-4-

The Institute

Lincoln fidgeted slightly as he sat on an examination table. His sister Lisa and another doctor overseeing his wounds that he had taken from the attacker's drones back at the school. The bullets penetrated his skin, but only at surface level, and had not gone very deep. As the two removed the bullets, he didn't feel any pain, but the sensation was a little unnerving.

"Are you okay, Lincoln?" Asked Lisa as she continued. "Are you feeling any pain?"

"No," said Lincoln.

"It's utterly fascinating," said the doctor, one who Farroway had addressed as Dr. Renner. She was tall and slender, looking to be in her mid-forties, but still very beautiful to look at. "I've retrieved at least 50 rounds from your body, but none of them seemed to have penetrated far beneath the stratum granulosum. It's as if your skin is made of kevlar."

"For all intents and purposes, it may as well be," said Lisa. "I have observed over the past five years his skin becoming denser and denser. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. I would be happy to share my data with you, if you wish."

"Yes of course!" Said Dr. Renner enthusiastically. Lincoln looked up as he heard the door to the medical bay open, and Dr. Farroway and Memory walked towards him. Memory looked very uncomfortable, and avoided his gaze.

"How are you feeling, Lincoln?" Asked Dr. Farroway.

"What is this place?" Lincoln asked. "Where are we, and how do you know who I am? And who the hell was that maniac back at the school?!"

Farroway sighed. "Yes, I'm sure that this is all a lot to take in. But please rest assured that you are in no danger here. The Institute is completely off the grid and its location known only to a select few outside its operations."

"What about my family?" Asked Lincoln.

"They are being retrieved," said Farroway. "We believed that it would be best to bring them here, out of fear that they will be targeted by Clarke."

"But what is this place?" Asked Lincoln. "Where is here?"

Farroway turned to the doctor. "Are you about finished?"

"Yes, we have removed all the bullets and any other shrapnel," said Dr. Renner. "His body has already begun to heal itself."

"Excellent," he said, turning back to Lincoln. "Do you feel well enough to accompany me?"

"Of course," said Lincoln, hopping off the table. "But where are we going?"

Farroway produced a new set of clothes for Lincoln, a simple black shirt and jeans, to replace the clothes that were ruined in the attack. "Let's get you dressed, and I'll explain everything."

Lincoln quickly complied and put on his clothes once he had some privacy. As he left the room, Farroway, Lisa, and Memory were waiting for him. "Okay," Lincoln said. "What is going on?"

Farroway nodded and began to walk down the hallway, with the others following him in tow. "You're a fan of the Ace Savvy franchise, are you not, Lincoln?" Farroway asked.

"Yeah," said Lincoln.

"I'm quite an avid comic reader myself," said Farroway. "Ever since I was a child. My first comic I ever read was 'The Incredible Hulk.' It was that comic that inspired me to become a scientist." He then paused as he approached a large door. He keyed in a long code and leaned in as his eye was scanned by a retina scanner. The door slowly slid open and the group walked through it.

"What most people don't realize is that comics are not always fictional creations," said Farroway. As they passed through the door, they entered into a large atrium filled with various people, computers, equipment, and other items that Lincoln did not recognize. But as he stared into the atrium, he felt himself grow at a loss for words as what he was witnessing. Along with various scientists and soldiers going about their business, Lincoln saw extraordinary creatures that he swore could have been pulled out of a science-fiction movie. There were several humanoid individuals, some with varied colored skin. Some of them had extra appendages, such as multiple arms or legs, some of them had antennae protruding from their heads, some of them seemed to have multiple eyes, some with no eyes or open orifices on their faces at all. There were giant portals aligning the walls that were opening and closing, with people walking through them. Lincoln even saw a large, squid-like creature sitting in the middle of a large group of computer consoles, typing frantically away as the dozens of eyes that aligned its body looked at the various screens.

"This is known as 'The Institute,'" said Dr. Farroway, smiling at Lincoln's reaction. "A subset of the Department of Defense that focuses on paranormal, extraterrestrial, and superhuman research and defense."

Lincoln could hardly believe his eyes. It was as if his comic books had come to life. There were creatures that were teleporting in and out of the room, some moving with incredible speed, some that he couldn't even really classify as human or any other creature that he has seen before. He could even see animals that were walking upright, wearing clothes and conversing with the other soldiers. He looked over at his sister, Lisa, who was simply looking at her brother in amusement, but lacked any trace of surprise on her face.

"How are you so calm, Lisa?" Asked Lincoln. Lisa's amused look fell and she scratched her head in embarrassment.

