"there's been another case in queens," katherine was telling darcy from her desk chair. "they're definitely making their mark on the boroughs. literally."

"why graffiti, though?" darcy pondered. "i mean, these looking glasses once had a lot of power. wouldn't they come back with a—i don't know—bigger bang?"

"i'm not sure," katherine replied with a soft sigh. "but i don't doubt that this will lead to something more. it's the calm before the storm."

"i wouldn't be surprised if it spread to other cities," darcy commented. "i'm sure soon we'll be receiving word of their presence in places like boston and philadelphia."

katherine nodded, holding her mug of black coffee in front of her as she voiced her thoughts, "part of me feels like this will get really big."

"huh?" darcy looked over at her, his brows knit in confusion.

"it's just," she began, sitting up straighter and looking up at him, "they've been inactive for nearly three decades. what do you think they've been doing during that time? braiding each other's hair?"

"you think so?" darcy said softly, his eyebrows now rising in realization at katherine's words.

"i don't know what else it could be."

~•~•~•~

"hey jack!" les called out to the older boy from the wings of the theater, racing out in excitement. he was followed by davey, whose hands were slipped into his pockets as he followed his younger brother to the backstage studio.

jack was working on a backdrop for irving hall, which was his main source of income. the owner of the theater, medda larkin, had taken a liking to the boy ever since he stumbled in there as a teenaged orphan.

around the time jack was sixteen, he had narrowly escaped confrontation from an officer regarding his vaccinations. in the process, he had found himself intruding in irving hall, but all it took was for medda to see the fear on his face for her to understand his predicament.

as it had turned out, medda was one of the cases where the vaccination failed and she began to show those restricted emotions, and rather than turn herself in, she went along with it. the emotions she felt at the time her vaccination failed were the greatest she had ever experienced, and she wasn't too fond of losing those feelings.

"how's it goin', kid?" jack asked, dropping a paintbrush in a cup of water to let it soak.

"what's this you're workin' on?" the younger boy asked, looking up at jack's project.

"just another backdrop," jack said casually, brushing it off. "what's brings the two of you here?"

"we were in the area," davey replied, "and figured we'd make a stop to visit."

"how thoughtful," jack mumbled sarcastically, taking another paintbrush with a different color and stepping towards the backdrop.

"say, jack," les began, "you seen the news? them looking glasses sure are causin' a stir."

"well maybe that's necessary," an additional voice said from behind the boys, and they all turned in the direction of the familiar voice to see medda stepping forward. "it's about time someone tells the researchers just how wrong they are."

"you think so?" davey asked, shifting the weight on his feet anxiously.

"oh yeah," medda said with a soft chuckle. "all it'll take is some personal experience for you to change your mind, son. then you'll realize just how wrong they are."

"is that how you knew, jack?" les asked the older boy, who stood up straight and dropped the paintbrush in his hand alongside the other brush in the water cup.

"i never had anythin' to realize," jack answered. "i've been shot-free for as long as i can remember."

"well, there's something i need to tell you, jack," medda said. "someone's here who would like to speak with you. just you."

jack exchanged a glance with davey before heaving a sigh and crossing his arms at his chest, "who is it?"

a boy stepped out of the shadows of the wings, and once jack's eyes fell on the boy, his face fell in shock and realization. "remember me, jack?" the boy asked.

"we'll give you some privacy," medda said, ushering les and davey out of the area, leaving just jack and the boy.

"what're you doin' here? what d'you want with me?" jack asked, giving the boy a curious stare.

jack and spot conlon had been in the same group home from the time they were thirteen until they were fourteen when spot ran away. the two never really got close, but there was a type of mutual respect that had formed between them as they helped each other care for the younger boys. however, they carried their shared secret of being unvaccinated with them throughout their time in the group home.

"let's take this one step at a time," spot said, stepping towards jack. "how ya been, jack?"

jack was hesitant, but he eventually gave in and responded. "i've been fine. what's it to you?"

spot ignored jack's remark and instead leaned against a nearby shelf and slipped his hands into the pockets of his trousers. "i gots somethin' to ask o' you, jack."

"and what would that be?"

"ya see," spot began, "four years ago when i ran from the group home, i was on my own for a while. then i happened upon this group o' guys who took me in. they sensed i was clean of the shot i guess, y'know?"

"why does this matter?" jack asked grimly.

"i'm gettin' there," spot replied, returning to his story. "as it turns out, this group o' guys once worked with this other group of fellas. they introduced me to 'em, and things started to escalate from there. after hangin' around these fellas for a while, i found out they weren't just any group. they were a special group, one that's been gainin' a lot o' traction recently. you keep up with current events, don't ya, jack?"

it clicked. every muscle in jack's body tensed. "you're with the looking glasses," he said in realization, his hard stare never wavering as shock filled his senses.

spot chuckled beneath his breath. "lemme give ya some background info real quick," he said. "you probably heard that this here city has about 14% of people who ain't got the shot. that's a lie. we been gatherin' folks who support our cause, and in the new york city boroughs alone, we have around a quarter o' the city." he paused. "we want you and your boys to join us, jack."

jack's hard gaze went cold, and he stiffened. "i ain't allowin' them boys to go out and get themselves killed like the folks did back when this first happened."

"this is bigger, jack," spot pressed, stepping closer to him. "we have millions of boys and girls out there willin' to fight. people all over the nation. just this mornin' we left our mark in both detroit and chicago. tomorrow's gonna be st. louis and san francisco. we got supporters from everywhere that are gonna fight to give us what we deserve."

"oh yeah?" jack scoffed. "and what would that be?"

"to feel what we want," spot answered as if it was obvious. "why should we let these rich old folk tell us what to feel and who to be fond of?"

jack shook his head, looking away with a heavy exhale. "and what are your plans?"

"we let our voices be heard," spot said. "millions of voices. this graffiti thing we's doin' is just the beginnin'. we're raisin' an army o' people who are willin' to speak out." spot paused, scanning jack's face before asking the question that would start to convince him. "this is gonna get huge, jack. you needa ask yourself: what side o' history do you wanna be on?"

jack felt something stir inside of him. he had gone all of his life hoping that someday there would be a time where he could express his emotions openly. deep down, he knew this next movement was gonna change the way people lived, and he knew he didn't want to just sit still and watch it happen.

"fine," jack said, "i'll join. but i can't guarantee the other boys will."