I remembered the first time I lied to my family after my visit to the Zzyzx compound and when I lied again after returning to the Tragers from staying with Adam Baylin. It hurt me to keep things from them and I know it hurt them too, like when I missed Josh's Birthday party. But Foss had insisted that lying was necessary to keep them safe. I always had doubts that the Tragers would actually be in danger from knowing the truth, but Cassidy's threatening words had confirmed everything Foss had told me. It was time for me to lie yet again.

"Kyle… what happened?" Nicole stood in front of Kyle and Jessi along with the rest of the Trager family. Stephen stood alongside his wife, eying Kyle with a stern yet confused look. Lori carefully eyed the broken glass beneath her feet as she inched closer to Nicole.

Kyle's face lit up with a smile, not quite as brightly as usual, but still enough to convince his family that things were all right. "It's over. I distributed the bacteria to every tank and destroyed every piece of data that could help them restart the experiment. Everything went just as we planned."

"Oh thank God!" Nicole hugged Kyle as she let out a huge sigh of relief.

Josh stepped forward with his arms out in disbelief. "Uh… hello? I thought we were asking about… oh, I don't know… maybe that big pile of broken glass that used to be our back door?"

"Oh, that was me," Jessi said nonchalantly. The Trager family stared at her, but she just scowled back mockingly. "What? I didn't do it on purpose. I was testing my abilities. I tried moving the lamp with my mind and got a little carried away."

"A little carried away?" asked Josh. "Great. Just what we need. I guess it was only a matter of time before one of our friendly neighborhood superbrains decided to start blowing up parts of our house."

"Josh!" Lori glared at her little brother.

"Look Jessi," Stephen began. "We're glad that everyone is all right. But you were supposed to be laying low. That was not a good time to be 'testing your abilities'."

"I'm sorry," Jessi rolled her eyes. "It won't happen again."

Nicole turned back to Kyle who gave her a reassuring look. "I wanted to meet all of you at the Rack after I was finished," he said. "But I felt like something was wrong when Jessi broke the door. I had to come back here first to check on her and make sure everything was all right. I'm sorry I didn't get back to you sooner."

"It's ok Kyle," Nicole responded. "I'm just glad that no one was hurt."

Kyle nodded while Nicole gave him a look of motherly concern.

"Now it's late," she said. "I'll call the glass company in the morning, but right now you should be getting to bed. You've had a big day and it must be a lot to process. You need your rest, Kyle."


Jessi lay awake on her bed with her lamp on. She looked longingly at Sarah's old Latnok ring, which she wore on her finger, the light from the lamp glistening on its perfect red stone. Her eyes suddenly shot up as she felt the presence of someone at her door.

"Kyle?"

Kyle opened her door and walked in, slowly closing behind him as to not make a sound. "Hi Jessi."

"You can't sleep either."

Kyle nodded and walked over to her bed. "I just got a call from Foss."

"What did he say about Cassidy?"

"He's awake, but he's not going anywhere. He hasn't spoken a word since he woke up."

Jessi shrugged. "Damage to Broca's Area in the brain's left hemisphere when you choked him could have impaired speech function." She looked back up at Kyle. "I'm kidding. I know he's your brother."

Kyle sat down on the bed beside her. "He's not my brother. Josh is my brother. Cassidy is… I don't know. We may share DNA, but he's not my family."

"Then what stopped you?"

"From killing him?" Kyle's eyes wandered off. "I'm not sure."

Kyle looked back towards Jessi and noticed the ring on her finger.

"You're wearing Sarah's Latnok ring."

Jessi nodded. "Nate had it in his room when Amanda and I broke in. It doesn't belong to him."

"It looks good on you, like it was meant for you." Jessi smiled at the comment, but Kyle returned a look of concern. "But I don't think you should wear it."

Noticing a defiant scowl from Jessi, Kyle quickly clarified himself. "That's not what I meant. I'm not talking about you and Sarah. I'm talking about this." Kyle held out a small, white device.

"What's that?"

"It sends a pulse of electricity to any nearby Latnok ring and stuns whoever wears it. It's just like the one they used to kidnap me after the prom. This is the one Cassidy had earlier tonight."

Jessi took the tiny weapon from Kyle and studied it carefully. "And you let it get you?"

"Jessi, it was very powerful. I'm not sure what it would do to a normal person, but it was enough to cause me great pain."

"If it's just electric charge then you should have been able to absorb it. Even if it's not, there's nothing we can't adapt to."

