 
DAVID GEORGE RICHARDS is married and lives in Manchester, England. He has been writing for several years on a regular basis. He writes science fiction, thrillers and romance stories with particular emphasis on leading female characters. Visit his website at www.booksandstories.com.

###

### Also available by David George Richards:

Romance

An Affair of the Heart

The Look of Love

The Dreamer

A Fine Woman

Mind Games

The Friendly Ambassador Series

The Beginning of the End

A Gathering of Angels

Changes

Walking with the Enemy

The Twelve Ships

In the Shadow of Mountains

The Lost Girls

The Return of the Sixpack

The Tale of the Comet

The Dragon King

The Althon Gerail

The Sullenfeld Oracle

###

### Mind Games

### by

### David George Richards

Copyright 2012 David George Richards

Smashwords Edition

Licence Notes

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All rights reserved.

Possession is nine-tenths of the Law...maybe

###  Foreword

_Mind Games_ is a story that explores the effect of transferring one person's mind into the head of another person. This isn't a new or remarkable idea in the field of science-fiction, although the method of the transfer put forward in this version may well be. The story also has its analogies in many ghost stories where someone is 'possessed' by a ghost or demon. One such story, which may be considered to be the artistic muse that delighted me at an early age, was the Hollywood movie _Wonder Man_.

Made in 1945, and starring Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, Vera-Ellen and Steve Cochran, _Wonder Man_ featured two identical twin brothers —both played by Danny Kaye. While one brother is a shy and quiet bookworm, the other is a nightclub performer. Unfortunately the more extrovert brother is murdered and his ghost then returns and appears only to his shy brother. The shy brother agrees to take his place in order to help bring the murderers to justice. But to be able to do this successfully, he must be possessed by his dead brother's ghost. The story then revolves around the many comical events that occur as a result of this friendly possession. The film won an Academy Award for its special effects and was nominated for three other awards.

While _Mind Games_ wouldn't dream of being the same story, and in fact bears no resemblance to _Wonder Man_ at all being a science-fiction thriller rather than a musical comedy, it does however feature a similar friendly possession. But there are no ghosts here. In _Mind Games_ we are in high-tech science-fiction territory as we explore the realms of mind transference initiated by computer viruses.

The initial premise is simple: Take a patient who has suffered some kind of trauma and as a result is considered to be 'brain dead,' or in a 'constant vegetative state,' stimulate their brain rapidly and repeatedly to re-establish their original neural pathways and it might, just might, lead to their reawakening. Or at least that is how the young scientist behind the technique hopes it will work when he is approached by the apparently altruistic medical corporation willing to fund the initial venture. But the corporation has more than just philanthropy on its mind...

_Mind Games_ features a shadowy secret and possibly government backed organisation, even more shadowy assassins, and a virtual reality tug o' war for the mind of the heroine.

Originally written as a novella in 1998, _Mind Games_ was the first part of a series of three stories entitled _Manchester Tales_. It was followed in sequence by another novella, _An Affair of the Heart_ , and then by the full size novel, _The Look of Love_ , both of which have been published separately. All three have been on my website since then. The link between them all, apart from the fact that they are all set in Manchester, is that each one finishes where the next one starts. So _Mind Games_ finishes in the hospital which also features at the beginning of _An Affair of the Heart_ , and this story in turn finishes in Debenhams Department Store, where _The Look of Love_ begins. In 2000 I revisited _Mind Games_ and adapted it into a screenplay. The reason was that I wanted to expand the virtual reality parts of the story, particularly where events occurred in the mind of the heroine. I had also written several other stories during the intervening years and had experimented in dual personality characters in my science fiction and fantasy stories, so I was unhappy with this aspect in the original narrative version. I was also interested in the idea of writing a screenplay to see if this was easier or harder than writing a story in the traditional narrative style. So rather than simply rewrite the story I modified it and then adapted it into a screenplay instead. Although it is the only screenplay I have written, as I prefer the traditional narrative style, I do think that the story is better suited to this format due to its fast and frequent scene changes. But you can be the judge of that.

Included in this volume are both the original narrative and updated screenplay versions of the story for your comparison and delectation. Because I happen to think the screenplay version is slightly better, I have included it first, but you can read them in the order of your choice. If you would like to comment on your agreement or disagreement with my opinion, email me at my website at www.booksandstories.com.

DGR

### THE SCREENPLAY VERSION

SCENE 1: INT. MATTHEW'S LAB. NIGHT

The lab is in darkness. MATTHEW HALL is sitting at his desk playing space invaders on his mini-computer. MATTHEW is English. He is twenty-four, of slim build, with brown hair and brown eyes. He is playing the game badly. He is bored. He is not paying attention and the game is suddenly over.

MATTHEW  
(Surprised)  
"Shit."

MATTHEW sighs, and stares up at the ceiling. He is thoughtful.

MATTHEW  
(Pleading)  
"Please, God, don't hate me will you? But can you kill someone for me? Soon? Please?"

CUT TO SCENE 2: INT. HOSPITAL ICU. NIGHT.

GRAHAM and AMANDA MIDDLETON sit on each side of JAYNE'S bed in the ICU. They hold each other's hands across the bed, and hold their daughter's hands as she lies between them. DOCTOR HUGHES stands nearby.

AMANDA  
(Tearfully, and very sad)  
"I can't do it, Graham. I can't."

GRAHAM  
(Swallowing, and just as tearful)  
"I know, love. But you have to remember what the doctor's said. The spirit, the life, that thing that was Jayne, it's gone. Once it lived in her head, but not anymore."

AMANDA squeezes JAYNE'S hand.

AMANDA  
(Desperately)  
"But I can feel her, Graham! She's warm, and she's breathing! This can't be right!"

GRAHAM cannot answer. They sit in silence until DOCTOR HUGHES comes closer.

DOCTOR HUGHES  
(He coughs and speaks nervously)  
"If you want to wait a bit longer, I can leave it until tomorrow."

AMANDA glances at DOCTOR HUGHES and her husband's face. She closes her eyes shut, and shakes her head.

AMANDA  
(With renewed strength)  
"No. We owe it to Jayne not to let this drag on any longer."

AMANDA squeezes JAYNE and GRAHAM'S hands even tighter.

AMANDA  
(Whispering)  
"I'm ready."

CUT TO SCENE 3: INT. HOSPITAL WAITING ROOM. NIGHT.

JULIA CONNORS stares through the window into the Intensive Care Unit.

JULIA is English. She is thirty, tall and slim, with short blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She speaks with an upper-class English accent.

SAM RAWLSTON waits with her.

SAM is a black American. He is thirty-five, tall and well built, with short cropped hair and brown eyes. He speaks with an American accent from one of the Southern States. He lounges against a wall.

SAM is calm and confident, while JULIA is impatient and fidgety as she watches what is happening in the ICU.

JULIA'S POINT OF VIEW - CUT TO: INTERIOR OF ICU

GRAHAM and AMANDA are sitting by their daughter's bedside, DOCTOR HUGHES standing over them. The three of them look very sad.

JULIA  
(Impatiently)  
"What are they waiting for? You switched her off, she's dead, now get out!"

SAM  
(Smiling)  
"You'll never win first prize in a sensitivity contest talking like that."

JULIA glances back at SAM.

JULIA  
(Sarcastically)  
"Oh, and I suppose you will?"

SAM makes a face at JULIA, and she quickly turns away.

JULIA  
"Come on! Get out of there before she shrivels up!"

SAM comes forward and stands next to JULIA. He stares into the ICU with her.

SAM  
"They've just switched off their daughter; give them a chance to cry before you kick them out."

JULIA  
"They can cry at home! We've got work to do. And I'm sure getting that doctor in there involved was a bad idea. We shouldn't have told him."

JULIA AND SAM'S POINT OF VIEW - CUT TO: INTERIOR OF ICU.

DOCTOR HUGHES is comforting GRAHAM and AMANDA.

SAM  
"And what would you have preferred? That we approached the distraught couple cold?"

JULIA  
"I still think he looks far too sneaky to me. I'll bet he's already spouting off about her death helping someone else to live. He's probably got the papers in his pocket right now. By the time we get to the parents that body will look like a car that was left unattended in Moss Side overnight."

JULIA AND SAM'S POINT OF VIEW - CUT TO: INTERIOR OF ICU.

GRAHAM and AMANDA are coming out.

JULIA  
(Excitedly)  
"At last! They're coming out."

JULIA turns to SAM, pointing her finger at him.

JULIA  
"Keep out of my way, Sam. Okay? I don't want you putting me off!"

SAM  
(Laughing)  
"No way! This I gotta see!"

JULIA  
(With annoyance)  
"Just don't bugger me up! I'm warning you!"

JULIA tries to push SAM away.

SAM  
(Still laughing)  
"Here they come!"

JULIA punches SAM.

JULIA  
"Be serious!"

SAM stops laughing and regains control of himself. He is just in time as GRAHAM and AMANDA emerge from the ICU.

JULIA quickly approaches them, her manner now very grave.

JULIA  
(Solemnly)  
"Hello, Mr and Mrs Middleton? My name is Julia Connors. I am so sorry for your loss, and I do hope you don't mind me speaking to you now. I know it's a bad time, but it is important that we act quickly. I represent a company called Medical Technology. I believe Doctor Hughes has already mentioned us to you?"

CUT TO SCENE 4: INT. BEN'S OFFICE. DAY.

SAM stands before BEN'S desk. He is reading aloud from a report he holds. BEN WATKINS is sitting down, his back to SAM, listening carefully.

BEN is in his fifties. He is American. He is slightly overweight with receding fair hair and blue eyes.

SAM  
"Female, twenty-four, five-foot-eight, one-hundred and six pounds. Officially dead at 19:17 last night at Preston Royal Hospital, sir."

BEN  
"Cause of death?"

SAM  
"Severe head trauma sustained in an RTA. But she was in a coma for three weeks before they finally pulled the plug on her last night, sir. The file says she was conscious and cognisant at the scene of the accident, but lapsed into a coma a few minutes later."

BEN  
"Perfect."

BEN turns to face SAM. He picks up the report SAM has now put down on his neat and tidy desk. He begins to leaf through it as he continues to question SAM.

BEN  
"Any problems getting permission from the deceased's relatives?"

SAM  
"No, sir. Connors excelled herself, sir. She was more than her usual best. She preyed on the parents fears that their daughter would be cut up, and used that fear to put them off giving their consent to any transplants. Instead she persuaded them into believing that leaving their precious daughter with us would be a much better way. She fed them that story about studying the effects of stress on the brain following severe trauma, and how that would help to save the lives of other people who have similar injuries as the one that killed their daughter. It didn't take long to get them to agree after that."

BEN  
(Questioningly)  
"And they understood and accepted the delay this would cause to any funeral arrangements for their daughter?"

SAM  
(Confidently)  
"Yes, sir. I think they were almost relieved. Connors got a month out of them."

BEN looks up at SAM. He still looks concerned.

BEN  
"Where is Julia?"

SAM  
"She's with the body, sir. She said she wanted to make sure that there weren't any foul-ups."

BEN  
"What's their ETA?"

SAM  
"09:00."

BEN  
"Have her report to me as soon as she gets in. That will be all."

SAM  
"Yes, sir."

SAM leaves. BEN opens the report and begins to read JAYNE'S file.

BEN'S POINT OF VIEW - CUT TO: CLOSE SHOT OF THE REPORT.

(JAYNE'S profile in the report:  
_Born in the maternity wing of Royal Oldham Hospital in December in 1974, Jayne had spent most of her early life in Oldham before moving to Liverpool. She had graduated in English at Liverpool University only a year before her death, and was hoping to do a Masters Degree at Lancaster. She had been on her way back from there when she had her fatal accident. Among her many other talents, Jayne could also speak French and Italian. She had travelled around most of Europe according to her Passport, and she was a very frequent visitor to a local sports club of which she was a member. She had obviously led a very active life. JAYNE'S photograph is included in the report. It shows an attractive young woman with long brown hair, brown eyes, and a vivacious smile._ )

BEN  
(Shaking his head)  
"A month. It better be enough."

CUT TO SCENE 5: INT. JAYNE'S ROOM. DAY.

Technicians are fussing around JAYNE, installing equipment and attaching her life support machines. They treat her badly. She is naked and hardly covered. BEN and MATTHEW are present. MATTHEW looks uncomfortable at what he sees.

BEN  
(Puzzled)  
"You look surprised? I told you we would get you a suitable subject for your test, didn't I? Were you beginning to doubt me?"

MATTHEW stares at JAYNE in the bed surrounded by all the medical equipment."

MATTHEW  
(He swallows, nervously)  
"No, it's just that I didn't expect it to be a woman, that's all."

BEN  
(Worried)  
"Does it make a difference?"

MATTHEW  
(Shaking his head)  
"No, not at all. It's just that I didn't expect it."

BEN  
"Does it make a difference to you?"

MATTHEW looks away from JAYNE and now looks at BEN, his expression rather obvious.

BEN puts his arm around MATTHEW'S shoulder.

BEN  
(Smiling and fatherly)  
"Look, Matthew, I know what you're thinking, but don't go soft on me. Planning all this was one thing, wasn't it, but now that it's for real, and now you're suddenly faced with a real body, it's shocked you, hasn't it?"

MATTHEW nods.

BEN  
"Well, alright. So this is a dead woman, officially anyway. But don't let that put you off. All the papers have been signed and filed with the appropriate authorities, so she's no longer a real person. She, it, is the field trial for your research. You knew that you would have to work with a human subject sooner or later. For God's sake, you've been moping around the offices waiting for one for long enough. Now we've finally got one, you should be excited!"

BEN points to the bed.

BEN  
(With excitement)  
"This is what we've both been waiting for, Matthew! This is exactly what you asked for! The damage to her brain has been minimal, and she has been off the life support machines for less than thirty minutes. Everything's ready."

BEN now shakes his head and looks downcast.

BEN  
(In a more subdued tone)  
"But, if you've got cold feet. Well, all you have to do is say the word, Matthew, and we can call it all off, right now. I'll get a pasting in the board room, and it could mean my job, but if you're not sure...."

MATTHEW starts to protest even before BEN has finished.

MATTHEW  
(Eagerly, but still hesitant)  
"I want to go on, Ben! I do! I'm sorry, it's just that, faced with a real person, a young woman, I—"

BEN  
"Yeah, I know. You weren't expecting it. You told me. But you were very clear on your requirements, and male or female wasn't one of them. This was what you wanted, so this is what you got. That's why it took us so long. Now, let's leave these people to do their job while we go back into your lab and you can show me that implant."

BEN takes his arm from MATTHEW'S shoulder and leads him out of the room and into the corridor. MATTHEW looks back over his shoulder just before the door closes.

MATTHEW'S POINT OF VIEW - CUT TO: JAYNE'S ROOM SEEN THROUGH THE CLOSING DOOR.

JAYNE is still on the bed, and the MedTec technicians handle her too casually.

CUT TO SCENE 6: INT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE MATTHEW'S LAB. DAY

As they walk towards his lab, MATTHEW suddenly stops BEN in the corridor.

MATTHEW  
"I can't do it, Ben."

BEN  
(Shocked)  
"What?"

MATTHEW  
(Smiling)  
"No, I don't mean I don't want to go on with the field trial! I mean I can't just think of her as an object, a thing, you know?"

BEN  
(Sighing)  
"You had me worried there for a moment. Come on, let's go inside your lab where we can talk in privacy."

They walk the few paces to the door marked 'Mat's Den' and go inside.

CUT TO SCENE 7: INT. MATTHEW'S LAB. DAY.

As soon as they are inside, MATTHEW explains his feelings and his fears.

MATTHEW  
"I guess I was being naive. I was too detached. I knew I needed a human guinea pig, but I didn't really think of the consequences until I saw her in that bed. She's still a person, Ben. To me, she's not dead. She's living and breathing, and she'll have to be fed and looked after."

BEN  
"My people will do all that, don't worry."

MATTHEW sits down at his desk as he continues.

MATTHEW  
"But I do worry, Ben, because they think of her the way you do. They're just technicians, not nurses. I saw the way they touched her and treated her. They didn't care about her feelings, or her dignity."

BEN  
(Forcefully)  
"But she's dead!"

MATTHEW  
(Just as forcefully)  
"No she's not! Not to me anyway. For my experiment to have any success at all, I have to believe that she's still alive. If at any time I begin to think of her as dead, then it's over. Do you understand?"

There is a pause while BEN considers.

BEN  
(He takes a deep breath)  
"Okay, I'll talk to everyone. I'll make sure that she's treated properly."

MATTHEW  
(Relieved)  
"Hire some proper nurses, don't just leave it to the technicians. And does she have to be naked?"

BEN  
"You're right."

BEN slaps MATTHEW on the shoulder.

BEN  
(Smiling wryly)  
"You're absolutely right. Maybe it's me that's got too detached. I'll see that a proper nurse is hired to look after her, and that the surgical team carries out the operation this afternoon using the correct medical practices. From now on she's a patient and not just a subject for the field trial."

BEN is thoughtful for a moment.

BEN  
(With sudden resolution)  
"Her name's Jayne. I'll have her complete file sent over to you so that you can learn all about her. Okay?"

MATTHEW  
(Hesitantly)  
"Jayne."

MATTHEW nods slowly at first, and then more strongly.

MATTHEW  
"Yes. Thank you, Ben. I know it might cost a bit more money, but it means a lot to me. Thank you."

BEN smiles brightly.

BEN  
"And the success of your work means a lot to me! Come on, show me that implant that cost me so much. I'd like to see it before the surgeons put it into Jayne's head."

They turn to the equipment strewn around on MATTHEW'S desk. MATTHEW quickly retrieves the implant in it's box, and begins to discuss it with BEN.

CUT TO SCENE 8: INT. JAYNE'S ROOM. DAY.

JAYNE is in bed, her head is bandaged and she is now dressed in a hospital gown. Tubes attach her to the life support machines. A cable emerges from under the bandages around her head and goes through a hole in the wall to MATTHEW'S lab next door.

MATTHEW is sitting at his desk which has been positioned next to her bed. He is holding her hand.

MATTHEW  
(Sighing)  
"Well, here goes...."

MATTHEW lets go of JAYNE'S hand and types on his keyboard.

MATTHEW'S POINT OF VIEW - CUT TO: CLOSE SHOT OF THE VDU SCREEN.

(The VDU screen shows:

C:\MINNIE\WINDOWS>run MAPPING  
MAPPING RUNNING  
CRAY 1 = 5%  
CRAY 2 = 0%

The percentage figure for Cray 1 increases rapidly.)

CUT TO SCENE 9: INT. MONITORING ROOM. DAY.

It is the end of the first week. BEN paces about the room while JULIA sits at a desk which is laid out like a nurse's station. She is wearing a nurse's uniform. There is a CCTV monitor on the desk that shows the interior of JAYNE'S room.

BEN  
(Impatiently)  
"What could possibly keep two Crays buzzing for a week at almost maximum capacity with so little result? With computer power like that, she should be orbiting Mars by now!"

BEN walks over to the monitor screen and points at it.

CLOSE SHOT OF THE MONITOR SCREEN SHOWING JAYNE'S ROOM.

JAYNE is still lying in her bed, MATTHEW sitting at his computer next to her. He is typing.

BEN  
(In exasperation)  
"But look at her! If you and that other nurse didn't move her about each day, she'd still be in the same position she was on the first day!"

JULIA is unconcerned, and is twiddling a pencil.

JULIA  
"She _is_ in the same position she was on the first day. If you ask me she's as dead as a door nail, but not yet quite as stiff."

BEN  
(Angrily)  
"I didn't ask you!"

BEN suddenly smiles, coming closer to JULIA, and leans over her.

BEN  
(Softly and with menace)  
"But if this does all go wrong, I'll make sure that everyone knows who picked the subject for our field trial."

JULIA throws the pencil down and stands up, pushing BEN away.

JULIA  
(Her voice is raised)  
"You're not pinning this one on me, Benjamin! I've worked my butt off tending to sleeping-corpse-face in there! 'Keep close to her' you said, 'Keep an eye on what Matthew is doing.' Bullshit! I've spent most of my time in the sluice room! I've done better sitting in here! This isn't what I'm paid for! I'm a Field Agent, not a nurse-maid! I've put too many good years in for the Corporation to lose it all now! And if you think I'll just stand by and take all the blame just because one of your fancy ideas is going down the toilet, then you belong on that bed in there next to Nefertiti!"

BEN backs away as JULIA speaks, spreading his arms wide in an expression of detachment.

BEN  
"It's no use complaining to me, Julia dear. You know what Grant's like. He won't just flush me, he'll flush the whole kit and caboodle. Me, you, Rawlston, Matthew in there, even this whole office, we'll all disappear overnight, never to be seen again. And it won't matter whose fault it is. It's happened before. Don't tell me you haven't heard about Santa Monica?"

JULIA stares at BEN, her anger gone, but doesn't answer.

BEN  
(Nodding)  
"Yeah, you've heard! Did you also hear about how the guy in charge had 'left the company', and how overnight, half of his staff had 'left the company' with him? Yeah, that's right! What's the bets you won't be bumping into any of them, or their families down at the mall!"

JULIA  
(Calmly)  
"Why don't you go in there and talk to him?"

BEN now also calms down.

BEN  
(Sighing)  
"Yes, why not? Since I'm paying for it all, the least Matthew can do is explain to me why nothing's happening."

BEN heads for the door.

JULIA  
"And don't forget to remind him that he only has three weeks left."

BEN nods and leaves.

JULIA sits down again at the desk and watches the monitor screen. She turns up the volume on the monitor and waits. She begins twiddling with the pencil again.

JULIA'S POINT OF VIEW - CUT TO: CLOSE SHOT OF THE MONITOR SCREEN SHOWING JAYNE'S ROOM.

MATTHEW looks round as BEN walks in.

CUT TO SCENE 10: INT. JAYNE'S ROOM. DAY.

JAYNE is still comatose. MATTHEW is sitting at his desk. BEN has explained his worries to MATTHEW, and MATTHEW is amused.

MATTHEW  
"Why didn't you tell me you were so worried?"

BEN  
"I thought you knew. All of this, the expense, everything, was on my say so. So, if there are no results to show for it all at the end of the field trial, I'm for it. I thought that was obvious, even to you."

BEN pulls up a chair and sits next to MATTHEW at his computer. MATTHEW grins at him but doesn't reply.

BEN  
(Annoyed)  
"You've only got three more weeks, you know that, don't you?"

MATTHEW  
(Still smiling)  
"Three more weeks will be fine, Ben!"

MATTHEW turns back to his computer, and begins typing on the keyboard.

BEN  
(Even more annoyed)  
"You don't seem to understand—"

BEN stops when something catches his eye.

CLOSE SHOT - BEN'S POINT OF VIEW.

JAYNE'S arm slowly rises from the side of the bed and holds up three fingers in an obvious sign. BEN stares at it, wide-eyed.

MATTHEW continues to type and speaks over his shoulder.

MATTHEW  
"Three weeks to go, you said. Or, if you prefer, one week gone."

JAYNE now lowers two of her fingers and BEN is left staring at her raised middle finger.

BEN finally tears his eyes away from JAYNE'S raised hand and stares at MATTHEW in awe.

BEN  
(In a subdued voice)  
"How long have you been able to do that?"

MATTHEW glances over his shoulder at BEN and smiles once more.

MATTHEW  
"Oh, since about yesterday morning. But that's nothing, watch this!"

MATTHEW types on his keyboard again, then rummages about in the drawer of his equipment trolley. A few seconds pass before he produces a virtual reality glove from somewhere inside. He quickly plugs it into his mini-computer and puts it on his right hand. As he moves his hand and fingers, JAYNE'S hand and fingers copy his movements exactly.

MATTHEW  
"You should have told me you were worried, Ben, I could have showed you this yesterday. Although it might have looked like nothing was happening this week, most of the hard work has been done. I thought you would have guessed that by the increased usage on the Crays. Both of them are up to about ninety percent now, but that should be the limit."

Both of them watch JAYNE'S arm, hand and fingers moving very energetically. BEN is transfixed by the sight.

BEN  
(Totally absorbed)  
"I dismissed it without thinking. I'm used to physical results, so I never thought about where all that computer power was going. Can I try?"

MATTHEW nods and takes off the glove. BEN puts it on and begins to move his hand, watching as JAYNE copies his every move.

BEN  
"I know you must have explained it to me a hundred times before, Matthew, but explain it to me again, will you?"

MATTHEW  
"Okay."

MATTHEW swivels in his chair and faces BEN properly.

MATTHEW  
"If you remember from my proposal, the first task was the make or break of my whole research project. Before we can do anything, the neural net of the brain has to be mapped out. That's what the Crays have been doing all this week."

BEN makes a thumbs up sign and watches as JAYNE does the same.

BEN  
"But what does that actually mean? I'm an electronics man, not a brain surgeon."

MATTHEW  
(Laughing)  
"Yes, it is hard. And I was like you in the beginning, but if I can understand the basics of it, you can. It's to do with the way we remember things.

"At the start, at birth, you can think of the brain as being a clean slate. The brain is made up of millions and millions of neural cells, but none of them are connected in any way. Then, as we learn things, pathways between neural cells begin to be formed. Gradually, as we remember more things, the pathways get more complicated as more and more neural cells are joined together. Soon it becomes a vast network of interconnecting pathways, an impenetrable rat's nest of junctions and cells.

"The complicated bit is understanding how our memory actually works. It's not like a computer, where one piece of information is stored in one place. No, for us, one memory could require a dozen neural cells. But it's not even that simple. Sometimes a smell might make you remember a time, a place, or even a person. Or a name might make you think of an event, or some sort of experience. So all your memories, everything, is interconnected, from one end of the rat's nest to the other. Who knows how we access it, or how it really works? But it does work, and instantly. Well, almost instantly. The pathways need to be refreshed every so often. If they're not, they seem to fade away.

"You must have experienced the times when you want to remember something but you can't? You know, the times when someone's name is on the tip of your tongue, but you just can't get it?"

BEN stops playing with the virtual reality glove and nods to MATTHEW as he takes it off.

BEN  
"Yes. It drives me crazy when I can't remember like that. It's very annoying."

MATTHEW smiles as he takes the glove back from him and puts it back in the drawer after disconnecting it.

MATTHEW  
"That's because your brain is trying to find the correct pathway, but for some reason the route isn't there anymore. So what do you do? You try and find a different route, that's what. You try to get round the gap by thinking of something else that will remind you of what you want to remember. It's as if you know exactly where it is, but you just can't reach it. You can go frantic trying to get closer and closer, until finally, you remember. And at the instant of remembering, the lost pathway is remade, and the thing that you couldn't remember before is now suddenly so obvious."

BEN  
"So how does all this fit in with your work?"

MATTHEW  
"Well, Jayne's brain was a mass of interconnecting pathways before she was injured. And although she's alive again, those pathways have all disappeared. Part of the reason for that is that there is no life, or energy in the neural cells. The implant provides that energy in the form of a very weak electrical charge from the tiny battery inside it. From its position between the two halves of Jayne's brain, it can stimulate all the neural cells like a little pacemaker. The next task is to refresh all those pathways. That's what the Crays have been doing.

"The software I wrote acts a bit like a computer virus. It leaves the implant along one of the hard wired routes into the brain where it reaches one neural cell. Once there, it identifies all the pathways that lead from it, reproduces itself, and sends the clones down each pathway. It then returns to the Crays to tell them where it went. Once the clones get to other neural cells, they each do the same, sending off more clones off down more pathways. They also return to the Crays, travelling back through the same pathways to the first neural cell, and from there back to the implant. Each time this happens the neural cells and the pathways between them are refreshed, rebuilding the neural net.

"It's a bit more complicated than that, but basically, that's all there is to it. It just takes a long time. That's why the Crays are so busy. They're mapping out the neural net from the data they get from the returning virus clones. And because the amount of data coming back becomes very large very quickly, the first Cray was at its limits by the end of the first day. Now the two of them have almost got the mapping out done between them."

BEN  
(With high interest)  
"Are you telling me that the Crays are trying to reproduce and store Jayne's memories?"

MATTHEW shakes his head.

MATTHEW  
"No, not at all. We would need more than two Crays to do that. All they're doing at the moment is mapping out the neural net and continually refreshing it via the implant. The actual meaning, or content, of the information that the pathways and neural cells hold hasn't been considered yet. That will come later, when the Crays have finished this task.

"While all this has been going on, I've been accessing the map the Crays are creating on this computer to analyse the connections between Jayne's brain and the rest of her nervous system. I've concentrated on just her right arm and hand for the moment, and you've seen the results. But I've just been playing at it. When the Crays finish mapping out all of Jayne's neural net, which will probably be tomorrow, or the day after, I'll switch them over to this task, starting where I leave off. They'll be much quicker than me, but it'll still take another week, maybe two, before they've finished making the connections between her neural net and the rest of her body."

BEN has sat in silence, totally engrossed by MATTHEW'S explanation. But now he can hardly hide his eagerness.

BEN  
(Excitedly)  
"So when can we think about accessing her memories?"

MATTHEW  
"Any time after that."

BEN  
(Pressing)  
"And you'll use the Crays to do that, too?"

MATTHEW  
"No, with luck we won't need them anymore after that."

BEN is puzzled by MATTHEW'S reply.

BEN  
"I don't understand. What will you use if you don't use the Crays?"

MATTHEW  
"We'll just ask Jayne. She should be awake by then."

CUT TO SCENE 11: INT. MONITORING ROOM. DAY.

BEN enters the room. He looks stunned.

JULIA is still sitting at the nurses' station, only now the pencil is stuck between her teeth.

JULIA  
"He's an arrogant little git, isn't he?  
(She mimics MATTHEW'S voice)  
"'We'll just ask Jayne.'

"That's what he thinks! If that slab of meat moves without one of you playing glove puppets, I'll take up nursing full time. In fact I'll specialise in the elderly and infirm who have extreme bladder problems."

BEN ignores her remarks and walks up to her and bangs on the desk.

BEN  
(His voice raised)  
"You're in here all the time, why the hell didn't you see anything before?"

JULIA  
(On the defensive)  
"Because that's the first time that extra from 'The Living Dead' in there has moved without mine or Sandra's hand up her back! I swear it, Benjamin!"

BEN  
"And how can you be so sure Sandra hasn't seen any movement?"

JULIA  
"Because she never stops gabbing. If she'd seen our favourite corpse raise even so much as an eyebrow, she would have talked me to death about it before she went home. For God's sake, Ben, there's no one else she can tell about her marvellously exciting day except me, so give me some credit."

BEN is convinced at last. He sits down next to JULIA and becomes thoughtful.

BEN  
"Are the Crays being downloaded each night as planned?"

JULIA  
"Of course they are. And his mini-computer, and his lap-top, which he virtually sleeps with, so getting hold of that each night is a pain in the arse."

BEN  
(Voice raised and still short tempered)  
"Alright, alright! So it's a pain in the arse! So long as Tyler can use the data, I don't give a shit!"

JULIA  
(With heavy sarcasm)  
"Don't tell me you're not pleased that sleeping beauty is going to awake? I thought the whole point of this was to help these poor people? Think of the lives you could save, think of the publicity, Benjamin! Think of the profits, too! And think of Grant's smiling face when you tell him all about it!"

BEN glares at her. It is meant to shut her up, but all it does is make her laugh.

BEN  
(Sternly)  
"I don't think this is at all funny."

JULIA'S laughter increases until she sees just how un-amused BEN is. Her laughter fades to a giggle.

JULIA  
(Still giggling)  
"Oh, Benjamin! Fancy starting out with motives like yours and ending up as a philanthropist. You have to see the funny side of it."

BEN  
(Still without humour)  
"There isn't a funny side of it, and you know it."

BEN takes a deep breath and sighs, resting his head in his hands. He is depressed. He glances at the monitor, watching MATTHEW still sitting by his computer as before. Then BEN turns his eyes towards JULIA.

BEN  
"How can I tell Grant that our project to manipulate the human memory has turned into a great medical breakthrough?"

JULIA  
"By phone, long distance."

BEN  
"Get serious, Julia!"

JULIA  
"I am serious. There's still a lot of money to be made here, so if you tell him right, he might let you live.  
(JULIA shrugs her shoulders before continuing)  
"He might break off all your limbs at the trunk, but he'll let you live."

BEN is already shaking his head.

BEN  
"This medical breakthrough isn't going anywhere, at least not for a long while yet. If Grant can find a use for it, then it'll be worth something. But that will be someone else's job, not yours or mine. Our job was to find a method of permanently changing someone's mind. To remove what was once there and replace it with something totally new and different. People whose minds can be changed like that in a guaranteed, foolproof way can be very useful to the Corporation. Not just in the matter of easing corporate expansion strategies where money won't work and resistance is being met, but also in the matter of executing difficult and unsavoury tasks.

"As you well know yourself, finding the right person to carry out such tasks has always been a major problem. But if we can tailor make the person to fit the task, and then erase that person just as easily, then we will have a real breakthrough on our hands. And that's the breakthrough that Grant expects, not the reawakening of trauma victims. So unless we can glean something from the data we've downloaded to satisfy his expectation, we're all going to end up dead. Far more dead than Jayne Middleton ever was."

CUT TO SCENE 12: INT. JAYNE'S ROOM. DAY.

JAYNE lies in the bed twitching as if she is suffering from a mild electrical shock, which in some respects she is. Her movements aren't violent, but they are vigorous and persistent. The tiny twitches are brought on by the program that the Crays are now executing.

The bandages and stitches have been removed from JAYNE'S head, and the bald patch at the back of her head where the implant has been inserted is now clearly visible. Her scalp is still red and bruised looking around the wound, but new hair growth is already evident. A small socket is attached to her skull at the same point. A cable plugged into this socket goes up and along the wall before disappearing through a hole into MATTHEW'S lab next door.

MATTHEW is in the room with JAYNE. He sits at his desk and watches her intently. Every so often he reaches out to stroke her hair, moving it to cover the socket and bald patch. Or he pulls up the sheet which keeps slowly working it's way down as JAYNE moves about. It is now near the end of the second week.

SANDRA comes into the room and stands by the bed, staring at JAYNE.

SANDRA is forty-two. She is English. She is of short to medium height, of medium build, with short black hair and brown eyes. She speaks with a Mancunian accent.

SANDRA shakes her head as she stares at JAYNE.

SANDRA  
"It's not natural. I know you mean well, Matt, but it makes me shiver watching her moving about like that. What are you doing to the poor girl?"

MATTHEW  
"Don't worry, it's just the way the program works. Up to now, the Crays have only been refreshing the neural pathways in Jayne's brain with a very low electrical charge. Now they are using a much more stronger electrical charge to select and activate a single neural cell in Jayne's brain. This triggers all the pathways that are connected to it. Some of these pathways lead to nerve endings that control Jayne's body. The electrical charge is now strong enough to stimulate these nerves. The Crays then monitor the feedback from all the other neural cells in Jayne's brain, some of which may also have nerve endings connected to them. It's a bit more complicated than that, because one neural cell may trigger several others, and the Crays have a devil of a job sorting out all the responses they get back."

SANDRA  
(Cheekily)  
"I love it when you talk dirty!"

MATTHEW laughs as he goes back to his keyboard.

SANDRA  
"But how do you know what each nerve does?"

MATTHEW  
"Knowing exactly what's been triggered doesn't matter for now, what does matter is identifying the nerve endings that respond, and then matching them up to the neural cells that were first triggered."

SANDRA  
(Indignantly)  
"It matters to me! I have to clean up every time she has a little accident, and so far she's had three of those little accidents this morning, and they're all your fault!"

MATTHEW  
(Apologetically)  
"Sorry, Sandra. It won't last much longer, I promise."

SANDRA wags her finger at him.

SANDRA  
"Good! Just so long as you know that you're in my bad books."

MATTHEW smiles and continues with his work.

SANDRA turns her attention to JAYNE once more. First, she checks JAYNE'S temperature and her pulse, then she looks over the monitors and life support machines that keep JAYNE alive. Finally, she begins changing the nearly empty drip for a new one she has brought with her.

MATTHEW slowly stops what he is doing and begins to stare at JAYNE. He sits like this until SANDRA surprises him.

SANDRA  
"How did you get her arm to move, then?"

MATTHEW  
(Surprised)  
"What?"

SANDRA finishes what she is doing and comes to stand next to him. She pokes him in the back with her finger.

SANDRA  
(In mock annoyance)  
"Aren't you listening to me?"

MATTHEW  
"Sorry, I was miles away."

SANDRA  
"Yeah, mooning over bright eyes I'll bet!"

MATTHEW  
(Embarrassed)  
"I was not!"

SANDRA  
(Accusingly)  
"Oh, yes you were! The tarty cow!"

MATTHEW  
(Shocked)  
"Sandra! You hardly know anything about her. You shouldn't say things like that."

SANDRA  
"You hardly know her, either!  
(She wags a finger at him again)  
"I'm telling you, Matt, you're wasting your time with that one. There's more to her than meets the eye. She's never been a professional nurse, that's for sure. Oh, she knows her stuff, alright. But she does it all slightly differently, not like someone with experience, someone who's done it all before. I wouldn't trust her as far as I could chuck her. If you ask me, you'd be much better off with this one in bed than you would be with the likes of her."

MATTHEW glances at JAYNE.

CLOSE SHOT - MATTHEW'S POINT OF VIEW.

JAYNE'S teeth are chattering and there are beads of sweat on her face and brow.

SANDRA wipes JAYNE'S brow with a face cloth.

SANDRA  
"The poor thing, you're tiring her out."

MATTHEW  
(Sighing)  
"It won't last much longer. And it gets easier after this."

SANDRA  
"Is that when you think she'll wake up?"

MATTHEW  
(Genuinely)  
"God, I hope so."

SANDRA pokes MATTHEW with her finger again.

SANDRA  
"Well, are you going to answer my question, or not?"

MATTHEW  
"What question?"

SANDRA  
(Rolling her eyes heavenward)  
"Oh, mercy! If you don't know what all the nerve thingys are connected to, how did you make her hand move?"

MATTHEW  
(Remembering)  
"Oh, yes! That's easy! I moved her hand and fingers about and monitored which neural cells responded. Then I stimulated the same neural cells with my mini-computer. It took a while for me to program my computer to move her hand and fingers properly, but the Crays will do it much quicker, you'll see."

SANDRA  
"I know I'm going to hate myself for this, but how? They've been at it for five days, and so far all they've succeeded in doing is make my job harder."

MATTHEW  
(Grinning)  
"What they learn they don't forget. When they're finished this program, I'll start them on the next one, and that's when you'll really see something!"

CUT TO SCENE 13: INT. COMPUTER CENTRE. DAY.

BEN WATKINS and GLEN TYLER are standing in the middle of the Corporation's computer centre in Exchange Quay. The walls are all glass, revealing the skyline outside. BEN and TYLER are surrounded by technicians in white coats.

TYLER is in his fifties. He is American. He is tall and very thin. He has blue eyes and light brown hair and a beard. Both are turning to grey.

The computer centre is on the eighth floor, within eyesight of the MedTec Offices in Salford Quays, but no one there even knows that it exists.

TYLER  
(Patronisingly)  
"It's not a problem, Ben. Just have confidence in your people. Let Hall carry on with his work. Even if he succeeds in waking the girl from her coma, it's not a problem. In fact, it's a bonus."

BEN  
(Unimpressed)  
"How can that be a bonus? The last thing we want is for her to be running about, asking questions and causing us more problems!"

TYLER  
"Ah! But she won't! Because that's when she ceases to be his field trial, and becomes ours."

TYLER beckons BEN towards his office on one side of the computer centre. They go inside, leaving the technicians busily working.

CUT TO SCENE 14: INT. TYLER'S OFFICE IN THE COMPUTER CENTRE. DAY.

BEN and TYLER enter the office. TYLER closes the door behind them and leans against it. He now shows his excitement.

TYLER  
(Enthusiastically)  
"I can make this work, Ben! The data we've obtained is remarkable! A complete neural net, all mapped out! And we've already started reclaiming small amounts of her memory. I've had them verified with her records, and they're accurate, Ben! Do you realise how important this is? And now we're beginning to recognise how to control her nervous system, too!"

BEN  
(Still unimpressed and with sarcasm)  
"Marvellous, I'm ecstatic!"

BEN sits down on one of the chairs by Tyler's desk.

BEN  
"But tell me this, Glen. It's been over two weeks now, so have you managed to input anything yet? I know its great getting all this stuff out, but it's putting it in that counts. Or have you forgotten that?"

TYLER loses his enthusiasm as he goes to sit down behind his desk.

TYLER  
(Defensive)  
"The reception and transmission from the radio in the implant is perfect. We could download information at any time—"

BEN  
(Pressing)  
"But have you?"

TYLER  
"Now is not the time—"

BEN  
(Firmly and triumphantly)  
"You mean 'no'!"

TYLER  
(Annoyed)  
"You know as well as I that downloading information to a woman in a coma would be useless. We have to wait for her to awake before we can begin."

BEN  
(Insistently)  
"No! You put something in now, do you hear me! I want Grant to see an immediate result. Because if, or when, she wakes up, there could be no time to carry out an effective memory alteration. We could be too busy sorting out the mess."

TYLER  
(Flustered)  
"But we have much more important work to do analysing the data! With the implant, we could download any time!"

BEN  
"Not when she's conscious. She'll be aware of the changes."

TYLER  
"But she isn't conscious yet. And, anyway, we don't know that!"

BEN  
"We don't know anything yet! We don't really know if we can download any data until we've tried it, we don't know if it'll stick if we can download it, and we don't even know whether any of this will come to anything. Even if she remembered what you put in, she could ignore it. All we do know for sure is that Matthew seems to be getting along just fine!"

TYLER  
"Alright! I'll prove it to you! I'll have something downloaded by the end of today. And I'll guarantee that she won't forget it or ignore it. But remember this, you won't see anything unless she wakes up, and you will have succeeded in diverting my people from more important work."

BEN  
(Sternly)  
"I decide what's important. I am in charge, remember?"

TYLER sits back in his chair and folds his arms.

TYLER  
(Oozing confidence)  
"Yes, Ben. You are in charge, and responsible for this project."

They stare at one another in a brief silence. There is a tap on the door, and they both look up as SAM enters the office without waiting for an answer.

TYLER  
(Annoyed at the intrusion)  
"How dare you come in like that!"

BEN  
(To TYLER)  
"Rawlston can come in whenever he likes."

BEN then turns to SAM.

BEN  
"Provided he's got something important to tell me."

SAM  
(To BEN)  
"I thought you ought to know, sir. She's breathing on her own. All the machines are off."

CUT TO SCENE 15: INT. JAYNE'S ROOM. NIGHT.

BEN and MATTHEW stand next to JAYNE'S bed. Apart from the cable connected to JAYNE'S head, and the drip feeding into her arm, she looks perfectly healthy and alive.

MATTHEW  
"Sandra's already checked her out. Her pulse and blood pressure are fine, and as you can see, she's breathing normally."

BEN stares at JAYNE MIDDLETON. As MATTHEW has said, she is breathing normally.

BEN  
(In a low voice)  
"It's going to work, isn't it?"

MATTHEW folds his arms as he also stares down at JAYNE.

MATTHEW  
(Sighing)  
"I hope so, Ben. Everything has gone to plan so far. The implant is working fine. The Crays have programmed it with the neural pathways that control Jayne's body. That way the implant can always keep her alive no matter what."

BEN  
"What are the Crays doing now?"

MATTHEW  
"Nothing. They're idle, and have been for a couple of days."

BEN looks up at MATTHEW.

BEN  
(Concerned)  
"Only the implant is keeping her breathing?"

MATTHEW  
(Nodding)  
"That's right, that is what it was supposed to do. Up to now, one of the Crays has been using the information they both learned about Jayne's neural pathways during the first week to slowly reform them. And even while the other Cray was identifying the connections between Jayne's brain and the rest of her nervous system during the second week, the first Cray has continued with the process of stimulating and refreshing her neural pathways. That refreshing has gradually caused the pathways between each neural cell to be reformed. For the last two days the implant has been supplying the energy to continue that refreshing process. During that time I've been running lots of diagnostic tests on it. I wanted to be sure that everything was working right before the ventilator was switched off today."

BEN  
"And you don't need the Crays at all anymore?"

MATTHEW  
"No, they've done their job. Jayne's brain itself is now the storage medium for her neural net once more. I can even unplug her from the Crays."

Before BEN can protest, MATTHEW leans forward and pulls the cable from the socket in the back of JAYNE'S head. JAYNE continues to breathe unaffected.

BEN stares at JAYNE in amazement.

BEN  
"So what happens now?"

MATTHEW  
"We wait and see if she wakes up."

BEN  
"And if she doesn't?"

MATTHEW  
(Shrugging his shoulders)  
"Then I've failed, I suppose. I can still write up my thesis, I think I've got enough to get my Phd. But I'll always feel sad that I couldn't get her back."

BEN pats MATTHEW on the back.

BEN  
(Smiling)  
"You've done far more than you'll need for any Phd, Matthew. I'm going to the monthly board meeting this week, so I'll be away for a few days. But you can be sure that I'll let them all know what a damn fine job you've done here. Keep at it, Matthew! And remember, you've still got another week and a half left!"

CUT TO SCENE 16: INT. JAYNE'S ROOM. DAY.

MATTHEW is sitting at his desk. He has stayed the night. He looks dishevelled and very down-hearted. There has been no change in JAYNE, and she still lies unconscious in her bed.

SANDRA is carrying out a brain scan with the help of SAM, who is acting as a MedTec technician. This is the third time they have carried out the test, but always the results are the same. There is still no brain activity other than the rhythmic waves produced by the refreshing process.

When the test is over, SAM leaves with the equipment, but SANDRA stays behind. She comes to stand next to MATTHEW. She looks down at him sadly.

SANDRA  
"Maybe we should talk to her."

MATTHEW looks puzzled as he stares at SANDRA.

MATTHEW  
"What?"

SANDRA  
"Talk to her. It's normal practice with people in comas. You try and stimulate them by talking to them, or playing their favourite records, or just reading to them. It sometimes works quite well."

MATTHEW grins and suddenly springs from his chair and hugs SANDRA. He dances her around the room despite her protests.

MATTHEW  
(Overjoyed)  
"You're a genius, Sandra! An absolute genius!"

SANDRA  
(Embarrassed)  
"Stop it, Matt! Somebody might come in!"

MATTHEW stops dancing her about and holds SANDRA at arm's length.

MATTHEW  
(Kissing her)  
"I love you, Sandra! You're a genius! External stimulation! That's exactly what she needs! This place is dead! It's too quiet! That's why she won't wake up! Get some tapes, Sandra! Any tapes! Your favourite tapes! And CD's! I can play CD's on my mini-computer! I'll get a tape deck and some big speakers! Really big speakers!"

MATTHEW grabs a now very shocked and embarrassed SANDRA by the hand and runs towards the door, pulling her with him.

MATTHEW  
"Come on, Sandra! By the time we've finished, this room is going to be booming louder than a Ford Escort on Saturday night!"

CUT TO SCENE 17: INT. COMPUTER CENTRE. DAY.

JULIA is sitting in the middle of the computer centre with a multitude of little electrodes attached to her head. TYLER is fussing around her with two technicians. They are busy attaching even more electrodes to her head. JULIA is still wearing her nurse's uniform and she does not look happy.

JULIA  
(Suspiciously)  
"Are you sure this won't hurt?"

TYLER  
"Of course it won't hurt. There's nothing to be alarmed at. It's all perfectly safe."

JULIA  
(Unconvinced)  
"But why me? Why not use one of your own technicians? Or Sam?"

TYLER  
"Because they don't have what we want, and Rawlston is a man."

JULIA  
(Sarcastically)  
"Gosh! I'm glad you told me! I always wondered why Sam is flat-chested, speaks with a gruff voice, and pees standing up!"

TYLER does not look very impressed at JULIA'S joke. He continues attaching more electrodes.

JULIA  
"So what have I got that they haven't? And why is being a man a problem? Well, apart from the obvious, I suppose."

JULIA shrugs as she speaks, causing all the electrodes and wires to jump, and some of them fall off.

TYLER shakes his head.

TYLER  
(In exasperation)  
"This would all have been a lot easier and quicker if you had let us shave your head in a few places."

JULIA  
"Oh, yeah? And how many places do you want to be buried in after I use that razor on you?"

TYLER  
"Well stop moving around then! I've got a flight to catch today, and if I miss it because you keep fidgeting, I'll make sure that Grant knows it was your fault!"

JULIA  
"Alright, alright! Keep your knickers on! I'll sit still.  
(Pointing her finger at him)  
"But I'm warning you, if this hurts one little bit, I'll get even! I mean it!"

TYLER  
"It won't hurt at all. Now stop complaining."

TYLER begins to replace the fallen electrodes.

JULIA  
"Well answer my questions, then. If it's so safe, why not use one of your own technicians?"

TYLER  
"Because they aren't field agents. They don't have the necessary expertise that I want. You and Rawlston do. But he is a man, and I don't want the sexual difference to cause any problems. Not that I think it would, but it's better to be safe at this early stage. There is a lot more analysis of the data we have retrieved yet to be done, so I wouldn't even be doing this if Ben hadn't insisted that we download something to the subject of our field trial. He wanted something that will have an immediate and noticeable effect as soon as she wakes. Well, he's going to get it.

"You and Rawlston have a particular trait. It comes from a long association with the Corporation while carrying out it's most sinister affairs. It's a knowing sort of loyalty, one linked irrevocably with fear. A sort of worldly wisdom that comes from dealing in the dirt that we scientists and other personnel are shielded from. When Jayne Middleton wakes up, I want her to have that same wisdom, I want her to have that same understanding and acceptance of the Corporation. She won't question where she is, or what happened to her, she'll know. She'll know and accept it all as her own memories."

JULIA  
(Derisively)  
"You're wasting your time. You could download the Encyclopaedia Britannica into sleeping beauty's head and you'll still get no results. If she wakes up, I'll eat my first born."

TYLER  
"She's already breathing on her own."

JULIA  
"I know, but so does a sponge. Try having a conversation with one."

TYLER  
"We'll see."

TYLER steps back. The last electrode is finally in place. He goes over to the IBM mainframe where his technicians are now all waiting expectantly. He sits down next to them at a desk in front of a keyboard and monitor. They began to go over their notes and discuss levels and neural pathways.

JULIA is now left on her own. She taps her feet nervously as she stares at the wires that trail across the floor to the computer from the electrodes on her head.

TYLER  
"Right! Here we go!"

TYLER begins to type on the keyboard.

JULIA'S head starts to tingle all over, and her blonde hair stands on end from the static.

JULIA  
(Surprised)  
"Ow!"

TYLER  
"Don't be such a big baby! It'll be over in a few seconds."

JULIA  
(Upset and nervous)  
"I don't like this! Turn it off!"

TYLER  
(Dismissive)  
"Just a moment! It'll be finished soon."

JULIA  
(Insistent)  
"Turn it off!"

TYLER  
"Just a few more seconds."

JULIA  
(Shouting)  
"Turn it off! Now!"

The process is tuned off, and slowly, JULIA'S hair descends back to it's normal position.

TYLER  
"There! It's finished! I told you it wouldn't take long!"

TYLER gets up and walks towards JULIA. JULIA doesn't wait for him to reach her. She quickly tears all the electrodes from her head, flinging them in all directions. Then she stands up. It is a mistake, because she immediately feels light-headed, and sways on her feet. TYLER has reached her by then and holds on to her, steadying her.

TYLER  
(Concerned)  
"You might feel a little bit dizzy for a while, but it will pass."

JULIA looks up at TYLER in a daze, but in a few seconds her expression hardens, and she quickly stamps on his foot.

TYLER cries out with the unexpected pain. He lets go of JULIA, and drops down onto the chair she had previously been sitting on. He clutches at his toe.

TYLER  
(In pain)  
"What did you do that for?"

JULIA  
(In triumph)  
"I told you I'd get even! Hurts does it? Well, it serves you right! I'm going for a pizza!"

JULIA storms out of the computer centre without another word.

TYLER is left sitting on the chair, still rubbing his toe.

TYLER  
(Muttering)  
"Maniac."

One of the technicians walks over to him. He looks slightly worried.

TECHNICIAN #1  
"Mr Tyler, have a look at this."

TECHNICIAN #1 holds out a computer print-out which TYLER takes from him and reads carefully.

TYLER  
(Worriedly)  
"This can't be right. That's a colossal amount of memory space. Far too much memory space for what we transferred."

TECHNICIAN #1  
"That's what we thought. It nearly filled one of the Crays."

TYLER  
"And it's all been downloaded to the implant?"

TECHNICIAN #1  
"Yes sir, the radio link worked fine, and it all went through a treat."

TYLER  
"We must have under-estimated the amount of memory space we needed. Check over the figures again, just to be sure."

As TECHNICIAN #1 hurries away to do as he requested, TYLER stares at the print-out and rubs his forehead. He looks worried.

