The narrative switches to a summary of Brady Hartsfield's life and how he came to be at the Traumatic Brain Clinic: Brady was adored by his mother Deborah, who called him a genius and told him repeatedly that he would someday invent something that would make them rich. She had a second son, Frankie, who incurred a brain injury. Brady was only a child when he and Deborah engineered an “accident” that killed four-year-old Frankie.

After the City Center massacre, when Brady realizes Hodges is closing in on him, he attempts to set off a bomb at a concert. Hodges stops him at the last minute, and Brady is transported to the hospital with severe brain damage. Brady survives, and a neurologist, Dr. Felix Babineau, begins treating Brady with an experimental drug.

Fifteen months after his injury, Brady becomes conscious of himself and begins pulling himself together. He soon discovers that he has developed a small degree of telekinesis and telepathy. One of his nurses, Sadie MacDonald, has a minor seizure disorder, and he discovers that when flashes of light trigger a petit mal seizure, her mind is vulnerable and he can get into her thoughts. He discovers that people tend to be vulnerable when their minds wander, but not when they are focused on something.