I: May 13th 11:30 am

"Are you okay?" Echo asked very concerned.

Topher Brink forced himself to chuckle. "Oh, course, I am okay, Echo." He gave her a large, faked grin. For a minute, he was pissed that his image that everything was fine wasn't working with the actives, but he reminded himself that Echo was one of the more perceptive actives. He could probably tell Echo the truth if he felt like it. But instead of her actually saying she hoped he felt better, she might actually go tell someone something was wrong with him. He didn't really want that right now.

She tilted her head at him slightly. "Okay." She said trusting him, but Topher could tell some little voice inside her head had told her not to pry more.

"Are you ready for your treatment now, Echo?" He asked, forcing his voice to sound calmer than normal. He was glad he had, because he realized Adelle Dewitt had slipped into the room, standing next to Echo's handler.

Dewitt looked as prim and proper as she usually did, but she also looked a little pissed. Topher wasn't sure why she was pissed, but he was sure he didn't want to find out. He just hoped that if anyone on his staff had done something to make her angry, it wasn't him.

"Okay," Echo got into the chair easily.

Topher forced himself to do everything the way he usually did during the session. He didn't want his boss to think something was wrong with him. It wasn't like he was sick or anything. He was just exhausted. Before he had joined the Rossum Corporation, he had been able to program all day, and play laser tag with his buddies all night. For some reason, the last week of so, with an influx in the number of engagements, it seemed like a struggle to pull himself out of bed every morning.

Topher would prefer that it not be thought by anyone that he couldn't handle his job. While his assistant Ivy claimed to have the qualifications to do his job, he had his doubts sometimes. Ivy seemed a bit cold and distant. He wasn't sure the actives knew how to handle distant personalities.

He also felt that she always seemed to be hiding something when she was around him. Half the time, she seemed on the verge of blabbing this huge secret out, whatever it was, but never did.

Dewitt waited till Echo and her handler had left before she said, "Do you have time to talk a few minutes in my office, Mr. Brink?"

Topher could tell by the stiffness in her tone that it was a command, and not a question. "Sure, give me just a second." The way she had said his last name had creeped him out, and he was sure now that he had done something wrong. He tried to run over the list of things he had done recently in his head. He put up Echo's widget, still not thinking of anything that would get Dewitt to use the 'you may be sent to the attic' tone.

He followed her quickly into her office. He made sure she wasn't looking as he wiped the sweat from his hands unto his jeans.

She sat gracefully down on the couch, without wrinkling her black skirt. She motioned for him to sit two cushions away from him.

He sat down confused. It had sounded like he was in trouble, but she hadn't motioned for him to sit in front of the desk, which was a sure sign something you didn't want to hear was going to be said. "Am I in trouble?" He figured it wouldn't hurt him to clarify. Just because the head of security, Boyd Langton, wasn't here for the conversation, didn't mean he wasn't on his way.

Instead of starting a lecture, she chuckled softly.

It unnerved Topher more than he thought it would.

She gave him a very soft smile. "You aren't in trouble. I am sorry I gave you that impression."

"Okay?" He watched her nervously for a few seconds to see if she was lying.

"I actually wanted to see if you were okay. You've seemed a little down lately, and I wanted to know if there was anything you needed to talk about." She gave him another smile. While she might never admit it, they were sort of friends, and she wasn't the heartless bitch that she liked people to think she was.

"I'm just tired." He answered. He had intended to lie, but the words escaped his mouth before he could think of anything else to say.

She nodded. "I figured that might be the case. There have been a lot of engagements lately. In the next few days, nothing is coming up, would you like to use some of your vacation time?"

Topher closed his eyes for a brief second. His mind was telling him it might be a trap. It was also telling him that after Echo came back tonight there weren't any engagements till Saturday.

"You aren't under review, nothing is going to happen if you decide you want to stay."

As she said the words a thought sprang into Topher's mind. It would be nice to spend a couple days in his apartment in the city. Like most employees, he had living quarters in another floor of the building. It actually was a decent size apartment and had many state of the art features. The only problem sometimes was that it was easily reachable by intercom or cell phone ( or sending a security guard to pound at your door,) if he needed to come back to the dollhouse.

Topher wasn't sure about which other employees had other residences, but he negotiated to keep his apartment in the city when he was hired. (Some of the conditions were his, and the corporation imposed the rest.)

