The boys returned to Multi's house to find Ken tinkering in the attic (as usual). He was making notes on something or another when the boys walked in.
"Hey, Dad, we need to talk to you," Multi said.
"Sure, Ace," Ken said, using his pet name for Multi. "What's up?"
"Well, we were just at HQ," Multi said. "They were trying to get your shrinking machine to work in reverse."
"But they won't let us in on what they're doing," Coiley said.
"Dr. Hendricks said they're having trouble getting it to work," Multi went on.
"What's it doing?" Ken asked.
"We don't know, they won't tell us," Fluey said shrugging. "But I think it's blowing things up again. Dr. Hendricks had some goop on his face when we walked in."
"Sounds to me like they need to lower the intensity," Ken said. "What's it set at?"
"Beats me," Fluey said.
"Yeah, Dr. Hendricks said we weren't authorized to know that," Multi said. "We thought we'd talk to you about that issue, Dad."
"Okay," Ken said. "The only thing I can think of is that the intensity is too high, and therefore, it's blowing things up. If you hit it with too much power, BLAMMO! Does that explain it?"
"Strangely enough, Mr. Mills, it does," Fluey said. "Let's call Reggie and tell him. Then maybe he'll tell Dr. Hendricks."
The boys left the attic and immediately went to the phone. Multi picked it up and dialed the lab at HQ. Unfortunately, Reggie didn't pick it up. Dr. Hendricks did.
"Science wing," he said.
"Oh, uhh, hi, Dr. Hendricks," Multi said.
"Multi, is this about that machine of your dad's again?" Dr. Hendricks asked, sounding a little exasperated at the subject.
"Well, kind of," Multi said. "See, we have this theory . . . . . I know we're not authorized to know what you're doing with that thing, but maybe you could at least hear me out with this. If the machine is blowing things up, I think maybe you should lower the intensity. If you hit it with too much power, it's . . . . . ."
"Multi, listen, I've got a lot to do over here, and I don't have time for this right now."
"But Dr. Hendricks, I know what I'm talking about!"
"Okay, then. I'll tell you what. Why don't you write up this little theory of yours, and give it to me come Monday, okay? In the meantime, enjoy the weekend."
The next thing Multi heard was a click, and then the dial tone. He sighed and hung up the phone.
"He said to write up my little theory and give it to him come Monday," he said.
"Man, I can't stand Hendricks," Fluey grumbled. "He's always treating us like little kids!"
"We've got to prove my dad's machine works in reverse," Multi said.
"But how?" Coiley asked.
"I don't know, but I'll think of something," Multi said.
The next day was Saturday. Coiley and Fluey went over to Multi's house to think about how they could convince Dr. Hendricks to let them take a shot at working on Ken's machine. As they were thinking about it, Windy came into the room to grab her purse.
"You guys still thinking about how to get in to work on Dad's machine?" she asked.
"Yeah," Multi said. "Believe me, Sis, Dr. Hendricks is a tough nut to crack."
"Too bad you guys just can't sneak in and work on it today," Windy said. "After all, you told me Dr. Hendricks doesn't work on Saturdays."
"But there's still the chief," Coiley said.
"Oh, wait, I forgot to tell you guys," Fluey said. "The chief said he was going out of town for a couple of days. Something about a training seminar or something like that."
"Franky, how is it you know the chief's plans all the time, and Mark and Calvin don't?" Windy asked.
"You're not authorized to know that, Windy," Fluey said.
"So what's stopping you now?" Windy asked.
The Impossibles just looked at each other. Before anyone could say anything else, a car horn honked from outside, and Windy started for the door.
"Well, see you guys Monday," she said.
"Monday?" Coiley asked.
"Yeah," Windy said. "Alexandra, Iris, and I are heading for the spa for the whole weekend. We're going to get full makeovers."
(Alexandra and Iris were Windy's friends, by the way)
"With a face like yours, Win, you'll need a whole week at the spa for you to start looking good," Fluey said.
Multi cracked up at that, as Windy threw them both the dirtiest look she could muster. Then she left.
"You guys know something?" Multi asked once she was gone. "She has a point."
"About what?" Coiley asked.
"Well, Dr. Hendricks doesn't work Saturdays, and the chief's out of town," Multi said. "What's keeping us from going down there and working on the machine?"
"The fact that we could still get caught," Coiley said.
"Right, Multi," Fluey said. "I've already got two strikes against me, and this will definitely get me suspended."
"I know it's risky, but what else are we going to do?" Multi asked. "You know what's going to happen if I write down my 'little theory' and submit it to Dr. Hendricks. He'll toss it in the trash without even reading it. Listen, fellas, if we get caught, I'll take the blame."
"This sounds like the sort of idea I'd come up with," Fluey sighed. "Okay, Multi, I'm in."
"Yeah, me too," Coiley said. "Let's go."
The boys got up, and were about to head for the door. But before they could reach it, Barbara came over to them.
"Mark, I'm glad I caught you before you left," she said. "Your father and I have to go out, and we could be gone for most of the day. Could you watch Adam for us until we get back?"
"Uhhh . . . ." Multi said. "Gee, Barbara, I don't know . . . ."
"Sweetie, I wouldn't ask if it wasn't an emergency," Barbara said. "And since you don't have any plans today . . . . ."
"Little does she know," Fluey muttered. Coiley jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow.
"Please, Mark?" Barbara asked. "We're really in a jam."
"Oh, all right," Multi sighed. He was stuck. After all, he couldn't tell his father and his stepmother that he couldn't baby-sit his brother because he and his friends were going to sneak into the SSHQ lab.
