After they were far away from the automatons and their victims, they each got in separate cars and went home without saying a word. Phoebe kept badgering Lloyd for answers, but he didn't speak until he got in his car.

"They killed everyone."

"Everyone?" Tony echoed.

"Except Bethany." Lloyd added, remembering her covered in blood.

"You said you were going to send some people, not just her. She could've died!" Lloyd scolded.

"It was her choice." Tony sighed. "She reminded me how trigger-happy our little coalition is. Said it would be better if she went alone. She usually recruits alone, so I had no reason to doubt her. Is.." he paused. "Is she hurt? She's not answering."

"Don't think so. But she went inside the facility. The rest of us walked away together. They all quit, together."

"Jesus." said Tony. "Did you recruit them? What are they going to do now?"

Lloyd took a deep breath as his car slowed to a halt, stopping as he opened the door to look at the fresh blood on his shoes.

"No, and I don't know. Let's focus on our next move, before we lose the chance to make one. Phoebe and I will be over there soon to discuss. I need a shower."

"I understand. Take care." Tony said, leaving Lloyd alone at his doorstep as he took off his shoes before going inside.

He entered and was instantly greeted by Phoebe who tried to hug him. He sidestepped her and ran to the bathroom, throwing up violently. She tore off some tissue to pass to him and helped him take off his jacket.

"At least you're okay." She said as he wiped his mouth.

"I'm nothing." His voice shook. "We're nothing. What are we going to do against those things?! They keep making more, they haven't stopped. Everytime one gets destroyed they just replace it. Supposedly so goddamn expensive, how are they bankrolling the automatons and the purifiers at the same time?"

Phoebe had no answers. She reached into her pocket and pulled out an orange case, Eric's earbuds. Lloyd thought he took those with him. He reached out for it and she put them in his hand.

"I found these in your kid's bedroom. He really likes orange, huh?"

"He's gonna miss these." Lloyd replied. "I should've packed better."

Phoebe stood up, extending a hand towards him.

"Wanna look at some pictures and reminisce? We could spare some time for that."

Lloyd shook his head. That would only bring him more pain. Each photobook is a reminder that he's seen Eric's mask more than he's seen his face. Lloyd had to be careful, he had to control his emotions. He pushed away some dark thoughts, giving his gun to her.

"We need to get moving. Has anybody in local reached out?"

Phoebe took the gun cautiously, seeing the destitute look in his eyes.

"Digital me said she approved herself and got one, somehow. She's stationed in Florida though. Connor asked if we were ready and I told him we could be in a few hours. Miguel has not responded, he's probably just waiting on us too."

Lloyd pulled the vizor out his pocket.

"It's time to see how this works."

They went back to the living room to grab his laptop and connect the headset. The Manifest Digital logo appeared with the dark globe behind it, each country illuminated by tiny lights.

Vizor Connected. Register New User?
Instead of typing his own name Lloyd pulled out his phone and sent his information through wirelessly.

Welcome, Dr. Lloyd Hall!

A little animated training video popped up showing a cartoon man about to use the mask he wiped the lenses with a microfiber cloth, then wiped the frames with an alcohol wipe. Plugging it into a computer, it showed initializing on the laptop, with a countdown. At one, the character winced in pain for second, before smiling and giving a thumbs up.

"That's odd." Phoebe commented. "Did the glasses zap him or something."

Next, another video played, this time with a character that had glasses. He took them off and followed the same procedure. After he winced, it showed he could see everything clearly, but it was all zoomed in. He went back on the computer and clicked on Vizor Settings and then, Accessibility.

Lloyd closed the video tutorial before it could continue. Looking at the red tint of his own vizor, he noticed a camera on the bridge, and sensors on the end pieces.

"It basically records what your seeing as a live feed too. That's kind of what Bethany said anyways, I just didn't expect the lenses to be red."

"I'm going to keep trying to reach out to her. You can keep going but uh, remember, she said you can't take them off."

