The dim, confined tension of the police station’s interrogation room had deepened. The air was cold but Wayde could feel waves of heat washing over her, and beneath them a rising uncontrollable twitching. Her hands were shaking. Feverishly she pressed them against the metal surface of the table.

“What you’re saying is impossible,” she managed. “It’s impossible… You’re trying to tell me I’ve been infested all my life by some kind of invisible… observer?”

Maria Stone, or whatever it was speaking through her mouth, shrugged. “Inhabited, yes. Possessed, if you want. But they – er, we – are more symbiotes than parasites. We only feed on sharing the experiences of our hosts.” She sighed. “It’s an honor, depending how you look at it – to be inhabited. To know that some of who you are, will live on through your traveler when you die-”

“No. I don’t believe you. I can’t.” Wayde swallowed hard.

The stranger glared at her. Stone hesitated, then leaned close and whispered something.

Wayde froze solid, as if her heart had stopped. In shock, she stared back at the mouth that had spoken.

Stone exhaled and sat back down. “That was his name,” she said. “Your traveler. I just told you his name. Your lower subconscious mind was connected to him. That’s how you know what I’m telling you is true. Do you believe me?”

Wayde Simons nodded silently.

“Good,” Stone replied, grinning.

“But.…” she said, in a trance, “Why have you.… What… do you want from me?”

Stone grew cold. Heaving a sigh, she answered, “He saved your life this morning, your traveler. He gave you that intuition about the faulty gas line. You should be thankful I suppose – except that in doing this he has committed a grave crime.” She swallowed. “I’m sorry, Ms. Simons…”

“What do you mean? What crime?”

“The bond between traveler and host is a solemn unspoken agreement,” she said. “Among us we have very strict ethics that must be obeyed, no matter what. To do otherwise is to violate… everything. To violate the host. One of these laws is that no Traveler is allowed to leave a host before that host dies. He broke that law when he fled you… and he also broke an even higher one, by tapping into your conscious mind. By giving you that intuition.”

Wayde stared at her, incredulous. “Are you saying he’s a criminal for saving my life?”

“We are meant only to observe,” Stone said, harshly. “The moment we exert will of our own – the moment we act through the host instead of seeing through them, we become possessors. We become demons. It is one of our most sacred truths.”

“What about you? You’re talking through someone right now.”

“Maria Stone was chosen from birth, with her own agreement – it’s complex, but it is within the law. What your traveler has done is invade the conscious mind of an unwilling victim. That is a crime.”

“Even if it saves lives?”

Stone nodded. “Yes.”

Silence fell in the interrogation room.

“You still haven’t said what you want from me,” Wayde said.

The stranger leaned closer. “Your Traveler has broken our laws before, and undoubtedly he will break them again. Whether or not you see his actions as just, it has become my duty as a Traveler to stop him. I want your help in finding him.”

Wayde swallowed hard. “What will you do to him?”

“Nothing,” she replied instantly. “If you cooperate, he won’t be harmed. But I won’t lie to you; he is a fugitive and he must be found and brought to justice, one way or another. Ms. Simons, there is still an imprint of him in your subconscious, and right now that imprint is my best hope of tracing him.”

For a long time Wayde regarded her apprehensively.

The thing speaking through Stone sighed sadly. “Please, Ms. Simons. This is our last chance – his last chance. If he does this again…” She shook her head. “I wouldn’t be able to guarantee his safety.”

Wayde shut her eyes hard and sank into herself. Finally, hesitantly, she replied, “Fine. I’ll help you – if you promise me you won’t harm him, I’ll help you however I can.”

“You’ve made the right choice,” Stone said, visibly holding down a smile. “If you’re ready, it’s a very simple procedure.”

She nodded, doggedly.

“Alright,” Stone said. “I need you to clear your mind of all thought… Focus on the moment you left the Friddman building… Concentrate on that one minute of time.”

* * *

She turned very slowly around and stared up at the window of her office.

All at once the fire erupted, shattering the windows of the office, spewing shards of glass across the street. The flaming wall of a cubicle fell out and landed in front of the building’s entrance, blocking it. If there had been anyone left inside, escape would have been impossible.

Everyone stared in horror, glancing back in occasional awe at Wayde. People panicked, and gasped, and cried and sank to their knees… all but one.

Steve took a deep breath of air and stretched all his joints suddenly as if his body was a new piece of clothing he was still trying on for size. He shot one strange look, almost one of longing, at Wayde, and hurried away down the street.

Sirens echoed far off. The fire burned on.

* * *

“…Steve,” Wayde whispered. “It must have been… Steve.”

Stone looked hard at her. “Are you sure?”

Wayde swallowed and nodded. “Yes. I’m sure.”

The stranger smiled and shook her hand. Without another word she stood and ran out of the room, muttering something into her cell phone as she did.

Belcher came back in and told Wayde she was free to leave, but she stayed seated at the small table for a long time.

She had a bad feeling about all of this.