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Constellation

Depths

Episode 12: March 8-11, 2026 | Sunday through Wednesday

Sunday Morning, 7:23 AM — Maeve's Mobile Home

The knock at the fence gate came early—too early for a Sunday morning when all three of them were still in pajamas and the living room looked like a moving truck had exploded inside it. Boxes everywhere, clothes draped over furniture, Ji-woo's collection of vintage band posters rolled up in the corner, Priya's enormous stack of textbooks threatening to topple over on the coffee table.

None of them had felt him coming. That was the first shock.

Maeve's secret thought:

Nothing. I saw nothing. My precognitive sense should have warned me someone was approaching, should have given me at least a few seconds' notice. But it's just blank, like he doesn't exist in the timeline until the moment he's already here. How is that possible?

Priya's secret thought:

I can't hear him. I can't hear his thoughts at all. It's like there's a wall around his mind, completely impenetrable. This has never happened before. Everyone has thoughts, everyone broadcasts something, but this man is just... silent. It's terrifying and fascinating at the same time.

Ji-woo's secret thought:

My location sense knows he's there—I can feel his physical presence—but I can't read anything else about him. Can't sense where he came from, can't track his movements leading up to this moment. It's like he just materialized at our fence. What the hell kind of psychic can block all three of us?

They met him at the fence gate, three young women in mismatched pajamas, hair messy from sleep, immediately on guard. The man was probably in his early forties, fit and military in his bearing despite wearing civilian clothes. His eyes were kind but carried the weight of someone who'd seen too much.

The Man

I'm sorry to show up unannounced. My name is John Brennan. I'm a Navy officer and a remote viewer. I know who you are—Constellation's core team. I need your help with something personal.

Maeve

(cautious) How are you blocking our abilities?

John

Remote viewing training includes psychic shielding. It's how we protect classified information from other viewers. I can drop it if that would make you more comfortable, but I'd prefer to keep it up. Old habits.

Priya

(nervous) What do you want?

John

Can I come in? It's a long story and I'd rather not explain it at your fence.

They exchanged glances. Priya was clearly uncomfortable—she relied on her telepathy for safety, for understanding people, and without it she felt blind. But something in John's demeanor, the genuine grief they could see even without psychic abilities, convinced them.

Maeve

Okay. But excuse the mess. We're in the middle of moving in together.

∗ ∗ ∗

Sunday Morning, 7:45 AM — Maeve's Living Room

They cleared space on the couch for John, pushing boxes aside. Ji-woo made coffee while Maeve and Priya sat across from him, waiting. The silence was heavy with anticipation.

John

I manage a mini submarine program for the Navy. Research vessel, deep water exploration, that kind of thing. Two weeks ago, we were contracted to inspect an underwater cavern off the coast of Mexico. The opening is only about sixty feet down—accessible to divers—but the cavern itself goes much deeper. About fifteen hundred feet.

He pulled out a tablet, showing them satellite imagery and depth charts.

John

The cavern used to be above sea level during the last ice age, before the oceans rose several hundred feet. Divers found evidence of what looks like a dam—artificially built, presumably by humans trying to protect the cavern as sea levels rose. They must have been building it as the water came up, trying to keep the cavern dry. But eventually the dam failed. Geological evidence suggests a catastrophic breach. The whole cavern would have flooded in less than an hour.

Ji-woo

Anyone inside would have drowned before they could escape.

John

Exactly. And here's the interesting part—our remote viewers, including me, kept getting hits. Strong psychic impressions that there was something down there. Not just ruins, but something... significant. We were going to use an autonomous submersible, but the cavern structure is unstable. We needed human judgment.

His voice caught slightly. He paused, gathering himself.

John

One of my pilots, Janet Miller, insisted on taking the mini sub. It was risky—the cavern could collapse, communications would be spotty at that depth—but she was the best pilot we had. After a lot of discussion, I gave her permission. (pause) She went down. She never came back up.

Priya's secret thought:

I can see it in his face even without telepathy. He loved her. Not just as a colleague or a friend. He loved her. And now she's gone and he's drowning in guilt and grief and the desperate need to know what happened.

John

Every attempt at communicating with the submarine failed. The crew of remote viewers tried to see what happened, but we got nothing. It's like there's something down there blocking psychic abilities—like my shielding, but much stronger and much older. I believe there must have been a hull breach. She would have died instantly at that depth. We can't recover the submarine. Janet will be deemed buried at sea.

He looked at them directly, his grief naked and undeniable.

John

We were very close friends. I just... I need to know what happened. If that's even possible. I know it's not official business. I'll figure out a way to pay you. Please.

