Venessa:(whispering) What just happened?
Avonari:(whispering) I have no idea.
After Annelise finishes making lunch, all of the foster children rush downstairs to eat. Annelise seems a bit drowsy or lethargic, but otherwise fine.
Venessa:(quoting The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien to Avonari) “One does not simply…” have an episode like that and recover quickly.
Avonari: I know! It’s so weird! I wonder if Annelise destroyed that city.
Venessa: How?
Avonari: I think that she has other powers than just empathy. She seems to know more than we can see. Maybe she has destructive telekinesis like you.
Venessa: Okay, but why destroy a random city in Thailand? Webmaster attacked our school and it wasn’t destroyed.
Avonari: I don’t know.
Venessa: Plus, I just don’t think Annelise is that type of person. Look at her.
Avonari glances at Annelise, who is laughing as she puts plates of food on the table for the younger kids.
Avonari: You’re right.
Venessa begins eating her meal. After she finishes her food, Avonari invites her to sit on the sofa.
Avonari: I guess your dream was wrong, huh?
Venessa nods: I guess.
She looks over at Josie, who is running around and doing cartwheels.
Venessa: Josie.
Josie:(with a big smile on her face) Yeah?
Venessa: You shouldn’t call Annelise ‘Mommy’.
Josie’s face falls: Why not?
Venessa: This is a foster home. You’ll get moved somewhere else. You shouldn’t get too attached to her.
Josie begins to cry. Avonari scowls at Venessa.
Venessa: What? It’s true.
Annelise steps into the living room and crouches down to meet Josie’s eyes:(to Josie) What’s wrong?
Josie: Venessa says I’m gonna leave!
Annelise hugs Josie: Well, you’re not. Don’t worry about that.
Josie: Mommy?
Annelise: Yes?
Josie: What happened?
Annelise: What do you mean?
Josie: Why were you sick?
Annelise thinks for a moment: I was sick because someone I love very much was very angry.
Josie: Why?
Annelise: Because people were being hurt. People he loves.
Josie cocks her head, confused.
Annelise smiles: It’s hard to understand, I know.
Josie gets distracted and begins dancing around again.
Venessa: Avonari, who’s this guy that she keeps talking about?
Avonari shrugs. Jesse walks over to them, nibbling on a cheese stick.
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Jesse: Maybe it’s the Commander.
Venessa: You mean the head of the Keepers?
Jesse: Nah. I’ve been studying the Keepers’ political structure…
Avonari: Political structure?
Jesse: You know what I mean. It seems like everyone’s position is based on where they fall on the power scale. The Commander isn’t a Keeper. He’s something else entirely.
Avonari: See, Jesse? This is what you can learn when you don’t play A.R. games all day!
Jesse: Nah, I just asked Cory about it.
Avonari sighs: Of course you did.
Venessa: Why does it matter that the Commander isn’t a Keeper? He’s still their leader.
Jesse: Well, I don’t think the Commander’s even human.
Avonari: Neither am I nor any of the members of the Cyclone unit.
Jesse: Okay…Look, I’m still trying to figure this out. Whatever power structure we have, it’s confusing.
Venessa: Wow, Jesse! I didn’t get the impression that you were…
Jesse: Smart? Yeah, I am.
Avonari rolls her eyes. Venessa sighs.
Venessa:(to Jesse) How long have you been here?
Jesse: About eight months.
Venessa: Has this ever happened in the time you’ve stayed here?
Jesse shakes his head: No. It’s really weird. Must not happen very much.
Avonari: Well, that’s good.
Venessa: Maybe if we just asked Annelise what was going on…
Avonari: No. We should let her be. She probably doesn’t want to relive it.
Jesse nods: I know I wouldn’t.
Venessa: Could we ask Cory then?
Cory steps into the living room: Did somebody say my name?
Venessa: Yeah, I was…
Avonari and Jesse scowl at her.
Venessa:...I was wondering if I had any missions scheduled for today.
Cory shakes his head: No, you don’t. There’s usually a four-day rest period for Keepers-in-Training after their first mission.
Venessa:(sarcastically) Great…
Cory: You’re gonna have to work on your smart mouth, Venessa. There are some things that need to stay inside our heads.
Jesse snickers.
Cory:(to Jesse) Don’t act like you don’t do the same thing.
Jesse is silent.
Cory: Now, none of you are going on missions today, but I’ll need to take Venessa to headquarters with me while I check on some things.
Venessa grumbles.
Cory: The sooner you get used to headquarters, the better. You’ll be spending a lot of time there as a Keeper. Now, c’mon. Let’s get in the car.
The two of them head to the Keeper headquarters.
Venessa: So, Cory, what are your powers?
Cory: Metal manipulation and extraordinary strength.
Venessa: Are you taking me here as a punishment for my sarcasm?
Cory: I’ll leave that up for interpretation.
Cory and Venessa stop in front of a door labeled “Sea Sector Coordinator”. Cory pulls a key out of his pocket and unlocks the door. There’s a desk in the office with a screen on top and a leather desk chair with wheels. Many bookshelves filled with actual copies of books lean against one of the walls. On the other are three framed photos of different people. One photo, labeled ‘2024’ seems to be a picture of Cory and Annelise on their wedding day. They only look slightly older now than they do in the picture. The other two look like group pictures of the Keepers. One, labeled ‘2035’, is a picture of Annelise, Cory, Levi, Susanna, Tyler, Ethan, and Dortor. The other, evidently the one taken this year (in 2066), is a collage of all of the different sectors. There must have been too many people to fit into one picture. Venessa realizes, however, that there is a man in these two pictures that she doesn’t recognize.
Venessa:(pointing to the unfamiliar man in the pictures) Who’s that?
Cory looks up from the screen on his desk: That would be the Commander.
Venessa: Wait, really?!
Cory smiles: Yup.
Venessa: But he looks so…normal. I mean, none of you here are normal, but I guess I didn’t expect your leader to look so human.
Cory nods: That’s a conversation for later on. It’s good story, though. I’ll tell you sometime.
Venessa: Is he human?
Cory shakes his head and smiles as if looking back on a past memory: No, he’s not human, or an alien, or an interdimensional. I think he’s something entirely different. Definitely more powerful than either of those three options, though. And he didn’t use to look so normal. I remember when I first met him years ago, he had silver eyes and was quite a bit taller than Annelise and I.
Venessa: How tall?
Cory laughs: Tall enough to need to duck to get through the doorway.
Venessa sits down: So, what do you want me to do while I’m here?
Cory: You can help Agent Ethan sort files.
Venessa: Ugh! That sounds so…
Cory gives her a look.
Venessa:...Fine. I’ll go help Ethan.
Cory: Thank you.
Venessa nods and leaves the office to find Ethan. She knocks on the door to an office labeled “Flame Sector and Civilian Coordinator”. Ethan answers.
Ethan: Ah, Venessa. Good to see you again. Let me guess: Your smart-alec remarks got you in trouble?
Venessa: How did you know?
Ethan: Lucky guess. Also, I put Smart-Alec in the description of your Keeper-in-Training file.
Venessa: Really?
Ethan laughs: No! Everyone here already knows about your sarcasm. C’mon in.
Venessa sighs and walks into Ethan’s office. There’s a safe for practically every item except for the desk.