"Yeah," Nancy said after a moment. "Same here." Her mind drifted off to the time she would help train those who wished to follow in her footsteps, and her most promising student. It would have been good, Nancy thought, to have brought them along. "Or Karl," she added out loud. Before Rose could ask who he was Nancy said, "With any luck Interpol would have done our job for us, used that fucking stone and killed themselves rather than whoever they can."

****

San Francisco, Travis thought idly during the meeting. He could see some of the city out the window, but the matter at hand was far more important. Some of the people he did recognise, Leon of course, and the STARS members. The rest were unknown. He'd shared what he knew of Rei and what little there was of what she was meant to be capable of and Antarctica, in the hopes that with whatever the others had discovered the mystery could somehow be pieced together.

"We'd been able to track down a few of the people who were in Antarctica. We have one deceased, another two left just before the time of death of the other scientists."

"You're able to find that out?" Travis asked.

"Going by the information we are looking they having died on maybe the 12th or 13th of September. 2000."

"Whoa."

"Shit," Jill added. "That long?"

"The last records and journal entries made were on September 11 2000."

Travis wanted to laugh at that, but thought it would be in bad taste. "What? No way, you gotta be kidding."

"Afraid not."

"The scientists," Jill said, wanting to get back on track. "Who were they?"

"They married soon after." A portfolio was handed over.

"Japanese huh?" Travis looked at it quickly, then handed it over. "Makes sense if this is tied into Rei."

"That reminds me, among the records was a prophecy, Jewish we think it was. It says about the death and rebirth of man."

Everyone was silent at that for a moment as it sunk in, before Travis aired his feelings. "Now you are making this up."

****

Reiko walked up to the housed and hammered on the front door until somebody answered. She expected it to be a young boy, but wasn't terribly surprised to see Rei standing in the doorway instead. "I was in Mexico City when it was nuked," she told the girl, "and because of you I survived." She pushed her way past Rei and inside. "I think we need to talk." Rei took in the news Reiko had given her, figuring out that was why Nancy had left.

"I think we do as well, but there is not much to talk about."

"Don't be like that Rei," Reiko said, turning on her, "I'm virtually your sister. I don't know if that means shit to you, but being cloned, sharing the same powers that have been hinted at me when I was, it does to me, especially now."

Rei wasn't sure what to say about this impromtu confession for a moment, so went over some old ground. "Because of me, you survived?" she asked.

"Obviouisly I would not have been able to if I did not inherit your powers when Shadowlaw cloned me."

Rei looked at the bald headed woman with revulsion. She hated the fact that there was someone else, a carbon copy of herself, out there, and Reiko was hardly someone she wanted to think she had any connection to. "Terrorists cloned you? For what purpose?"

"Ah, gee, I dunno. Maybe it was to serve tea, to give the grunts something to look at, something along those lines."

Rei was quickly growinh weary of this.

"Given their insistence I use my powers I think it might be something more along the lines of fucking up the world. May seem obvious but I told them to kiss my ass."

"There is a young boy here," Rei told her, hoping that would make Reiko clean up her act.

"Could make him a man real fast if he wanted." Now Rei truely did have enough. "I think you better leave." Rei got up to leave Reiko to make her own way out, "Wait," she said. "Don't go. I need your help."

****

"Ah, okay. Right, thanks for that. Bye." Adam got off the phone, having found out that Sofia had left to attend to what happened in Mexico. He wondered about leaving to join her, to seek help from her in dealing with the tragedy. He'd had some money saved up, and the tree planting job he had was really too tough for him to manage. Next chance he got he would say he needs to leave for a while, if Adam's job was gone when he got back it didn't bother him too much. There were more important things to worry about.