Last time on In Love With a Murderer,

"Greetings, I am PAMA" the giant smiling screen spoke….."If this world is so perfect then what happened to everyone?" Jesse asked… "I have made everyone Useful, no wasted energy, no wasted thought…."

The townspeople restrained Jesse into the contraption "Your brain might not be useful about portals, but it will be useful for other things"... Cassie's eyes widened as the piston lifted and Jesse's crimson colored eyes met hers….

Jesse and Petra grabbed Cassie's arms and pinned her into the machine "Get out of their heads now!" Cassie yelled again. PAMA's face turned into that psychotic smile "Their minds are full of great information. Oh my, what adventures you've had….a killer mansion….a sky city….towns and mountains...eaten by a living storm." PAMA started processing information from Jesse and Petra's minds " What's this? It seems as if Jesse has fallen in love with a murderer…." Cassie became enveloped in utter shock. Her heart beated faster when PAMA said that.

'What? "Love?" It can't be that kind of love...right? He's got to be joking…" PAMA's face turned serious "Could it be...that he has feeling for you, Cassie…? I don't understand, you have killed innocent people...it makes me upset" PAMA's expression turned to a frown, but continued to process information "You've seen so many places, met so many people.." PAMA began to ramble on about their visits. Ivor walked to Cassie's position and asked about their situation "What should we do now? Jesse and Petra was our only beefed defense. There has to be some way out of this...but how?" Cassie started to analyze PAMA and came for an answer "Every time PAMA gets new information, it seems to get distracted while it "processes"." Ivor responded agreeing with her statement "Yes. Like a computer version of "thinking". Do you think there's a way to distract PAMA long enough for us to escape?". Cassie looked at PAMA processing more information "Let's ask PAMA something that doesn't make any sense, like an….Unsolvable problem of some sorts!" She replies to Ivor. "Cassie, that's fantastic! What you are describing is a "Paradox", a self- contradictory statement. I think it would really work on PAMA" He replied. PAMA's voice interrupted their conversation "What do you think would work on me?" It asked angrily. "Hey PAMA, what would you say if I told you it's weird to not be weird?" Cassie asked the "thinking machine", who's face became shocked and slowly processed her question. Cassie's question also seems to have Lukas, Olivia and Axel contemplating the question.

It replied to Cassie's question confused "But if it is weird, to not be weird, then that means that being weird is normal. Which by the transitive property means that it is normal, not to be normal" PAMA's expression turned by a question mark.

"It's working!-" Ivor whispered loudly. "Therefore being normal is weird, which means that it is weird not to be weird-" PAMA's Screen started smoking and had warning signs on its screen. "Error: This data is contradictory. Does not not not not compute. Error. Diverting power." Petra and Jesse released Cassie's arms, and they started to back away. "Good work Cassie!" Olivia congratulated the emerald eyed girl. "Nice work new guys! But I'd get outta there fast if I were you- PAMA's a quicker learner than you'd think" The olive green, brown hood wearing inventor shouted to the remaining members. Cassie went to the stairs to see PAMA rebooting "Paradox status: On hold" its face seems displeased but looked to its right to see the white haired woman

standing there its face turned happy once it saw her.

Right when its eyes averted to see her she turned around and crossed her arms. "Gasp! My creator! Have you finally agreed to merge with me?" it formed it's screen into a smile. She turned around to disagree with the computer "Oh don't you start with that again, come on you guys! This way!" She hopped right off the clay building's roof to run off in the distance. Everyone met with Ivor and Cassie "I'm beggining to suspect some history between them." Ivor spoke. "How in the world are we going to escape that?" Olivia pointed to the giant screen with a frown on its face. "We need to get Jesse and Petra!" Cassie spoke up. Jesse and Petra walked up and said in unison "It is time to join". The inventor turned to Cassie and responded: "I'm sorry, but they're beyond your help by now! Come on, you gotta run!" She turned around and sprinted into the direction they came from. Cassie turned around and saw Winslow running towards her. "Winslow! There you are! What have I told you about wandering? Let's go!" Cassie and the gang began to follow the creator, they quickly began to run down the stairs, but Jesse and Petra lept from the platform and slowly walked towards them. Cassie glanced back at her friends and quickly turned forward to see a mob of corrupt citizens walking towards them, one tried to grab Cassie and she made it out of their reach by 3 inches. Winslow and the others followed her lead as she jumped on the rooftops. Cassie ran straight into an open roof house to find the same purple haired woman from earlier.

