If it wasn't for the king's reflexes, Rex would have fallen straight to the floor and landed a concussion.

Van Kleiss stared at the child he now held in his arms, wondering what on earth had gotten into him. Had the thought of being stuffed and displayed frightened him that much? Surely he'd received worse threats before. Dangerous situations were the norm in the child's old life. Perhaps during his relatively more relaxed time at Abysus, he had become soft.

"You're an oddity amongst oddities," he murmured to the unconscious body, exiting the room and making his way down to Rex's. Upon reaching his destination, he placed the boy flatly onto the bed, lifting his legs up with his gauntlet to adjust the blood flow and waited for the spell to be over.

"I… what?" Rex muttered slowly, finally rousing from his shock induced state. "Where am I?"

"Your room," came the man's flat response, placing the legs still held in his gauntlet back onto the mattress. "You had an episode after watching the video."

At this, the teen's face became somber again, his limbs falling limp. The king waited for another bout of syncope, but it never came.

"I should be asleep," the younger EVO stated in a deadened voice.

"Yes, you should. It's nearly 6 in the morning."

"Forever."

Van Kleiss gave a pained sigh. "This again. Stay here, I'll be back."

"I have nowhere to go," Rex weakly retorted, not moving a muscle as he watched the man exit the room. There was no reason to do so much as twitch. Everything felt pointless. Life had no meaning if all his friends were dead. He thought he had finally gotten over most of the pain, but the wounds were reopening. If it wasn't Van Kleiss, it was someone else. Always out to get him. To kill him. He was only 17, too young to deal with this. Did they want to hang his body on a wall next to Bobo? Perhaps make a welcome mat out of his skin? Pluck out his eyes and use his skull as decoration? What if-

"You're crying again," a familiar voice spoke up, pulling him from his melancholy musings. The boy saw Van Kleiss suddenly standing over him again, his return entirely unnoticed. In the dim lighting, he spied a small vial in the man's hand, as well as a plastic dropper.

Rex had no response.

"Sit up," he instructed, although his tone was unusually on the softer side. "This usually helps."

The boy got up very slowly, finding his will to do just about anything as painful as pulling teeth. Nonetheless, he obeyed. He said nothing but continued to spiral inside his mind, ignoring the fact that the king had applied a pair of latex gloves, pried open his mouth, extracted liquid from the vial, and shot it under his tongue.

Instantly, Rex tried to pull away and spit out the disgustingly bitter substance, but Van Kleiss shut his jaw tightly and held his head firmly in place to keep him from struggling.

"Ignore the taste and don't swallow, it only has to last for a minute," he commanded. "You'll be fine."

The boy winced but tried to bear with it. He wiped a few tears that trailed down to his cheek and stared at the wall awkwardly, having no clue what was happening to him. Was he being put to "sleep"? Poisoned? Was he finally being thrown away like a damaged toy? Perhaps being sold for parts?

Gradually, however, his mood began to shift.

Rex began to feel relaxed, and the depressing thoughts screeching like radio chatter inside his mind seemed to lessen and fade away. The tension in his muscles dissipated, prompting the man before him to take that as his cue to let go. The teen was still feeling low, but had somehow been chemically yanked halfway out of it. It was as if his state of mind had been changed from a thick fog to a soft mist- still cloudy, but not nearly as much as before. Instinctively, he swallowed the liquid, relishing the reduction of the bitterness in his mouth.

"Oh my god," he stammered, "What was that? It feels weird, but wow… I needed that."

Van Kleiss attached the dropper to the lid and closed the vial. "Nanite enhanced cannabis."

"QUE?!"

The king shrugged, tucking the vial into an inner pocket of his coat. "I make good use of my green thumb. Sublingual application of this oil helps Breach seek relief when she has especially harrowing thoughts. I can hardly tell what she's saying half the time, but this brings her clarity when she needs it."

Rex stared at him as if he'd grown three heads. "Am I- am I going to start tripping? Are you making me high?"

"There is no euphoria- at least, not the kind you're thinking of. You're just going to retain a more mellow state of mind as long as this stays in your system. There will also be no hallucinations."

"I can't believe you had weed this entire time! Can I chew it? Or maybe-"

"I'm not letting you become dependent. Control yourself."

Rex let out a soft breath, looking down at himself. "The calm won't last long unless you get to the source of the pain."

"And just what was it caused such a reaction in you?"

"I saw Bobo's body in a display case."

The king allowed a moment of silence to pass between them. Now that he realized what had happened, he agreed to himself that it was rather macabre. Whoever these people were, they made it clear that they could carry out on their promises.

"Wait a minute," the teen suddenly spouted, "They only made that coded message to me about Bobo after knowing I was alive. This was planned! Does that mean that he was alive… this entire time?"

