The interior of Foss's warehouse was mostly dark, illuminated by beams of afternoon sunlight from the windows as well as from the various holes in the roof and the sheet metal walls. Foss was sitting at makeshift console, reading a book, a cup of coffee on the table in front of him. From time to time he glanced at the monitors, which were displaying the front and back views of the Trager and Bloom houses.

He suddenly turned, gun in hand as he heard a sound in the warehouse, he relaxed when he saw it was Kyle. "Kyle, I thought we agreed that you would stay away for a while. There are probably people watching you. I don't want to compromise our base here."

"I was very careful, Foss. No one followed me," Kyle said. "It's been a long time since we've spoken face to face. I wanted to thank you for looking after Amanda and the Tragers."

Foss said, "I spent years looking after Adam and now that he's gone, I expect to spend years looking after you. I expect great things of you, Kyle. I think it's going to be worth it."

"Everybody seems to expect a lot from me," Kyle said, "but at least no one's threatening Amanda or my family to get it now."

"I haven't seen any sign of Cassidy," Foss said. "Do you have you any idea where he is?"

"Jessi and I have seen some credit card activity in Cambridge," Kyle told him. "We think he's working with the MIT Latnok group."

"I thought you and Jessi were on the Latnok board. Doesn't that give you access to everything that's going on?" Foss asked.

"Well, not yet," Kyle admitted. "We have only been to a single meeting and we were the last agenda item. We really don't know what happens at a normal board meeting. Currently our only official contact is Grace. I can't really ask her where Cassidy is."

"She would probably think that Jessi was going to track him down and kill him," Foss said, "which he certainly deserves."

"No. I don't want any killing," Kyle said hastily.

"Because he's your brother?" Foss asked.

"I know he is, biologically, but I don't feel a connection to him. I knew Adam was my father, but he felt more like a mentor to me than a parent," Kyle explained, "the Tragers are my family."

"And Grace?" Foss asked, "How do you feel about her?"

"It's confusing," Kyle admitted. "She's friendly to Jessi and me. I don't get the feeling of warmth I do from Nicole. I don't trust her. I don't trust any of the senior members."

"Well, you'll be in a good position to see what they are up to," Foss said. "Adam was disillusioned and tried to stay away. He was unable to keep control of them. Maybe you'll do better being actively involved with them."

"I'm beginning to think that it's a mistake to consider the board as a single group," Kyle observed. "Having met them and watched them, even for short time, I can see that there are different groups within the board. There are probably multiple agendas being followed."

"That makes sense. Adam always felt that there were some members he could trust," Foss agreed. "There were some who helped me take care of Adam in the cabin. One of them was named Ryan."

"Did Adam tell you which ones he trusted?" Kyle asked. "It might be good to know."

"I don't know – and even if I did, I wouldn't count on Adam's judgment – he got shot, after all," Foss said. "You had better make your own observations."

"Most of the people at the UDub Latnok office are what Adam would have wanted – Bright people trying to improve the world," Kyle said. "It feels good to help them."

"You said you didn't trust Grace," Foss said. "Do you have any clue what she's planning?"

"So far all of our interactions have been about running the office, making sure everyone has what they need. I sense that there's something she's keeping from us, but it's really not anything that Jessi and I are able to identify," Kyle frowned. "Have you seen anything going on?"

"No it's been really quiet," Foss waved at the monitors. "I've been using the time to give Declan some training. We've been out in the woods shooting."

"Shooting!" Kyle was troubled. "I hope we don't have any shooting."

"I do too," Foss agreed. "But it's better to be prepared, and it's helping him build his confidence."

"He's been a good friend. I haven't always treated him well." Kyle looked at Foss apologetically, "He's not the only one I've mistreated."

"Don't worry, we're all fine," Foss assured him.

Kyle smiled and said, "I hope so."

Foss patted him on the shoulder, "We are. It is good to see you, but you shouldn't come here often. Stay in contact by phone. Let me know immediately if you suspect anything so I can increase my surveillance level," Foss said.

"Don't worry, I will," Kyle said as he left.

Foss and Declan had always been there for me. Foss watched over me while I was still an experiment in a pod. He got me out of the pod. He saved my life. Declan had kept my secrets, watched out for me and been willing to go with us into Madacorp. They were the ones I called when I needed someone to help me protect Amanda and my family. I owed them everything. Foss would do anything for me, he had killed to protect me, was he training Declan to be someone who would kill to protect me too? Having people who would be willing to kill to protect me and the ones I love made me feel safer – and troubled me deeply. Was I responsible for all those deaths?