Dwell Among Us

Though still embarrassed, Jamison was glad for the help, and even more glad to finally retrieve his keys. “Thanks…” At least he wasn’t the only one to have done something so silly.

Back on his feet, he accepted Dalton’s handshake. “I know.” He cringed a little and shook his head. His lameness never ended “Agent Meighleau. FBI.” Suspended, but…he’d leave that part out for now. “Here on unofficial business.” His little key fumble had sure made him look tough, too. He inwardly rolled his eyes at himself before turning back towards the door and finally going inside. 

Once out on the main floor, he stopped and just took it in. It was bigger than he’d imagine. Awfully empty, but he could see where at one time all these cubicles had probably been full. It was sad that they were so small now. He wandered ahead slowly, having no idea where he was going. As he passed by one cubicle though, he caught sight of Kirk’s jacket and cell phone that was sitting on the desk. He stopped and glanced around. Neither Kirk or Adison were in sight. Great. 

He felt the giant’s presence behind him, and slowly turned to look up at him. “If I was…looking for Agent Young… is there somewhere I should check first?” Otherwise he would probably just end up sitting here and waiting rather than wandering the building like an idiot. 


Sitting in the control room, Hal looked up from his rather untidy desk as Sam walked in. Kirk had warned him she’d be here today…he’d just hoped it might be a little later. He wasn’t used to some stranger watching him do his job. On the upside though, pretty soon he could wash his hands of Aaron, and that part was definitely appealing. He forced a friendly smile. It wasn’t Sam’s fault this whole thing was hard. “Good morning.”

He gestured to an extra chair. There wasn’t a whole lot of room in here, but enough. “Take a load off.” His thumb pointed to a coffee pot at the edge of a small table. “Help yourself if you want. I just made it a bit ago. It’s a requirement for staring at these screens all day.” 

In front of him were an array of monitors showing angles of security cameras throughout the building. “You won’t have to worry about all this though,” he mused. “Just that one.” He pointed to the monitor that showed the inside of Aaron’s small cell. At the moment, he was trying to run through his fight routine, but continually stumbling due to his leg. “It’s the same with all of them,” Hal commented. “All the Agency prisoners, I mean. Once they’re here, the only familiar thing to fall back on is their training – it’s one thing all our prisoners have done so far – go through their routine over and over and over again. It just proves what kinds of robots they are. Sad, really.” He cringed as Aaron’s leg buckled and sent him to the floor. “Especially this one. Rick says his leg will never be the same again. But here he is, too stubborn or too stupid to quit trying to return to his own normal.” 

After a couple moments of silence, Hal swiveled around to look at Sam again. “So…tell me a bit about yourself. All I know is you’re FBI and you’re coming here to… dwell among us.”


Surprised to see Nate, Laura smiled and returned his kiss, only to be disappointed he couldn’t stay. “Okay… well at least I got to see you for a few seconds.” He looked tired again today. Running back and forth like this was ridiculous. She knew Garret wasn’t ready to stay full days at the office, but she hated it that Nate had to keep running after him. It was all a part of the deal, but still…


Sitting up on the bed as usual, Garret looked up dimly as Nate entered the room. He’d heard the front door. Had heard his voice. Although had been curious as to why he’d come home mid-morning.

The question started a long, quiet moment. The Elite office wasn’t exactly a pleasant place to be. And after the last visit with Ron, it left an even more sour taste in his mouth. But…they were asking for his help. Every little bit of help he gave put him one step closer to them trusting him…to having some kind of future, no matter how dim. And if this had to do with something Alec had retrieved, it could lead them to cracking Carson’s case…which would benefit Garret immensely if he could help with that.

He was feeling rather miserable though. Even if he’d had a good excuse not to eat yesterday with not feeling well, the lack of nourishment didn’t help his mood any, and he dropped his gaze, still thinking. Office…or stay here all day?

He finally swung his legs off the bed. “Give me a minute to get ready to go.”

