Later in the day, Cory is washing dishes after lunch. The Commander approaches him.

Cory:*looks up* Are you alright?

Commander: No, I am not. I worry about how I make you feel, Cory.

Cory: How do you think you make me feel?

Commander: It’s clear that you don’t trust me.

Cory: Why wouldn’t I trust you?

Commander: I know why you may not trust me. But I think that your fears are a bit extreme. I may have much more power than you, but I have never used them to hurt anyone unjustly.

Cory: But you have to potential to…

Commander: In theory, yes. But I choose not to.

Cory: You know, Annelise has been feeling much more pain now that you came along. Was it just of you to cause her pain? She used to be so happy and content.

Commander: I did not cause Annelise’s pain. Annelise’s pain is a part of the world that you live in.

Cory: Well, you could have at least stopped it!

Commander: I could have, yes. But it would have been a poor decision.

Cory: How could stopping my wife’s suffering have been a bad choice?!

Commander*smiles*: Do you know how special Annelise actually is? She is truly, as you often say, one in a million.

Cory: Of course I know that!

Commander: Well, I can see beyond outward appearances. I know that you have an organ near your brain stem that likely you likely weren’t born with.

Cory*touches the back of his neck*: Really?

Commander*nods*: Annelise, however, does not have this organ. Her body has killed it, as implied by its remains.

Cory: What is this organ?

Commander: The organ is likely malevolent. The chemicals it sends to your brain are mostly benign but may be potent when activated. It could make you lose control of your own mind. What worries me is that it was likely introduced by an outside force, which Annelise was immune to, but the rest of the population was not.

Cory is struck with fear.

Annelise walks into the room.

Annelise: Is everything alright?

Cory: Everything’s fine, honey.

Annelise is skeptical. She turns to the Commander.

Annelise: What’s really going on?

The Commander explains everything to Annelise.

Annelise: What does this mean?

Commander: It means that you have an advantage, Annelise. It means that you are unique among your species. Many of the things that are yet to come will prepare you.

Annelise: Prepare me for what?

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Commander: That is something that the future holds.

Annelise*sighs*: Cory, may I speak with you?

Cory and Annelise head into another room.

Annelise: Cory, why don’t you trust Beyond?

Cory: Well, we don’t know what he’s capable of. His dream solidified my distrust. Beyond could injure you, Annelise, and he could injure you very badly.

Annelise: What reasons has he given us not to trust him?

Cory: The dream!

Annelise: He said that he could change that!

Cory: What about the ‘stuff that’s coming’ or whatever? What kind of stuff? Painful stuff, obviously! What the heck could he be preparing you for that involves this much pain?!

Annelise: Pain can be used for good purposes.

The Commander steps into the room.

Cory: Have you been listening to our entire conversation?

Commander*nods*: I apologize. I simply could not refrain from hearing you. My abilities do not allow it.

Cory:*puts his face in his hands*

Annelise: Cory…

Cory: Honey, I need a break for a minute, okay?

Cory speed-walks out of the room and takes a walk outside. The Commander and Annelise sit on the sofa together in the living room.

Annelise: Don’t worry about Cory. He’ll be alright.

Commander: I cannot help worrying about Cory.

Annelise puts her hand on the Commander’s shoulder. The Commander looks at the television for a second.

Commander: What is the purpose of the television?

Annelise: Mostly entertainment, but you can also use it for information.

Commander: Information?

Annelise:*nods* I’ll turn on the news.

Annelise grabs the remote and turns on the National News. The Commander watches intently.

News Anchor(on TV): Good evening. I’m Danielle Strauss here in Washington, D.C. Yesterday, video was sent to us from a witness’s Iphone of the explosion of around sixty cars right here in Washington.

The video appears on the screen of the television. It shows a seemingly ordinary woman walking through the crosswalk. The Commander sits up quickly.

Annelise: What is it?

The woman abruptly turns around. Immediately afterward, the cars on both sides of the street explode in a fiery cloud.

News Anchor: This video has sparked much controversy, but the government has verified that it is real and unedited. The woman in the video appears to be Janis Daun, an imprisoned biologist, but an eye scan could not identify her with any of the criminals on the government watchlist, including Daun.

The Commander is shaken with fear.

News Anchor: In an investigation, the FBI found security footage of an experiment in Project Persephone, a classified project funded by the government to make contact with extraterrestrials.

The video shows a metal circle, labeled Paradox, sparking and emitting visible electrical charges. Suddenly, the power in the room goes out. Then, the machine explodes and shatters. When the power comes back on, what looks like green algae-like slime is all over the room. Janis Daun and Abram Hues enter the experiment area. The slime forms itself into a crowd of human-like, living figures. Janis Daun reaches out to touch one of them. Right after she does, the humanoid figure shifts form until it looks exactly like her. The rest of them follow suit, taking many different human forms.

News Anchor: The leader of the strange creatures has been named the Evil Alien Empress, or E.A.E., by scientists and mathmeticians.

Annelise*scared but a bit amused by the name*: Why do they always let scientists and mathmeticians name stuff?

Commander:*stands up from the sofa* She is not an alien!

Annelise: Then, what is she?

Commander: She is an interdimensional.

Annelise: Is that what you are?

Commander: No. I am of a different kind than she is. Her species cannot travel outside of the multiverse. I can. Her species also has less abilities than I do. But, they are much more powerful than humans.

The Commander continues solemnly.

Commander: I have traveled through every universe that exists. They were all desolate wastelands, devoid of any life. But I could tell that these worlds once contained life in abundance. Many even had intelligent life at another point in time. Your universe is the only one that I have traveled to that still contains life within it.

Annelise: What happened to those other worlds?

Commander:*signals to the TV* She destroyed them. Her goal was to rule every universe, but her reign destroyed every one of them that she conquered. They would now be described, as I have read from books, as a living hell. Now, she only has one universe left to conquer.

Annelise*is stricken with fear*: Then, how can we stop her?

The Commander ponders Annelise’s question for a minute. Then he has a vision. In this vision, he feels intense pain, is physically drained, and many other feelings that he has never felt before, but feelings that he recognizes as human feelings.

Commander: I will have to defeat her. I am the only one who can.