"Owen?"
"Hey Jorts, sorry to do this to you so late, but... can I come in?"
Her brother was wide eyed and a little wild looking, the back of his hair sticking up in an uncombed mess. Feeling her cheeks color at the use of her old nickname (she was a short Jean, it was inescapable), she pulled the chain from the door and swung it wide, stepping aside to admit him. Seeing him in totality only deepened the impression that something was wrong; Owen was not the sort of person who would usually leave the house in shorts.
"What's up?" Jean said, brow furrowed as she watched her brother just sort of stumble in, looking almost half asleep. His car had been parked, vaguely crooked, in her driveway.
"Uh, the short answer is that a power line fell on my roof?" Owen stopped, yawned, "Like, right through the roof. Into my bedroom. Just... wham."
"Oh my god!" Jean gasped, "Are you okay?"
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Sort of a shock, but not a literal one, so... I just need a place to stay for a few days? Can't stay at mine while it's cracked like an egg, even if it hadn't been cordoned off by the electric company. You were closest, but I mean, I can try somewhere else if it's not cool. Maybe a hotel."
"Don't be dumb, Owen, of course you can stay here. Did you have time to pack a bag before they kicked you out?"
***
Many watched this happen, inspected how Jean and her brother acted around one another through the many angles provided by the suite of hidden cameras. On the websites dedicated to the conspiracy, locked down completely to anyone directly related to Jean, comments began to flood in, some just expressing excitement, others giving advice or suggestions. Such cooperation was encouraged, of course, but in the end all suggestions were routed through the central planning group, a team of sociologists, chemists, experts in romance and seduction, even writers, elected by popular consent and given power over the particulars of the plan to... amuse the Beckett family.
Nobody was watching the various streams closer than the planning group.
"So they've been grouped up, good start. What's next?"
"That depends on what they do. If need be we can contrive a means of isolating them together forcibly, but it's not ideal. I'd suggest getting Owen's workplace on board with giving him plenty of days off over the next week or so, encourage him to stick around his sister. Has the prep work been done on her guest bed and couch?"
"Oh yes. There'll only be one place to sleep in Jean's house, we've made sure. All he has to do is try to rest somewhere else, and... well, you'll see."
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