Once Adam had made sure his car was locked, he took off at a leisurely pace down the Tunkhannock main street. After crossing one intersection, which conveniently already had an outgoing crowd, he realized -to his dismay- that his car could very well have been left in an illegal parking lot. Remembering a hefty fine from a similar incident a few months past, Adam made a beeline back toward his vehicle, pausing only for an anxious 90-second wait for traffic to stop and the pedestrian walkway to clear. When he arrived he found all his worry wasted; a laundromat whose vibrant red brick exterior formed one side of the alley he'd been in permitted long-term parking. For a few hours more, his car would remain mercifully free of those ominous, yellow, penalty notes. Relieved, Adam tucked his sand-free hands into the pockets of his khaki pants and slowly retraced his steps down the street.

Two hours later, it was 1:20 or so and Adam was reclining in a somewhat scratchy lounge chair at the little Tunkhannock library, half-reading a thick paperback called The Enemy by Lee Child by the light coming in through a window to the parking lot and half-concentrating on controlling his ability. He was hesitant to call what was happening to him a 'superpower', but he couldn't help but think of the great Marvel heroes that had fascinated him even in adulthood. If he really had a great power, Adam decided, he would need an equally great responsibility. As such, after a decent lunch at a cheap local deli and a brief but frightening re-occurrence of the sand stream (which he hid by placing his hands in an outdoor trash can and pretending he accidentally dropped something of value within) he had decided to spend a little while trying to familiarize himself with the phenomenon in this quiet town before resuming the short trip home. Progress was slow, but he convinced himself it was working. Nothing had come to life and there were no terrifying, unstoppable torrents. Self-control, a virtue Adam had aspired to and then practiced all his life, was once again attainable. Despite his optimism, however, he had already filled two of the librarian's spare trash bags with sand.

His distracted reading was cut off when the sunlight he had been reading by abruptly vanished. Curious, he looked over he shoulder through the window as he prepared to move to a more illuminated seat. A huge vehicle, some sort of van judging by its silhouette, had imposed itself in the parking space closest to the little library. By the time Adam had picked up the bags of sand for his migration, the librarian, a potbellied black man with impressive sideburns for his advanced age, had stormed out of the front door to confront the owners of said vehicle for so flagrant a parking violation. Adam couldn't help but chuckle at seeing the fellow go; he was so full of indignation and tranquil rage that Adam thought he might burst. Shaking his head, Adam pivoted on the balls of his heels and seated himself at his new location, open novel in hand, and upon turning around instantly found he wasn't alone.

A broad-shouldered man in full combat gear, like a swat riotbreaker but without any wording or insignia on his gear, stood silently before him with crossed arms. Adam's mouth fell open. Who was this guy? Was he dangerous? How did he get in here? Before a single question left Adam's stupefied lips, a glistening needle appeared from the crook of the guy's arms, and it plunged toward the seated pentagenerian. Twenty years ago Adam might have been able to react in time, but age, dignity, and methodicalness made him slow and stuff. The needle painlessly pierced his upper left arm, and its effects took root almost instantaneously.

A dark cloud seeped onto Adam;s vision and the grumbling of passing cars on the road grew faint. Two hands gloved in armor gripped his collar, and the next thing Adam knew he was in a dark, humid space. Though he couldn't have known, Josiah had teleported him into the van. The thirty-second operation would have gone off without a hitch but for one unforeseen factor. As his senses failed him, only one action remained: he unconsciously began creating large quantities of sand, much to the surprise of the occupants of the van. In seconds it carpeted the vehicle's floor, threatening to fill up the confined space and suffocate everyone inside. Just as quickly as the stream began, however, it ended as Adam lapsed into dreamless sleep, leaving only an inch-thick coat on the van's floor.