Altered Ch. 08 Pt. 01

*All character engaged in sexual activity are over the age of 18, in case it's not obvious or mentioned.

*This is a long story intended to span many chapters, please go back and read the previous chapters or else this won't make a lot of sense. If you are looking for a quick fix this probably won't be for you. This story gets violent and reads like a jumbled mess that is my mind. I hope it's at least entertaining.

*Once again, thanks to Alwaysready64 his help editing this.

*Note that single quoted dialogue represents mind to mind communications.

*Yes, this will have errors, if you find any please notify me through the contact me tab next to my bio. Don't be one of 'those' guys, keep it out of the comments and I'll release any fixes at a later date.

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"Isabella?" I thought, "Something's not right."

I approached her with a different face and had my mind segmented to guard against mind reading. Only the top brass of the resistance knew that I was Anthony Thompson, Nigel Thomson's "son" or experiment. Isabella, as far as I knew, only knew me as Nate; I never told her my last name.

I tried my best to contact Isabella to find answers but I only got a promise that we would meet in San Francisco. This wasn't supposed to be that meeting. So, I wasn't prepared for this.

Her actions in Mexico were kind of suspicious, but I never did get a chance to investigate. I always wondered why she went all the way to Mexico to visit my grandfather and felt it wasn't a coincidence that he died shortly after. I don't like reading minds, especially from people I care about, but lives were on the line and I had to get answers.

I walked up to her and said, "Nice day to go fishing..."

She responded, "I heard the Delta Smelt are biting."

I sat down across from her, she knew the passphrase and as expected she scanned my mind. I directed her query to a false segment of my mind. It wouldn't have an extensive history, but it would be good enough to pass more than a cursory test.

"Sooo, Jack is it?" she asked curiously, eyeing me like I was a new treat.

"Jack Johnson, nice to meet you. Miss?..." I asked, as I scanned her with my third eye.

Robin had the ability to have people see her as they wanted to see her, so I scanned her with my third eye to see if she was using any other psychic abilities on me and saw no activity from her whatsoever.

"Rita," she said, I wanted to read her mind and find out her real name but Isabella was a powerful psychic and she would detect an intrusion. I had to go with a more basic approach.

"You look so familiar to me, I just can't place where I know you," I said, purposely showing confusion.

"Ah, yes, I get that all the time. I'm a bit of a celebrity," she said, annoyed, "My father - Nigel Thompson- is the head of the OEC," she smirked.

I must have looked horrified but luckily not for the reasons she thought.

"I broke off ties with him decades ago. I've been a part of the resistance ever since."

That made sense but my horror remained. She was my sister! Well technically not really, we weren't related in any way shape or form or even raised together. My surrogate mother that raised me wasn't her mother or her surrogate. Still, if Nigel was my 'adoptive' father then she was my sister... Step-sister, half-sister, adopted sister, something...right? I was confused.

She didn't understand why I still looked horrified or why I didn't respond to her. So she went into defensive mode.

"Look, I get it, you don't trust me... my father is your enemy. Maybe, you want to kill my father... That's OK. He's evil incarnate and he needs to be stopped. That's why I joined the resistance," she assured.

Then, I noticed something important, her birthmark, or I should say lack of birthmark. It was there, it just wasn't on the correct side. I heard about this phenomenon with identical twins where they will share traits symmetrically. But what about clones? Was this girl Isabella's twin or clone? Based on who her father was she could very well be a clone.

At least, I knew this wasn't the girl I met in Mexico. But that didn't mean the girl in Mexico wasn't the clone. And for that matter, how many clones were there? If there were more than one, then maybe the girl in Mexico wasn't the same girl I knew growing up...

This was probably some sort of trap, I was guessing. I had the feeling they didn't know who they caught. If you catch a tiger in a rabbit trap... I had to decide quickly, do I blow her cover, challenge her, expose the trap and escape. Or do I play possum and let her think she caught a rabbit? I went down here looking to save Anya and Tanya, but going into the enemy's base blind would be foolish. So, I decided to play possum.

Maybe she was telling the truth, maybe this is the original daughter and she really is part of the resistance. Only time would tell, either way things didn't pass the smell test, so my hackles were up.

