Sakurako sits at her desk in an impromptu office in the basement of WCK Headquarters. She's been busy overseeing the upgrades, updates, and refits of the WCK's Equipment, Headquarters, and Computers. Then, she scratches her nose, as she looks over her computer data coming up on a smallish laptop, sitting on said desk, tapping a version of Alchemist's cube on the table. All the while, thinking of several command patches she needs to make to the WCK Operating System, and alligning come molecules in her mind's eye, using her computer for doublechecking.

There has to be a way to further stabilize this. I've been thinking of employing the crystal lattice I discovered from Waki's feathers into the Hinopolymer I'm using, but the spider-mesh hybrid seems to be all I can work out with Hinopolymer. It'll have to do I guess.

She rolls the cube letting it turn into a ball.

This truely is a facinating piece of work, Alchemist. I can see some uses for this small little thing. If I could make it more stable, it could be just what the doctor ordered for future upgrades here. But for now, I have a cute little mind toy, if not a useful little piece of equipment.

As she watches the ball, she hears a knocking. She gently places the ball in her desk, as it turns back into a block.

"You may enter. If this is regarding the power surge earlier, I needed to check the integrety of your mainlines, and see if there were any taps..."

She's curious as to who it was. Was it Alchemist again? Jager? Sandcaster... Perhaps DigiGeist?

There has been a couple unresolved issues between her and him that have been on her mind...

Carver hesitates before pushing the door open. This is not what she wants to be doing, not at all. But she does what she must.

It is her first time without back-up; her other visits had gone so well that she had decided to talk to Endeavor alone. Of course, she sighs to herself, this will be the one that goes wrong.

"Hey, Endeavor," Carver grins when she has the door open, smiling with an ease ahe doesn't feel. "Jager told me you were in town, and I thought I'd swing by and see you." She thought about offering lunch, but wasn't sure that was appropriate when you were going to admit to someone that you'd burned their house and killed their cat.

"Do you have a few minutes to talk?"

Sakurako stand up from her desk.

"Carver... This is a pleasant suprise."

She walks around to the front side of her desk.

"I haven't had the chance to talk to you after we had to deal with Shen-Khan. Is... Everything alright?"

Sakurako can sort of pick up on her distress. While she's not a empathic person, che can tell when someone's not feeling quite right.

Endeavor has given her an opening, and Carver takes it. "No, things aren't alright," she says softly. Endeavor's expression becomes even more empathic as Carver says that and Carver forces herself to not drop her gaze.

"I had a Harvester manlipulate me," Carver says, "mind-fuck me and use me to get vengence for Shen Kahn." She had brought something for Endeavor and she pulls it out now, handing it toward her. As Endeavor takes it from her, Carver continues, "I'm sorry, Endeavor, for what I have done... both as Carver and as... Ghost."

In Endeavor's hand are the glasses that Ghost took from her house before burning it to the ground. "I want to make amends, if I can," Carver says softly. "I know that I've destroyed things that can't be brought back... and I am so sorry about what I did to your cat."

For a second, the words almost pass by her. Sort of like the initial shock of seeing something horrendous happen before your eyes. Something like naw, that can't be real but deep down, something catches. Something tells you, all of a sudden this is wrong.

The first reaction is a blank stare, as she sees the glasses that dissapeared from her home. The ones she used when cosplaying. Both for the look as prop glasses, but the interface they used similar to an HUD display. The last she wore those, she was cosplaying as Yomiko Readman. A woman who never knew who she could really trust, and before a certain time, those people would backstab her, only to turn out it was all a lie anyways.

That seemed to be the story of Sakurako's life in general. A lie. Or sometimes a fabrication.

Right now though. There is something true. She calmly takes the glasses, and sets them on the desk. Then her right hand clenches.

"Carver..." This sort of voice no one has heard uttered by Sakurako before. Sakurako's rage is building. And her voice was magnified into something... alien... by the speakers in the room of various electronic devices. As if it wasn't just one voice speaking, but a Jury. About to pronounce it's verdict.

Her eyes are like pinpoints, fixed on Carver's own eyes. The feeling would be one of being shot through the head with beams coming from the eyes, but on a purely psychological scale. Then one could see the tears welling.