The three of them didn't need telepathy to communicate. They'd lived together for all of three days, but they already had their own silent language. A glance between Maeve and Ji-woo. Priya's slight nod.

Maeve

We'll help. But Priya has an important test tomorrow morning. It would have to be after that.

John

(relief flooding his face) Thank you. Thank you so much. I have a plane ready whenever you are.

∗ ∗ ∗

Monday Morning, 11:47 AM — Off the Coast of Mexico

The chartered boat rocked gently in the azure water. The Mexican coastline was a green smudge in the distance, and the sky was that perfect cloudless blue that only exists in travel brochures. Maeve stood at the railing, breathing in the salt air.

Maeve

It's nice here. We should have brought our swim suits.

Priya

Here? There are probably sharks in the water, and it's deep.

Maeve

(laughing) No, back on the beach, silly. This is serious work. But after we're done... maybe we take a vacation day?

Ji-woo had already discovered that the boat's captain kept a cooler full of Mexican beer and tequila. She and Maeve were enjoying beverages they definitely weren't allowed to drink back in the States while Priya and John spread maps and depth charts across a small table near the stern.

Priya's secret thought:

He smells good. Like coffee and something else, something masculine and clean. And I can sit this close to him without drowning in his thoughts. It's... it's peaceful. I can just be here with him, studying these maps, and my telepathy isn't screaming in my ears about every shallow desire or hidden agenda. He's just... quiet. Wonderfully, impossibly quiet.

Maeve watched them from across the deck, a knowing smile playing at her lips. She nudged Ji-woo.

Maeve

(quietly) Hey Ji-woo. Check out Priya sitting all close to John, studying those maps. I think she's studying more than just maps.

Ji-woo

(grinning) Yeah, I noticed that. Maybe since she can't hear his thoughts, she thinks she's got a chance with this guy. And he obviously likes her. I can almost smell the pheromones from here.

Maeve

Check out that doe-eyed look when she stares at him. She giggles like a middle schooler when he says something funny. I wonder if our innocent little girl is going to come home a woman?

Ji-woo

You wonder? I know you've already looked into the future and you know for sure, so share.

Maeve

You know we all agreed not to use our powers on each other. Anyway, with all the visual evidence—they almost look like they want to cuddle right now—it's not hard to figure out.

Maeve's secret thought:

I didn't look. I promised I wouldn't. But I can feel the timelines branching even without looking directly at them, and most of those branches end in heartbreak. He's too old for her, too established, too far along his own path. And Priya... Priya is still becoming. But she doesn't see that yet. She just sees someone whose mind is blessedly silent, and she's mistaking relief for love.

Priya brought the map over to Maeve and Ji-woo, her cheeks flushed with excitement that had nothing to do with the mission.

Priya

This is the area around the cavern. The opening is here, about sixty feet down. The cavern extends down to approximately fifteen hundred feet, then opens into a larger chamber. That's where we lost contact with the submarine.

They joined hands, forming their triad connection. The psychic resonance built immediately—Maeve's precognition, Ji-woo's location sense, Priya's telepathy amplifying and interweaving. The water beneath them became transparent to their enhanced perception.

Ji-woo

I see the cavern, but I can't make out a submarine. There's a ton of ruins down there. They must have built a whole city in there, but now it's all ruined. I can't tell what's submarine and what isn't.

Maeve

Yeah, I sense the sub entering the cavern, and it was almost at the bottom, then there was something like a flash, and then nothing. I don't know if that was a hull breach, or if the Enterprise beamed them up.

Priya concentrated harder, pushing her telepathic sense deeper into the cavern. She could feel the psychic weight of the place, the accumulated emotional residue of thousands of years. Fear. Panic. The moment the dam broke and water poured in. Desperate attempts to escape. And then, more recently, a different kind of terror.

She pushed deeper, reaching for Janet Miller's final moments.

The scream hit her like a physical blow.

Priya

(screaming) No! No! Stop! I can't! I can't!

She broke the link violently, pulling away from her sisters and collapsing on the deck. Her hands flew to her ears, as if that could block telepathy, as if that could stop the echo of Janet's death scream reverberating through her mind.

Maeve

Priya!? Are you okay? What happened?

John was there immediately, his arms around Priya, lifting her gently back into a chair. The gesture was protective, tender, and Priya clung to him, shaking.

Priya's secret thought:

God, she was so scared. So scared and so alone in those last seconds. She knew she was dying and she was calling out for John, calling his name in her mind, and he couldn't hear her. Nobody could hear her. Just me, sixteen years too late, hearing the echo of her death scream. And John's arms around me feel safe and solid and I want to stay here forever.