"Sorry, I wasn't expecting you, it was shocking, that's all," I recovered.

"So, how can I help you Jack?"

I originally needed her to protect Jenny, but I couldn't trust her and I didn't have any other resources in San Francisco. But I could still use her to help me scout out the base where Anya was being kept. I still hadn't zeroed in on her yet but she was close and definitely somewhere in the city.

"I have information on the location of an OEC base..." I said, and her face turned from concerned to shock. "I plan to raid it... But I need intel."

"Wait, what? You know where one of their bases are... and you plan on raiding it all by yourself?" she said, giggling.

"I'm not going by myself, but the less you know the better... I got a reliable tip and have a team prepped but I need intel... Can you help?" I asked.

She sobered up and said, "You're serious? Do you know the kind of tech they have guarding their bases?"

"Yes."

She looked really nervous and was thinking really hard until she finally said, "It's risky, but I'm tired of sitting along the sidelines... So, I'll do what I can."

"What do you mean? You're nothing but a desk jockey?"

"Listen, Jack, the resistance isn't what it used to be. Ever since this war between the OEC and the Illuminati got started, the resistance has been caught in the crossfire. The Illuminati have decided to take us both out. I'm all that's left of the resistance presence in San Francisco... Normally I don't do fieldwork because... well..."

"You're famous and your father is looking for you?" I finished.

"You got it, Jacky-boy. Hit the nail on the head. Give that boy a prize!"

"You don't have to be an ass about it," I said, perturbed.

"Sorry," she said, sincerely. "I get very sarcastic when... Fuck me, they're here," she looked scared and her eyes started to well up. "I can't read them..."

"Come on, let's get out of here."

"There's no way. According to their handler they've got at least ten and they're well trained..."

"Let's, go. NOW!" I said, slapping her across the face.

She was shocked at first and people around started getting upset, some even started calling 911, but she quickly recovered and got angry.

'I'm your abusive boyfriend, go with it,' I sent.

She looked at me curiously for a second then started yelling, "You don't own me Jack, If I want to hang out with my friends I can!"

'Make a bigger scene, throw plates, or something' I sent.

"Fucking jerk!" she said, picking up her glass of water, throwing it in my face.

"Baby! If you don't come with me right now, we're through!" I said, looking around I saw the bright auras converging on us. I grabbed her arm and pretended to forcibly pull her out of the restaurant out the nearest exit near the boardwalk leading to the ferry.

'Arms up, legs stiff and tighten up your core. And, don't freak out! Pretend you're Superman and try to keep yourself from spinning.'

'What are you going to do?' she asked, worried.

The ferry was 30 yards away, I grabbed her ass and her shoulder and spun her around quickly tossing her up in the air. She flew about 30 feet up and 20 feet over. She screamed bloody murder but I calmed her mind as I used my vectors to manipulate her flight path. She amazingly landed on the deck of the second story, tucked and rolled and got up uninjured. We got lucky, in that the ferry just happened to be leaving and no one on the ferry noticed what happened.

I ran along the dock changing my face once again and saw the bright aura of someone coming around the other side of the shops, trying to block my exit. Bad move. I wasn't running. He scanned the dock looking for someone. He looked at me as he walked toward me gun drawn and waved at me to get out of his way.

I had no idea what kind of abilities this guy had, and didn't have time to deal with them. Luckily, I had surprise on my side.

People started screaming and running away, most ended up clumping into the docking area of the ferry since it was the path of least resistance to get away from the gunmen.

There wasn't going to be accidental shots fired in the crowd if I could help it. I tried filling his mind with fear but he was unaffected. His face betrayed recognition and he focused on me. Before I could move his gun with my mind, he shot at me faster than a gunfighter in a spaghetti western. I tried my best to avoid getting shot, but he was an excellent marksman. Luckily, he focused on chest shots rather than head shots, so while the shots hurt like hell, I would recover. I had no armor on and the only thing keeping me conscious was that he was using small caliber bullets and my graphene armor was enough to keep them from penetrating.

I needed to take this guy out fast, because there were more coming. I pulled him towards me with a vector which lifted him off the ground about a foot, not affording him purchase to get out of the way as I rushed at him full speed. I punched him full force in the throat, snapping his spine, nearly decapitating him.

