"Boy, am I glad to see you!"

He watched as Malcolm slowly opened one eye before his pained expression changed to one worse: full fury. "Amp? What are you-? Get off of me, you psychotic moron!" he shouted before pushing him away.

"Sorry,"Amp muttered before gasping. "Lydia! She's unconscious! Help me get her out of this room and close the door."

Malcolm scrambled to his feet and saw Lydia, her body slumped over with Amp's shirt covering her face. "What have you done to her?" he threw Amp's shirt at him and lifted Lydia into his arms before taking her out of the room and kicking the door shut. "Answer me, you spineless wimp!"

Amp flinched and recoiled at his tone, but quickly regained his composure. "I didn't do anything to her. We fell through a trap door and into that room. She was trying to help us escape, but she said there was poisonous gas coming through the vent. I guess she accidentally inhaled a lot of it, cause she passed right out."

"Well, stay with her. I'll get some water to hopefully wake her," Malcolm lay her back down on the floor gently before dashing off.

Amp sat on the floor by her, his knees tucked under his chin, rocking back and forth. "Please be okay, Lyds. Please be okay," he repeated. He was still a little lightheaded, himself, from the gas, but he couldn't think about anything else but her well-being. "Come on, Lydia. Wake up and give 'ol Amp a smile."

As if on cue, Lydia began waking up, coughing. It wasn't a smile, but Amp wasn't complaining. "That's my girl," he told her, helping her sit up.

Malcolm ran back into the room with a bottle of water. "Here, drink this," he opened it and handed it to her.

Amp watched as her cheeks regained their color as she took a sip. Thank goodness she's going to be alright.

"Here, Amp. Take a drink of this since you are possibly light-headed, too," Lydia offered the bottle to him. For a moment, he mentally panicked. Both of his parents warned him not to drink after other people, and he worried Malcolm might object. If there was one thing he knew about Malcolm, it was how territorial he was. Even sharing his girlfriend's spittle might send him over the edge.

"Oh, just drink it already; we can't have you falling and tipping over," Malcolm barked.

Amp took the water happily and took a drink. "Nice to know you care, Malcolm."

Malcolm growled and helped a still slightly unsteady Lydia to her feet. "Well, so much for us splitting up. From now on, we stay together…no matter how much it kills us."

Amp grabbed his buttoned Hawaiian shirt and put it back on over his white tee. He now understood that Malcolm and Lydia weren't overreacting when they said they were in trouble. If Kilokahn was behind the trap door and the poisonous gas, he had it in for them in a big way. But why? And how was he able to do that stuff if he was only an artificial intelligence program? All Amp knew for sure was that Malcolm was right: they needed each other if they were going to manage to defeat Kilokahn. I sure wish Sam were here right now; he'd know what to do. But until then, I have to keep my wits about me and have a calm and level head to figure out what—

Suddenly, Malcolm turned around to face them and Amp let out a strangled cry. "Sorry. I was thinking too hard," he apologized. I really wish my brain had an off switch, he added mentally.

"While you two were off…exploring, I did some of my own and you won't believe what I found," Malcolm continued, leading the way, walking backwards so he could look at them while explaining his treasure. "I dropped it after hearing horrible noises which I found later came from Amp, but while I was in the library room, I found a book on Kilokahn! I took the book out of its place on the shelf and the entire bookcase and floor beneath me moved, revealing a secret passageway or entrance! Isn't that exciting?"

"Wait; you found a book on Kilokahn?" Lydia stopped, causing Amp to bump into her.

"Yes, and then the bookcase turned to reveal a whole new area, which was how I was able to find you," Malcolm repeated.

"I want to see the book."

Malcolm's face fell. "You find the book more exciting than what happened afterwards? Considering if the bookcase hadn't moved, I never would have come to your rescue?"

Lydia pointed to the room next to the library. "You mean that bookcase? Malcolm, it didn't take you to a secret part of the mansion; it just placed you into the next room."

Malcolm looked and sure enough, his hopes were dashed as he saw the bookcase on the wall in the room right next door. No big surprise, no secret passageway, just another bland room that saved him a few measly steps by riding the bookcase. "Well, that's just ridiculous. What kind of twisted people have a hidden entrance into the next room without it being secret?"

