Leather creaked as the old man shifted in his chair. Posture slouched back, content in what little creature comforts that a modicum of rank allowed. His arms stretched forward, resting on the table while hands gripped a string bound paper folder. Brown and made of thick card, it carried a substantial weight, containing a mass of paper documents and several audiotapes. The cover had been stencilled 'Classified' with smaller letters just underneath 'Clearance: M12'. The stylised 'M' gave the man pause, as he flicked his eyes over its design, thoughts probably in remembrance of something significant, he sighed, then proceeded to unravel the string. Laying the folder flat he pulled out the contents, arranging them in order on his desk. Photos, certificates, report's, write-ups, analysis's and even scraps of loose notes emerged - all documenting the complete and current life of one woman. The quality and quantity of the material hinted in no uncertain terms that this was no ordinary person; evidently she had attracted the attention of some rather important people. The old man slowed as he noticed some of the names and signatures imprinted on those papers, leafing through them with further care. Going back to the photos that he had initially put aside, he picked two, one in each hand and placed them side-by-side. The left he noticed, was a shot taken of a girl dressed in graduation day robes in a brightly lit hall with friends by her side and clutching to her chest a scroll wrapped up with a purple ribbon, words at the bottom labelled it "Sara, 17th July 1994, Graduation day, King's College". Putting the other picture down and flicking through a few other documents, the man found what he was looking for - Birth date: 7th December 1972. Looking back at the picture, he calculated that she would have been 21 when this was taken. Photogenic, smiling, happy face - a typical english girl, moderately pretty, long dark brown hair, cute nose, bright red lipstick, and possibly too much makeup around her large deep green eyes. Her figure was hard to determine under that large loose fitting gown, but he could reasonably guess that it was fairly trim; taking his eye of the photo, he searched for the information on Sara's college day sports. None listed as serious, but for a regular swimming session and a listed active interest into the disco/club scene. Picking up the photo he had put down, he again bought it up beside the college photo. The right photo was larger, higher quality and (subjectively) had an artistic feel to it as if the photographer had sensed a mood and tried to capture it on film. Drawn first to the description at the bottom, "McKenzie S. 12/07/1997 - Operational indoctrination", gave some clue as to the origin of this photo. The old man scanned his eyes left and right, observing even though it was but 2 years, distinct differences could be seen in the girl. In almost every comparison and descriptive she had changed. The later photo framed her face within a dim smoky room, the light from a single source shone into her face from her left, highlighting that side, shadowing her right. Her visible eye staring straight into the camera lens spoke of a serious, concentrating look, a look that emerged from a leaner face, framed in darker hair, paler skin, devoid of cosmetics excepting the bright red lips that remained the same. Her new slimmer intense look made her more appealing but in a darker more unnerving way, as though the lost innocence that projected from her eyes needed to attract the viewer. It was a subjective thought of the man, quickly forgotten and discarded as he dropped the photos and began the efficient business of assimilating as much information as he could from the other documents. It was the second year of postgraduate med school that she had officially recognised as of being out of the ordinary. In a simple class participation Letterman psychoanalysis test: her score of 19 out of 20 for choosing the correct sequence, was far beyond what was statistically possible for simple random guessing. A whirlwind month of tests commenced, one after the other, far to quickly for any definitive paper to be published - before she ended up in the office of Professor Jon Bacham, Trinity College, Cambridge, where under controlled conditions, she repeated perfect examples of limited precognition, empathy and a small degree of telepathy. Bacham - a noted researcher in human psychology was at that time an avant-garde in parapsychology - he wrote a few (wild sounding) emails to his close confidents in linked universities in California and Oxford. The old man picked up a printed memo bearing the seal of Her Majesties Government. It was a log documentation of 'Puma', a MI5 supercomputer that had routinely decrypted the email and filed it for analysis by human operators. From section operations, it had been flagged to section supervisor then section chief - finally to Home Office Intelligence: Section 8 analysts. Within a time frame of 48 hours, Bacham's comments had filtered to the decision makers of national security. Just another 48 hours later, Sara McKenzie had been officially diagnosed with 'Borderline Personality Disorder'. Legal and medical advisors had also convinced Mr. Henry and Mrs. Susan McKenzie to sign over guardianship of their daughter to a mental institution. Sara McKenzie, on 9th May 1996, aged 23, had become the legal property of the state. A quick transcript of the emails noted Sara's undeniable talents as well as some intensive hypnotherapy regression sessions where at aged 14, she had met 'strange little grey people with big black eyes' and played with machines that looked like upturned spiders. Bacham theorised on Alien abduction and experimentation, but finding little other evidence, had discounted it as imaginative fantasy. The man quickly scanned the rest of her medical history. Sara had been uncooperative for nearly 4 months, until administered chemical and hypnotic commands had been induced into her psyche. A technique developed and later refined for others, encouraged her to participate in training, culminating in her operational field agent status in 1st January 1998. By the time of this 'graduation', 217 hours of counselling had taken place, a total of 65 instructions imprinted, affecting 8% of all thought processes. Taken in context - in a period of one hour (60 minutes), nearly 5 minutes of that time, she would have had her natural thoughts overridden. Interestingly enough, the last page was a PhD. Degree Certificate granted to Sara McKenzie for Analytical Psychology, "A study into artificially induced thought wave patterns". Affixed to the back of the medical folder was a several inches square piece of thin plastic, 2 sheets of clear Perspex protecting red sheets of paper, an arrangement not unlike the key codes of a nuclear missile launch authorisation. It was marked "Device: SM1 - higher order function control codes". The man was motionless for a few moments, unmoving, lost in further thought, his eyes not focusing on anything in particular. Only his fingers in its slight tapping on the square plastic perhaps betrayed where his mind had forwarded to. Shaking himself out of the reverie, he tucked the plastic back into the folder putting it out of sight, picking up the next file. 