The corporation's conditions were as followed: his apartment was monitored with cameras; it was cleaned once a week; none of the computers inside could have any information about the corporation on it. Also, the maintenance fee was paid every month, and police presence, or the fire department was called in, the corporation could send their own agents to investigate anything.

Topher's conditions were a bit simpler. Nothing but garbage could be removed from the apartment; (as Topher had a lot of electronics in the apartment) and since Topher used the apartment now mainly to catch up on sleep, they were not allowed to call him unless there was an absolute emergency.

"When do I get to start my vacation?" Topher figured the answer was when Echo returned from her engagement

"Later tonight, when Echo gets back if you would like."

"Thank you, " Topher resisted the sudden urge to hug her. He knew her well enough that she would not appreciate that, especially if someone walked in when he did it. She couldn't appear soft to the subordinates.

II: May 12th 7:30 p.m.

Ivy Nakamura pulled her hair into an elegant up-do. With a sigh at her reflection in the mirror, she pulled it down quickly.

She ran the brush through her hair several times. She didn't want her date to think that she had pulled it up. Hair shouldn't be so complicated.

Ivy was nervous; she had a feeling this date was going to end in disaster. It really was hard to focus on some blind date from the Internet, when she kept thinking about Topher. She was supposed to be taking a break from work. She had three days to relax and recharge her batteries. (Usually she took a week, but she had just taken a vacation last month.)

She applied a touch of pink lipstick. She had vowed this vacation, like every one before it, that she would get over her stupid crush on Topher. She had fallen for him the moment she had laid eyes on him. She had never known anyone who could attract her and infuriate her at the same time. If he weren't so damn cute and brilliant, she wouldn't so easily forgive all the times he had implied she was stupid or cold.

Ivy hoped this date would be better than the others she had had recently. She knew whether or not she slept with the guy, it would probably end the same way. The man would find her distant and boring since she couldn't really talk about her real job (or rather what her job really should be if Topher trusted her more to take more responsibility.) The job she told them about was probably as unattractive as the fact that she was really a gopher.

"What's wrong with me, " She mumbled, reminding herself that Topher could be a real asshole sometimes. She had to keep her focus away from him. Even now, as she was trying to think of new ways to make her fake job sound glamorous, she was thinking of her boss.

She carefully applied a layer of mascara to her eyes. She had promised herself she was going to try to make this guy like her. She told herself that before every blind date, even if she had other dates set up for the other two nights she was on vacation. (She did it in the hopes she would cancel the other dates because she and the first guy had chemistry.)

She knew if she actually had time to keep up with any of her friends that they would probably discourage her against blind dates from the Internet. She had never had a problem though with any of the guys she dated, thankfully. Oh course, Ivy had a lot more resources at her disposal to do a background check on potential suitors. She was able to search aspects of a person's background that people might not even know about.

She never acted as she knew most of the information she had acquired. She would let her dates know she had done a quick background check. They would usually admit they had to. It was easy to pretend you were someone else on the Internet. Technically, her background check wouldn't give all the correct information, it would have whatever the Rossum had put up, but for the most part the information her dates found was close enough to the truth that it didn't matter.

Ivy was debating again what to do with her hair, when the intercom rang. She knew it was probably the doorman, so she pushed the white button. "Yes?"

In a neutral voice, the doorman answered. "There is a Mr. Rick Graves here to see you."

Ivy wondered what the doorman must think of her. The few times a year she came to the apartment, she always had at least one date. Though, she was sure she didn't even know the doorman's name; she felt self-conscious of what people might think of her.

She needed to stop getting distracted. "I'll be right there."

She gave herself a quick once over in the mirror. She hoped the black cocktail dress wasn't too inappropriate, it was a bit close fitting. She had thought to borrow it from the warehouse that held the active's clothing. She had found out once, that she and Sierra were the same size.

Ivy was one of the few people allowed to borrow clothes. She had developed a friendship with the warehouse manager, Christine. Christine wouldn't report anything to Dewitt as long as the clothes weren't needed by an active, and they were returned cleaned.

'This date was going to go well, and you will find someone to get over your juvenile crush on Topher,' she mentally reminded herself before she grabbed her purse, and headed out the door.

III May 13th 9:01pm

Topher watched Echo leave the room in a carefree manner. He was glad the engagement had gone exceedingly well. There was always a possibility with the engagements that something could go wrong.

