Reunions Part II

## Official Summary

The cell makes a fast-tracked visit to Sanctuary, to see if Darren Feldman can offer any information concerning the secret cabal within ORPHEUS, or the portents for their upcoming mission. What is revealed is unexpected on many levels and ominous on many more.

Meanwhile, in a ramshackle trailer in rural Washington state, Koji Miyazaki awaits the cell's arrival and contemplates the cabal's next probable move...

## Detailed Recap

Mitch, Kiera, and Pierce travel to Sanctuary. They are blindfolded during the flight, but because they're conscious, they are able to perceive the passage of time and therefore the approximate distance to Sanctuary from Chicago, perhaps around 4 hours travel time. After landing, they are led into a shipping container, which moves along some kind of track descending under the earth. Pierce suggests that it's odd that Sanctuary has infrastructure for shipping containers, but Mitch points out that some threatening beings might need to be transported this way. When they exist the shipping container, Pierce lays his hand on the exterior, and feels that it's extremely cold, suggesting that they are in the arctic.

Rollins greets them in a large warehouse, which he jokingly refers to as "the back." He leads them through tunnels and hallways to the usual welcome wagon room. Hersh has headphones on, so Pierce taps him on the shoulder, and Hersh whips around and grabs Pierce, holding a revolver into his ribcage. When he sees who it is, he apologizes, explaining that he didn't know any visitors were coming. Rollins says the visit was a "back channel kind of thing." Hersh suits up for the journey, and gives them all harnesses with ropes that they clip to the railing when they cross the gap.

They find Darren in the same room as before. He looks starving and sickly. Pierce is surprised to see him in this condition, given the working he undertook with Nadra, which was intended to save Darren's life. Hersh says they're trying to keep him fed and healthy, but to no avail; the affliction appears to be spiritual. Pierce calls to Darren to wake him up. Darren says he believes the entity for which he was a vessel is leaving him. Pierce believes Nadra's working failed, and begins hatching a scheme to save Darren. He tries to get Kiera to read his mind, but Kiera refuses because she expects that he wants to help save Darren, and she wants Darren to die. Darren asks if Kiera researched their past, and she says she hasn't discovered anything. He encourages her to continue looking into it. Kiera scrutinizes Darren, suspecting that he's faking it, but the state of his body suggests that he's truly dying.

Pierce tells Darren that they're being sent on a training trip to the Northwest, and he wonders if Darren has any input -- hoping Darren will know what he's talking about. Darren does, and tells what he knows about Feynman, suggesting that the mission is intended to capture him. He suggests that there's a being who could once fight Feynman, and refers to this being as "she," and mentions crows. Mitch says he's confident he can kill anything that bleeds.

Kiera intentionally makes eye contact with Darren, inviting him to share any final insights with her before they leave. He shows her a vision: In Fairchild Home, where she spent part of her childhood, she smells oven gas and hears screaming. Someone in a papier mache bull mask chases her. Darren speaks to her telepathically, calling the incident on the Asherah "unfortunate," but explaining that other people connected to Tammuz had evil goals. He says that if he dies, the power of Tammuz will pass to people like that -- the "bull men" -- and Kiera will have to stop them or else the world will be changed in a manner even Darren dislikes. The vision of Fairchild continues, and she sees her friend Samantha, who was 16, like her, hiding. She comes out of the vision and realizes that what she saw was her memory, which Darren had instead of her. Darren slumps into his chair, exhausted.

Pierce says he needs to use the bathroom, and Hersh escorts them out. Rollins shows him to the bathroom. Once inside, he looks around for security cameras; the only one doesn't have a view inside the stalls. Pierce uses Impossible Geometries to access "the Koji dimension" and understand the spiritual architecture of Sanctuary and see what he can learn about Darren's ailment. The world folds and distorts and he begins exploring the place. He sees Koji racing toward him, but Koji doesn't seem to see him, and he searches on for something else. Pierce believes this is an astral projection, and follows Koji.

He makes it to Darren's location. He sees Darren's soul rising into a bull-shaped stormcloud above him, and believes the power is building there to prepare for a huge attack. When Darren dies, the power will come rushing back into him. This is a way to circumvent Koji's drain on Darren, allowing him to sneak his power out through a tiny hole in the defenses and later reclaim it. Pierce realizes that his working with Nadra created this hole, and fears the consequences of Darren becoming powerful again, but knows he isn't skilled enough to undo this. Confused and torn, and wanting to communicate with Darren, Pierce interposes himself in the stream of power heading up to the stormcloud. The violent, greedy, lustful power of Tammuz crashes over him, threatening to shred his soul. Pierce desperately asks Darren if he can control what's happening and if he needs help. Darren calmly says he is the only person who can serve as Tammuz's vessel. Pierce pulls himself out before the interface with this evil hurts him more.

Pierce returns to the bathroom and throws up. According to his clock, he's been there for over 20 minutes. He suspects that someone must have checked on him; in fact, it was Kiera, and when she knocked and asked how he was, a fragment of his mind grunted out a response to keep her from investigating further. Now fully present in his body once more, he covers himself with vomit and comes outside. Everyone easily believes that he was horribly ill.

They leave Sanctuary and are flown to Washington state, and Pierce notes that the flight to Washington was shorter than the one from Chicago, making him suspect Sanctuary is in Alaska. Mitch asks Pierce if he feels he learned anything valuable from Darren, and Pierce says the part about the crows seemed relevant. Kiera notes that Pierce seems unsteady and unwell and asks him what's wrong. Pierce explains that he's grieving for Darren because of the time they spent together and the bond they formed during that time, even though much of it was horrible. Mitch thinks of Walter and finds his hand clutching the grip of the bat.

They meet up with Koji in an RV next to an apple orchard outside Royal City.

## Quotes

"It's nice seeing new people here who don't smell like puke." - Hersh

"ORPHEUS's stock and trade is the lesser of two evils, isn't it?" - Darren

"This power must have a vessel, and I alone can wield it. Even I can fail, but no other can succeed." - Darren

"Somebody up there must really fuckin' hate that guy." - Rollins

## Music Credits

* Three Chain Links - Magic Hour
* Sergey Cheremisinov - City of Lonely Ghosts
* Kai Engel - Passages
* ROZKOL - Last Train in the Station
* Myuu - Ground Noises (Soundscape)
* Nikol S. and Symphonic Band - The Shadows of Horror
* L'Incal Noir - Analog Horror Stings
* Myuu - Song of Unhealing (Creepypasta Cover)
* Myuu - Stille
* De Fyras Tecken - Ninth Anticipate Moog Minotaur and Guitar (horror soundtrack)
* Myuu - Prey
* Natus - Falls
* Myuu - Reversion 2015
* Josh Woodward - Fight the Sea
* Opening and Closing Themes by Nathan Kross and Rob Stith