Deep Underground: Going back a few hours. Over the years and decades, the committee members had tried various arrangements for their working space. Naturally, at the start, it was very cramped, just a small enclosure around the artefact, plus a collection of vacuum proof living quarters. So, when they had constructed their first proper building, they overacted and spread out as far as possible. Which posed problems whenever there as an emergency, or they were required to work in groups. Thus, they eventually ended up with the current arrangement, a row of offices right next to each other, just down the corridor from their meeting room, and close to the other workers. So, when Prakash, earlier in the day, had received an alert from the automatic monitoring programs that something was happening with Teylon and his group, he merely pressed the intercom and was able to get the other four crowding behind his chair in a very short space of time. "Sorry, what the hell is going on here?" said Lenny, as he watched in the live video of the group restraining Ajaeren. "Whatever it is, it's certainly strange. And Adalace just rang Sarawatch, which is what trigged the automatic alert." said Prakash. They listened to the first part where Ajaeren describes how he could control people's minds. Several of the committee swore under their breaths. "Is this for real? Fuck. Send in the police to grab him!" said Lenny, "And then let's gather in the committee room." Arnold made a call, and a minute later they were sitting, facing each other, with the current situation on their computer screens. They watched as the events unfolded, and when they got to the point where Napoleon rang up for more guidance, Arnold was able to intercept the call. "Tell them we have it covered; we understand that he is dangerous." They kept watching until Teylon and co had departed from the scene. But there was no relaxation for the committee, the next hour they spent in furious activity, examining the security videos of the interactions with Ajaeren, as well as making arrangements for keeping Ajaeren under control. Eventually they got to the point where they could take a break and contemplate the broader implications. "What the fuck hell have we gotten this time?" said Lenny. "After decades of never finding the slightest evidence of mind control esp, you mean to say that it actually exists?" said Prakash. "Well, look at the video of that Ajaeren corrupting Maggie and Erasyl! In fact he does it twice, and it's obvious that those two are affected!" said Teresa. "Actually, it's more like an extension of Maggie's mind zapping techniques, isn't it? Just with a lot finer control. I suppose, in retrospect, it isn't very surprising, after all." said Terrence. "Yeah. We never thought to investigate Ajaeren's failed Electronics Control ability. What a mess." said Lenny. "Whoa, wait a bit! What about Sarsaparilla's and Teylon's alleged ability to cancel that mind control?" said Prakash. "Isn't that sort of like Erasyl's ability to cancel someone's esp ability?" said Arnold. A few moments silence. "Possibly not. Erasyl cancels the ability to use one's esp ability. If I have this straight, once Ajaeren has imposed his mind control conditioning onto someone, it affects their memory and emotions on a semi permanent basis. So, just turning off Ajaeren's ability won't make any further difference. Basically, Ajaeren is doing high speed operand conditioning on someone. Or, maybe you can say, high speed and very effective hypnosis. Being able to light up a person's pleasure centre is certainly a big advantage for that sort of thing." said Teresa. "Sooooo, Teylon and Sarsaparilla are, like, deprogramming the mind control victim. In fact, a bit like they were able to deprogram Kaydence and Juniper. Actually, it's exactly like! Perhaps this is one more bit of proof that their Angel of Death is for real?" said Terrence. More silence. "Tell me, anyone, is this triggering any memories about what happened four or so years ago?" said Teresa. Lenny tilted back in his chair and closed his eyes. I'll say. What an intense argument that was, when the Futures Group first proposed their little scheme for making lots of money in a short period of time. Now, how did it go back then? Flashback time for Lenny: Four years ago. Everyone else flinched as Teresa slammed her fist onto the table, rattling the coffee cups at least slightly (it was a very solid table). "They want to make sex slaves out of orphaned teenage girls!? Are they out of their disgusting little minds? Haven't those girls already suffered enough as it is?" "Well, now, it does sound a little excessive, I must admit," said