Chapter Summaries

Henry spent the morning at Oak Spring Farm with Rachel Lambert, Katharine Hepburn, and Givenchy after the banquet. Rachel proposed that he marry an unmarried Mellon woman, but Henry rejected the idea, leaving her intentions uncertain.

• Givenchy jogged through the garden while Rachel Lambert and Katharine Hepburn considered where to place the Projection Crystal.
• Henry joined them after waking late, and he traded teasing remarks with Katharine Hepburn and Rachel Lambert.
• After breakfast began, Rachel asked Henry whether he would marry a daughter of the Mellon family.
• Rachel clarified that she meant an unmarried young woman and described the wealth and influence marriage could bring Henry.
• Henry declined, saying he could not care for a family and doubting that a Mellon woman would be interested in him; Rachel stopped pressing but remained faintly amused.

Ezekiel Sims met with Abstergo researcher Warren Vidic to deliver an antique painting and collect facial-recognition software that could help him investigate the Spider-Women from his death dreams. He left with the software but without government system access, determined to handle the rest himself.

• Ezekiel Sims woke from another vivid dream of his death at the hands of three Spider-Women and decided to keep avoiding Spider-Man.
• Ezekiel Sims brought an antique painting of a fortress under Mongol attack to Abstergo Entertainment and met Warren Vidic.
• Warren Vidic explained that Abstergo was researching the Assassin Order and confirmed its connection to the Continental Hotel.
• Ezekiel Sims questioned whether Abstergo could protect him from the Assassins, and Warren Vidic said their commission would not directly involve that organization.
• Warren Vidic gave Ezekiel Sims facial-recognition software but refused to provide government system access, and Ezekiel Sims declined deeper cooperation.

Ezekiel Sims told Warren Vidic that Henry Brown had impressed Mrs. Mellon with a crystal projection, prompting Vidic to suspend recruitment efforts and reassess him. Sims left with information about hacker Amalia Mameed, while Lucy Stillman came to collect a painting for genetic-memory research.

• Ezekiel Sims warned Warren Vidic that Henry Brown had ties to Mrs. Mellon and might be protected by the Mellon family.
• Sims described Henry's crystal projection of the Mellons at different ages, and Vidic ordered all action against Henry suspended in favor of observation.
• Sims dismissed rumors about Henry and asked Vidic for information on a hacker he could recruit.
• Vidic gave Sims a file on Amalia Mameed, a tracked hacker and confirmed Rising Tide member, and Sims left to handle the matter.
• Lucy Stillman arrived to retrieve a painting and check whether it could induce genetic memory.

Henry returned to his routine in New York while Thena, Gilgamesh, and Cassandra traveled to Budapest to help Alexei. He continued driving Skye home from school for her safety, but their trip stopped on a bridge after Henry spotted a car accident ahead.

• Thena, Gilgamesh, and Cassandra went to Budapest with the Ursa Major Mecha to assist Alexei against Vampires and Werewolves, and Cassandra planned to test her Isu Skyhawk Armor.
• Dog Squad Saint Bernard carried special ammunition to Europe and returned with assorted loot, while the True Adamantium Furnace remained unused in Henry's secret base.
• Kate insisted that Henry drive Skye to and from school after she had been cornered in an alley, preventing Skye from slipping away after class.
• Henry picked Skye up in his vintage Cadillac, and they joked about her commute and his spicy curry before leaving for home.
• Henry stopped the car on the bridge after seeing an apparent accident ahead, and Skye asked what had happened.

Henry and Skye were trapped in a bridge traffic jam caused by a crash, where paramedic Cathy Webb became trapped in an overturned car hanging over the river. Henry hesitated over whether to intervene as the car plunged into the water, and he learned that the rescue was going badly.

• Henry confirmed that a three-car collision had blocked the bridge, and Skye called 911 before contacting home.
• Skye recognized Cathy Webb among the paramedics who ran from the ambulance to help the crash victims.
• Henry joined bystanders in assisting the injured occupants of the two less-damaged cars while Cathy and another paramedic worked on the overturned vehicle.
• The overturned car fell into the river with Cathy Webb inside, and Henry wondered whether she would become Madame Web.
• After rescuing an injured person, Cathy's fellow paramedic jumped into the river, while Henry used Super Hearing to learn that a door jammed by water pressure was delaying the rescue.