He found himself really nervous when any active went out lately. It was hard to totally be relaxed when not ever engagement this year had gone well. (Alpha's recent attack hadn't made his worry ease any. It had taken almost three weeks of constant work to fix everything in the system he had touched. )

Also, Certain actives like Echo, which had more than one engagement go totally off course from how it was planned, caused him more worry than others. The last ten or so assignments had thankfully gone remarkable great. It was good not to have any rogue FBI agents, kidnapping attempts, or crazy clients to deal with.

In about fifteen more minutes, Topher would be able to head out for the night. He had specifically planned it that way after he had come back from Dewitt's office. He pulled the last juice box out of the fridge.

He started to scribble a note to Ivy, but she had gone on another one of her vacations, and he wasn't sure when she would be back. He sent a text message to a lower assistant and asked him to restock the fridge. He also texted a few other things that needed to be done by Friday night. He made sure to include a threat of being fired, even though he would never act on it. The assistant was basically what might be called an intern, and would do it assuming that Topher was true to his word.

Saturday was going to be a busy day with at least five engagements starting, and the less Topher had to do before they started the better.

He finished everything else he had to do, and double-checked that there wasn't anything else that needed to be done. To be safe, he also did a triple check. Finding nothing else to be done, he went online to check the weather. He wanted to know if there was anything he would need to pack.

The website said for the next hour or so to expect sprinkles.

He bid a quick goodnight to Dewitt and Boyd before he headed upstairs to his living quarters.

He went inside and threw a few things into an empty laptop bag. He picked a black hoodie off the ground, and took a quick sniff. It didn't smell dirty or smell like if it got wet that he would develop a mold farm unexpectedly. He threw it on.

Zipping up the laptop bag, he threw it over his shoulder. He grabbed his keys, and his mp3 player. He made sure to lock the door as he left.

He wrestled with the blue cord to the earphone as he walked to the elevator. He had it untangled and was playing it by the time the elevator door opened. His head was bobbing to the music as he almost put in his security key to get to the bottom floor. Topher stopped himself at the last minute and pushed the L button.

In the lobby, the night security guard decided to do his job, and made Topher show his building id.

Topher flashed it quickly, and gave him a warm wave after he was given the nod to leave the building.

Topher pushed his hood up as he got outside. He realized the light drizzle predicted was actually more of a downpour. He had jogged over to the parking structure across the street before he realized that his mini cooper wouldn't be in the space with his name on it.

"You seriously need to get some sleep," He mumbled as he remembered Ivy had begged to borrow his car before she had left. Her apartment was a bit farther away than his, and anytime she went on vacation, she felt she was entitled to use his car.

He chuckled as he thought of going back across the street to the underground parking structure. He was sure he could easily steal one of the vehicles there. The vehicles were only reserved for matters dealing with the actives, and he would certainly get reprimanded. He wasn't in the mood to deal with Dewitt's temper, despite how funny an idea it sounded.

Boyd might let him borrow his car, but the rain seemed like it was letting up a bit. Topher knew he wouldn't melt if he walked the five blocks to his apartment complex.

About twenty minutes later, he was letting himself up the service elevator to the thirteenth floor. (The service elevator was closer to his apartment as there was only one apartment between his and the elevators. Using the main elevator he would have to walk by ten apartments strategically placed throughout the hall.)

His eyes were on the hideous purplish carpet, as he walked quietly past his neighbor's apartment. He didn't see the large man standing in the frame of his door; he was just hoping the maid took the computer towers off the couch since it was closer to the door.

"Are you Topher Brink?" A deep machismo voice asked as he was punched hard in the stomach.

"Wha---???" Topher asked confused. He looked briefly up at his attacker. The man seemed twenty feet taller than him, though in reality it was probably six inches. The man was dressed all in black, either to blend into the night or to be one of the 'cool people.' (Topher didn't care which reason) Though the man didn't quite exactly look like he would be competing in the Mr. Universe contest, he did look like he knew his way around the gym.

The man hit Topher hard across the face with an open palm.

Topher tried to fumble for his keys and not let the realization that some guy he had never met had just bitch slapped him dawn on him.

Just as Topher's hand came across the keys in his pocket, the man began to violently punch Topher in the stomach. Topher hands instinctually went to protect his body. He managed to slip from the man's grip, only to slip slightly on the black welcome mat. Topher bumped his head hard against the front door.

