I stood in the lobby area of the Pawn building. After the big incident last night, Henry had called a team meeting. This was my chance to finally come face to face with the members of Pawn, who hadn't made an appearance yet.

I was using the sticker Susan gave to me that created a bodysuit. It still used gray as the base color, but it was a much more plain design. It apparently took whatever the user had on and turned it into a suit. There wasn't much to work with this morning since I was wearing a gray sweatsuit.

While waiting for the elevator to arrive, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Pulling it out to check, I saw 'Restricted' displayed on the screen instead of a number.

"Hello?" I answered, curious.

"Morgan, it's Jeanie." The voice was different, but that had happened before. This was probably a digitally constructed voice. She used them all the time in the past.

"Jeanie, you've been busy lately," I said.

She had been, judging by the money she sent to me. That wasn't why I said that. It was the first part of a passphrase our team shared. We had a bit of a shapeshifter problem a few years back, so some kind of code was necessary. There wasn't much of a defense for mind readers, but we hadn't ever actually run into one.

"But not too busy to call." She responded.

I sighed in relief. Honestly, I started to feel a bit worried when I didn't hear from her. It had been a very long time since I last worked entirely alone.

"The line's secure." She told me.

I looked around at where I was and then refocused on the conversation. Rex's drones hovered all around me. I had a level of trust for the guy, but it wasn't to the point of full disclosure.

"I can't guarantee that on my side." I let her know.

"That's alright. I'll do most of the talking. First of all, don't get mad, but I've taken someone hostage." She dropped that bomb with zero build-up.

"What?" A harsh edge tried to slip into my tone before being forced down. Jeanie must have had a reason. "Why?"

"It's not some innocent civilian. Her name is Lisa Gordon. She's part of the Science Council, and I think she's working with a terrorist group." She spilled all of that out at once.

Before I could respond, she continued. "She's a tech super that can copy other super tech. It's an amazing ability, especially when she starts combining the mimicked tech. This woman is dangerous. I've gotten near total control of her labs and sealed her consciousness into a simulation."

The elevator chose this moment to arrive. I ignored it in favor of this call.

"How is that possible?" I vaguely questioned. Jeanie hadn't ever been able to affect people with her powers. Only machines responded to her control.

I nervously glanced at the drones. They hadn't shown any signs of paying extra attention yet. I considered leaving, but the team meeting would be starting soon.

"She cut out her brain, Morgan. The first project she completed after joining the Council was to tear out her brain and make it the center of some crazy biological computer setup. I've isolated the portion of the system that allows her to interact with the outside world to keep her distracted." Jeanie explained.

"So, what exactly are you doing right now? What have you been doing?" I questioned her. A lot must have happened for her to get to this point. I needed to know the details.

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She didn't respond for a moment, which I knew was her sorting her thoughts. Jeanie would always go quiet while thinking without any sign of answering. It used to infuriate Kim because she thought Jeanie was ignoring her.

The memories of my team fluttered through my mind. Every one of them were amazing people. I tried not to think about it and instead focused on Jeanie.

"I've been trying to manage her life. It wasn't easy keeping myself from being discovered. Sorry that I didn't call you earlier." She sounded almost tired, which I knew wasn't physically possible for her in that astral form.

"You don't need to apologize. I was just worried." Softening my tone, I expressed my concern for her.

Jeanie must have been able to sense my mood. We were both feeling stressed. We spent a moment just silently enjoying each other's company. Eventually, we had to get back to business.

"She only interacts with the world through a set of android bodies, so I've possessed them to pose as her. Her work is still getting done from inside her virtual prison, and she has no close ties to anyone. Her isolation has made it too easy for me to take her place." No small amount of pity laced Jeanie's words.

"I've even been able to use her equipment for our own purposes." Excitement finally made its way into her voice.

"You still haven't explained the terrorist accusations. We do not lock people up without good reason." I tried to be understanding. Trapping someone in a virtual illusion was a nasty fate.

My thoughts did flash toward Henry. He was involved in some very suspicious dealings, and I knew about his unscheduled trips to the Council building. Was this all somehow connected?

"The titan attacks." Jeanie began. "She's tried to make them fail."

I stopped pacing as one of Rex's drones pointed its lens at me. Shifting my phone to the other ear, I faced a wall to hide my face.

"The last one was over a year ago, and the attack before that was almost two. Lisa pulled resources away from both towers shortly before they were hit. The only reason those towers didn't fall was because someone called in a bomb threat the first time, and a powerful hero was in the area the second." Jeanie gave me a second to digest that.

"So, she's trying to let the mist in? Why would anyone do that?" I clenched my knuckles in anger. Nothing got under my skin like a mist worshipper. I hoped that cult didn't still exist.

"It's not only her, Morgan. There's a whole network of people involved. I've only been able to identify one other person, Ray Wallis. He's another member of the Science Council." As she revealed everything, my thoughts darkened as I readied my next question.

"Have you noticed any connections to Henry?" I asked. This was starting to sound like very bad news.

The man was a criminal, but I didn't think he'd do something like this. I didn't want to think about what would happen to all these people if the mist got into this city. They had nowhere to run.

"He probably is." Jeanie's words made me forget about the drone watching me.

"What about the rest of team Pawn?" I ground out. Had I unintentionally joined a group of mist worshippers?

"I haven't found anything. Henry made contact with Ray last night, but no sign of activity from anyone else in his circle." She reassured me.

The elevator door dinged open again behind me, but I ignored it.

"This is our number one priority. Track down and identify anyone involved. Lisa can stay in lockdown. We will not let this city fall." I wanted to give more instructions; however, a noise behind me caught my attention.

"Morgan?" Rex stood, holding the elevator doors open. "You headed up? Henry's waiting."

There wasn't any sign on his face to tell me what he heard. It only took a few seconds of eye contact for that to change. He tried to act casual, but I could see the cracks in his mask.

"I'm coming." Switching back to my conversation with Jeanie, I decided to end the call. "We can finish this talk later. Send me a good number for you."

"Be careful, Morgan. Just because the rest of them look clean doesn't mean we can trust them. Even if they're not directly involved, they could still side with Henry over you." Her warning reminded me of the situation we were in.

Jeanie and I no longer had any backing. It was the two of us against the world.

"There's something else, Morgan. The mistlings, they're acting strange." Of everything she had said so far, this was the most worrying.

Glancing at Rex, I noticed him watching me. His desire to get involved and find out who I was talking to was almost visible, but he held himself back.

"We'll discuss it tonight." I ended it there, leaving Rex and me in silence as I hung up. I studied him for a moment, then shook my head. It wasn't a good time.

Rex was smart enough to pick up on my reluctance to share. He didn't bother asking as I stepped onto the elevator. Pressing the button we needed, he stayed quiet and kept to himself. Without another word between us, we arrived at our floor.

"We can talk after the meeting." I offered him.

I wanted to trust this kid. He had the heart for this kind of work, and I needed allies. It was time to make moves.