Arnold, "I mean, it's one thing to assassinate an adult because they are being a pain, but to totally destroy a teenager by wiping their mind and then raping her is getting just a bit on the nose." Lenny massaged his temples. I can see this is going to be one of those really intense emotional discussions. "Yeah, the Futures Group is really getting inventive, aren't they?" he said, "I know, instead of us spending the next week just wasting our time arguing this, why don't we meet with them and ask for a little clarification?" "A little clarification? It needs a little more than just a little!" said Teresa. "Whatever," said Lenny, "Let's do it." "May I suggest we arrange it in three days time? I have another meeting with someone else, so I might as well combine the two..." said Prakash. "Sure, why not. Not that it is a very long trip... But we do need a bit of time to arrange things." Accordingly, three days later they all took a maglev to Verdant, and congregated in a meeting room which was only a few hundred metres below the surface. A very discreet meeting room, accessible only by a maglev vehicle, but only by using a very private code. The five of them sat on one side of a meeting table, opposite five other people. These are the four people we ever so carefully selected to be in our little side group, but who's that fifth bloke? He's young, also, maybe barely nineteen? Lenny passed his gaze along the four men, and finally stopped at the unknown teenager. One of the others spoke first. "Oh, this is Ajaeren. We thought he was really great at what he does, so we invited him in to our group." He smiled broadly, as did the other three. Ajaeren smiled also. What the fuck? Why are they smiling like that? They are almost fawning over that boy - not to mention that that boy has a really strange smile. Somewhat creepy, perhaps. I can't quite work out what it is, I'll have to compare notes with the others later on. "Ah, indeed. Well, what we are here for is to discuss your proposal to turn orphaned teenage girls into sex slaves. You could say that we have some quibbles about that idea." said Lenny. "Like hell! I personally think the idea is disgusting!" said Teresa. Before any more of the committee could add their comments, one of the older men managed to speak first. "Well, yes, it is somewhat alarming I'm sure, but Ajaeren explained it all to us and we think it makes perfect sense. Ah, Ajaeren, could you..." Perfect sense? No matter how amoral they might be, surely they must still realise just how immoral their idea is? Lenny made an effort and kept a blank look on his face. Ajaeren appeared to be concentrating for a moment, and then he smiled his creepy smile again and said: "It's a great idea for making money!" So is going around mugging pedestrians and taking their wallets! "Selling the services of teenage sex slaves to rich men will really bring in the money!" Even I find that revolting, and - Lenny took a quick look and managed to see Arnold screwing up his face in disgust. What's more, Arnold does also! Ajaeren continued to smile at all of them. I mean, it is disgusting, isn't it... "Just think of how much money those filthy rich old geezers will pay for the chance of -----" Ajaeren added a few words to describe those chances, which will not be repeated here. Isn't that appalling... Well, err. Lenny shook his head; his thoughts were getting tangled up. Err, well, it could make lots of money... Couldn't it? I mean, virginal but willing teenagers, yeah, I can see why they would be appealing... Ajaeren kept on talking. "It's a wonderful business opportunity. Think of all the money wasted on looking after those teenagers, when they can be earning money instead!" I guess so. After all, it does cost us a lot to bring up those kids... Lenny frowned as he tried to concentrate. But wasn't the idea of bringing up an orphan kid is so that they can be fully productive members of our society? "And nobody cares what happens to orphans, anyway. And this way we can make lots of money!" That's right, we can make lots of money! Lots of money! Isn't that why we made the Futures Group in the first place? "So if we just pick the prettiest orphan girls, and some boys, and mind wipe them then turn them into sex slaves, we can turn them into a cash paying asset. And do it without distorting the Mars economy!" That sounds like a great idea! We make money and take care of some worthless orphans at the same time!" "And, also, there's the opportunity to blackmail some of those rich old men at the same time!" Golly, Ajaeren is full of good ideas! "And of course, any of you are free to hire one of these sex slaves, boy or girl as you prefer, if