–In the year 2176–

"Brick, please, let's not jump to conclusions here." His TICC beseeched him. "Everything is progressing as normal, as planned!"

"Who's plan?' Brick asked, leaning his head against the wall. "Name one time that I have ever been in control." His TICC was silent. "That's what I thought…"

"Brick, I assure you, this is just a minor setback. Everything is going according to the plan."

"Who's plan?" Brick repeated, frustrated. "I have had no say in anything that has happened since day one! Is this your plan?" Apart from the buzzing in his head, silence. "Is it?!"

"Yes… It is my plan."

Brick glared at the ground. "What do you get out of this?"

"Pardon?"

"Why should I believe you are doing this for the good of humanity, or for fun? You've taken control of B.O.T.T. agents, so you have to be getting something out of it! Hell, you gave Chip a better personality—well ok, not a better one, but he was more approachable… kinda. Then you said you'd help me get with Vinnie Dakota. But what do you get out of this?"

"I… I suppose I do get something."

"Well what is it?" Brick asked. "What could you possibly be getting out of this that it was worth messing with people's lives?!"

The TICC was silent. It was silent, just like it was moments ago, when Brick had tried and failed to win Vinnie Dakota's heart. It was silent, Brick was suffering, and the TICC had the audacity to say it was all according to the plan.

Fuck it,

"How do I get rid of you?"

"W-what?"

"How do I get rid of you? How do I shut you off?" Brick snarled. "How do I make it so that you won't be in my head anymore?"

"Brick, please, this is just an overreaction to a simple problem! Let's just take a moment too—"

"Give me one good reason as to why I should listen to you!"

His TICC was, of course, silent. A cough from to his left caught his attention. "I might be able to help with that."

Brick raised a brow at Lotte, who shuffled her feet under his scrutiny. "You're Chip's old partner, right? The one who gave him a black eye?" Lotte smiled fondly at the memory.

"Yeah, that was a good day." Lotte stepped forward. "But, seriously, I might have a reason."

Brick's TICC, who apart from the ever constant buzzing, remained silent and offered no explanation. Brick raised a brow and Lotte held up a finger, motioning for him to wait a moment. The green-haired girl shrugged off her leather jacket and Brick's eyes widened at the sight.

It was hard to see a single trace of her skin under the thick, neon green lines that ran up and down her arms. Removing her fingerless gloves, Lotte revealed that all but the very tips of her fingers were practically coated in the neon green color. Brick looked at her and, upon further inspection, found that the lines ran all the way up her neck, to the back of her head, disappearing into her neon green hair.

"It's a side-effect of having the TICC in me for as long as I have." Lotte raised a brow behind her sunglasses. "But I am surprised that you're not showing any signs of the TICC's control yourself," she stepped closer, "I mean, by now at least the eye color would've changed. But nothing! NO colored irises, no lines on the skin, no hallucinations—"

"Hallucinations?"

"—nothing! You must be one tough nut to crack, eh Dalton?" Lotte chuckled, yet Brick heard no humor behind it.

"Riiight… How long have you had your TICC?"

"A while, no big deal." Lotte shrugged. "What is a big deal is you wanting to get rid of yours, however."

Brick nodded, frowning. "I just… don't see the point in keeping something that isn't helping me."

"Maybe you need to give your TICC another chance. After all," Lotte tilted her head, her smile widening unnervingly, "it's not the TICC's fault."

Brick, feeling his flight or fight instincts kick in just a bit, took a cautionary step back. "I don't think I follow that logic."

Lotte took a step forward, and another, invading Brick's personal space. "The TICC is a super computer that specializes in crunching data and statistics involved in human behavior. The main problem is that since human's are so unpredictable, the TICC can only really guess at what they might do."

Brick narrowed his eyes, suspiciously. "Where… Where are you going with this Lotte?"

"Follow me, I want to show you something." Lotte smirked, grabbing his hand, and leading him out of the room. The TICC in Brick's head tampering with his fight or flight instincts in order for Brick to not try and bail. Otherwise, his TICC was silent on the whole matter.

–In the 21st Century–

Milo, Melissa, and Zack waved goodbye to Chad and Mort as they left the school, promising to see them soon. The trio of friends were buzzing with excitement. It was opening night of the school play! Everything was set up as securely as they could be, volunteer were arranged, costumes all stitched up, and props, sets, and lighting ready to go.

The cast had been told to arrive between forty-thirty and five that afternoon in order to get ready. Mr. Draco promised to order pizza and others said they would bring snack foods as well. Sara (who was going to be in charge of lighting) had told her little brother and his friends that she would give them a ride to the play if they came home directly from school to rest up first.

Neither of the three friends knew how they were going to rest, they were just to excited! And, also, a little nervous.

At play rehearsal last night, a large shipment of Green Gush arrived. A few bottles for the play itself, and then large jugs to be sold at the concession stand. Milo, Melissa, and Zack had sworn to each other that they wouldn't take a single sip of Green Gush and they had warned there friends and fellow castmates to avoid the drink at all costs. They knew that everyone would try, but they wondered if that would be enough.

What if someone with a TICC came in and forced everyone to drink the soda? What if the teachers and staff were already infected with a TICC? It was a lot to worry about.

Still, the friends were trying to look on the bright side. If that meant focusing on the play itself and not the Green Gush or TICC's… so be it.

"What are you most excited for the audience to see?" Zack asked. "I can't wait to see how they react to the 'Pitiful Children' music number!"

"Bradley has been doing really well as the SQUIP." Milo noted. "I want them to see how we handle the 'The Play' scene… and just the entire play in general."

"I bet they'll love the finale!" Melissa assured her friends. And the nudged Milo playfully. "Especially that one scene between you and Amanda…"

Milo blushed bashfully, glancing at the ground. "Yeah… maybe…"

A powder blue, 1950's Cadillac pulled up next to the trio of friends. A man with bright pink hair wearing sunglasses gave them a friendly smile. "How are you kids doing today?"

