The stress of saving her classmates and the break down of her relationship with Jemma has pushed Pandora to the breaking point. And the corruption of the box isn't helping anything either. She's then offered a way out by the person she's worried abo...
"So... it's true." declares Jemma, unsure how to handle the reality of what she's done.
"What did Dora tell you?" Jove questions.
Jemma just stares at Uni in her hospital bed for a while, moving in to get a closer look.
"Jemma?"
It takes her a few more moments to finally turn to Jove, "She... she told me that, when I was possessed by a spirit, I infected her and her mother sacrificed herself to save her... and me."
Jove takes a deep breath.
"While she didn't lie, she didn't tell the whole truth." suggests Jove before continuing, "Pandora was warned about what might happen if she wasn't careful. She knew what the danger was, and she did it anyway. She's as much responsible for what happened to her mother as anyone else."
He stands up and faces her.
"But I'll tell you the same thing I told my daughter. My wife knew what she was doing. She, like Pandora, understood the risks of what she was doing. She did what's right because she believed in it. That's not your fault. It's not anybody's fault."
Jemma makes her way up next to Jove in the hospital bed.
"I'm sorry."
She touches Uni's shoulder then suddenly gets a shock, making her pull back. Before she can react though, the comatose Uni's eyes open and glow a yellow light. Slowly the yellow colour becomes more white then she closes her eyes again, returning to her coma.
"What happened?" a confused Jemma asks.
"You showed compassion. You cared about the impact you had on someone else, even if it wasn't your fault. The spirit you were possessed by wasn't interested in anything like that. It wanted you to focus on your impulses and not care about the consequences. By showing compassion, you've opened the door to her recovery." explains Jove, before saying "Thank you."
"I... I didn't do anything." insists Jemma.
"Compassion is something, and it's a lot more powerful than you think. You're going to need that compassion if you want to save Pandora."
It takes Jemma a second to answer, "What do you mean?"
Jove looks at his wife for a moment before turning back to his student.
"Pandora isn't like most people. She doesn't get possessed like everyone else. It has to be someone that's manifesting their own who infects her. And it's her compassion for those who are suffering which allows it to happen. The teacher you were talking to? He's been infected as well. Somehow he must have gotten to Pandora and been able to infect her." explains Jove.
"She didn't tell you?"
"I guess not, which is probably what the teacher was counting on. She felt guilty for allowing herself to be taken advantage of and now we're facing the consequences of that." adds Jove.
"Then how does compassion come into it?"
"Because the type of possession we're dealing with removes things like empathy and compassion from those it latches on to. It hollows them out until there's nothing else left but a malevolent, destructive force remaining. What you need to do is reconnect Pandora with that part of herself. Help her to jump start what she's missing. Only then can what's gotten into her be turned back." continues Jove.
"And how do I do that?"
"By showing her what she's forgotten. Offering her the thing she can't give to others anymore. That's how you can save her." suggests Jove.
"But... why me? That's something I still don't really understand. Shouldn't you be doing it?" wonders Jemma.
"Pandora sees me as a threat. Not only as her father, but because I have power over her with The Box. The fact that she's still reaching out to you means there's still a chance that you can connect with her." replies Jove.
Jemma doesn't respond right away, "You really think I can do it?"
"I have to..." begins Jove, turning to Uni in the hospital bed and taking a deep breath as he stares at her, "She's our daughter."
* * *
Pandora walks out on the auditorium stage. As she does, the large crowd of people drop to one knee and lower their heads in subjugation. Eventually, she gets to the middle of the stage and turns to the people. They all speak at once before she does.
"Hail the goddess reborn!"
She enjoys the sight of everyone kneeling for a while.
"Thank you all for coming. I'm glad to see that so many of you have joined the cause we're working towards. It's only with all of your help that we will get there... together." begins Pandora.
The word 'together' has them all cheering for her. She raises her hand and that has them stopping.
She continues, "You're all here to bring about the next phase of the plan. Many of you have started already, introducing your siblings and parents to our way of thinking. We need to go further than that though. For those of you who haven't helped your families, you need to do that. Those of you who have already, go wider. Any malls or parks or anywhere else that you might be able to convince people. The more of them we can bring to our side, the easier the revolution will be."
Cheers erupt in the crowd. Again she holds up a hand and they stop.
"It's time... go!"
More cheers from the crowd as they pickup baskets of golden delicious apples in front of them. After cheering for a while, they file out of the auditorium. Pandora watches them leave and then turns to Hermes standing just off stage. He's got a smile on his face as she makes her way backstage.
"You're doing it. Everything we always talked about doing." suggests Hermes.
Pandora smiles at him as she speaks, "I couldn't have done it without you. What you did unlocked a part of me that I didn't even know I had. And now that I see what I can do with all this? I understand."
"I knew you would. All I had to do was wait." insists Hermes.
