'Allo! Many thanks for your good humour and patience with my longer-than-expected story. Like a hound circling round and round, trying to find just the right spot, I'm choosing a place to leave off. 52's not prime, although 5 + 2 equals 7, which *is*. Hmm... Anyhow, thank you Creative Girl, Tikatu, Bow Echo, Whirl Girl, Susan, Thunderbird Shadow and Lorena.

52

Ross Island, in the distant and frigid Antarctic-

Nikorr Kyrano cut passive reception with an elegant wave of his hand. The crystal-link dimmed obediently, causing that very faint shimmering field to retract once again, casting the big stone room into shadow. Almost, he leapt in triumph, but restrained himself. Kane had, indeed, been listening, though Lord Hiro had not seemed aware of it. Very few things could be hidden from a powerful psion, however, including subtle surveillance.

"Step two," the Kyrano murmured, permitting himself a very slight smile. "Our impetuous quarry takes the bait."

…delivering himself directly into the jaws of a ready and waiting trap.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

London, former UK, in the grand chancellery's largest, most sedately luxurious suite-

It galled him to do it, as revoking a pardon smacked very much of vacillation, something Sebastian Shaw avoided as a matter of political course. No choice, however. The brute was entirely incorrigible, unable to restrain himself from returning to crime like a dog to its vomit; hijacking aircraft, kidnapping children, seizing boats and recklessly endangering thousands of people. All that, and he wasn't even doing his worst.

Grunting impatiently, the chancellor sat back in his big leather chair, his well-toned mass causing its frame to squeak. Light eyes fixed upon those troubling news feeds, he sat for a while and thought.

Annoying or not, Shaw supposed that he could make the cyborg's antics work in his own favour. After all, the enhanced, half-mad Special was tremendously powerful. A valuable prize, once arrested and collared.

So, quite unaware of the strings that were prompting his actions, Chancellor Shaw pressed a particular brass comm switch, announcing,

"General Order 52-23-A-prime. As of this moment, the Mechanic's pardon is revoked. Null and void. He is to be incapacitated and arrested on sight, by any and all GDF or WorldGov officers, including International Rescue. Ignorance of this directive shall not excuse failure to comply, and shall lead to the arrest and trial of those who refuse to act accordingly. Signed, Sebastian Albert Shaw, Chancellor Plenipotentiary, this twenty-fifth day of Third Month, by right and popular acclaim."

...Thereby stirring that bubbling pot a bit harder.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yokosuka, Japan, on the Navy-Town hospital's highest floor-

As the treatment room door swung open, John stepped away from Kayo and Penny. Inhaled sharply, still thinking that there'd been a mistake; that Scott was somehow just suffering a case of temporary amnesia. Shock, or something.

The doctor came into the family waiting room, first, bowed politely, and then said,

"Honoured Sir, your loved ones and colleagues await you. Please follow me to greet them, and be introduced."

A slim, middle-aged man with greying hair, steel-rimmed glasses and a carefully neutral expression, Doctor Shiro hastened inside, making room for his trembling patient. John started forward, but the girls… Penny and Kay… got there ahead of him. Just as well, probably, since it gave him time to process what, who, he was seeing.

Funny, how so much of a man's impact was shaped by his personality, stance, expression and confidence… or lack of it. Scott Tracy was every inch a fighter pilot and field commander. Wherever he was, like Dad and Lee Taylor, Scott had owned the room. When he spoke, everyone else had grown quiet and listened. Not anymore.

The guy walking in looked like Scott, but in a thousand different ways, failed to act like him. When Kayo and Lady Penelope hurried to greet him, he actually flinched, trying to duck behind Dr. Shiro (who struggled to bow and dodge, at the same time). Scott seemed confused and… afraid, something John had never expected to witness.

"Darling!" Penelope whisper-sobbed, trying to embrace him. Only, Scott reflexively blocked her hug and attempted kiss. Kayo had rushed ahead at first, then slowed a little, allowing Penny to beat her. Weird.

