A Few Weeks Prior

     "Alright, what am I thinking now?" asked Gabriel, floating inside the space station.

     "Okay, give me a hint," responded Ellie.

     "Uh," Gabriel started, stroking his chin, "what I'm thinking may or may not entail anger management."

     "The Incredible Hulk?" answered Ellie, clearly unimpressed.

     "How?" smiled Gabriel, checking the monitors inside the station.

     "Anger management?" teased Ellie. "That's too easy."

     "Alright, alright," Gabriel shook his head, smiling. "Your turn."

     "Okay, hold on a moment..." started Ellie, leaning back. "Alright shoot..."

     "Is it a superhero?" asked Gabriel.

     "No," responded Ellie.

     "Is it a..." he trailed off, "...a fictional hero?"

     She nodded her head, "Yes, getting warmer."

     "Is it involving space?" asked Gabriel.

     "Warmer," responded Ellie.

     "Is it Obi-Wan Kenobi?" answered Gabriel.

     Ellie rolled her eyes, "No, but close. It was Chewbacca."

     "Oh yeah," Gabriel scratched his head, "the big hairy one of few words. Personally, all I liked were the lightsaber battles."

     "But what about the story?" asked Ellie. 

     Gabriel smiled, "You, I think, are the first woman who I've ever met that's actually into 'Star Wars'."

     The two had been stationed at the A.O.S.S. for about a week. It was monotonous at times, so playing mind games always helped to get their spirits up, but Ellie found that she worked well with Gabriel. He looked out for her, and she made sure that he did his calculations right. It was a relationship that worked well in their environment.

     Deep down, though, Ellie had developed feelings for him. She'd always kind of had a crush on Gabriel ever since the first moment she'd seen him. As they'd worked together over the months, the feelings had only gotten stronger. She wasn't sure what to do with her emotions, because any romantic relations could potentially jeopardize the nature of the mission.

     She just had to suffer in silence.

     "How about another game of charades?" suggested Gabriel.

     Ellie shook her head, "We've already played that seven times since we docked here. There's gotta be something else we could do."

     Gabriel shrugged, "We could always play two truths and a lie."

     Ellie floated away and strapped herself into a seat with Velcro, "Alright, you can go first".

     Gabriel thought for a moment while he typed mathematical equations onto his computer, "Okay, here it goes. One, I was born in Chicago, two, I have a dog named Whoofy, and three, I've always dreamed of becoming an astronaut."

     Ellie stared up at the ceiling of the station and thought, "You were never born in Chicago."

     Gabriel chuckled, shaking his head, "Nope, that one's true."

     Ellie crossed her arms, "Okay...you don't have a dog named Whoofy. That's gotta be it."

     "How many months have we worked together?" teased Gabriel.

     Ellie chuckled nervously, she'd always been more focused on his looks than his biography, "So, you've never always dreamed of becoming an astronaut?"

     Gabriel laughed, "And we have a winner."

     "Really?" asked Ellie, with a note of disbelief. "But you seem like such a natural at it."

     "Believe it or not," Gabriel responded, floating away from the terminal, "I initially wanted to become an actor. But, of course, everyone said that's not a very lucrative business."

     Ellie laughed, "Wow, I don't think I would've ever actually guessed that about you. Okay, my turn?"

     Gabriel nodded, "Go."

     Ellie thought for a moment, "One, my sister's name is Sarah, two, I have a dog named Pugsy, and three, I got a chance to meet George Lucas once."

     Gabriel crossed his arms, "Elysia Jobs, you have never met George Lucas."

     Ellie raised her eyebrows, "You're very good at this game."

     "Or, I just familiarized myself with you like I was meant to do," chuckled Gabriel. "But, speaking of your sister, how did that phone call go with her the other day?"

     Ellie sighed, "Not as well as I would've hoped. She still seemed adamant about not letting me go."

     "And what did you say?" asked Gabriel.

     "I kind of..." Ellie paused, "just hung up the phone and left."

     "You did what?!" exclaimed Gabriel. "You've never struck me as the rebellious type."

     Ellie shook her head, "I never was."

     Gabriel thought for a moment, "You know, there's a story I once heard that you might be able to relate to."

     "About my sister?" asked Ellie.

     Gabriel shook his head, "It's a story that's actually applicable to your state of mind. You've always wanted to be more than just normal, right?"

     Ellie reluctantly nodded, "Yeah, and?"

     Gabriel raised his hands, "A long time ago, there was a man who wanted to be a great general. His parents, however, were farmers and they wanted him to stay and tend to the farm as they grew older. The man, however, didn't want to associate himself with the lowly peasant-life of the farmers."

