Carpe Diem

"TDB" is the twelveth episode of Season One of.

Prologue
Yellow, red, orange -- the rising sun in the morning was a beautiful sight to see from The Laboratory of the Mind's large amount of glass windows. The Malura bushes surrounding the laboratory blew softly in the wind.

Within the laboratory's first floor, two lab assistants sat in conversation. One had been there all night, closely studying the mysterious new people that had recently entered the laboratory. The other had arrived for their morning shift.

"So, you're telling me that Samuel allowed these new people, and an inexperienced lab assistant to participate in The Contraption?" the arriving assistant asked.

"Well; they did want to help. Not like he forced them too, I think he planned to only let them sleep here, no beds. They're on the second floor, waking up, I think. They're odd people."

"I think he should've known better. The Contraption is not something to use that likely. Considering how real the sedative makes the dream; new people can lose their sense of reality fast. That one kid was smart to leave."

"Well -- alright, sure. But I'm sure that they are fine."

"True, true . . . " The assistant's mind drifted off, reflecting on the strange new set of characters that had joined the laboratory. He thought with humor to one of the mysterious events that had occurred when Samuel brought the new people in -- Blossom Cane, a lab assistant, was quite overjoyed at the arrival of one of the members. He could not recall if Samuel allowed the two to be in their own personal dream.

"One more thing." The assistant had a final question. "Do you know who the guy that just came is? He has this strange mask."

"'Fontaine'? Don't know too much about him."

"Alright then. We could always go to the second floor to ask more; if we wanted."

"Nah," declined the assistant. "I'm sure the dream they had was most . . . difficult, intricate . . don't know the world. They might think we're Projections. Let's give them some time to get ready,"

"Funny." The arriving assistant chuckled. He placed his coat on a hanger and prepared himself for the morning's work.

Marshall Rooke and Wen Li
Wen Li and Marshall exited the truck and took the plants with them. They made their way to the door, noticing the white Malura bushes and cobblestone path. Marshall tried opening the door, but it wouldn't budge. He then set his plants down and aggressively yanked on the doorknob. Nothing. He then pushed himself up the door, knocking himself backward in the process. Marshall grunted. Wen Li walked over to the door and pressed the doorbell.

"Simple."

Surprised at a visitor this early, the standing assistant approached the front door. He prepared himself to give the scripted -- "Welcome to the Laboratory of the Mind, how can I help you?" -- until he made out the figure between the glass. Opening the door, the assistant welcomed in Marshall; who had refused to use the Contraption earlier. "Welcome back, Mr. Rooke and. . .?" said the assistant, as he welcomed in the boy, and the unfamiliar man with him.

Marshall proceeded, ignoring the assistant as he placed the plants down on a table by the door.

"Wen Li, if you do not mind. I am Mr. Rooke's guest." Wen Li also entered, motioning Marshall to the side to get out of the assistant's way.

"Wen Li, nice to meet you," the assistant shook the old man's hand. He kept his conversation with Rooke and Li short, as he observed what Marshall placed on the table. "Interesting plants you've brought in; never seen them before. Your friends are upstairs waking up, if you want to show these to them."

The protagonists and John Fontaine
Chris sat up in the bed, finally freeing his hand from Melissa's grasp, as she had brought him with her into the dream world. He was greatly surprised to see the entire world intact, after such a frightening experience. The ominous encounter with Savannah, fake Gabriel, and even the melting car made it hard to move out of the bed. He glanced over at the others, who seemed to be regaining consciousness.

Blossom rubbed her eyes, still shaken up about the contents of her dream. All she could remember was Atticus placing the blade against her throat and slicing it, leaving her to die. Through her thoughts of this, she barely noticed the footsteps until Chris' gaze snapped her out of her thoughts.

Melissa woke up having felt Chris slip from her grip. She slowly got up, blinking a few times to clear her floggy vision. That dream.. or well, nightmare to her, has been really strange and bothered her on a deep level. She was too focused on remembering the details of the dream to notice anyone around her.

