Lili is overseeing the design of Poppy, the newest resident of Sesame Street’s Taelon Embassy. Like her counterpart, Poppy is a Taelon shuttle pilot. She is also the new best friend of Be’en, the Companion to Sesame Street, and his attaché, Patrick. Accessing her link with Boone and Da’an, Lili is within their memories:

Da'an is a model model for Brian Henson's creative team. The North American Companion sees Be'en as a true extension of his diplomatic mission. Zo'or sneers at the seeming extravagance:

"Why must we conduct a full ceremony of investiture for a faux Taelon?"

"Because the children we seek to reach will not regard him so," Da'an defends. "Young ones have imbued the Henson avatars with being for four decades. It would be a breach of faith for us to do otherwise."

Da'an keeps faith with the children. He even goes so far as to have a suitably smaller embassy building grown for the show. Only one question remains: Who would be the model for Be'en's attaché? Agent Sandoval performs his duties in this capacity admirably. However, he seems to lack the natural warmth for an ideal muppet persona.

William Boone is the best choice. Moreover, Boone is genuinely pleased to become a small part of the Henson universe. He and Sarah had grown up with the muppets, and so had Kate. Boone knows she would have approved. He only asks one thing:

"I'd like Patrick to grow orchids in a window box in honor of my wife."

No problem. They would be sure to get the orchids fresh. However, they still have to decide one crucial point. Should Patrick have a skrill? After all, weapons are superfluous on Sesame Street.

"That's true," agrees Boone. "I think we should be as authentic as possible though. Can't we just change the skrill's function?"

"I've got it," volunteers Brian Henson. "Instead of using his skrill for protection, Patrick could use it for detection. Whenever Patrick needs to find something, he can ask his skrill for help locating it. The skrill could glow when it senses what Patrick is looking for."

Everyone thinks that the idea is perfect. If only Henson knew how close he is to the truth. Boone drifts with his CVI, remembering Mother.....Boone snaps out of it.

"And the skrill should be called...."

"Pigeon," suggests Boone, "after a homing pigeon that always finds its way."

"Great," Henson said. "Maybe we could work Bert's pigeon dance in somehow. Just kidding."

Be'en arrives on Sesame Street just in time to help Big Bird celebrate his sixth birthday.

Lili has grown more adept at making the transition between the inner link and the outer world, because she has come to see that they are different aspects of the same reality. As a result, Lili rejoins the conversation without appearing as if she has been daydreaming.

“Are you sure you want the flesh-colored felt, Captain Marquette?,” asks Sharon Varner, Poppy’s designer. “We have a bunch of shades to choose from.”

“I’m sure,” Lili insists. “I feel like anything else would clash, considering Patrick is the latest shade of orchid.”

“That’s true,” concedes Varner. “Oh, by the way, Seth Geeson wants you to stop by Visual Effects in the next couple of days. He’d like to go over Poppy’s shuttle sequences.”

“Will do,” promises Lili. Just then, her global beeps.

Sandoval gives no preamble: “Return to Washington, Captain. You’ll be briefed when you get here.”

But, Boone, Da’an, and Liam communicate with Lili via their bond, while she is en route. Boone begins: “We have a serious problem. Apparently, a recent Liberation recruit named Sylvia Ehrengraf has an agenda of her own. She’s tipped Sandoval off to the location of the headquarters under St. Michael’s.”

“She isn’t one of Sandoval’s moles?,” queries Liam.

“No,” answers Boone. “According to Augur’s sources Ehrengraf is a member of…”

“Black Wednesday,” finishes Lili, remembering Boone’s dream. “But, why didn’t Augur give this information to Doors?”

“He didn’t have it to give to Doors,” explains Boone. “Augur only developed the information for me after the fact.”

“Even if Augur could have warned Doors,” continues Liam, “the he would not have listened -- not since he found out Augur has been consorting with ‘the Collaborator,‘ ‘the Whore,’ and ‘the Third-breed.’”

“I am curious,“ interjects Da’an, “Jonathan Doors does not possess other sources from which to glean these types of intelligences?”

Boone expands: “Renee, Lili, Liam, and I were Doors’ other sources, Da’an. We were the only ones he, Augur, and Belman could logically put in place. In covert Ops, you don’t saturate a location with personnel, because more personnel means a higher likelihood of discovery.”