Henry tried to save Cassie Webb after her car plunged into the river, but Spider-Man mistook him for a suicide jumper and pulled him back before accidentally dropping him into the water. Henry and another paramedic rescued Cassie and revived her on shore.

• Henry leaped from the bridge to help Cassie Webb, but Spider-Man caught him with a web and mistook him for someone trying to commit suicide.
• Henry explained that a car had fallen into the river and a paramedic was trying to rescue its passenger, so Spider-Man apologized and released him.
• Henry plunged into the river, found the other paramedic outside the sinking car, and pulled the unconscious Cassie free.
• Henry and the paramedic carried Cassie to shore and performed CPR until she coughed up water and began breathing again.
• Henry and the paramedic exchanged a fist bump and laughed with relief.

After helping rescue Cathy Webb from the river, Henry noticed her powers awaken when they shook hands, and she reacted to something she sensed in him. Henry and Skye left the bridge for home while Cathy went to seek medical care.

• Ben examined Cathy and brought her back to the ambulance, while Henry returned to his Cadillac and talked with Skye about Spider-Man.
• Cathy thanked Henry for saving her, but their handshake triggered a brief mental episode and an unusual surge in her bioelectric activity.
• Cathy asked Henry what he was, then apologized and left without meeting his eyes.
• Henry decided not to press Cathy for an explanation, and he and Skye prepared to go home after the police cleared traffic from the bridge.

Ezekiel Sims hired Amalia Mameed to use hacked government databases and public surveillance systems to find three women from sketches he had seen in his dreams. After narrowing the candidates, he asked Amalia to gather more details and recent photographs, but the limits of online privacy in 2003 made the search difficult.

• Ezekiel Sims hired Amalia Mameed to search for women matching three sketches using Department of Homeland Security software and public surveillance systems.
• Amalia reported finding nineteen candidates for the first sketch, eleven for the second, and twenty-three for the third, with no matches in criminal or intelligence databases.
• Ezekiel Sims warned Amalia not to ask how he had obtained the software and account access.
• Ezekiel Sims removed candidates who did not match his memories and asked Amalia to find detailed information, especially recent photographs, about those remaining.
• Amalia explained that surveillance footage and anonymous websites offered few useful personal photos in 2003.

Ezekiel Sims sought help to eliminate women he believed were connected to his death-predicting dreams, while Amalia Mameed grew suspicious of his intentions and quietly prepared an escape plan. He contacted Warren Vidic to request Abstergo Industries' special operations team, and Vidic promised to connect him with the operations chief.

• Ezekiel Sims considered killing the nearly ten women he had identified, but decided to have a helper begin the work while he handled the cleanup.
• Ezekiel Sims ordered Amalia Mameed to track the selected targets, and she worried that he intended to harm underage girls and began making plans to escape.
• Ezekiel Sims called Warren Vidic and asked to borrow Abstergo Industries' special operations team, including personnel skilled in cleanup.
• Warren Vidic said he would pass the request to the operations chief, who had already wanted to contact Ezekiel Sims.

Cassie Webb struggled with uncontrollable visions while trying to return to work, but an emergency call brought her to a major port warehouse fire. As she treated victims outside and foresaw O'Neill bloodied, Spider-Man arrived and plunged into the blaze to rescue people.

• Cassie Webb continued experiencing visions of near-future events, even when she changed her actions to avoid them.
• At a paramedics' BBQ, Cassie Webb revealed she was an orphan before an emergency call summoned the off-duty teams to a port warehouse fire.
• Because of her poor condition, Cassie Webb stayed outside to treat victims while other paramedics entered the fire with firefighters.
• Cassie Webb performed CPR on a man with no heartbeat or breathing as she saw a vision of O'Neill covered in blood.
• Spider-Man swung into the fire as people at the scene cheered.

