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08:47 Friday 1 November 2069
"Look, I don't mind looking at myself in a mirror, in fact, I quite enjoy it, but it's freaking me out having to look at that and see my face, my body walking around as if it were me."
Caitlin was not taking being at home very well. She had been through so much, such a terrible ordeal, and Philippa was an easy target to vent her anger upon. It was true that Philippa had been complicit in her abduction to some extent, but she had had no idea that Marcus would abuse her as he did. She thought that she was simply undertaking a spying mission. Like Caitlin, she had thought that she was in love with Marcus but even spending such a short time with Maurice, Karen, and Michelle had shown her that these were good people who didn't deserve being lied to. Add to that the discovery that Marcus was cheating on her with Caitlin, and she quickly realised that she couldn't allow the deceit to continue. She had to stand up and be counted, she wouldn't allow herself to be enslaved anymore. Caitlin continued her rant.
"I mean, can't we turn her off or something? She's not real. She's like a robot or something."
Michelle slammed her book down on the table, making such a sudden noise that it startled her sister.
"Right, that's it. We know how you suffered at that place but you have to stop blaming Philippa."
"Philippa? You've given it a name?"
"Of course Philippa has a name. She's not a machine. She’s not an ‘it’. She's a human being. Granted she wasn't born, like you or me, but she's organic just like us. She is made of flesh and blood. If you cut her she bleeds. Would you be saying this about an IVF baby?"
"No, but...”
"I don't have to like her."
"No, you don't. But she deserves some respect and gratitude.”
“I’ll try to be civil.”
“That’s a start, I suppose. She’s a good person, a nice person when you get to know her.”
Michelle almost told Caitlin that Philippa reminded her of her, but this would hardly be tactful under the circumstances; Philippa was, in essence, a carbon copy of Caitlin.
“Whilst you’re here, Michelle, I’ve something I want to ask you.”
“OK.”
“Well, I’ve had a pretty rough deal recently - that’s probably the understatement of the century – and I’m fed up of waiting for things to happen. I want to be more proactive. You and dad do your bit for the resistance and even mum does what she can, and I’ve been a passenger all my life. I want to learn not only how to defend myself but I want to be useful too. One Life took the trouble to rescue me, and I should at least try to do something to thank them, to pay them back”
Michelle didn’t see any point in telling Caitlin that she had acted alone and without One Life’s knowledge. She had received a severe reprimand from her seniors but it was decided that to suspend her from duty would have been counter-productive. Michelle was their best field operative by far and was a motivator of others. For the resistance to take her out of the frame would have been cutting off its nose to spite its face. It was decided that her mission would be retrospectively approved.
“So what do you want to do?”
“I want to become a field operative like you. Well, not exactly like you. After all, you’re One Life’s golden girl. But I want to do my bit.”
“Are you sure you’re up to it? I mean it’s only been four days since you’ve been back.”
“I’m feeling much fitter now. Much healthier. You know me, if I’m sitting down doing nothing, left to my own devices, I’ll probably find trouble or trouble will find me. At least if I’m training, I can focus on the future and not the past.”
“The training is very intense.”
“Bring it on.”
Michelle could see that Caitlin was in much better physical condition than when she was being held captive, but she still wasn’t convinced that she was up to it mentally. She’d been through a trauma that nobody should ever suffer.
“You realise that it’ll mean obeying orders, something that hasn’t been your strongpoint in the past. You’ll have to exhibit self-control and restraint when necessary. Sometimes you’ll have to follow orders, even though your natural instincts are shouting at you to do the opposite.”
“I understand all that.”
In reality, Caitlin was motivated partly by a need to be doing something useful for the cause, but also by the idea of vengeance. She would never forget what had happened to her in HMP666 and she had a burning desire to make someone, preferably Marcus, pay for what she had undergone. Any way that she could cause Marcus problems, any manner in which she could be a thorn in the Illuminati’s side was good for her.
Michelle promised to see what she could do, even though she was a little apprehensive about what Caitlin was about to undertake, but perhaps the ordeal had released previously unknown reserves of emotional strength that nobody had considered that Caitlin could possess. There was only one way to find out, and Michelle would do her best to be there to help out if it all proved too much for her sister.