CUT TO SCENE 18: INT. CORPORATION HQ IN THE USA - BOARDROOM. DAY.

The boardroom is very large and impressive. There are oak-panelled walls and deep leather chairs. The table is also made of oak. It is immense and heavy, and inlaid with many different types of wood. Gold leaf decorates it's edges.

The entire board is in attendance. There is a lot of general chit-chat as colleagues greet one another in a friendly manner. All of them except for one are men in dark suits.

The only woman is ROSANNA CASAROTTO.

ROSANNA is Uruguayan. She is thirty-two, tall with a very well shaped and curvy figure. She has long, jet-black hair, green eyes and a dark complexion. When she speaks it is with a Spanish accent. She is extravagant and always wears red.

BEN and TYLER stand together. They watch ROSANNA as she pours coffee and smiles demurely at some of the other board members.

BEN  
(In a low voice)  
"I hate it when she does that. It always reminds me of a cat offering cheese to the mice."

TYLER  
(Alarmed)  
"I wouldn't call the Corporation's Head of Special Projects a cat. Especially not in here. Rosanna Casarotto probably has this room bugged with microphones that can pick up the tiniest whispers for exactly that sort of idle comment."

BEN  
(Wryly)  
"Do you think I'll go into her little book?"

TYLER glares at BEN but doesn't reply.

All conversation now ceases as the chairman, DOUGLAS GRANT, comes in.

GRANT is in his late fifties. He is a Scotsman. He is tall and heavily built, with grey hair and blue eyes. He is loud and overbearing. He speaks with a Scottish accent.

Everyone quickly takes their places in a sudden hush. TYLER sits on the opposite side of the table from BEN. It is a political as well as a physical divide.

GRANT  
(In a booming voice)  
"Good morning, everyone."

The board members return his greeting as one, referring to him as 'Mr Grant,' like school children greeting a teacher. BEN does the same.

The meeting starts. BEN'S project is the twenty-fifth item on the agenda. It takes three hours to get there. And during that time, several board members are highly praised for their efforts while two others are screamed and bawled at by GRANT for their failure.

BEN watches, and begins to sweat. BEN also watches ROSANNA. She has said nothing, but has quietly written down the names of the two failures in a small black book she has positioned on the table next to her copy of the agenda.

GRANT  
(Bellowing)  
"Item twenty-five! Mr Watkins! You're costing me a fortune! What have you ta tell me?"

BEN  
(Startled and too quickly)  
"Everything is going according to plan, Mr Grant."

GRANT  
(Sweetly)  
"Oh, aye? It is, is it? And whose plan might that be? Ours or Matthew Hall's?"

BEN glances nervously at TYLER. But TYLER keeps his head down, as if reading his notes.

BEN  
(More confidently)  
"Both, Mr Grant. When I left, the subject of the field trial had been disconnected from the ventilator and was breathing on her own. Her neural net has already been recovered, and Mr Tyler's computer people are already analysing—"

GRANT  
(Bellowing)  
"Donnae steal his glory, Mr Watkins! Mr Tyler will have his own say in a moment! Stick to your own report!"

BEN  
(Nodding)  
"Yes, Mr Grant."  
(He pauses to take a deep breath before continuing)  
"As you so rightly pointed out, the project has taken an unexpected turn. But I believe this to be a bonus rather than a failure. Matthew Hall is confident of re-awakening the subject of the field trial, and the benefits of this will far exceed our original intent."

Ben gradually stops talking when he sees GRANT raise his hand. Silence falls in the room.

GRANT sits back in his chair and lowers his hand.

GRANT  
(In a much quieter voice)  
"Let me just recap for a moment. Correct me if I'm wrong, Mr Watkins, but the purpose of this extremely expensive project was threefold:"  
(He counts off the points on hisfingers)  
"One, ta extract information from a person's mind without them knowing; Two, ta alter a person's memory permanently, again without them being aware of the change; And three, ta create such a change in a person's mind that their very personality and beliefs are altered forever. Not a very run of the mill project, you must agree. Now, all this is very expensive, but if the project succeeds, then the benefits will vastly outweigh the costs.

"A measurement of success for this project is in achieving any one of the objectives I have already mentioned. You have tried ta inform us that you have. But that's Mr Tyler's field, and his moment of glory, not yours. Because he's the technologist, while you are the businessman. Your role is in managing the project. Like the captain of a ship, you have ta guide it through the murky waters that lie between the rocks of financial ruin and technological failure.

"So, Mr Watkins, have you achieved your objectives? Is the project still on course and in safe waters under your steady guidance? Or have we merely spent a fortune in reviving some irrelevant person from the North of England?"

BEN hesitates and glances at ROSANNA. Her hand is raised, waiting patiently to add his name to her book.

TYLER  
(Coughs politely before speaking)  
"Excuse me, Mr Grant, but I believe that Mr Watkins is correct, even despite the apparent loss of control in the project's direction."

GRANT  
"Oh, you do, do you? And why do you believe that, Mr Tyler? Please tell us, we are all listening."

GRANT waves his hand at the people around the table. He is right, they are all listening. None more so than BEN.

TYLER  
"As you pointed out, Mr Grant. There are three objectives to the project. But the purpose of this field trial was to achieve only the first objective, to retrieve information from the subject's mind. This has been achieved successfully, as Ben Watkins inferred, and as you will see in my written report.

"However, the current loss in the project's direction has opened up a very interesting prospect. And that is the possibility of achieving both the second and third objectives within the same field trial. This has many benefits.

"Firstly, any delays in finding suitable subjects for the next field trials will be eliminated, leading to an acceleration in the project's overall timescales. And, secondly, the current subject is ideal for the final field trial, I don't think we could find anyone better.

"What isn't in my report, Mr Grant, is that my people have already input data into the subject's memory at Ben Watkins request, and checked it several days later. It doesn't degrade. Although we cannot be totally sure of success unless the subject reawakens, I am now confident that the second objective can be achieved. I want to press on to the third.

"Mr Grant, I believe we can succeed in achieving this third objective. I believe we can alter the subject's mind to such an extent that she will not even question her environment, nor her motives. But to do that, we first need Matthew Hall to succeed. We need that woman both alive and awake.

"Because of all this, I propose that we extend this field trial indefinitely, or at least until the board thinks that it has gained all benefit from it. I know this means that we will lose some valuable data from the implant, and the cost of the implant itself. But the ability to reawaken trauma victims from their comas could be highly lucrative for the Corporation's medical subsidiaries, and this will more than recoup for those losses."

BEN is stunned. And the only sound to break the silence in the room is ROSANNA dropping her pen on the oak table in obvious dismay. Even GRANT is thoughtful for a few seconds, his head down.

GRANT  
"Mr Watkins, what are the implications of extending the field trial as Mr Tyler proposes?"

BEN  
(He swallows)  
"None, apart from the obvious."

GRANT  
(Raising his head to stare at Ben)  
"The obvious?"

BEN  
"The deadline when the relatives of the deceased are expecting the return of her body."

GRANT  
"When is that?"

TYLER  
"Fifteenth of May. Next Friday, in fact."

GRANT turns his head slightly towards ROSANNA.

GRANT  
"Deal with it please, Ms Casarotto."

ROSANNA nods, and taking up her pen, she makes a note in her book.

GRANT  
(To TYLER)  
"Your proposal is accepted, Mr Tyler."  
(To BEN)  
"As for you, Mr Watkins, I'll expect a revised schedule from you for the project by tomorrow morning. And this time, I will not tolerate any slippage. Do you understand me?"

BEN  
"Yes, Mr Grant."

GRANT  
"Good."

GRANT stares down at his agenda.

GRANT  
(Bellowing)  
"Item twenty-six! Mr Collins!"

CUT TO SCENE 19: INT. MONITORING ROOM. DAY.

SAM enters the monitoring room and is suddenly deafened by loud music and someone talking in a very loud voice. It is MATTHEW'S voice. SAM quickly steps inside and closes the door behind him.

JULIA is sitting by the monitor dancing on her chair as she listens to the loud music. The music and the loud voice completely fills the room.

SAM  
(Smiling and in a raised voice)  
"Some people have the hardest jobs!"

JULIA looks round and smiles back at him.

JULIA  
(Also in a raised voice)  
"Welcome to Radio MedTec! Seventies music a specialty! And it's all courtesy of our resident DJ's 'Super Seventies Sandra,' and 'I've Got No Rhythm Hall!'"

SAM laughs as he walks towards her. He raises his hand and slices it across his throat in an obvious gesture, and JULIA turns down the volume. SAM stares at the picture on the monitor.

SAM'S POINT OF VIEW - CUT TO: CLOSE SHOT OF THE MONITOR SCREEN SHOWING JAYNE'S ROOM.

There are tapes and CD's strewn all across JAYNE'S bed, and MATTHEW is sitting by his computer reading the morning newspaper out load. He is shouting above the music.

SAM  
"How long has this been going on?"

JULIA  
"Since last night. Hall brought the music system into the room yesterday afternoon."

JULIA points at the monitor screen, indicating the speakers, tape deck and amplifiers that are now littered around the room.

JULIA  
"And Sandra brought in the seventies stuff this morning. Until then, it wasn't so bad. Hall had a few good CD's, but it was mostly classical stuff. Sandra is definitely a seventies retard."

SAM  
"If it was that loud in here, what's it like in there?"

JULIA  
"I don't know. The last time I went in there I wore ear plugs."

SAM  
"Ben would go nuts if he knew what was going on."

JULIA  
"Why? There's nothing wrong with a little music."

SAM  
"There is if it wakes her up."

JULIA  
(Laughing)  
"You would need a speaker the size of Jodrell Bank to wake up that slab of meat. She was dead before she got here, and she'll be just as dead when she leaves. There's no way that she's going to wake up. She is definitely mutton."

SAM  
"And you're all heart."

JULIA  
(Grinning very sweetly and falsely, and fluttering her eyelids)  
"You're so kind!"

SAM ignores her and continues to stare at the monitor screen in concern.

SAM  
"I still think we should stop this."

JULIA  
"And how will you explain that to the Music Master in there? How about, 'Sorry, but we don't want the loud music to wake up Nefertiti because next week we're going to slice her head in half to retrieve our expensive implant?'"

SAM glares at JULIA. He isn't impressed by her sarcasm.

SAM  
"Something tells me that when the time does come to retrieve the implant for analysis, you will be standing at the front of the queue with a machete."

JULIA  
"Wrong! After all the cleaning up I've had to do over the past few weeks, I'd use a chain saw."

SAM  
"You do know that if she wakes up, that might never happen?"

JULIA  
(In a saintly voice)  
"And I'm a fairy Godmother who works for an organisation that loves people."

JULIA picks up a pencil from the desk and taps SAM on the shoulder.

JULIA  
"Zing! You're an expert whose every word is considered to be of momentous significance!"  
(More bitterly)  
"Get serious, Sam! There's no way her head is going to survive in one piece passed Friday!"

SAM  
(Slightly annoyed)  
"I am being serious. There's a hell of a lot of money in this, and there's no way the Corporation will just throw it all away if there's the remotest chance of a pay-back."

JULIA  
"The only pay-back they'll get from her is if they sell her by the pound."

SAM  
(Insistent)  
"Not if she's awake by Friday!"

JULIA  
(Very sure of herself)  
"It'll never happen. She'll leave here just as dead as when she got here, a little more deaf maybe, but just as dead."

SAM  
"Would you like to take a bet on that?"

JULIA  
"Next month's pay-check?"

SAM  
"You're on!"

They slap hands and then SAM turns and walks to the door where he pauses.

SAM  
"Ben will be back tomorrow. It will be up to him to decide what to do. But if that music stays on, I'm telling you, I'll be spending your pay-check next month."

JULIA  
"Nuts!"

JULIA turns up the volume on the monitor before SAM can say anything more.

SAM watches her as she begins to dance on her chair again. He shakes his head in dismay and leaves.

CUT TO SCENE 20: INT. AIRPORT. NIGHT.

BEN and TYLER are preparing to board their flight back to England. They are surrounded by other passengers in the queue for the check-in desk, so when they speak, they do so in whispers. BEN is still unhappy about TYLER'S unexpected coup.

BEN  
"I suppose you're pleased with yourself?"

TYLER  
(Confidently)  
"Don't make a fuss, now, Ben. You know I'm right. And in any case, I saved your hide back there, and you know it."

BEN  
"Yeah! And left me Head of the Project in name only! You knifed me, Tyler! You bastard!"

TYLER  
(In a harsh whisper)  
"Be thankful that it was my knife and not Rosanna Casarotto's! You may have lost face, but at least you're still alive, so stop complaining! If I had kept silent everything would have been over with. But it wouldn't have just been your hide that Casarotto would have hung out to dry! I was saving myself, not you! As for being Head of the Project, I don't care one bit about that. It's an administrator's job. You can keep it! I have much more interesting things to do!"

BEN  
"Like going on to the third objective?"

TYLER  
(Full of confidence)

"I've already done it."

BEN  
(Furious)  
"What? You've attempted the mind alteration without my say so?"

TYLER  
"You told me to download something that would give an immediate result, something that we can see has worked. You were very insistent I remember. Well, you've got that and more."

BEN  
(Glancing round nervously at the other passengers nearby)  
"I didn't mean for you to go the whole way! You've gone too far, Tyler! You could have ruined everything!"

TYLER  
(Arrogantly)  
"I know what I'm doing. And it'll work, I tell you. When Jayne Middleton wakes up, she will accept her predicament as if she had volunteered for it."

BEN  
(Unimpressed)  
"Ha! I have more confidence in Hall than I do in you!"

TYLER  
"It will work! I guarantee it."

BEN  
"Guarantee it? You better believe it! It's your head on the block now! You mouthed off in that boardroom. You told Grant that you could achieve the third stage. Hell, you even told him you had succeeded in the second stage, but we don't even know that for sure!"

TYLER  
"When Middleton first awakes, she'll speak only in Italian."

BEN  
(Completely confused)  
"What?"

TYLER  
"To be sure that it worked, and to satisfy your original request, I swapped her language memories around. It was all very simple. You should read my reports. All I had to do was alter the length of the memory of each language so that to Jayne, Italian now stretches back to her childhood, while English is only a few years old. Simple."

BEN  
(Sceptical)  
"You're meddling in things you don't know enough about, Tyler. Altering the odd memory is one thing, but going for a complete memory change, that's different. You should have waited, for that at least."

TYLER  
"It was you that made up my mind. 'Do it before she wakes up,' you said. A valid point. The memory transfer is much more likely to be successful while she is comatose and unaware. Anyway, it's done. All we have to do now is hope that she wakes up."

TYLER reaches the front of the queue and approaches the check-in desk. BEN waits behind him.

BEN  
(Muttering under his breath)  
"Or hope that she doesn't..."

CUT TO SCENE 21: INT. JAYNE'S ROOM. DAY.

It is Friday morning and the music is as loud as usual. By now, MATTHEW has two days growth on his chin, and he looks a right state. He is reading the morning newspapers out loud to JAYNE. JAYNE continues to make no response.

SANDRA and SAM enter the room and carry out another brain scan. MATTHEW turns down the volume of the music while they carry out the test. The results are the same as always, there is still no significant change. They leave and MATTHEW turns up the volume again and goes on to the next daily newspaper.

The day passes as the previous days have passed. MATTHEW starts with the broadsheets, then he goes on to the tabloids. He leaves the scandal sheets to the last. He read everything out loud, from beginning to end, even holding the newspaper over JAYNE as if to show her the pictures.

At four-thirty in the afternoon, MATTHEW starts on the local newspapers. SANDRA brings them in for him.

SANDRA  
(Voice raised above the music)  
"I don't know how you can stand much more of this. You're going to go deaf."

MATTHEW quickly turns the music down.

MATTHEW  
"What?"

SANDRA  
"Never mind!"

SANDRA shakes her head in despair and quickly leaves.

MATTHEW smiles and turns the volume back up again. He picks up one of the evening papers SANDRA has brought him.

MATTHEW  
(To JAYNE)  
"Alright, Jayne, Manchester Evening News, first!"

MATTHEW reads out the headlines. The main news is the same as it has been for the rest of the national newspapers, and MATTHEW now hardly pays any attention to what he is reading aloud. He soon moves on to the local news, which is a bit different.

MATTHEW  
(Out loud to JAYNE)  
"'Three killed in blast. An explosion killed three people in Oldham in the early hours of this morning. Two Fire Appliances were called out to fight the resulting blaze which spread to three houses in a quiet residential area.

"'Investigators later blamed a faulty gas main for the explosion, and said that all three houses would have to be pulled down.'"

CLOSE SHOT OF JAYNE WHILE MATTHEW IS READING ALOUD FROM THE NEWSPAPERS.

JAYNE twitches when MATTHEW talks of the death of her parents.

MATTHEW  
"'Those killed in the blast were John Davies, a young man living on his own in one of the houses, and an elderly couple, Graham and Amanda Middleton, who were asleep in the house next door to where the blast occu-'"

MATTHEW stops in mid flow and leans forward, staring at JAYNE. He looks shocked. Not just because he has suddenly realised what he is reading, but also because he has seen JAYNE'S body twitch out of the corner of his eye.

CLOSE SHOT - MATTHEW'S POINT OF VIEW.

JAYNE appears to be still comatose. She is breathing softly.

With rising excitement, MATTHEW quickly turns the music off and re-reads the news article, raising his voice and speaking very clearly and deliberately when he gets to the appropriate part. He also watches JAYNE very closely.

MATTHEW  
(To JAYNE)  
"'Those killed in the blast were John Davies, a young man living on his own in one of the houses, and an elderly couple, Graham and Amanda Middleton, who were asleep in the house next door to where the blast occurred.'"

Again JAYNE twitches. Her whole body shivers.

Excited now, MATTHEW continues with the story.

MATTHEW  
(To JAYNE)  
"'Neighbours said that it was quite sad, as Mr and Mrs Middleton had lost their only daughter in a car accident only a few months earlier...."

CLOSE SHOT - MATTHEW'S POINT OF VIEW.

MATTHEW'S voice trails off as he sees JAYNE'S mouth open. As he stares at her, JAYNE takes a deep breath and sighs, moaning softly.

CUT TO SCENE 22: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

Everything is fuzzy. MATTHEW'S voice and the sound of music echo faintly in the distance. Sometimes they are near, and sometimes they are far away."

The images of both GRAHAM and AMANDA appear in JAYNE'S mind, and JAYNE knows that they are both dead. We hear JAYNE'S VOICE, and it has a strong Lancashire accent.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Surprised and dismayed)  
"Why are you dead? I'm the one who is supposed to be dead, not you!"

GRAHAM and AMANDA smile and shrug their shoulders, but they don't speak.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(With sudden realisation)  
"But I'm not dead, am I? I'm alive. How can that be?"

JULIA'S image now appears.

JULIA'S VOICE  
"You're the living dead, that's why! A corpse! A sleeping beauty! A slab of meat!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"That's cruel! Why am I thinking these things?"

JULIA'S image disappears and is replaced by a white rabbit.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(With joy)  
"Harvey!"

JAYNE'S mind is suddenly filled with memories of her pet rabbit. JAYNE is twelve, and Harvey is big and white and fluffy. First she is playing with him in her bedroom, then she is with Harvey in the garden. Finally, Harvey is on the road, and the twelve year old JAYNE is screaming as a car runs over him.

JAYNE is grown up again, and it is her that is driving the car. It is dark, and sitting in the middle of the road, his nose twitching, is Harvey.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Desperate)  
"Move, Harvey! You'll get run over again!"

The lights from JAYNE'S car shine back at her in Harvey's eyes. He doesn't move.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"I knew it was you. As soon as I saw you. You came back to get me, didn't you? It was my fault you got out of the garden, it was my fault you got run over. I didn't mean it! Honest, I didn't! Angela was at the door and I was only gone a minute! Move, Harvey! Move!"

Harvey doesn't move, he just sits there, staring at her.

JAYNE swerves, there is a glimpse of a lamp-post, and she crashes.

The image changes, there is a MEDIC and JAYNE is now inside an ambulance. The medic is asking her questions.

MEDIC'S VOICE  
(Frantic)  
"What's your name, love? Talk to me! Come on, love! What's your name?"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Weakly)  
"Jayne....My name's Jayne..."

JULIA'S image briefly returns.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Strong and insistent)  
"It's Julia! Not Jayne! Get a hold of yourself you daft cow!"

JAYNE is back in the ambulance, the MEDIC above her.

MEDIC'S VOICE  
"What day is it, Jayne? Stay with me, now! Stay with me......!"

The image of the MEDIC and the ambulance fades. Everything becomes dark and silent.

Suddenly, JULIA'S image returns even more strongly than before, and everything becomes bright and vivid. But it is also very confusing.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Shouting)  
"Ow! That hurts! I'm going to get you, Tyler!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Annoyed)  
"Who is that?"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"You, you daft cow!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Confused)  
"Me?"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Yes, me! Who did you think it was? Casarotto?"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Even more confused)  
"Who's Casarotto?"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Grant's hatchet woman at the Corporation!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"What Corporation?"

JULIA'S VOICE  
(In exasperation)  
"That Corporation, you stupid piece of mutton!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"Oh yes, of course. I'd forgotten. Unless that was all a dream. Are you a dream, too?"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Only in bed, dear. Only in bed....."

JULIA'S image fades. The light gets brighter, but everything is still fuzzy. The voice and the music both get much louder.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Complaining)  
"That voice is giving me a headache! My head hurts! Why does my head hurt so much? It's not supposed to hurt! Tyler promised me that it wouldn't hurt! The liar! I'll get even with him for that! And no one told me that it would be this disgusting, either! Lying here day after day in bed, sometimes in my own excrement! And me having to clean it up, too! This isn't what I agreed to! Why does Benjamin always give me the worst jobs? And how come my parents have died when I haven't got any?"

The images of GRAHAM and AMANDA return, but now they are in the ICU at the hospital. It is the moment when JAYNE'S life support machines are being switched off.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Surprised)  
"Don't they look sad?"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"And stupid."

JULIA'S image returns. It is as if both she and JAYNE are together, watching GRAHAM and AMANDA in the ICU.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"Not you again? I thought you'd gone."

JULIA'S VOICE  
"How can I go? I belong here just as much as you do. Anyway, I'm older. You go."

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"I will not! This is my body, and I was here first!"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Not for long. Mummy and Daddy are about to pull the plug. Look at them both. Why don't they just get on with it and get out of the way? Why are they taking so long? Morons."

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Upset)  
"Don't say that about my parents! They're dead!"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"They're not my parents! I don't have any parents!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"But I do! And they're dead!"  
(With sudden realisation)  
"Mum and Dad are dead! But I'm the one being switched off! I'm the one that should be dead!"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Yep! Dead as a door-nail, but not quite as stiff! Bye-bye!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"But I'm not dead!"

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Disappointed)  
"Bollocks....So why are they switching you off if you're not dead? Real parents wouldn't do that. And if you're here watching them, who are they switching off? And why didn't you say something to them when you spoke to them afterwards?"

The image in JAYNE'S mind is now of GRAHAM and AMANDA in the waiting room. But instead of JULIA talking to them, it is JAYNE.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Solemnly)  
"Hello, Mr and Mrs Middleton? My name is Julia Connors. I am so sorry for your loss, and I do hope you don't mind me speaking to you now...."

JULIA'S VOICE  
"If they were my parents, I would have said something to them at the hospital. Why didn't you? Rabbit got your tongue?"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Confused)  
"But I didn't.....because..."

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Pressing)  
"And how could you be in two places at once? How could you have been talking to your parents if you had just been switched off? And how could you clean yourself up when you were in a coma?"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Very confused)  
"But....I don't...."

JULIA'S VOICE  
"The answer's simple: You're a ghost. Because you're dead. Daft cow. I'm glad you're dead. Serves you right. Bye-bye!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Determined)  
"For the last time, I am not going! Now explain it to me! Why does it serve me right? And why do you keep talking about me as if I was someone else? As if I was someone you detested? What are you doing here? What's happened?"

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Disappointedly)  
"Oh, alright then..."

The light gets brighter and brighter. The music has now stopped, but JAYNE can still hear the voice. It is much clearer. It is MATTHEW'S voice.

CUT TO SCENE 23: INT. JAYNE'S ROOM. DAY.

JAYNE begins to awake. She opens her eyes and sees MATTHEW leaning over her. He is holding a newspaper.

MATTHEW  
"Jayne? Jayne? Can you hear me? Wake up, Jayne."

CUT TO SCENE 24: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

JAYNE'S mind is now filled with the image of MATTHEW leaning over her.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"I know him, that's Matthew."

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Arrogant little git, isn't he?"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"I have to tell him what's happened. He doesn't know anything. It's not fair...."

CUT TO SCENE 25: INT. JAYNE'S ROOM. DAY.

JAYNE awakes and begins arguing with MATTHEW. But MATTHEW cannot understand her because she is speaking in Italian. JAYNE tries to get out of bed, but MATTHEW holds onto her while he calls out for SANDRA.

MATTHEW  
(Calling out)  
"Sandra! Sandra! Get in here, quick! Jayne's awake!"

JAYNE begins to struggle with MATTHEW, who now holds onto her wrists.

JAYNE  
(Hoarsely)  
"Non e gi'usto. Io non prendutto la oppotunita a dire ciao a loro. Anche quando io visto loro. Ma io non sapere prima. Io non sapere quelle vanno a morire."

JAYNE becomes more emotional, and her voice gets louder. She struggles harder with MATTHEW, and begins to cry.

JAYNE  
"Non e gi'usto, Matthew! Non e gi'usto! Io vado a pagare lui dietro per questo! Io vado a pagare Tyler dietro!"

SANDRA enters the room and stands in the doorway. She is shocked at the sight of the wide-awake JAYNE.

MATTHEW looks round and sees SANDRA.

MATTHEW  
(To SANDRA)  
"What's she saying? I can't understand a word of it, but she knows my name. How could she know my name?"

SANDRA  
"Maybe she heard us talking."

SANDRA is still standing in the doorway. She is frozen to the spot.

JAYNE is still struggling with MATTHEW. She is crying and still speaking in Italian.

JAYNE  
"Esso Harvey colpa io incidente la macchina. Non e mio colpa! Ma io non sapere mio madre e padre vanno a morire! Non e gi'usto! Io vado a pagare Tyler dietro per questo! Non e gi'usto, Matthew!"

MATTHEW  
(To SANDRA, begging)  
"Do something, Sandra! Help me to calm her down!"

SANDRA finally responds. She rushes into the room and takes one of JAYNE'S hands, prizing MATTHEW'S fingers from her wrist.

SANDRA  
(To MATTHEW)  
"Don't be so rough with her. You'll scare her. Go and do something useful. Get her a drink of water. Go on!"

MATTHEW hesitates before letting go of JAYNE and hurrying out the door.

Sandra then turns to Jayne and speaks to her clearly and calmly.

SANDRA  
"Listen to me, Jayne. You're speaking in Italian and we can't understand you. Do you hear me? Speak in English. And calm down, we're trying to help you."

JAYNE stops struggling and stares closely at SANDRA.

JAYNE  
"Io sapere tu, tu nome e Sandra, si?"

SANDRA

"In English, Jayne. In English."

JAYNE  
(Puzzled)  
"In English?"

SANDRA  
(Smiling)  
"That's better! Now calm down, love, and everything will be alright."

JAYNE begins to look around the room.

MATTHEW now returns with a glass of water, and as soon as JAYNE sees him she reaches for the glass.

JAYNE  
"Aqua! Si, io sono sete."

SANDRA helps JAYNE to sit up, and MATTHEW holds onto the glass as JAYNE drinks. She takes big gulps and nearly chokes. She coughs and spits, then drinks some more. She finishes the lot.

MATTHEW  
"More?"

JAYNE  
"Si, grazie."

JAYNE waits for MATTHEW to get up, but he doesn't move.

JAYNE  
(In realisation)  
"Oh! Yes, thank you!"

MATTHEW  
(Smiling)  
"Okay."

MATTHEW goes out to refill the glass.

JAYNE looks at SANDRA who also smiles at her. JAYNE smiles back weakly.

SANDRA  
"Do you feel better now?"

JAYNE nods, but doesn't reply. They sit in silence until MATTHEW returns with another full glass of water. JAYNE takes another big drink. She finally begins to relax. And when she speaks in English, it is with a Lancashire accent.

JAYNE  
(Slowly and carefully)  
"I'm sorry, but I feel very.....confused."

SANDRA strokes JAYNE'S hair.

SANDRA  
"That's alright, love. Just you take it easy. You've been through a lot, so if you want to talk in Italian, or shout and scream, you just go right ahead."

JAYNE suddenly bursts into tears.

JAYNE  
"Mum and dad are dead! It's not fair!"

SANDRA looks questioningly at MATTHEW. He holds up the local newspaper.

MATTHEW  
"I was reading it out like usual. There was a fire at her parents' house. It was what finally woke her up."

SANDRA  
(In shock, to MATTHEW)  
"Oh, no!"  
(To JAYNE)  
"Oh you poor thing!"

SANDRA puts her arms around JAYNE and hugs her tightly.

SANDRA  
"After all you've been through as well! And now they'll never know you woke up!"

SANDRA begins crying along with JAYNE.

MATTHEW sits on the side of the bed and watches them. He reaches out hesitantly and begins to stroke JAYNE'S hair. Slowly, MATTHEW smiles.

MATTHEW  
"Wait until Ben sees this."

CUT TO SCENE 26: INT. BEN'S OFFICE. DAY.

BEN is working at his desk. He has only just arrived back from the board meeting. He is tired looking and unshaven. The telephone on his desk rings. BEN answers it.

BEN  
"Watkins. Yes?"

SAM'S VOICE  
"She's awake, sir. I think you better get down here."

BEN  
"What language is she speaking?"

SAM'S VOICE  
(Surprised)  
"Italian. How did you know, sir?"

BEN  
(With a sigh)  
"Lucky, I guess. I'll come down when Matthew calls me."

BEN puts the phone down and sits back in his chair. Thoughtful, he waits for MATTHEW'S call.

A moment later and the telephone rings again.

CUT TO SCENE 27: INT. JAYNE'S ROOM. DAY.

When BEN arrives, he finds JAYNE still in tears over the news of the death of her parents. SANDRA is doing her best to console her, while MATTHEW just sits at his desk with a smug grin on his face.

BEN quickly takes the initiative.

BEN  
(Forcefully)  
"Alright! The pair of you, out!"

MATTHEW and SANDRA both stare at him in surprise but do not move.

BEN  
"You heard me! Out!"

BEN ignores their protests as he herds them both out the door.

BEN  
"Go on! I need to talk to Jayne alone! We need to talk about everything that's happened to her, and we don't need you two listening in! You've both done a fine job! Now it's over! Out you go!"

CUT TO SCENE 28: INT. CORRIDOR. DAY.

MATTHEW and SANDRA are pushed into the corridor by BEN, and the door closed behind them.

SANDRA glares at MATTHEW.

SANDRA  
(Annoyed)  
"Over, is it? Right then! It's nearly the end of my shift, so if that's the way he thinks he can talk to me, I'm going home!"

MATTHEW smiles at SANDRA and shrugs his shoulders.

MATTHEW  
"He is the boss!"

SANDRA shakes her head in indignation and storms off. Still smiling, MATTHEW slowly follows her.

CUT TO SCENE 29: INT. JAYNE'S ROOM. DAY.

BEN is now sitting on the side of JAYNE'S bed. She is still crying. BEN takes her hand in his. He is gentle and soothing.

BEN  
"You just take it easy, Jayne. If you want to bawl and cry for the next hour and a half, I'm happy to wait. And when you're good and ready I'll explain anything and everything you want to know. Okay?"

JAYNE nods, but continues to cry. She holds on tightly to BEN'S hand and leans on his shoulder. In between her tears, she occasionally mutters things in both English and Italian. When she speaks in English, it is again with a very broad Lancashire accent.

BEN waits for JAYNE'S tears to subside before he speaks.

BEN  
"I'm so sorry to hear of the death of your parents, Jayne. It was so unexpected, and so tragic at this time. But Matthew told me that it was hearing the news that finally awoke you. And although I didn't know them both, I'm sure it was a trade they would have willingly made to get you back. I am so sorry."

JAYNE  
(Still sobbing)  
"Thank you, Benjamin."

Although JAYNE'S recognition and use of his name surprises BEN, he squeezes her hand and smiles at her warmly.

JAYNE smiles weakly back, and at last she seems to recover her composure.

BEN  
"How do you feel, Jayne?"

JAYNE rubs the tears from her eyes.

JAYNE  
"I feel very confused. I keep thinking different things, as if I had two memories, or as if I was in two places at once. Sometimes even my feelings are different. And for some reason I keep thinking that I should be out of this bed instead of in it."

JAYNE now rubs at her face and brow.

JAYNE  
"I don't know what to think, Benjamin. And my head hurts."

BEN  
"I'm sure it will all pass in time. You've been through far more than anyone could have imagined. It's bound to have some effect. And what with your bereavement, I don't think anyone will expect you to do anything more for awhile. You take it easy and rest, and I'll see about finding you a better room."  
(BEN glances quickly around him)  
"This place was never meant to be a bedroom, and I see that Matthew has got it into a bit of a mess. The sooner we find you somewhere more comfortable to rest, the better."

JAYNE  
"Ma io non e—"

JAYNE stops, closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and then replies in the most perfect upper-class English tones.

JAYNE  
"But I don't want to rest. I want to get up. I've been lying here like a slab of meat for long enough."

BEN notices her change in accent but does his best not to show it. He has recognised it as JULIA'S accent.

BEN  
"Tomorrow, maybe."

JAYNE  
"But, Benjamin—"

BEN  
"No buts. You might feel okay now, but you do need to rest. Let your mind get used to things. You've had a couple of big shocks, so sleep it off. Things will be a lot clearer after a couple of days of proper sleep and rest. Anyway, you've earned it."

JAYNE'S Lancashire accent now returns.

JAYNE  
(With a sigh)  
"Alright. Just a couple of days. Then I'm out of here. Agreed?"

BEN  
(Nodding)  
"Agreed. Now that that's settled, is there anything you want to ask me? Anything not clear in your mind? How you got here, who Matthew and Sandra are? Anything?"

JAYNE is thoughtful.

JAYNE  
(Hesitantly)  
"No....I think I remember. I know I volunteered. It was sometime after the car accident. I just can't remember when."

JAYNE'S voice suddenly takes on the upper-class accent again.

JAYNE  
(With more emotion)  
"I remember! It was Tyler! He told me it wouldn't hurt! The liar! I'll brain him when I see him again!"

BEN  
(Wryly)  
"It's nothing he doesn't deserve. Anything else?"

JAYNE  
"No, I don't think so."

JAYNE seems to be going over everything in her mind as she speaks. Her accent has returned to normal again, and she doesn't seem to be aware of the changes.

BEN  
"Tell me about Matthew and Sandra."

JAYNE  
"Matthew is the student who dreamt all this up, and Sandra's the nurse."

BEN  
(Pressing)  
"And what do they know?"

JAYNE stares at BEN. The upper-class accent returns when she speaks, and JAYNE now looks far more awake and aware.

JAYNE  
(Suspiciously)  
"Are you interrogating me, Benjamin?"

BEN  
"Would you have expected anything less?"

JAYNE  
"No, I suppose not."

JAYNE yawns and stretches before answering BEN'S original question.

JAYNE  
"The Corporation doesn't allow small fry to know it's secrets. Matthew and Sandra both think this is a medical experiment being run by MedTec. They don't know anything about the Corporation, or the computer centre in Exchange Quay. Once they've finished, if we are feeling in a benevolent mood, both of them will be paid off and allowed to go on with their lives without ever knowing the truth."

BEN  
"And if we aren't feeling benevolent?"

JAYNE stares at BEN coldly.

JAYNE  
(With meaning)  
"Then they'll just be paid off."

BEN  
"One final question. What do you do for the Corporation, Jayne?"

JAYNE  
"You know damn well what I do, Benjamin."

BEN  
(Insistently)  
"Yes, but do you?"

JAYNE  
(Indignantly)  
"Of course I do! But I'm not telling you!"

BEN  
(His voice raised)  
"You have to! You and I both know that you're never going to get out of here if I think your brain is even remotely fuddled! Now, give me a clue, will you? Who's your boss? What have you worked on that I know about? Tell me something, Jayne!"

JAYNE'S eyes become narrow as she stares at BEN. There is a pause, and when JAYNE answers, it is still with the familiar upper-class accent.

JAYNE  
(Very icy)  
"Firstly, you aren't supposed to know who my 'boss' is, Benjamin. That's standard Corporation policy. And if I thought that you did know, I'd kill you. Secondly, you wouldn't know about anything that I've worked on, so telling you wouldn't make any difference. So I'm not going to. If you've got a problem with that, you take it upstairs and see where it gets you."

BEN nods curtly and stands up. He seemed satisfied.

BEN  
(Firmly)  
"Good! That's exactly what I'd expect you to say. If you had said anything else, I'd have got Rawlston in here straight away to kill you! Now, I'll leave you to rest. I'll tell Sandra and Matthew they can come back in. Is there anything you want before I go?"

JAYNE holds her stomach. And when she replies, it is in broad Lancashire tones once again.

JAYNE  
"Yes, I'm starved! I've got this mad craving for a pizza. You couldn't get me one, could you?"

CUT TO SCENE 30: INT. MONITORING ROOM. DAY.

JULIA enters the monitoring room to find a smiling SAM waiting for her.

SAM  
(Jubilantly)  
"Look at this!"

SAM turns down the sound and points at the monitor screen.

CLOSE SHOT OF THE MONITOR SCREEN SHOWING JAYNE'S ROOM.

BEN is talking with a wide awake JAYNE.

CUT TO: CLOSE SHOT OF JULIA'S FACE.

JULIA stares wide-eyed at the screen.

JULIA  
(Incredulously)  
"How could this happen? It's Friday today! Friday! The last day of the third week! Only one more week of tending to sleeping beauty, and then it would have been 'off with her head!'"  
(She shouts as realisation dawns on her)  
"You bastard, Rawlston! You tricked me!"

JULIA turns and pushes SAM against the wall of the monitoring room.

JULIA  
"You knew! All along, you knew! You bastard! You out and out bastard!"

SAM starts laughing, holding his arms out wide as JULIA begins to punch him ineffectually in the chest.

SAM  
"You didn't have to take the bet- oof!"

JULIA has hit SAM again, only this time it is much harder and lower. SAM quickly moves away, going behind the desk. JULIA follows him, hitting him on the back as he keeps moving. They are now behind the monitor and cannot see the screen.

CLOSE SHOT OF THE MONITOR SCREEN SHOWING JAYNE'S ROOM.

BEN and JAYNE are now deep in conversation. But with the sound turned down, JULIA'S voice drowns out what they are saying.

JULIA  
"I should have known those readings were fixed! You liar!"

JULIA is chasing SAM around the desk, hitting him as she runs.

SAM  
(Laughing)  
"I didn't lie! You just never asked me! You knew I was taking the brain scans with Sandra, but you were so sure of yourself you never bothered to question the results!"

JULIA stops chasing SAM and shouts at him across the room.

JULIA  
"But they were all negative! I know, I've seen them!"

SAM  
"That's because Ben told me to hide the true results until he came back from the board meeting today! Jayne's been showing increased brain activity for days, but I always gave Sandra the false print outs, keeping the real ones for Ben!"

JULIA  
(Wailing)  
"That's not fair! How was I supposed to know that fucking machine produces two print outs? You cheated me! You rotter! You git! Sod! Bastard!"

JULIA steps forward, and with each verbal insult, she strikes SAM on the back, until he finally turns and grabs both her hands, pushing her down on to the chair.

SAM  
"Admit it, Julia, sweetheart! It's not the bet, or the money! You're just upset that you can't slice sleeping beauty's head in half next week!"

JULIA almost vibrates in annoyance.

JULIA  
"Ooohhhhhh!"

JULIA pulls her hands free, folds her arms and sits on the chair in a most unbecoming sulk.

SAM glances at the monitor screen.

SAM  
"Ben's coming out. What would you like to bet that he comes straight here with the good news?"

JULIA  
(Sulky)  
"He'll go and see Tyler first. He's in charge now. Anyway, I'm not betting on anything with you, you cad! Taking a poor innocent convent girl like me to the cleaners! I don't know how you can sleep at night!"

SAM  
"Ha!"

SAM swings her chair around and leans over her, his arms hemming her in, and his hands flat on the table behind her.

SAM  
(Smiling)  
"You and I both know that the nearest you've come to anything religious or spiritual, is when you were shouting, 'Oh God! Oh God!' in the Henry V hotel in Paris last year!"

JULIA  
(Cheekily)  
"Remember that fondly do you? Maybe you would prefer me to take a penalty rather than pay up on our bet?"

SAM moves closer.

SAM  
"I might be persuaded. For old time's sake, of course!"

JULIA  
"Of course!"

JULIA puts her arms around SAM. They kiss and embrace. Behind them, the monitor screen is ignored.

CLOSE SHOT OF THE MONITOR SCREEN SHOWING JAYNE'S ROOM.

JAYNE is now on her own. She is sat up in bed. She glances briefly around the room, and then her gaze fixes on the camera hidden near the ceiling in the corner. As JULIA and SAM kiss and enter the first stages of love making, it is as if JAYNE is staring right at them through the screen.

CUT TO SCENE 31: INT. TYLER'S OFFICE IN THE COMPUTER CENTRE. DAY.

TYLER is at his desk when BEN enters his office. TYLER smiles and stands up to greet him.

TYLER  
(Pleased with himself)  
"I told you it would work!"

BEN doesn't reply. He just closes the door behind him, walks right up to TYLER, grabs him by the throat, and shoves him up against the wall, hard.

BEN  
(With emotion)  
"You imbecile! You absolute, brainless idiot! I didn't think to ask you when you told me what you'd done, but I didn't think you could be so damn stupid! I thought you had just added to her memories by typing them in! Like you would on a computer! Like you described for the way you changed her language memories around! But you didn't, did you? I don't know how you did it, but you used somebody! You used Connors, didn't you? Answer me, Tyler! You used Connors for the download to Jayne Middleton, didn't you?"

TYLER  
(In shock)  
"Yes, yes! It was Connors!"

TYLER tries to wriggle free from BEN'S grip without success.

TYLER  
"There would have been far too much data to type in manually! We had to use a human source! What of it?"

BEN thumps TYLER against the wall.

BEN  
(Shouting)  
"What of it? I'll tell you what of it! Julia Connors is a field agent, you daft bastard!"

TYLER  
(Shouting back)  
"That's why I chose her! Who else would have been better as a source of information on the Corporation than one of it's field agents? Let go of me, Watkins!"

TYLER tries to break free again, but BEN tightens his grip on TYLER'S throat.

BEN  
(His voice raised, but no longer shouting)  
"Not 'til I get through that thick, ego enlarged skull of yours what a complete mess you've made! Don't you know what field agents do, Tyler? Have you any idea? Do you think they just steal secrets and patents from rival companies? Well, I've got news for you! They do far worse things than that! Things that people like you never get to hear about! Disgusting things! Illegal things! And I'm not just talking about wrecking financial institutions and destroying rival companies! I'm talking about de-stabilising complete countries! I'm talking about killing people! All for the benefit of the Corporation! Do you understand me? And that's why you don't want to delve into the minds of the Corporation's field agents! It's not a good idea, Tyler!

"Julia Connors and Sam Rawlston are the only two field agents that I know about working on this project! And one of them is working for Casarotto! Has to be! Unless there's a third one I don't know about! And God help us if there is! Because field agents that work for Casarotto are far worse than all the others! They're the reason why everyone says, 'Yes, Sir!' and 'No, Sir!' and 'Three bags full, Sir!' at the board meeting! And that's why Grant knew so much about the project without you or I having to tell him! And that's also why Casarotto was able to deal with the little problem of Jayne's parents before I'd even caught the plane home! Because she's already got someone working for her on the inside!

"Do you understand what all this means, Tyler? Now that you've given Jayne Middleton Julia Connors memories, if she's the one that's working for Casarotto, then it's odds on that Jayne is going to know damn well how and why her parents died! And a hell of a lot more, too! Get it now, you moron?"

BEN now lets go of TYLER, who slowly sinks down into his chair behind his desk. TYLER'S hands shake as he rubs at his face and throat.

TYLER  
(Drained and in shock)  
"Oh God, I didn't realise."

BEN goes to stand in the middle of the office with his back to TYLER. He stands with his head down, and his hands on his hips. He is silent as he recovers from his outburst.

TYLER is also silent. He takes deep breaths, trying to calm himself down after his ordeal.

BEN is the first to recover his composure.

BEN  
(Calmly)  
"I knew it. As soon as she called me Benjamin, I just knew it. How much of her memory did you transfer, Tyler?"

TYLER puts his hands on his desk to steady his nerves.

TYLER  
"It was only supposed to be her recent memories. Just enough to make Jayne accept her situation when she awoke, like I told you."

BEN  
(Suspicious)  
"Supposed to be?"

BEN turns to face TYLER once more.

BEN  
"What do you mean, 'supposed to be'?"

TYLER  
(Blustering)  
"There was a discrepancy in the amount of memory space used by one of the Crays during the download, that's all. I'm sure it didn't mean anything."

BEN stares up at the ceiling and balls his fists in dismay.

BEN  
(In exasperation)  
"You idiot, Tyler! You've probably given Jayne everything she needs to know about the Corporation! How could you be so stupid? And so damned arrogant? You've ruined everything, and you've probably killed us both, you do know that don't you? And do you know why? Because you just got Grant to agree to an extension to the field trial! That's why Jayne Middleton's parents had to be killed in the first place! And before they're even cold, we're going to have to cut the field trial short once again! Marvellous, Tyler! Fucking marvellous!"

TYLER doesn't reply, he just sits at his desk rubbing his throat.

BEN shakes his head and sighs. He drags one of the spare chairs towards him and slumps down into it. He sits there in silence again, his head cradled in his hands.

TYLER eventually stops rubbing his throat and looks up at BEN.

TYLER  
(Nervously)  
"I'll talk to Grant. I'll tell him that the experiment went far more successfully than we planned. He'll accept it from me if I phrase it right, I'm sure he will."

BEN raises his head.

BEN  
(Without humour)  
"Yeah, and pork sausages have flying licenses."

TYLER ignores BEN'S remark.

TYLER  
(Purposefully)  
"We'll have to kill her."

BEN  
(Sadly)  
"Yes, we will. And I know just the person to do it, too."  
(With heavy irony)  
"This person has done everything from fixing the stock market to assassinating the CEO's of rival companies. You would be horrified and amazed at the wealth of experience this person has at doing disgusting, underhand, and criminal deeds. And the thing is, I don't even know the half of what she's done in the past. She would be perfect for the job. But there's one problem. Would you like to guess what that problem is, Tyler?"

TYLER  
"I don't see why it's a problem. If Julia Connors is that good, then—"

BEN  
"—Jayne Middleton will be just as good! Thanks to you and those damn computers of yours! That's the problem!"

TYLER  
(In sudden excitement)  
"That's it!"

TYLER stands up. Confident once more, he strides towards the door.

BEN looks at him in amazement.

TYLER  
(To BEN as he passes him)  
"Stop panicking, man! We both agree that the only problem we have will disappear as soon as Jayne Middleton is dead. We just have to decide which is the best way to kill her. Well, you've got Rawlston and Connors. And as you so rightly pointed out, I've got these!"

TYLER throws open the door and indicates the computers outside.

BEN stands up and stares.

BEN  
(In realisation)  
"Of course! The implant!"

TYLER  
(Triumphantly)  
"Exactly! We've already succeeded in all three of our objectives with this field trial. That's why we have our current problem with Ms Middleton. Well, what I can put in, I can take out! In fact, I can take it all out! I don't know about you, Ben, but I think it's time that we completely wiped Jayne Middleton out!"

CUT TO SCENE 32: INT. JAYNE'S ROOM. DAY.

When MATTHEW returns, it is to find JAYNE apparently asleep in bed.

MATTHEW'S POINT OF VIEW - CUT TO: CLOSE SHOT OF JAYNE ASLEEP.

Unlike before, when JAYNE just lay flat on her back, she is now curled up on her side.

CLOSE SHOT OF MATTHEW'S FACE.

MATTHEW smiles.

MATTHEW sits down at his keyboard and notices the text on his VDU.

CLOSE SHOT OF THE VDU SCREEN.

(The VDU screen shows:

C:\CRAY2>DON'T STAND UP OR LOOK AT ME. JUST READ THIS.

MATTHEW instinctively looks at JAYNE.

MATTHEW'S POINT OF VIEW - CUT TO: CLOSE SHOT OF JAYNE'S HEAD.

JAYNE still seems to be asleep. But the cable from the Crays has been re-plugged into JAYNE'S head.

MATTHEW glances back at his VDU screen. There is another message waiting for him.

CLOSE SHOT OF THE VDU SCREEN.

(The VDU screen shows:

C:\CRAY2>I TOLD YOU NOT TO LOOK AT ME, NUMBSKULL! CAN'T YOU READ ENGLISH?

MATTHEW  
"Of course I can read—"

MATTHEW stops as the VDU screen goes berserk.

CLOSE SHOT OF THE VDU SCREEN.

(The VDU screen shows in sequence:

C:\CRAY2>SHUT UP YOU IDIOT!!!

C:\CRAY2>KS(*JNB&I$EWNKJWH*BFUIT****!!

Bad command or file name

C:\CRAY2>AAAAAGGGGHHHH**!!

Bad command or file name

C:\CRAY2>SHUT UP!!!!

C:\CRAY2>DON'T TALK!!!!

C:\CRAY2>TYPE!

C:\CRAY2>TYPE!)

MATTHEW types on his keyboard.

MATTHEW'S POINT OF VIEW - CUT TO: THE VDU SCREEN.

(The VDU screen shows in sequence:

C:\MINNIE\WINDOWS>Alright, alright. I'm typing. What's going on?

C:\CRAY2>A HELL OF A LOT MORE THAN BEN WATKINS IS TELLING YOU. FOR A START, THIS ROOM HAS A HIDDEN CAMERA AND MICROPHONE. BUT SO LONG AS YOU STAY WHERE YOU ARE, THEY CAN'T READ WHAT'S ON THE SCREEN. SO DON'T MOVE. AND FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, DON'T SAY ANYTHING!

C:\MINNIE\WINDOWS>What do you want me to do?

C:\CRAY2>PRETEND THAT YOU ARE WORKING AND READ THIS. I'VE GOT A LOT TO TELL YOU, AND I DON'T THINK THERE'S MUCH TIME. THEY'RE GOING TO KILL ME, MATTHEW. AND ONCE YOU KNOW WHAT I KNOW, THEY'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU, TOO.

CUT TO SCENE 33: INT. COMPUTER CENTRE. DAY.

TYLER is sat at the main console. TECHNICIAN #1 is sitting next to him. BEN is standing behind them, staring at the monitor screen over their shoulders.

TYLER  
(Lecturing)  
"It's all very simple now that we have the programs all sorted out. We just tell the computer what we want, and it does it all in a matter of seconds. It took a little longer when we drew the information out of Connors, but that was because we were only copying it, and we had to contend with a very poor connection. Working with the implant is much quicker, and far more accurate."

BEN  
(Unimpressed)  
"So long as it works."

TYLER  
"It will work. I'll stake my life on it."

BEN  
(Coldly)  
"You have."

TYLER looks round at him.

TYLER  
"You have never been confident in my abilities have you, Watkins?"

BEN  
"And you've been far too over confident. That's why we are in this mess in the first place."

TYLER  
"Everything I have attempted has worked perfectly—"

BEN  
(Derisively)  
"Yeah, yeah! You're a genius, Glen! Just get on with it! And remember, you're not just copying data now, this time we have to do a complete memory dump. I want the lot in the trash-can. We can worry about what we put back in later."

TYLER sighs and turns back to his keyboard.

TYLER  
(To TECHNICIAN #1 next to him)  
"Engage the link to the implant."

TECHNICIAN #1 flicks a few switches.

TECHNICIAN #1  
"The connection's made, sir. The implant is responding."

TYLER  
"Good. Let's get to it."

TYLER flexes his fingers and begins to type.

CUT TO SCENE 34: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

A whirlpool appears in JAYNE'S mind. JULIA'S image appears, screams, and begins to distort. It is as if she is being sucked down a drain at the centre of the whirlpool.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Distorted and in terror)  
"They're taking me back! Help me! Help me! Don't let go!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Determined)  
"I won't let go! I won't!"

The whirlpool begins to distort and lose its shape.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Urgently)  
"Now, Matthew! Now!"

CUT TO SCENE 35: INT. JAYNE'S ROOM. DAY.

MATTHEW is still sitting at his keyboard and Jayne is still apparently asleep in bed.

CLOSE SHOT OF THE VDU SCREEN.

