Disclaimer: Jonny Quest belongs to Hanna Barbera and Turner Productions. I am not affliated with the mentioned companies in any way. The JQ characters here are used without permission of the owners. No cash is made from this.

A Question of Identity: Chapter 7

by Ina-chan

At some weird point in a person�s life, one will find oneself at a cross roads that branches out to an infinite number of unknowns. This is the turning point. When a person �comes-of-age.� The rite of passage from childhood to adulthood. The loss of innocence.

At almost every situation, one will encounter the first two choices the most difficult. One is to choose a path, face the consequences of this decision, and grow up in the process. The other is to stubbornly stay put, remain afraid of the uninvestigated, and remain in the insecurity of childishness.¹ This is an inevitable fate that no one escapes.

Adam and Eve had the forbidden fruit...²

Hamlet had the discovery of his uncle�s crime... ³

Ikari Shinji had the death of his best friend by his own hands... ⁴

Amanda Harrison had the discovery of her lineage...

...and she did not take it very well.

�...lies, lies, lies, lies, lies, lies, lies, lies, lies...� Amanda whispered like a mantra, mostly to herself.

Jessie glanced nervously at the distraught girl. She honestly did not know what to do. She didn�t know how long they were imprisoned in the dimly lit storage room. Her watch has stopped, and every effort she had made earlier to call for help through her communicator had failed.

�Amanda...�She called out softly

�Amanda...�Amanda repeated in a soft whisper, �My name is Amanda, Amanda Harrison... my name is Amanda...�

Jessie sighed dejectedly. This definitely was not the same girl she came to knew from the last few days. Of all the times she felt guilty about her treatment of the blonde girl, this was definitely the weight of the world on Atlas� shoulders. She turned to her best friend, who seated himself on the opposite wall and as far away from them as possible, and felt another pang of despair shoot through her. He wasn�t in a good shape either. Ever since they were rudely shoved into their prison, he lapsed into a passive trance-like state.

Bandit put a sympathetic paw on his master�s arm and whimpered.

He unmistakably was not taking the situation very well either.

�My name is Amanda Harrison,� Amanda said in a louder voice

Jessie turned back to her and saw the other girl looking at her as if she was waiting for Jessie�s approval or something.

�I am Amanda Harrison,� Amanda rephrased on a louder and steadier voice

Jessie gave her a smile of encouragement and made an inward sigh of relief. At least one of them is getting back to normal.

�I AM Amanda Harrison. My father is Dr. Jonathan Harrison. I am a beautiful and unique individual,� Amanda continued, quoting something from a commercial. Then a look of vehemence flashed in her eyes, �I AM NOT SOME STUPID DEAD WOMAN�S CLONE!�

�SHUT UP!� Jonny suddenly snapped at her

Amanda stared at him in shock. Jonny had never raised his voice at her before. Then her expression slowly changed to a glare of equal vehemence. Jessie was finally able to breathe easier upon the knowledge that the two, synchronized as ever, were slowly pulling themselves together. True, that the two almost identical faces that wore amusing identical looks of vehemence bore the promise of the possibility of murdering each other. Jessie figured that the two of them doing a face-off was better than going off the deep end. But Jessie readied herself in case the third world war broke out inside their limited area.

Bandit ran to Jessie for cover.

Fortunately Amanda softened a little as pointed at the side of Jonny�s face, �Your cheek is bleeding.�

It was a small cut just a little under his right eye from where Anaya slapped him. After he uncharacteristically called her a not-so-ladylike name at her face. Jessie never felt so proud of him as off that moment.

�It was probably from that ring she was wearing,� Amanda continued, stating the obvious

Jonny hugged his knees and buried his face in his arms. It wasn�t much of a cut, so it was clear that Amanda was just trying to start a conversation. Something he did not want to do at that moment. She tried one more time.

�Maybe we have to put something on it. It might develop into gangrene or something,� Amanda babbled on

Jessie put a hand on her shoulder, �Look. It would be better if you just leave him alone. He needs some time to absorb all that�s happening.�

Amanda glared at her, �It�s not fair. None of this is my fault!� She turned back to Jonny, �IT�S NOT MY FAULT! Jonny Quest, don�t you dare ignore me!�

Jonny ignored her.

Amanda had always looked older than her true age, so it was natural that people around her treated her older as well. She acted older than her true age... most of the time... sometimes... Well... she was educated in a level advanced for her true age. But despite all that, all the education or assumed roles she had accepted is not a substitute for experience. And Amanda had only seven years worth of it in her lifetime. So Amanda did exactly what a normal a seven year old will do in a frustrating situation as this. Amanda had a temper tantrum.

Jessie watched in utter fascination, as the other girl banged the balls of her fist on several places on the wall. Then proceeded to beat the door with her foot, screeching like a banshee the entire time.