"I wouldn't assume that," Kyle eyed Jessi with concern until she finally nodded. He put his hand on hers to reassure her.

"So what are you going to do with Cassidy?"

"I'll go by the warehouse tomorrow. I need to find out from him what Grace Kingsley wants from me."

"Kyle," Jessi held his hand tightly. "I should go with you."

"Jessi, this is something I need to do alone. I know you hate him for what he did to Sarah, but I can't let that interfere with things right now."

Kyle had said the words slowly, knowing how strongly Jessi felt for her mother. He didn't want to upset her by bringing up the subject, but Jessi seemed to be all right as she nodded slowly again.

"It's not Sarah. I'm worried about you, Kyle."

"Me?"

"I know what you did earlier tonight. Cassidy got to you, and I'm afraid of what will happen if he gets to you again."

"Jessi…" Kyle moved closer to her and Jessi put her arms around him, not wanting to let him go. Kyle ran his hands across her smooth, dark hair reassuringly as he held her close.

"I already lost my mother. I don't want to lose you too." Jessi tried to hold back her tears.

"I'll be careful, Jessi. I promise."


The next morning Amanda sat at her piano playing the song that she had played the day she met Kyle for the first time. Even though she didn't realize it, lately she had been playing that song a lot more often than usual. It reminded her of a time when things with him were simple. A time when Kyle was nothing but pure and good. Before the secrets and lies began. Before Jessi entered their lives.

"Amanda."

She turned around to see Kyle standing in the room with her.

"Hi Kyle," she softly said with a smile.

"You were playing that song."

Amanda shrugged. "I guess I like that song."

Kyle nodded. "I do too."

For the moment the two of them said nothing. Amanda continued to smile, hoping to reassure him that she was ready to hear whatever he had to say, but Kyle still looked concerned and apprehensive of the conversation they were about to have.

"You helped Jessi last night," Kyle broke the silence. "I wanted to thank you for helping us delete the files."

Amanda nodded but her smile had faded. "I saw her do things. Things that I only thought you could do." Amanda paused. "She's like you… isn't she?"

Kyle didn't respond, but the look he gave Amanda told her that she was right.

"And that's why she's so important to you—isn't it?"

"Amanda, it's more than just that."

Amanda looked down, keeping Kyle from making eye contact with her. "She's like you… and I don't know what 'like you' even means."

"Amanda," Kyle walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder. He didn't continue until Amanda finally looked back up at him. Her eyes were red and watery. "I promised that I would tell you everything when the time is right. I think that now is that time."

She sniffled. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Let's go to your room. We can't let anyone hear us."

"Ok." She said it softly with a nod as she stood up.

"And I need you to promise me that you'll never tell anyone any of this. I'm already taking a risk by telling you. You can't let anyone know that you know my secrets or you may be in great danger."

"I promise." Amanda spoke without hesitation.

Kyle and Amanda sat in her room for what seemed like hours as Kyle finally revealed his story to her. He told her about Adam Baylin and how he grew up in the pod before he was born. He told her about Zzyzx, MadaCorp, and Latnok. He told her about his discovery of Jessi and how they had helped each other from time to time. He told Amanda the truth about prom night and the secrets he kept from her afterwards. Amanda's listened intently the entire time, showing neither happiness nor anger at this new information.

"Amanda, I know that the person I am is very different from the person you thought I was. And I know that I kept things from you that I shouldn't have. If you can't forgive me, then I'd understand."

Amanda's face finally lit up with her smile. "Kyle… of course I forgive you."

Kyle's face also lit up with his usual big, dumb grin. "You do?"

"Yes," Amanda said with a small laugh. "This whole time I kept telling myself that there was no possible explanation for why you were kissing Jessi that one time. If any other guy told me that he was 'practicing the transfer of electricity through kissing' in order to help me, I'd call it complete garbage. But with you… I know you're telling the truth. And I feel awful for not listening to you when you tried to tell me back then."

"Most guys can't manipulate electric charge."

"You know what I mean, Kyle. I'm just so glad it's all clear now. I was being so paranoid. I really thought that you actually had feelings for Jessi."

Kyle's huge grin faded at Amanda's words. Noticing this, Amanda's smile went away too.

"You do have feelings for Jessi."

"Amanda…"

"How long have you felt this way about her?"

"I don't know," Kyle truthfully said. "Until recently I didn't even realize how I felt about her."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Amanda angrily snapped.

"Amanda, please calm down."