Fontaine mumbled to himself, recognizing every fugitive in the room- And one young woman he'd never seen before. He gestured towards Blossom. Speaking, he let out a flat "Who is she?"

The words the man uttered caused Chris to jerk around. "Who...are...you?" was all Chris could muster, as he stared at him.

Blossom looked up at the man, trembling a bit. For a moment, she was unsure of how to reply to the strange strange.

"Um, I'm Blossom Cane," she started. "I'm an assistant here at The Laboratory of the Mind-"

Steven and Samuel took a moment to look at each other, silently attempting to figure out the identity of this mysterious man. Their mouths were slightly open; and their faces had a sense of visible bewilderment. Singling out Blossom was quite odd, they thought. As they carefully searched their minds, clouded by thoughts of an eclipsed grassland, the man spoke again.

Opting to cut to the chase, Fontaine said four impactful words, "-I know where Savannah is."

"You do? Where is she?" Chris asked, surprised and relieved. Unfortunately, the mask he was wearing stopped Chris from being able to see his facial expressions, so he didn't know if was lying or not.

"Who even are you?" Atticus said in a suddenly rushed tone, while slipping off the bed he was in. Feeling uneasy and sweaty, he placed his hand against the nearby wall for support. "How do you know about us? Where is she?"

Fontaine pulled at his uncomfortable mask. "Lying in some Silivian gutter. I don't know what killed her, the angels or Alchemilia, but I know the top brass ordered some soldier to take all of you in, dead or alive."

A wave of sweat appeared on those who were barely waking up. Heart beats slightly increased. Steven let out a silent gasp; wondering if this man could be trusted; if that was really the end for Savannah. He had never known the girl; so no tears were produced -- but there was one person who knew her especially well. Steven quickly turned to Melissa.

Melissa's jaw hung agape in shock, her voice stuttering and quavering as she processed the information. She wiped tears that already began to well up away with her forearm, beginning to shake. No response came from the girl.

Atticus stood in silence, processing the news - he hadn't known Savannah for long or very well, but certainly felt a bond with the girl due to their awakening together and quickly felt a sense of anger at the news.

Looking around at the others and seeing their clear shock and solemn faces, he clenched his fists and stepped towards the masked man.

"What do you mean? How do you know this? Who the fuck even are you? How do we know you're not with Alchem?!"

"Is she really gone?" Chris asked, shocked. He couldn't believe the upsetting news that this mysterious man told them. Had the dream with her in it, where she seemed amnesiac, been implying this had occurred?

"I can answer all of your questions- If you would cooperate. I'd like to deal with the Alchem problem just as much as the lot of you." Fontaine paused. "I know what went down a few days ago right before the angels came down, you all have my... sympathy. I can't imagine what it's like to go through all that at such a young age."

Melissa held back more tears as she looked at the man. Being in agreement with Atticus, she yelled at the man. "You're lying! Savannah isn't dead! How do we know you aren't just tricking us?!"

"If I wanted to hurt you, you'd already be dead, I've been working with Alchem for years- As a revolutionary. Through using this..." He pulled a small red tablet from his overcoat. "...I was able to intercept the orders they gave to a few soldiers, to kill a few teenagers." He grunted. "Savannah Whitesmith included. Though I couldn't stop it, I did find her body. It was taken away with the rest of the angels' victims, though... I was able to get a picture." Fontaine gripped a small photograph in his pocket.

"I don't think that's necessary," Chris said quickly before he could show them. 'Evidently, if she's dead and you have a picture, that might be enough evidence."

Blossom looked around at the commotion, confused as to what was going on. "Excuse my ignorance," she interrupted, "But who is Savannah?"

"Savannah was a girl who we met a few days ago," Chris replied, opting to not share every detail. "She was a part of our group, but then we were separated because of an attack, so we didn't see her again after that."

"If you have a picture of her body, please show it. I'd like to see actual proof, not just seemingly empty words from am Alchem operative," Atticus told the man, disregarding Chris' statement.