^Paolox3_

XY-N

Chapters 11-12

Chapter Eleven
Sacrifices & Sacraments

Xyn adapts to life in the Ruins without Jayk and uncovers a conspiracy.

Not long after the Hunter had returned Jayk to his Master in Far South and taken his leave of them, Xyn had been officially discharged from the Infirmary following his sudden bolt from his bed and his mad race back to the room which he had shared with Jayk. The Doctors had gone over him thoroughly, in his bed next to Tym's, and declared him to be in fine physical health. Then Shar had come in and declared him to be in fine emotional health as well. There had been some initial concern over the young one running through the corridors screaming for Jayk and talking to the walls of the empty room, but the Psions of the various Gangs soon laid these fears to rest when they found that Jayk, the Slow Beast Mutant, had somehow managed to send a Psionic farewell message to Xyn.

And not so long after the Hunter ejected from Abram's long-range Craft just before it exploded over the Eastern Sea and made his way safely back to the ground, Xyn spent that time wandering the catacombs beneath the Ruins, all alone, lost in his thoughts and still marveling at what Jayk and the Hunter had managed to do for them both from so far away. Somehow he just knew that everything was going to be fine, although he had no clue as to why he felt this. Something just told him so, and he decided to believe it. He had to believe it.

Tym's prognosis, however, was not quite so rosy.

Despite the life support and signs that he was improving somewhat, Tym still remained dangerously weak. The Doctors all feared, even though both Xyn and Shar could attest to his Will to live, that if disconnected from the Support Machines, the tiny little one would soon die. It was not an easy decision to make, but given her past mistakes, Shar had determined that she would not make it alone. She was too Psionically in touch with both Tym and Xyn, and she was utterly perplexed by what she found in their Minds during that long trip back from Tym's copycat refuge of the Mind. Resources or not, she just couldn't bring herself to unplug Tym and let him take his chances. The consequences of her previous decision about Jayk weighed heavily upon her Mind, among other serious decisions that she had been forced to make, and she just couldn't bring herself to risk hurting Xyn again. He was simply too important.

Besides, she also wanted to learn more about the strange little one, and she couldn't do that if he were to die. Xyn was important to her cause, but Tym was almost equally intriguing.

So it was that she called them all together – Xyn, Chriss, Adam, Kefe, Dan, and everyone that her Psi told her who cared anything at all about Tym's welfare. Then she called in the leaders of all the Gangs, both old and new, and established Psionic connections with the other Gangs from far away who were still slowly making their way towards the Ruins. It was a crowded room, to say the least, when they all finally met.

She watched them all, her Psi furiously scanning over them. Those who were Psionically gifted as well felt it, but they also realized the importance of some of the things that she had informed them that they had to discuss; Tym being the least of them.

"Thank you all for coming," she began, standing at the head of a long table in one of the chambers that served as a meeting hall. The ceilings were high and the walls made of brick, with several different sizes of various conduits running along them. Long and slender lights hung from the ceiling, powered by the stolen generators of the downed Transport ship. Her voice filled the room, echoing back from the bare walls and closed doors in the many arched entrances and exits that lined both sides of the vast room. The assembled crowd of various Gang leaders, some Mutants, some simply Runaways, nodded and thanked her.

"And thank you all for agreeing to meet in this fashion. For those of you who are not Psions, I must needs ask that you be not alarmed. We have many important matters to discuss, and it is imperative that everyone here, Psion or not, understand them. In the course of our meeting, those of us who are conferring in this fashion will invade your Minds gently, allowing you to know what we know. To some degree, you will also be as we are for a brief time so that you may fully understand the discourse. Are we agreed?"

There were murmurs of consent, and not just a few feelings of worry floating about the room.

Xyn sat between Chriss and Adam, flanked by Kefe and Dan. He extended his Psi into Adam, and Chriss used his own limited abilities to help him cover Kefe and Dan as well. Dan, however, didn't need too much assistance. The startling revelation that Shar, the leader of the Mutants of the Ruins, was really his mother had struck them all like a blow. Although not a Mutant with any special or outward signs, Dan was very much in tune with his mother's powerful Mind and Xyn found – much to his relief – that the little one that he had risked his own life to save upon his arrival there with Jayk didn't need all that much help in 'listening.'

As Shar collected her thoughts and passed them around to the Others, Xyn mused for a moment. Maybe Dan IS a Mutant somehow, he thought to himself, shielding those thoughts from being transmitted along his Psionic connections. Maybe the night he spent in my Suit when I first got here just wiped out most of the outward Defect Mutations and he's got something else. I've never known anyone who could run like him, or just plain keep on going and not get tired. Maybe once my Suit repaired his body, since his Approved Nanobots aren't doing it like they should, whatever Mutation he really had was finally strong enough to take over!

He felt Shar brush his Mind. You're right, Xyn Psion, she confirmed, But please keep it to yourself.

Xyn grinned at her and nodded. He hadn't exactly tried to shield THAT thought from her, in fact, he had counted on her overhearing it. It was devious, and he smiled inwardly in the fact that it had worked and that she had confirmed his theory.

Ever since his strange encounter with the Mind of the Hunter a few nights before, Shar had held the young Bio in a different regard. Of course, Xyn had allowed her, more out of fear and confusion than anything else, to 'listen in' to his conversations of the Mind as he replayed them over and over. Shar had helped him analyze them, helped him try to understand them. The experience had brought them closer, and had even begun to smooth over the horrible rift that had grown between them when Jayk had been left behind on her orders. Still, there were parts of it that Xyn would not – could not – share, and Shar respected this. She knew of the strange fashion in which the two young XY's became Xyn/Jayk, one Entity in two bodies, but she did not understand it fully and would not pressure Xyn to explain it or allow her to access it. She also remained very wary of the young Psion as she attempted to help him sort out his experiences; there were things knocking about in her own Mind which she knew that Xyn simply MUST NOT touch.

She also knew, however, as did Xyn, that he simply did not have the emotional equipment to deal with the things that his brief moment as Xyn/Jayk – filtered through the Mind of Hunter – had shown him. The Hunter's Mind, she had found, was a vast and chilling place. Then to her surprise, Xyn had fully opened up to her when she had found him alone in Jayk's room. He had been sitting in the old chair, staring into the ancient mirror, all alone and talking to himself; or rather, to the room in general.

And she had felt it.

The very Presence of the Mind of the Hunter still lingering in Xyn's Mind, and it frightened him once he had isolated it. She felt at it, tested it, then gently reached in and began to push it away before it could damage Xyn further.

As she knelt before Xyn's chair and placed her hands on his knees, his own hands had come down, gloves retracted, to hold hers as well. He had said one thing : "Help me."

And then his Psi had fully taken over.

Shar remembered it vividly as she collected herself to address the others who sat around the long table, anxiously awaiting her. In a fraction of second, yet seeming like Cycle upon Cycle as her Approved Processors grappled with it again, she recalled Xyn's wild and scattered thoughts and emotions from that night She cleared her throat.

Help me! Xyn had pleaded, I don't know how he did it! Jayk's alive, and he called to me! I heard him, I swear I did. I'm not mad, it was HIM! He's not dead, Shar!

"I know," she had said aloud, "Tell me, Xyn Psion. What has happened? Why is your Mind so disturbed?" Even though she already knew.

She remembered Xyn's eyes as she glanced around the room, their color so blue that they almost glowed like those of Nightstalker. They had been so wide, and his mouth hung open just a bit as his Mind raced with thoughts that his voice could never have hoped to keep up with.

He called to me, Shar. He was… me… and I… I was… him. My finger was gone, my XY-parts were gone too, but I was me, but I wasn't… I was him… and… and there was someone else there. An Adult. I know him! I felt him before, when were going for the Transport ship! I think I know who he is!

"He is the Hunter," she replied bluntly.

"He's got Jayk!" Xyn finally managed to utter aloud.

Shar nodded. "Yet he is the Hunter, he is the stuff of the rumor. He IS real, and he is one of US!"

But how can he reach so far? Why did he do it, Shar? I thought he'd lock Jayk up and we'd never see him again! Why would he do that? Why would he let us use his Mind like that to do what we did?

Shar, of course, in reading Xyn's tormented thoughts, already knew the answer. However, she wanted him to reason it out. She simply held his trembling hands and looked deep into him with her sparkling black eyes as well as with her Psi. "Why indeed?" she mused, prompting.

Xyn thought for a moment, then his eyes closed and his face contorted. Hot tears streamed down his flushing cheeks as he fell forward into her embrace. She held him then, and he had let her hold him as she had held her own sickly and hurting little one so many times in the past. When the storm of weeping was finally past, she felt the emotion rise up within him; it was not, however, the one that she had expected. She recoiled a bit in shock, but didn't release Xyn from her embrace.

He WANTED Jayk to be able to say goodbye to me?!

Shar nodded. "It makes no sense to me, but the law binds him, Xyn Psion. He must return Jayk to his Master or have him exterminated, IF he does not decide to resell him privately. The Approveds see Jayk as nothing more than a criminal, even though his only crime is existing. We have lived in fear of Hunters, especially this one, for a long, long time. But I think that something has happened to this legendary figure, this Hunter who can pursue us into the heart of our very refuge here in the Ruins. I believe that the time he has spent with Jayk, no doubt probing him with his own Psi, has given him more than he anticipated. In capturing Jayk, it is also very possible that Jayk captured him as well!"

"And that's why he did it," Xyn whispered, looking deep into her eyes, "Somehow, his Psi picked up what I… what Jayk… I mean…" but Xyn was at a loss for words, so he sent what he felt through his Psi to her. He focused on all of the times past of being Xyn/Jayk, then of being Xyn/Jayk/Hunter, and she nodded as his head began to throb.

She assimilated as much of the strange sensations as she could before holding a finger up to Xyn's lips. "Enough," she told him, "You're hurting yourself again. You should understand by now what is happening to you at this stage of your life, and how it is affecting you. You should also know by now that the more time that one of us who is a Psion spends in contact with another Mind, the more our Mind becomes like theirs. Rest now, and shut it off."

Then, much to her surprise as well as Xyn's, she helped him to the bed and tucked him in as if he were her own suffering little one. She pulled the worn blankets up to his chin and ran her slender and graceful hand over his lengthening brown hair and smiled regretfully.

"It's my fault that you must sleep alone this night."

Xyn winced as her Psi pulled back, hiding something.

"Shut it off, Xyn." She repeated, then Sleep…

And Xyn had done just that, doing as Mr. Rick had taught him to long ago, when he was very, very little. He simply turned his Mind off and fell asleep.

He didn't even try to power his Psi back up again until the day of the meeting when he felt Shar brushing his Mind, hinting that he do so. It was the first time that he was to take part in one of their Group Mind chats, and he was a bit scared. Yet even as he did, he knew that Chriss, the young Pyro Mutant who sat beside him, was concerned even as Shar began to speak about population and supplies and plans for the future. The talk and 'talk' seemed to go on and on, and Xyn soon began to feel the stress of the Group Mind technique to which he was unaccustomed. His head began to ache again, and he could tell that it was going to get worse. It frightened him, and he began trying to push the pain away.

"Headache?" Chriss whispered, getting Xyn's attention the old-fashioned way by kicking his foot with his own under the table.

Xyn glanced at him, his focus mainly on Shar as she spoke, and nodded to Chriss.

"Need any help?"

"Yes, please," Xyn whispered back, squinting his cobalt blue eyes in pain.

"You've never done this before, have you?"

Xyn shook his head and scratched at it. His brown hair was now grown out to a lengthy forward brush style, yet it still bothered him. "I'm not sure I can do it, Chriss," he whispered back, "I'm too worried. I keep thinking about Jayk, Tym, and my head hurts worse than ever doing this. I just can't concentrate. I don't think I can keep it up much longer!"

Shar, however, much like a tutor, paused her verbal dissertation on the need to bring down another Transport ship for supplies. As they were all weighing the risks and beginning to plan out how long they could last on the plunder that they had already gotten, she fixed both young ones with a steady gaze.

"Is there something you two need to share with us aloud?" she inquired in a motherly tone.

Dan winced.

Xyn's having a rough time of it, Shar, Chriss said in both ways.

The young Psion felt the Group Mind back off a bit.

Shar raised an eyebrow and shook her lustrous black hair back, a nervous habit. She then toned down all Psionic connections to everyone but Xyn and asked, Can you continue? You mustn't hurt yourself. Shut it off, if need be, Xyn. You can listen through Chriss.

"I'm OK," Xyn said aloud, but rest of them knew better. Adam leaned over around Chriss and looked at him.

"You don't look too hot to me," Adam stated.

"You look like you're gonna blow chunks," Kefe added.

"I'll be fine," Xyn replied with uncharacteristic sharpness.

Turn it off, now, Xyn, Shar then told him, and to his surprise, he could hear Dan as well, through her.

Better do what Mom says.

It was a strange thing that Xyn felt then, just before he let his Psi collapse. He had never known what it was like to have a mother before, someone of the XX gender who cared so deeply for one like him. It was a warm feeling, yet it was also something that demanded full attention and could not be ignored. Xyn nodded at the Group in general, and shut his Psi off. He sighed audibly in relief, his face red and beads of sweat forming up on his forehead.

Yet as he felt the Group Mind retreat from his own, he thought he heard a door closing and felt like he had missed something. Something big.

Kefe shot him a sidelong glance, and Adam and Chriss watched him closely. Dan looked up at his mother and then nodded, saying nothing.

The rest of the meeting was lost to Xyn. After about half an hour, he folded his arms on the table and laid his head down. He simply couldn't focus on so many things that he didn't understand. He didn't know about things like how much food they needed for so many people, or how long the generators were good for. He had no comprehension, despite his Psi, of the sheer numbers they were talking about. He didn't know anything about Wars or plots and planning, and the whole idea of that scared him. He tried to 'listen' to Chriss as best he could, tried to figure it all out and come up with something that might help, but he just couldn't. The talk about War and fighting had stuck in his brain, and he just couldn't shake it off. From the other Psions, through Chriss, he picked up images of Approveds dying, New Cities burning, and the stress was immense. Finally, after an exhausting two hours, Xyn fell asleep at the table.

He awoke when everyone had left, somehow sleeping through the rest of the meeting. He even recalled a dream, in which he and Tym had been walking together, holding hands, in a lush and green meadow as a strange Flyer had circled overhead. They followed it, hand in hand, until they crested a hill and watched it land at a very large and ornate house. The house, Xyn recalled, frightened him. Someone he knew was in that Flyer, or someone that he thought that he SHOULD know, but he just couldn't place it. They had watched the Flyer and the house for quite some time, enjoying the feel of the soft grass under their bare feet and the feel of the wind on their bare skin. And Tym had been up and walking, looking so healthy and feeling so happy! Everything had seemed so right, but just at the edge of his consciousness, Xyn had thought that something was badly wrong. He remembered asking the strange little one who it was that was in the Flyer, knowing somehow that Tym knew, but Tym had replied cryptically, "Don't talk to strangers."

It was with great regret that Xyn shook his head and left that place to awaken and look up into the concerned and pale eyes of Chriss the Pyro and the mysterious face of Adam the Bomber.

"Where is everyone?" Xyn asked in a confused voice.

"The meeting's over, buddy, ya missed it," Adam replied.

Xyn looked perplexed. He didn't remember much of it, only that he hadn't understood too much of it and that his head had hurt so badly.

"C'mon," Chriss offered, helping Xyn to his feet, "I think you outta get checked out. Besides, someone in the Infirmary wants to see you anyway."

And then it happened as Xyn replied to him. "Who?" he squeaked.

Adam and Chriss both blinked.

"What?!" he squeaked again.

Xyn's voice had broken.

"Uh, Tym. Who else?" Chriss answered, trying to suppress a grin. His pale eyes, however, were filled with mirth.

"How do you know?" Xyn demanded, feeling a bit frightened. His voice squeaked on the word 'you,' and he blushed. Unsteadily, he got to his feet.

Adam and Chriss reached under his arms to support him, and Chriss probed at him gently. As Xyn stood up and stretched, he heard Adam snicker.

"What?!" he demanded, not knowing what was happening since his Psi was shut off.

"Uh, Xyn, you might wanna think about finding something to wear besides that Suit of yours. It's uhh, well, let's say, tight. And it shows off that erection you've got pretty well too." Adam stated.

Xyn's face flamed, and he felt hotter than usual, even taking Chriss' proximity into account. "I've had that problem a LOT lately," he explained. "And I don't think I like it." His voice also squeaked several times as he spoke, and he looked down at his feet in shame.

Adam then sighed, but Chriss looked away. "I wouldn't know," the young Bomber replied in the piping voice of a little one, "I don't have any of that stuff anymore, ya know."

"Can we talk about something else on the way to the Infirmary?" Chriss asked.

"I'm sorry, Adam. I didn't mean anything by it. It's just that I don't think about it, I forget and what I mean is… well… it's just that, you being still pretty little and all…" but Xyn wasn't really sure what else to say, so he tapped his left temple and slowly brought his Psi up to power to explain it to the little Bomber that way.

The explosion of fresh pain brought him to his knees.

Even Chriss whimpered in sympathetic pain. "That's not right!" he gasped. "Let's get him down there and fast."

The two young Mutants half dragged, half carried Xyn to the Infirmary. When they arrived, Chriss' already-racing Mind was assailed by a wave of near panic. He glanced up, following the wave, and his eyes locked onto Tym's across the room. "That way," he said to Adam, pointing towards Tym's bed, and Xyn moaned.

"Puh-p-please m-make it s-s-stop!" the young Psion choked, fighting back tears.

"What's wrong with him?" Tym begged in a weak voice, then as if suddenly seeing a light come on, he knew. His pale face grew even paler, and he shrank back down into his pillow. It very nearly swallowed him up, and his monitors beeped and chirped and alerted the Attending that something wasn't right with him.

They got Xyn to the bed that he had previously occupied, next to Tym's, and the little Mutant reached out a frail hand. Knowing that it was there, despite the pain, Xyn reached over and took it as his Suit hissed and beeped madly in concert with Tym's support machines. Both systems struggled to keep their respective charges alive, and the Attending immediately called for help.

Turn it off! Tym cried out to Xyn, both mentally and verbally, Turn it off before you hurt yourself! It's the Psi, Xyn, please turn it off!

Xyn shut down his Psi again, and the pain stopped as quickly as it had hit him. Several Doctors and others then came rushing to their beds, and Adam and Chriss melted back to let them do their work. They scanned both Xyn and Tym, checked over Tym's support devices, scanned them again, and one of them ran off with the results to make comparisons. Their expressions were puzzled as they worked.

"I'm fine now!" Xyn protested loudly as one of them waved a scanning device in front of his eyes, "Just take care of Tym."

"You are NOT fine, young man," the Doctor snapped back, "If you were fine, then why did your friends drag you in here in tears?"

"I don't know!" Xyn snapped back, "I just had a bad headache is all."

"WHAT were you doing when it hit you?" The Doctor demanded, pushing Xyn back down into a horizontal position on his bed.

Xyn thought for a moment, then Adam piped up. "He was bringing up his Psi to try and explain something to me," he explained.

The Doctor nodded, and looked over the data that had been returned to him. He raised an eyebrow and nodded. "THIS is interesting," he noted.

"WHAT?" Xyn squeaked.

They all looked at him.

"Is Xyn gonna be ok?" Tym asked through the group of white jackets clustered around him.

The Doctor nodded and looked over Xyn critically. "There's nothing wrong with him," he stated in a perplexed voice.

"I told you that ALREADY," Xyn squeaked again.

Adam and Chriss both laughed."WILL you two stop that?" Xyn demanded, his face turning red in embarrassment.

"What's going on?" Tym asked.

"Well, judging from this scan data," the Doctor offered, "I would say that our little friend here is being ravaged by puberty pretty hard lately. That's why his voice is squeaking."

"Oh," Tym replied, sinking back into this pillow, "That's it?"

"Hardly it," the Doctor mused. "Adam said that Xyn was powering up his Psi to explain something to him when he doubled over. Now, compared to Xyn's last scan, when he was in here trying to revive YOU, Tym, the results are very interesting. His neurotransmitter levels are even higher than when he was running his Mind wide open trying to get through to you, and he's not even DOING anything with it right now. He's also several grams heavier, and his hormone count is, well… I don't think I need to mention that. It sounds fairly obvious when he talks."

"Shit," Chriss muttered, turning his back on them, "I KNEW this would happen. I just knew it."

"Young man," the Doctor said to him, "If you know something I'm missing, please share it with me. Your friend might suffer for it if you don't."

"He'll suffer for it if he DOES," Tym mumbled, turning away.

"What's that supposed to mean?" the Doctor demanded.

"Xyn's an XY Mutant," Chriss stated, as if that explained it all.

The Doctor spread his hands and shrugged. "Lots of XY's are Mutants."

"Lots of LITTLE XY's," Adam corrected.

Chriss sighed. "How many powerful Adult Mutant XY's do you know of, Doc?"

The Doctor's face paled a bit, and his hands shook a bit. "What are you suggesting?"

"I'm a Bomber," Adam replied, "I can knock down buildings if I have to. Chriss is a Pyro and a weak Psion. He can burn down the stuff if I don't knock it down."

"And we have something else in common that Xyn doesn't," Chriss added, his face flushing and turning away again.

Then he felt it. Somewhere in the back of his Mind, he felt Tym.

Don't, he cautioned.

Don't say it, the strange little ailing Mutant warned him, Don't tell Doc what you know! What you wanna do! I KNOW what you wanna do to Xyn, remember? We talked about it once before.

I don't wanna hurt you, Tym, Chriss warned, So back off!

Tym snorted and rolled over, trying not to disturb his lines and wires. He reached out a hand to Xyn again, and Xyn took it. He held on tightly, his eyes closed and his veins very evident under his almost translucent skin.

YOU are NO match for ME! Tym replied in challenge.

"I don't understand," the Doctor was saying. "What do you and Adam, and other little Mutants have in common? You two aren't that little anymore." But it was clear that he was very very interested, and onto something.

"It's pretty obvious," Adam replied, "Once you have it explained. The leader of Chriss' Gang and us figured it out a while back. Actually, it was MY arrival to their Gang that helped them figure it out. You see, Doc, I'm a eunuch."

The Doctor gasped and pulled his padd out of his pocket. He scanned Adam and his eyes went wide. "You're… you're… well, hmm. Interesting." he faltered. Then he obviously thought of something else and scanned Chriss. His eyes went even wider. Chriss' normally pale green skintone turned bright red in embarrassment.

"You too?" he asked in shock. "I think I'd better runs some more scans and exams on the Mutant XY's down here! I've never seen such a thing!"

Don't do it, Chriss, please! Tym almost begged, still clutching Xyn's hand, Don't tell him! Don't explain it all! I don't know what I'll do, I don't know if I can control it and I don't wanna hurt YOU!

Chriss cleared his throat, shot Tym a withering glance, and raised his own defenses. "It's like this Doc. When I was a bit littler, I was a pretty good Pyro. Then I hit the Change – puberty. My abilities started to weaken, and well, I guess you saw the next part. Whenever I tried to burn anything, I got really bad headaches. I didn't know how to deal with it, then Adam showed up."

"What's Adam got to do with it?" the Doctor asked, turning to see why Tym's monitors were beeping and chirping faster.

"And what's it got to do with me?" Xyn asked.