"I've…actually been here before," said Lisa.

"What?!" Said Lincoln, shocked.

"About four years ago," said Lisa. "Dr. Farroway brought me in to debrief me on my time-travel discovery. Throughout that time I have been here several times to rework and build upon that theory, as well as learn more about the many scientific wonders that grace these halls."

"So you've known about all of this the whole time?!" Asked Lincoln, angrily. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Lincoln, please don't get upset," said Memory, holding onto his arm. Lincoln backed away from her, causing her to release her grip on him, staring at her with a look of hurt and anger in his eyes.

"And you," said Lincoln. "You've known about this as well? You always told me that your father was in the military overseas. Have you been lying to me this whole time?!"

"Lincoln, please," said Farroway, stepping forward. "Follow me to my office, and I will explain everything."

Lincoln paused, looking between Farroway, Memory and Lisa, before finally nodding. They walked along the hallways, while Lincoln saw the doorways to various rooms and laboratories, and even a large aquarium of water that housed strange sea creatures that Lincoln had never seen before. When they approached the end of the hall, two soldiers armed with large guns saluted Farroway as they passed through the door.

Inside the room was large with white and chrome walls and floors. Several computers lined the walls behind a large desk, which Farroway sat behind. He gestured to the seats in front of the desk, which the rest of them sat down in. Farroway sighed before finally speaking.

"Years ago, when you disappeared, I became personally involved with your case," said Farroway.

"Why?" Asked Lincoln.

"Because the man who captured you was my mentor, Dr. Max Schroder," said Farroway. "He was the man who took me under his wing and molded me into the scientist I am today. But that was before he….changed."

"What do you mean?" Asked Lincoln.

"Schroder wasn't always like he was when he captured you," said Farroway. "When he lost his son, something inside him snapped, and caused him to see things differently. He became obsessed with creating perfect soldiers to protect America against its enemies, to destroy anyone who would stand in our way. His experiments became so unethical and horrifying that he was dismissed as Director of the Department of Defense, and I was the one to replace him. He had disappeared shortly after that, and it was only upon your disappearance that we were able to pick up his trail."

"How?" Asked Lincoln.

"Before he left, he spoke to me about his plans to create his super soldiers," Farroway replied. "He told me about his serum, and how it was ready for testing. But he said that it wasn't enough to test it on animals, or even adult volunteers. He said that it had to be children."

Lincoln blanched in surprise. "But why?"

"He said that the formula would take years to manifest, and only the high metabolism, growth rate, and ever changing physical properties of children would make the formula reach peak viability. Of course, we would never sanction an unknown drug on human testing, let alone on children. At first glance, your disappearance just seemed like another missing persons case, but it was your finger that tipped me off that it may have been Schroder's handiwork."

"How?" Said Lincoln, looking at his once-missing ring finger.

"It's an old tactic of Schroder's that he used in the military," said Farroway. "Once, he was stuck behind enemy lines in Vietnam. Having taken one of the enemy as a hostage, he cut off his hand and placed it in a key spot of the compound to divert the search. While they thought that he had escaped from the south wall, he was actually traveling north. The finger they discovered had struck me as odd, and reminded me of the story, so I began following your case. Eventually, my suspicions were confirmed upon discovering his laboratory."

Lincoln shuddered, his mind drifting against his will to the memory of his time in that maniac's torture chamber. Lisa must have been able to see his discomfort, as she placed her arm around him and held him close, his body trembling slightly. Schroder paused, only continuing after Lincoln composed himself.

"Once we found him, we were able to recover his video diary," Schroder said. He pressed a button on his desk, which caused a video screen to appear behind him. It sprang to life, showing the group the last entry in the diary, where he was accosted and killed by Lynn and Lincoln was rescued. Lincoln felt his blood run cold as he watched Schroder put the hot branding iron to his younger self's chest. He trembled as the boy screamed, and he felt as if he was being transported back to that moment. He felt something grasp his hand, and looked up to see that Memory was holding it, a look of concern on her face.

"I'm sorry to show you this," said Farroway. "But once we found the video, we were able to gather a still of this image." He paused the video, zooming in on Lynn's face. "Even after running it through our facial recognition software and several interviews with potential matches, we were still no closer to finding you or your rescuer. However, one thing stood out to me, is that this person seemed attached to you. It wasn't merely a rescue job. She knew you, and this was personal to her. But, we weren't sure where to go with this. Even Insight was having difficulty locating you."

