Bellamy was just about to pull off the shirt that had become damp with seawater when he looked up and saw Clarke, phone to her ear, frantically waving at him from the deck. He knew in an instant that Becca had called, and that their short but welcome break from the mission was over.

Grabbing his boots, he raced across the sand and up the deck stairs just in time to hear Clarke saying, "I'm so glad you called, Becca, but I don't think we should do this over the phone. When can we meet?"

He eyed Clarke as she spoke with Becca, trying to gauge how well the conversation was going.

"No, we definitely can't come to the island again. So where do you think…"

When Rosa began to make sweeping hand gestures, Bellamy understood immediately. And a second later so did Clarke.

"Wait, I have an idea," she said. "We have… a friend who has a place on the western shore not that far from your island. Do you have a boat and a car?" She paused. "Good. Let me just get the address for you."

Rosa grabbed her own phone and quickly typed out the address for Clarke, who began to read it out for Becca.

"No, I don't want to have any electronic record that leads there, Becca. I'm sure you can remember it." Pause. "Great. So when do you? … Tomorrow afternoon is perfect. We'll be there whenever you can get away. Thanks for agreeing to see us. This is more important than you can possibly imagine."

She hung up, collapsing back onto the dilapidated deck chair and nearly weeping with relief.

"She'll be here tomorrow afternoon."

Bellamy smiled at her. "I heard. You said she'd call, Clarke, and you were right."

Their eyes locked, and he felt it again — that connection he had to Clarke. The thing between them that was more than just physical attraction, more even than the tender feelings he had for her. Sometimes, it almost felt like their attachment was on the cellular level, and he knew it had been that way right from the start.

It was the thing that had still been there even after six years apart, the thing he'd eventually been unable to ignore. And why he knew in his gut that Clarke was his person, and that she always would be.

She returned his smile and for one tiny moment everything else seemed to fade away.

Then the rest of them came bounding up the stairs, clamoring for information, and the moment was gone.

"Did she call?" Raven was breathless from the exertion of moving hurriedly across the sand on her game leg. The limb was better than it used to be but would always slow her down physically. Bellamy often thought it was a good thing that her mental agility more than made up for it.

"Yes. She's coming tomorrow."

"And you still want me to talk to her?"

Bellamy had no idea when Clarke had discussed that with Raven, but it was bound to be a good idea. Maybe the two scientific geniuses spoke the same language.

"Yes, Raven. Definitely. You actually had ALIE inside your head…"

"I think I should talk to her, too," Madi said suddenly.

Clarke frowned. "I don't think there's any need for that…"

"Please, Clarke. I know things about Becca Pramheda that might help convince her…"

"She's not Becca Pramheda yet, Madi."

"No, but she will be if this doesn't work. And anyway, I was thinking of things I learned about Becca as a child. Things no one could possibly know."

"We didn't tell her about the flame. She hasn't even invented it yet."

Madi nodded. "Yeah, but she was thinking about it long before she created it. And I know that, just like I know other things. About her family. Stuff like that." She sighed. "Becca needs to know we're for real, Clarke, and from what you said she only kind of half believes. So I want to help. Between what Raven has to tell her and then me, I know we can convince her it's all true."

Clarke still looked doubtful, and while Bellamy understood her first instinct was to protect her daughter, he didn't think talking about the things Madi had learned about Becca in the flame would hurt her.

So he took Clarke aside and said quietly, "I think you should consider letting her do it. After all Madi went through, maybe if she helps persuade Becca she'll feel like some good came from her having the flame in her head."

Clarke nodded. "Maybe you're right…"

Madi was exuberant when told she could talk to Becca, and she and Raven went into the house to compare notes and create a strategy, while Octavia headed back to the beach.

Leaving the rest of them on the deck.

They were silent for a long moment and then Rosa sighed.

"Bellamy, Clarke, don't you think it's time to tell me exactly what's going to happen if this plan of yours doesn't work?"

