An unfamiliar ceiling greeted me when I came to.

I sat up and looked around. It seemed I was in a storage room of some sort. The only door out was blocked by two figures. Souto and one of his weird constructs. A window set into the wall gave me a good view of the hallway outside. Smear was standing a short distance away, keeping an eye on me through the glass.

"Wakey, wakey, Conny. Hope you like your new temporary home. I tried to make it as comfortable as possible for you. I'm not a monster after all."

"Oh really?" I mumbled and checked my surroundings. To my surprise, it looked like he told the truth.

Various art supplies were haphazardly stuffed into boxes all over the place, but I could also make out a TV with a Miracle 9 VR console (Quite outdated, but still a surprisingly nice gesture), a mini-fridge in the corner, and a small bed. I wondered why they didn't just put me on that bed to begin with instead of the floor, but quickly dismissed that train of thought. There were more important things at hand.

"Yes. I don't want anyone to suffer. Just ask around. I am a gracious host and an even more gracious boss."

"Right." I scoffed. "Do your friends know the full extent of your powers? Leaving your subordinates in the dark about the danger you pose doesn't seem very gracious to me."

Souto shook his head.

"Conny, Conny, Conny. They don't need to know. Smear does, and that is enough."

The hooded man in the hallway gave a quick nod.

"And being gracious can manifest in a multitude of other ways. This whole thing, doing something to The One's body and broadcasting it to the whole country? Duchamp's idea. I merely contributed the erasure part. That's what good leadership is about. Keeping your ego in check. Listening to the ideas of others."

I scanned the room for potential escape vectors but came up blank.

"Of course, of course. But tell me, oh Gracious One, what will you tell Witchling? She'll be expecting me to be there."

Souto waved it off. "That's easy. You are working on an important part of the plan elsewhere. No one will question that."

I tried to think of a way to stall him a bit more. Get a bit more info out of him. Right now he thinks he's won. This was the best opportunity I had to extract as much intel as possible. The more I had available to me, the more solid the backbone of any potential plan was going to be.

"I assume these things aren't quite what you made me believe either, huh?" I nodded toward the shifting memory golem.

He smiled and patted the thing on the back.

"Well, of course not. Kind of. They are remnants of things that I have poofed, but it's not a collection of erased objects. Each Echo is one erased person."

For just a moment he looked unbearably pleased with himself. Made me want to throw up.

"They are very loyal. I don't think they have the option not to be. So I was mostly honest. The only thing that was flat out made up was that I can save the energy and create them at my leisure." He sighed dramatically. "If only. I either turn them the moment I touch them or they are gone forever. Very inconvenient."

I opened my mouth to ask something else when the tried and true sound of a set phone alarm ruined my meager plan.

With a yawn, he stretched his arms over his head and turned the alarm off.

"Good talk. I'll let you savor your last day as the Master Controller here. I put some food in the fridge, and some soda too. Enjoy it while you can. You'll forget about it soon enough."

With that, he turned to the Echo. "As long as she does what she's told, don't bother her. I would like to avoid killing someone who has been useful to me in the past. But if she tries to get out, stop her by any means necessary. Even if you have to resort to lethal force."

The thing gave him a very, very slow nod and turned back to the door. Satisfied, Souto waved over Smear, and together both artists made for what I assumed to be the exit. "Ta ta, Master Controller. See you in the new world. Maybe."

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As soon as he was out of earshot I tried to relax myself. I had been out for god knows how long, but what I did know for sure was that it didn't give me an iota of rest. I laid down carefully on the bed that had been provided for me.

It was surprisingly soft. I debated internally what to do next. I could feel the familiar weight of my cell phone in my hoodie pocket. So they hadn't taken that. I could easily check the time if I pulled it out, but why bother? If they left it then I would assume this room got neither an internet nor a phone signal. And looking up how much time I had left was just going to induce more panic, which I could really do without right now.

No, I needed to think. A clear head.

I slowly closed my eyes. A deep focus was necessary to clear one's thoughts. I only intended for this whole exercise to take a minute or two.

But before I knew it the familiar anchor of sleep dragged me down into the depths.

--------------------------------------

I don't know why it happened. Maybe because I was confined in a cell of sorts again. Or because my past was about to be completely rewritten. But regardless of the reason, my sleeping mind took me back to that time. That time I both wish I could forget, and also knew it was too important to let it be forgotten.

But of all the days to relive again, why this one?

..........Why this one?

The Heart of Power - Two Weeks after Capture:

I raised my arm in front of my eyes and studied it. No wounds. No scars. No trace left. I shuffled around, trying to get comfortable on the blanket they had given me as a bed. With practiced ease, I opened and closed my hand repeatedly. No spasms. No pain.