you want to!" Hmm, that sounds like a possibility! "So, do you think it is good idea?" "Oh, definitely! Definitely!" said Lenny. He looked around, to see that the other committee members were also nodding their heads in enthusiasm. Even Teresa. At this moment Prakash's watch went beep. "Oops, we need to go, I have another meeting" said Prakash. The others gathered their notes and stood up. "Ah, wait, I was hoping you could stay a little more!" said Ajaeren. But the committee were already at the door, and thus at a greater distance from Ajaeren compared to before. "We can always meet again," said Lenny, "So, I'll be in contact." And they left. "Actually, I allowed an hour for me to get to the next meeting, perhaps we can have coffee somewhere?" said Prakash. "Sure, why not. What about here?" said Terrence. Here was right outside an establishment advertising itself as the Chocolate Frenzy. "Isn't that mainly for teenagers?" said Arnold. He did not look very comfortable about the idea of mingling with a bunch of giggling school kids. "Yes, but it's midday on a school day, so they're all at classes, and, besides which, it is advertising a function room, see?" said Terrence. So, a couple of minutes later they were in the function room. "Well, that was a productive meeting, wasn't it?" said Arnold. "Yep! I'm glad he cleared up those questions we had about the, err," Teresa looked around, to make sure that the door was closed. It was. "About the sex slave trade idea. He made it sound perfectly simple and straight forward." "He sure did. That Futures Group made a real great deal in getting Ajaeren involved." said Terrence. "I can't disagree with that. When shall we make a time to see him again?" said Lenny. At this point Grandma Frenzy knocked on the door, and entered. "Hello all. It's certainly nice to see some people closer to my age as clients!" Some good-natured laughter from the committee. She took their orders, and left. Lenny spoke again. "Now, where was I, something about making a time for another meeting?" He stopped and looked just slightly confused. "Actually, why do we need another meeting? We've already resolved our problems with the sex slave business." They exchanged glances. They all looked as if they were questioning that idea. "Hmm, perhaps we don't need to, after all?" said Teresa. "Yeah, why bother. We have too much other stuff to do." said Arnold. There was a knock at the door. This time one of Grandma's workers came in, carrying a tray with their coffees. "Here you are sirs and madam." said the worker, as he put down the tray. Prakash waited until he had gone. "I agree. I wish I could get out of my next meeting, also, but, you know how it goes." They did. They never did arrange another meeting with Ajaeren.

Lenny: Brings his thoughts back to the current time. "Do you all also remember that meeting we had with Ajaeren?" Everyone certainly did. There was an awkward silence. "It's pretty obvious now isn't it?" said Arnold. "That's right, we were all mind controlled to accept the sex slave idea without any hesitation." said Teresa. "And, and, if it wasn't for my fortuitous second meeting, we might have all ended up as his obedient little slaves." said Prakash, looking totally disgusted. "That's right, I suppose Grandma Frenzy coming in to ask for orders disrupted the effects of his conditioning just enough to prevent us from arranging a second meeting. Pity it didn't disrupt anything more." said Lenny. Teresa was looking thoughtful. "Say, it seems that in my memory of Ajaeren from back then, he appeared to be much more sensible and intelligent than what we just saw today." After a moment's thought, Arnold said: "I wonder if he was just starting to use his mind control powers back then. And that after four or five years of controlling the people around him, he's just got lazy and complacent - he's never had to adjust his behaviour to anyone else’s, no one has ever told him off, he's always got what he wanted." "Sort of the saying that 'hardship builds character', but in reverse?" said Lenny. "Yep, that's it." "And does this mean that we are not totally responsible for the results of our actions?" said Arnold. "Well, now, - perhaps we can worry about that later on?" said Lenny. "So, what do we do with him, now?" said Terrence. "Hmm. Keep him sedated and isolated. We need to retrieve as much of his history as we can, and go through it, to work out what exactly he has been responsible for." said Lenny. A groan of dismay from the others. "That's a hell of a lot of video surveillance to go through!" said Teresa. They worked out a schedule, and did their best to divide up the work evenly. "And I'll