They eyed each other briefly, and when Clarke gave him a small nod Bellamy knew she was leaving it up to him to tell Rosa the truth.

"The first thing you need to know," he told Rosa, beginning with what was most pressing, "is that unless we can find a way to prevent it, in a couple of months a computer program Becca Franko is working on, something that she thinks is going to help humanity, will start a nuclear war instead. And the end result is that the Earth will be destroyed and billions killed."

Rosa looked stunned, and he wasn't surprised that the truth was perhaps worse than she'd even imagined.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Because we grew up in a place filled with people who'd managed to escape that fate."

"Where was that?"

"On a space station called the Ark. We're descendants of the astronauts and their families who'd been in space when the bombs started falling. Eventually, after a number of years, the Ark ran out of oxygen and we had to return to the ground."

"Your past… it sounds like it must be a long story."

"It is, Rosa, long and difficult and sometimes terrible. But ours isn't the only story. Madi's ancestors actually survived the war on the ground."

"On the ground? But… how?"

He shrugged. "No one's exactly sure, but Madi also has the black blood, and unlike us, who deliberately chose to modify our blood, she was born with it."

"Born with it? How is that possible?"

"I wish I could help you with that, but we don't understand it ourselves. After our people returned to the ground, we merged with Madi's people — but not before a lot of blood was spilled. And then after we finally became one group, there was another catastrophe and we had to leave Earth again. But this time we traveled through space until we eventually reached the planet where we met Gabriel. But that journey took… a long time, so we all had to be in something called cryo sleep while we traveled."

Rosa's expression morphed from astonished to aghast, and he wondered if even his highly edited version of their story might have been too much for her.

But then she seemed to pull herself together, and he watched as the details began to assemble themselves inside her agile mind.

"But… it would take decades for the Earth to recover from a nuclear war… and then something else happened, and the… the cryo sleep…"

Her voice trailed off as she began to connect the dots.

"So when you said you came from the future," she said finally, "you weren't talking about a few years, or even a few decades, you were talking about…"

She stared up at him, her expression both fearful and determined.

And he knew it would be pointless to lie.

"More than two hundred years," he said, his tone apologizing for what he knew must be traumatic news.

"Two hundred…" Her jaw dropped as her gaze shifted back and forth between them. "But… Gabriel… how can he possibly be… is this some kind of trick after all?"

"It isn't, Rosa," Clarke broke in quickly. "I promise you. It's all true, including Gabriel's part in it. In fact, he's the one who figured out there might be a way to stop the war from ever happening, the one who asked Bellamy and me to do this."

Rosa shook her head. "My brain says I shouldn't believe any of this, and yet… somehow I know you're telling me the truth. And Gabriel's letters were unmistakably from him. Still… two centuries? No one lives that long."

Clarke's eyes locked on his briefly, a tacit agreement that they couldn't possibly tell Rosa the complete truth about her brother. But she deserved to be told something, a version of events that she could accept.

Clarke shrugged. "I guess there's maybe just something about Sanctum — that's what his group called the new planet — that lets people live long lives. Some of the others," Bellamy saw Clarke's telltale swallow, "were still there, too, when we arrived. But after Gabriel heard our story, he was the only one interested in helping us. And he eventually figured out the wormhole, and the time travel, and a way to hopefully save Earth."

He knew her explanation was filled with half-truths, but Bellamy hoped what truth there was would resonate with Rosa. Gabriel had been consumed with remorse for the things he'd done, and Bellamy was certain that was why he'd worked so hard to find a way to atone for his sins.

"So that picture Gabriel sent me? The one with the Lightbourne girl?"

Clarke's face was full of sympathy. "I imagine that was taken a long time ago, Rosa, before we even met him."

"But he looks…well, now?" she asked anxiously.

"Very well," Clarke assured her, yet another half-truth. "You know, we've set up a kind of rudimentary communication with Gabriel. If you have some things you'd like to ask him about, if you can reduce your questions to a few words, maybe we can get him to include the answers in his next letter. What do you think?"

