Adam figured out where he was on the ship and headed for the cell block, recalling everything Eric had mentioned about his and Sam's visit with Malcolm. He took a few turns, a couple flights of stairs, and found himself in front of the metal door that would take him to the most dangerous place on the ship.
Adam opened the door with a little more force than necessary, sending it smacking into the wall with a loud clang. He winced. No turning back now. His legs reluctantly carried him down the hall.
Malcolm stood in the middle of his cell, peering at a book lying open on his cot while he patted his hair dry with a towel. He was dressed in a plain black shirt and pants, apparently uninterested in disproving the idea that he only wore black.
"Another check-in?" Malcolm asked. "You were here half an hour ago—" He turned, and his gold eyes found Adam. "Oh. You." He raised an eyebrow. "Why are you here?"
"I—" Adam cleared his throat. "Eric and Sam said they talked to you, and—"
"They did?" Malcolm asked. "It sounded to me like they wanted to keep our conversation to themselves."
"Well, Eric only told me," Adam said. "He asked me not to mention it to anyone else."
Malcolm tossed the towel onto the bed and ran a hand through his damp hair. "So, why did you come, then?"
"I guess I was...curious."
"Well, I'm not a zoo animal here for you altered to come gawk at. Though, I suppose I can't blame you." Malcolm moved from the center of the cell toward the bars, picking a spot next to the wall to stand. "I'm sure I'm the most interesting person here."
Most annoying, more like.
"And the fragment might be playing a role," Malcolm added.
Adam frowned. "What?"
"Do you know where they're keeping it?"
"I'm not telling you that."
"You don't know, do you?"
Instead of admitting he didn't—or lying—Adam asked, "What's the big deal with the fragment anyway? You and Scorpion and SCI and Willow are all obsessed—"
"Willow?" Malcolm asked, lifting an eyebrow. "Oh, Willow West? I don't believe I met her."
Eyes narrowing, Adam asked, "Do you know every altered's name?"
"Heavens no. Just the interesting ones." Malcolm waved a hand. "You're lucky I remember your name. I mainly know you as Eric's brother."
Ouch. The comment itself didn't bother Adam too much, but it did remind him of annoyed remarks Eric had made in the past. Was this how Eric felt when people looked at him and saw his brother from the football team? Or the guy who played piano at the talent show?
Malcolm didn't give Adam a chance to dwell on his thoughts. He folded his arms and leaned against the wall. "Anyway, I assume you had a specific question for me in mind? If you're here to pester me about Eric's kidnapping, then I'm afraid I have nothing to give you that I didn't already tell him."
"I don't believe you, but that's not why I'm here," Adam said.
"Maybe you're smarter than you seem," Malcolm said with a smirk. "So, why are you here?"
Adam's hands tightened at his sides. "I've been having nightmares about the collapse at Delta Labs."
"You and everyone else, I'm sure."
"Yeah," Adam said. "We all watched our home get destroyed. Listen, you said you wouldn't give us information. But maybe if you help us in other ways, the Newmans will be more willing to let you out."
"Help you?" Malcolm asked with an amused expression, as if he already knew what Adam was thinking. "Did you have something specific in mind?"
"If you can give people nightmares, can you also...stop them?" Adam asked. "Push people into having normal dreams instead of bad ones?"
Malcolm laughed. Adam glared at him.
"Maybe, but I've never tried anything of the sort," Malcolm said. "And I don't see the point in starting now.
"To win us over? Convince us to let you out?" Despite Malcolm's reaction, Adam was sure it was a reasonable idea. Or at least, it would be, if Malcolm weren't...Malcolm.
"You have a plan to take down Scorpion, don't you?" Malcolm asked.
"Kind of," Adam told him. "We're finalizing it in a couple of days."
"Good." Malcolm stepped away from the wall and walked back toward his cot. "You're going to realize that you need me."
And they were right back where they started. Adam let out a small sigh. "Are you this rude to everyone?"
Malcolm turned around. "Not exactly. To be honest, I find you boring and I'm not particularly interested in talking to you."
"Boring?" Adam wasn't sure if he should actually be offended by that.
"Your power's basic, you were never abducted, and you can't help me get any fragments."
Adam blinked. "I'm the one who collapsed the energy field at Delta Labs!"
"And why did you do it?" Malcolm asked. "Because someone else told you to?"
All Adam could do was glare harder.
"I'm right, aren't I? Someone else figured out what had to happen." Malcolm was quiet for a long moment before smiling again. "All right, let's make a deal."
"A deal?" Adam asked.
"Sure. I'll show you I'm a man of my word." Malcolm's arms folded. "I'll try manipulating your dreams into becoming something more harmless. But I want to see the collapse for myself, first."
"What? How?"
Malcolm lifted a hand. "It won't take long. Less than a minute, out here. I'll put you under, and we'll watch you collapse the energy field."
