The Tower Inverted Part I

## Official Summary

Mitch tries to adjust to life without Kiera or Pierce, immersing himself in work at the Chicago Facility. However, a sudden request from Tiresias provides a wider perspective on Mitch's situation, with implications both wonderful and horrifying.

Pierce, meanwhile, is in convalescence, abed at a secret ward of the Chester Mental Health center. A reunion with an old friend prompts Pierce to search for answers, and perhaps more, in a place even he must struggle to reach.

Later, an unprecedented catastrophe descends on ORPHEUS.

## Detailed Recap

Mitch, who was previously facing the monotony of non-active duty, is called in to Diana's office. She gives him the task of training some new operatives, and asks for his input on which four of the seven potential recruits should be selected. Of the seven, he recognizes two: Ashleigh Rhodes and Neveah Stephens. Mitch ponders whether he is breaking hearts or saving lives by choosing who will be assigned more training and more dangerous missions.

Mitch then meets with Tiresias, who is sporting a look halfway between his bedraggled and super-model self. Tiresias wants Mitch to be there during a mysterious mission, but doesn't explain exactly what will happen. The two embark upon a small drive to a Chicago warehouse, where Faris escorts the pair to Freya Benton, kept alive thanks to the secrets of a philosopher's stone. Tiresias aids Freya in performing the same ritual which occurred on that fateful night in 1893, and a bewildered Kiera reappears. Happy reunions ensue, and remarkably, Mitch seems to tear up. Tiresias, Mitch, and Kiera return to ORPHEUS headquarters, where Kiera must undergo psychological, physical, and metaphysical evaluation.

Meanwhile, Pierce wakes in the Chester Mental Health Center. Nadra confronts him, asking who he will work with in the upcoming war between multiple parties. She claims that she wishes to destroy ORPHEUS and Sol Invictus, or at least fracture them enough so that it is impossible for them to monopolize occult knowledge and power. Pierce is unwilling to devote himself to Nadra's cause, instead hoping to seek out more information about all parties' true motivations. Most importantly, he seeks to work towards the same goals that once motivated Koji. Dissatisfied with Pierce's failure to commit, Nadra nevertheless allows him to leave the center without interference.

Pierce's first priority is to check in on the remnants of Long Legged Larry, which he expects to find in the lake. However, when entering back into the extra-dimensional space, he once again encounters more of the mysterious, spider-like entities that hospitalized him. Pierce is quick enough to escape before the creatures do any harm, and he is grimly satisfied that Nadra will not be able to steal the powerful material.

The next step is to pick up the pieces after Koji's sacrifice, so Pierce goes to the Gravity Hill in Indiana, retracing the path of the 1969 cell. He meets with the Lady Clothed in Crows in a safe extra-dimensional space. Although Pierce seeks guidance and possible mentorship from Koji's collaborator, the Lady Clothed in Crows claims that she does not have much of a stake in the current threats which worry him. She explains that her sphere of influence is limited to entities "not of this world," which means she cannot help against Darren or Nadra. However, she recognizes that certain dormant threats like Long Legged Larry are something she can work against, because they are otherworldly entities sealed away due to Henry Colfax's writings. The Lady Clothed in Crows also informs Pierce that the Hunters which haunt his extra-dimensional space are made by a human, and could possibly be tracked back to their source if he retrieved a part of them. After a final plea for help by Pierce, she tells him that he is not a suitable host for any power she might bestow due to his lack of kindness and empathy. Pierce resolves to learn more about empathy in Koji's memory.

Back in Chicago, Mitch meets once more with Diana to discuss his choices about the trainees' dossiers. Mid-sentence, Diana pitches over, with one eye's capillaries totally bursting, and she commands Mitch to knock her unconscious for the safety of everyone else. Mitch does so, and subsequently witnesses a giant rumbling and emergence of labyrinthine lines in the air, indicating Darren's return to power.

## Quotes

"Man, fuck the patriarchy, right?" - Pierce Keswick

## Music Credits

* Three Chain Links - Magic Hour
* Kevin MacLeod - Deep Haze
* Borrtex - Wondering
* Kevin MacLeod - Night at the Docks
* Kevin MacLeod - Erik Satie - Gymnopedie No 3
* Alexander Nakarada - Freedom
* ElDude Music - The Nameless City
* Borrtex - Sun
* Darren Curtis - Unknown Fear
* Kai Engel - Delirium
* Kai Engel - A Neon Flesh
* Myuu - MSP#1 - VICIOUS
* Kai Engel - Phantasm
* Kai Engel - Sopor
* Myuu - Promise ~Reprise~ (Silent Hill 2 Cover)
* Myuu - Lost World
* ROZKOL - The Den
* THE WARHORSE - LOL She's Fluent in Sarcasm
* Opening and Closing Themes by Nathan Kross and Rob Stith