For the first time since this difficult conversation began, Rosa smiled.

"That would be most welcome," she said.

Bellamy was once again reminded of Clarke's innate ability to understand people, to know what would comfort them. Including him.

Rosa stood, looking suddenly resolute. "Let's see what plan Madi and Raven have come up with. If your extraordinary mission is to be my brother's legacy, then we must make sure that Dr. Franko believes in it."

He and Clarke smiled at one another and he knew they had the same thought. That they now had another member firmly on their team.

Or perhaps it was two thoughts. The second being that no matter what, they'd see to it that Rosa Santiago survived.

XXXXXXXXXX

They went back to the Arlington house and ordered pizza, and while they were eating Octavia told Bellamy she had nothing to say to Becca Franko that might convince her they weren't all a bunch of crackpots.

"What do I know about any of that stuff, Bell? Besides, you wanted me down here to check out the bunker, and we also need to send Gabriel some messages. So I think I should do that tomorrow instead."

"I think you're right, O, and since the science isn't exactly my thing, either, I'll come with you. Besides, you'll need a ride."

"Yeah, you know what, big brother? I've survived a lot of crap in my life, so I could probably figure out this Metro thing." She grinned. "But I'm always happy to have your assistance."

The next day, Bellamy dropped off Clarke and Madi at Rosa's house and picked up Octavia. V It was a Saturday, and while the concept of weekends hadn't made much sense in any of the other places they'd lived, they found that it was very much a thing in 21st-century America. So while downtown Alexandria wasn't exactly deserted, there were far fewer people around than on either of the weekdays Bellamy had been there before.

He hoped that meant there'd also be fewer people inside the building, and less of a chance they'd get caught.

He parked the car in the same lot he'd used before and they quickly made their way down two city blocks, using the light to cross the thoroughfare that ran in front of the Second Dawn building. This was the dangerous part, where they might be caught lurking, but Bellamy did a careful scan of the area to make sure no one was paying them any attention before hustling Octavia across the grass toward the rear of the building.

"I can't believe that key works on all these doors," Octavia muttered as they headed toward the same rear door he'd used before.

"I'm sure they thought a key that had to be burned from a coin wasn't in danger of being duplicated." He smirked. "Little did they know."

The key slid smoothly into the lock and he carefully swung the door open, flashing his light into the dim interior to make sure no one else was around.

"Why'd you keep this key, anyway, O?" Bellamy murmured as they began to descend the concrete stairway.

"At first it was just… having the key meant being in charge, you know, and then later I thought I might eventually be able to use it to open a door to the outside. But you saw what a stupid idea that was." She paused, sighing. "Of course, I did such a piss poor job in the bunker that I probably should have just thrown the damn thing away."

"Don't beat yourself up too much, O. You know damn well we've all done a lot of shit we regret. The thing is to own up to it, and then… try to do better. Like Kane told me once… you turn the page. It's one of the reasons Clarke and I want this to work. Because we really need to write a new page. So I'm glad you gave me the key instead of throwing it away, because it's turned out to be damn useful."

When they reached the bottom level, Octavia began to move more quickly, like she knew exactly where she was going. But to Bellamy, her soft footfalls seemed to resonate in the darkness and he issued a quiet warning.

"Try to keep it down, O. We don't know how well sound might carry in these huge empty spaces."

"Don't worry so much, Bell," Octavia muttered. "Life didn't teach me a hell of a lot I can use in this place, but it did teach me stealth."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's what Clarke told herself, too, just before she almost got caught down here by a couple of security guards. If I hadn't come along when I did…"

Octavia paused, her eyes widening in surprise as she turned towards him.

"What? You never mentioned that before."

He shrugged. "No point in making her feel bad by bringing it up, but it scared the shit out of me at the time. I was… pretty pissed off at her."

Octavia was silent for a moment as she peered up at him in the darkness, and then she nodded slowly.

