César comes back home around 11 pm. He looks tired and smells faintly of sulfur. He rubs his eyes and drops his vest to the ground, muttering unintelligibly as he does so. He barely notices Rex in the kitchen and begins to make his way upstairs before he stops. He blinks twice and turns back to look in the kitchen.

"Rex?" he asks, confusion clear in his voice. "That you?"

"Who else would it be, hermano?" Rex replies as he turns the oven on. "Get in here. You haven't eaten, right? You never eat when you're busy."

César looks very much confused, but he doesn't refute. He just slowly makes his way into the kitchen, dazed. "Am I dreaming?" he asks as he stares at the set table. "What is all of this?" Then his brows furrows and he glares at Rex and demands, "What the hell did you do now?"

Rex rolls his eyes at the reaction and pours a cup of juice for César. "I just wanted to do something nice for my brother. Is that against the law now?"

"Did you poison it?" is the automatic answer he receives.

Jeesh, he tries to do one nice thing…

Rex takes out the pasta from the oven and places it in front of César. "No. And to prove it, I'll let you serve us."

"You haven't eaten yet?" Oh, is that concern in his brother's voice now?

Rex just shrugs in answer. It makes César think really hard about the situation. He looks around at the dirty dishes and the nicely set table. His eyes then land on the pasta that Rex just warmed up and he sighs.

"Alright, but you're eating it first," he says. Concern? Yeah right.

He takes a spoonful of pasta and places it on Rex's plate. Then on his own. And again and again until he's certain that neither of them got too much from one side (in case only one side is poisoned). He then motions at Rex to begin eating. Rex can't help but to wonder faintly at exactly what happened before that made César this paranoid.

Rex looks straight into his brother's eyes and eats a forkful of pasta. After swallowing, he opens his mouth to show César that he really did eat them. But instead of taking that as a good enough sign, César waits for a few more minutes, staring intensely at Rex, waiting for his brother to drop dead or something. When nothing happens, César grins widely and digs in. He sighs contentedly as the now warm pasta hits his tongue.

"I didn't even know you could cook," he says lightly in between bites.

"Dude, it's pasta. You literally just boil it in water."

"So what did you do? I mean… What exactly is the occasion?"

Rex puts down his fork and looks seriously at his brother. "I want to change."

"I don't follow."

"César, I don't want to be the person I was before. I'm going to change." He looks meaningfully at his brother until the light bulb turns on over César's head. Then he continues, "But I can't do it alone. Will you help me, hermano?"

"You're going to change?" Rex can hear the clinking of the gears as César's brain goes into overdrive, trying to figure out if there's a secret meaning to any of this. "You? Change? What does that even mean?"

"It means I'm not going to be that person anymore." And really, Rex can't get any more specific because he's not even sure who he was. The diary remains still firmly locked, and other than the few tidbits he heard from Six, he really doesn't have anything. "I'm not going to cause trouble. I'm not going to be skipping school. Hell, I'll even try hard in school. I won't go to the hospital a lot and just… you know?"

"But why? I mean… Why now? You've never cared what anyone else thought about what you do." César's starting to look more and more troubled, and Rex is starting to think that maybe this really is a bad idea. But if he really wants to achieve the ideal family of his dreams, then he has to start somewhere.

"I miss my family."

César's eyes widen and he looks like he wants to cry. But then the second's gone and he's grounded himself back in reality. He grits his teeth and looks away. "No," he snarls. "You're going to have to do better than that. Don't tell me what I want to hear, Rex. Tell me the truth."

It's frustrating because it is the truth but César just won't listen to him. He slams his fist on the table, earning his brother's full attention.

"I am telling you the truth," Rex hisses. "I want my family."

And it turns out that is the right thing to do.

Suddenly, César's guard is down and he's looking at Rex with disbelieving relief because he wants this to be the truth. He wants the Rex that he's known to want to change. He wants to be able to play the older brother. And he looks so hopeful that Rex just wants to tell him the truth of everything. But he doesn't. He can't. Not yet, anyways.

"So the bike outside…?"

"I'm returning it first thing tomorrow. Not going to be driving without a license. Actually, will you help me get a license?"

"And school? You're really not going to skip anymore? You're actually going to try?"

"Yes. I'm going to be a good student."

César drops his head in his hands, laughing brokenly. "¡Dios mío! If only this was real…"

"You're not dreaming, César."