Adam sighed and sat down on the edge of Xyn's bed. "When I was very little," he stated, "I got Orphaned. I was an Unapproved pure Bio, and I was all alone in the Old City. A Hunter caught me and sold me to a Dealer who emasculated me. Fully – took everything off. I was sold as a slave. When I got older, well, since I didn't have my XY-parts anymore, I couldn't hit the Change of puberty like a normal XY would. But what did happen was the thing I could do as Mutant, blow things up, got out of hand. One day, my Master upset me bad and I almost knocked his whole house down. That was when he decided to exterminate me, and I ran away."

Xyn's eyes were wide, and Tym's were clenched shut. His grip, surprisingly, was tight on Xyn's hand and he covered it with his other one, patting it. Chriss was biting at a fingernail, unsure of whether to let their discovery be revealed to the Doctor.

Make him shut up, Chriss, Tym begged, Don't let Xyn know. Don't let him even think it!

I can't, Tym. He has to know. And Xyn has to know, or he'll hurt himself.

No! Tym argued, Xyn can wait. He can rest. He'll adapt. He won't lose it, I know he won't! He's a very powerful Psion. When he's used to the Change, when he's an Adult, he'll be ok. I just know it!

But Chriss shook his head and looked directly at Xyn. Tym felt something there, something that he couldn't touch no matter how hard he tried. He could see the image of a large building on fire, a pair of glowing cyan eyes in the Forest, and hear the screams of little ones. He powered up his strange abilities that were not quite Psionic and threw his very being at Chriss' Mind, attempting – with not a little trepidation – to merge himself into Chriss' Mind as he had done with Xyn. Whatever secret Chriss was hiding, Tym was bound and determined to have it, since the strongest image in Chriss' Mind was one of Xyn.

Stop it, Tym, Chriss ordered him, You have NO clue what you're dealing with here, and you're weak. If you wind up killing yourself, how is Xyn gonna feel? In case you didn't notice, he likes you. He's lost Jayk. He can't lose you too. THINK about what you're doing before you do it!

Tym pulled his own Mind up short and whimpered. The assault that he had prepared to hit Chriss with scattered and he sighed. He did not, however, release his grip on Xyn's hand. I hate you! he threw the thought at Chriss.

But the Doctor and Adam were still talking aloud as Chriss and Tym argued in their Minds. "Let me get this straight," the Doctor noted, punching at his padd and making notes. "Adam, you're a eunuch, or e-XY as the medical d-base calls it. You have NO XY-parts at all?"

Adam nodded. "Nothing but smooth skin," he said.

"And Chriss, you're just castrated, testicles only?"

Chriss nodded. "I had to be. I wanted to be. I didn't want to lose my powers, and well, I hated what the Change was doing to me."

"But what does this have to do with little Mutants? I think Jayk might have mentioned it before, but I'm not real sure," Xyn asked.

"Who's Jayk?" the Doctor asked, not having been a member of Shar's Gang before the Transport ship incident.

"Jayk used to live here," Xyn said wistfully, "But a Hunter got him. He was a full e-XY too, like Adam. He took me in when I ran away from the Facility."

The Doctor nodded. "I noticed the Suit," he stated clinically. "Good thing you got out when you did."

"I liked it there," Xyn replied in a low voice filled with loss. "The Director took good care of me. He raised me. He wanted me for his own."

"He loved your Psi," Chriss said coldly, then glanced away at the error he had just made.

Xyn stared at him, shaking his head. "How do you know that?" he asked, his eyes filling with tears.

"I don't. I was just talking. I mean, for gods' sake, Xyn, he was the Director of a slaughterhouse for Bios. It's a miracle YOU still have all your Parts, inside and out. I'm sorry."

Xyn nodded, looking back at the Doctor.

"From what I can tell," he stated, "Little Mutant XY's have abilities. I'm not a Mutant myself, so I don't know firsthand how it is. I just know that Mutants exist. Sometimes Mutations are physical, like Chriss' green skin or Kefe's eyes and pointed ears or fangs. Those are pretty common. Most times, in cases like Adam, Mutations are mental in nature – Psions, Bombers, Pyros, and all sorts of others. I'm still not sure what our little Tym here is, but I know he's got something, the way he's been arguing with Chriss."

Tym gasped. Something in the Doctor's tone wasn't right, and the little one was suddenly very afraid of his caregiver.

"Oh, relax," the Doctor ordered. "It was obvious. What are you, a Psion? An Empath? Who cares? That's why we're all here, isn't it? I mean, the Ruins aren't exactly the choice vacation spot of the World now."

Tym clenched his teeth. "I'm not a real Psion," he muttered in shame, "I'm something worse," and they could all feel the wave of shame and disgust that came from him.

"Well get over it," the Doctor ordered, "There's rough times coming, and if you think you've had it bad before, you haven't seen the half of it yet. Now, where was I?"

Tym blinked and Xyn sat up. He got shakily to his feet and sat back down on the edge of Tym's bed. He held the small hand in his own, and laid the other on Tym's warm forehead. "You were saying some Mutations in XY's are mental and some not," Xyn supplied helpfully, his attention locked onto the Doctor.

Adam glanced at Chriss uneasily, and Chriss chewed at his lower lip in thought.

"Yes, well," the Doctor went on, "From what I'm seeing here, and granted, this is only one case to study, but it seems like the Change from little one into Adult usually tears up a Mutant XY's abilities, according to Chriss. Then Adam says that his being an e-XY made HIS abilities stronger. Chriss gets castrated, and his headaches go away and HIS abilities get stronger too. Little XY's who haven't hit the Change yet don't have these problems, since they only have minuscule amounts of XY hormones in their bodies. Older e-XY's have about the same amount. So what does this tell us?" he asked, a strange look crossing his face.

Xyn, however, was beginning to tremble. Tym flicked a control switch on his bed and brought himself up into a sitting position. He coughed a few times, and Xyn smacked his back gently. He put an arm around him and pulled him close, trying to be careful of the wires and lines that maintained his weakened body. Tym could feel him shaking, and he closed his eyes and laid his head on Xyn's shoulder. You know, don't you? Please don't do it, Xyn. It isn't right. Don't let them do it to you. It's not worth it. What if they hurt you? What if you die?

Xyn's voice was shaky as he looked up to see Adam and Chriss staring at him. The Doctor was holding his data padd, and scanning Xyn again. He nodded and gestured, as if wanting the young Mutant to say it himself. His look was one of doubt, however, as if he couldn't believe what he was finding out.

Xyn's voice cracked and squeaked as he tried to sum it up, and his two Mutant friends nodded as if to say, "You're right."

"Adam was cut when he was very little," Xyn began, "And Chriss got cut later. Both of them don't have XY hormones. They don't have headaches when they use their abilities. They're getting stronger, not weaker. Little ones don't even realize when they ARE using their abilities," he added, pulling Tym a bit tighter.

"I'm sorry I did that," he whimpered, trying hard to hide his tears.

Xyn didn't miss a word of his musing, however, as he leaned down and kissed Tym's feverish forehead, pulling him even closer. He winced a bit as he brought his Psi up to minimal levels. That's all past and done with, Tym. I forgave you. I came in for you, I got YOU to get us out of that place, and here we are. I'm not going to leave you… ever.

"But I think what Chriss is getting at," Xyn went on, "Is that the Change messes up something in Mutants. For XY's, it's worse. The hormones and stuff mess up their abilities, weaken them, sometimes destroy them." He paused for a moment, watching Adam and Chriss nodding at him.

"Go on," the Doctor prompted.

Xyn took a deep breath. "And in MY case, it all still works but it's wearing me out and making me have bad headaches. The more I used my Psionic abilities, the more it's going to hurt me as I Change more."

Silence filled the room. The only sounds were the Doctor's padd beeping and Tym's support machines humming. Every now and then, Tym would cry softly into Xyn's shoulder. Finally, the silence became oppressive.

Finally, the Doctor spoke up. "You're right. You're physically healthy, Xyn. The only things wrong with you, other than the obvious pain, are the elevated levels of neurotransmitters and the hormone levels. Of course, given your age, the hormones are a bit high, compared to what they were when you first came in here, but that's to be expected. You're growing up, is all. Happens to everyone eventually. And I'm really not sure, with a Psion Mutant, about the other levels. I've never treated one so young and powerful before."

"What?!" Adam asked.

"Whadda ya mean?" Chriss added as well.

It was Tym that answered them all, however. "Xyn's stronger than anyone here," he stated.

Xyn, however, looked as if this were all new news to him. "What am I missing here?" he asked, "How do you know?"

"I just do," Tym replied. "That's part of ME, I guess. I know things."

The Doctor looked at him and got up to go. "I compared your scans to scans of the other known Psions here, Xyn. YOU have the highest counts of anyone as far as brain chemistry. I'd say that makes you the strongest one yet. There's also no reason for you to stay here, Xyn," he said, "You can go back to your room anytime. Just keep your Psi shut off and you won't have the headaches. I know it's quite the conundrum, but given what we've discussed here, I don't think you have much choice in the matter."

Xyn felt a chill pass over him. The Doctor didn't sound so sure of himself as he turned to go.

Chriss was staring down at the floor, and Adam looked away when Xyn met his gaze. He hadn't known either of them long enough to really call them friends. He and Jayk hadn't socialized with others much, and everyone had been too busy with the trip to get the Transport ship to make many friends; it had all been pretty much business. And then Xyn had fallen ill, thanks to Tym, and spent most of the return trip in a catatonic state. He had awakened to discover Jayk gone, Tym very sick, and himself pretty much in the care of Chriss the Pyro. He didn't have any reason to distrust them, but ever since recently recovering Tym from that strange place of the Mind where he had gone to die, he had noticed something else as well.

It seemed as if people were keeping things from him.

There were differences in what he could feel from other Psions, differences in the Minds of the others, Chriss included. The Group Mind chat had only confirmed this, and more and more, as he stared into the eyes of his two new friends, Xyn became more and more convinced that something just was not right. Even those whom he knew best, such as Kefe the Nightstalker or Dan, Shar's son, seemed different of late. It was as if they all knew something, but didn't want him to find it out. He realized that even the new Gangs, all of the Others who had arrived, seemed to be avoiding him. He wasn't really sure how he knew all of this, but he had a good idea as he held Tym tightly and just thought.

And what about Shar?

During the Group Mind session, and even before, she seemed to have changed. What was it she had said when she'd put him to bed after helping him sort out his experience with the Mind of the Hunter in saying goodbye to Jayk? Hadn't she said it was all her fault that he had to sleep alone? And what had he felt when she'd told him to go to sleep, besides that brief flash of Dan being put to bed as she was putting him to bed? It was almost like encountering a wall when coming around a corner too fast and not knowing that it was there. What was that?

What was SHE hiding?

WAS she hiding something?

But Xyn didn't want to think about it. He had been presented with too much information, too many confessions. He suddenly realized that they hadn't even gotten around to talking about Tym before he'd fallen asleep during the meeting, and that had been one of the main reasons that Shar had wanted him and his so-called friends there to discuss it.

Or was that even a reason at all? How could the welfare of ONE of the little ones in the Infirmary carry any weight at all in a Group Mind session about things like food supply, procuring weapons, talk of War, and stealing another ship? Xyn felt himself becoming paranoid, and the silence as the two other Mutants watched him began to annoy him. It was if they were expecting HIM to say something, but he had no clue what to say to them!

A few more minutes passed in silence, and finally Adam spoke up.

"He's avoiding something," the Bomber stated, watching the Doctor go.

"What do you mean?" Chriss asked.

"The conversation just died and he left!"

"I noticed that," Xyn added, looking down to see that Tym had fallen asleep in his arms. Very gently, so as not to wake him, Xyn smoothed his pale hair back out of his eyes and laid him back on the bed. He lowered the bed just a bit and got up to cover him. He passed a hand over Tym's cheek, which was warm; too warm. He was beginning to worry. Ever since pulling them both out of that poor duplicate of Xyn's mental retreat, Tym's condition hadn't improved as it should have. He knew that their Resources were limited, and he was worried that someone was just going to come in and pull the plug on the little one.

"I can't stand it," he whispered, as he got up.

"What?" Chriss asked.

"Him suffering like that. He WANTS to get well, I know he does, but he just isn't. What do I do? I feel like it's all my fault for putting him there. I didn't know what he was doing to me, and I just pulled my Mind away from him so fast! All he wanted was… I don't really know… just someone to care about him."

"We DO care about him, Xyn. We just can't make him believe that we do. When it comes down to it, we're gonna need all the Mutant powers and help we can get," Chriss replied cryptically. "Everyone matters now."

"Which leads us back to the Doc," Adam stated, stretching his arms and laying back on Xyn's bed.

Xyn noticed how long his arms were, and wondered if that was part of the Mutation of being a Bomber until he remembered that Jayk had had the same type of body, as did Chriss. Suddenly he knew where the lengthening of the arms came from, and he shivered again.

"I don't think I'm gonna be of much use to anyone, the shape I'm in now," Xyn replied, "I couldn't even handle a small Group Mind session."

"I think that's what Doc was avoiding, Xyn," Chriss added. "He didn't like what we told him, and what he figured out. He came to the same conclusion that WE already know now, but he can't stand it. I may not be you or Shar, but I could feel the disgust coming off of him. He isn't too fond of me and Adam right now. The whole idea makes him sorta sick, and he just can't understand it. HE isn't a Mutant himself. HE has no clue what it feels like to be one of us. He doesn't have any abilities to lose, and he's not the one who's in pain every time he tries to use what's always just come naturally."

Xyn thought for a moment, then decided to just come right out and say it.

"He doesn't like you two because you're castrated."

Both of the e-XY's nodded.

"I think that's why he got up and left after he told you that you were PHYSICALLY ok. I know that he knew what you were thinking, and it just appalled him. What does that asshole know about US anyway?" Chriss sneered, "Who is HE to judge US?"

"Well it's not like I had any say in the matter," Adam replied, his long-fingered hand moving to his crotch. "I sorta had it done FOR me."

"That's not what I meant, Adam," Chriss explained. "I asked to be castrated. I knew it had to be done, and I WANTED it done. I'm happy with myself. I don't know how YOU feel, since you were so little and a slave and all, but I know how I feel. I wouldn't push it off on anyone, though. Forcing it on someone is just wrong, I think."

But Xyn caught the tone of Chriss' voice and the statement he had just made. He looked up sharply. "And what was I thinking when Doc left?" Xyn asked.

Chriss' face flushed again, and he looked over at Adam. Once again, Psi or not, Xyn got the feeling that someone was hiding something from him and Tym whimpered in his sleep.

"Let's go talk about this somewhere else," Xyn offered.

They walked down the corridors with Xyn between them. When they arrived at Xyn's room, the room that he'd taken over in Jayk's absence, Xyn invited them in and closed the door. Adam and Chriss sat down on the edge of the large bed, but Xyn began pacing the room.

"Slow down, Xyn," Chriss offered, "You're gettin' worked up."

Xyn spun around to face him, his eyes sparkling blue and his brows creased. "And why wouldn't I be worked up, Chriss? Do you know what it's like to be told you're the most powerful Psion in the place, that you're important? That everyone is going to be important in the long run? Yet here I am, the most powerful one of the Gang, maybe even more powerful than Shar herself, and I'm worried about YOU poking around in my head because I can't even turn my Psi ON! What the hell is wrong with me? I've been like I am all of my life. I never even KNEW what I was, I just did it! Now all of a sudden, I can't even share my thoughts with the one sitting next to me at a table without having a screaming headache? Just what DO you think I was thinking when Doc left?"

"Ouch," Adam added.

Chriss glanced at him. "That didn't help."

"Sorry."

"Well?" Xyn demanded.

Chriss leaned back a bit, almost as if he were afraid that Xyn was going to strike him. He'd never seen this kind of look on the young Psion's face before, and it bothered him. His own limited Psi was telling him all kinds of things that were going on in Xyn's Mind, and the foremost of them, aside from the confusion, was anger.

Xyn was pissed.

"Xyn, I know what it feels like," Chriss offered. "I know what it's like to not be able to BE what you ARE when you start the Change. I know what kind of feelings you're having, I know how bad you miss Jayk, and I know how much you care about Tym. I'm sorry, Xyn, but I AM a Psion too and I can feel it just dripping off of you."

It was Xyn's turn to blush this time.

"Please don't look into that," he asked.

"I think I have to, Xyn. You and Jayk had something. You were close, really close. Your Psi, his Mind, both of your bodies. That's something I can't bring myself to know, Xyn, and you're lucky in that. You two shared something that most Psions can't even figure out how to do, and YOU just did it! But he's gone now, and we need you. Tym needs you. You said it yourself, that you're not much use to anyone right now in the shape you're in. Believe me, I've been there. I know," Chriss went on, "And you know that I know that that's what led to MY choice. You ask me what do I think you were thinking when Doc left? You want to know, Xyn? I'll tell you. You won't like it, but I'll tell you.

"I think you were thinking about being castrated so that you won't lose your Psi."

Adam gasped and stared at Chriss, hardly able to believe that he had just heard such an outburst. "Don't mix words, Chriss, tell us what you really think."

But Xyn had turned to stare at himself in the mirror.

His hair had grown out, and he was taller. He had more muscles and more energy. His Suit had adapted to the changes taking place in his pure Bio body, but it wasn't programmed to know that the Change was, or could be, a mistake. From a medical standpoint, everything WAS normal for him, and the Suit had no bearing on puberty. He really was physically fine.

He just didn't feel that way. His moods and emotions were out of control, and he didn't like it. He knew he's been snapping at everyone lately, and not being easy to get along with. He wondered it THAT wasn't why everyone seemed to be avoiding him.

Xyn bowed his head. "You're right," he whispered.

Adam whistled in amazement. Chriss only watched Xyn, sorting the racing thoughts that filled his head. He looked deep into Xyn, who was unable to defend himself. Normally, he would not have done it, but this was an extreme thing.

Xyn was about to make a life-altering decision based solely upon one idea.

Chriss then found himself lost in the depths of Xyn's Mind. He saw compassion, love, and a huge sense of wonder and the desire to know. There were other feelings, of course, that he immediately pulled away from; after all, Xyn's desires towards Jayk were REALLY none of his business anyway and he didn't want to see that.

But what amazed him most was Xyn's sense of selflessness. He saw Xyn comforting other little Bio Inmates in the Facility from before the fire. He saw Xyn curled up in the lap of this Abrams-person, being held, with nothing but love for him. He saw Xyn trying to help Jayk with his own pains, and saw the love that had grown between them and the memories of the Being with two bodies and one Mind that was Xyn/Jayk.

His Psi danced carefully around the feelings of the many shared and intense sexual episodes, but it lingered upon the memory of the night that Xyn had arrived. Chriss saw Xyn taking off his Suit, unashamed of his nakedness, to offer the gift of life to Dan who lay dying before him.

He saw Xyn's acceptance of what the young Psion had perceived to be the last night of his life, convinced that Jayk was going to kill him in his sleep to get the Suit. He saw past that, dwelt a little longer on the pain and loss when Jayk had been left behind. Once again he heard the agonized wails of JAYK?! Where's Jayk?! He paid special attention to Xyn's compassion for Tym when he'd first found him, and marveled at the extremes of the Mind to which Xyn had gone to rescue him from his own private hell. His eyes teared up then, as something else that he couldn't isolate rose up within his own Mind. It was just on the edges of his awareness, but he couldn't quite grasp it.

Instead, he let it go to review the sheer capacity for love that Xyn seemed to posses. He came back to himself just long enough to realize that Xyn was staring at him, with Adam at his side supporting him. He then realized, with stunned amazement that hit him like a physical blow, that Xyn would do the same for anyone. Jayk had been lonely and disgusted with life, and Xyn had befriended him. Tym had been starving, and Xyn had fed him his own limited rations. Jayk and Tym had both been dying, as had Dan, and Xyn hadn't thought twice about offering his life for theirs. And if the World came calling, or in their case, the Ruins and those who lived therein, Xyn would stop at nothing to defend them. Even if it cost him his...

Chriss broke the connection, tears spilling down his greenish cheeks.

"I-I'm s-sorry," he offered, "I shouldn't have done that. I just had to know, is all."

Xyn shook his head. "You're getting really good," he said, realizing that Chriss had meant no him no harm.

"Are you really sure about this?" Adam asked, his eyes wide.

Xyn looked at them both. Slowly, he nodded.

Both e-XY Mutants let out an explosive sigh of disbelief.

Adam led Xyn to the old chair and sat him down. He stepped back to go sit beside Chriss.

"Don't jump into this, Xyn," he offered. "I'm pretty well adjusted, I think, but then again I was really little and I didn't have much choice. The only thing I lost, I think, was the ability to pee standing up. I never had any kind of sexual thoughts other than what my Master wanted me to do for him, and that wouldn't have involved MY XY-parts."

Chriss nodded. "Take some time to think about it, Xyn. I don't wanna be rude, but I saw some of the stuff in your head that you did with Jayk. I know you love him. I know it's more than just raw sex and physical pleasure. I don't understand that, I don't want that for myself, but you better know this! If you get cut, you'll lose that, Xyn. You might lose it all, or just some of it, but it won't ever be the same. Whether or not Jayk comes back, or you find someone else, you won't be able to do some of that stuff, or not as often if you get castrated. I mean, yea, I used to masturbate. I loved it, but I couldn't control it. It controlled ME, and I hated that. I couldn't stop, and it was all I thought about. For me, it was the best thing, but I don't masturbate anymore. I don't even think about it. I don't even get hard anymore, and well, I don't want to, either."

"Is it THAT important, considering what I'm going to lose anyway?" Xyn asked. "What's a bit of sex compared to losing the better part of my soul?"

Adam and Chriss stared at him for a long while, neither of them sure of what to say. Both of them had been castrated, one against his will and one not, but that didn't change anything. Both of them knew that it would be different for Xyn, who was heavily into the Change into Adulthood.

What would happen to him when the raging hormones and various other chemicals secreted by his XY-parts were suddenly gone from his system? And what of his Suit? Adam thought of it first, and asked.

"Xyn," he said softly, "I don't mean to be nosy, but what about your Suit? I mean, it pretty much worked a miracle on Dan, from what I can see and what they tell me. It even wiped out some of his physical Defects and all. What I mean is, if you DO get castrated, won't it read that as a bad change in your Bio systems and correct it?"

Xyn jerked his head up sharply and his mouth dropped open. "I never thought of that!" he exclaimed. "I'm sure it would. It's built to replace any missing nutrients or Bio chemicals in the wearer's body. It WOULD supply me with hormones if suddenly they were gone! Dammit, anyway!"

Xyn placed his hands in his lap to hide his obvious erection. Chriss shot a glance in his direction and blushed, looking away fast.

"I'd say it would REALLY do something about that, yes," he offered.

"Thanks," Xyn replied dryly.

Adam cleared his throat again. "Just out of curiosity, and you can tell me it's none of my damn business if you want to, but what do you plan on losing? From what you said, it sounds like you don't like having all these erections and desires."

"I don't," Xyn replied quickly, then he stopped and thought for a moment. "What Jayk showed me how to do was all right. I mean, I liked it, yes. We did it more than once. Hell, we did it a LOT, and I liked it. But he's gone now, and what we had was special. I don't think I could ever offer it to anyone else. He's still alive, and I'd feel like I was cheating him out of something important, something special."

