The long game

The clones are being kidnapped and imprisoned in a high security prison on an island run by DYAD. Meanwhile Cosima, along with Beth are in hiding, trying to protect as many of their sisters as possible.

Chapter 1. Helena.

Helena couldn't move. She had been strapped to a bed and her face covered with a mask to stop her from biting or spitting at anyone that came into contact with her. She couldn't see much either, all she knew was that she was on the move. It felt like she was on a boat perhaps. She had been on very few in the past but she just sensed that she must be on water. Soon the ublyudok would be there to feed her. The food was disgusting. It tasted of the slop they had subjected her to in the orphanage when she was a girl. Some sort of protein mush that tasted of armpits. It mattered not however, her main goal and priority was to escape and get back to her training. It was her mission in life to eliminate the evil clones that threatened her very existence. Suddenly, as she was lost in thought about how she would blow up this ship and everyone on it she heard the door open and a light was turned on.

"This is a feral one. Don't get too close. She's restrained but just to be on the safe side, it's best to keep your distance." A man's voice explained.

"Understood, I shall be careful," she heard the soft reply. It was hard to tell but the voice seemed more intrigued rather than afraid. Everyone was always afraid. "I have often wondered what one looks like in person. Would it be possible to remove the mask?"

"I don't think that would be a good Idea mam. I understand your interest but this one is probably the most difficult subjects we have had to date. She is psychotic we think, showing signs of schizophrenia."

"Hmm. Not exactly my area of expertise but if I am to be caring for these subjects surely I should at least introduce myself." The woman continued, "Please do remove the mask."

"If you wish, but don't expect a conversation. This one is completely savage." The man came closer so that Helena could hear and smell his heavy breath, almost taste the smell of tobacco and cheap cologne. This woman he is with, she wondered, they must be engaging in sexual intercourse or that's what he would be liking to be the case. She smirked as the man approached, "I will be removing your mask. Do not attempt any physical aggression of any kind or you will be sedated."

Helena nodded as the mask was pulled from around her face.

"Hello again feeder, it has been long time." She smirked at her captor, and looked past him briefly at the woman who was with him "Where is other man. Man with name like vegetable. He promised me decent meal if I behave. I behave see."

"You will be getting nothing until we arrive at the prison. There you will receive everything you need, if you behave in line with prison regulations of course." The man sneered nastily, towering over Helena. "Prison is where you belong, you and your creepy clone sisters."

"I have done nothing! I am original! Why does no one believe that I am not clone?" Helena screamed and began to struggle against her restraints violently, "I am sick of lies! Disgusting, dirty lying pigs! I know truth!"

"Perhaps it is best not to agitate her further." The woman exclaimed hurriedly and came closer to Helena "I am one of your new doctors. There is a whole team actually. But I will be a part of it." She explained brightly as if this was some kind of privilege to be locked up and tied to bed. Then poked and prodded and bled dry by huge needles. "It is good to meet you Helena."

"I do not need doctor woman. I am not sick!" Helena shouted and gritted her teeth until she resembled an attack dog, "You are bad woman!"

The woman just laughed lightly, not in a mocking way but as if she was not affected by Helena's words, "I can assure you that I am not "bad" as you say but here to help you in any way I can. If you want to talk then…" She trailed off but there was a certain tone in her voice that could be construed as sympathy and it sounded genuine.

"Help me then woman! Get me off ship and away from filth!" Helena spat out angrily and glared at the man. "Tell him leave. Then we talk."

The woman nodded and sighed, waving her hand in the air she said "Go on. I will be ok Chris." She smiled at the man and he seemed to agree begrudgingly heading for the door. He handed her a taser before leaving.

"I will be right outside." He said worriedly. "Please be careful and use this if you need to."

Once Chris was gone Helena turned to the woman and smiled wickedly, "He is your boyfriend yes?" she asked out of curiosity really, it was rather boring being strapped to a bed day in day out with nothing to do. The woman did not reply. "He is filthy and ugly pig." She spat out of disgust, "He pervert! I know this."