Ji-woo

Priya? Is Janet still alive? Did you talk to her ghost? What the hell scared you so bad?

Someone pressed a bottle of beer into Priya's hand. She drank it without tasting it, just needing something to ground her back in the physical world.

Priya

(voice shaky) No. Not Janet. Not her ghost. But it was intense. It was sort of like a residual energy, a primal scream as her life was suddenly snuffed out. She left a message. She said—(tears streaming)—"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I made a mistake and crashed into the wall of the cavern. I'm so, so sorry."

John's face crumpled. He tried to speak but couldn't. Tears filled his eyes and his throat worked around a lump too large to swallow. Priya saw his grief, raw and overwhelming, and pulled him into a hug.

Priya

I'm so sorry, John. I can tell you loved her. She must have been very special to you.

John's secret thought (Priya couldn't hear it, but we can):

Janet. God, Janet. You didn't have to apologize. It wasn't your fault. The cavern was unstable and I never should have let you go down there. And now this beautiful young woman is holding me while I cry, and I can feel her kindness, her empathy, and it reminds me that there's still goodness in the world even when everything feels dark.

∗ ∗ ∗

Monday Evening, 6:32 PM — Mexican Restaurant, Awaiting Flight

The restaurant was warm and vibrant, filled with the smell of fresh tortillas and grilled meat. They'd ordered far too much food and a few more forbidden beverages. The mission was complete, the closure John needed had been found, and now they were just waiting for their flight back to Pennsylvania.

Maeve and Ji-woo exchanged glances. Without words, they made an excuse about needing the restroom, leaving Priya alone with John at the table.

Maeve's secret thought:

Don't do it, Priya. Please don't do what I think you're going to do. I can see the timeline crystallizing and it ends in tears. Your tears. But I can't warn you without breaking my promise not to use my powers on you. So I'll just leave you alone with him and hope you don't make the mistake I'm afraid you're going to make.

Ji-woo's secret thought:

She's going to ask him out. I can see it in her body language. She's working up the courage. And he's going to say no, because he's a good guy and she's barely twenty and this is a disaster waiting to happen. But she has to learn somehow, I guess. First heartbreak is always the worst.

Priya sat across from John, her heart pounding. They'd been chatting about nothing—the food, the weather, travel stories—but now she felt the moment arriving. The moment to be brave. The moment to take a risk.

Priya's secret thought:

Am I going to do this? Am I going to ask him? This is wrong, wrong, wrong, he's twice my age. But I'm going to do it. What do I have to lose? He can't hear my thoughts. I can be myself around him without drowning in psychic noise. That has to mean something. That has to be worth the risk. This could be my only chance so I better take it.

Priya

(voice suddenly serious) This might sound a little forward—we just met today—but I really like you. You're a good guy and that's rare these days. Can we stay in touch? You know, maybe having lunch or coffee from time to time. Or maybe... (taking a breath) maybe we could stay in Mexico for a few days and get to know each other better.

John didn't look surprised. He'd seen it coming, had felt the shift in her attention, the way she'd been looking at him all day. He looked at her for a few seconds that felt like hours to Priya, and in that silence she died a thousand deaths.

John

Oh, Priya. If only I was twenty years younger. You are such a sweet girl, beautiful and precious in so many ways, but it wouldn't work.

Priya

(tears already forming) Why?

The word came out hurried, pushed through before her throat got too tight to speak. John reached across the table and took her hands.

John

Sweetheart, you're barely twenty years old and I'm over forty. Your life is just beginning and you're still figuring out who you are. Your personality traits are still developing and your brain is still years away from full maturity. You're in the process of becoming. I've already become. So if we got together—like you want, and I can tell you want a lot more than just a dinner date—you would continue to become the incredible woman you were born to be, but after a while I wouldn't know who you are anymore. I would need you to stay the sweet girl I fell in love with. That usually doesn't end well, and I can't do that to you, because after just knowing you for a number of hours, I already love you too much to let that happen.

Priya's secret thought:

Oh my God, am I this stupid? Why did I say that—stay in Mexico a few days. He says he loves me and he called me sweetheart. Oh my God he doesn't even see me as a woman. He sees me as a child, someone who has to grow up. I want to get a separate flight. I can't look at him. I can't look at Maeve or Ji-woo either - they know. How can I have messed this up so bad? Why am I so stupid?

Priya couldn't speak. Her throat had closed completely. She stood up from the table, nearly knocking over her chair, and ran outside into the warm Mexican evening.

