April 30th, 2032

The cafe smelled of fresh biscuits and it occurred simply how hungry Andrew was in that moment. He hasn't eaten...it had been over a day at this point. The tables were scattered around the lower level and on the upper was the food assembly line where the workers scrambled to prepare everything. He noticed a unique floral pattern adorned across the front of the booth. Looking back down toward the lower area there was a spread of patrons. Immediately Andrew saw who he guessed to be the mysterious writer of the letter. It was an older man sitting alone—he looked to be in his sixties and looked to be a rigorous sort—rough features and the kind of person that could back up the intimidating aura of the letter. He sipped from a coffee cup and had a look about him that was different than the other patrons. He didn't have a book or another person to talk with. The move that sealed the deal was his faint smile when he looked up to see me enter.

Jen joined him and we both took a seat at the table.

"You picked me out easily enough," the man said. "You look like you're on a mission."

The ease of how he began took Andrew off guard, but he could tell it was as false a front for him. He felt a deep seated unnverving feeling from him that echoed his own.

"It's been three years. This place has been growing for three years, what have you done?"

There was no smile on his face now. "You act as if I have a choice. We're all given parts to play lest we end up dead. Take a load off, this isn't an interrogation or negotiation."

Jen was angry, but she was aware of how public they all were. She took in a deep breath. "Who are you, and you have ten seconds to explain why you..." He could tell she was about to say *bombed our friend* but chose to avoid the public reaction. "...did what you did."

"You can call me Larry. I work for a higher power—one who is very aware of your situation. I'm going to stray from answering your questions on the recent event directly because I'm nothing more than a remote control when it comes to it. You'll get no satisfactory answers from me."

"Then what are we doing here?" Andrew asked.

"I'm to organize a meeting between you and the one I work for. I'm to judge your...compatibility."

"Just what does that mean?" Jen asked.

Larry pulled a slip of paper out of his coat pocket and slid it across the table. "You're to come to this address two days from now. Bring no weapons, but bring the sphere—not the one you contained from our test. The one from three years ago. There is a method to dispose of it safely and we also have additional things we'd like to discuss."

"Discuss them now," Jen said.

"Similar to the plane, I do not have satisfactory answers for you. I only bring directions."

Andrew gritted his teeth. "If your master or whatever knew me so well he'd know I don't take kindly to those who threaten me or those I care about. Much less those who act on them."

The faintest of smiles crossed Larry's face once more. "You silly fool, you are so much like I was. If you truly care about those you say you do, you'll follow the directions and stuff the defiant attitude away."

A bright light rang across my eyes and I saw flashes of people I didn't know at various points in life and I returned to pieces of a grander puzzle in front of me.

"Something tells me you know loss," Andrew said, still rearranging the pieces in his mind. "And that you are doing what you can to survive." He blinked hard and raised a hand to his forehead, Jen notices my strain and looks to him hard. "But I still cannot accept some higher force so simply and resign to following orders like that. I'm here to fix this country. To take back the power that was stolen from us. Anything that demands obedience acts as that which I stand against."

Larry didn't answer, simply looked at me with eyes that stared at only shadows. Those like that haunted behind him at that very moment.

"If we go," Jen began, "What would you be ordered to do? What's your next step? Are you to force us along if we do not comply?"

"I cannot force you. You are both much stronger than I am. I can tell that from sitting across from you now, and I've been told you would have brought the sphere from yesterday with you now. I do not doubt this. I seek to reason with the parts of you that desire to see those that you care for continue to do so. I've learned in my very long life that disobeying...directly leads to consequences you can't even begin to regret."

Andrew clasped his hands together and pushed back from the table. "Well, I think we've nothing more to talk about here."

"I think likewise," Larry said. "If I'm speaking plain, I would like nothing more than to find a way to rid us of the growing power...but even compared to you, I cannot envision any situation where anything but obeying doesn't lead to the total collapse of everything we enjoy here."

Jen stood up, "Well, if I may be so kind to be the first to break the pleasantries, but fuck that."