Van Kleiss shrugged lightly. "Perhaps they deemed it necessary to kill him only when they realized you were still a threat to them, and didn't want to handle more than one."

"He was probably still looking for me this whole time! Oh my god. That's fucked."

"Language."

"Well it is! I'm not gonna pick a nicer word to say it!"

The older EVO narrowed his eyes and placed his hand on the boy's head, gently but firmly pushing him backwards onto the pillow behind him. "Spare yourself some eloquence someday. But for now, sleep this off."

Rex shook his head and attempted to get back up, only to find a large golden gauntlet now pushing against his chest to prevent it. "You can't expect me to sleep after getting a death threat like that! They're coming for me next!"

"Rex."

"I'm not safe! They're going to-"

"Do you trust me?"

The question set the child aback. "Do I… what?"

"You heard me clearly," the king said, tapping his metal fingers on the younger EVO's weary body. "Do you trust me?"

Judging by the sudden silence, this was something Rex had to mull over. Aside from the timing of the question, the calmness with which it was asked also felt bizarre to him. Did he trust one of the most dangerous people on the planet? He may have done it once, but Six was different. Every nerve in his body screamed at him that it was lethal to even consider, but on the other hand, Van Kleiss was the reason they were still alive to scream that in the first place. Was this a trick? Would he dare?

"I… maybe," Rex mumbled, turning his head and staring awkwardly into the darkness.

"Louder."

"Ugh. Alright. Fine. I GUESS I trust you."

"You guess?"

"Okay! I trust you! Geez!"

A wide grin spread across the man's face, noticeable even in the near darkness.

"I was wondering when you would admit that," Van Kleiss spoke, breaking the tension. "How does it feel to finally make it verbal?"

Rex groaned. "Not fair."

"Oh, I think it's plenty fair. I've earned it. Nay, I've deserved it. But right now, since you have said you do, in fact, trust me, you will go to sleep and trust that I am keeping you safe from harm, as I have all these months."

"Don't ever make me say that again."

"I don't have to, I can tell by your actions that you believe those words. Sleep."

That night, thanks to the tincture, Rex slept unusually fast and well, though the experience wasn't like with a regular sleeping pill. His dreams were much more vivid. So vivid, in fact, that they seemed almost like real memories, judging by how strikingly familiar the events seemed to be. There he was, eating a burger in a grassy area on a sunny day…

Soon enough, he realized that his dreams were replaying reality.

The tragedy that befell Providence was now on full view, but even more terrifying because he knew what the outcome would be. Back then, even though his hopes were crushed swiftly, he still retained some. This time, it was like rewatching a movie where you knew the dog would die in the end. His last conversation with Holiday was especially heart wrenching, as she had a voice full of concern as she mentioned the reactors on the third floor possibly going haywire before she went dark. Then, the building began to collapse, as bloody and lifeless as any inhabitant that was crushed inside.

It might have been the drugs, or perhaps the eerie accuracy memory-dream, but something about it didn't sit right with him. Despite the calming effect of the cannabis oil, he tossed and turned from that point on, feeling as if a bug inside his brain was burrowing into the back of his skull into some secret, unknown corner. The memories played on to the time when he had first woken up in Providence, but he was still fixated on what had caused him to end up there in the first place.

By morning, he felt somewhat better, and tried not to think of his deceased companion, or the fact that he had humiliated himself the previous night. It worked, lifting his mood slightly further. Still, he was on edge for some strange reason. Perhaps it was a side effect of being drugged.

As he groggily removed himself from the confines of his room at around nine in the morning, he found Biowulf walking by him in the halls. The blue EVO gave him a glare but nothing more- that is, if Rex could read his permanently frozen face correctly. It was hard to tell how a mechanical wolf was feeling.

"Say a word to me and I will eat one of your arms," Biowulf growled.

Well, there went that mystery.

As Rex reached the dining hall, he sped up, hoping to find the king somewhere nearby- around this hour was usually when he drank tea. The boy had once asked why he still drank "hot leaf water" - as he had crassly put it- if he could just absorb nanites of his victims instead. Of course, he had been swiftly reminded that he had robbed the man of that particular power long ago. Although, the king hadn't seemed that angry about it- perhaps he had missed eating and drinking more than he had let on.

And there he was, warming a kettle while standing beside a small stove.

It felt so strange to see him act human.

"That must take forever," Rex stated, staring blankly at the device warming up the drink. "Why not just microwave a cup of water with a bag inside?"

Biowulf and Van Kleiss turned to stare at him disgustedly.

The teen crossed his arms. "What? It was just a suggestion."

"Americans are filthy barbarians," Van Kleiss informed him. "We have kettles for a reason. Never treat the art of brewing tea so callously."

"Whatever. I'm not even British."

"Neither am I. We are citizens of Abysus."

"But you're-"

"I know what you meant. And I am saying that I have moved long past such an identity. Ruling one country demolishes loyalty to any other."