He then looked at Chriss. "I know you said you had problems with masturbating. Actually, Jayk had to explain that to me to, because he said once that he missed doing it really bad after he was cut up. I didn't know what it was, and to be honest, up until recently, I couldn't understand why anyone would wanna do that. But what we did, the sex I mean, we did together. HIM and ME. Chriss, you said you couldn't understand it, and most Psions never figure out how to do what we did with the Xyn/Jayk persona. But we did it, and every time we had sex, we did THAT. We became one. We never had sex where we weren't the same person in two bodies, and I can't even begin to understand two people just doing it and NOT being able to FEEL THAT! What's it for then, if not to have little ones with an XX, or not have that feeling of total oneness and love?"

Chriss shook his head. "I wish I knew," he offered lamely, "But I don't. I wish I could understand the depth of love you have, Xyn, but I can't. Even Psionically, I can't even begin to grasp it. It's just too huge. I envy you."

Xyn looked away, suddenly unable to face his friends.

And he realized, finally, that they WERE his friends.

"So what does that leave us, then?" Adam asked.

"It leaves me all alone," Xyn whispered, going back to face the young XY in the mirror. "Who ARE you, really?" he asked.

Then a tiny voice whispered in his hear, a voice that was weak and afraid. Xyn listened, and it came again, louder this time. I can't hear you, he tried to send, and his head very nearly split open with the effort. He felt his pounding erection stirring within his Suit, and he touched himself. There was pleasure, true, but there was also shame.

It felt good, but it didn't feel RIGHT.

Again, the voice, screaming this time : You're not alone, Xyn. I'm here, you're here, and I don't wanna be all alone anymore. You said I didn't have to be all alone anymore! I came back with you, Xyn! Please don't leave me again!

"Tym!" the young Psion answered aloud as his head throbbed.

Chriss picked up on it, and Adam's eyes widened. The two Mutants e-XY's looked at each other and nodded.

"He needs you too, Xyn," Adam said softly, "IF he lives that long."

Xyn whirled around, his eyes flashing and his perfect white fangs bared. A snarl escaped his lips, and his back hunched down, giving him the appearance of a Beast ready to pounce. Spittle dripped from his mouth, and he was breathing hard. But the most disturbing thing was his eyes, which had turned blood red.

"Shit!" Chriss cried, jumping back and instinctively bringing a flaming hand up in front of he and Adam.

No! Tym's voice cried out in Xyn's head, and some small part of him heard it.

Very slowly, as Chriss and Adam stared in horror at him, Xyn resumed his natural form. He shook his head, began to tremble violently, and then sank to his knees in front of the mirror.

"What the hell was THAT?!" Adam asked in stunned amazement.

"Th-that w-was J-j-jay-k-k," Xyn sobbed, hands upon his temples and sobbing uncontrollably. "I… I… c-can't stand th-this. I can't be ME anymore, and I can't be HIM either. I can't be US! I never knew how much of ME was HIM all this time!

Very slowly and carefully, Adam and Chriss approached their friend. Both of them knelt beside him and embraced him, trying to lend to him some kind of support and comfort. Xyn cried, his head throbbing and his body screaming at him as his Suit hissed and glowed blue as it tried to keep up with the damage that he was doing to himself.

Turn it off! Chriss sent to him.

Turn it off, NOW! the voice of Tym cried out, filling the room so that even Adam heard it.

All three of them looked up and around the room in amazement.

"Just what the hell IS that kid, anyway?!" Chriss asked, astounded.

But Xyn stood up, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. He shook himself, throwing off the pain and self-suffering. He drew himself upright, squared his shoulders, and confronted the mirror again. He switched his Psi off, and the pain stopped.

Then, very slowly and deliberately, he stepped forward and out of his Suit to stand naked in front of Jayk's antique mirror to confront the young XY before him in the polished glass.

The Suit fell to the floor in a heap.

In the glass stood the form of a young XY, his skin flawless and white. His light brown hair was disheveled, and it stopped just short of his round ears. His vibrant blue eyes, bloodshot from crying, faded to gray and back to blue speckled gray and then blue again as he stared back at his Beholder. His smooth, red lips surrounded a mouth full of perfect white teeth, all normally formed and well centered above a beardless and smooth chin. He stretched out his arms, and his shoulders raised up as the biceps tightened and flexed, rippling his developing pectorals. There were a few wisps of soft hair under those arms. His hands clenched into fists, his perfect nails digging into his uncalloused palms. His flat stomach moved in and out a bit as he breathed, and his ribs, while evident, indicated a good health and weight. His legs looked strong with a bit of thin hair on the shins, and he dug his bare toes into the thick old rug, enjoying the soft feel on his bare soles.

Then one of those fists unclenched, reaching for the well-developing XY-parts. His penis was erect again, pressing up against his flat stomach somewhere under his navel. A patch of soft, brown hair – much like the hair on his head, and not black and wiry yet – covered the pubic area above it. There were wisps of hair here and there on his scrotum, and it hung loosely between his thighs with the soft and pink skin giving mute testimony to the two orbs hanging within it.

"What are you?" Xyn asked the one in the glass, "Are you Mutant enough to survive here? Are you more than the sum of your Parts?"

The one in the mirror asked the exact same question, and Adam gasped, his own hand touching his own crotch through his clothing. "Oh, gods," he breathed.

Xyn turned to face him and Chriss.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

But Chriss was sweating, and not just because he was a Pyro, either. His normally greenish face was flaming bright pink, and his pale eyes were wide.

"X-xyn, you're… you're v-very hand-d-some," Adam stammered, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Do what?" Xyn asked, grasping his erect and well formed XY-parts, "Cut these off?"

Adam nodded, and Chriss swallowed hard. For the first time since his own castration, Chriss felt his own penis begin to harden. "Poor Jayk," he whispered.

Xyn looked at them, then released his grasp on his twitching member. "It seems that I have a choice, guys. My Psi or my Manhood. I know what that Doctor was thinking now, right before he walked away from us in the Infirmary. He's nearabouts Tym right now, and he was then, too. He was just now trying to explain something to Tym, and thanks to that little guy, I heard him. What he was thinking just drives the whole point home. He's been going over my data and in his eyes, there's no choice. Obviously, he gives credence to your theory, Chriss. So I either lose the Parts or lose the Psi. Tym's very upset over it."

"Aren't YOU?!" Chriss asked in shocked disbelief, "I mean, gods, Xyn, this guy just handed down a death sentence to your Manhood through Tym's Mind, and you aren't upset about THAT?"

"I'm more upset about Tym," he replied. "Besides, Doc's almost ill with disgust over it, and he's already written me off to loss of Mutant status due to the Change. He thinks castration is disgusting."

"Why?" Adam asked, confused. "I mean, it was nice of him to let you in on what the Doc said about you behind your back, but what's up with that answer? I don't get it."

"That's because you've never loved anyone, Adam," Xyn replied in an even, sympathetic tone, "and that's sad. You miss your family, what little you can remember of them, but you spent most of your short life already as a slave. You didn't love your Master, and he didn't let you see much of anyone else. Me and Jayk talked a lot about when he was a slave, and I know – I KNOW – what it was like for him; it had to have been much the same for you. You're a good person, Adam, but it won't hurt you, at least not here in the Ruins with your own kind, to open up a bit. Just because the Doctor doesn't like eunuchs doesn't mean that everyone hates you."

The Bomber bit his lower lip as Xyn's words bit into him.

Still, Xyn went on, seemingly unaware that he was still naked and very erect.

"No one that I've seen is very open here, and that's sad. Jayk hated me at first, but he learned to love again, in time. Shar's open enough and nice, and I'm sure that she loves Dan, her son, more than her own life. But she's got walls I can't see through, as does everyone here. I don't know what's going on, but ever since I woke up from pulling Tym out of his self-induced coma, everyone's been very closed up and secretive. The few times I HAVE been able to get my Psi up and running without keeling over in pain, I've felt it. Something's going on, and I don't know what it is. I don't think I WANT to know what it is, if it's going to make me act like everyone else here. I've been told that I'm safe here, safe in the Ruins with my own kind, but if being a Mutant means acting like everyone has been, except for Tym, then I don't want to stay here. You two act like you're my friends, and for all I know, you are; but I also know that you're both hiding something. I don't think it's as bad with you, Adam, but Chriss knows something. I could feel it before, and Tym can feel it now.

"He's afraid of you Chriss, and he's very frightened of castration and the XY Mutant theory. He's scared to death that someone is going to find him out for what he is, and he isn't even sure of it himself. He's so scared of himself, in fact, that he tried to kill himself over it. Did you two know that?"

Both Adam and Chriss shook their heads, amazed at Xyn's rant.

"Well, he did. He knows that people here don't like him and are afraid of him. Even his own Gang didn't want him. He'd be dead by now if I hadn't found him when we raided the Transport ship, I'm sure of it. All his life he's had to deal with fear and rejection because of whatever he is, and now he has to face it – much like me, it seems – among his own kind. Just like the Doctor feels about eunuchs, it seems, even some Mutants here feel that way about other more powerful Mutants. It's a double standard. 'Our own kind.' Sounds like a sick joke, doesn't it?"

"Xyn," Chriss said, "Get a grip. You're scaring me. What could WE be hiding from you all this time? You only started having problems lately, you know. I'd think as a Psion you'd have discovered it by now, IF it existed."

Adam, however, wasn't so sure. "He's right about me, you know, Chriss," the Bomber said softly, "You didn't see me for a while when we came to meet your Gang at the Transport ship because I was avoiding you. I thought having a friend was too good to be true, and well, I didn't trust you. I guess I just didn't realize it until Xyn pointed it out."

Chriss stared at him in shock. "You don't trust me?" he asked in a low voice.

Adam didn't answer, however. Instead, he got up and walked towards the door. Then, for the first time, Chriss powered up his own limited Psi and probed Adam. Obviously, the Bomber knew what the Pyro was doing to him, and he just stood there with his hand on the doorknob, waiting. I wish you could do this back to me, Chriss sent sadly, because I'm not like that. Maybe someone hurt you in the past, but gods, Adam, YOU castrated me with Kel's help when I asked! Didn't that mean anything to you? I really thought we WERE friends.

Adam opened the door, his eyes filled with unshed tears. "I thought I was too, Chriss, but Xyn just made me realize otherwise. I guess I like you well enough, you're pretty cool and all, but deep down I guess I just don't trust anyone. If there IS something going on here about Xyn and Tym, then I don't want to be a part of it. I'm sorry if it hurt you, Chriss, but I guess I just don't really trust anyone all that much," he said aloud.

He closed the door behind him, being careful not to slam it.

Xyn and Chriss watched him go.

"I hurt him," Xyn said flatly, "But he had to know, and so did you. Now you know how I feel, how Tym feels, Chriss. Do you honestly believe that anyone here gives a damn about anyone else now?"

Again, the young Pyro felt something at the edges of his Mind, but when he focused on it, it fled. He nodded, wiping his pale eyes on his sleeve as Xyn had just done earlier. He thought for a moment, then confessed, "Something IS going on Xyn. There's something rattling around in my head that I can't isolate. I don't KNOW who or what it is, but I can tell that it doesn't belong there. Maybe I better tell Shar about it."

Xyn snorted.

"What?" Chriss asked.

"I wouldn't tell anyone if I were you. I think it's me or Tym that they want, not you or Adam. Go to him, Chriss. You DO mean a bit to him, you know, and he's really torn up right now. He wants you to come to him."

Chriss looked shocked again. "How can you know that with your Psi off?"

Xyn shrugged. "Tym told me," he stated.

Chriss' pale eyes widened again. "Xyn, do what you have to do. Just make sure you save that little shit! I'll poke around as much as I can and try to figure this thing out, but please know this – if there IS someone out to get you or him, they'll probably succeed."

Then his eyes almost literally lit up. Xyn jerked his head around to stare at the door as the idea hit them both at the same time. "Maybe that's why Tym isn't getting any better, Xyn! Think about it! Suddenly puberty cuts loose on you, and you can't handle having your Psi on, yet the Doc tells you that the scans confirm that you're the most powerful one here? And what about Tym, too? We're not sure WHAT he is, but he seems to be able to do just about everything, doesn't he? You bring him back from Death's doorstep, and now suddenly we had to debate whether or not to shut off his life support because he just isn't getting well? You said he WANTS to get well, but he can't? What's that all about? It makes no sense!"

Xyn's mouth dropped open. "We never got TO that, though! I passed out because I couldn't take the Group Mind thing and it hurt me so bad!"

"Bullshit!" Chriss exclaimed, running to the closet and rooting around in it.

"What are you doing?" Xyn asked.

He got his answer when Chriss tossed a short, green tunic at him. It was old and it didn't smell fresh, but it was almost clean. Xyn's jaw clenched, and his throat tightened. "This was Jayk's," he whimpered, trying hard to keep his emotions under control.

"Not now, Xyn. Get a grip. You're naked, so put it on! We need to get out of here and head to the Infirmary, now! Someone might be listening, and if they are, I might not be good enough to know it!"

Xyn realized what Chriss was getting at and slipped the tunic on. It fit well enough, and Xyn saw, with some pain and regret, that he had grown enough to be about the same size as Jayk had been when he had arrived in the Ruins. He then thought about Jayk being a Slow Mutant, and wondered if Jayk had grown any at all, or if he would soon pass him up.

"C'mon, Xyn! Think about it! You and Jayk did that merge-thing all the time when you had sex. You spent all that time in a mental wonderland with him and Tym, too, and you even merged with Jayk and this Hunter fellow all the way from wherever he took him? No way! Your Mind shouldn't have shut down in a Group Mind chat with the leaders of the Gangs here, Xyn. If that data of Doc's is right, then you could have smashed all of them out of existence without breaking a sweat. It just doesn't add up! There's got to be a connection, Xyn! You can't use your Psi now, and Tym's about to be cut off of life support all in one day?" Chriss stated, his voice heated.

Xyn was suddenly very angry. He reached for his Psi out of habit.

"Shit, don't DO that now!" Chriss cried, feeling it coming up.

Xyn nodded. "But what's going and who's behind it? And WHAT are they doing to us?" he wondered as the both of them took off down the hall running. Then the latter of Chriss' words struck him.

"When did they decide that?" he squeaked.

"Oh hell, Xyn, you didn't know? That's gotta mean that Tym doesn't know! They were supposed to tell you! I really thought you knew!"

Xyn decided to take Chriss at his word, although he didn't like the thought of that. Chriss had admitted that something in his own Mind was wrong, and that didn't make sense. He was the closest one to Tym, and to himself. It was Chriss who cared for them when they were down and far from home, and it was Chriss who had helped him through the Group Mind chat and to the Infirmary when he'd collapsed. "WHEN?!" Xyn demanded, turning to run back to his room.

Chriss skidded to a halt. Xyn was not Dan, but he could still run. In seconds, he was back with his white Suit rolled up under his arm. They pounded on towards the Infirmary, dark thoughts racing through their minds as they tried to come up with an explanation. "They decided to unplug him and let him take his chances tomorrow morning," Chriss said, panting. Still, they ran, until a voice filled their Minds.

I don't talk to strangers, it was saying to someone else. Then it fell silent.

Xyn's look was determined, and Chriss felt him beginning to touch the fringes of his own Psi. Xyn then slowed a bit and whimpered, and Chriss caught him under the arms. Still they ran. Adam, Xyn called out, I need you! Come to the Infirmary!

"What are you doing, idiot?" Chriss asked.

"Calling for backup," Xyn explained, sweeping out ahead of them. He gritted his teeth and tears ran from his eyes. Chriss could feel his gait slowing, but Xyn's Mind was coming up to power. Chriss' own Psi pulled back from it, but Xyn did not falter. Something deep inside of the young Psion drove him on despite the pain and lack of a Suit, and he would not yield. Chriss felt the intense love again, and knew from where Xyn was drawing power.

They met Adam at the next corner. "What's wrong?" he asked sullenly.

"There's no time for that! Get ready to blast things, Bomber, because we're probably gonna need your help!" Xyn stated.

Chriss smiled at him, and they flanked Xyn, supporting him, as the three of them continued down the hallway. They found the doors to the Infirmary shut and locked.

"I KNEW this was gonna happen!" Chriss cursed.

"Would someone tell me what's going on here," Adam asked.

Xyn drew a deep breath, steeled himself, and sent what he and Chriss had theorized to Adam. The young Bomber's eyes lit up then, and he understood.

"Oh, gods," he breathed, focusing his gaze on the door.

"BURST!" he ordered, and both of his friends felt the force of his Will shatter the door into fragments.

An alarm began to sound, and a burly Orderly with an artificial arm jumped from behind a cabinet to confront them. The Infirmary was nearly deserted, everyone who had fallen ill from the raid recovered or dead. Only a few remained, and most of them, except for Tym, had physical and critical injuries and not diseases. "What are you doing here?" the Orderly demanded.

"Get out of my way!" Xyn ordered.

The orderly blinked, then turned. "Doctor!" he called out, "We have unauthorized visitors!" He then placed himself between the main aisle and the trio, crossing his arms in front of him. He was very large.

The Orderly, however, was no match for Adam and his destructive powers. The young Bomber simply drew in his Will, stared him down, and watched calmly as the orderly shattered into a bloody, twitching mess of flying body parts and scrap metals from his Approved Implants. Eerily, his scream of pain echoed across the room as various parts of his anatomies landed here and there, making little splattering noises.

"Way kewl!" Chriss yelled, slapping Adam on the back.

"Thanks," Adam replied shyly, his face flushing as Chriss quickly and unintentionally sent to him how he really felt about him. They looked deeply into each others' eyes, and an understanding seemed to pass between them.

"I'm sorry!" both of them said in unison, and then laughed.

Suddenly, everything was all right between them again.

Everything except for Xyn, who slumped a bit and was obviously suffering.

"What's going on here?" the Doctor demanded in stunned amazement, jumping out from behind Tym's bed. They all looked in that direction, and Xyn screamed when he saw that the monitors and support machines were all off-line, and the sound of his cry awoke every Psion in the Ruins and many who were not even Mutants.

At the main control room far below the living quarters, Shar broke her Network connection and looked up. Hundreds of leagues away, Rick Abrams very nearly dropped an infant Bio Inmate and looked up towards the ceiling with a cry of surprise. Thousands of leagues to the Far South, Jayk dropped his fork at his evening meal with his Master and looked up at the crystal chandelier. His silver-capped fangs sparkled as his mouth fell open. A few more leagues to the Far South, hiding in the bushes near the beach of the Eastern Sea, the Hunter hung up his emergency call to Acer the Dealer and slammed his visor up. He then tore off his helmet and let his battered Psi cut loose. His Suit hissed and beeped again, but he was none the worse for wear, all things considered.

And just upstairs from Jayk and his confused Master, Alfred the butler collapsed onto his bed in shock as he experienced his final Breakdown.

"Xyn!" they all spoke in unison, as the terrible scream that Abrams and Jayk had heard once before tore across the very World.Noooooooooo!

"Answer me!" the Doctor demanded, coming towards them, "What do you little freaks want here?"

"Excuse me?!" a new voice asked from the ceiling.

The Doctor had just enough time to look up as Xyn's blazing Psi tore into his Mind. The last thing that his eyes saw were two glowing cyan fires coming down towards him as Kefe the Nightstalker descended like an angel falling from Heaven to punish the sinners.

Kefe's legs spread as he fell, and he grunted as his legs locked around the stunned Doctor's neck. He then flipped himself backward, reaching out with his long arms to dig his nails into the frozen man's face as Xyn tore at his mind.

Spy! Xyn shouted to their minds.

"Not for long," Kefe said calmly, as he jerked his entire lean and sinuous body and tore the Doctor's head off. He fell backwards onto the floor, sending the detached head rolling, as blood fountained up out of the toppling decapitated body. It twitched for a few seconds and then lay still.

"Fuck me!" Kefe murmured, looking around at the destruction as a strange silence fell upon the room.

"You're about out of luck on that idea, buddy," Chriss replied as Xyn slipped from his grasp.

Suddenly the room was filled with the Presence of another Mind, and Xyn stumbled forward towards Tym's bed where the machines were all silent. Tears streamed down his perfect pace, and the veins in his neck and head were pulsating.

"Nice of you to show up," Adam stated as Kefe joined them, wiping the blood from his tunic with a bed sheet.

"Not a problem. A little voice told me to come here. Said a stranger was after it. I think it was Tym."

Then all three of the Mutants turned to look towards Tym's bed. The sickly little Mutant's lines and tubes had all been pulled, and he lay atop his blankets, naked. His skin was pale and almost gray, and his nails were blue. His breathing was very shallow, and it came in ragged gasps. There was also a strange metal device with a few flashing lights on it attached to his forehead and temples.

Xyn collapsed onto the bed, scooping the dying little one up in his arms. "What is this thing?" he called out, and the three others ran to his side.

"Shit," Adam nearly screamed, "That's a neural inhibitor! They put them on Mutants so they can't use their abilities. It literally turns your brain off! You don't see 'em too much 'cause they're so damn expensive. Only the richest Masters and Dealers can afford to have them!" He then reached down and touched a red button on the side of it. The lights went off and it fell to the floor with a clatter. Chriss picked it up and handed it to Xyn, who pocketed it.

"There's another Mind here," Chriss warned them.

"I know," Xyn replied, "and he's with ME. Find me some of the best painkiller and the hardest stimulant there is," he ordered them, pulling Tym's cold and unresponsive body close to his own.

"Let me," Chriss offered, taking the limp little form in his arms. Sweat began to pour off of him, running in rivulets down his naked torso as he heated up. Adam and Kefe, rooting in the drug cabinets, turned and saw the heat ripples surrounding them. Within seconds, Xyn was sweating as well. Tym's skin color began to pink up a bit, but he still didn't move.

Xyn… his Mind called weakly, barely conscious.

Kefe and Adam then returned with the drugs. Some other Attendings arrived and shut off the alarms and saw to the few other patients, but it was obvious that none of them were in on whatever had taken place. None of them approached the quartet of Mutants at Tym's bed, whether out of respect or fear when they saw the carnage – it was impossible to tell.

"We got Morphinol-12 and EpiN-9, Xyn, but how's that gonna help Tym?" Kefe asked.

"It's for me, not him," Xyn explained, "I'm about to die here, and I'm running on the help of another Mind that can't last much longer. Inject me with an Adult dose of both, now!"

As Adam did that, Xyn took a deep breath as the overdose of drugs hit his Bio body. The pain disappeared, and the other Mind took its leave of him as his Psi burst to new levels of power, fueled by rage and fear. "Adam," he barked, "Take the door. Don't let anyone in here. Chriss, if any one of those Attendings come close to us, burn them to the ground! Kefe, cover us!"

They all nodded, and Adam ran to what remained of the doorway, his grin broad. He hadn't blown anything to bits in a long time, and it had felt very, very good.

About then, Shar's Mind filled the room.

What are you about, Xyn Psion?! she demanded.

Shut up! I'm busy!

There was a stunned interval, and Xyn felt her, saw her, running down a corridor and headed towards them. I will have the truth! she called.

Someone pulled the plug on Tym and tried to make sure that I wasn't able to find out about it, he replied, And if you try and stop me, so help me gods, I'll tear out your Mind in a heartbeat, so stay outta my way!

