On pages 70-71, Carolyn Powell calls Nathan. He pays a visit to her latest hidey hole, a suburban tenement. This dialogue follows on pages 72-77:

(Branko) “Weird. I would have expected Powell's daughter to live in a nice house with a pool. Instead she lives in this old building on the outskirts of town.”

(Nathan) “Solomon isn't keeping his end of the deal, apparently.” (Solomon Darver is Nathan’s boss)

“That's not a given; let's wait and see.”

(Nathan knocks on Carolyn's door.) “I'm Special Agent Nathan Never. This is my partner Branko.”

“Welcome, sirs. Come in. I’ve been expecting you.”

“First of all, we would like to offer our condolences, Miss Powell.”

“Thank you. Your director sent me a note of condolences in which he also explained how it happened. I know that you tried to prevent my father's assassination.”

“To be honest, Miss Powell, as things stand now, your father was killed as a suspected terrorist leader in a police operation.”

“That wasn't the case. My father could never have been part of that criminal organization. He was murdered, and I want to hire the Alpha Agency to prove it! I have very limited resources, and I know how expensive your work is, but my mind is made up.”

“You don't have to worry about the money, Miss Powell, believe me. Something's fishy about the whole matter involving your father and the dam. My director is also interested.”

“I appreciate your confidence, Agent Never. I imagine you can't tell me more than that, though.”

“Indeed, but the Security Council is involved in the investigation, so we are eager to hear what you have to say.”

(Showing her video tablet) “This is my father, Max. He was a special man, you know? He was in love with life in all its forms. As a scientist, he had a sort of sacred respect for it. I remember him always saying that life was born from the 'stagnation of the tides,' from the ebb and flow of energy… and he compared it to a river in flood that flowed forever.”

“Curiously, he was the one who designed a large barrier that stops the water.”

“He must have designed the dam with the intention of development, not of death. The original idea was different, believe me. The problem is that my father was never the same after the death of my brother Peter when he was only ten years old.”

“A death like that would leave its mark on anyone.”

“Yes, that’s right. Papa adored Peter. He projected his own dreams onto him. I think every father does that with his sons.”

“Every father does this with every child, male or female.”

“Maybe so. But there was truly a magical harmony between my father and Peter: The same deep curiosity, full of enthusiasm and an infinite passion for science, technology, research, and the desire to transform dreams into real projects.” (Pointing to more photos, as seen in page 76 above.) “That's my mother Alice, next to my father. You see her smile, but don't be fooled; it was fake. When the photo was taken, she had another man in mind.”

“Did she eventually leave your father?”

“She left him and me and only made herself known by the occasional phone call. Nothing else.”

“Here, now, I see your father with a robot, a small model. It almost looks like a child.” (In fact, it looks like H.E.R.B.I.E. from Fantastic Four, but with limbs.)

“It’s called Bryan. It was built by my father to play with Peter and then, after his death, Dad kept it with him.”

“I can understand that. Your father saw his son in Bryan.”

“Not only that. My father loved Bryan like a son, and the robot followed him everywhere.”

“It would be useful to track down the robot, because it might know the last hours of your father's life better than anyone else.”

“Yes, of course, but I don't know how to help you. Bryan has disappeared without a trace. But I believe something else that can help you in the investigation is contained in this holomessage. My father sent it to me the day before he died.”

On pages 78-84, Carolyn begins to tell Nathan one of her father's secrets: The location of a massive underground water source. But Frost shows up with a strike team to arrest her. Nathan and Frost argue and then brawl; Carolyn flees.

On pages 85-90, Max Powell's body has been illegally moved from New Alamo back to East Coast City for an autopsy. Nathan and Branko confront the corrupt coroner Dr. Cevok, who confesses that he has a side business falsely certifying the cause of death for cadavers. Turns out Max Powell actually died by drowning. Frost has covered this up by putting Powell's corpse in the basement of the building he was already planning to shoot up. The plot thickens!

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