Milo and Melissa exchanged glances and glanced behind them. Where did this car come from? Why didn't they hear the engine when it was approaching. Zack raised a brow at the man. "Ok…?"

"My name's Aiden. I'm a friend of Lotte's from, well, her job." The pink-haired man explained, noting Zack's confusion. Well, that explained where the car came from. Another time-traveler! What're the odds?

Still, what was he doing talking to Milo, Melissa, and Zack?

"How's Lotte doing anyway?" Milo asked. "She seemed really stressed out last time we talked to her."

"And nervous" Melissa added.

"Yeah."

"And prone to a freak out at any minute." Zack commented.

"That too."

Aiden chuckled. "Oh, don't worry about Lotte, she's fine. It's just that she's had a lot on her mind lately."

"Oh, ok…" Milo trailed off. The three friends stood in awkward silence for another minute, with Aiden continue to smile at them. It was pretty creepy, if the kids were being honest. "Well, it was nice talking to you." The children turned to leave.

"Oh, where are you three off to? I could give you a ride."

Every fiber of there beings were screaming 'Code: Red! Danger imminent!' and the three friends exchanged glances, trying to figure out how to best handle this situation. On one hand, Aiden knew Lotte. And Lotte was there friend. On the other, they didn't know Aiden and, honestly, he was acting like kind of a creep.

"Uh, gee… while that's a tempting offer, we're fine just walking."

"Yeah!" Melissa assured. "We need the exercise!"

"Oh, come on!" Aiden pressed. "It's a cold day, there's ice on the sidewalk, I'll take you where you need to go, no problem."

"No, really, we're fine." Zack insisted. "We'll just walk form here." And the trio began to speed walk away, not wanting to look desperate to get away from Aiden, but also wanting to get as far away from him as possible.

They heard a car door slam and heard footsteps quickly approaching them form behind. Before either of the three could make to run, Aiden grabbed Milo by the arm.

–Meanwhile, in the year 2176–

"How long has this been set up?" Brick asked, upon entering the room. Hundreds of monitors and screens were set up on the far wall, as well as a desk to view the monitors at. A couple computers were place at the edge of the desk, obviously running the screens, and a large outlet was placed on the adjacent wall, connecting the computer to all the screens. "Did Mr. Block set this up?"

"Kinda." Lotte shrugged. "He set these up to run as a sort of B-list security system while the Bureau is stationed here. The monitors and screens have been here since this warehouse used to be a hotspot for Gush Co."

"Gush Co. owned this warehouse? I thought this was the old shoe factory's warehouse."

"Gotta love multiple timelines."

"How'd you even get in here?" Brick asked. "I would've figured this place was restrictive access."

"Oh, it is."

"So, what? You have a restrictive access key?"

"No, I have a foot. And this foot is pretty good at kicking in doors!" Lotte plopped herself into the chair, propping her feet on the desk.

"Aren't you worried about repercussions?"

"Relax, Brick, I erased the security camera footage of me breaking in here. In fact," Lotte smiled and typed away at the computer, "I've replaced all general security camera footage with footage of my own creation."

Brick watched as the screens turned to static before quickly flickering back to life, only to replay a loop of the same footage over and over again. "Ok, I think my first question is why?"

"All apart of the plan, Agent Dalton. All apart of the plan…"

"Right… the plan." Brick crossed his arms, then raised a brow at the back of Lotte's head. "So, what'd it offer you?"

"Hm?"

"What'd the TICC offer you? Money, fame, riches, ultimate power, love, the ability to knock a man out cold with a single punch?"

Lotte laughed. "The TICC does enhance your strength, but I could do that long before I ever got a TICC."

"Seriously, what could the TICC offer you in order to get you on its side?"

Lotte had a peculiar look on her face. "Well, you see Brick, my case is a little bit more," Lotte held her hand over the computer at the desk, a spark of green light shot from her fingers into the computer, suddenly all the monitors and screens went dark, only to be replaced with an image of a younger looking Lotte and a younger looking Mr. Block, "complicated than that…"

–Meanwhile, in the 21st Century–

Milo screamed and reflexively yanked his arm away from Aiden. Zack was there to catch his friend as he stumbled, and Melissa placed herself between her friends and Aiden. "What's your problem man?"

Aiden frowned. "I'm only trying to help you guys. Something bad will happen if you don't come with me right now."

"Why should we trust you?"

"I already told you, I'm friends with Lotte!"

"You might as well be offering us candy…" Aiden sighed heavily, removing his sunglasses to pinch his brow. That's when the three friends saw it.

Aiden had neon green eyes. He was infected by a TICC!

The three exchanged looks, nodded once, and before Aiden knew what was happening, took off back towards the school. If they could reach a teacher, they could keep them safe long enough for them to call the police!

"Hey, kids, stop!" Aiden called after them, but the friends just ran faster. "Stop, I just want to help you!"

The three friends ran as fast as they could, unfortunately, Murphy's Law had kicked in, and the three friends slipped and fell on some freshly frozen ice. Allowing Aiden to catch up to them. "Now, let's try this again…" He reached toward them, a menacing look in his green eyes, but was stopped when a stop signed was jammed in between him and the three friends.

"Stop right there," Elliot pushed a button and his stop sign spun around to reveal Milo's name on the other side, "Milo."

"Elliot?" Zack questioned. "Where'd you come from?"

"I go wherever the winds of safety takes me." Elliot glared down at the icy sidewalk the children had just slipped on. "And, apparently, they took me to you three. Not surprising, really."

Aiden narrowed his eyes. "Excuse me, sir, but I was about to help the children."

"Trust me, brightly colored stranger," Elliot knelt down next to the three children, "There's only so much help that can be given." As Elliot helped Melissa to her feet he whispered in her ear, "Draco and I saw everything, you three get back to the school."

Melissa stared at Elliot in shock for a moment, but the red-head nodded solemnly, and Melissa mouth a quick 'Thank you' before hoisting her friends to there feet. As the three friends made there way back to the school, they heard Elliot remind Aiden that harassment was a serious offense, harassment of children especially.