Lydia ran in and picked the book up off the floor. "I take it Kilokahn is the acronym for this title?"

"Yes. But what is it doing here?"

"Maybe this is Kilokahn's memoirs," Amp suggested. "How I Became An Evil Program."

Malcolm rolled his eyes and Lydia stifled a giggle. Leave it to Amp to make everything into a lame joke.

Lydia opened the book and flipped through the first few pages. "'Everything Kilokahn is today is owed all to Ky-DEL'?" she read. "Who or what exactly is Ky-DEL?"

Malcolm didn't know or care at that particular moment. Kilokahn was who he was because of him, not some weirdo called Ky-DEL! You came to me, Kilokahn, remember? You needed someone to design mega-virus monsters so that you could bring them to life. And how many times did I help you? But this is the thanks I get? No dedication, no mention, nothing? Malcolm mentally verbalized at Kilokahn, wherever he was. Well, thanks for nothing to you too, pal! He knew he was also the one who attempted to get rid of Kilokahn, but did all his help in the past get erased now that the new kid was in town? "We need to find this Ky-DEL person and give him a piece of—I mean, find out who he is and what he does for Kilokahn." Then, I'll destroy him, get Kilokahn to come crawling back to me and offer him Servo's head on a platter. That should get him to leave my honey and I alone for good. But in order to get Collins to willfully surrender, I guess I'll have to first get rid of one of his own. Shouldn't be too hard to kill off Amp. Most of his brain cells are long gone already. But it'll be just like those old horror movies; the dumb ones always die first.

Who names their kid Ky-DEL? No wonder he probably took up with Kilokahn. I'd want revenge against the world, too, if I was given that wretched name, Lydia thought to herself. She turned around to ask Amp if he was feeling better, but he wasn't behind her. Instead, he was in the far corner of the room, literally digging in a potted plant. "Um, Amp? May I ask what you're doing to the ficus?"

"There was something shiny in here," he replied, not looking up from his task.

"You've either lost your marbles completely or you are looking for them," Malcolm muttered.

Lydia walked over to Amp and tried to dodge the flying dirt. "Amp, this isn't a good time to fool around."

"I'm not fooling. I saw something really shiny in the soil but now I can't find it. It looked kinda like a—"

As if on cue, a tiny piece of metal flew through the air and Malcolm picked it up as soon as it hit the ground. "Well, I'll be damned; Boy Wonder really did find a lost treasure. It's some sort of key. But what on Earth could it possibly open?"

"Not sure, but we had better hang on to it in case we need it in the future," she rationalized, looking at the small golden key. I hope it opens some doorway to escape this place and it's not a trap. "I'll put it in my pocket for safekeeping."

Malcolm jerked away from her. "Why do you have to be the keeper of everything? You have the only working flashlight, you have that strange little device that let us find Collins' address, and now you have possession of the book I found. I'll keep the key."

"Hey, no fair; I saw it first," Amp argued, hands on his hips.

"And you tossed it into the air, where it fell on the floor for me to take! Keep your grubby mitts off!"

"But I'll keep it safe, I promise. I kept a ball of lint in my pocket for years once. Or maybe it was a ball of hair…"

Lydia quickly placed two fingers in her mouth and whistled shrilly as they continued to argue. As she did so, Malcolm jumped, dropping the key and Amp quickly swiped it and stashed it in his left shirt pocket.

"What did you do that for?" Malcolm shouted angrily.

"To stop you guys from fighting. Look, let Amp have the key, okay? You can keep the book, I don't care. We just need to focus and keep moving," she responded before shoving the book in Malcolm's hands.

"Thanks, Lydia," Amp whispered after Malcolm walked away.

"I'm trusting you with that key, Amp. Don't let me down so I have to eat crow."

"Ew! Why would you have to?"

Lydia rolled her eyes and grabbed Amp by the arm. "Come on." I love Amp and Malcolm to death, but why do I feel like I'm dealing with either Abbott and Costello or Laurel and Hardy?