IV: May 13th 9:46

Boyd Langton hoped it had been luck that had been causing him to watch the monitors to Topher's apartment when Topher made it to the doorway. He was able to dispatch a team to the apartment complex before the police arrived.

(Several neighbors hearing a disruption in the hall had called out. Fortunately, for Boyd, none of the neighbors had looked out their peepholes. They had only reported that they could hear two men fighting in the hall. Even though the building was relatively safe, they all worried one of the people in the hall was carrying a gun, and didn't want to take any chances. This was Los Angeles after all, the place where anything could happen.)

As the attacker was pulling a blackjack out of his pocket to beat Topher more, Agent Miller had already taken him down and handcuffed him.

Dewitt had given Boyd the discretion to handle it as he saw fit. In a split second decision, Boyd thought it would be best to take Topher back to the dollhouse. Two of the agents would pretend to be drunk, and be there when the cops arrived. They would be bailed out tomorrow.

Boyd thought that the attack might have something to do with taking down the dollhouse, since Intel already knew that the attacker had been at Ivy's apartment complex yesterday. It would be better if they questioned the attacker and find out the situation. Though Boyd sometimes didn't necessarily agree with all the rules that the Rossum Corporation laid down, he did believe in protecting people that he cared for. Topher was a friend, and he didn't deserve to be attacked the way he had been.

Miller grabbed the attacker and took him towards the service elevator.

Boyd very carefully picked up the unconscious Topher, and followed him.

As they headed down the service elevator, Miller had already checked the man's wallet for an id. He called to have a background check run on a Mr. Rick Graves.

The supposed Rick Graves was whining about never having been in trouble with the law before, but neither of the agents cared what he had to say. Miller managed to whip leg chains on him before he shoved the man roughly into the front seat of one of the black SUV.

Miller waited for Boyd to carefully lay Topher in the backseat, and close the door before he sped off into the night. They could hear the police sirens already on their way.

Boyd knelt in the space between the seats. He watched Topher with concern, like a father might watch a sick child.

"Boyd?" Topher asked confused for a second, opening his eyes.

"I'm here." Boyd answered, stroking Topher's hair for a second.

A few seconds later, Topher closed his eyes. (Boyd guessed when he heard the soft snoring that Topher had fallen asleep because the amount of pain he is in. He hoped the younger man hadn't developed a concussion from hitting the door. )

When they got to the underground parking lot, two medical attendants were already waiting for them with a stretcher. Boyd helped them put Topher carefully on the stretcher. The attendants disappeared with Topher before Miller had even pulled the cowering Rick Graves out of the front seat.

Boyd and Miller dragged Graves to a very tiny gray room. He was pushed into the almost toddler size gray chair sitting in front of a white table.

"So, Mr. Rick Graves, born May 15th 1980 in Osinning, New York. Your parents are Tom and Julia Graves." Boyd read off a file that waited for him on the table. He was about to continue reading when Graves mumbled.

"How do you know all that? Can I get an attorney?" Graves looked confusingly around the room. He never had been in trouble with the law. He couldn't believe they had a file on him.

"We don't actually have to let you have an attorney, Mr. Graves. Why don't you tell me why you decided to attack Mr. Brink?" Boyd said in a sharp straight to the point tone.

"What do you mean I don't get an attorney. I have rights. You can't violate them."

Miller smirked at Graves.

"We don't work for the police department. We work for a private organization. We are allowed to do whatever we want to you to protect ourselves. You were seen with one of our employees yesterday, and then you attacked another one today. That doesn't look very good for you does it." Boyd held back the urge to punch the man in the face. If the man wasn't in restraints, Boyd knew he probably wouldn't have fought the urge. Boyd didn't believe in attacking people who were helpless.

"Ivy! I did it for her." Graves starts crying. "I know I just met her yesterday, but I love her. I just wanted Topher to see that she was a beautiful, sexy, intelligent goddess and he couldn't just disrespect her. I don't care how long they were dating, you can't treat a woman like that." Graves started crying louder. He decided it best not to mention that when he and Ivy had had sex last night, she had called Topher's name when she had climaxed.

It was embarrassing to him, but he knew that he and Ivy were meant to be together. (He could forgive her a slight slip up on the first date) He would be there to help her get over her relationship with the jerk.

