The Institute

Luke, Tim, and Mrs. Sigsby are on their way to the airstrip where the retrieval team left their jet. Luke telephones Stackhouse and tells him to have a bus ready for the children near the flagpole in front of the Institute. Luke will exchange the flash drive then.

When Luke hangs up, Tim points out that his plan won’t work because Stackhouse could easily shoot the children. Luke explains that he doesn’t actually care about the bus; he is buying time for his friends.

Back at the Institute, Avery, Kalisha, Nicky, George, and Helen dream about ringing telephones. Every time one of them answers a phone, they hear someone ask, “Can you hear me?” in a different language: Children in Institute facilities all over the world are tuning in to Avery’s telepathic signal boosted by the Ward A children.

At the Institute, the children dream of a big phone that will link the other phones together. Avery tells his friends that when all the other Institutes tune in and Luke arrives, they will answer the big phone.

Stackhouse prepares an ambush for Luke, and chlorine gas is ready to be pumped into the HVAC system as soon as he receives the flash drive.