BAD WINE CRAPPY CHOCOLATE

CHAPTER TEN-1

Brandon Cane slipped into Jesse's apartment building. He used his false iris to enter the starscraper, momentarily exposing part of his face in order to do so. After becoming completely invisible once again, Brandon took the val to her floor. Jesse was not home, so he sat in the hallway. One of the other tenants walked by shortly after and the unseen intruder let out a hiss, leaving the unsuspecting victim of his prank in an agitated state. The woman ran to her door.
Jesse had just stepped out of the lift. "What's the matter, Doris?" she called out after the woman.
"There's something...something just made the weirdest noise, but there's nothing there. I'm calling the manager."
Jesse watched Doris close the door to her apartment. Then she smiled and said, "Brandon, I know you're here. Why are you harassing my neighbors?"
"I was waiting for you," he replied. "There wasn't much else for me to do."
Jesse opened her door and let Brandon in. He took off the suit and kissed her.
"I missed you," she said in a sultry voice. "I was afraid that you had left again."
"I'm still here, but I might have to go soon," he told her.
"Did you find the person you were looking for?"
"Yes. She's safe for the moment. I left her at Chris's house."
"I thought you couldn't trust him."
"Chris is out of town. She's with Cybil."
"What's going on, Brandon?"
He led her over to the large sofa and they sat down. Brandon paused to gather his thoughts before speaking. He was compelled to offer her an explanation, despite the skepticism she had displayed before, since his next destination was Allisours. Brandon realized that he could very well lose his life there.

"The person I had to find is my mother," Brandon said.
"Your mother? Darling, she died years ago."
"But I went back in time, remember? I found Cori Fitzgerald."
"Cori Fitzgerald? Who's she?"
"She's my mother. Chris lied to us."
"Why would he do that?"
"I'm not sure. I stopped the people Allisours sent to kill Cori. If they had succeeded, Cybil and I would never have been born."
"Why do the people at Allisours want to prevent you from being born?" Jesse asked in an impatient tone.
"It's Cybil they're after. She scares them."
Jesse stood up and looked down on Brandon with an expression that clearly indicated her doubts. "Do you know what you're saying? Do you really expect me to buy all this?"
"I know it sounds fantastic, but it's true," he said in a frustrated tone. "Foster is afraid that Cybil will make changes that will hurt Allisours."
"Remember all the plans we made? You were going to be a famous scientist, maybe even have a house to live in, instead of an apartment like most of the people do. I was going to raise our family. Does any of that sound familiar to you?"
"Of course. And I still want to do it. But I'm not going to be around unless I can protect Cori. All our planning will have been for nothing if she dies now."
Jesse sat down next to him, taking his hand into her own.
"I love you, Brandon. But I didn't bargain for this. I want a normal life. Some people from the Security Bureau came to see me after you disappeared. They treated me like a criminal. Maybe I'm a weak person, but I'm not cut out for that. I need some stability in my life."
Jesse kissed his forehead before walking into the bedroom. She turned and spoke to him before closing the door.

"I'm 64 years old. If I don't start a family now, I never will. Either straighten yourself out, or we're over. It's up to you."
Brandon sat on the couch for a long while, desperately trying to find the words that would make her believe his story. He thought about introducing Cori to her, but then thought better of it. Jesse could not become involved in this; he would not put her life at risk. Brandon had no other choice but to leave. He put on his suit and left the apartment.
Brandon approached the Allisours building without fear of detection. He walked up to the gate and keyed in the pass code his friend had provided. The system granted him access. If the security guard had been watching, his monitor he would have seen the gate open for no one. Fortunately for Brandon, the man was engaged in a long conversation with his wife. He noticed nothing.
I hope this is the closest I come to being a ghost, Brandon thought to himself.
Carefully making his way down the long corridor to the research wing of the building, Brandon entered the lab where Professor Bardy had once worked. Just before the fugitive began his search, Max Bardy called from the senator's residence. He was using the communication center in Chris's office.
"Cane, Max here. I looked in the old man's house and there weren't any plans for the Mis. I think he wanted to keep this thing to himself. He was probably afraid the Allisours assholes would start fucking with things if they found out about it."
Brandon hesitated, once again considering the possibility that his Mibil conversations were being monitored. In this circumstance, he concluded, it was a risk that had to be taken.
"I'm about to start looking for them somewhere else. I actually hope that I come up with nothing, like you did. If there are no plans, then Foster and his crew can't make any more Mises."
"Well, I didn't exactly come up with nothing," Max replied.
"What did you find?"
"I'd rather show it to you. Be careful, my friend. I'll see you soon."
Brandon's curiosity was piqued, but he could not let his mind wander at that moment. His searchbegan with the compartment where the men renovating Bardy's lab had found the Mises. After finding nothing there, he took a small device out of his pocket. This invention was originally intended to help miners locate valuable ores. Now he utilized it to detect any hidden chambers behind the walls. This also proved fruitless.
Brandon decided to search Foster's office. Though he had not found the Mis plans there during his previous visit to Allisours, there might be other valuable information to be found in that atelier. Brandon left the research area and walked toward the executive wing. Access to the chairman of the board's office was obtained by submitting a DNA sample. The intruder took a patch out of his pocket, made from a sample of Daniel Foster's hair. This had been provided by one of the women who had dated the executive: she was also a close friend of Brandon's. The door opened for him.
Stepping into the large office, he thought back to his first time in this room. Brandon had hardly been able to believe that the Mis existed, even after holding one of them in his hand. He knew at that moment that his future had been altered forever. Even if his mother were saved, the Mis appropriator would never feel secure again.
Maybe I can live in another time.
Brandon focused on the present once more and looked in the vault where he had found the time travel devices. Though protected by an electronic lock, it was still vulnerable to his probe. There was nothing in there that interested him. Brandon then accessed Foster's data station, where he had found the information about Cori Fitzgerald. The station was embedded in the chairman's desk and contained a memo from one of the engineers that referred to a sim. The intruder knew that this was a code word for Mis, and chuckled to himself at the unimaginative attempt at deception. The author of the memo had been assigned the task of reverse engineering Professor Bardy's invention, but had been unable to complete his task. Brandon had stolen the Mises before the engineer had the opportunity to examine one. This proved beyond a doubt that the people at Allisours did not have the plans for the device.