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| First days as Minister
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- Corey's death caused a greater concern in Terry, beyond the grief associated with it. If Max's recollection of the event was true, then it proved the Man in Red was able to, in some form or another, kill those he had marked. For this reason, Terry went to Kaari, the only other person she knew for sure was marked as well, and warned her and Gerald of what had happened. Terry added that she intended to double up on her search for a way to remove the marks.
- Before she left, Kaari had reminded Terry of a man that had recently been admitted to the clinic, suffering from several arrow wounds. A few days later, Terry visited the man to hear what had transpired. She recognized him as Levi Black, a man she had met over at the inn some time ago, who claimed to be some kind of mercenary for hire. As Terry suspected, Levi had been ambushed by cannibal clansmen, known for their primitive nature and weaponry, who totalled his car. But that wasn't all - before getting rescued by two people, 'Jack' Jones and a woman named Trinidad, Levi saw a monster that he described as possibly red eye in origin, and as big as an 18-wheeler, tearing up the road as it went. Sadly he didn't get a good look at it, and Terry left wondering what this new creature could be.
- Fulfilling one of her main campaign points, Terry quickly announced the mini-election of the new Heads of Monroe. As it turned out, all applicants were unopposed, and so no voting was required. Terry reflected that the lack of candidates was probably due to people being nervous about the dangers of government affiliation, given Monroe's history. She couldn't really blame them for that. In the end, the lineup was mostly predictable and exactly what Terry had hoped for. Preston, Liliana, Gerald and Kaari all joined her new council, with the only fresh face a man named Larry Thorn, who was a newcomer yet seemed very knowledgeable about crops and agriculture.
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| The crevice, part 2
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- In another effort to find a way to remove the marks, Terry allied with Kaari to go back to the crevice and enter the vision-state she and Gerald had found Kaari in the last time. Kaari was determined to go back, and confident that she could bring Terry along. While knowingly going against her better judgement, Terry recalled how Kaari had succesfully retrieved information through the visions before, and figured this might be the only way to learn how to remove Kaari's mark. For safety, Terry asked Alfred and Alexis to join, tasking them with pulling herself and Kaari out of the cave in case things went south. Gerald was notably absent - Terry had not told him about the whole affair.
- The ritual didn't go as expected. Instead of just pulling Kaari and Terry into the vision, Alfred and Alexis were pulled along as well. The four of them explored a dreamscape that turned even stranger when Kaari suddenly had her long hair back, and Terry found she had a right arm. This revelation was made no less shocking by the addtional discovery of a most unwelcome presence - the Man in Red. The four watched him kill a man by way of bug-swarm, after which he turned towards them, and they knew they were found. However, he did not attack. Kaari approached him, with the others close behind, and a strange conversation ensued. When confronted by Terry, The Man in Red readily admitted to his part in Corey's death. He told them how both Kaari and Terry were very close to understanding his part of reality, and how he envisioned an evolved world, a world he called a 'natural world'. Shortly after, within the blink of an eye, he disappeared.
- Terry found herself surprisingly less anxious about the sudden meeting than she would have expected to be. The fury at Corey's now confirmed murderer was too great. But there was more to do. Kaari intended to 'speak with the ocean' and Terry still needed to learn if the marks could be removed somehow. But Alfred and Alexis were done.They had and wanted no place in the vision, and so Terry asked for Kaari to send them away, which she supposedly did, holding her hand towards them in concentration, after which they disappeared. Alone now, Kaari jumped off the cliff they were standing on into the waters below. Terry followed.
- Deep below the water, Terry and Kaari encountered a leviathan of a monster, a huge tentacled creature that spoke directly and painfully to their minds. It spoke of itself as 'we', and demanded that Kaari delivered 'what he seeks' to it. When asked about the marks, it claimed that it could remove Kaari's, then immediately wrapped itself painfully around her hand and arm and protruded a mouth-like pharynx towards her. Terry, fearing the monster was attempting to devour her, rushed to shield her. But Kaari rejected the attempt, flinging her arm out towards Terry in a desperate attempt to push her away. It worked, though not as expected - Terry was flung backwards and into the void by a great underwater wave.