Larry smiled small, but it was the first real smile that crossed his face. "If you must, at least visit. He aims not to kill you, otherwise he would have sent a much stronger force to you. He desires something from you, and if you can at least cooperate long enough to rid us all of that sphere, I think that benefits us all."

"I think that's the first thing we can all agree on, but we'll have to talk among ourselves."

Larry nodded, and then gestured with his hand as he resumed drinking his coffee.

Jen slid her chair in and both of them exited the cafe. Andrew had the slip of paper clutched in his palm. The directions led to Mount Rushmore. Quite a sizable distance from us now. They would need to make a decision soon in order to make it there by the time Larry asked of them. They walked back to the car, and when they sat inside and closed the doors—a noticeable tension released from their bodies.

"I don't have a good feeling about obeying this...whoever it is," Jen said. "Whoever could so callously..." she couldn't bring herself to finish.

"I understand. I feel the same way, however...I do feel like we have a responsibility to remove the sphere as a potential danger if we can. I have an almost worse feeling about that than I do whoever is giving him orders."

Jen let out a sigh. "I know the time after Jack wasn't going to be a perfect time, but fuck if this isn't proving to be larger than we bargained for."

"Yeah...we may need to ask for help on this."

Jen looked at him fast, "Look at you. Knowing to ask for help."

"Don't patronize me. I think this is bigger than any one of us. Is Sarah still around?"

Jen sat back and pulled out her phone. "Yeah she should be. I think she was sticking around until tomorrow for her flight, but I'm sure she can be convinced to reschedule."

"What about Sully? Think he'll be available?"

"I'll have to check. I think he might be out of town. I'll let you know."

Andrew heard the phone start to ring and he glanced over.

"Eyes on the road," she said, "I'll toss it on speaker."

"Sorry, habit."

"Please break it."

"Hello?" The voice was Sarah's.

"Hey, how are you?"

"What's wrong?"

Jen looked up to Andrew and took in a deep breath. "Get a feeling?"

"I've been anxious all day. Figured it had something to do with you. Andy with you?"

"Yeah, I'm right here. We're driving now."

"Mind picking me up? I figure you two have something you want to talk about and I'd prefer to talk about it in person."

"Do you have the ability to cancel your flight?"

"Going to be an involved issue?"

"I think so, yeah," Andrew said. "Should probably do it now while you can."

"You still have the address?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, I can steer him in the right direction. Been doing it this long may as well continue."

"Your career in stand-up leaves a lot to be desired," Andrew mulled.

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"We can be there in about ten." Jen grinned.

"Got it. I'll be out front."

She ended the call and started navigating to Sully's number. Sullivan Waters was Jen's coworker who excelled at the shooting range. He was a young fellow with a military-like disposition. Andrew was a little put off on their first meeting, but the few times after were a lot better of a show of his kinder side. Even if he was a little standoffish, he certainly would have trusted Sully to be a safe bet to bring along.

"Hey Sully, you there?" She had this phone off speaker—Andrew was thankful. He wasn't as close to him so it only would have been awkward. "Yeah, we might need some help...yeah, it's all official. Okay, sounds good. I'll let you know when I know more. Okay, see ya." She similarly ended the call and turned to Andrew. "He's available. I figured we'd talk to Sarah first and come up with a plan before we did anything else."

"Sounds good."

There was moment of silence.

"You doing okay? Less about this situation, more about the nightmares," Jen asked.

Andrew tapped his hands on the steering wheel. "I feel this...shadow over me. Like, a presence that hangs just on the edge of my vision. Stealthy it sneaks and hides so most of the time I don't notice it, but it's there, always reminding me when I'm on the edge of forgetting."

"Do you remember what you told me when Mom died?"

Andrew remained silent.

"It wasn't right away. It took a few days for us to talk to each other again. I was kind of mad at you for that. But when you did, what you said stuck with me. You said 'No matter how bad you feel, how much you feel like breaking. No matter how dark your pit is, the strange thing about people is that they can always dig themselves out. Mom was dead for a long time before we found her, and I'm not talking about physically.' It took me a long time to put that together in my grieving mind. You were right, and it did help me slot my feelings properly knowing that blaming myself was only hurting us." She placed her hand on Andrew's arm. "That shadow of yours is a liar. Do not let it take you in its sweet whisperings."