"Insight?" Asked Lincoln.

"All in good time," said Farroway. "Regardless, the trail had turned cold, and time marched on. After ten years, the public had assumed you were dead, and despite the fact that we knew otherwise, we were no closer to finding you. That is, until your family's parole officer came to check in on them."

"So you were the one behind that?" Asked Lincoln.

"I'm afraid so," said Farroway. "Because we knew you were alive, we wanted to make sure to keep an eye on your family in case you returned to them, so we tapped their parole officer and had him come work for us. However, once he saw you as you were ten years ago, having not aged a day, that threw a new variable in the equation that we did not anticipate: time travel. It all made sense, how you had dropped off the face of the earth for ten years, the fact that we couldn't find your rescuer, as well as the death of Schroder. After we started surveilling you, we were able to get a positive match on your older sister Lynn, and our suspicions were confirmed."

"That's when he came to see me," said Lisa.

"I had followed your career ever since you were a child, Dr. Loud," said Farroway. "Your theories were impressive and insightful for someone as young as you were. But never had you mentioned that you were working on a way to travel back in time. Frankly, it didn't take you nearly as long as some of the other scientists I have working for me."

"What?" Asked Lincoln, shocked.

"I'm not the only scientist to have cracked the time-space conundrum, Lincoln," said Lisa. "Others have come before me."

"It is something that is strictly monitored by the Institute," said Farroway. "In the wrong hands, it is a power that could be more damaging than any nuclear bomb could ever hope to be. Imagine it, back in 1944, the Nazis experimented with time travel. They had hundreds of scientists investigating anything that could give them an edge during the war, scientific and supernatural. Thankfully, the technology wasn't there to realize their ambitions, but I daresay the very thought of what could have happened if they were successful is quite…horrifying."

Lincoln couldn't argue with that. "But what about this Clarke guy?" He asked. "Who is he? And… and how did you know about…Wild Card? I thought the timeline was reset and he never existed. How could you possibly know about him?"

Farroway exchanged looks with Lisa before sighing deeply. "Well, that's a fair question, Lincoln," he said. "It's a bit complicated, and in order to adequately explain it, I need you to follow me. There's someone I would like you to meet."

The group had left the office and had returned to the main common area where they had first entered the Institute. Lincoln was still in awe as he passed by the strange sights around him. They quickly approached their destination, which was the strange squid creature at the computer screens.

"This is Insight," said Farroway. Without breaking its concentration, the creature slowly inched a large tentacle towards Lincoln, holding it aloft in front of him. Lincoln hesitantly shook the tentacle, and the creature retracted it and continued its work.

"What…what…?" Lincoln stammered.

"Believe it or not, he used to be human," said Farroway, chuckling. "His real name is Major Roger Homire. He was involved in several top-secret incidents during the 60s, including the Roswell incident."

"You…you mean the aliens?" Said Lincoln, shocked. He had always imagined that aliens were real. Heck, Zach, one of his best friends growing up, was a staunch believer in aliens.

"Yes," said Farroway. "Back in 76, he disappeared from our watch and didn't resurface again until 10 years later, looking like this." He gestured to the creature for emphasis.

"How did he get like this?" Asked Lincoln.

"Well, that's the hard part," said Farroway. "He only speaks in riddles, requiring us to decipher it. As far as we can tell from what he has told us, he had invoked some sort of ancient power that caused him to walk through a portal. Somewhere during that time he came out like this. Something about 'cosmic horrors' or something like that."

"Are you serious?" Asked Lincoln.

"Afraid so," said Farroway. "There are still many mysteries in life that we have yet to understand. Insight here is proof of that. People tend to poke their noses into things they don't understand without fully realizing the consequences of their actions. That's where the Institute comes in. We're here to protect as many people as we can from the things that are out there."

"But why did you want to show me this?" Asked Lincoln.

"Because there's more to Insight than just riddles and a mysterious backstory," said Farroway. "He has the ability to see things five-dimensionally, giving us insight into things that we are unable to see, hence his codename." He then turned back to the creature. "Insight, lower screen 5 if you please."

The creature rumbled and one of the large screens began to descend to their level. The screen sprang to life, and Farroway retrieved a remote from his coat pocket. He pressed a button and a series of lines forming what looked like a tree appeared on the screen.

"As your sister no doubt explained to you, this tree is a rough representation of the timeline," said Farroway.