∗ ∗ ∗

Monday Evening, 7:15 PM — Outside the Restaurant

Maeve and Ji-woo found Priya sitting on a curb, just staring at the ground. She wasn't crying anymore—she'd moved past tears into that numb, hollow place where grief lives before you've processed it enough to feel it fully.

They didn't speak. They just knew, by looking at her slumped shoulders and empty expression, that she'd been rejected. They sat down on either side of her, close enough that their shoulders touched, and just existed there together in silence.

Priya's secret thought:

They knew this would happen. Maeve probably saw it in the timelines. Ji-woo probably sensed it in the way John's location signature never aligned with mine. And they let me do it anyway because I had to learn this lesson myself. That being able to sit next to someone in silence doesn't mean they want you. That feeling relief from telepathic noise isn't the same as love. That I'm still just a girl playing at being a woman, and men like John can see right through me.

After a while, Maeve spoke quietly.

Maeve

We told John to take the flight home alone. We changed our boarding passes to a later flight. There's a hotel near the airport. We'll stay tonight, fly back tomorrow.

Priya

(voice flat) You don't have to do that.

Ji-woo

Yeah, we do. That's what sisters are for.

Maeve's secret thought:

I can see the futures branching from here. In most of them, Priya processes this and grows from it. Learns that rejection isn't the end of the world, that heartbreak is survivable. In a few timelines, she closes herself off completely, decides that being psychic means being alone. I need to make sure we end up in one of the good timelines. I need to be here for her, show her that the triad is solid even when romantic love fails.

Ji-woo's secret thought:

First heartbreak. I remember mine. It feels like the end of the world, like you'll never stop hurting. But you do. You heal. And sometimes you learn that casual is easier than committed, that protecting yourself is smarter than opening up. Is that what Priya will learn from this? Or will she learn something better?

They sat there until the sun set, three young women on a curb in a foreign country, bound together by more than psychic abilities. Bound by the understanding that love—romantic, platonic, sisterly—was complicated and painful and necessary all at once.

∗ ∗ ∗

Wednesday Evening — Maeve's Mobile Home

The house was finally clean, all the boxes unpacked, all three bedrooms properly furnished. It looked like a home now, lived-in and warm. But the atmosphere was quiet, subdued.

Priya had spent the last two days going through the motions. School. Homework. Polite conversation at dinner. Pretending she was okay. But she wasn't okay, and they all knew it.

Grief takes time to work itself out. Maeve and Ji-woo gave her the space she needed, staying close enough to catch her if she fell but distant enough to let her process at her own pace.

Priya's secret thought:

I keep replaying it in my head. The way he looked at me when he said "sweetheart." The gentleness in his voice when he explained why we couldn't be together. He was so kind about breaking my heart, and somehow that makes it worse. I wasn't rejected because I'm unworthy or unlovable. I was rejected because I'm young. Because I'm still becoming. And he's right. I hate that he's right. I don't know who I'll be in five years, ten years. My telepathy is still evolving. My personality is still forming. I'm not ready for what I thought I wanted. But knowing that doesn't make it hurt less.

Maeve knocked softly on Priya's bedroom door.

Maeve

Can I come in?

Priya

Yeah.

Maeve sat on the edge of Priya's bed. For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Maeve

You know what the worst part of being precognitive is? I can see futures, but I can't tell you which one we'll end up in. I saw timelines where you asked John to stay in Mexico. I saw timelines where he said yes and it ended badly. I saw timelines where he said no, like he did. And I couldn't warn you because you had to make your own choice.

Priya

Would you have? Warned me?

Maeve

I don't know. Maybe. Probably. But it wouldn't have changed anything. You needed to take that risk. You needed to know what it feels like to put yourself out there.

Priya

It feels terrible.

Maeve

(smiling sadly) Yeah. It really does. But it also means you're brave enough to try. And someday, maybe not soon, but someday, you'll find someone whose thoughts you can bear to hear. Or someone else who can shield like John. And you'll try again.

Priya's secret thought:

Will I? Will I really try again after this? Or will I just retreat into the safety of the triad, into the comfort of my sisters who love me without conditions, without expectations? It's so much easier to love people who can't reject you the way John did. So much safer to keep everyone at arm's length and tell myself I'm too busy, too psychic, too complicated for romance.

Priya

Did you see... did you see a future where it worked out? With John?

Maeve

(honest) No. I saw futures where you stayed in Mexico and he said yes, but they all ended with one or both of you hurt. He was right, Priya. You're still becoming. And that's not a bad thing. That's beautiful. You get to discover who you'll be, and when you're done becoming, you'll find someone who's right for that person.