Oh, course, Graves had no way of knowing that in the next hour, his memory would be completely wiped cleaned, and he would no longer exist.

V. May 13th 10:01 p.m.

The last time Ivy had been dragged into Dewitt's office for a serious discussion like this had been the time Dominic had been covering for his ass. He had tried to make it seem like she was the spy in the dollhouse. Now, not only was there a possibility her life was in danger, she had no way of knowing what had happened to Topher.

She had just been told that Topher had been attacked, and it somehow part of the blame rested on her. She wasn't even sure exactly what had happened. One minute, she was sitting in her apartment. She had cancelled her other two dates, and made another date with Rick.

Rick had called and said he was running a little late, and he would be there at 10. Ivy hadn't been worried though because she figured they had all night.

Ten minutes ago, someone had broken down her door. It was two security guards and they dragged her out in handcuffs. They had said only Topher had been attacked, and she was going to have to answer for her part in it.

Ivy felt a tear streak down her cheek. "Can I see Topher? Make sure he is okay?" She asked a lot more frantically than she had intended. She wanted to wipe the tear away, but it was hard to move with the handcuffs still attached.

"I don't think that is a good idea, Miss Nakamura!" Dewitt's tone was colder than an avalanche. "It's not enough for you that some comment you made caused your boy toy to go off on Mr. Brink, you have to see if Mr. Graves caused enough damage or if he needed to collect another pound of flesh."

Ivy could feel all her strength crumbling. "I didn't even know Rick was going to do that. I made a mistake by telling him I liked Topher. Don't you think I would do anything to take that back." More tears began to slide down her face.

Dewitt stood up in the chair. "Technically, I don't even need your explanation. The only reason you haven't been immediately sent to the attic is I decided to let Topher decide what should be done with you." Dewitt lied easily. She walked over to Ivy, and with a cold calculated voice said, "If he ever regains consciousness."

Ivy begins to sob. She doesn't know what to say. For all she knows, Rick could have killed Topher, and they would never tell her. They would just shove her in the chair, and reprogram her. Ivy stumbled with a coherent thought, as a security guard escorted her to the small jail cells farther in the building.

VI may 14th 3:30 am

Dr. Claire Saunders watched Topher as he slept. Usually she tried to only stay small amounts of time with him in a room, but today wasn't a day to worry about her complete animosity and annoyance towards him. It was hard to remember the reasons she loathed him when he looked so vulnerable.

Topher looked completely different when he was sleeping. He looked more innocent. She was sure it had something to do with the fact he was berating everyone with his over-inflated 'I am the best at my job' ego.

She wondered if she should find a stuffed animal for him to sleep with. She was almost tempted to do it, but thankfully someone knocked on the door.

Claire walked across Topher's apartment to answer it. (Besides a small bump on his head, and the multiple bruises, it was determined Topher could be moved to his living quarters in the building.)

"How is he doing?" Boyd asked, standing in the hallway.

Claire motioned for him to come in. She closed the door behind them both.

She noticed that Boyd was walking in a very deliberate way, so she couldn't see his arms, which were behind his back. She figured he was trying to sneak something in, and decided not to comment. ( It was probably some toy or snack food, nothing that would harm Topher.) Instead, she said, "He's going to be bruised up for a couple of days. He might also need to take painkillers for a couple days, but other than that, he seems to be doing well. The sedative we gave him when he came in, should be wearing off shortly."

They walked into the bedroom.

As they stepped inside, Topher opened his eyes. "Why are you guys in my apartment?" He sat up very carefully in the bed.

"Do you remember what happened?" Claire asked concerned. She was hoping he wasn't suffering from any memory loss, but sometimes you couldn't tell with a head injury.

"Some jerkface beat me up, because apparently he has some thing for Ivy, and thought we had been dating." Topher stated bluntly.

Claire found herself blinking hard at him. She was wondering if he was going to make some character attack on his assistant. She was actually surprised when he didn't. She had assumed that he would use the attack as a reason why Ivy wasn't intelligent enough to be trusted to reprogram the actives.

"Can I ask you a few questions?" Boyd's attention was fully on Topher.

Topher looked over at Claire for a second. "Is it okay?" He asked in a very calm voice.

"Yes, that is fine. Let me know if you need anything?" She turned to Boyd, "Don't stay very long, he needs to get his rest." She headed out of the room quickly.

