“No, no, it wasn’t like that,” Five answers, hesitating. “It wasn’t some big battle or brave sacrifice. He just got sick and after awhile he died. He was older, I think, than the way you guys describe your Cêpan. He could’ve passed for my grandfather. I don’t think the voyage to Earth was good to him. He was always ill. The warm climate helped some, I guess. We were on this little island in the south Caribbean when it got really bad. I didn’t know how to help him . . .”

Five trails off. We’re all silent, letting him take his time.

“He—he wouldn’t let me get a doctor. He was too worried that if he was examined, they’d discover something about him and we’d tip off the Mogadorians. I’d never even seen a Mogadorian. It all seemed like make-believe to me.” Five laughs bitterly, almost as if he’s mad at himself. “For a while, I even convinced myself he was a crazy man that’d kidnapped me. That he cut these scars into my leg while I was sleeping.”

I try to imagine what life must have been like for Five, never interacting with anyone but a sickly old man. It goes a little ways to explaining why he seems so awkward around the others.

“It wasn’t until my telekinesis developed that I really started to believe Albert. And that’s also when he got really sick. On his deathbed, he made me promise that once my Legacies had fully developed, I’d try to find you guys. Until then, he made me promise to stay hidden.”

“You did a good job of that,” Six says.

“I’m sorry about Albert,” adds Ella.

“Thank you,” Five says. “He was a good man and I wish that I’d listened to him more. After he was gone, it was easy for me to just go through the motions. I kept island-hopping, keeping my distance from everyone. It was—um, lonely, I guess. The days went by in a blur. Eventually, my other Legacies developed and I came to America, hoping to find you guys.”

“What happened to your Chest?” John asks.

“Oh yeah, that,” Five replies nervously, scratching the side of his head. “I traveled mostly by boat. Albert had taught me to find the kinds of ships that wouldn’t, you know, ask too many questions. When I first landed in Florida, there were way more people than I was used to. A lone kid carrying around that damn Chest—I felt like everyone was staring at me. Like I’d just found some buried treasure on one of the islands or something. Maybe I was being paranoid, but I thought everyone was looking to steal it.”

“So what did you do with it?” John presses.