Lloyd knew that. Frederick did it, and he gave him one. These devices probably weren't even be meant to be seen by the public, just secret gifts for the franchise owners and people close to them.

To see Jenna and Eric. To apologize for making them go without me. To apologize for how this world changed me. Even if I die out here, they'll get a consolation prize. This is better than be frozen for years. It has to be.

Lloyd put on the vizor, turning it on. Holographic words appeared on the wall, while grid lines appeared all over the room, scanning the area.

Initializing

Lloyd could feel the frame near his temples getting warmer.

Shit! It is going to zap me! He thought, bracing himself for the impact. Would it kill Frederick to give a warning first?

"Beth? Oh Beth, thank God! Where have you been?" asked Phoebe.

Initialization Complete

Lloyd screamed as tiny needless from each side stabbed into his temple, causing spots in his vision. He curled into a ball as Phoebe ran over to him, unsure what happened or what she could do.

"Did it shock you? Are you okay? We can try to take them off-"

"No." He declared through gritted teeth. "I need this stupid thing."

He sat up and touched the frame with his right hand.

"Fuck. I need a drink."

Phoebe looked at him like he was crazy. "No, you need a painkiller and a paper towel. Your head is bleeding."

Getting to her feet, she gave him her earbuds.

"I got Bethany on the line. Talk to her while I check your cabinet for ibuprofen."

"I already have my own set, you know that right?" He reminded her.

"I forgot because you just scared me!" She huffed as she speed walked down the hall.

Lloyd smiled, the pain subsiding slightly. He looked at the laptop, putting in the corresponding flashdrive.

Wireless Transfer Now Available. Eject Headset?

Lloyd clicked yes. Now, just like Frederick, he had a file that said updating. Going outside would be an ordeal from now on, but at least something happened the way it was supposed to.

"Hey Beth." Lloyd spoke aloud. "You there?"

"You have a vizor?" She inquired.

"Yeah. Painful to set up, but it's on now."

"Lloyd.." she said sadly. "You could've waited a bit longer."

"We need to check the factories soon." He said bluntly.

"But you could've done it after-"

"I could be dead before we even make it to after." He snapped.

"You saw what happened earlier. This is a lost cause. It always was. I'm looking for answers, I'm not looking to win."

"We won't get hurt, I promise. Trust me, trust Tony. He has an device that won't let any of them come near us."

Lloyd took a deep breath.

"Why didn't you come with us? Why did you go inside?"

Phoebe walked back into room with paper towels, a bottle of water, and a pill bottle.

"All of you left, which is understandable, I don't blame you, or them, but they still had patients inside. I had to get them out."

Oh. Lloyd thought, feeling like an idiot.

"That makes sense."

"Also," she confessed. "I was looking for Frederick. If he has more tech, more Vizors, more black boxes, now is the time to get them. Without the therapists, that facility will be shut down, everything will be sent to another building."

"I don't know anyone that's going to be comfortable walking past-" Lloyd stopped himself, because that's exactly what she did.

"Automatons are going to be all over that place, not to mention the ones that were there already. I think we should check out the factories."

"Fine." she conceded curtly. "I'll meet you back at the warehouse."

Lloyd sat still as Phoebe cleaned up his face, though he didn't like her doing so.

"I need to shower anyways. You didn't have to do this." He grumbled.

"Hush, you probably still have a concussion." She stopped dabbing the blood to look at him.

"Sorry about that, by the way."

"No need. If that hadn't happened, I'd still be out here, drinking and alone."

She smiled and he did too, feeling a great sense of peace with her present. He had felt isolated from the world from his family, for months. And after they finally left, all he had was a facade that kept him going. Nothing but lies and manipulation, searching for something that could be completely pointless. She leaned in to kiss him and for some reason, despite his better judgement, he couldn't pull away. Wrapping his arms around her, he laid on his back and then rolled over, away from his laptop, pinning Phoebe on hers.