Cassie Webb tried to keep O'Neill safe despite her visions, but he left to check other fire sites and was struck by a truck. Spider-Man and the paramedics freed O'Neill from the wreckage, leaving Cassie fighting to save him as Spider-Man was overwhelmed by memories of his own past failure.

• Cassie Webb's visions intensified, and she urged O'Neill to let her drive him to the other fire sites.
• O'Neill told Cassie to stay with the injured and trust their team, then drove off in an ambulance.
• A cargo truck struck the ambulance at an intersection, trapping O'Neill in the crushed driver's seat.
• Spider-Man pulled the vehicles apart and pried open the ambulance so Cassie and other paramedics could free O'Neill.
• The paramedics tried to revive O'Neill, but most stopped while Cassie continued, and Spider-Man stood silently recalling Uncle Ben's death.

Ezekiel Sims’s borrowed Alpha Squad used Amaria Mamed’s surveillance system to locate targets for a series of killings while preparing to disappear before their murders drew attention. Amaria identified their next target as sixteen-year-old Anya Corazon in Queens.

• Ezekiel Sims established a temporary operations command center in a rented New York office building to support Amaria Mamed’s network equipment.
• Head Wolf watched Amaria’s public surveillance feeds while Alpha Squad’s mercenaries drank and waited for target locations.
• Head Wolf considered the squad’s plan to kill the targets quickly and go underground to avoid police attention.
• Amaria Mamed told Head Wolf that the next target was sixteen-year-old Anya Corazon in Queens.

After O'Neill's death, Cathy Weber withdrew from life while questioning whether her visions could change the future. When a vision of a pigeon crashing through her kitchen window proved false, she realized she had saved it, but the old cat's departing meow unleashed visions of a killer attacking her apartment building, where a teenage girl always died.

• Cathy Weber ignored her partner's call about O'Neill's funeral and stayed home, grieving and depressed.
• A vision showed a pigeon crashing into Cathy's kitchen window, but when she checked, a live pigeon flew into her apartment and escaped the old cat.
• Cathy Weber cried as she realized the pigeon incident had been a vision of an event she could change, though she still regretted failing to save O'Neill.
• The old cat left after Cathy failed to respond to its meows, and its final cry triggered a flood of visions of a killer attacking the apartment building.
• Cathy Weber saw many possible patterns of death, but a South American teenage girl in the building died in every vision.

After seeing a vision of Anya Corazon in danger, Cathy Weber rushed her out of their apartment building, but Anya doubted her warning. When Abstergo’s Alpha Squad arrived and opened fire, Anya fled with Cathy as the killers pursued them.

• Cathy Weber hurried to Anya Corazon’s apartment and dragged her downstairs to protect her from a danger she could not explain.
• Anya confronted Cathy on the street, questioning why she had been taken from her home.
• Two members of Abstergo’s Alpha Squad, hired by Ezekiel Sims, arrived to kill Anya.
• The Black squad member spotted Anya and fired, missing her and hitting a parked car.
• Cathy grabbed Anya and ran, while both Alpha Squad members chased them with a gun.

Cathy Weber and Anya Corazon escaped an armed pursuer by boarding a bus, but the mercenaries tracked them and caused the bus to crash. Cathy then saw a vision of Anya being killed and returned to the bus shortly before the crash was due to happen.

• A white mercenary told Head Wolf that Mike had spotted their target, Anya Corazon, and chased her after firing a shot.
• Head Wolf ordered the men to continue the operation quietly, then learned Anya had boarded a Q32 bus and sent someone to watch it.
• Mike and the white mercenary returned to their car to pursue Anya, while Mike angrily threatened her.
• On the bus, Anya demanded answers from Cathy Weber, who said she only knew the attackers were coming.
• The bus was struck and overturned, and Cathy saw a killer shoot Anya and then aim at her.
• Cathy returned to the moving bus, where Anya was clutching her head as they approached the intersection where the crash would occur.

Cathy Weber rescued Anya Corazon and Marty Franklin from gunmen, then fled with them onto a subway train. The pursuers reported their destination to Ezekiel Sims, who headed to Grand Central Terminal with Head Wolf as the three women tried to understand why they were being targeted.

