Promethean General Hospital
"Doctor!" the nurse shouted, "I don't undertand -- this boy's readings are off the chart any which way at any given moment. He's..."
"Not your responsibility anymore, ma'am."
"You can't walk into a clean room like that!" the attending doctor yelled as an unscrubbed General Forrest pushed by him and walked to the table where X-Stream lay.
"He's not ill. He's just unsynched." the General barked, "I want all of you out of here."
As the nervous medical crew ushered out, Forrest looked down at the boy and quietly spoke.
"Jenkins. Come back to the Fourth. We need to talk."
"GAH!"
With a gasp and a flash of sound like waves crashing on a beach, X-Stream awoke.
"Where...when am I?"
"Promethean City. The Institute contacted us one year ago, said to await your return from Stringspace, saying you had the key to saving the world from a threat from nonconsensual reality or some bullshit."
"I...I don't remember."
"Well, you better. Until we can determine if the threat on Thoughtspace the Institute warned of become it was unrealized is true -- and until you can remember that threat -- you're our plant in this new MBL, Jenkins."
"Plant? That sounds important..."
"Remember later. Listen now. Whatever you folks fought erased the Institute from Continuity. The psychics at Project Pandora got little more than a warning, but you tripped the Light Fantastic to get here, so its up to you to remember what's coming over the boundaries of reality to strke here next. Don't mention it to your new teammates, but keep an eye out."
"Won't they find out you canme here?"
"Hell no. Those docs won't remember a thing. Pandora's learned a thing or two about putting things back in the box. Aside from your memory and mine, this conversation literally never happened..."
Meanwhile, back at the Guascon Club...
