Sanctify

When Michel woke, he was startled to see Jenna’s sleeping face so close to his. He looked around the room, saw that they were alone, and breathed a sigh of relief. He last remembered drinking spiked tea and then heard mumblings that made no sense in his dream-like state. He brushed hair from Jenna’s forehead and found himself starving. Picking Jenna up in his arms, he carried her off to the bedroom and laid her down. When he felt relief in putting her down, he was embarrassed and thankful that she had not seen him so weak. He kissed her forehead before stepping out again.

In the kitchen, he found his way around and prepared a meal of sorts. When he heard the bedroom door open, he carefully plated the food as Jenna walked in, yawning. She walked over and looked down at the two plates. Michel smiled and asked, “Hungry?”

Embarrassed, Jenna blushed lightly, but looked around for two forks before joining Michel at the table. She looked around and then asked, “Water?”

Michel jumped up and returned with two glass cups filled with water. He placed them on the table and then sat down, his hands in his lap. Both were silent and then Jenna picked up a fork and gathered some egg, sausage, potatoes and vegetables on it before opening her mouth and putting the big bite all in with a satisfied smile. Michel waited, halfway in shock, before both erupted in laughter. Jenna tried to chew and swallow the huge mouthful as Michel encouraged her to spit it out and take it in smaller portions. Neither noticed the arrival of the black SUV and the three passengers in the car until the backdoor opened.

Oren and Rayner entered with big cases and black bags, followed by Hayden, a young man who blushed when Jenna looked him over. Michel recognized the emblem on his uniform and waited for everything to be in the house before he asked, “What brings you here?”

Oren and Rayner ignored the question, knowing it wasn’t meant for them, and moved through the house setting up equipment as they went. Hayden, however, turned to face Michel and greeted, “I’ve been added to this team as a contingency plan. Just for research and cross-accessing of information –” he continued and stopped when Michel stood with a glare so angry, it silenced everything in its way.

Jenna was quiet as Michel stormed from the room, his plate half finished. As he walked off, he called for Oren and Rayner in a rough voice. Jenna waited for him to be out of earshot before she asked, “Sorry, but, who are you?”

Hayden turned to her and bowed, blushing, “My name is Hayden. I’m with the Shadow Unit.”

Jenna felt a light coolness when she heard the words and something else triggered in her head. She blinked several times, trying to clear the feeling, before looking up with a separate pair of eyes that recognized Hayden with sentinel-like accuracy. “Did Lady May send you?” she asked, her voice low and guarded.

Hayden shook his head, “No. The supporting staff recommended my transfer and it was made without her oversight. I am here to simplify the process and make better on the time spent on the mission.” He swallowed and felt her thinking behind her hard eyes. But after a moment of silence, he realized just how similar they were. He frowned and asked, “How do I address you in front of him?”

That last bit Michel caught as he re-entered the kitchen. “Jenna,” he stated, his tone gruff and displeased. Hayden jumped hearing Michel’s growl-like words, “You can call her Jenna.” Hayden nodded and hurried away without another word or look in their direction.

Michel sighed and returned his attention to his food. Jenna watched him for a moment before she shook her head, feeling a chill as the cool sensation retreated down her spine. “What’s a Shadow Unit?” Jenna asked softly, as if tasting the words.

Michel swallowed before he replied, “Emotionless machines in human form.”

Hearing his strange tone, Jenna asked in a lighter and gentler tone, “You okay?”

Michel nodded but couldn’t put words to his feelings. When he entered, he noticed a difference in Jenna’s eyes but couldn’t bring himself to ask about it. With Hayden around, Michel knew he would have to be on higher guard over the information. Also, he wondered why Hayden was even there. A usual operation needed no more than four people per team. Oren was their point man, Rayner their muscle, Jenna their brain, and Michel thought himself the rest. To think that he had to work with a genetically unclean creature like Hayden, a remnant of the Shadow Program, Michel wasn’t sure what to think.

Jenna sat overlooking documents, moving files and adapting to the world around her. She hadn’t anticipated starting research on a project so soon, but the papers just kept arriving. By the time Oren and Rayner returned with lunch the next day, Michel and Jenna had the entire living room covered with papers. Stacked in a way they remembered, of course, but rather disorganized from what the guys could see. And, somewhere in the midst of all the papers, Hayden had sat down. Now, he had a few stacks on him that he had been arranging for Jenna, when the door opened and scattered them.

Jenna sighed and shook her head, “The sooner we get these papers in, the better we can get down to business. I’m tired of organizing these stacks again and again,” she added.

Michel knew her frustrations but was helpless. The papers they had were the only copies, which meant that, though they could absorb them into thinker pads, they wouldn’t ever be allowed to take them out again. So, until everything had been organized and duplicated because no one wanted to run the risk of mis-filing, it was the only way to do things.