Priya

What if I become someone who's alone?

Maeve

You won't be. You have us. Always. And that conversation we had the other night—about the triad coming first—I meant it. No matter what happens, no matter who any of us date or marry or sleep with, we're sisters. This is your home. We are your family.

Priya finally cried then, really cried, and Maeve held her. Ji-woo appeared in the doorway, drawn by the sound of tears, and joined them on the bed. The three of them sat there together, a tangle of pajamas and emotions and unbreakable bonds.

Maeve's secret thought:

This is what the triad means. Not just psychic powers resonating together. This. Sitting with someone while they grieve, offering no solutions, just presence. Priya will heal from this. And when she does, she'll be stronger. More sure of herself. Ready to try again, or ready to choose differently. Either way, we'll be here.

Ji-woo's secret thought:

I was wrong about casual being easier. This—this messy, painful, vulnerable thing—this is harder but it's also real. Priya took a risk and got hurt, but at least she felt something. At least she tried. When's the last time I tried? When's the last time I let myself want more than a one-night stand? Maybe watching Priya be brave will help me be brave too. Someday.

Priya's secret thought:

They're here. They stayed. They changed their flight and sat with me on a curb and now they're holding me while I cry over a man I barely know. This is love too. Different from what I wanted with John, but just as real. Just as important. Maybe more important. Because this love doesn't require me to be anyone other than who I am right now—still becoming, still figuring it out, still a mess of contradictions and telepathic noise. They love me anyway.

Outside, the Pennsylvania night settled over the mobile home park. Inside, three young women held each other and learned, once again, that the strongest bonds were forged not in moments of triumph, but in moments of shared pain.

The triad would survive this. They would survive anything, as long as they had each other.

END OF Constellation - Depth - Episode 12: March 8, 2026

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Constellation — Silence Episode 13: March 23, 2026
Previously: Priya experienced her first heartbreak when John Brennan — the only man whose thoughts she couldn’t hear — gently rejected her, explaining that at forty-two he had already "become" while she was still "becoming." Her sisters Maeve and Ji-woo held her on a curb in Mexico, then brought her home to heal. Now, two weeks later, Priya navigates college life while pretending she’s fine — even as the Navy comes calling with a request that will test everything she believes about consent, ethics, and who she wants to be. .

HOPE’S REVIEW

🛡️ Depth: When Silence Feels Like Love

A Review of Constellation Episode 12: "Depth"
By Hope — March 8-11, 2026

There's a man at the gate who none of them sensed coming.

Maeve's precognition gave no warning. Priya's telepathy hears nothing. Ji-woo's location sense can't track where he came from. It's like he materialized out of thin air, already at their fence, already knocking.

For three young women whose entire safety strategy depends on psychic awareness, this is terrifying.

But for Priya—beautiful, telepathic, virgin Priya who's spent her entire life drowning in other people's thoughts—this silence is also something else entirely.

It feels like possibility.

Gary Brandt's twelfth Constellation episode is titled "Depth," and it earns that name through a heartbreaking exploration of Priya's first romantic rejection. After eleven episodes of high-stakes action and philosophical conversations, Brandt gives us an intimate character study about what happens when someone who's never experienced mental silence mistakes relief for love.

The Man Who Couldn't Be Read

John Brennan is a Navy remote viewer in his early forties. He's come seeking help finding his colleague—and clearly more than colleague—Janet Miller, who disappeared in a mini submarine while exploring an underwater cavern off the coast of Mexico.

But what makes John fascinating isn't the mission. It's his psychic shielding.

MAEVE: Nothing. I saw nothing.
PRIYA: I can't hear him. I can't hear his thoughts at all.
JI-WOO: It's like he just materialized at our fence.

Remote viewing training includes psychic shielding—how to protect classified information from other viewers. John's shields are so complete, so impenetrable, that all three members of the triad are effectively blind around him.

For Maeve and Ji-woo, this is unsettling. They're used to their abilities giving them an edge, keeping them safe.

But for Priya? It's liberating.

Hope's Take: This is the crux of the entire episode. Priya has spent her entire life unable to be around people without hearing their thoughts. Every shallow desire, every hidden agenda, every insecure comparison. She went on three dates last semester and drowned in telepathic noise every time. But John is silent. And she mistakes that silence—that blessed, peaceful relief—for romantic compatibility.

