Frankie finally stopped at an rather amusing door and pressed his fat little thumb to the pad. The door itself was steel of impressive thickness, but what stuck me as odd was the front part had plexi-glass covering it that allowed you to see all the little gears and mechanical do-dads operating it.

I guess the questions swirling in my head were obvious enough for Frankie to get it because he nudged me in the arm and said, “The Doc likes his gadgets,” as the door swished open to the lab.

I paused and waited for him to enter first, but he motioned me to go on ahead of him. It was clear he wasn’t coming in; I am on my own now.

In my professional opinion, the lab is extraordinarily top notch. In all it’s stainless steel glory, it shinned like a futuristic dream. Now in my personal opinion, I like a bit of dust, some books along my walls, and maybe a crushed soda can hanging about somewhere. This lab is just to…sterile for me to work in.

“Excuse me, Miss Morrigan.” A tall, slender, and rather odd man cleared his throat. I noticed he didn’t phrase my name as a question, which gave away a lot about this place. He already knew who I was.

“Dr. Connor.” The expression on his face was worth my straight forwardness, it’s like he is expecting something from me and I delivered right on time.

Dr. Connor carefully removed his pristine lab coat and handed it off to a waiting assistant, “Wären Sie so freundlich sein, über das Labor nach mir zu sehen, während ich mit unseren Gästen zu verleihen, Frau Morrigan?” His German was superb. The assistant nodded and carried off his lab coat as Dr. Connor casually walked towards me.

“Do you understand German, my dear?”

“Perfekt. As well as many others, Doctor.” I smiled and took his outstretched arm.

Dr. Connor lead me through a maze of halls and corridors before he finally spoke again. “May I call you Rory?”

“If you’d like.”

“Rory, I assume you and your outstandingly talented crew are wondering why you’ve been summoned here.”

It wasn’t a question, so I said nothing.

“It seems I have much explaining to do then,” he laughed as we rounded another corridor. “You’re team and you many know a bit about PRPF that lays beneath the ground, and I will get to that later on, but what we are walking through now is my home. Connor Manor to be precise. It has been in my family since before the first wars of this land. You are of Irish descent, are you not?”

“Born in Dublin, yes.”

“Ah, well as I was saying…Connor Manor has always been in my family and it was until my father, Seamus Connor, that it became a research facility. Then the U.N. intervened and the prison was added on some fifty years ago.”

“And you object, Dr. Connor?” I genuinely was curious, despite myself.

He gently shook his head, “No, just a bit invaded at times.”

“You see, we need you and your team for numerous things, which we will wait to discuss until we are with them, I think. That is also if you decide amongst yourselves that you agree to my terms, or course.”

I paused in mid-step, “Terms?”

“Ah, yes. You see Rory, I know quiet a bit about yourself and the others, perhaps more than some of them many know themselves. For example,” He paused and turned to look me in the eye, “Your Asian fellow, though I may not know his name, I do know that he has a very rare and extraordinary gift within him. You know too, of course, you know a little bit about all of them. They’ve all come to you, individually, haven’t they my dear?”

When I simply stared at him, he continued.

“The Asian man, he is a chameleon. Moreover, he is a chameleon who holds an affinity for his surroundings. That part he may not realize yet, but never the less…”

“H, how could you know these things, Dr. Connor?” I completely stopped.

“My dear Rory….it is who I am, it is a part of what I am.” he answered.