Boyd walked over to the closest desk chair. He put the brown paper bag, he had been hiding, in the chair, and pushed the chair over towards Topher's bed.

Before he sat, he took out two pints of chocolate ice cream, and placed one gently on the bed next to Topher. He pulled out two spoons, handed one to Topher, and then placed the brown paper bag on the bed. "I found a present for you." Boyd took off the top of his ice cream.

Topher pulled the brown bag close to him. Inside the bag was a cardboard box about 17 in' high. A velociraptor grinned at him from the top of the box.

He removed the box from the bag. "A Velociraptor bot! Awesome!"

"The batteries are in the bag."

While Topher is eager to try out the new toy, he decides it can wait. He hasn't exactly been cleared to go back to work, and he might be stuck inside for awhile. "I am guessing you want my statement. Can I ask you a question?" Topher opens the ice cream, and begins to eat it.

Boyd had a feeling, he knew what Topher was going to ask, so he wasn't surprised when after a few seconds, Topher asked, "Why did that guy think I was in some kind of relationship with Ivy?"

VII May 14th 7:30 p.m.

About 10 am this morning, Ivy had been escorted from the small jail cell to her living quarters on the fifth floor. She wasn't explained the reason for the change, just told she was being confined to her apartment until further notice. The handcuffs had also thankfully been removed from her wrists.

When she had first seen the apartments provided by the Corporation, she had thought of them as spacious and bright, now the walls felt like they were suffocating and uninspired. She wondered if she was having a panic attack.

She peered through the peephole. A guard was still standing outside her door. She sighed deeply, and slumped back on her plush red couch. Even though the guard was leaning against the wall reading a Stephen King book, she knew if she tried to leave the apartment, he could easily chase her down.

She picked up the slim, white cordless phone. She dialed Topher's outside apartment. Maybe he was well enough that he could continue his vacation. She wasn't exactly sure where he was though.

Ivy couldn't find out because she heard only the ugly robotic voice of the building operator. In an almost triumphant tone, it said, "This phone has not been authorized for any calls. The Rossum Corporation would appreciate if you not try to use the phone without permission again."

Frustrated, she lay at the couch starring at the ceiling for several minutes.

She hoped Topher wouldn't send her to the attic. She was sure if she hadn't accidentally said Topher's name when she and Rick had sex, that none of this would have happened. Her mother had always warned her that men had sensitive egos.

Maybe instead of pinning and worrying about Topher, she could hack into the security system (the Internet had suspiciously been left active) and find Rick's location. Maybe she could break him out. They could escape and live happy every after.

"Who am I kidding?" She slumped farther on the couch. Rick's brain was probably already wiped. Also, if in the slim chance that he was still alive, they could easily track them. Unless they found some remote island without technology, which was probably never going to happen since Ivy couldn't live with out technology.

She knew what she was going to have to do was try to find Topher and plead with him that he didn't send her to the attic. She also had to ask for his forgiveness. Ivy really didn't like the possibility of that. It wasn't like she had qualms about apologizing to him; she didn't, as he did deserve an apology from her. She just didn't know if she wanted to humble herself that much in front of him because she knew now whatever small part of Topher acknowledged she was more than the person that refilled the fridge would never even come to play in his decisions concerning her again.

While Ivy had enough knowledge she could easily take over the programming system, she knew as soon as she used her knowledge and overstepped Topher's authority, she would lose whatever shred of her friendship with Topher that was left. She had always secretly hoped the friendship would turn into something more.

First, Topher would have to get over his massive ego, that told him he was a 100 times smarter than Ivy. (She had to admit besides his little ego, Topher was a nice guy, and he wasn't a cruel boss, even if he did give his subordinates menial jobs to fill their time.)

One of the reason, Ivy had cancelled her other blind dates, was because Rick seemed to actually respect her. Ivy's intelligence attracted him. Ivy had been hoping earlier tonight that he would be the man who could finally help her get over this juvenile crush on Topher.

Rick was probably dead. She reminded herself she needed to make things right with Topher. She sat up, and moved over to where she had set her laptop two cushions away. (She had been playing games earlier to try to pass the agony of being confined.)

She tried to surf the web for a few minutes, incase they were monitoring what she was doing. Maybe if they thought she was logging back into Pogo for another round of poppit, that they would leave her alone.

