Jack's head ached as he tried to remember the previous night's vision. It was once so vivid, but now it was nothing more than a series of vague images.
"Your mind is repressing the vision," said Avery.
Jack opened his eyes. "Why?" he asked.
"I'm not sure. Maybe something traumatic happened, and now it's trying to heal the damage. Maybe your mind is rejecting the memories, like white blood cells kill a foreign body." Avery reached out toward Jack. "But that's soon to change."
Jack gasped as Avery probed his mind. Memories slowly flooded back to him. Recent memories. Memories of long ago.
"Now do you remember?" Avery asked.
"Yes. But I don't think these memories are of any real importance. The creature just searched through the buildings, finally stopping at some kind of control room or something."
"Do you remember which documents the creature accessed?"
"No. Not really."
Avery looked both disappointed and relieved.
"Sorry," Jack said quietly, "there's not really anything I can tell you."
Avery left the room without saying a word. When Jack felt that the man was too far away to probe his mind, he stopped projecting false images in his head. It was a trick that Warren had taught him to keep Avery from knowing everything that went on.
"Project Utopia," Jack whispered to himself.
Paula sat on a bench in the estate's large garden. She was so peaceful, so serene. The birds sang to her. The wind blew softly. She jumped as someone touched her shoulder.
"You know more than you let on," Jack said quietly. "Just like Elias."
She looked up at him. "What are you talking about?"
"Your father is up to something, and you know all about it, don't you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
He squeezed her shoulder tightly. "Don't lie to me. I've been ignoring my instincts for a while, but I'm listening to them now. I know you're lying."
Paula said nothing.
Jack squeezed her shoulder a bit harder. "What do you know?"
"My father is very secretive about his work. He doesn't tell me about it."
"Liar!" Jack was getting angry, much angrier than he'd been in some time.
"Okay. He's working on some project."
"Project Utopia?"
"Yes."
"What is it?"
"I don't know."
"What is it?"
The pressure on Paula's shoulder was becoming unbearable, and a tear rolled down her cheek. "Please, Jack. You're hurting me!"
"Tell me what it is, and I'll let go."
She began crying softly. "He said that it will make the world a better place. That's all he's said about it."
Jack's instincts said that, for once during this conversation, Paula was telling the truth. He let go of her shoulder, and headed toward the house.
Like during their previous conversation, Jack and Paula were being spied upon. But this time is was not just one pair of ears listening in, but two. The same deranged man was snooping from behind a nearby gazebo, while a smaller, feminine figure did the same from behind a large hedgerow.
