a few minutes, she was in a extremely short, strapless black dress.  She slipped on a pair of high heels, went into her bathroom, and rearranged her hair to her more natural, over the eye, style.  She brushed her teeth thoughtfully, her mind running over her father's message one last time.

She finished by rubbing off the lipstick that paled her naturally coral red lips.  She then applied a clear one whose texture would fool an onlooker into thinking her lips were artificial: it was a strange genetic quirk that popped up only in her batchset, and corrected in the latter ones.

She went to her kitchen table and rummaged through the papers there, finding Type 37's Cell phone number and Techno 54's note.  She stuffed the latter into what passed for a pocket in her dress as she sat down on her bed, grabbed the phone, and dialed the number.

"Hello.  Ryan here."

"Hello, 37.  Cybersix here."

"Six!  Have you come to a decision?" He asked.

She smiled, "I got a rather cryptic call from Father that seemed to indicate I should take the job.  You complained to him, didn't you?"

"I have to complain to SOMEBODY." he replied defensively, "And, to be honest, I AM hard up right about now.  I could really use those Cyber skills out here on the street."

"Well, I'm your Cyber.  I know the theory and practice of the Military Police, but this will be the first time a Cyber is in an actual police force.  I suppose I'm being asked to write the rule book for this situation, which is why I think Father wants me to take it.  Besides, why not with the best?"

"Great!  Can you meet me at Precinct station 12, near the marketplace, tonight?"

"In a couple of hours.  I need to do Serena a favor."

"No problem.  I need a couple of hours to get the men off the street and pre-brief them."

"You mean, tell them about the Family?"

"All but one knows about them already.   My best plainclothes detective doesn't, but that's only because he's so damn busy doing his job, I hardly have any time to see him."

"Sounds like a good man." she said.

"He is."

Two hours, Precinct Station 12." Cybersix repeated, scribbling the information down on the note and putting it into her pocket to join 54's note.

"Looking forward to it!"

He hung up.  Cybersix got up and pulled out the lavender colored note, the paper tint being a distinctive, Serena Trodden quirk.

She walked toward the door, unfolding the paper to look at the address.

She stopped dead in the middle of the floor, staring at the address.

She dove for Adrian's pants, searched for the visitation form, found it, and compared the addresses, her mouth slowly drifting open in astonishment.
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"Remember your priorities!" Cyber 1217 told everyone on the conference line, "Block the trace first, THEN trace the trace back to the source, THEN take their computers down!"

"THIS is going to be fun." Mouser said gleefully, "Gawd!  I HOPE they TRY!"  The other technos agreed heartily, swapping banter and catching up on the family news as they prepared their systems and verified passwords.

"Um hmm!" Cyber 1512 murmured.

"Umm, honey, would you mind not licking my ear?"

"I'm booored."

"After the call."

"Promise?"

He sighed.

"Promise?" she repeated softly, breathing into his right ear, her lower lip brushing his earlobe.

"Umm, I'll TRY."

He sensed her smile, "That's all I'm asking for, lover." she breathed before retreating to the bedroom.

"Whew!" Mouser wondered if he was physically up for what his wife was suggesting.

The techno based in London chuckled, "You may not be the best hacker in the world, Mouser.  But you ARE the best laid one in the world!" he said.  The others responded with hoots, wolf whistles, and catcalls.

"Inlaws." Mouser thought, "I've got the damned wierdest inlaws in the world.  Hearts of gold and all, but still pretty damn wierd."

"Darn!" the London Techno exclaimed irritatedly, "They changed the password to the Madrid exchange again!"

"I'm on it." Mouser clicked on the proper icon and initiated his password cracking program, "Paranoid little buggers, aren't they?  17?"

"Yes?"

"Get dad ready to call.  I suspect this won't take long."
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"Oh man!" Jacinta sighed, entering the kitchen and dropping heavily into a chair at the dinner table, holding her head.

"What?" Magdalena asked, opening the oven door and peering at the loaves of bread baking inside.

"I think I'm going to have nightmares tonight." Jacinta shook her head, "My head's starting to feel like cotton."

"You may want to try doing something else for a while."

"I have." Jacinta replied, "In fact, I got it done first to buy time to keep from doing algebra!"

"Well, maybe you need a break," her mom replied, pulling on some oven mitts, "after which I'll see if I can help.  However, I won't let you turn on the TV.  That will just-"

"Moooommm..."

She stopped and glanced at her daughter, somewhat startled at the warning tone of voice, instead of the protest that she was sure would have come with the prohibition.

Jacinta was staring at something behind her.

"What is it?" Magdalena asked, frowning.

"There's a WOMAN standing in the WINDOW."

They were on the fourth story of a tenement building.  Magdalena whirled around to look out the window.

Sure enough, there was a woman standing on the ledge just outside of HER kitchen window, gazing inside with one huge onyx-black eye, the other hidden behind a fall of black hair.

The woman saw that she had been noticed, so she reached up, tapped at the window pane, pointed at the lock, then extended her left arm to show her forearm.

CYBER-6

"Ohhh, shit." Magdalena Velasquez, Techno 254, muttered under her breath.
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"The Madrid password is Santorinio.  Another champion bull-fighter." Mouser sighed, "No imagination.  Paranoid, but NO imagination.  Everyone ready?"

Everyone sounded off to the affirmative.

"We're on deck and ready for action, 17!!"

"Thanks, Mouser!"

Mouser savored the adrenaline rush as he heard the touch tone beeps from his Father-in-Law's cellphone, "It's SHOWTIME!"
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Jacinta (C) Black Inque
Gen Core, Dr. Charles Sorbie, Freak of The Universe
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Chapter 11