Anya had been too dumbstruck by Gary’s claims to respond immediately. They had both stared at the onyx staff in mute disbelief, anticipation, and curiosity. Anya had excused herself several minutes later and gone to one of the small host dorms. It was, she realized after several moments, the same one she had stayed in Immonen with just before she and Renn had left in Gaia’s Saber.

She needed somebody calm right now, somebody to tell her things weren’t spinning out of control. She brought up her menu and touched Immonen’s name, and the scruffy-faced doctor answered a few moments later.

“Anya, hello!” he said as he appeared in a chat window. The room behind him was a sterile white and somebody spoke in a language Anya didn’t recognize over a loudspeaker in the back. A hospital, most likely, or some medical lab taking samples of alien medicine from his RAC store. His smile faded a bit as he saw her and his brow knit into a series of condensed folds with concern. “Uh, is everything all right?”

“Is it that obvious?” Anya asked.

“You look like somebody punched you in the guts.”

“Something like that,” Anya said and explained what had happened, starting with her suspension from the USAIF and ending with Gary’s proposed theory for the staff. Immonen merely sighed and nodded at the suspension, but he paled visibly when she started talking about the staff.

“Anya…this is very, very serious,” Immonen said.

“Yes, Garreth, I’m aware. That’s why I called you,” Anya sighed. “Samaira would feel torn to tell MacDougal or not, Chell has enough to deal with, Tori couldn’t do anything, and I’m sure as shit not telling Renn for obvious reasons.”

“While I appreciate the vote of confidence, what do you expect me to do?” Immonen asked. The view behind him moved and darkened as he went into something like a private office and the door closed behind him. “Also, are you in the factory right now?”

“Yeah. So?”

“So are you sure Gary isn’t listening in?”

“Fuck. I hadn’t thought of that,” Anya sighed. “This sucks! I don’t want to think of Gary like that! He wouldn’t…I mean he’s not the spying type.”

“I’m done here for the day. I’m currently in Iraq, but I was going back to Helsinki until tomorrow. Meet you there?” Immonen asked.

“Yeah. Good idea. You mind if I bring Pan?”

“Not at all. Always happy to see him,” Immonen said, waved, and closed the window. Anya took a deep breath before she left the dorm and emerged back into the dark, silent hallways. Gary’s factory had been what she had thought of as some of her last good memories on Earth. It had been where she’d said good-bye to her friends, where she and Immonen had made things pretty much official, where so many world leaders and hosts had felt the safest.

And now…

Now she was worried one of her most trusted friends was spying on her.

She entered the main lab and research room moments later to see Gary and Pan standing near the huge ant farm.

“…and the fire ants taste extra spicy, and the black ones have a kind of extra bitter aftertaste, and the ones that have honey on their butts are really sweet, obviously, and——” Pan was saying, his voice getting faster as he spoke. Gary laughed, and Anya saw some of the weariness leave his face. Pan stopped and waved his stubby arms at Anya as she entered.

“Hey Anya! Where'd you go? I was telling Gary about all the ants he should put in this big farm," Pan said and gestured at the massive glass container.

“That does sound nice,” Anya said a bit weakly. “But we should be going for now. Garreth said he wants to see us!”

“Okay! I like the doctor. He’s nice,” Pan said and began waddling toward the door. “Bye Gary! Thanks for shoiwng me the big ant farm!"

“Bye little fella,” Gary replied then looked at Anya. “Leaving so soon, kid? Feels like it’s barely been a minute.”

Anya couldn’t mistake the look on his face for anything but disappointment and she felt a pang of guilt. She’d never felt bad leaving her mother. Quite the opposite: she’d only ever been filled with relief whenever she put her mom in the rearview mirror. But leaving Gary here, like this, alone…

“You could come with us,” Anya said. Maybe all Gary needed was to get out of his factory, away from the staff. Being stuck hundreds of yards beneath the frozen wastes of the South Pole for weeks on end, with nothing but droids and an alien artifact for company would make anybody go crazy. “Garreth and I were just gonna have dinner, talk. And you’ve been cooped up here too much.”

“Ah, thanks kid, but no. This is too important. And besides, you and the doc need some time alone. I remember what it was like being young and head-over-heels for somebody,” he winked at her.

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” Anya said, and Gary appeared to brighten again. “I promise. In the meantime, please do me a favor?”

“Anything you want, kid.”

“Go outside. Samaira’s been stuck in bureaucracy hell with her duties as ‘Captain,’ but she misses you. And Galtero kept asking me when he could come get some advice from you about his new mecha. Maybe pay them a visit?”

