[Game Thread] Through a Glass Darkly

[Daygamer]

Turning to Scott, Sil reaches out a hand to him, ”Take my hand. When he does, hefinds himself in Sil’s storage space and he can hear her voice. ”I can help you get Sam back. Trust me, you need to do this or everything we have done is for nothing. Find Kat and tell her everything that has happened since I arrived and we met. Make her listen, make her believe.” A moment later Scott finds himself at Reynolds Manor.

The television is on, which Scott distinctly remembers turning off but as he looks around, he gets the sense that it has been some time since anyone was there. Looking around, he notices that things are out of place, back where they were before Kat moved in. She had immediately begun rearranging things when she moved in but now it was like she had never lived there. Walking around, Scott smells something foul in the kitchen and he finds that the refrigerator is open and most of the food inside has spoiled.

As he is looking around, the news on the television gets his attention. “…Police are still searching for Katrina Townsend, the prime suspect in the death of her father and teenager Chris Kane. Ms. Townsend is also believed to be responsible for the premeditated deaths of at least six other people but authorities have not yet confirmed her involvement. She is believed to be extremely dangerous and possibly possess super powers…”

[Cygnus]

Scott looked around his house, confused by the various differences no matter how minor they may have been. He heard the t.v. in the background, but wasn't paying attention to it until he heard Katrina Townsend. Turning to watch the screen in shock, he turned the volume up and listened to the entire report. Kat... why would you do this...? what happened...? He had to get out of the house, and according to Sil, he had to find Kat... somehow. He no longer cared about subtlety, and without another thought, he teleported to Quiz Technologies.

[Daygamer]

Teleporting to Quentin's lab, Scott finds them to be empty except for desks and chairs. It is clear to Scott that there used to be equipment located in the building but it is gone now. The door to the labs is actually open and Scott can see "Quiz Technologies' spelled out on the door. He is in the right place but there is no sign of the mental giant.

While he is standing there, his phone indicates that he has a text message and it is from Sam. "Hey Stranger, you have any free time?"

[Cygnus]

Damnit... where's Quentin when you need him...? Scott leaned against a wall and slowly slid down into a sitting position as he racked his brain for ideas as to where the young genius would be. Hell, he didn't even know what year it was supposed to be here... was it the same time as his dimension, or had Sil somehow transported him into the future as well? His house hadn't been lived in for a long time, from the looks of it, so when was- Sam? Scott read the text message twice, not sure how he had gotten a text from her in this dimension... Well what do you know? AT&T has coverage in other dimensions... go figure. He sent a quick reply to her, not sure how to act to avoid tipping her off that he wasn't this dimension's Scott. I do now.

[Daygamer]

"I wasn't sure you still had this number. Can you come to my room?"

When Scott appears, Sam's bedroom is just as he remembered it, even Cookie Monster and Super Grover. Sam takes a step back and holds up a hand to stop him from approaching. She looks wary and it is clear she has been crying. "What's this about you killing the board of Nuroshima Enterprises? You promised me that you had nothing to do with that and then I got a video of what you did. There are other companies and people you have murdered as well? Scott, how could you?"

[Cygnus]

Scott felt his heart breaking as he saw Sam in the state she was in, even though he knew that she wasn't his Sam. It only reminded him of the even more painful fact that Sam had once again been taken by a faceless enemy, who he only knew a little bit about this time... they were Nazis... knowing that didn't comfort him. "Okay, screw the rules. Sam, I'm not the Scott you know. Well, I kind of am, but not the Scott who killed all of those people. I'm from a different dimension where I was put in the position of doing the same exact thing as your Scott, but I didn't go through with it. A woman named Sylvia, who goes by the codename Silhouette, you probably don't know her yet, helped me get out of having to do it. I know it's not much... by I can tell you this much, your Scott did it to save your life... you had nanites injected into your system by his father when you were abducted, and he was blackmailed into becoming his father's personal assassin. They would have exploded and killed you, if he hadn't gone through with it..." Scott held back and resisted the urge to run and pick Sam up in his arms, for the only reason that she wasn't the Sam that needed him right now.

"I'm sorry, but I'm here for a reason. My Sam has been abducted and is trapped in another dimension separate from my own, and yours. I have to find Katrina Townsend for some reason... it's the only way I can save Sam... can you help me...?" Scott almost broke down as he looked into the puffy eyes of this dimension's Sam, seeing what would have happened if he hadn't been helped by Sil. His tone was pleading and honest, and his shoulders hung almost in defeat as he waited for her answer.

[Daygamer]

The disbelief is clear on Sam's face but it is replaced with doubt and then curiosity as Scott tells the all-too familiar redhead in front of him who he was and why he was there. Sam just stared at him well after he finished and without saying a word she stepped up to him and her hand moved to his cheek in a familiar gesture. She looked deep into his eyes and Sam's began glowing gold. A moment later a golden aura surrounded her and she became a black silhouette as she transformed into Eclipse.

A wave of dizziness sweeps over Scott before Eclipse reverts back to Sam. "I'm sorry about that but I couldn't take any chances. You are telling the truth and I'll do what I can to help you. I'm glad you were strong enough to stand up to your father, I wish my Scott had that strength. But if it was not for the nanites then he never would have done those things. Do you know of a way to remove them from me?"

Before Scott can answer Sam adds, "I know my Scott tracked down Kat and took her to his father. Where would your father have taken Kat too?"