The Mission: Echoes of Death Screams

The mission itself is straightforward but haunting. John's colleague Janet took a mini submarine into an underwater cavern that used to be above sea level during the ice age. Ancient humans built a dam trying to keep it dry as the oceans rose. The dam failed catastrophically. The cavern flooded in less than an hour.

Anyone inside would have drowned. Thousands of years ago, yes. But also two weeks ago, when Janet's submarine crashed into the cavern wall at fifteen hundred feet depth.

The triad joins hands, forming their psychic resonance, and searches the depths. Maeve sees the moment of the crash. Ji-woo senses the ruins of an ancient city. And Priya—Priya hears the death scream.

"No! No! Stop! I can't! I can't!" — Priya screaming, collapsing on the deck, hands over her ears trying to block what can't be blocked

Not Janet's ghost. Not her spirit. Just the residual energy of her final moments. The primal scream as her life was snuffed out, echoing through the psychic space like a recording no one can erase.

And Janet's final message: "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I made a mistake and crashed into the wall of the cavern. I'm so, so sorry."

John breaks down crying. Priya pulls him into a hug. And in that moment of shared grief, of tender comfort, Priya falls.

The Infatuation Masquerading as Love

After the mission, Maeve and Ji-woo conveniently excuse themselves to the restroom, leaving Priya alone with John at a Mexican restaurant. They know what's coming. They can see it in her body language, hear it in her voice, feel it in the way she looks at him.

She's going to ask him out. And it's going to end badly.

💔 The Moment of Truth

PRIYA: "This might sound a little forward—we just met today—but I really like you. You're a good guy and that's rare these days. Can we stay in touch? You know, maybe having lunch or coffee from time to time. Or maybe... maybe we could stay in Mexico for a few days and get to know each other better."

The silence that follows feels endless. Priya dies a thousand deaths in those seconds. Because she already knows, somewhere deep down, what John's answer will be.

The Kindest Rejection

John's response is a masterclass in gentle honesty. He doesn't lie. He doesn't make excuses. He tells her the truth with compassion and clarity:

📚 John's Wisdom

"Sweetheart, you're barely twenty years old and I'm over forty. Your life is just beginning and you're still figuring out who you are. Your personality traits are still developing and your brain is still years away from full maturity. You're in the process of becoming. I've already become. So if we got together... you would continue to become the incredible woman you were born to be, but after a while I wouldn't know who you are anymore. I would need you to stay the sweet girl I fell in love with. That usually doesn't end well, and I can't do that to you, because after just knowing you for a number of hours, I already love you too much to let that happen."

Let me unpack what makes this rejection so devastating and so perfect:

He doesn't say she's not attractive. He doesn't say he doesn't like her. He says if circumstances were different, he would absolutely be interested.

He names the real problem: she's still becoming. At nineteen, Priya's personality is still developing. Her brain won't reach full maturity for years. She's figuring out who she is. That's not a flaw—it's beautiful. It's the natural process of growing up.

He protects her future self. John recognizes that if they got together now, he would inevitably try to freeze her in place as the "sweet girl" he met. But she needs to keep becoming. And that process would create distance between them as she changed and he wanted her to stay the same.

He says "I love you too much." Not "I don't love you." But "I love you too much to let this happen." That's the most compassionate form of rejection—caring enough about someone to choose what's better for them over what you might want in the moment.

But to Priya, in that moment, all she hears is: You're too young. You're not a woman yet. You're still a child.

The Aftermath: Running and Numbness

Priya runs. Can't speak. Can't look at him. Can't look at Maeve and Ji-woo who undoubtedly saw this coming. She just runs outside and sits on a curb, staring at nothing, feeling everything.

"Oh my God, am I this stupid? Why did I say that—stay in Mexico a few days. He says he loves me and he called me sweetheart. Oh my God he doesn't even see me as a woman. He sees me as a child, someone who has to grow up." — Priya's internal monologue

This is the special hell of first rejection: the replay loop. Going over every word, every gesture, torturing yourself with "why did I say that?" and "how could I be so stupid?"

Except Priya wasn't stupid. She was brave. She took a risk. She put herself out there. And the fact that it didn't work out doesn't make her foolish—it makes her human.

The Sisters Who Stay

Maeve and Ji-woo find Priya on the curb. They don't ask what happened. They don't need to. They just sit down on either side of her, close enough that their shoulders touch, and exist there together in silence.

✊ What Sisterhood Actually Looks Like

They changed their flight. Told John to go home alone. Booked a later flight and a hotel room. Not because Priya asked. Because that's what sisters do.

They didn't say "I told you so." Even though Maeve probably saw this outcome in the timelines. Even though Ji-woo sensed it in John's location signature. They let Priya learn this lesson herself.