(The VDU screen shows:

C:\CRAY2>NOW, MATTHEW! NOW!

MATTHEW types furiously. He is also talking to himself.

MATTHEW  
(Muttering bitterly)  
"Got three Crays, have you? Well, I've got two, and I've got Jayne! And she's worth two more Crays any time! I suppose you think you're clever, Ben! Taking me for a dope all this time. Well, you're not going to get away with it! And Tyler isn't as smart as he thinks he is, either. Trying a full download through the implant while Jayne is awake will never work! You would need an implant the size of a brick to achieve that! But if you really want data, well you can have data! Chew on this, guys!"

CLOSE SHOT OF THE VDU SCREEN.

(The VDU screen shows in sequence:

C:\MINNIE\WINDOWS>run DUMP  
DUMP RUNNING  
CRAY 1 = 93%  
CRAY 2 = 100%

The percentage level for Cray 1 begins to decrease rapidly.)

CUT TO SCENE 36: INT. COMPUTER CENTRE. DAY.

TYLER is still sitting at the main console with TECHNICIAN #1. BEN is still behind them, staring at the monitor screen over their shoulders.

TECHNICIAN #1 begins to get agitated.

TECHNICIAN #1  
(To TYLER)  
"Sir, one of the Crays has already reached maximum memory space."

TYLER looks over his shoulder at BEN.

TYLER  
(Delighted)  
"You see! The data's coming through already! First Connors memories, then Middleton's. We will have it all in no time!"

TECHNICIAN #1 looks even more anxious.

Nearby, a line printer is spewing out reams and reams of paper. Another technician rips a large chunk of the paper from the printer and brings it to TECHNICIAN #1.

TECHNICIAN #1 glances at it worriedly then pulls at TYLER'S sleeve. He holds up the paper for TYLER to see.

TECHNICIAN #1  
(Urgently)  
"But, sir! Look at the print outs! According to these, we were less than halfway through the program's cycle when it happened. And now the data is already beginning to fill the next Cray!"

TYLER begins to look more concerned. That gets BEN worried.

BEN  
"What's going on, Tyler?"

TYLER  
(Staring at the print-outs)  
"It's nothing, it's nothing. This happened before. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."

BEN  
(Insistent)  
"Don't tell me this is nothing! What's gone wrong?"

TYLER  
(Annoyed and flustered)  
"Nothing's gone wrong! Why do you always think something's gone wrong? We've never done a complete memory dump before! There's bound to be a lot of data!"

BEN  
"Then why are you sweating?"

TECHNICIAN #1  
(To TYLER)  
"It's filling the third Cray, sir!"

BEN  
(Forcefully)  
"What happens if we run out of memory space? Tell me, Tyler! What's the worst case scenario?"

TYLER  
(Blustering)  
"Er, it'll either stop, or it will corrupt the mainframe IBM. But I'm sure it will stop."

BEN  
(Pressing)  
"But what happens if it doesn't? What happens then?"

TYLER  
"We'll lose all the information on Hall's project that we've gathered so far."

BEN  
(To TECHNICIAN #1 without hesitation)  
"Disengage the link! Now!"

TECHNICIAN #1 snatches at the switches in front of him.

TECHNICIAN #1  
(In much too loud a voice)  
"The connection's broken!"  
(Then muttering under his breath)  
"Shit...."

TYLER sits in a stupor as he stares at the print-outs. BEN nudges him roughly in the back.

BEN  
"Find out what the damage is."

TYLER drops the print-outs and turns to his keyboard. His hands shake as he types away.

TYLER  
(Confused and muttering)  
"This shouldn't have happened. But the print-outs don't lie. They document the memory loading for each of the Crays, and according to them, all three Crays are now full. This is all wrong...."

BEN  
(Derisively)  
"I thought you said nothing had gone wrong."

TYLER  
(Pointing at the screen)  
"No, I mean this is wrong. It's the data that we retrieved that's wrong, not how we did it. It's not the contents of Jayne Middleton's memory at all. I recognise part of the pattern. It's been duplicated several times, but it's definitely the map of her neural net."

BEN  
(In anger and realisation)  
"Matthew Hall! Jayne must have told him everything!"

BEN turns and walks purposely back towards TYLER'S office.

TYLER stands up and follows him. He is beginning to recover his composure once more.

TYLER  
"What are you going to do?"

BEN  
(Menacingly)  
"I'm going to do what we should have done in the first place. You've had your chance. Now it's my turn."

CUT TO SCENE 37: INT. JAYNE'S ROOM. DAY.

MATTHEW disconnects his lap-top from the mini-computer, stuffs it into his tool-case, and throws back the sheet that covers up JAYNE. He unplugs the cable from her head then shouts at her.

MATTHEW  
"Now!"

JAYNE immediately springs from the bed. She is only wearing a hospital gown. She is still dazed and weak, and very wobbly on her feet. She nearly falls but MATTHEW grabs her around the waist and runs with her to the door.

CUT TO SCENE 38: INT. CORRIDOR. DAY.

MATTHEW and JAYNE emerge from JAYNE'S ROOM. MATTHEW is supporting her around the waist. As soon as they are outside, JAYNE points down the corridor, and when she speaks, it is with a Lancashire accent.

JAYNE  
"This way! This way!"

MATTHEW doesn't question JAYNE'S knowledge, he just runs, pulling JAYNE along with him.

JAYNE knows exactly where they are going. As they run along together, she keeps telling MATTHEW which corridor to take, and which door to go through.

They reach a fire door.

JAYNE  
(Breathlessly)  
"This is it!"

JAYNE pushes on the fire door and they both rush out.

CUT TO SCENE 39: INT. MONITORING ROOM. DAY.

The telephone rings in the monitoring room. The room appears to be empty. There is the sound of scuffles on the floor behind the desk, then JULIA appears. She hauls herself up the desk and gets to her knees. Her nurse's uniform is all disarranged, as is her hair, and she is hot and sweaty. She snatches up the phone just before the third ring.

JULIA  
(Breathlessly)  
"Yes?"

Unseen, SAM grabs JULIA somewhere private, and she gasps and punches at him.

SAM  
(From behind the desk)  
"Ow!"

BEN'S voice is clearly audible on the phone.

BEN'S VOICE  
"Connors, is Rawlston with you?"

JULIA  
(Mischievously)  
"You could say so, yes."

JULIA stands up, deliberately stepping on the unseen SAM, and smiling when she hears him groan.

JULIA  
(Smiling)  
"Do you want to talk to him?"

BEN'S VOICE  
(Harsh and deliberate)  
"No. Just pass on this message: The field trial is terminated. And that goes for all the personnel associated with it. You got that, Julia, darling? Terminated with extreme prejudice, I think is the correct term. Or, put more simply, get in there and kill them. Kill them all, now!"

The line goes dead.

JULIA stops smiling and slams the phone down. She grabs the monitor, turning it to so that she can see the screen.

CLOSE SHOT OF THE MONITOR SCREEN SHOWING JAYNE'S ROOM.

The room is empty.

JULIA  
(In panic)  
"Oh, shit!"

JULIA runs to a cupboard at the side of the room and begins to fumble in her pocket for the key that will unlock it.

SAM now comes into view as he climbs to his feet. He is still pulling his trousers up, and his shirt is still unbuttoned.

SAM  
(Unsure)  
"Did I hear Ben say that the field trial was terminated?"

JULIA unlocks and opens the door to the cupboard. The cupboard is full of guns.

JULIA  
"Yes! And guess who's flown the coup while you and I were playing hide the sausage!"

SAM glances at the monitor and finishes dressing more quickly.

SAM  
"Shit!"

JULIA  
"Exactly! Now guess who'll be in it up to their pretty necks if either one of them gets out of the building!"

JULIA takes a large automatic from the cupboard, stuffs a loaded clip into it, and quickly hides it inside her still unbuttoned uniform.

As JULIA heads for the door, SAM throws his jacket on, takes another automatic from the cupboard and hurries after her.

CUT TO SCENE 40: INT. CORRIDOR. DAY.

JULIA and SAM emerge from the monitoring room. SAM pauses in the corridor to lock the door behind them. JULIA is already hurrying away.

SAM  
(Urgently)  
"Wait!"

JULIA stops and turns.

SAM  
"Sandra will have finished her shift by now. No one will have paid any attention to her, so she could already be outside."

JULIA  
"Okay. I'll get her! You find the others! And remember, you owe me two months pay!"

SAM  
"What?"

JULIA  
"One for the bet I won, and one for the sexual favours you got in there!"

SAM  
(In exasperation)  
"Okay, okay! Just get Sandra, will you! She usually catches the Metro on Trafford Road."

JULIA grins and nods. She goes down the corridor in one direction, while SAM goes in the other.

SAM holds his gun ready, but hidden under his jacket as he hurries towards MATTHEW'S lab. It proves to be unnecessary, as there is no one else in the corridor. It is now five-thirty, and most, if not all, of MedTec's legitimate employees have already left.

SAM reaches the door marked 'Mat's Den'. As he grabs the door handle, the security alarm goes off.

CUT TO SCENE 41: EXT. CAR PARK. DAY.

MATTHEW and JAYNE are running from the fire escape. They stop in the car park. The sound of the alarm they have set off is very loud behind them.

MATTHEW  
"Now where?"

JAYNE shivers as she stares at the remaining cars in the car park. She suddenly points to a white, convertible, 3 series BMW.

JAYNE  
"That one!"

They run towards it. As soon as they reach it, JAYNE tears at the convertible hood. There is a broken stud, and she knows exactly where to find it. In a moment she has her hand inside, and the door is open. They both get in.

CUT TO SCENE 42: INT. JULIA'S BMW. DAY.

MATTHEW and JAYNE get into the car. MATTHEW puts his tool-case on his lap and looks round while JAYNE is rifling through the glove box and throwing its contents onto the floor.

CLOSE SHOT - MATTHEW'S POINT OF VIEW.

The car is very untidy. There are cassette tapes, CD's, bits of paper, maps, toffee wrappers, anything you can imagine, all littered around the car.

JAYNE  
(Searching in the glove box)  
"I know it's in here somewhere! I always keep it in here! It has to be here!"

MATTHEW reaches underneath himself and pulls out a woman's high-heeled shoe. It is the left one. The right one is by his feet on the floor. He throws the one he has found after it.

JAYNE  
(In triumph)  
"Got it!"

JAYNE pulls out a key and stuffs it in the ignition. The engine roars, and they are off.

CUT TO SCENE 43: INT. MEDTEC RECEPTION. DAY.

At the main reception area, the two security guards who are now on duty are both stirred into activity. As one of them grabs his baton and runs down the corridor, the other one resets the alarm on the console in front of him. The alarm dies, but now the guard's own radio comes to life. It is SAM'S voice that can be heard.

SAM'S VOICE  
"Security! This is Rawlston! Where's the breach?"

The guard immediately grabs his radio and almost shouts into it.

GUARD #1  
(Urgently)  
"Fire escape, ground floor, corridor A4, car park end!"

SAM'S VOICE  
"Send Taylor! You get up to the road and try and head them off!"

GUARD #1  
"Taylor is on his way! And I'm gone!"

The guard grabs his baton and runs for the main entrance.

CUT TO SCENE 44: EXT. CAR PARK. DAY.

SAM bursts out of the open fire escape to see a white BMW screeching out of the car park. He immediately fires at it, but it disappears around the corner of the building with only a few holes in the boot.

CUT TO SCENE 45: EXT. ON THE ROAD. DAY

JULIA is already walking down Waterfront Quay heading towards Trafford Road. She hears the alarm go off in the MedTec building behind her. It is short-lived, and quickly followed by the sound of a car and gun-shots.

JULIA turns.

LONG SHOT - JULIA'S POINT OF VIEW.

The white BMW is hurtling towards her.

JULIA pulls the automatic quickly from inside her unbuttoned uniform, and runs into the road in front of the car. She holds the automatic in front of her, aims, and then hesitates.

JULIA  
(In surprise)  
"Hey! That's my car!"

JULIA dives out of the way as the car almost runs her down. She lands in the flower beds outside another office block. She rolls over and looks up at the disappearing car.

JULIA  
(Shouting)  
"Bitch!"

LONG SHOT - JULIA'S POINT OF VIEW.

The car goes through the traffic lights at the end of Waterfront Quay when they are on red. There is a crescendo of car horns and screeching tyres before the white BMW disappears among the traffic on Trafford Road.
SAM and the two security guards run up the road. When they reach JULIA, she is still lying among the flowers, propped up on one elbow. She doesn't look very pleased.

SAM  
(Breathlessly to JULIA)  
"Are you alright?"

JULIA  
(Tartly)  
"Of course I am! I'm just waiting for a bus!"

The two security guards look down at JULIA curiously, noticing the gun she carries.

GUARD #1  
(To SAM)  
"I didn't know Miss Connors worked with you, sir."

SAM  
(To GUARD #1)  
"You still don't. Get back inside, the pair of you. And make sure the building is secure."

The two security guards run back to the MedTec building.

SAM helps JULIA to her feet.

SAM  
"Come on! We've got to get after them!"

JULIA dusts herself off.

JULIA  
(Calmly)  
"There's no hurry. I know where they're going."

SAM  
"Oh, yes? Tell me where, then, genius?"

JULIA  
"She's got my memories, Sam. Tyler gave them to her, the dick-head. Anyway, she'll go to my house. It's the last place she would expect us to look."

SAM  
(Unconvinced)  
"Are you sure?"

JULIA  
"She went straight for my car, didn't she? Anyway, where else could she go? Hall's place? Mum and dad's?"

SAM  
"Alright. But you better be right. It could be the last chance we get."

CUT TO SCENE 46: INT. JULIA'S BMW. DAY.

JAYNE is driving very fast.

MATTHEW looks over his shoulder as the car rocks about and there is the sound of horns.

MATTHEW  
(In amazement)  
"That was Julia! I could see her underwear! She was going to shoot at us!"

JAYNE  
"Well, it is her car we're driving!"

MATTHEW turns round to face forward.

CLOSE SHOT OF MATTHEW'S TERRIFIED FACE.

MATTHEW'S POINT OF VIEW - CUT TO: EXT. STREET SCENE. DAY.

JAYNE drives the white BMW through another red light.

CLOSE SHOT OF MATTHEW'S TERRIFIED FACE.

MATTHEW closes his eyes and winces as the sound of horns blaring and tyres screeching fills the air once more. The car swerves, rocking him from side to side, but there is no impact. MATTHEW opens his eyes again.

MATTHEW  
(Nervously)  
"That's the second red light you've ran! Slow down, Jayne!"

JAYNE  
(Panicky)  
"We've got to get far away as fast as possible!"

JAYNE presses her bare foot down on the accelerator and goes even faster.

MATTHEW  
"But why? We've escaped, haven't we? They can't catch us now!"

JAYNE  
"They might! I don't know the range of the radio link in my head, Matthew, and if they try again before you can get re-connected, we've both had it!"

MATTHEW  
(Thoughtfully)  
"I had forgotten about that. I must have checked that implant over so many times, too. But with a multi-layer board, surface mount technology, and custom made integrated circuit chips, they could have hidden away a radio circuit almost anywhere."  
(To JAYNE)  
"Okay, I understand the hurry! But we need to find somewhere to stop. Somewhere where I can work. I have to rig up a transmitter of my own to get back in touch with the implant. Once I'm re-connected, I can do something with the software protocols to stop any un-authorised data transactions. But in the meantime, Jayne, try to drive a bit slower, will you? The last time you drove a car you had an accident, remember?"

CUT TO SCENE 47: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

The image of Harvey appears in JAYNE'S mind. He is sitting on the road in the dark. Suddenly the image is dispersed and replaced by JULIA'S image.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Annoyed)  
"Bog off, you fat bunny!"  
(To JAYNE)  
"As for you, Michael Schumacher! Slow down! Before you do both our heads in!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Scared)  
"Alright, but I'm scared!"

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Indignantly)  
"You're scared! How do you think I feel? It's me they tried to suck down the plug-hole! Anyway, I thought you wanted to get rid of me?"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"I never said that! I just wondered who you were, that's all. If you go I'll be on my own. Mum and Dad are dead. I don't want to be on my own. You didn't kill them did you?"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Not before I came here I didn't. But afterwards, who knows?"

Everything inside JAYNE'S mind begins to whirl around.

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Pull yourself together, wimp! Nobody gave me any orders about your parents before I was pumped in your ear, so stop worrying about it! We've got work to do! Anyway, you're not on your own. Look at the twit sitting next to you."

Everything inside JAYNE'S mind becomes steady again.

MATTHEW'S image as he sits in the car next to JAYNE now appears.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Teasingly)  
"He fancies you rotten!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Surprised)  
"Matthew?"

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Sarcastically)  
"No, the lolly-pop lady! Of course Matthew!"  
(More urgently)  
"Come on! Come on! Get with it! You know everything I know! You know what he's like! Getting the nurses for you, getting you treated right. He even got them to get you dressed. He never even touched you, either. Any other moron would have bounced you up and down on the bed every morning!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Remembering)  
"Oh, yes...."

JULIA'S VOICE  
"That's better! Now that I've got your attention, drive properly. Because if you've damaged my car, I'm going to hold my breath until you die!"

CUT TO SCENE 48: EXT. STREET SCENE. DAY.

The white BMW begins to slow down. It is now on Chester Road heading South. When it reaches Stretford, the car turns left and drives down Edge Lane towards Chorlton. The car passes a park and then takes another left. Soon the car is driving down a quiet road with bay-fronted, semi-detached houses on each side.

CUT TO SCENE 49: INT. JULIA'S CAR. DAY.

MATTHEW is looking around at the houses they are passing.

MATTHEW  
"Where are we going?"

JAYNE  
"Somewhere where they won't think of looking for us. Somewhere safe. For a little while at least."

LONG SHOT - CUT TO: EXT. STREET SCENE. DAY.

The white BMW turns right down another quiet road, and then turns into the driveway of one of the houses.

JAYNE  
"This is it! Out you get!"

JAYNE switches the engine off and gets out of the car.

CUT TO SCENE 50: EXT. DRIVEWAY OUTSIDE SANDRA'S HOUSE. DAY.

The white BMW is parked in the driveway.

JAYNE has got out of the car and is now running up to the front door of the house. Without hesitation, she breaks a pane of glass in the window next to the door and reaches inside.

MATTHEW climbs out of the car with his tool-case and looks up.

MEDIUM SHOT - MATTHEW'S POINT OF VIEW.

The hospital gown JAYNE is wearing leaves far too much of her anatomy on show when viewed from behind.

CLOSE SHOT OF MATTHEW'S SURPRISED AND EMBARRASSED FACE.

MATTHEW quickly glances around at all the houses and the many windows, before hurrying to stand behind JAYNE, trying to block as much of the view as possible. As soon as JAYNE gets the door open, MATTHEW pushes her inside.

MATTHEW  
"Get in quick!"

MATTHEW follows her in and shuts the door behind them.

CUT TO SCENE 51: INT. DOWNSTAIRS IN SANDRA'S HOUSE. DAY.

JAYNE trots up the hallway and looks into the kitchen and the lounge. Then she looks in the front room. There is no sign of anyone. When she returns to the hallway, MATTHEW is still by the door, staring out of the broken window.

JAYNE  
(Grinning cheekily)  
"Worried about being seen breaking and entering? I don't think anyone saw us!"

MATTHEW  
"It's not us I'm worrying about, it's you!"

MATTHEW turns round and points at the hospital gown JAYNE is wearing.

JAYNE looks down at the gown and her bare feet.

JAYNE  
"Oh, yeah, I forgot."

JAYNE twists and glances over her shoulder, noticing for the first time how much of her is exposed.

JAYNE  
"No wonder I felt a little draughty!"

JAYNE looks back at MATTHEW again and smiles.

JAYNE  
"You get to work in here while I go upstairs and try to find something to wear."

JAYNE indicates the kitchen behind her before heading for the stairs.

JAYNE  
(To MATTHEW as she passes him in the hallway)  
"And no peeking!"

MATTHEW quickly averts his eyes. As he goes into the kitchen, JAYNE laughs and runs up the stairs.

CUT TO SCENE 52: INT. SAM'S CAR. DAY.

SAM is driving the car while JULIA sits in the passenger seat next to him fuming.

JULIA  
(Abruptly)  
"Turn left here!"

SAM  
"I know where you live."

JULIA  
(Angrily)  
"You also know what my car looks like, so why did you fill it full of holes?"

SAM  
(In despair)  
"Not again.....I told you! They were getting away!"

JULIA  
"So?"

SAM shakes his head in dismay. He doesn't reply.

JULIA  
(Complaining)  
"I love that car. It's the only thing I've kept whenever I've had to move. Houses, men, anything else, I can do without. But not the BMW! I've slept in that car! Lived in it for days. And I've driven it all over the country and around Europe. God, I've had sex in that car far more often than I've had it in bed! It's my car, damn it!"

JULIA looks across at SAM, but SAM keeps his eyes focused on the road ahead.

JULIA  
"She knew! I saw her smiling! She knew how much I love that car, and she knew I wouldn't shoot at it! The cow-bag!"

SAM slows the car down and parks it.

JULIA  
(Looking around)  
"Why have you stopped here?"

SAM  
(In exasperation)  
"Because I don't want them to hear you nagging me to death as we drive up! Now stop thinking about that damn car of yours and get with it! It was a mobile trash-can, anyway! And you can always buy another one! For God's sake, I'll buy you another one!"

SAM opens the door and gets out.

CUT TO SCENE 53: EXT. SUBURBAN STREET SCENE. DAY.

SAM gets out of the car to find JULIA confronting him over the roof.

JULIA  
(Insistently)  
"But I don't want another one! I want mine back!"

JULIA bangs on the roof with her finger.

JULIA  
"And I'll expect you to pay for every hole! Do you hear me? Every flippin' hole! And don't you dare call it a trash-can!"

SAM  
"Yes! Alright! But do you have to tell everyone in the street!"

JULIA glances around at the houses.

JULIA  
"Hah! They'll all be watching telly! Let's get on with it before there's an advert break."

SAM and JULIA walk down the quiet road until they can see the house.

SAM  
"I'll go in the front door, you go in the back. Give me the key."

JULIA  
"It's my house, I'll go in the front."

JULIA searches in her pocket for the keys.

JULIA  
"Here, take the key to the back door. I'll give you exactly a minute."

SAM  
"Okay. But don't shoot me when we go in. It was only a car, after all."

JULIA  
"I'll think about it."

SAM works his way around to the back of the house while JULIA approaches the front.

As she approaches the front of the house, JULIA looks around, but her car is nowhere to be seen.

JULIA  
(Muttering)  
"I bet the cow-bag has abandoned you somewhere. If she's damaged you...."

CUT TO SCENE 54: EXT. REAR OF THE HOUSE. DAY.

SAM is in the garden. He draws his gun from his holster. He edges closer to the back door. When he is right next to it, he reaches out and puts the key silently into the lock. He glances at his watch, gets ready, and waits.

CUT TO SCENE 55: EXT. FRONT OF THE HOUSE. DAY.

JULIA is at the front door. Up to now she has kept the automatic hidden inside her uniform, but now she pulls it out and holds it ready. She glances at her watch. The minute is up. Carefully, she slips the key in the lock, turns it, and bursts into the hallway.

CUT TO SCENE 56: INT. UPSTAIRS IN SANDRA'S HOUSE. DAY.

JAYNE searches the drawers and the wardrobes in both bedrooms before she finds something to wear. She tries various items for size and discards them before she makes her final choice. She throws off the hospital gown and begins to get dressed.

As she is dressing, JAYNE calls down to MATTHEW.

JAYNE  
"How are you getting on?"

CUT TO SCENE 57: INT. DOWNSTAIRS IN SANDRA'S HOUSE. DAY.

MATTHEW is in the kitchen. He has his tool-case open on the kitchen table and has already made a mess with bits of electrical wire and components everywhere. The parts have come from a transistor radio he has found in the lounge. He has broken it open and pulled it to bits. Now he is busy with his soldering iron, working on a circuit board he has pulled out of his lap-top computer, adding the components he has cannibalised from the radio.

MATTHEW  
(Calling back to JAYNE)  
"I'm doing fine. How about you?"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Distant, from upstairs)  
"I'll be down in a minute."  
(After a slight pause)  
"By the way, in case I forget to tell you later, thanks!"

MATTHEW  
(Smiling)  
"It's a pleasure."

JAYNE comes bouncing down the stairs and bursts into the kitchen. She seems full of life.

JAYNE  
"How do I look?"

JAYNE does a quick twirl.

CLOSE SHOT - MATTHEW'S POINT OF VIEW.

JAYNE is wearing a sleeveless blouse and a relatively short skirt. The skirt shows off her legs very well.

MATTHEW  
(Admiringly)  
"You look very good."

CLOSE SHOT - MATTHEW'S POINT OF VIEW.

JAYNE'S feet are still bare.

MATTHEW  
"No shoes?"

JAYNE shakes her head.

JAYNE  
"None that would fit. They were all too big."

MATTHEW  
"There was a pair of high-heeled shoes in the car. I remember sitting on one. You could try them."

JAYNE  
(Excitedly)  
"Yes! They'll fit!"

JAYNE turns and hurries down the hallway. She has hardly got halfway when there is the sound of a key turning in the front door, and it suddenly bursts open.

SANDRA rushes in the front door and stares in shock at JAYNE and MATTHEW.

SANDRA  
"What are you two doing in my house? What's happened? Why is Julia's car in my drive? And which one of you broke my window?"

SANDRA looks more closely at JAYNE.

SANDRA  
"And why are you wearing my daughter's clothes?"

SANDRA now notices the mess on the kitchen table.

SANDRA  
(Calling out in anguish)  
"My radio! What have you done to my radio?"

SANDRA slams the door shut behind her and hurries into the kitchen. She picks up what is left of the radio. It falls apart.

SANDRA  
(In dismay)  
"Oh, Matthew!"

CUT TO SCENE 58: INT. DOWNSTAIRS IN JULIA'S HOUSE. DAY.

JULIA stands in the empty hallway. She doesn't look happy.

JULIA  
"Now I'm really pissed!"

SAM comes down the stairs after searching the bedrooms.

SAM  
(Angrily in a raised voice)  
"There's no one here, Julia! They never even came here!"

JULIA  
(Just as angrily)  
"I know! I know! I should have realised when the car wasn't here! They must have gone to Sandra's house! It's the only other place I know they could go to! Come on!"

JULIA storms out of the house. SAM follows her.

SAM  
"You better be right this time! God knows what Ben Watkins is thinking!"

CUT TO SCENE 59: INT. JAYNE'S ROOM. DAY.

BEN is standing in the empty room. He looks around.

CLOSE SHOT - BEN'S POINT OF VIEW.

The bed is empty and the sheets are on the floor. The trolley with MATTHEW'S mini-computer on it is nearby. MATTHEW'S lap-top computer is missing. There is just an empty space where it used to be, and the leads that attached it to the mini-computer hang loose.

BEN  
(Sighing)  
"I think it's time for me to disappear too......"

BEN reaches into his pocket and produces a passport. He taps the passport thoughtfully, then he puts it back in his pocket, turns and leaves.

CUT TO SCENE 60: EXT. MEDTEC FRONT ENTRANCE. DAY.

BEN emerges from the building and gets into his car that is parked out front. He drives away. He drives straight to the airport. He doesn't stop to do anything else.

CUT TO SCENE 61: INT. DOWNSTAIRS IN SANDRA'S HOUSE. DAY.

MATTHEW is clearing up the mess he has made on the kitchen table. SANDRA is standing over him like an impatient foreman. She holds a bin that MATTHEW is sweeping the debris into.

SANDRA  
"You missed a bit...and there!"

MATTHEW  
"Alright, alright!"

MATTHEW sweeps the remaining pieces into the bin SANDRA is holding. SANDRA puts the bin in a corner and then she and MATTHEW both wash their hands in the sink.

SANDRA  
(Sceptically)  
"I still don't believe a word of it, you know. Minds being swopped from one person to another? Guns and secret Corporations? And Mr Watkins as the baddy? It all sounds a bit like 'The Man from Uncle' to me."

MATTHEW  
(Insistently)  
"But it's the truth, Sandra! Everything we told you is the truth! All of it!"

They dry their hands and MATTHEW goes to sit down at the kitchen table.

SANDRA takes three mugs from a cupboard and puts the kettle on to make tea.

SANDRA  
(Thoughtfully)  
"Oh, alright. I believe you. Why not? Until today I never really believed you would succeed in waking Jayne up from her coma. So after that, anything would be believable. Well, almost anything. But Ben Watkins a baddy? Never! He's too cuddly!"

There is the sound of the front door closing, and JAYNE enters the kitchen. She has gone to retrieve the high-heeled shoes from the car, and now she is wearing them.

MATTHEW looks up at JAYNE, who is now much taller.

MATTHEW  
"My, you've grown!"

JAYNE smiles and shows off the shoes.

JAYNE  
(Excitedly)  
"I know! Tall, aren't they? I must be about five-foot-ten in these! I told you they would fit!"

SANDRA  
(Depressingly)  
"They'll ruin your feet. Take it from someone who knows."

SANDRA then folds her arms and stares suspiciously at JAYNE.

SANDRA  
(Bluntly)  
"You look very happy for someone whose parents both died only yesterday. You're Julia now, aren't you?"

JAYNE  
(Firmly)  
"No, I'm not. But I'm not Jayne, either."

MATTHEW  
(Upset)  
"What do you mean? How can't you be Jayne?"

CUT TO SCENE 62: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

There is an image of MATTHEW sitting at the kitchen table. He looks sad.

JULIA'S image appears and she chuckles.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Sarcastically)  
"Aw, look at the poor puppy. Throw him a bone, Jayne! He'll love you forever!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"Stop it! He saved my life, and yours. Remember?"

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Subdued)  
"You're no fun at all."  
(Then more seriously)  
"Alright, be nice to him. But I'm warning you, he's the type that will want the whole family thing: Marriage, a mortgage, children, the lot! You might be up for that, but I'm not. So I'm telling you this now, I'm not going to be up front when the child bearing thing starts, got it?"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"Shut up!"

CUT TO SCENE 63: INT. DOWNSTAIRS IN SANDRA'S HOUSE. DAY.

JAYNE sits down next to MATTHEW at the table. She puts her arm around him.

JAYNE  
(To MATTHEW)  
"Don't worry, Matthew! I'm fine, honestly! Whatever it was you did, it worked. You saved my life. I can never thank you enough for that. But right at the end, Ben Watkins and Glen Tyler interfered. And because of that, Julia's in here, too."  
(She taps her skull)  
"It makes me different to how I was before. I know so many things now, far more than I ever knew before. Some of the things are frightening, but some of them are exciting, too. I like all these new memories, and I want to keep them. But inside I'm still me, only stronger. Do you understand?"

The kettle whistles and SANDRA makes the tea.

MATTHEW  
(To JAYNE)  
"How do you feel?"

JAYNE  
"It's a bit strange, really. It's as if I had experienced two lives. I remember everything about both, but because I have two sets of memories, I can be more impartial about what I remember. Like Mum and Dad. Part of me, the Jayne part, feels dreadful. But the Julia part doesn't give a stuff. She keeps me going. Without her I'd still be at the MedTec building with my brains hanging out my ears."  
(With a shrug)  
"I suppose the two of us together gives me a sort of balance. I'm beginning to like it this way."

SANDRA comes to sit with them at the table. She brings three mugs of tea and hands one each to JAYNE and MATTHEW.

SANDRA  
(Conspiratorially to JAYNE)  
"What horrible secrets do you know about Julia, then?"

CUT TO SCENE 64: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

JULIA'S image begins to look worried.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Alarmed)  
"Don't you dare tell the nosey cow-bag anything about me! That information is confidential!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"I won't! I won't! Stop worrying!"

CUT TO SCENE 65: INT. DOWNSTAIRS IN SANDRA'S HOUSE. DAY.

MATTHEW and SANDRA wait for JAYNE to answer as they all sit round the kitchen table.

JAYNE takes a big gulp of the tea before answering.

JAYNE  
"I remember as much about Julia's life as I do about my own. Julia was definitely naughty when she was little, very naughty indeed. And now she's wicked, with a wicked sense of humour, too. I know what she thought about me, and what she thought about all of you. And I even know and understand why she felt that way. She's not at all what she seems. Inside she's very bitter. I won't tell you why, it wouldn't be fair. But it wasn't pleasant. I think that was why she wanted to kill me. In fact she could quite easily kill us all. That's how I knew where you lived, Sandra. Because she had a file on you. And Matthew, too. Just in case anything went wrong."

MATTHEW sits bolt upright.

MATTHEW  
"Jayne, do you know where Sandra's daughter lives?"

JAYNE is thoughtful for a moment.

JAYNE  
(Shaking her head)  
"No."

MATTHEW  
"Good."

MATTHEW finishes his tea and stands up.

MATTHEW  
(Urgently)  
"Sandra, get your coat and get round to your daughter's house. And when you get there, phone the police. Tell them everything we told you. Go now. Right now!"

SANDRA  
(Alarmed)  
"Why? What's the matter?"

JAYNE  
(In realisation)  
"If I know where you live, so does Julia...."

JAYNE hurriedly gets to her feet, and she and MATTHEW pull a surprised SANDRA with them as they head for the door.

CUT TO SCENE 66: EXT. MEDTEC FRONT ENTRANCE. DAY.

A black Mercedes pulls up to the front of the MedTec building. Three people get out of the car. Two are men in gray suits. They are WILLIAMS and SMITH. They get out first.

WILLIAMS goes to the main entrance and Knocks on the glass door, beckoning to the security guards inside to open up.

SMITH opens the back door of the car and stands waiting.

ROSANNA climbs out of the car and walks gracefully into the MedTec building. She is wearing red.

CUT TO SCENE 67: INT. MEDTEC RECEPTION. DAY.

ROSANNA walks into the reception. She is wearing very high heels, and they tap loudly on the tiled floor as she walks up to the desk.

The two security guards are standing by the reception desk with WILLIAMS.

SMITH follows ROSANNA up to the desk. SIMTH and WILLIAMS now take up a position on each side of ROSANNA.

When ROSANNA speaks, it is with a Spanish accent.

ROSANNA  
"Is Mr Watkins in?"

GUARD #1  
"No Miss. He left about twenty minutes ago."

ROSANNA  
"And Mr Rawlston?"

GUARD #1  
"He went after Matthew Hall and the woman who had been in a coma."

ROSANNA  
"I see. Do you have the logging in book?"

GUARD #1 nods and takes the book from the desk and hands it to ROSANNA. As ROSANNA browses through the pages, she turns her back on the two security guards.

ROSANNA  
(Casually)  
"I see that there is no one else in the building now. Good."

ROSANNA indicates WILLIAMS and SMITH.

ROSANNA  
"These two gentlemen are Mr Williams and Mr Smith. Introduce yourselves, please."

The two security guards raise their hands to greet the two men. WILLIAMS and SMITH draw automatics with silencers attached to them from under their grey jackets. They shoot the two security guards who both fall dead. ROSANNA doesn't flinch.

ROSANNA  
"Mr Smith, kindly escort me back to the car while Mr Williams clears up."

SMITH walks out of the building with ROSANNA.

WILLIAMS takes a small incendiary device from his pocket and heads for the plant room.

CUT TO SCENE 68: INT. ROSANNA'S CAR. DAY.

ROSANNA sits cross-legged on the back seat, MedTec's logging in book by her side.

SMITH sits in the front passenger seat. He is twisted around to face ROSANNA.

ROSANNA  
(Softly)  
"They had a lot of visitors over the last three weeks. We will have a lot of work to do over the next few days. But first, contact our office in New Jersey. Get them to do a search on the computers of all the flights out of Manchester Airport today. Get them to look for a Mr Willard Jenkins."

SMITH nods and gets on the carphone.

WILLIAMS returns. He gets into the driver's seat and looks over his shoulder at ROSANNA.

ROSANNA  
"Exchange Quay. It's time to pay a visit on Mr Tyler."

WILLIAMS immediately starts the car and drives towards Exchange Quay.

CUT TO SCENE 69: INT. MANCHESTER AIRPORT. DAY.

BEN rushes up to the check in desk for a Qantas flight to Sydney in Australia. He is out of breath. He hands the FLIGHT ATTENDANT his passport with his ticket inside it.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT  
(Smiling)  
"You've only just made it, Sir! You better hurry!"

BEN  
(Breathlessly)  
"I know! Lucky, aren't I?"

CLOSE SHOT - CUT TO: THE FALSE PASSPORT.

The FLIGHT ATTENDANT opens the passport and takes the ticket from inside. This reveals BEN'S picture but another name, Willard Jenkins. The ticket is also in this other name.

The FLIGHT ATTENDANT hands back the passport and ticket to BEN.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT  
"Have a good trip, Mr Jenkins!"

BEN waves as he hurries down the gangway to the plane.

CUT TO SCENE 70: INT. JULIA'S CAR. DAY.

JAYNE drives the BMW back towards Salford Quays. MATTHEW sits next to her.

MATTHEW  
"But why do we have to go to the computer centre? When Sandra phones the police it'll all be over. Ben and the rest of them will all get arrested and that will be that."

JAYNE  
"Not necessarily. The police have to believe her story first, and then they will have to get a judge to grant them a search warrant before they can even get in the building. And even once they're inside, until they find the evidence, they can't really arrest anybody. After all, they haven't really done anything wrong. Not that we can prove, anyway."

MATTHEW  
"They shot at us!"

JAYNE  
"Yes, in the car we stole. And after you and they had brought me back from the dead. Not quite life imprisonment, is it?"

MATTHEW  
(Insistently)  
"But it's still the job of the police, not ours! Why can't we just leave it to them?"

JAYNE  
"Because they've got all your information stored in that secret computer centre of theirs at Exchange Quay. That little trick you played on them earlier might not have erased it all. And if we wait for the police to get involved, they'll download it to some other computers hidden away somewhere else. So even if Ben Watkins and Glen Tyler do get arrested, they can still do it again. Only next time they might not wait for someone to fall into a coma. And the person might not be just a young woman thinking about a Master's Degree."

MATTHEW  
(Worriedly)  
"You think it might be a politician?"

JAYNE  
"Politician, Scientist, Businessman, General. Take your pick."

MATTHEW  
(Miserably)  
"And all I was thinking about was getting my Phd, and dreaming of how famous I would become. I'm a dick-head."

CUT TO SCENE 71: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

JULIA'S image chuckles at the sight of MATTHEW sitting in the car looking glum.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Chuckling)  
"That's the first thing he's said that I can agree with whole-heartedly!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"Stop it! You're making me laugh!"

CUT TO SCENE 72: INT. JULIA'S CAR. DAY.

JAYNE  
(Chuckling)  
"It's not your fault, Matthew. Most of the people working for MedTec didn't even know, so how were you supposed to?"

MATTHEW  
(Angrily)  
"But I should have thought about the consequences!"

JAYNE  
"Does anybody? Do the people who experiment with genetics think of the consequences? No. They just think of the money the patent will bring them if they're first. And those that do know the consequences ignore them. It doesn't matter if you're cloning sheep or making guns, it's the profit that counts. Someone else can pay for the consequences."

MATTHEW  
"Is that how the new Jayne thinks?"

JAYNE  
"It's how Julia thinks, and what the new Jayne understands. But the old Jayne didn't know about such things. She had morels, but she didn't know what Julia knows. That's why I like who I am. I have Jayne's moral character, her goodness and honesty. But I also have Julia's worldly wisdom, her shrewdness and abilities. I like the balance it gives me. I like who I have become."

MATTHEW  
(Thoughtfully)  
"I never really knew the old Jayne. But I think I might have had a better chance with her than I will with the new one."

JAYNE glances across at MATTHEW as she drives.

CUT TO SCENE 73: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

MATTHEW'S image is very sad as he sits next to JAYNE in the car.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"You know, Julia, I think I like Matthew. He's not bad looking, he seems fit enough, and I know I've dated far worse."

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Unbelieving)  
"You've got to be joking? Please be joking?"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"Doesn't he look cute when he's sad?"

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Pleading)  
"Don't do it! Think of my reputation! Think of fat legs and morning sickness! Think of anything! Please!"

CUT TO SCENE 74: INT. JULIA'S CAR. DAY.

JAYNE develops a cheeky grin on her face.

JAYNE  
"Don't write yourself off just yet, Matthew. I think you'll have just as good a chance with the new Jayne as you would have had with the old one. I told you, I am very grateful, and you are kind of cute!"

MATTHEW stares at JAYNE in surprise.

CUT TO SCENE 75: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Excitedly)  
"He's blushing! Look at him! He's blushing!"

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Resigned to the inevitable)  
"Oh, God...."

CUT TO SCENE 76: INT. DOWNSTAIRS IN SANDRA'S HOUSE. DAY

JULIA and SAM are standing in the kitchen of Sandra's house. They both hold their guns. JULIA also holds the discarded hospital gown which she shows to SAM.

JULIA  
"They've definitely been here. I found it in the bedroom. She must be dressed."

SAM  
(Derisively)  
"Yeah, but they're long gone now."

JULIA  
(Growing annoyed)  
"You make it sound as if it was my fault!"

SAM  
"Well, it is, isn't it? If we had came here first, we'd have got them!"

JULIA throws the hospital gown on to the floor.

JULIA  
(Poking SAM in the chest with her finger)  
"Oh yeah! And if you could hit a barn door with that big gun of yours, they wouldn't have got out of the car park in the first place!"

SAM  
"Ha! You were the one that let them get passed you, not me!"

JULIA  
"And you were the one that wanted to play hide the sausage instead of watching them in the first place!"

SAM  
(Deflated)  
"Yeah! Well, okay!"

SAM puts his gun back into his shoulder holster.

SAM  
"Come on. Let's get back to MedTec. Maybe we can find a way to trace that implant in her skull."

CUT TO SCENE 77: INT. JULIA'S CAR. DAY.

MATTHEW is still slightly embarrassed by JAYNE'S remarks. He tries to regain his composure by changing the subject.

MATTHEW  
"What are we going to do now, Jayne?"

JAYNE  
(With a deep breath)  
"Well, if you can keep Tyler from messing with my head through the implant, I guess we will have to trash the place and kill them all."

MATTHEW  
(Shocked and frightened)  
"How can you say that? How can you talk about killing people so casually like that? That's not the real Jayne talking, that's Julia!"

CUT TO SCENE 78: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Down-hearted)  
"Sod it! That's torn it...."

JULIA'S image is now wearing a nun's habit.

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Thank you God! She's said something to put him off at last! I will be eternally grateful, I promise!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Annoyed and irritated)  
"Shut up and help me think of something, fast!"

JULIA'S image changes. She now wears a bikini.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Eagerly)  
"How about a bikini wax and a one way ticket to the Bahamas?"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Pleading)  
"Be serious! I like him!"

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Relenting)  
"Oh, alright! I'm going to regret this. Move over."

CUT TO SCENE 79: INT. JULIA'S CAR. DAY.

When JAYNE now speaks to MATTHEW sitting next to her, it is with JULIA'S upper-class accent.

JAYNE  
(Regretfully)  
"Forgive me, Matthew. I must sound really bad, but you have to remember who we are dealing with. These people will kill us both if they can. Even if the police catch them all, the order will still go out. And one day, a week, a month, or even a year from now, you'll be sitting in your living room, minding your own business, and bang! A gas explosion. Oh dear, what a shame. Game over. No, to be sure, we have to kill them first."

MATTHEW stares at JAYNE in shock, both at her change in accent, and at her words.

MATTHEW  
(In realisation)  
"But that was just an accident!"

JAYNE  
(Bitterly)  
"Was it? Jayne would have believed that, but Julia wouldn't. She knows them too well. They killed my parents, Matthew. I know they did. Just to get them out of the way."

MATTHEW  
"But why? It doesn't make sense."

JAYNE  
"Because in a week's time mum and dad would have been expecting Jayne's body to be returned to them for burial. That was what I—"  
(Pausing to correct herself)  
"—Julia, agreed with them. My mum wouldn't give in to anything less. She was adamant that I should be buried properly. She and my dad loved me. And they killed them. So don't argue with me about this, Matthew. Just keep Tyler out of my head, and don't get in the way."

CUT TO SCENE 80: INT. SAM'S CAR. DAY.

SAM and JULIA are driving back to Salford Quays. On the way, JULIA continues to moan about her missing car. Finally SAM has had enough. He pulls the car over, parks it, and twists around in his seat to face JULIA.

SAM  
(In a raised voice)  
"Will you shut your God damn mouth moaning about that fucking car! If you mention it one more time, just one more time, I promise you that if we ever do find it, I will personally stick it in a car crusher and squish it! You got that? Good! Right!"

SAM straightens up in his seat and starts the car once more. As he drives, JULIA sits with her arms folded in the passenger seat and develops a childlike pout. She looks really hurt, and she remains silent. A short time passes before she speaks again.

JULIA  
(Muttering under her breath)  
"But it's my car...."

SAM  
"Aaaaarrrggghhh!!"

CUT TO SCENE 81: EXT. STREET SCENE IN SALFORD QUAYS. EVENING.

The MedTec building is totally engulfed in flames. There are three fire appliances in attendance and several police cars dotted around. Waterfront Quay is cordoned off by policemen standing by a temporary barrier, and there is absolute pandemonium in the background as firemen run about with hoses as they fight the fire.

CUT TO SCENE 82: INT. COMPUTER CENTRE. EVENING.

TYLER and his staff are all standing at the window staring out at the burning MedTec building. They are so engrossed by the view, that none of them notice when ROSANNA and her two companions, WILLIAMS and SMITH, emerge from the lift behind them. Only when they hear the sound of ROSANNA'S heels on the floor do some of them turn. TYLER is one of those that turns and sees her. He is obviously terrified by the sight of ROSANNA.

TYLER steps forward to greet ROSANNA. He forces a smile on his face, but his voice shakes as he speaks.

TYLER  
(Scared)  
"Why, Rosanna! What a pleasant surprise! I didn't know you were in England!"

ROSANNA  
(Disdainfully to TYLER)  
"You weren't supposed to."  
(Then to WILLIAMS and SMITH)  
"Mr Smith, Mr Williams, please introduce yourselves to Mr Tyler's redundant staff."

WILLIAMS and SMITH both produce their heavily silenced guns and shoot all the white-coated technicians. They are all killed, and TYLER is left standing alone among all the bodies. He is rooted to the spot, and rigid in shock.

ROSANNA  
(To WILLIAMS and SMITH)  
"Thank you, gentlemen. And now to business."

ROSANNA raises her hand and hooks her finger at TYLER, beckoning him to come closer.

TYLER comes slowly forward, his whole body shaking as he steps carefully over the bodies. When TYLER is standing right in front of ROSANNA, she holds her hand up towards him, bringing him to an abrupt halt.

ROSANNA  
(Conversationally)  
"Mr Tyler, I am afraid you have created a minor problem for us. One that you must now—"  
(She waves her hand in front of his eyes)  
"—undo! Yes? Good! Please come back to your computers. I believe the implant will be back within range of your radio link by now, so all you have to do is get reacquainted with Jayne Middleton's brain, and persuade it to bring her back here to us. Can you do that Mr Tyler? Or is your usefulness to the Corporation, like those of your assistants, now at an end?"

TYLER swallows loudly. He is nervous and sweating.

TYLER  
(Terrified)  
"If Hall can be stopped from interfering, then I think I can do it."

ROSANNA leads TYLER back to the computer console.

ROSANNA  
"Don't worry about Hall, we'll deal with him."

ROSANNA clicks her fingers, and WILLIAMS immediately pulls a mobile phone from his pocket. He dials quickly, and speaks purposefully to the person who answers.

WILLIAMS  
"Get rid of Hall. Now."

CUT TO SCENE 83: INT. SAM'S CAR. EVENING.

SAM has parked the car a safe distance away across the road. He and JULIA stare in shock at the burning MedTec building.

SAM  
"Oh shit...."

JULIA  
"What do you think's happened?"

SAM  
"I guess Ben's got the push. For this to have happened someone must have come over here from Stateside. They probably followed Ben and Tyler back after the board meeting. That means it must be someone high up."

JULIA  
"Casarotto?"

SAM nods, still watching the fire.

SAM  
"Yeah, that would be about right."

JULIA turns to stare at Exchange Quay.

LONG SHOT - JULIA'S POINT OF VIEW.

Exchange Quay is a tall building a short distance away. There are two radio masts on its roof that are bathed in green light.

JULIA  
"She'll be in the computer centre. Do you want to try for it? It's either that or do a runner, and we both know that's a non-starter."

SAM also turns to stare at Exchange Quay.

SAM  
(Sighing)  
"Yeah, why not? The pension was lousy, anyway."

CUT TO SCENE 84: INT. JULIA'S CAR. EVENING.

MATTHEW is still sitting in the passenger seat of the BMW, his lap-top on his knee.

JAYNE has already got out of the car, and has come around the car to lean on the door by the open window.

MATTHEW  
(Worriedly)  
"Are you sure that this is a good idea?"

JAYNE  
(Grinning)  
"Don't worry about me! I'll be fine! I've done this sort of thing before, remember?"

MATTHEW  
(Even more worried)  
"No you haven't! Julia has!"

JAYNE  
"Julia, Jayne, what's the difference? They're both me! I can do this, Matthew! I'm telling you! Just you make sure that Tyler doesn't interfere, and I'll do the rest."

MATTHEW  
"I still think we should wait for the police!"

JAYNE quickly reaches through the open window, grabs MATTHEW by the ears, sticks her head into the car, and kisses him hard on the mouth.

After the kiss, MATTHEW can only stare at JAYNE in surprise. JAYNE pulls his ears.

JAYNE  
(Emotionally)  
"Don't you get killed while I'm away. I'd miss you. Anyway, you're the only friend I have!"

JAYNE grins at him again, then leaves.

MATTHEW sits alone in the car.

CUT TO SCENE 85: EXT. RIVER BANK. EVENING.

The white BMW is parked on the other side of the Irwell river where it passes close to Exchange Quay. It is hidden in the shadow of the Metrolink bridge that crosses the river on the way to Eccles.

CUT TO SCENE 86: INT. JULIA'S CAR. EVENING.

MATTHEW sits waiting in the car. He stares across the river at the tall building of Exchange Quay.

LONG SHOT - MATTHEW'S POINT OF VIEW.

Most of the building is in darkness except for the whole of the eighth floor. There is a lot of smoke in the air, it billows around the building in the failing light. From his position down by the river, MATTHEW cannot tell from where the smoke is coming from.

The lap-top on MATTHEW'S knee suddenly bleeps at him, and MATTHEW is startled. He holds on to his chest and stares down at the screen.

MATTHEW'S POINT OF VIEW - CUT TO: THE VDU SCREEN.

(The VDU screen shows:

C:\WINDOWS>MISS ME YET?)

MATTHEW sighs and shakes his head as he types his reply.

CLOSE SHOT OF THE VDU SCREEN.

(The VDU screen shows in sequence:

C:\WINDOWS>You frightened the life out of me! Don't do that!

C:\WINDOWS>THEN PAY ATTENTION, NERD! THINGS COULD GET NASTY AT ANY MOMENT. AND KEEP A LOOK OUT. IF ANYTHING LOOKS SUSPICIOUS, GET GOING!

C:\WINDOWS>I'm not leaving without you!

C:\WINDOWS>AND I DON'T WANT TO COME BACK TO FIND YOU DEAD! SO GET INTO THE DRIVING SEAT, AND DON'T ARGUE!)

MATTHEW climbs across into the driver's seat.

CLOSE SHOT OF THE VDU SCREEN.

(The VDU screen shows in sequence:

C:\WINDOWS>Okay! Okay! I'm in the driver's seat! I'm going to start the monitor program now. You might feel a bit funny, but I don't want Tyler to sneak anything in before we're ready. Hang on.

C:\WINDOWS>run MONITOR

MONITOR RUNNING  
NO INTERRUPTS

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR>I DIDN'T FEEL A THING.

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR>Good. By the way, I love you.

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR>NOW YOU ARE BEING A NERD. BUT I LIKE ITTTZ!

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR>Bad command or file name

MONITOR TRIGGERED  
INTERRUPT=1  
MEMORY TYPE:  
SHORT TERM  
SUBJECT:  
PHYSICAL TRAUMA)

CUT TO SCENE 87: EXT. METROLINK BRIDGE. EVENING.

JAYNE is crossing the Metrolink bridge heading for the multi-story car park attached to Exchange Quay. She keeps low and moves quickly and quietly. She is halfway across when she suddenly cries out and falls over. JAYNE ends up lying across the rails, apparently unconscious.

CUT TO SCENE 88: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

JAYNE'S mind is filled with images of her car crash from her own point of view. The images are vivid and violent. The images start with the rabbit in the road, then the car swerves, and JAYNE sees the lamp post. JAYNE then remembers the crunch of metal and the windscreen shattering. She remembers bumping her head, hard, and everything going black.

