Nicky Wilholm, a tall, disheveled teen with visible injuries, arrived in the rec area. Luke introduced himself, but Nicky ignored the handshake and set up a chess board, immediately establishing himself as cynical, intense, and combative. The others—Kalisha Benson, Iris Stanhope, and George Iles—treated Nicky with wary respect. Nicky referenced Donna Gibson, recently sent to “Back Half,” and Kalisha confirmed several kids had disappeared that way.

Nicky told Luke they were in a remote Maine facility marked as TR-110, and that staff neither denied the abductions nor fully explained their work. Kalisha casually demonstrated light telepathy by naming Luke’s grandmother, Rebecca, but noted she could only read surface thoughts. Nicky criticized the idea that Maureen Alvorson could or would help them, and the group agreed anyone working there was part of the system.

Nicky summarized the intake: each child is tagged with a metal ear circlet, examined, tested, and injected repeatedly. “Pos” kids perform psychic “tricks,” especially TK; George was strong, and a younger boy, Bobby Washington, had been stronger before being sent to Back Half. Iris reiterated she had been put in a “tank” and suffered fever and a severe headache after a shot. The group discussed “Morty,” who developed spots and heart palpitations after injections and then vanished; Kalisha feared he might have died rather than been transferred.

They described the Institute as a compound with doctors, technicians, caretakers, and heavy security headed by a bald man named Stackhouse. Nicky pointed out a second green cinderblock building beyond the cafeteria windows that housed Back Half. When Luke asked what happened there, Kalisha said no one knew. Nicky erupted in a loud rant at the surveillance camera, mocking the staff’s assurances that everything would be “alright,” and vowing to resist.

After calming, Nicky detailed their environment: rooms copied from home to “soothe,” good cafeteria food with menus, unlocked doors, and access to a canteen that dispensed snacks, cigarettes, and even wine coolers and hard lemonade in exchange for tokens—rewards for compliant behavior. The group noted that some kids became habitual users, staying lightly buzzed or taking up tobacco, and that the staff seemed focused on getting kids to “see the dots and hear the hum,” a state reached through ongoing injections and tests.

Nicky estimated most kids spend about three weeks in Front Half before going to Back Half, after which the official story is debriefing, memory wipe, and return home “clean.” He mocked this narrative as unrealistic. When Luke asked if their parents were alive, no one answered, which implied the worst and left Luke facing the likelihood his parents had been killed.