They hug each other.
* * *
Hermes makes his way down the hallway on the basement level of the school. It's dark with mostly emergency lighting but Hermes doesn't seem to have any trouble. He comes up on the door to the boiler room, going inside. The sounds of screaming and pleading can be heard while he casually walks towards them.
"Please... just... let me go... I..." they try but another scream is forced out of them by what's being done.
"Don't try and plead your way out of this. You're just going to have to give in." insists the other voice in the room.
"But... I..." again the words are cut off by the need to scream.
Hermes eventually makes it to where the torture is coming from. In front of him is Ares with a hot poker pressed against his captive, the true messenger of the gods. Ares pulls the poker away from his victim and the tied up messenger stops screaming. After a few moments, the burn wound disappears as if it was never there.
"Things are going well I see." suggests Hermes with an obviously humorous tone.
Ares looks at Hermes standing next to him as he answers, "I'll get it out of him, don't worry."
"But will it be in time?" questions Hermes, "I'm holding up my end of the bargain."
"You really think she's that far along?" Ares pushes back.
"She's distributing the apples all over town. It's hard to see how we could be stopped now."
"I can think of one way." responds Ares.
"Yes, yes, I know. But I've planned for that. There's no way father and his ridiculous Hail Mary can get in the way now." insists Hermes.
"Did you seriously just do that? Declare victory before you know for sure? Come on now." Ares points out before pressing the poker to his victim again, making them scream.
Hermes takes a deep breath in frustration, "Just focus on getting what we need. I'll handle Pandora and her father's lackey."
Ares pulls the poker back again and his victim heals quickly.
"Oh I already have. I know exactly where to find it." Ares says playfully, much to Hermes annoyance, "What?"
"You already know where to find it?"
Ares smiles as he presses the poker to his victim casually despite the screams, "I've been doing this along time. Of course I got what I wanted."
"And you haven't gone and got it yet?" says Hermes angrily.
The god of war stops what he's doing, turning directly to Hermes with a disturbingly angry look. His eyes glow white for a moment.
"Excuse me?"
Hermes backs away, obviously frightened.
"Don't ever forget who's in charge here. You and I are not equals and we never will be." declares Ares angrily.
"Yes sir, I'm sorry sir." pleads Hermes in apology.
Ares stares him down for a while before seeming to let it go, "Okay, now... look after your counterpart there. I'll go get what we need."
As the fake Hermes takes the poker from Ares, the real Hermes struggles against his bonds. The god of war walks away and back to where the fake Hermes came in. Kneeling down, the fake Hermes smiles at his counterpart, casually waving the poker at him.
* * *
Jemma sits in the eerily empty cafeteria as the bell rings. Despite it being lunch time, no one comes in, not even any staff to prepare the meal are working. She looks around, clearly uncomfortable with the situation she finds herself in. Eventually, the doors open and Pandora walks in, an obvious smile on her face. Pandora doesn't notice Jemma right away, simply enjoying the empty cafeteria. Inevitably, their eyes meet and then Pandora's smile disappears.
"Hi..." is all Pandora says.
"Hey..." responds Jemma.
Silence follows the short exchange, until Jemma breaks it.
"So... where are all your adoring subjects? Shouldn't they be laying themselves at your feet so you can walk over them?"
"I gave them some time off." Pandora suggests.
Jemma gives her a strange look before Pandora laughs.
"You actually thought I was serious just now didn't you?"
It takes a second for Jemma to answer, "I wouldn't put it past you, honestly. Not with what's happening to you lately."
Pandora frowns at the idea, "I told you, I'm not a monster. I'm not doing any of this to have people worship me forever and do what I say. What I'm trying to do is liberate them. When all this is over, they get a better world."
"Assuming they'll have anything left." pushes back Jemma.
That doesn't make Pandora feel better as she gets closer to her counterpart, "They'll have their freedom."
Jemma stands up to face Pandora, her hands behind her back, "And that's enough for you?"
"It should be enough for everyone.They've been living under the oppressive system for so long, they don't know what real freedom looks like. As soon as they figure it out, they'll be so grateful."
"I'm sure they'll be building statues to you." Jemma says, continuing to slowly close the distance between them.
"I wouldn't say no if they did. But it's not like I'm going to force them to or anything." insists Pandora.
"So... what does this world look like to you?" questions Jemma.
Pandora gets a curious look on her face, "Why all the questions?"
"I'm just... trying to understand. I mean, if I'm going to have to live in this world, I might as well understand it at least. Maybe if I understood it better, I wouldn't be so afraid." suggests Jemma as she gets up close.
"Yes... but first..." Jemma begins before pulling The Box out from behind her back and putting it against Pandora's chest, "This."
Pandora looks down at The Box against her chest, looks up at Jemma, and her eyes start to glow black.
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