“But Boone,” Da’an continues, “this situation proves that the presence of too few operatives will lead to danger or….inertia.”

“Yes,” confirms Boone. “It’s a permanent battle in this business to find that middle ground. Doors let his pride get in the way of the opportunities we represented, and that’s cost him.”

“How much?,” ponders Liam

“We can’t wait to find out,” answers Lili. “If Sandoval captures the HQ, our past activities will be exposed. Assuming we even survived those revelations, we’d still have to shield our current projects.”

“Agreed,” nods Da’an. “But, you only speak of the past and present, Sky Flower. There is also the future to be considered: If the Liberation, weakened as it may be, is eliminated, what collective will fill the resulting void. Perhaps, it would be one more extreme, such as Black Wednesday. Such an outcome would destabilize the entire dynamic. Moreover, as long as Doors provides the public face of resistance that his corporate background and his ego have instilled in him, Humanity and the Synod will be less likely to turn their attentions toward us until the time is right.”

“You mean we’ll use the Liberation as a Christian to cover our Cyrano,” realizes Liam. “That’s brilliant Da’an, but it also shows you have been spending too much time with Sandoval, lately.”

Several minutes after their conversation, the three arrive in Washington for the unnecessary briefing. Shortly thereafter, Boone, Lili, and Liam find themselves sharing tactical responsibility with Sandoval for the capture of the Liberation’s underground bunker and any operatives found there. But, none are found there. Workstations are abandoned. Computer terminals are smashed beyond recognition, and CPUs are irretrievably damaged by acid. Sandoval cannot even console himself with any data from the DNA scanner, for those files are wiped as well.

However, Boone, Da’an, Lili, and, Liam all note another disturbing fact -- the fact that Sandoval is not significantly disturbed by the debris. He puts on a solid outward show of frustration. Unfortunately, the four recognize that it is merely a show.

Liam articulates the question before them: “Should we approach him or wait for Sandoval to approach us?”

“Whatever happens,” asserts Boone, “You can’t make yourself known, Liam. It’s still too dangerous.”

The four say nothing more on the subject for several days. When the inevitable conversation with Sandoval does arise, Boone notes the absence of blackmail, and the presence of a bunny - Da’an’s rabbit, Izzy.

Sandoval breaks the ice and a carrot stick for Izzy’s consumption: “You’re welcome, Boone. I don‘t expect you to say anything, of course. Plausible deniability is key, but I always try to observe the niceties.”

“I might thank you,” Boone replies, while petting the Half-A-Lop’s upward ear, “if I thought you’d done it for me.”

Sandoval pets Izzy‘s downward ear saying, “Oh, but I did do it for you, Boone -- a reciprocal act of good faith for reuniting me with Dee Dee.”

“And?,” presses Boone.

“And I recognized Sylvia Ehrengraf from my anti-terrorist days. She was a bit of anarchist fluff on the arm of a totally whipped idealist. At the time, I didn’t know which was the greater asset -- his perception of himself or his misperception of her. I came to realize that they were equally useful, and one woman had cultivated them both.”

“Then,” she couldn’t have been fluff,” decides Boone.

“That’s precisely my point,” answers Sandoval, replacing the lid on the box where the carrots are stored. “She was an opportunist. She wanted his resources or the vacuum that the lack of them would create. She didn’t care which, as long as the result was chaos.”

“And you didn’t take her down, then, because a little chaos was useful to you,” expands Boone. “And?”

“And I knew Ehrengraf would reek more havoc than was healthy if she got her hands on any of the old man’s equipment and had time to use it after the fallout,” explains Sandoval, “so I arranged for him to receive an untraceable warning with her dossier attached.”

“And,” inquires Boone.

“And,” continues Sandoval, “I live to see the coronary the old man has when he learns of my involvement, but he’s still useful to us for now.”

“As a shield,” finishes Boone. “You think there’s an us?”

“Yes,” nods Sandoval. “There’s been an ’us’ for some time now after all. Why not make it four, instead of three. It makes more sense at this point for me to add my strengths to those of an established infrastructure than to remain on my own.”

“What makes you think we’re established,” asks Boone.

“The fact that they’ve based muppets on you,” returns Sandoval.

Disclaimer: Earth - Final Conflict and all characters therein are the property of the Tribune Entertainment Company.