"What was that?" asked Kaytlen as they walked inside the mansion the Peters lived in. They had decided to split up and search the huge house in teams of two, Gabe staying behind with Phoebe in a safe place near the front of the house.
"That was an…acquaintance of ours," Byron said.
"This place seems empty," she said, "How big was your family?"
"It wasn't just my family that lived here," Byron said as they walked up a flight of stairs, "This place was also used as a private school, mainly overseen my parents and siblings, of which I had five."
"Five brothers and sisters?" Kaytlen said, "I don't think I could live with that."
"I wasn't here very often," Byron said.
"You weren't at home? Then where were you?"
Byron stopped, wondering if he should tell Kaytlen this. He could go into another Dive. "I was…researching," he said, honestly enough, without having to go into any details, "That's strange," he said, "My mother would have come out by now and greeted me, I would have thought."
"Are you sure she's not afraid of you? She might be hiding."
"Yes, I'm sure," Byron said, "Out of anybody in the world, she wouldn't hide from me."
Byron opened a door, but jumped back when he saw what was inside. Kaytlen screamed. Stephen and Mark were there in an instant.
In the room, which had been Byron's parent's bedroom, was a squadron of soldiers, one with his gun to Byron's mother's head.
"What's going on?" said Byron, looking into his mother's eyes. She wasn't scared, she never was. She was always calm, always taking in her circumstances with peace and patience. Even now, her eyes were filled with tranquility instead of fear.
"Surrender, Unnatural," the soldier said, "We have been sent with orders to arrest you on the basis of terrorism and the murder of Governor Williard Poore."
"Wait," said Byron, "We don't want to hurt-"
"Surrender," the soldier said, tightening his grip on the trigger.
"Let me-"
"You're under arrest!"
Byron reached into the man's mind, twisting it and ripping it. He began destroying the soldier's consciousness, and did so quickly.
But not before he pulled the trigger.
Both the soldier and Byron's mother fell to the ground. Byron screamed and all of the soldiers in the room fell down, dead. Byron rushed to his mother's side.

All Mark could do was watch. He watched as Byron whispered something and watched as he cried on his mother's shoulder.
Mark wished he didn't know what Byron was feeling. He wished he hadn't lost someone that important to him. But Mark had, now probably forever, since Byron's mother was dead. She was the only one who could have been able to help Phoebe wake up.
Now Phoebe would probably die. She'd be stuck, paralyzed until her body broke down.
Not that it mattered; Mark would probably be dead himself soon. They were stuck in the middle of a Sector where the military had seized control. Or, at least, the government. They wouldn't get out easily; they'd have to fight.
Suddenly, Byron looked up. "No," he said, looking at Mark, "There is another option," he said, standing, "I told myself I'd never go there again, but I don't see a choice." He stepped towards Mark, an intense look in his eye, as if he were setting foot into a quest that would be completed no matter what. "I will not let Phoebe die," he said.
"Guys!" came Gabe's voice from downstairs, "We got trouble down here!" he yelled at them.
The Unnatural ran downstairs. Byron looked out of one of the large windows and saw lines of soldiers, all marching towards the mansion.
"You're right," Byron said to Mark, "We'll have to fight."

Byron shoved a rifle he had pillaged from one of the dead soldiers into Stephen's hands, saying, "Teleport with this. Don't let it go until you're out."
"A-a gun?" said Stephen incredulously.
"Yes, it's a gun," Byron said, "Mark, take Phoebe and follow me. You three cover us as we run. We won't have much time to fight. The lab is close by, so you won't have to fight for too long."
Byron ran out the back door, Mark following him, carrying Phoebe's body. When they went few yards from the back yard, a crash came from the house, the door being kicked in. Someone shouted, and, soon, soldiers poured out the back door. Kaytlen turned around and a wall of ice that reached from where she was for several yards in either direction formed around her palms. She brought them out, turning and running to catch up with the others. This kept the soldiers busy for a little while, trying to shoot through the wall, some running around it. Eventually they broke through, but the Unnatural were well out of the way by then. Byron turned into an alley, the others following him. He turned into a door that seems like it's halfway decayed, beckoning for the others to follow him. They entered and found themselves in a small, square room that they could barely all fit into. Byron punched a code into the wall and, suddenly, the group was falling. The fell for a few seconds, wondering what Byron had gotten them into, but stopped. They stepped out into darkness. "Where are we?" said Mark, trying to adjust his eyes to the blackness that enveloped them. "A safe house," said Byron, "A laboratory."
Suddenly, there was a loud click that echoed through the room. Kaytlen felt something cold and metal press against her head. It was a gun, the barrel round.
"Who are you and how did you get here?" came a female voice from the dark.
Lights suddenly flickered on, revealing the form of a woman holding a gun pressed against Kaytlen's forehead.
"Byron?" she gasped, lowering the gun.
"Veronica?" said Byron at the same time.
"I thought you ran away!" said the girl.
"How-how are you alive?" Byron said, "I saw you! You shot yourself!"