The overhead lights flicker as the train eases forward. The sun through the trees creates a strobe effect as the train speeds past them. Shadows flash on the faces of the passengers like an old movie projected on the skin, stopping only when the train stops. Most of the passengers are sleeping or engrossed in books, work, games but this one face stands out. He stares forward, eyes open, not blinking even as the bright morning sun constantly shines in his eyes. He seems lost to the world around him, out of time and out of place. Is it just that he's made this trip so many times that nothing about it affects him anymore? This man seems innocuous enough and yet he continues to draw my eye. When he just happens to get off at my stop, I decide to follow him. I can feel he has a story to tell.

I suppose an introduction is in order. My name is Sera Angea and I am a voyeur. Not in the sexual sense mind you. I watch, I listen, sometimes I help. I'm a guardian angel to some, a psychic to others, and a friend to most. I don't do this for a living; there's no money in it. I wouldn't accept any if there were. I have a gift and I refuse to exploit it, though many have tried to convince me otherwise. I should be at my job right now, not following this man. Fortunately, I have a very understanding boss, especially since I predicted his lung cancer before the doctors did. He didn't lose a lung thanks to me. He is one of the very few people I've helped who actually know me. Not all cases are like his. Some just need someone to share his or her pain and sadness. I do that for them. Its like I absorb it, clearing their soul so they can move on and live life again. Some times, I sense an illness or other condition that they can not. And on rare occasion I find someone who is in a situation they need a way out of. I have a feeling that the man from the train is one of those cases.

As I step off the train I place a quick call to work and explain the situation then I start to follow. It needs to be understood that I'm not the kind of person you pay much attention to, so most people never notice me following them. I'm a bit of a chameleon, blending into my surroundings. Some of my subjects have told me that I've appeared in their dreams but they couldn't remember who I was or where they've seen me. I follow him into the older part of town. The part with cute little shops on the first level of each row house but apartments in the upper parts. He walks purposefully and maneuvers the busy sidewalk as though he is predicting the move of every commuter in front of him. On the train in there was a dedication and resolve in his eyes and now there is the same in the sound of his step. Trying to read him in all of the hustle of morning rush hour proves difficult. Too many voices, images to zone in on his. Carefully weaving in and out of the crowd I follow him to 350 Wyles St.. As I record the address in my PDA, I note the sign on the building says MEDNA Corp. I record this as well to research on the net later. Now comes the fun part, finding out who he is and why he is calling out to me. He pulls a security access card from his inside jacket pocket and slips inside.

After a minute I go up to the door and press the intercom button. A soft feminine voice answers.

"Yes can I help you?"

"That man who just came in, I've been chasing him for blocks. He left something on the train I think he needs. Can I come in and give it to him?"

"You mean Dr. Sharnett? What did he leave?"

"It looks like a PDA but I haven't turned it on."

Bzzz. Click. The door opens and I walk in. After passing through a very high tech security scanner I am greeted by the voice from the intercom.

"You can leave Dr. Sharnett's PDA here with me."

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure it's his. It was by his seat. I would prefer to give it to him personally just in case its not and I need to take it to lost and found."

I was hoping this would be good enough to get me to his office and alone with him.

"We do not allow strangers upstairs unescorted. Let me call Dr. Sharnett and see if he will meet you."

Stepping away from the desk to give her privacy, I look around. There is nothing on the walls. No pictures, no signs, nothing. Very sterile and secure, an odd place for this part of town.

"He's on his way down to meet you, miss. He sounded very surprised."

I'm sure he was as there is no PDA. Off the elevator walks Dr. Sharnett, the man from the train. Tall with light brown skin and graying hair pulled back in a ponytail, his eyes shone with a mix of confusion and the resolve of earlier. One deep look at his eyes revealed that he is being forced to be here.

"I understand you have something you believe belongs to me."

His voice was gruff with control but underneath it I heard gentle pleas for help. Telepathically I tell him that I am here to help him and to take me upstairs. I remove my PDA from my purse and show it to him.

"Yes, I believe you left this PDA on the train."

A quizzical look appears on his face and I know he heard me. He takes the PDA, turns it on and examines it.

"Yes, this is in fact mine. Thank you so much miss…"

"Angea, Sera Angea"

"Miss Angea, you have no idea how valuable this is to me. Please come with me to my office so that I can reward you for this great deed."

A nod to the intrigued receptionist and the elevator doors open. It is then that I really notice how well the doors blend into the wall. When closed there is no visible sign of them or where they open. With no buttons on or near the wall it must be controlled by the receptionist. Once inside he punches in some sort of access code and then verbally instructs the elevator to take us to section "Alpha92Omega5." Almost immediately the elevator begins to move, not up or down but forward. It's like something in Willy Wonka's factory. We moved in every possible direction possible including diagonally.

"What the hell kinda place is this any way, Dr. Sharnett?"

"A very dangerous one, but then you know that don't you?"

"How would I know that? What does MEDNA Corp do any way?"

"Genetic mapping, at least that’s the party line answer. Why did you come back here Seraphim?"

"I came to help you. What do you mean come back? Why did you call me Seraphim? My name is Sera."

"How did you know I needed help? Oh, never mind. We will answer each other's questions soon enough. Just be quiet, follow me and for God's sake don't scan any one we pass. We don't need them figuring out who you are!"

The elevator stops and we step out into a long sterile hallway with no visible doors. Nothing but white as far as the eye can see until suddenly a dark speck appears in the distance. As we walk down the hall the speck reveals itself to be a man. I make sure not to make eye contact so as not the "scan" him as Dr. Sharnett instructed me. I can only assume that by scan he meant use my gift. I never thought about controlling it before, it was always just there. How did he know about my gift? Why did he call me Seraphim? And why did he think I had been here before?

"Turn here."

"Where? I don't see anything but white walls."

"Here"

He pulls me to the left in to a hallway I swear wasn't there before. Down this hallway, a seeming replica of the last one, to the only door I see.

"We can talk in here"

"You mean you can answer my questions in here. I'm sorry. I'm not usually this way, you've just really thrown me for a loop."

"No need to apologize Seraphim. I know more about you that you can imagine."

"Can you please tell me why you keep calling me Seraphim?"

"I suppose that’s as good a place as any to start. You are Seraphim of Project Angel. You were genetically engineered to be able detect problems in people's psyches and bodies and then help them. The goal of Project Angel was to put "guardian angels" like yourself all over the world. You were our first."

"Why don't I know this? Why didn't my parents ever tell me this when I first displayed my gift?"

"Your parents never knew. 25 years ago your parents came to MEDNA while pregnant with you. They wanted to see if we could remove from you the genetic tags that caused Autism in your siblings. Of course we could help. As we started your genetic map we discovered that the same genes that caused the Autism could be altered to cause the gifts as you call them. That's when we knew that you would be our first Angel. It was just a wonderful coincidence that your parents named you Sera. My supervisor at the time, Dr. Millicent Fanz, also though it perfect that your last name was so close to angel. Does that answer most of your questions?"

"All but why you said I've been here before and why my 'scan' as you call it picked up you? Also I feel I should clarify. My birth name is Millie, short for Millicent. I guess I know why my parents chose that name. Anyway, I started going by Sera in high school when I first started to really use my gift. I felt like an angel so I chose Seraphim but shortened it to Sera for simplicity's sake."

"That's incredible! As for your questions, the first one is easy; the second one is no so easy. You have been here before. We made your parents bring you back for the first five years just to make sure the procedure worked. As for the second question, come to my house tomorrow and I can explain."

"OK. I suppose I don't have much choice do I?"