She opened up the security system in the building. She easily sent a text message to the guard out front letting him know he was needed in another part of the building and that his replacement was on the way.

She forced herself to count to twenty before she grabbed her keys and headed out the apartment door. She ran quickly to the emergency stairwell. She knew she only needed to go down one flight of stairs since Topher's apartment was almost directly below hers.

She got to the door, feeling giddy. It had been a little too easy but it was worth it. Her joy turned sour, when she realized the fourth floor door was locked. She hurried back to the fifth floor. She hoped she hadn't locked herself in the hallway.

Fortunately, she hadn't. She furiously checked down the hallway. She ran quickly to the elevator.

VII: May 14th 7:45 p.m.

Dewitt watched as Ivy broke into Topher's empty apartment from her computer screen.

"I am guessing, I owe you five dollars. Please tell me, she isn't doing anything creepy, like fondling my pillows. " Topher said across from the room. He was lying on her couch, nonchalantly. Something had told him Dewitt was right when she had said if they let the Internet up in Ivy's room; she would hack into the security system and try to make it to his room. He had bet against it anyway.

Topher sat up on the couch. "Not that she has ever done any stalker behavior before. I hope not anyway. She just has a crush, but she totally went about having me find out about it the wrong way."

Dewitt held her hand up to cause him to stop talking. She stood up, and walked towards him. She sat down next to him on the couch. "Do you think we should send her to the attic?"

They had been having this discussion for more than an hour; or rather she had figured he needed the chance to vent about everything so had let him do most of the talking. She would ultimately make the final decision, because his mind was working in circles. She was aware of how hard a decision it was, and had already figured out yesterday what the best immediate plan would have to be. She thought Topher might feel a little better if he was asked his opinion on the manner.

Topher sighed. He was sure she didn't really want another go around with the pros and cons. He hated the fact he could see the logic to both sides of the argument. For the most part, they all seemed like excuses to justify either argument, and he didn't like that.

So, what if his team was already understaffed because of Alpha.

She also, hadn't personally attacked him. Her apparently delusional boyfriend had.

But he also wasn't sure if he could work with an assistant who had such a crush on him that whatever she said to Graves caused him to go in frenzy mode.

Dewitt put her arm around his shoulder. Instinctively, he leaned into her. She stroked his hair.

"I am sorry, it is so hard to figure out. I appreciate you wanting my input, but obviously, I am not doing a good job." He closed his eyes pained for a moment.

"Well, since we have already taken care of Mr. Graves, what if I put Miss Nakamura on probation. During her probation, she will be required to go see the corporation psychologist, and you could be given files of possible replacement assistants. So, if you decide that Miss Nakamura won't work anymore, then you will already have someone in mind to replace her."

"Okay." He answered very softly.

Topher heard coming up the stairs. Apparently, Dewitt had heard the person, too because in a few seconds, she was standing calmly across the office, leaning ever so slightly against the desk.

A handler came into the room to ask Dewitt a question.

Topher took the opportunity to walk next door to his office. He sat down very carefully in one of the desk chairs. (He couldn't really ask Dr. Saunders for another painkilling tablet for another hour.) He turned all the computers on.

He rolled over to one of the filing cabinets.

On the top of the filing cabinets was a stack of folders. He removed them, and rolled back to the computers.

He had been putting it off most of the day, watching movies in his apartment, but he might as well start building the widgets for engagements on Saturday. It would the save him the trouble of having to actually come down here early in the morning on Saturday.

Topher opened the first folder and scanned it quickly. Luckily, the personality he would have to create was for the most part generic. He would only have to look for some of the less common fetishes for this lonely-hearts engagement.

He had just started to download the elements of the personality unto its widget when he heard someone come into the room.

He turned slightly to see Boyd escorting Ivy into the room.

Tears already seemed to be forming in Ivy's eyes as she said, "Topher, I am sorry---"

He cut her off with a clearing of his throat. He grabbed a legal pad, and quickly made out a list of really pointless activities. "Have these done by Saturday." He handed her the pad, and walked out of the room. "I'm going to my apartment."

Topher knew he probably sounded like a heartless bastard, but he didn't know what to really say to her at the moment. He was sure anything she would say would cause her to start sobbing. He had no idea what to do when a woman started crying.

Maybe, when he had processed everything it wouldn't seem so awkward.