- With Kaari's attempt to stop her, Terry found herself losing her hard-won footing on the sandy ocean floor as well as in the vision itself. Suddenly she was armless and floating in the Ontario River. As it happened, Alexis and Alfred were already there as well, observing from the surface, and Alfred dragged a half-drowned Terry to shore - somewhere close to Outpost 2-15 and the river shack nearby. Kaari emerged a few moments later, swimming to shore and removing her drenched clothes to avoid freezing. Her arm hung limp and injured at her side. All four retreated to the shack in order to warm up and avoid hypothermia, with Kaari running to fetch some dry clothes from the Refuge for them all.
- Safely inside and warming up by a fire, Alfred interrogated Kaari and Terry on what had just happened. He let them know his great disapproval, as well as his desire to inform Preston Hand about the whole thing. His promise to keep quiet prevented him, but he warned Terry that there would be no silence from him if anything like this was to happen again.
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| The dogmen battle
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- The time had come to take on the dogman pack once again, and hopefully for the last time. Kaari had discovered the location of the pack - apparently they were using the house where Aa'tiami was found as their den. Somehow she had also managed to get Gerald to agree to her plan of fighting Aa'tiami for leadership. Preston was joining to help along with his peacekeepers, but paused when he discovered that Terry intended to help as well. He objected, saying Terry's obligation was to stay in Monroe and stay alive. Terry argued that she had experience fighting the dogmen, and that they needed all the capable people they could get. Preston eventually, reluctantly, conceded on the grounds that Terry would stay in the back and under the protection of the peacekeepers.
- The fight itself was long, hard and, thankfully, a success. The dogman pack was disposed of, as was their leader. Kaari fulfilled her part when she challenged a surprise Aa'tiami to the leadership fight as intended, and though the fight itself was harrowing, taking everyting for Terry not to intervene, Kaari won. However, she didn't escape a serious injury to her shoulder and arm.
- After the fight, Terry met again with the crow John Smith, whom she hadn't had a chance to thank for the gift of the shield yet. The shield had served her well in the battle against the dogmen too, and she was grateful to finally be able to show her appreciation. John Smith's reaction was further surprising. Not only did he accept her thanks but, in a somewhat ceremonious moment, pledged his allegiance to her on behalf of the Crow in the area, and told her that she if she were ever in need, she had friends unseen.
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| Outpost tensions
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- On top of Terry's other worries, she hadn't forgotten about Elijah either. Still imprisoned, she encountered both him and Avery at the outpost jail, Avery as a visitor as she had somehow caught wind of his capture. Elijah's demeanor had changed - he claimed that he had been drugged that day he arrived with the child, and that he couldn't remember anything he had said. Terry was confused and sceptical. But her interview was cut short when Tyrell Mason returned. Apparently he hadn't given his permission for this meeting, and he was furious Terry had been allowed to see their prisoner. Terry and Tyrell talked for a while after - they both expressed a want to mend the bad history between Monroe and the CPF, and the hopes that their changed leaderships would denote this change as well. Upon requesting that Elijah be transferred to Monroe, Tyrell explained that it was out of his hands, and that she needed to see Max about it.
- Max had finally returned to Monroe County. However wonderful it was to see each other again, the reunion between her and Terry was marred by the passing of Corey, and both expressed their grief to each other. Terry was saddened to see Max so understandably affected, constantly fighting to keep it together even as they just sat and talked. She opted to wait with mentioning Elijahs case and the Man in Red business, for now.
- With the fight against the dogmen finally over with, Preston requested a talk with Terry. He re-affirmed his belief that the Minister ought to stay in Monroe and let he and the others do the fighting - that the time of Ministers charging into battle had to be over, seeing how risky it was and how badly leadership was needed now in Monroe. Terry argued that times would require all capable hands on deck, and that she knew how to handle herself in the wilds. But Preston persisted, saying there were other, trained people in town who could handle that. It was then Terry began to broach the topic of the monsters with Preston, as well as the Man in Red, asking him what he truly knew about these threats. As Terry expected, beyond myths and rumors it wasn't much, and he was understandably sceptical about the whole thing. But before she could properly explain what she knew and why it was important that he know as well, an electrician named Michael Kaneswell entered. He had come to Monroe, just in time for Terry to make good on her promise to help the outpost fix their radio. Terry postponed the rest of her explanation.