"Look, Bell, I understand. I know how much Clarke means to you even if you don't want to admit it to me. Because I was there, remember? I was in Gabriel's hut when you said you needed her, that you couldn't lose her again. And then… you didn't. She came back to you."

It was a moment Bellamy would never forget, but it was also a stark reminder of how close he'd come to losing her forever.

Octavia sighed. "But you're gonna drive yourself nuts, and probably Clarke, too, if you're worrying about her all the time. I personally know exactly how that feels, but at least I was your kid sister. Clarke is a grown woman, and as long as no one's trying to steal her body again, I think she can probably take care of herself."

Bellamy huffed a small silent laugh. "I do try to keep that in mind, O. But sometimes it's damn hard."

Knowing Octavia, he expected she'd have more to say on the subject, but at just that moment they spied the stone not twenty feet in front of them. Moving quickly, they covered the last few yards in silence.

Octavia pulled the tuning fork from her pocket so she could contact Gabriel.

"You sure he'll be around to get the message, O?" Bellamy's voice was barely a whisper. "It's impossible to know what time of day it is on Sanctum."

"He'll be there, Bell, because he's hardly left his hut since you and Clarke left. One of us goes there every day to find out if there are any updates. Which there haven't been," she added, narrowing her eyes at him.

He gave her an apologetic shrug. "There wasn't really anything to say. We'd only just found Becca the day you arrived… and that was a lot earlier than we expected you."

"Yeah, Gabriel figured out a way to get us all down here faster, but I know he's waiting for an update to make sure he should keep going."

"Right, so let's give it to him."

"Okay. We should know right away if he gets the message because he's rigged up a way to respond. We hope," she added under her breath.

"First send the message that we need Miller to come down next… whenever that will be. If he's sending everyone to Rosa's house, that's a good plan. She'll even be prepared the next time. But maybe add that the bunker turned out to be in Alexandria. That'll help Gabriel give them some directions."

Bellamy paused to think. "And I guess it might be helpful if Jackson came, too, and brought some of that drug with him, the stuff they're using to control Lightbourne. I have a feeling it might come in handy."

"Whoa, Bell, that's enough for now. Just me get this…" She grinned suddenly. "Miller and Jackson coming down together. I'm sure that'll be a hardship for both of them."

She sent the messages as succinctly as possible, and within a few minutes Bellamy heard a high beeping tone that Octavia interpreted for him as the message received sound.

Octavia gave a sigh of relief. "Good to know that works. And now I've got Rosa's questions," she said, pulling a folded piece of paper from her pocket.

She paused as she unfolded the paper, turning to Bellamy with a small smile.

"It's good that Clarke had this idea. I know what it's like to miss your brother and want to make sure he's okay."

Bellamy returned Octavia's smile, giving her shoulder a quick squeeze. "That goes for sisters, too."

She and Rosa had been efficient about the format of the questions, so she was soon finished. Another ping told them that that message had been received, too.

"So that's done," Octavia said, as though checking the messaging off on some mental list. "Now I want to look for something else."

"What's that, O? We really shouldn't stay here any longer than we have to."

"You'll see," she told him, giving him a nudge. "Back to the stairs and up one level."

Bellamy followed his determined sister up one flight and down a couple of hallways until she stopped abruptly in front of what had looked like a flat wall, but turned out to be a series of panels. Octavia put her hand on the edge of one panel, feeling her way up as she muttered, "If I remember right, it should be just about…"

Bellamy heard the soft click as Octavia turned to grin at him. "Here," she finished as the wall opened up in front of them.

"What the hell is this?" he muttered, thoroughly mystified.

"Something you didn't expect, big brother," Octavia said with quiet excitement. "And something they can't possibly figure anyone else knows about."

"Like the key," he said.

"Exactly like the key," she agreed, "and just like the key, this passageway can get us in and out of places they think are secure."

"So where does this one lead?"

She shrugged. "I have no idea, because the last time I was in it, the end was blocked by rubble. But if they bothered to build it I figure it must least to someplace important."