"They can wait a couple more minutes." said Phoebe blushing as she reached up to hold him.

"Just a couple?" He replied, taking off his shirt.

***************

An hour later, they arrived at the warehouse greeted by a different set of guys at the front. Lloyd struggled to breathe the toxic air, his haggard coughs worrying Phoebe.

"What's that doohickey on your head?" One guy with a mask on asked.

"None of your business." Phoebe snapped. "Let us in, we have a meeting with Bean."

"These the ones she was talking about." said one maskless young dude with tattoos covering his neck and arms.

"Y'all are late."

Lloyd started coughing so profusely he vomited water.

"You need a mask? We got a collection we stole from an auto hospital.

"No." Lloyd's voice came out as a growl. "I can get used to this."

"Hell yeah." The tattooed man agreed. "Sooner or later Imma be immune to this shit." He coughed slightly and his buddies laughed.

"Most likely later."

They walk past them end enter the building, with it being just as loud as before. This time, Lloyd is simply thankful to be inside, taking deep breaths of the mostly clean air. Phoebe leads him by hand to Tony's table, this time operated By Lucero alone. He looked upset and the robot hand was immobile. Today, every cup was clear and filled with different colored liquids. They also had closed lids on them. Lloyd guessed he didn't have permission to use the arm.

"You got anything that isn't alcohol?" She asked him.

He looked at the table of drinks. "Uhh....." Picking up a blue colored drink, he took a sip and made a stank face.

"No." He answered. Then he licked his lips a little and looked at the drink in his hand.

"I feel warm."

"I'll take that."she said, taking the cup out of his hand. "If you drink any of these I'm telling Tony."

"Don't! He said I couldn't even touch the cups!"

"Is he in his little medical room?" She asked the kid. He nodded.

"Good. This'll be our secret, unless you try another one."

"I won't!" Lucy promised, pulling out ear plugs. "Don't forget these."

They walked the same way, this time avoiding the tattoo line to get to the door. The big guy was not around, so they walked straight through and entered Tony's medical room. Tony had put all of the beds together, stacking the partitions in a corner. A strange flat board was placed on the beds, and a weird machine he was still working on was sitting on top.

"What took you two so long?" He said with a smile. Phoebe had taken off her mask, making her blushing obvious. She looked down at the ground so he wouldn't notice. This time, Lloyd was quick to respond.

"I had to shower, remember?"

Tony's smile vanished. "Right, sorry."

Bethany emerged from under the table.

"I'm about to plug this in, for a quick test. If you don't mind, could one of you pull out your phones?"

Both Phoebe and Lloyd pulled out their phones. He looked at hers curiously.

"When did you go home to get yours?"

"While you were getting traumatized, I was using an old cracked tablet I found in Eric's room to get some new clothes."

"Are you ready everyone?" Bethany called out under the table.

"One. Two. THREE!"

The metal machine Tony made started blinking a red light on one side, and everything else in the room, Lloyd and Phoebe's phones, the lights, Tony's laptop, all completely went black.

"LET'S GO!" Tony bellowed, turning off the machine and grabbing a flashlight.

"Your phones should work again in a second. They might need a charge though."

He walked to the back of the room and started flipping switches until the lights came back on.

"I know, you're thinking, she just plugged it into the floor, how are we going to get it there?"

"I wasn't thinking that." chimed Phoebe.
"I was praying it didn't explode." said Lloyd.

"Ha. Ha." Tony said sarcastically. "This is the biggest one so far, I've made multiple, trying to increase the power. The previous was powered by one car battery, the next one will be powered by two. I can rig this one up with a battery to take with us, and we'll have a mobile emp field that will hide us from their sensors and knock them out if they get close."

Lloyd attempted to turn on his phone twice, and on the second try, it worked. He began to laugh, uncontrollably. Tony was still psyched, but Phoebe looked scared to death.

"Lloyd... What about your vizor?"