A full stomach and an open window made the car ride far less painful this time, and we arrived at the meeting place, a small, unassuming townhome, without incident.

Mattie dropped back as we walked up to the basic green door, nervousness etched into every inch of her skin. Knowing it would be safe, Cove gave her a gentle pat on the back as reassurance. She relaxed under his touch, still staying back from Jack.

Jack rapped thrice on the door, then waited.

“Come in!” Someone, a male, shouted from the other side.

He twisted the doorknob, holding it open while we filed in one by one, with Mattie walking in last. The interior was sparsely lit, and the home was decorated in the standard 2020s style. The floor was a neutral gray, the walls a neutral tan, and the furniture was either a neutral white or a neutral black. The only splashes of color were the pale yellows, oranges, blues, and greens of the wildlife prints framed on the walls.

The green-eyed man I’d seen in my dreams dressed like he was from the 80s poked his head out from the kitchen, shouting, “He’s in the office downstairs!”

“Thanks, Tom!”

Tom grinned a greeting, sending each of us a polite nod before vanishing back into the recess of the kitchen. We followed Jack into the kitchen, heading through a door next to the table and down carpeted steps into the basement. Mattie, who hadn’t grown up with the same constant crime media I had, looked uncertain at the prospect of following Jack into the basement of a random house. If Cove and I hadn’t already known, we probably would have felt the same way. As it was, I could see why she felt uncertain about the matter and gracefully decided to go second.

The stairs led to a small, neutral-painted hallway void of any decoration. Jack wound us through the hallway, leading me into a brightly-lit room on the left.

I placed myself near a bookshelf in the corner, making room in the medium-sized office for Cove and Mattie to stand next to me. A desk in the middle of the room faced the doorway, with a tall-backed chair spun in the other direction.

Knowing who–or what–was most likely in that chair led a bubble of laughter up my throat despite myself, and I coughed to keep it down.

Mattie nervously asked, "Are we going to meet this guy or what?”

Jack gave her a sheepish look. The chair behind the desk slowly spun around, revealing the worn and tufted fur of the teddy bear. The laughter bubbled back up my throat. This entire situation was absolutely ridiculous.

Mattie’s face twisted into a mix of confusion, skepticism, and shock. Despite having heard me discuss it, Cove wasn’t much better.

I stifled the laughter that slipped from my chest with another cough.

“Hello,” the bear ‘said,’ its eyes shining as bright as the sun beneath the brilliant lights. “My name is Bearard.”

I took a deep breath in. The teddy bear’s name. Was. Bearard. Bearard.

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Mattie’s mouth snapped shut, and her hands shot to her temple. Cove gripped his registration tag beneath his freshly washed shirt, mouthing, ‘Bearard?’

“How…” Mattie trailed off in wonder.

The threads on the bear’s face slithered into a smile. “Magic.”

She fished for words before abandoning the attempt altogether, her mouth gaping open and then shut.

The bear’s mouth lines straightened into a serious expression; his eyes fixated on Mattie. “There are many worlds out there. I’m from one of them.”

Mattie jerked her head to look back and forth between Jack and the bear. “So it was true?!”

Jack and the bear both nodded. It still sounded unbelievable, but no doubt it seemed less so in front of a talking teddy bear. Named Bearard.

Cove’s hand twitched at his side once again, and he stared intently at the bear. Worried he was going to do something we’d both regret, I gently snatched his wrist, stopping him with a shake of my head. Reluctantly, he relaxed his hand, giving me a nod of acknowledgment in return.

I wondered when I’d become the decision-maker between the two of us.

The bear jumped into an explanation, telling Mattie what What Lies Ahead was and giving her a detailed overview of the plot. It was far more complex than Cove's explanation, though only a little of the new information was very useful.

“What about you?” Mattie asked.

Bearard propped his head on a paw, staring up at the ceiling. “You could say I’m a piece of a person.” The fabric of his face twisted into a frown. “I don’t remember much of my life before,” he moved a paw to his chest, where his heart would be. “I’m missing many pieces.”

Bearard straightened to look us all in the eyes. “I was alone and lost until a woman showed up<” his frown shifted into a grateful smile as he recalled the woman. “She told me she could help me find my missing pieces. She said she couldn’t do much herself, but she could help me travel to one, and if I returned it to her, she could put my pieces back together.”

His gaze moved past us. “She told me everything I know about this world and warned me to be careful. We weren’t the only ones after the fragment.

“She used her powers to send me here, into this vessel, to keep more of me from slipping away. I ran into Jack and some others and told them everything I’m telling you. Between us, I know we can find my missing fragment and bring justice to your town!”

Cove’s breath hitched at the motion of the woman, and I felt dizzy. It must be Ava trying to prevent us from gathering fragments under the guise of helping them. Rage boiled beneath my skin at the thought. I couldn’t imagine how Cove was feeling about this.

“And that brings us to your two friends.” Bearers said, spinning in his chair to face Cove and me. “She made no mention of you two.” The fur above his eyes shifted downwards, his eyes narrowing. “Unless you’re the ones she warned me about.”

Cove tensed, anger flushing his cheeks. I grabbed his wrist again, willing him to stay calm. Bear’s eyes followed the movement.

“Cove? Hayden?” Mattie looked at us, wary of our lack of verbal response.

“We’re travelers who just want to help,” I said truthfully, avoiding the unspoken question.

The bear’s expression didn’t change, and Mattie’s turned thoughtful. I never thought I’d have to convince a teddy bear I didn’t have bad intentions.

“You didn’t know about the robots.” She said thoughtfully, her eyes glinting, “I didn’t want to think about it earlier, but your story doesn’t make sense. You didn’t know any of the history here, and I saw you reading the timeline and watching the video as intently as I did.”

Her gaze pierced my soul, and I realized she’d seen through all of our lies. I loosened my grip on Cove’s arm, freeing his hand.

“That witch,” Cove spat, giving up the game, “was a liar. She wants you to bring the remnants to her so she can steal their magic and finish what she started. We’re trying to restore the world.”

Bearard tilted his head to the side in confusion. “She was the one who sent me here.”

Cove's hands tightened, his fists turning white. “For her own gain, I swear to you. She tricked my father, too, and I’m the only one who can make up for his mistakes.”

Cove calmed down a little and looked back at me. “As Hayden said, we just want to help.”

“So you two knew about this too?” Mattie accused, looking betrayed. “That everyone else was using technology while the Mayor,” she spat his title out like a curse, “used us all? You should have said something!”

“We’re not gods,” Cove said, giving her the same explanation he gave me, “and this isn’t our world. What right do we have to interfere with your future?”

Mattie reeled, angry or frustrated tears sparkling in her eyes. “That’s for me to decide, not you! You were already interfering by showing up!”

It reminded me of my conversation with Sera about my dreams so long ago.

“I didn’t realize where we were! We weren’t supposed to be here!”

Something about that phrasing struck me, and I went back through my memory of the conversation we just had and our appearance here.