Gary sighed, glanced at where the staff lay hidden behind the wall panels, then back at Anya and nodded. “Yeah, okay. I have been a bit obsessive lately. I’ll follow you out. Hey, buckethead: basic security protocols. Use half the orbital satellites we got to keep an eye on Mars.”

A passing droid beeped in acknowledgment and then hovered away. Anya felt some tension she hadn’t been aware of start to unwind as Gary followed her out of the lab and back toward the hangar.

“Guess I’ll swing by Galtero in Rio first,” Gary said.

“Let me know if you need anything, okay?” Anya asked.

“I’ll be fine, kid, I’m just tired.”

“Is Gary coming too?” Pan asked as they entered the hangar.

“He’s gonna go visit Galtero and Sam, maybe,” Anya said. “And we’ll be back here tomorrow.”

“See you then!” Gary said as he waved and climbed into his truck. Anya was helping Pan into the V-200 as the F-150 converted into its flying mode and soared up and out of the factory.

Anya paused as she started her pre-flight check with the V-200.

Gary could be tricking her. He could just be leaving and then come back…he could teleport now. But she would be able to track his position on her menu map…

“Unless he’s figured out how to change that,” Anya mumbled and bit her lip.

“Change what?” Pan asked as blinked his tiny dark eyes at her and twitched his nose.

“Nothing. Nothing, I’m just being paranoid,” Anya said. She was used to thinking like this about Renn, not Gary. Hell, not anybody shy of potential super villains and her mother. But even if Gary was doing that, even if he was tricking her just so he could come right back and be with the staff, it didn’t change the fact that she needed to talk to somebody about what to do about it all. This was delicate, and needed to be handled with care; two things she wasn’t terribly good at.

With a final sigh and a rev of the V-200’s engine, she and Pan left the now empty factory behind, hopefully for answers.

Helsinki, Immonen’s Apartment

Like pretty much every other host, Garreth Immonen had been showered with gifts following EV Day. This had included a very posh apartment in the heart of Helsinki: a penthouse full of light colored wood, white tiles, brushed stainless steel appliances, and a lot of leather furniture.

It was obvious that none of it was to Immonen’s taste, as everything looked like a display for some ritzy home decor catalog, save the kitchen and the bedroom. Both were usually somewhat messy, and were home to a number of colorful knick-knacks. The kitchen had a salt-and-pepper shaker set that looked like a pair of ceramic dinosaurs, and Immonen had a sizable collection of mugs, all of which were stained from countless cups of tea or coffee.

His bedroom was a revolt against the sleek modernist aesthetic of the rest of the apartment. It featured patchwork quilts, laundry strewn across the floor (including some of Anya’s own clothes), and open drawers that revealed absolutely no organization.

“So when are you gonna fix the rest of your apartment?” Anya asked as she sat at the bar next to the kitchen while Immonen cooked. It smelled amazing and Anya’s mouth was watering. “Also what is that and will it be ready faster if I help roast it?”

Immonen smirked at her as he put a tray with four tightly wrapped rolls of something in the oven.

“No, you will burn them, and they’re kaalikaaryleet. Kind of like, umm, meatballs? Wrapped in cabbage leaves. Not exactly meatballs but good, I promise,” he said. “And what’s wrong with the apartment? It’s very clean, except for my room.”

“That’s what I mean. It’s as interesting as an elevator. Your room and the kitchen are the only places that have any damn personality to them,” Anya said.

“It is kind of boring,” Pan agreed from the living room. He was watching a nature documentary on the enormous TV and darting his tongue into a bag of ants. He’d also acquired a very long pipe that he was smoking from. Brody’s influence, no doubt. Anya had given up trying to make him stop his experimentation with the various smokable substances from the RAC store.

“I’m not one to look a gift in its mouth…or however that English saying goes,” Immonen said. “I’m just happy I have room to stretch out and not worry about rent anymore. Maybe you could help me spruce up the place some time?”

“Maybe,” Anya said as she took a sip of beer. Was that the first step to asking somebody to move in with you? Anya like Immonen, but she’d only really known him for several weeks, tops. There was no way she was ready to…

Anya swatted the thoughts away. She was getting distracted. Granted, that was part of the reason she had come to see her boyfriend. She needed to not be paranoid about Gary, about Renn, about Corva and her independent hosts, about whatever MacDougal, Hanover, and the rest of the American government were planning…

But she had still parked her V-200 over a mile away from Immonen’s place and then flown the rest of the way. Gary had built the vehicle for her, and there was no telling if he’d had it bugged or what. She’d checked her clothes for any tiny devices, set herself aflame to melt anything she didn’t want on her, and had been checking her map every few minutes to see if Gary had returned to the factory or not. He hadn’t, and his dot was currently still just outside Rio, next to Galtero’s own.