take a look every day or so at what the remaining Futures Group do, just to make sure they don't do anything too crazy." said Lenny. "And what about their workers? They've got about half a dozen or so who have a reasonably complete idea of what they were doing." said Teresa. "I can only guess they were under control by Ajaeren also, but hopefully not as much as the main people," said Lenny, "I guess I'll keep tabs on them also, and we'll have to expand our investigations to cover them." Another groan. But not much in the way of complaints. There was no point in complaining when they were the ultimate authority on Mars. Teylon: Meeting with Celeste again One night later, after the two new girls had gone to bed, the rest of them gathered in Teylon's living area, having just finished looking at the gossip news channel on his big screen. It was filled with the news of Nethezal’s actions. As of yet, Teylon hadn’t gotten around to telling the Girls in Pink about Ajaeren. "So that sleazy little low life scum called Nethezal is now confined, as promised, to some monastery to atone for his sins." said Francesca, "I like it. You kids did some good work there, after all." "He should have still died." said Devina. Her expression matched what she was saying. "Do you think that Juniper, or even Kaydence, was treated the same way?" she continued. There was a depressed silence, until Sarsaparilla spoke up. "Well, Kaydence seems to have recovered access to all of her memories. She's still not fit to function in society because of her emotional maturity was set way back by all of the brain washing abuse, but at least she didn't have to suffer that." "But - Juniper doesn't have access to her full memories. How do we protect her if we don't know what that Futures Group did to her?" said Devina. Damned if I know. We could still be in a very shitty place, as far as looking after her is concerned. "All I can suggest is that the next time I see Sister Celeste, I ask for her opinion." he said aloud, "After all, that school as some highly proficient experts in child development on board." Considering how much they charge, they had better have. The next morning, when he accompanied the two girls and Sarsaparilla to the school, she was not present. Sarsaparilla and Leroy picked them up that afternoon, and she was present, saying hello and introducing herself to Leroy. The following morning Teylon got his chance. After the two girls went to their morning classroom, and Sarsaparilla went off to her own school, she nodded at Teylon. "You wish to speak to me?" Her ability to read people's feelings can be disquieting. They went to her office. "I'm wondering if your professional staff has come to any conclusions about the future of the girls?" "We are in the progress of compiling a report, and can discuss it with you next week. You understand, we don't want to hurry such things?" "Ah, yes." "Oh, and I met Leroy yesterday afternoon. He is also very much invested in looking after the girls, isn't he?" Cautious nod from Teylon. "Especially in looking after Kaydence." "Ah, yes, we have already spoken about such matters, and he readily agreed to behave like a true gentleman." A small smile from the Sister. "Of course, I have already worked that out. After all, I'm sure the he wouldn't want to fall afoul of Sarsaparilla." "You bet he doesn't." said Teylon. They both briefly laughed at what their imaginations produced. "But don't worry, it may take some time, but I'm sure that Kaydence will eventually recover and be able to make her own informed decisions about such things in her life." "Ah, thanks for that." "And, now, hmm, perhaps I can ask a few questions of my own?" said Celeste. Only a few? "Sure" "Well, now, you know..." For the first time since he had met her, she appeared to be hesitant about what to say. "This having a direct connection to an Angel of Death, ah, why do you think you and Sarsaparilla were chosen?" Ah, I see. She's envious. Quite understandable, too. Now, how can I deal with this? Teylon’s Soul Reading of: Celeste A flicker of a vision, of a queue of people lining up to greet Sister Celeste, a queue of people who were her students or who were otherwise in her care, at some point in their lives. Teylon: OK, I can work out the rest from here. "Sister Celeste, you've been some sort of educator for a large part of your professional life?" "Indeed I have. Mostly at this school, but every three or four years I spend a year or so at some other school, and once I was at a hospice for two years..." "And, do you have field days every year where past students can rock up and, as well as all the other activities, say hello to you?" "Of