When Zack entered the Alpha House, he had little patience for the high-fives and fist bumps of his supposed frat brothers, but he endured them nevertheless. He didn’t want to give the impression, or more likely suspicion, that anything was wrong.

Even so, if Zack’s hunch was right, there was a lot wrong going on.

He saw Scott Stephens plunging a dripping mop into a bucket of water. He fought the urge to go and talk to his friend. He had lost touch with his best friend, even when he was just down the street. That tore him up inside. And he had told Perry the truth before he told Scott . . . and Rachel. He needed to make things right.

But that could wait.

First, Zack needed to find the truth, and he could get that upstairs

Zack expected Kaine to try to stop him, but the burly gatekeeper was nowhere to be seen. With no one to stop him, Zack peered into the massive glass display cases, searching for signs of the Magnometer as walked towards his destination. Yet despite a thorough search, he saw no traces of the device anywhere.

So whatever Kaine or Max had in mind, it was more than just sticking the Magnometer in a display case for all to see.

Zack had a bad feeling about this.

He walked into Max’s office. Thankfully, Max was there, drinking a Scotch while looking through several papers. He looked up and smiled as soon as Zack entered.

“Zack?” he said, throwing aside the papers. “You want a drink? Take a seat.”

“I’ll stand,” Zack said, his voice brisque and took the point.

“Suit yourself, “ Max simply shrugged before pouring himself another drink.

This guy might have a problem.

And he’s about to have another problem.

Me.

“What can I do for you, Zack?” Max said as he held his gin and tonic.

Zack crossed his arms. “Do you know Dirk Saber?”

Max thought for a moment. He then took a sip of his drink and set it down.

“Yeah, I remember him. Dark Saber’s kid, right?” Max said. “Not a bad fighter, but doesn’t hold a candle to his old man, if you ask me.”

Zack didn’t want to get stuck going down another trip down memory lane with Max. He’d be distracted asking questions. Maybe that was Max’s intention even bringing up Dusk Saber in the first place.

“He told me you aren’t dying,” Zack said.

Max looked almost hurt by the remark. His head visibly rocked backward as if his words strung him like a bee.

“What a horrible thing to say,” Max said. “I’m wasting away up here, dying, and someone here says otherwise. What a terrible, horrible way to devalue a person’s circumstance.”

Zack wasn’t impressed. He maintained a stoic, closed-off posture as he regarded Max.

“According to Dirk Saber,” Zack said, keeping his hands tightly across his chest. “You’re not dying. You’re aging.”

Zack searched Max’s face, receiving his much needed confirmation. Max didn’t flinch or react the way he did with the initial shock. Instead he simply shrugged.

“Well,” Max said. “Why can’t it be both? I took a dip in the Fountain of Youth and now its wearing off. And you know where aging leads, right?”

Zack continued to regard Max. He knew the best strategy was the silent treatment. Spin Max up and watch him go. A thick silence slowly built up over the course of several awkward minutes.

“I don’t need this,” Max continued, jabbing a finger at Zack. “I’ve done plenty for this campus. I’ve given all those kids down there a future. And if it weren’t for me, Kestler, you wouldn’t know your asshole from your elbow.”

So much for the wise and benevolent mentor.

Zack leaned on the table, bringing himself closer to Max.

“Okay,” Zack said. “How long ya got?”

Max looked small and confused. “W-what?”

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Zack narrowed his eyes, but he kept his hands on the table as he hunched over, peering at Max.

“The doctors must have given you an estimate for how long you got. If the treatment worked, how long could you reasonably expect to live?” Zack said.

Max looked away. “In this business, aging is dying. I can feel myself slipping. I’m not as fast as I used to be. I don’t bounce like I used to. And don’t get me started about how little action I get.”

Zack exhaled a deep sigh. Max was almost certainly exaggerating. Even if the effects of the Fountain of Youth were declining, Max was still a fair distance away from death’s door.

Dude, you’re thirty, not seventy.