Anyone knowing this sort of emotional response knows something wicked is being held back.

"What did... What did you say, Carver? If you knew... If YOU KNEW!!!"

Her eyes re-focus and dilate slightly. Then her expression releases, showing anger in full, and aggression. Then, all that is heard in the room is a sharp crack, as her right hand meets Carver's cheek with force.

Sakurako stands in front of Carver. Floored more from the shock of Sakurako actually using violence than the actual strike.

"Damn you, Carver! You don't know HOW LONG I've had to bottle this up! I've been losing myself in my work, spending every waking moment with others, LOOKING BEHIND MY BACK... and for what?! To know a former ally did this to me?!"

"You better explain how you "remember" what you did. Someone better have laid out the skinny for you, getting your head straight, because if you remembered every moment as it happened then why didn't you stop yourself. It'd be all on your head!"

She stares at Carver. Her right hand prepares to ball up again, but then she starts to realize what she's said and done. A look of shock and awe, and perhaps suprise, followed by remorse, as tears begin to flow. The electronic chorous ceases.

"I... Carver I.... I don't know what came over me. But... Why do you know what you did? I... I'm so confused here... This is all so sudden."

She punches the table with her left hand, her glasses jump slightly.

"I'm... sorry..."

"Do not apologize!" Carver says fiercely, pushing herself to her feet. Getting hit felt really good... finally, someone was hurting her for what she had done to them. "I hurt you, badly."

She rubs her eyes wearily. "Ok, here's the deal," she says. "A Harvester named Arachne altered my memories so that I thought everyone had betrayed me, so that I thought that I was Shen Kahn's friend and I needed to avenge him.

"I thought that all my acts of vengence were the right thing to do," Carver sighs. "I thought that I was doing the right thing. All that pain... all that heartache... and all because I couldn't protect my mind from that bitch."

She tugs her clothing straight as she continues, "It took a telepath a few hours to sort it all out. He left the fake memories, as well as the correct ones so that I won't have any holes or questions about my memory.

"Again, Endeavor... I am sorry for what I did to you."

Sakurako sits on her desk, calmer, letting Carver's words sink in. While not completely breaking down, the tone of her voice is wavering.

"So, this whole Arachne deal... Where is she now?"

Sakurako starts assessing the situation.

"Obviously... If she's doing this, the woman is a high-level threat... If she can get to you, it'd be just as easy to get to one of us."

Then Sakurako starts to realize what she got herself into earlier when she helped Long.

"Long is definately gonna owe me now, if this is going to get me in another entanglement with someone more dangerous than Shen Long."

"Arachne's dead," Carver says flatly. "She was killed when she came to reclaim me. So you don't need to worry about retribution from that.

"And in all truth," Carver states, "Arachne choose me because I am weak. Or rather I was weak - strange how living through something like that will make you stronger."

After a moment of consideration, Carver adds, "But you should keep an eye on your back. If Arachne came after me, another friend of Shen Kahn's might come after someone else. The news of what happened is out, and Arachne knew everyone involved. Whether she spread that to others, I don't know, but I do know that at least one other Terat worked closely with Arachne. So just keep your eyes open and your head down, ok?"

Sakurako pauses. Thinking about Carver's words.

"It's sort of hard for me to just dissapear, Carver. When I helped Long... I fully knew what the consequences could be. Whatever I've gotten into, you're also in. So is Long, Jager, Samhra, Conduit, and the rest."

She puts her hand on Carver's shoulder.

"I... To be quite honest am glad I found out about this in this fashion. I had people looking for you. Thing was... they were turning up blanks. I think that's good. Because if it would have happened the other way, we'd have another Wakinyan situation. At least legal wise."

She smirks.

"And some questions from the Japanese Government... not to mention my insurance company. For all the world knows, whoever did my place was just a... random kook. I'll endeavor to keep it that way. Besides, you were so good, no one knew who did it."

Sakurako takes her hand off of Carver's shoulder and walks over to her desk.

"In a way I should be thankful, Carver. That the only life lost was my Cat."

She takes her glasses and puts them back on. The HUD hums to life.

"If you came here looking for forgiveness, Carver, you have it. But, the question now is; can you forgive yourself?"

She turns towards Carver.