'Combat Analysis' it had read at the start of the file, mostly a list of training schools and qualifications she had received. Bravo Company, Hereford, Special Air Services; Naval College, Portsmouth, Royal Marines; Royal Academy, Sandhurst, Grenadier Guards. There was nothing special, a long string of acceptable passes, no failures or even instructor's comments where it had reserved room for them. With the exception of Hereford, it had seemed Sara had been sent to study, with no expectations of anything more. Hereford it seemed was more important; several documents were enclosed with references to many more that the old man could see on the table in front of him. He picked up the one at the top of the list. McKenzie, S. SM1-002T4. Strength: adequate, Stamina: adequate, Health: adequate, Fitness: adequate, Balance: adequate, Awareness: see note, Reactions: see note. Of a listing of 'adequate' it could be seen that the author had drawn attention to the tests of Awareness and Reactions, he, (Colonel Sanders. W), had highlighted the words 'see note' in bold. "The subject is for all test matters (except situational awareness and reactions) typical of the length and quality of training given. The exception is given to field tests involving scenarios or exercises such as Patrol, Fire and movement, Assault and Killhouse, where she has the ability to read possible direction of threat and respond to it the instance that threat is realised." A cross referenced note to another file, further discussed and analysed the observed data given by Colonel Sanders. Briefly summarised, it considered the uncharted influences of Precognition within situations that offered danger to the subject. However the discussion was not conclusively proved - "under high-speed camera footage, the subject did not react to threat until after it had been made apparent. Whether this was within the realms of an exceptional human or the assured efficiency of motion granted to a Precognitive - is open to further debate." A further section went on to justify the phenomena of Danger sense or Sixth sense by referring to documented reports of combat veterans - it ended as inconclusive, as no case could be proved. One of the last was the operational history file: it was rather thin. Her official classification was listed as 'combat point man', with secondary abilities in investigations and analyst. Here was also a recommendation in tactical use that she was not to be unsupervised while in the field and the control of special and heavy weapons to be issued with strict clearance. A unique, high valued asset to the organisation, not to be used as combat point. Dropping the folder back on his desk the old man sat forward and rubbed his eyes with both hands mulling through the inconsistency of that recommendation. Still sitting forward he crossed his arms letting his gaze wander over the other items on his desk. One last item he would pay attention to - the audiocassette. Placing it into a player, he activated it into life. "Weekly counselling session, 16:00 hours, twelve of July, nineteen ninety-seven", intoned a bland sounding man. "Subject, McKenzie. S. under mild sedative, 5cc's of Midazolam, slight trance. Sara, please tell the recorder your name, date of birth and your serial number." "Sara Leanne McKenzie, Seventh of December Nineteen Seventy two, SM1 dash 00T4." The old man stared ahead at the wall opposite, unawares of the sunlight fading from the windows behind him, he was capturing her voice, building up a personality profile. She had a young soprano, lyrical in nature, easily given to a rhythm of a modern pop song, or piecing her voice across a crowded room. It was also cool, detached and very calm. He picked up one of the previous photos he had had in his hand and stared into that half face that stared back. "I will now begin standard ethical procedure questions. Sara, have you been in a violent situation?" "Yes." "Have you ever been violent?" "Yes." "Have you ever killed anyone?" "Yes." "Please elaborate." "Three, two men, one woman." "How do you feel about killing?" "It may be a necessary action to maintain order." "What is your political orientation?" "None." "What are your religious beliefs?" "Raised Christian." "Any now?" "Non practising Christian." "Do you believe in the afterlife?" "Yes." "What do you think your fate will be after death?" "Free." "Why do you say that?" "That is what I was taught." "What is your sexual orientation?" "Straight." "What is your attitude towards people with other orientations?" "It's a free world." "What is your attitude towards sex?" "Enjoyable." "What is your attitude towards the opposite sex?" "They can be useful." "Who or what do you hate the most?" "My dreams, my nightmares." "Why do you say that?" "I disagree with them." "What do you disagree with?" "I always die, I do not wish to die." "Who or what do you love the most?" "My mother and father." "What is your greatest fear?" "To fall asleep and die." "Describe your fondest memory, or the happiest time of your life?" "First time sex and independence at college." "Describe your most traumatic memory, or your worst time of your life?" "Borderline Personality Disorder." "Why do you say that?" "Because I am fine." "What dream makes you wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night?" "Little men with black eyes and dieing while they cut me open." "What would you die for?" "Family and a place to call home." "End standard ethical questions, subject has been cooperative and will now take a ten minute break." The old man paused the recording and leaned back staring out of his window at the darkening sky. Stats out of 6 (3 average) Strength 3 quickness 4 agility 4 Endurance 3 Awareness 4 Willpower 4 Primary skills out of 4 (average 1) Combat 3 Gun (pistols) 2 Gun (assult rifles) 2 Melee (unknown) 2 stealth (woodland) 1 stealth (urban) 1 paramedic (3) Secondary skills Language (english) 3 Vehicle (car) 2 Free skills psychic abilitries.