Courts of Public Opinions, part II

Brian and Jack stand in Death's Valley, trying to figure out what to do about Carrie - she clearly no longer has a human mind. Jack theorizes that she's animated only by her godlike energy and is motivated to find a new, living, host for that energy. The possibilities of this are chilling, but Jack is able to use his powers to keep Carrie in check, so it seems the two have plenty of time to figure out what to do; at least until the Navy scrambles fighter jets.
     Unwilling to be spied on, and worried about military aggression, Brian makes the leap to low earth orbit and one brave/foolish pilot follows him up. When the pilot's plane shuts down due to the lack of atmosphere, it's only the quick responses of Brian and Jack that save him from a frigid and airless death. Brian takes pilot and plane safely back to Annapolis, to the cheers and adulations of the Navy, but accidentally leaves Jack and Carrie hanging in a bubble somewhere over the Midwest.
     Mandy sees Brian's triumphant landing on the news and, torqued at being over-shadowed on her own rescue last issue, she breaks her TV.
     16 hours have passed by the time Brian finds Jack again, with Jack spending that time trying to "train" Carrie's animalistic intelligence to no success. Jack does notice something, though: both Brian and Carrie have been implanted with microscopic tracking chips in their tail bones. By this time foreign agents have, somehow, managed to pick up on Brian's activity - speculation from Al Quaeda is that the US is launching nukes - so Brian and Jack agree to cut their airial conference short and consult with the rest of the group.
     It's become apparent, at this point, that the NTAC is spying on us pretty much all the time. We do our best to baffle them, but we're being more careful of what we say over the phone. We hold a meeting of the core group, Vivian and Matt in the Hopewell Foundation office to discuss what to do about the chips implanted in our spines. We agree that they should be removed and, as a test, we decide to use the living body of Carrie Sellars to see how well it works. Matt objects, citing the inhumanity of that action, and though he accidentally insults the others in the group, Brian agrees that he's right. Jack volunteers to be the guinea pig, instead.
     Genzyme sets up a surgery theater for us within a day and, with the assistance of Brian's ability to link minds and Mandy's microscopic vision, Jack's soon on the operating table. That's when the world shifts...

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FIRST Appearances

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NOTEABLE Appearances

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The AMERICAN GODS