"Yes, I remember this," said Lincoln. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Good question," said Farroway. "You see, even though the timeline was reset, time is not exactly as malleable as we believe. While your sisters' actions did indeed reset the timeline, an echo of what it once was is left behind. That's part of the reason why you and your family are able to remember everything that happened. Do you follow me?"

"Yes," said Lincoln slowly.

"Well, when I first took over this case, I came to Insight to see if I could get a clue as to your location. You see, that is how we were able to find Schroder after he had vanished." He clicked the device again, and a set of words appeared on the screen, reading:

Olympus once had a champion grand,

Who crushed its enemies in the palm of his hand,

But the Gods' favor waned, the Champion fell,

And quickly fell under evil's spell,

The madness, it grew, and could not be contained,

What once was salvation, only destruction remained,

But the Champion would not let his legacy die,

And a child was found, whom his kin did decry,

Your search for the Champion and child will soon join,

A boy, and a monster, two sides of a coin,

To seek, and to find, the truth you will see,

At Midnight, the Underground, where those bound were set free.

Lincoln stared at the message, completely flummoxed. "What the hell does that mean?" He asked.

"I assure you, I was quite confused when I first heard the riddle, as well," said Farroway. "It took some time, but we were able to decipher this riddle. We determined the champion was Schroder, due to his service in the military and to the government through the Department of Defense. The reference to the boy was obviously you, and my suspicions that he was the one who took you were confirmed. Finally, we were able to ascertain a location as to where you might be. The reference to "Midnight, the Underground, where those bound were set free" was tricky, but we were able to determine that he was speaking about Detroit, Michigan."

"How did you determine that?" Asked Lincoln.

"Well, during the time of the Underground Railroad, the codename "Midnight" was used to describe the city of Detroit, which was the last stop before slaves would cross the Detroit river into Canada, where slavery was outlawed. Once we got there, we confirmed that our assumptions were correct. But we were too late. Schroder was dead, and you had vanished once again."

"But why didn't you use Insight to find me again?" Asked Lincoln.

"We tried, but he would not tell us anything," said Farroway. "I practically begged him to tell me, but he would not budge. He simply repeated the same statement over and over again: 'What once was lost will soon be found. One path destroyed, another is bound.'"

"That sounds frustrating," said Lisa.

"You have no idea," said Farroway. "But to answer your previous question, about how we knew about Wild Card, Insight was able to grant us a glimpse into what had happened in the previous timeline through his riddles. Your sister was able to fill in the gaps or elaborate on what we didn't understand."

Lincoln was silent, glaring at Lisa, who shrunk a little under his gaze. His eyes then drifted to Memory, who he hadn't noticed had been clinging to his arm the whole time. She slowly let go as he looked at her, and he began to back away, his blood boiling in anger.

"So you were all spying on me?" Asked Lincoln quietly. "And you went along with it?" He demanded his brainy sister.

"I know you're upset," said Lisa. "But it was all necessary in case–"

"In case what?" Lincoln shot back. "In case I became him again? Became Wild Card?!"

Lisa grew silent, hurt at Lincoln's accusation. "It's not like that," said Lisa. "We didn't know what effects the nanites in your system would have on you. I…I just wanted to make sure you would be okay, and Dr. Farroway offered me a way to do it."

"Were you grooming me?" Lincoln asked Farroway. "Waiting for the right time for me to join your organization, become a killing machine like…that monster wanted?"

"No!" said Farroway, shocked. "Schroder was a madman. As a father, I would never dream–"

Lincoln's head snapped towards Memory, who was trembling slightly. "And you!" He snarled. "You have been lying to me this whole time. Was this all part of the plan? Pretend to like me just to keep an eye on me in case I go postal? Are you even my friend?!"

"Of course I am, Linc!" Said Memory. "You need to calm down."

"Or what?" Asked Lincoln, backing away more. "Are you afraid of me? Afraid of Lincoln Loud, the monster, the killing machine, the freak?!" The last word echoed throughout the suddenly quiet room. He looked around to see that he had become the center of attention, with all eyes from around the compound looking at him. He felt his face grow hot with embarrassment and anger. "I..I need to go." He said quietly.

"You can't go, Lincoln," said Farroway. "Clarke is still out there, and we-"

"No, I need to…go." he said, emphasizing the last word.

"Oh," said Farroway, understanding. "The facilities are down that hallway." Lincoln walked quickly towards the direction he was pointing, desperately trying to stave off the awkward feeling in his chest as he brushed past the onlookers. Once he had finally reached the restroom, he quickly hid himself in one of the stalls. His entire body was shaking as tears escaped from his eyes. He didn't really have to go, but he didn't want anyone to see him lose it like this. He was scared, and still had so many questions. He was worried about his family and friends. What's more, he was tired. He thought he had put all of this behind him, but the past was resurfacing, threatening to drown him in his sorrow as he desperately tried to keep himself afloat.