–Meanwhile, in the year 2176–

Brick almost didn't recognize the Lotte on screen. Compared to the Lotte that sat in the chair before him, the Lotte on screen was a completely different person. Long, brown hair covered by a straw sun hat, pink sundress, and white sandals. Block on screen, also looked different. Younger, less stressed out. Dressed in a light blue shirt, black blazer, and white bell-bottoms.

"We were partners, y'know." Lotte explained, noting Brick's confusion. "Back before he became head of the Bureau…"

"Ok, but, how? I mean, you're still young and he's… uh, not."

"Sometimes people can end up lost in time, and when they're spat back out, they find time moved differently." Lotte smiled at the images on the screen. "We were kind of like how you and Savannah were… Top agents, the best, most glamourous missions, no one could touch us."

The images on screen showed Block and Lotte going on all sorts of adventures; saving lives and cities, solving mysteries, and in some cases, literally rewriting histories. Seeing all of this made Brick long to go back to his missions with Savannah, before pistachio duty or otherwise. Anything was better than this…

"We were close. Two peas in a pod! God, we were so similar…" The images on screen soon turned from Block and Lotte going on missions together to squabbling with each other at every little instance. "The fights got pretty frequent. I was about to request a new partner when… well, we were the best at what we did. And sometimes, what we did, involved arresting those superior to us." A series of images shows Block and Lotte discovering that the former head of the Bureau engaging in some illegal activities. Embezzling money, misuse of power, the like.

"That was you two who did that?" Brick had to admit he was impressed.

"Oh yeah. And, when it was all said and done, the higher-ups said that they would offer one of us the position of the new head of B.O.T.T. I thought I was a shoo-in…" Images of Lotte on screen training like her life depended on it, going to important meetings, and giving it her all on missions. But, behind the scenes, Brick noticed Block conversing secretly behind Lotte's ack, looking pleased with himself. "I… I think you can tell how that ended up."

Brick frowned. He kind of pitied Lotte. To give it your all on something, and be beat out by the one person you thought you could trust. He wondered if this is how Savannah felt when Brick ditched her…

"But, why didn't you just try and go back from getting yourself the position? Or dissuade Block from trying?"

"Because as soon as someone is chosen to be head of the Bureau, they're given a certain level of immunity in time, meaning that if someone went back and purposefully tried to get them out of the position, they would be caught immediately." Lotte's face darkened, as the images on screen showed Block being sworn into office as head of the Bureau. The Lotte on screen, just off to his side, seething.

"What happened after that?"

"Back then, there wasn't a rule against non-partnered agents. So, for a while, I was a solo act." The images on screen showed a younger Lotte, going out, and earning a name for herself as a solo-act-agent. However, Brick saw, that she was taking more risks for little payoff. Then, an image of her and Block (now in his typical uniform) arguing. "But, apparently, that wasn't good enough for Blockhead."

Brick watched as the Lotte on screen stormed out of Block's office, heading for a time vehicle. Hellbent on proving something. Block followed her and tried to stop her, and in the process, he damaged her time vehicle. Lotte, unaware, shot into the time stream, only to get stuck there. Block watched form behind, and Brick felt his stomach sink at the horrified expression on his boss's face.

"I was in that time-stream for what felt like two months! But when I finally came back out and back to the future… it had been fifteen years." Brick watched in horror as Lotte, still young looking, shot forward into the Bureau's garage, relieved to finally be out, only to realize that all those around her were either unrecognizable, or aged beyond what she was. "After that, Blockhead made it mandatory that all agents had a partner; he didn't want a repeat of his greatest mistake, his greatest failure. Me?" Brick watched as Lotte tried to hop back into her time machine and go back to her time, only for Block to stop her and pull her back. "I was stranded in a time where everyone I knew was either older or dead! Not to mention, I had been downgraded to Second Class!" Brick frowned, shaking his head in disbelief as he watched the Lotte on screen be forced into a position she didn't want.

"Ok… but, it wasn't that bad, was it?" Brick asked. "Didn't you train Cooperdink—?"

"Cavendish."

"—right. Didn't you train him during this time?"

"Yeah, the one bit of actual fun I had during that time was training Cavendish. He was my first friend in a long time." Brick watched as a Lotte on screen showed a younger Cavendish the ropes of the Bureau, seeming to have a fun time bonding with Cavendish while doing so. "But, after that was over, I got stuck with Chip the Dick."

Brick winced. "Yeah, I get where you're coming from with that."

"That's when I had enough. Blockhead was over there, prancing around like he was King of the Mountain, and I was stuck with the missing link?!" Lotte snarled, and Brick watched as on screen Lotte hopped into a time machine and, without bothering to set coordinates, launched herself into the timestream. "I wanted to end it all that day… but instead, I landed in the early 21st century and was given an… opportunity."

–Meanwhile, in the 21st Century–

Once inside the school building, Mr. Draco led the children to the teacher's lounge. It was probably the safest place that the three friends could be, after all. Checking them over for any sign of injury. "Are you three hurt? Did that man try anything?"

"No, no we're ok." Zack told his teacher still shaken up by the whole thing.

"I had Principal Midler call the police when Elliot ran out." Mr. Draco told them. "So they'll be here shortly."

"I, uh…" Milo started. How was he supposed to explain to Mr. Draco that the police's help, while appreciated, would not be of much help at all in this situation? How was he supposed to explain how complicated this entire scenario had turned out to be? Milo was used to complicated, but it was a Murphy's Law brand of complicated.

Time travelers? Dangerous, computer pills? Evil soda companies? Granted, Murphy's Law probably didn't help matters much, but this was all beyond Milo's expertise. And that weighed heavily on his conscious.

"Thank you." Milo told Mr. Draco, not meeting his eyes.

"Elliot saw you talking to that man before he chased after you three. Do you know him?" Mr. Draco asked.

"No, we don't know him personally. He said he knows one of our friends… Well, actually, that friend is really a friend of our Uncles'. He said he knew her!" Melissa explained.