Shar's voice then fell silent, and Xyn spread his Suit out on the bed as Chriss lifted Tym up. He then laid him down on the Suit, and it enfolded Tym instantly. It took a few seconds for it to figure out what was wrong, then it lit up blue and hissed and beeped endlessly. The hood deployed, as did the gloves and facemask as well. Only Tym's nostrils and mouth and chin were visible as the Suit went to work on him.

They waited, and Adam called out, "Shar's coming!"

"Let her come!" Xyn replied, and Kefe and Chriss took his sides. Kefe's eyes were shining, and two fireballs danced upon Chriss' outstretched palms. The Attendings wheeled the remaining patients out a side door, and Adam ran back to join his friends.

"You!" he called to the last one, "Over here! Hook Tym back up to full support, now!"

The Attending did that, shaking violently and then shrinking back under Xyn's cold gaze. He was obviously very disturbed as the Suit, programmed to recognize medical supplements, opened small holes in itself here and there to allow their attachments.

When the last patient was out, Adam frowned and smashed the doorframes with his Mind, leaving only one way in or out. In seconds, Shar came running through the wreckage of the main door with Dan in tow. Shar stopped, and Dan's hand tore out of her grasp as he ran towards the others.

"What's wrong?" he cried, "Xyn, what happened? We heard you scream all the way down in the control room!"

Instantly, Xyn probed the little one and knew that he was honest. His Psi smashed through the barriers that his mother had erected around him, and for a moment Xyn was lost in the simple wonder of childhood. There was nothing in Dan's Mind to indicate conspiracy, only fear and concern. All he wanted was his friends, and he was not a threat. Then Dan saw Tym. "Is he gonna die?" he asked, running to his bedside.

Xyn, however, fixed his gaze upon Dan's mother. She met that gaze, and then lowered her defenses. "What has happened here?" she asked, surveying the bloody wreckage that had once been the Infirmary.

"Someone unplugged Tym," Xyn said in voice filled with hardly contained rage and the driving need for revenge, "Or didn't you know that?"

Shar's face paled, and Xyn struck.

Hard.

In a second, he knew everything that she knew.

A second later, a terrible wave of guilt overtook him as he realized that Shar had had absolutely nothing to do with any of what had happened.

But Xyn would not be settled by that. The guilt passed as Tym began to cough, and Xyn turned back to him. "I'm sorry," he snapped at her, "I was wrong, and I don't really care, though. Someone's trying to kill me and Tym, and I don't know why. Your chief Medic was a spy, by the way. That's why he's dead. Him and the Orderly that was on duty, the one with the mechanical arm."

Shar gasped, shaking her head and recovering herself.

That was very rude, Xyn Psion, what you just did to me. However, I AM impressed with your strength. And just why are you OUT of bed, to say nothing of running your Psi, as we discussed? she asked in a motherly tone.

"Better listen to her," Dan offered, having taken up a position on the other side of Tym's bed and holding his small hand in his own.

Daniel! she corrected him.

"Sorry, mother," he said aloud, averting his eyes.

"I'm drugged up, bad, Shar, and the Hunter helped me along," Xyn explained.

Again, Shar gasped. Psionically, Chriss informed her of everything that had taken place: Xyn's sudden Psionic failure, his pain, Tym's not getting well, and the plot they had formulated. Shar's eyes widened, and then she gasped again. Her evening, it seemed, was destined to be filled with nasty surprises.

"Stand firm, Chriss," she ordered, as the full force of her Psi invaded his Mind.

The young Pyro felt her lay her Mind upon the thing that had been rattling around in his Mind, and he heard a small voice again. Don't talk to strangers, it said. Chriss whipped his head around, his long white ponytail flying, and looked at Tym.

Shar continued her probing, as if climbing over a wall of some kind, and Chriss let her. His attention was focused on Tym, who lay on his bed in Xyn's Suit with full life support hooked up to him again. The readouts, however, were improving as the Suit did its work. He watched as Xyn held Tym's free hand in his, Dan holding the other, while Xyn smoothed the ailing little one's hair back. He watched the tenderness with which Xyn touched the cheek, warm and pink now, and passed a finger over the red lips up the jawline to caress Tym's small, round ear.

The young Psion was crying openly, his Bio body beginning to feel the effects of the drugs as the rush of the overdose began to wear down.

Then Chriss felt Shar slip out of his Mind as they all watched Xyn.

"What about you, Xyn?" Dan asked suddenly, "You're wearin' Jayk's clothes, not your Suit. What if you get sick?"

"I'm a Mutant," Xyn replied, "I'll survive here without it."

Dan smiled, reaching over Tym's still form to lay a hand on Xyn's hand which held Tym's other. His smile was like the sun rising, and Xyn felt some degree of hope. Then Tym's eyes fluttered a few times.

"No, Xyn," he said, his voice rough and hardly audible, "You can't take your Suit off!"

"You wear it for a while, Tym," Xyn said through happy tears, "You need it a lot worse than I do. You need to get out of here and get better so we can do more than just lay around in bed being sick together!"

Tym smiled wanly, then began to fall back asleep. "I'm sorry," he whispered, "I told them all, I tried. I said not to talk to strangers. He was here, I know he heard me! He got out alive! He didn't get blowed up!"

And then Tym's mouth and Mind fell silent as he slept. His heart rate and respirations leveled out, and his blood pressure came up to good levels. The scanners indicated that he was totally stable, which he hadn't been in weeks. It was mute testimony to the fact that he hadn't been receiving proper care the entire time that he'd been under the Doctor's care. The little Mutant should have been, could have been, in perfect health days before.

Then Xyn looked over at Dan and back up at Shar. His eyes were sad, and his whole body looked to be on the verge of collapse. He opened his Mind to her again, unsure of what to do. In an instant, she knew everything that Xyn knew as well.

"Apology accepted," she said softly, touching his cheek, "I can see where you could have thought these things, Xyn Psion. Something is badly wrong here, and I WILL have the truth of it. Are you well enough to join with me?"

Xyn nodded, and joined his Psi with hers. It was a strange feeling, somewhat unlike the Group Mind incident, but not at all like being Xyn/Jayk. Together, they swept through all of the Minds of all the inhabitants of the Ruins in minutes. Thousands of Minds drifted beneath them, and to Shar's shock, more than a few of them bore the strange signature that she had seen in Chriss' Mind. She tightened her Psi, masked her mental signature, and concentrated on stealth. On and on they went, slipping through the Minds of the Gangs who inhabited the Ruins undetected by even the better Psions.

Finally, with a sick feeling in her heart, she returned Xyn and herself to their individualities.

"Something IS wrong here," Xyn stated.

Shar nodded and turned to Adam and Chriss. "I must tell you of this," she said in voice filled with regret, "That there are blocks of some kind in both of your Minds, and in the Minds of a few Others here as well. I know what they are, I know how to destroy them, but I do not know where they originated. All I know is that we have been infiltrated by the Authorities somehow. There are other spies among us yet."

"Someone's been in my head?" Chriss asked, shaking it in disbelief.

"And mine?" Adam asked.

Shar nodded again. "But I cannot remove the blocks as of yet," she stated.

"Why not?!" Adam cried, "I mean, if someone messed with my Mind, can't you fix it?"

"We can," Xyn stated, panting a bit as the drugs began to wear off. Even at Adult doses, the punishment he had done to his Bio body with his Mind had burned them off and he was only moments away from total collapse. "We won't, though, because, well, like I said to Chriss, there's a plan here. Someone wanted Tym dead, and me out of his way. This someone, or someones, used a lot of our people to set his plan moving. Unfortunately, you two were part of it. So was our Doctor and at least one Orderly. Whoever it was got to you two and altered your Minds. I don't think you can handle what's behind that block, Chriss, nor you, Adam. It's pretty bad."

They could hear the pain in Xyn's voice however, and everyone knew that he had discovered, in his Mind trip with Shar, something so very horrible that it had taken most of his control to deal with it.

Tears filled Chriss' eyes, however, as Xyn's Mind leaked an image of a burning building to him. There were screams of pain and the fire was so swift and hot. There were trees, the Forest no doubt, and the shining cyan eyes of a Nightstalker.

"I… I… I did that?" he asked, and Xyn knew that he had seen.

"Yes," Xyn answered.

"But our Nightstalker, he got lost on the trip! We were late, and we think a Hunter got him! I don't remember burning any buildings down."

"Yes," Xyn said again, "I'm very close to that Hunter just now."

Shar smiled mysteriously. "He helped you tonight?"

"Yes," Xyn said again, his full of pain, "And someone tried to kill HIM too."

Kefe whistled in surprise. "Well this is just one twisted mess, ain't it? Someone puts spies in the Ruins, Mutants even! Hell, they had to be, how could they survive here if they weren't? Someone wants Tym and Xyn dead, and whoever it is also wants the legendary Hunter dead too?"

"What I don't get," Adam asked, "Is how this person, whoever it was, had all this contact with a bunch of Mutants? I mean, we knew that our Doctor, and his main Orderly, was a spy, and that he didn't like us. Me and Chriss thought he hated us because were castrated, but I guess that was only part of it. But how could someone get a hold of so many of us like that? And what about this Hunter? Why kill the best thing the Authority has for catching us?"

"We will go over the details later, Adam. For now, we all need rest. It has been an eventful day. Kefe is going on duty, after his rude awakening, but the rest of us need sleep. Xyn, can you walk?" Shar asked, then smiled.

Xyn had already fallen asleep beside Tym, his arm across the little one's waist and still holding his hand. Dan smiled and placed Tym's other hand, which he held, across him so that it was resting on Xyn's chest.

About then, the frightened Attending came out of hiding. He glanced at Adam, his eyes wide. The young Bomber laughed. "I'm sorry!" he piped up.

The Attending nodded to Shar, handing her a padd. "I thought you should know this, ma'am," he offered, "I got this out of the Doctor's computer files. It seems he left them all open while he was disconnecting little Tym here. I think you'll find it all very interesting," he pointed out.

Shar took the padd. "Thank you," she said simply, "We'll send someone to help with the mess." She then shot Adam and Kefe a withering look, and the young ones grinned at her.

"Ma'am," the Attending asked as they were all turning to go, "There's also really no reason to keep these two here," he offered, waving a scanner over them. "They're both fine. The little one's still pretty weak, but he's stable. I don't understand it. Those Facility Suits must be really good!"

Shar let that one pass. It was obvious that this Attending knew nothing of the subtle attempt having been made upon Tym's life.

"And you would be very happy to be rid of them, correct?" Shar asked, smiling.

The Attending nodded vigorously.

So it was that Adam and Chriss, bearing their own burdens of guilt and wondering what was wrong with them, helped Dan and Shar and Kefe move Xyn and Tym back to Xyn's room. They placed them both in the large bed, warmed by the overhead brass lamps, and situated them close together in the center. Then Shar covered them up with the ragged old blankets, Xyn in one of Jayk's old green tunics and Tym still in Xyn's Suit. She pulled the covers up to their chins as the others left the room.

"I don't wanna be alone just now," Adam was saying shyly to Chriss, who nodded as they walked down the hall.

"Me either. I'm scared," Chriss admitted, putting an arm around Adam's shoulder.

"C-can I stay in your room tonight, Chriss?" Adam asked.

"I'd like that," Chriss agreed.

Adam smiled, then frowned.

"What?" Chriss asked.

"I was just thinking about Xyn, is all. All he did for us tonight. He almost killed himself doing it. You think he's still gonna want to be…"

"Castrated?" Chriss interrupted.

Adam nodded.

"He said a lot of things tonight, buddy," Chriss mused, "Let's just give him and Tym some time to recover and think about it. Maybe he'll change his mind."

Back in Xyn's room, Jayk's old room, Shar finished tucking her charges into bed and took Dan by the hand to go. "You do that real good, Mom," he said.

"One more to do this night," she smiled, "Although I shall not sleep. There is much for me to do, yet."

Dan smiled back, then pointed to the bed. Shar turned to see Xyn, still fully asleep, rolling onto his side and pulling Tym close to him. The young Psion sighed contentedly, and Shar touched her pocket to make sure that the medical data padd was still there as Tym snuggled his head into Xyn's shoulder.

Very softly, they closed the door to the old room full of dusty book and antiques, where once again, two happy little ones slept in warmth and comfort.

Chapter Twelve
Epiphanies & Transfigurations

Things take a turn for the worse as an attempt on someone's life is made, and Xyn realizes, with the Hunter's and Tym's help, just how many people are after him. Conspiracies are unwravelled, revealing in flashbacks things best forgotten.

The Hunter was awakened some mornings later by a persistent beeping in his visor that indicated that he had an incoming call. He had been hiding near the shores of the Eastern Sea for several weeks, putting his wilderness survival training to good use. Someone had obviously made an attempt on his life and he was, for the time being, content to the let the Authorities and the rest of the World believe that the attempt had been successful. As he wondered whether or not he should answer the call, he realized that there were only two, perhaps three, people in the entire World that knew that he was still alive.

He smiled as he thought of Xyn who, along with Jayk, would certainly know that whoever had sabotaged his Craft had been unsuccessful. The beeping persisted, however, and he saw that it was Acer, the Dealer. The Dealer also knew that he was still alive, as Acer had been the first one he'd been in contact with after the explosion. He ordered the limited comm system contained within his body armor's helmet to make a secure connection using a seldom used and very old satellite in a low orbit of Earth. Hoping that this narrow bandwidth call would go unnoticed, he answered.

"My God, Hunter," the fat man said through the helmet's speakers, "Where have you been? You're big news, you know! The Authority has launched a full investigation into your death! Can you believe it?!"

The Hunter yawned and stretched.

"Acer," he sighed, "Is this purely a social call, or do you want something? I'm really not in business at the moment, I'm sure you can understand."

The Dealer laughed, and the Hunter groaned. His head ached as his Psi ranged out in stealth mode ahead of him as he had been walking through the sparse Forests near the beaches of the Sea. The last thing that he needed was for someone to sneak up on him, but then again, who could possibly be a match for him? He still had his armor and weapons, and his Psi was functioning as well as could be expected. Still, he believed that secrecy would do him more good than full blown public display.

"I simply called to see what your plans were, my friend. YOU called ME up right after the attempt, you'll recall. Scare me to death, then hang up and tell me to let no one know you're alive? What's all that? ARE you quite all right? Do you need a lift to the City, transportation, anything I can do at all?"

It was the Hunter's turn to laugh. "Acer, you overstuffed pervert," he jokingly insulted the Dealer, "I'm walking for a reason, and it's not for my health either! I want to take some time off to think. Much has happened, and I need time to digest it all. Someone just tried to blow me up, I had a horrible round of Maintenance and Servicing right before, and I just had to give that pretty little Mutant Runaway back to his old Master who's an unmitigated ass! I'm really not in the mood to socialize, or work, or even talk to anyone right now!"

"I can relate," the Dealer replied. "You know that I'll manage your affairs for you while you're 'dead', my friend. The reward funds on that little Jayk cutie came through just fine, by the way. It's all in account here in my firm, waiting on you, safe and sound. We could have made MORE if you'd brought him HERE though! Are you sure you don't need anything?"

Again, the Hunter laughed. "With a 20% tip off the top, right?"

"Well, a fat old man's got to make a living somehow, doesn't he? I suppose this means that the search for that 'N' brat of Abrams' is off for now?" the Dealer mused.

"Yes it is. Hard to do when you can't get there from here. Take care, Acer. If I think of anything, or you can find out anything from your spies and contacts, call me back. Thanks."

"Goodbye, Hunter."

The channel closed.

The Hunter raised his visor again, looking over the land. He let his Psi range several leagues back, and he smiled when he began to 'feel' Jayk. It was a hot day, and the young slave was enjoying himself by performing different dives from a high board into the swimming pool. He could feel the lust emanating from Wilson, who lounged on a divan near the poolside watching his naked slave entertain him. The Hunter shook his head and cleared his throat in frustration.

Looks like fun, he sent to Jayk.

He heard a startled cough and then a sneeze and spluttering as Jayk broke the surface of the water. You ARE alive! came the startled reply. I just knew it! Just don't sneak up on me like that!

Sorry. How are you, Jayk?

There was a long pause, and then the feeling of falling and the sudden cold rush of water again. The Hunter then closed his eyes 'saw' Jayk, the sun reflecting in the thousands of tiny droplets on his smooth brown skin, as he plunged. His slim and naked form, dressed only in his silver slave collar, cut the water so gracefully; his long black braids were tied behind his head like a tail, and they flowed out behind him in a black streak. Then Jayk was holding his breath, and the Hunter guessed that he was swimming underwater as the whole world around him turned blue.

I'm fine. I feel good. My Master says that swimming is good exercise to get me back into shape. He's making me eat more than I want to and making me work out a lot, but I feel good.

Has he… done anything to you yet?

It was a very personal question, but the Hunter felt that he had to know. Jayk wasn't exactly fragile, but his Slow Mutant body WAS still recovering from his illness and the thought of the aged young one being abused was intolerable.

No, came the quick reply, touched by a bit of surprise, Just a lot of touching and petting and sitting in his lap and cuddling. That's kinda nice. Plus a little bit of oral stuff. That's it.

Then another long pause, and the Hunter could almost feel the towel being wrapped around himself as he saw the smiling face of Master Ev Wilson through Jayk's eyes. He was scooping Jayk up into his strong arms and carrying him back to the house, Jayk's long arms wrapped about his neck. The aged Mutant looked, for all the world, like a helpless and tired little one.

"It's nap time," Wilson was saying.

Then Jayk leaned up and kissed his Master's rough cheek, only to have him rub his goatee against the side of Jayk's neck. Jayk giggled and squirmed. "Yes, sir," he was saying between laughs, but then he sent I hate being treated like a baby. I'm a hundred times older than he is! And the Hunter could tell that it was all an act.

Bear with it, Jayk, the Hunter replied, preparing to close the connection.

Did you hear Xyn the other day? Jayk asked.

Yes.

Alfred died. Jayk informed him sadly. I miss him.

THAT got the Hunter's attention. What?!

Then came the feeling of being rubbed down, and a warm but rough hand caressing him between his legs. The Hunter started, and he sneered. The thought of those hands touching Jayk there, where his XY-Parts should have been, enraged him; he fought down the urge to reach in and shatter Wilson's Mind. Secrecy, however, was the issue. No doubt, Wilson believed him to be dead as well. Still, there was something about the old butler that the Hunter hadn't liked, and he thought of the strange warnings he had heard that night before the explosion. He listened sharply to Jayk, trying to filter out the noise of a hair dryer. He began to sweat.

Right after Xyn screamed, Alfred died. He had a Breakdown. Is Xyn OK?

The Hunter could feel the pleading in Jayk's voice, feel the sensations of being put to bed, covered, kissed again, and then the terrible longing.

Jayk was crying into his pillow as his Mind filled with memories of Xyn.

I miss him so bad! the young Mutant sobbed. I don't wanna stay here! I wanna go back home, back to my room under the library and sleep in MY bed, in MY bed with Xyn! How long do I have to stay here? Jayk begged.

Jayk, do you know WHY Xyn was screaming? Why you were able to hear him? the Hunter asked, evading the question.

No.

Jayk's sobbing had faded to soft whimpers, and the Hunter could feel him growing drowsy. He was tired from his swim. Still, he felt that Jayk deserved to know. Needed to know.

Xyn's very fond of Tym, Jayk. That little Mutant he sort of adopted when you all raided the Transport ship? You recall Tym, I'm sure. Anyway, someone made an attempt on Tym's life. I know this, because whoever it was after Xyn as well.

Someone tried to kill Xyn!?

Relax, Jayk. Xyn's fine. It was all very subtle, very slow, and he or they almost succeeded. Xyn got wind of it and it made him quite angry. Jayk, Xyn's having a very hard time of it right now. He's growing up, Changing, and his Psi isn't handling it too well. He's got bad headaches, and he misses you as much as you miss him. He caught the ones responsible, red-handed, and well… I don't know how to tell you this, Jayk, but he had them killed.

Good! Jayk replied.

Good?

How'd he kill 'em?

The Hunter was a bit aghast, but he answered, From what Xyn told me, or what I saw, rather, that little Bomber fellow, Adam, blew them into small chunks.

Way kewl! Jayk replied in a burst of enthusiasm.

Settle down! Perhaps not so kewl, though. Dead ones tell no tales, Jayk. There were at least two spies in the Ruins with your Gang. They're dead now. It seems that Chriss and Adam and Kefe came to Xyn's aid. I know it's not much comfort, Jayk, but Xyn isn't alone. He's got friends, and Tym is going to be fine.

What's so special about Tym? Jayk asked in confusion, slipping further towards sleep.

Go to sleep, Jayk, the Hunter suggested strongly, I'll tell you later. Know that I am with you.

I don't like Chriss, Jayk was saying, fighting the urge to sleep, He told me… told me… his ideas… and… stuff… headaches…. Mutant XY's… and he'll…

Then the Hunter felt Jayk fall fast asleep, and he sat down on a large rock near the edge of the Forest to stare out at the Sea that had swallowed up the remains of his Craft. His thoughts ranged back to that terrible cry of Xyn's, and he realized that he'd heard and felt that same kind of agony once before. "In the Ruins," he recalled, "When he woke up and couldn't find Jayk. Gods, what's it like to love someone THAT much?"

But the thoughts of conspiracy that he and Jayk had discussed in the Craft some days before weighed heavily upon his Mind, which was now flooded with things that Xyn knew.

He still couldn't believe he'd done it, when he'd heard that awful scream. He'd reached his own Mind out again, pushing his Psi to its maximum, to fly to Xyn's aid. "I've never even met him, and I'm not really sure I even LIKE him," he muttered, "So why did I do it?" Yet the more he pondered it, the more he was glad that he HAD done it. In reaching out to support Xyn as the young Psion's abilities had begun to fail and his Mind had gone into overload, the Hunter had unwittingly exchanged vast amounts of knowledge with the young Psion deep under the Ruins. They hadn't exactly been a Xyn/Hunter persona, but they'd come close. The whole process amazed him, actually, and he smiled. He was finally beginning to see some connections.

"Damn, I'm good!" He laughed, then paused. "But young Xyn's better."

He leaned back and took off his helmet, letting the sun warm him. His body armor and Suit were still taking good care of him, and reached into a pocket to search for some field rations. He found one, and began to eat as he tried to assimilate Xyn's data with his own in contrast to what was going on.

Since it was the best place to do so, the Hunter began at the beginning of what he knew. Xyn had run away from Facility #32 where he'd been raised since infancy. He was a Psion Mutant, and the Director loved him and wanted to adopt him. However, the Agency wouldn't let him. Xyn was a pure Bio XY, kept in a Maintenance Suit, and he'd been lucky enough not to have been used for Parts. He'd only run away, and then actually only wandered off, when the Facility had burnt to the ground. This was where it all started to get interesting.

Another Inmate who had been adopted out, Edward IV aka H2, had told the Hunter that he thought that Xyn knew about the ones watching the Facility. He'd listened to the little one when he'd stopped by to see Abrams, and found that a Nightstalker had been spotted by H2. H2 had also thought that Xyn knew about it too, from the little one's descriptions of his strange behavior. And then the fire had happened.

