So the prodigal daughter returns.

Stage 8

So the prodigal daughter returns.

She slipped into the city by way of one of the large parks that melded into the forested area she had just emerged from. Just before making her way into the park, she found a relatively quiet spot, took off her bug-out pack and rummaged for a change of clothes. She traded the t-shirt for a button down blouse and her jeans for a pair of black slacks. The pant legs came just five centimeters short of the ground.

As she walked into the city, the crowd started to thicken. When she finally made it to the bus stop, she was fully part of the mass of people. She looked to all the world like any of the other casually dressed white collars who were either on their way to work or coming back from a late lunch. Within moments, a bus came to a stop and Miranda was on board. Choosing to stand, she grabbed on to one of the many balance straps and with some effort, managed to look as bored as possible.

She was anything but bored, as her mind raced over her next move. This bus would take her right to the area where Branch Cell's R&D department was located. It would look like any other office building in the downtown area, but the R&D for Branch Cell would not be found by walking through the front door of the main building. It would be next door in sub-basement floor level four, the exact location having been etched into her memory by her previous training.

The bus lurched forward as it started to slow down and then came to complete stop. Miranda was aware of the plethora of surveillance devices that plagued the downtown area, but she hoped her facial distorter would still do the trick. She had reduced the intensity in consideration of the other people around her, hoping they wouldn't notice anything was amiss with her face. Reaching into her jacket pocket, she produced a pair of sunglasses. Within seconds she was on the sidewalk and headed for her destination.

So long as she kept to the crowds she would be relatively safe from detection, and besides she looked far too good in sunglasses to pass up not wearing them.

She came up on the main entrance of the building next to her intended target. She strode up the large cement stairs, entered the building and rather airily walked up to the porter. With a gesture of flipping her hair up, she turned off her facial distorter and flipped off her sunglasses in a single motion, then gave the man a winning smile.

"Dear me! To think one could get lost in this city! I was rather hoping I would have been able to reach my husband but it would seem he went upstairs without me."

PTC mission directive tip number one: If you're an attractive woman (or man), the use of the operational word husband (or wife) puts a stop to many attempts at flirtation, excessive dialogue and repeated requests for dates, especially if you're running short on time.

The porter blinked a few times and coughed. "I'm sorry, ma'am but if you could give me his name I wo—"

She waved her hand dismissively. "No, no. I was only here to kiss and offer him some lady luck. Pity he won't be getting any."

She deployed one of her most devastating weapons: pouty lips coupled with a small, dejected sigh.

She looked around the building as if trying to figure out what her next move would be. In that clever motion, she gazed upon the young man and leaned in to read his name tag.

"Cecile? Do you mind if I explore the mezzanine floor?" The pouty lips and dejected sigh morphed into a sly, conspiratorial smile and low, abated breath.

The young man looked momentarily stunned by the question. Her manipulation was working. He offered a conspiratorial smile. "They have shops in the mezzanine area that cater to clients with rich husbands."

Miranda chuckled at the young man, then nodded nonchalantly. "Think they would notice me window shopping?"

Cecile leaned forward, clearly angling for a better look at Miranda. She obliged him by offering a flattering spin, revealing her perfectly sculptured posterior (the real reason she was wearing this particular set of pants) and the fact that her blouse hugged her curves.

Cecile's smile grew wide. "You'll fit right in." He sat back down and sighed appreciatively.

"Thank you, sweetie," she said.

She put her shades back on and tilted her head, offering Cecile one last gem: the subtle wink. Then Miranda headed for the elevator.

The moment she hit the button, the elevator door opened and she stepped inside. She blew Cecile a kiss as the elevator door closed.

Operation: Office Building Infiltration was a resounding success, even her curious gut feeling seem amused.

She hit a large button labeled 'M' and the elevator came to life. After a short ride, she stepped out and started walking to another elevator on the mezzanine floor. She rode that one down to sub-basement level one. From there she took the emergency stair case down to the sub-basement level four.

Like most sub-basement levels, its practical function was parking spaces, but Miranda's recollection from the past training came into play. Miranda knew that at the back end of this particular level was a large metal door inconspicuously labeled "Maintenance Electrical Room."

Running on silent feet, she weaved through parked vehicles until she came upon her intended destination. To her surprise, the ache around the bruising on her chest, legs and knee had subsided, which she attributed to the scenic forest run. That, and the little game upstairs that had kept her mind distracted from the tentative grip she had over her continually pulsating paradoxical Gift.

She picked the mechanical lock and was inside the room in less than ten seconds. Closing the door behind her, she could hear that steady, angry hum that only high voltage electricity could emit. Miranda slowly made her way through the room looking for a small emergency power lever labeled Tertiary Emergency Generator By-Pass.

After about five minutes of searching, she found what she was looking for and with a deep breath she activated the switch by lifting it up into the 'on' position. The moment switch clicked into place, it popped back down and a small beeping sound started emitting from the opposite wall. She turned and noticed that a wall panel had retracted, revealing a numerical keypad.

She gently bit her bottom lip as she made her way over to the device. There she took another deep breath as she retrieved her toolkit.

She recalled the last warning Richard had given her before she took her Final Milestone:

"Nothing is ever what it seems, never assume anything."

Paying heed to her mentor's words, she pulled the protective covering off the keypad and took a peek inside.

It was a dummy terminal, wired to a small electronic breadboard that had several LED lights - 10 in total.

She had to smile, the keypad merely activated the LEDs inside the casing, nothing more. The real entry panel was a fingerprint ID system. She pressed her thumb on the terminal and without any hesitation a hidden door disguised as part of the power monitoring system popped open. She swung the heavy door wide and found herself staring into a long, white corridor.

This was it; the moment of truth. If her gut was telling the truth, this corridor would lead her to the one person who could answer all the questions she had tried to forget. Without any more hesitation, she slipped inside and closed the hidden door behind her.