She lunged back and proceded to jump onto the roofs. She quickly stopped and tried balancing herself so she wouldn't fall off the edge. Cassie looked around to see her surroundings, about 2 people jumped their way to Cassie and the others, while the mob walked towards them in sync on the sandy group. Little did Cassie know, there was a townsperson in the open roofed house, he quickly jumped towards Cassie, luckily she turned around fast enough to see the incoming enemy. She lunged to the left, grabbed his arm and threw him into the oncoming mob on the ground. Cassie took this free oppertunity and jumped off the rooftop to make it to the way they came from. She perfectly landed on the ground, Winslow jumped off second and made it right onto Cassie's back, using her like a landing platform. Axel, Olivia and Lukas made it down safely, Ivor jumped off and didn't have enough time to collect himself and he landed on his back and looked like a splat on the ground. Lukas turned and rolled his eyes at Ivor to help him up. They went back to running when they saw the zombies being activated and exiting their fenced station, and began to persue them. Cassie quickly stopped and turned around, but saw Petra and Jesse in front of the mob. "Jesse…" She whispered under her breath so they wouldn't hear her. She ran right to the edge of the center Mesa's cliff.

"Oh just great! We have nowhere to run!" Olivia shouted "I'm too awesome to become useful!" Axel spoke up "I think I have something that will help us!" Cassie calmed the team 'I remember Jesse giving me 5 enderpearls before we left….THAT'S IT!' She went into the pockets of her armor and took out the enderpearls "Yes! We can escape with these!" Cassie said handing out the enderpearls. "Excellent! Now we just need to throw them in the correct spot!" Ivor took the enderpearl and got into position to throw. All at once they threw their enderpearls and turned around to see their former teamates getting closer. "As soon as they land!" Olivia remarked the enderpearls "Your running makes me sad" the mob of mind controlled citizens said in unison. Cassie grabbed Winslow and stepped back and nearly fell. Jesse lunged forward to grab her but they teleported before they could be captured. Everyone teleported straight onto their backs….except for Cassie though. "Why is that so disorienting?!" Axel said looking a little dizzy. "You'll get used to it" Cassie replied. PAMA's creator slid straight into the scene "Ha! Maybe you've got a shot after all, new guys. Better stick with me though!" She began to run again. "Wow, she is amazing!" Ivor and Olivia said together. "Oh no" Axel said and began running in the creators direction. They all looked at Axel's reason for and 'oh no'. They all heard a cyber groan from behind them, Lukas shouted to everyone "Run!" as they found a mob of zombies were right behind them, Cassie picked up Winslow and began to sprint off with everyone else following.

After quite some time of running in the desert, the team found a small little ditch to hide in. And of course Ivor tumbles in clumsily and falls right on his back. "A little warning would have been nice!" He shouted staying on the ground. The inventor ignores his whining "Gotta tell you guys, that was pretty smart work distracting PAMA. Now we just need to get off the grid." Cassie poked her head out to see mobs: skeletons, spiders and zombies hot on their trail. She ducked her head down as a skeleton was a few meters away, looking for them. "You made PAMA?! You have some explaining to do, woman!" Cassie shouted angrily at the creator looking guilty about it "Ye- okay, yes, I was the one who built PAMA, but I swear this wasn't its purpose. It's out of control!" She looked away from Cassie's staring "And...I need your help"...Cassie's expression softened and she asked the inventor "How will we help?"