The probably-not-but-possibly-a-vampire teacher frowned thoughtfully. "I know you children are very capable and can protect yourselves, but maybe you should stay here at school until it's time to get ready for the play."

Milo looked at Melissa and Zack. Mr. Draco probably had a point. Who knows if Elliot or the police would be able to do anything about Aiden? And who's to say Aiden is alone? Maybe he has friends just waiting to take the three children for… some reason.

"Yeah… Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Zack smiled, relief.

Mr. Draco smiled back, grateful that the children would be safe. "It's not very nutritious, but we have some leftover sheet cake in the fridge. Go ahead and help yourselves if you're hungry."

"Thanks, Mr. Draco!" Milo said cheerfully.

"What was the occasion?" Melissa asked.

"Oh, it was Ms. White's birthday. If you'd like, feel free to write a message for her on the card there." The three friends glanced over to the birthday card on the table, saying they would be happy to. Mr. Draco then told them to get comfy while he went to check on Elliot and see if the police had arrived.

The children smiled and stuffed there faces with cake in order to ignore the sense of dread in their stomachs.

–Meanwhile, in the year 2176–

Upon looking at the screens, Brick watched as Lotte was approached by two men. One with dark hair and glasses, the other with a rather large forehead. "Hey, wait a minute, that one guy is the TICC dealer!"

"Ten points to Gryffindor…" Lotte smirked.

Brick watched as the two men were conversing with Lotte, the woman nodding along, before happily nodding her head and vigorously shaking their hands in agreement. Then, the scene changed to Lotte in a dingy motel room, being handed a small item, it looked like a pill, and then a bottle of… "Is that Green Gush?"

"Uh-huh."

Lotte on screen swallowed the pill and then took a couple gulps of Green Gush. Everything on screen was still for a moment. Then, Lotte on screened gripped her head, falling to her knees, looking as if she was in horrible pain. But just as soon as it started, it stopped.

"I was the first test subject. The one who took part in the experiment. I was the first one to receive a TICC, ever." Lotte smiled widely, inhumanly.

Brick watched the screen in slight fear as Lotte ran through a bunch of tests. Strength, stamina, connection to her TICC, knowledge tests, the works. "Why? Why would you get a TICC?"

"Brick, back then I was at my lowest moment. I would've done anything to get it to stop. Mr. Verliezer and Dr. Rodney, the guys on screen, offered it to me." Lotte laughed a bit. "But I think the question you should be asking is: why was the TICC built in the first place?"

"Why… why was it?"

"Mr. Verliezer was a tech giant at the start of the 21st century. That is, until he was outwitted by the world's unluckiest thirteen-year-old and his friends." The image on screen turned from Lotte, to a man getting all his possessions taken away. Brick noticed, to his surprise, the Milo-boy and his two friends watching on. "Suffice to say, Verliezer wanted revenge. He met up with a scientist, Dr. Rodney, who wanted some revenge on the agency that got him arrested? I dunno, that guy was to annoying to pay attention to." The scene changed again to Lotte outright ignoring Dr. Rodney as he rambled on about something. "The TICC's are really good at tuning people out."

"A blessing and a curse." Brick stated.

"And Verliezer had a brother with a soda company, that wanted to make more profit. Because let's face it, the rich and wealthy always think they need more money. So, together, the three men combined there talents and created a TICC that, when drank with Green Gush, was activated."

"But what was the point of the TICC?"

"Simple: create an army of human-robots, perfectly capable of calculating every conceivable outcome, in order to obliterate the three children who ran Verliezer's tech company, out of business."

Brick stared at Lotte in horror. "Obliterate?! Lotte, those are children!"

"Children who got in the way," Lotte shrugged, uncaring. "It's no big deal."

"No! It is a big deal!" Brick shook his head. "I can't believe it, I thought… but I saw you hanging around those kids before! I thought you were there friend."

"In order to gain my own information, I needed to get close to the children. Whether they believed I befriended them or not was there fault."

"So… so what you're saying is?"

"I made those three believe what they wanted to believe." Lotte smiled, but there was no happiness in it. No emotion. "Just like how I made everyone else believe what they wanted to believe."

Brick had reached his limit. With his TICC, with TICC's in general, with Lotte, and this whole systematic, secretive bullshit. He was done.

He strode over to Lotte, gripped her shoulder as tight as he possibly could without breaking it, and set her with one of the deadliest glares Brick had ever given in his career. Lotte, for her part, didn't falter. That small, emotionless smile remained in place.

She was unfazed, Brick realized with dawning dread.

"I'm going to ask you one more time. What. Did. The TICC. Offer. You?"

Lotte's smiled widened. "My chance at revenge."

–Meanwhile, in the 21st Century–

Sara had been called and told to just meet the children at the high school slices of cake had been eaten, names scrawled onto birthday cards, police called, reports given, and a short half-hour nap had been taken by Milo, Melissa, and Zack. Before the three knew it, it was time to head over to the high school and start getting ready for the play.

The art room was to be used as a sort of catch-all make-up room and hang-out spot for the cast. The boys would be using the choir room as a dressing room, while the girls would use the psychology teacher's class as a dressing room.

Mr. Draco had called Ye Olde Pizza and, at Milo's suggestion, asked for Veronica to deliver a dozen pizzas. Six pepperoni, six cheese. Considering that all that the children have eaten since lunch was a stale, cold piece of cake, pizza was a blessing from the heavens themselves.

"How long until Veronica gets here?" Melissa groaned, holding her growling stomach. "I'm starving!"

"Me too… I think my stomach is eating itself I'm so hungry…" Zack trailed off from his spot on the floor.

Milo hummed thoughtfully. "I mean, I know Murphy's Law can delay things, but normally Veronica doesn't take this long. I hope everything's ok—" From his spot by the art room window, Milo had the perfect vantage point to watch as a portal in the fabric of time and space opened in the middle of the student parking lot, which was thankfully devoid of cars. "Guys, look!"

