He was in a daze. Too much had happened in too short a time. Arthur, Allure, the Val’gara, [i]Jessica, Jack[/i]. The only one missing was Agron, whose absence left a very particular void in the operative’s soul, like losing an animal companion--a very powerful animal companion. He wondered if the creature was still alive somewhere.

And then the president walked in. The last person he wanted to see.

A scowl nearly formed out of his melancholy as he briefly met Ammon’s stare, fully aware of the manipulative tones and mannerisms he used to feign friendship. He had interviewed enough criminals, captured enough psychopaths, and watched a little too much CNN to be fooled by this cheap display. Apollo had no friends. Only allies and enemies. If he was here for something, it was to either assign him another mission, or scorn him all the way to hell, and considering the style he used to decorate his office with, the latter seemed far more likely.

“We were informed of an alien invasion by Heinzmann. After that, we flew to Allure, and decided to investigate the city on our own. Then…

He hesitated for a moment as he felt his blood starting to boil. “The psi-emitter, [i]Agron[/i] went crazy. I knew what was waiting. We knew what was waiting.”

That thing.

“I found it. Found one of them. It… it spoke like it knew who I was.” Thomas said, recalling in shock, and bewilderment by the recollection of the creature screaming at him to stop hurting it. “It mentioned my name, my dead girlfriend.

“It knew [i]so much[/i].”

Thomas grabbed his ribs, remembering the spot where the monster impaled him, and sent them both plummeting into the inferno. “I was hurt, but the pain didn’t matter. I wanted to kill it more than anything, just like the part of me that still wants to kill that [i]thing[/i] for killing [i]her[/i].”

A deep breath was taken with closed eyes by Thomas, and then he began the end of his summary. “My skull was breaking, it wouldn’t stop surviving, and I brought death down on us both. I managed to trap it in an astral room. He shot accusations at me, spat hatred in my face, and the facade, just like the one you’re wearing in front of me, now finally came undone.

“Jack. Jessica. They’re [i]alive.[/i]”