I felt like there was a chance for me to get out, right there an inch from my nose. But I couldn't see it. 
- — Nemesis
Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape #5 is an issue of the series Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape (Volume 1) with a cover date of November, 2009.
Synopsis for "The Machine"
Nemesis has awakened in his room, and the events play out as they had previously when he first awoke in Electric City. With knowledge of having gone through this once, he resigns to change things. He walks out of the room and, this time, avoids trying to talk to Amanda Waller. He finds himself in the room with Cameron Chase and Count Vertigo, but this time, he knocks Vertigo out immediately before his powers can go out of control. He is then in the hallway with the man who had been flayed the first time he experienced this, but Chase is not there as she had been the first time. Again, the OMAC tells him they can leave, but Tom manages to convince the man not to leave because he will die. The man believes him and Tom rejoices that he has changed things. Tom tells the other man that he may be able to get them out of this. Over a period of time that seems like days to Tom, he lives his experiences again, but this time he manages to avoid anyone dying. He eventually confronts the older man who had spoken to him cryptically on many occasions. Tom acts on a hunch. He tells the man that he knows he is the OMAC. The man transforms into the OMAC. The OMAC tells Tom that the older man is Buddy Blank and that Buddy does not know he is the OMAC or what his role here is. The OMAC says that Buddy calls the OMAC Forest. But the OMAC says Forrest was his and his brother’s father. When Tom questions the OMAC about his brother, the OMAC says Tom has not met him yet. The OMAC reveals that Buddy’s psyche is damaged and that he sees the OMAC’s actions through a haze of his dreams. Buddy knows what the OMAC knows, but he does not quite remember. The OMAC tells him that Buddy wants to help Tom escape. Tom asks why the OMAC is keeping him here, the OMAC says he is not keeping here, implying there is another who is keeping Tom here. He notes that Tom has grown in his time here. He says that before Tom got here, Tom was an accessory. He was a supporting role to someone else’s story, but now he can do almost anything once he figures out what to do. With Tom having gained this knowledge, things change in Electric City, and there are no other people there. Tom goes through several instances of his experience, each time eventually reaching the Cosmic Treadmill. But eventually, he gives up and, as he calls it, stops running through the maze, even making friends with the identical nurses. Eventually, he encounters Amanda Waller. For some reason, this time, Waller remembers meeting him previously. She tells him that this is not a dream, as Tom believed. Further, she says that she wanted to stay here. She explains that whatever this is, those running it have more power than any group she has ever been around. She wanted to stay to join them, but she did not make the cut. She tells him that she wishes she knew what would happen next for Tom and that she could have helped him more. But with that she fades away, telling him he is on his own.
Appearing in "The Machine"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Forest
Antagonists:
- Count Vertigo
- Lila
Other Characters:
- Amanda Waller
- Cameron Chase (Mentioned only)
- OMAC
Locations:
- Electric City
Items:
Vehicles:
See Also