As soon as the images of the crash fade, the image of the rabbit reappears in the road and the whole thing starts again. The sequence keeps repeating. There is no respite.

CUT TO SCENE 89: INT. JULIA'S CAR. EVENING.

MATTHEW is sitting in the car.

MATTHEW  
(Bitterly)  
"Tyler!"

MATTHEW begins typing furiously on his keyboard.

MATTHEW  
"Hang on, Jayne! I'll stop him! Don't you worry!"

CUT TO SCENE 90: INT. COMPUTER CENTRE. EVENING.

TYLER is sitting at the main console. ROSANNA stands over him. Behind them, WILLIAMS and SMITH stand waiting.

TYLER  
(In triumph)  
"Got her! The trauma of the car crash was bound to bring her down. Her mind had suppressed it, but I've brought it to the fore. She's totally incapacitated!"

ROSANNA  
(Disinterested)  
"Where is she?"

TYLER  
"She's outside, on the bridge."

ROSANNA  
"Good. Can you erase her knowledge of the Corporation?"

TYLER types quickly on his keyboard. He shakes his head.

TYLER  
"No, the implant won't respond to a request for a complete download now that she's awake. It must be because there's too much brain activity taking place for the implant to be able to cope with a download at the same time. Watkins feared that this might happen."

ROSANNA  
"Have you not tried it before?"

TYLER  
"Yes, but that time Hall diverted the request to the Crays, and we nearly lost all our data."

ROSANNA  
"I see. Then keep her where she is."  
(To SMITH)  
"Mr Smith, go fetch our problem, please."

CUT TO SCENE 91: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

JAYNE'S mind is still filled with the images of the car crash. It keeps repeating over and over again in her mind. The breaking glass, the crunching metal, and the final blow to her head.

An idea now appears in JAYNE'S mind. It is a bright red three dimensional geometric shape. It has a voice that is calming and soothing. As it speaks, the images of the crash gradually fade away.

TYLER'S VOICE  
(Soothing)  
"You've had a bad accident. You're still in the ambulance. Lie down, and wait until you get to the hospital."

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Faintly)  
"It hurts......Everything hurts.....I'm scared..."

JULIA'S image appears. It is confused and distorted. It tries to push away the red shape, but is not strong enough.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Desperately)  
"Don't listen to him, Jayne! It's Tyler! He's going to kill us!"

TYLER'S VOICE  
(Soothing but now stronger)  
"You're still in the ambulance. Lie down, go to sleep. Everything will be alright when you get to the hospital."

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Don't listen, Jayne! It's a trick! Please!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"Yes.....sleep...."

A second idea appears in JAYNE'S mind. It is a blue sphere, and it opposes the red shape, knocking into it.

JULIA'S image now looks even more confused as she stares at the two shapes. They start to bash into one another, and JULIA'S image has to keep getting out of the way.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Scared)  
"I don't like this! It's getting too crowded in here!"

The two shapes continue to bump into one another, until the red one is smashed and breaks apart. Now the blue sphere speaks. It's voice is strong and insistent.

MATTHEW'S VOICE  
"Get up! Get up! It's Tyler! He's lying to you! Don't listen to him, Jayne! You're on the tracks and there's a tram coming! I can see it! Get up! Get up!"

CUT TO SCENE 92: INT. COMPUTER CENTRE. EVENING.

TYLER turns from his keyboard and faces ROSANNA.

TYLER  
(Annoyed)  
"Hall's interfering! I thought you said you would deal with him?"

ROSANNA  
"Be patient. My agent will find him soon."

TYLER  
"But he's trying to cut me out!"

ROSANNA  
(Sternly)  
"Then oppose him!"

TYLER turns back to his keyboard.

CUT TO SCENE 93: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

JAYNE'S mind is in turmoil. Everything is whirling around. The blue sphere and JULIA'S mage are also whirling around.

MATTHEW'S VOICE  
(Urgently)  
"Get up, Jayne! Get up! The tram's coming!"

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Desperately)  
"Do as he says, Jayne! For God's sake, get up you daft cow!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Confused and weak)  
"But who is Tyler? And who are you?"

Another idea appears in JAYNE'S mind. It is a yellow square. It bashes violently into the blue sphere, breaking it apart. Then it chases JULIA'S image. She screams as she is chased away. The yellow square quickly returns and speaks.

TYLER'S VOICE  
(Soothing)  
"Forget Tyler, he's unimportant. He was your pet rabbit, the one that was run over. You remember, don't you?"

The image of a white rabbit appears. It is sitting in the road.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Unsure)  
"Yes, I remember it. Tyler...."

A green pyramid appears. It collides with the yellow square. Both shapes remain intact as they fight, and neither can remove the other from JAYNE'S mind. The green pyramid speaks.

MATTHEW'S VOICE  
"Harvey was your pet rabbit! Not Tyler! Tyler's the enemy! Your enemy! He's inside your head! He's trying to get you! He's trying to suppress the Julia part of you! Don't let him Jayne!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"Julia? Who is Julia? And why would she and Tyler be inside my head?"

JULIA'S image returns.

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Because your head is my head, you stupid piece of mutton!"

JULIA'S image crashes into the yellow square. With the green pyramid and JULIA'S image both pushing against it, the yellow square begins to distort. The image of the white rabbit fades. It is replaced by an image of TYLER'S face when he was fitting the electrodes to JULIA'S head. The image is faint and distorted. It begins to fade as the yellow square fights back.

TYLER'S VOICE  
(Insistent)  
"There's no such person as Julia. This is a delusion. Rest. Stay where you are. It will all be over in a few seconds."

MATTHEW'S VOICE  
"Get up, Jayne! The tram's on the bridge!"

The yellow square is gradually being crushed.

TYLER'S VOICE  
(Distorted)  
"Rest. Stay where you are—"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Naff off, you arrogant old git!"

The yellow square bursts apart under the combined pressure of the green pyramid and JULIA'S image.

JAYNE'S mind is suddenly filled with a very clear image of the inside of the computer centre. TYLER stands in the middle of the centre holding the electrodes in his hands. There are wires everywhere. A huge pizza comes whirling passed. It is chased by an elephant. The elephant stops and begins to grow to an immense size. When it completely fills the whole of the computer centre, blotting out everything else, the elephant raises its trunk, and makes a loud squealing noise.

CUT TO SCENE 94: EXT. METROLINK BRIDGE. NIGHT.

JAYNE is lying on her back across the tracks. There is a tram on the bridge. It is very close. The driver sounds his warning siren. It makes a loud squealing noise. JAYNE opens her eyes and begins to shout.

JAYNE  
(Angry)  
"Bitch! Cow-bag! I'll get you back for this, Tyler!"

JAYNE turns her head and sees the lights of the approaching tram. The driver sounds his warning siren again.

JAYNE  
"Shit!"

JAYNE scrambles out of the way, throwing herself down on to the other side of the bridge. The tram whizzes past, and the TRAM DRIVER shakes his fist at her.

TRAM DRIVER  
"Bloody nutter!"

JAYNE'S POINT OF VIEW - CUT TO: CLOSE SHOT OF THE TRAM WINDOWS AS IT PASSES.

The tram is brightly lit inside, and the passengers all stare out anxiously.

The tram descends the ramp on the far side of the bridge. As the tram passes the side of the multi-story car park, JAYNE gets up and begins to move forward again. She follows the tram for a moment, before heading towards the wall of the car park, where she quickly climbs inside.

CUT TO SCENE 95: INT. COMPUTER CENTRE. NIGHT.

TYLER spins round on his chair. He is sweating badly.

TYLER  
(In irritation)  
"I've lost her again! I told you to get rid of Hall!"

ROSANNA shows the first sign of emotion.

ROSANNA  
(Angrily)  
"Get her back! Get her back now! Or I'll ask Mr Williams to terminate your employment with the Corporation this instant!"

TYLER glances at WILLIAMS who takes a step forward, reaching menacingly inside his jacket.

TYLER  
(Turning back to his keyboard)  
"Alright! Alright! I'll get her back! Just do something about Hall!"

CUT TO SCENE 96: INT. JULIA'S CAR. NIGHT.

MATTHEW sighs in relief as he looks at the screen on his lap-top.

CLOSE SHOT OF THE VDU SCREEN.

(The VDU screen shows in sequence:

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR>HI! I'M BACK! DID YOU MISS ME?

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR>So long as that tram missed you!

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR>MISSED ME BY MILES! I OWE YOU ANOTHER ONE. I'M IN THE CAR PARK. KEEP ALERT.

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR>I hope that was the last we hear of Tyler.

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR>THAT WAS JUST THE STARTER. WAIT 'TIL THE FUN REALLY BEGINS!)

CUT TO SCENE 97: EXT. EXCHANGE QUAY MAIN GATE. NIGHT.

SAM crouches down over the bodies of two security men by the main gate. He examines them.

JULIA stands close by. She still wears her nurse's uniform. She holds her automatic openly as she stares up at the lights on the eighth floor.

SAM  
"Well, they're definitely in there. These guys are still warm, so they can't be too far ahead of us."

JULIA  
(Eagerly)  
"Stop wasting time, Sam, and let's get up there, or we'll miss all the fun! Come on!"

JULIA heads for the front of the building and SAM has to quickly follow after her.

CUT TO SCENE 98: INT. MULTI-STORY CAR PARK. NIGHT.

JAYNE hurries across the car park, moving from car to car. There are very few cars in the car park. She soon reaches the entrance to the main building.

CUT TO SCENE 99: INT. EXCHANGE QUAY RECEPTION. NIGHT.

JAYNE emerges from the doorway to the car park and hurries across the lobby. She pauses briefly at the elevators. One of them is descending. JAYNE hurries on to the stairwell and goes inside.

CUT TO SCENE 100: INT. STAIRWELL. NIGHT.

JAYNE enters the stairwell and begins to climb the stairs. She has climbed two flights when she suddenly stops and shakes her head. JAYNE slowly sinks down to her knees, until she is sitting on the stairs with her back against the wall. She looks stunned, and bursts into tears.

JAYNE begins to cry very loudly, and the sound of her crying begins to echo around the empty stairwell.

CUT TO SCENE 101: INT. JULIA'S CAR, NIGHT.

MATTHEW stares at his display screen.

MATTHEW  
(Muttering under his breath)  
"Oh, no......"

CLOSE SHOT OF THE VDU SCREEN.

(The VDU screen shows in sequence:

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR>

MONITOR TRIGGERED  
INTERRUPT=5  
MEMORY TYPE:  
SHORT TERM  
SUBJECT:  
FAMILY BEREAVEMENT)

MATTHEW starts his counter program again.

CLOSE SHOT OF THE VDU SCREEN.

(The VDU screen shows:

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR>run COUNTER

COUNTER RUNNING  
MEMORY TYPE:  
SHORT TERM  
SUBJECT:  
INPUT TEXT

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR\COUNTER\INPUT TEXT>)

MATTHEW types quickly on his keyboard.

CUT TO SCENE 102: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

JAYNE'S mind is filled with the images of her parents. GRAHAM and AMANDA smile at her sweetly and sadly. Suddenly they are both dead, their faces pale and their eyes staring.

A black geometric shape flies in and out of the images. JULIA'S image stares at it in annoyance. The black shape is many sided. It speaks harshly.

TYLER'S VOICE  
(Accusing)  
"How could you have forgotten? How could you have been so uncaring? They're dead, both of them. And here you are, running around playing at being a spy."

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Pitifully)  
"Mum and Dad are dead. How did I forget? Mum and Dad are dead......"

JAYNE'S mind is filled with the sound of crying as the images of her dead parents grow more macabre.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Bitterly to the black shape)  
"Crafty little sod, aren't you, Tyler? Going for her conscience like that. But it won't work while I'm here."  
(Loudly to JAYNE)  
"Don't listen to him, Jayne! You're me now, not just Jayne on your own! Remember? And I don't give a damn about your parents because I'm a cold-hearted cow! You're the same! You're like me now, so forget them!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Uncertain)  
"No.....I can't forget them.....Can I?....They seem so familiar....and yet I feel less attached. Maybe you're right....maybe I am cold-hearted...."

TYLER'S VOICE  
(Angrily to JULIA'S image)  
"It's time you left!"

The black shape grows large and fearsome, and begins to chase JULIA'S image.

JULIA'S image screams and flees.

The green pyramid reappears. It clashes with the black shape, pushing it back.

MATTHEW'S VOICE  
"They weren't your parents! You're Julia, not Jayne! It was Jayne's parents that died, not yours!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Confused)  
"How can that be...?"

TYLER'S VOICE  
"Forget Julia, you're just trying to avoid the truth, Jayne! They were your parents, and now they're dead!"

MATTHEW'S VOICE  
"You're not Jayne! Don't listen to him! You're Julia and Jayne! And you like who you are!"

JULIA'S image now joins the green pyramid in trying to crush the black shape. But the black shape is too strong, and it resists them.

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Listen to Matthew! You like Matthew! He wouldn't lie to you! And neither would I!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Uncertain)  
"But if I am Julia and Jayne, who is Matthew?"

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Irritated and indignant)  
"He is, you brainless whimp! Can't you remember anything!"

MATTHEW'S VOICE  
"I love you, Jayne! Don't give up! Fight him! Fight Tyler!"

The black shape begins to grow in size. It pushes back both JULIA'S image and the green pyramid.

CUT TO SCENE 103: INT. JULIA'S CAR. NIGHT.

MATTHEW is typing furiously on his keyboard when the windscreen shatters as it is hit by a bullet. MATTHEW is showered in broken glass. He scrambles out of the car taking his lap-top computer with him.

CUT TO SCENE 104: EXT. RIVER BANK. NIGHT.

MATTHEW emerges from the white BMW and runs towards the shadows of the Metrolink bridge. He stops by the bridge where he hides behind a support. He types hurriedly on the keyboard of his lap-top, but has to duck and run in panic as more bullets hit the bridge support behind him.

MATTHEW runs under the bridge. But in only a few steps, his way is blocked by the river. He is trapped. There is nowhere to run. He turns to face his pursuer, clutching his lap-top computer to his chest. It immediately explodes in a shower of sparks as it is hit by another bullet, and MATTHEW is knocked backwards and falls into the river with a splash.

CUT TO SCENE 105: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

MATTHEW'S VOICE  
"Whatever happens, Jayne, don't give up! I love—"

The green pyramid shatters and disappears.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Desperately)  
"Matthew! Come back! Don't leave me!"

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Pleading)  
"Don't worry, Jayne! We can still do this! We can fight Tyler together! Trust me!"

JULIA'S image cannot restrain the black shape on her own. It grows to immense size and begins to extrude a long black tube.

TYLER'S VOICE  
"Julia is not your friend, Jayne. You cannot trust her. She is lying to you! She is your enemy!"

The black tube becomes snake-like and grows a face. It is JULIA'S face. It speaks.

FALSE JULIA'S VOICE  
(Mocking)  
"Slab of meat! Sleeping beauty! You disgusting cow, I'm glad you're dead!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Confused)  
"But I'm not dead! How can you say such horrible things?"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"It's not me! I mean it was me, but then, not now! Now I'm you, Jayne! We're together!"

TYLER'S VOICE  
"It doesn't matter who you are! If you're Jayne and Julia, then they were still the parents of one of you! And you loved them so much, didn't you, Jayne? And now they're dead. Both of them. And it was your fault. You killed them. Because it was Julia that killed Jayne's parents! Julia! Murderer!"

JAYNE'S mind begins to become unstable. Everything is in turmoil and whirling around. Only the black shape remains firm. The snake-like tube chases JULIA'S image, trying to bite it. It has big teeth.

TYLER'S VOICE  
"You're a murderer, Julia! And murderers must be punished! Push her out, Jayne! Rid your mind of her forever!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"Why did you do that? How could you kill our own parents? Why did you kill my parents?"

JULIA'S VOICE  
(In panic)  
"I didn't do it! I didn't do it! It wasn't me! Believe me! Do something, Jayne, or Tyler is going to eat me!"

The snake-like tube snaps at JULIA'S image, chasing her round and round.

TYLER'S VOICE  
(Insistent)  
"You're talking to yourself, Jayne! You're going mad! Mad with grief! Mad with guilt! Lie down, Jayne! Sleep! And when you wake up, you'll be safe and Julia will be gone!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"Am I talking to myself? Am I?"

FALSE JULIA'S VOICE  
(Mocking)  
"You can't have a conversation with a sponge!"

The snake-like tube begins to grow larger as it chases JULIA'S image around the inside of JAYNE'S mind. Everything is still in turmoil.

TYLER'S VOICE  
(Soothing)  
"Sleep! Let the pain go away! Sleep!"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"If you sleep you'll never wake up, don't listen to him!"

FALSE JULIA'S VOICE  
"She'll never wake up. If she wakes up, I'll eat my first born!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Pitiful)  
"You're cruel! You're horrible! I hate you! You killed mum and dad!"

JULIA'S image continues to be chased by the snake-like tube. It is now much bigger than her, and it opens its mouth wide as it pursues her.

JULIA'S VOICE  
"No, I didn't! You know what I know, Jayne! Think! I've never worked for Casarotto! And I'm not working for Casarotto now! You know I'm telling the truth! Whoever did kill your parents must be working for her! It's not Sam, either! It must be someone else! I'm telling the truth! Matthew was telling the truth! Whoever it is must have got to him, too!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Sorrowful)  
"Matthew...."

TYLER'S VOICE  
(Angrily)  
"She lies! Cast her out!"

The snake finally gets its teeth into JULIA'S image. It begins to swallow her.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Pleading and distorted)  
"No, Jayne! Don't listen! Remember what I remember! It's Tyler that's lying! Help me!"

JAYNE'S mind is suddenly filled with a bright light. An image begins to take shape. It is JAYNE'S own face. She looks angry. Two red diamond shapes appear. One of them rushes through the snake-like tube, cutting it from the black shape. The snake opens its mouth and screams. JULIA'S image escapes as the snake disintegrates.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Powerful and in anger at the black shape)  
"She's right! I've never worked for Casarotto! I've met her! And I don't like the South American bitch! You're lying Tyler! I'm going to get even with you! I promised you that I would, didn't I? This is all your fault! Now you're going to pay!"

JULIA'S image flits about as the black shape begins to shrink.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Encouragingly)  
"That's my girl! Go get him, Jayne!"

TYLER'S VOICE  
(In desperation)  
"No! You must sleep! Stay where you are!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"Liar!"

The two red diamonds rush in and crush the black shape, smashing it.

CUT TO SCENE 106: INT. EXCHANGE QUAY RECEPTION. NIGHT.

The elevator reaches the ground floor and the doors open. SMITH emerges and walks purposefully towards the main entrance. He sees something, stops, and draws his gun.

MEDIUM SHOT - SMITH'S POINT OF VIEW.

SAM and JULIA come in the main entrance and see SMITH. SAM reaches for his gun as JULIA raises hers.

SMITH, SAM and JULIA all fire their guns at once. Holes are blown into the wall behind SMITH as he runs for the doorway to the car park, and the glass doors behind JULIA and SAM are smashed into fragments as they both dive behind the reception desk.

SAM fires over the top of the desk as he sees SMITH run through the doorway into the car park. He misses, and his bullets knock chips of wood from the door.

SAM gets up and runs after SMITH.

SAM  
(Calling out to JULIA)  
"I'll get this guy! You get upstairs and give our resignations to Casarotto! And be careful! She's slippery!"

JULIA gets up and shouts at SAM.

JULIA  
"Hey! Sam!"

SAM pauses by the doorway to the car park and looks back.

SAM  
"What now?"

JULIA grins at SAM cheekily.

JULIA  
"Fun while it lasted, wasn't it?"

SAM  
(Smiling wryly)  
"Yeah! See you around!"

SAM disappears through the doorway, and the grin fades from JULIA'S lips.

JULIA turns and runs for the stairwell.

CUT TO SCENE 107: INT. MULTI-STORY CAR PARK. NIGHT.

SAM pauses in a shadow staring across the car park, his gun held ready. He sees a black Mercedes nearby.

SMITH is hiding behind a concrete column opposite the black Mercedes. He watches carefully for any sign of movement as he takes his mobile phone from his pocket.

CUT TO SCENE 108: INT. COMPUTER CENTRE. NIGHT.

TYLER is still typing as he speaks with ROSANNA.

TYLER  
(Scared and confused)  
"I can't understand it. The connection is still there, and the implant is responding, but nothing's happening."

ROSANNA  
(Impatiently)  
"You can't blame Hall this time. My agent has eliminated him as promised. Now you must regain control of Jayne Middleton at once! Keep her where she is until Smith can reach her."

TYLER  
"I'm trying! But she isn't taking any notice! The memory changes I try to introduce aren't having any effect anymore!"

ROSANNA  
(Menacingly)  
"If that's true, then I don't have any more use for you, Tyler! So think of something. Quickly!"

TYLER  
(Terrified)  
"Yes! Yes! I know! If I can overload the implant, I might be able to knock her out! That's it! Then all you have to do is find her!"

ROSANNA  
"Then don't talk about it, do it!"

TYLER  
"Yes, alright! I will, I will!"

TYLER continues to type away, his hands shaking.

WILLIAMS hears his mobile phone ring and quickly takes it from his pocket.

ROSANNA turns to stare at him as he answers his phone.

WILLIAMS  
"Smith says Rawlston and Connors are in the building."

ROSANNA  
"Kill them."

CUT TO SCENE 109: INT. MULTI-STORY CAR PARK. NIGHT.

SMITH switches off his phone and is about to put it in his pocket when he sees SAM diving over the bonnet of the black Mercedes towards him. SMITH quickly drops the phone, steps away from the concrete column and fires. SAM rolls when he hits the floor, and also fires. SAM'S bullets hit SMITH in the chest, knocking him back against the concrete column, where he slumps to the ground, dead.

But SMITH has also been on target, and SAM ends up on his knees, clutching at his side.

SAM  
(Muttering)  
"Shit...."

SAM puts his gun back in his shoulder holster and begins to probe the blood-stained hole in his shirt with his finger. Then SAM hears a familiar voice.

UNSEEN PERSON'S VOICE  
"You look like you need a nurse."

SAM looks up in surprise. The owner of the voice is unseen.

CLOSE SHOT OF SAM'S SURPRISED FACE.

SAM  
(Surprised)  
"What are you doing here?"

SAM is shot in the chest and he falls back, dead.

CUT TO SCENE 110: INT. STAIRWELL. NIGHT.

JAYNE is climbing the stairs. She has reached the sixth floor when she suddenly stops and grabs her head. She doubles up in pain.

There is the sound of distant gunfire. JAYNE looks over the stair-rail.

LONG SHOT - JAYNE'S POINT OF VIEW.

Someone else is climbing the stairs. JAYNE can hear someone running.

JAYNE continues to hold her head as she staggers painfully out of the stairwell on to the sixth floor.

A short time later, JULIA appears. She doesn't stop at the sixth floor, rushing on to the eighth floor.

CUT TO SCENE 111: INT. OFFICE. NIGHT.

JAYNE hides under a desk in a darkened office. She is shivering and holding her head in pain.

CUT TO SCENE 112: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

JULIA'S image rushes around in panic as everything begins to turn black and shrink around her.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(In panic)  
"What's happening? What's happening?"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Wailing in pain)  
"Make it stop! Please make it stop! It hurts! It hurts!"

CUT TO SCENE 113: INT. COMPUTER CENTRE. NIGHT.

TYLER is still typing away at his keyboard, but apparently with little success. ROSANNA stands over him impatiently.

ROSANNA  
"Where is she? Can't you even find that out with your computers?"

TYLER pauses to wipe the sweat from his eyes.

TYLER  
"She's in the building somewhere. Downstairs, I think. It's easy enough to track her. We don't need the computers for that. We just triangulate on the radio transmissions we receive from the implant."

ROSANNA  
"Good! At least we know that we can find her easily now that you have failed us!"

TYLER gets to his feet.

TYLER  
(Terrified)  
"I haven't failed you! This is going to work! I promise you! I've already exceeded the maximum load of the implant by more than sixty percent! It's bound to fail soon! Just give me a few more minutes! That's all I need! Please!"

ROSANNA ignores him. She walks quickly towards WILLIAMS who is standing in the middle of the room. But before she can say anything to him, the doors to the stairwell burst open behind them, and JULIA dives into the computer centre.

WILLIAMS reaches for his gun, but JULIA fires her automatic while she is still flying through the air, and bullets spray the front panel of the computer.

TYLER is in the middle of it all, and he is hit by several bullets. He is knocked back over the computer console, and falls dead.

More bullets hit WILLIAMS, and he is also killed. His gun is thrown from his grasp.

Smoke comes from the bullet holes in the front panel of the computer. It sparks briefly, and then all its lights go out.

CUT TO SCENE 114: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

Everything suddenly returns to normal.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Relieved)  
"It's stopped....Thank God.....I thought my head was going to explode...."

JULIA'S VOICE  
"You should see it from my side! I thought I was going to get squished!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"It must have been Tyler. He must have been doing something to the implant."

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Trying to fry you, probably. Now get up! The sooner we get to the computer centre, the sooner we can get our own back!"

CUT TO SCENE 115: INT. OFFICE. NIGHT.

JAYNE climbs out from under the desk rubbing her head. She leaves the office.

CUT TO SCENE 116: INT. COMPUTER CENTRE. NIGHT.

ROSANNA is unharmed after all the gunfire. She glances at WILLIAM'S body and his gun lying on the floor nearby.

JULIA is climbing to her feet. She also sees the gun. She smiles.

ROSANNA dives for the gun, but JULIA moves quicker. She gets there first, and kicks the gun out of the way. And as ROSANNA sprawls on the floor, JULIA kicks her too. She kicks her twice. Once in the abdomen, and then again in the back when she doubles up.

As ROSANNA lies on the floor coughing, JULIA walks slowly around her, watching her.

JULIA  
(Grinning)  
"Having a fun time now, aren't we?"

JULIA darts forward and kicks ROSANNA again, hitting her in the ribs this time.

ROSANNA swears in Spanish and tries to grab JULIA'S foot. JULIA quickly steps back, laughing. ROSANNA slowly climbs to her feet, clutching at her side.

JULIA begins to tut-tut at ROSANNA.

JULIA  
(Mockingly)  
"Oh, dear. You've made a mess of your nice red suit. What a shame. Never mind."  
(More harshly)  
"Get over there with Tyler!"

JULIA indicates the computer console, and ROSANNA moves towards it.

ROSANNA has lost one of her shoes, and it makes her walk unevenly. When she reaches the console, ROSANNA glances down briefly at TYLER'S body.

ROSANNA  
"You cannot succeed, even if you kill me. You know this don't you?"

JULIA moves closer to ROSANNA, pointing her automatic at her.

JULIA  
"When Sam and I decided to come up here, it wasn't about winning. It was about causing as much damage as we could before you got us. We both knew what the score was. And if the very least we can do is manage to kill you and this bucket of sweat next to you, then it will have been worth it!"

ROSANNA rubs painfully at her left arm.

ROSANNA  
"You throw your life away cheaply. I can, and will be, replaced."

JULIA  
"But your reputation won't!"

JULIA moves even closer to ROSANNA, and begins to jab her with the muzzle of her automatic as she speaks.

JULIA  
"Think of the effect the news of your death will have around the offices of the Corporation. Next to Grant, you must be the most hated person in the Corporation. And I doubt if even Grant himself will shed a tear when he hears the news. He'll just accuse you of being incompetent! No, there'll be jubilation! And wild parties! They'll probably all have a day off!"

ROSANNA  
"You and Rawlston will never see that day. Because you will both be dead."

JULIA  
"That's rich coming from someone in your position."

JULIA presses the muzzle of her automatic against ROSANNA'S head as she speaks. But ROSANNA doesn't flinch.

ROSANNA  
"You and I both know that Rawlston is already dead. He and Smith will have killed one another, that's why neither of them are here. There is only you left, Julia Connors, and you talk too much."

ROSANNA suddenly ducks under the automatic held to her head and embraces JULIA.

CLOSE SHOT OF ROSANNA'S HAND.

Unseen by JULIA, ROSANNA pulls a long thin knife from her sleeve and stabs JULIA with it.

JULIA'S eyes widen in surprise and her arms drop to her side.

ROSANNA steps back. The knife is sticking out of JULIA'S chest.

ROSANNA and JULIA briefly stare into one another's eyes. Then JULIA looks down at the knife.

JULIA  
(Breathlessly)  
"Sam said you were slippery....."

ROSANNA  
"You should have listened to him."

ROSANNA pulls the knife out.

JULIA  
"Oh, Shit....."

JULIA drops her automatic and falls forwards.

ROSANNA quickly steps aside and pushes JULIA unceremoniously over the top of the console next to TYLER.

JULIA sprawls over the console, knocking papers and a keyboard to the floor. She tries to hang on, even grabbing hold of TYLER'S white coat. But she is too weak, and she slides off. She lands on her back on the floor with her head propped up against the side of the computer. She lays still, her eyes closed.

ROSANNA calmly cleans her knife on TYLER'S white coat before returning it to her sleeve. She adjusts her jacket and skirt, and examines and straightens her damaged stockings before going to retrieve her lost shoe. She then walks straight for the elevator, never once glancing back.

A short time passes. JAYNE then emerges from the stairwell. She is still rubbing her head when she enters the computer centre. She stops and stares in shock.

CLOSE SHOT OF JAYNE'S SURPRISED FACE.

MEDIUM SHOT - JAYNE'S POINT OF VIEW.

The computer centre is littered with bodies.

CLOSE SHOT - VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

JULIA'S image looks surprised.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Disappointed)  
"Oh bugger. We missed all the fun..."

MEDIUM SHOT - JAYNE'S POINT OF VIEW.

TYLER is slumped over his console, and beside him on the floor is JULIA.

CLOSE SHOT - VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

JULIA'S image becomes frantic.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(In panic)  
"It's me! It's me! Someone's killed me! Do something, Jayne! Quick!"

JAYNE hurries forward and kneels down next to JULIA. She sees the blood on her chest and on her uniform, and reaches out to take JULIA in her arms.

JULIA'S body instantly stiffens and her eyes open.

JULIA  
(Weakly and pausing for breath)  
"Come to gloat......have you."

JAYNE  
(Sadly)  
"No, of course not."

JULIA  
"Why not?.....I would....I couldn't wait.....to see you....dead at last."

JAYNE  
"I know why you hate me, Julia, but you're wrong. It wasn't my fault. You can't blame me for what happened to you—"

JULIA regains some strength as she speaks. She tries to sit up and spits blood with her words.

JULIA  
(Emotionally)  
"Don't you....dare! Tyler had no right!.....You shouldn't know those things about me!....They're my memories, not yours!...You shouldn't know them!"

JAYNE  
(Emotionally)  
"But I do know them! And I remember what happened just as well as you do! In my mind I was there with you! I was you! And I suffered what you suffered! And because of that, I can never hate you!"

JULIA sinks back and becomes weaker.

JULIA  
(Gasping)  
"That just....makes it worse....Now I....hate you....even more...."

JAYNE  
(Speaking more urgently)  
"No, you don't! I think the real reason is that you enjoyed it. You enjoyed insulting me and calling me names. Admit it!"

JULIA smiles weakly.

JULIA  
"I know.....Bitch, aren't I?"  
(Then with sudden realisation)  
"Where's the car?"

JAYNE  
"I left it with Matthew."

JULIA  
(Dismayed)  
"Oh, no....The nerd will have wrecked it...."

JULIA has a coughing fit and spits out more blood.

JAYNE holds JULIA tightly in her arms until it subsides. She wipes the blood from JULIA'S mouth and chin.

CLOSE SHOT - VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

JULIA'S image is crying.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(In despair)  
"Do something, Jayne! I'm dying!"

JAYNE also begins to cry.

JAYNE  
(Tearfully)  
"Take it easy, Julia. I'll call an ambulance and you'll be fine."

JULIA gives JAYNE a knowing look, and shakes her head.

JULIA  
(Sadly)  
"No, I won't. Me and Rawlston....have hid our....last sausage together.....But you're right.....I was daft....to hate you....Just jealous....I suppose...."

JULIA suddenly grabs JAYNE'S blouse, pulling herself closer.

JULIA

(Urgently)

"Casarotto carries a blade.....up her left sleeve.....The cow-bag....Watch for it....I didn't...."

CLOSE SHOT - VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

JULIA'S image is now angry.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(With hatred)  
"Casarotto! The bitch! We'll get even! Just you see! Tell her, Jayne! Tell her that we'll kill the cow-bag!"

JULIA falls back and her breathing grows more shallow. She leaves a blood-stain on JAYNE'S blouse where she grabbed it.

JAYNE  
(Tearfully)  
"Thanks, I'll remember that. I'll get Casarotto for you. We'll get even, I promise you, Julia. I can do it, I know I can. Because I know what you know."

JULIA closes her eyes and smiles.

JULIA  
(Breathlessly)  
"You know....I'm glad....there's some of me....in your head....That way....I won't really....be dead...."

JULIA breathes out slowly, and her head lolls to one side. She dies.

JAYNE slowly lays JULIA back against the side of the computer. She stands up and wipes the tears from her eyes. She notices the blood-stain on her blouse. She tries to wipe it off, but instead she only makes it worse. It makes her cry even more.

CUT TO SCENE 117: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

JAYNE'S mind is filled with the sound of crying.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Wailing)  
"This isn't fair! Everyone's getting killed around me. My parents, you, Sam, even Matthew! It's not fair!"

JULIA'S image flits around. She looks angry.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Shouting sternly)  
"Pull yourself together, you wimp! It's me that's dead, not you! And you don't know what's happened to Matthew yet. So stop bawling! Look at me! I'm dead and I'm still together!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Still wailing)  
"But I can't do this! It's not fair! It's not right! I'm just ordinary! This shouldn't be happening to me! I want everything to be normal again—"

JULIA'S image swells to immense size.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Booming)  
"SHUT IT!"

The sound of crying stops.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Commanding)  
"That's better! Now hear this! Yes, Julia's dead, and your parents are dead too. But the person responsible is still alive. And so are you. We're going to get her, you and me! We're going to kick her butt! We can do this because I'm just as much you as the old Jayne used to be. We're together now. Her face was your face. Seeing Julia die was like seeing yourself die. Casarotto killed you when she killed me. So let's get even."

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Uncertain)  
"I can't do it.....I'm not you...."

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Insistent)  
"Yes, you are! You remember everything I remember. My childhood, my life, everything up to the point Tyler downloaded me into your mind. You are me! Julia and Jayne. We can make this work. Come on!"

JULIA'S image grows even bigger. It now almost fills JAYNE'S mind.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(More calmly)  
"Yes....I remember. I remember both lives. My memories and your memories. Two childhoods, two lives...."

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Two childhoods, two lives, one life from now on!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Stronger)  
"Yes, one life from now on!"

JULIA AND JAYNE'S VOICES TOGETHER  
(With purpose)  
"One life from now on! Ours! Together! Casarotto and the Corporation are the enemy. Lets kick butt!"

CUT TO SCENE 118: INT. COMPUTER CENTRE. NIGHT.

There is the sound of a tiny bell as the elevator returns to the eighth floor. JAYNE hears it and immediately throws herself to the floor. She grabs the gun WILLIAMS had dropped and hides under the white coat of one of the other bodies.

ROSANNA emerges from the elevator. She pauses to look around.

MEDIUM SHOT - ROSANNA'S POINT OF VIEW.

The computer centre is littered with bodies. All is quiet. Smoke still comes out of the damaged computer.

ROSANNA walks calmly into the computer centre, her heels tapping on the floor. She holds an incendiary device very similar to the one WILLIAMS used in the MedTec building. She has been down to the car park to retrieve it from the car. She walks purposefully towards the damaged computer.

ROSANNA carefully attaches the incendiary device to the stricken computer, sets the timer, and activates it.

While ROSANNA is doing this, JAYNE climbs silently to her feet and approaches ROSANNA unseen.

ROSANNA finishes what she is doing, dusts her hands off and steps back. When ROSANNA turns, JAYNE pushes the silencer of WILLIAM'S gun into ROSANNA'S cleavage.

ROSANNA  
(Unafraid and conversational)  
"Ah! Jayne Middleton, I presume?"

JAYNE shoves the gun hard into ROSANNA'S chest, forcing her to walk backwards across the computer centre. When JAYNE speaks, it is with JULIA'S voice.

JAYNE  
(Angrily)  
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blow your scrawny tits across half of Salford? Go on! Let's hear it!"

ROSANNA  
(Confidently)  
"Because you wish to make a deal? Because, maybe, you realise that killing me won't save you?"

ROSANNA has to keep retreating as she speaks, and almost stumbles and falls over WILLIAMS'S body, just managing to keep to her feet.

JAYNE  
(Angrily)  
"I wouldn't make a deal with you even if my life depended on it!"

JAYNE pushes ROSANNA even harder. She never lets up for a second, even while they talk.

ROSANNA  
(Forcefully)  
"But your life does depend on it! Even if you kill me, someone else will find you! You cannot hide from us! The implant in your head will always give you away! And next time, the people who attack you will not be as incompetent as Tyler! They will break your mind, Jayne Middleton! They will tear the memories from you, leaving you defenceless! You have to deal!"

JAYNE keeps ROSANNA moving all the time. ROSANNA stumbles again, and almost falls over more of the bodies. JAYNE still doesn't stop pushing her. ROSANNA is forced to walk backwards across the entire computer centre, until she finally thumps against one of the large windows, banging her head against the glass.

JAYNE  
"And what kind of deal could I make with you? Money? Or how about I work for you and the Corporation? Is that it?"

ROSANNA begins to rub painfully at her left arm.

ROSANNA  
"You will be our top field agent. We will give you all the expertise you need."

JAYNE presses the gun even harder into ROSANNA'S chest.

JAYNE  
"I've already got all the expertise I need, you thick Bitch! And if I decide that I want more, Tyler has shown me how to get it!"

ROSANNA  
(Disdainfully)  
"Tyler only gave you the memories of one agent. And she only knew what we let her. You're over confidence is misplaced, and insulting me will only make things harder for you later."

JAYNE  
"You really think so? Well, let me tell you something, you South American cow-bag! Tyler tried to overload the implant by feeding information to it too quickly, didn't he? It might have worked too, if he'd had a bit more time. But you know what? You scared him so much that he used any old information he could find to do it with. Anything that had lots of data. Files, directories, anything. Some of the personnel files were very interesting, and the project files he sent me were even better. And now they're all locked up in here.  
(JAYNE taps her forehead)  
"You'll be surprised what I already know, Rosanna Casarotto. And whenever I feel like it, I'm going to get lots more. With this socket in the back of my head, I'm going to plug myself right into your computer system. And I don't need this pile of scrap behind us to do it with. No, I can plug in anywhere. Any old terminal socket will do. And I won't have to bother about passwords either. They stop people from getting access from the outside, but I'll be on the inside. Because as far as the system is concerned, I'm going to be just another piece of hardware sitting on the line."

For the first time, ROSANNA begins to look unnerved.

ROSANNA  
(Worried)  
"I don't believe you. There wasn't enough time to gain such information. And to gain access to our computer system as you say, you will have to be connected to part of it directly. You cannot dial in from the outside."

JAYNE  
(Confidently)  
"Let me answer your questions in reverse order. Firstly, the Corporation has a lot of subsidiaries, some of which are fronts, like MedTec. I know which ones they all are, and Julia was an expert at breaking and entering. Secondly, you were born to a Uruguayan prostitute who worked the bars in Montevideo. At twelve, your mother died of a bad mixture of drugs and alcohol, but by then you had already begun to tread in her illustrious footsteps. By the time you were fourteen you had developed quite a career in porn movies. But that came to a sudden stop when you murdered one of the other stars. You had to leg it to Argentina before the cops could catch you. And after that it was back to the streets again.

"Blackmail, drugs, murder, you'd done it all by the time you were picked up by the Corporation. That was a long time ago. Now you have money and power, you dress in designer clothes, and you jet around the world first class. People respect and fear you. You're a long way away from where you started. But inside you're still just a Uruguayan street slut. Even your name isn't yours, is it Juanita Sanchez? Strange that the Corporation should hire people from the bottom of the barrel rather than from the top, don't you think? But then, maybe they've worked out that people born in shit are the most adept at working in it."

There is a long and uncomfortable silence, during which both women stare at one another.

ROSANNA snatches the knife from her left sleeve, but JAYNE is ready for the move and fires her gun. There is no noise, but ROSANNA'S whole body jerks. A huge crack appears in the window behind ROSANNA. Then a second appears, and a third. They snake away from her in a crazy zig-zag pattern.

JAYNE steps back. Smoke comes from the end of the silencer on the gun she holds, and from ROSANNA'S chest.

JAYNE  
(Coldly)  
"Oops! My finger twitched. It seems to be the same twitch you had in your arm."

ROSANNA is still alive. She remains upright, transfixed to the window, her eyes staring. She looks stunned.

JAYNE takes the knife from ROSANNA'S fingers and slides it up her own sleeve. Then she walks calmly back towards the computer.

JAYNE  
(Conversationally)  
"Julia's story was very similar to yours, you know. Only instead of Montevideo it was Middlesbrough. And for Julia, it was the various 'uncles' that used to visit her mother who would abuse her. They even paid a little extra for the privilege. She was only eight at the time, and so didn't have the choice. Her mother would even hold her down when she struggled."

JAYNE puts the gun down on the console next to TYLER'S blood-stained body, and bending over, she picks up JULIA'S automatic.

JAYNE stares sadly at JULIA as she speaks.

JAYNE  
"Some people are really evil. They don't care about the suffering they cause, so long as they have something to gain. That's why I can understand Julia's bitterness towards those whose life was more normal, like mine. Julia was bad, but she was never in the same league as her mother."

JAYNE now turns to face ROSANNA once more.

JAYNE  
"You on the other hand, are a selfish and pathological killer. Nothing pleases you more than the opportunity to kill whole families in order to protect the security of the Corporation. You have no excuses and no guilt, and it's about time that someone knocked you off that pedestal you're on and sent you right back to where you came from. Consider your butt to be well and truly kicked."

JAYNE fires the automatic at ROSANNA and the window, emptying the entire clip. The cracked glass shatters, and the whole window, and ROSANNA, blows out.

LONG SHOT: CUT TO - EXT. NIGHT VIEW OF THE EXCHANGE QUAY BUILDING.

ROSANNA and the broken window tumble to the river below.

The wind whistles through the broken window, JAYNE drops the empty automatic to the floor. She rubs at her face and at her head, running her hand through her hair. For a moment she looks surprised by its length. She glances at JULIA once more.

MEDIUM SHOT OF JULIA BY THE COMPUTER.

The incendiary device is still attached to the computer.

JAYNE steps closer and checks the settings on the device.

CLOSE SHOT OF THE TIMER ON THE INCENDIARY DEVICE.

There is only a few minutes left.

JAYNE  
"Shit!"

JAYNE runs for the stairwell. She flings open the door, and is swiftly hit in the stomach by an unseen person. JAYNE doubles up, gasping, and falls to her knees. The unseen person smacks JAYNE on the back of her head. JAYNE slumps to the floor, unconscious.

CUT TO SCENE 119: INT. COMPUTER CENTRE. NIGHT.

JAYNE is tied to a chair near the computer console. She awakes and strains at her bindings. There is an unseen person behind her.

UNSEEN PERSON'S VOICE  
"Ah! I see you're awake."

JAYNE turns to see someone standing behind her.

CLOSE SHOT OF JAYNE'S SURPRISED FACE.

JAYNE  
(In shock)  
"Sandra!"

SANDRA now comes into view. She has lost her Mancunian accent along with her nurse's uniform. Instead she now wears a black trouser-suit.

JAYNE immediately begins to struggle in the chair.

SANDRA  
"I wouldn't bother. They're plastic. They might give slightly, but you're not going anywhere, at least not for a minute or two."

JAYNE keeps struggling.

JAYNE  
(Angrily)  
"You killed Matthew!"

SANDRA  
(Sighing)  
"Yes. Shame about him, really. He was very clever. Now he's at the bottom of the river."

JAYNE becomes tearful.

JAYNE  
"You rotten bitch! You killed Matthew and you killed my parents! You killed mum and dad!"

SANDRA  
"Yes. And Rawlston too. Now, he was surprised."

JAYNE stops struggling and slumps in her chair. She begins to sob.

JAYNE  
(Forlornly)  
"I'm going to kill you! I don't know how, but I will!"

SANDRA  
(Unimpressed)  
"Yes, yes. Very melodramatic. I suppose you're wondering why I haven't killed you yet? Well, you're only alive now because I didn't want you to have any holes in your body when they found you. You see, when they investigate all this, they'll find that Matt's project produced a psychopathic killer. You will get the blame for everything, including your own final suicide when you blew up the computers that twisted your mind. Good, isn't it?"

JAYNE  
"You're the one that's mad. How could you kill my parents? How could you kill Matthew like that? You must be mad."

SANDRA  
"Not mad, just detached. I don't hate you, Jayne, even though you blew my boss out the window. No, this is just work. As was causing the explosion in the house next door to your parents. Casarotto speaks, I act. Simple as that. The same goes for you, Matthew, Rawlston and all the rest. The only reason I didn't kill you both at Sandra's house was because I was still waiting for the go ahead from Casarotto. Once she got to MedTec and found out what a mess everything was in, well, that was it."

JAYNE stops sobbing.

JAYNE  
(Regaining her composure)  
"And what about the real Sandra? Is she dead, too?"

SANDRA walks calmly towards the elevator.

SANDRA  
"No, not at all. She and her daughter are on a cruise holiday in the Caribbean. They won't be back until next Sunday. I've just been house-sitting. Or you could say 'identity sitting'. Far less bother than having to explain another body. Her neighbours think I'm her sister, and, of course, all record of her presence at MedTec has been erased."

SANDRA reaches the elevator and presses the call button.

SANDRA  
"Now I must leave you. I have a plane to catch and an appointment in Sydney tomorrow."

JAYNE  
(Confidently)  
"You think you're very clever, don't you? Well, you're not! The Corporation won't get away with this."

SANDRA  
"Oh, but it will! It always does."

JAYNE  
"When the real Sandra gets back she'll soon hear about her fictitious sister! The police are bound to be involved! And how will you explain away the fact that I'm tied to this chair? Even after the explosion, they'll find out."

SANDRA  
(Delighted)  
"Ah! I'm glad you mentioned that! But first, I have to point out that nothing was stolen or damaged at Sandra's house until you broke in. That will be traced to you and Matt, and deservedly so. As for the rest of it, well that has nothing to do with me. I'm paid to do, not think. Casarotto was the thinker, the plotter. She was very good at tying up loose ends, it was her true talent and she had years of practice at it, so you'll have to thank her for what I'm going to tell you. I told you those bonds were plastic. But they're a very special kind of plastic that melts at 35 degrees Centigrade. One of the Corporation's subsidiaries makes it for some use or other.  
(SANDRA waves her hands dismissively)  
"It doesn't really matter what for. What does matter is that it will be a lot hotter than 35 degrees in here when that bomb goes off. Very much hotter. They won't find a trace of it. Only bits of you."

There is the sound of a tiny bell as the elevator arrives.

SANDRA gets into the elevator and presses the ground floor button. As the doors begin to close, SANDRA suddenly holds them back.

SANDRA  
"Oh, by the way. Are you Julia or Jayne? You have Julia's voice, so I favour the former. Am I right?"

JAYNE  
(Depressed)  
"No. I'm neither. The one thing I've learned from all this is that you are what you remember. I suppose that's why people who've lost their memories lose their true identity. I remember everything that Jayne and Julia remembered. Therefore I am both. Julia was older than Jayne, so I have more of her in my head. But this is Jayne's body, so it seems only fitting that I should use Julia's voice."

SANDRA seems to consider JAYNE'S words.

SANDRA  
(Thoughtfully)  
"Yes, I like that thought."

SANDRA lets go of the elevator doors and they slowly close.

JAYNE is now alone. She quickly shakes her left arm.

CLOSE SHOT OF JAYNE'S TIED HANDS.

The knife JAYNE took from ROSANNA slides down into her hand. She turns it in her fingers and begins to saw through her bonds. The plastic is quite soft, and the knife cuts through it easily.

JAYNE quickly cuts herself free and springs from the chair. Pulling the incendiary device from the computer, JAYNE runs for the elevator.

CUT TO SCENE 120: INT. ELEVATOR. NIGHT.

SANDRA stands in silence in the elevator, staring at the indicator panel by the door.

CLOSE SHOT OF THE INDICATOR PANEL.

The elevator is passing the third floor.

CUT TO SCENE 121: INT. COMPUTER CENTRE. NIGHT.

JAYNE is by the elevator doors. She puts the incendiary device down and begins to prize the doors apart.

CLOSE SHOT OF THE TIMER ON THE INCENDIARY DEVICE.

There is only a few seconds left on the timer.

JAYNE slides the knife blade between the doors, twisting it and breaking it just as the doors part wide enough for her to jam the heel of one of her shoes into the gap. Dropping both her shoe and the broken knife, JAYNE pushes one of the doors back with her bare foot, pulling the other door with her hands. With the doors now wide open, JAYNE stares down the darkened lift shaft.

LONG SHOT - JAYNE'S POINT OF VIEW. CUT TO: THE ELEVATOR SHAFT.

Almost out of sight below, the elevator is already at the ground floor.

JAYNE picks up the incendiary device, holds it out over the lift shaft, and drops it.

CUT TO SCENE 122: INT. ELEVATOR. NIGHT.

SANDRA hears a loud thud on the roof of the elevator. She stares upwards.

CUT TO SCENE 123: INT. EXCHANGE QUAY RECEPTION. NIGHT.

In the lobby of Exchange Quay, there is the sound of a tiny bell as the elevator reaches the ground floor. The doors slide open to omit an enormous ball of flame. Fire engulfs the reception.

CUT TO SCENE 124: EXT. EXCHANGE QUAY BUILDING. NIGHT.

The explosion blows out all the ground floor windows, the flames bursting out into the darkness. The flames spread.

CUT TO SCENE 125: INT. COMPUTER CENTRE. NIGHT.

JAYNE is looking down the elevator shaft.

LONG SHOT - JAYNE'S POINT OF VIEW. CUT TO: THE ELEVATOR SHAFT.

A ball of fire rushes up the elevator shaft.

JAYNE hurls herself backwards as the ball of fire blows through the open elevator doors behind her. Fire immediately spreads over the ceiling like a wave, and burning tiles began to fall all around. They set fire to the furniture, and even to the clothes of the bodies that are littered about. Soon the fire is raging everywhere.

JAYNE covers her head and runs for the stairwell. She disappears through the doors.

Alarms go off all over Exchange Quay as the fire spreads.

CUT TO SCENE 126: EXT. EXCHANGE QUAY BUILDING. NIGHT.

The Exchange Quay building is on fire. The fire has spread from the ground floor to the eighth floor, and two more floors in between. The flames pour out of the windows.

There is the sound of sirens as the police and the fire brigade arrive. Some of the firemen are still dirty and tired from fighting the blaze at MedTec. They rush about fighting the new fire. There is pandemonium.

CUT TO SCENE 127: INT. SYDNEY AIRPORT IMMIGRATION. DAY.

BEN is stopped by a CUSTOMS OFFICIAL as he waits with the other passengers at passport control.

CUSTOMS OFFICIAL  
(Politely but firmly)  
"Would you please come with me, Mr Jenkins?"

The CUSTOMS OFFICIAL beckons BEN towards a side office.

BEN looks panicky, but with a curt nod, he obeys and follows the CUSTOMS OFFICIAL to the office.

CUT TO SCENE 128: INT. SIDE OFFICE. DAY.

BEN and the CUSTOMS OFFICIAL enter the side office. There is a desk and two chairs in the office. The CUSTOMS OFFICIAL points to one of the chairs.

CUSTOMS OFFICIAL  
"Please sit down, sir."

BEN sits down.

BEN  
(Nervously)  
"What seems to be the problem?"

CUSTOMS OFFICIAL  
"Nothing that we can't straighten out right here and now."

The CUSTOMS OFFICIAL reaches into his pocket as he speaks. BEN hurriedly gets to his feet. But it is a large envelope that the CUSTOMS OFFICIAL produces, and he thrusts it into BEN's shaking hands.

CUSTOMS OFFICIAL  
"I'll be waiting outside when you're ready, sir. Just tap on the door."

The CUSTOMS OFFICIAL leaves.

BEN sinks down in the chair. He takes a deep breath and sighs, mopping his brow.

BEN waits for his nerves to settle, staring at the large envelope. Finally, he tears it open.

CLOSE SHOT - BEN'S POINT OF VIEW.

Inside the envelope are BEN'S real passport and a first class flight ticket to New York. There is also a letter.

BEN reads the letter.

CLOSE SHOT OF THE LETTER.