He didn't know what he was going to do.

After what felt like an eternity, he exited the stall and splashed water in his face, taking deep breaths to calm himself down before leaving the restroom. He stopped short as he saw Memory waiting for him outside, leaning against the wall. They sat in awkward silence for a minute before he finally spoke.

"Was it all a lie?" Asked Lincoln. "Were you ever really my friend?"

Memory walked forward and gently took his hand, a look of sadness in her eyes. "Of course I am, Linc," she said. "But I won't lie, my father did ask me to look after you."

"In case I went nuts?" He asked sourly.

"No," she said. "He knew what you had gone through. He knew how much you were hurting. He knew that you would need a friend. That may be the reason I came to become your friend, but not why I stayed your friend."

"How can I believe that?" Asked Lincoln. Memory paused. It was a fair question, and she knew that she would be asking the same questions. Slowly, she placed her hand on his cheek and brought her head forward until their foreheads were touching. Linc was taken aback slightly at this, but didn't fight her. A few seconds passed before he suddenly began to feel strange. Images swirled in his head, and he felt like his heart was starting to swell. Various feelings and emotions began to swirl around in his mind, along with various images of moments he spent with Memory. Happiness when they would hang out together. Sadness when they would fight. Concern when Lincoln would hurt himself, or laughter when his sisters would tease him about having a girl over.

Just as he felt that these feelings would overwhelm him, Memory pulled away, and the images began to fade. Lincoln stood there, suddenly feeling out of breath. "What…what was that?" He asked weakly.

"I'm a freak too," said Memory. "An empath. I'm able to share memories and feelings with others, as well as sense the feelings of those around me. I know when people are lying, or when they are sad, happy, or angry, even if they don't really know it themselves." She drew him into a hug. "You're an amazing person, Linc, and the best friend I ever had. No matter what."

Lincoln stayed in her arms for a while, allowing himself to cry a little. But the tears quickly dried, because a feeling of security and safety came over him while they embraced. He could feel the anger drift away, replaced with calm and peace. Whether she was doing this or not, he didn't know or care. He wished that he could stay there forever with her, but he had more questions that needed to be asked.

Dr. Farroway and Lisa looked up as Lincoln and Memory were walking back. "How are you feeling?" He asked, concerned.

Lincoln said nothing for a moment before finally looking Farroway in the eye. "Tell me about Tobias Clarke," he said.

Tobias Clark slammed the broken pieces of one of his drones angrily against his workstation table. He had just managed to escape the police but had managed to lose his quarry in the scuffle. He was no doubt back at the institute. The place was an impenetrable fortress. Its location was undisclosed, and the only way to access it was through transportation. He could build a transporter, no problem. He had managed to hack into the Institute IT Infrastructure and absconded with several plans and schematics of the fortress and various technical projects that they had been working on. The schematics for a transporter device was among them. However, he was unable to ascertain the exact location of the Institute before he was discovered and purged from the system. Since then, he has been unable to crack into the system, as their Security had tripled, with all the previous vulnerabilities that he used having been patched. No doubt it was all Dr. Loud's doing. As much as he wanted to deny it, the woman was brilliant. Much more brilliant than he was.

But that didn't matter anymore. He knew that he wouldn't be able to get the boy now. This was his one chance to capture him and move forward with his plan, but he had missed it. No doubt Farroway was securing the rest of his family as well, so he could forget about using them as bait. His plans were foiled, and he was running out of options. But he couldn't give up. It was Dr. Schroder's legacy, his dream, and as his disciple it was his destiny to see it achieved.

He continued to scroll through the various schematics he had stolen from the Institute on his computer. He had managed to swipe at least two terabytes of data. Much of it was useless to him, but there were a few gems that he was able to make use of, specifically the robotic arms that were attached to his back. He would have to remember to personally thank Dr. Loud for the invention before he crushed her skull in.

His thoughts were interrupted as he paused at one of the schematics, the name catching his attention:

TOP SECRET

- TRANSDIMENSIONAL PORTAL -

PROTOTYPE

A small smile formed on his face as he looked through the schematics. The smile grew wider and wider as he continued, a plan beginning to form in his mind. It was risky, and potentially impossible. But if what he was seeing was correct, it just may be the answer to his problems.