The Hunter shivered at the memory of little Edward IV's mismatched skin grafts and how so many of the Inmates had died in a fire in a building that was allegedly fireproof, and that fire meant only one thing. Abrams had said that it was burning too fast, burnt too hot; that pointed straight to the nearest Pyro Mutant, and Jayk had been convinced, somehow, that the Pyro responsible was the one called Chriss. But Chriss, as it turned out, was now one of Xyn's best friends and even helped take care of him when he'd gone catatonic after the raiding of the stolen Transport ship. Yet Chriss was a weak Psion as well, and while Xyn hadn't even known what a Mutant was at the time, it was conceivable that Chriss could have overrun his Mind then and 'made' him wander off.

After all, just walking away from a home and a man who raised you as his own and loved you didn't make much sense. Someone must have 'made' Xyn do that.

But what about the Nightstalker who'd been spotted there? The Hunter remembered watching the Gangs coming across the bridge into the Ruins when Shar had attacked him. That day had been his first hint of contact with the Mind of Xyn, and hadn't he just captured and sold a Nightstalker not long before that? The distances, however, weren't right. How could he have caught that Nightstalker in the Old City so soon after the fire at #32? Yet Chriss' Gang WAS missing its Nightstalker, and the window of opportunity for Chriss to make it back to his own Gang and then to the Ruins was certainly large enough. There was also the possibility of a stolen craft, but again, the distance was too far.

He made a mental note to call Acer and ask about that one, that Nightstalker. Something wasn't adding up there, and he felt that it might be important. Furthermore, there was Jayk's abandonment in the Ruins when he'd killed Kel, Chriss' Gang leader. Kel had wanted to leave the catatonic Xyn behind, and Jayk had turned Beast at the thought and killed him for it. Shar, the leader of the Gangs of the Ruins, had decided to leave him behind to die.

It was strange, the Hunter pondered as he recalled Jayk's pain at that time, how she could have just scrapped all those years of loyalty in a second or two. Hadn't SHE been the one to first rescue him from a life of slavery to Ev Wilson, the Master to which he had just returned him? The resources to pull that one off must have cost her a fortune, and for the life of him, the Hunter couldn't figure out WHY she would do all of that just to abandon him later.

But then there was the Xyn-factor. He and Jayk had surmised that someone, possibly this Kel person, had WANTED Xyn to be left behind so that he could be picked up by someone else. It was also possible that whoever started the fire and got Xyn to wander off in the first place had planned to pick up the little Bio while he was wandering the Forest, except that Jayk had found him first and taken him home with him.

This explained Jayk's abandonment, if nothing else. Jayk had gotten in someone's way, taking Xyn in and later falling in love with him and spending all of his time with him. Teaching him to survive as an Outcast in the Ruins was certainly a noble thing to do, but it also appeared to have clashed with someone else's agenda. With Jayk gone, this mysterious person must have thought that getting Xyn would be easier. Could it have been someone out of Jayk's long and unnatural past history? The Hunter doubted it. Jayk had pretty much outlived everyone he'd ever known, and if it had been, wouldn't Jayk have thought of that person? And again, this bitch named Shar wouldn't have done it, because it made no sense.

"Gods, I hate that woman," he muttered.

He sighed and reached into his pocket. A chill went through him as his hand pressed against something cold and metal, and he pulled the Approved Processors out of his pocket that he'd literally torn out of the head of the dead Kel right before the Craft had blown up. He fingered the various chips, the gloves of his Suit hiding his fingers, and wondered. "I wish I knew what was on these," he hissed, "Because all the signs point to you right now, Mister. But if your Gang was going to join up with Shar's, why would YOU have wanted to kidnap Xyn from her?"

It was then that he turned from his own limited knowledge and began to filter through what he had learned in his intimate mental contact with Xyn.

Xyn didn't even know Kel, but Xyn had known people who did. He had met him only briefly before he'd gone catatonic, but Xyn had been afraid of him. Kel had been pushy, overbearing, and downright rude! He'd largely ignored Tym, a member of his own Gang, having written the little one off as useless and a drain upon their Resources. Xyn had befriended Tym, the very strange and mysterious Outcast that everyone seemed to either overlook or fear, and something in Tym's Mind had pulled Xyn down into catatonia. The Hunter knew, however, and was extremely impressed with the fact that it had not just been that. Xyn hadn't just been unconscious. He'd been out of body and wandering another place, a place of the Mind, that was just as real to those inside of it as the physical World was to those who were not able to comprehend Psionic gifts.

And Jayk, and later Tym, had gone with him to those places.

He ranged farther and farther into Xyn's shared knowledge. He knew that some little Mutant, Dan by name, was Shar's son. This discovery led him to the fact that Shar and Kel were, at one point in time, intimate. He shivered at that thought. "How does a prick like that wind up with a woman like HER?!" he wondered aloud. Yet Dan was an Approved by birth, but his Implants didn't work right; his parents, however, being Runaways, automatically classified the little one as Outcast. He'd been dying when Xyn had shown up, and he had also been Mutated by Defects in the worst ways. Xyn had offered the little one his Suit, which had restored him. That got his attention.

"But why all the trouble to just fix a Malfunctioning little one? There's got to be more to this than just bringing Xyn to them to fix Dan, and that doesn't explain Jayk, either. Besides, Xyn thinks that Dan doesn't even know who his father was. And it also doesn't even touch the idea of who wanted to kill Xyn, or least impair him. Surely if they'd just wanted the Suit and not the person in it, they'd have just killed him outright."

He thought about it harder.

Xyn had taken Tym in once Jayk was gone; even before then. The young Psion seemed to have adopted him on the spot, and again the Hunter touched the fringes of the love that Xyn was capable of. He then thought of Abrams, but the Director of #32 was so far away now, and certainly HE didn't want Xyn dead! He wanted him back, at all costs!

He dismissed that train of thought immediately. Abrams was nothing but a help, and besides, he was a busy man. He had a Facility to run. He had not time for such plots, that was certain. Hadn't the video of him in the rec room proven that?! And wasn't he obsessed with his Craft, which was now quite the moot point, however.

Still, there were more faces in Xyn's Mind. There was another XY, rather, an e-XY Mutant named Adam who was a Bomber. Adam was dismissed out of hand, since nothing had blown up in Xyn's adventures. Adam had been a Runaway slave, much like Jayk, and Chriss' Gang had taken him in. Chriss was an e-XY as well, and the Hunter wondered at that, as he himself was too.

"There seems to be a great deal of emasculation going on around here," he mused.

Another face came to his Mind, and it was the face of Kefe the Nightstalker. Kefe, however, was fiercely loyal to Shar and his own Gang. Kefe had no other memories of any other life than the life in the Ruins, and he liked it there. He also liked Xyn, and had even come at some Psionic urging to risk his own life to save Xyn's… and Tym's!

Instantly, the Hunter focused his thoughts on the strange little one. He thought hard, and a small voice whispered in his Mind. Another chill passed through him, and suddenly he recalled hearing that same voice in Wilson's house! Strangers, it said, Don't talk to strangers.

But what strangers had he met? Who was strange? What was strange? Hell, it was all strange! In the course of only a few weeks, the Hunter's routine life had turned stranger than bad holo-fiction at the theater! Suddenly something in his own Mind broke open, and the image of the strange little one with the pale hair and a sad face assailed him with such force that he almost fell off his rock.

YOU talked to the stranger! he accused, and immediately he thought of Alfred, Wilson's butler! Another image followed on the heels of the image of the old XY, and that was the one that the Hunter had seen right before the explosion. He saw, once again, the image of Alfred's own little XY. The little one that had undergone so much Replacement and Maintenance that he was more machine than human. Alfred was there, arguing with the Craft's computers, and he recalled the uneasy feeling he'd had when he'd brought Jayk 'home' to them.

He recalled the voice whispering to him then, then fleeing like a frightened animal in the dark when the light shines upon it. He remembered the feeling of Alfred's guilt as he'd taken off, and the images of the dying little XY in Alfred's Mind.

YOU! he sent to the owner of the voice, You were there all along, watching! You knew, and were trying to warn me! Why?!

Alfred blew up your Craft, the voice replied.

The Hunter's Mind reeled. The old one? HE had done it? But why?

I know that NOW, he replied, but how do YOU know it?

He then felt the mental equivalent of a shrug.

That's what I do. I just 'know' things. Besides, when you can't get out of bed, there's not much else to do but…

...Spy on ME? the Hunter interrupted.

I was watching out for Jayk, Tym replied.

The Hunter breathed hard. It IS you!

Yes.Suddenly, the Hunter was dumbstruck; he was also scared. Here he was, the ultimate Hunting design on Outcasts and Unapproveds. Runaways the World over had nightmares about him, and he was trembling in the face of the Mind of a sickly little Outcast that was no taller than his waistline! The sheer amount of effort required to do what Tym had claimed to have been doing all along staggered him. There was no way he himself could have done it.

Piece of cake, Tym replied.

Nice to finally meet you, Tym. Now, do YOU know anything else that might help us here? After all, Xyn just came screaming across the World like the God of Destruction when someone tried to kill you. Do your people have any leads, and how is it all connected to me?"

There was a bit of silence, and the Hunter could feel Tym's Mind working. Then he thought of something else – he himself wasn't expending any energy and his head didn't hurt! And if Tym could do this so easily, where was Xyn?

Xyn's asleep, Tym replied, He's sick. Well, not sick, I guess, just worn out. He hurt himself bad the other night. And he doesn't know I can do this. No one does. If anyone finds out, they'll drive me away, make me leave! Please don't tell on me! I don't care if they kill me, but I don't want 'em to hurt Xyn! I was afraid you'd exterminate Jayk, too. That's why I was watching you the whole time. But when I saw how much you liked Jayk, and how good you took care of him when he got sick, I knew you wouldn't hurt him. Xyn appreciates that, you know.

Tell Xyn that Jayk misses him, Tym. He cries himself to sleep thinking about him.

There was another moment of dreadful silence, and the Hunter could feel the hatred.

If this Wilson Master of Jayk's hurts him, I WILL kill him.

What?! How?

Never mind. You know too much already. Shar says we're going to talk about it all tomorrow, or the next day, when everyone is rested up and the damage is under control. We have two dead spies here, both of them Unapproveds, non-Mutant, it looks like. We don't know how they could live in here, in the Ruins, but they did, and one of them was our head Doctor.

The Hunter whistled.

The Doctor wasn't taking care of me right, Hunter. He pulled the plug on me and was gonna let me die. He even had Shar convinced that he was legitimate, and that means someone had to have done some heavy work on his Mind before he got here.

All Doctors are Authority registered, Runaway or not, the Hunter supplied.

Then you better get to a computer and get on the Network, Hunter. After all, you work for the Authority, don't you?

Then Tym's Mind was gone, leaving the Hunter all alone on the rocky beach.

It took Shar and Xyn and the rest of the Mutants in the Ruins a few days to put things back into order. After the incident in the Infirmary, Shar had spent the rest of the night and most of the next morning in the realm of the Mind. With her body seated at the main Network panel in her control room, she swept over the sleeping Minds around her. The only distractions were the few Nightstalkers above, clouding her Psionic findings with their own exhilaration as they leaped from ledges on the old buildings high above the empty streets and prowled the rooftops in search of danger. She carefully filtered these out, continuing her search.

Somewhere in the Ruins, perhaps in the personal chambers near her own even, were four other spies. Two of them lay dead in the makeshift morgue just off of the Infirmary, their bodies, or what was left of them, blown to pieces by the overzealousness of Adam the Bomber.

She sighed as her Psi cruised over Adam's mind, the young e-XY asleep and dreaming of knocking down and blowing up things. But there next to him, much to her surprise, she felt the Mind of Chriss the Pyro. Chriss was also fast asleep, and as she tuned in a bit closer out of curiosity, she felt the warmth of Adam's skin against his own heated body. It appeared that Adam had been afraid to go back to his room alone, and Shar didn't blame him. She moved on with the image of them holding each other close, naked atop the bed's only sheet, warmed by the natural aura of Chriss' body and not needing a blanket. She herself felt warm as she moved on.

Normally, Shar would not have been so intrusive; she was couthe and always respected the privacy of others. However, with circumstances being what they were, she was taking no chances. To find Adam and Chriss in such immediate proximity at that time, was, to say the least, odd, given Chriss' attitudes an opinions. That, and the fact that both of them had mysterious blocks in their Minds – neat and orderly 'walls,' so to speak, that were high and thick and obviously put there intentionally. While she herself knew how it was done, and knew how to break those barriers down, she was afraid to try. There was no way to know what lay behind those walls, and the risk to the two young e-XY's was too great. She would have to think of another way.

Yet it was the very existence of those blocks, and a few others like them, that fueled the fires of her search. Her Mind needed rest, but she dared not take it. She had made her son, Dan, bring a bedroll and sleep in the control room behind a hidden console out of fear for his safety. Somewhere out in her expanding Gang, a Gang that was bringing life and activity back to the Ruins, lurked four Minds that she simply had to find. Her search continued on into the night, as Kefe and the others watched the stars twinkle and leapt from rooftop to rooftop, wary of anyone trying to leave.

Around Midnight, she found one.

At the extreme edges of the buildings that served as housing for the new arrivals, she felt fear and extreme wariness. Someone was up and moving, and carrying something; something that had to be delivered. Shar sharpened her focus, brought her Defenses to bear, and swooped in on that Mind as an owl plucks up a mouse on the fly.

That Mind did not detect her.

"So much the better," she breathed. Kefe! she called out.

In her Mind was an image of the young XY gripping a horizontal flagpole, and he was spinning about it, his lithe body whistling through the cool night air as he let go to arc up and then gracefully land on the ledge of what once had been a theater. How many and where?! his Mind called back along Shar's Psionic link.

Near the last housing unit, headed to the statue of the golden man, Kefe. One. Someone trying to leave. It's one of the four! Hurry!

Not himself a Psion, there was no way for Kefe to alert the others unless they could see his shining cyan eyes in line of sight only. He decided not to take the time, and made his way across rooftops at alarming speeds. Within minutes, his acute night vision detected the dark form of someone moving across the long-abandoned plaza. It carried a knapsack, which was obviously very heavy.

Kefe side jumped from ledge to ledge, each fall bringing him closer and closer to his prey. His glowing eyes dimmed a bit as he blinked more often, and when he was totally sure of the strike point, he jumped.

The stranger was hit square between the shoulder blades and went down hard. Kefe heard the wind whoosh out of its lungs as he used his inertia and the impact to right himself and sail up and over his prey's head. He rolled in the air, spread his arms and flipped, and came down on his feet behind it. The heavy pack had fallen to the ground, and he picked it up and threw it to the point where Shar ordered. Another Nightstalker dispatched by Shar, Geoff by name, caught it up in one smooth move and angled back up towards the rooftops with a grunt. Whatever it was, it was a load.

The stranger grunted, trying to catch its breath, and Kefe waited. It got to its feet, glancing this way and that. Kefe, however, moved behind it with precision. It was looking around for the knapsack, and failing to see it, began to panic.

"What are you doing out here?" the young Nightstalker demanded. The stranger flinched and whirled around to face him.

"Out of my way, Unapproved," a woman's voice hissed at him. Kefe's glowing eyes saw that she was reaching into her loose blouse for something, but as her hand began to withdraw, Kefe drew his blaster and fired in one blisteringly fast movement. He then leapt into the air as the blood began to spray from the woman's ruined hand, her own mini-blaster clattering to the ground. She screamed.

"You meddling little fuck!" she cried out, clutching at the remains at the end of her wrist, "You have no idea what you're doing! You have no idea how important our work is!"

But Kefe was nowhere to be seen. She whipped her head around this way and that, but her assailant was simply not there. "I know you're tricks," she called out, "One of you has the bag. We knew about you Nightstalkers and took precautions! The contents will do you NO good without one of us!"

About then, Shar's Mind struck her much as Kefe's body had.

This time, Shar was not couthe. She tore into the woman's Mind with the full force of her enraged Will. The woman, already weak from blood loss, sank to her knees with a wail. Shar did not let up, however. She could not have possibly cared less about damage to the woman's Mind. Two of her children had almost died from this woman's treachery, and at least two others were huddled together in bed with blocks in THEIR Minds as well. I will have the truth! Shar demanded of her.

And then she ran smack into a 'wall,' much like she had done in Adam's & Chriss' Minds. This time, however, after assimilating all that she could before the mental carnage was to begin, Shar threw caution to the wind and literally blew down the 'wall' with her own Mind.

What she found there did NOT impress her, though. The woman was specially trained to resist Psionic probing, and in fact, she had really no clue who she was or what she was doing. Her entire aim in life was to come to the Ruins, steal medical data padds and records, and then leave to deliver them to someone else. She also had no idea who this someone was. Her only other orders were to kill anyone who interfered with her, and to drop the knapsack near the statue of the Lady with the Torch in the Flats. Beyond that, she had no instructions. And as the wall in her Mind crumbled further, to Shar's dismay, she also had no identity. Someone had done an extensive job of conditioning her Mind.

There was nothing further to be had, other than a sense of being on a mission that was extremely important. Shar caught one other word before the woman gasped her last, and lay dead where Kefe had shot her.

"Xyn."

Kefe and Shar then moved on, leaving her where she'd fallen. A few moments later, another Nightstalker came out of the shadows and threw the dead woman's body down an old storm sewer.

By daybreak, the exhausted Nightstalkers and Shar had only managed to find one other, leaving two still on the loose. The second had been an XY Unapproved, Upgraded, and he had been alone and carrying nothing. Geoff had spotted him atop a moderately tall building, on the roof, panting and exhausted from his stair climbing. The only thing that he had, other than his clothes, was a transmitter. As with the first woman, Shar had blown down the walls in his Mind, but in his case, it had sent him running mad. It had taken two of the Nightstalkers to subdue him, but by the time they had done that, his sanity had slipped away. Shar had found nothing useful, only the urge to use the transmitter. She had ordered them to bring him in, but as they dragged him to his feet he broke away. He ran screaming towards the edge of the roof, and flung himself off.

His insane giggling echoed all the way down, to be cut off with a sickening sound.

This fact left a cold feeling of dread in Shar's very soul, as she envisioned Adam or Chriss running mad in the same fashion; Mutant abilities notwithstanding.

That morning, the Nightstalkers came in and took to their beds. Shar called in the other Psions, with the exception of Xyn and Chriss, and turned matters of security over to them. She sent Dan to Xyn's room with instructions to keep the four in question together until she was rested. Each of the Psions was then subjected to a full Group Mind session, and when Shar could finally rest, she copied Xyn's trick of shutting her Mind off and fell asleep.

The five of them spent a nervous day together, snacking on various things from Xyn's stores in his room and reading books. It was that day that Xyn discovered that Tym didn't know to read as he sat in the old chair, leafing through a book of ancient mythology.

Tym, still too weak to get up under his own power after being down for so long a time, had grown bored and restless. His muscles were very atrophied, and just sitting up without help wore him out. He sighed often as the others chatted or read, and finally he got up enough nerve to ask for help.

"Xyn?" he asked in a small voice.

Xyn looked up from his book. "Yea?"

"Can I come sit with you?"

Xyn nodded and scooted over. Tym sat up as best he could, but soon fell back onto the pillows. He sighed and tried again, breathing hard. Then, to his surprise, Adam came over and picked him up, placing him in Xyn's lap. Tym's face was red.

"Thank you," he said simply.

Adam smiled, returning to stretch out on the old rug next to Chriss who was keeping the room warm for the convalescing little XY. They all told him how there was nothing to be ashamed of, that he'd been so sick for so long that his muscles just weren't strong anymore. They all assured him that he'd get better, and Tym finally began to believe them as he watched Xyn turning the pages. He was warm in Xyn's Suit, and he actually felt good. He looked at the few pictures in the book, popping crew rations from the Transport ship into his mouth, when Xyn stopped.

"I am I going too fast for you?" he asked.

Tym shook his head. "Don't matter. I can't read."

All four of them looked at him. "How can you NOT know how to read, Tym?" Dan asked, "I mean, being able to do what you do and all? Wouldn't you just know how to do it from being in someone else's Mind?"

Tym shook his hooded head. "It doesn't work like that. Reading is a complicated thought process, and just because I can 'see' Xyn doing it doesn't mean I can think like him. I mean, I'd have to BE him to think like HE does. Does that make sense?"

Xyn looked at him and raised his eyebrows. "It makes perfect sense, Tym. If I could do it without hurting myself, I'd show you the cheating way!" He then pulled the little one closer and hugged him, reaching up to touch his cheek and hold his smooth chin for a moment.

"But how can you not learn to read, Tym?" Dan asked again, breaking the silence.

"When you live on the streets alone and run for your life every day, there ain't much time for that," Tym replied.

Dan blushed. "I guess I didn't think of that," he offered, stretching himself out on Xyn's bed. "This feels good after sleeping on the floor of mom's office all night."

Xyn smiled and went back to his book, as did Adam and Chriss. The rest of the day was spent teaching Tym to read as Dan napped and Adam and Chriss lay on the old rug together doing the same.

From time to time, Xyn would look up and see them right up against each other, Chriss wearing only his tattered short pants and Adam dressed in a one-piece slate colored jumpsuit that was a bit too big for him. After a few hours though, Adam sat up and pulled the front of it open. "Is it hot in here, or is it just me?" he asked.

"It's Chriss," Xyn replied.

"Hey!" The young Pyro interjected, "I can't help it!" Then he grinned widely. "So take it off if you're hot."

Adam looked over at Xyn, who shrugged. Tym mimicked his motion, and went back to sounding out short words with Xyn. Chriss, however, was still grinning.

"It won't bother you?" Adam asked nervously. "I thought you didn't like, well… I know you're uneasy with…"

"No," Chriss interrupted, "I think I'm over that now. I realized last night that there's more to worry about in life than being embarrassed about what you are or how you look. For example, uh, take getting killed by a spying Doctor for example? What's being naked compared to that? It bothered me for a LONG time, but I don't think it will now. Besides, it's not like we can DO anything to each other, is it? Being a Pyro's hot work, ya know."

Adam smiled and finished opening the front of his garment. It closed via velcro, and the ripping sound woke up Dan who sat up and looked around, yawned, and went back to sleep. Once free of the hot clothing, Adam kicked it away and stretched. His arms and legs were long, a bit too long, and his skin, while not as white as Xyn's, was smooth and hairless all over. There were little scars here and there from old injuries, which Xyn lacked, but which any other young XY would take for granted and overlook. He was old enough to not quite have the soft appearance of a little one, yet he wasn't overly tall – yet. His musculature had not yet fully begun to develop, and the smoothness of his crotch bore mute testimony to the fact that it probably never would.

He scratched at his light brown hair, just touching the tips of his ears, then turned to lay back down on the rug beside Chriss. Xyn glanced up as Adam was turning, and he noted the shape of Adam's backside and the curves of his body. There were horizontal marks across his round buttocks, areas of skin that were a bit darker then the surrounding tissues. It was not heavy scarring, but it gave evidence to the fact that Adam had been beaten at some point in his life. Xyn's eyes then caught a glance of Adam's emasculation, total and long since healed up perfectly, and for a moment he thought of Jayk. He felt his penis hardening under his tunic, and he pressed his book down on it to hide it, cursing to himself. His eyes teared up, and he was startled to feel a small, gloved finger wiping his tears away.

Me and the Hunter talked, Xyn.

"What?!" Xyn said aloud.