�Be quiet in there!� An already familiar raucous voice bellowed from the other side of the door, emphasized with a loud bang.

Amanda focused her anger on the speaker by screaming obscenities at him. In at least ten different languages... In alphabetical order. Jessie was impressed. When her anger finally receded, Amanda slumped down on the door and tried to catch her breath.

�Feel better?� Jessie asked in an amused tone

Amanda nodded.

�I didn�t know you could speak so many languages,� Jessie remarked lightly

Amanda gave her a weak smile, �I don�t. Only the swear words.�

Jessie gave a small laugh and made a hopeful glance at her other companion, who unfortunately did not exhibit any reaction at all.

�Jonny...�Amanda called out, �I�m sorry. That was uncalled for. I know that this whole thing is hard to swallow. But please don�t hate me.� She made a small nervous chuckle, �You�re starting to worry me.�

�Stop fussing over me,� Jonny muffled voice filtered tiredly from his position

�What�s wrong with worrying over someone you care about?�

�Stop it. You�re not my mother.�

Jessie heard similar arguments before. Mostly directed to her or Hadji. It was almost reflex to say that. At that moment, however, it sounded utterly ironic to the situation. So Jessie laughed. Bandit glanced at her worriedly.

Amanda looked at her in surprise, then broke into a wry smile before she joined in. Both girls glanced at their companion, and Jessie�s laughter died in her throat when she saw his shoulders shaking, and when she thought she heard a muffled sob. Amanda fidgeted uncomfortably as Jessie crawled closer to her best friend.

�Hey...�Jessie began uneasily

Jonny slowly looked up at her and flashed her one of his lopsided grins.

Jessie gave him a light smack the head, �Geez! For a minute there, you actually had me worried.�

�So what�s our game plan?� Jonny asked

Jessie gave him a look, �I was hoping you already had one.�

�I was busy feeling sorry for myself, what�s your excuse?�

Jessie gave him another playful smack.

�Who is this Zin exactly?� Amanda asked

Jessie made a face, �Let�s just say he, his daughters and his followers are demented wackos having delusions of grandeur, and big pains on the backside.�

Bandit barked in agreement.

Amanda nodded, �And �Wee-wee Boy� is one of them. Who would have thought?�

�He was probably sent earlier to infiltrate...�Jonny began, then a look of horror flashed on his face, �Damn. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!�

�What?� Both girls looked at him in surprise

�Why didn�t I realize that Zin was behind all this, when I saw her.�

�Saw who?�

�Anaya... or Malana. I thought I saw her in the halls when we were chasing Bandit. I was following her when...�

�You bumped into me,� Amanda finished for him

�I guess you had an excuse for forgetting,� Jessie teased as she gave Amanda a significant look, �You were... distracted.�

�Well, all of that doesn�t matter anymore,� Amanda said, �What we need to do is to find a way to get out of here and warn my Dad.�

Jonny nodded, �Knowing Zin, he�s going to go after Dr. Harrison and force him to �share� his knowledge about this technology since simply hacking it out didn�t work.�

�Force him?� Amanda cried in alarm, �Force him using what?�

Jessie�s face took on a grim expression, �Us.�

�We�ve got to stop him somehow!� Amanda said frantically

�The potential harm that Zin could create if he manages to get his hands on this technology...� Jonny�s voice trailed off

�We know that the clones will not share the memories of their �parent,� Jessie began as she gave Amanda an apologetic glance, �Meaning they could be �programmed� into being mindless slaves if raised in the proper environment.�

�Zin could replace the world leaders and other authority figures with his �army.� If he succeeds, there�ll be no way of stopping him,� Jonny added ruefully

The door slammed open and the taller man of their captors looked down at them menacingly, �Well, it looks like it�s time to bring the show on the road. Get up and don�t try anything like what you did earlier. I just ran out of patience. If you do ANYTHING this time, I won�t be as nice.�

Bandit growled at the figure as Jessie picked him up and help him protectively. The three hostages stood up slowly and stiffly made their way to the door.

Three days ago, things had been very different in Amanda�s life. She lived a relatively boring life where everything was routine. When the only excitement that happened in her life was the occasional scrapes she always gets herself into. When she was threatened to spend it in a boring boarding school, with other girls and adults who never appreciated a good joke or two. When her overprotective and loving father was the only true family she believed she had.

A lot of things can happen in three days. You can get yourself in more serious trouble than you can ever imagine. You can discover stuff about yourself that you�d never even believe. You can find rare gems that are called friends. You can find a brother. Or you can find yourself standing in front of a cross road that branches out to an infinite number of unknowns...

Amanda snarled at the young man that handcuffed her and Jessie to the jeep. Then glanced worriedly at Jonny who was dumped in a separate Jeep as the intimidated young man scrambled away from her. With determination lining her features, Amanda Harrison made her choice...

(to be continued)