The Construct:
A meteor falls towards Earth and detonates within the city. Logan and Hisako have sought shelter behind a burned-out bus. He tries to calm her as they see people die, reminding her those things aren’t real. They can’t be her brother. He’s not saying it doesn’t hurt and doesn’t seriously mess with her head. It flies in the face of all logic and reality. But it’s not real. They’ll sort this all out, he promises. He hugs her as she keeps them both protected with her armor.
Reality:
Wolverine (or to be more precise his berserker personality) keeps on shouting for Quentin Quire. Quentin runs outside into the hallway where other students grin at him, telling him he is in trouble. Logan sounds P.O.ed.
Quentin checks on the Construct to find out that things changed dramatically during his sleep. It’s like Word War 7 in there. One step at a time, he tells himself
Quire! he hears Wolverine shouting. Precisely, Quentin agrees. Whoever or whatever he is, he is going back inside the box. Hiding in the restroom a little later, he wonders who he is kidding. He crossed the Rubicon on this one. Past the point of calling this a prank. And somewhere out there is a walking slab of Logan’s Id, baying for his blood.
Say what? custodian Toad asks nervously as he cleans another stall in the bathroom. Quentin sighs. Toad has got it made. Say what again? Toad asks in even more disbelief. Exactly his point, Quentin sighs. On the one hand, he has achieved so much in the Construct. He has created his Sistine Ceiling! It’s gorgeous! Except it’s out of control and killing Logan and Hisako. And he doesn’t know how to turn it off. He wonders if all omega level telepaths feel so burdened by their excellence.
A little later, Quentin nervously enters Rachel Grey’s office, asking if she has a sec. Perfect, she replies. Sure. All she has going on is a missing headmaster and like five blown meetings. Hisako is skipping class, which is unlike her. And today nothing surprises her, not even the fact that someone ripped up the grass and destroyed one of the sheds in the yard. And here he is, the very student who seems quite unable to get to class. She has all the time in the word for him, she assures him, dripping with sarcasm. How can she be of assistance? When he doesn’t reply, she throws him out.
Quentin decides he can’t tell her, not wishing to show her he is even a worse screw-up than she thinks. He decides he is going to fix this and stop talking to himself.
In her office, Rachel tries to establish telepathic contact with Logan. What she gets is his berserker rage, whose unbridled fury throws her to the ground.
The Construct:
Logan and Hisako are in a car that is beset by hail that manages to even break through the car roof.
Reality:
Quentin stands at the door to his room and sniffs. He should really clean his room, he decides, when he smells something bad. Suddenly, claws rip through the door. Berserker Wolverine is on the other side, he breaks the door, shouting Quire’s name and running into the other direction.
Oh my, Broo mumbles. Quentin calms him. He masked them. Just be glad it is not his name he is calling, he tells Broo. Was that headmaster Logan? Broo asks.
Part of him, Quentin explains. The not nice part, the bit that’s all ugly impulses and unchecked aggression. Is the good guy part of him coming back? Broo asks. He’ll make sure of it, Quentin promises. Now take off, let him be alone for a bit. Quentin hides and concentrates. Time to be better than you are, he tells himself.
The Construct:
Logan and Hisako have hidden again in a burned-out house. Logan feels like hell, getting worse. About what’s happening outside … he doesn’t think that is their world. Hisako doesn’t want it to be. It’s full of ghosts. She can’t stop seeing her brother’s face. When she looks at this world, it’s nothing like what she sees when she thinks of her brother or others of her family. The pieces don’t fit; she doesn’t think she belongs here.
Logan thinks he belonged to a lot of places and a lot of times. He feels old. Not run-down, although right now is an exception, but his memories feel deep. And then there’s this… he looks at his claws. He knows there is a reason they exist. He should be freaked out by them but isn’t at all. So he’s with her. He has a lot of questions about who he is… what he is, but he can say one thing for sure. Nothing about this place has anything to do with it.
And her brother? she asks. He doesn’t know her brother but he can tell he is important to her and the experience cut deep. Don’t let it ruin her memories. She’s got any shreds of who she really is, hold on tightly to them!
What are they? Hisako wonders. Alive for now, he states simply. He tries to get up despite his injuries. He thinks all this isn’t real. They both feel it, and that means someone built it. That means there is a plan. There has to be a narrative. They’ve been running from the boss for two days straight and things have only gotten worse for them. Maybe they’ve been making the wrong decisions. They should go find him. See what happens… get some answers… He reaches out and she takes his hand.
Reality:
Quentin sits in his makeshift tent, concentrating, trying to fix the construct, admitting he is a mess. Influencing the Construct has become harder for him. He sets the alarm for six hours and decides to go in as a player.
The Construct:
So, a little later in the Construct, Quentin Quire is the boss, dressed in a fascist style uniform, standing in a control room. Respectfully, a subordinate addresses him to inform him of the latest security protocols. He reminds Quentin he was to alert him to anything irregular. He points to a screen, showing Hisako and Logan coming their way, strolling in through the front gates. Order to fire? he asks. Please don’t! Quentin tells him smirking. They will find their way to him. This is perfect!
Reality:
A quarantine alert has been sounded. Rachel orders the kids to their panic rooms (again) while trying to telepathically find Logan. She hopes after everybody is gone they can talk and figure this out.