John glanced over at Captain Taylor, who was chewing gum as he watched these developments with a fixed and measuring stare. Didn't say anything, though. Not enough to go on, yet.

"Darling, it's me," Penny insisted forlornly, as though she could shake memory loose from his head like stubborn fruit. "I… we meant to be…" she stopped talking, then, because Scott shook his head and backed away from her.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am," he said, sounding husky-hesitant. "I… d- don't remember you. I'm… Please, I just got here. I'm sorry."

Really the h*ll seemed like he wanted to effing cry, and John felt like tearing someone in half. Rigby, meanwhile, was kneading the back of his own tense neck with one hand. Looked… like maybe he blamed himself. Hard to say, because John had never been great at interpreting so-called "body language". Really f*cking missed Eos, because she always filled him in; pointed sh*t out that he wouldn't have noticed, alone. Jaeger was there, present as the faintest red wandering gleam on his wrist comm, but if anything, the Hunter sucked worse than he did at figuring people's emotional state. So, yeah… back to square clueless.

Maybe the situation primed John's brain. Possibly, thinking so hard about Eos trigged something inside of his head. Whatever, all at once a sort of message came through, apparently left there by his former guest, the Survivor. For just a moment, the room faded, and he heard that echoing voice.

"Carbon Base Space-Farer, I shall venture all, and take the only route open. I will ride the wormhole's end to wherever it leads, in hope of reaching my own kind. The one you seek is dispersed, not ended. It may be retrieved through construction of an appropriately sensitive antenna and collection device. May you be fortunate, and Rigby, as well."

"Wait!" John blurted, wanting to ask a few really pertinent questions. Of course, everyone else in the room thought he was talking to them, but he wasn't. Plans had appeared in his head. Perfectly detailed 4-D blueprints for building some kind of highly amplified receiver. Almost like a radio antenna, only projecting in several weird directions relative to normal space. Beautiful… and creepy.

Because they were all looking at him (great) and he didn't want to explain (actually couldn't) John said,

"Let me try."

The girls moved away; Penny to the corner, Kayo off by herself. Taking a deep and steadying breath, John walked over; crossing that big-ass room to face someone who looked a lot like his brother.

"Hey, Scott," he greeted the shy, blue-eyed man. Got a worried frown in return, then…

"I saw pictures and video. You're… you're John, right? John Tracy?"

Something crumpled up inside of him, then. Something related to quiet affection and vanished friendship.

"Yeah," he said, after a second. "I'm John. We, um… we're brothers, and used to be friends. Doesn't mean much right now, I guess, but everyone here thinks they know you. How, um… how are you feeling?"

'Scott' tried a nervous smile, which flicked away again, almost as soon as it showed.

"Scared," he admitted. "Confused. I just… y'know… just woke up a few hours ago. She was there," he nodded at Kayo, adding, "but I thought I did something wrong, because she was angry, and I didn't know what… how to… I'm sorry."

Penny had started to cry, very quietly. John could hear her faint sniffles and noises. Kayo just stared into space, meanwhile, interacting with no one at all. John felt himself pulled about three different ways, but the guy he was facing... his brother and used-to-be friend... probably needed him most. Shaking his head, the tall astronaut said,

"Don't be sorry. This isn't your fault. Maybe there's a way to fix what's been done. Maybe what you used to know 's been downloaded and stored, someplace, or… or you can just come home and start over… learn it all back, the hard way. It'll be rough on the rest of them… especially Grandma… but, um, I'll run interference for you, Scott, and so will Virgil. He's like that. You're not… in this by yourself, is all. I'm here. We all are. Maybe you don't remember it, but…"

He couldn't finish the sentence. Didn't know what to say.

'I love you?'

'We've always been friends?'

'Don't f*cking do this?'

…nothing sounded quite right, or matched the mess going on there, inside of him. Maybe Scott got what he meant, though, because he did that nervous half-smile, again, saying,

"Could I talk to you later, John? Alone?"