iStory:The Agent/chapter 410 alternatives

This page notes the different possible versions of chapter 10 of The Agent.

All cases (I)

The same night that Rachel agrees to help Rebel rescue a prisoner from Building 26, she heads to the shooting range that is located in the building. While she shoots at targets in the range, she recalls how the range has been a simple aspect of her life that helped her center it during her rough times. She then notes to herself that as soon as the day shift leaves, she plans to attach a silencer to her gun, free a prisoner being held upstairs, and leave it behind forever. Rachel continues that despite this, she is happy because she has found her place in using her ability to help save lives. She notes that Rebel is right that she is doing this last mission to find out more information about her mother, but only so she can tie up that loose end and get on with her life.

At that moment, Rachel is grabbed by several hands. She fights back, but is shoved off the ground and head first into a wall. Rachel is then able to stand up, and she sees Danko there. He holds up his cell phone and video message from Jason plays. The message is to his sister, Janey, and it says that if she received the video, then something happened to him. He continues that he probably screwed up, but she should make up something cool to tell their mother. Jason also adds that Rachel is his new partner, and that if he has a suspicious death while with Rachel, Janey needs to give Jason's superiors this message. He says that he observed in Rachel what might be symptoms of a psychotic break, probably combat-stress-related, and that she could pose a severe threat. Jason also notes that he is investigating further before filing a formal report, but that if she is getting this message, it might be too late.

Danko then shuts off the video and comments that ballistics just confirmed the bullets in Jason's body matched Rachel's gun. Rachel notes to herself that she has spent months using her abilities under Danko's nose, and he is just arresting her for murder. She guesses Danko still thinks she is on his side, but that she is damaged goods. Rachel looks through the cracked shooting range door and at Danko, and then teleports into the hallway. Rachel hears Danko shout that she is one of them, and begins running down the hallway while adding a silencer to her gun.

It's still night outside, but people are moving around in the rooms she is passing. An agent steps out of a hot room, backlighted by an orange glow. Rachel shoots him in the head and keeps moving without looking down. The light at the end of the hallway flickers and Rachel guesses Rebel is telling her where to go. As she approaches, she spots a massive metal door there that Danko added after the last time Rebel tried to break someone out, and she continues toward it.

Finally, Rachel reaches her destination, a room with rows of bodies that stretch into the dark. She notes that their chests rise slowly and faces are tight, that some have their eyes open, but none of them look at her as she passes by them. She hears someone groan, and turns and spots Eric Doyle. Next, Rachel pulls out the tube that is in his nose, and then pulls out the tubes of the man and woman next to him. This causes alarms to start up, and two agents crash through the door and begin firing.

The woman sits up just in time to get shot, and instantly dies. Her blood splatters across another bed, instantly burning through the sheets and flesh of the person laying there. Bullets hit the other man too, but they turn into sand. Eric ducks behind him as the agents continue shooting. Meanwhile Rachel teleports behind the closest agent, whom she recognizes to be Agent Harper. He turns toward Rachel, but she disables him with a jump kick. Before landing back on the ground from her kick, Rachel teleports behind the other agent, who is shooting bullets into the other man she freed. However, the bullets are all turning into sand. The agent screams for them all to stay back, calling them freaks; but the man grabs the agent's shoulder, says "dust to dust", and disintegrates him into chunks of sand. The man then asks the Lord for forgiveness.

Rachel wonders why she is freeing these people, and tells herself that she was destined to do so. She then grabs Eric Doyle and the other man by the arms and tells them it is time to leave. Eric Doyle asks what is happening, and Rachel says she is saving his life again. The other guy asks about the other prisoners, but Rachel tells him that other agents are on the way. She then begins teleporting them through the building. Along the way, she learns the man who can change things into sand is called Gordon.

Rachel takes them to the roof, but when she pushes open the roof door, she sees that the helicopter she was planning to flee in has already lifted off. She also spots two agents sitting in an open doorway of the helicopter. A spotlight then centers on Rachel and her two friends, and Rachel shoves Eric behind Gordon to protect him. She then teleports herself up into the helicopter seconds before the two agents in the chopper begin firing machine guns at them. Seconds later, Rachel forces the shooters out the still airborne helicopter and they stop shooting. She then points her gun on the pilot. He tells her to remain calm, but Rachel tells him it wouldn't matter because she is certifiably insane. The pilot responds by asking her what she wants, and Rachel instructs him to take them out of there.

