Everyone was running in one direction. Both Easton and Van Helsen deduced that they're running away from the danger, so naturally they ran in the opposite direction. They kept running, until they arrived at a door, which appeared to be charred, as if someone tried to torch it.
"What has happened here?" Van Helsen wondered.
"Isn't this Dr. Feuerstein's lab?" Easton just remembered.
The two looked at each other, wide-eyed, and both started calling Feuerstein's first name: "William!"
A groan can be heard from beyond that door. Both men burst in, only to find a lot of rubble.
"Can you hear us?" Easton cried.
Another groan, coming from the rubble at the far left corner. Both men ran to that corner, moved away as much of the rubble as possible, and found their good doctor. Battered and bruised, but still breathing.
"Everything good?" Van Helsen asked him.
Feuerstein coughed out some dust as an answer.
"Can you tell us what happened?" Easton asked.
"I don't know." Feuerstein answered, with some difficulty, "I had just finished my latest project... and that's when everything blew up."
"The Ranger-machines exploded?" Van Helsen asked.
"No." Feuerstein replied, "I had them in my hands when it happened. Something exploded behi... Where's Ivan?"
Both Easton and Van Helsen were surprised by this sudden question.
"We have to take care of you first." Easton said.
"He was here when it happened!" Feuerstein told them, "He should be here!"
"You look to him." Van Helsen commanded Easton, who obeyed, then he turned back to Feuerstein, "Where are the machines?"
Feuerstein looked at his hands, where he had them last, as he said only seconds ago: "They must be somewhere under that rubble over there.
"Ivan!" Easton called out, but no reply came. He called out again, and again, but nothing came.

While all this was going on, Bernard had opened up a few drawers of his desk, from which he took what at first glance looked like plastic dough. This, he placed at many strategic points at the lab, just when he heard a loud clang. Bernard turned to look. A grill from the air-shaft fell off, and through the opening that created, a short man climbed out. Most people who see this man for the first time would scream in fear, what with his hunched back, his popped right eye, his ragged clothes, and what appeared to be a mushroom growing out of his nose. But Bernard didn't react that way at all.
"Perfect timing, Ivan." Bernard said.
"I got Feuerstein's machines." the hunchback, Ivan said, upon which he showed what he took from Feuerstein. He held five little machines, each of which had a rotation button on it, making it look more like a thermostat-switch. Each also bore their own color: green, blue, yellow, white, and red.
"And you're sure they can't replicate it?" Bernard asked, "Or even deactivate it at a distance?"
"I destroyed all Feuerstein's notes." Ivan replied, "Plus back-ups. It is as if he never made them."
"Good!" Bernard said, "Our friends will be pleased to hear that."
"But now how do we get out?" Ivan asked, "This explosion has put them on high alert."
"One explosion would do that." Bernard said, "But a second one implies they're under attack, and that they'll have to evacuate. They'll have neither the time or the chance to look for us."
"Great idea!" Ivan said.
"Now, go back into the air-shaft." Bernard told him.
Ivan did exactly as he was told. With Bernard's help, he could climb back into the shafts. Once he was in, he crawled through as fast as he could, leaving room for Bernard to crawl in. But as he crawled, he heard voices.
"What are you doing?" it sounded heavy and muffled, as though the person saying it was a big man, wearing a helmet.
"I eh..." Bernard had to do some quick thinking, "I'm trying to keep the fire from spreading."
"What fire?" another voice asked.
"Well, there was an explosion, right?" Bernard replied.
"Oh yeah, of course." that voice said.
"Wait a minute!" the first one sounded again, "How do you know it was an explosion. We only just received the news ourselves!"
"He could've heard it." the other one said.
"And we didn't?" the first voice said, "Quite a coinkidink if you ask me."
Soon after, there came a few knocks on the shaft, signaling Ivan to move on. Not knowing what else to do, or how to help his friend, he did exactly that. He could only just hear someone ask what was crawling through there, just when he heard an explosion.

Outside, exactly like Bernard predicted, all scientists and members of staff were vacating the building. The guards, as well as some of the Mascots, were helping to get everyone organized. So distracted were they, nobody had any chance of seeing one short man crawling out of the shafts. Ivan had made it out, though judging from the fact that his clothes were smoking, he just barely escaped the explosion. He rolled in the grass at first, trying to put out the fires. Once that was done, he took one look at the building. He couldn't believe what Bernard just did, just to save his life, and what he had done by extension. Ivan shook his head, realizing he should banish the thought, or else Bernard would have died for nothing. He ran away from the building as fast as he could.

Since he didn't want to draw too much attention to himself, Ivan had to take the smaller back-alleys, where almost nobody would spot him. With all the buildings, all the concrete roads, and the sounds of electronic equipment, he feared he might never leave the city. What a relieve he felt when his feet touched the soft moss of the forest, and the fresh oxygen of the trees allowed him to breath again. With his new-found breath, he could finally run again, until he reached his final destination. On the outside, it looked like an old mansion. Pieces of brick were already missing, several irons bars had rusted, and the roof looked like it could collapse any second. All the windows were either broken or boarded up, and even the boards looked like they were nailed there many decades ago, and were half-rotten already. And though the trees of the forest were still alive, the ones nearest this mansion seemed to have lost all their leaves already. It was like this house attracted nothing but death. Here, Ivan knocked four times on the door, which surprisingly was the only thing that seemed new. As an answer to his knock, the door opened itself. A sight that would have everyone's blood curdle, and their skins crawl. But to Ivan, this was just another door, that he walked through, without any sense of dread.