(The letter reads:

_By now you will realise that if I wanted you dead, it would already have happened. So to business. Casarotto and Tyler are both dead, the MedTec and Exchange Quay facilities have been shut down, and Middleton and Hall have evaded us. Middleton has now managed to breach the security of our computer systems. She is our number one priority. You are the only one alive who has been in contact with her. She is your responsibility from now on. No expense will be spared in the funding of your new project. Get back here at once."  
Grant._)

BEN shakes his head in surprise.

BEN  
(Muttering under his breath)  
"Casarotto dead....Christmas has come early."

BEN picks up the flight ticket and stares at it. He is thoughtful. He reads the letter again.

CLOSE SHOT OF PART OF THE LETTER.

No expense will be spared in the funding of your new project.

BEN stands up, sticks his passport and tickets in one pocket, and the letter in another. He walks calmly to the door and taps on it.

The CUSTOMS OFFICIAL is waiting outside, and quickly opens the door. He beckons BEN to follow him.

CUSTOMS OFFICIAL  
"This way, sir. The flight's been held for you."

BEN  
(Confidently)  
"Good! Lead the way!"

CUT TO SCENE 129: INT. HOSPITAL WARD. DAY.

NURSE KAYE is wheeling a telephone trolley into the ward. She wheels it towards one of the beds.

NURSE KAYE  
"There's a phone call for you, Matthew."

MATTHEW levers himself up in bed as NURSE KAYE reaches him. She plugs the phone into a socket on the wall.

MATTHEW  
"Not my mum again?"

NURSE KAYE  
(Smiling)  
"No, it's a woman! Got a secret admirer have you? And there's me thinking you were all mine!"

MATTHEW looks embarrassed, and NURSE KAYE laughs as she walks away.

MATTHEW'S hands shake as he picks up the phone.

MATTHEW  
(Nervously)  
"Hello?"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Cheekily)  
"Hello, nerd! Did you miss me?"

MATTHEW  
(Overjoyed)  
"Jayne! Are you alright? What happened? I thought you had died in the fire! Where are you?"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"Shut up, Matthew! Gosh! You never did let me get a word in, did you? I'm fine. Not a scratch. I took a dive into the river from the second floor. What about you? I thought you were dead."

MATTHEW  
(Excited)  
"I nearly was! It was Sandra! She shot at me and I fell in the river, too. But the bullet must have got caught up in my lap-top, and it didn't go in very far. But it still feels very sore.  
(MATTHEW rubs at his chest as he speaks)  
"The doctors said I was very lucky not to have drowned before the firemen pulled me out."

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Softly and concerned)  
"I'm glad you're okay. I would have been very upset if you weren't. I would have missed you, Matthew."

CUT TO SCENE 130: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

JULIA'S image pretends to look sick.

JULIA'S VOICE  
"If this gets mushy, I'm heading for the nearest database. Get on with it, Jayne. I've got a tap on the exchange in Chicago."

A brightly lit worm appears. JULIA'S image produces a large bat. She quickly smacks the worm with it and the worm is smashed.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Impatiently)  
"Move it, then! Try Boston! I want to talk to Matthew!"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Matthew, spatthew! If you play hide the sausage with him, make sure I'm asleep first!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"Shut up!"

CUT TO SCENE 131: INT. HOSPITAL WARD. DAY.

There is a slight pause while MATTHEW thinks of something to say.

MATTHEW  
"You know the MedTec building burnt down, don't you?"

MATTHEW grimaces, wishing that he hadn't said what he said.

JAYNE chuckles.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"I had noticed."

MATTHEW  
"How are you feeling, Jayne? Are you alright? Inside, I mean."

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"You mean in my head? Am I nuts yet?"

CUT TO SCENE 132: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

JULIA'S image laughs.

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Nuts? I'll say! We're a Psychiatrists worst nightmare!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(In exasperation)  
"Will you be quiet?"

CUT TO SCENE 133: INT. HOSPITAL WARD. DAY.

MATTHEW  
"I didn't mean it like that!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"I know what you meant, and don't worry, I'm fine. But thanks for asking. I have to admit, it was a bit rough back there. I was always a bit confused by my two personalities. It was as if I always had to be either the one, or the other. I think the Jayne side of my mind couldn't quite accept Julia because of the possibility that she might have killed my Mum and Dad. It happened after the download had taken place, so I wouldn't have known. But with all that fighting in my head between you and Tyler, and with me and Julia in the middle, everything sort of glued itself together in my head."

MATTHEW  
(Concerned)  
"I've had a devil of a time explaining things, you know. The police never leave me alone. And they're looking for you. They think you killed all those people in Exchange Quay. You didn't did you?"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"Don't worry. I only killed Casarotto and Sandra. The rest of them killed each other long before I got there."

MATTHEW  
(Puzzled)  
"Who's Casarotto?"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"Nobody you need to worry about. She went for a swim a short time after you."

MATTHEW  
"Oh, she must have been the woman full of holes they found in the river."

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"Yes, that'll be her. What have you told the police?"

MATTHEW  
"The truth. Everything I know. For a while I think they thought I was nuts. And I'm still not sure that they believe me. Was that alright?"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"Yes, it was probably for the best."

MATTHEW  
(Hesitantly)  
"They said Julia was killed too."

CUT TO SCENE 134: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

JULIA'S image looks proud.

JULIA'S VOICE  
"He fancied me rotten!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"Tits and arse! He fancies me more! Anyway, I thought you didn't like him?"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"I can be coy, can't I?"

CUT TO SCENE 135: INT. HOSPITAL WARD. DAY.

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"You liked Julia, didn't you?"

MATTHEW looks embarrassed.

MATTHEW  
"I like you more."

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Cheekily)  
"Are you blushing, Matthew? You are, aren't you? Admit it!"

MATTHEW looks even more embarrassed. He looks around quickly.

MATTHEW  
"Can you see me? Where are you?"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"No, Matthew, I can't see you. I'm miles away. And don't be too sorry about Julia, because in a way, you're talking to her right now."

JAYNE'S voice changes as she speaks. It becomes JULIA'S voice, and it never changes back.

JULIA'S VOICE  
"And you'll be pleased to know that I've repaired the car. The parts cost me a fortune! I don't know! I leave you alone with it for five minutes and you fill it full of holes!"

MATTHEW  
(Surprised and hurt)  
"It wasn't my fault! It was Sandra!"

JAYNE chuckles on the other end of the phone.

MATTHEW  
(Smiling)  
"I love you, Jayne."

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Softly)  
"I love you too, Matthew."

CUT TO SCENE 136: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

JULIA'S image pretends to put a finger down her throat.

JULIA'S VOICE  
"I'm going to be sick, ergh!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"Will you stop it!"

Two more brightly lit worms appear. JULIA smacks them both as before and they disintegrate.

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Boston's gone, and so has London. Hurry up!"

CUT TO SCENE 137: INT. HOSPITAL WARD. DAY.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(More seriously)  
"Look, Matthew, you're the only friend I've got, so look after yourself, won't you?"

MATTHEW  
(Desperately)  
"You're not going, are you? When will I see you?"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"I don't know. The Corporation will leave you alone, I'm sure of that. There's nothing more you can tell the police, so there wouldn't be much point."

MATTHEW  
"They could try and make me do it again."

JULIA'S VOICE  
"They could. But with me still running around, they know that would be a non-starter. That's why they're never going to give up on me. And that's why you and I can never meet. The two of us together in one place would make it too easy for them. You do understand, don't you, Matthew?"

CUT TO SCENE 138: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

JULIA'S image looks frantic. She smacks several more brightly lit worms that have appeared.

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Urgently)  
"Will you hurry up! I've got wormy things coming at me on all these telephone exchanges, and all you do is ramble to lover boy! Get on with it!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
"Alright! Alright! Just don't let them trace us!"

CUT TO SCENE 139: INT. HOSPITAL WARD. DAY.

MATTHEW grips the telephone very tightly.

MATTHEW  
(Annoyed and upset)  
"No! I don't understand! It's not fair! I want to see you! I love you, Jayne! I want to be with you!"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"We can't! It's too dangerous!"

MATTHEW  
"Then why did you phone me? Why didn't you just let me go on thinking you were dead?"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Stop it, Matthew! I'm doing this for you! You still have a chance! You can go back to a normal life and forget about all this! You can have a life without worrying that someone is hunting you and trying to kill you all the time!"

MATTHEW  
"But I don't care! I want to be with you!"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Do you? Do you have any idea what it would be like? Worrying that everyone you meet might be an assassin? Do you think I'm talking to you on a phone?"

MATTHEW  
(Puzzled)  
"Well, of course you are."

MEDIUM SHOT - INT. A DARKENED OFFICE. NIGHT.

JAYNE sits on the floor, a cable connects her to a computer terminal.

JULIA'S VOICE  
"No! No, I'm not! I'm talking to you through the socket in the back of my head! I'm sitting in the dark in an empty office I've broken into, and I'm plugged into a computer terminal that's connected to the Internet through a modem. I'm connected to you on the phone line through three different computer networks on two continents. And I've changed networks twice! My voice is being electronically reproduced. And all the time we've been talking, part of me has been keeping an eye on the line, making sure that no one tries to put a trace on it. I'm not even in the same country as you. Is that how you want to live? Is it?"

MATTHEW  
(Without hesitation)  
"Yes! If it means living with you!"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"And what about your parents? Or your friends? I have no one to worry about, but you do!"

MATTHEW  
"I don't have to see my parents all the time. I can talk to them on the phone. And I don't care about my friends. I just care about you!"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"You're being stupid, Matthew! It won't work! They'll be watching your parents! They'll use them against you! And they'll use you to get to me!"

MATTHEW  
"They'll do that anyway! You said yourself that the only way to be safe was to beat them! You've made a start, but you haven't finished it yet! I can help you! We can work together, Jayne! We're the only two that know about them, so it makes perfect sense! And you know I'm good! I helped you before!"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"You know Julia always thought you were an arrogant little git. She was right! You're far too confident for your own good! You're not a spy, Matthew! And in case you forgot, you got shot on your first outing!"

MATTHEW  
"Alright! So I'll be better next time!"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Matthew!"

MATTHEW  
(Determined)  
"It makes sense, Jayne! If we don't work together we'll just be making it easier for them! You know I'm right!"

CUT TO SCENE 140: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

JULIA'S image is dressed in a tennis outfit as she smacks more and more of the brightly lit worms.

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Say yes, will you! He's right anyway! But whatever you say, say it quick! If this gets any worse, I'll be seeded at Wimbledon!"

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Worried)  
"But he doesn't know what he's letting himself in for!"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"He does now! Anyway, he'll be better off where we can keep an eye on him! Tell him! Or I'll pull the plug on you!"

CUT TO SCENE 141: INT. HOSPITAL WARD. DAY.

There is a pause before JAYNE replies.

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Nuts! Oh, alright, then! It might be fun, anyway!"

MATTHEW is ecstatic.

MATTHEW  
(Enthusiastically)  
"When will I see you? What are we going to do first?"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"I'll surprise you. But the first thing you're going to do is get well. And when you leave hospital, do exactly what you were planning to do. Remember, the police are after me as well as the Corporation, so stop smiling, or you'll give the game away."

MATTHEW is smiling.

MATTHEW  
"I can't wait to see you, Jayne. I want to tell you that I love you face to face. Not on the phone, or with my computer. I want you to hear my voice when I say it, and I want to hear you say it. I want to see you and hold you! And I want to—"

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Alright! Alright! I get the picture! We can think about all that, and playing hide the sausage, once we meet! Now let's stop this conversation before the lines go all mushy!"

MATTHEW  
"What's 'hide the sausage'? Oh....yes, I know...."

MATTHEW looks embarrassed again.

JAYNE chuckles softly on the phone.

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Oh, Matthew! You really are a nerd!"

The connection is broken, and MATTHEW smiles as he puts the phone down.

CUT TO SCENE 142: VIRTUAL REALITY. INSIDE JAYNE'S MIND.

JULIA'S image looks relieved. She fans herself with her bat.

JULIA'S VOICE  
"Thank God for that! That call cost a fortune."

JAYNE'S VOICE  
(Happily)  
"I don't care! It was worth it!"

JULIA'S VOICE  
(Smiling brightly)  
"Never mind, I logged it against Grant's phone bill. I'm a clever little devil, aren't I?"

### THE NARRATIVE VERSION

### Chapter One

### Waiting

This was boring.

Matthew had shot down his fiftieth alien spacecraft when he finally decided that he was wasting his time. He took his hands from the joystick just as another alien craft dived out from behind an asteroid. The alien craft began firing laser bolts at him and his ship blew up.

"Shit," he muttered as the game ended.

Matthew Hall was sitting in his lab in the MedTec building in Salford Quays. It was the middle of the night and the lab was in darkness. Only the screen of his monitor cast any light in the room at all.

The usually bright laboratory he worked in most of the day and night was in a large and similarly bright building which overlooked what used to be the Manchester Docks, but was now a marina basin. The whole area had been reclaimed and rebuilt several years ago. The original harbour basin was now surrounded by office buildings on one side, and residential apartments on the other. Matthew lived in one of those apartments. He could see it now as he gazed out the large window by his desk.

Yes, this was boring, he thought to himself again, and sighed.

He had been waiting for three months now. All this powerful computer equipment was just sitting here, waiting to be used, and all he could do with it was play games. It just wasn't fair.

Everything was ready. The new circuit chips he had designed were fully tested and working, the software had been de-bugged as much as possible without being tested in actual working conditions, and even the implant was fully tested and operational. Everything had been simulated, emulated and de-bugged to death. On paper, in theory, everything was ready and would work. But without a field test, without trying everything out for real, it was all worthless. Just theories, ideas, fantasies.

But Matthew knew it would work, he just knew it.

He thought back to those early days, when all this had first started. He had been so lucky. Getting a large company to sponsor you during your Phd was no easy task, but MedTec had been marvellous. Matthew had written to several companies, and all of them had pooh-poohed his theories as being silly and too costly. Only Medical Technology (UK) Ltd had shown any real interest. And when Benjamin Watkins, their Head of Research, had agreed to see him, Matthew had been tremendously excited.

Ben had been very friendly and positive. He had agreed to back Matthew all the way on his research, to fund everything, and he had been true to his word. It had taken two years so far, and not once had Ben even faltered in his support. Under his authority, MedTec had provided Matthew with these facilities in their Manchester offices, they had equipped it with the computer system and software he had requested, and they had even produced the circuit chips he had specified. They had done everything he wanted, without hesitation or complaint. Matthew couldn't dream of a better sponsor.

There was a down side, of course. In return for their generous and heavy investment, MedTec wanted the rights to market and sell his idea if it worked. That didn't trouble Matthew too much. He now considered Ben to be his best friend, he trusted him. Anyway, what did he know about marketing and sales? He was interested in the research itself, in his project. That was what counted. If it worked, the benefits would be tremendous, incredible.

It had to work. It _would_ work, Matthew knew it would. But without a field test, it was all just an expensive fantasy.

Matthew sighed again, and staring up at the ceiling he muttered, "Please, God, don't hate me will you? But can you kill someone for me? Soon? Please?"

### Chapter Two

### The Loss

Amanda Middleton would never forget this day. It would stay with her forever. Today was the day her baby would die.

Graham kept saying that Jayne had really died on Monday night, six months ago, when her car had hit that lamp-post on the A6 just outside Chorley. But Amanda knew that her husband was just trying to take the pressure off, to make her feel better. They both knew in their hearts that their daughter would die tonight, when they finally switched off the machines that still breathed life into her.

Graham and Amanda Middleton sat on each side of their daughter's bed in the intensive care unit of Preston Royal Hospital. They held each other's hands across the bed, and held their daughter's hands as she lay there between them. If it hadn't been for the pipes and tubes, Jayne would have looked like she was just asleep. That was what hurt the most.

Jayne hardly had a scratch after the accident. Just a bump on the head, that's all it was. She was still alive and awake when the ambulance got to her, but on the way to the hospital she had faded into a coma. She had never woken.

Irretrievable brain damage, the doctors had said. Although Jayne looked alive, it was only the machines that kept her breathing.

Slowly, Amanda and Graham had come to terms with the idea that their daughter was gone. It had been very difficult. The hospital had provided counselling, and all the doctors and nurses had been very understanding and kind. But for a long time Amanda couldn't, wouldn't accept it. Jayne was here, in this bed, breathing. How could they think about switching her off? Even now, Amanda was having second thoughts.

"I can't do it, Graham," she said tearfully to her husband. "I can't."

Graham swallowed. "I know, love. But you have to remember what the doctor's said. The spirit, the life, that thing that was Jayne, it's gone. Once it lived in her head, but not anymore."

"But I can feel her Graham!" Amanda exclaimed, squeezing her daughter's hand in her own. "She's warm, and she's breathing! This can't be right."

Graham couldn't answer. Like his wife, he had hoped that this day would never come. Instead he had held on to the faint hope that his daughter would awake, that one day her eyes would open, and their torment would finally end. He had put to the back of his mind all thought of the dreadful alternative. But now they both had to face that alternative.

Graham and Amanda Middleton stared at one another sadly across the bed. Six months they had been visiting Jayne here in the hospital, and not once had there been any change. Finally, today, they had signed the consent forms that would allow the hospital to disconnect the machines that fed their daughter life and air.

Doctor Hughes, who they had come to know so well, stood at the back of the room, waiting silently. So far he had said nothing, but now he coughed nervously. "If you want to wait a bit longer, I can leave it until tomorrow," he said, tentatively.

Amanda saw the look on her husband's face, and glanced quickly at Doctor Hughes. His face was as sad as theirs. Amanda squeezed her eyes shut, and shook her head. "No," she said with renewed strength. "We owe it to Jayne not to let this drag on any longer." She held her daughter's and her husband's hands even tighter in her own as she whispered, "I'm ready."

### Chapter Three

### The Persuaders

"What are they waiting for?" Julia Connors said in an impeccable English accent as she stared impatiently through the window into the ICU. "You switched her off, she's dead, now get out."

"You'll never win first prize in a sensitivity contest talking like that," Sam Rawlston said with a smile.

"Oh, and I suppose you will?" Julia retorted with a quick backward glance before she went straight back to staring at Graham and Amanda Middleton. They were still sitting by their daughter's bedside, Doctor Hughes standing over them. The three of them looked very sad. "Come on, get out of there before she shrivels up!" Julia muttered.

Julia Connors was thirty, with short blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She was tall and slim, but Sam Rawlston knew that she was about as lovable as a snake with itchy scales, and twice as slippery. They had been working together for two years now, and had quickly gone through the sexual phase of their relationship. Sam was sad that it had lasted for so short a time, and still hoped to rekindle it. But relationships in their line of business were never a good idea. At least, not if you valued your life and your anatomy.

Sam Rawlston was black, with short cropped hair, and eyes that seemed to look right through you rather than at you. Tall and well built, and very confident in the worst of situations, Rawlston was older than Julia by five years, and his accent gave away his Southern American origins. As they stood in the waiting area outside the ICU, both he and Julia seemed out of place. She was dressed casually in dark colours, while he wore a dark suit and stood as if he were waiting for the President to appear.

"They've just switched off their daughter," he said. "Give them a chance to cry before you kick them out."

"They can cry at home! We've got work to do. And I'm sure getting that doctor in there involved was a bad idea. We shouldn't have told him."

"And what would you have preferred?" Rawlston replied. "That we approached the distraught couple cold?"

Julia grunted, still staring through the window, and shading her eyes from the lights behind her. "I still think he looks far too sneaky to me," she said. "I'll bet he's already spouting off about her death helping someone else to live. He's probably got the papers in his pocket right now. By the time we get to the parents, that body will look like a car that was left unattended in Moss Side overnight." Julia suddenly stepped away from the window. "At last!" she muttered. "They're coming out. Keep out of my way, Sam. Okay? I don't want you putting me off."

Rawlston laughed. "No way! This I gotta see," he said.

Julia pointed her finger at him and said in a stern voice, "Just don't bugger me up! I'm warning you!"

"Here they come," Rawlston said, nodding towards the door behind her.

Julia turned as Graham and Amanda Middleton emerged tearfully from the ICU. She stepped forward to meet them, and with a sad expression on her face, she said in a solemn voice, "Hello, Mr and Mrs Middleton? My name is Julia Connors. I am so sorry for your loss, and I do hope you don't mind me speaking to you now. I know it's a bad time, but it is important that we act quickly. I represent a company called Medical Technology. I believe Doctor Hughes has already mentioned us to you?"

### Chapter Four

### A Perfect Subject

"Female, twenty-four, five-foot-eight, one-hundred and six pounds. Officially dead at 19:17 last night at Preston Royal Hospital, sir."

Sam Rawlston stared at the back of the large leather chair after he had finished his report and waited.

"Cause of death?" a man's voice asked.

"Severe head trauma sustained in an RTA. But she was in a coma for six months before they finally pulled the plug on her last night, sir. The file says she was conscious and cognisant at the scene of the accident, but lapsed into a coma a few minutes later."

"Perfect." The chair revolved, and Ben Watkins leaned forward and took the file from Rawlston's hand. Ben was in his early fifties, with fair hair that was beginning to recede. And like Rawlston, he spoke with an American accent. "Any problems getting permission from the deceased's relatives?"

"No, sir," Rawlston replied with a slight smile as he remembered the scene in the ICU only a few hours before. "Connors excelled herself, sir. She was more than her usual best. She preyed on the parents fears that their daughter would be cut up, and used that fear to put them off giving their consent to any transplants. Instead she persuaded them into believing that leaving their precious daughter with us would be a much better way. She fed them that story about studying the effects of stress on the brain following severe trauma, and how that would help to save the lives of other people who have similar injuries as the one that killed their daughter. It didn't take long to get them to agree after that."

"And they understood and accepted the delay this would cause to any funeral arrangements for their daughter?" Ben asked without looking up from the file he had already spread over his neat and tidy desk.

"Yes, sir. I think they were almost relieved. Connors got a month out of them."

Ben looked up and stared at Rawlston for a moment. Rawlston stood easy, his hands clasped in front of him in a relaxed pose. "Where is Julia?" Ben asked him.

"She's with the body, sir. She said she wanted to make sure that there wasn't any foul-ups."

"What's their ETA?"

"09:00."

"Have her report to me as soon as she gets in. That will be all."

"Yes, sir."

Ben Watkins watched as Rawlston spun on his heel and left. Once the door was shut, he sat back in his chair and slowly read Jayne Middleton's file.

Born in the maternity wing of Royal Oldham Hospital in December in 1974, Jayne had spent most of her early life in Oldham before moving to Liverpool. She had graduated in English at Liverpool University only a year ago, and was hoping to do a Masters Degree at Lancaster. She had been on her way back from there when she had had her fatal accident.

Among her many other talents, Jayne could also speak French and Italian. She had travelled around most of Europe according to her Passport, and she was a very frequent visitor to a local sports club of which she was a member. She had obviously led a very active life. The photos in the file showed an attractive young woman with long brown hair, brown eyes, and a vivacious smile. Ben was surprised that she was unattached with no children when she had died.

Yes, Jayne Middleton would make a perfect subject for a field test. She was just what Matthew Hall had been waiting for, and she fitted MedTec's requirements to a tee. Now he would find out if his faith in Matthew had been justified. A month was all they had, but he hoped it would be long enough. It should be long enough. And for his own sake as well as for Matthew's, it had better be.

### Chapter Five

### First Impressions

"You look surprised?" Ben said to Matthew. They both stood in the room next to Matthew's lab, watching as the technicians connected up all the equipment. "I told you we would get you a suitable subject for your test, didn't I? Were you beginning to doubt me?"

Matthew stared at the woman in the bed surrounded by all the medical equipment. "No, it's just that I didn't expect it to be a woman, that's all," he said, swallowing loudly.

"Does it make a difference?"

Matthew heard the worried tone in Ben's voice and quickly shook his head. "No, not at all. It's just that I didn't expect it."

"Does it make a difference to you?"

Matthew looked up at Ben, his expression rather obvious. But before he could say anything, Ben smiled at him. "Look, Matthew," he said putting his arm around his shoulders. "I know what you're thinking, but don't go soft on me. Planning all this was one thing, wasn't it, but now that it's for real, and now you're suddenly faced with a real body, it's shocked you, hasn't it?"

Matthew nodded.

"Well, alright," Ben went on. "So this is a dead woman, officially anyway. But don't let that put you off. All the papers have been signed and filed with the appropriate authorities, so she's no longer a real person. She, it, is the field trial for your research. You knew that you would have to work with a human subject sooner or later. For God's sake, you've been moping around the offices waiting for one for long enough. Now we've finally got one, you should be excited!" He pointed to the bed and said with emotion, "This is what we've both been waiting for, Matthew! This is exactly what you asked for! The damage to her brain has been minimal, and she has been off the life support machines for less than thirty minutes. Everything's ready." Ben then shook his head sadly before adding in a more subdued tone, "But, if you've got cold feet. Well, all you have to do is say the word, Matthew, and we can call it all off, right now. I'll get a pasting in the board room, and it could mean my job, but if you're not sure...."

Matthew had started to protest before Ben had finished. "I want to go on, Ben! I do! I'm sorry, it's just that, faced with a real person, a young woman, I—"

"Yeah, I know. You weren't expecting it. You told me. But you were very clear on your requirements, and male or female wasn't one of them. This was what you wanted, so this is what you got. That's why it took us so long. Now, let's leave these people to do their job while we go back into your lab and you can show me that implant."

Matthew looked over his shoulder as Ben led him away, and stared one last time at the young woman in the bed, and at the way the MedTec technicians handled her so casually. It was as if they had already come to terms with her lack of humanity, and that to them, she was only a laboratory experiment. Somehow that worried and alarmed Matthew.

As the door closed behind them, and they stood alone together in the corridor, Matthew suddenly said, "I can't do it, Ben."

"What?" Ben looked at him in shock.

Matthew smiled. "No, I don't mean I don't want to go on with the field trial," he said quickly. "I mean I can't just think of her as an object, a thing, you know?"

Ben sighed. "You had me worried for a moment," he said. "Let's go inside your lab where we can talk in privacy."

They walked the few paces to the door marked 'Mat's Den' and went inside. As soon as they were inside, Matthew started to explain his feelings and his fears. "I guess I was being naive," he began. "I was too detached. I knew I needed a human guinea pig, but I didn't really think of the consequences until I saw her in that bed. She's still a person, Ben. To me, she's not dead. She's living and breathing, and she'll have to be fed and looked after."

"My people will do all that, don't worry."

"But I do worry, Ben, because they think of her the way you do. They're just technicians, not nurses. I saw the way they touched her and treated her. They didn't care about her feelings, or her dignity."

"But she's dead!" Ben exclaimed.

"No she's not!" Matthew insisted. "Not to me anyway. For my experiment to have any success at all, I have to believe that she's still alive. If at any time I begin to think of her as dead, then it's over. Do you understand?"

Ben looked at him in silence for a moment. Matthew was obviously very earnest in his fears, and the last thing Ben wanted was for anything to put him off at this most vital stage. He took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll talk to everyone. I'll make sure that she's treated properly."

"Hire some proper nurses, don't just leave it to the technicians. And does she have to be naked?"

Ben smiled wryly. "You're right," he said, slapping Matthew on the shoulder. "You're absolutely right. Maybe it's me that's got too detached. I'll see that a proper nurse is hired to look after her, and that the surgical team carries out the operation this afternoon using the correct medical practices. From now on she's a patient and not just a subject for the field trial." Ben then paused for a moment as he took a calculated risk. "Her name's Jayne," he said with sudden resolution. "I'll have her complete file sent over to you so that you can learn all about her. Okay?"

"Jayne," Matthew repeated, nodding slowly at first, and then more strongly. "Yes. Thank you, Ben. I know it might cost a bit more money, but it means a lot to me. Thank you."

Ben smiled. "And the success of your work means a lot to me," he said. "Come on, show me that implant that cost me so much. I'd like to see it before the surgeons put it into Jayne's head."

Ben saw how the use of her name relaxed Matthew, and knew immediately that he had made the right decision. As Matthew showed him the implant and slowly explained for the hundredth time how it would work, Ben hardly listened. He just smiled and nodded as if he were listening, while all the time he was hoping that it would be this easy at the end of the field trial. But now that Jayne had been established as a person, he knew that that would be impossible. If the experiment was a success, and Ben knew that it had to be, for all their sakes, then terminating the field trial was going to be very tricky indeed.

### Chapter Six

### The Field Trial

Jayne Middleton.

Matthew kept staring at her as he sat at his terminal next to her bed. She looked so peaceful lying there. Her brown hair was too long for the bandages around her head, and was spread out over the pillow. She could have been sleeping, but the tubes in her mouth and nose gave away the true state of her condition. The machines kept her breathing, and Matthew listened to the slow, rhythmic, breaths that they forced into Jayne's lungs. He watched as her chest rose and fell under the sheet that now covered her, and reached out to take her hand where it lay by her side.

As he held her hand in his, he remembered how she had first looked that morning, lying naked and uncovered on the bed. She had seemed so limp and colourless, inhuman even. He had felt uncomfortable and somehow embarrassed looking at her. Now she was dressed in a surgical gown and the machines had returned the colour and warmth to her skin. To him, she was alive again, a person once more.

Jayne Middleton.

But according to current medical beliefs, this was all a waste of time. Her heart had been stimulated and was beating once more, the machines forced the air in and out of her lungs, and a drip fed nutrients into her. But the most important organ in her body, her brain, was inactive. The trauma it had sustained in the accident had damaged it too much, and the subsequent lack of oxygen during her transfer would have damaged it even further. Although Jayne was physically strong enough for her heart to be restarted, and for her body to recover from the stress it had undergone, her brain was a much more fragile entity.

Medical experience showed that the brain never recovered from such damage, and that depriving brain cells of oxygen had an even more damaging and irreversible affect. So, although Jayne's body was alive, her brain was dead. And that was that.

Until now.

Matthew was sure that the information the brain had once stored when alive was not lost at death, at least not for a while. He believed that, like the heart, the brain could also be restarted, or that, at the very least, the information it stored could be accessed. To Matthew, the brain was just a big, complicated computer, and death was the off switch. His theory was that the memories and personality stored in the brain were still there, and like the information stored on a hard disc that had crashed, it could be retrieved. But, up to now, no one knew how. Matthew thought he knew.

The surgery to install the implant in Jayne's head had been completed that afternoon, and, as Ben had promised, the surgery had been carried out as if Jayne were a live patient. Two nurses had already been hired to look after Jayne, and Matthew had met them both. They were called Sandra and Julia. Both were bright and friendly, and they had looked after Jayne all day together. Sandra had now gone home, but Julia would stay on all night, giving way to Sandra who would return in the morning.

It was six o'clock, and most people had already gone home, but for Matthew, his work was just beginning. The implant in Jayne's head was connected by a cable through the wall to the two Cray computers MedTec had installed in Matthew's lab. In fact, they took up most of the space in his lab, and were by far the most costly items to be purchased. They were very powerful, but apart from the many simulations, they had hardly twitched. That would all change tonight.

Matthew had spent the last part of the afternoon wheeling his mini-computer into the room next door and connecting it up to the Crays via the cables through the wall. Even though there was a closed circuit TV camera that relayed pictures of Jayne directly to his lab, Matthew wanted to be in the room with her during the field trial.

Now everything was ready. Matthew let go of Jayne's hand and turned to his keyboard and monitor. He typed away for a few seconds and then hit the return key with a flourish. Apparently nothing happened, but next door one of the Crays began to heat up as its usage went up from almost zero to eighty percent in a few seconds.

### Chapter Seven

### The First Week

"What could possibly keep two Crays buzzing for a week at almost maximum capacity with so little result?" Ben moaned as he paced up and down in the monitoring room. "With computer power like that, she should be orbiting Mars by now!"

He walked over to the monitor screen and pointed at Jayne still lying in her bed, Matthew sitting at his computer next to her as usual. "But look at her!" he said in exasperation. "If you and that other nurse didn't move her about each day, she'd still be in the same position she was on the first day!"

"She is in the same position she was on the first day," Julia Connors pointed out as she sat casually by the monitor, her legs crossed. She was dressed in a nurse's uniform and waved a pencil about idly in her hand. "If you ask me she's as dead as a door nail, but not yet as stiff."

"I didn't ask you!" Ben snapped at her. Then he smiled and leaned over her, adding, "But if this does all go wrong, I'll make sure everyone knows who picked the subject for our field trial!"

Julia threw the pencil down and stood up. "You're not pinning this on me, Benjamin!" she said in a raised voice, pushing him back. "I've put too many years in for the Corporation to lose it all now just because one of your fancy ideas is going down the toilet!"

Ben moved away, spreading his arms wide in an expression of detachment. "It's no use complaining to me, Julia dear," he said. "You know what Grant's like. He won't just flush me, he'll flush the whole kit and caboodle. Me, you, Rawlston, Matthew in there, even this whole office, we'll all disappear overnight, never to be seen again. It's happened before. Don't tell me you haven't heard about what happened in Santa Monica?"

Julia stared at him. She had heard. The Corporation's offices in Santa Monica had been three times as big as the one here in Manchester. The Managing Director had put his faith in a venture that failed, and had reported this disaster at the following board meeting at the Corporation's headquarters in Hackensack, New Jersey. He had never returned from that meeting. It was said that he had 'left the company', and overnight, half his staff had 'left the company' with him. None of them, or their families, had ever been seen again.

Julia had no wish to 'leave the company'. "Why don't you go in there and talk to him?" she said in a much calmer voice.

"Yes, why not?" Ben said with a sigh. "Since I'm paying for it all, the least Matthew can do is explain to me why nothing's happening."

"And don't forget to remind him that he only has three weeks left," Julia said as Ben reached for the door.

Ben nodded and left.

Julia sat down again at the nurses' station. She turned the volume up on the monitor and waited.

When Julia had gone to see Ben when she got back with Jayne Middleton's body, and he had asked her to keep a close watch on Matthew and his subject during the field trial, she had known why, of course. The Corporation had already spent a large amount of money on Matthew's research, and if there were no results to show for it at the end, things would get extremely messy. Sam was very good, and all that, but when it came to anything messy, he was too officious, too correct. And the last thing you wanted when things were getting messy was someone who was like that. No, when things got messy, it was always Julia's job to sort it out. And this would need a lot of sorting out if another Santa Monica was to be avoided.

Well, that was fine with her, it was what she was good at. Extremely good at, in fact. But she had never imagined after her meeting with Ben that she would end up wet nursing the living dead in there. She had spent hours each night working her butt off looking after sleeping beauty, and she hadn't enjoyed it one bit. No, definitely not. So, if the field trial was about to come to a premature end, there would be no one more pleased than her. Her only hope was that it was going to be as messy as possible, because this was one clean up operation she was really going to enjoy.

Julia watched the monitor intently as the door finally opened and Benjamin Watkins appeared. This she had to see. She heard the two men exchange a brief greeting together, and smiled when Ben then plunged straight in, asking Matthew why nothing at all was happening. That's the way, she thought, lead him into it nice and gently, then hit him with a baseball-bat.

### Chapter Eight

### Brain Storming

"Why didn't you tell me you were so worried?" Matthew replied after Ben had explained his situation.

"I thought you knew. All of this, the expense, everything, was on my say so. So, if there are no results to show for it all at the end of the field trial, I'm for it. I thought that was obvious, even to you."

Ben had pulled up a chair and sat next to Matthew at his computer. To his surprise, Matthew just grinned at him. It annoyed Ben, but he kept his cool and said, "You've only got three more weeks, you know that, don't you?"

"Three more weeks will be fine, Ben!" Matthew said, still smiling. He turned back to his computer, and began typing on the keyboard.

Ben felt more annoyed than ever. Matthew just didn't seem to understand the appalling consequences for failure. Part of that was his own fault, of course. He had never revealed who owned MedTec, or the real reason why the Corporation was interested in Matthew's research, for that would have defeated the whole object, because Matthew would never have agreed to work with them if he knew the truth. But failure would bring out the truth, in a very short, but horrific climax.

Ben did his best to keep calm. "You don't seem to understand," he began, and then he stopped as something caught his eye.

Jayne Middleton's arm had slowly raised from the side of the bed where it lay, and as Ben stared at it, wide eyed, she held up three fingers in an obvious sign.

Ben continued to stare at those three fingers as Matthew said over his shoulder, "Three weeks to go, you said. Or, if you prefer, one week gone."

Matthew typed again on his keyboard, and Jayne lowered two of her fingers. Ben was left staring at her raised middle finger.

Ben turned to Matthew and asked in a subdued voice, "How long have you been able to do that?"

Matthew turned to face Ben and smiled once more. "Oh, since about yesterday morning," he said. "But that's nothing, watch this!"

Matthew typed on his keyboard again, then he began to rummage about in the drawer of his equipment trolley. A few seconds passed before he produced a virtual reality glove from somewhere inside. He quickly plugged it into his mini-computer and put it on his right hand. As he moved his hand and fingers, Jayne's hand and fingers copied his movements exactly.

"You should have told me you were worried, Ben, I could have showed you this yesterday," Matthew said as they both watched Jayne's arm, hand and fingers moving so energetically. "Although it might have looked like nothing was happening this week, most of the hard work has been done. I thought you would have guessed that by the increased usage on the Crays. Both of them are up to about ninety percent now, but that should be the limit."

"I dismissed it without thinking," Ben admitted. "I'm used to physical results, so I never thought about where all that computer power was going. Can I try?"

Matthew nodded and took off the glove. Ben put it on and began to move his hand, watching as Jayne copied his every move. "I know you must have explained it to me a hundred times before, Matthew," he said, "but explain it to me again, will you?"

"Okay." Matthew swivelled in his chair and faced Ben properly. "If you remember from my proposal, the first task was the make or break of my whole research project. Before we can do anything, the neural net of the brain has to be mapped out. That's what the Crays have been doing all this week."

"But what does that actually mean?" Ben asked as he made a thumbs up sign and watched Jayne do the same. "I'm an electronics man, not a brain surgeon."

Matthew laughed. "Yes, it is hard," he said, scratching his head. "And I was like you in the beginning, but if I can understand the basics of it, you can. It's to do with the way we remember things.

"At the start, at birth, you can think of the brain as being a clean slate. The brain is made up of millions and millions of neural cells, but none of them are connected in any way. Then, as we learn things, pathways between neural cells begin to be formed. Gradually, as we remember more things, the pathways get more complicated as more and more neural cells are joined together. Soon it becomes a vast network of interconnecting pathways, an impenetrable rat's nest of junctions and cells.

"The complicated bit is understanding how our memory actually works. It's not like a computer, where one piece of information is stored in one place. No, for us, one memory could require a dozen neural cells. But it's not even that simple. Sometimes a smell might make you remember a time, a place, or even a person. Or a name might make you think of an event, or some sort of experience. So all your memories, everything, is interconnected, from one end of the rat's nest to the other. Who knows how we access it, or how it really works? But it does work, and instantly. Well, almost instantly. The pathways need to be refreshed every so often. If they're not, they seem to fade away.

"You must have experienced the times when you want to remember something but you can't? You know, the times when someone's name is on the tip of your tongue, but you just can't get it?"

Ben stopped playing with the virtual reality glove and nodded to Matthew as he took it off. "Yes," he said. "It drives me crazy when I can't remember like that. It's very annoying."

Matthew smiled as he took the glove back from him. "That's because your brain is trying to find the correct pathway, but for some reason the route isn't there anymore. So what do you do? You try and find a different route, that's what. You try to get round the gap by thinking of something else that will remind you of what you want to remember. It's as if you know exactly where it is, but you just can't reach it. You can go frantic trying to get closer and closer, until finally, you remember. And at the instant of remembering, the lost pathway is remade, and the thing that you couldn't remember before is now suddenly so obvious."

"So how does all this fit in with your work?"

"Well, Jayne's brain was a mass of interconnecting pathways before she was injured. And although she's alive again, those pathways have all disappeared. Part of the reason for that is that there is no life, or energy in the neural cells. The implant provides that energy in the form of a very weak electrical charge from the tiny battery inside it. From it's position between the two halves of Jayne's brain, it can stimulate all the neural cells like a little pacemaker. The next task is to refresh all those pathways. That's what the Crays have been doing.

"The software I wrote acts a bit like a computer virus. It leaves the implant along one of the hard wired routes into the brain where it reaches one neural cell. Once there, it identifies all the pathways that lead from it, reproduces itself, and sends the clones down each pathway. It then returns to the Crays to tell them where it went. Once the clones get to other neural cells, they each do the same, sending off more clones down more pathways. They also return to the Crays, travelling back through the same pathways to the first neural cell, and from there back to the implant. Each time this happens the neural cells and the pathways between them are refreshed, rebuilding the neural net. It's a bit more complicated than that, but basically, that's all there is to it. It just takes a long time. That's why the Crays are so busy. They're mapping out the neural net from the data they get from the returning virus clones. And because the amount of data coming back becomes very large very quickly, the first Cray was at it's limits by the end of the first day. Now the two of them have almost got the mapping out done between them."

"Are you telling me that the Crays are trying to reproduce and store Jayne's memories?"

Matthew shook his head. "No, not at all. We would need more than two Crays to do that. All they're doing at the moment is mapping out the neural net and continually refreshing it via the implant. The actual meaning, or content, of the information that the pathways and neural cells hold hasn't been considered yet. That will come later, when the Crays are finished. Until then, I've been accessing the map they've created on this computer to analyse the connections between Jayne's brain and the rest of her nervous system. I've concentrated on just her right arm and hand for the moment, and you've seen the results. But I've just been playing at it. When the Crays finish mapping out all of Jayne's neural net, which will probably be tomorrow, or the day after, I'll switch them over to this task, starting where I leave off. It'll be another week, maybe two, before they've finished making the connections between her neural net and the rest of her body."

"So when can we think about accessing her memories?"

"Any time after that."

"And you'll use the Crays to do that, too?"

"No, with luck we won't need them anymore after that."

"I don't understand," Ben said, a puzzled expression on his face. "What will you use if you don't use the Crays?"

"We'll just ask Jayne. She should be awake by then."

### Chapter Nine

### Motives

"He's an arrogant little git, isn't he?" Julia said to a stunned looking Ben when he had returned to the monitoring room. She was still sitting at the nurses' station, only now the pencil was stuck between her teeth. "'We'll just ask Jayne,'" she mimicked, chewing on the end of the pencil. "That's what he thinks. If that slab of meat moves without one of you playing glove puppets, I'll take up nursing full time. In fact I'll specialise in the elderly and infirm."

Ben ignored her remarks and instead demanded, "You're in here all the time, why the hell didn't you see anything before?"

"Because that's the first time that extra from 'The Living Dead' in there has moved without mine or Sandra's hand up her back!" Julia retorted. "I swear it, Benjamin!"

"How can you be so sure Sandra hasn't seen any movement?"

"Because she never stops gabbing. If she'd seen our favourite corpse raise even so much as an eyebrow, she would have talked me to death about it before she went home. For God's sake, Ben, there's no one else she can tell about her marvellously exciting day except me, so give me some credit."

Ben was thoughtful for a moment before suddenly asking, "Are the Crays being downloaded each night as planned?"

Julia grunted. "Of course they are. And his mini-computer, and his lap-top, which he virtually sleeps with, so getting hold of that each night is a pain in the arse."

"Alright, alright! So it's a pain in the arse! So long as Tyler can use the data, I don't give a shit!" Ben almost shouted.

"Don't tell me you're not pleased that sleeping beauty is going to awake?" Julia said with heavy sarcasm. "I thought the whole point of this was to help these poor people? Think of the lives you could save, think of the publicity, Benjamin! Think of the profits, too! And think of Grant's smiling face when you tell him all about it!"

Ben glared at her. It was meant to shut her up, but all it did was make her laugh. "I don't think this is at all funny," Ben said sternly.

Julia's laughter increased when she saw how un-amused Ben was. But finally it faded to a giggle, and she muttered, "Oh, Benjamin! Fancy starting out with motives like yours and ending up as a philanthropist. You have to see the funny side of it."

"There isn't a funny side of it, and you know it," Ben said in dismay.

Ben suddenly felt very depressed. He sat down at the nurses' station next to Julia, took a deep breath and sighed, resting his head in his hands. He glanced at the monitor, seeing Matthew still sitting by his computer as before, then he turned his eyes towards Julia and said, "How can I tell Grant that our project to manipulate the human memory has turned into a great medical breakthrough?"

"By phone, long distance," Julia replied.

"Get serious, Julia."

"I am serious. There's still a lot of money to be made here, so if you tell him right, he might let you live." Julia shrugged her shoulders and added, "He might break off all your limbs at the trunk, but he'll let you live."

Ben was already shaking his head. "This medical breakthrough isn't going anywhere, at least not for a long while yet. If Grant can find a use for it, then it'll be worth something. But that will be someone else's job, not yours or mine. Our job was to find a method of permanently changing someone's mind. To remove what was once there and replace it with something totally new and different. People whose minds can be changed like that in a guaranteed, foolproof way can be very useful to the Corporation. Not just in the matter of easing corporate expansion strategies where money won't work and resistance is being met, but also in the matter of executing difficult and unsavoury tasks. As you well know yourself, finding the right person to carry out such tasks has always been a major problem. But if we can tailor make the person to fit the task, and then erase that person just as easily, then we will have a real breakthrough on our hands. And that's the breakthrough that Grant expects, not the reawakening of trauma victims. So unless we can glean something from the data we've downloaded to satisfy his expectation, we're all going to end up dead. Far more dead than Jayne Middleton ever was."

### Chapter Ten

### The Second Week

Jayne Middleton's body trembled. She lay in the bed twitching as if she was suffering from a mild electrical shock, which in some respects she was. Her movements weren't violent, but they were vigorous and persistent. Lots and lots of tiny twitches brought on by the program that the Crays were now executing.

The bandages and stitches had been removed from Jayne's head, and the bald patch at the back of her head where the implant had been inserted was now clearly visible. Her scalp was still red and bruised looking around the wound, but new hair growth was already evident. A small socket was attached to her skull at the same point. A cable plugged into this socket went up and along the wall before disappearing through a hole into Matthew's lab next door.

Matthew watched Jayne intently. Every so often he would stroke her hair, moving it to cover the socket and bald patch. Or he would pull up the sheet which kept slowly working it's way down as Jayne moved about. It had been like this for five days now, ever since the Crays began the task of identifying the pathways that linked Jayne's brain to her nervous system.

Sandra came in and stood by the bed, staring at Jayne. Sandra was forty-one, about five-foot-two, with short dark hair and a happy, friendly face. She had two grown up children (one of whom was married and expecting), was divorced for five years now, and had already booked her holiday to the South of France. Matthew had found all this out within a very short time of meeting her. He liked Sandra, and the two of them had got on well together right from the start.

Sandra shook her head. "It's not natural," she said to Matthew in a very strong Mancunian accent. "I know you mean well, Matt, but it makes me shiver watching her moving about like that. What are you doing to the poor girl?"

"Don't worry, it's just the way the program works," Matthew replied. "Up to now, the Crays have only been refreshing the neural pathways in Jayne's brain with a very low electrical charge. Now they are using a much more stronger electrical charge to select and activate a single neural cell in Jayne's brain. This triggers all the pathways that are connected to it. Some of these pathways lead to nerve endings that control Jayne's body. The electrical charge is now strong enough to stimulate these nerves. The Crays then monitor the feedback from all the other neural cells in Jayne's brain, some of which may also have nerve endings connected to them. It's a bit more complicated than that, because one neural cell may trigger several others, and the Crays have a devil of a job sorting out all the responses they get back."

Sandra had wished she had never asked. She should know better by now. But one of the things she liked about Matthew was that he was always straight with you. Whatever you asked him, he told you. He never fobbed you off, assuming that you were too thick to understand. "But how do you know what each nerve does?" she asked him.

"Knowing exactly what's been triggered doesn't matter for now, what does matter is identifying the nerve endings that respond, and then matching them up to the neural cells that were first triggered."

"It matters to me," Sandra said indignantly as Matthew went back to his keyboard. "I have to clean up every time she has a little accident, and so far she's had three of those little accidents this morning, and they're all your fault!"

"Sorry, Sandra," Matthew replied apologetically. "It won't last much longer, I promise."

Sandra wagged her finger at him. "Good! Just so long as you know that you're in my bad books," she told him.

Matthew smiled. He had got to know Sandra very quickly, far more quickly than the other nurse. Julia was young and beautiful, a real eye-catcher, and she was always joking and making wise cracks. But Matthew had found it difficult to get to know her properly. Unlike Sandra who was always open and chatty, Julia never talked about her private life or how she felt, or what else was happening to her outside work. It was as if she didn't exist outside working hours. Maybe that was because she was on at night while Sandra was on during the day. A pity, really. It would have been nice to get to know her better.

Sandra had turned her attention to Jayne while Matthew was deep in thought. She was used to his silences, and put it down to a lack of sleep. First, she checked Jayne's temperature and her pulse, then she looked over the monitors and life support machines that kept Jayne alive. Finally, she began changing the nearly empty drip for a new one she had brought with her.

Matthew watched her. Or more correctly, he watched Jayne as Sandra tended to her. Now, Julia was beautiful, he had to admit, and if she had been more friendly he might have got to like her more. In fact, he always thought that blondes were his type. But Jayne was something else.

There was something about Jayne that had caught Matthew's attention from the moment he had first seen her. Even in a coma, with pipes and tubes everywhere, she was still beautiful. A dark haired beauty who was almost the reverse of Julia. And as she lay, serene in her bed, Matthew had grown more and more attracted to her. As the Crays had continued with their program, Jayne's eyes had occasionally fluttered and half opened. She had dark brown eyes, like her long hair. One day soon, she would open those eyes properly, and see him, Matthew was sure of it. And he couldn't wait for that day.

"How did you get her arm to move, then?" Sandra suddenly asked, breaking into Matthew's thoughts.

"What?"

"Aren't you listening to me?" Sandra said in mock annoyance, her hands on her hips.

"Sorry, I was miles away."

"Yeah, mooning over bright eyes I'll bet!"

Matthew went slightly red. "I was not!"

"Oh, yes you were! Tarty cow!"

"Sandra!" Matthew exclaimed, only realising now who Sandra was actually referring to. Except for the first day, Sandra and Julia only ever met when they changed over shifts, but Matthew was well aware that Sandra wasn't too keen on Julia. "You hardly know her, Sandra. You shouldn't say things like that."

"You hardly know her, either!" Sandra replied, and wagging a finger at him again, she went on, "I'm telling you, Matt, you're wasting your time with that one. There's more to her than meets the eye. She's never been a professional nurse, that's for sure. Oh, she knows her stuff, alright. But she does it all slightly differently, not like someone with experience, someone who's done it all before. I wouldn't trust her as far as I could chuck her. If you ask me, you'd be much better off with this one in bed than you would be with the likes of her."

Matthew glanced at Jayne. Her teeth were chattering and there were beads of sweat on her face and brow. The exertion the program the Crays were executing was taking it's toll. Jayne's body had been under stimulation for nearly a week now. Matthew had been with her most of that time, retiring to his apartment for no more than four or five hours each night. But Jayne had had no respite. How her muscles must ache. As he stared at her in the bed, he wondered if Sandra knew how much closer to the real truth she had been with that last remark.

"But we don't know much about her, either," he said, becoming thoughtful once more.

Two weeks he had known Jayne Middleton. And during that time he had spent almost every waking hour with her. Always he was near her, close to her. He had watched her for hours during the night. Watched her sleeping and breathing. Watched her face and body. There were many occasions when he could have taken advantage of his position and moved the sheet aside and looked more closely. But he never had. He remembered how he had seen Jayne's body on that first day, and the way the technicians had treated her so callously, and how it had upset him. He could never treat her like that.

Sandra wiped Jayne's brow with a face cloth. "The poor thing, you're tiring her out," she said.

Matthew sighed. "It won't last much longer. And it gets easier after this."

"Is that when you think she'll wake up?"

"I hope so." God, how he meant those words.

Sandra stood with her hands on her hips again. "Well, are you going to answer my question, or not?" she demanded.

"What question?"

"Oh, mercy!" Sandra exclaimed, rolling her eyes heavenward. She repeated her question again. "If you don't know what all the nerve thingys are connected to, how did you make her hand move?"

"Oh, yes! That's easy! I moved her hand and fingers about and monitored which neural cells responded. Then I stimulated the same neural cells with my mini-computer. It took a while for me to program my computer to move her hand and fingers properly, but the Crays will do it much quicker, you'll see."

"I know I'm going to hate myself for this, but how? They've been at it for five days, and so far all they've succeeded in doing is make my job harder."

Matthew grinned at her. "What they learn they don't forget. When they're finished this program, I'll start them on the next one, and that's when you'll see something."

### Chapter Eleven

###  Priorities

"It's not a problem, Ben. Just have confidence in your people."

Ben stared at Glen Tyler. He wasn't impressed. But if Tyler was confident of getting the results they needed from the data downloaded from the Crays, than why should he worry?