[Cygnus]

Scott had never witnessed Sam becoming Eclipse up close, and it was something he hoped he would never have to see again based on what he had been told about it. "It wasn't strength that kept me from having to go through with it. It was the intervention of somebody who has done nothing but help me." Scott feels Sam's hand still on his cheek, but he doesn't say anything about it. "According to Sil, your nanites would have been completely wiped out without a single trace left when you got your powers back... do you remember that day? Did anything special happen? It should have been the first day you changed into Eclipse..."

Scott already knew the one place that Kat would have been taken. Without anybody to oppose Max, the island base would have never blown up. "There's a private island that he and my mother used to go on vacation to, and they took me with them one time. It was the last time any of us had gone there... ever. After Max became, well, a psychopath, he turned the island into his own private lair of evil. So I would assume that's where he would have taken Kat... do you know how long ago she was taken?"

[Daygamer]

Sam steps back and folds her arms against her chest as she gets a thoughtful look. "I've never heard of this Silhouette or Sil. I had lost my powers and when they came back it was like I was on fire and I became Eclipse. I had seen the news that the International Space Station was going to crash and I repaired it and returned it to orbit. so the nanites are gone? You...my Scott did all of those terrible things for nothing?"

Sam looked almost devastated and wiped at a tear. "He took her two days ago. I helped him track her down and he said he knew someone that could help her. I knew I shouldn't have listened." She turned back into Eclipse before Scott's eyes, dashing any hopes that he wouldn't have towitness it again. "Take me with you. You might as well, I can track your teleporting."

[Cygnus]

Scott held his hand out to Eclipse, nodding softly, but avoiding looking in her eyes. "Alright... let's go then." He teleported with her to the island, letting go of her hand as soon as they were there. Looking around at their surroundings, he finally asked the question that was bothering him. "What will you do... when you find your Scott...?"

[Daygamer]

Eclipse regarded the Scott in front of her before replying. ”I’ll tell him that I am free of the nanites and he doesn’t have to be a slave of his father anymore. I just hope he listens because I don’t know what to do if he doesn’t. He’s so headstrong sometimes…I just wish he would have trusted me from the start, maybe we could have figured out another way.” There was a sadness to Sam’s voice that came out of Eclipse’s form but except for that, Scott never would have been able to tell something was wrong on the glowing black silhouette.

From what Scott could see of the island, it was exactly the same as his own dimension. The mountain with the Sygma base inside extended up in front of them and Scott could just make out the terraces and windows in the side. Eclipse let Scott look around before she said anything, “ Do you know where my Scott would be? Why don’t I go in first to find him and talk to him. I can keep him distracted while you find Kat and do what needs to be done.”

[Cygnus]

Unfortunately, Scott knew exactly where his counterpart in this dimension would be, in his room doing some less than legal drinking to forget his sorrows. "Going in through the balcony will be the quickest way to get to him... and possibly her. I imagine their rooms would be somewhere on that level. Take my hand again?" Scott held his hand out to Sa-... Eclipse, and waited for her fingers to touch his palm before teleporting with her to the balcony. "Kat would want the room with the view, and Scott would want a room with no windows... man cave, it's a guy thing. Sam... good luck." He gave her hand a small squeeze before sticking his head around the corner and teleporting inside as close to the hall leading to what he imagined would be Kat's room, walking down to the door and turning the knob. Here goes nothing...

[Daygamer]

Eclipse returns Scott's hand squeeze but then leans in, the silhouette fading around her head so she can kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you, I hope you find what you need. It was nice to meet you, I have a feeling your Sam is very happy." Scott doesn't see her fully become Eclipse again and head for the other room after he teleports.

Opening the door, Scott finds that Kat is inside just as he thought, but so is Maximilian. Kat is hanging suspended in some type of energy field and a swirling silver cloud is around her. Her eyes are open but they are two orbs of pure silver. The silvery cloud looks to be dissipating but Scott realizes that it is actually moving inside of Kat.

"Scott!" Maximilian says with excitement in his voice. "I've adjusted the new nanites so Katrina's body not only accepts them, but is actively working at incorporating them as part of her. Her healing power may be slightly stronger than your regeneration in some ways but it is much more susceptible to manipulation. If this works, it could be the catalyst to adapting the nanites for you and we could grant you the powers of any super we want. We can't do it for her but you will be truly unstoppable."

[Cygnus]

"Any super I want? That's very tempting..." Scott walked up alongside his father, acting as though he had no choice but to go along with what was happening to his sister. He put a hand on Max's shoulder for a moment, giving it a light squeeze. "If you're still in there, I'm sorry Dad." Scott teleported halfway through what he was saying, leaving Max a couple miles out at sea before returning to the spot he was standing in before and rushing to Kat's side. He immediately began healing her in an attempt to help her body reject the nanites. "Come on sis... you can't lose to these things..."

[Daygamer]

Startled and taken unaware by Scott teleporting him, Max tried to clutch at Scott when they appeared over the open water but even that would have done him no good. Although Scott didn't see it, Max fell to the water below.

Lending his healing ability to Kat when he returned, the results were just the opposite of what Scott had in mind. Her power seemed to latch onto Scott's power and the nanites began being absorbed by her even faster. Kat's hair and nails began turning silver and he could see a look of delight on her face as the cloud began to fade to nothing around her.