"Calm down?" Amanda stood up. "Have you even seen the way Jessi acts? She's a psychopath! You shouldn't be with someone like her!"

Kyle stood up too, his eyes filled with anger. "Don't talk that way about her! You don't understand what she's been though."

Amanda stared at Kyle with a look of disgust and disbelief as she slowly shook her head. "I was going to tell you that I wanted to get back together. Come to your senses while you still have that option."

Kyle stepped back and opened her door, looking back at Amanda one last time. "I have to go."


It was later in the afternoon and the sun was beginning to cast long shadows on the wall through the skylight of the old warehouse. Kyle pushed open the doors to see Cassidy sitting on the floor, tied to one of the wooden support beams. Foss hadn't been messing around. His waist and both his feet had been chained to the beam with a set of iron shackles Kyle had never seen before.

As Kyle walked up to Cassidy, he could see that he was wearing the same clothes that he had worn that last night, although they were covered in dirt and stained with his blood. Cassidy showed no reaction to Kyle's approach and simply kept staring at the dirty ground in front of him.

"Foss said you weren't talking."

There was still no response from Cassidy.

"If you won't talk, then listen. I brought you something." Kyle took out a water bottle along with something wrapped in plastic and threw them at Cassidy's feet. "That's a turkey wrap I picked up from the Rack. I figured you would be hungry."

Cassidy didn't take the food. He continued to blankly stare at the ground as Kyle stood there.

"Aren't you at least thirsty?"

Still no response.

Although Cassidy was calmly sitting there, I noticed that both his heart rate and his body temperature were slightly higher than usual.

Eyeing Cassidy closer, Kyle noticed that he kept one of his arms tightly tucked to his side, as though he were hiding it.

"You have a laceration eight millimeters deep across your right forearm," said Kyle. "Your body is already showing signs of infection. If I bring you bandages, a suture kit, and antibiotics for you to treat it, the wound will heal. Otherwise you'll begin to experience dizziness and you'll notice your fever becoming much worse. Your limb could become gangrenous in a matter of days."

Cassidy finally looked up at him. "What is it you want from me, Kyle?"

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't come all the way here just to threaten me into speaking. You must want something."

"I want you to stay away from my family!"

Cassidy shot Kyle a puzzled look. "I'm all tied up here, mate. There's nothing I can do either way, your bloke Foss made sure of that."

"Then tell me what Grace Kingsley wants with me!"

"I told you already. Your mother wants you at Latnok. She could use you to accomplish great things."

"What great things?" Shouted Kyle. "What is she trying to do?"

"I don't know, Kyle. There are some things that she won't tell even me."

There was a sudden change in Cassidy's heart rate as he said it. He wasn't lying, but mentioning that his mother kept certain things from him was difficult for him to say.

"You're afraid you failed her… aren't you?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Cassidy's eyebrow's arched as he stared back at Kyle.

"Grace Kingsley… our mother… she favors me over you as her son because of my gifts." Kyle eyed Cassidy with an intense, almost sympathetic stare. "That's why you did all this to me. You had to prove to her that you could help Latnok just as much as I could."

Cassidy turned his head back to the ground, smiling a grin that showed all of his teeth as he shook his head. "No, you see, that's where you're wrong, mate. You really don't understand. I'm better than you are, better than you ever will be. And I don't need to prove that to anyone."

"What do you mean?"

Cassidy glared back at Kyle. "You're a computer, Kyle. A bloody machine. You store data. You solve math problems. That's all Latnok needs you as and that's all you'll ever be good for." His face lit up again with the same malicious grin. "And myself? I know how to get things done. You may be an asset, but I'm the one who can and will acquire you for Latnok and whatever purpose them deem fit for you."

I could feel my heart rate and body temperature rising as I tried to fight back the rage. As much as I had been disturbed at my own actions earlier, as much as I did not want to let that anger control me, I found myself unable to tolerate Cassidy's words. My fist involuntarily clenched at my side.

"You're wrong," said Kyle. "You don't have me. You're tied up and helpless."

"On the contrary, Kyle. A computer is only as good as its user. And I've figured out exactly how to get what I want from you. You'll do anything to protect the Tragers."

"And what are you going to do?"

"Oh, Not I. But by now my associates from Latnok will have noticed I've gone missing."

Kyle's phone buzzed in his pocket as he received a new text message. He held up the phone to see it was from Foss. Three stars.

Cassidy grinned again. "Now you'd better get going, mate."