Melissa and Zack joined him at the window and raised a brow. "Are Cavendish and Dakota here already?" The friends had invited the time travelers to their play, and the men had expressed great interest in attending, saying that they couldn't wait to see there favorite kids on stage.

"The play doesn't start for another couple hours."

Before the trio could speculate further, the portal itself made what sounded like a loud ripping noise and momentarily blinked out of existence before solidifying again. The children watched, in slight fear, as a car that was definitely not the busted up lemon that Cavendish and Dakota usually drove, was shot out into the parking lot.

Whoever was driving the vehicle obviously had little control, because after slamming into the lot, the car spun wildly out of control before tipping onto it's side and rolling over into the small forest that surrounded the school. The car's metal making a sickening crunching as it crashed.

The three friends gasped in horror as what looked like a time limo finally slowed to a stop. Coming to a rest on it's top, windows and doors already smashed. They exchanged looks before rushing out the art room door and towards the parking lot.

For whatever reason, the three friends were the only one to see or even hear the accident.

–Meanwhile, in the year 2176–

"Your revenge?" Brick echoed. "Revenge against who?"

Lotte rolled her eyes. "Haven't you been paying attention? Block! The man who took everything away from me!"

"So, what? The TICC just promised you the ability to get revenge on Block?"

"Not exactly." Static, then all the screens and monitors changed to show Lotte on screen speaking vehemently to Verliezer and Dr. Rodney, both men shaking there heads whenever Lotte asked them of something. "The prototype TICC, the one I took, could only do so much. Compared to other test subjects, there wasn't much they could do outside of crunching numbers and temporarily connecting to other TICC's." Other screens showed Lotte rolling her eyes as another man, who's face Brick couldn't see, as her TICC failed to connect to his. "I begged Verliezer and Rodney to let me help design and upgrade the next model, but they said no, despite my new superior knowledge!

"So… I began to ponder how I could take manners into my own hand." Lotte smile's widened, taking on a darker edge. "When a computer can no longer store information, what do you do with the next model made? You perfect it, you add more space and processors to it. Now, I had the space," Lotte gently tapped her head, "I just needed more processors."

Brick watched, his anxiety of the situation rising, as he watched the Lotte on screen fill a large beverage dispenser with Green Gush and then dump an entire box filled with TICC pills into it. The sparks of light in doing so casting menacing shadows on Lotte on the screen's face. Without hesitation, she heaved the container high and proceeded to chug the entire container of TICC-spiked Green Gush. Only stopping when she had drank every last drop, and collapsing to the floor, screaming in agony as she did.

"What did you do to yourself?"

"Do you know how the TICC works Brick?" Lotte asked, sounding unnervingly gleeful. "It travels through your blood and inserts itself into your brain, fuses itself to your brain, essentially becoming apart of it! A perfect little computer inside your head to tell you what to do. And when you take that many?" The Lotte in front of him grinned madly as Lotte on screen stood up slowly, taking note of the green lines already appearing on her skin, and the slight neon green tint already appearing at her hair roots. "You become one with the TICC."

"You didn't… You couldn't have…" Brick whimpered, even though he already knew the answer.

"After that, I took control of the project!" The screens showed Lotte forcing Verliezer and Dr. Rodney to work day and night on a new TICC, only to have Lotte swipe it out there hands and chug it down with an entire bottle of Green Gush. "Once I took that last TICC, my abilities grew! No longer would I simply be a test subject, no mere Guinea Pig! I would be the one calling all the shots, the one connecting all TICC's together. I would be the master mind, I would be the perfect being, I would be unstoppable, I would be the voice inside everyone's head!"

The sudden realization hit Brick like a ton of, well, bricks.

"You're the TICC."

Lotte laughed, whipping off her sun glasses to reveal that she no longer had any pupils, irises, or even normal eyes. Instead, her eyes were a solid, frighteningly bright, neon green color. Showing that not only did all her TICCS have full control of her, but that she was the mastermind voice that controlled everyone else's TICC, and thus, controlled everyone else.

"I was wondering when you would figure it out."

–Meanwhile, in the 21st Century–

Milo, Melissa, and Zack slowed to a stop about a foot away from the wreck. The Time Limo that they had originally rode in during the first Pistachion attack lay before them, completely totaled. Melissa knelt down, trying to look inside the windows. But between there cracked exterior, and something smoky behind the windows themselves, she couldn't get a good look inside.

Wait, smoky windows… Oh, no!

"The inside's on fire!"

Milo reached into his backpack and pulled out a hazmat suit, pulling it on as quickly as he could while Zack reached into Milo's backpack, pulling out the jaws of life and a fire extinguisher. Melissa grabbed the jaws of life and, as Milo finished strapping the suit on, reached over to the driver's side window, and pried it open. A woman sat in the driver's seat, dangling upside down and coughing out the smoke that pillowed in from the engine.

Milo reached in and, with Melissa's help, undid the seat belt that kept her strapped in and as quickly as they could, pulled her form the wreckage. Once she was safely out of the vehicle, Zack stepped forward and aimed the fire extinguisher inside. After backing up to a safe distance, Milo and Melissa laid the woman down on the grass, gasping in shock at her identity.

"Savannah?!"

Savannah coughed roughly, her body still trying to exhale the smoke it had inhaled during the crash. She tried to sit up, but cried out in pain when she moved her legs. The two children glanced down at her legs and winced. Bent at an odd angle, and beyond bruised and crushed, Savannah's legs were beyond broken, they were utterly smashed to pieces.

Zack joined the group after having successfully extinguished the fire. He inhaled sharply at the sight of Savannah's injured legs. The three children knelt down beside her and allowing her to finishing coughing before asking questions like, "Are you ok?" or "What happened?" or "Should we have called an ambulance or the fire department or at least a teacher to help us with this?"

Savannah's response to all their questions?

"You three are in danger!"

Suffice to say, that was not the answer Milo, Melissa, or Zack were expecting.