"I appreciate it," Andrew said. "It doesn't whisper to me. I don't want you to worry about that. I just think sometimes it feels like it hangs around."

"Tell it that it's uninvited."

"I—"

"Don't you say that it's implied because this shadow isn't a real person. It doesn't understand implication. It doesn't understand anything. It's all about you telling yourself that it is uninvited."

On these words, Andrew thought. They arrived at the Grand Orlen Hotel a few minutes later. The building was wider than it was tall—it was one of the surviving rest locations on the East Coast. Others like it attempted to rebuild but were poorly managed or sold off to bigger sellers. The Grand Orlen was helmed by Parker Petrelli, who Andrew would have described as a business soldier. She and Andrew met privately a few times discussing the limits of the G.O.'s growth while the country recovered. He could swear that by the end of the decade he'd be witnessing the birth of a new chain.

Sarah was sitting on the stone wall of the fountain in the front of the hotel. Andrew didn't notice it when they met up the day before, but he could see that the anxiety had been taking a toll on her. She looked like she didn't sleep well at all. Jen rolled down the window and Andrew slowed to a stop.

"Hey," Jen said.

"Hey yourself," Sarah said. "I brought everything. My stay at the hotel is over with. Can I toss the suitcases in the back?"

"Yeah, that's more than fine," Andrew said as he popped the trunk.

"Great, I'll be a sec—" The two suitcases floated toward the rear of the car. "Oh, thank you Andy."

"No problem. I...actually just remembered something, one second." He put the car in park and unbuckled. Sarah looked at him confused as the suitcases slowly fluttered back to the ground just outside the car.

"You okay?" Sarah asked. "I could have gotten it."

"Fine, just forgot something was in here, don't want to risk breaking it."

"Oh, shit," Jen said, remembering.

"Yeah, we're going to need to make a pit stop," Andrew said, pulling out the sphere. It sat in his hands slightly larger than a baseball. Swirling orange energy pulsed inside.

"What's..." Sarah's eyes widened as she saw the sphere. "That's not..."

Andrew shook his head, lifting the two suitcases by hand into the trunk. "No, it's not his. It's involved with the story, though. We were going to dispose of it. We can fill you in on the way, though."

"Right, okay. Let me slide in here and tell me what's up."

Andrew shut the trunk and got back into the driver's seat. The three of them left with the noon sun hanging high above them.

"So, we're kind of in over our heads," Jen began. "Think you'd classify it that way?" She looked to Andrew.

"Yeah. Certified." He said.

"So, from the beginning, Jake and Matt...we're both hoping they're fine but we don't know. Last night Andrew got a letter in a box that had a bomb inside it. That's what that sphere is that he's got with him now—whoever sent it was...I dunno, testing him I guess?"

"Jesus...you contained it even though you're still containing John?"

"It was...tough. Once we get rid of this one I'll be able to let go of the tight leash a bit, but that's why I felt so stupid about lifting your luggage. I don't really have the energy to spare."

"Then stop being so damn polite," Jen said, "Focus on keeping it together. We can handle ourselves."

"Right. Sorry."

"Anyway, we met up with who we thought wrote the letter. Turns out it was just a messenger. Seems to be under the influence of whoever really did. Was this old guy who met us in the cafe on Laixley."

"Did you learn anything about who is behind all of this?" Sarah asked.

"I saw bits and pieces of the man's memory. Saw a lot of sadness, but I couldn't make out any fine detail. He seemed to imply that whoever it was had immense power and knowledge."

Sarah thought this over. "I wonder...if this ties back to Friedrich."

Andrew's gaze darted to the side slightly.

"Your grandfather, right?" He seemed to pose the question to the both of them.

Sarah nodded. My memory of that dream isn't as clear as the day I had it, but so much of it hung heavy on my mind. He's dead, but we never learned what happened to his other experiments. Maybe one of them is behind this?"

"If I remember correctly you mentioned that only the one survived? Sonja I think?"

Sarah nodded. She was...not fully human when she left. Friedrich replaced so much of her with inorganic parts. I fear she could be out there and just as much of a threat as Jack was—maybe even more."