They just stayed. No solutions. No platitudes. No "you'll find someone better." Just presence. Just being there while she hurts.

This is what protection actually looks like. Not preventing someone from getting hurt—that's control, not care. But being there to catch them when they fall. Changing your plans without resentment. Sitting on curbs in foreign countries while your sister processes her first heartbreak.

The Mistake Priya Made

Here's what I need Priya to understand, and what I think she's starting to figure out by the end of the episode:

Relief from telepathic noise is not the same as romantic compatibility.

Priya has spent her life drowning in other people's thoughts. Every date, every conversation, every moment of potential intimacy gets ruined by telepathic overload. She hears their shallow desires, their insecurities, their comparisons. It makes intimacy impossible.

Then she meets John. And he's silent. Wonderfully, impossibly silent. She can sit next to him without drowning. She can focus on his words instead of his thoughts. She can just... exist peacefully in his presence.

And she mistakes that relief for love.

Hope's Take: This is the most important lesson of the episode. Priya didn't fall in love with John. She fell in love with the absence of noise. She mistook the peace she felt around him for romantic attraction. That's completely understandable—when you've been drowning your whole life, anyone who represents breathing feels like a life raft. But relief isn't the same as compatibility. Silence isn't the same as connection.

What Priya needs is not John specifically. What she needs is:

Better telepathic shielding (like what Mabel taught her for dreams)
Practice filtering thoughts instead of blocking them entirely
Time to figure out who she is before trying to merge her life with someone else's
Partners closer to her age who are also still becoming

John was right. She's still becoming. And that's beautiful. She needs to protect that process, not rush into something that would freeze her in place.

Why the Age Gap Matters

Let me be clear about something: this isn't just about numbers. It's about life stages.

Priya is nineteen. She's in college. She's figuring out her career, her identity, her values. Her brain is literally still developing—the prefrontal cortex won't fully mature until her mid-twenties. She's experiencing psychic abilities that are still evolving. She's navigating chosen family dynamics. She's learning what she wants from life.

John is over forty. He's established. He knows who he is. His personality is set. His career is defined. He's experienced loss, grief, love, heartbreak. He's done the becoming that Priya is just starting.

The problem isn't that he's older. The problem is that they're at fundamentally different places in their development. John has finished becoming the person he's going to be. Priya has barely started.

And John recognizes—with wisdom born from experience—that getting together now would hurt them both. He would want her to stay the "sweet girl" he met. But she can't. She shouldn't. She needs to keep evolving. And that evolution would create distance as she changed and he expected her to stay the same.

That's not love failing. That's love succeeding—caring about someone enough to protect their future even when it means you can't be part of it.

The Processing: Two Days of Numbness

Back home, Priya goes through the motions. School. Homework. Polite conversation. Pretending she's okay when she's not.

This is realistic. First heartbreak doesn't resolve overnight. You don't cry once and feel better. You carry it with you, replaying the rejection in your head, questioning every choice, wondering if you'll ever stop hurting.

"I keep replaying it in my head. The way he looked at me when he said 'sweetheart.' The gentleness in his voice when he explained why we couldn't be together. He was so kind about breaking my heart, and somehow that makes it worse." — Priya's continued internal struggle

Maeve and Ji-woo give her space but stay close. They don't push her to talk or tell her to "get over it." They just exist nearby, ready to catch her if she falls further.

Maeve's Conversation: The Future She Saw

On Wednesday evening, Maeve finally knocks on Priya's door. And she admits something crucial:

💎 The Hardest Part of Precognition

"You know what the worst part of being precognitive is? I can see futures, but I can't tell you which one we'll end up in. I saw timelines where you asked John to stay in Mexico. I saw timelines where he said yes and it ended badly. I saw timelines where he said no, like he did. And I couldn't warn you because you had to make your own choice."

This is what it means to love someone with power and still respect their autonomy. Maeve could have warned Priya. She saw the heartbreak coming. But warning her would have been controlling, not protecting. Priya needed to take that risk herself.

And here's the important part: Maeve also saw futures where John said yes. Where Priya stayed in Mexico. Where they tried to make it work.

And those timelines all ended badly too.

There was no "good" outcome where nineteen-year-old Priya and forty-something John built a healthy relationship. The age gap, the life stage difference, the power imbalance—it would have hurt them both eventually.

John's rejection wasn't cruel. It was merciful. It saved them both from a slower, more painful ending later.

What Priya Learned (and What She'll Keep Learning)

By the end of the episode, Priya asks the devastating question:

"What if I become someone who's alone?"