- Terry, Gerald, Kaari and Preston went with Michael to meet Max and fix the radio as intended. However, once at the outpost, tensions arose. Leaving briefly with Michael to find a missing electronic part in Monroe, Terry returned to see Winton and Preston engaged in a heated argument, insults flying back and forth. Terry was stunned to see Preston engaged in such, and disappointed that a very inebriated Max did nothing but laugh at the whole thing. Terry had to order Preston to back off several times, until she finally told him to go wait in the car, which he begrudgingly did.
- The radio was fixed just in time for a distress call to come through. Terry decided to follow the call, with Max agreeing to bring her own people with to investigate the matter. Terry fetched Preston saying they needed help for this task. Preston was very against it, but followed along all the same. Outside the outpost, the group searched for the origin of the distress call - and were ambushed by cannibal clansmen. The fight that followed was a mess. Max was shot in the chest with an arrow, which utterly enraged her. Preston demanded that Terry order them to fall back, to which she hesitated, until she called for Max to do the same. But Max ignored her, causing Terry further alarm. Her people were in danger, they were taken by surprise, and she had no idea what to do about Max refusing to move. Eventually she ordered her people to fall back, knowing that meant leaving Max behind as well. But it was already too late. The fight was well underway, and they had no choice but to stay and end it. Thankfully, they managed to get the upper hand and kill every attacker. Preston got caught up beating a man to death with his bare hands, and he emerged from the battle in shock.
- Back in Monroe, Preston and Terry stayed behind in the car to talk. A remorseful Terry promised Preston to do as he had commanded - not engage in senseless fights or play a hero, and to stay behind, letting others do the fighting for her. However, she in turn demanded that he not engage in arguments like the one with Winston. Preston agreed to do his best.
- Shortly after, Terry visited Max and confronted her about her recklessness on the battlefield. Max would hear none of it, and accused Terry of blaming her unfairly. Terry voiced her worry that, if they were all going to Canada, she couldn't trust Max to work with them as a team. Terry urged Max that they had to go in as prepared as possible, if they wanted to have any chance against the Man in Red. She followed up by recounting her entire journey towards becoming a Minister, including everything she had learned about the Man in Red, underlining Kaari's capabilities and the importance of her presence in the fight they were facing. Max agreed that they needed Kaari and needed to work as a team, but only if Terry's people were willing to do the same - otherwise they intended to go in alone. Terry ditto'd that statement, and left the outpost feeling dejected.
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| The council of Heads
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- At the first council meeting, the newly appointed Monroe Heads were given their delegated tasks, and Terry's plans for a better Monroe were officially underway. Terry once again explained the threat of the Man in Red, this time mainly for the benefit of Preston and Anthony, both of whom were still mostly in the dark. The concerns about going to Canada were many - beyond the fact that none of them knew what to actually expect while there, they had neither the supplies nor the manpower to sustain such a trip without seriously draining Monroe. When Terry voiced her own concerns regarding with Max and the possibility of going alone, it was agreed that they would need the support of the outpost for the trip to have any chance of being feasible at all. Terry left the meeting knowing that she and Max would have to work things out somehow.
- Terry met Max on a regular basis, and her next visits were much more productive. At one of their meetings, Terry requested that Elijah be handed over to Monroe. Max said she couldn't do that - Elijah was a captive of the CPF under suspicion of being a Miller associate. It would be up to the Rangers leader Jack Bevis if Elijah should be delivered to Monroe or not. Terry learned that Liliana had asked to see Elijah as well, which confused her - what business did Liliana have with him? She confronted Liliana about it at the inn, and asked her to leave the case to her. Liliana conceded, saying that she would merely go to Pittsford to check up on an acquiantance of hers, something Terry interpreted to be related to Lilianas secret anti-Brighton spy work, which Terry still knew only little about. When Liliana's methods were discussed, there was a clear rift between her and Terry. Terry was adamant that Liliana and her agents would not be killing or torturing, only harming in self defense. Liliana argued that this would bring her and her people in too much danger while doing their work. Terry insisted, saying that Monroe could not be associated with those kinds of methods in any way. Liliana urged Terry to reconsider, and when she refused, stood up and sadly announced that she would be leaving Monroe. Shocked, Terry begged her not to, but the decision had been made. Liliana would continue her work against Brighton, but without the Monroe association, a better solution for all in her mind. The next day she was gone.