Adam and Chriss flinched and glanced up at them. "It's hard to get anything out of a one-way conversation, you know," Chriss jibed at them. Then he saw Xyn's look of pain. He glanced at Tym, who shot sneered at him. Chriss sighed.

"Be nice," Xyn chided, "And tell me about the Hunter."

"All I wanted to tell you was that he's fine, and Jayk's doing good. His Master's takin' good care of him. He misses you, though. The Hunter wanted me to tell you, said you two were close."

Xyn smiled wanly. "I miss Jayk, too."

"Why do we care if the Hunter's fine, though?" Adam asked, looking up from his book. "He's the LAST thing we want creeping around here."

Tym realized his mistake and made a face. "I'll tell you all when Shar comes to talk," he replied, "Because we had a LONG talk, really, and there's a lot of stuff to figure out."

They all stared at the strange little Mutant for a moment, then the two e-XY's nodded in agreement and went back to reading.

Chriss laid a long arm across Adam's bare back, just across the small of it, and Adam leaned up a bit to put his arm across Chriss' shoulder. They pulled each other closer, and Xyn leaned over and impulsively kissed Tym's cheek.

"Thank you."

But Tym just stared up at him in disbelief, warm and happy and feeling halfway safe for the first time in his life. As Xyn began reading aloud to him again, he prayed that it wouldn't ever end.

It was getting late in the afternoon when Shar finally arrived at Xyn's room. She knocked politely at the door and entered to find them all just sitting around the room. Xyn was still in the old chair with Tym in his lap, and Adam (who had hastily thrown his jumpsuit back on) was sitting on the floor next to Chriss. Dan was laying across the bed, and each of them had a book in his hands. There were empty ration containers and crumbs scattered here and there, and the five of them were the picture of total innocence.

"Now I know something is wrong is here," she joked, stepping across the room to join her son on the bed. She sat and enfolded him in a warm embrace, then looked up at Xyn with her sparkling gold/black eyes. Again, I thank you, she sent.

Xyn nodded, placing his book on the small end table and adjusting Tym's position in his lap. "Anything?" he asked.

Shar shook her head. "Nothing good," she replied in a sick tone.

Adam groaned and Chriss shook his head.

"The Nightstalkers caught two of them," Shar explained, "But their Minds were radically altered. One was carrying data padds from the Infirmary and the other only had a comm-transmitter."

"But there's more, isn't there?" Chriss asked.

Shar nodded and pulled Dan closer to her. Unconsciously, Xyn did the same with Tym and Adam moved closer to Chriss.

"The walls, or blocks, that I mentioned in your Minds were present in these other two as well. They were just as solid and firm, but I penetrated them. The first had undergone extensive Psionic reordering of her Mind, and there was nothing left but her mission. She felt that she was doing something very important. Even her sense of self vanished when I penetrated the wall," Shar told them.

Tym squirmed in Xyn's lap, beginning to feel slightly nauseated. He had a good idea of what was coming, and he also dreaded having to tell them the rest of his story and the contents of his chat with the Hunter.

"The second," Shar stated in a voice full of dread, "Ran mad and flung himself off of rooftop when I broke the barrier in his Mind."

None of them said a word. The two Mutants on the floor looked at each other, then looked up to see the rest of them staring at them. "So what does that mean for us?" he asked in a shaky voice.

Shar thought for a moment, then decided that dancing about the issue would do them all no good. "It means, Adam, that if I attempt to access what's been hidden behind those barriers in your Minds, that the results could be disastrous. You are both powerful young Mutants, and if either of you were to go mad, the results could be devastating."

Adam swallowed hard and looked back at Chriss, who shrugged.

"So what do we do?" the young Pyro asked, putting his arm around Adam's shoulders and pulling him closer. Adam was trying hard not to cry.

Shar spread her hands and looked at them. "We wait. I do not know what to do. I will, however, do nothing that puts you two at risk. I will not take the chance of damaging your Minds. Collateral damage to the Complex here would be nothing compared to the loss of even one of us."

"You didn't feel that way about Jayk," Tym muttered softly, snuggling in closer under Xyn's arm and glaring at her.

The wave of regret and shame that rolled off of her made even Xyn and Adam and Dan gasp in disbelief. She shook back her lustrous black hair and adjusted her small son in her lap, much as Xyn was doing with Tym. "I made a mistake," she offered. "I was distraught and lost Control over Kel's death. Jayk frightened me, and I was also angry. So very angry," she said wistfully.

But Tym would not be pacified so lightly. He couldn't accept her excuse, and being so little, he also couldn't understand what had really driven Shar over the edge into losing Control of herself. He was still too young understand the intimacies between XX's and XY's who were, or had been at one time, so intimate as to produce another little one. Having never known love himself, until Xyn had come along, it was beyond him. He glared at her and shook his head.

"And what more would you have of me, little one?" Shar then demanded, her voice filled with pain. "I made a mistake, a horrible mistake. Jayk is no longer with us, and I hurt Xyn as well in doing what I did. There is nothing I can do to undo that damage – yet – and I live with it day and night! I repaid Xyn's gift of my son's life with breaking his heart. The whole of the Gangs here in the Ruins weighs heavily upon me as well, and they are my ultimate concern. What do YOU know of how I feel?" she threw at him in a superior, mothering fashion.

Dan grinned, and Tym shrank back.

"Rule #1, guys. Little XY's never win the arguments with Mom!" he supplied.

"I never had a mom," Tym mumbled.

"You do when you're here!" Dan stated proudly, and Shar smiled at him

"But back to the Mind barrier thing," Xyn interrupted. "Not that I can do much of anything about it myself, but DO we do?"

"I don't know," Shar admitted. "I also have no idea where the other four spies are. It's possible that they're dead by suicide, or are eluding me somehow if they're that well trained. The other Psions are on it as well, but so far we're having no luck. Everyone that I've cleared so far is watching for strange behaviors, but there are a great many of us here now. It is going to take some time. But in the meantime, I would have more of what happened last evening and the mess that you all made!"

All four of the 'guilty parties' looked at each other and laughed. Shar's head moved as if watching a tennis match while they all chattered at once, each one trying to fill in details that the others might have left out. They told her of Xyn's headaches and strange behavior, Chriss' realization that something was wrong, and then finally Xyn's jumping to the conclusion about her.

"I'm regret what I did last night, Shar," he said softly, when the others had finished their stories, recapping the events of the previous evening.

She nodded in understanding. "You lost Control of your passion, Xyn Psion," she stated in a sympathetic voice, "And I know that feeling all too well. Someone you loved more than you love your own life was in danger, and you did what you thought was right. There can be nothing greater than this, children," she advised in that mothering tone again, "to value another more than you value yourself."

As they all sat wondering at that idea and her use of the archaic word 'children', Tym decided that it was time to speak up. Keeping what he knew in secret would do them no good, and in fact, he realized, it might do them all harm in the long run. "Getting back to last night," he piped up nervously, "There's still some things that don't make sense."

"None of it makes sense," Adam muttered.

"Some of it does, though," Tym corrected, "And I have things that I know that you need to know, too."

Shar stared at him, her Psi running at only minimal levels to keep in touch-and-go contact with the other Psions. "And what do you know, Tym?"

"I-I've been… well, I've been in contact with… with…" he struggled, turning to look up at Xyn, whose eyes were wide with anticipation, "with Jayk and the Hunter."

They all stared at him, mouths agape, and Tym was suddenly frozen by those stares. Then he felt Xyn's warm breath in his ear as the young Psion's lips brushed over the lobe, tickling a bit. "It's all right, Tym. Tell us. Please," he whispered.

But… but… what if they don't like it? What if she doesn't like it? The Hunter's afraid of me, Xyn. HE'S afraid of ME, just like everyone else! What if Shar…

She won't, Xyn sent back, his headache returning with a vengeance, Trust me. Just tell us what you did and how you did it. She won't mind. In fact, she WANTS to know more about your abilities.

But...

I'm not afraid of you, Tym

Tym nodded shyly and faced them. "I talked to the Hunter the other day. Someone tried to kill him too. His Craft, the one he picked Jayk up with, blew up when he left Jayk's Master's house. He bailed out right before though… because… because… well, he knew it was gonna happen." He thought for a moment, looked at their anxious faces, and continued. He suddenly didn't care what anyone thought of him, and if they decided to hate him or be afraid of his strange abilities, that was fine. One thing was certain, however.

The one who held him in his lap DID understand him. He loved him and would, as he had already demonstrated, sacrifice himself to protect him. The thought of that awed Tym as he collected his thoughts, wondering at such a gesture of something far more than corporeal. His courage renewed, he went on.

"Someone got into the Craft somehow and rigged it to blow up when he left this Wilson person's place. It was rigged to go off AFTER Jayk was back in his Master's custody, and it was Wilson's own butler, Alfred, I think. I've been watching the Hunter and Jayk, following them, sort of. When they got to Wilson's, him and the Hunter didn't really hit if off." Tym's face blushed a bit then, but he went on. "The Hunter likes, Jayk. A lot. He wanted to keep him, but the law says no on that. He was going to take him to a Dealer friend of his, but the reward on Jayk's head was too high to refuse. Then he met this Alfred, and something just wasn't right."

"Wait a minute, Tym," Chriss interrupted, "How do you KNOW all of this? You've been bedridden for, well, a long time!"

Tym shrugged his slight shoulders and grinned. "I just DO. I KNOW things. It's part of what I am. Once I meet someone and get a feel for him, I can find him anywhere, anytime."

"And you know what they know?" Xyn asked in wonder.

"If I want to," Tym replied, "It's hard to explain. It isn't just THERE. I have to work at it, but it's not that hard."

"But what of the distances involved, Tym?" Shar asked, "Jayk is in New City Far South! I read about it all on the news, the Craft exploding, the Hunter gone missing and presumed dead. It's all the clatter of the media right now. How is it that you can reach so far? Even the great bridge into the Ruins is very nearly too far for myself, or for Xyn!"

"Distance is meaningless to me," Tym stated flatly, turning to face Xyn. "And when you came for me last night, the Hunter said that he heard you scream when you saw me laying there. He said you 'came screaming across the very World like the God of Destruction."

Xyn's mouth fell open, and Shar bowed her head to him.

Chriss was trembling, remembering how Xyn's Psi had very nearly bowled him over in the past when the young Psion had powered it up.

"I thought Adam was the God of Destruction," Xyn joked in a defensive reflex, embarrassed at their stares of wonder.

"Go on," Shar prompted.

Tym nodded. "Anyway, the Hunter's hiding in the Forest near the Eastern Sea. Everyone thinks he's dead, and he's letting them think that. He's watching Jayk, though. I think he's planning something. But Xyn," he said, turning to face the one who held him close, "He knows everything that you know."

Shar didn't seem surprised. "We've been going over that, Tym. Xyn and Jayk and the Hunter all very close, after the other night. Then, much to my surprise as anyone's, the Hunter came back to help Xyn help you. I cannot for the life of me comprehend him, but I do not believe that we have anything to fear from him."

"Then why'd he take Jayk back to his old Master?" asked, shivering at the thought of being a slave again.

"He didn't have much choice," Chriss told him. "The law's pretty clear on that. Reward or not, he pretty much had to. And if he'd brought him back here, that would have been the end of his career and probably his life. Besides, his craft would have only had just enough power to make it back to civilization before it needed refueled. I don't think he'd have wanted to be stuck here, and he just couldn't keep running in and out. Once you make a trip from the nearest point of civilization to the Ruins, your craft is pretty shot."

"How do you know that?" Xyn asked suddenly.

Chriss' face went blank. "I don't know," he breathed in surprise, "I just do."

Shar, however, twitched an eyebrow as her Psi came up a bit more. "I do know a bit about piloting," she said, scanning Chriss again, "And it would seem that you do too."

"B-but I've been off the ground!" he exclaimed.

"Something is not right here," she pondered, "Tym?" she prompted.

Again, Tym nodded. "The Hunter has some ideas he shared with me. He can't figure out WHY Xyn wandered off the night of the fire. The Facility buildings are supposed to be fireproof, more secure than WorldBanks. But it burnt down. He met a little one who survived the fire, and that little guy says a Nightstalker and someone else were watching the place, scopin' it out for a while. He also thought that Xyn knew about it."

All eyes fell upon Xyn then, and his brows were creased in thought. "I… I just wanted to… wanted to know… I think! I was OUTSIDE for the first time! I just… wandered off."

"But you left your home, Xyn," Shar stated, "And the Adult who loved you. Why did you do that?"

Xyn's face went blank. "I don't know!" he cried.Still, Tym went on with his story. "Xyn wandered off, then Jayk found him in the Forest. Jayk brought him here and you took him in, Shar. Then he and Jayk got to be… well…" Tym stammered, blushing a bit, "... close, let's say. Then on the trip to raid the Transport ship, Jayk killed Kel after I messed up Xyn's Mind. I'm sorry," he apologized again, totally ashamed of himself.

Xyn kissed the little one's rosy cheek, uncaring of what anyone else might think. "Go on," he said softly.

"Then Shar left Jayk behind when he collapsed. You don't know how much I hated you for that, Shar," he stated flatly, "And I'm sorry I said what I did. I just figured that I was probably next, is all."

Shar nodded at him. "You cannot feel any worse than I do, Tym," she agreed.

"The Hunter and Jayk came up with the idea, though, that maybe Kel wanted to leave Xyn behind for a reason, and that Jayk got in someone's way. He thinks that Xyn was influenced to leave the Facility and that the fire was just cover or a way to take advantage of him. Once he was out in the Forest all alone, someone was going to grab him, but Jayk found him first and brought him here. Then Kel decided that if he was left behind in the Ruins, that someone would pick him up there and take him away. Instead, Jayk killed him and that's where I get lost."

They all gasped or whistled in amazement.

Shar however, was shaking her head. "Jayk was left behind on a bad decision that I made," she explained. "I wasn't trying to get him 'out of the way,' as the Hunter seems to think."

"So dumping Jayk was incidental?" Tym asked.

Shar nodded. "If I could undo my actions, I would."

Chriss, however, was sweating profusely and shaking. The temperature of the room was climbing, and Adam was scooting away from him across the rug. "Chriss?" he nearly screamed, "What's wrong?"

"I did it!" the young Pyro cried, his greenish skin dripping with perspiration, "Or, I think I did it! I don't know! It's like I remember doing it, just now, but I know I didn't!"

Shar and Tym could both feel Chriss' anxiety rising. The image of the wall in his Mind came to them, and the 'bricks' that composed it were cracking and shaking as he pounded against it with his own Psi. Then he began to convulse.

"Stop!" Xyn suddenly cried, nearly spilling Tym from his lap. With a great effort, he stood up in one movement and passed the weak little one to Shar. His brows were still tightly creased, and his eyes were wide. The veins in his neck and temples were throbbing, and the 'sound' of his Mind and Psi coming up to full power were staggering. Shar blinked and nearly dropped her two little charges as Chriss fell over backwards.

"Watch where you point that thing!" Adam cried out, dodging Chriss' flailings.

Xyn tolerated the extreme pain, probing at Chriss' Mind. The image of the wall came to him as well, and whatever was behind it made ready to come out. Having never gotten too far into the Pyro's Mind before, Xyn was not familiar with it. He probed carefully, trembling in pain as his head pounded.

"Xyn, no!" Tym cried, "Let me!"

But Xyn ignored Tym's plea, submerging his Mind in Chriss'. Images of flames danced before him, and the bricks that composed the image of the wall in the Pyro's Mind caught fire. Xyn felt himself growing vast and beyond comprehension as he reached his 'hands' into those burning bricks, picking them up and crying out as his Mind interpreted what it found there into something that it could understand. He ignored the rest of Chriss' memories, focusing on what lay behind the wall that he now held in his hands.

Then, to his surprise, he found that it was not a wall at all, but a neat border that surrounded a simple set of memories in a perfect circle. Xyn took that ring of burning stone, held it tight and separated himself from Chriss' Mind.

The Pyro's convulsions ceased, and he lay very still. With a low cry, Adam went to his side and shook him, begging him to wake up, shaking him, and finally slapping lightly at his cheek. Dan bolted from the room, immediately got up to full speed, and in moments returned with a Medkit.

"No one can move that fast!" Shar exclaimed proudly, her eyes sparkling.

"I can, Mom," he said proudly, busting open a foul smelling tube and waving it under Chriss's nose. With his free hand, he tossed a hypospray to Adam who jumped up and quickly injected Xyn with a massive dose of Morphinol.

Xyn sighed and shook his head, his eyes wide.

"Thanks," he sighed in relief.

After a moment, Chriss' eyes fluttered and he sat up, blinking. "What happened?" he asked in confusion.

"Your wall fell," Xyn stated flatly. "You passed out."

"What wall?" Chriss asked in confusion, shaking his head.

"You don't remember?" Adam asked.

"No. I remember reading a book with you when Shar came in, and Tym was talking about the Hunter or something. What happened?"

Xyn's face, however, had gone from blank to perplexed to angry. He trembled not in pain then, but in rage. Chriss and Shar and Tym looked up at him, and somewhere off to the Far South, the Hunter was jerked out of a nice nap under a rather large and hollow tree by Xyn's Mind.

Everyone other Psion in the Ruins, and probably those in surrounding areas as well, also noticed it. Those who knew Xyn, however, ignored it and went back to their duties.

Then, in a voice low and deathly quiet, Xyn spoke. "You burnt the Facility down, Chriss. You had help doing it. Your Gang's Nightstalker told you when to strike. You set fire to it, and had fun doing it. You both took off in a short range Craft once I was out. Your job was done, after all. You went back to your Gang, then came here. It was your Group that the Hunter saw crossing the Bridge. Your Nightstalker, though, went to the Old City for something afterwards, where the Hunter got him. How he got there, you didn't know, or why. But he did, and he's gone now, sold to a Dealer."

Shar then placed Tym on the bed, and stood up. She took Xyn in her arms, pulled him close, and the image of the burning Facility was replaced with an image of Dan in those arms, warm and secure and happy. Xyn was, however, still very angry as Shar merged into his Mind.

Chriss stared in horrified wonder and shook his head, his white ponytail waving as Adam held him.

"Someone sent two members of Kel's Gang to get Xyn out of the Facility," she mused, sifting though the Memories that Xyn had taken.

She gasped as she sorted the memories that Xyn had taken from Chriss, who seemed to be none the worse for wear. Adam was sitting next to him on the rug, holding him as if the young Bomber were afraid that his friend would fall over if he did not hold him up. But Shar went on. "There was a plan… yes… Kel wanted Xyn… not for himself, though. Resources… Kel needed Resources, money. He would have taken Xyn from the Forest if not for Jayk! Xyn was to be…" she faltered, fighting with what she saw.

"Monstrous!" She exclaimed, her eyes filling tears at the betrayal she had just discovered. "Xyn was to be sold to a Dealer for a great price. Someone, a Psion, I do not know him… Kel never mentioned him to me… this person knew of Xyn. But Kel waited, seeing that Xyn would come here, and our Gangs would merge! He was going to have them… the spies… take him from us."

Tym listened closely, assimilating the whole story for later use. He kept his own Mind shielded, and neither Shar nor Xyn realized that he was eavesdropping.

Then her shoulders drooped, and Xyn exhaled sharply.

"That's all you knew, Chriss," he stated to the wide-eyed Pyro, "Someone conditioned you very well, my friend, but the damage is undone. You are in no danger now."

"I… I'm s-sorry, Xyn!" Chriss cried, burying his face in Adam's shoulder. "I didn't… I couldn't do that… not to you!"

Xyn nodded. "I am not angry at you," he said in a soft voice that belied his rage, "Even if you had known then, I would have been nothing more, in your eyes, than a Facility Inmate. I would have meant nothing to you then, and you would have done it in a moment to help your own Gang."

Shar then led Xyn to his bed, and they sat down. With a great physical effort, Tym climbed into his lap once again and wrapped his arms about Xyn's neck. The young Psion, tired as he was from his efforts, embraced him. "Let me help," he offered.

Xyn leaned back and looked deep into his earnest little face. He nodded, as did Shar. The three of them then faced Adam, who still held the trembling form of Chriss in his arms. "What?" he asked nervously.

"Things are becoming clearer, Adam," Shar told him. "Kel wanted to sell Xyn to a Dealer. Recall that I knew Kel for a long, long time. We were almost married, in fact, back in our University days. He meant a great deal to me, and the pain of this betrayal is almost more than I can bear. However, as Xyn said, we didn't know him then. It would have been easy to sell him to a Dealer to further our own cause. But Kel had to FIND a Dealer first, make contact. What better way to do that than to take in a Runaway slave and tamper with his Mind? We may never know who did this to you, Adam, but we must needs have what is behind the barrier which is in YOUR Mind as well."

Adam stared at them, then looked to Chriss. "It didn't really hurt," he offered, "And I swear I don't remember Xyn even DOING anything."

But Adam was shaking his head and beginning to cry. He jumped up and ran for the door. "No!" he shouted again and again, "No! You can't! I won't let you! Stay away from me! I don't wanna die! You wanna kill me is what you wanna do! Stay away!" He screamed, taking off down the hall and running.

Adam was fast, but Dan was faster. Much faster.

Adam had just made the first turn in the corridor when Dan slammed into him at an unbelievable speed. They bounced off of a wall, went down in a tangle, and Dan came up and slugged Adam in the mouth. Blood flew from the Bomber's split lip, and they all felt the power of his Will building as he screamed again.

"Get off me! Let me alone!" The Bomber screamed in agony, clutching at his head. Sweat dripped from his hair and he began to shake as he threw Dan off.

Dan rolled and righted himself, spun around, then dashed forward and slugged him again, his own Mind screaming for his mother.

Then Shar was there, and just as Adam began to release his Will upon Dan, she slapped the neural inhibitor onto his forehead. Just as she was moving in to do it however, she found her little one suddenly behind her.

Adam's eyes went glassy and his jaw dropped open, his lower lip dripping blood and his left eye beginning to swell. He dropped to his knees with a soft moan and just sat there rocking, staring into space but seeing nothing.

Dan was rubbing his hands together, wincing in pain. "Where did you learn to do that?" his mother demanded, checking over Adam's bruised and bleeding face.

Dan shrugged his shoulders. "Kefe," he answered.

"I see," his mother replied in a dangerous, motherly tone, "Interesting device," she said to Xyn, who had arrived with Chriss. "Where did it come from?"

That spying Doctor used it on ME, Tym supplied.

"Ah."

"You didn't have to beat him up so bad," Chriss said to Dan.

"It seemed to be the thing to do at the time," he replied. "Sorry. He just freaked out on me."

Neither Xyn nor Shar mentioned the fact that they had felt Adam's Will building and that he had planned to blow Dan into nothingness. They were, after all, friends, and neither felt that he needed to know. Besides that, all the Psions could tell that it wasn't really Adam's fault. He had obviously been conditioned to break and run under those particular circumstances.

When they had all gotten back to Xyn's room and Shar had tended to Adam's injuries, she turned to Xyn. "Are you well enough to do this again?" she asked.

"I can if Tym helps me," Xyn replied, "My head is hurting again, but I can't take another shot yet and I'm really tired."

"The Suit?" Tym offered.

But Xyn shook his head. "You keep it. You need it worse than I do. It'll fix you up faster if you don't take it off. You know what we're doing?"

