"I agree." says Cecil. "We all need to be tested. John next, then me, and then we'll continue on from there. It's good to find that we still can't see through the lead walls; that encourages my hypothesis that the nuclear shelter may inhibit the control method to some degree. Even if it just means that the puppetmaster can't pull any new strings, that's still a lot."

Cecil places a hand on John's arm; and once John has been investigated, he bares his own arm.

One by one, the Marked are tested. The same feeling of their power being limited to the shelter is repeated for every test. Each person, upon being tested, feels the uncomfortable violation of having their thoughts searched. Each person, when testing, can only touch the very surface thoughts of the testee: "finish this...why?...all gone...musty old...ugh, this feels so...these suits...why?...can't live like...I hate...WHY?"

There is no thought that can either confirm or deny any one person as Controlled.

One thing does happen when the testing ends. As they pause to consider what to do next, all of the Marked have a deep sense that they did, indeed, brush the mind of the Controlled. But whether that feeling came from simply coming to terms with their situation or came from the search, none can tell. They are, for the moment, stymied. And time is running out.

"I-I-I hate t-to be a bother, b-but, um, i-it's almost noon. I-I-I really hate t-t-to just put ssssomeone to death, b-but I d-doubt the j-j-G Men would take kindly t-to not doing so." Richards eyes shift from one person to another in an eeny-miney fashion. "I-I ssssuppose I pick... that w-one."

VOTE: John

"Well I guess it's no surprise that I get picked first." John says angrily. "This whole town thinks I murdered my wife and I guess that makes me a convenient scapegoat. I've never talked much about my wife to you people 'cause I figured it wasn't anybody's business but mine and hers. She was a tramp who married me because my dad convinced her I could make her rich with that crappy gas station. When he died and she saw how little money it makes... she just left. End of story." He shakes his head and adds "I don't know why no one has heard from her or where she went. I don't know why no one believed me when I told you all she left. I don't know what I've ever done that made you think I was capable of murder." His head drops and staring at his shoes he says "I'm supposed to pick one of you to kill now for this damned game. A game that the future of humanity rests on and I can't even do that. I don't know what to do." After a long pause he continues "Dottie seems almost catatonic about Georgie, Jethro has been helping out and offering suggestions, Cecil is skeptical but working to figure things out, Jason offered suggestions and just seems unlikely to be controlled, and I know it aint me, so that leaves Richard as the one I suspect most. Although, I guess Dottie's grief could be an easy way to cover a controlled person avoiding making moves in the game hoping we will fail. I just don't know."

FOS-Dottie
FOS-Richard

Richard looks scared and embarrassed when John begins his rant. His condition doesn't change once John finishes. "I-I-I-I-I-I..." Richard tries to find words, "I-I actually don't n-know you. en-en-Any of you, really. I-I didn't know about y-your wife- I-I mean ex-w-wife. Ssssssorry to hear about her."

"No, John, I don't think that aliens who consider us presentient experimental subjects would purposely pick a man just because his wife left him. I'm honestly not surprised that Richard is so quiet; I assume it's a side effect of his stutter. I'm - honestly not sure who it is. So I don't think I'm really in a position to vote for anyone."

Vote: Abstain

"I didn't mean the aliens picked me..." John replies to Cecil. He points to Richard "I was talking about him picking me to be executed. I would tell you I think that abstaining from the vote is detrimental to the game but considering I'm the only one with any votes I just gotta be grateful you didn't vote for me."

Williams tapped his watch.

"Eleven twenty-five, people. Hurry it up. And if no one comes forward with another vote, I'm afraid you're up, John."

Jethro turns to Cecil. "I sympathize witcha. I don't wanna vote for nobody neither. But the way I see it, the only thing I know is that I ain't one o' these 'Controlled,' so the best thing I can do for us is t' try to keep myself alive. So I guess that means I'm gonna vote fer John." Here he faces John. "I'm mighty sorry, John. I ain't got nuttin' against ya, an' I don't know nuttin' about yer wife. And if I'm gonna vote fer ya, I want to look ya in the eye and say so." He shakes his head sadly. "I'm sorry."

"Good job." John says sarcastically. "Pile on. Anyone else wanna jump on the bandwagon?" He continues slightly louder "Maybe it aint about my ex. Maybe this is about something deeper. Maybe..." he points at Richard "You are the controlled one. You seemed to jump at the chance to implicate an innocent man. I think you are being controlled. Why would we suspect a stuttering nervous man? It's the perfect cover for the controlled. I vote Richard. And as for you Jethro,maybe it aint personal and maybe you aint got nothin' against me but you are being dumb if you suspect me. I was the first one to try to start figuring this stuff out, even before we lost the rest of the damned town. I told you everything I was feeling and asked for help to try and figure out what was going on with the cards. That's not exactly suspicious behavior in my book. What does everyone else think? Should we execute someone trying to figure this game out and trying to win and save humanity? or maybe vote for someone who is trying to implicate the guy working hard to save everyone." John lights another smoke and inhales deeply and then, seemingly struck by inspiration he yells "Jason!" When everyone turns his way he says "You said you could protect someone from the brainwashing for a day or " and he emphasizes this point "or remove the brainwashing. I'm the one with the votes so far, before we make a huge mistake...Try to remove the brainwashing from me. If I am innocent, which I am, nothing will happen and the rest of the votes might go to the right person, whoever it is. If I am being controlled, they will lose control and I will be able to tell everyone what happened. What do you say?"

"An interesting logical dilemma." muses Cecil. "If you're innocent, then you're someone Jason shouldn't be 'protecting' - he should save that for the genuinely Controlled. On the other hand, if you are Controlled, then, assuming Jason is telling the truth, being 'cleansed' is the last thing you'd want."

"In other words, true or not, you're asking for something not in your best interest - in the long run."

"I don't think the protection takes effect until nightfall, and I'm not sure it would work on the original controlled. Besides, Williams is going to kill someone today, whether we like it or not. We can either make our best educated guess as to who that person is, or we can all play Russian roulette, and hope to god we get him. If it makes anyone feel any better, I'm not going to vote for anyone, unless I'm convinced that they're the controlled."

Vote: abstain.

Williams tapped his foot.

"Does the lady have a vote?" he said.

Williams sighed.

"I guess not," he said. "John, you're up. I hope to god you're the one we're after."

The g-men herded the Marked out of the school. Lee looked at his watch.

"Here it comes," he murmured.

A beam of pure white light appeared in the school parking lot. Williams looked at John.

"Is there anything you have to say before the end?" he asked. "Otherwise, walk into the light."

"Yeah I've got something to say. You'll find out in a minute I was telling the truth. When you do maybe you'll listen to what I said and take it to heart. Our species is depending on you. Do better. Good luck." John lights a smoke flips the bird to Williams and walks into the light.