They touch down in a dew-covered field at sunrise, and the helicopter becomes silent. Eric and Rachel go for a walk together while Gordon prays. Eric comments that he guesses Rachel isn't going to be undercover at Building 26 anymore, and Rachel confirms that she can never go back. Eric then sees Rachel checking her phone again, and asks if there is still no word from her friend. Rachel responds that there isn't and that Rebel hasn't sent anything either. However, just then, Rachel's phone buzzes with a new text from Rebel.

Eric tells Rachel that Rebel always comes through, and she replies that it would be great if he could do so without her getting shot at. Then, Rachel opens the message and reads that something went wrong at the circus. She asks why he didn't tell her sooner, and Rebel tells her he didn't know until it was too late. Then, Rebel tells Rachel something that makes her feel as though the sky landed on her head. Rachel races back to the helicopter, shouting for Gordon to untie the pilot. She has just learned that Anna got herself into a jam.

Options (I)

The player then gets to choose whether to continue as Rachel that morning, or as Anna the previous night.

Option 1A: That same morning, Rachel... ...arrives at the location of the circus Anna was sent to. Behind ambulances and government vans, Rachel sees puddles that are mostly half-dried and many small craters, shaped like bodies. She then passes a zombie, an agent whose eyes wander blankly as he leans against the side of an ambulance, wrapped in a blanket. An EMT is checking that zombie's pupils, but there are many more sitting and moaning. Rachel continues into the area, passing a row of body bags. Some of the corpses look to Rachel like old people, but she thinks that a few hours ago, they were all her own age. Rachel then notes to herself that a war happened there, and wonders what went wrong. Ahead of her, Rachel spots a bunch of grim-faced agents huddled around something and talking loudly. She guesses they are questioning the prisoner Rebel told her about. Rachel then lowers her cap over her face and proceeds to get closer. When she hears the agents beating the person up, Rachel begins walking faster, and pushes her way through other men and woman in SWAT gear and suits. When she is close enough, she sees the knee, shoe, and face of a young man. Rachel notices that is face is blank similar to one of Anna's zombies, but doesn't think Anna would hurt a friend. One of the agents comments that the man must be a kind of idiot, but another replies that he has to know something. The second agent notes that he was in the hole with the others, and gives instructions to give the prisoner a pencil so he can draw something. Rachel then turns to look for the hole the second agent mentioned, and the prisoner shouts out the name Linda. She glances over her shoulder back at the young man, and sees that he is staring at her. He asks for help, and the crowd of agents turn to follow his gaze. Rachel responds by saying "well, hell" and winds up face to face with Janey Pierce, the woman who turned her in to Danko. Janey fires a taser at Rachel's chest. Rachel tries to teleport out of the way, but it's too late. The player can then follow the other option.