The little one nodded grimly and Xyn held out his arms as he sat down on the bed. Tym climbed into his lap again, puffing all the way, and very gently did what he had done to Xyn at the Transport Ship. This time, however, Xyn was ready. He didn't flee that Mind that merged into his own. Instead, he opened himself up as well and accepted it. As they clung to each other on the bed while Shar waited, the mental merging took place and she found herself confronted by such a Mind as she had never encountered before. It was nothing like the being that was Xyn/Jayk. It was totally different this time.

As they joined forces, tentatively, she turned to Xyn/Tym as if offering to let this new Persona lead the way. She followed this one Mind down into Adam's as Chriss and Dan watched in wonder.

The neural inhibitor that Xyn had confiscated from the dead Doctor made Adam's Mind a quiet and still place. Before them stood the image of the wall, nearly perfect and undamaged in the midst of an image of mass destruction. As they rose up above it at Xyn/Tym's suggestion, Shar saw that it was indeed circular and that it cordoned off an orderly set of memories and knowledge. They saw, near the top of it, one brick missing.

He would have gone mad, Shar observed as she stared at the strange things hidden within the barrier.

Yes, the other Mind agreed.

I can bear this alone, she told them. There are things here that you needn't see. There is no reason to expose you this. Help me to take it, to remove this curse from Adam's Mind, then get clear of me. I can more than bear it.

But we're stronger than you are, Xyn/Tym told her.

Shar considered this for a moment, stunned at the audacity, then consented. Very carefully, she helped them do as Xyn had done for Chriss. The wall and everything therein was smoothly lifted out and assimilated by Xyn/Tym in the strange silences of Adam's Mind, restoring him to normalcy. When they had control of it, Shar made sure that they were ready and smashed the barrier, pulling her own Mind out to only observe and see.

Chriss and Dan jumped and yelped in surprise as Shar stood up and Xyn and Tym screamed once. Adam, his Mind closed down by the neural inhibitor, didn't move. Xyn and Tym, still clutching each other tightly, began to assimilate all the information that had been hidden in Adam's mind. For a moment, it looked as if both wanted to jump up and run as Adam had done, but they held fast as Shar filtered out the impending madness. As with the Adult on the roof, had Adam broken through the barrier on his own, he would have certainly gone mad and never recovered.

Xyn/Tym, however, she realized with a start, was far too strong for that as the two of them stared at her with wide eyes and nodded. She let her Psi probe back into the information that they had gathered, realizing that they still had not separated.

"Adam ran away from his Master," they both said in harmony, and Chriss and Dan stared in wonder at them.

"Yes," Shar agreed, "His Master was afraid of him."

"He hated him for being a Mutant," they said again, their voices speaking as one, "His powers went wild when he couldn't Change. He had to run away. He didn't want to die. His Master was going to have him exterminated."

"He was a slave."

"Ever since he was really little. The Dealer cut him for his Master, and his Master liked him… alot…" but they skimmed over those parts, concentrating instead on the Dealer, in the past of Adam's memories, and upon the time that Kel's Gang had taken him in…

Xyn/Tym moved through those memories, of some Hunter, but not THE Hunter, capturing him. He was being carried into a Dealer's shop. The door was open and there was music playing. In Adam's memory, there were cheers and lewd cries of lust. People were ordering things, businesslike, but a fat man slammed the door and the sounds fell silent. He was smiling and wringing his plump hands, ushering the unknown Hunter to another small room. Someone cut Adam's ragged clothing off, and he was helpless to resist; the stun device had still not worn off, and even though he was aware of what was going on, he could do nothing. They were washing him then, hosing him off and scrubbing at his naked little body with rough sponges. Then the tingling feel of the pink shower cream, and all of his fuzz and slight hair – except for his scalp – was washed down the drain.

Frightened and immobile, Adam was being strapped down to a small metal exam table that was just the right size to hold a little one. They were talking about him, and he was crying as the fat man played with his XY-Parts.

"All of it?" he was asking in an anxious voice.

The strange Hunter shrugged his shoulders. "Makes no difference to me, as long as I get paid. I don't care what you do to the little Unapproved. He's just going to die before he's 30 anyway."

Then the fat man was giving him something, and the Hunter was leaving. Adam was crying, trying to struggle, as the stun began to wear off. He was, however, strapped down tight and unable to move. He managed to wince slightly as the Dealer stuck some kind of tube up into his small penis. He was saying something, smiling and sweating. The room was very warm.

"You've got to be the littlest one I've ever cut up, pretty!" He said with a leering grin. "Do you know what I'm going to do to you?"

Adam was trying to shake his head, but he couldn't move it either. "Well, cutie," the fat man said, "I'm going to cut off all of this stuff between your legs. You won't be an XY anymore when I'm done with you! How old are you?"

But Adam couldn't answer him; his voice would not work.

"Ten Cycles?"

Nothing.

"Nine?"

Adam blinked, and the Dealer laughed. "Someone needs to feed you more, then."

Adam managed a whimper as he stared in horror at the tube coming out of his small penis. The fat man was holding a laser scalpel from his Medkit, and he began to play with the little one's scrotum, loosening it a bit.

"Feel good?" he leered.

Adam whimpered again. It didn't feel good. It hurt.

Then the laser began to move through his skin, and it burned. Adam screamed as the beam cut into his flesh, and in seconds, the fat man was dropping his severed scrotum and testicles into a cryo-container. "Now for this annoying little penis," he laughed, "Since you'll never need it anyway, slave!"

Then he moved his hand and Adam watched in stunned fascination as the beam moved around his penis. Little wisps of smoke wafted up from it, and the beam dug in deep. The fat man moved his hand, and Adam's severed penis slid off onto the tubing.

He screamed again as the fat man stuffed a gag into his mouth as tears ran down his face. Then he reached into the Medkit for a rapid dermal regenerator, and Adam howled in pain as the device closed the wound over. The fat man tugged at the tube that was going up into his bladder as he used the regenerator, pulling it downwards as new skin closed over the bloody opening. In a few agonizing minutes, Adam's crotch was smooth and healed, and the tube was coming out of him just above his anus.

The fat man was laughing, and Adam was sobbing in pain and humiliation. "We'll sell you off fast, cutie," he said, "No one will be able to resist one so little and so cute!"

He then injected him with something, the Dealer's hands moving to caress his buttocks as he gave him the shot. He was touching him here and there, feeling at him, and Adam wanted nothing more than to run away… and then he was asleep.

Tym was crying, clutching Xyn as Adam's memories assailed him. Dan was gone, Shar having dispatched him on some errand when the two of them had delved into Adam's castration. Chriss sat watching, listening, interested but not shocked. Adam had told him the story before, and while it had nearly broken his heart, he knew that his friend was over it; at least he had thought that he was over it. Chriss suddenly realized that Adam was probably going to need a great deal of attention when he came to, and the young Pyro found that for all of his past feelings, he wouldn't mind if he were the one to do that for him. He thought about the feel of Adam's bare skin under his own long-fingered hands, the minimal heat from his lithe and small body when Adam had asked to stay in his room the night before. It was not unpleasant, Chriss realized.

"I'll take care of him, Shar," he offered, "If he needs someone."

Shar nodded. "He will, Chriss. He won't remember this, but he'll still remember his mutilation and life as a slave, and he may need you – badly."

Chriss nodded. He thought of Adam in his bed again, as the night before, and suddenly wished that he was there now, holding him, protecting him, trying to make everything all right again. He remembered the look of Adam's smooth form, his lack of XY-Parts, and his own small and relatively useless penis. To his amazement, he found that it didn't bother him. In fact, Pyro abilities aside, it made him feel warm inside.

"Everyone changes, or realizes greater things in time, Chriss," Shar told him.

Chriss smiled, amazed at his sudden epiphany.

He then nodded, and turned back to the bed where Xyn/Tym was still probing at the unconscious Bomber's memories.

The Dealer, Shar was thinking, The Dealer who cut him, who sold him. Who is this Adult? Where is he?

He's a bad man, Xyn/Tym was crying, mostly Tym, Why'd he cut him like that? It's mean! I'm afraid!

It is the past, so fear not. Kel took Adam in as a Runaway slave. It stands to reason… he knew the Dealer… his name… is…" Shar probed harder, and Xyn/Tym let her.

Acer! All three of them spoke at once, and Chriss flinched.

There was then an image of Acer the Dealer, and he was showing Adam, naked and humiliated, to a buyer. His Master, Xyn/Tym murmured. The Master was touching Adam, feeling at his smooth skin all over. He touched him where his XY-Parts should have been, and Adam jerked and gasped. "Feels good?" the Adult was asking, and Acer was laughing at him. Adam wanted to run away, to hide, but the manacles on his ankles and wrists prevented that.

Then he was being taken to his new home, shown his new room, and a tight metal collar was being placed around his neck. "You can't leave," the Adult was telling him, "The collar won't let you." It was a brass finish, plain and with a velvet lining. Adam didn't like it, and he was crying as the Master held him. He was cold, but his new Master wouldn't give him any warm clothes. "Your collar is your entire wardrobe now. I'll turn the heat up for you," he was saying, and then there was a flood of memories as his Master trained him, used him, showed him off to his friends, but never really treated him badly.

There was only one incident where Adam had talked back at him one day, when some things had mysteriously wound up broken. Adam had honestly not known how it happened, but his Master had insisted that the little slave was lying and took him to his room where he bound Adam's wrists to a rope attached to the ceiling. He was hoisted up to his tiptoes, and his Master whipped his butt with a leather belt. Adam was screaming for mercy as the welts rose up on him, red and stinging, until finally he admitted – lying – that he had broken those things on purpose.

His Master then took him down and put some soothing cream on the welts and used him as he always did…

"We are taking too long, and we're tiring," Shar stated.

"I'm sorry. I had to know," the body that was Xyn's said, "I'll work faster."

"It scared me," the body that Tym's replied.

They scanned through more of Adam's memories, most of them a tangled mess until they came to the parts that resided behind the wall. Only one other interesting memory got their attention: Adam's Master was having guests over, but he was late coming in from work.

An Authority uniform! Shar breathed, looking hard at the memory.

"Adams Master was in Authority?! Is that legal?" Chriss exclaimed.

Shar and Xyn and Tym nodded.

"He never mentioned that," Chriss said.

"It could be important, perhaps not," Shar replied, "The Authority is not exempt from corruption, and Hunters and Dealers go hand in hand. Let us move on."

They did that, and in what had lain hidden in Adam's Mind was much the same as what they had found with Chriss'. Adam had been found in the Old City, a Runaway, and Kel had taken him in. He and Chriss had developed a tentative friendship, but some part of Adam remained reserved. Obviously, his life as a slave had left him wary, but Kel spent a great deal of time talking with him until he had found what he wanted – the name of a Dealer.

Acer.

As they delved further, the Psionic trio saw Kel tracking down Acer, with Adam's reluctant aid. Kel wanted to set up a meeting to sell the fat Dealer a little one – a little one that he promised to deliver. As he described this little one, Acer had promised him what he wanted – untraceable Network terminals, and money. Adam had listened as Kel had explained this to them, telling them how it would benefit their Gang and help with his Plan. The description of the promised little one was unmistakably Xyn.

"Somehow, Kel knew about me even then," Xyn/Tym said.

"Kel had to have known a Psion," Chriss added, "But I don't recall any. I never was very good at it though. It wouldn't have been hard to slip one past me."

"But why all of this effort to alter Adam's Mind then?" Shar asked. "If all he did was lead Kel to Acer the Dealer?"

"Kel knew that Adam was a Bomber," Xyn/Tym answered, "If Chriss had been unable to burn Facility #32 down, Adam could have knocked it down. When they had Xyn, Kel would have sold him to Acer. He knew about Xyn, through some unknown Psion that Kel obviously knew but never mentioned. But Xyn got lost in the Forest, and Jayk found him."

It was strange, listening to both Xyn and Tym talking in unison, with Xyn referring to himself in the third person. Chriss marveled at this, longing to understand it.

"So the plan was to have Xyn picked up in the Forest after all?" Chriss asked.

"Adam and Kel were going to do that," Xyn/Tym replied, "and then deliver Xyn to Acer to collect the payment. Adam would be easy to pass off as an Approved XY, just by his appearance. Adam knew that Kel wanted him to go along, to knock something down. Something really big, but Adam would never have done it. Part of the conditioning of his Mind that we removed were orders to do that or go mad."

"Then it all went wrong when Jayk found him instead," Chriss guessed.

All three nodded at him. "That made things harder for Kel. Getting Xyn out of the Ruins and back to Acer would have taken a bit longer, and Jayk was in his way. Kel was very angry with Jayk for finding Xyn first and incorporating him into Shar's Gang. It made his plan to sell Xyn much harder."

"He knew I would never allow it," Shar said in heat.

"Kel would have tried it anyway," Xyn/Tym replied.

"But what was Adam going to knock down, masquerading as an Approved with a fake ID?" Chriss asked.

"The main Authority Center in the New City."

As that memory came to sudden light, the trio took a short break. Adam's slow and regular breathing told them that he had fallen into normal sleep, and Shar removed the neural inhibitor. She smoothed the young Bomber's hair, and tenderly covered him.

"Our Doctor had to have gotten this from a Dealer, Adam said to me," she thought aloud. "They must be rare."

"They are," Tym replied weakly, leaning heavily against Xyn, who was obviously suffering, "I got that much from him before he zapped me with it."

"So here we are," Chriss summarized, "Kel found a Dealer through Adam, somehow knew about Xyn, and used me to get him out of the Facility by torching it. I had our Nightstalker to help, but when we were done, THE Hunter got him in Old City. Kel and Adam were going to pick up Xyn in the Forest, missed the chance, had Adam ready to blow up Hunter Central in the City where Acer lives, then got killed by Jayk. And all along is some unknown Psion messing up our heads all along the way, and we still don't know who that was. We also have a Doctor and Orderly here in the Ruins with a Dealer's slave control device that's rare; a Doctor who wants Xyn and Tym out of the way."

"Loose ends," Xyn/Tym stated.

"Perhaps not," Shar mused. "The Psion who crafted these walls and traps in your Minds, Chriss, must have been very good. I know that I could do it, but it would take time. It is possible that this was done OVER time, slowly, so that no one would notice that he was being tampered with. If there was one thing that Kel and I had, it was time. Of course I knew about his Plan. We worked closely for Cycles on it, even since we were at University…"

Then she paused. "What?" Chriss asked.

"Kel began his Plans while at University. He studied nanotechnology and cybernetics. It is not unreasonable to suppose that there might have been a Psion in hiding at University during that time. I was, until my Breakdown. Chriss, do you remember anyone in your Gang who was not outwardly Mutated, someone intelligent, likely a Runaway Approved, who would have had an interest in such fields of study?"

The young Pyro thought hard for a few minutes, his Mind ranging out and over the members of his Gang. He knew them all well, since his Gang had been small. One by one, he discarded them, hurrying as much he could. He then glanced up at Tym, and an idea came to him. Tym had been picked up very late, only a few days before the trip to the Ruins. But what about the ones who were gone? He began trying to remember those that had left or been captured. Suddenly, a face came to his Mind. A very old face.

Tym gasped in shock, and the Persona of Xyn/Tym broke. Both of them fell over on the bed with a startled cry. "Are you OK?" Xyn asked the little one, his head throbbing and his hands shaking as he picked him up.

"Just a little startled," Tym replied, "and tired. I'm OK though."

"You know this face," Shar prompted.

Tym nodded. "I think I'd better bring The Hunter in on this part," he stated.

"Why?" Shar demanded in surprise.

"Because that face in Chriss' Mind, the old one, is the butler to Jayk's Master Wilson. His name is Alfred, and he's the one who tried to kill The Hunter."

"It's going to have to wait," Xyn sighed heavily, falling over backwards beside Adam on the large bed. "I'm shot."

Shar nodded in agreement. It was only late in the afternoon, but they were all tired from their efforts. They all agreed that it was probably best not to try and move Adam, and Chriss, although he'd just been through the same thing, didn't think he could sleep anyway.

"I don't feel that bad," he told her in a somber voice. "I'll stay here and watch 'em. I don't think I'm gonna be able to sleep tonight anyway."

Tym yawned, and Xyn simply turned his Mind off. It was very clear that the young Psion was suffering, and Chriss checked the time. He gave him a quarter dose of Morphinol, and Xyn's eyes closed as he passed out.

"I'll send Kefe when he wakes up," Shar stated on her way out, "There are still four spies here somewhere, and it's conceivable that there might be another attempt on Tym's or Xyn's life."

"Make sure he knocks, loud and calls out," Chriss said in a grim voice, staring at the three still forms on the old bed.

Shar nodded and closed the door.

"Because anyone who comes through that door unannounced is going to find himself reduced to a pile of smoking ashes," he muttered to himself.

The young Pyro then brought his own limited Psi up, extending it around the room and out into the corridor for a few meters. No one was going to get into the room, one way or another, as long as he had anything to say about it. Very gently, he began stripping off Adam's jumpsuit. It took some effort, but he finally got it off the Bomber's still form. He stared for a moment, then slowly got Xyn out of the old green tunic of Jayk's. Tym, of course, he left dressed in Xyn's Suit so that it could continue its repairs of his atrophied muscles. He simply scooted the sleeping little one up closer to Xyn and watched in wonder as Tym reached out his arm and snuggled up against Xyn, embracing his as best he could.

Chriss suddenly felt his eyes begin to fill, and as he reached for the blankets to cover them, his gaze lingered upon Adam's and Xyn's nude forms. It was such a contrast, Adam being an e-XY and Xyn being intact. A sick feeling began to form in the pit of Chriss' stomach, something that he had never felt before as he reached down and touched Adam's cheek, pulling the edge of blanket up under his smooth chin. Emotions that he had never had to deal with assailed him, and he turned away.

"No wonder he didn't trust anyone," the Pyro sobbed, sitting down heavily in the old chair and burying his face in his hands as he considered what Kel his unknown accomplice had done to them. He thought for a long while about what they had told him, about what they had found buried in his Mind. The image of Adam lying next to Xyn came back to mind then, and he recalled his short conversation with Shar the night that Xyn had run off in search of Jayk.

He'd believed then, totally, that castration would be a good thing for the young Psion. Xyn had already been quite powerful, and his own castration had proven – as had Adam's – that a little XY Mutant could grow even stronger if castrated.

Yet somehow, it now seemed like a bad idea.

Xyn was obviously suffering, unable to use his gift without the help of drugs and some other Mind to help support him. He was Changing, his young body developing well and his Adulthood approaching rapidly. Chriss recalled how he'd felt when he'd seen Xyn naked for the first time, when the young Psion had confronted himself in the antique mirror. It made him feel even worse, and he realized with a start that he felt the same way towards Adam.

It was a long evening for Chriss as he wrestled with his howling conscience and listened as Shar and the others swept the Ruins in search of the four spies.

Kefe showed up some time later. Chriss glanced up from the old book that he pulled from Jayk's vast collection at random as he felt the Nightstalker's presence at the door. Reading hadn't taken his mind off of his long thoughts, and his shoulders were slumped and his head bowed as he let Kefe in.

"You look like hell," Kefe commented, "Why don't you join them?" he asked, gesturing at the bed.

Chriss shook his head and went back to the chair. He said nothing.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

The Pyro sketched in the details of what Shar, Xyn and Tym had found in his and Adam's Minds. Repeating it all didn't help much, and Chriss felt even worse when he was done. Kefe nodded and listened, but said nothing.

"So here I am," Chriss finished.

"Yes, there you are," Kefe agreed, "sittting there feeling sorry for yourself and regretting something that you had no control over. Get over it."

Chriss jerked his head up sharply, his face pained.

"Out with it," Kefe prompted, "What's the rest of it? Something's eating at you."

Chriss pulled his long legs up, his knees just touching his chin. It appeared that he was trying to shrink back and disappear into the big chair. Kefe knelt in front of him, waiting. "It's gonna be a long night," he offered, "and if you don't talk about it, it'll only get worse. Besides, I don't think my nerves can take babysitting."

Chriss sniffled, glancing at the bed where Adam, Xyn and Tym slept.

"Are they OK?" Kefe asked.

He nodded. "Just exhausted," he whispered.

"Pretty bad stuff they dragged outta you guys, Chriss," Kefe prompted.

"I can't believe our own Gang leader did that to us."

Kefe nodded. "But that's not all of it, is it? I can see it in your eyes, Chriss. You've been staring at them ever since I got here."

"I can't explain it," the Pyro struggled, "I mean, you know about… I mean… you know that me and Adam are… that we're…"

"Cut?" Kefe guessed.

Chriss nodded. "Adam said something last night, right before the fight in the Infirmary, and today when they were going to find out what was in his Mind, he freaked out and ran. Dan caught him, Kefe, but Adam was so freaked out that Dan hit him. He hit him hard, twice. Look at his face!"

Kefe looked over at Adam and winced. "That's gonna hurt when he wakes up," he observed, taking in Adam's busted lip and black eye, "But what's that got to do with you two being eunuchs? Adam say something about that, or what?"

Chriss sighed, relaxing his legs and stretching out. He had a small tent in the front of his tattered shorts.

Kefe laughed at him. "I thought e-XY's couldn't do that."

Chriss laughed weakly. "I haven't done that in a long time," he mused.

Then Kefe realized something. "Adam said something that hurt you, and you found out you had feelings for him?"

Chriss stared at him, his pale eyes wide and his mouth open. Kefe grinned.

"I knew this cute little XX once," he mused, but Chriss interrupted him.

"And this has WHAT to do with us?" he asked.

Kefe sighed. "Well, in short, I really liked her, but she just thought it'd be cool to say she was seeing a Nightstalker. We hung out for a while, but then she just…"

"Dumped you?" Chriss guessed.

Kefe nodded. "It hurt, but I TRIED to talk to her afterwards. You need to do the same. What I'm gettin' at is that it doesn't matter if it's me and her or you and Adam. Just because you're both e-XY's doesn't make any difference. You like him, and he doesn't like you?"

"I thought so, but after the fight he was scared and he wanted to stay in my room that night. I… I don't know what… I guess…" But Chriss couldn't put his thoughts into words. Instead, he tapped his temple and Kefe nodded, indicating that he was willing to let Chriss Psi it to him. Chriss did that, and Kefe began to laugh again.

Chriss looked wounded.

"I'm sorry!" Kefe gasped, trying to get control of himself, "It's not funny. Well it is, but it isn't! Here you are, Chriss, a eunuch, just like you wanted to be, and you're in love with Adam, who's cut cleaner than you are!"

Chriss snorted.

Then Kefe turned serious. "You're having issues you don't know how to deal with, my friend. You thought that you wouldn't have these feelings if you got castrated, right? And now that you got 'em, you don't know what to do with 'em. That knot in your stomach when you look at Adam isn't guilt, Chriss. It's love. I don't know how you grew up, but we all know that Adam didn't have much love in his past. It probably took a lot for him to ask to stay with you last night, you know. And if you don't tell him, you'll both suffer for it, like I was sayin'."

"B-but we're… we're both… I mean… it's not like we can DO anything!"

Kefe shook his head and licked his lips, checking into Xyn's stash under the end table. He popped open a field ration and sat back down on the rug as Chriss tried to argue. "It makes NO difference, Chriss. Sex isn't love, and love doesn't mean sex. If YOU can still get what Parts you got left to work, then fine! Do it. Adam might or might not want it, but if he does and you can, where's the harm in it?"

