"Okay, clearly Helena touched the artifact, whatever it is." Myka said needlessly. She was in Pete's room with Claudia, assessing the situation. Helena had stayed in their room with her daughter, who was obviously very confused and scared.
"It's got to be at the restaurant. H.G. and Claudia went there and we didn't." Pete agreed.
"We didn't touch anything!" Claudia insisted.
"Also, Claudia didn't wake up with a dead person in her bed." Myka pointed out. "I am surprised nobody has died of a heart attack yet, that was one of the freakiest things that's ever happened to me, and I'm a warehouse agent."
"Myka…how do we undo this…now?" Claudia asked quietly.
"What?"
"How do we neutralize the artifact? Won't it make all these people dead again? Including Christina? How can we do that to H.G.?"
Myka hadn't thought of that.
"I don't know, Claudia, but we still have to. Helena knows that."
The next morning, Helena stayed at the hotel with Christina. She knew they were going to have to neutralize the artifact when they found it, and she decided to take every second she could with her daughter. Besides, the girl was quite confused and at least the hotel room didn't offer too much stimulation.
"Thank you for letting me know." Claudia closed her cell phone. "That was the hospital. Frank Hart died an hour ago." She informed the others.
"He was the one with colon cancer?" Pete asked.
Claudia nodded. "Still had it when he came back from the dead, apparently."
"But the ones who died in accidents, or whatever, they are all okay?" Myka asked.
"Yep, just the ones with cancer and AIDS seem to be sick."
Pete pulled into the restaurant. "We're here."
They entered, the bell tinkling. Claudia unthinkingly reached out to rub the little Buddha's belly again. Myka grabbed her wrist.
"Did you do that yesterday?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Did Helena touch it too?" Myka asked.
"Yeah, she saw me do it so I explained. Oh gosh, you think it's the artifact?"
Pete reached into his pocket and pulled out a static bag.
"Wait." Myka said softly. She pulled out her Farnsworth.
Helena was brushing Christina's hair when she heard her Farnsworth buzz. Christina looked around, wide-eyed.
"It's just one of Mummy's inventions." She lied to her. Myka's face appeared on the screen and her heart sank. They must have found the artifact. She wasn't ready…but she would never be ready.
"You found it?"
"We think so, yes. A little statue you apparently touched yesterday." Myka said softly. "We're going to neutralize it. I thought you might want to…"
"Thank you for the warning." Helena said.
"I love you." Myka said, hanging up.
Helena gathered her daughter into a hug, waiting for the girl to disappear, or worse, go limp in her arms. She still remembered the feeling of the child's lifeless body in her arms from over a hundred years ago, and hoped she would just vanish, as that would be easier.
At the restaurant, Myka slowly put on her purple gloves, dragging the moment out.
"Do you want me to do it, Mykes?" Pete asked.
Myka shook her head. "No, I'm fine." She picked up the statue and held it over the bag Pete held. Steeling herself, she let it fall into the bag, all three of the agents shielding their eyes. It sparked and fizzled as Pete shut the bag. A tear leaked out of Claudia's eye. They all stared at the bag, knowing it had to be done, but feeling sad for their fellow agent, and all the other families who had just lost a loved one a second time. They stood in silence for a moment, then Pete went to talk to the restaurant owner about how they were going to take his statue.
Myka pulled off her gloves and picked up her Farnsworth again, redialing Helena. Claudia stepped away, giving her some privacy.
"I suppose you were wrong, then?" Helena answered.
"What? No, it was an artifact. We neutralized it, and it sparked." Myka said, confused.
"But my Christina is still here." Helena said slowly.
"What?"
"Christina is still here. Alive." She said the last word softly.
"Is it possible there are two artifacts in this store?" Myka asked out loud.
"What? Is Christina still there?" Claudia rejoined the conversation. Myka nodded.
Claudia wrinkled her nose. "I really don't think she touched anything else."
"You forgot she touched the Buddha too." Myka pointed out.
"Well yeah but after that we were talking to the owner. And we were careful."
"Helena, Claudia's going to go around and bag everything in this store one by one." Myka said. "I'll stay on the line…let me know if anything…happens, okay?"
Claudia bagged everything in the restaurant. Things she couldn't bag, she sprayed with goo. An hour later, Christina Wells was still alive and well, and there was clearly not another artifact in the restaurant.
"Okay, honey, I think we need to talk to Artie. I'll call you back."