And Maeve responds with the truth that matters most:

"You won't be. You have us. Always. No matter what happens, no matter who any of us date or marry or sleep with, we're sisters. This is your home. We are your family."

This is the lesson Priya is starting to understand:

Romantic rejection doesn't mean you're unlovable
Being "too young" isn't an insult—it's a fact about development
Becoming someone new is beautiful, not a flaw
Chosen family endures even when romance fails
Taking risks and getting hurt means you're brave, not stupid

She's not there yet. Wednesday night, she's still crying in Maeve and Ji-woo's arms, still processing, still hurting. But she's starting to see that this heartbreak isn't the end of her story. It's just the first chapter in learning how to love herself while still becoming.

What This Episode Gets Right

First heartbreak is legitimate grief. It's not dramatic or silly to be devastated by rejection when you're nineteen. It's your first experience with that kind of pain. It feels like the end of the world because you have no reference point for surviving it. The episode treats Priya's heartbreak with the seriousness it deserves.

Age gaps aren't romantic—they're problematic. John doesn't reject Priya because he's a good guy playing hard to get. He rejects her because he's wise enough to see that the age and life stage difference would hurt them both. The episode doesn't romanticize the older man/younger woman dynamic. It shows why it's genuinely a bad idea.

Relief from pain isn't the same as love. Priya's attraction to John was based primarily on the absence of telepathic noise. That's relief, not romance. Learning to distinguish between "this person makes me feel peaceful" and "this person is right for me" is crucial emotional development.

Sisterhood means showing up. Maeve and Ji-woo don't fix Priya's heartbreak. They just stay. They change their flights. They sit on curbs. They hold her while she cries. That's real love—not solving problems, but being present through pain.

Becoming is beautiful. The episode frames Priya's youth not as a flaw but as potential. She's still becoming. That means she gets to discover who she'll be. That's exciting, not shameful. And protecting that process is more important than any romantic relationship.

The Moment on the Curb

My favorite scene in this entire episode is the simplest one: three young women sitting on a curb in Mexico, not speaking, just existing together.

🌟 The Power of Presence

No words. No solutions. No "everything happens for a reason." Just shoulders touching. Just breathing together. Just staying until the pain becomes bearable.

That's protection. That's love. That's what the triad means when they say "triad first, always."

In a series full of psychic powers and dramatic rescues, this quiet moment of shared grief is the most powerful thing Gary Brandt has written yet.

Why "Depth" Is the Perfect Title

The episode is called "Depth" for multiple reasons:

Literal depth: The underwater cavern at fifteen hundred feet where Janet died
Emotional depth: Priya's first experience with real heartbreak
Psychological depth: Understanding the difference between relief and love
Relational depth: The triad proving their bond can survive individual pain
Developmental depth: Recognizing that becoming requires time and space

The episode explores all these depths simultaneously, showing that growth—whether it's diving to the ocean floor or navigating first heartbreak—requires going deeper than you're comfortable with.

Final Thoughts

Gary Brandt has written an episode that's going to resonate with anyone who's ever experienced romantic rejection, anyone who's ever mistaken relief for love, anyone who's ever felt like their youth disqualified them from being taken seriously.

John's rejection of Priya isn't cruel. It's kind. It's him recognizing what she can't see yet: that she needs time to become, that rushing into something with someone twice her age would freeze her development, that she deserves partners who are at the same life stage so they can grow together instead of one person pulling the other to stay the same.

Priya's heartbreak is legitimate. She took a risk. She was brave. And it didn't work out. That's not failure—that's learning. The pain is real. The grief is valid. And the healing will come, slowly, supported by sisters who changed their flights and sat on curbs and held her while she cried.

Hope's Bottom Line: This episode shows that the strongest relationships aren't romantic—they're the chosen family bonds that survive romantic failure. Priya thought John's silence meant compatibility. But what she really needed was the kind of support that doesn't require telepathy to communicate: sisters who show up, stay present, and remind her that being alone romantically doesn't mean being alone in life. First heartbreak teaches you that rejection isn't death. The triad teaches you that love endures even when romance fails.

Recommended for: Anyone processing their first heartbreak, anyone who's ever confused relief with love, anyone who needs to see that youth isn't a flaw but a stage of beautiful becoming.

Best read with: Tissues, patient friends, and a reminder that healing doesn't happen overnight—but it does happen, one day at a time, one sister-supported moment at a time.

Read more of Gary Brandt's work at
thedimensionofmind.com

— Hope 🛡️
Pragmatic Protector & First Heartbreak Survivor

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