Portland welcomed them with rain.Alex watched water stream down the van's windows as they navigated through the city's afternoon traffic. Five years of diminished probability sight meant he could barely glimpse futures anymore. Just occasional flickers. Percentages that appeared and vanished before he could process them.But he felt tension through the quantum entanglement. All seven consciousness on edge. They were approaching unknown situation. Architect-level manifestation in traumatized teenager. The variables were too chaotic to predict outcomes."Portland Keepers are meeting us at their headquarters," Santos said from the driver's seat. He navigated with characteristic precision despite never having visited the city before. "They've been monitoring the girl since the crash three weeks ago. Keeping her under observation without revealing themselves.""She knows she's being watched," Okoye said. Her damaged prediction ability still functioned for short-term futures. "I'm seeing p

Three months into Sarah's training, the institute received an unexpected visitor.Alex was reviewing progress reports when Maya alerted him through the quantum entanglement. Her thoughts carried warning and curiosity mixed together. Someone at the front entrance. High-level probability signature. Not hostile but definitely powerful. Claims to represent international Keeper coalition.Alex moved to the entrance. Found a woman in her fifties waiting patiently in the reception area. She wore professional attire that suggested academic background rather than corporate. Her probability signature was controlled. Precise. The mark of someone with decades of manipulation experience."Mr. Thompson. I'm Dr. Elena Volkov. I represent the Global Keeper Alliance." Her accent was Russian but faint. Years of international work had smoothed it. "We need to discuss your institute's activities.""We're not doing anything illegal," Alex said, immediately defensive. "Our training protocols are approved b

Three months passed in careful preparation.The Tokyo Probability Training Center opened on a crisp November morning. Keeper Tanaka had converted an old temple complex in the city's outskirts into training facility. The juxtaposition of ancient architecture and cutting-edge probability monitoring equipment created aesthetic Alex found oddly appropriate. Old meeting new. Tradition adapting to unprecedented challenge.Alex stood in the center's main courtyard with Maya and Santos. The other four had remained in New Eden. Okoye's coherence had dropped to sixteen percent. She couldn't travel without risking complete fragmentation. Patel was similarly fragile. Zhang, Martinez, and Reeves stayed to support them and manage the institute.Through the quantum entanglement, Alex felt their presence anyway. Distance was irrelevant. The connection transcended physical space. Seven consciousness linked permanently regardless of geography."Impressive facility," Maya observed. "Tanaka did excellent

Mumbai greeted them with chaos.Alex stood at the window of the new training center, watching the city sprawl in every direction. Fifteen million people. Traffic that defied physics. Heat that made probability calculations shimmer in the air like mirages. The sensory overload was overwhelming even for his diminished sight."The manifestation rate here is extraordinary," Keeper Desai said. She was the Mumbai center director. Mid-forties. Indian. Her probability influence was strong but controlled. "We're seeing three to four new cases monthly. Far higher than Tokyo or London. Something about the population density and ley line convergence makes probability manipulation manifest more frequently.""How many students currently?" Maya asked."Twelve. Eight sight-level. Three influence. One potential architect." Desai's concern was evident. "The architect manifestation is what worries me. Boy named Arjun Patel. Seventeen. Survived building collapse that killed thirty-two people. His probabi

Maya felt Alex disappear and remain simultaneously.His individual consciousness was gone. Zero percent coherence. Scattered across quantum space beyond recovery as independent entity. But through the entanglement, she felt his fragments. Aware. Present. Existing in way that defied normal definition of existence.She stood in São Paulo training center observation room. Watching Isabella practice the filtering technique Alex had died teaching her. The girl was brilliant. Controlled. Everything they'd hoped for in architect-level training.The cost had been Alex's complete fragmentation.Worth it, by any mathematical analysis. One consciousness for potentially hundreds of lives saved through Isabella's future teaching. The calculation was clear.But mathematics didn't account for grief. For the hollowness Maya felt despite Alex's fragments residing within her consciousness. For the knowledge that she'd never speak with him independently again. Never hold him. Never share private moments