     "So what happened?" asked Ellie.

     "He left his family, against their will," answered Gabriel. "He went to see the king and asked him to make him a great military leader. The king responded, however, that there was a test that needed to be passed first. He was to survive in the jungle for 40 days without any help."

     "Let me guess, he didn't?" responded Ellie.

     Gabriel raised his finger, "He actually did. The man was dropped in the jungle, and he was blinded by the idea of himself becoming a great general. For days, however, he starved in the jungle because there wasn't much to eat. As the days went by, he began to harvest the seeds from dying fruit and plant them in the ground."

     "Like a farmer," concluded Ellie.

     Gabriel nodded, "He farmed the seeds, and he also began to cultivate the soil. The only way he was able to survive was because he could act like a farmer."

     "So what did he do when he got back to the king?" Ellie asked.

     "He went back to his family because he realized that despite the simplicity of farming," Gabriel paused for effect. "It was the only way people could survive. In other words: it was important to be normal."

     Ellie tilted her head, "Did you make that up?"

     Gabriel smiled, "Quite possibly, but quite possibly not."

     Ellie thought about what Gabriel had said.

     Was she like the farmer?

**

Present Day

Daniel Peters

     Daniel Peters poured over his documents, searching for anything that might give him a lead on Ellie. She had just disappeared, along with the other astronaut: Gabriel. Nobody would give him any information, and everyone refused to help him on the subject matter.

     He sat in his office, alone. There was nothing around him except for a buzzing fan and the occasional flicker of his desk lamp. He kept digging through files.

     Suddenly, he felt another presence.

     "Who's there?" he called, as he got defensive.

     Peters hadn't slept in days. He felt that he was at the beginning of something far bigger than he could've ever imagined. A sprawling organization within the United States Government with near-unlimited power was unsettling.

     It was like a conspiracy.

     The knob on his door began to turn, and it tore through the silence like a dagger. His door opened, and a peculiar woman walked through. She was extremely attractive, with flowing brown hair and intellectual eyes. Something about her, however, seemed familiar.

     "What?" asked Peters. "Haven't I met you before? Can I help you with anything?"

     The woman nodded her head, "The name's Olivia Jones. I was present the day the A.O.S.S. was destroyed."

     Peters nodded, slightly confused, "I thought your name was Smith..."

     Olivia closed the door behind her and walked up to his desk, "It's an alias of mine. I've grown rather fond of it in order to stay undercover."

     Peters blinked, "Undercover?" 

     Olivia walked with an air of utter confidence, and it somehow intimidated the Flight Director.

     "I know that you are looking for Elysia Jobs," Olivia stated, walking around his desk. "I've come here to urge you to halt your investigations Mr. Peters."

     "You know about Ellie? About what's happened to her?" asked Daniel Peters.

     Olivia slowly nodded her head, "C.I.N.A. and I have always worked closely together. We've been monitoring Ms. Jobs for some time now, and the accident aboard the A.O.S.S. has only heightened her threat level."

     "C.I.N.A.?" stammered Peters, first confusion and then realization dawning on him . "W-What are you talking about? You mean you're with...them."

     "The odds of that meteor shower doing what they did to both Elysia Jobs and Gabriel Monroe was a one-in-a-million shot," answered Olivia. "Their new-found abilities have been of great interest to the Central Intelligence for National Assurance...."

     Peters remembered back to the mock-hospital, "So what they said was true? Ellie..."

     "She can directly interface with technology," Olivia continued. "It's a highly-lethal ability that could cripple the United States Government if she intended to use it...in an unjust manner."

     "I don't understand..." Peters stammered.

     "Some could call it science," Olivia responded, pulling out a strange-looking metal instrument, "but I like to think it was fate."

     "So you've been monitoring her?" asked Peters. "But for how long?"

     "All potential threats to our organization are monitored," explained Olivia, while she looked away. "Personal affiliates of mine, Gabriel Monroe, Elysia Jobs...even a Mr. Daniel Peters."

     "Why are you telling me this?" asked Peters.

     "Because, in the grand scheme of things, it won't even matter," responded Olivia. "For all you know, you'll have been on a nice, long vacation to Tahiti."

     The strange instrument clicked to life and began to hum.

     "What the hell is that?" Peters asked, pulling himself away. "Security!"

     Olivia grabbed Daniel Peters's shirt and slammed him into his own desk. He rolled to the ground unconscious. Gently, she placed the mechanical instrument on his head and watched as it locked into place. The machine was standard C.I.N.A. technology that would wipe the memory of anyone it was attached to and plant false ones.

     It made cleaning up especially easy.