Reflections Part III

## Official Summary

Atop a lonely mountain, Pierce meets his new mentor, and is subjected to difficult questions and a reality-defying test of will and focus. Back at base, Ashleigh tells Kiera about some unsettling things happening at home with Ellie, and Mitch copes with the physical and emotional wounds caused by his training.

The cell is whipped into shape, hour by grueling hour, and Diana gathers everyone to discuss the new mission and it's personal significance to Mitch.

## Detailed Recap

Pierce climbs the hill toward his unknown new mentor. Diana told him it would take a few hours, but it seems to be taking longer than that. Suspicious, he scratches a mark in a tree, then continues walking uphill. Sure enough, he arrives back at the same tree, and the mark disappears. He realizes suddenly that his body aches as though he's been standing rigid for a while, and the stars above look weird. He meditates for a moment to clear his mind, and suddenly he's at the summit.

Pierce sees an old, bent man, maybe 80 or 90 years old, with a long-stemmed pipe that issues iridescent smoke. The man introduces himself as Koki Miyazaki. He offers Pierce a hit off the pipe, which Pierce eagerly accepts. He discovers the pipe is laced with scopolamine, which will promote truth-telling, because Koji needs him to answer his questions honestly.

Koji starts with a simple question: What does Pierce want? He answers that he wants deep knowledge about the nature of the universe. Koji says he shares that interest, and began learning about it when, in a lab, he discovered microorganisms communicating with each other. He calls this a "signpost" that began leading him toward truth. Pierce's signpost was Darren, and Koji says Darren "enraptured" Pierce because of something fundamental about Pierce's nature. He offers to "fix" Pierce. Pierce hesitates, unsure if that's what he wants. Koji reveals that Piece murdered his own father, and other people as well, and says Pierce needs to find "a new trailhead" to begin a new journey toward truth. Then he snaps his fingers and traps Pierce in a mental maze he must navigate as a training exercise.

Back down the hill, Kiera and Ashleigh are creating Witch's Brews in a great cauldron. Kiera asks Ash if she volunteered for the additional responsibility in ORPHEUS, and Ash says she just wants to be useful, but Kiera worries about Ash's safety. Ash seems to have something on her mind, and Kiera jokingly threatens to use telepathy to find out what it is. Ash confesses that she snooped in Ellie's room while Kiera was gone, and saw a new drawing, showing a stereotypical ugly witch holding a severed bull's head and rubbing its blood on herself, while Kiera boiled in the cauldron and Pierce hung from a tree by his ankle. Ash asks if the drawing means anything to Kiera, and Kiera lies and says it's just random images that Ellie gets from movies and stuff. Ash apologizes for snooping, and Kiera worries that this will exacerbate Ellie's trust issues if she ever finds out.

Diana rushes over to the women and asks for Witch's Brews for Mitch. Kiera accompanies her back to the sandy battlefield, and is shocked by the extent of Mitch's injuries, asking Diana if this isn't a bit extreme. Diana says her orders were to do almost anything if it meant getting Mitch to recover his memories. Mitch drinks Kiera's Witch's Brew and feels much better, although a bit dazed. Mitch thanks Diana, which surprises her; and then says he has hope for Walter, which surprises her even more. He explains that Walter seemed to believe he had to kill Mitch, and didn't do it just because he wanted to, which means it may be possible to reconcile and redeem him. Diana tells Kiera and Ash that they will soon have a "witch's duel," and Kiera grins evilly.

Pierce, trapped in Koji's extradimensional mind-maze, uses his knowledge of the defiance of physics to reverse-engineer the spell and understand it better. He takes his time exploring it rather than rushing to escape it. In all, it takes him a day and a half to get out, during which time Koji keeps watch over his body from a nearby hammock.

Kiera and Ash volley bloodcurses at each other, with Kiera getting the better of Ash every time -- but Ash shows improvement over the course of the day. Kiera teases Ash, telling her she's going to report her defeat to Mark, but Ash swears her to secrecy. Kiera feels good about Ash's progress, knowing she's better prepared for whatever comes. Diana gives Mitch leadership training, as he will be in charge of the cell on their upcoming mission. Koji and Pierce eventually come down from the hill, with Pierce looking pretty ragged and Koji seeking munchies.

The team spends a few days recovering from their exertions. One evening, around a campfire, they discuss the mission. Diana says she'll tell them "a ghost story."

Until recently, ORPHEUS believed Hailee Pennington dead. She worked with them as a contractor or consultant off and on. Diana won't reveal the kind of work she did, but expects they'll find out during the course of their mission. Then, 2 years ago, Hailee disappeared. Diana asks Mitch what he knows about the Braddock House, and he says he believes it was once a good place. Mitch asks Diana about Sampson, and she's conflicted because she knows things but isn't supposed to reveal them. She says Sampson didn't join ORPHEUS as quickly as he and Walter did, but did join eventually. She says he isn't with ORPHEUS anymore; it's ambiguous whether she intends to convey that he simply left the organization, or died. Mitch also asks about Jeremy Stockton, and Diana says he went insane and was incarcerated at the Chester Mental Health Center. He is catatonic, unless a spider appears in his room, and then he freaks out. She has this information because ORPHEUS has agents inside the hospital.

Diana clarifies the mission objectives: Determine whether Hailee is alive or dead; if she's alive, determine whether she is hostile toward ORPHEUS; and if she's a threat, contain or eliminate her.

Pierce, Mitch, and Kiera travel to Chester, Illinois. It's autumn, and it feels familiar to Mitch.

## Quotes

* "When it comes to knowledge, there's knowledge, and there's *knowledge*. I'm interested in the latter." - Pierce
* "I can fill my wings with the killing winds that howl between the stars, and I didn't need to lick a murderer's boot to learn how." - Koji

## Music Credits

* Three Chain Links - Magic Hour
* F.O.G. - Intervalo De Horror
* Three Chain Links - Demons
* Mykee Morettini - Italian Giallo Horror Theme
* Kai Engel - (I Am) Climbing on Air
* Myuu - Reflection
* Myuu - Something's Wrong
* Kevin MacLeod - Night of Chaos
* Myuu - Bittersweet
* Opening and Closing Themes by Nathan Kross and Rob Stith