Vol. 2, Chapter 28: Benched (Part 1)

Bennett
Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!

Saunders just finished telling Bennett the news about Isaac’s escape.

Saunders
Go where?

Bennett
To the prison! What do you think we’ve been talking about?

Saunders
There’s no point, he’s already gone. Thompson and Chang are there, they’ll get the information they need.

Bennett
How can you just stand there and let him get away?

Saunders
Bennett, calm down. I’m being practical. We have no clue where he is and going there will only distract us and waste time. The only leads we have are the information that this woman that General Larken knows was the one who checked in at the time. If we really want to make any progress on Isaac’s escape, we should be pursuing that information instead.

Bennett
...you’re right. I’m sorry. I guess I’ve just got a lot going on right now and I’m not thinking straight.

Saunders
And do you think that getting more information about this woman will help put you at ease?

Bennett
Yes, I do.

Saunders
Good, then I’m going to assign this to you. Don’t go after Larken, he’s coming here to discuss it with you. He should be here shortly. When you’re finished you’ll write a report.

Bennett
Write a report?

Saunders
Larken will be confirming everything you both talked about as well. After that, I want you to take some time off.

Bennett
What?

Saunders
Like you said, you’ve got a lot going on. I’m worried that you’re becoming unstable. For the time being, I want you here observing the progress we’re making on the Pods.

Bennett
You can’t be serious. I need to be out in the field! We should be hunting these people down.

Saunders
I assure you that I will have people looking into it and we will find them.

Bennett
So you’re not going after them, either?

Saunders
The Pods are the priority. That’s what’s important. As much as you hate Isaac, he is just a small inconvenience compared to our plan. We had him before. I studied him. Believe me, he is not a threat.

Bennett
He knocked me unconscious!

Saunders
And you woke up, which means you can prepare in case you two meet again.

Bennett
This is a mistake, Jason.

Saunders
That’s not your call, agent Bennett.

The two men stare in silence at each other for a while.

Saunders
The general will be here soon. I suggest you get ready for when he arrives.

Bennett
Yes sir.

---

Lisa and her friends return back to the farm.

Felicia
Well, that was a close one. I can imagine that I’ll be getting some pretty nasty phone calls soon.

Lisa
But we lost Isaac.

Gabriel
We can’t win them all, Lisa. Let’s just be glad we got out of there in one piece.

Sandra
Which means if we still plan on freeing your husband, we’re going to be in big trouble.

Monica
I’ll be in contact with Carlie later today. We’ll plan accordingly.

Gabriel
I talked to Lionel during my recent trip to San Francisco. He mentioned something that your father and Carrie Walsh are involved in.

Lisa
What is it?

Gabriel
I’m not sure yet, the conversation got cut short.

Lisa
Why?

Gabriel
He had to leave for a date with Carrie.

Felicia immediately looks towards Gabriel who is staring at the floor, feeling sympathy for him.

Lisa
Aww, that’s good to hear. I think they make a cute couple.

Felicia
Let’s get back to what we’re doing here. What is the end goal?

Lisa
To be honest I don’t really know. We don’t have Isaac to bring to LifeSource so they can work on reversing the after effects and it’s almost impossible to break out Adam to help him, based on what you’re all telling me.

Gabriel
Maybe we should just lay low for a while

Sean
Finally, a plan I like.

Lisa
We need to do something. We can’t just sit here and let them continue with what they’re doing.

Felicia
Well how about I come up with a plan in case I get called in for questioning? I think we should try and figure out where Isaac may go or figure out a way to get a hold of him. We can figure out what to do after we bring him to LifeSource.

Gabriel
And then we can figure out what Lionel is planning.

Lisa
Would I be going, too?

Gabriel
I don’t know. It’s a little risky going back to San Francisco. Then again we did just escape from a heavily guarded prison and the FBI knows you’re no longer in the city.

Lisa
If my father’s involved I want to know what this is all about. Maybe he can even let me see Ryan. I want to know how he’s doing.

Sean
Well, sounds like you guys have figured out what you’re doing next. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take a shower and crash. Escaping from a prison really tires you out.

Lisa
Are you guys going to join us?

Sandra
If you absolutely need us, but we’d rather help the rest of the group while they tarnish the Protesters. This sounds like something you can handle on your own and we can’t just up and leave like this. If you come back and you need us, you know how to get a hold of us.

Lisa’s phone starts ringing. Everybody turns to look at her.

Lisa
That must be my father. He gave me this phone specifically for contacting him.

Lisa answers the phone.

Lisa
Hi dad.

Isaac
Sorry, Lisa. I didn’t know how else to get a hold of you.

---

Lionel, Carrie and Joe just passed through an airlock and entered into a room that resembled a server farm. The room was cold, approximately 16 degrees celsius. The location was undisclosed, but it was quite a secure facility. The three of them just finished a discussion about their plans and upcoming events when they walked into the room.

Lionel
So that’s phase two.

Carrie
Sorry, I’m just still trying to wrap my head around it.

Lionel
Don’t worry about it for now. Now I know I didn’t put an NDA in front of you but I still expect you to keep this quiet.

Carrie
Of course.

Joe
This will be the new face of LifeSource. This is what will...

Lionel
Joe, I said to forget about it for now. We’re focusing on Adam, here. Now, yes, Joe is insisting that Adam’s true status isn’t publically known. That doesn’t mean he has to be where the FBI is.

Joe
It’s not just that, Lionel. It’s a suicide mission. You can’t sneak past them. You’re just going to get arrested.

Lionel
Gabriel - or Daniel, whoever the hell he is - told me that he and Lisa have a team of some sort that plans on breaking Adam out. So like it or not, somebody is going to attempt at rescuing him.

Joe
What is she thinking?

Carrie
Probably that her husband is alive and being held against his will and that she needs to save him.

Joe
She’s going to get herself in trouble.

Carrie
Possibly.

Joe
Well I wish I would have known about this. This changes things, maybe we should think about bringing him to a safe location.

Lionel
I thought you said he was safe.

Joe
He is but if there’s going to be a team of people trying to take over the place it’s not going to end well.

Lionel
Maybe I can try to get a hold of them and tell them to hold off until we figure things out.

Joe
I’ll call my daughter, maybe I can straighten things out.

Lionel
Let’s finish up this meeting, first.

Carrie
There’s more?

Lionel
Yes. I’ll be gone from time to time the next couple of weeks. I’ll be going on many talk shows about my recent statements regarding the Protesters. Trying to plan for the future, here. Besides just phase two, we’re looking to downplay the protesters and try to get Pods back to their intended use. Hopefully we can even branch to international distribution.

Carrie
And you think we can accomplish this?

Lionel
Gabriel told me that he intends to bring that man, Isaac, back here to us for research purposes.

Joe
Wait, what?

Lionel
He says he’s going to get him to agree to us running some tests so that we can reverse the after-effects of the Pods.

Joe
So essentially the opposite of what the FBI are doing for the military?

Lionel
Yes, essentially.

Joe
This might get ugly.

Carrie
This is all fine, but I joined on thinking we’re going to free Adam.

Lionel
We are, in time. Right now we wouldn’t have much success. We need to have a plan. Right now, we have to wait until we’re in contact with Lisa.

 To be continued...