course. In fact the last one was also billed as a celebration of my fiftieth birthday." "Really? I thought you were younger that that!" A smile from Celeste. "Thank you for your compliment." Crap, I forgot, she can read me. Oh well, at least no one can fault my motives. "Anyway, I suppose a lot of people from your past turned up and greeted you?" "Of course. It was quite embarrassing, only about half of them I could remember. But they all said such good things about my influence on them... Ah, right, I understand. I don't need an Angle of Death to help me to save people, do I? I can do it all by myself." "That's right, you don't need any help. Whereas me and Sarsaparilla, well, let's just say that in my previous life I was a con man. But not one to rip off the already poor and disadvantage, mind you! I only stole from the wealthy and corrupt. And I gave a lot back to charity! Ah, but the teenagers have managed to point out that I wasn't as good as I thought I was... but let's not go any further, shall we?" "Actually, that's more or less what I surmised, although I didn't have any clear idea of the specifics, of course." "And, as for Sarsaparilla, well, let's just say she has had a few issues in her life, and she needs to work on a few matters within herself." "She, and her girlfriend Adalace, are good people, I'm sure." Of course, she would have picked that up. It was totally obvious. And that brings up another point. "And, what's more, your ability to read a person is almost a super power in itself." Sister Celeste nodded. "You are correct, I shouldn't feel envious. It looks like I shall have to confess to the sin of hubris in my next confessional. But, I'm sure, this is all for the good of my soul." "Say, speaking of confessions, you wouldn't like to put what I said about my past life under the seal of confession?" said Teylon. "Certainly, consider it done. Hmm, in return, perhaps you would like to keep quiet about that discussion on revenge. Naturally I have already brought it up in my confessions, but..." "Sure. It so happens I haven't discussed that particular matter with anyone, so no problems." They parted on good terms, and Teylon decided to wander over to the Watch Centre and do some work. Wait on, Celeste said that Kaydence was sure to get better. But she didn't make any mention of Juniper. Trying to force this out of his mind, he buried himself in his (not very onerous) paper work at the office. Late that afternoon, when both he and Sarawatch were closing down the office- "Teylon, how about we go to a restaurant and I shout you a meal? After all, you did find out Mirabella’s name." "Someone else paying for the food? Now that's a novel concept." Francesca: These kids are bloody annoying That night, at Teylon's, after Juniper and Kaydence were safely asleep, Teylon finally told the Girls in Pink all about the latest adventure he had been up to with the teenagers. Francesca took a look at Tamara and Devina. Yep, they're thinking exactly what I'm thinking. "So, you had that shit Ajaeren at your mercy, and you still didn't follow through and get rid of him, once and for all?" said Francesca. The teenagers, looking very self-conscious, all looked at Teylon. "Admittedly the kids did come very close to terminating him with extreme prejudice, but, really, am I supposed to stand by while they commit murder? As the mature and responsible adult-" Both Adalace and Sarsaparilla looked as if they might be wanting to say something here, but Teylon kept going without seeming to notice. "here, I couldn't let them sully their innocence like that, could I?" Francesca crossed her arms and looked displeased. "And besides which, I got no messages from Esmeralda, which can be taken to suggest that she didn't want me to do anything." "But that slimy bastard is the one who made Juniper think that she was a slave clone!" said Devina. "I know, I know! But, nonetheless, he has been appended by the police, and the authorities presumably know what he is capable of." I had better cut in here before Devina starts screaming at Teylon. "So, are you certain that they didn't release him as soon as you were out of sight?" said Francesca. A roll of eyes from Teylon. "Of course I'm not certain. However, going by what Ajaeren was saying, these unseen authorities were probably unaware of his nature, and unaware of the danger he could have been to them. So, I'm cautiously hopeful." "OK, OK, we will have to be satisfied with that. Even if we don't like it. You agree, girls?" Devina and Tamara, with extreme reluctance, nodded their heads. So, that's two worthless lowlife scum that they have let live, in just the last few days. How annoying.