It was another half an hour before Jenna ensured the stacks were correct before Hayden duplicated and then absorbed the copies into thinker pads while Oren and Rayner then gathered the original papers and put them away. When all the information had become digital and virtual, Oren dropped screens around the room, creating a sphere-like environment. Rayner was the one who placed the thinker pads on the central table, which connected all of the information together, before anyone could touch it. Finally, pulling on sensitive gloves, Michel reached out and started flicking at the pads. With each flick, the digital information moved to the walls around them. One by one, files were laid out and accessible to everyone.

“Technology still continues to amaze me,” Hayden breathed, his eyes alight with the moving information around them.

Jenna nodded in agreement, watching Michel arrange files for their studies, seeing the connecting lines, and how important the organizing before absorbing really helped their cause. And when everything was done, Michel stated, “At 0800 hours, the hacker handle Diem sent out a radiating virus that cracked down several systems she had previously built years before. At 1300 hours, Sanctus sent out a list of demands before Diem sent out another wave, this time attacking a smaller ring of blogs run as covers for the government organizations like CIA, Homeland, and NSA. At 1500 hours, this message reached TriVerse.”

A single sentence rose from the files that danced and moved as Michel laid out the information. Jenna frowned and read aloud, “Sanctificabo et tabernaculum testimonii.” She leaned back, “That’s old Latin. Maybe from the traditional Christian Bible?” Curious eyes turned to her and she explained, “Where else have you ever heard anyone mention a tabernacle?”

Hayden flipped through a few sources and then read aloud, “Exodus chapter 29, verse 44; and I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify both Aaron and his sons to minister to me the priest’s office.” Everyone took a moment to take in the words before the air shifted around them with new realizations.

Michel shook his head, “He’s demented.”

“No,” Jenna corrected, with an air of understanding, “he thinks he’s God. He disapproves of something and, like many terrorists of the old days, he is using methods of a cracker to bring it down. Think about it,” she added, searching through the newspapers to find proof for her statements, “He tried to reset the system during the Y2K freak out and it is botched by this ‘so-called’ Haven. So, he takes down half of the creators, pissing off Kanon –,” at this, Rayner chokes on air.

“The what?” he asked, half coughing.

Jenna pushed newspaper headlines to him, “That’s what the Haven calls the guardians’ mainframe, Kanon. And so he is now using Diem, one of the creators of the Haven, to terrorize the rest of the world in the hopes of forcing Nox, the other creator, out of hiding, while destroying everything they had built all the while.” She whistled low in admiration, “The guy has style.”

Oren frowned, “And you’re sure this links up, how?”

Jenna pulled out the kidnapping and murder headlines for everyone to read, “He took out Diem’s fiancé and then forced her to work for him by some twisted design. I’d say he’s the snake trying to get to Adam through Eve, and by extension, God.” Jenna sighed, deep in thought, “So where are we in all of this?” she asked Michel, quite suddenly.

Michel nodded, “We have to figure out where Sanctus is going to move next and stop him, remove Diem from his control, and figure out whether or not the Haven is real or myth. And if it is real, who is running it.” He shakes his head and concludes, “We’re the ghost hunters.”

Jenna smiled and walked over to wrap her arms around him, “Like the Ghostbusters?”

Michel smiled but it didn’t reach his tired eyes. Something grated at him and he wasn’t sure what it was. What was worse was how Hayden seemed to eye Jenna and how aware Michel was of it. He hated the idea that Jenna would be with someone else in front of him, but Hayden’s presence simply made Michel antsy to the point he couldn’t focus completely, all the time. Oren noticed this pause in productivity and then cleared his throat.

“Right then, should we split up and search or how do you want to run it?” he asked, giving the reins of the project to Michel without hesitation. Rayner didn’t object, and showed it by waiting for Michel to speak.

Michel appreciated the two and wondered why they were so loyal to him in the first place. But he took it without question and nodded, “Let’s get some feelers out in the virtual webs. We’ll cross-check networks and patterns with what we have from Hayden’s end, and Jenna and I will comb through the present headlines and activities. Hopefully, we’ll piece everything together by the end of this week and be able to make a move.”

Hayden nodded and sat down to the side of the room, spreading out his own files quietly. He hadn’t ever directly opposed anything anyone had said. Part of it had to do with the fact that Michel forgot he was even there at times. It wasn’t on purpose, but with so much on his plate, Michel simply didn’t want to work with the guy. But he couldn’t openly say it in front of Jenna. No, not in front of Jenna, who was kind to everyone and understanding to the last cell in her body.

With her body so close to him every day, Michel smiled, unable to keep it back. Sometimes, he caught himself just staring at her, even when he was touching her. She was proportionate and quite fetching, but she also felt very comfortable and soft. Michel had to give himself a mental shake and force himself to cool down before he added, “Oren, get on the tracking and bring Rayner to check out any of the physical offices, locations, and the like. I want all of this swept up before we move on.” With any luck, everything would be done by morning so they could actually plan an attack and move with it. It was unlikely to be so positive, but he had to hold out what little hope he had.