“Answer the question,” Zack persisted, keeping his position locked on the desk like a grimacing gargoyle. Max began to squirm in his seat.

“It’s complicated,” Max gestured with one of his hands. “If I use my powers, I could kick the bucket in about ten years give or take.”

“Ten years?” Zack said. He lifted his arms from the table only to put his hands on his face as if wiping a stain from his eyes.

Which, in some ways, he was.

“It’s a death sentence, i know…” Max started.

“My grandmother got cancer. They gave her five years to live,” Zack said. “She only got two. And they gave you ten years.”

“It’s only an estimate, and not necessarily an accurate one,” Max shot back.

If I use my powers…

Zack remembered Max had some sort of energy powers, supposed excess energy given to him from the Fountain of Youth. He looked back at Max.

“What happens if you use your powers?” Zack asked.

Max said. “It makes kind of a pew-pew sound, lasers come out of my hands.”

Zack rolled his eyes.

“I mean what does that do to your estimate if you don’t use your powers,” Zack said.

Max started to fidget a bit, his eyes looking away.

Zack considered what he knew so far. Max was dying. Ten years was a death sentence, even if it was more than his grandmother got. And regardless of what Saber or Shaw said, Max did deserve help. But his current evasiveness didn’t sit well with Zack.

“Max, how long do you have if you don’t use your powers?” Zack said, repeating his questions.

Max continued to look away. His eyes darted all over the room. He seemed to look around Zack, desperately trying to find anyone else to talk to. But there was no one else in the room, save him and Zack.

“It’s complicated,” Max said again. “The numbers change. It’s not an exact science you know.”

“Roughly, how long do you have if you don’t use your powers?” Zack said, repeating the question.

Max gave him a sheepish look. “Probably a little more than thirty years.”

Thirty years?

What would my grandmother have done with thirty more years? Hell, what would anyone do with thirty more years of life.

Now Innshadow’s actions made sense. Kinda. Their secrecy over the springs deep within this place struck him as weird. But Max Mann wasn’t going anywhere. He had at least ten years to live. At least thirty if he didn’t use his powers. Which is probably why they set him up with this cushy gig.

“I could go sixty years if I don’t tax myself,” Max added.

“Sixty years!” Zack said.

“I know. It’s not much,” Max said.

Zack glared at Max, but he couldn’t…even.

He had more important things to deal with today than Max’s vanity.

“Where’s the Magnometer?” he asked. Max looked confused, but fear gradually replaced the blank expression on his face.

“I’m . . . I’m not sure,” Max said.

“C’mon, you gave me a challenge coin for snatching it,” Zack implored. “Where is it now?”

Max looked away. “Kaine has it.”

“And what’s he going to do with it?” Zack asked.

“I…I’m not sure,” Max said.

“You’re not sure?” Zack raised his voice. “I thought this was your plan!”

“No!” Max urged. “It was Kaine’s. He’s not happy with you threatening his position.”

I never wanted his position. I never wanted anything to do with this place.

That wasn’t entirely true. Zack had wanted a relationship with Max. He saw him as something left over from his father’s life, a long-forgotten family friend. But now he was quickly realizing some parts of his father’s world were truly left long-forgotten.

“If I find Kaine, I’m taking back the Magnometer,” Zack said. “No good can come of it.”

He didn’t Shaw nosing around in his business, and the Magnometer had raised that particular possibility. Plus if Kaine wasn’t going to parade it around like a trophy, that meant he probably intended to use it . . . to do what he wasn’t sure.

He just knew it wouldn’t be good.

“That’s…probably for the best,” Max said, nodding along.

Zack turned to go, but Max called out to him.

“Zack, my boy, you see why I did what I did, right?” Max said. “My condition . . . I don’t talk about it much . . . but you understand, right?”

Zack turned and gave Max a piercing look.

“Yeah, I see, Mr. Mann,” he said. “I see everything.”

Max nodded graciously and leaned back in his seat. “As long as you understand.”

Zack understood everything. He saw everything about Max.

And it disgusted him.