"That thought doesn't sit well with me..." Andrew began. "I wonder...if something similar to what happened near the end will happen. If some genetic shield will come into play again."

"I hope not," Jen said. "That kind of material...it wasn't meant to exist. I felt like my body was tampered with entering it."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Sarah said. It took me a little bit to feel like myself again."

"Our plan now," Jen said, rerouting them back to the main course. "Is to decide if we're going to meet up with the person behind it all. They're waiting for us at Mount Rushmore. I kind of feel like us going is inevitable, I guess it just depends on what our plan is when we get there."

"I see," Sarah said. "Well, I'm a hundred percent down with coming along. If there's even a chance it has anything to do with Friedrich I feel I have some responsibility to step up."

"It's not your responsibility to clean up after your blood," Andrew said.

"Touche, Andy."

He had no good retort to this.

"Besides, if I backed down I'm sure I'd meet with a disappointed John come next dream."

At this point they were all silent. This was something Sarah hadn't meant to reveal—not yet at least. It had been going on since the end of the Radical-9 Incident, but a part of her felt like being able to meet with him and Jay on the odd occasion felt personal—special. Suddenly she felt anxious about keeping the secret from the both of them.

"I'm sorry, I should have told you both sooner. It's in my dreams. I still like...connect with him. Sometimes Jay appears, but not always."

"How is he?" Jen asked.

"He's...better. He doesn't remember he's gone until a ways in each time. It's nice to pretend sometimes like he's still here."

"I know what you mean," Andrew said. "Maybe...if this person is connected to Friedrich you could connect with them?"

"I...am not sure. I think it would have to be something I actively tried. I think if it didn't happen up to this point it's not gonna happen by itself."

"That makes enough sense."

"Unfortunately I'm not too sure how to actively trigger it. I know it happens enough when I dream—that much is simple, but when I actually become unconscious it kind of leads the way. Anything can come to me at that point."

"Maybe we can try on the way. It's going to be more than a day's drive, plenty of chance to try."

"Not sure how great the reception'll be in here," Sarah joked, "but I'll give it a try."

Once they arrived at the lakefront Andrew found a parking spot near the lodge close by and shut the engine off.

"Going to be a quick affair here. I'd say in the car, both of you."

"Promise you'll try to avoid the fish?" Jen asked.

"Going to try. Can't promise they won't stay away from me. Once it goes off I'll have to shield myself, will try to use the energy I was sealing around the sphere to save any I can."

"My hero," Jen said.

"Yeah yeah."

"You need any help?"

"Didn't know you developed telekinesis," Andrew said.

"I haven't...at least not yet. But maybe I could help augment yours? I dunno, I want to feel helpful."

"You're fine staying in here. I'll be back in a few."

Andrew shut the driver side door and walked the few steps to the water's edge. He took a few steps into the water and felt the cold touch his legs. "N-Nope, gonna prevent that real quick" He said as his teeth chattered. A thin layer of air surrounded him and he continued down into the center of the lake. As he continued on the lakebed he had to increase the strength of the air around him. He would have liked to get to the deepest part of the lake, but he was running out of strength to keep the air up. He got as deep as he possibly could and around him in the murky depths he saw various trout and carp swimming around him. Some larger fish took interest in the large air bubble and began swimming up beside it.

Sorry Jen...I'm not going to be able to save everyone of them here.

He held out the sphere in front of him—hoping that the light that was now glowing would be enough to turn the fish population away, but they seemed attracted to the new light. Andrew closed his eyes and relaxed the casing around the explosion inside. He tightened the air pocket off between him and the explosion and pushed with all of his force downward toward the dip in the lakebed. It funneled down before shooting up through the center of the lake.

The sound was deafening beneath the waves. The force pushed him back—enough that his hold over the shield went completely and water crashed into Andrew from all sides. The cold battering beat the air out of his lungs. He surfaced and took in a great breath before coughing hard. A single frame of a gigantic water tank flashed in his mind that froze him still. Somewhere, from the depths of his mind came a voice.

And with all your smarts, you understand that the larger threat still exists contained. Just how will you get rid of that by yourself?