Meredarchos fell off the map. He never tried to sneak into The Lofts. He
never showed up anywhere near the Fountain of Youth. If they were right
about his motives in any sense, he probably connected with the past version
of Erlendr, who they still haven’t found. They’re not even destined to find
him. Erlendr left the universe, and so did Mateo, Leona, and Alyssa. When
they came back, they may have come back to a different timeline. Nothing
they think they know about the future can be trusted. They could be stuck
with two Erlendrs forever. One of them must theoretically cross over to the
main sequence to jump start the series of events that leads the team here in
the first place, but they’re not even sure of that. This is all new
territory, and they’re lost in it.
Leona and her SD6 team are preparing to leave the Orlando area tonight, but
not before a permanent installation is established. A group of researchers
and operatives will be monitoring the Fountain in case Meredarchos does ever
show up, but will also be protecting and studying the Youth water bubbling
up from the spring. That’s what they plan to do anyway. Anyone who steps
foot into the water becomes immediately stricken with a strong sense of
urgency to head for the center, where they will most likely be transported
to Birket. So far, by a system of pulleys and ropes, it has not yet come to
that, but it is always a risk. The team gave the government all the details
about the phenomenon, and they’ve now wiped their hands of all
responsibility.
Nothing is really happening today back at the team’s building. Leona is the
only one capable of safely operating the Insulator of Life, plus the
Livewire. Arcadia has agreed to help fix Ramses, but then she really does
just want to get back to her normal life with Vearden and Heath. Angela’s
work is presently on autopilot, so she’s bored, and upstairs in the lab,
where she comes across the box of Rothko’s magical flashlights that were
recovered from the grounds of the blacksite. There are eleven of them in
total, of all different shapes and sizes. The largest is the size of her
head, and the smallest can fit on a keychain. She lays them all out,
arranging them according to color, because again, she’s bored. She wants to
switch them on, but she knows that the others would not be happy. She finds
herself focusing more on the penlight than the rest. Is it less powerful?
Will it run out of energy sooner, if any of them run out at all? What can it
do? What can she do with it? Ah, it doesn’t matter. She’s just curious about
a unique thing.
“What are you doing?” Marie has secret agented her way into the room
unheard.
Without even realizing that she’s doing it, Angela slips the penlight into
the back pocket of her pants after she turns to face her alternate self.
“I’m just making sure that everything is okay in this room. Why, what are
you doing?”
“I was looking for you,” Marie explains.
“Well, I’m here.” Is this the first time she’s hidden something from someone
in the centuries that she’s been alive? Well, not always alive, but
whatever.
“My old boss called. He wants to speak with me about an incident that
happened about four months ago? I did the math, that was when you were
impersonating me, so I don’t know what he was talking about. He didn’t say
who you had the problem with, because he assumed I would recall. Tell me
what happened,” she asks gently.
“I don’t understand how you stood it for all those years. This world is more
backwards than ours. I’ll tell you, but only if you promise not to get mad.”
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