The twins had been provided with a new apartment as "compensation", when in reality it was for secrecy. Strucker preferred them to have a private space so he could arrive at any time with the covert mission that he promised would come, and for the sake of obscuring their identities and abilities.

Wanda had no problem with this isolation, feeling uncomfortable in her own skin, only using her newfound power when absolutely necessary. Pietro on the other hand, much to his sister's chagrin, took advantage of the speed he'd been granted. For so long, he'd been running too slow. Now he was always burning with adrenaline and when he let it loose, he was quicker than any other runner he'd seen before (Before). Naturally, because he simply could, he began to steal, so fast that no one could ever hope to catch him. They just looked over and whatever he'd needed was gone. He became Robinhood, taking from those who had more than they ought and distributing his finds to the men, women, and children at home. Home was relative though.

Things were never quite the same between he and Zrinka, or between Wanda and Natalia, who had been her closest friend. It was the same with their relationships with the other girls. 

While they were gone, Maria had founded a sort of philosophical church bent on bettering the city by bettering its citizens, and this took up much of her time. Milla had gotten a job at Costel's school; she had replaced Pietro as the boy's walking buddy, and in turn everything else.

Zrinka was the only one who thought about them very often. She had loved Pietro, but now she felt betrayed. Not only because he'd left, but because he- both of them- had defied their personal morals by joining willingly the hardly ethical experiments that they had chastized so passionately. Even when Pietro came to her in the center, aiming to patch things up, she never saw the Before, and she couldn't quite love the After the same way.