1. Ghost in the Machine

Complete story — includes the ending

The 2nd Mass arrive back in Charleston after twenty-three days of travel, but their celebrations are cut short when the Espheni attack. When the Espheni deploy mechs and a new weapon that creates impenetrable fences of energy between metal obelisks against the group, the 2nd Mass is split apart. Four months later, and now in solitary confinement at an Espheni ghetto, Tom escapes confinement whenever possible in order to gather intelligence on the camp and the skitter locations. At an Espheni re-education camp, Matt is tasked with ensuring that the other children in his group comply with the rules. Meanwhile, Ben awakens in Chinatown and is immediately suspicious of his surroundings; although Maggie assures him that the place is safe and untouched by the Espheni, he later meets a now grown-up Lexi. Elsewhere, Anne leads the 2nd Mass survivors on an attack against an Espheni weapons shipment, but is surprised to find children inside the truck. When she learns that the children know nothing of Lexi, she decides to travel in the assumed direction of the truck. Back at the ghetto, Hal clashes with Pope over a generator required in his escape plan. Tom meets Cochise and learns that the Volm have left the Earth, leaving behind small recon teams, and that the Espheni have similar ghettos across the planet. Believing humanity to be facing extinction, Cochise offers Tom words of support, and Tom requests that he try to find Anne, Ben, Matt, and Lexi, to which he agrees. Meanwhile aboard an Espheni ship over the ghetto, an overlord sends a message demanding that the vigilante be handed over, or the ghetto's residents will be killed.