–Meanwhile, in the year 2176–

Brick took a step back form Lotte, fearfully holding his arms up, in case he had to fight her. Lotte laughed at the action, greatly amused. "Oh, how cute! But you don't have to do that. I won't hurt you! Provided you don't do anything stupid…"

"You're the TICC? You've bene behind everything?!"

"Bingo bongo!"

Brick held his head in his hands, the room seemed to be spinning. "So, you were the reason Chip went crazy last night?"

"He had become a liability, Brick. I had to do what was best for both of us…"

Brick snarled. "He set a building on fire! He set himself on fire!"

Lotte shrugged. "What're you gonna do?"

"So… so why choose me?" Brick asked, gesturing with his arms. "What could you possibly have to gain from me helping you?!"

"I have to admit, when I first did this, I had no idea what I was doing, but, thanks to all the voices in my head," Brick shuddered at how eerily Lotte could switch between her normal voice and the legion of voices the TICC was so known for, "I soon had the perfect plan! First, I needed to collect more data."

The screens showed Lotte hanging around the Bureau, observing everything and everyone. Studying them, making calculations, and crunching numbers and data that she collected. "First, I needed worthy candidates. You and Savannah were actually my first choices! But after a while, I began to hypothesize that I would get further along if you were apart of my happy hive. Mainly, because I knew I could give you something you couldn't get on your own…" The images show Lotte spying on Brick long before he got the TICC. The Lotte on screen smirked as she watched Brick helplessly pine over Vinnie Dakota, never having the nerve to go up and talk to the man himself.

The screens also showed more of Lotte's recent memories. Of going on missions with Cavendish and Dakota, of talking to the Milo-boy and his friends, of dodging whatever bad luck that seemed to trail the young lad threw there way, of convincing Savannah herself to get a TICC. That last memory was enough to make Brick's blood run cold with both fear and guilt.

How could he have let it get this far?

"Of course, before I could get you involved, I needed some extra help. I needed someone who could approach you in my place, someone who could convince you of my capabilities." Lotte groaned as the screens showed her forcing Chip to drink a TICC-spiked bottle of Green Gush at the New Year's Party, and subsequently watching in glee as he writhed in suffering, only to run away once Brick spotted her. "But I had to settle for Chip instead. But, hey, I've done more with less!"

"I still don't understand how your revenge mission and Verliezer's match up?" Brick asked. "Why not just get revenge on Block? Why go after innocent children?"

"I told you Brick! I. Am. The. TICC!" Lotte laughed. "When they fused with my brain, I received all their data, all their programming! That includes their original protocol. If that protocol just so happens to be geared towards the elimination of three children, why not make it more interesting by throwing it Blockhead?"

Brick shook his head, still reeling from all this new information that he was forced to process. "I-I just don't understand? Why not just outright pick Savannah?! Or… Or?"

Lotte shushed him, stepping forward. "I had to pick you first, Brick."

"Why?!"

"Well, you see…" Lotte smirked as she cued up a song inside there heads. "~You were always quite the loser, Brick. Then I invaded, and you upgraded. Ba-da-ba-ba, whoa! Brick, it's true that I found you, but look around you—whoa!~" Lotte tugged him back over to the desk with the computer. She laid her hand on the computer monitor and all the clips of past Lotte changed to one of the Milo-boy, his friends, and other kids on screen, having to go through the drudgery of everyday life, and the odd stuff that always seemed to happen around Milo.

They all looked miserable, but Brick had the sinking feeling that this was his TICC, Lotte, making him see what she wanted him to see. "~All those children are just so incomple-e-ete. You can't see it, but they're all in pa-a-ain! Their operating system's obsole-e-ete!~" Lotte turned around, slinging an arm across Brick's shoulder, and grinning madly. "~So help me complete the chains, help me get inside those brains! Let's save the pitiful children, whoa! Let's save the pitiful children, whoa! Let's teach the pitiful children, who just haven't a clue, just what to do. He-elp them to he-e-elp you!~"

"What?" Brick chocked out a gasp.

"Follow me, I have something I want to show you." Lotte didn't wait for him to respond. Instead, she grabbed the first-class agent by his arm and dragged him out of the room, placing her sunglasses over her eyes as she did so.

–Meanwhile, with Mr. Block–

Percival Block was nothing if not an organized man. Everything had its place, everything had its reason to be in that place, everything had a part to play in his organization system.

What didn't have a place in his organization system was all this paper work. There was paper work he had to fill out in order to get compensation for B.O.T.T. HQ burning down, there was paper work he had to fill in order to officially press charges against Chip Wolowitz, there was paper work he had to fill out in order to be granted "official permission" to use this warehouse until HQ could get up and running, there was even paper work he had to fill out in order to be allowed to fill out paper work!

Block was not a happy man right now. His already bad mood worsening with every page he picked up. He sighed heavily. "I almost wish there was something else to do instead of this…"

The lights in his make-shift office flickered momentarily before shutting off with a dull click, following this lovely surprise was the sudden, ear-piercing, pained screams of thousands of people. Block's heart stopped in surprise at the whole ordeal before everything turned deadly quiet.

"I said almost." Block got up form his chair and made his way out onto the main floor, intent on investigating what exactly had taken place to cause everyone to scream.

That's when something—or someone—tackled him to the ground.

–Meanwhile, with Lotte and Brick–

Lotte led Brick outside to where all the time vehicles were parked. She stopped in front of the DeLorean he and Chip had been using for the past few weeks. Brick, finally, yanked his arm out of Lotte's grasp. "What the hell are we doing here?!"

Lotte gestured to the driver side door. "Open it."

"Why should I—?"

"Open it!" Brick felt his TICC, Lotte, once again puppeteer his limbs toward the driver's side door. Opening it, he found an beaten up, old shoe box.

"Shoes? You're big surprise is shoes?"

Lotte rolled her eyes. "Always so astute, aren't you Brick? Open it." Not wanting to become a human puppet again, Brick flipped open the lid and his eyes widened.

"TICCs…"

"Oh yeah…"

"There… There's got to be enough in here for—"

"A small army?" Lotte finished the thought, neon green eyes shining. "That's correct! And think about it, these are just the ones I was able to smuggle back from the early 21st century."