Chriss thought about it for a moment, then exhaled sharply. "THIS wasn't supposed to happen to ME," he complained, "That's why I got cut in the first place."

"You got cut because you felt guilty, Chriss. You didn't like what was happening to you, and you were afraid you'd lose your gifts. Gods, am I glad I have a PHYSICAL Mutation and don't have to worry about…"

Kefe stopped in mid-sentence, however, when Xyn rolled over and moaned. He half sat up, looked around, rubbed his eyes, blinked, and looked at the still forms in bed with him on either side. He looked up at Kefe and Chriss, squinted, yawned, then laid back down. He reached his arm over and pulled Tym back up against him, then fell back to sleep.

"There's no reason you can't have that too, Chriss. Parts or not, you can still love."

"That little guy hates me," Chriss stated, staring at Tym, who was sleeping soundly in Xyn's arms with a smile on his face.

Kefe laughed softly. "He's in the safest place in the World right now, you know."

But Chriss shook his head. "Xyn's loosing it, Kefe," he said. "He's Changing, and his Psi isn't right. It hurts him real bad to use it. He's getting just like I was."

Kefe's eyes grew wide. "So THAT'S what's eatin' you!" he declared with a note of triumph. "You're afraid that Xyn might want to get castrated…"

"But what if it isn't right for him, Kefe? What if he regrets it? What if he feels like I do now? What if, once he's cut, he can't stand it? He seemed so sure the other night. He was mad, yea, but when he looks at it logically… and geeez, Kefe, he's already sexually active. Him and Jayk… "

"Spare me. It's HIS body, and his choice, Chriss. No matter what you say to him, no matter what you do, and no matter how much it hurts you, YOU can't change him. Only Xyn can help Xyn right now."

Chriss touched his crotch, his erection having gone down without his even realizing it. He shook his head again. "I was so sure, Kefe. I was so sure of it that I was going to try and talk him INTO it before all of this."

"Like I said, buddy. Get over it. It's Adam you need to talk to."

Chriss got up slowly and went to Xyn's closet. He came back with a spare pillow and looked at the three young ones in the bed. He then sighed and curled up in a ball on the floor, knocking the chill off of the room before he did.

Kefe sighed and took the chair, picking up the book that Chriss had been reading. He shook his head and put it back in the vast bookcase, marvelling at Jayk's collection. Then he looked up at the light, leaped into the air, and came to rest up in the corner above the door. He got comfortable on the ledge and took up his vigil, staring down at the four sleeping young ones and the door. His cyan eyes shone brightly, and he almost hoped that someone would try and break in.

Shar took a short nap that evening and awoke to tackle the task of going over the padds and other assorted stolen computer disks and components that the spy killed by Kefe had been caught with. The medical padds were not a problem, however disturbing. They contained records and scans of almost every resident of the Ruins, everyone who had fallen ill on the way back from raiding the Transport ship, and two records in particular that upset her badly.

She stared at the padd in her hand, and shook her head as if saying 'no' over and over. She ran her fingers through her lustrous hair, leaned back and stretched, then adjusted her ample bosom. She sipped at the glass of water near her desk and read over the last padd again and again. It was dedicated to Xyn and Tym only, and there was another copy of it formatted for tight-beam binary transmission.

She stared at the data in horror, obviously collected by the one who had masqueraded as their head Doctor. His own history had obviously been false, and Shar cursed herself for not having detected him sooner. The sheer numbers of their colony in the Ruins now didn't matter to her. She swore again. There was enough raw data and scans and hypotheses about Tym alone to reconstruct him from the ground up, given enough spare Parts and Replacements.

Her command of the language, however, excelled to new heights of profanity when she came to the data on Xyn. As with Tym, there were complex scans of him. There were even photos, including Facility records, and vast comparisons and contrasts. She stared in wonder at the brainscans, watching an animated graph go from green to yellow to orange and finally to red. There were areas of the graph masked off in white that she had no idea about, no clue what color THEY would be. It was a graph tracking the levels of various neurochemicals in Xyn's brain over time, and the curve was almost exponential near the days that fell into the timeframe of when Xyn had come to the Infirmary to help Tym and the day that he had been discharged.

She read over these charts again and again, and turned to her Network interface. She called up her own medical records from the University days, hacking into the University d-base with ease. Kel's software and semi-intelligent programs, all Approved Processor based yet with no human brain to support them, did the work in a flash. Of course, the software that ran the Comm-Tell satalite argued with it; it lost. Fast.

Shar took another long drink and nibbled at a field ration from the Transport Ship that he had snatched from Xyn's room. She made a mental note to ask him about his developing 'packrat' tendencies as she compared his data to her own. "Ah, Xyn," she said regretfully, "You look just like I did before I had the Breakdown, and you don't even have a Processor inside your head to Repair!"

She could not, however, make any real conclusions. Xyn was a full Bio XY, and she had been an Approved XX. The raw data might look the same, but other than raising her own little XY, Dan, what did she know of little XY's? It was then that she turned to the dead Doctor's records of Xyn's treatment while in the Infirmary. At least, they were his PRIVATE records – they did NOT match the official ones in the Infirmary logs. What she found in those raised an eyebrow and explained a great many things.

There were two tables showing levels of two different drugs in relation to neurochemical levels. She didn't recognize the names, and asked the computer for verification. "What does Proxylene-8c do?" she asked it.

"Used to treat depression. Increases general activity, stimulates the brain overall. Main use is for Approved Processor adaptation issues."

"And Torviax-6b?"

"Increases anxiety and activity in severly depressed patients. Heightens sensitivity in emotional centers of the brain. Main side affect is debilitating headache. Also useful to supress certain known Mutant abilities."

Shar hissed in disgust. The next drug listed on the padd was a hard to find and very expensive one. She also knew what it did, simply by the name: Testrobynd-11. She verified it anyway.

"XY hormone supplement. Increases endocrinological responses to XY hormones, stimulates the pubertal Change in Defective XY's. Boosts and enhances XY secondary sexual characteristics. Side affects of overdose are increased sexual desire and accelerated Change in young XY's, followed by increased anxiety and headache. Outlawed 5 Cycles ago in favor of Parts Replacements."

Shar began to pace, her vocabulary degrading by the second. The Doctor had been drugging Xyn intentionally, giving him meds that his Pure-Bio body did NOT need. No wonder his Psi had begun to fail and he had been unable to maintain a Group Mind Link! No wonder he was in so much pain and so short of temper! It was a shame, and the thought of Xyn being torn up by those drugs and their side affects was heartbreaking. How could anyone want to hurt him like that?

But of course it was obvious. Someone had hoped that Xyn would give up on his Psi, shut it down to avoid the pain, and then be unable to bring it back up again after so long of a time on the drugs. She wondered at the reason for the hormone therapy, then suddenly thought of Adam and Chriss and their theory.

Shar's blood ran cold. Adam and Chriss were e-XY's, not XY's. They had little to no XY-hormones in their young bodies, and now it appeared that Xyn had enough for all of them! She remembered Chriss explaining his own castration to her, how his abilities and gifts had accelerated as Adam's had. She remembered them telling her how the Change could disrupt Mutant abilities… obviously, someone else had discovered this fact as well and using it to try and keep Xyn down.

She locked the data padds in her safe and then ran back to Xyn's room, warning Kefe in advance that she was coming. When she arrived, she found that Tym had awakened, but that Adam and Xyn hadn't. As she approached the door, however, her Psi warned her. Someone was coming. She smiled.

Kefe, she sent to the Nightstalker, and felt him respond. Make ready!

Kefe understood as an Adult XY came around the corner and into the corridor. He looked this way and that, then went to Xyn's door, skillfully picking the lock. He pushed the door open, and Shar had just enough time to infiltrate his Mind before Kefe struck.

There was one startled cry of pain as the Adult came flying backwards out the door with Kefe upon him. The Nightstalker rained blows down upon him as he gasped for air, the wind knocked out him, and Kefe began to pound his head on the cement floor. Shar scanned him, filtering out the shock and pain. Finish him!

Kefe did that, grasping the Adults neck in his vice-like grip and snapping it like a twig.

Shar cleared her throat, shaking back her hair and stepping out into the corridor. "Do not even think about teaching Dan THAT move," she warned.

"I just can't have any fun!" Kefe lamented.

They searched his body from head to foot, finding a blaster, a padd with Med scanner, and a load hypospray. Shar gave Kefe a short rundown on the data that she had found about Tym and Xyn, and Kefe snorted. "Poor kid," he said, "No wonder he's so messed up."

They went back into Xyn's room, and roused him and Tym from their sleep, trying not to disturb Adam and Chriss. When they were both fully awake, Shar explained what had happened. Xyn's face was grim as she spoke, and he held Tym close in a protective embrace the entire time. Then he turned to face him. "I guess I'll need my Suit back for a bit," he said sadly.

Tym nodded and slid himself out of it. He blushed a bit, and crawled back under the blankets, panting in exhaustion from his exertions. Xyn smiled at him. "Yesterday you couldn't even sit up," he advised. "You're going back in it as soon as I'm done with it. I don't want it anymore."

Then Xyn stood up, and Shar stepped back, placing her hands on her hips and whistling a low note. "My, my," she observed. Xyn blushed, and Tym laughed nervously. Kefe nodded at him.

"Not bad," he commented, "You're almost enough to make a Nightstalker swear off of XX's, you know!"

Xyn took their compliments in stride, once again facing the strange XY in the mirror and sliding into his Suit. It immediately went wild, hissing and beeping and trying to rebalance his Bio chemistry. It lit up blue, and stayed that way. "Dammit," he swore.

"Will it work?" Shar asked.

Xyn nodded. "When it goes white again, I'll take it off. Then Tym's staying in it until he can keep up with Dan!"

"No fair!" Tym protested, "I'll be old by then!"

"What about the Adult in the hall?" Xyn asked.

Kefe smiled. "He's not a problem anymore."

"He was coming to give you a shot of something," Shar noted. "Now we have three left." Then she looked up at the ceiling. "Make that two. The Nightstalkers just took down someone trying to leave." She cocked her head, listening. She nodded. "Another XX with a padd and a transmitter. Nothing else."

"We're no closer than we were," Tym complained, "All we know is that Master Wilson's old butler tried to kill the Hunter, and someone wants us, too. We know Kel wanted to kidnap and sell Xyn, but that's it."

Then Xyn turned, his eyes wide. "What if," he mused, "What if this Dealer STILL wants me? What if he knows someone else who could get to me? It explains the neural inhibitor. The Dealer could have 'plants' inside of Gangs, you know, like the Doc and the Orderly with the cybernetic arm."

"The Dealers could do that, I guess," Tym mused, his Mind working hard. "I think we need to get the Hunter's side of things."

"How can we all do that?" Shar asked, "He is too far away."

Tym began to tremble then, realizing his mistake, and his face paled. "P-promise you w-won't get mad at me?" he almost begged.

Xyn then got up and wrapped the little one in a blanket, taking him in his arms. He shook Adam and Chriss awake, and returned to his chair with Tym. When the other two Mutants were fully awake, Shar filled them in as Xyn tried to calm Tym. Fortunately for Adam, he didn't remember Dan beating him up, although he was gingerly touching at his face. Everyone nodded and tried to reassure Tym that whatever was bothering him would be fine if he'd just talk about it. Finally, Xyn pulled him close and laid a gloved hand on his cheek. He stared into the little one's eyes, red from crying again, and kissed him softly. "Tym, after all we've been through, there is NOTHING you can come up with that's going to make US hate you."

Tym glanced at Chriss, who smiled at him. He drew in a deep breath, and suddenly the room began to distort and ripple, taking on a soft and fuzzy look. Adam and Chriss were sitting on the edge of the bed where Kefe had joined them, and Xyn and Tym were still in the old chair. Shar sat cross-legged on the rug. All of them were staring around the distorted room in wonder. It looked like Xyn's room, but yet it wasn't. There were other hazy and indistinct shapes in the mists at the edges where the walls faded. Then there came a knock at the door.

"Come in," Tym said, his voice echoing in their Minds.

"Am I welcome here?" the Hunter asked as he opened the door.

They all gasped, and Tym felt them all, with the exception of Xyn, powering up for a fight. "NO!" he screamed, "This a Group Mind thing. He's not IN the Ruins. We're all in MY Mind!"

"How can you do this?" Shar asked in profound respect.

"He just DOES it," the Hunter replied. "He's been doing it to me for quite some time. In fact, I think I owe him my life."

"Is this what you've been hiding from us, Tym? Is this why everyone drove you away before?"

Tym nodded, clinging to Xyn as if he were afraid of falling. "I couldn't control it before… before I met Xyn. It used to be real bad, like I became the person I did it to, and they'd become me. They couldn't break out of it, and when they finally did, they wanted to kill me. I almost killed Xyn on accident, but he… he did something for me…"

"All was forgiven long ago," Xyn replied. "You just needed some control." Then he turned to the Hunter. "Now tell us what you know."

"He was watching me and Jayk," the Hunter offered, watching Xyn closely, "Somehow he knew that Wilson's butler, Alfred, had sabotaged my Craft. He warned me, and I got out."

"It doesn't always work that way, though. I think maybe Jayk might have had something to do with it, or maybe Alfred WANTED me to know. At least, I think so."

Xyn nodded as the others stared. He thought he understood Tym's gift.

They then told the Hunter, one by one, everything that they knew and what they had theorized. He nodded and listened intently as Adam and Chriss recited their histories. He listened as Xyn and Shar told him of the blocks in their Minds and how they had removed them. They told him of the spies, the attempts on their lives, all of it coming in flashes and stark clarity in the Group Mind. All of their arguements kept coming right back to Acer the Dealer, however.

"I don't like this," the Hunter said finally. "Jayk was a happenstance in my Hunt for Xyn, it seems. Actually, I thought Jayk was one being set up. Then I return him for the reward, and his Master's servant tries to kill me. From my side of it, I can offer you all this now: Wilson AND his servant could have been heavily in debt to Acer. I deal with Acer, who was dealing with this Kel in pursuit of Xyn. Acer gets 20% of my funds that he handles for me when I bring him a catch. Jayk's reward was very impressive as well, as is the one on Xyn. With me gone, Wilson's or Alfred's debts could have been wiped out as payment. Wilson has Jayk now, and thanks to me, Acer knows about Xyn and Jayk. It may also occur to them to use Jayk as bait. With me out of his way, Acer could have all the reward money for himself, not just 20%. AND one of his customers would have had Jayk back, thanks to me. Besides, I think Wilson knew that I liked Jayk. They might have been afraid I'd come back for him and spoil it all. I DID threaten Wilson, come to think of it," the Hunter mused.

"It would appear that Kel's entire plan was for himself and his Gang," Shar offered. "It failed, but the end result is the same. Acer would have had Xyn, and Kel would have had his own ends, which I can now by no means justify."

"It seems I was wrong about you," the Hunter said to Shar, who nodded to him.

"But what about what they did to OUR heads?" Adam interrupted in a shaky voice. Not being a Psion, being pulled into Tym's Mind was taking its toll on his nerves. Chriss moved closer to him and put an arm around him. "Kel had other plans for us. They failed. Once I burned the Facility down and Xyn left, my part was over. You were going to be used to blow up the Authority Offices when he delivered Xyn to Acer, at least that's what Xyn and Tym found, right?"

Xyn and Tym nodded. "We tried to erase it all, guys. You won't remember it when this is over," they said in that erie harmony.

Adam, however, looked sick and they could feel it. "I'm taking him out," Chriss said to Tym, "Fill me in later?"

Tym nodded, and the two Mutants shimmered and vanished from the Group Mind.

"My capturing your Nightstalker was not part of it, however," the Hunter offered, "and I regret it now. Many of my attitudes seem to have changed. I seem to have stumbled into a major plot here quite by accident."

"But with your Craft destroyed and you gone, who could get me here?" Xyn asked.

"Good question. You have spies among you now," the Hunter replied, "The Doctor part bothers me, though. That seems to point towards Authority following you long before I came in hunting Xyn. And it's hard to tell who put them here, or how long ago. But with the way things are going, I'd blame that on the Dealer as well. Or it could be Abrams. Using drugs to try and eliminate your Psi might be him wanting to hide it, conceal your Mutant status. I might not be the only one in Aurhority after Xyn."

"This is all my fault," Xyn said in a whisper. "Everyone's after ME. Why me?! I should never have come here. Look at the damage I've done!"

"Someone set you up, Xyn," Shar reminded him.

"But what about the barriers in Jayk's Mind?" Tym asked. "I admit, I didn't pay much attention to Wilson. All I got from him was lust. I concentrated on Alfred, because I was afraid he'd hurt Jayk more, somehow. But he didn't."

The Hunter nodded, and the walls shifted again. Xyn's room shimmered and the image of a barrier came into focus. "This is Jayk's barrier," he said, "and as you can see, it's pretty fresh."

But Xyn was growing angry again. He desperately missed Jayk, and he had to know what was behind those walls. Jayk wasn't part of their session, and that bothered him. It was Tym, however, who acted. He stared the wall, and everyone jumped as it fell.

Behind it was Alfred, and in his arms was his dying little one. "Forget it, Jayk," he was saying, "Forget me and him, and move on. Forget being a slave and get out. Go. They won't find you when you go. We'll see to that." And then they were gone, taking a host of other memories with them.

Shar stared in wonder. "Now I know how my impossible plan to get Jayk out the first time succeeded," she said, "I had inside help and didn't even know it. Jayk didn't speak much of his life as a slave to me, and I never forced it from him."

"Alfred liked Jayk," the Hunter said sadly, "But he saw his chance and took it. Perhaps they both did. Eliminating me would have solved a lot of problems. Too bad he's dead now. Jayk really liked him as well. It was very strange how he did it. I wish I knew WHO did it for him, though. If Acer's behind THEIR actions, then there's less to it than meets the eye."

The image of the old one faded as Tym let the walls reassemble. He turned to Xyn. "It would only hurt him if he knew it," he offered. Xyn nodded.

"Thank you. But won't he know?"

Tym shook his head. "He'll just think it was a bad dream."

"Dead?" Shar then asked in surprise.

"Jayk told me," the Hunter replied. "He died when Xyn got our attention the other night! Coincidence? Perhaps. He had a major Breakdown."

"One plan to capture Xyn has failed, but another yet exists. Possibly two. Acer wants Xyn yet, and so does Abrams. So what does that leave us now?" she asked.

Xyn nodded. "It leaves both of us with pricetags on our heads." Xyn replied ominously, glaring at the Hunter.

Xyn and the Hunter stared at each other. "Nice to finally meet you, too," he offered.

Tym caught this. He yawned and hugged Xyn tightly. "I'm tired," he said, wanting an excuse to end the session.

It was clear that Xyn didn't like the Hunter.

They all nodded, and the Hunter headed to the strangely shifting door. "Don't contact me again, Tym," he advised, "I'm going into hiding. I don't anyone to know about me. Let them think I'm dead. I'll call YOU when I'm ready. Deal?"

Tym nodded.

"Thank you, sir," Shar said to him, and the Group Mind disbanded.

It was many months before they heard anything again. The remaining two spies were found, but both went mad when confronted and killed themselves. Xyn recovered quickly, thanks to his Suit, and forced Tym back into it. He took to wearing Jayk's old tunics, which fit well enough. Yet as the days turned into weeks, the young Psion grew more and more withdrawn. When the Hunter left the Group Mind session with Tym, he had turned off his Psi completely and discarded it, secretly despairing of ever seeing Jayk again. On more than one night, he awakened screaming from nightmares of being chased and searching for Jayk. Had it not been for Tym, he would have certainly gone mad.

He seldom spoke, staying in his room, where he would sit and read for hours on end. He spent his evenings in the ragged old chair with the little one curled up in his lap as he made the stories come to life for him, since the little one could not read the books himself. At night, he slept in the big bed with that same little one spooned up against him, warm and secure. By day, he ran the Ruins and soon knew every inch of the place. He ran up and down stairs in long abandoned buildings which rose into the very sky, his young body becoming hard and lithe with each passing day. He let himself fall down old sewer openings to run for hours on end until he emerged into the Brushline. Some days, he would be gone well into the evening, returning from the Forest only when he had filled his pack with the things that he found there.

By nightfall, he would be back in the big room with the little one once again in his lap, listening to tales of forgotten times and heroes too strange to believe. And in the morning, it would all begin again as the days became weeks and the Savage Season and Storms passed. Yet even the Storms with their Rains, which often damaged some of the oldest buildings of the Ruins, did not stop him. And when the Summertime came and the Flats were too hot to cross, he would take his little one with him out into the Ruins to where they could just barely see the spires of the farthest edge of the Old City where some of their friends lived in secret.

One by one, the Summertime days came and went and he grew imperceptibly older and stronger – and bigger. He was never sick, and by the end of Summertime and into Colorfall, the little one was walking again and following his every step wherever he went. Amazingly, before the leaves had all blown off of the trees, he made the trip to the Forest with him to be greeted by what seemed to be an ocean of fire which burned over the tops of them and touched at the deep blue sky.

Finally, on one especially cold and windy Whitetime night, after the little one had fallen asleep in his lap to the tale of how Perseus had crossed the river Styx and descended into Hades, Xyn arose from their favorite old chair with Tym in his well-muscled arms. He put the little one to bed, covering him gently with the heavy blankets, and went to the closet. He pulled the heavy oaken door open and stared in at the too-small and ragged tunics and funny camouflage clothing for hiding in the Brushline. He stared at the clean, white Suit hanging next to them, and scratched up under his shoulder length brown hair at his round ear. He pulled off his hooded sweatshirt, suppressing a laugh, and then slid out of his multi-pocket pants. The rug was soft and warm under his bare feet as he padded over to stand in front of the antique mirror.

He shook the hair out of his blue-gray eyes and gazed at the reflection of the no-longer little one for a long time, lost in the curves and contours of the well-forming body that shone back at him. He flexed his arms, watching the biceps rise. He tightened his stomach, and satisfied with the ridges that appeared from just below the nipples to his waist, relaxed. He was, he realized with a start, becoming an Adult. True, he had only begun to seriously change and had far yet to go. His face was still smooth and his arms and legs virtually hairless. His voice still cracked and warbled on occasion, but he was growing well and fast for a pure Bio. He then became erect, and reaching down to stroke the several inches and enlarged orbs of his XY-Parts, he felt a flash of regret – then shame. He gazed at the hair that grew around them in distaste. His body shivered, and he pulled his hand back. It felt good, but it was also painful. The memory was simply too much, and he just couldn't put Tym through another episode of it. The little Mutant had suffered enough on his own without adding Xyn's suffering and loss to it.

"I cannot go on like this," he whispered to the young XY in the mirror, "I miss him so bad."

The Stranger in the ornate mirror didn't reply.

Then, for the first time in almost a full Cycle, he risked the terrible headache that he knew was coming and fully powered up his Psi.

He had at last made his decision.

All of the planning was finally over. It was time to act.

Chriss, he called out quietly, as Tym whimpered in his sleep. He went quickly to the bed and sat down softly, placing a hand on the little Mutant's brow. Tym smiled in his sleep, a small hand coming up from under the blankets to hold his. Chriss, come to my room before you go to bed. Bring Adam, too.

NEXT PART