It really didn’t take him long to throw on a different shirt and get his socks and shoes on. He remained quiet, though. The last day or so had been hard…emotionally harder than he’d like to admit. Maybe…getting some air would help…

…Once to the Elite building, it was only a matter of minutes before they were in the meeting room with Reese, Wyatt and Pete…

“Hmm.” Garret swiped through the pictures on Pete’s phone as he stood by the table, letting Nate see them as well. “Interesting.”

Reese cocked his head. “You know what this place is.”

“I didn’t know it existed, but it makes sense. They’ve obviously been preparing an upgrade lab.”

Reese blinked. “Obviously.” His tone was annoyed. “What does that mean?”

“It’s the next stage for people who’ve been assimilated. I wouldn’t have thought it would be anywhere near here, but I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise, what with their prime target right here within reach.”

“I still have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Garret sighed and started over. “The assimilation process – the force-feeding of data into a host – that’s what they did to Scott and a handful of others. Scott’s the only one, however, who has survived. Everyone else eventually went insane and was either executed as a security risk, or took their own lives. But, Medridge refused to give up the program. He was convinced that it was worth having men who could hold the mother database in their brains and regurgitate the information either at will or on command. I assume Carson and Alec explained a lot of that to you.”

Reese nodded. “We gained a lot of knowledge in order to help Scott. I find it hard to believe he’s the only survivor though.”

“He wasn’t, up until about six months ago when Medridge lost his last experiment, leaving Scott the sole survivor. Although I’m aware he’s been teetering on the verge of insanity like the others. And now…it looks like he’s a target again.”

“Why do you say that?”

Medridge’s scientists have been working on an upgrade – one that takes a host who’s already been assimilated, and basically downloads updated data into their brain. It’s not quite like the first process, but almost, and it can’t be interrupted once it’s started. If it is, the host has slim chances of surviving. It’s got something to do with the way the brain handles a second dose of data.”

“So why would Scott be a target?”

“Because he’s the only host alive who can have an upgrade. And…they’ve apparently built a lab right close by. If I had to make a bet, I’d say they’re planning to nab Scott and perform an upgrade on him to simply see if it works. If it does, they won’t let him go this time. If it doesn’t…they won’t care about another dead body.”

The others exchanged wary glances. Wyatt’s eyes caught his father’s. “I’m sure you’ll ask Dalton to make sure Scott isn’t left alone…?”

Reese nodded. “Yes. I’ll explain the situation to him. I’m not sure Scott needs to know all the details, but I don’t want him by himself. Maybe Dalton can convince him to stay here for a while.”

“You’re not even going to tell him?” Garret questioned. “I know he’s unstable, but I know how the upgrade works. I was trained for a month on the procedures. If this lab is functional and Scott is strong enough to survive an upgrade, we can do it.”

Reese’s eyes widened. “And why in heaven’s name would we ever consider such a thing?!”

Garret’s confusion was obvious. “Don’t you understand what an upgrade would mean? We’d have the Agency’s current data. Their files. Intel. We could find all the answers we’ve been looking for. The men in charge of Carson’s case. Scott is a prime hub for information. Why wouldn’t you utilize it?”

“Because Scott’s a human being, that’s why! Contrary to the Agency, my men are not robots. Scott has lived through hell because of what was done to him – there’s no way I’d ever ask him to go through it all over again. The man you see here now is but a shadow of the man he used to be. I won’t risk losing him altogether. It’s out of the question.” Reese held up his hand to keep Garret from arguing. “Now…I’d appreciate it if you’d join a team to investigate the lab, gain whatever intel we can, then we will devise a plan to secure the area and disassemble the equipment so the Agency doesn’t get a chance to use it. Then they will have no immediate need to take Scott.” He picked up his notepad off the table. “You are all dismissed.”

Still standing and thinking, Garret gave Nate a rather frustrated glance. He didn’t understand why the Elite wouldn’t use a tool that was right in front of them. How could he help when they wouldn’t even take his advice? Being here was pointless.