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Chapter 43

The weathered face of an old man floated on the wall. His nose was large, his eyebrows as wispy as the hair on his head. He wore thick glasses. Behind the lenses were a set of eyes that twinkled. They appeared far younger than the face they were part of. Maxwell, Lapearle and Gorman stared at it.

"You can't be serious," said Maxwell.

"Just hear me out," said Gorman. "I know it seems far-fetched, and believe me – it's going to seem even more like it when I'm done. But a few pieces add up. It's the only way to explain what's going on with Richard Sobel. Somehow and for some reason Peter Sands is his partner."

"What could possibly make you come up with something so crazy?" asked Maxwell. "Because this is really reaching."

"That sort of assumption doesn't apply to Peter Sands."

"Then you need to fill us in," said Lapearle.

"That was always my plan."

Maxwell snorted. "Shouldn't you have shared this a bit earlier?"

"When everything started I wasn't sure – I'm still not a hundred percent – but I've seen enough to know I can't stay quiet."

"Why didn't you say something at the meeting?"

"I don't trust all the men at that table."

"Like who?"

"It's irrelevant – at least it is right now – there's more important things to discuss." Gorman pointed at the wall. "This is the last pic we have when we knew what body he was in."

"You know, Sands never seemed real when we learned about him in school," said Lapearle. "There were too many stories and accomplishments for just one person."

"Oh he was very real. I met him once," said Maxwell. "When I was a Cadet. He visited my precinct. That was a few years before Amalgamation. He wasn't this old at the time."

"How old would he be now?"

"Well over a hundred. That's an educated guess. Most of his records were pulled from the System long ago. By him of course."

"Okay. So what's the real story?" asked Lapearle. "What happened to make him so angry that he rose from the dead? Or was he ever dead?"

Gorman crossed the room and sat back at his desk. "Take everything you've heard about Sands and throw it out the window. Most has been blown out of proportion because of disinformation released by my office."

"Why?"

"It's complicated - for the most part because his genius is unparalleled. No one before or after comes close. And don't forget - he didn't get much attention until middle age. When that happened he became an enigma overnight. Mix in a stubborn nature and tendency to speak his mind and you can see the potential for problems. We were lucky he hated celebrity. All it took was a little tinkering to shift his reputation. Then he was viewed as a saviour instead of the narcissist he actually is."

"So the guy's really just an asshole?"

"That's one way to sum it up."

"What did he do before people knew about him?"

"It's vague. There are bits and pieces – things he talked about, which were likely lies and half truths. What we were able to uncover isn't much. He was born and grew up in Section Seven – when it was still known as Detroit. His school records showed an average student, nothing exceptional. Certainly no indication of what he would become. Attended MIT, worked in the defense industry for some time – not a standout employee by any means. He kept to himself."