"That's what you always say." And César pats him on the shoulder before walking out of the kitchen. He wanders off into his room and Rex is left fuming in the kitchen alone.

Rex wakes to a startled shout. And just as trained, he bolts upright and alert, fists up and ready to fight. But instead of danger, it's just César, who's staring at him with wide eyes.

Now that he stops to think about it, Rex doesn't even remember falling asleep. He remembers struggling to stay awake as he waited for his parents to come home. Looks like they didn't come home at all. Otherwise, they wouldn't have let him sleep in the kitchen alone.

… Would they?

"… It… wasn't a dream…?" César asks slowly, looking around wildly as if to try and prove that last night really was nothing but a dream.

"I told you it wasn't, you dork," Rex grumbles, rubbing his eyes. "Ugh. What time is it?"

"I think you're late for school," César says dumbfounded. As if he's not too sure what he's saying out loud.

"Really? Damn!" Rex hurries upstairs and gets ready, and by the time he returns back downstairs, César is waiting for him by the front door.

"So you're really serious?" he asks, looking at Rex with a little more focus now. "You really want to change?"

"How many times do I have to say it?"

César glances down at his feet for a second before looking back up. "Okay," he says. "I'll help you. But here are my conditions. You have to let me take you to and from school. You're still grounded, you know. And I want to check your homework. And-"

"Okay, okay, can we just get going? I'm late."

It takes less than two minutes for them to pull up to the school and Rex can't help but to feel that this is a bit of a waste of gas.

"Remember," César says, grabbing Rex's arm before he gets out of the car, "I'm coming to pick you up. Wait for me right here."

Rex laughs and nods. "You're such a worry wart."

Then he's out of the car and in front of the school again. He takes a deep breath before walking forward. It's technically not his first day of school, but it feels like it. Because it's the first day of his brand new life. He grins brightly and walks in.

It turns out that his English class is meeting in the library for some kind of a book report. The disgruntled hall monitor mutters darkly about how he knows Rex's schedule too well as he drags Rex there (He kindly ignores – or doesn't notices – that Rex still has his backpack). Then Rex is shoved into the library and left there for the teacher to take care of. He receives a simple assignment sheet and no instructions, and he just sort of wanders over towards the rest of the class by the computers.

There's one empty computer by Breach. He's starting to see a pattern with her and empty seats. Cricket spots him and gives him a shy wave, just enough to be acknowledged by Rex and not be called out on by the teacher. At least this means that his friends made their way down the mountain all right (now that he thinks about it, he never checked that, has he?).

"Hey Breach," he greets before sitting down next to her. He drops his backpack next to the computer without looking at it.

She flinches horribly and looks at him from under her bangs for a second before returning to her work. She doesn't show any other signs of registering that he's by her side. Well, he supposes that this is much better than being kidnapped to a pocket dimension and being called favorite.

He turns on the computer and grimaces at the login prompt. He doesn't know what the logins are for the school. Hell, how can he? He stares at the computer, wondering if he should just own up to the fact that he doesn't know anything. Ah jeesh, if only he still had the ability to talk to technology, then this would just be a cinch. He would just place his hand against the computer and things will magically work.

But he doesn't have his nanites anymore.

Rex scratches his head, staring intently at the computer. Perhaps he could will it into submission? He did that once upon a time. He had been much younger than and had just been curious as to what Providence might be keeping secret. So he just gently asked the nanites to help him find the information about Providence and White Knight and then things just…

His train of thought stops because an impossible thing is happening before him. The computer screen goes black with nothing but a small white cursor at the top of the screen. A DOS screen…? But why? He hasn't done anything and…

"Logging in..." The text on the computer reads. Soon after the words "White Knight" appears, followed by what appears to be an IP address. The cursor continues to blink.

"Who is this?" The words are on the screen, but Rex can hear White Knight's annoyed voice clearly in his head. "How are you on this channel? This is a secure line. You need to get off now."

Rex looks down at his hands and then looks back up at the computer screen. Did he just…? But no. That's impossible. He doesn't have any nanites. Nanites don't exist in this world! Then how the hell did he just manage to get on some kind of a secure network where White Knight just happened to be after thinking about Providence and White Knight? Panic sinks in and Rex doesn't really think about what he needs to do. He just reaches over, presses the power button on the computer until it shuts down, and then bolts out of the library.