Bellamy couldn't fault her logic.

"Okay, O," he said, clicking on his flashlight and sliding the panel shut behind him. "Lead on."

The secret passageway wound around in an upward trajectory, clearly headed for somewhere above the bunker and inside the building itself. Just as Bellamy was beginning to wonder if they shouldn't turn back, they came to a door.

"Aha!" Octavia was quietly exuberant. "This wasn't here before, so we must be above ground by now. Let me just see…"

In a moment, her nimble fingers had found another set of buttons above the doorway, and after a nearly soundless click, the door swung open an inch or two. Bellamy plied his light in the opening but all he could see was a tiny room that looked like a closet in which nothing had been stored.

It may have been a Saturday but a rumble of voices and a faint light showing under the door on the opposite side of the closet told Bellamy that at least a couple of the Second Dawn faithful were in the building. Curious, he switched off his flashlight and opened the door just wide enough to slip silently inside, leaving Octavia behind in the passageway. The voices sounded somewhat louder there, but still not loud enough for him to distinguish any words.

The light under the door disappeared suddenly, and was followed by the sound of footsteps and then a door opening and closing. But Bellamy had learned the hard way not to be careless, so he waited what he estimated to be a full five minutes before turning his flashlight back on and slowly opening the door into the room.

It was clearly an office, but a sumptuous one. And it was no wonder he hadn't been able to hear what was being said by the former occupants, because the desk and chairs were at least twenty feet away from the closet door. The rest of the room was furnished with a couch, a table and chairs, and built-in shelving. Another door led to what appeared to be a private bathroom.

Bellamy frowned. He supposed it was all in keeping with what he imagined the office of an important executive would look like. Maybe even the chief executive.

That last thought gave him pause.

Could he have stumbled into the office of Bill Cadogan himself? Considering the location of secret passageway, that actually seemed quite likely. But how did that help them?

"You see anything interesting?" Octavia asked softly, appearing suddenly on his left. "Anything we can use?"

He shrugged. "I was just wondering that myself…"

And that's when it hit him. The anomaly that had kept the frown on his face.

The enormous executive desk was equipped with a regulation computer, one that seemed to him would be plenty of technological firepower for a CEO. Someone who undoubtedly had other people to write programs and operate servers and generally do the heavy lifting with the computer systems.

So why was there, in a small alcove at the other end of the room by the door, what looked to be a second computer setup? This one had multiple screens, and seating for two operators.

Wouldn't there be a separate office for the people who ran the Second Dawn computer systems? Even on the Ark, with its cramped quarters and limited resources, the computer operations center had had its own space. It certainly hadn't been located in, say, the Chancellor's Office.

"What is it? What have you found?"

"Something that doesn't make sense," he said, knowing he wasn't going to puzzle it out in that moment.

A sudden noise in the hallway had them both scrambling back into the closet and carefully shutting the door behind them. Then they slipped back into the passageway and slid the secret door shut.

Bellamy flicked on his flashlight and they made short work of the return trip to the secret panel in the hallway. Two corridors brought them back to the staircase and several flights up had them at the outside door.

"What'd you make of all that?" Octavia asked as soon as they were outside and clear of the Second Dawn property.

Bellamy shook his head. "I'm not sure," he said. "I think I need to talk…"

"To Clarke!" Octavia finished his sentence with a smirk.

Bellamy shrugged. She'd said no more than the truth.

XXXXXXXXXX

Rosa had got out her car to drive them all to the Santiago summer place, and when Clarke saw Raven heading for the back seat she insisted she take the front passenger seat instead.

"I'm pretty sure there's more leg room up front," she told Raven with a smile.

Raven shrugged as she opened the passenger door, muttering under her breath, "Strange how you never give up the front seat when Bellamy's driving."

Madi gave Clarke a curious look, but Clarke just shrugged and shook her head. Raven's antipathy towards her had begun long ago and she always seemed to find fresh grievances to feed it. She could think of no way to explain it all to Madi.