"Thanks, honey," Barbara said, giving her stepson a quick kiss, and then she and Ken left.
"Looks like we won't be going to the lab after all," Coiley said, sounding a bit relieved.
"Oh yes we are," Multi said. "We'll just have to take Adam with us."
"Multi, have you flipped out?" Coiley asked.
"Wait a minute," Fluey said. "I think Multi's onto something here, Coiley. Even though Reggie and Hendricks don't work Saturdays, the facilities are still open, and the security guards are still there. They'll want to know what the three of us are doing in the lab on a Saturday. If we take Adam with us, we can tell the security guards we're baby-sitting, and we brought Multi's baby brother over here to check out the lab."
"And to look at Dad's machine," Multi said.
"That's sneaky, fellas," Coiley said. "Very sneaky."
"You're outvoted, Coiley," Multi said. "Come on. Let's go get Adam, and get started."
Within minutes, the trio arrived at the SSHQ, with Multi's baby brother in tow. The toddler had never seen the SSHQ building before, and he was impressed (then again, how hard is it to impress a three-year-old?)
"Wow," he said.
"Some place, huh, Adam?" Multi said, as he strapped his baby brother into his stroller.
"Some pace," Adam repeated.
"Come on, fellas," Multi said, and he, Coiley, and Fluey walked into the SSHQ lobby, and were met by one of the security guards. His name was Irving Smith, but everyone called him "Smitty." He was an older man, in his mid sixties, and had been with the agency for who knows how long.
"Hi, boys," he said. "I didn't know you were coming in today."
"We weren't planning on it," Multi said. "But we're baby-sitting my brother, and we decided to come down to show him the lab."
"Don't worry, Smitty, we won't show him anything top secret," Fluey said, as the boys went down the hallway. Smitty just nodded, and went back to the security cameras.
The boys, in the meantime, went into the lab, and began working on the computers in order to get the information they needed.
"What does it say under the intensity level, Coiley?" Multi asked.
"Access denied," Coiley said. "They must've put in a new password or something."
"How can we lower the intensity without knowing how high it is?" Multi asked.
"Maybe we can diffuse it or something," Fluey said, eyeing a nearby trash can. He walked over to it, and pulled an empty glass Coca-Cola bottle out of it.
"Hey, good idea!" Multi shouted. He took the bottle, and smashed it against the floor, in order to break off the bottom of it.
"Now all we have to do is lock on target and . . . . ." he started.
"What target?" Fluey asked. "Most of what Hendricks has been testing on is locked up in here and we don't have the keys to unlock them."
The boys began to think, until Multi looked over at his brother, sitting off to the side in his stroller, holding a large, stuffed rabbit he called Mr. Big Ears.
"I've got it!" he shouted, running over to the stroller.
"Let me borrow this, Adam," he said, taking the toy from the toddler.
"No," Adam whined.
"You can have it back in a minute," Multi said. "We just want to see if we can make Mr. Big Ears bigger, okay?"
Whether or not Adam was okay with it, Multi took the rabbit and put it on the platform in front of the machine. Then he, Multi, and Fluey grabbed some safety goggles, and put them on. Fluey walked over to the stroller with a fourth pair and put them on Adam, just in case. Then, he went back over to the computer, while Multi activated the machine, sticking the bottom of the Coke bottle into one of the compartments. Coiley was standing at another computer, monitoring the activity. They weren't paying any attention to anything, except the machine.
Adam was feeling a little separation anxiety with his bunny rabbit. He took off his safety goggles, managed to climb out of the stroller, and then made his way over to the platform. The boys didn't notice.
"Okay, Multi, go for it," Coiley said.
Multi pushed a button, and activated the machine. It revved up, and aimed for Mr. Big Ears. A countdown began, but just as it got to five, the lights began flickering, and something blew.
"Sizzling stereos, a power surge!" Multi shouted.
"We'd better abort mission," Coiley said. Fluey began typing frantically but nothing was happening.
"Unable to abort," he said.
Just then, the laser went off, and not only hit Mr. Big Ears, but also Adam in the process. The boys were too busy trying to abort the project, they didn't even notice. The lights suddenly went out, and they came back on again, shortly afterward, only slightly dimmer. It was the back up generators. Adam used this moment to get back into his stroller, so his big brother wouldn't notice he had left it for a minute.
"Man, I hope we didn't black out the whole city!" Fluey shouted.
Multi walked over to the platform and picked up the rabbit.
"Well?" Coiley asked.
"Nothing," Multi sighed. "No changes. Oh well. At least we didn't disintegrate it."
"Yeah, but we'd better get out of here before someone finds out we're the cause of the power failure and disintegrates us!" Fluey shouted.
Coiley and Multi had to agree with that one, so they put everything back where they found it, and left. As they were leaving, Smitty stopped them.
"Boys, you wouldn't happen to know anything about the power failure, would you?" he asked.
"Maybe someone in another part of the building overloaded a circuit or something," Fluey said with a shrug.
"You boys weren't fooling around in the lab, were you?" Smitty asked. "Because you know you're not authorized to . . . . ."
"Yeah, we know," Fluey said. "Look, we gotta split. See you around, Smitty."
The boys then left, trying to act nonchalant. They didn't want to race out of the facility too fast, because then they'd look suspicious.
"I have a feeling my conscience is going to be nagging me over this," Coiley said.
"Mine, too," Multi sighed. "This was a stupid idea. I can't believe we actually went and did it. They are eventually going to find out what happened, you know. What was I thinking?"
"You just wanted to prove your dad's machine worked," Coiley said.
"Come on, let's go back to your place," Fluey said. "We'll worry about what's gonna happen when they find out what happened later."