- Terry was distraught by Liliana's departure. She had barely been a Minister for two months, and already her first Head had up and left. While part of her understood Liliana's reasoning, it still both angered and disappointed her, and the suddenness with which it happened left its mark as well. On top of it all, Terry finally gained access to the Monroe treasury, only to discover that it had been drained nearly dry. She highly suspected Crystal to be the culprit - after all, who else would have the cause and the means to do such a thing? Terry left the remains of her campaign funds in the treasury, but it was clear that the need to get Monroe's trades going had just become much more immediate - and now Monroe was short a Head of Commerce. Monroe's financial future was in jeopardy, as was the trip to Canada. Terry would have to think of something, and soon.
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| Rules, risks and confessions
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- While visiting the outpost, Max told Terry about Rhea - an old friend of Max's, a night club owner and former leader of the Liberty district in Pittsford. Max confided that Rhea had recently been overthrown by a man named Robbie, who had taken over the district and her night club and forced her to flee for her life. Now a fugitive, Rhea was looking to reclaim her leadership and needed people to help her do so. Max had signed up, and asked Terry if she might count on her help as well. She assured Terry that Rhea would be able to help them substantially in Canada and against the Man in Red. Terry was conflicted. With the Monroe treasury depleted, she was ready to pursue almost any viable avenue to secure resources for the Canada trip. At the same time, she knew that getting involved in a Pittsford conflict could get her and, by extension, all of Monroe intro trouble with the CPF, not to mention it would be breaking her promise to Preston Hand. But in the end the promise of resources - and the ability to help secure Max's safety as well - lead Terry to agree to help, which she confirmed to Rhea when Max had them introduced to each other a short time later.
- Back in Monroe a peacekeeper named Aiden had been notably absent from his duties. Terry, Kaari and Gerald went to check on him, and discovered that he had been having withdrawals from medication given to him by Harlan Parati - a Miller doctor, once working in the clinic under Crystal's leadership who had been jailed after the embassy was stormed. The medication, which was supposed to help his sleeplessness, PTSD and depression, had caused him to lose memory of the last few days after he mixed them with alcohol. In the days following, Terry and Kaari learned the cause of Aiden's depression - the death of his father and brother at the hands of the Millers - and that he was packed and planning to head to an old Miller base in Vermont, the site of their killing, to find some peace. Terry adviced strongly against it, but Kaari offered to help, causing Terry to reluctantly suggest they bring some peacekeepers with them for added safety - provided Preston Hand saw fit to grant it.
- Later, back at the outpost, Terry learned from an injured Max that she and her rangers had been sent on a failed mission to rescue a high-value target - the Head Councillor of Pittsford, Anton Korshunov. Their failure meant that the councillor was still kidnapped, and the CPF were mounting a new mission for the rangers to retry the rescue. From Max's retelling, one very worrysome fact stuck with Terry as she left the outpost - the kidnappers were operatives from Brighton, whom Terry now knew were still around, and active.
- Terry decided the time had come to tell Gerald, whom she had recently named her second in command, about the dreamwalking trip she and Kaari had undertaken. She told him how they had met the man in red, and how Alfred and Alexis had been accidentally dragged with them. She left out the part with the giant underwater leech monster, though. Gerald was angry - furious. He didn't accept Terry's explanation, that she was worried he'd convince her not to go through with it if she had told him beforehand. Gerald told Terry she either didn't believe in him, or believed in their plan to go on this vision quest. Terry acknowledged that it might have been a lack of faith that kept her from telling him - but that it was neither in him nor Kaari.