But Raven's hostility towards her, without Octavia there to deflect it, made for an uncomfortable ride up the coast, and the tension still permeated the atmosphere as they sat on the deck in the sun awaiting Becca's arrival.

Rosa had brought sandwiches and they ate them in such a weighted silence that after a while even Rosa couldn't fail to notice.

"I wonder how Bellamy and Octavia are doing in that bunker," she said, suddenly breaking into speech. Perhaps hoping to relieve the tension with some conversation. "If they've found out anything useful. It's hard to believe such a thing could exist beneath that enormous building, because as far as I know the general public knows nothing about it."

"I'm not surprised no one knows," Clarke said. "Even in our own time we only stumbled on the bunker by chance. But I'm sure if there's anything of interest, Bellamy and Octavia will find it. They're a pretty formidable team."

Raven snorted. "Right. When they aren't trying to kill each other."

Clarke sighed. "I'm pretty sure they worked all that out, Raven. Forgiven each other for… everything that happened in Polis."

"And what would you know about it?" Raven shot back. "You were the one who left Bellamy to Octavia's tender mercies when it was clear she'd lost her mind. So don't try to pretend you give a damn about Bellamy. Except to have him at your beck and call so he can save your ass every time you screw up."

"What? That's nuts, Raven!" Madi interjected. "How can you think Clarke doesn't care about Bellamy?"

"Madi…"

"No, Clarke." Madi whirled on her. "I know you'll say this is a grownup thing, but what happened in Polis, what she's talking about, that was all about me. About you trying to protect me and just… not understanding that all the time Bellamy was trying to save you. And I know you regretted it almost as soon as we left that place."

Madi turned towards Raven. "That was just… an impossible choice for Clarke, Raven. Because she was torn between the two people I know she cares about the most."

"Oh, yeah? Since when?"

"Since forever! Or at least as long as I've known her. When it was just the two of us on the planet, Bellamy was the one Clarke talked to every day on that stupid old radio, even though she didn't even know if he could hear her. And… sometimes I'd hear her telling him that he was keeping her sane, that she didn't know what she'd do if she didn't have him to talk to. And when she wasn't talking to Bellamy she drew like a million pictures of him."

Madi sighed. "So don't go saying Clarke doesn't care about Bellamy because I know different."

Clarke was amazed at Madi's vehemence, and while she supposed she ought to be embarrassed at being thus exposed, she also understood that it could make no possible difference now.

There was a short silence before Raven finally asked, "Is… all that true, Clarke? Did you really regret what happened in Polis?"

Clarke couldn't help her small sigh. "Of course I did, Raven. When we sent off those lanterns in Sanctum, that's what I wrote as my worst sin. Leaving Bellamy like that."

"And he knows that?"

"Yes. We talked it all out that same day."

Clarke smiled to herself when she recalled the hug they'd shared at that moment. She was certain it had been healing for them both.

"I… see," Raven said slowly.

"What do you see?" Madi asked, curious.

Raven shrugged. "I guess I see why Bellamy… did what he did. I thought he was a fool, that Clarke was just… stringing him along."

Madi frowned. "I'm not sure what 'stringing him along' means, Raven, but if it means you think Clarke doesn't care for Bellamy, you couldn't be more wrong. Anyone can see that she does. Even if they're only thirteen," she added after a moment.

"I guess I didn't realize... everything," Raven said slowly. "Maybe I'll have to… to think about it again from another point of view."

Clarke figured that small concession from Raven was probably about as good as she was likely to get.

They were quiet for a moment and then Rosa cleared her throat softly and said, "I'm not sure if I should enter this conversation…"

"Rosa, I'm so sorry," Clarke interrupted her, apologizing. "That must have been uncomfortable to listen to…"

"Don't apologize, Clarke," Rosa said. "It sounded as though there were some issues between you and Raven that really needed to be aired out. But, from someone who just met you, it never occurred to me that you and Bellamy were anything other than a… a matched set."

