She doesn't call herself Mirage anymore, just Babe, because "that's what you used to call me," she tells the redheaded man who wakes up with her in the morning. Never in her life did she think she'd be reduced to a sexist nickname, but it's her secret identity and secrets must be kept for the greater good.

The locals don't know what to make of her olive skin, white hair, or sylph-like figure. At least Buddy looks MidWest with his freckles and lean muscles. And he shares their passion for growing their own food and working on the farm mechanics, so they accept her as "Buddy's woman," which is fine with her.

Buddy's long hair is shorter than it was before, though by church-going standards it's still pretty long. He's tan with deep brown freckles and leaned his muscles from the hard work he performs now, no longer able to rely on million dollar machines and multiple willing hands. He doesn't pig out on sweeties and treats like he used to, perfectly happy with her organic healthy lifestyle, so his skin has cleared up as well. There are no existing photos that show him past the age of 13, and none of the witnesses from the Metroville Incident can actually give a good description of him, so Mirage really doesn't worry that someone will identify him. She knows she can protect her bionic man.

"Hey Babe," Buddy sometimes asks, "would you get my meds for me? My jaw is starting to go numb."

And she hurries into their farmhouse to grab the right needle to inject him with the tissue stimulant the doctors at SyndroCorp deliver monthly. Sometimes she wonders if he remembers what it feels like to have a normal human body, but she doesn't dare ask. And sometimes he wants her to explain the "car accident" that tore off both his legs and one of his arms and ripped off his lower jaw, because "Johnny down at the feed store lost his hand in a baler and all he's got is a crappy hook, while my parts are so real no one believes they're fake." And once again she tells him that all of his surgery was experimental and not available to the public. It always leaves Buddy feeling bad, but she reminds him that he can't save everyone.

And sometimes he wants to know about his life before he lost his memory and she always gives him the same run-around answer of, "What does it matter? The life you have now is what's worth remembering."

So Mirage spirited Buddy away from the secret hospital and bought farmland, a good 6,400 square acres, in the middle of Nowhere. Home is no longer the secret base on an exotic island, but an old two-story farmhouse with peeling paint. It feels so right though, so perfect. On the turn off down the long gravel driveway to the farm, is a large ornately carved and painted sign that reads "Terra Firma Farmstead." She had Buddy build it, a project he had enjoyed because it involved using his hands. They grow organic foods: corn, sugar beets, beans, barley, and a gorgeous vegetable garden, complete with pumpkin patch. Gardening and planting feel natural to her because they had to grow their own food on Nomanisan, and Buddy has always been one to enjoy getting his hands dirty. Terra Firma Farmstead is their private heaven on earth, complete with red barn, silos, and a large apple tree in front of the house.

Their farm is thirty miles away from the nearest town, Sweetwater Creek, which you have to say, "Swee'wad'er Crick," real fast like the locals. The little town, population 51, is a place that Mirage has grown fond of, which really surprises her; she always thought that the lack of sophistication would turn her off. The bar, "Salas Realtop" acts as the hub of the small town: the owner's wife has a room in the back where she acts as the local beautician and seamstress. Mirage thinks that Michelle Salas does an excellent job at manicures. And in the bar's storage room Mike Salas performs basic medical practice, tattoos and men's haircuts. And lastly, it serves as the town's post office. Sometimes after getting haircuts, she and Buddy will sit at the counter together and share a cold beer and catch up on the town gossip as the locals filter in after work at the mill.

There is no school, nor grocery store and no hotel. There is rarely any traffic and only one stop sign.

The next town, Lander, which is another fifty miles up the road and on Saturdays, she and Buddy drive to Lander's fairground to participate in the summer farmer's market. Lander has the Real Hospital, Real Post Office, and Real School, though it's not a Real City. A Real City is London, Tokyo, Manhattan, Metroville. Buddy is fascinated with the increase of traffic, increase of people, and increase of noise, but she nervously reminds him that before The Accident, he hated cities and he allows himself to agree because,

"Babe knows best."

Mirage never allowed Buddy to stay the night with her before, but he shares the bed with her now. He has a large vintage Mr. Incredible poster framed above their bed, his trophy, and she can't believe that after everything that's happened, his obsession with the hero is still intact. Sometimes in the cover of night, he tells her to call him "Mr. Incredible" and she pretends to grudgingly comply, though she really does imagine the man she could have had. Blond hair, blue-eyed, the all-American boy. Buddy actually got the Super's emblem tattooed on his upper arm one afternoon while she was at the hairdresser's.

He enjoys holding her as they drift off to sleep, wrapping his strong arms around her and burying his face in her hair. She enjoys knowing they're safe together, here, alone in this small, remote, and unimportant place.

Podunk.