- In lieu of her recent conversation with Gerald, Terry soon made the decision to tell him about her agreement with Rhea as well, rather than keep it secret. His counsel was clear - if Terry decided to go ahead with it, she would have to prepare for consequences that would undoubtably be dire, not just for her but for Monroe as a whole. Terry had so far been willing to gamble and face the consequences, whatever they may be. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized the reward was not worth the risk. What if Rhea's people, the main resource she had promised in return for Terry and Max's help, decided to turn on all of them in Canada? What if they wanted the weapon for themselves? Terry's good intentions could very well turn an already bad situation into something even worse, even in a winning scenario. It didn't add up. Cursing her own indecisiveness and lack of foresight, she made the difficult decision of going back on her promise to Rhea.
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| In search of a Crow Mother
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- Max was understanding towards Terry taking back her promise to help, not blaming her for putting Monroe and her ministership first. Knowing Monroe was still stuck with a resource problem, Terry shared another plan with Max - she intended to reach out to the Crow Mother, and try and convince her to support their trip to Canada. Terry knew the chance of finding the Crow Mother and her camp was small, but if she could provide any resources or even just information, it would be worth the attempt. John Smith's surprising and overwhelming support gave Terry hope that she really did have friends unseen, and that she'd be able to count on their aid in this matter. Max, who had met with the Crow Mother once before, wanted to help but couldn't recall the location of the Crow camp, nor did she hold out much hope that tracking down her own Crow contact, Blackwell, would be an easy task. They agreed to each try and get a hold of their Crow contacts, and keep each other updated.
- Terry arranged for her and Kaari to meet with John Smith. It was a fruitful meeting, if somewhat confusing to Terry, given the company and its penchant for going into long, baffling conversations about monsters and magic. That being said, Terry was surprised and slightly alarmed to find that, once the conversation got going, she actually understood more than she expected to. The topic of monsters and magic was starting to make eerie sense to her. She gathered that, while John couldn't lead them to the Crow Mother directly, he suggested it may be possible to commune with her through dreams. The Crow Mother was known to dreamwalk, and Kaari and Terry had some experience. While Terry and Kaari were alone, Kaari mentioned that she planned to go to Canada, Montreal, with her dogman Aa'tiami to hunt cannibals. Aa'tiami was growing restless, and Kaari worried that he'd become unhappy and fight her if he wasn't allowed to hunt humans. Terry disapproved greatly, and told Kaari hunting humans, any humans, for sport wasn't a thing any of them should be doing, least of all a representative of Monroe like Kaari. The conversation turned into an argument with no conclusion, and which would cause a rift between them.
- E'rami made a surprise visit to Monroe, and Terry went just outside of town to meet him. Using the corpse of one of the dead dogmen, E'rami told Terry he could feel the Millers moving and gathering their forces - it would only be a matter of time before they, too, would head out to search for the great weapon. Terry assured E'rami that they'd be leaving for Canada soon too, and would get to the weapon before the Millers or anyone else. E'rami intended to task her and Kaari with killing the Millers before they could unite and grow too strong again, and as a way to prove they could take on the man in red when the time comes. In return, he offered them information. Terry accepted.
- Between trying to minister a town, dealing with the lack of resources for the vital Canada trip, giant monsters and Miller missions, and her troubles with her council, Terry was stressed to say the least. Max had previously urged her to go see the new therapist Terry had hired for the community center, but she had rejected the idea, believing her stressors wouldn't get fixed simply by talking about them. In reality, she was worried what the therapist might ask of personal questions - recounting her past to Gerald had been a really difficult thing for her to do, and she trusted him implicitly. Opening up to a stranger seemed completely impossible. What if he didn't keep it confidential? What if others found out about her past, and what kind of person she really was? Because of Terry's unwillingness, Max came up with what she decided was the 'next best thing' - edibles. Though reluctant at first, Terry and Max eventually had a grand ol' time drinking and eating weed-infused cookies, and the following day, Gerald found the minister outside the walls of Monroe, giggling like an idiot and stoned out of her mind. He coaxed her inside discreetly, and he and Alfred managed to succesfully keep the whole affair under wraps. Afterwards, a very embarassed Terry decided that drugs probably weren't for her.
- The rift between Terry and Kaari grew as Terry once again tried to convince Kaari not to let Aa'tiami hunt humankind. It turned into a discussion on leadership - Terry asserted herself as leader of Monroe and doubled down on her unwillingness to negotiate her stance, and Kaari told Terry that she trusted her as a friend, but didn't see her as a leader. Terry's fears came true when Kaari declared she would leave Monroe once the Man in Red had been defeated. Terry saw another member of her council, and another trusted friend, slipping away from her.