"We need to get to my secret lab." The woman replied. Olivia interrupted the two "Well, let's get there fast - those zombies aren't just stronger than we've ever seen, they're also faster than usual" The brown hooded creator contemplated their survival and made a plan "We'll need to split up- you head to my lab while I lead these mobs away, got it?" She stood up to scan the mob infested area. Cassie responded, disagreeing with the idea "Splitting up doesn't feel like it will get us anywhere!" she sounded quite annoyed, too. "Hey, i'm doing you a favor- I'm offering to be the bait." The dark skined woman replied. She jumped from the hole and told her the directions "Just start running that way," She pointed in the direction of a giant arch "look for the "big difference", you'll see it!" She began running off luring the creatures to her. "I have no idea what this "big difference" is supposed to be" Axel groaned, Lukas responded to the green sweater male. "None of us know what it is, so chill" Cassie and Ivor looked at eachother and looked at the arch the inventor pointed at". They all got out from the ditch one by one and began following Cassie and Ivor into the arch's direction. "She is….intriguingly cryptic…..isn't she?" Ivor said between breaths. Cassie ignored him and saw a little painting that showed the arch and the terrain perfectly painted to hide the "secret lab" she mentioned. Cassie stared at it with a raised eyebrow "what the-?" Ivor came bursting in running and rammed his face into the painting and fell on his back….again. Olivia and Lukas helped him up. He eyed the painting like everyone else and broke the silence "so strange...it's like an exact copy" Ivor continued "Or does it seem a little off?" Ivor scratched the back of his head "Yeah...seems like a detail is missing" Olivia added.

The word missing reminded Cassie of a life threatening situation. "There is something missing!" Cassie randomly shouts, all eyes turn to her as if they are waiting for the answer. "Where is Winslow?! If I loose him I will have a heart attack!" Cassie started stumbling back shaking in fear for her cat. And speak of the devil, a meow came from right behind Cassie. The calico sat there licking his paw and scratching his ear. Cassie sighed with relief and fell onto her knees to pick up her little 'baby'. She was like a overprotective mother sometimes. Everyone looked at her, then the painting. Lukas analyzed the painting….then the Mesa terrain, then it hit him. "The cactus! It isn't on there!" Cassie got up and scanned the painting "oh yeah! Maybe that is where it is!". She walked behind the cactus surrounded by dead bushes and found two trapdoors stuck together, she put Winslow down and opened them and curiously pulled the lever beneath it. The ground began to shake and the red sand in front of them started to fall down due to lack of support beneath it, the falling sand made a uneven hole. They all ran to the sand hole and tried looking down "Hope you know what you're doing!" Axel said making Cassie angry "I do! Now let me think!". Axel backed away, letting Cassie do her thing, she observed the area below and saw a small 3 by 2 hole with water filled in it.

Without any delay, she grabbed her calico feline and jumped down, she clutched the cat to her chest as if she was going to die, lucky for her, she made it into the water safely without faceplanting in it. Winslow scurried out of her clutch, of course cats hated water, he got onto the small grassy area and began shaking the water off his fur, splashing Cassie in the process, she climbed onto the grass, the sand opening was lit with a bunch of sea lanterns, brown, orange and yellow clay dotted the walls of the 20 block hole, it had a few cobwebs, Cassie assumed that the place was never cleaned.

"Where I slept may be cleaner than this" she shuddered. She was always a germaphobe, but she felt it was tiring to clean up where the mob of calicos rested in the "lair" of her mansion. As she looked around the bacteria-infected hidden lair, she heard Ivor's voice get closer as she heard a splash, followed by 3 more, She looked in the back, looking at a dogpile of people resting atop Ivor's battered body. "Get...off of me Axel!" Lukas raised his voice at the unibrow man. "Only if Olivia gets off of me" Axel glanced at Olivia who retorted back "well if Axel didn't pull us down, we wouldn't be like this!" Axel and Olivia got into a whole arugment of the blame game. Cassie rolled her eyes, irritated with their little blame game

"I have to deal with this….forever" Cassie pitied herself and waited for them to get out, they did...only to keep on arguing, Ivor was the last to get out of the small pond, Olivia and Axel were at war with the arguments, inside, Cassie was emotionally crying of how she had to deal with that. "Cut it out! Petra and...Jesse, are still under PAMA's control, we need to shut it down and save them! That should be our top priority, not going at eachother's throats like children!" Cassie asserted everyone "Whatever" Olivia and Axel responded in unison, looking away from eachother and crossing their arms, Cassie facepalmed so badly, she tried to knock herself out.

A thud filled the tension between everyone, drawing their attention, they slowly averted their eyes to look at where the sound came from...

*To be continued