Glen Tyler was one of the Corporation's best computer men. His field was artificial intelligence, and Grant had insisted that Tyler be involved with Matthew's research from the start. They were standing in the Corporation's computer centre in Exchange Quay, surrounded by technicians in white coats. The computer centre was on the eighth floor, within eyesight of the MedTec Offices in Salford Quays, but no one there even knew that it existed.

Every night since the project began, the data from Matthew's computers had been downloaded to the IBM mainframe for analysis. There were four Cray computers linked to the IBM, and Tyler had used them to simulate Matthew's results. He was very intelligent and equally as confident. He was also very patronising.

"Let Hall carry on with his work," Tyler went on, putting his arm around Ben's shoulders and walking him towards his office. "Even if he succeeds in waking the girl from her coma, it's not a problem. In fact, it's a bonus."

"How can that be a bonus?" Ben snapped, freeing himself from Tyler's arm. "The last thing we want is her running about, asking questions and causing us more problems!"

"Ah! But she won't!" Tyler said, holding his finger up in front of Ben's nose. "Because that's when she ceases to be his field trial, and becomes ours."

They had reached Tyler's office, and as soon as the door was closed Tyler became excited. "I can make this work, Ben!" he said. "The data we've obtained is remarkable! A complete neural net, all mapped out! And we've already started reclaiming small amounts of her memory. I've had them verified with her records, and they're accurate, Ben. Do you realise how important this is? And now we're beginning to recognise how to control her nervous system, too!"

"Marvellous, I'm ecstatic," Ben said in tones that obviously meant that he wasn't. He sat down on one of the chairs by Tyler's desk and said, "But tell me this, Glen. It's been over two weeks now, so have you managed to input anything yet? I know it's great getting all this stuff out, but it's putting it in that counts. Or have you forgotten that?"

Tyler sat down behind his desk. "The reception and transmission from the radio in the implant is perfect. We could download information at any time—"

"But have you?" Ben interrupted him.

"Now is not the time—"

"You mean 'no'!" Ben interrupted again.

Tyler looked annoyed, but he kept his calm. "You know as well as I that downloading information to a woman in a coma would be useless. We have to wait for her to awake before we can begin."

"No!" Now Ben waved his finger at Tyler. "You put something in now, do you hear me! I want Grant to see an immediate result. Because if, or when, she wakes up, there could be no time to carry out an effective memory alteration. We could be too busy sorting out the mess."

Tyler was flustered. "But we have much more important work to do analysing the data!" he insisted. "With the implant, we could download any time!"

"Not when she's conscious. She'll be aware of the changes."

"But she isn't conscious yet. And, anyway, we don't know that!"

"We don't know anything yet!" Ben pointed out. "We don't really know if we can download any data until we've tried it, we don't know if it'll stick if we can download it, and we don't even know whether any of this will come to anything. Even if she remembered what you put in, she could ignore it. All we do know for sure is that Matthew seems to be getting along just fine!"

"Alright! I'll prove it to you!" Tyler announced. "I'll have something downloaded by the end of today. And I'll guarantee that she won't forget it or ignore it. But remember this, you won't see anything unless she wakes up, and you will have succeeded in diverting my people from more important work."

"I decide what's important," Ben said. "I am in charge, remember?"

Glen Tyler sat back in his chair and folded his arms. "Yes, Ben," he said, calm again. "You are in charge, and responsible for this project."

They stared at one another in a brief silence. Ben was well aware of Tyler's meaning when he said that he was responsible as well as in charge. If anything went wrong, Tyler would be quick to blame him. And Tyler was Grant's chosen man.

There was a tap on the door, and they both looked up as Rawlston came into the office without waiting for an answer.

"How dare you come in like that!" Tyler snapped at him.

"Rawlston can come in whenever he likes," Ben told him. Then, turning to Rawlston, he added, "Provided he's got something important to tell me."

Rawlston took his cue. "I thought you ought to know, sir. She's breathing on her own. All the machines are off."

### Chapter Twelve

### Seeing is Believing

Sandra stared at Jayne in utter disbelief. She had never dreamed that what Matthew was trying to do would actually work. But now she did believe.

Her doubts weren't surprising, really. Nothing ever seemed to happen. Each day since Sandra had started work at MedTec, Matthew would sit typing at his keyboard all day and often into the night without any apparent success, or change, in Jayne's condition. He would be there first thing in the morning when she arrived, and he would still be there when she left in the evening. Matthew was working very hard, and he was obviously very motivated. But still, nothing seemed to happen.

True, Sandra had been a little shocked when Matthew had showed her how he could make Jayne's hand and arm move. But that just seemed to be a trick he did with his computer. Jayne wasn't awake, or anything like that. Even when Jayne started trembling and losing control of her body, Sandra was still unprepared for what would come.

It was at 3.25 in the afternoon. Sandra would never forget it.

"That's it, Sandra!" Matthew had announced a short time before as Sandra was changing Jayne's gown for a clean one.

"That's what?" Sandra had asked, not too interested. Jayne had had several little accidents that day, and Sandra had been kept busy keeping her and the bed clean.

"The Crays have finished. No more extra cleaning duties from now on!"

"Well, I'm glad to hear that! And I bet Julia will be too. And that must be the first and only time I'll really know what she's thinking!"

Matthew had smiled at her. Sandra had finished what she was doing and loaded all the soiled linen into a laundry basket. When she looked up, Matthew was still smiling at her. "Now what?" she had asked him.

"We switch the life support machines off."

Sandra had thought that she hadn't heard him right. But he had quickly explained.

According to Matthew, the computers had finished learning which parts of Jayne's brain controlled her body. This included the nerves that controlled her lungs, and that's why they no longer needed the life support machines. The implant in Jayne's head could now stimulate her diaphragm directly through her brain, and so inflate and deflate her lungs normally.

Sandra hadn't believed him, and she had argued that they should wait. But Matthew was adamant that it would work, and that Jayne would be alright.

Sandra had taken away the laundry basket and finished cleaning up in a daze. Her mind had been full of confusion. If Matthew switched off the machines and Jayne died, who would be responsible? But Matthew was so confident, and Sandra wasn't in any real position to stop him switching the machines off if he really wanted to. The only thing she was sure of was that she wasn't going to be the one to pull the plug.

When Sandra had returned to the room and it came to the final moment, she had refused to do it, and in the end Matthew had been the one to switch off the ventilator. Sandra had then removed the tubes from Jayne's mouth, her hands shaking. And that was when it happened.

Matthew typed for a few seconds on his keyboard and Jayne breathed. It was exactly 3.25 in the afternoon and Sandra would never forget it.

### Chapter Thirteen

###  Disappointment

"Sandra's already checked her out," Matthew said as Ben stood next to him by Jayne's bed. "Her pulse and blood pressure are fine, and as you can see, she's breathing normally."

Ben stared at Jayne Middleton. Apart from the cable connected to her head, and the drip feeding into her arm, she looked perfectly healthy and alive. And as Matthew had said, she was breathing normally.

"It's going to work, isn't it?" Ben said in a subdued voice.

Matthew sighed. "I hope so, Ben. Everything has gone to plan so far." Matthew folded his arms as he stared down at Jayne with Ben. "The implant is working fine. The Crays have programmed it with the neural pathways that control Jayne's body. That way the implant can always keep her alive no matter what."

"What are the Crays doing now?" Ben asked him.

"Nothing. They're idle, and have been for a couple of days."

Ben looked up at Matthew. "Only the implant is keeping her breathing?"

Matthew nodded. "That's right, that is what it was supposed to do," he replied. "Up to now, one of the Crays has been using the information they both learned about Jayne's neural pathways during the first week to slowly reform them. And even while the other Cray was identifying the connections between Jayne's brain and the rest of her nervous system during the second week, the first Cray has continued with the process of stimulating and refreshing her neural pathways. That refreshing has gradually caused the pathways between each neural cell to be reformed. For the last two days the implant has been supplying the energy to continue that refreshing process. During that time I've been running lots of diagnostic tests on it. I wanted to be sure that everything was working right before the ventilator was switched off today."

"And you don't need the Crays at all anymore?"

"No, they've done their job. Jayne's brain itself is now the storage medium for her neural net once more. I can even unplug her from the Crays." Before Ben could protest, Matthew leaned forward and pulled the cable from the socket in the back of Jayne's head. Jayne continued to breathe unaffected.

Ben stared at Jayne. He was genuinely amazed at what Matthew had been able to do, but he couldn't help having that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "So what happens now?" he asked.

"We wait and see if she wakes up."

"And if she doesn't?"

Matthew shrugged his shoulders. "Then I've failed, I suppose. I can still write up my thesis, I think I've got enough to get my Phd. But I'll always feel sad that I couldn't get her back."

Ben patted Matthew on the back. "You've done far more than you'll need for any Phd, Matthew," he said with a smile. "I'm going to the monthly board meeting this week, so I'll be away for a few days. But you can be sure that I'll let them all know what a damn fine job you've done here. Keep at it, Matthew! Remember, you've still got another week and a half left!"

Matthew smiled as Ben left, but the smile quickly faded.

A week and a half left.

When Jayne had started breathing on her own, Matthew had been full of enthusiasm. But as the hours passed, and Jayne didn't stir or awake, he became more and more depressed. Everything had been going so well that he had come to believe that he was going to succeed. The implant was working fine, her neural net had been reformed and was being refreshed, all she had to do was wake up. But still she lay there, unmoving, unthinking.

After Ben left, Matthew spent the rest of the day and the whole night with Jayne, waiting and hoping for some change. But it was no use.

The following morning, Sandra carried out a brain scan with the help of a MedTec technician. They even used equipment that MedTec produced themselves. They repeated the test every two hours, but always the results were the same. There was no brain activity other than the rhythmic waves produced by the refreshing process.

Matthew couldn't understand it. He had checked everything over and over again, and it was all working fine, but still nothing was happening. It was such a very basic process. The implant acted like a starter motor with Jayne's brain as the engine. It continually refreshed the neural pathways until Jayne's brain finally came to life. But Jayne's brain refused to start. The implant kept cranking, but there was no life in the engine.

The door opened and Sandra came in. "Any change?" she asked as she came to stand next to Matthew. He shook his head.

Sandra looked at Matthew sadly. He hadn't shaved and he looked a right mess. Although he was still sitting at his keyboard, he no longer typed on it. In fact she hadn't seen him touch a single key the whole day. He looked really down.

"Maybe we should talk to her," she suggested.

"What?" Matthew looked puzzled as he stared at Sandra.

"Talk to her," Sandra repeated. "It's normal practice with people in comas. You try and stimulate them by talking to them, or playing their favourite records, or just reading to them. It sometimes works quite well."

Matthew grinned and suddenly sprang from his chair and hugged Sandra. "You're a genius!" he exclaimed, and began to dance her round the room despite her protests. "An absolute genius!"

"Stop it, Matt! Somebody might come in!" Sandra said, growing redder by the second.

Matthew stopped dancing her about and held her at arm's length. "I love you, Sandra! You're a genius!" He suddenly kissed her. "External stimulation! That's exactly what she needs! This place is dead! It's too quiet! That's why she won't wake up! Get some tapes, Sandra! Any tapes! Your favourite tapes! And CD's! I can play CD's on my mini-computer! I'll get a tape deck and some big speakers! Really big speakers!" Matthew grabbed a now very shocked and embarrassed Sandra by the hand and ran towards the door, pulling her with him. "Come on, Sandra! By the time we've finished, this room is going to be booming louder than a Ford Escort on Saturday night!"

### Chapter Fourteen

### Sugar and Spice

"Are you sure this won't hurt?" Julia Connors said.

"Of course it won't hurt," Glen Tyler replied curtly. He was busy attaching more electrodes to Julia's head, and her continual protests were annoying him. "There's nothing to be alarmed at. It's all perfectly safe."

Julia still wasn't convinced. When Tyler had contacted her early that morning and asked her to go over to the computer centre in Exchange Quay, this was the last thing she had expected. She was sitting in the middle of the computer centre with so many little electrodes attached to her head that they could have hung her outside the window and they would have taken her weight.

"But why me?" Julia continued to protest. "Why not use one of your own technicians? Or Sam?"

"Because they don't have what we want, and Rawlston is a man."

"Gosh! I'm glad you told me! I've always wondered why Sam peed standing up!" Julia exclaimed in mock surprise. Tyler didn't look very impressed, so Julia continued, "So what have I got that they haven't? And why is being a man a problem?" Julia then shrugged and added, "Well, apart from the obvious, I suppose."

When Julia shrugged, all the electrodes and wires jumped, and some of them fell off. Tyler shook his head in exasperation.

Fitting the electrodes to Julia's head was hard enough without her moving about as well. When she had first arrived, Tyler had wanted to shave part of her head to make it easier, but Julia had backed away when she saw the razor, saying, "You are not coming near me with that!" and threatened to attack anyone who tried. Tyler had given up.

"Will you stop moving around," he demanded. "I've got a flight to catch today, and if I miss it because you keep fidgeting, I'll make sure that Grant knows it was your fault!"

"Alright, alright! Keep your knickers on! I'll sit still." Julia pointed her finger at him. "But I'm warning you, if this hurts one little bit, I'll get even! I mean it!"

"It won't hurt at all. Now stop complaining."

"Then answer my questions. If it's so safe, why not use one of your own technicians?"

"Because they aren't field agents," Tyler replied as he started to replace the fallen electrodes. "They don't have the necessary expertise that I want. You and Rawlston do. But he is a man, and I don't want the sexual difference to cause any problems. Not that I think it would, but it's better to be safe at this early stage. There is a lot more analysis of the data we have retrieved yet to be done, so I wouldn't even be doing this if Ben hadn't insisted that we download something to the subject of our field trial. He wanted something that will have an immediate and noticeable effect as soon as she wakes. Well, he's going to get it.

"You and Rawlston have a particular trait. It comes from a long association with the Corporation while carrying out it's most sinister affairs. It's a knowing sort of loyalty, one linked irrevocably with fear. A sort of worldly wisdom that comes from dealing in the dirt that we scientists and other personnel are shielded from. When Jayne Middleton wakes up, I want her to have that same wisdom, I want her to have that same understanding and acceptance of the Corporation. She won't question where she is, or what happened to her, she'll know. She'll know and accept it all as her own memories."

"You're wasting your time," Julia said derisively. "You could download the Encyclopaedia Britannica into sleeping beauty's head and you'll still get no results. If she wakes up, I'll eat my first born."

"She's already breathing on her own."

"I know, but so does a sponge. Try having a conversation with one."

"We'll see." Tyler stepped back. The last electrode was finally in place at last. "This would have been much easier if you had let us shave your hair in a few places," he remarked.

"Go suck," was Julia's tart reply.

Tyler sighed. It was very incongruous hearing such remarks coming from a woman with such a pure upper-class voice. He went over to the IBM mainframe where his technicians were all waiting expectantly, and sat down next to them at a desk in front of a keyboard and monitor. They began to go over their notes and discuss levels and neural pathways.

Julia was temporarily left on her own, sitting there feeling like a medusa that hadn't had a snake cut in ten years. She tapped her feet nervously as she stared at the wires that trailed across the floor to the computer from the electrodes on her head. She wondered how long this was all going to take. She would only get a few hours rest before she would have to be back at the MedTec building to relieve Rawlston in the monitoring room, so the last thing she wanted to be doing was sitting here, wasting time.

She had come here straight after her night shift, hardly pausing to speak to Sandra for more than a few moments before she left. She was still wearing her nurse's uniform, and she couldn't wait to get home, take it off and have a shower. It had been a long night, Hall had been a pain in the arse, moaning all the time that his narcoleptic girlfriend wouldn't wake up. By the time morning came, Julia would have been quite happy to put him to sleep with her. Now she felt tired and hungry, and was already looking forward to the pizza she was planning to buy on her way home.

"Right! Here we go!" Tyler announced, and began to type on the keyboard.

Julia's head began to tingle all over, and her blonde hair stood on end from the static. "Ow!" she shouted.

"Don't be such a big baby!" Tyler called to her. "It'll be over in a few seconds."

"I don't like this!" Julia wailed. "Turn it off!"

"Just a moment! It'll be finished soon."

"Turn it off!"

"Just a few more seconds."

"Turn it off! Now!" Julia almost screamed.

The tingling stopped, and slowly, Julia's hair began to descend back to its normal position.

"There! It's finished! I told you it wouldn't take long," Tyler said as he got up and came towards her.

Julia didn't wait for him to reach her. She quickly tore all the electrodes from her head, flinging them in all directions. Then she stood up. It was a mistake, because she immediately felt light-headed, and swayed on her feet. Tyler had reached her by then and held on to her, steadying her.

"You might feel a little bit dizzy for a while, but it will pass," he told her.

Julia looked up at him in a daze, but in a few seconds her expression hardened, and she quickly stamped on his foot. Tyler cried out with the unexpected pain, let go of her, and dropped down onto the chair she had previously been sitting on. "What did you do that for?" he demanded as he clutched at his toe.

"I told you I'd get even!" she announced in triumph. "Hurts does it? Well, serves you right! I'm leaving!" And she did just that, storming out of the computer centre without another word.

Tyler was left sitting on the chair, still rubbing his toe. He could feel it beginning to throb. "Maniac," he muttered.

One of the technicians came over to him. "Mr Tyler," he said, "Have a look at this." He held out a computer printout which Tyler took from him and read carefully.

"This can't be right," Tyler said, the pain in his toe suddenly forgotten. "That's a colossal amount of memory space. Far too much memory space for what we transferred."

"That's what we thought. It nearly filled one of the Crays."

"And it's all been downloaded to the implant?"

"Yes sir, the radio link worked fine, and it all went through a treat."

"We must have under-estimated the amount of memory space we needed. Check over the figures again, just to be sure."

As the technician hurried away to do as he requested, Tyler stared at the print out and rubbed his forehead. This wasn't exactly what he had planned, but Ben Watkins had wanted something downloaded, and now that's what he had got. And with the amount of data that this print out indicated, it would definitely be noticeable if, and when, Jayne Middleton woke up.

### Chapter Fifteen

### The Board Meeting

The Corporation's headquarters were in Hackensack, New Jersey. Ben Watkins and Glen Tyler flew over together. The conversation during their journey never once included the project. They were both far too experienced to chance giving anything away before they were at the meeting.

The building was very impressive, especially as you drove up. It was all steel and glass, surrounded by perfect lawns and numerous fountains. The style was a perfect blend of modern architecture with historical elegance and majesty. More like a glass palace built for the twenty-first century, than an office building.

The building was supposed to project an image of power and purity, but Ben always found it intimidating. That was because he knew that the power the building represented was very real, whereas the purity was definitely lacking in its many corridors and rooms. Like the man that ran the Corporation, the building was cold and without heart.

The boardroom was just as impressive as the building. It was the size of a tennis court, with oak panelled walls and deep leather chairs. The table was also made of oak. It was immense and heavy. Gloriously varnished, it was shiny and black, and inlaid with many different types of wood. Gold leaf decorated it's edges.

Ben knew most of the people who sat around the table, although there were a few who were unfamiliar to him. All of them except for one were men in dark suits. She wore red. A scarlet flower in a sea of black. Her name was Rosanna Casarotto, and she was the Corporation's Head of Special Projects. That was a glorified title to describe Grant's hatchet woman. But there was no doubt in Ben's mind that Santa Monica had been a Special Project.

There was a lot of general chit-chat as colleagues greeted one another in a friendly manner, disguising the bitter rivalry that would manifest itself at the moment of business. Even Rosanna Casarotto smiled demurely and poured coffee. It was like watching a cat offering cheese to the mice.

All conversation ceased when Grant came in. A Scotsman, Douglas Grant was in his late fifties. He was tall and grey haired, and totally without heart. As a major share holder, he had wrested control of the Corporation in a bitter boardroom fight many years ago. Since then, he had successfully fought off all opposition with a ruthless determination that bordered on paranoia. As a result, he was very hard and unforgiving. He expected a hundred percent success from his team, and anyone who had the temerity, or misfortune, to come to the boardroom and present failure was devoured without remorse. It was a winning formula, and the Corporation's fortunes had soared under his leadership.

Everyone quickly took their places in the sudden hush. Glen Tyler sat on the opposite side of the table from Ben. Ben knew that it was a political as well as a physical divide, and at the moment of truth, Tyler would surely knife him.

"Good morning, everyone," Grant said in a booming voice. Even though he hadn't set foot in Scotland in over forty years, his accent was still strong. His team returned the greeting as one, referring to him as Mr Grant, like school children greeting a teacher. Ben did the same, you never knew who might be watching.

Ben's project was the twenty-fifth item on the agenda. It took three hours to get there. And during that time, several board members were highly praised for their efforts while two were screamed and bawled at. Ben had watched, the sweat glistening on his face, as the two hapless victims had squirmed and wriggled. But there was no escape, and they had both been verbally chewed to pieces. Ben had also watched Rosanna Casarotto. She had said nothing, but had quietly circled the two names on her agenda.

Grant stared down at his copy of the agenda, brushing aside the crumbs that were all that remained of the biscuits that had accompanied the coffee. They were like the ancient remnants of a much kinder time, long gone, but not forgotten.

"Item twenty-five, Mr Watkins!" Grant bellowed. "You're costing me a fortune! What have you ta tell me?"

Even though he knew he was next, when Grant shouted his name, Ben was still startled. "Everything is going according to plan, Mr Grant," he said almost too quickly.

"Oh, aye? It is, is it?" Grant said, far too sweetly. "And whose plan might that be? Ours or Matthew Hall's?"

Ben glanced nervously at Glen Tyler. But Tyler kept his head down, as if reading his notes. "Both, Mr Grant," Ben replied as forcefully as he could. "When I left, the subject of the field trial had been disconnected from the ventilator and was breathing on her own. Her neural net has already been recovered, and Mr Tyler's computer people are already analysing—"

"Donnae steal his glory, Mr Watkins!" Grant interrupted in a loud voice. "Mr Tyler will have his own say in a moment. Stick to your own report."

Ben nodded. "Yes, Mr Grant," he said obediently, and took a deep breath before continuing. "As you so rightly pointed out, the project has taken an unexpected turn. But I believe this to be a bonus rather than a failure. Matthew Hall is confident of re- awakening the subject of the field trial, and the benefits of this will far exceed our original intent." Ben stopped talking as he saw Grant raise his hand.

As silence fell in the room, Grant sat back and lowered his hand. "Let me just recap for a moment," he said in a much quieter voice. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Mr Watkins, but the purpose of this extremely expensive project was threefold:" He began to count off the points on his fingers. "One, ta extract information from a person's mind without them knowing; Two, ta alter a person's memory permanently, again without them being aware of the change; And three, ta create such a change in a person's mind that their very personality and beliefs are altered forever. Not a very run of the mill project, you must agree.

"Now, all this is very expensive, but if the project succeeds, then the benefits will vastly outweigh the costs. A measurement of success for this project is in achieving any one of the objectives I have already mentioned. You have tried ta inform us that you have. But that's Mr Tyler's field, and his moment of glory, not yours. Because he's the technologist, while you are the businessman. Your role is in managing the project. Like the captain of a ship, you have ta guide it through the murky waters that lie between the rocks of financial ruin and technological failure.

"So, Mr Watkins, have you achieved your objectives? Is the project still on course and in safe waters under your steady guidance? Or have we merely spent a fortune in reviving some irrelevant person from the North of England?"

Ben knew that he was on the spot. There was only one answer he could give, and as soon as he gave it, he knew that Grant would pounce. Even now, Rosanna Casarotto had raised her pen and was waiting patiently for Ben to go down with his ship.

Ben's saviour came from an unexpected source. Glen Tyler coughed politely, and said, "Excuse me, Mr Grant, but I believe that Mr Watkins is correct, even despite the apparent loss of control in the project's direction."

"Oh, you do, do you?" Grant said, his eyebrows raised in obvious surprise. "And why do you believe that, Mr Tyler? Please tell us, we are all listening."

Grant waved his hand at the people around the table. He was right, they were all listening. None more so than Ben Watkins. Like the rest of them, he couldn't understand why Tyler had done the verbal equivalent of hurling himself on someone else's funeral pyre.

"As you pointed out, Mr Grant," Tyler began. "There are three objectives to the project. But the purpose of this field trial was to achieve only the first objective, to retrieve information from the subject's mind. This has been achieved successfully, as Ben Watkins inferred, and as you will see in my written report.

"However, the current loss in the project's direction has opened up a very interesting prospect. And that is the possibility of achieving both the second and third objectives within the same field trial. This has many benefits. Firstly, any delays in finding suitable subjects for the next field trials will be eliminated, leading to an acceleration in the project's overall timescales. And, secondly, the current subject is ideal for the final field trial, I don't think we could find anyone better.

"What isn't in my report, Mr Grant, is that my people have already input data into the subject's memory at Ben Watkins request, and checked it several days later. It doesn't degrade. Although we cannot be totally sure of success unless the subject reawakens, I am now confident that the second objective can be achieved. I want to press on to the third.

"Mr Grant, I believe we can succeed in achieving this third objective. I believe we can alter the subject's mind to such an extent that she will not even question her environment, nor her motives. But to do that, we first need Matthew Hall to succeed. We need that woman both alive and awake. Because of all this, I propose that we extend this field trial indefinitely, or at least until the board thinks that it has gained all benefit from it. I know this means that we will lose some valuable data from the implant, and the cost of the implant itself. But the ability to reawaken trauma victims from their comas could be highly lucrative for the Corporation's medical subsidiaries, and this will more than recoup for those losses."

Ben sat stunned after Tyler had finished. He was amazed at the way Tyler had so casually and unexpectedly succeeded in saving him, while at the same time openly blaming him for mishandling the project.

Now the only sound to break the silence in the room was Rosanna Casarotto dropping her pen on the oak table in obvious dismay. Even Grant sat thoughtful for a few seconds, his head down.

"Mr Watkins," Grant finally said without raising his head. "What are the implications of extending the field trial as Mr Tyler proposes?"

Ben swallowed. "None, apart from the obvious."

Grant raised his head. "The obvious?"

"The deadline when the relatives of the deceased are expecting the return of her body."

"When is that?"

Tyler answered Grant's question. "Fifteenth of May," he said. "Next Friday, in fact."

Grant turned his head slightly towards Rosanna Casarotto. "Deal with it," he said. Immediately Rosanna nodded, and taking up her pen, she began to make a note. Grant then turned back to Tyler.

"Your proposal is accepted, Mr Tyler," he said. And eyeing Ben sternly, he added, "As for you, Mr Watkins, I'll expect a revised schedule from you for the project by tomorrow morning. And this time, I will not tolerate any slippage. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Mr Grant."

"Good." Grant stared down at his agenda. "Item twenty-six. Mr Collins!"

### Chapter Sixteen

### The Bet

Sam Rawlston opened the door to the monitoring room and was suddenly deafened by loud music and someone talking in a very loud voice. He quickly stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Julia Connors was sitting by the monitor dancing on her chair. Her body swayed and moved to the beat of 'You Sexy Thing' as she swivelled back and forth on her chair. The music and the loud voice completely filled the room. Rawlston couldn't help smiling.

"Some people have the hardest jobs!" he almost shouted.

Julia looked round and smiled at him. "Welcome to Radio MedTec!" she shouted back. "Seventies music a specialty! And it's all courtesy of our resident DJ's Super Seventies Sandra, and I've Got No Rhythm Hall!"

Rawlston laughed as he walked towards her. He raised his hand and sliced it across his throat in an obvious gesture, and Julia turned down the volume. Rawlston stared at the picture on the monitor. There were tapes and CD's strewn all across Jayne Middleton's bed, and Matthew was sitting by his computer reading the morning newspaper out load. He was shouting above the music.

"How long has this been going on?" he asked.

"Since last night," Julia replied. "Hall brought the music system into the room yesterday afternoon," she pointed at the speakers, tape deck and amplifiers that were now littered around the room, "and Sandra brought in the seventies stuff this morning. Until then, it wasn't so bad. Hall had a few good CD's, but it was mostly classical stuff. Sandra is definitely a seventies retard."

"If it was that loud in here, what's it like in there?"

"I don't know. The last time I went in there I wore ear plugs."

"Ben would go nuts if he knew what was going on."

"Why? There's nothing wrong with a little music."

"There is if it wakes her up."

Julia laughed. "You would need a speaker the size of Jodrell Bank to wake up that slab of meat. She was dead before she got here, and she'll be just as dead when she leaves. There's no way that she's going to wake up. She is definitely mutton."

"And you're all heart," Rawlston quickly added.

Julia grinned very sweetly and falsely. "You're so kind!" she said, fluttering her eyelids.

Rawlston continued to stare at the monitor screen in concern. "I still think we should stop this," he said.

"And how will you explain that to the Music Master in there?" Julia asked him. "How about, 'Sorry, but we don't want the loud music to wake up Nefertiti because next week we're going to slice her head in half to retrieve our expensive implant?'"

Rawlston eyed Julia. He wasn't impressed by her sarcasm, but she had obviously spent far too much time with the subject of the field trial to remain impartial. "Something tells me that when the time does come to retrieve the implant for analysis, you will be standing at the front of the queue with a machete."

"After all the cleaning up I've had to do over the past few weeks, I'd use a chain saw."

"You do know that if she wakes up, that might never happen?"

"And I'm a fairy Godmother who works for an organisation that loves people," Julia said in a light-hearted voice. And picking up a pencil from the desk, she tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Zing! You're an expert whose every word is considered to be of momentous significance!" Then she added more bitterly, "Get serious, Sam! There's no way her head is going to survive in one piece passed Friday!"

Rawlston grunted. "I am being serious," he said. "There's a hell of a lot of money in this, and there's no way the Corporation will just throw it all away if there's the remotest chance of a payback."

"The only payback they'll get from her is if they sell her by the pound."

"Not if she's awake by Friday," Rawlston insisted.

"It'll never happen. She'll leave here just as dead as when she got here, a little more deaf maybe, but just as dead."

Rawlston could see that Julia was very sure of herself. But she always was. He decided to take advantage of that confidence. After all, unlike him, she didn't know what he knew. "Would you like to bet on that?" he said.

"Next month's pay check?"

"You're on!"

They slapped hands and then Rawlston turned to leave. "Ben will be back tomorrow," he said as he walked to the door. "It will be up to him to decide what to do. But if that music stays on, I'm telling you, I'll be spending your pay check next month."

"Nuts!" Julia replied, and turned up the volume on the monitor before Rawlston could say anything more.

Rawlston paused at the door to glance back at her. She was already dancing on her chair again. He shook his head in dismay and left.

### Chapter Seventeen

### Today's News

The music was as loud as usual on Friday morning. By now, Matthew had two days growth on his chin, and he looked a right state. But still he read the morning newspapers out loud to Jayne, and still there was no response.

Julia had left that morning with a smile on her face. It had surprised both Matthew and Sandra. When Sandra had stared at him in a questioning manner, Matthew had shrugged.

"It's nothing to do with me," he had said.

Sandra had still eyed him suspiciously.

The results of the brain scan that day were the same as always, still no significant change. But Matthew didn't give up. He turned up the volume after Sandra and the coloured technician had left, and went on to the next daily newspaper.

As usual, Matthew had started with the broadsheets, supposedly the more intellectual and high brow of the national daily newspapers. Then he went on to the tabloids. He left the scandal sheets to the last. He read everything out loud, from beginning to end, even holding the newspaper over Jayne so that she could see the pictures. By now, Matthew knew more about the news than a BBC newsreader.

At four-thirty in the afternoon, Matthew started on the local newspapers. Sandra brought them in for him.

"I don't know how you can stand much more of this," she said. "You're going to go deaf."

"What?" Matthew turned the music down.

"Never mind!" Sandra replied and quickly left.

Matthew smiled as he turned the volume back up again.

"Manchester Evening News, first," he said to Jayne, and began to read the headlines.

The main news was the same as it had been for the rest of the national newspapers, and Matthew now hardly paid any attention to what he was saying. The local news was a bit more interesting, well, only because it was different.

"Three killed in blast," Matthew read out as he sat back in his chair. "An explosion killed three people in Oldham in the early hours of this morning. Two Fire Appliances were called out to fight the resulting blaze which spread to three houses in a quiet residential area.

"Investigators later blamed a faulty gas main for the explosion, and said that all three houses would have to be pulled down.

"Those killed in the blast were John Davies, a young man living on his own in one of the houses, and an elderly couple, Graham and Amanda Middleton, who were asleep in the house next door to where the blast occu—"

Matthew stopped in mid flow and sat up, staring at Jayne. He was shocked. Not just because he had suddenly realised what he was reading, that the surname of the elderly couple that had died was the same as Jayne's, but also because he was sure that he had seen Jayne's body twitch out of the corner of his eye. As he continued to stare at her, Jayne now remained still. There was no movement except for her regular breathing. But Matthew was sure of what he had seen.

With rising excitement, Matthew quickly turned the music off and re-read the news article, raising his voice and speaking very clearly and deliberately when he got to the appropriate part.

"Those killed in the blast were John Davies, a young man living on his own in one of the houses, and an elderly couple, Graham and Amanda Middleton, who were asleep in the house next door to where the blast occurred."

Again Jayne twitched. Her whole body seemed to shiver. With his heart pounding in his chest, Matthew continued with the story.

"Neighbours said that it was quite sad, as Mr and Mrs Middleton had lost their only daughter in a car accident only a few months earlier...."

Matthew's voice trailed off as he saw Jayne's mouth open. As he stared at her, she took a deep breath and sighed, and her voice moaned softly.

### Chapter Eighteen

### Jayne Middleton?

Everything was fuzzy. She felt like she was a long way away from everything, that everything was just out of reach, and out of sight. Even the sounds she heard were faint and distant. It was like listening to the news on an old radio programme. She was so tired, and it was all too much bother to try and reach out for and listen to. It was far easier to just rest and dream. But the news was about her mother and father, and quite suddenly she knew that they were both dead.

It wasn't fair, it was supposed to be her. She was the one who was supposed to be dead, not them. But she wasn't dead, was she? She was alive. How could that be?

She was the living dead, a corpse, a sleeping beauty, a slab of meat.

Why was she thinking these things? Then she remembered.

It was a white rabbit.

Jayne remembered it vividly. It was exactly like Harvey. Harvey had been her pet when she was twelve. She loved Harvey. He was so big and white and fluffy. She had named him after the film with James Stewart. She took him everywhere with her, even in her bedroom. Her mother would tell her off when she found the little packages Harvey would leave behind. She made Jayne play with him in the garden.

Then one day he had escaped. Harvey was always nosey, sniffing around for anything new, or anything he could eat. Jayne had only left him alone in the garden for a moment, when her mother had called her in to greet her friends who had come to visit. But in those precious few seconds, Harvey had managed to get out of the garden and wander off. The road was very busy, and Jayne had cried for weeks and weeks.

And suddenly, twelve years later, there he was. Sitting in the middle of the road, his nose twitching. The lights from her car shone back at her in his eyes. She was sure it was him. It was impossible, she knew. But it was definitely him. She couldn't run him over again, she just couldn't. But he wouldn't move, he just sat there, staring at her.

She swerved, there was a lamp-post, and then there was a medic and an ambulance. She was going to ask about Harvey, but the medic was so concerned about her mental state that she decided not to. He kept asking her what day it was, and what her name was, and who was the Prime Minister. If she had asked him if he had seen a white rabbit called Harvey, he would have definitely got the wrong idea.

But it was Harvey.

Then she had fallen asleep.

It had all seemed so long ago. Sometimes when you sleep and wake up, it feels like only seconds have passed. But other times, when you don't sleep so well, or when your dreams are very vivid, you are much more aware that time has passed. Jayne felt like that. And her dreams had been many and very vivid. Everything was now such a long time ago. Harvey, her parents, her childhood, her time at University, the road, the ambulance, MedTec, the Corporation, everything.

What Corporation?

That Corporation you stupid piece of mutton.

Oh, of course. She had forgotten. Unless that was all a dream, too. But it couldn't be. Dreams were fleeting and passing, and no matter how vivid, soon they faded and were gone. But memories don't fade. They make you think they do, because they seem to go away, and disappear. But really, they are only biding their time, waiting for just the right moment before they can return just as vividly as before. Maybe it's because of an expected meeting, or because of some unusual event. Like Harvey. She had forgotten about Harvey. But there he was. Sitting there on the road, waiting for her. Maybe he had been waiting there all that time.

Things began to move closer. There were louder voices, and she was aware of people nearby. Her vision was still blurry, and the light was far too bright. It made her head hurt.

This wasn't right. Why did her head hurt so much. It wasn't supposed to hurt. Tyler had promised that it wouldn't hurt. He had lied. She would get even with him for that. And no one had told her that it would be this disgusting, either. Lying day after day in bed, sometimes in her own excrement. This wasn't what she had agreed to. Why did Benjamin always give her the worst jobs?

And no one had said that her parents would die while she was asleep. She remembered how upset they had been when they had switched her off at Preston Royal. How sad they had looked. And how stupid. Why hadn't they just got on with it and got out of the way? Why did they take so long? And why did she think that about her parents anyway? And why had they switched her off in the first place if she wasn't dead?

Everything was so confusing. Her memories were all upside down. The harder she tried to remember anything, the more confusing it all got. And it wasn't just her memories that were conflicting with one another, either. Even her feelings were all messed up. How could she think her parents were stupid?

Jayne was getting more and more confused. Confused and upset. The only thing she knew for sure was that her parents were both dead and she hadn't had a chance to talk to them, to tell them what she was doing. But why hadn't she said something to them when she saw them at the hospital? And why did she think they were stupid? And how could she have seen them at the hospital? If she was there, who were they switching off?

It was as if she was another person. Or the same person, but in two places. How could she be in two places? How could she have been talking to her parents if she was dead? And how could she clean herself up when she was asleep?

Disgusting cow. She was glad she was dead. Serves her right.

Serves who right? Why did she keep thinking about herself as if she was someone else? As if she was someone she detested? It was as if she was two people at once, two people who didn't like each other very much. But how could that be?

Jayne became aware that a man was talking to her. She could hear his voice. He was calling out her name, repeating it over and over again, trying to get her attention. Now, at last, her vision was clearer and she could see his face. Strangely enough, she recognised it. It was Matthew Hall.

Arrogant little git, isn't he?

### Chapter Nineteen

### Success

"Non e gi'usto," Jayne murmured in a raspy and dry voice. "Io non prendutto la oppotunita a dire ciao a loro....Anche quando io visto loro....Ma io non sapere prima....Io non sapere quelle vanno a morire."

As she spoke, Jayne became more and more emotional, and her voice grew louder. She became restless and fidgety, and she tried to get out of bed. Matthew held on to her, and as she stared up at him with tear filled eyes, she spoke much more firmly.

"Non e gi'usto, Matthew! Non e gi'usto! Io vado a pagare lui dietro per questo! Io vado a pagare Tyler dietro!"

Matthew looked round and stared at Sandra. "What's she saying?" he asked her. "I can't understand a word of it, but I'm sure she keeps saying my name. How could she know my name?"

"Maybe she heard us talking," Sandra replied. She was rooted to the spot in the doorway, still in shock.

When Matthew had thrown open the door and shouted at her to come inside, Sandra had gone in without the slightest expectation. Now she stood with her eyes wide, staring down at Jayne.

Jayne Middleton was awake and moving. Her eyes were open and she looked scared and upset. She seemed to be struggling with Matthew who was holding on to her wrists, and Sandra could see her legs kicking about under the sheets. And for some reason she was talking in Italian.

"Esso Harvey colpa io incidente la macchina," Jayne was saying as she continued struggling with Matthew. "Non e mio colpa! Ma io non sapere mio madre e padre vanno a morire! Non e gi'usto! Io vado a pagare Tyler dietro per questo! Non e gi'usto, Matthew!"

"Do something, Sandra!" Matthew pleaded. "Help me to calm her down!"

Sandra finally woke up. She ran into the room and took one of Jayne's hands, prizing Matthew's fingers from her wrist.

"Don't be so rough with her," she told Matthew. "You'll scare her. Go and do something useful. Get her a drink of water. Go on!" Matthew hesitated before letting go of Jayne and hurrying out the door. Sandra then turned to Jayne and spoke to her clearly and calmly. "Listen to me, Jayne. You're speaking in Italian and we can't understand you. Do you hear me? Speak in English. And calm down, we're trying to help you."

Jayne stopped struggling and looked up at her. Her eyes blinked, and in a low voice she said, "Io sapere tu, tu nome e Sandra, si?"

"In English," Sandra said. "In English, Jayne."

"In English?" Jayne said, looking very puzzled. She blinked a lot and began to look very carefully around the room.

Sandra could see from her expression that Jayne was beginning to realise where she was at last, and that she was slowly regaining all her senses. This must all be very strange for her, Sandra thought as she watched Jayne. It was certainly very strange for Sandra.

All the time that she had been tending to Jayne, Sandra had always believed that she would never regain consciousness, that Jayne was, in fact, dead. Oh yes, she knew what Matthew was trying to do, and she knew how confident he seemed to be. But, to her shame, no matter what the advances were that Matthew had told her he had made with Jayne, Sandra had never really believed that he would succeed. She had never really believed that Jayne would actually reawaken. And now here she was, very much alive, and very much awake.

Matthew came back in with a glass of water, and as soon as Jayne saw him she was overcome with thirst. "Aqua!" she said, reaching out for the glass. "Si, io sono sete."

Sandra helped her sit up, and Matthew held on to the glass as Jayne drank. She took big gulps and nearly choked. She coughed and spat a lot, then drank some more. Slowly, she finished the lot.

"More?" Matthew asked.

"Si, grazie," Jayne said. But when he didn't move, she looked up at both their faces, and nodding her head she said, "Yes, thank you."

Matthew smiled at her. "Okay," he said, and he went to refill the glass.

Jayne looked at Sandra who was also smiling at her. She smiled back. It was a weak smile.

"Do you feel better now?" Sandra asked her.

Jayne nodded, but didn't reply. She didn't know why, but she found it such a strain to speak in English. It was as if she couldn't tell the difference. And then she realised that was exactly what the problem was. She couldn't tell the difference, because she was even thinking in Italian, and so every time she spoke, it came out in Italian unless she consciously made the effort to say it in English.

When Matthew returned with another full glass of water, and Jayne had taken another big drink, she finally began to relax.

"I'm sorry, but I feel very.....confused," she managed to say, speaking very slowly and deliberately.

Sandra stroked her hair. "That's alright, love," she said. "Just you take it easy. You've been through a lot, so if you want to talk in Italian, or shout and scream, you just go right ahead."

Jayne's response was to suddenly burst into tears. "Mum and dad are dead!" she wailed as she remembered again. "It's not fair!"

Sandra looked questioningly at Matthew. He held up the local newspaper. "I was reading it out like usual," he said. "There was a fire at her parents' house. It was what finally woke her up."

"Oh, no!" Sandra exclaimed, sadly. She stared down at Jayne, who was now sitting in bed, crying her eyes out. "Oh you poor thing!" she said, putting her arms around her and hugging her close. "After all you've been through as well. And now they'll never know you woke up."

In a second, Sandra was crying along with Jayne, and all Matthew could do was sit there on the side of the bed and watch them both. He felt like crying, too. But he also felt like cheering.

He'd done it! He'd actually done it! Jayne Middleton was alive and awake. She'd spoken to him. She even knew his name. And now she was sitting there in Sandra's arms, the pair of them sobbing and wailing together in a big wet mess.

Matthew wanted to join in, he wanted to hug Jayne along with Sandra. But he couldn't. He was too shy, too timid. All the time he had sat with her and watched her, he had dreamt about the day when she would wake up. He had gone over it many times in his head, how she would respond, what she would say, what she would think of him. It had always ended the same way. He wanted her to like him, he hoped that she would like him. He always dreamed that something would happen between them. He knew it was only a silly fantasy, but he couldn't help it. He was in love. In love with a woman who had done nothing but sleep all the time he had known her. And now that Jayne was awake and cognisant at last, all Matthew could do was reach out hesitantly and stroke her hair.

Then another thought occurred to him. "Wait until Ben sees this," he muttered.

### Chapter Twenty

### An Immediate Result

Ben Watkins had returned from the board meeting that morning. He had slept all the way back on the plane, but he was still tired. He had been up most of the night before, reworking the timescales for the project as Grant had requested. He had delivered it to Grant's office before he left. Rosanna Casarotto had been there. She had taken it from him with her usual demure smile.

"Your little problem has been solved," she told him. She made it sound like he had an unsavoury medical condition.

Ben had thought about that on the way to the airport. Problem solved, just like that.

Three weeks ago at the hospital, Julia Connors had tried to convince Jayne Middleton's parents of the benefits that would be gained if they gave their daughter's body over to science. It was a well rehearsed approach. But they were both adamant that they wanted her back. In the end, Julia had settled for a temporary arrangement. It had all been in the report. So how could Jayne's parents have been persuaded to give up her body so easily now? It was ludicrous. And then Ben realised that it was his own thoughts that were ludicrous. Rosanna Casarotto wasn't employed by the Corporation for her diplomacy.

Ben sighed. He should have known. But nothing about his trip to the Corporation's headquarters had gone as expected. Tyler's coup had been as surprising as it was complete. Ben was now head of the project in name only. Tyler would take all the credit for it's success. But Tyler's manoeuvre had been so subtle, that if the project failed, Ben would still get the blame. Ben had to admire him for that, even if he did wish that he could boil him in a vat of oil.

The phone on his desk rang. Ben picked up the receiver and said, "Watkins. Yes?"

It was Rawlston's voice that answered. "She's awake, sir. I think you better get down here."

"What language was she speaking when she first woke up?" Ben asked, ignoring Rawlston's advice.

"Italian."

"I'll come down when Matthew calls me." He put the phone down and sat back in his chair. Thoughtfully, he waited for Matthew's call.

Download something that will give an immediate result, Ben had told Tyler, something that we can see has worked. After the board meeting, when Tyler had told him what he had done, Ben had been furious.

Tyler had far outreached himself. He had already attempted both the first stages of the project without the go ahead from Ben. If she awoke, and it worked, Jayne Middleton would accept her predicament as if she had volunteered for it. But to be sure that it had worked, and to satisfy Ben's request, Tyler had also swopped her language memories around. According to Tyler, it had all been very simple. Just alter the length of the memory of each language so that to Jayne, Italian would now stretch back to her childhood, while English would be just a few years old.

Ben had been very dubious. He was sure that Tyler was meddling in things he didn't really know enough about. He remembered what Matthew had told him, about how our memories were all inter- linked. He was sure that nothing about what Tyler had done was simple, and, to be honest, he was beginning to trust Matthew's expertise in this matter far more than Tyler's.

But now Jayne was awake. And, apparently, it was just as Tyler had promised. Like always. Tyler was far too confident, and now that he had Grant's backing, it could only get worse.

Make that a very large vat of oil, Ben thought as the phone on his desk rang once more.

### Chapter Twenty-One

### The Seeds of Doom

When Ben arrived, he found Jayne still in tears over the news of the death of her parents. Sandra was doing her best to console her, while Matthew just sat at his desk with a smug grin on his face.

Ben quickly took the initiative. "Alright! The pair of you, out!" he said. Matthew and Sandra both stared at him in surprise. "You heard me! Out!" Ben repeated. And ignoring their protests, he began herding them both out the door. "Go on! I need to talk to Jayne alone! We need to talk about everything that's happened to her, and we don't need you two listening in! You've both done a fine job! Now it's over! Out you go!"

In a few seconds, Matthew and Sandra found themselves in the corridor, the door closed behind them.

Sandra was looking really annoyed. "Over, is it? Right then! It's nearly the end of my shift, so if that's the way he thinks he can talk to me, I'm going home!"

Matthew just smiled at her and shrugged his shoulders. Sandra shook her head in indignation and stormed off. Still smiling, Matthew slowly followed her.

Inside, Ben had gone to sit on the side of Jayne's bed. He took her hand in his and said, "You just take it easy, Jayne. If you want to bawl and cry for the next hour and a half, I'm happy to wait. And when you're good and ready I'll explain anything and everything you want to know. Okay?"

Jayne nodded, but continued to cry. She held tightly on to Ben's hand, and leaned on his shoulder. In between her tears, she would occasionally mutter things in both English and Italian. When she spoke in English, Jayne had a very broad Oldham accent, but it disappeared completely when she spoke in Italian.

Although she was obviously deeply upset, Ben was sure that she was fully recovered. And that was the problem. Because of what Tyler had done, Jayne might now know far more about the project than both Sandra and Matthew. And if that was the case, Ben would have to be very careful about what he said to her in front of them. That was why he had chased them both out. He needed to talk to Jayne alone. He needed to know what she knew. And if he had to wait an hour and a half, or all day to find out, he would wait. And then would come the difficult task of dealing with it.

Slowly, Jayne's tears began to subside. And when they had reduced to just the occasional sob, Ben decided to try again.

"I'm so sorry to hear of the death of your parents, Jayne. It was so unexpected, and so tragic at this time. But Matthew told me that it was hearing the news that finally awoke you. And although I didn't know them both, I'm sure it was a trade they would have willingly made to get you back. I am so sorry."

"Thank you, Benjamin," Jayne managed to reply.

Although her recognition and the use of his name surprised him, Ben squeezed her hand and smiled at her warmly. Jayne smiled weakly back, and at last she seemed to recover her composure.

"How do you feel, Jayne?" Ben asked her.

"I feel very confused," Jayne replied, rubbing the tears from her eyes. "I keep thinking different things, as if I had two memories, or as if I was in two places at once. Sometimes even my feelings are different. And for some reason I keep thinking that I should be out of this bed instead of in it." She rubbed again at her face and brow. "I don't know what to think, Benjamin. And my head hurts."

"I'm sure it will all pass in time," Ben told her. "You've been through far more than anyone could have imagined. It's bound to have some effect. And what with your bereavement, I don't think anyone will expect you to do anything more for awhile. You take it easy and rest, and I'll see about finding you a better room." Ben glanced quickly around him. "This place was never meant to be a bedroom, and I see that Matthew has got it into a bit of a mess. The sooner we find you somewhere more comfortable to rest, the better."

"Ma io non e—" Jayne stopped, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and said in the most perfect, upper-class English tones, "But I don't want to rest. I want to get up. I've been lying here like a slab of meat for long enough."

Her change in accent caused a void of immense size to open up in Ben's stomach. And from the moment he heard that familiar accent, Ben knew that the project was doomed. But he didn't let that knowledge affect his composure. The last thing he wanted to do was to arouse any suspicion in Jayne. At least not until he had found out everything he needed to know, and until he was well prepared to deal with it.

"Tomorrow, maybe," he told Jayne without hesitation.

"But, Benjamin—"

"No buts. You might feel okay now, but you do need to rest. Let your mind get used to things. You've had a couple of big shocks, so sleep it off. Things will be a lot clearer after a couple of days of proper sleep and rest. Anyway, you've earned it."

Jayne gave up. "Alright," she said with a sigh, her Northern accent back once more. "Just a couple of days. Then I'm out of here. Agreed?"

Ben nodded. "Agreed. Now that that's settled, is there anything you want to ask me? Anything not clear in your mind? How you got here, who Matthew and Sandra are? Anything?" There was no hint in Ben's voice, but the answers Jayne now gave would decide everything.

Jayne thought about it. "No....," she said softly. "I think I remember. I know I agreed to it all.....It was sometime after the car accident. I just can't remember when." Her voice suddenly took on the upper-class accent again as she said with more emotion, "I remember! It was Tyler! He told me it wouldn't hurt! The liar! I'll brain him when I see him again!"

"It's nothing he doesn't deserve," Ben said, and meant it. This was far worse than he could ever have imagined. But he still needed to know more. "Anything else?" he asked.

"No, I don't think so." Jayne seemed to be going over everything in her mind as she spoke. Her accent had returned to normal, and she didn't seem to be aware that it had ever changed.

"What about Matthew and Sandra?"

"Matthew is the student who dreamt all this up, and Sandra's the nurse."

"And what do they know?" Ben pressed her.

Jayne stared at him. "Are you interrogating me, Benjamin?"

The posh accent was back, and Ben decided that it was time to deal with the problem head on. He was now sure that the young woman he was talking to was no longer Jayne Middleton, or at least, not the Jayne Middleton who had been crying over the death of her parents only a short time ago.

"Would you have expected anything less?" he said.

"No, I suppose not." She sighed and stretched before answering. "The Corporation doesn't allow small fry to know it's secrets. Matthew and Sandra both think this is a medical experiment being run by MedTec. They don't know anything about the Corporation, or the computer centre in Exchange Quay. Once they've finished, if we are feeling in a benevolent mood, both of them will be paid off without ever knowing the truth."

"And if we aren't feeling benevolent," Ben asked her.

"Then they'll just be paid off."