- Gerald arrived to the Resident Service Building to find a dejected Terry, who soon told him the reason for her gloom. He listened, sympathetic, and placed some of the blame on himself, saying that he knew or at least suspected that Kaari wasn't really the Monroe council type, and that he made her apply for the position of Head of Medicine mostly to keep her around. Terry shared in his blame, admitting that she was guilty of wanting to keep Kaari around as well. She told Gerald of their plan to meet the Crow Mother in another dreamwalk, knowing full well that Gerald would be less than thrilled. As expected, he didn't like the idea at all, but he didn't try to convince her not to go through with it - rather, when she requested his guidance and support in how to do it better than last time, he offered it readily. Sharing a bottle of wine and acknowledging the mess that was the whole Man in Red situation, Terry was grateful to share her frustrations and worries with the former reverend and, while still facing an uncertain future and the mounting pressure of her ministership, felt her burden lessened as a result. However, though Gerald reassured her he wasn't planning on leaving with Kaari, Terry wasn't convinced, noting how Kaari was obviously more than just a job to him.
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| The crevice, part 3
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- The day of the planned dreamwalk had arrived. The plan was for Kaari to bring Terry and Alfred along, with Gerald standing watch just outside the ritual cave. As usual, things did not go as planned - Kaari managed to bring Terry along, but Alfred was inexplicably left behind this time. The dreamwalk itself was brief. Terry and Kaari found a Crow woman, who - upon hearing their request to see the Crow Mother - told them to go back to Monroe, and that the Crow would find them. At the same time, Kaari felt a dangerous presence approach, and told Terry she 'had been found faster than last time'. She attempted to wake them both from the dream, but only succeeded in waking Terry, who discovered an anxious Alfred and a convulsing Kaari being watched over by Jenny. Terry quickly made it to Kaari's side along with Gerald, who had been stuck in the cave tunnel but had freed himself. To both their relief, Kaari emerged from her seizure and seemed to be okay. But their relief was cut short when a pool of strange goo formed around Kaari, and she suddenly sprouted two giant snakes from her back. Kaari was strangely okay with that, calmly greeting her offspring, while Terry, Alfred and Gerald were beyond horrified. When the initial panic eventually settled, Gerald furiously accused Terry of causing Kaari's predicament, as well as being a danger to her overall.
- In the aftermath of the cave incident, Terry hardly showed up around Monroe. Her failures as a Minister, perceived or otherwise, were already causing her to question everything about herself and her ministership. The cave incident, and Gerald's subsequent outburst, had served to confirm her fears in the worst way. As a result, she shut herself inside her room at the Resident Service building, visiting no one and leaving only when absolutely necessary. Kaari - and her snakes - paid Terry a visit, and Kaari expressed her confusion about the situation, and why Gerald was so angry with her. While Terry couldn't be convinced to retract her self-doubt, she did accept Kaari's thanks for going into the Dreaming together - though both acknowledging that Kaari would be going it alone from now on.
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| Saratoga Springs
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- Terry wasn't able to stay withdrawn for long. Aiden's trip to to the old Miller base was soon be underway - volunteers had been rounded up and, having been tasked by E'rami to take out the remaining Millers, both Terry and Kaari would be coming along as well, with Terry leading the mission.
- Upon arriving at their destination in Vermont - a foresty area filled with a noxious fog - Kaari detected the presence of large monsters. After hearing an ear-splitting cry, Terry ordered the group back, only to find their car completely destroyed. With their only way of escape gone, the group had no choice but to soldier on through the fog and find shelter in the monster-filled forest. Using Aiden's map, they planned a route, but stumbled upon a couple of corpses. Finding a radio on one of the bodies, Terry called up the strangers on the other end. A man answered and told Terry him and his people had been attacked by Millers, and that they were currently holed up in a building while the Millers were taking potshots at them. Terry and her group made it up to the building and succesfully took out the attacking Millers. Once inside, she met John, a 'cowboy' sort of type, whom she had spoken with over the radio, and who was able to offer more information on where the Miller camps were located. He also offered Terry and her people a ride to the safety of their settlement - Saratoga Springs. Before leaving, Terry found Aiden inspecting the rooms of the placed - the Miller outpost now turned Ranger station - which turned out to be where he and Kaari had been held by the Millers. He told Terry he hadn't found what he was looking for, but that he didn't believe he ever would. A small, if meager, sort of closure.