Option 1B: The previous night, Anna... ...is thinking she doesn't like elephants anymore. She is hiding with the circus staff in an old, forgotten cellar, as big as a couple trucks. The animal tent is pitched over it, and the door is covered with straw and other stuff that gives off a strong stench. The smell was too much to take at first, but nobody complains much. Above the cellar, Anna can hear agents searching the tent for the millionth time. She guesses the sun has set by now, but that even more agents have arrived. She can hear their trucks rumble past and things breaking. Anna looks around the dark cellar at the people around her. Linda Niles, the lady from the coffin, sits closest to her, but has not talked much since they entered the place. The closest to Anna after her is the ringmaster, Bobby, who had talked with Anna at first, but fell asleep around midnight. Along the other wall sits the man and woman who pretend to be Siamese twins for their act. Anna notes that they don't talk, that sometimes they move at the same time, and that the man's expression is like a little, sleepy kid. Barbara, the mermaid performer, lies on her side by them with her eyes closed. Anna suspects Barbara is awake since she jumps at every noise. And next to Barbara is the crazy man, who always smiles and whose outfit is continually changing. He is sometimes in a straitjacket, other times a tux, and sometimes jeans. Anna notes to herself that she doesn't know his name and is afraid to ask. After checking her watch, Anna notes that she still has twenty minutes to go before her next check-in. As per Rebel's instructions, she is holding her cell battery in her hand so that the agents couldn't trace them through her phone. Anna has been putting it back in her phone once an hour for a few seconds while she checks in, and Rebel has continued to tell her to hang on. Linda then begins a conversation with Anna, commenting that Anna must be the Amazing A in LAWR, the name that Howie came up with. Anna asks if she knows about the group, and Linda replies that she is L. Linda continues that Anna has been her delivery girl for months, though it feels like years to her. Anna compares Linda's sad and tired demeanor with L's text messages and notes, and realizes it is really her. Linda then apologizes, saying she knows Anna wanted them all to be superheroes. Anna lies and says she didn't, and asks why Rebel brought them together if it was dangerous for them to really meet and they were only supposed to message each other in case one of them got caught? Linda replies that they are just getting started, and says for Anna to let her introduce her to W. Next, she motions her thumb at the pretend-Siamese twins. Linda comments that the twin, Valerie, and her maybe-brother, maybe-ghost Victor, form the W (V + V together = W). Then, Linda explain that they are together in order to save Ellen. Anna asks what Ellen is, and Linda begins explaining that they are Ellen. Linda starts by noting that Ellen started as just her, LN, and that she used to run a shipping company. She continues that Rebel contacted her, and had knowledge about her past. Rebel asked Linda to hide fugitives in warehouses and trucks across the country. Linda adds that next, Rebel contacted Anna to be the "delivery girl"--a cute blonde that every frightened fugitive would trust. Then, she notes that he found Valerie and asks Valerie to show Rachel her power. Valerie slides across the cellar to Anna and touches Anna's shoulder with one hand. Suddenly, everything shifts and Anna finds herself sitting on the opposite side of the room with one of Victor's hands on her shoulder. Anna jumps away from him, but he doesn't seem offended and just stares at her. Linda explains that Valerie and Victor can transfer anything up to person-size, that if one of them has it, the other can obtain it. She adds that she has seen them pass a whole family from Pennsylvania to California in thirty seconds and that really beats trucks, but that they get kind of irritable when they are apart for too long. Then, Anna asks if Linda knows about R. Linda replies that that Rebel let Anna meet R after she came over to their side, and that R is their girl on the inside at Building 26. Anna realizes that Linda is talking about Rachel, and comments that Rachel will figure them a way out of their hole. However, Linda responds that Rachel will not be joining them that night, and explains that it's due to a deal that has been made with her. Anna tells Linda that she is confused why Rachel isn't coming, because they need her help. Linda replies that she is sorry, but Anna is going to have to make due with them, and wait it out until the agents leave or kill them. Anna replies that Rebel wouldn't let the agents hurt them, but Linda points out that Rebel does the best her can, and has other stuff going on. Linda adds that they are not his only crew, and that Anna might join the "varsity team" someday if she eats her Wheaties. Anna comments that Linda doesn't have to be mean, and Linda apologizes. Anna guesses that Linda has given up hope, and wonders if they are no longer useful to Rebel now that Ellen is exposed. She snaps her battery into her phone, and Rebel texts to hang on and that it isn't clear yet. Anna replies, asking where Rachel is, and he responds that Rachel is in a helicopter. Anna texts back that she is scared and wants to get out, and Rebel replies that there are too many agents and they just need to sit tight a little longer and trust him. Then, Anna hears new voices overhead and pops the battery out of her phone. Linda asks what Rebel said, and Anna replies that Rebel said they would be okay. Anna adds that Rachel will come, and Linda asks if Rebel said that. Anna answers that he didn't have to, and that he and Rachel will not let them get caught. Next, Linda becomes silent, and Anna notices some changes in her, including that age-lines begin deepening in her face, making her suddenly appear to be middle-aged. Then, Linda tells everyone to get up and says they are getting out of there. The player can then follow the other option.

All cases (II)

Coming Soon Next week: the two-part finale of "The Agent" begins! Rachel learns that life after Building 26 still involves a lot of Building 26. Rachel squares off against a new adversary and an old ally. They will make her an offer that she can't refuse.

Notes

• There are only two options, and the player is allowed to follow one after the other. The order in which the options are chosen does not affect the outcome. However, to follow events in order of occurrence, Option 1B should be followed first.

Trivia

• In the original version of chapter 410, released April 14, 2009, the chapter ended with Rachel receiving a text from Rebel, and then the following prompt:

Coming Soon A few hours ago: Anna found herself holding the fate of "Ellen" — the fugitive underground railroad — in her hands. But one of her companions had a secret that she would die to protect. And things began to spiral out of control... Rachel learns that life after Building 26 still involves a lot of Building 26. Rachel squares off against a new adversary and an old ally. They make an offer that she can't refuse.

• On Friday, April 17, 2009, the prompt was removed and chapter 410 continued with Anna arriving at the circus.