• Cathy Weber pulled Anya Corazon and Marty Franklin off a bus just before gunmen in two vans boxed them in and opened fire.
• Cathy Weber led the two girls through a crowded subway station and onto a departing train, escaping the four gunmen who had pursued them.
• The gunmen reported that Anya Corazon and Marty Franklin were headed to Grand Central Terminal and had been led away by a strange woman.
• Ezekiel Sims learned the train would arrive in about fifteen minutes and left the temporary base to intercept the targets, followed by Head Wolf.
• On the train, Marty Franklin asked why the gunmen were after her, while Anya Corazon said she did not know and Cathy Weber realized her visions now showed her dying too.

Cathy Weber’s visions led her to gather Anya Corazon, Marty Franklin, and another girl while they fled Ezekiel Sims through Grand Central Terminal and boarded a train to Poughkeepsie. When Cathy saw Sims pursuing them again, she dragged an afro-haired woman off the train too, despite the woman’s protests.

• Anya Corazon refused to involve the police, and Cathy Weber offered to take her to a church in Poughkeepsie.
• Cathy Weber foresaw the girls being murdered at Grand Central Terminal and led Anya Corazon and Marty Franklin through the station, where they encountered Ezekiel Sims.
• Anya Corazon and Marty Franklin pulled an unfamiliar white girl along as they fled Sims and boarded a train bound for Poughkeepsie.
• Marty Franklin met an afro-haired Black woman who looked like her, while Cathy Weber was overwhelmed by a vision of powerful heroes turned villains.
• Cathy Weber saw Ezekiel Sims approaching through the train carriages and dragged the afro-haired woman away with the others, prompting the woman to curse and resist.

Cathy Weber and the three girls fled Poison Spider through the station, where he killed an officer and attacked the police. Alpha Squad hesitated to assist Ezekiel Sims after finding the officers dead, but he demanded that they continue hunting their targets.

• Ezekiel Sims killed the afro-haired woman after she refused to interfere, and Marty Franklin urged the girls to run.
• Cathy Weber and the three girls sought help from station police, who restrained Cathy as the girls tried to explain.
• Poison Spider attacked the officers, dragged one away, and left the officers on that level dead as Cathy and the girls fled.
• Head Wolf and Alpha Squad arrived to support Ezekiel Sims but hesitated after seeing the dead officers and discussing the consequences of killing police.
• Ezekiel Sims confronted Alpha Squad and insisted that he had created an opportunity for them to hunt the targets.

Cathy Weber fled with Marty Franklin, Anya Corazon, and Julia Carpenter after a black-clad Spider-Man pursued them, then called Henry Brown for help. As Cathy struggled to explain the danger, the girls speculated about her relationship with him while their pursuer remained at large.

• Cathy Weber drove the stolen taxi while Marty Franklin suggested finding Spider-Man, and Anya Corazon and Julia Carpenter questioned the idea.
• Cathy remembered Henry Brown, whom she considered more powerful than Spider-Man, and asked to borrow a phone.
• Marty Franklin lent Cathy her phone, and Cathy called Henry Brown, who calmed her down and told her to explain what happened.
• Cathy gave Henry a confused account of the danger, while the girls whispered that she liked him and wondered whether she was flirting.
• Cathy heard the girls' comments and shouted that she was not deaf.

Head Wolf ended Alpha Squad’s contract with Ezekiel Sims after Sims’s actions put the team at risk, but several squad members returned to offer their services privately. Amaria Mamed feared for her safety as Sims accepted their plan to target the remaining victims’ families and the woman interfering with him.

• Head Wolf confronted Ezekiel Sims over his distrust and the danger caused by police officers’ deaths, then terminated Alpha Squad’s contract.
• Alpha Squad accepted the loss of the unpaid half of their fee, disbanded, and went into hiding.
• Ezekiel Sims kept Amaria Mamed at the temporary office and urged her to locate the remaining three targets.
• Several Alpha Squad members returned and offered to finish the job privately in exchange for the remaining payment.
• The squad members proposed investigating the targets’ families and the woman interfering with them, leaving Amaria Mamed afraid they would kill her too.