I couldn’t move.

Jacob Macquoid.

He got up from his chair, moving to stand in front of his desk. Every muscle in my body was tense. A thousand excuses and lies were running through my mind. I didn’t know what to do or what to say though.

Especially with Philip Knightley’s eyes locked with mine.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m sure you don’t,” he said with a smile. “It was just a shot in the dark. Morris’s notes mention a man by that name. But it is little and spare. The sole name in a list of names that wasn’t crossed out. Now, I tried to research them, those names. And there was nothing. Fake people that the man had dreamt up.”

“Again, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

They were probably friends. Comrades. People Charles and I knew but had died. All of them had died, barring Jacob–barring me. But Jacob was now dead too. His voice finally quiet, not overtaking my thoughts.

“But, if I may, it’s probably best left behind.” I looked around the almost unrecognisable room. “Maybe some things–their answers at least–are all in the heads of the person who drew them up? If that makes sense?”

“It’s a saying in my language: Let sleeping dogs lie. Well, Mr Adamos I’m not good at letting things lie. Whatever this list is, it all came up from Morris’s head. So I have to get in Morris’s head to get to the bottom of this–and trust me, I will.”

I nodded. There was nothing of Jacob’s left. Just two graves on this island, with nobody knowing they were connected. But even as I left the office, I realised that wasn’t true.

I was here too.

Complete with a collection of memories and feelings I didn’t have last year. Jacob’s life was also mine now. For better or for worse. I took out my phone, automatically finding Birgit’s number. There was a part of me that hesitated to call her. She was going through way too much now.

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I said I wouldn’t wallow in self-pity. That I’d take things one step at a time. And Philip Knightley’s quest to find out the truth about Jacob and Charles? Ironically enough, that was now lower on my set of my priorities.

Still, I tried to call her. But just before my finger touched the screen, my phone vibrated. Another message from Amir Saidi. A picture. A picture of himself in an infirmary.

A beat where nothing happened passed. I saved his number, calling him immediately after.

“Hello?” came a groggy voice from the other side.

“Amir? It’s Alex. What happened?”

“He wasn’t alone this time. I thought-I thought I wouldn’t need to deal with stuff like this in university. Especially Atlantis. Why is this happening?”

I barely managed to stop myself from letting out a deep breath. The truth of the matter was that, even if it was contrary to the very idea of a hero, many of them were assholes. I had seen that way more than I wanted to.

I also realised how lucky I had been. While school had been a living hell, university–even through all the crap I had to deal with–had been a lot better on that front. Friends, relationships, the whole thing.

“I wish I could tell you,” I said, genuinely baffled by people like that. “What I can tell you, is that I know you’re not like that. Always remember that you made it here. You will be a hero and there’s not a damn thing anyone can do to stop you from doing that. Understood?”

“Can you help me? Maybe even train me? I saw you. You were scary, but also so cool. He didn’t even get a single hit on you. I know I should probably have all this stuff figured out by now–I’m eighteen years old for God’s sake–but I don’t.”

“It’s okay. We all need help. You should have seen me last year. It was–it was rough. We can meet up if you’d like. Lord knows I’m not a teacher but I think I can help you. But you have to put the work in.”

“Of course!”

“Now, I have to go, but I have your number. I’ll call you, okay?”

With that, we said our goodbyes, hanging up on each other.

It was weird, but I felt relief wash over my entire body. It was just one person, but at least I was able to help him. Even if everything else blew up in my face, I was able to get Amir to ask for help–to accept it.

And for the first time, I thought I understood Alpha Surge. How he felt and why he did what he did.

But this wasn’t the time to relax. There was still a mystery to solve so I opened my phone back up, reaching out to everyone.

It was time. The time for answers.