Brick blanched at the implications. "You mean…?"

"Oh, yeah, I have a ton more stored in the 21st century. More than you have in your hand in fact!"

Panicking, Brick shoved the offending pills into Lotte's hands. "Why not just give them all to time travelers and call it a day?"

"Think about it, Brick. I know you're smarter than you let on." Lotte tucked the shoe box under her arm. "The people in the early 21st century are our ancestors, having more than one-hundred years between there birth dates and ours. Meaning, that if I go back in time and TICC more than eighty-percent of the population, and program in a reproductive measure into the TICCs themselves…"

"You create an entire population of TICC-controlled people…"

"Exactly!"

"What're you two doing out here?" Gretchen called out to them from the warehouse entrance, water bottle gripped tightly in her hand. "Mr. Block ordered everyone to stay inside and away from all time vehicles until things have calmed down."

"Don't worry, Gretchen," Lotte smiled, "Brick was just grabbing something he left in the car.

"What did you leave in the car?" Gretchen asked Brick.

"I, uh…"

"I left my bottle of Green Gush in the car." Brick glanced over at Lotte, to confirm that while she didn't say it out loud, she did order him to do it through the mental link.

"I left my bottle of Green Gush in the car." Brick reached into the car again, pulling out an unopened bottle of the aforementioned drink.

"Just got it, wouldn't want to waste the money and all…"

"Just got it, wouldn't want to waste the money and all…" Gretchen approached the two agents, looking unimpressed.

"Seems like a waste of time to me." Gretchen shrugged. "Come one, back inside you two…"

As Gretchen led the way, Lotte wrapped herself around Brick's arm, pouting. "Oh, the poor thing!" She told Brick, quietly.

"What're you talking about?"

"Suffering in silence and no one to lean on for support." Lotte grinned wickedly. "We should help her!"

Brick knew exactly what kind of helpLotte was implying and tried to detangle the green-haired girl from his arm. "Like hell we should!"

Lotte raised a brow. "What're you saying, Brick? Don't you think that giving Gretchen a TICC would be helpful?"

Of course, before Brick could voice anymore objections, Lotte once again took control of him, controlling his vocal chords and mouth until he asked, "Hey, Gretchen, are you doing ok?"

The woman in questioned turned and raised a brow at him. "What're you talking about?"

"I saw Block kind of laying into you earlier. He's been doing that a lot lately, hasn't he?"

"I saw Block kind of laying into you earlier. He's been… doing that a lot lately, hasn't he?" Brick really wanted to stop talking. He wanted to whirl around and bunch Lotte in her lying, controlling mouth to get her to stop talking to him, to get him to stop doing these things. But, Lotte was in control. Of both him and the situation.

There was nothing he could do.

Gretchen frowned. "I just… I do so much for him and this Bureau, and he doesn't even thank me! I don't ask for much but is a little appreciation to much to ask for?"

"Aw!" Lotte cooed sympathetically through the mental link. "The poor dear!"

Don't even think about it! Brick warned.

"Or what?" Lotte smiled at Gretchen. "Y'know, Brick and I might have something to help you."

"Oh?" Gretchen looked at the two.

"Yeah! Here," Lotte reached in and pulled a TICC out from the box, "try this."

Gretchen examined it, confused. "What's this, a mint? A piece of candy"

"No! It's a—"

"It's a very special candy!" Lotte cut him off, effectively shutting Brick up, examining her nails. "All the way from the early 21st century…"

"Discontinued?"

"Yeah, cost to much money and stuff…"

Well, at least you're honest about that! Brick thought snidely. Then, he watched in horror as Gretchen popped the TICC pill into her mouth, swallowing it. When nothing happened, Brick visibly sighed in relief and Gretchen just shrugged.

"I mean, nothing happened so…" She trailed off.

"That's a bummer." Brick said, feigning disappointment. "Ah well, time to head back inside—"

"That's weird!" Lotte stroked her chin in thought. "There was supposed to be an explosion of flavor in your mouth. What did it taste like?"

"Kind of chalky, honestly." Gretchen replied. "And oddly metallic…"

"Blegh!" Lotte made a face. "What a terrible taste to have!" Lotte smiled at Brick, green eyes flashing behind her sunglasses. "Hey, Brick, give Lotte a drink of your Green Gush. That stuff will get rid of any bad taste in your mouth!"

Brick froze in fear as Gretchen shook her head. "Nah, that's ok. I have a water."

"I just feel so guilty about it, though! Besides, Brick doesn't mind. Do you, Brick?" "No, I don't mind at all!"

"No, I don't mind at all…" Brick felt his TICC, Lotte, puppet him over towards Gretchen once more, extending the Green Gush out to her."

"Uh, ok." Gretchen twisted open the cap and took a couple sips of Green Gush. Brick could only watch on in horror. Gretchen blinked down at the drink. "Huh, this stuff doesn't taste as bad as I thought it—AUGH!" Gretchen clutched her head as she dropped to her knees, screaming in agony.

"Gretchen, no!"

"Brings back memories, doesn't it Brick?" Lotte smirked, tucking her sunglasses into her jacket pocket.

"Why go after Gretchen?" Brick demanded. "You have the ability to control anyone in the past!"

"True, but I'm not in the past now, am I?" Lotte knelt down next to Gretchen, petting her head. "Besides, I need a few more people in order to move onto Stage 3."

"Stage 3?"

"Augh! It hurts, it hurts! Get it out!" Gretchen cried out. Lotte only shushed her, cooing at the woman, assuring her it would all be over soon enough.

"Stage 1: Acquisition of TICC production and distribution. Stage 2: Gaining supporters and followers through subsequence dealing of TICCs. Stage 3: Initiate Take-Over of the Bureau of Time Travel."

"You've gone insane…" Brick realized.

"No, I just finally stopped giving a damn."

"Make it stop! Get it out! It hurts!" Gretchen cried.

