History Park wasn't really a park.. Not in the trees and flowers sense of the word at any rate. What it *was*, was an enclosed, holographically-enhanced reconstruction of life in New Jork during the Galactor War.

The giant mecha, some grotesque turtle-thing, made Tosh's skin crawl every time he entered the place.

The reconstruction was set in nite-mode, and the streetlamps cast a sickly orange light on the terrified faces of the mannequins poised silently on the streets. "Disturbing, isn't it?" Karada's soft voice caused Tosh to jump and issue a small, strangled scream. He wheeled around to see the white-haired TA leaning against a lamppost.

"GHOD!" Tosh finally croaked out. "You're like a fraggin' ghost!"

"A white shadow?" Karada's voice was tinged with sardonic humor.

"Very funny." Tosh said sourly, raking through his unruly hair. "Why here of all places?"

Karada pushed away from the lamppost. His clothing was a take on the old skool styles of the mannequins.. and combined with his pale coloring, he appeared almost like a phantom from the war years. "Charming ambiance.. That and the hologenerators set up a pleasant background interference.." He reached a long, pallid hand towards Tosh's cheek.

"Hey..whoah..." Tosh's eyes widened as a blush the color of his hair crept across his face. "I don't..." There was a sudden, tiny sting as Karada's fingers brushed his skin. "OW!"

"Don't be a baby, Washio." Karada said dryly, examining the minute red droplet on the barely noticeable micro-injector on his finger. "It's only a blocker bug..it'll set up some interference with your nanotransmitters once we leave here."

"My.. What?" Tosh grumbled, rubbing the welt on his cheek. "You're a Washio, right? The IEC has you bagged and tagged, kid." Gabriel put away the device and sent Tosh a sidelong glance. "You look confused, Washio."

"Yeah.. You could say that.. Yeah.. What is all this badnano birdshit anyways? I thought you were gonna help me out with what happened to Ferdy.. What has my family got to do with any of this??" His hands tightened into fists along with a growing tension in his voice.

"Everything. C'mon. Walk with me." Karada made an offhand gesture and turned down an alleyway. ""nd keep quiet, would you? Joqs..." Tosh followed him with a growl, his red, white, and blue NJU Falcons jersey making him look terribly out of place.

The alley was dirty and graffitied in replication of pre-Pax New Jork, and Tosh regarded it with an ingrained distaste, following the older student to a battered steel safety door. Gabriel pushed aside a tattered movie poster to reveal a shiny new access panel. A brief, bright light swept across his face. "You ever hear of Samuel Karada?" he started, as though making small talk.

Tosh frowned as Karada opened the door. "I think I've heard of him. Isn't he some IEC guy?"

Karada snorted and held the door for Tosh. "He *is* the IEC as far as it goes.. And he's my father.." Tosh paused. "Geeze.. What the smeg are you doing HERE then?" Karada snorted again. "Keep moving."

The doorway led to dark, narrow stairs, which in turn led to the maintenance tunnels under the reconstruction. Gabriel found his way with complete self-assuredness to another doorway, forgotten behind a maze of heating ducts. This door led to more stairs.. Darker and narrower than the previous set.. Barely illuminated by the dim light of chemical emergency lights. Tosh's eyes had just barely adjusted to the gloom when Karada opened another door and the stairwell flooded with light.

Tosh covered his eyes with a sharp cry. "You don't have any memory prior to waking up in St. Lucien's in New Utoland City, do you?" Karada asked, his voice oddly gentle.

"N..no.." Tosh blinked furiously, the glare resolving itself into a laboratory.. Cobbled together from castoffs from the university. "No memory.. But you think you remember me?"

Tosh frowned, wiping at his eyes. "Your eyes. I remember grey eyes..." With that, Karada switched on one of the monitors, and it flickered to life with a picture of Samuel Karada with his iron-grey hair.. and steely eyes.. Cool and disaffected as his son's.

"My father was there the day you... and Makoto Washio... were born."

Tosh looked at the image with an inexplicable panic. "Buh..born?"

Gabriel perched himself on a workbench, looking at the sophomore with a clinical gaze. "You really have no idea do you?" He sounded almost sorry. "Makoto Washio's not your cousin. Shiro Washio can't really be considered your father. He's more like.. A previous model year."

"Are you calling ..me.. Are you saying.. I'm.........SMOKE YOU!! I AM NOT A SYNTH!!" Tosh swung at him with a sudden rage at the slur. After all.. To be a synthetic was to be less than human. A gloved hand shot out and caught Tosh's wrist, wrenching it back and pinning it behind him with immediate pain. "Stop fucking with him, Karada and get on with it." came a gravelly voice next to Tosh's ear.

Tosh struggled against the grip on him as Gabriel made a dismissive gesture. "Gomen, gomen. Toshi Washio.. This is your life.." Tosh snarled something and the voice ground against his ear again. "Watch the movie kid, and relax. You might just learn something." and with that, the painful hold on him was released.

"....leted the next level of optimization for the Washio Series 3.0 Clones. The Series 2.0 has proven itself to be unreliable in field use, and will be terminated and recycled immediately. Pending my final approval, two of the five Series 3.0 will be decanted and made field-ready. These are the units labeled Rui and Makoto Washio. Two others, ident as Toshi and Yohji Washio will be held in reserve should the primary Washio Series suffer damage or destruction."

Gabriel put the vid on pause. He'd watched the color drain from Tosh's face. "So." he offered blandly. "You're not a synth, see?"

"This.. Is some kinda gag..ne? The other guys on the team.. They put you up to this, right?" Tosh said weakly, hopefully. "This is too crazy.. I have a mother and a father.."

"That you have no recollection of. Shiro Washio was an unstable Series 2.0. According to IEC regulations, he had to be ... put down." The gravelly voice began again. Tosh turned slowly to see the speaker. He was tall and pale, an elegant form at odds with the voice.. Dark hair cut in the latest style.. All mirrorshades and black synthleather. "Tsuiko Takihara was an IEC monitor.. She got a little too close to her case... She was recycled with him."

Tosh felt suddenly ill, and Karada helped him sit down with surprising care. "Who.. Who are you?" he asked miserably. "Why are you...?"

"You can call me Hotspur.. I'm a friend of Gabriel's.. And a friend of yours, too....." He dipped the mirrorshades to look at Tosh over the rims with the tilted, glowing red eyes of a synthetic. "Washio." He lit a skinny smokestik and the lab was flooded with the scent of patchouli. Karada wrinkled his nose. "Ghod, .. Can't you take that garbage outside?"

Hotspur made a snort. "Cripes. Can't even get a decent goddamn cigarette these days." he mused in his rough voice as he pushed the mirrorshades up. "You still breathing, kid?"

Tosh looked at the two.. Feeling numb beyond comprehension. "Tell me what happened to Ferdy.. Tell me what's been happening to the other students. Tell me what the hell is going on..."

Hotspur laughed sharply. "There's the Washio spirit. Gabe.. Why don't you give the eaglet his tour?"