-Chapter Three: Disclosures and Decisions-


Like he'd been doing for days, Layton sat in what was now his bedroom, poring over books about the brain and the mind, out-of-body experiences and reincarnation, searching for an explanation of what was happening to him. There had been some promising hints, but nothing he'd read about was close enough to what he'd experienced.

He was thankful for all his years of practicing self-control and clear thinking, otherwise he'd have absolutely panicked by now. He hadn't panicked yet, but the talking tiger had brought him close now and then.

He glanced around the room. The tiger was nowhere to be seen, thankfully. It was possibly the strangest thing here Layton had encountered so far, which was indeed saying something.

Yes, it talked. Layton seemed to be the only one to hear it, when he asked "his parents" about it, they always acted like he was pretending. Indeed, they didn't seem to see that the tiger was alive at all.

As far as talking tigers go, the one Layton shared a room with seemed amiable enough. It didn't seem to want to bother Layton, aside from a couple of times when it had nearly given him a heart attack by pouncing on him, somewhat playfully. Like everyone else Layton had encountered, the tiger seemed to see him only as a young boy, apparently named "Calvin".

He put aside his book and rubbed his eyes. Even he had gotten tired of so much reading, and with no leads to anything that might help him.

He heard the bedroom door open behind him. He turned to see Hobbes, the tiger, enter the room on his hind legs, as he sometimes did. Layton tensed up.

Hobbes walked up to Layton with a serious look on his whiskered face. "Calvin, seriously, we need to be straight with each other. What's going on? You've been acting strange ever since that night you tried to increase your brain-matter-whatever. What's going on?"

Layton thought for a moment, but the decision came surprisingly quickly. He couldn't continue on like he was. He needed an ally, someone to help him solve this immense puzzle.

He took a deep breath. "Er… Hobbes, what I'm going to tell you is going to sound, frankly, rather insane…"

"So, what else is new," Hobbes chuckled.

Layton continued "You see, I…I'm not really Calvin." He then told Hobbes the whole story about how he had found himself here. When he finished, he waited to see the tiger's reaction.

Hobbes sighed and massaged his temple with his paws. "Oh, gee. I'm sorry about this. Ugh, I always told Calvin that his inventions would get somebody else mixed up with us one of these days."

Layton blinked with Calvin's eyelids. "You believe me?"

"Oh, sure. Calvin's always doing things like this, and always something goes wrong." Hobbes proceeded to explain to Layton all about how Calvin had built an invention for his brain, and how it seemed to not work, but this had apparently been the result.

Layton was astounded. "And, Calvin… is only six?"

"Yup. Definitely six, I remember his birthday party. If I recall correctly, besides me there were only two party guests, and they left when Calvin dumped punch on them."

"Only six, and he built a machine like this…" Layton marveled. Hobbes shrugged. "Eh, reality-warping machines are overrated. Now, tuna sandwiches, if Calvin made more of those, I'd definitely be impressed."

Layton was silent for a few minutes. Then he began to laugh. Hobbes tilted his head and asked "What's so funny?"

The Professor chuckled "I-I'm sorry, it's just… I'm sitting here, with a tiger, having a serious conversation about how I apparently switched brains with a six-year-old boy because of a machine he made out of a cardboard box and a lamp! Pardon me, but if I didn't laugh, I think I'd start screaming!"

Hobbes shrugged. "I suppose I understand that. Say, since you're laughing, why not give you something to laugh about? Let me tell you about the Noodle Incident…"


Calvin was in his large new bed, tossing and turning in his sheets. The bed being so much bigger than his bed back home only served to make it lonelier without a warm tiger to snuggle up with. Calvin was pretty sure there weren't any monsters under the Professor guy's bed, but at night, you could never be absolutely certain.

He missed Hobbes. He had missed him the whole time, really, but at night in bed was when it really came to the forefront of his mind.

There were other things he missed, too. Things like the joy of pelting Susie with water balloons, and playing Calvinball, and riding through the forest in the wagon. He couldn't find any Chocolate-Frosted Sugar Bombs for breakfast, either, he'd asked about them at a grocery store, but the employee had said that they didn't stock them due to some British law about radioactive materials.

There was a knock at the bedroom door. Who could that be? "Come in," Calvin grunted. The door opened, and there stood the girl who was always hanging around, the Professor guy's adopted daughter or something like that.

"Professor… are you all right? I head you tossing and turning from all the way down the hall." Calvin sat up wearily. "Oh, it's you, er…"

"Flora. Do you need anything? Some warm tea, maybe?"

Calvin shook his head. "Nah, I'm good."

Flora turned to leave. Calvin thought for a moment, but the decision came surprisingly quickly. He couldn't continue on like he was. "Wait," he added.

Flora turned back. "Yes?" Calvin cleared his throat. "There is some stuff I'm gonna need, but you can't get it tonight. We'll have to get it tomorrow."

Flora replied "But, Professor, you have to go to the university tomorrow, remember?" Calvin scratched his head. "I do? Oh, I guess I do. Okay, then you and Louie-"

"Luke, you mean?"

"Yeah, right. You two will have to get everything tomorrow while I'm at that university place. I'll make a list of everything we need."

The girl looked confused. "All right, Professor, we can do that. But… why?" Calvin yawned. "I'll tell you tomorrow. Right now I gotta make that list and get to sleep. Get me a pencil and paper, huh?"

"Of course, Professor." Flora left to get them. Calvin rubbed his eyes. He knew what he had to do. Be it ever so humble, there was no place like home.