Adam tensed. He could do it. He'd seen it so many times already. What was the harm in watching it happen one more time? Especially if it meant he could stop the dreams for good. "Okay," he said.
Adam completely missed the sensation of falling asleep. He blinked, and he was in the artifact chamber.
The other altered stood around him, and as the memory began to play out, Adam realized there was another version of himself standing nearby. Sometimes he relived the memory, and sometimes he watched it play out like a bad movie. Like this.
"The Director came down here himself," Malcolm said, making Adam jump. He'd appeared at Adam's right. "Interesting choice."
Adam frowned. "You know him?"
"Sort of." Malcolm's gaze flickered between Adam and the Director. "I didn't think he'd risk—well, never mind."
"We don't have time for this!" Willow yelled.
"Is that Willow West?" Malcolm asked.
Adam nodded as he watched himself hold out an arm to stop Eric from attacking her, watched himself yell, "We have to collapse the field!"
Malcolm regarded the scene with a curious expression. "And she knew about the energy field?"
"Yeah. She told us about you, too," Adam said. "She got into SCI's files, security footage, Delta Labs reports..." He paused. "And she betrayed us to join Scorpion."
"Smart move."
Adam shot Malcolm an annoyed look. "Seriously?"
Malcolm shrugged. "They have all the advantages. I'm only trying to bring them down because I want revenge."
The rest of the scene played out in a blur. When the memory's version of Adam lifted his hands to unleash flames on the fragment above him, the dream came to an abrupt halt. Adam and Malcolm were suddenly standing in the middle of the road cutting through the desert outside Tyche Point, surrounded by a pale, dry landscape on all sides.
Adam turned in a circle. "Are we still in my mind?"
"Yes." Malcolm said. His eyes were closed. "I need to strengthen my connection to you if I'm going to manipulate your dreams from the other side of the ship."
Adam turned to stare at the distant horizon. At the sinking sun. After a long moment, he said, "We could have had a few more weeks to prepare. We could have put out another evacuation order, given ourselves a chance to pack—"
"Maybe," Malcolm said. "Though people might not have taken the order seriously after the first one."
"We could have explained—"
"People wouldn't have listened to teenagers."
"Willow could have faked a government order—"
"She would have left with Scorpion."
Adam racked his brain. "Well, SCI's with the government. Wouldn't they have done something to protect Tyche Point? Actually evacuate people?"
Malcolm's eyes opened, flashing gold in the sunlight. "Why are you so determined to make yourself wrong?"
"I'm just trying to figure out if I really did the right thing!"
"You're all so obsessed with that," Malcolm muttered. "I looked at the data reports. SCI may have issued an evacuation recommendation to Tyche Point, but they had no way of knowing exactly when the field would collapse. Keeping people away from their home with no apparent threat for weeks or even months would have been difficult."
"Couldn't they have explained it?" Adam asked.
"They'd be tripping over their own protocols around classified data." Malcolm rolled his eyes. "The government wouldn't want anyone finding out about the pyramid fragment. And they certainly wouldn't want to fuel all the alien rumors around your town."
After a moment's thought, Adam asked, "Is the fragment...alien?"
"Good question." Malcolm smirked.
Adam let out a heavy sigh. "Do you have everything you need from my mind?"
"Sure, sure, I'll see what I can do for you. It'll probably be easy." Malcolm tipped his head to the right and studied Adam for a moment. "You really should try to relax a little, though. I can't babysit your mind forever."
"Easier said than done."
"You want to know what I think?" Malcolm asked.
Adam rolled his eyes. Not really. "Sure."
"I think you were a big fish in a small pond at Tyche Point, Adam." Malcolm gave him a cold smile. "Now that's all gone, and you're realizing just how small you really are."
Adam's eyes narrowed. "That's not meant to be literal, is it?"
Malcolm leaned forward. "What, have you never met someone taller than you?" He laughed and straightened up, rising to his full height. "If you don't want your legacy to be the destruction of a small town, you should probably find a better way to use your time."
They were back in the cell block. The shift to the real world was so disorienting that Adam found himself stumbling a couple of steps to the right.
There was a smug smile on Malcolm's face as he grabbed one of the cell bars and leaned forward. "Nice chat, Adam. Hopefully next time I see you won't be down here."
Adam couldn't say he shared the sentiment, though that might change if Malcolm followed through on his promise. He left the cell block unsure if he felt better or worse than he had when he'd come down.
Once he was on the upper levels, he headed for the deck. He really did need a breath of fresh air.
Adam knew something was wrong the moment he set foot outside. A distant hum rattled the evening air. He turned toward the source of the sound. The darkening sky was illuminated by only the barest light from the sun that had just sunk below the horizon. And amidst the deep blue and the orange clouds, Adam could just make the silhouette of an approaching chopper.