Clarke felt her face heat when Madi grabbed onto her hand and whispered, "See, even Rosa gets it."

So she was more than happy when the telltale sound of car tires on the crushed stone driveway announced Becca's arrival, and thus put an end to that conversation.

Clarke went to the door to let her in and then they all reassembled in the large living room.

"She looks younger," Madi whispered to Clarke as they took seats on the couch, and she took that to mean that this Becca looked younger than the more careworn version Madi had seen in the flame.

Clarke had to agree.

As soon as they were seated, Becca turned to Rosa with a small frown. "Do we know each other? I mean… you look familiar."

"I think we may have met once or twice," Rosa said. "I'm Rosa Santiago. But I'm sure you recall my brother, Gabriel. He was part of the Eligius expedition."

Becca's face cleared. "Gabriel Santiago. Of course. So… you're not claiming to be a time traveler, too, then?"

Rosa shook her head. "Not at all. But it was Gabriel who sent them all back to talk to you."

Becca turned to Clarke. "You never told me that."

"We didn't really get that far, Becca. If you recall, we had to make a pretty quick exit."

"Yes, I'm sorry about that. My… backer is paranoid about security."

"So we noticed."

"Where is your… your partner in crime today?"

"Bellamy had something else he needed to do, and besides, he doesn't have any first-hand knowledge that will help. Not like the rest of us."

Becca frowned. "What does that mean?"

"It means that's why you're here. So we can convince you that what Bellamy and I told you the other day is true. That's Raven," she nodded her head towards where Raven sat in the corner, "and this is my daughter, Madi," she said, squeezing Madi's hand.

Becca's brow wrinkled as her eyes flicked over the two of them. "Your daughter?"

"Clarke adopted me when I was… about six, I think, and she's been my mother ever since."

"So… you're a time traveler, too, then?" When Madi nodded, Becca turned toward Raven. "And you, too, I suppose?"

"That's right," Raven said. "All of us except Rosa, who's been kind enough to take us in as a favor to her brother."

Becca's reaction to all that was just short of an eye-roll.

"Do you know how crazy that all sounds? Why should I believe you? Why should I believe any of you." Agitated, she began to rise. "I don't know why I came here today. This was a mistake."

"Wait!" Raven said. And then, turning to her hostess, "Rosa, do you have a pencil and paper?"

"Let me see," Rosa said, hurrying over to a small desk where she fished around in a drawer until she found both paper and pencil, which she handed to Raven.

"Good," Raven said, and then directing herself to Becca, "I'm going to write this on paper instead of a tablet so you don't think it's some kind of trick."

"Write what?" Becca was now perched on the edge of her chair as though one short second away from fleeing the room.

"This," Raven told her, finishing her scribbling and dropping the paper onto Becca's lap.

At first, Becca barely glanced at it, but then something must have caught her eye and she took a second, closer look. Her eyes widened and she fell back heavily into her seat.

"Where did you get this?" she demanded. "I only finished writing this section of code last week. You couldn't possibly have it. So… how?"

"You gave it to me," Raven told her, shrugging. "Or rather… ALIE did when she tried to take over my brain."

Becca's eyes flew to Clarke. "What does she mean? I thought you said the program caused some kind of… catastrophe. So how could it get inside someone's head?"

"There was a catastrophe, Becca. Your program set off nuclear bombs all over the world, and as you can imagine there were almost no survivors. But there were a few who did make it, by sheer luck of the draw. The program was eventually deactivated, but it went into hiding, just waiting for someone to come along and reactivate it so it could finish the job. And a century later someone did."

Clarke paused, shrugging. "And by then it had also made itself an avatar. One that looked exactly like you."

Becca gaped at her. "All that… it can't be true."

