“Sorry, I really didn’t mean any offense, it’s just my life has been hell since then. The Agency watches me constantly now; the few times I’ve tried to break away, they made sure to make an example out of my family so I wouldn’t try again. I’m sorry, Sarah, it’s why I stopped telling you about the loops when they started; it was easier for you not to know,” Glenn explained. His wife, for her part, seemed to be trying to keep Glenn calm.
“It’s alright, I get it. This is all insane, and you were trying to protect us,” Sarah said.
“Who else was in the room that you are sure of?” Harold asked.
“Melissa, you know about, and honestly I didn’t even know her name when this started, not sure if Brice did either. Brice is the big problem; he’s the only one that willingly went right back to the Agency; most of us, once we realized what had happened, tried to scatter. I had a second chance with my family, and that’s what I focused on the first time around, but by the second time, Brice had already been consolidating resources. Which isn’t what you asked, sorry. Dan is another one; he didn’t scatter, like Brice, he was too young for that. I don’t know when he made contact, but he’s one of Brice’s main people. Bert, Pramod, and Louis got forced back into this like I did. All three of them are more or less enslaved in a research lab. They preferred I stay in politics,” Glenn said. He looked incredibly tired.
“And the last five are just gone, as far as you know?” Harold asked.
“Yes, they joined the Agency at some point after the loop starts, so all their records are gone, and no one really knew them. They had ducked into the room when the centipede appeared trying to hide, and you know the rest there,” Glenn answered.
“What do they generally have you do?” Harold asked next. Cal was curious on that one, too, though the three missing formet Agency people were people he’d like to find as well.
“Keep funding flowing, research other potential information that can be used against nonfriendly politicians; at this point, they more or less control the United States government; I wouldn’t be surprised if they have worldwide influence either,” Glenn said.
“That explains the seemingly unlimited soldiers they now seem to have; that also means the longer a loop goes on the quicker they are able to assert further control over the world governments. Damn, this is a bigger problem than I realized. I’d have never reached out to Clark last loop if I had known it had already gone this far,” Harold said, sounding increasingly frustrated.
“So Brice and Dan are the key; we have to hunt them down at the start of every loop, once we can maintain that, we use our own people in the Agency to slowly take their resources for ourselves. Unless anyone has a better idea?” Andrew said, looking at their faces.
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“Just help me keep my family safe, and I will do whatever you need,” Glenn said.
“Harold, do you think you can get the level of information?” Cal asked.
“Maybe we have the fact that they are kids going for us, so school records likely exist, but we will have to find a way to make sure we are capturing them before they have a chance to contact the Agency each loop, at least until we are able to exert more control than they can,” Harold answered.
“I assume it’s okay if I interrupt?” Stan asked as he opened the door.
“Yeah, there’s no reason for you not to be in these meetings,” Harold said. Cal would have overridden him had the man said otherwise.
“It’s been a couple days, and thanks to the dogs, almost everyone is back on their feet. Jimbo needs some healing time still. I still can’t believe what they did to the little guy, but he’s going to be fine. So the big question I want to know is, what’s our next move? Excalibur and I are ready to kick some more ass.” Stan found a seat as he said this.
“Well, they know we have Glenn and Clark, they may not know we have Bug’s new friend, her prisoners or whatever she is calling them, and possibly even the children. We managed to do enough damage on that escape; who knows what they recovered as lost versus taken. Any of them may be able to point to another facility. I’m a little loathe to try to get answers out of the kids, though,” Harold said.
“I’d be more worried about talking to Bug’s friend, the kids are pretty tough, and some of the older ones would love a chance to fight back any way they could. We really need Ethel; her school is getting more important by the minute. I have no idea how to teach a bunch of kids how to use their powers either,” Cal sighed loudly as he thought of the ramifications that came with all of these kids. Sure, his dad had been great, but he was needed in the field. In future loops, Cal was sure Stan could handle raising them if things finally settled down.
“How many children are there?” Sarah spoke up for the first time since trying to comfort her husband.
“Forty-three,” Harold answered, which Cal was glad for as he had never actually counted them all. “Bug has all their names and is working to determine anything about their past.”
“Okay, are they all in the nice nature area with all the animals?” Sarah asked again.
“Yes, we call that Ethel’s realm; remind me to convince her to get a better name,” Cal smiled at the thought of the fights he missed.
“Good, Glenn, I know you can handle this without me. It’s been a few years since I last taught elementary school, but I don’t think you ever truly forget. I’ll go track down our kids and see if we can give Bug a hand,” Sarah said.
“We really appreciate it, just be careful and listen to Bug, they all have some sort of magic,” Cal warned.