“Sometimes when we take a break, we may find that solutions then present themselves.” - Catherine Pulsifer

Zach started to think about Lex. Then he remembers that he had his father’s QComm number as a contact. He uses a couple of hacks from Lex to use the GPS to find his father. His father was just below. Ignoring all the warnings from TAC, he dashes down and grabs his father’s pod.

He was able to read the vitals. His father was still alive; however, he was just unconscious. He was given painkillers in the pod. TAC planned a route towards the nearest EDA medical center, but Zach ignores it and flew home.

On his way home, Zach turns on the News. All the stations had the same war propaganda stating victory and readiness for the second wave.

Zach found a safe place to land, his high school. He blew up the roof of the gym and landed in there. No one would be able to see it unless they are looking from above. The burn marks from earlier were still there from just earlier that morning.

He carried his dad to his car. Consequently, it’s the same car that his father drove. When he put him in the car, he regains some of his conscience. Zach notices that some of the patches had blood, so he took the jacket off his dad and lets him use it as a pillow. The streets were crowded with empty vehicles.

They finally made it home. His mom pulls in shortly after him. They had a small reunion, him, Mom, Dad, and their dog. Zach drops off his dad and starts to head to Diehl’s house.

Diehl’s house is surrounded by ATHIDS. Zach tapped at his windows and scared the life out of Diehl. Diehl was a video call with Cruz. Diehl drags Zach into his house. Zach questions how they were able to control the drones. Diehl explains that they have no security, and people had been posting “How-Tos” all day.

They ask where Zach has been all day. Zach explains how he was on the far side of the moon with Dad. He also explains his father’s conspiracy theory. Diehl agrees with Zach, while Cruz thinks that Zach is crazy.

Zach decided to call Finn Arbogast, Chaos Terrain CEO, to try to convince him about his father’s theory. It admits to knowing the theory but pushes it off as delusional. With the hack from Lex, Zach was able to get all the contacts from Arbogast.

Zach chooses to call the Armistice Council Members - Conference contact. It has Dr. Niel deGrasse Tyson, Dr. Stephen Hawking, Dr. Michio Kaku, Dr. Seth Shostak, and Dr. Jill Tarter. Zach froze up when they ask who are you and what do you need. Zach proceeded to explain everything. He was quite shocked that they didn’t hang upon him. The Council explained that they did not have access to that data due to military bureaucracy. They then put Zach on hold. With just a few minutes until the second wave.