I open my eyes.

My head hurt.

Badly.

It’s raining.

The stone pavement of the street, wet, is glowing from the light of the town.

A man is holding me.

It’s not Turner, he’s Chance.

I stand up, still not steady on my legs.

There is also Quantos, near me, talking to me.

Too much confusion, I don’t get what he’s saying.

What happened?

Turner... betrayed me?

My hand goes to the back of my head. That’s where it hurt.

Suddenly I understand.

The chip!

The chip that is a tracking device and also a mean to keep every EPS member in check. It can cause unbearable pain, and can also explode, like Walker had with Vidalia’s cadaver.

I was the only one not to have that. With my “elemental” body there was no way Walker could have implanted it. But then... after the Revolution, when I got my old body back... Walker did not only reduced my powers, he implanted a chip on me!

And I, foul, never suspected it!

“How could you have trusted him, Ed?” It’s Chance, talking to me.

“It’s OK” I whisper.

“...”

“Really. I know now. Although he has followed me to spy on us, he has freed me from Walker. I guess he’s still a friend” I say, smiling slightly.

“But... where is he gone, now?” asks Quantos.

“I don’t know... I really don’t know.”

“But if he really helped you, why he is gone?” ask Chance.

“Maybe he was feeling guilty for the treachery” suggest Quantos.

“Guilty? I don’t think. He is a professional, he has been for his whole life. But we have learned to trust each other, during our escape. I never though that he would have settled with us, and I was very surprised when he asked to come to the complex.”

“Do you thing he has returned to his own business?”

“Sadly, he has not a life on his own. Well, he had not, when he found that his life was a fake. I guess that the EPS is the only place he can call home”.

“The EPS? But they are criminals!” shouts Chance.

“Well, more or less I think the same. But if not for them, Chicago would not exist anymore, I guess. Until we will be able to take that kind of matters into our hands, and we are very far from it from what I have seen, the world, sadly, need an EPS.”

“...”

“But Turner is a different man, just like I have changed, too. I guess life will be different for Walker, now.”

“Are you sure?”

“Oh, with Walker nobody can be sure of anything!” I say, and laugh.

My two friends laugh, too.

“Well, I feel better, now. Let’s get inside, I don’t want to miss the show of my uncle!”