"So, it destroys brain cells. So it kills people. Why would you need to kill brain cells when a laser through the chest on high does it perfectly fine?" Commander Root asked.

Artemis thought for a moment, "Well, perhaps it does not destroy all the brain cells at once. Perhaps it destroys a certain amount, depending upon what level you set it too."

"And how is that helpful?" Root asked.

"It would make people dumber." Foaly said, "She was going to try and make herself the smartest creature on earth."

Artemis nodded, "Most likely."

Commander Root shook his head, "Well, it doesn't work anyway, so you might as well scrap that thing. And Foaly I don't ever want to see plans or blueprints or even hear about this thing again. That could be dangerous."

"Yeah, I mean, how much dumber can you get?" Foaly mumbled.

Commander Root stood up abruptly and growled at Foaly, "What was that pony boy? Did you just call me dumb? Because if you did, I might just have to cut your budget in half for next year."

"What, me call you dumb, ridiculous." Foaly said quickly.

"That's what I thought." Root said.

Artemis studied the gun even more and then said, "It isn't broken beyond repair." He leaned over and began fiddling with it, "Some of the wires are just disconnected."

"Artemis, it probably isn't a good idea to be playing with that." Butler said.

"Don't worry Butler, I promise I will be extremely careful." Artemis replied.

"Mud boy, I just told Foaly to scrap that. Don't try and fix the damn thing." Commander Root said.

"I almost have it; it will only be a moment." Artemis replied, ignoring the Commander.

"Mud boy, are you listening to me?" Commander Root asked unnecessarily.

"No Commander, I am not really listening to you." Artemis said, "Besides, I am almost finished with it."

Then, suddenly there was a sudden flash of light, and Artemis began to shake violently, he was being electrocuted. His eyes were wide and his mouth agape, but he couldn't free himself from the potentially deadly voltage. Butler rose to his feet in an instant, but Holly was closer and quicker.

She reached for Artemis's hands, brushing against the wire that Artemis had his hands on. She too began to shake uncontrollably, her eyes rolling around wildly, her head bucking.

Butler grabbed both of them by the nape of the neck and pulled them away. He too was briefly electrocuted and thus let go of them. The two slammed into the wall behind and slumped down, unconscious. Butler quickly checked their pulse, hoping for the best, which he got because they were both, thankfully alive.

Foaly looked horrified and then asked, "Are they…"

"Their alive." Butler answered and relief seemed to wash through the room.

Then Commander Root stood up and walked over to Butler, "Your charge almost got my officer killed!" He yelled, which was very brave since Butler was probably more than twice his size.

Butler frowned and then said, "Almost, but she isn't dead."

"Yes, but who knows what kind of damage he may have caused!" Root bellowed.

"I'm sure her magic will fix her up fine." Butler replied and then looked down. Sure enough the blue sparks of magic were already winding there way down Holly's body and onto her burnt hand. They were also sparkling around her heart and head.

Holly moaned. As soon as she woke up she realized that she was in a lot of pain, which meant her magic wasn't working, or she used it all up. She wondered how badly injured she was and was almost too afraid to find out. She felt a tingling sensation running through her body and not the nice magic curing you kind, the kind you get after you're electrocuted.

That was it; she had been electrocuted, by the gun Artemis had been trying to fix. Artemis, if she could have shaken her head, she would have. He would never learn.

Her heart felt funny, it was beating way too fast, and it almost hurt. A side effect of having several hundred volts of electricity run through you. Her head hurt as well, which was probably caused by Butler throwing her into the wall.

She moaned again and slowly opened her eyes. Everything was very bright, but she could make out a large shadow hovering over her, Butler. She looked up and saw him on his knees, bending over. He was waving his hand in front of her eyes. She followed the hand for a moment before she tried to speak. All that came out was a gurgling, rasping noise.

Butler frowned and said, "Do not speak, conserve your energy. You've just had a bad shock, literally."

Holly nodded and just lay there as Butler gently lifted her onto the lab table. It was cold, which was strange because she shouldn't have been able to feel cold through her LEP jumpsuit.

"Just nod yes or no to answer the questions." Butler said and she nodded.

"Do you have pain in your chest?" Butler asked.

Holly thought for a moment and then nodded, she did.

"Do you feel a tingling sensation?"

She nodded again.

"Can you move?" Butler asked.

She tried to move, but her body suddenly felt very heavy, she shook her head.

"Ok, just try and relax. Breadth in and out. The sensations should go away soon, but if you try and move it'll take longer." Butler said firmly and then turned away. Holly breathed in and out; it was difficult and slightly painful.

She heard someone moan and suddenly start gasping. She assumed it was Artemis awakening from his stupor.

"She's awakening." Commander Root said.

Holly found that odd, had he seen her awake already?

Butler began speaking to Artemis, "Can you hear me?"

There was a gurgling noise, which Holly presumed was Artemis trying to answer.

"Don't speak." Butler said and Artemis didn't try again.

"Just nod to answer my questions, does your chest hurt?" Butler asked. Holly tried to turn her head, but she couldn't she had to settle for looking sideways, but she couldn't see Artemis.

"Do you have a tingling sensation?" Butler asked, Artemis answered.

"Can you move?" Butler asked.

Artemis answered and then there was a shuffling noise as he probably got to his feet. Holly suddenly saw Butler lunge forward as if catching something, Artemis must have fallen over.

"The magic is still running through her, she'll be weak for awhile." Commander Root said.

Holly frowned, or she would have frowned. The magic wasn't running through her at all, what did Commander Root mean? She was so confused and she was also in a lot of pain and very, very tired. She closed her eyes and slipped back into unconsciousness.