- Terry and co. arrived at Saratoga, and found it to be a settlement in many ways similar to Monroe. Not the largest but definitely not the smallest either, with its own functioning community and bustle of life. The group was lead to the local clinic and checked for infection, specifically an infection they had named Spore Lung, a disease contracted from the poisonous fogs. Once cleared, Terry and Kaari met Dr. Logan Klar, who was fascinated with studying the virus and the idea of 'evolutions' towards which he had done some (questionable) research of his own. He asked Terry and Kaari to speak on his behalf at their upcoming meeting with Dakota Hill, the co-leader of town. In return he offered them spore samples of his work for Kaari to study.
- Meeting with Dakota Hill, she and Terry found common ground in wanting to protect both their respective communities against the Miller threat. Dakota was very receptive and surprised towards Terry and Kaari's offer to help get rid of the Millers in the area, and Terry shared what info she was carrying on the Millers, notably the photographs from the Miller HQ fight showing them turning into monsters and melting. Along with learning about the Man in Red, this was news to Dakota - but she seemed to believe them and, in the end, they all agreed to stay in touch and plan how to best to end the Miller threat once and for all, together. Before leaving, Terry and Kaari learned of another fanatical religious group in the area, similar to the Millers but not the same, abducting people and leaving strange symbols around. Terry offered to help find out more about them too, and promised to be vigilant.
- Safely back in Monroe, Terry holed up in the Resident Service building again, returning to doing her work from inside and going out as little as possible. She did however make a visit to the Outpost, where meeting Rhea as well as Max provided her the opportunity to apologize in person for backing out of her promise to help Rhea take her club back. Rhea was surprisingly forgiving, noting somewhat sharply that politics aren't politics without a bit of 'pizzaz and dishonesty'. Changing the subject, Max told both how she and her team were finally able to successfully rescue Head Councilor Korshunov, and that he in turn had offered her a promotion. Max revealed how the Councilor apparently intended to promote her to general as thanks, something that didn't sit well with her at all. Worse, he wanted her to be the outward face of the Coalition and their war against Brighton, as well as the main representative of the Pittsford Liberty district in an effort to end the civil war, and for Max write a speech to read in front of everyone. Rhea told Max Korshunov only wanted to use her and that she should have refused him outright, but Max countered regretfully, claiming the stress and pressure made it impossible to refuse. Additionally, she was enticed by Korshunov's promise to pardon Rhea, should she accept. Max commented that she was grateful they'd soon be going to Canada, which would get her away from all the political intrigue and put a wrench in Korshunov's plans. Their meeting was then interrupted by an angry Dwayne Clancy breaking into Max's apartment and the ensuing fight between them. Terry was whisked out of the Outpost by her Peacekeeper protectors.
- Max and Terry reconvened in Terry's kitchen a day or so later, and Max apologized for Clancy's interruption and their subsequent fight. Max confided in Terry her units distrust of Rhea and their desire to tell the CPF of their plan to go to Canada, hoping that the CPF would be supportive and offer extra resources. Terry was shocked and desperately urged Max to not tell the CPF anything. She told Max that the CPF couldn't be trusted not to want to use the weapon themselves, and even if they could be trusted, they were still known to have been infiltrated by Brighton, who definitely couldn't know about the plan at all costs. Terry tried to convince Max to cut ties with the CPF instead so as not to jeopardize the Canada mission. Max was attentive, but told Terry she couldn't just not listen to her unit, and that they were going to have a meeting about it soon. But, in that same conversation, Max laid bare her own doubts and fears, both in the future and in herself. She told Terry she felt like a failure all around, with everything going wrong no matter what choices she made. Terry disagreed, earnestly telling Max that she was very needed, no less by Terry herself as her friend. She recounted how Max had been a friend and support to her, even when Terry failed to be the same. Terry also let Max know about her and her teams discoveries in Saratoga.
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