Chapter 5

Delilah led Broadway, Angela, and Argent thru a series of tunnels. Along the way they were greeted by the humans that lived down in the Labyrinth. Argent expected them to shy away from him, but even the small children that he saw along the way, waved and smiled at him.

"Just how many people live down here anyway?" Argent asked.

"I don't think we've actually counted," Delilah said. "I think maybe just under a hundred. Most of them, like Tammy, have nowhere else to go."

"Oh, I forgot to check in!" Broadway exclaimed. "It's past time."

Delilah noticed him reaching for the cell-phone in his loincloth. "I'm afraid you'll have to go back outside for that to be able to work. Being down here makes cell-phone calls almost impossible."

"Oh. OK. I'll go back up top, and meet up with you after I call the castle." Broadway started back the way they had come, up to the surface.

"I wonder where Talon, Maggie, and Claw are?" mused Delilah. "They might be in the main chamber... it's this way."

Delilah lead the two of them down a side tunnel while calling out Talon's name.

"We're in here!" A voice answered back.

"Good. They are in there, I can't wait for you to meet them Argent!" Delilah smiled and took him by the hand.

Castle Wyvern: Main Hall.

Lexington had the cell phone in a death grip as he kept pushing the re-dial button, but all he kept getting was a recording saying that the user was out of range. "Come on, come on!" he muttered and hit the re-dial again.

Hudson entered the hall followed by Goliath, Brooklyn, Elisa, Xanatos, and Fox... who was carrying little Alex.

"Hudson came and found us after you told him it was urgent," Goliath said. "He said it had something to do with the second disk. What did you find?"

Lex turned the screen so everyone could see it, and pulled up the information that was on the disc. Technical readouts and diagrams flowed across the screen."

"What is this that we're looking at?" Goliath asked.

"It's a diagram of a special computer chip, with a neural interphase." Lex noticed the puzzled look on Goliath's face, and began to explain while hitting the re-dial button again. "It's a machine that is designed to go into the human brain. Once placed there, it can be programmed to feed that brain whatever information that is fed into it. A person with one of these in their head has no choice but to carry out the orders that were programmed into it, even if they don't want to."

Xanatos let out a low whistle. "Brain-washing... using hi tech computers. A person could have his whole life, and memories remade to suit who ever wanted to program him." He shook his head "Anton has gone way too far this time."

"You think Argent has on of these Chips in his head?" Goliath asked.

"Yes." Lex pulled up another diagram, while hitting re-dail again. "The chip has to be planted in the part of the brain that controls long-term memories."

"That's why he can't remember anything!" Elisa exclaimed.

"Do you have any idea what he was programmed to do?" Goliath asked Lex.

"Yes, and it's not good." He punched up a new diplay, and pictures formed on the screen.

"Oh my god!" Elisa gasped.

There on the screen were pictures of Talon, Maggie, and Claw. Just below each image were a series of commands. FIND, ENGAGE, CAPTURE, RETRIEVE.

"How much of this programming did he receive before waking up and breaking out of the police warehouse?" Xanatos asked.

"I'm not sure, but I'm trying to get ahold of Broadway now, and tell him not to take Argent anywhere near the Labyrinth until we know for sure. Just seeing Derek and the others might trigger any latent programming he may have."

Lex was just about to hit re-dial on the phone again, when it rang. "Broadway... where are you?"

Outside the Labyrinth.

"Delilah's taking Angela and Argent down to meet Derek and the others, but I remembered that I had to check in, so that's why I'm calling.

Inside the Labyrinth.

Delilah grinned as she made introductions all around. "Talon, Maggie, Claw, this is Argent. He's a friend of Goliath's clan... and he's my friend too. Argent this is my clan."