"Can't it?" Raven asked. "Aren't you programming ALIE so it can learn? So maybe what it learned was how defend itself against being killed off. So that a century later, when it realized it hadn't completely achieved its objective the first time around, it gave it another shot. Only this time, the plan was to get rid of people by getting inside their heads. I… resisted more than some others, so I got a little extra, uh, dose. We finally managed to kill ALIE for good but for a while some of the code was stuck in my head, and I still remember it. As you saw."

"So… what had ALIE's first objective been?" Becca asked, as though she both wanted the answer… and dreaded hearing it.

Clarke answered that one herself.

"You asked the program to figure out a way to have enough resources for everyone on the planet. ALIE's solution wasn't to find more resources but to eliminate the people instead." She shrugged. "Problem solved."

Becca stared at them in silence for a moment, but then her body stiffened and she began to shake her head from side to side. And it became clear to Clarke that she was preparing to leave, and to categorically reject everything she'd just heard.

"No. No way in hell could that ever happen." Becca was emphatic. "Look, I don't know where you people are from, or-or how you got hold of a piece of my proprietary code…"

"Or how it is we have the black blood that you engineered?" Clarke said. "Or happen to know what you just a few days ago decided to call your program?"

Becca's body stilled then, paused awkwardly in mid-flight.

"I know it's really hard to move on from it, Becca." Madi spoke up suddenly, and Becca looked at her in surprise. "Because it's the dream you've had since you were 10 years old. Ever since your best friend died because there was a terrible new virus and there wasn't enough vaccine to go around. Too many people and not enough medicine. And right then and there you vowed to do something about the fact that there just wasn't enough stuff for everyone on the planet."

Becca stared at the girl in shock. "How could you possibly know that?" she whispered. "I've never told that story to… anyone. It was too personal, too… painful."

Madi nodded as if she understood. "You know that other device you've been thinking about lately? The one that'd be kind of like the mind drives you made for the Eligius crew but maybe just… a little bit better? Something that would actually attach to your brain?"

"Yeah?" Becca said faintly, her face taking on a haunted look, as though maybe this was going to be one revelation too many.

"Well, you felt so guilty about the destruction you'd caused that you created the new device to try and control ALIE. You insisted on doing it yourself, so you gave yourself the black blood and then put the thing in your own head. You even chose the words that would open it, a Latin phrase that meant a lot to you during your school days. Ascende superius. Seek higher things." She paused. "We called it the flame."

Becca's eyes widened when she heard the Latin phrase, and it was obvious to Clarke that Madi's words had struck home.

"How in the world could you know all that?" She stared at the girl in disbelief.

"Because although the flame worked, and you were finally able to deactivate ALIE, some… other things happened after that, and a lot of different people ended up with it in their heads over the next hundred years. And everyone who wore it left little pieces of themselves inside it, like that story about your friend's illness. But not everyone who took the flame were good people, Becca, and after a while it became too dangerous and had to be destroyed." Madi took a deep breath. "I was the last one to take the flame before that happened."

Becca gasped in shock. "You were? But… you're just a kid. Clarke let someone modify your blood?"

"No one had to modify my blood, Becca. I was born with the black blood."

At that, Becca sank fully back into her seat. "You were born with it? But that's… impossible." Her voice was so faint by then it was barely a whisper.

The room was still while Madi fished in her backpack for the small knife she always carried, and then pricked her finger, the dark blood pooling at the tip. While the others sat in silence, Rosa got up and handed Madi a tissue so she could wipe the tell-tale blood away.

"Well done, my dear," she murmured.

No one said a word after that as they waited for Becca to absorb the truth of everything she'd heard. When she seemed to have no reaction, Clarke began to despair, wondering what more they could possibly do to convince her. But then Becca shuddered, as though she'd had to force her body to accept these unwelcome truths.

"Okay," she said finally, gazing around at them all. "So… bad things are going to happen and it all begins with my ALIE program getting screwed up and spiraling into perverse instantiation. I think that's what you said," she added, her gaze shifting to Clarke. "The program is almost finished, so how do we stop this horrible series of events from ever starting?"

Clarke shrugged. "You have to kill it any way you can."