Jayne's answer was both confident and cold. It left no doubt in Ben's mind as to her meaning. "One final question. What do you do for the Corporation, Jayne?"

"You know damn well what I do, Benjamin."

"Yes, but do you?"

"Of course I do! But I'm not telling you!"

"You have to!" Ben insisted, his voice raised. It was the moment of no return, but Ben had to know, one way or the other. "You and I both know that you're never going to get out of here if I think your brain is even remotely fuddled! Now, give me a clue, will you? Who's your boss? What have you worked on that I know about? Tell me something, Jayne!"

Jayne's eyes narrowed as she stared at Ben. She didn't answer straight away, instead she seemed to be thinking, calculating. When she finally did answer, it was still with that familiar upper class accent. But her tone was now very icy.

"Firstly, you aren't supposed to know who my 'boss' is, Benjamin. That's standard Corporation policy. And if I thought you did know, I'd kill you. Secondly, you wouldn't know about anything that I've worked on, so telling you wouldn't make any difference. So I'm not going to. If you've got a problem with that, you take it upstairs and see where it gets you."

Ben nodded and stood up. He seemed satisfied. "Good! That's exactly what I'd expect you to say. If you had said anything else, I'd have got Rawlston in here straight away to kill you! Now, I'll leave you to rest. I'll tell Sandra and Matthew they can come back in. Is there anything you want before I go?"

Jayne held on to her stomach. "Yes, I'm starved!" she replied in broad Lancashire tones. "I've got this mad craving for a pizza. You couldn't get me one, could you?"

### Chapter Twenty-Two

### The Sore Loser

When Julia had left that morning, all seemed well. But when she returned to the monitoring room later that afternoon, it was to find a smiling Sam Rawlston waiting for her.

"Look at this!" he said, turning down the sound and pointing at the monitor screen.

There, on the screen, was Ben Watkins, apparently talking with a wide awake Jayne Middleton.

Julia stared wide-eyed at the screen. "How could this happen?" she said to Rawlston. "It's Friday today! Friday! The last day of the third week! Only one more week of tending to sleeping beauty, and then it would have been 'off with her head!'" Then realisation dawned on her. "You bastard, Rawlston! You tricked me!" she shouted, pushing Rawlston against the wall of the monitoring room. "You knew! All along, you knew! You bastard! You out and out bastard!"

Rawlston started laughing, holding his arms out wide as Julia began to punch him ineffectually in the chest. "You didn't have to take the bet," he pointed out, then gasped as Julia hit him again, only much harder and lower this time. He quickly moved away, going behind the desk. Julia followed him, hitting him on the back as he kept moving.

Behind them on the monitor screen, Ben and Jayne were now deep in conversation. But with the sound turned down, Julia's voice drowned out what they were saying.

"I should have known those readings were fixed! You liar!" Julia kept chasing Rawlston around the desk, hitting him as she ran.

Rawlston kept laughing. "I didn't lie!" he said. "You just never asked me! You knew I was taking the brain scans with Sandra, but you were so sure of yourself you never bothered to question the results!"

Julia stopped chasing him and shouted, "But they were all negative! I know, I've seen them!"

"That's because Ben told me to hide the true results until he came back from the board meeting today! Jayne's been showing increased brain activity for days, but I always gave Sandra the false print outs, keeping the real ones for Ben!"

"That's not fair!" Julia wailed. "How was I supposed to know that fucking machine produces two print outs? You cheated me! You rotter! You git! Sod! Bastard!"

With each verbal insult, Julia struck Rawlston on the back, until he finally turned and grabbed both her hands. "Admit it, Julia, sweetheart!" he said, pushing her down on to the chair. "It's not the bet, or the money! You're just upset that you can't slice sleeping beauty's head in half next week!"

Julia almost vibrated in annoyance. "Ooohhhhhh!" she exclaimed, and pulling her hands free, she folded her arms and sat there in a most unbecoming sulk.

Rawlston glanced at the monitor screen. "Ben's coming out. What would you like to bet that he comes straight here with the good news?"

"He'll go and see Tyler first. He's in charge now. Anyway, I'm not betting on anything with you, you cad! Taking a poor innocent convent girl like me to the cleaners! I don't know how you can sleep at night!"

"Ha!" Rawlston came over to her. Smiling, he swung her chair around and leaned over her, his arms hemming her in, and his hands flat on the table behind her. "You and I both know that the nearest you've come to anything religious or spiritual, is when you were shouting, 'Oh God! Oh God!' in the Henry V hotel in Paris last year!"

Julia giggled at the memory. "Remember that fondly do you?" she asked with a cheeky grin. "Maybe you would prefer me to take a penalty rather than pay up on our bet?"

Rawlston moved closer. "I might be persuaded. For old time's sake, of course!"

"Of course!" Julia agreed, putting her arms around him.

On the monitor screen behind them, Jayne was now on her own. She was sat up in bed. She glanced briefly around the room, and then her gaze fixed on the camera hidden near the ceiling in the corner. As Julia and Sam Rawlston kissed and entered the first stages of love making, it was as if Jayne was staring right at them through the screen.

### Chapter Twenty-Three

### A Slight Problem

Tyler looked up as Ben Watkins came into his office. He smiled and stood up to greet him. "I told you it would work," he said.

Ben didn't reply. He just closed the door behind him, walked right up to Tyler, grabbed him by the throat, and shoved him up against the wall, hard.

"You imbecile!" Ben snarled at his surprised victim. "You absolute, brainless idiot! I didn't think to ask you when you told me what you'd done, but I didn't think you could be so damn stupid! I thought you had just added to her memories by typing them in! Like you would on a computer! Like you described for the way you changed her language memories around! But you didn't, did you? I don't know how you did it, but you used somebody! You used Connors, didn't you? Answer me, Tyler! You used Connors for the download to Jayne Middleton, didn't you?"

"Yes, yes! It was Connors!" Tyler replied, trying to wriggle free from Ben's grip without success. "There would have been far too much data to type in manually! We had to use a human source! What of it?"

"What of it?" Ben almost roared, thumping Tyler against the wall. "I'll tell you what of it! Julia Connors is a field agent, you daft bastard!"

"That's why I choose her!" Tyler shouted back. "Who could have been better as a source for information on the Corporation than one of its field agents? Let go of me, Watkins!"

"Not 'til I get through that thick, ego enlarged skull of yours what a complete mess you've made!" Ben insisted, tightening his grip on Tyler's throat. "Don't you know what field agents do, Tyler? Have you any idea? Do you think they just steal secrets and patents from rival companies? Well, I've got news for you! They do far worse things than that! Things that people like you never get to hear about! Disgusting things! Illegal things! And I'm not just talking about wrecking financial institutions and destroying rival companies! I'm talking about de-stabilising complete countries! I'm talking about killing people! All for the benefit of the Corporation! Do you understand me? And that's why you don't want to delve into the minds of the Corporation's field agents! It's not a good idea, Tyler!

"Julia Connors and Sam Rawlston are the only two field agents that I know about working on this project! And one of them is working for Casarotto! Has to be! Unless there's a third one I don't know about! And God help us if there is! Because field agents that work for Casarotto are far worse than all the others! They're the reason why everyone says, 'Yes, Sir!' and 'No, Sir!' and 'Three bags full, Sir!' at the board meeting! And that's why Grant knew so much about the project without you or I having to tell him! And that's also why Casarotto was able to deal with my 'little' problem before I'd even caught the plane home! Because she's already got someone working for her on the inside!

"Do you understand what all this means, Tyler? Now that you've given Jayne Middleton Julia Connors memories, if she's the one that's working for Casarotto, then it's odds on that Jayne is going to know damn well how and why her parents died! And a hell of a lot more, too! Get it now, you moron?"

With that, Ben let go of Tyler, who slowly sank down into his chair behind his desk. Tyler's hands shook as he rubbed at his face and throat. "Oh God, I didn't realise," he muttered in a hoarse voice.

Ben went to stand in the middle of the office with his back to Tyler. He was silent at last, his outburst over. He stood there with his head down, and his hands on his hips.

Tyler was also silent. He was taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself down after his ordeal.

Ben was the first to recover his composure. "I knew it," he said thoughtfully. "As soon as she called me Benjamin, I just knew it. How much of her memory did you transfer, Tyler?"

Tyler put his hands on his desk to steady his nerves. "It was only supposed to be her recent memories," he said. "Just enough to make Jayne accept her situation when she awoke, like I told you."

"Supposed to be?" Ben repeated as he turned to face Tyler once more. "What do you mean, 'supposed to be'?"

"There was a discrepancy in the amount of memory space used by one of the Crays during the download, that's all. I'm sure it didn't mean anything."

Ben stared up at the ceiling and balled his fists in dismay. "You idiot, Tyler!" he said in a raised voice once more. "You've probably given Jayne everything she needs to know about the Corporation! How could you be so stupid? And so damned arrogant? You've ruined everything, and you've probably killed us both, you do know that don't you? And do you know why? Because you just got Grant to agree to an extension to the field trial! That's why Jayne Middleton's parents had to be killed in the first place! And before they're even cold, we're going to have to cut the field trial short once again! Marvellous, Tyler! Fucking marvellous!"

Tyler didn't reply, he just sat at his desk rubbing his throat.

Ben shook his head and sighed. Dragging one of the spare chairs towards him, he slumped down into it and sat there in silence again, his head cradled in his hands.

Tyler eventually stopped rubbing his throat and looked up at Ben. "I'll talk to Grant," he said after a lengthy pause. "I'll tell him that the experiment went far more successfully than we planned. He'll accept it from me if I phrase it right, I'm sure he will."

Ben now also looked up. "If you believe that, you believe pork sausages have flying licenses," he said without humour.

"We'll have to kill her," Tyler went on, ignoring Ben's remark.

"Yes, we will," Ben said rather sadly. "And I know just the person to do it, too." His voice took on a sarcastic tone as he continued. "This person has done everything from fixing the stock market to assassinating the CEO's of rival companies. You would be horrified and amazed at the wealth of experience this person has at doing disgusting, underhand, and criminal deeds. And the thing is, I don't even know the half of what she's done in the past. She would be perfect for the job. But there's one problem. Would you like to guess what it is, Tyler?"

"I don't see why it's a problem. If Julia Connors is that good, then—"

"—Jayne Middleton will be just as good!" Ben interrupted him. "Thanks to you and those damn computers of yours! That's the problem!"

"That's it!" Tyler exclaimed and stood up. Confident once more, he strode towards the door. "Stop panicking, man!" he said as he passed a bemused Ben on the way. "We both agree that the only problem we have will disappear as soon as Jayne Middleton is dead. We just have to decide which is the best way to kill her. Well, you've got Rawlston and Connors. And as you so rightly pointed out, I've got these!" Tyler threw open the door and indicated the computers outside.

Ben stood up and stared. "Of course! The implant!"

"Exactly! We've already succeeded in two out of our three objectives with this field trial. That's why we have our current problem with Ms Middleton. Well, what I can put in, I can take out! I don't know about you, Ben, but I think it's time that we achieved our third objective. I think it's time that we wiped Jayne Middleton out."

### Chapter Twenty-Four

### Getting Connected

When Matthew returned, it was to find Jayne apparently asleep in bed. Unlike before, when she just lay flat on her back, she was now curled up on her side. It made Matthew smile. It made him feel good inside. Jayne looked beautiful, and for the first time, she really was just sleeping.

Over the past three weeks, Matthew had had many opportunities to touch Jayne, or to look at her. He had often thought about it, but he had never done either. He would even leave when Sandra or Julia were cleaning her up. He had always respected Jayne, and had never taken advantage of her condition. To him, she had always been alive.

Now that Jayne had regained consciousness, Matthew was glad that he had behaved so respectfully towards her. In the short time that she had been awake, Jayne had recognised all of them. The only explanation for this could be that, somehow, she had been aware of what was going on and what was being said all around her. Sandra's idea to stimulate her by reading and talking to her had worked perfectly, so it must be the reason. That was why Matthew was glad that he had behaved. His conscience was clear.

As he sat down at his keyboard, Matthew noticed the text on his monitor.

C:\CRAY2>DON'T STAND UP OR LOOK AT ME. JUST READ THIS.

Matthew couldn't help himself. He looked at Jayne. She still seemed to be asleep. But then he noticed that the cable from the Crays disappeared under the sheets behind Jayne's head, and he realised that she must have plugged it back in.

When he glanced back at his monitor screen, there was another message waiting for him.

C:\CRAY2>I TOLD YOU NOT TO LOOK AT ME, NUMBSKULL! CAN'T YOU READ ENGLISH?

"Of course I can read—" Matthew began, but then he stopped as the monitor screen went berserk.

C:\CRAY2>SHUT UP YOU IDIOT!!!

C:\CRAY2>KS(*JNB&I$EWNKJWH*BFUIT****!!

Bad command or file name

C:\CRAY2>AAAAAGGGGHHHH**!!

Bad command or file name

C:\CRAY2>SHUT UP!!!!

C:\CRAY2>DON'T TALK!!!!

C:\CRAY2>TYPE!

C:\CRAY2>TYPE!

Matthew typed.

C:\MINNIE\WINDOWS>Alright, alright. I'm typing. What's going on?

C:\CRAY2>A HELL OF A LOT MORE THAN BEN WATKINS IS TELLING YOU. FOR A START, THIS ROOM HAS A HIDDEN CAMERA AND MICROPHONE. BUT SO LONG AS YOU STAY WHERE YOU ARE, THEY CAN'T READ WHAT'S ON THE SCREEN. SO DON'T MOVE. AND FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, DON'T SAY ANYTHING!

C:\MINNIE\WINDOWS>What do you want me to do?

C:\CRAY2>PRETEND THAT YOU ARE WORKING AND READ THIS. I'VE GOT A LOT TO TELL YOU, AND I DON'T THINK THERE'S MUCH TIME. THEY'RE GOING TO KILL ME, MATTHEW. AND ONCE YOU KNOW WHAT I KNOW, THEY'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU, TOO.

### Chapter Twenty-Five

### Cyber Wars I: First Contact

Tyler was sat at the main console with one of his technicians. Ben Watkins stood behind them, staring at the monitor screen over their shoulders.

"It's all very simple now that we have the programs all sorted out," Tyler was saying. "We just tell the computer what we want, and it does it all in a matter of seconds. It took a little longer when we drew the information out of Connors, but that was because we were only copying it, and we had to contend with a very poor connection. Working with the implant is much quicker, and far more accurate."

"So long as it works," Ben insisted.

"It will work. I'll stake my life on it."

"You are," Ben replied coldly.

Tyler looked round at him. "You have never been confident in my abilities have you, Watkins?"

"And you've been far too over confident. That's why we are in this mess in the first place."

"Everything I have attempted has worked perfectly—"

Ben nodded his head and said derisively, "Yeah, yeah! You're a genius, Glen! Just get on with it! And remember, you're not just copying data now, this time we have to do a complete memory dump. I want the lot in the trash-can. We can worry about what we put back in later."

Tyler sighed and turned back to his keyboard. "Engage the link to the implant," he told his technician.

The technician flicked a few switches. "The connection's made, sir. The implant is responding."

"Good. Let's get to it." Tyler flexed his fingers and began to type.

Jayne felt the changes immediately. Previously, she had always been unconscious and unaware when they had happened. She didn't have the chance to try and stop them. She had awakened with the changes already fixed, like dreams attached to her memories of reality. The edges between them were blurred and confusing, and sometimes Jayne wasn't quite sure which was the real memory and which was the new one. But the new ones always gave themselves away. Not only because of the conflictions they caused with her other, real memories, but because they brought with them a knowledge of what was happening to her, and a personality that understood it all.

That personality had another face. Jayne could picture it in her mind as if it were her own reflection in a mirror. She could see the blonde hair and the blue eyes, and she found the features to be as familiar as her own. The face was very pretty, but the personality that lay behind it was cold and callous. It despised her and wished her dead, and it was capable of doing the killing.

It also hid itself behind many other false personalities. Like a multitude of facades, they were all erected to keep the true nature of the real personality buried deep inside. But Jayne could see behind them all, because she was on the inside. She now was that secret personality. It's identity was as much her as was her own identity. She could feel the hatred and the fear that it felt, and she had the memories and the knowledge that it had. Those memories were all as familiar and as powerful as her own, and although they still confused her, she didn't want to let any of them go. Despite the hatred and the bitterness, those memories were hers -no, mine!

But they were trying to take them away. They had given her those memories and now they wanted them back. She could feel it in her mind without really knowing why. She tried to shield them, to try to resist, and then she realised the horrible truth. No! It wasn't the new memories at all! It was her! They wanted her! She could feel the pull! No! I won't go! You can't have me! This time I'm awake! This time I'll fight! This time you wouldn't find it so easy! This time I've got help!

Matthew typed furiously on his keyboard. Jayne had told him everything. And for the first time in his life, Matthew was really scared. But he was also outraged. They had three Crays, did they, he thought to himself. Well, he had two, and he had Jayne. And she was worth two more Crays any time. Ben Watkins and Glen Tyler were in for a shock. Trying to cheat him like that, taking him for a dope all this time. They weren't going to get away with it! And they weren't as smart as they thought they were, either. Trying a full download through the implant while Jayne was awake would never work. They would have needed an implant the size of a brick to achieve that! But if they really wanted data, well they could have data. Chew on this, guys!

The technician sat next to Tyler began to get agitated. "Sir, one of the Crays has already reached maximum memory space."

Tyler was delighted. He turned towards Ben. "You see! The data's coming through already. We will have it all in no time."

"But, sir!" the technician protested. "Look at the print outs." He held up the reams of paper spewing out of the line printer next to him. "According to these, we were less than halfway through the program's cycle when it happened. And now the data is already beginning to fill the next Cray!"

Tyler began to look more concerned. That got Ben worried. "What's going on, Tyler?" he demanded.

"It's nothing, it's nothing," Tyler insisted as he stared at the print outs. "This happened before. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."

"Don't tell me this is nothing! What's gone wrong?"

"Nothing's gone wrong!" Tyler snapped at him. "Why do you always think something's gone wrong? We've never done a complete memory dump before! There's bound to be a lot of data!"

"Then why are you sweating?" Ben asked him.

"It's filling the third Cray, sir!" the technician announced.

"What happens if we run out of memory space?" Ben demanded to know. "Tell me, Tyler! What's the worst case scenario?"

Tyler was flustered. "Er, it'll either stop, or it will corrupt the mainframe IBM. But I'm sure it will stop."

"But what happens if it doesn't? What happens then?"

"We'll lose all the information on Hall's project that we've gathered so far."

Ben didn't hesitate. "Disengage the link! Now!"

The technician snatched at the switches in front of him. "The connection's broken!" he almost shouted. Then under his breath he muttered, "Shit...."

Tyler was in a stupor as he stared at the print outs, pulling more and more of them out of the printer. Things shouldn't have gone so wrong. But the print outs didn't lie. They documented the memory loading for each of the Crays, and according to them, all three Crays were now full.

Ben nudged Tyler roughly in the back. "Find out what the damage is."

Tyler dropped the print outs and turned to his keyboard. His hands shook as he typed away. "This is all wrong," he began to mutter.

"I thought you said nothing had gone wrong," Ben said rather sarcastically.

"No, I mean this is wrong," Tyler replied, pointing at the screen. "It's the data that we retrieved that's wrong. It's not Jayne Middelton's memory at all. I recognise the pattern. It's been duplicated several times, but it's definitely the map of her neural net."

Ben felt the hairs standing up on the back of his neck. "Matthew Hall!" he announced. "Jayne must have told him everything!" He turned and walked purposely back towards Tyler's office.

Tyler stood up and followed him. He was beginning to recover his composure once more. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to do what we should have done in the first place. You've had your chance. Now it's my turn."

### Chapter Twenty-Six

### A Quick Exit

Matthew disconnected his lap-top from the mini-computer, stuffed it into his tool-case, and threw back the sheet that covered up Jayne.

"Now!" he shouted.

Jayne immediately sprang from the bed. She was still dazed and very wobbly on her feet, and she nearly fell as Matthew grabbed her around the waist and ran with her to the door.

As soon as they were outside, Jayne pointed down the corridor and said, "This way! This way!"

Matthew didn't question her knowledge, he just ran, pulling Jayne along with him. After what he had seen on his lap-top, as all the data from both his Crays had disappeared through the implant, even when he had duplicated it several times as it went through his mini-computer, he trusted Jayne implicitly.

It was amazing. In just a few minutes his world had been turned completely upside down. Where before Ben Watkins and MedTec had been his friend and saviour, now they were his enemy. Both of them out to destroy him. The fact that Julia Connors, and the coloured technician who had helped Sandra with the brain scans, were in actual fact both trained assassins, he didn't question. No matter how outrageous, no matter how ludicrous, he believed Jayne Middleton.

Could it all be just a delusion? After all, Jayne had been through a severe head trauma. And for all Matthew knew, she could have been an out an out psycho even before her accident. Yes, it could all be a delusion. Logically, and sensibly, he wished it was. It would have been much easier and safer that way. But deep down inside, he knew it wasn't.

Jayne knew exactly where they were going. She kept telling him which corridor to take, and which door to go through. That would have been impossible unless she was telling the truth. That was also the real reason why she had known who everybody was as soon as she awoke.

They burst out of a fire escape, setting off an alarm.

"Now where?" Matthew asked her. They were stood in the car park.

Jayne shivered. She was barefoot and the only thing she wore was her hospital gown. She stared at the remaining cars in the car park. "That one!" she said, pointing to a white, convertible three series BMW.

They ran towards it. As soon as they reached it, Jayne tore at the hood. There was a broken stud, and she knew exactly where it was. In a moment she had her hand inside, and the door was open.

Matthew found himself sitting inside a very untidy car, his tool-case on his lap. There were cassette tapes, CD's, bits of paper, maps, toffee wrappers, anything you could imagine, all littered around the car. He even had to reach underneath himself and pull out a woman's high-heeled shoe. It was the left one. The right one was by his feet on the floor. He threw the one he had found after it.

As he was looking around, Jayne was rifling through the glove box, throwing its contents on the floor.

"I know it's in here somewhere!" she was saying. "I always keep it in here! It has to be here! Got it!" She pulled out a key and stuffed it in the ignition. The engine roared, and they were off.

The telephone rang in the monitoring room. There was the sound of scuffles on the floor behind the desk, then Julia appeared. Her nurse's uniform was all disarranged, as was her hair. She had just managed to untangle herself from Rawlston, get to her knees, and snatch up the phone before the third ring.

"Yes?" she answered breathlessly, just as Rawlston grabbed her again, and she grunted and kicked at him.

"Ow!" Rawlston cried from the floor behind her.

"Connors, is Rawlston with you?" Ben's voice was clearly audible on the phone.

"You could say so, yes," Julia replied, deliberately stepping on him with her foot as she stood up, and smiling when she heard him moan. "Do you want to talk to him?"

"No. Just pass on this message. The field trial is terminated. And that goes for all the personnel associated with it. You got that, Julia, darling? Terminated with extreme prejudice, I think is the correct term. Or, put more simply, get in there and kill them. Kill them all, now!"

The line went dead, and Julia instinctively glanced at the monitor screen. The room was empty.

"Oh, shit!" she exclaimed. She ran to a cupboard at the side of the room and began to fumble in her pocket for the key that would unlock it.

Rawlston climbed to his feet. He was still pulling his trousers up, and his shirt was all undone. "Did Ben say the field trial was terminated?" he asked.

"Yes!" Julia called to him as she finally unlocked and opened the door. The cupboard was full of guns. "And guess who's flown the coup while you and I were playing hide the sausage!"

"Shit!" Rawlston said, glancing at the monitor.

"Exactly! Now guess who'll be in it up to their pretty necks if either one of them gets out of the building!"

Julia took a large automatic from the cupboard, stuffed a loaded clip into it, and quickly hid it inside her unbuttoned uniform. As she headed for the door, Rawlston threw his jacket on, took another automatic from the cupboard and hurried after her.

While Rawlston paused in the corridor to lock the door to the monitoring room behind them, Julia was already moving away.

"Wait!" he called to her. "Sandra will have finished her shift by now. No one will have paid any attention to her, so she could already be outside."

"Okay. I'll get her! You find the others! And remember, you owe me two months pay!"

"What?"

"One for the bet I won, and one for the sexual favours you got in there!"

Rawlston shook his head in exasperation. "Okay, okay!" he agreed. "Just get Sandra, will you! She usually catches the Metro on Trafford Road."

Julia nodded, and headed in one direction, while Rawlston went in the other.

Rawlston held his gun ready, but hidden under his jacket as he hurried towards Matthew's lab. It proved to be unnecessary, as there was no one in the corridor. It was five-thirty, and most, if not all, of MedTec's legitimate employees had already left.

As he hurried along, he couldn't help feeling annoyed with himself at his own stupidity. One slip, that's all it ever took. He should have known better. He did know better. But Julia in a nurse's uniform had been too much for him. And now the pair of them could both end up dead if Hall and Middleton got away.

_Please, don't let them have gone far_ , he said to himself as he neared the door marked 'Mat's Den'. _Please make this an easy kill_. As he grabbed the handle, the security alarm went off.

### Chapter Twenty-Seven

### A Breach of Security

Rawlston grabbed for his radio as he ran down the corridor.

"Security! This is Rawlston! Where's the breach?" he demanded.

At the main reception area, the two security guards who were now on duty were both stirred into activity. As one of them grabbed his baton and ran down the corridor, the other one was resetting the alarm on the console in front of him. The alarm died, and the guard immediately grabbed the desk mike and shouted into it.

"Fire escape, ground floor, corridor A4, car park end!"

Rawlston shouted back his instructions. "Send Hoskins! You get up to the road and try and head them off!"

"Hoskins is on his way! And I'm gone!"

Rawlston burst out of the open fire escape to see a white BMW screeching out of the car park. He immediately fired at it, but it disappeared around the corner of the building with only a few holes in the boot.

By this time, Julia was already walking down Waterfront Quay heading towards Trafford Road. After she and Rawlston had gone their separate ways, Julia had quickly retrieved her coat and left the MedTec building by the main entrance. She had calmly walked past the two security guards at the front desk, said, "Good night," and even found the time to smile at both of them as she passed. They had smiled back, and one of them had winked at her. Julia had gained a certain amount of pleasure from the knowledge that neither of the guards had been aware of the gun hidden under her coat.

Julia had passed several other office buildings on Waterfront Quay as she hurried along, all of which were in darkness. She had reached the last of them, Telegraphic House, when the alarm went off inside the MedTec building behind her. It was too distant and too short-lived for Julia to notice it, but she did hear the car, and Rawlston firing at it. And when she turned, it was to see the white BMW hurtling towards her. Pulling the gun quickly from under her coat, Julia ran into the road in front of it. She held the automatic in front of her, aimed, and then....hesitated.

"Hey! That's my car!" she suddenly announced to no one in particular. Then she had to dive out of the way as the car almost ran her down. She landed in the flower beds outside Telegraphic House, rolled over and shouted, "Bitch!" after the car.

The car went through the traffic lights at the end of Waterfront Quay when they were on red. There was a crescendo of car horns and screeching tyres before the white BMW disappeared among the traffic on Trafford Road.

When Rawlston and the two security guards ran up to her, Julia was still lying among the flowers, propped up on one elbow. She didn't look very pleased.

"Are you alright?" Rawlston asked breathlessly.

"Of course I am!" Julia replied tartly. "I'm just waiting for a bus!"

One of the security guards looked down at Julia and said to Rawlston, "I didn't know Miss Connors worked with you, sir."

"You still don't," Rawlston told him. "Get back inside, the pair of you. And make sure the building is secure."

The two men did as they were told. After all, Rawlston was Head of Security at MedTec.

Rawlston now turned to Julia. "Come on!" he said, dragging her to her feet. "We've got to get after them!"

"There's no hurry," Julia replied as she dusted herself off. "I know where they're going."

"Oh, yes? Tell me where, then, genius?"

"Tyler used me for his little experiment, so she's got my memories, Sam. She'll go to my house. It's the last place she would expect us to look."

"Are you sure?"

"She went straight for my car, didn't she? Anyway, where else could she go? Hall's place? Mum and dad's?"

"Alright," Rawlston said. "But you better be right. It could be the last chance we get."

### Chapter Twenty-Eight

### Safe House

Matthew would have the image burned into his brain forever. Julia standing in the middle of the road, her feet apart, and a gun in her hand. The coat she wore hung open, and her nurse's uniform was undone underneath. He could see her body and her black underwear.

"That was Julia!" Matthew exclaimed as he looked over his shoulder. "She was going to shoot at us!"

"Well, it is her car we're driving!" Jayne replied in a strong Northern accent as she drove down Trafford Road far too fast.

Matthew turned round and saw the red light just as Jayne drove straight through it. He closed his eyes and winced as the sound of horns blaring and tyres screeching filled the air once more. He felt the car swerve, but there was no impact.

Matthew opened his eyes again. "That's the second red light you've ran!" he said in a nervous voice. "Slow down, Jayne!"

"We've got to get far away as fast as possible!" Jayne insisted, pressing her bare foot down on the accelerator and going even faster.

"But why? We've escaped, haven't we? They can't catch us now!"

"They might! I don't know the range of the radio link in my head, Matthew, and if they try again before you can get re- connected, we've both had it!"

Matthew had forgotten about that. He had checked the implant over so many times, but with a multi-layer board, surface mount technology, and custom made integrated circuit chips, they could have hidden away a radio circuit almost anywhere. It might even have been added during the operation to insert the implant in Jayne's head. However it got there, he would have to do something about it, and soon.

"Okay, okay!" he said. "I understand the hurry! But we need to find somewhere to stop. Somewhere where I can work. I have to rig up a transmitter of my own to get back in touch with the implant. Once I'm re-connected, I can do something with the software protocols to stop any un-authorised data transactions. But in the meantime, Jayne, try to drive a bit slower, will you? The last time you drove a car you had an accident, remember?"

Jayne had a fleeting image of Harvey in her mind. He was sitting on the road in the dark. She forced the image from her mind, but she began to slow down. They were now on Chester Road heading South. When they reached Stretford, Jayne turned left and drove down Edge Lane towards Chorlton. They passed a park and Jayne took another left. She seemed to know where she was going. Soon they were driving down a quiet road with bay-fronted, semi- detached houses on each side of them.

Matthew looked around at the houses. "Where are we going?" he asked her.

"Somewhere where they won't think of looking for us. Somewhere safe. For a little while at least." As she spoke, Jayne turned right down another quiet road, and then turned up the driveway of one of the houses. It was painted red and white.

"This is it," she announced, switching the engine off. "Out you get!"

As Matthew climbed out of the car with his tool-case, Jayne ran up to the front door. Without hesitation, she broke a pane of glass in the window next to the door and reached inside. Matthew watched in shock, not just because of what she was doing, but because the hospital type gown she was wearing left nothing to the imagination when viewed from behind.

Matthew glanced around at all the houses and the many windows, wondering what someone might think if they were watching. He hurried to stand behind Jayne, hoping to block as much of the view as possible if someone was watching. And as soon as Jayne got the door open he pushed her inside.

"Get in quick!" he said, shutting the door behind them.

Jayne trotted up the hallway and looked into the kitchen and the lounge. Then she looked in the front room. There was no sign of anyone. When she turned to look at Matthew, he was still by the door, staring out of the broken window.

"Worried about being seen breaking and entering?" she asked him with a cheeky grin. "I don't think anyone saw us!"

"It's not us I'm worrying about, it's you!" Matthew replied, turning round and pointing at her hospital gown.

Jayne looked down at the gown and her bare feet. "Oh, yeah, I forgot." She twisted and glanced over her shoulder, noticing for the first time how much of her was exposed. "No wonder I felt a little draughty!" She looked back at Matthew and smiled. "You get to work in here while I go upstairs and try and find something to wear." She indicated the kitchen before heading for the stairs. "And no peeking!" she added as she passed Matthew in the hallway.

Matthew blushed and quickly averted his eyes. As he went into the kitchen he heard laughter as Jayne ran up the stairs. It was a delightful sound.

Jayne searched the drawers and the wardrobes in both bedrooms before she found something to wear. She was hoping for a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt, but she could only find dresses, skirts and blouses. And although she found some knickers, the bras were all too big for her. Then she found a camisole. That, a white blouse, black skirt, and polka-dot knickers, seemed to be the best combination. She threw off the hospital gown and began to get dressed.

As she was dressing, Jayne called down to Matthew, "How are you getting on?"

Matthew had his tool-case open on the kitchen table and had already made a mess with bits of electrical wire and components everywhere. The parts came from a transistor radio he had found in the lounge. He had broken it open and pulled it to bits. Now he was busy with his soldering iron, working on a circuit board he had pulled out of his lap-top computer, adding the components he had cannibalised from the radio. It looked a mess, but it was going to work.

"I'm doing fine," he called back. "How about you?"

"I'll be down in a minute," he heard her reply. And then, after a pause, "By the way, in case I forget to tell you later, thanks!"

Matthew smiled. "It's a pleasure," was all he could think of to say.

Jayne came bouncing down the stairs and burst into the kitchen. She seemed full of life. "How do I look?" She asked, doing a quick twirl.

"You look very good," Matthew replied, admiring her curves now that she was out of that shapeless gown. The skirt she had found was relatively short, and it showed off her legs very well. Then Matthew noticed her feet were still bare. "No shoes?" he asked.

Jayne shook her head. "None that would fit."

Matthew remembered the pair of high-heeled shoes in the car and told her about them.

"They'll fit!" she said, and hurried down the hall. She had hardly got halfway when they both heard a key turn in the front door, and it suddenly burst open.

### Chapter Twenty-Nine

### House Hunting

As Rawlston drove the car, Julia sat in the passenger seat next to him fuming. She was still annoyed with herself for letting Matthew and Jayne get away. But it was the sudden realisation that it was her car that had put her off, that and the sight of Jayne Middleton smiling at her through the windscreen.

She couldn't understand it at first. Why was Jayne smiling? She had a gun pointed right at her, and yet, she was smiling. And then Julia had realised that it was her car, and then she knew why the cow was smiling.

To Julia, her white BMW was her life. It was the only thing she kept whenever she had to move. Houses, men, and other possessions she always left behind. But not the BMW. She had slept in that car, lived in it for days, and driven it all over the country and around Europe. She had sex in that car far more often than she did in bed. It was her car, damn it!

Jayne knew. That's why she was smiling. She knew all about her car. Knew when she bought it, knew how much she liked it, knew she wouldn't shoot at it. The bitch! Cow-bag!

It was all Tyler's fault of course. He must have given the cow far more of her memories than he had said he was going to do. The incompetent git! Now she knew far too much. But not for long.

"Turn left here!" Julia said. It was the first time she had spoken since Rawlston had admitted to peppering the back of her white BMW with bullets.

"I know where you live," Rawlston replied as he slowed the car and parked it.

"Then why have you stopped here?"

"Because I don't want them to hear us drive up!" Rawlston replied in exasperation. "Now stop thinking about that damn car of yours and get with it! It was a mobile trash-can, anyway! And you can always buy another one! For God's sake, I'll buy you another one!"

Rawlston got out of the car only to find Julia confronting him over the roof. "But I don't want another one! I want mine back!" she insisted, banging her finger on the roof. "And I'll expect you to pay for every hole! Do you hear me? Every flippin' hole! And don't you dare call it a trash-can!"

"Yes! Alright! But do you have to tell everyone in the street!"

Julia glanced around at the houses. "Hah!" she said. "They'll all be watching telly. Let's get on with it before there's an advert break."

They walked down the quiet road until they could see the house. Then Rawlston stopped her.

"I'll go in the front door, you go in the back," he said. "Give me the key."

"It's my house, I'll go in the front," Julia replied, fishing in her coat pocket for the keys. "Here, take the key to the back door. I'll give you exactly a minute."

"Okay. But don't shoot me when we go in. It was only a car, after all."

"I'll think about it," Julia replied as Rawlston went around to the back of the house.

Julia approached the front of the house. Her car was nowhere to be seen. They must have abandoned it somewhere, she thought. If that cow had damaged it....

Rawlston was in the garden. He drew his gun from his holster. He could see the back door and edged closer to it. When he was right next to it, he reached out and put the key silently into the lock. He glanced at his watch, just a few more seconds to go.

Julia had reached the front door. Up to now she had kept the automatic hidden under her coat, but now she pulled it out and held it ready. The minute was up. Carefully, she slipped the key in the lock, turned it, and burst into the hallway.

### Chapter Thirty

### A Lancashire Lass

"What are you two doing in my house?" Sandra demanded to know as she stared at Matthew and Jayne. "What's happened? Why is Julia's car in my drive? And which one of you broke my window?" Then she looked more closely at Jayne. "Why are you wearing my daughter's clothes?" And when she noticed the mess on the kitchen table she called out, "My radio! What have you done to my radio?" Slamming the door behind her she hurried into the kitchen. "Oh, Matthew!" she exclaimed, picking up what was left of the case.

It took several minutes to calm Sandra down. It took a little longer to explain everything to her, and even longer to convince her that they were telling the truth.

Finally, Sandra said, "I don't know about you two, but I'm having a cup of tea."

It was such a normal thing to do, that although Matthew was still hyped up from what had happened at MedTec, it was exactly what they did. Sandra took her coat off and put the kettle on, Matthew finished building the radio into his lap-top, and Jayne went to retrieve the high-heeled shoes from the car.

When Jayne returned, Matthew was clearing up the mess he had made on the kitchen table, with Sandra standing over him like an impatient foreman.

"You missed a bit," Sandra was saying. "And there!"

"Alright," Matthew replied as he swept the pieces into the bin. He looked up at Jayne, who was now much taller than him. "My, you've grown!" he said.

"I know! Tall, aren't they?" Jayne said rather pleased with herself. "I must be about five-foot-ten in these! I told you they would fit!"

"They'll ruin your feet," Sandra told her. "Take it from someone who knows."

When the table was cleared of debris, they all sat down to a cup of tea in the kitchen. It was as if they were visiting a friend on a Sunday afternoon. Jayne was still very thirsty, and while Matthew and Sandra were still on their first cup, she had three cups.

"Slow down, Jayne!" Sandra told her. "It's been a long time since you ate and drank properly, so your stomach will have shrunk a bit. Give it a chance to recover before you throw all that tea down there!"

Jayne put her cup down and said, "That's a point! You haven't got any food have you? I'm starving!"

"I'll make you one sandwich, and that's it!"

While Sandra was busy making the sandwich, Matthew and Jayne were left sitting next to each other at the table. Matthew felt very self-conscious, mainly because Jayne kept looking at him and smiling, and also because he didn't know what to say.

Finally he said, "You know, all the time you were sleeping, I never imagined that your voice would sound like that, sort of rough, like."

Jayne immediately put on a very sad face, and covered her eyes as if she were crying. "Sandra! He's picking on me!" she wailed. "He's getting at my Oldham accent! And me a pure bred Lancashire Lass too!"

Matthew was terribly embarrassed. He wished he'd kept his mouth shut, and quickly tried to console her. "No! I didn't mean your accent! I meant your actual voice was slightly rough, that's all!"

Jayne wailed even louder. "Now he's getting personal! And after me having to suffer all those years of smoke from 't mills!"

Sandra returned with a plate with a sandwich on it. As soon as she put it down on the table in front of Jayne, Jayne stopped wailing, took her hands from her face, snatched up the sandwich, and announced, "Oh, great! A ham butty!"

Matthew took one look at Jayne's mischievous expression and knew he'd been had. He dropped his head down on the table in dismay.

Sandra shook her head sadly. "You are very gullible, Matt."

Then Jayne said with her mouth full, "You like me, don't you?"

Matthew looked up again. "Is it that obvious?"

Jayne swallowed and nodded. "That and the fact that Sandra and Julia used to talk about you all the time."

Matthew quickly looked at Sandra who said, "We did nothing of the sort!"

"You did!" Jayne insisted. "You were always saying how he fancied me!"

"Well only a bit!" Sandra admitted.

"Oh, God!" Matthew said, and dropped his head down on the table again. Now he was even more embarrassed.

Jayne chuckled as she ate her sandwich. Sandra stared at her.

"You have a very familiar and wicked sense of humour," she said. "Especially for someone who's parents both died only yesterday."

Jayne stopped smiling. She put down the sandwich and said rather sadly, "That's because I'm dead, too."

Matthew looked up again. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just that Sandra's right," Jayne replied. "If I was still Jayne Middleton, I'd be a wet mush right now. But the longer I've been awake, the more distant Jayne seems to have become. She's still there alright, don't get me wrong. But it's like she's a memory of a favourite character in a book I've read, or a film I've seen. I know everything about her, who she loved, what she wanted in life, everything. But it's as if she was someone else, someone whose experiences I also experienced, but which I can now be impartial about."

"That means I failed," Matthew said in dismay. "Everything I did with the Crays and the implant was designed to refresh your original neural net, and to bring Jayne, I mean you, back as you were, not as someone else. That was the whole point of the project." Matthew's voice rose. "If it's gone wrong we have to find some way to change you back! To make you Jayne again!"

"No!"

Jayne's denial was very firm, and she could see immediately that it upset and surprised Matthew. She quickly moved closer to him and put her arm around him. And looking deeply into his eyes, she said, softly, "I know you wanted to bring me back, Matthew. And you have. You succeeded. I'm alive again. You should be very proud, and I thank you very much for what you did for me. But Ben Watkins and Glen Tyler ruined everything for you right at the end. They interfered, and it changed me, and I'm sorry about that. But I like the change, Matthew. I like some of the new things that it's brought to me. I can do lots of things that I couldn't do before, and I know far more about the world, about politics and business, than I ever used to know before. It's made me feel more confident, more capable. Stronger. And now that it's done, I don't want to change it back."

Matthew stared back into Jayne's eyes as if mesmerised, and Sandra said very bluntly, "You're Julia now, aren't you?"

Jayne moved apart from Matthew and began eating her sandwich again. "I don't think it's that simple. But she's definitely in here, though." She tapped her skull. "I remember as much about her life as I do about Jayne's. But where Jayne was a good girl when she was little, Julia was definitely naughty. Very naughty indeed. And now she's just plain bad. But it wasn't all her own fault. I know what she thought about me, about what she thought about all of you. And I even know and understand why she felt that way. But none of it was pleasant. She wanted to kill us all. That's why I knew where you lived, Sandra. Because she had a file on you. And Matthew."

When Jayne had moved closer and put her arm around him, Matthew had become transfixed by her. Not just by the way she had stared into his eyes and the expression on her face when she had spoken to him, but also by the closeness of her body to his, and by the sheer power of her. She was so alive, so wonderful, that he had felt suddenly lonely when she had moved away again. But now her words chased away the mood completely. Matthew suddenly had a very sick feeling in his stomach.

"Jayne, do you know where Sandra's daughter lives?" he asked her.

Jayne thought about it for a moment. "No," she said finally.

"Good." Matthew stood up. "Sandra, get your coat and get round to your daughter's house. And when you get there, phone the police. Tell them everything we told you. Go now. Right now!"

There was an urgency in his voice that alarmed Sandra.

"What's the matter?" she asked, but Jayne already knew what Matthew was getting at.

"If I know where you live, so does Julia," she said, stuffing the last of the sandwich in her mouth. "But we still have some time yet. Julia will expect me to go to her house. It's the most obvious thing. That's why I came here instead. But it won't take her long to work out that this is where we went. And then she'll be really pissed."

### Chapter Thirty-One

###  Unravelling

"Now I'm really pissed!" Julia said as she stood in the empty hallway of her house.

Rawlston was coming down the stairs after searching the bedrooms. "There's no one here, Julia!" he said angrily in a raised voice. "They never even came here!"

"I know! I know!" Julia shouted back. "I should have realised when the car wasn't here! They must have gone to Sandra's house! It's the only other place I know they could go to! Come on!"

Julia stormed out of the house. Rawlston followed her.

"You better be right this time!" he said. "God knows what Ben Watkins is thinking!"

Ben Watkins was back at MedTec, and the two security guards had already explained to him what had happened. Now he stood in Matthew's empty laboratory. He was thinking about taking the next flight out of Manchester Airport. Any flight. And the further the better. Because if he was right about Rosanna Casarotto, that she had somebody working for her on the inside at MedTec, then she would probably already know about this disaster. In fact, she was probably already on her way here.

He nodded silently to himself. Yes, it would be the best solution. Just catch a plane and disappear. If Tyler wanted to try and save the project, then good luck to him. Ben was going to disappear. Fast.

Ben Watkins went straight to the airport. He didn't stop to do anything else. He just got in his car and drove straight there. He didn't even go home to retrieve his passport. He didn't need it anymore. Ben had created a false identity for himself a long time ago. Periodically he would change it, but he always made a habit of keeping the false passport and credit cards in his pocket. Just in case.

Ben's haste was more than justified. By the time he reached the turn off for the airport on the M56 motorway, a black Mercedes had pulled up to the front of the MedTec building. Three people got out of the car. Two were men in gray suits. They got out first. One of them went to the main entrance and knocked on the glass door, beckoning to the security guards inside, while the second man opened the back door of the car and stood waiting.

Rosanna Casarotto swung her long legs out of the car and walked gracefully into the MedTec building. She was wearing a bright red suit, the skirt of which stopped just above the knee. Her jacket allowed a lot of cleavage to be on show, along with a tantalizing view of black lace. She wore very high heels, and they tapped loudly on the tiled floor as she walked into reception.

Both the security men stood up when she came in.

"Is Mr Watkins in?" she asked with a slightly South American accent.

"No Miss. He left about twenty minutes ago," one of the security guards replied.

"And Mr Rawlston?"

"He went after Matthew Hall and the woman who had been in a coma."

"I see. Do you have the logging in book?"

The security guard nodded and handed it to her. As she browsed through the pages, Rosanna turned her back on the two security men and said, casually, "I see that there is no one else in the building. Good. These two gentlemen are Mr Williams and Mr Smith. Introduce yourselves, please."

As the two security guards raised their hands to greet the two men standing on either side of Rosanna Casarotto, Williams and Smith both drew automatics with silencers attached to them from under their gray jackets. There was the simultaneous sound of two soft thuds, and both security men fell dead.

Without turning around, Rosanna said, "Mr Smith, kindly escort me back to the car while Mr Williams clears up."

As Smith did as she asked, Williams took a small incendiary device from his pocket and headed for the plant room. By the time he returned to the car, Rosanna Casarotto was already sitting cross-legged in the back seat, MedTec's logging in book by her side.

"They had a lot of visitors over the last three weeks," Rosanna Casarotto said in a soft voice. "We will have a lot of work to do over the next few days. But first, contact our office in New Jersey. Get them to do a search on the computers of all the flights out of Manchester Airport today. Get them to look for a Mr Willard Jenkins."

Williams nodded and got on the carphone.

Rosanna then tapped Smith on the shoulder, and he immediately started the car and drove towards Exchange Quay.

At that moment, Ben Watkins was at the check in desk for a Qantas flight to Sydney in Australia. He was out of breath as he had to run to get there before the desk closed.

"You've only just made it, Sir! You better hurry!" the flight attendant said as she took his ticket.

"I know! Lucky, aren't I?" Ben replied, and hurried down the gangway to the plane.

"Have a good trip, Mr Jenkins!" the attendant called after him with a smile.

### Chapter Thirty-Two

### Malice Aforethought

"But why do we have to go back there?" Matthew asked as Jayne drove the BMW back towards Salford Quays. "When Sandra phones the police it'll all be over. Ben and the rest of them will all get arrested and that will be that."

"Not necessarily," Jayne replied. "The police have to believe her story first, and then they will have to get a judge to grant them a search warrant before they can even get in the building. And even once they're inside, until they find the evidence, they can't really arrest anybody. After all, they haven't really done anything wrong. Not that we can prove, anyway."

"They shot at us!" Matthew exclaimed.

"Yes, in the car we stole," Jayne pointed out. "And after you and they had brought me back from the dead. Not quite life imprisonment, is it?"

"But it's still the job of the police, not ours!" Matthew insisted. "Why can't we just leave it to them?"

"Because they've got all your information stored in that secret computer centre of theirs at Exchange Quay. And if we wait for the police to get involved, they'll download it to some other computers hidden away somewhere else. So even if Ben Watkins and Glen Tyler do get arrested, they can still do it again. Only next time they might not wait for someone to fall into a coma. And the person might not be just a young woman thinking about a Master's Degree."

Matthew knew that when Jayne said 'they', she was talking about the Corporation. A global giant that hid itself behind false companies and a multitude of subsidiaries like MedTec, and didn't recognise the limitations of borders or law.

"You think it might be a politician?" he said.

"Politician, Scientist, Businessman, General. Take your pick," Jayne replied.

Matthew's heart sank. How could he have been so stupid. But he had never even considered the illegal uses his idea could be turned to. All he had dreamt about was the marvellous feeling success would bring him. The achievement, his Phd, the notoriety. He hadn't even bothered to think about the money he might make. He had left all that to Ben, arrogantly believing the gesture to be altruistic. His reward would be the recognition, a saviour for all those people who were trapped in a coma, and their relatives who faced the final horror of having to use the off switch. What a hero he would have been.

Now Matthew realised that instead of being a hero, he had been a selfish, conceited fool. Sandra had called him gullible. He was much worse than that. They had taken him in completely, and only now did he realise that his idea would never have been used for those coma victims. Instead, some Head of State would have gone to bed as a compassionate statesman, and woken up as a dictator.

"I'm a dick-head," Matthew announced.

Jayne chuckled. "It's not your fault, Matthew. Most of the people working for MedTec didn't even know, so how were you supposed to?"

"But I should have thought about the consequences!" Matthew insisted, still angry with himself.

"Does anybody? Do the people who experiment with genetics think of the consequences? No. They just think of the money the patent will bring them if they're first. And those that do know the consequences ignore them. It doesn't matter if you're cloning sheep or making guns, it's the profit that counts. Someone else can pay for the consequences."

"Is that how the new Jayne thinks?"

"It's how Julia thinks, and what the new Jayne understands. But the old Jayne didn't know about such things. She had morels, but she didn't know what Julia knows. That's why I like who I am. I have Jayne's moral character, her goodness and honesty. But I also have Julia's worldly wisdom, her shrewdness and abilities. I like the balance it gives me. I like who I have become."

Matthew stared at Jayne. "I never really knew the old Jayne," he said, thoughtfully. "But I think I might have had a better chance with her than I will with the new one."

Jayne glanced across at him as she drove. There was the same cheeky grin on her face that Matthew was beginning to find very familiar. "Don't write yourself off just yet!" she told him. "I told you, I am very grateful, and you are kind of cute!"

Matthew tried his best not to, but he blushed. He couldn't help it. And the sound of her chuckles made it worse.

"What are we going to do?" he asked her, quickly changing the subject.

Jayne sighed and took a deep breath. "Well, if you can keep Tyler from messing with my head through the implant, I guess we will have to trash the place and kill them all."

Her words shocked and frightened Matthew. "How can you say that? How can you talk about killing people so casually like that?"

"Forgive me, Matthew," she said, genuinely sorry for her words. "I must sound really bad, but you have to remember who we are dealing with. These people will kill us both if they can. Even if the police catch them all, the order will still go out. And one day, a week, a month, or even a year from now, you'll be sitting in your living room, minding your own business, and bang! A gas explosion. What a shame. Game over. No, to be sure, we have to kill them first."

Although Matthew caught her meaning immediately, he just couldn't accept it. "But that was just an accident!" he said.

"Was it?" Jayne's voice was bitter. But her accent had also changed. Gone now were the Northern tones, replaced by a very familiar Julie Andrews type voice. "Jayne would have believed that, but Julia wouldn't. She knows them too well. They killed my parents, Matthew. I know they did. Just to get them out of the way."

"But why? It doesn't make sense."

"Because in a week's time mum and dad would have been expecting Jayne's body to be returned to them. That was what I—" she paused before very deliberately correcting herself, "—what Julia, agreed with them. My mum wouldn't give in to anything less. She was adamant that I should be buried properly. She and my dad loved me. And they killed them. So don't argue with me about this, Matthew. Just keep Tyler out of my head, and don't get in the way."

### Chapter Thirty-Three

### Down Sizing

"They've definitely been here," Julia said as she held the discarded hospital gown out to Rawlston. "I found it in the bedroom. She must be dressed."

"Yeah, but they're long gone now," Rawlston replied as he and Julia were standing in the kitchen of Sandra's house.

"You make it sound as if it was my fault!" Julia said.

"Well, of course it is!" Rawlston told her, his hands on his hips. "If we had came here first, we'd have got them!"

"Oh yeah! And if you could hit a barn door with that gun of yours, they wouldn't have got out of the car park in the first place!" Julia retorted, poking him in the chest.

"Ha!" Rawlston exclaimed. "You were the one that let them get passed you, not me!"

"And you were the one that wanted to play hide the sausage!"

"Yeah! Well, okay!" Rawlston was deflated. He put his gun back into his shoulder holster. "Come on! Let's get back to MedTec. Maybe we can find a way to trace that implant in her skull."