These guys weren't after me, that much was certain. They were after her. One point for her on my trust meter. That was good enough for me - for now. Whoever these guys were, they had no regard for human life. I was going to end theirs before they killed anyone.

'How did you do that?' she sent.

She must have been watching the whole thing from the ship as it pulled away.

'Where can I find you?' I asked, and she sent me an image in her mind which I recognized as Alcatraz Island.

I leapt up onto the roof and ran along the edge, tracking one of the five other auras as they moved in with military precision. I dropped down off the roof as another henchman came around the corner, slamming into him, knocking him to the ground. I didn't bother punching him in the face, I was strong that hitting him in the neck was not only less painful to me but more effective, and I was so fast that he wasn't even afforded the chance to flinch before his neck snapped.

The other auras seemed to be searching the inside market area and they soon disappeared as they passed between too many layers of wall to be seen. I searched the guy I just took out, looking for a device that might block psychic attacks. He seemed to be wearing a kind of headpiece almost like a headband except it was thin as a wire and went most of the way around his head. There were two distinct pieces that fit over his temples. I snatched it off of his head and had to make a quick decision, do I hunt each of these guys down or do I try to make the ferry.

'Fuck it,' I thought, running full speed down the dock. The ferry was still slowly leaving I thought, 'I'm going to test my limits.' 100 yards...

"Get out of the way! Clear a path!" I yelled.

All the people huddled along the ferry port cleared a path moving from one side and the other. I got myself up to full burst speed, I'm guessing I was running faster than 60 MPHs and I leapt up before I got to the end of the dock and hit the railing. I might have set a world record that day, after all, who do you know can jump over 100 feet up in the air? My momentum and trajectory weren't enough to make the ferry but I 'slowed time' and used my vectoring to control my flight path. My flying wasn't smooth like Superman, it was more out of control and spastic. I looked more like 'The Greatest American Hero' as I tumbled through the air, arms and legs flailing, (I might have even screamed a little), as I slammed into the side of the ferry.

I got lucky, because even though my body took a hit, I was able to grab a railing before I bounced off the side into the water. It felt like a few ribs cracked, but more likely it was just a bone contusion or bruising as I knew my bones were stronger than steel. I was bruised all over but I managed to gather enough strength of will to pull myself up to the deck above.

I think people were scared that there was some sort of terrorist attack going on because people cleared away from the side where I hit while the boats crew went to investigate. When they came over to where I was, they approached me cautiously and I filled their minds with a sense of calm and well-being. I then inserted suggestions in their mind that this was just a radio show prank. I was quickly escorted over to the captain for questioning.

"What the fuck is going on?" he hollered.

"Sorry, man," I said, disguising my voice like the bus driver "Otto Mann" from the Simpsons. "Listen, I'm just a stunt man, doing a prank for Wild 94.9. Here's my permit," I said, pulling out my wallet and flashing my driver's license.

I "Dr. Who"ed the license so that he thought he saw a real permit.

"I know we got a little carried away there. No hard feelings?" I said holding out my hand and filling his mind with a sense of "why not".

He kind of shrugged and shook my hand. I hated to do it but I would need the captain on my side later so I sapped him for a few seconds, not enough to debilitate him but enough to enthrall him for a couple of hours.

"That's alright, I love the JV Show. Are we on right now?"

"Nah man, they did all the recordings on the dock, I'm just the stuntman."

"You want, I should turn around?" he asked.

"No, you don't need to do that, they got someone waiting for me at the next stop," I said, then I started whispering. "If you can keep this on the downlow. I'd really appreciate it, man."

He then issued some commands to his crew through a walkie talkie and explained it was just a radio show prank and to let everyone know they weren't in any danger.

"I'm gonna go mingle with the ladies," I said, give him a "heh, heh" and the captain simply winked with a lascivious smile and pat me on the back.

The ferry had four stories for passengers if you count the first story which carried the cars. I was on the second story and I looked for traces of "Rita" and I found her trail with my third eye. It led me to the third floor and immediate went up the next flight of steps to the top deck.

I looked around and saw her leaning against the railing at the very back of the ship. I had changed my face again before I met the captain so unless she was observant and saw that I was wearing the same clothes, I didn't think she would recognize me.