Before I had passed out, that arm had been reduced to nothing but a hunk of mangled flesh on a split bone. Now it was whole again. As if nothing happened.

I carefully set it down on my stomach and stared up at the ceiling. With a shake of my head, I refocused my mind on what was important right now. Getting out of here. These brainstorming sessions were all I could do to keep from giving in to the nagging voice in my head telling me to just give up and despair. I had to keep myself occupied whenever and however I could. There was no other way.

But no matter how much time passed, the prospect of escape didn't seem to get any nearer. Establishing Thought took a direct sightline and at least a few seconds of concentration, both of which I was never afforded at the same time while outside of this cell. Not that I had any real hope of getting far with that tactic anyway. The Society of Power was stuck full of true believers. My mind games had never been very effective on loons like that.

Making a run for it while being moved was a risky endeavor and not one I could attempt lightly. Right now they didn't take me very seriously. They didn't bother to shackle or otherwise restrain me. If I attempted to run, this would most likely change, so I had only one chance. A chance I couldn't waste.

If the chatter I overheard was to be believed they had brought me into their main hideout. Never thought I'd see it from this angle. But this was a major problem. All of the goons were sure to be very familiar with the layout of this place. Meanwhile, I only knew what they deigned to show me. If I fled during a transport I was bound to be caught in no time at all. Before I could even think about it I needed a reliable escape route.

Another thought I had was taking myself hostage. They clearly wanted me for something, so it stood to reason that they'd hesitate to lethally wound me. But that plan was dead on arrival.

I glanced at my arm again.

If they could heal a wound that severe that quickly and neatly, then there was no chance they'd hold anything back when trying to recapture me.

A loud clanking noise ripped me from my thoughts. Almost instinctively I scrambled backwards against the metal wall of my cell. Again?! So soon?!?

I looked around frantically until my eyes fell on a laughing figure near the door. He wasn't one of the regulars that came down to...take care of me, but I knew of him.

His cape name was Lichtenberg. Long ago he was a well-respected hero, high up in the ranks of Power to the People. He had been one of those who broke off with the Powerbreaker to become a founding member of the SOP. The lightning pattern he had named himself after shifted and wound around his costume with every laugh.

"Why so skittish, Satori? We haven't even formally met yet. You're acting like I'm a bad guy without even getting to know me first."

He touched the bars of the cell and before I could react an immense wave of agony wracked my entire body. My muscles contorted in painful spasms and my mind tried and failed again and again to form a coherent thought. Eventually, the onslaught let up and I fell limply to the floor.

"Making assumptions is not very nice."

It took a while to get my bearings again. When I managed to look up I saw him going for the bars again. Panicked, I gathered as much strength as I could muster and dove into the middle of the cell, away from any and all metal.

"What, you thought I was going to shock you again? What kind of monster do you take me for? Honestly.... and after I just told you...." I raised my head as he pointed a finger at me. Without warning a bolt of electricity shot out of it and hit me directly in the chest.

"Assumptions are not very nice."

I crumpled into a sobbing heap, but mercifully the pain only lasted for a few seconds. As soon as I was able to move again I desperately wiped the tears from my eyes, trying to get as dry as possible for the inevitable next attack. But it never came.

I was tempted to look up again, but I had learned my lesson. "What..." I started but stopped myself immediately. With great concentration, I tried to calm down and filtered out as much anger, irritation, and harshness from my voice as possible.

"Is there something you need or want from me?" I asked as politely as I could muster.

"No, not really. I just wanted to come see the boss' newest project. Pretty pathetic, if you ask me. Rude, presumptious, and weak to boot. How someone like you made it into the Enlightened is something I'll never understand."

I flinched at his words. The honest truth was that the only reason I was picked up originally was because Luisa insisted on us being a team. It wasn't like I had no merit at all. The training missions showed that with me as her partner Honeybadger almost tripled in effectiveness. And even grouped up with others I always increased team efficiency.

But there was no mistake. I never would have even gotten the chance to join the greatest Heroes of America on my own merits.

"Awww, have I hit a nerve? Maybe you shou-Aaaah, fuck!!!"

What was happening? I had to know. Carefully, I looked up at the villain. Our eyes locked just as he collapsed onto the hard floor. For a moment I thought all of this must've been a trick of some sort until I saw something slither out from under him. A snake.

"You really could've done me a solid and gotten locked up a bit higher up in the hideout. It took me forever to find you down here." a familiar voice hissed playfully.

My heart jumped leaps and bounds as Queen Snake waltzed down the hall, waving a key in her hand.

"Armani!" Tears welled up once again. "How...how are you here? How did you find me?"

Her forked tongue flicked between her lips.

"We can talk about that while we're on the move. For now..."

She kicked the unconscious Lichtenberg in the ribs.

"....let's just get you out of here.