"You will be free of him soon enough. He doesn't work where we are going." The woman said as way of an answer and moved closer as if to study Helena. "I need to explain a few things to you before your arrival on the island. You will be imprisoned yes. But it is not as punishment for any imagined crime. You will be protected and treated. You are very ill Helena, you and your sisters."

Helena took in the woman's words and said frostily, "They are not my sestra's they are enemy. I was cloned as child. These copies are blasphemies of creation, of god!"

The woman breathed in deeply and looked Helena straight in the eye. "You were cloned from another woman 27 years ago and so were all of the others. Whatever has been told to you in the past is a lie. I can assure you, you can trust me."

Helena scoffed, "Hmft. You are ones keeping me prisoner, feeding me from trough like pig. I am human being not animal. You are the animals, keeping me here like this. I am angry, you making me angry!"

"We had to make sure that you wouldn't hurt anyone or yourself." The woman insisted softly, "You haven't made this easy on yourself. It would be easier if you co-operated and were willing to be tested. This is all for your own good. The people you were with were corrupting you, making you do very bad things."

"How would you behave woman!" Helena screeched, struggling in her restraints once again, "How would you behave if you were beaten in face, and kidnapped only to find out you are clone! But, I think, I believe you. " she said the last part slowly as if finally accepting it for the first time. She had been told before many times but when the woman had said it, it had made sense. "I am clone. And I am killer. I am going to prison for my crimes."

"Helena this incarceration is not for the purpose of punishment but to keep you safe and well and to reunite you with your sisters." The woman insisted cheerfully, seemingly trying to make it sound like a happy fairy-tale style story when it was anything but. "You will see. I will arrange to have you adequately fed and clothed and within the hour. Perhaps then you can sleep and think this through."

Helena nodded, pleased that she was finally getting somewhere with these people, "Make sure it is good meal. And I will do as you say."

The woman laughed again, "I shall see what I can do." She walked towards the door, "You can come back in now Chris. I think we have come to an understanding of sorts. Helena seems more or less in her right mind as you say."

The man returned, "How did you do that?" He questioned, gaping at her as if she was magic or something, "She almost took a chunk out of the last doctor."

The doctor woman just grinned, "I have an impeccable bed side manner. Look, just give her what she wants." And with that final statement she left the room without a backwards glance.

"She promised me food." Helena stated in an offhand manner, "And that I do not have to wear mask or be tied to bed. I also want clothes. Good ones. And television."

The man sneered at her "Don't push your luck freak. You'll get what you're given. The doctor might be fooled by you. But I know for a fact what you are."

"I know what I am dirty man. But you," she gestured towards him with her head, "You have no idea."

"The doctor wants a blood sample before you get anything. I trust you don't have to be held down this time." The man sniggered slightly, producing a needle.

Helena knew somehow that this was only the beginning. She had to escape these people or she would be a lab rat for the rest of her life but in order to do that she needed to think instead of reacting to the situation. She needed an alliance. The doctor woman would be a good start but she was working for the institute obviously and could not be trusted completely. She needed the others. They were in the same position as her. She didn't feel like killing them any longer.

"Of course." She replied in a faraway voice, "There is no problem. Take blood. Dirty man." She couldn't help but add the last bit. She would be glad when pervert was away from her for good.

The day before…..

"Get your hands off of me. What or who do you think I am some sort of high end prostitute? I'll have you know that I have like an appointment this evening that I cannot miss. Do you even like understand how important this is for me?" The rant continued as the blindfolded Krystal was manhandled into yet another room and pushed down forcibly onto a bed. "Hello. Hello. What's going on here? Let go of me. You inconsiderate jack ass. I know what this is all about you know. Sick human experiments! That's right involving cosmetics. There's no way I am going to let you pour liquid eyeliner into these beauties!"

"You'll just feel a little prick now Cosima." A man's voice said calmly and clinically. There seemed to be a group of people in the room with her but only he spoke.

"A little what?!" Krystal screamed dramatically, desperately trying to get herself free. "Rape! Rape! Someone help me! Rape!" she continued to shout at the top of her lungs and then she felt the needle prick into her left arm. It went in fast and she could feel the pressure build up as she tensed her muscles. She stopped struggling, unable to move and then it all went dark.