A fluke, he finally decides as he runs through the hallways, dodging the hall monitor. There's just no other explanation. Because there's no such thing as nanites and no such thing as Providence. He's just freaking out for no apparent reason. The computer that he sat at was faulty. Breach did something to it. But whatever the strange thought he comes up with, it has nothing to do with nanites. Because they don't exist. They were never created.

Rex chuckles to himself. Really, who's he kidding? Of course it's nothing! There are no nanites in this world. He made sure of that himself. Feeling much better, Rex rounds the corner, following the signs that lead back to the library.

Along the way, he spots a vending machine and decides to humor himself. He doesn't have powers. Watch.

He places his hands against the vending machine and thinks about a cold carbonated drink. He thinks about all the time he's casually asked a machine just like this for free drinks. He thinks and concentrates, and he wills as much power into it as he can. And nothing.

A large grin appears on Rex's face. "See?" he tells himself. "I'm freaking out over nothing."

Then he stops because the vending machine isn't plugged in. He debates the potential consequences and figures that it doesn't matter. He plugs it in. It takes a few seconds for the vending machine to warm up. Then…

It pops out a drink. And another. And another. And…

Rex pulls the plug out as fast as he can. "Oh hell no," he whispers.

He splashes cold water on his face in the bathroom. After a few seconds, he shrugs and just dunks his head under the running water, using the water to cool the gears in his brain.

Okay, he thinks to himself. I can still talk to technology. But how's that even possible? I can't be an EVO in a world where the nanites were never created. This isn't possible. This isn't happening.

He places his hands on either side of the sink and takes a shaky breath. But it is. It is happening. And right now, what I need isn't denial. It's…

A shrill bell sounds, letting the students know that class has ended. Rex takes a deep breath again, trying to drown out the sound so that he can think. What he needs right now is-

"Hey Rex?"

He spins on his heels, fists up and ready for a fight. But what he sees is Walter, who's giving him a wide-eyed look. Walter has his hands up in front of him, and he's holding out Rex's backpack.

"Dude man, chill. It's me."

The bell stops, leaving the two of them in the sudden silence.

"Sorry," Rex says finally. "You startled me, Sqwydd."

Walter gives him a goofy smile at that. "Cricket told me that you ditched class. Let me guess, you got a message from Quarry?"

A snarl forms at Rex's lips, and Walter takes a step back.

"Dude, it's me. It's me. I'm not Tuck. Don't snap."

Rex has no idea what that means. To be honest, he's not sure he wants to know. So instead, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Breathing exercises. It doesn't really calm him down at all, but he must appear calmer, because Walter looks marginally less terrified.

"Not Quarry," Rex says finally.

"Okay… I'm guessing I'm not allowed to know?"

"Sorry."

"It doesn't have to do with the green suit, does it?"

Rex freezes. Six. That's right. What is it that Six said? "Who are you? And what do you know about White Knight and-"

Six knows White Knight. White Knight thinks that his secure network was just hacked. Sooner or later, the two are going to be able to put it together that it was Rex. And then what? What kind of horrible trouble would he get into? Worst still, what if they find out about his ability? What would happen to him then?

"… Rex?"

"I need to go."

There are the beginnings of a plan forming in Rex's head. But first, he needs to contact César. He needs to find a doctor. Damn it, why the hell did he think that it would be a good idea to rewrite the universe? Why the hell did he think that this was a good idea? Because he sorely misses Holiday and Six and Bobo and-

A loud crash echoes in the halls, silencing the students lingering before the next bell that signals the beginning of class. The crash continues and everyone cranes their heads to figure out what's going on. Rex doesn't need to look to know what's going on. From the general direction of the sound, it must be the vending machine. Someone must have plugged it in and it must be spewing out free drinks.

He pushes it out of his mind and wades through the crowd. He needs to get to a phone. He needs to call up César or something and figure out about his abilities. What are his limits? What can he do with it? More importantly, he needs to figure out how he's going to take care of the Six and White Knight problem.

A hand grabs Rex's shoulder, and Rex spins, about to punch them for getting in his way. But he stops.

Because it's Bobo who's glaring down at him with his one eye. He bares his teeth widely, in the same way that Bobo the monkey used to whenever he was angry. Except when little Bobo did it, Rex could just write it off as temper tantrums of his roommate and ignore him. The human Bobo is taller than Rex by quite a lot, and is actually an imposing figure.

"Salazar," he growls, his voice dripping with venom and glee. "You are in so much trouble."