The boy sighed. "Let's cut the crap for a second. I think whatever you put under my tongue last night is still messing with my head. I feel like I slept on a pile of ants."

"I will pour cups so you may enlighten me," the king stated, turning off the fire. "This is Tieguanyin."

"But I don't even want-"

"Sit."

After the cups were poured, Rex had to admit- it wasn't that bad. He let it sit to cool before finally facing the man before him who was stirring his.

"I had my first ever dream that was actually a memory," the boy began. "And by that, I mean nanites didn't cause it. I think it was you."

"What I gave you doesn't have mind altering properties, Rex," Van Kleiss stated. "Dreams like that can happen naturally. Is this really what is bothering you?"

"No. The dream itself messed me up. Ever since i had it, I feel like there's just something… wrong. But I can't tell what."

"What was it about?"

"It was how I saw Providence explode."

The king scoffed. "Yes, I wonder how seeing your previous coworkers die could possibly make you so upset. When have I heard that before? Besides just about every week now?"

"I'm not upset like that, I'm talking about feeling like something is off!" the younger EVO shot back. "You ever feel like there's just something you don't even know you don't know? Like there's some worm crawling under your skin but you can't find where it is?"

Van Kleiss stared at him. "Hmm, yes. I see now."

Rex looked at him expectantly, eyes now wide. "You do? What is it?"

"I see that you may actually have overdosed. I'll have to make new notes about that."

The teen groaned, putting his head on the table. "No. I thought hearing you say that would confirm I'm not just going crazy, but now it just feels like you're ignoring me. I don't think it's the drug anymore."

The king narrowed his eyes at the child. "Make up your mind. Not that your decisions matter as much as mine."

"Look. I was okay in the dream- actually I was depressed, but you know that- until the Doc came into the scene and she told me her… last words. That's when it star-"

Rex shot up out of his chair instantly, knocking over all the tea on the table and smashing a few cups in the process. Van Kleiss watched in shock as his companion forcefully slapped his hands over his mouth, as if he would let out an earth shattering scream. The boy flailed his hands for a second before clamping them right back over his face as he speed walked around the room in a frenzy, muttering unintelligibly. Even from across the room, he could hear Rex breathe heavily, as if he was suffering from asthma. Befuddled, Van Kleiss reached into his coat for a small tranquilizer syringe, reminding himself to refrain from using cannabis oil ever again.

"I figured- oh god- I figured- now I know!" the child stuttered, speaking like a madman. "I was panicking last time- that's why it- it- took me so long! But I know now! I know!!"

The king paused, wondering if he could manage to extract some clarity from his ramblings. "Calm down and elaborate, or I will be forced to neutralize this fit of yours."

Rex bent down and sat on the floor, subdued by his own overwhelming emotions. "It's not the drugs. It's Holiday. Oh god- how did I miss this? All it took was a dream to remember!"

The older EVO had enough, and used his gauntlet to snatch the boy right off the ground and dangle him midair. "Explain to me what is going on right this minute or I'll have you sent back to a very long slumber."

The teen took a deep shaky breath, then exhaled loudly, glancing up at the man who held him like a butcher holds carcasses.

"Sh-she told me that something went wrong with one of the energy reactors on the third floor," he spoke up, echoing her words.

"So?"

"THERE ARE NO ENERGY REACTORS ON THAT FLOOR!"

Van Kleiss immediately dropped the child to avoid having his face screamed into, then pinned him down with his boot.

Rex coughed, now laying flat on his stomach. "Don't you get it? Anyone who worked there would know the basic layout of the building! There couldn't have been any explosion from something that didn't even exist! All the reactors were underground a mile away to make sure that exact type of event would never happen!"

He tried to pull himself up, but the boot remained firm. "Seriously? How many times are you going to do this to me?"

"Until you behave."

"Is this about your tea?!"

Truthfully, the man had forgotten all about his time consumingly brewed drink, but now that he recalled his efforts tossed aside so carelessly, it certainly didn't help Rex's case. The boot pressed down even harder.

Rex let out a muffled groan. "Ow. Okay. I guess it is."

"You'll clean that up," the king informed him. "But for now, I'm more interested in hearing about this revelation of yours. The building exploded- I was there to witness its remains, as well as your barely living body."

"Well yeah, it happened- but it couldn't have in the way that the Doc was saying!"

"Perhaps she was mistaken?"

"No way! She's worked there for years! She-"

A moment of silence followed, putting Van Kleiss on edge.

"Rex?" he prodded. "What is the matter with you?"

"I don't think that day was the last time I talked to her," the boy began to murmur, his tone suddenly somber. "The information was all wrong, which means… I don't think that was Holiday at all."

His voice dropped to a whisper.

"I think someone was pretending to be her on the earpiece."