9 — Talking & Tracking

At the library, the Media cousins found that Wayne and Juliet Trask's shared facebook page showed a decrease in activity over the past few years, and no personal posts since they changed their profile picture from a family portrait 3 years ago. Thomas resigned himself to calling his parents, and when Step assured him that his feelings were as important as the facts of the situation, Thomas said that he wanted to focus on Ty and that he would process his feelings later.

While Step went to update Dee, Thomas called home for the first time in years, and the call was recorded on the old message machine. Juliet was worriedly awaiting news on "Taylor" and asked Thomas if "she" was with him. When he said no, her walls went up, and she made it clear that Thomas' absence had excluded him from family business. Thomas asked her to put their personal conflict aside for Ty's sake; in exchange for Thomas telling her that he was in Vancouver, she shared that Ty had been missing since at least 2AM.

When Thomas asked if something had happened three years ago, the wall went back up, and Juliet made an ominous statement about family. She accused Thomas of not being able to understand, and expressed a hope that he would come to. Thomas begged her to let him come home and help find Ty, but Juliet warned him that it wasn't a good idea, as someone began to listen in on the call. An old scar that Thomas had acquired fleeing from Conspiracy's agents throbbed with warning pain, and when Juliet pretended that she was talking to someone else, Thomas caught on and got off the line and then kicked his phone into the corner. He took a little time to gather himself before heading back to the clubhouse.

On their way to the clubhouse, Step took a moment on the VPL roof to process their own feelings. In watching the people on the street below and considering his longing to be helpful, he began to overhear the city's "prayers" to Tutorials. After a few minutes answering these questions and calming themself, they remembered the task at hand and met up with Dee, who had been mindlessly playing around with their alchemical supplies.

When Step startled them, they accidentally created a bubblegum construct in the shape of a tiny elephant, which Step admired. After Step explained the Ty situation, Dee apologized for abandoning him when they teleported out. They connected over mutual inexperience with romance, a topic which flustered Step especially, given their crush. Dee felt his face and mistook his blush for illness, and insisted he take a Tylenol.

When Thomas joined them, Dee said that they should be able to create a portal to Calgary with a little help, and asked Thomas if he wanted they and Step to come with him. Thomas said he didn't want to impose, but Dee pointed out that they were a team, and, thinking of his conversation with his mother, Thomas said "yeah, we're family". Step texted the group chat to let Alex and Weave know that the trio was taking a quick trip while Dee set up a spell to allow Thomas to share his memories with them.

During the telepathic connection, Thomas shared his sense memories of his childhood home, and his emotions came along with them. Dee sent him a psychic hug of emotional support, and Thomas let himself accept that support in a way that he usually wouldn't, creating a new Tangle with Dee. In doing so, he felt a new demigod ability unlock within himself, even as his emotional vulnerability meant that his Cloak of Wisdom gift and Trusted Advisor move became temporarily unavailable to him.

Thomas didn't want to let the trail go cold, so the trio headed straight to the Trask home, which was warded by a divine power. They arrived in the woods bordering the property and investigated Thomas' old treehouse, which Ty had made their own and which was where they spent most of their time. The trio put together a picture of a lonely child who almost never left the property, and who felt that they were being kept in the dark and lied to by their parents.

Thomas pieced together Ty's life over the past week and confirmed that they were indeed 13-years-old in the present day, that they had left under their own power, and that they were likely on their way to Vancouver. Dee felt for magical traces and sensed Ty's undecided demigod potential, and the subtle presence of Books.

When Thomas used his new ability to locate Ty, he saw them getting off a Greyhound bus in an unfamiliar town, and had a near-future vision of them safe in a motel room. When Thomas tried to figure out exactly where Ty was, he was forced out of the vision and took a psychic injury and Fate's Disfavor from pushing his ability too far. The trio decided to sneak past the Trask home and walk into town, under the protection of a perception-warping spell by Dee.

At the small bus depot, Thomas asked about buses to Vancouver and picked up a copy of the bus schedule, and Step noticed a pamphlet for something called "The Knowing" in amongst the other informational brochures and church pamphlets. The investigation cut short when Dee noticed an indistinct figure with a vague smear in place of a face moving towards the demigods, and as Dee called their friend's attention to it—