I walked up to her and leaned on the same railing as her and tried to follow her gaze and see what she was looking at. But she seemed to be gazing off into space and she had a far off look about her.

"No need to go to Alcatraz," I said, simply.

She looked over at me and said, "Sorry, what?", looking at me suspiciously and I saw her recognition.

"No need to go to Alcatraz," I repeated, looking back at her.

For the first time, I got a real good look at her face and I noticed something that kind of surprised me. She had some tiny laugh lines, that were barely noticeable, and a single grey hair!

Her face turned white, and she tried to invade my mind but I blocked her.

"Calm down, woman. It's just me. I'm on your side," I said, morphing my face back to that of Jack Johnson.

My face change didn't set her at ease, if anything she seemed more on edge.

"Look, if I wanted to kill, kidnap, or rape you, I could... and get away with it. I'm not here to hurt you or betray you or turn you in to your father. I need answers, that's all... please?" I said, with my most pitiable voice.

Her face gained color and her body relaxed, and she said, "First, tell me who you are."

"My name is Anthony Nathan Thompson..."

"Thompson? That's my father's last name..."

"I guess that makes us siblings doesn't it?" I said, cynically.

"Siblings? Pshaw, don't make me laugh. There's no way my father had another kid, he lost that ability years ago. You're what 18? 20 maybe?"

"No, you're right. I am not actually Nigel's biological son, but he did try to raise me as if he was my father. Technically, I have no parents. I'm a created being... I was born from the womb of a surrogate whom I believed was my mother."

"I... I'm sorry to hear that," she said sincerely. "That sounds exactly like something father would do."

"That's ok, I don't know why I'm telling you this, but for some reason I trust you."

"Me? Why would you trust me?" she asked.

"I was in love with you for the longest time..." I began and saw a look of disbelief. "Well, not you exactly, I've never met you before today. The 'you' I am talking about was a younger version of you..." I said.

"That's impossible! I don't have any siblings."

"That's probably true, but what about clones?" I asked, and she looked horrified. "I was five and you were a few years older than me..." I said, reminiscing. I snapped out of of it and continued, "I realize now, that whomever it was must have been your clone."

"My clone?" she said, horrified.

"Well, that's what I figure, I mean there's no way to get someone with the same exact look and birth mark..." I said. "I mean, unless there are more shapeshifters out there..."

"The only thing is, the girl I knew had the birthmark on the other shoulder," I said, pointing to her shoulder and she unconsciously looked at her mark. "I read an article that studied identical twins, and identical twins are known to sometimes have symmetrical traits. It's as if holding up a mirror everything gets flipped to the other side. My guess is that you are much, much older, and since Ataru age slower than humans, you could be eighty for all I know..."

"98," she corrected, with a smirk.

"The thing is, there might be more than one of your clones running around. I ran into another girl that looked exactly like you... I fell in love with... another 'you'..." I said, and she looked questioningly. "It triggered memories and I recognized 'you' as being the girl I was in love with as a child. I have no idea if the girl I met as a child is the same one, I met a year ago, but because she didn't recognize me, I suspect that she is another clone. If that's true, there might be a lot of 'you's running around."

"You're HIM, aren't you? The one they are saying is the Ataru savior... The one that killed all of those illuminati and OEC agents in Colorado, the...

"Yeah, that would be me..." I interrupted. "Listen, we can't stay on this boat," I said, looking around for some way off. "The guys out hunting you are going to come at you with everything they got..."

"Me? Why do you think they are after me?"

"I have no clue, but they weren't trying to kill me other than the fact that I got in their way. If they knew who I was they'd have sent more guys."

"OK... so what do we do?"

"I have an idea... it's kind of desperate but it might work. Follow me."

I changed my face back to my former look, then had a talk with the Captain. He ordered his crew to their astonishment, to load us into a small motorboat they used for emergencies.

They lowered the boat into the moving water and had it moored to the boat with a long rope. They lowered a rope ladder down close to the boat and they attached a harness to Rita in case she slipped going down. It turned out to be a good thing because sure enough the ferry hit some wake from a passing boat and it shook the ladder just enough to make her lose her grip.