All the way back to Salford Quays, Julia moaned about her missing car. Finally Rawlston had had enough. He pulled the car over, parked it, and twisted around in his seat to face her.

"Will you shut your God damn mouth moaning about that fucking car!" he almost shouted at her. "If you mention it one more time! Just one more time! I promise you that if we do ever find it, I will personally stick it in a car crusher and squish it! You got that? Good! Right!"

As Rawlston started the car once more, Julia sat with her arms folded in the passenger seat and developed a childlike pout. She looked really hurt, and she was silent for at least two minutes. Then she muttered under her breath, "But it's my car...."

"Aaaaarrrggghhh!!"

When they reached Salford Quays, it was to find the MedTec building totally engulfed in flames. There were three fire appliances in attendance and several police cars were dotted around. Waterfront Quay was cordoned off by policemen standing by a temporary barrier, and there was absolute pandemonium in the background as firemen ran about with hoses as they fought the fire.

"Oh shit," Rawlston muttered as he and Julia sat in their car a safe distance away, watching the show.

"What do you think's happened?" Julia asked him.

"I guess Ben's got the push. For this to have happened someone must have come over here from Stateside. That means it must be someone high up."

"Casarotto?" Julia suggested.

Rawlston nodded, still watching the fire. "Yeah, that would be about right."

Julia turned to stare at Exchange Quay, the building standing tall a short distance away, the two radio masts on it's roof bathed in green light.

"She'll be in the computer centre," she said, thoughtfully. "Do you want to try for it? It's either that or do a runner, and we both know that's a non-starter."

Rawlston turned to stare at Exchange Quay with Julia. "Yeah, why not? The pension was lousy, anyway."

Glen Tyler was getting very worried. He hadn't heard from Ben Watkins since he had returned to the MedTec building, and now it was plain for all to see that he wasn't coming back.

The MedTec building was on fire.

Tyler and his staff all stood at the window staring out at the disaster. They were so engrossed by the view, that none of them noticed Rosanna Casarotto and her two companions emerge from the lift until they heard the sound of her heels on the floor.

When Tyler saw her, he almost lost control of his bowels right then and there. His voice shook as he forced a smile on his face and said hurriedly, "W-why, Rosanna! What a pleasant surprise! I didn't know you were in England!"

"You weren't supposed to," she replied disdainfully, and turning to her two companions, she added, "Mr Smith, Mr Williams, please introduce yourselves to Mr Tyler's redundant staff."

The two men produced their heavily silenced guns and there was a sudden fusillade of thuds. All around him, Tyler's white coated technicians fell to the bullets with a splash of red. In a couple of seconds, Tyler was the only one left standing, rooted to the spot, and rigid in shock.

"Thank you, gentlemen," Rosanna Casarotto said in a calm and pleasant voice. "And now to business." She raised her hand and hooked her finger at Tyler, beckoning him to come closer.

Tyler came slowly forward, his whole body shaking as he stepped carefully over the bodies. When he was standing right in front of her, Rosanna held her hand up towards him, bringing him to an abrupt halt. She was like a magician, moving her victim by sheer force of will.

"Mr Tyler, I am afraid you have created a minor problem for us. One that you must now," she waved her hand in front of his eyes in a sudden flurry, "—undo! Yes? Good! Please come back to your computers. I believe the implant will be back within range of your radio link by now, so all you have to do is get reacquainted with Jayne Middleton's brain, and persuade it to bring her back here to us. Can you do that Mr Tyler? Or is your usefulness to the Corporation, like those of your assistants, now at an end?"

Tyler swallowed. He was nervous and sweating, but he knew that to admit defeat was to give up living. "If Hall can be stopped from interfering, then I think I can do it," he said in a quaking voice.

Rosanna began to lead him back to the computer console. "Don't worry about Hall, we'll deal with him." As she spoke, she clicked her fingers, and Williams immediately pulled a mobile phone from his pocket. He dialled quickly, and spoke purposefully to the person who answered.

"Get rid of Hall. Now."

"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" Matthew asked as he sat in the passenger seat of the BMW, his lap-top on his knee. Jayne had already got out, and had come around the car to lean on the door by the open window.

"Don't worry about me!" she told him with a wide grin. "I'll be fine! I've done this sort of thing before, remember?"

"No you haven't! Julia has! It makes a difference!" Matthew pointed out anxiously.

Jayne wasn't to be deterred. "Julia, Jayne, what's the difference? They're both me! I can do this, Matthew! I'm telling you! Just you make sure that Tyler doesn't interfere, and I'll do the rest."

Matthew still wasn't impressed. "I still think we should wait for the police!"

In reply, Jayne quickly reached through the open window, grabbed him by the ears, stuck her head into the car, and kissed him hard on the mouth.

As Matthew stared at her in surprise, she tugged at his ears and said, "Don't you get killed while I'm away! I'd miss you! Anyway, you're the only friend I have!" Then she grinned at him again, and suddenly she was gone.

Matthew sat alone in the car. Jayne had parked it on the other side of the Irwell River where it passed close to Exchange Quay. It was hidden in the shadow of the Metrolink bridge that crossed it on the way to Eccles. Matthew stared across the river at the tall building, and the lights on the eighth floor. There seemed to be a lot of smoke coming from somewhere, but from his position down by the river, he couldn't tell from where. He watched as the smoke billowed around the building in the failing light. It would be dark soon. Jayne had been gone for only a few seconds, and he was already as worried as hell.

The lap-top on his knee suddenly bleeped at him, and Matthew almost jumped out of the car. He held on to his chest and stared down at the screen, seeing the message it displayed.

C:\WINDOWS>MISS ME YET?

Matthew shook his head and typed his reply.

C:\WINDOWS>You frightened the life out of me! Don't do that!

C:\WINDOWS>THEN PAY ATTENTION, NERD! THINGS COULD GET NASTY AT ANY MOMENT. AND KEEP A LOOK OUT. IF ANYTHING LOOKS SUSPICIOUS, GET GOING!

C:\WINDOWS>I'm not leaving without you!

C:\WINDOWS>AND I DON'T WANT TO COME BACK TO FIND YOU DEAD! SO GET INTO THE DRIVING SEAT, AND DON'T ARGUE!

C:\WINDOWS>Okay! Okay! I'm in the driver's seat! I'm going to start the monitor program now. You might feel a bit funny, but I don't want Tyler to sneak anything in before we're ready. Hang on.

C:\WINDOWS>run MONITOR

MONITOR RUNNING

NO INTERRUPTS

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR>I DIDN'T FEEL A THING.

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR>Good. By the way, I love you.

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR>NOW YOU ARE BEING A NERD. BUT I LIKE ITTTZ!

Bad command or file name

MONITOR TRIGGERED

INTERRUPT=1

MEMORY TYPE=LONG TERM

SUBJECT=PHYSICAL TRAUMA

"Tyler!" Matthew exclaimed, and his heart went cold as he saw the message on the screen. One of the new programs he had written was designed to catch any new memory instructions and identify them. So far it had worked, and only just in time, too. Matthew began typing furiously on his keyboard. He had to start another program now, and quickly. One that would counter-act what Tyler was doing, leaving Jayne's memory unaffected. Or, at least, that was how it was supposed to work. But where Jayne was concerned, Matthew was no longer sure of anything.

### Chapter Thirty-Four

### Cyber Wars II: The Rematch

Jayne was scampering across the Metrolink bridge heading for the multi-story car park attached to Exchange Quay when she suddenly remembered the car crash. It came back to her in a flash. She remembered the crunch of metal and the windscreen shattering. She remembered bumping her head, hard, and everything going black. She even remembered the ambulance and the paramedic. The whole effect made her feel very dizzy, and she lost her footing, stumbled, and fell over. She ended up lying across the rails, wondering where she was and what she was doing there.

"Got her!" Tyler said in triumph. This was going to be a lot easier than he had thought. "The trauma of the car crash was bound to bring her down. Her mind had suppressed it, but I've brought it to the fore. Hall tried to block me out, but he can't remove my write privileges. She's totally incapacitated!"

"Where is she?" Rosanna Casarotto asked as she stood over him.

"She's outside, on the bridge."

"Good. Can you erase her knowledge of the Corporation?"

Tyler's fingers danced swiftly over the keyboard. He shook his head. "No, the implant won't respond to a request for a complete download now that she's awake. It must be because there's too much brain activity taking place for the implant to be able to cope with a download at the same time. Watkins feared that this might happen."

"Have you not tried it before?"

"Yes, but that time Hall diverted the request to the Crays, and we nearly lost all our data."

"I see."

Rosanna's voice never wavered, but Tyler could tell that she wasn't happy with his answers.

"Then keep her where she is," Rosanna said before turning to one of her companions. "Mr Smith, go fetch our problem."

There was an idea in Jayne's head, like a memory, or knowledge of reality. It was calming and soothing.

You've had a bad accident, the idea told her. You're still in the ambulance. Lie down, and wait until you get to the hospital.

Jayne's head ached, all she could remember was the impact with the lamp post. It kept coming back to her, repeating over and over again in her mind. The breaking glass, the crunching metal, and that final, sickening blow to her head.

Down by the river, Matthew was sweating as he typed frantically on his keyboard. What Tyler had done was very clever, but too clever. Using Jayne's own memories against her was a good idea, but where one memory was brought back to mind, others would surely follow. Matthew just had to tease the right one out, the one that would bring all the others trailing after it. And if Tyler wasn't careful, he could be the one to do it for him.

Now there was a second idea in Jayne's head. It opposed the first, and the two of them together confused her, and she didn't know what to do. The new idea was hectic and insistent.

Get up! Get up! It demanded. It's Tyler! He's lying to you! Don't listen to him! You're on the tracks and there's a tram coming! I can see it! Get up! Get up!

"Hall's interfering!" Tyler snapped. "I thought you said you would deal with him?"

"Be patient," Rosanna replied. "My agent will find him soon."

"But he's trying to cut me out!"

"Then oppose him!"

The two opposing ideas flitted around inside Jayne's head like demented flies, strangely shaped and colourful, one bright, one dark.

Jayne didn't know which idea was the truth, she didn't even know where she was. And something was nagging at the back of her mind, something that she was supposed to do. Something that she was in the process of doing. What was it? Where was she going? And why couldn't she remember it? And who was Tyler?

Forget Tyler, he's unimportant. He was your pet rabbit, the one that was run over. You remember, don't you?

A white rabbit. It was in the road. Yes, Jayne remembered it.

No, he wasn't! Harvey was your pet rabbit! Not Tyler! Tyler's the enemy! Your enemy! He's inside your head! He's trying to get you! He's trying to suppress the Julia part of you! Don't let him Jayne!

Julia? Who was Julia? And why would she and Tyler be inside her head?

Because your head is my head, you stupid piece of mutton!

There's no such person as Julia. This is a delusion. Rest. Stay where you are. It will all be over in a few seconds.

Julia felt the tingling in her head. I don't like this! Turn it off! Turn it off!

Julia?

Jayne suddenly felt hungry for a pizza. She could hear a loud squealing noise, it sounded like some kind of demented elephant, and it seemed very close. She opened her eyes and she stared up at the night sky.

"Bitch!" she called out as her memory returned. "Cow-bag! I'll get you back for this, Tyler!"

Jayne felt a vibration through her back, and rolling over she saw the lights of the approaching tram. It was already on the bridge. The driver sounded his warning siren again. It was a very loud and powerful squeal.

"Shit!"

Jayne scrambled out of the way, throwing herself down on to the other side of the bridge. The tram whizzed past, and the driver shook his fist at her. "Bloody nutter!" she heard him shout.

Jayne had a glimpse of anxious faces at the brightly lit windows of the tram, and then it was gone, descending the ramp on the far side of the bridge. As the tram passed the side of the multi- story car park, Jayne began to scamper forward again, following after it for a moment, before heading towards the shadows near the wall, where she quickly disappeared.

"I've lost her!" Tyler cried out. "I told you to get rid of Hall!"

"Get her back!" Rosanna demanded in an angry tone. It was the first sign of any emotion. "Get her back now! Or I'll ask Mr Williams to terminate your employment with the Corporation this instant!"

Tyler glanced at Williams who took a step forward, reaching menacingly inside his jacket.

"Alright! Alright!" Tyler said quickly. "I'll get her back! Just do something about Hall!" He began to type again, the sweat dripping from his brow.

Matthew sighed in relief as he looked at the screen on his lap- top. That had been too close. He had heard the tram rumble on to the bridge over his head and Jayne still hadn't responded. But now the message was clear.

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR>I'M BACK! DID YOU MISS ME?

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR>So long as that tram missed you!

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR>MISSED ME BY MILES! I OWE YOU ANOTHER ONE. I'M IN THE CAR PARK. KEEP ALERT.

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR>I hope that was the last we hear of Tyler. He must have embedded some root protocols that I can't delete.

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR>THAT WAS JUST THE STARTER. WAIT 'TIL THE FUN REALLY BEGINS!

They didn't have long to wait. Jayne was inside the multi-story car park, crouching down by a black Mercedes which seemed to be the only occupant, when she had a sudden feeling of sadness. It came on very slowly at first, but then grew into abject despair. Jayne sank down, her back against the car, and burst into tears.

Her mum and dad were dead.

Matthew's heart sank. "Oh, no......," he muttered under his breath as the program he had written told him what was going on.

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR>

MONITOR TRIGGERED

INTERRUPT=5

MEMORY TYPE=SHORT TERM

SUBJECT=FAMILY BEREAVEMENT

Matthew started his counter program again.

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR>run COUNTER

COUNTER RUNNING

MEMORY TYPE=SHORT TERM

SUBJECT=INPUT TEXT

C:\WINDOWS\MONITOR\COUNTER\INPUT TEXT>

At the prompt, Matthew typed quickly.

Jayne was in a flood of tears. She was sobbing loudly, the sound of her crying echoing around the empty car park as she sat on the floor, slumped against the side of the Mercedes. How could she have forgotten? How could she have been so uncaring? They were dead, both of them. And she was running around playing at being a spy.

But they weren't your parents! It was a sudden revelation. The idea just sprang into her mind. You're Julia, not Jayne! It was Jayne's parents that died, not yours!

How could that be? She was Jayne, wasn't she? And who was Julia?

Slab of meat! Sleeping beauty! The disgusting cow, I'm glad she's dead! The thoughts came from nowhere. Buzzing flies, all different shapes and colours. They clashed and bumped into one another. Angry, buzzing flies.

Forget Julia, you're just trying to avoid the truth! A new idea seemed to say in her head. They were your parents, Jayne. And now they're dead!

You're not Jayne! Don't listen to him! You're Julia and Jayne! And you like who you are!

Jayne was in a pit of depression. She didn't know who she was anymore. All she knew for sure was that her parents were dead. But whose parents were they? Were they Jayne's parents, or Julia's? And how could she be two people? And why did these ideas keep popping into her head?

It doesn't matter who you are! Another idea said in her mind. If you're Jayne and Julia, then they were still the parents of one of you! And you loved them so much, didn't you, Jayne? And now they're dead. Both of them. And it was your fault. You killed them. You killed Jayne's parents, Julia! Murderer!

Matthew was horrified. Tyler had played his master card and now there was nothing he could do to counter it. If he allowed Tyler to cut Julia out of Jayne's mind, then all was lost. Jayne would remember nothing. But if he fought to keep Julia to the fore, then Jayne would be destroyed by the knowledge that she, Julia, had killed Jayne's parents. It was a no win situation.

He was still worrying what to do, his fingers frozen over the keyboard, when a movement outside the car caught his eye. When he looked up and saw who it was, he was completely surprised. Then the windscreen shattered as it was hit by a bullet.

Matthew was showered in broken glass as he scrambled out the door of the car and ran for his life. He had taken his lap-top computer with him, and as he ran, he typed on the keyboard in panic as more bullets hit the car behind him, and another hit the ground almost at his feet. But in only a few steps, Matthew found his way blocked by the river. He was trapped. There was nowhere to run. He turned to face his pursuer, clutching his computer to his chest. It immediately exploded in a shower of sparks as it was hit by another bullet, and Matthew was knocked backwards and splashed into the river.

Jayne was in total confusion. Her mind was coming apart at the seams. Half of her personality was at odds with the other half. One was torn with despair, while the other was just mean and angry. And all the time these ideas kept popping into her mind to nag at her, and scold her. Not flies anymore, but wasps. They were angry and hurtful. They whispered at her, and their words stung her. They were pulling her apart, separating the two halves of her new personality.

You're a murderer, Julia! And murderers must be punished! Push her out, Jayne! Rid your mind of her forever!

Why did you do that? Jayne wanted to know. How could you kill our own parents? Why did you kill my parents?

I didn't do it! I didn't do it! It wasn't me! Julia denied.

You're talking to yourself, Jayne! You're going mad! Mad with grief! Mad with guilt! Lie down, Jayne! Sleep! And when you wake up, you'll be safe and Julia will be gone!

Am I talking to myself? Am I?

You can't have a conversation with a sponge!

Sleep! Let the pain go away! Sleep!

Sleep? Yes! Sleep and never wake up, that was it!

She'll never wake up. If she wakes up, I'll eat my first born!

You're cruel! You're horrible! I hate you! You killed mum and dad!

No, I didn't! But I bet I know who did!

The answer came suddenly, abruptly. It was an idea like all the others, popping into her mind from out of nowhere. And with it came a sudden unification. A joining of personalities and memories that had so far merely occupied the same place, but now became undeniably and irrevocably one.

### Chapter Thirty-Five

### Parting Company

"Well, they're definitely in there," Rawlston said as he crouched down over the bodies of the two security men by the main gate. "These guys are still warm, so they can't be too far ahead of us."

Julia was standing next to him. She had fastened some of the buttons on her uniform at her waist, but it still hung open at the top, revealing her chest and bra. She didn't seem to care. She had discarded the coat and held her automatic openly as she stared up at the lights on the eighth floor.

"Stop wasting time, Sam, and let's get up there, or we'll miss all the fun!" she said eagerly. "Come on!" She headed for the front of the building and Rawlston had to quickly follow after her.

They had just gone through the main entrance when they saw Smith making his way across the lobby towards the car park. He saw them at the same time, and they all levelled their guns and fired at once. Holes were blown into the wall behind Smith as he ran for the entrance to the car park, and the glass doors behind Julia and Rawlston were shattered as they both dived for cover behind the reception desk.

Rawlston fired over the top of the desk as he saw Smith run through the doorway into the car park. He missed, and his bullets knocked chips of wood from the door. "I'll get this guy!" he called to Julia as he ran after Smith. "You get upstairs and give our resignations to Casarotto! And be careful! She's slippery!"

Julia got up and shouted after Rawlston, "Hey! Sam!"

Rawlston paused by the doorway to the car park and looked back. "What now?"

Julia grinned at him cheekily. "Fun while it lasted, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," Rawlston replied with half a smile. "See you!"

He disappeared through the door, and the grin faded from Julia's lips as she ran for the stairway.

It was dark in the car park, and it would have been empty except for one Mercedes in a corner. Rawlston paused in a shadow staring at the car, his gun held ready. No, that would be too easy, he thought to himself. But his quarry must be close, hoping that he would head for the car first. But Rawlston wasn't to be fooled.

Smith was hiding behind a concrete column opposite the car. He watched carefully for any sign of movement as he took his mobile phone from his pocket.

In the computer centre on the eighth floor, Tyler was busy trying to explain to Rosanna Casarotto why he had lost control of Jayne for a second time.

"I can't understand it," he was saying. "The connection is still there, and the implant is responding, but nothing's happening."

"You can't blame Hall this time," Rosanna replied impatiently. "My agent has eliminated him as promised. Now you must regain control of Jayne Middleton at once! Keep her where she is until Smith reaches her."

Tyler was still typing away as he spoke. "I'm trying! But she isn't taking any notice! The memory changes I try to introduce aren't having any effect anymore!"

"If that's true, then I don't have any more use for you, Tyler!" Rosanna said, meaningfully. "So think of something. Quickly!"

Terrified, Tyler wracked his brains for an answer. "Yes! Yes! I know! If I can overload the implant, I might be able to knock her out! That's it! Then all you have to do is find her!"

"Then don't talk about it, do it!"

"Yes, alright! I will, I will!" Tyler began to type away, his hands shaking.

Williams heard his phone ring and quickly took it from his pocket. Rosanna Casarotto turned to stare at him as he listened.

"Smith says Rawlston and Connors are in the building," he told her.

"Kill them."

Down in the car park, Smith had just switched off his phone when he saw Rawlston diving over the bonnet of the Mercedes towards him. He quickly stepped away from the concrete column and fired just as Rawlston rolled when he hit the floor, and also came up firing. Rawlston's bullets hit Smith in the chest, knocking him back against the concrete column, where he slumped to the ground. But Smith had also been on target, and Rawlston ended up on his knees, clutching at his side.

"Shit!" he muttered as he put his gun back in his shoulder holster and began to probe the blood-stained hole in his shirt with his finger. Then he heard a familiar voice.

"You look like you need a nurse."

Rawlston looked up in surprise. "What are you doing here?" he exclaimed, then a bullet hit him in the chest and he fell back.

Tyler was still typing away at his keyboard, but apparently with little success. Rosanna was standing over him impatiently.

"Where is she?" she demanded, her South American accent even more pronounced now that she was getting angry. "Can't you even find that out with your computers?"

"She's in the building somewhere," Tyler replied, pausing a moment to wipe the sweat from his eyes. "Downstairs, I think. It's easy enough to track her. We don't need the computers for that. We just triangulate on the radio transmissions we receive from the implant."

"Good! At least we know that we can find her easily now that you have failed us!"

It was an accusation, and it terrified Tyler. "I haven't failed you!" he insisted. "This is going to work! I promise you! I've already exceeded the maximum load of the implant by more than sixty percent! It's bound to fail soon! Just give me a few more minutes! That's all I need! Please!"

Rosanna ignored him, walking quickly towards Williams who was standing in the middle of the room. But before she could say anything to him, the doors to the stairway burst open behind them, and a blonde haired woman wearing a nurse's uniform dived into the computer centre. She fired her automatic while she was still flying through the air, and bullets peppered the front panel of the computer. Tyler was in the middle of it all, and he cried out as he was knocked forward over the computer console, the back of his white coat turning red.

Williams reached for his gun, but he was standing up while Julia was now lying on the floor, and she found him difficult to miss. She sprayed him with bullets and he was thrown off his feet, his gun falling from his grasp.

### Chapter Thirty-Six

### Deadly Embrace

Rosanna Casarotto stood in front of the IBM mainframe, watching as Julia climbed to her feet. Behind her, smoke filtered from several bullet holes in the front panel of the computer. It sparked briefly, and then all its lights went out.

Rosanna glanced at Williams's body and his gun lying on the floor. She dived for it, but Julia was quicker. She got there first, and kicked the gun out of the way. And as Rosanna sprawled on the floor, she kicked her too. She kicked her twice. Once in the abdomen, and then again in the back when she doubled up.

As Rosanna lay on the floor coughing, Julia began to walk slowly around her, watching her.

"Having a fun time now, aren't we?" she told Rosanna with a grin, then she stepped closer and kicked her again, hitting her in the ribs this time.

Rosanna Casarotto swore in Spanish and tried to grab Julia's foot. Julia quickly stepped back, laughing. Rosanna climbed slowly to her feet, clutching at her side.

Julia began to tut-tut at her. "Oh, dear," she said in a sad and mocking voice. "You've made a mess of your nice red suit. What a shame. Never mind." Then her tone grew harsher. "Get over there with Tyler!"

Julia nodded her head towards the computer console, and Rosanna moved towards it. She had lost one of her shoes, and it made her walk unevenly.

"You cannot succeed, even if you kill me. You know this don't you?" Rosanna said when she was next to Tyler. She glanced down at his body, slumped forward over the console.

"When Sam and I decided to come up here, it wasn't about winning," Julia replied as she moved closer to Rosanna. "It was about causing as much damage as we could before you got us. We both knew what the score was. And if the very least we can do is manage to kill you and this bucket of sweat next to you, then it will have been worth it."

"You throw your life away cheaply," Rosanna said as she rubbed at her left arm. "I can, and will be, replaced."

"But your reputation won't," Julia pointed out. She moved even closer to Rosanna, and began to jab her with the muzzle of her automatic as she spoke. "Think of the effect the news of your death will have around the offices of the Corporation. Next to Grant, you must be the most hated person in the Corporation. And I doubt if even Grant himself will shed a tear when he hears the news. He'll just accuse you of being incompetent! No, there'll be jubilation! And wild parties! They'll probably all have a day off!"

"You and Rawlston will never see that day. Because you will both be dead."

"That's rich coming from someone in your position." Julia pressed the muzzle of her automatic against Rosanna's head as she spoke. But Rosanna didn't flinch.

"You and I both know that Rawlston is already dead," she told Julia. "He and Smith will have killed one another, that's why neither of them are here. There is only you left, Julia Connors, and you talk too much."

Rosanna suddenly ducked under the automatic held to her head and embraced Julia. Julia's eyes widened and her arms dropped to her side. Unseen, Rosanna had pulled a blade from her left sleeve, and as she hugged Julia, she had sank it deep into her chest.

A few seconds passed before Rosanna stepped back. And for a moment, she and Julia stared into one another's eyes. Then Julia looked down at the blade sticking out of her bra.

"Sam said you were slippery," she muttered breathlessly.

"You should have listened to him." Rosanna pulled the blade out, and blood spilled down Julia's chest and dripped on to the floor.

"Shit."

Julia dropped her automatic and fell forwards. Rosanna quickly stepped aside and pushed her unceremoniously over the top of the console next to Tyler. Julia sprawled over it, knocking papers and a keyboard to the floor. She tried to hang on, even grabbing hold of Tyler's white coat. But she was too weak, and she finally slid off, leaving bloody streaks on the console, and landing on her back on the floor with her head propped up against the side of the computer mainframe.

Rosanna Casarotto calmly cleaned her blade on Tyler's white coat before returning it to her sleeve. She adjusted her jacket and skirt, and examined and straightened her damaged stockings before going to retrieve her lost shoe. Her dignity re-established, she walked straight for the lift, never once glancing back.

### Chapter Thirty-Seven

### Unpleasant Memories

Jayne felt like the implant in her head was trying to split her brain apart and escape. She had reached the stairway and had climbed several flights when the pain had become unbearable. She could hardly move, and had dropped to her knees. Then she had heard gunfire, and the sound of someone else climbing the stairs behind her. She had crawled painfully out of the stairway and hid in another office, hoping that she would not be found.

As she hid in the dark the pain in her head had got even worse, and just when she felt that she could take no more of it, miraculously, the pain had suddenly gone away. It just lifted, and vanished.

Slowly, Jayne had returned to the stairway and climbed the last two flights to the eighth floor. She was still rubbing her head when she entered the computer centre and found it strewn with bodies. Technicians in white coats stained red lay everywhere. And a man in a dark suit that was equally red stained was on his back nearby. Then Jayne noticed Tyler slumped over his console, and beside him on the floor, was Julia.

Jayne hurried forward and knelt down next to Julia. She saw the blood on her chest and on her uniform, and reached out to take her in her arms. Julia's body instantly stiffened and her eyes opened.

"Come to gloat......have you," she said, pausing to breathe.

"No," Jayne replied softly.

"Why not?.....I would....I couldn't wait.....to see you....dead at last."

"I know why you hate me, Julia, but you're wrong. It wasn't my fault. You can't blame me for what happened—"

"Don't you....dare!" Julia interrupted, emotionally. She spat blood as she spoke. "Tyler had no right!.....You shouldn't know those things about me!....They're my memories, not yours!...You shouldn't know them!"

"But I do know them!" Jayne said. "And I remember what happened just as well as you do! In my mind I was there with you! I suffered what you suffered! And because of that, I can never hate you!"

"That just....makes it worse," Julia gasped, her anger abated. "Now I....hate you....even more."

"No, you don't! I think the real reason is that you enjoyed it. You enjoyed insulting me and calling me names. Admit it!"

Julia almost smiled. "I know.....Bitch, aren't I?" Then a sudden thought entered her head. "Where's the car?"

"I left it with Matthew."

"Oh, no....The nerd will have wrecked it...."

Julia suddenly had a coughing fit and spat out a lot more blood. Jayne held her tightly in her arms until it subsided, and then wiped the blood from her mouth and chin.

"Take it easy," Jayne told her. "I'll call an ambulance and you'll be fine."

Julia looked up at her in a knowing way. "No, I won't," she said sadly, shaking her head. "Me and Rawlston....have hid our....last sausage together.....But you're right.....I was daft....to hate you....Just jealous....I suppose." Julia suddenly grabbed Jayne's blouse, pulling herself closer. "Casarotto carries a blade.....up her left sleeve.....The cow-bag!....Watch for it....I didn't...."

"Thanks, I'll remember that."

Her warning given, Julia fell back and her breathing grew more shallow. "You know....I'm glad....there's some of me....in your head....that way....I won't really....be dead...."

As Jayne continued to hold on to her, Julia breathed out slowly, and her head lolled to one side. And although her eyes remained open, she no longer saw through them.

Jayne slowly lay Julia back against the side of the computer. Standing up, she wiped the tears from her eyes, and then noticed the blood-stain on her blouse. She tried to wipe it off, but instead she only made it worse. It made her cry even more. This wasn't going the way she had planned. Everyone was getting killed around her. Her parents, her friends, even herself.

Yes, Julia was her just as much as Jayne was. Her face was her face. Seeing her die was like seeing herself die. She remembered everything Julia had remembered. Everything up to the point when Tyler had downloaded her memories to Jayne through the implant. She only wished she knew what had been in Julia's mind now, when they had finally managed to talk to one another. Maybe they would have become friends, or maybe the secrets she shared with Julia would have led them to kill one another. Jayne knew that it was more likely to have been the latter. Julia would always be Julia. But Jayne would always wonder what it would have been like if they had managed to become friends. In her mind, Julia had already been a lifelong companion, and now that she was gone, Jayne would miss her dearly.

The lift dinged and Jayne threw herself to the floor, grabbing for the gun Williams had dropped.

Rosanna Casarotto walked calmly into the computer centre, her heels tapping on the floor. She held an incendiary device very similar to the one Williams had used in the MedTec building. She had gone down to the car park to retrieve it from the car. Now she walked purposefully towards the IBM Mainframe. She didn't notice the extra body lying among all the others. It was stained red, just as they were.

Carefully, Rosanna attached the device to the stricken computer, set the timer, and activated it. Finished, she dusted her hands off and stepped back. But when she turned, it was to find the silencer of Williams's gun pressed into her cleavage.

"Ah! Jayne Middleton, I presume?" she said, totally unafraid.

Jayne was angry. This woman had killed Julia, had killed her. She shoved the gun hard into Rosanna's chest, forcing her to walk backwards across the computer centre. And when she spoke, it was with Julia's voice. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blow your scrawny tits across half of Salford?" she demanded as she kept pushing Rosanna backwards. "Go on! Let's hear it!"

"Because you wish to make a deal?" Rosanna suggested quickly and confidently. "Because, maybe, you realise that killing me won't save you?" She kept retreating as she spoke, and almost stumbled and fell over Williams's body, just managing to keep to her feet.

"I wouldn't make a deal with you even if my life depended on it!" Jayne snarled, pushing Rosanna even harder. She never let up for a second, and kept Rosanna moving all the time, even when she stumbled and almost fell over more of the bodies. Rosanna was forced to walk backwards across the entire computer centre, until she finally thumped against one of the large windows, banging her head against the glass.

"But your life does depend on it!" Rosanna replied, forcefully. "Even if you kill me, someone else will find you! You cannot hide from us! The implant in your head will always give you away! And next time, the people who attack you will not be as incompetent as Tyler! They will break your mind, Jayne Middleton! They will tear the memories from you, leaving you defenceless! You have to deal!"

"And what kind of deal could I make with you?" Jayne asked her as she pressed the gun hard into Rosanna's chest. "Money? Or how about I work for you and the Corporation? Is that it?"

"You will be our top agent," Rosanna replied, rubbing her left arm. "We will give you all the expertise you need."

"I've already got all the expertise I need, you thick Bitch! And if I decide that I want more, Tyler has shown me how to get it!"

"Tyler only gave you the memories of one agent. And she only knew what we let her. You're over confidence is misplaced, and insulting me will only make things harder for you later."

"You really think so? Well, let me tell you something, you South American cow-bag! Tyler tried to overload the implant by feeding information to it too quickly, didn't he? It might have worked too, if he'd had a bit more time. But you know what? You scared him so much that he used any old information he could find to do it with. Anything that had lots of data. Files, directories, anything. Some of the personnel files were very interesting, and the project files he sent me were even better. And now they're all locked up in here," she tapped her forehead. "You'll be surprised what I already know, Rosanna Casarotto. And whenever I feel like it, I'm going to get lots more.

"With this socket in the back of my head, I'm going to plug myself right into your computer system. And I don't even need this pile of scrap behind us to do it with. No, I can plug in anywhere. Any old terminal socket will do. And I won't have to bother about passwords either. They stop people from getting access from the outside, but I'll be on the inside. Because as far as the system is concerned, I'm going to be just another piece of hardware sitting on the line."

For the first time, Rosanna looked unnerved. "I don't believe you. There wasn't enough time to gain such information. And to gain access to our computer system you will have to be connected to part of it directly. You cannot dial in from the outside."

"Let me answer your questions in reverse order," Jayne replied in a matter-of-fact fashion. "Firstly, the Corporation has a lot of subsidiaries, some of which are fronts, like MedTec. I know which ones they all are, and Julia was an expert at breaking and entering. Secondly, you were born to a Uruguayan prostitute who worked the bars in Montevideo. At twelve, your mother died of a bad mixture of drugs and alcohol, but by then you had already begun to tread in her illustrious footsteps. By the time you were fourteen you had developed quite a career in porn movies. But that came to a sudden stop when you murdered one of the other stars. You had to leg it to Argentina before the cops could catch you. And after that it was back to the streets again.

"Blackmail, drugs, murder, you'd done it all by the time you were picked up by the Corporation. That was a long time ago. Now you have money and power, you dress in designer clothes, and you jet around the world first class. People respect and fear you. You're a long way away from where you started. But inside you're still just a Uruguayan street slut. Even your name isn't yours, is it Juanita Sanchez? Strange that the Corporation should hire people from the bottom of the barrel rather than from the top, don't you think? But then, maybe they've worked out that people born in shit are the most adept at working in it."

There was a long and uncomfortable silence, during which both women stared at one another. Rosanna Casarotto moved first, but almost at the same time as she snatched the blade from her left sleeve, there was a loud bang, and her whole body jerked. A huge crack suddenly appeared in the window behind her. Then a second appeared, and a third. They snaked away from her in a crazy zig-zag pattern.

Jayne stepped back. Smoke came from the end of the silencer on the gun she held, and from Rosanna's chest.

"I seem to have ruined your bra," she said. And reaching out, she took the blade from Rosanna's fingers and walked calmly back towards the computer. Rosanna stayed where she was, as if she was transfixed to the window, her eyes staring.

"Julia's story was very similar to yours, you know," Jayne said as she walked back across the computer centre. "Only instead of Montevideo it was Middlesbrough. And for Julia, it was the various 'uncles' that used to visit her mother who would abuse her. They even paid a little extra for the privilege. She was only eight at the time, and so didn't have the choice. Her mother would even hold her down when she struggled." Jayne put the gun down on the console next to Tyler's blood-stained body, and bending over, she picked up Julia's automatic.

"Some people are really evil," she continued, pausing to stare sadly at Julia for a moment. "They don't care about the suffering they cause, so long as they have something to gain. That's why I can understand Julia's bitterness towards those whose life was more normal, like mine. Julia was bad, but she was never in the same league as her mother." Jayne now turned to face Rosanna once more.

"You on the other hand, are a selfish and pathological killer. Nothing pleases you more than the opportunity to kill whole families in order to protect the security of the Corporation. You have no excuses, and no guilt, and it's about time that someone knocked you off that pedestal you're on and sent you right back to where you came from." With those words, Jayne fired at the window, emptying the entire clip at Rosanna. The glass shattered, and the whole window, and Rosanna Casarotto, blew out, tumbling to the river below.

### Chapter Thirty-Eight

### Loose Ends

As the wind whistled through the broken window, Jayne dropped the empty automatic to the floor. She rubbed at her face and at her head, running her hand through her hair. For a moment she was surprised by it's length, but then quickly remembered that Julia's hair had been much shorter than hers. The thought made her glance at Julia once more. And it was then that she noticed the incendiary device Rosanna had attached to the computer.

Jayne stepped closer and checked the settings. There was only a few minutes left.

"Shit!"

Jayne ran for the stairway. She flung open the door, and was swiftly hit in the stomach. She doubled up, gasping, and fell to her knees, only to feel another blow to the back of her head. She slumped to the floor.

When Jayne awoke, she found herself tied to a chair near the computer console. She strained at her bindings, feeling them give slightly. They felt like plastic.

"Ah! I see you're awake," a slightly familiar voice said.

Jayne turned to see someone standing behind her.

"Sandra!" she exclaimed and immediately began to struggle in the chair.

"I wouldn't bother," Sandra told her. "You're not going anywhere, at least not for a minute or two."

Jayne kept struggling. "You killed Matthew!" she burst out angrily.

"I thought Matt was typing on that little computer of his when I was chasing him," Sandra said, thoughtfully. "Nice of you to confirm it. Shame about him, really. He was very clever. Now he's at the bottom of the river."

Jayne became tearful. "You rotten Bitch! You killed Matthew and you killed my parents! You killed mum and dad!"

"Yes," Sandra said, very simply.

Jayne stopped struggling and slumped in her chair. "I'm going to kill you," she muttered, and began to sob.

"Yes, yes. Very melodramatic." Sandra said, unimpressed by Jayne's threat. She seemed to have lost her Mancunian accent along with her nurse's uniform. Instead she was now dressed in a black trouser-suit. "I suppose you're wondering why I didn't kill you back at the house, and why I still haven't killed you," she went on. "Well, it's all down to orders. You're only alive now because I didn't want you to have any holes in your body when they found you. You see, when they investigate all this, they'll find that Matt's project produced a psychopathic killer. You will get the blame for everything, including your own final suicide when you blew up the computers that twisted your mind. Good, isn't it?"

"You're the one that's mad," Jayne said, sadly. "How could you kill my parents? How could you kill Matthew like that? You must be mad."

"Not mad, just detached. I don't hate you, Jayne. Even though you blew my boss out the window. I thought she was taking too long, that's the only reason why I came up. No, this is just work. As was causing the explosion in the house next door to your parents. Casarotto speaks, I act. Simple as that. The same goes for you, Matthew, Rawlston and all the rest."

"And what about the real Sandra? Is she dead, too?"

"No." Sandra headed for the lift. "She and her daughter are on a cruise holiday in the Caribbean. They won't be back until next Sunday. I've just been house-sitting. Or you could say 'identity sitting'. Far less bother than having to explain another body. And, of course, all record of her presence at MedTec has been erased."

Sandra reached the lift and pressed the call button. "Now I must leave you," she said. "I have a plane to catch and an appointment in Sydney tomorrow."

"You think you're very clever, don't you?" Jayne accused her. "Well, you're not! The Corporation won't get away with this."

"Oh, but it will! It always does."

"Then how will you explain away the fact that I'm tied to this chair? Even after the explosion, they'll find out."

"Ah!" Sandra said, holding up a finger. "I'm glad you mentioned that! But first, I have to admit that none of this was my idea. Casarotto was very good at tying up loose ends, she had years of practice, so you'll have to thank her for all of this." There was a ding as the lift arrived. "And secondly, I've tied you to the chair with a special kind of plastic material that melts at 35 degrees Centigrade. One of the Corporation's subsidiaries makes it for some use or other," she waved her hands dismissively. "It doesn't really matter what for. What does matter is that it will be a lot more hotter than 35 degrees in here when that bomb goes off. Very much hotter. They won't find a trace of it. Only bits of you."

Sandra got into the lift and pressed the ground floor button. As the doors began to close she suddenly held them back. "Oh, by the way," she asked. "Are you Julia or Jayne? You have Julia's voice, so I favour the former. Am I right?"

"No. I'm neither," Jayne replied in a depressed tone, her head down. "The one thing I've learned from all this is that you are what you remember. I suppose that's why people who've lost their memories lose their true identity. I remember everything that Jayne and Julia remembered. Therefore I am both. Julia was older than Jayne, so I have more of her in my head. But this is Jayne's body, so it seems only fitting that I should use Julia's voice."

Sandra seemed to consider Jayne's words. "Yes," she said. "I like that thought." She let go of the lift doors and they slowly closed.

Jayne was now alone. She quickly shook her left arm until she felt Casarotto's thin blade slide down into her hand. A tense few moments followed as she turned it in her fingers, fearing that she might drop it. She didn't, and in a few seconds she began to saw through her bonds. The plastic was quite soft, and the blade went through it easily. Jayne's left hand was suddenly free, and she quickly sliced through the rest of her bonds and sprang from the chair. Pulling the incendiary device from the computer, Jayne ran for the lift.

Sandra stood in silence in the lift, staring at the indicator panel by the door. It told her that the lift was passing the third floor.

When Jayne put the incendiary device down and began to prize the lift doors apart, there was only a few seconds left on the timer. She slid the blade between the doors, twisting it and breaking it just as the doors parted wide enough for her to jam the heel of one of her shoes into the gap. Dropping both her shoe and the broken blade, Jayne pushed one of the doors back with her bare foot, pulling the other door with her hands. With the doors now wide open, Jayne stared down the darkened lift shaft. Out of sight below, the lift was already at the ground floor. Jayne picked up the incendiary device, held it out over the lift shaft, and dropped it.

Sandra heard a loud thud on the roof of the lift just as the doors began to open. She stared upwards, and instantly knew what had caused it.

In the lobby of Exchange Quay, the lift dinged, and the doors slid open to omit an enormous ball of flame. Fire engulfed the reception, and blew out all the ground floor windows, exploding out into the darkness.

On the eighth floor, Jayne hurled herself backwards as another ball of fire shot up the lift shaft and blew through the open doors behind her. Fire immediately spread over the ceiling like a wave, and burning tiles began to fall all around her. They set fire to the furniture, and even to the clothes of the bodies all littered about. Soon the fire was raging everywhere.

Alarms went off all over Exchange Quay as the fire began to spread. And by the time the fire brigade arrived, some of the men still dirty and tired from fighting the blaze at MedTec, it had spread to two more floors. It took three hours to put out the fires, and when it was done, no one in the building was found alive.

### Chapter Thirty-Nine

### In Transit

"Would you please come with me, Mr Jenkins?" the customs official said as he beckoned Ben towards a side office.

Ben felt a twinge of panic. His flight had been long, tiring, but uneventful. And now that he was in Sydney Airport, he felt very hot and sweaty. Everything had gone along without a hitch until the customs official had called him aside. Ben felt like making a run for it, but the official still had his false passport, and so Ben felt he had to comply.

There was a desk and two chairs in the office. The customs official pointed to one of the chairs. "Please sit down, sir."

Ben did as he was told. "What seems to be the problem?" he asked.

"Nothing that we can't straighten out right here and now." The customs official reached into his pocket as he spoke.

Ben hurriedly got to his feet, but it was a large envelope that the official produced, and thrust into his shaking hands.

"I'll be waiting outside when you're ready, sir. Just tap on the door."

The customs official left, and Ben sank down in the chair. He took a deep breath and sighed, mopping his brow. He waited for his nerves to settle, staring at the large envelope. Finally, he tore it open.

Inside was Ben's real passport and a first class flight ticket to New York. There was also a letter. Ben read it slowly.

By now you will realise that if I wanted you dead, it would already have happened. So to business. Casarotto and Tyler are both dead, the MedTec and Exchange Quay facilities have been shut down, and Middleton and Hall have evaded us. Middleton has now managed to breach the security of our computer systems. She is our number one priority. You are the only one alive who has been in contact with her. She is your responsibility from now on. No expense will be spared in the funding of your new project. Get back here at once.  
Grant.

Ben shook his head in surprise. Casarotto dead. He felt like Christmas had come early. He read the letter again, then picked up the flight ticket and stared at it. Grant must be really worried by the threat Jayne Middleton posed. Ben wondered how she had managed to do that. Killing Casarotto was certainly a good start, but there had to be more to it than that. She must have frightened him, and Grant didn't frighten easily. That all meant one thing, and it was guaranteed by the second to last line in Grant's letter. Ben would have a licence to print money.

His mind made up, Ben stood up, stuck his passport and tickets in one pocket, and the letter in another. He walked calmly to the door and tapped on it.

The customs official was waiting outside, and quickly opened the door. "This way, sir. The flight's been held for you."

"Good!" Ben said confidently. "Lead the way!"

### Chapter Forty

### A Long Distance Call

"There's a phone call for you Matthew," Nurse Kaye said as she wheeled the phone trolley over to his bed and plugged it in.

"Not my mum again?" he asked, levering himself up in bed.

"No, it's a woman," the nurse announced with a smile. "Got a secret admirer have you? And there's me thinking you were all mine!"

Matthew blushed, and the nurse giggled as she walked away.

Teasing Matthew had become a pass time for all the nurses on the Surgical Ward of the Manchester Royal Infirmary. And no matter how hard Matthew tried, they always got the better of him. But this time his blushes were due to more than just the teasing.

His hands shook as he picked up the phone. "Hello?" he said, nervously.

"Hello, nerd!" a cheeky voice with a very strong Oldham accent replied. "Did you miss me?"

"Jayne!" Matthew's heart leapt. "Are you alright? What happened? I thought you had died in the fire! Where are you?"

"Shut up, Matthew! Gosh! You never did let me get a word in, did you? I'm fine. Not a scratch. I took a dive into the river from the second floor. What about you? I thought you were dead."

"I nearly was! It was Sandra. She shot at me and I fell in the river, too. But the bullet must have got caught up in my lap-top, and it didn't go in very far." Matthew rubbed at his chest as he spoke. It was still very sore. "The doctors said I was very lucky not to have drowned before the firemen pulled me out."

"I'm glad you're okay," Jayne said softly. "I would have been very upset if you weren't. I would have missed you, Matthew."

There was a slight pause while Matthew thought of something to say. "You know the MedTec building burnt down, don't you?" he finally said, immediately wishing that he hadn't.

Jayne chuckled. "I had noticed."

"Did you get my message?"

"Yes, and thanks. I always seem to be saying that to you, don't I? But it was important. Until then, I was always a bit confused by my two personalities. It was as if I always had to be either the one, or the other. I think the Jayne side of my mind couldn't quite accept Julia because of the possibility that she might have killed my mum and dad. It happened after the download had taken place, so I wouldn't have known. When you told me about Sandra, I knew that it must have been her that did it, and all of a sudden, everything sort of glued itself together in my head. Sandra was working for Casarotto all the time. Not even Ben Watkins or Julia knew about her."

"Who's Casarotto?" Matthew asked.

"Nobody you need to worry about. She went for a swim a short time after you."

"She must have been the woman full of holes they found in the river."

"Yes, that'll be her."

"I've had a devil of a time explaining things, you know. The police never leave me alone. And they're looking for you. They think you killed all those people in Exchange Quay. You didn't did you?"

Jayne could hear the concern in Matthew's voice. "Don't worry," she told him. "I only killed Casarotto and Sandra. The rest of them killed each other long before I got there. What have you told the police?"

"The truth. Everything I know. For a while I think they thought I was nuts. And I'm still not sure that they believe me. Was that alright?"

"Yes, it was probably for the best."

Then Matthew said something that Jayne was expecting. "They said Julia was killed too."

"You liked Julia, didn't you?"

Matthew was glad that Jayne couldn't see him blush. "I like you more," he said.

"You're blushing aren't you? Admit it!"

Matthew went even more red. He looked around quickly. "Can you see me? Where are you?"

"No, Matthew, I can't see you. I'm miles away. And don't be too sorry about Julia, because in a way, you're talking to her right now." As if to emphasise the point Jayne's voice had changed, and Matthew could now hear the perfect tones of Julia's very upper-class accent. It never changed back. "And you'll be pleased to know that I've repaired the car," Jayne went on. "The parts cost me a fortune! I don't know! I leave you alone with it for five minutes and you fill it full of holes!"

"It wasn't my fault! It was Sandra!" Matthew sounded hurt.

Jayne chuckled on the other end of the phone, and Matthew couldn't help himself.

"I love you, Jayne."

"It's nice to hear you say it rather than reading it on the computer," Jayne replied. Then her voice took on a more serious tone. "Look, Matthew, you're the only friend I've got, so look after yourself, won't you?"

Matthew suddenly became desperate. "You're not going, are you? When will I see you?"

"I don't know. I've dealt with the Corporation for now. They'll leave you alone. They have to, I've made sure of that." Jayne remembered how quick Grant had been to agree to her terms. It wasn't surprising really, he had read them on his personal computer by his bedside. "Anyway, there's nothing more you can tell the police, so there wouldn't be much point."

"They could try and make me do it again," Matthew pointed out.

"They could. But with me still running around, they know that would be a non-starter. That's why they're never going to give up on me. And that's why you and I can never meet. The two of us together in one place would make it too easy for them. You do understand, don't you, Matthew?"

Matthew didn't understand. "No! It's not fair! I want to see you! I love you Jayne! I want to be with you!"

"We can't! It's too dangerous!" Jayne insisted.

"Then why did you phone me?" Matthew demanded. "Why didn't you just let me go on thinking you were dead?"

"Because I wanted to hear your voice, okay!" Jayne burst out. There was a slight pause as she steadied herself, then she went on more calmly. "I know I was wrong, but I wanted to be sure you were alright, that's all."

"You do love me, don't you? You always make jokes about me, and you never say it, but you do."

"Stop it, Matthew! I'm doing this for you! You still have a chance! You can go back to a normal life and forget about all this! You can have a life without worrying that someone is hunting you and trying to kill you all the time!"

"But I don't care! I want to be with you!" Matthew insisted.

"Do you? Do you have any idea what it would be like? Do you think I'm talking to you on a phone?"

Matthew was puzzled. "Well, of course you are."

"No! No, I'm not! I'm talking to you through the socket in the back of my head! I'm sitting in the dark in an empty office I've broken into, and I'm plugged into a computer terminal that's connected to the Internet through a modem. I'm connected to you on the phone line through three different computer networks on two continents. And I've changed networks twice! My voice is being electronically reproduced. And all the time we've been talking, part of me has been keeping an eye on the line, making sure that no one tries to put a trace on it. Is that how you want to live? Is it?"

Matthew didn't hesitate in his reply. "Yes! If it means living with you!"

"And what about your parents? Or your friends? I have no one to worry about, but you do!"

"I don't have to see my parents all the time. I can talk to them on the phone. And I don't care about my friends. I just care about you!"

"You're being stupid, Matthew!" Jayne told him. "It won't work! They'll be watching your parents! They'll use them against you! And they'll use you to get to me!"

"They'll do that anyway! You said yourself that the only way to be safe was to beat them! You've made a start, but you haven't finished it yet! I can help you! We can work together, Jayne! We're the only two that know about them, so it makes perfect sense! And you know I'm good! I helped you before!"

The more Matthew went on, the more he realised he was on the right track. But Jayne still wouldn't give in.

"You know, Julia always thought you were an arrogant little git," Jayne said tartly. "She was right! You're far too confident for your own good! You're not a spy, Matthew! And in case you forgot, you got shot on your first outing!"

"Alright! So I'll be better next time!"

"Matthew!"

"It makes sense, Jayne! If we don't work together we'll just be making it easier for them! You know I'm right!"

Matthew sensed victory in the silence that followed. His heart was bursting, and his hands were sweating as he held on tightly to the telephone. It was his only connection to her. Finally, Jayne spoke.

"Ah, nuts!" she exclaimed. "Oh, alright! It might be fun, anyway!"

Matthew was ecstatic. "When will I see you? What are we going to do first?"

"I'll surprise you. But the first thing you're going to do is get well. And when you leave hospital, do exactly what you were planning to do. Remember, the police are after me as well as the Corporation, so stop smiling, or you'll give the game away."

Matthew couldn't help it, he was smiling. He was so happy. But there was one thing he still needed to do.

"I can't wait to see you, Jayne. I want to tell you that I love you face to face. Not on the phone, or with my computer. I want you to hear my voice when I say it, and I want to hear you say it. I want to see you and hold you! And I want to—"

"Alright! Alright! I get the picture!" Jayne interrupted him. "I love you. There! I've said it! We can think about all that, and playing hide the sausage, once we meet! Now let's stop this conversation before the lines go all mushy!"

"What's 'hide the sausage'?" Matthew realised what she meant almost at the moment he said the words. "Oh." He went bright red and glanced around quickly.

Jayne chuckled softly on the phone. "Oh, Matthew! You really are a nerd!"