Anya had messaged the Brazilian host, asked him if Gary had stopped by. Galtero confirmed that he had and was happily talking shop about anti-matter cannons and gravity thrusters or something. That had relieved Anya a little bit. But there was no avoiding the conversation she needed to have with Immonen, as much as she would have preferred to just sit and chat and watch him cook.

“So,” Immonen said, as if sensing her mood shift, “Gary. Unlimited power.”

“Yup. Not yet, but…it’s Gary. I think he’ll be able to do it,” Anya said.

“And do you think he should?” Immonen asked.

“I don’t know. Shit.”

“Let me ask you this, then: would you want somebody like Renn or this new woman, Corva, to have this power?”

“Hell no.”

“Then you have your answer,” Immonen said and shrugged.

“It’s not that simple,” Anya replied. “Gary isn’t them. Everything he’s done has been to keep people safe.”

“I think Renn could make the same argument. Corva too, to some extent,” Immonen said and gestured out the window at the dark sky.

“Are you guys talking about fun stuff?” Pan asked as he trundled over, claws clicking on the sleek, sterile floors.

“Not so much,” Immonen said. “Did you leave your bag of ants open and in the middle of the floor?”

“Yeah, but I’m gonna go back to it,” Pan said in a somewhat guilty tone as he fiddled his claws together.

“At least close the bag if you’re not using it, please,” Immonen said.

“Okaaaaay,” Pan sighed and waddled slowly back. Anya giggled.

“Renn has so many ulterior motives for things that he probably doesn’t take a shit unless it’ll solve three other problems,” she said. Immonen made a face as he chuckled.

“A very colorful metaphor,” he said as he poured himself a glass of red wine.

“And Corva’s only doing things for her people: the runaway hosts. Not everybody. Gary’s not like them. And it’s not like he’s just gone power mad overnight. He’s doing this as a direct response to us being threatened by the Engineers.”

“Yes. And if he could find a way to block them fiddling with our brains and nothing else, I’d be all for it. But it’s a Pandora’s Box. You can’t open it without letting some potentially very nasty stuff out.”

“Oh, bullshit,” Anya huffed.

“Who’s Pandora?” Pan asked. “I like her name. The first part sounds like mine.”

“Did you check for escaped ants?” Immonen asked him.

“I was only gone a minute. They wouldn’t have gotten out,” Pan said.

“Go check,” Immonen said and pointed back.

“I wanna talk with you guys,” Pan huffed again and slouched back to the living room where he began to sniff under chairs and tables.

“Did you find any?” Immonen called. A beat of silence.

“…Yes,” Pan said. “I’ll look around the rest of the room.”

“Thank you, Pan,” Immonen said then turned back to Anya. “And it’s not bullshit. Each of us have a fraction of the menu’s power and we’ve already begun to tear at the fabric of our society. We’ve been out of an interstellar war for less than a month and already I can see China, America, and now Mars drawing battle lines. If Gary opens the prospect of unlimited and absolute power to all hosts…I shudder to think of it. We’ve seen far too many examples of what power in the wrong hands can do.”

“Well what’s the alternative? Just do nothing and wait for the Engineers to judge us? Fuck that,” Anya said and crossed her arms over her chest.

“No, that isn’t ideal, I agree. For now, I think it would be best just to talk with Gary. No stealing the staff, no ultimatums. He responded to you pretty well today, didn’t he?” Immonen asked.

“Yeah, he seemed pretty happy to have an excuse to get out of there, actually. And Galtero’s confirmed he’s already over there with him,” Anya said. "I called him."

“Then maybe for now, talk is enough. See if it’s possible to limit his research to one area. Gary and I don’t agree on everything, but I think he’s a smart enough man to know not to poke at a hornet’s nest.”

“And if talking isn’t enough?” Anya asked.

“Then we will have another dinner, and another discussion, and move on from there,” Immonen said. Pan waddled back into the kitchen and spread his arms.

“Now can I talk with you guys?” he asked.

“Of course,” Immonen said as he pulled the tightly wrapped and thoroughly stuffed cabbage leaves out of the oven. “And perfect timing. Dinner’s ready.”