"That woman, isn't Cosima Niehaus you idiot." The blond doctor hissed in an irritated voice. There was no way that was Cosima the PHD student. Fair enough she didn't know her, had never met the woman in person but had been given the files on her from her previous monitors and unless Cosima was an extremely talented actress she did not fit the profile of this rather naïve and vapid subject "That's Krystal Goderitch if I am not mistaken. How on earth could you confuse the two?"

"Yes?" the older doctor questioned, "How on earth could you make this mistake. This subject is unaware of her clone status. She was supposed to be studied in her natural environment. "

The blond doctor sighed, "Meanwhile we have a rouge clone on the loose with information which in the wrong hands could blow this whole operation."

"You need to calm down Dr Cormier!" Aldous Leekie almost shouted at her, "Ms Niehaus has obviously conned us. She could look like any of them."

Dr Cormier shook her head in frustration and glared at the men responsible for this ridiculous mistake. "Does this look like the woman you were supposed to be hunting?" she pointed at the unconscious Krystal.

"We were told she was in disguise. We weren't aware of this other clone in the area!" The man insisted. "Of course this looks like the woman we were supposed to be hunting. They all look the fucking same. They are clones; clue is in the name bitch!"

"Watch your tongue." Dr Leekie said in a threatening tone, "Show some respect for your superiors."

"I can stick up for myself Dr Leekie." Dr Cornier snapped almost immediately. She hated when he tried to protect her, acted like they were real lovers or something. To her it was just sex and nothing more, not even good sex at that. She didn't think of herself as a prostitute or anything just because she was sleeping with the boss. It just seemed like a good idea at the time, it worked for them both as they both led busy lives and nothing seemed to matter outside of DYAD.

"Ok. Well." Leekie began, a little taken aback by his colleague's outburst, "I think we need to talk about what to do about this unfortunate situation. Come let's discuss this in my cabin privately."

Dr Cornier followed her mentor out of the room and towards his cabin. She was silent the whole way there and hung back purposely. She felt ashamed. This was her doing. Cosima was her subject, was supposed to be her subject at any rate and she had let her get away.

"Care for a drink." Leekie offered casually when they arrived in his living quarters, he poured himself a scotch an offered the bottle and a glass but Dr Cornier declined with a brush of her hand "I know this isn't what we expected to happen but the subject will be found. You mark my words. I have a plan and it won't fail" He continued eagerly.

"Oh yes. And just what would this plan be." The blond woman replied in a seductive voice, but he could tell that she was just messing with him.

"You will go under cover and when you locate Cosima you will do nothing. You will watch her and then you will find out what she is up to, where the other clones are. To win this, we need to play the long game."

Dr Cornier looked at him sceptically and scoffed "And how am I supposed to find her. She could be anywhere Aldous. I could just as easily track down the other lost clone with these powers you seem to think I have,"

Leekie smiled and to Dr Cornier it appeared rather disturbing, like the spider planning to catch the fly. "You won't have to do any of the tracking. That is what Helena is for. She was trained for the very purpose of hunting her fellow clones. We can use this to our advantage. I want you to befriend her. We can't let her go with you at the moment because she is highly erratic and unstable. She needs to learn to trust you. When we arrive at the prison you are to be on her side in everything that happens there for the next couple of weeks. The guards knock her about a bit, you intervene. The other doctors conduct cruel and inhumane experiments on her and you stop them. You need to act sympathetic and motherly. She is nothing but an over grown child and it will be easy to convince her to work for you. Also you must not tell anyone of this."

"This plan is madness Dr Leekie." Dr Cornier exclaimed but then sighed and looked at the professor straight in the eye, "But if you think this will work. Then I must try. I promised to protect Leda when I took this position and I will do whatever it takes to honour that promise"

"I have faith in you Delphine. Remember this is all in the name of science. Cosima will thank us one day." Leekie smiled, a less predatory one this time.

"I'm sure that she will not. But it is cute that you think so." Delphine rose from her position and turned to leave, "I will find her." She stated boldly and then left, her mission clear in her mind. I will find her.

To be continued…..