"I can understand manipulation, Carver. It's happened to me personally, Timeslip, and Long. Perhaps now I can show you how to regain that sense of self. Forgiveness is the first key. Then what you do with yourself afterwards, is what makes you an individual. Just don't go it alone. I made that mistake and it almost cost me my sanity."

Carver closes her eyes, nearly sagging with relief as Sakurako forgives her. "Thank you, Sakurako," she murmurs. "I know that I don't deserve your forgiveness, which makes it all the more precious to me. Thank you so much."

At the mention of doing it alone, Carver's face softens as a slight flush rises on her cheeks. "I'm not alone," she says with a smile - the bright, secret smile of a new-lover. "Mythic... he and I... he helped me, got my head on straight and didn't reject me, despite what I did to him as Ghost."

The blush darkens her cheeks more as she shyly admits, "I don't think that he's going to let me alone." Endeavor can see the excited shine that lights up her eyes. "You'll have to meet him. He's... great."

She sobers up as she adds, "And I have the Foundation. It's amazing how much it's helping me to keep my head on straight. Helping others is giving me the sense that I'm not capable of just killing, that I can help instead of destroy."

Sakurako sits on her desk.

"Tell me more regarding your foundation, Carver. As for Mythic... that's more personal. It's sort of like Sam and Conduit with me. We know about that, so there is no need to elaborate."

"The Chicago Foundation is a non-for-profit organization dedicated to helping people who's lives have been adversely affected by novas or their actions," Carver says. "We aren't a typical social services organization - we tend to fill in the gap between what the "big" organizations provide and what people actually need.

"We also provide round-the-clock psychitric aid to people - basically," Carver says, getting excited, "when someone is in need, they come to us, and we provide immediate care and refer them as needed to other agencies for long-term care. That's where quite a bit of our available funds go, to help pay for, or supplement, long-term therapy costs." She laughs suddenly and adds, "It's all very emotion-centritic and touchy-feely... strange, new ground for me."

Sakurako adjusts her "glasses" with a blush on her face.

"If this was a few years ago, I would have been one of your biggest cases. Having a shatered personality tends to require some hardcore help."

She sighs.

"But... enough about that."

"I..." The thoughts of her cat start to return. "I cannot imagine what lies Arachne placed in your head to... unleash such anger within you. Such... emotions could cloud the mind. Thing is... If I was there would you have killed me?"

Carver looks away from Sakurako, and then forces her eyes back up to Endeavor's pale pink ones. "Arachne made me think that Jager and Conduit had tried to kill me, that Wakinyan had held me captive and raped me, and that Mythic had killed my boyfriend and used his powers to seduce me on his body.

"But she didn't do anything like that regarding you," Carver says. "Your crime was helping Long, so I probably wouldn't have killed you. After all, you hadn't killed Shen Kahn, who I thought was my friend. It wouldn't have been... just to kill you." Carver makes a face when she says "just", as if the word leaves a bad taste in her mouth.

"But if you had attacked me in self-defense," Carver states as she hangs her head. "I don't know. The night I went to your house, I was fresh from a new domination from Arachne. I was ready to do whatever it took to do what I thought was justice.

"That's what really sucks. I was killing and maiming, and I thought I was doing the right thing," she says. "And the whole time, I'd be sick to my stomach, torn by guilt as part of me knew that I wasn't doing anything resembling just."

...

Sakurako pauses in thought.

"I guess she had a list of priorities."

"Carver, I think we are both lucky then, that whatever luck you had in breaking her spell came."

"Have you talked with Conduit yet regarding this? It seems he was involved as well. At least from what you say. I haven't gained much info from the OpNet, I hardly pay attention to it as I should, lately."

The slightest of flinches covers Carver's face at the mention of Conduit. "Yes, he was involved," Carver says softly, "or rather, someone close to him was involved. I owe him an explaination as well."

She sighs. "No time like the present. Do you know how to get ahold of him?"

"I sort of waved him off from coming, when I realized Alchemist is just as capable. If not more so."

Sakurako gives Carver the number and the address of her residence/private headquarters.

"I've allowed Conduit to stay at my residence, and he is under my employ. You can reach him there, or you can go there yourself."

Sakurako's tone becomes firm and matter of fact.

"You have a long road ahead of you, Carver."