After arming Wendy Gullickson to guard Julia Sigsby and Dr. James Evans, Tim Jamieson pulls Luke Ellis aside to discuss the exchange plan. Tim warns that traveling to the rendezvous could be an ambush leading to their deaths and the deaths of the captive children, leaving Wendy to trigger delayed official action that might arrive too late. Luke acknowledges the danger but insists the objective is to buy time for the children at the Institute.

Luke explains that his abilities have grown stronger over distance and that he feels connected to the Institute children’s collective power. To demonstrate, Luke focuses and channels a force that shoves Tim into a chainlink fence. Tim confirms he felt it like a strong gust of wind, and Luke clarifies the power came through him rather than from him, citing Avery Dixon’s belief that “we’re stronger together.”

Luke theorizes that Avery, the youngest and strongest, was likely punished for helping Luke escape by being put in the immersion tank without limiting injections, which unlocked greater Stasi Lights but damaged minds. Luke believes this backfired, sparking a mutiny among the Ward A kids, who now wield raw, collective power even as their cognition fails. He suggests they are not yet free but may soon be.

Prompted by Tim’s observation that Sigsby and Tony Stackhouse must have superiors, Luke extrapolates that there may be multiple Institutes worldwide—possibly in the United States and abroad—cooperating toward a shared goal: sacrificing some children to avert global catastrophe. He posits that these Institutes may be linked and that news of the mutiny could spread, amplifying the collective psychic force.

Luke concludes that their leverage lies in Stackhouse underestimating him and that the real mission is to stall for time as a larger event gathers. When Tim asks if they are truly going to save the kids, Luke, briefly shedding his harmless demeanor, replies that they are going “to pick up the pieces,” signaling readiness for fallout from the ongoing revolt.