"Ok, that's enough." Lotte narrowed her eyes at Gretchen. "Up, up, down, down, left, right, A."

"Augh—Ah, yeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah~!" Gretchen hopped to her feet, her once dark eyes now a shining, neon green color.

"~Can't you see the vision clearly, Brick?~" Lotte asked Brick, moving over to throw an arm around Gretchen. "~Users embracing and interfacing. Beep-boob-beep-boop! Shiny, happy people singing swee-e-etly!~"

"~Yeah!~" Gretchen sang, Lotte's control influencing her choices and opinions.

"~Gone is human error a-and fear~"

"~Beep bop boo beep bop boo beep bop boo beep!~"

"~Every issue tucked away so ne-e-eatly.~" Lotte smiled, gesturing between herself, Gretchen, and Brick. "~If you feel a sob or tear, just turn that knob, and switch that gear!~" Brick took a step back as Lotte stepped forward, green eyes shining dangerously and her smile growing more manic by the second. "~Let's save the pitiful children!~"

"~Yeah!~"

"~Let's save the pitiful children!~"

"~Yeah, yeah, yeah ye-yeah yeah!~"

"~Let's teach the pitiful children~" Lotte leaned against Brick, who stumbled backwards, nearly falling on his ass to try and get away from her "~Who just haven't a clue!~" Brick shook his head. He didn't want any part of this, this is not what he wanted! "~Just what to do~" Lotte noticed Brick's reactions and, reading his thoughts, was able to sense just what her pawn felt of her plan. Lotte frowned. Brick would need some more convincing. "~He-elp them or soon this will be you!~"

Lotte reached out and grabbed the top of Brick's head, allowing for memories to flow between them. Specifically, the memories of how she made Chip set the Bureau on fire. How she forced him to take down multiple guards, how she forced him to drench the floors and vents in gasoline, how she forced him to strike a match and set the Bureau ablaze, and how she finally forced him to pour gasoline on himself and walk straight into the inferno. Brick read between the lines.

All of this and so much more, Lotte could make him do. She had absolute power in this situation, he didn't.

Brick jerked away from Lotte, this time actually falling back on his ass. "You wouldn't…"

Lotte smirked. "I think we both know the answer to that."

Caught between a rock and a hard place. Brick glanced around, trying to find some way out of all of this. There were multiple time vehicles around, but without a key he couldn't start them up! And he seriously doubted Lotte would just let him hotwire one.

"Oh, how cute!" Lotte laughed. "You think you're getting out of this."

Brick backed away slowly, glancing around for something, anything, to help him out of this situation. That's when he saw it. Gretchen's water bottle. It was just lying on the ground by her feet! She must have dropped it when Lotte took control.

"One way or another Brick, you and I are going back to the past and we're gonna complete both missions."

The bottle was unopened, and still pretty full. Lotte had said that she was practically a TICC in a human shell at this point. TICC's we're basically tiny computers, right? And if you get a computer wet…"

"I've calculated all the possibilities, all the possible Murphy's Law interferences, I know how this will all turn out."

Brick swallowed and glanced back up at Lotte, nearly loosing his nerve when he saw her wicked grin. Now or never.

"So why don't you make this easier on yourself, m'kay?" Lotte reached out a hand to Brick, offering to help him up. Brick glanced down at the ground, smiling nervously.

"I… I guess I don't really have much of a choice now do I?" He slowly reached his hand out to her.

"No." Lotte said sweetly. "You don't!"

Brick reached out and grasped Lotte's hand. "Yeah… or, maybe I do." Without giving Lotte time to react, Brick yanked his arm back, sending Lotte crashing to the ground beside him. He dove for the bottle before Gretchen could react. The secretary tried to reach over and stop him, but Brick held out a hand and kept her at arm's length.

"What're you doing?" Lotte turned to face him just in time for Brick to dump the water on her head. The robo-girl cried out in agony, a few sparks emitting from the side of her head. "You son of a bitch!" Gretchen, through her connection to Lotte, seemed to be feeling pain as well. Not as much as Lotte was, obviously, but enough to get her to back off.

"Wait, that actually worked?" Brick asked, the pain Lotte was feeling no more than a dull, easily ignorable throb in the back of his head. "Thank you dumb luck!" Brick dashed back into the building, intent on finding someone to help him.

Though still writhing in pain as she tried to wipe as much water off of her as she could, Lotte managed near masochistically laughter. "You won't get far…"

–Meanwhile, with Cavendish–

Cavendish kept his promise to Savannah. He hadn't told Lotte, or anyone else for that matter, where the first-class agent went. True, no one asked, but still. It gave him a good feeling of accomplishment. Something he was currently lacking in. Lotte's words had stung him, cut him deep.

The mustached man wasn't expecting that, especially from Lotte. One of his oldest friends at the Bureau. He felt as if he could trust her, he should be able to trust her! Maybe… maybe that's why her words had shaken him to his core.

"Maybe if you did instead of acting like such an uptight, pansy ass, maybe Dakota might actually like you instead of feeling like your damn babysitter!"

Babysitter?

"… maybe Dakota might actually like you instead of feeling like your damn babysitter…"

Was he a burden to Dakota?

"… Dakota might actually like you…"

Was all of this a mistake?

"Dakota…. Might actually… like you…"

Burying his head in his hands, Cavendish sighed heavily. "This is dumb… I know how he feels but… do I?"

"Do you what?" Cavendish looked up and gave Dakota a slight smile.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Just got here actually. Mind if I…?" Cavendish shuffled over, allowing Dakota a spot on the bench he had found in the warehouse. Dakota let out a long breath, and Cavendish could hear the exhaustion in his partner's tone.

"Are you alright?"

"I… Brick and I kinda went at it just now…" Dakota reached out and Cavendish slipped his hand into Dakota's, relishing in his warmth. "I'm just kinda drained from it I suppose…"

"What was the argument about?" Cavendish frowned as Dakota got a sour look on his face.

"He… Nothing. It's nothing, don't worry about it." Cavendish frowned, rubbing his thumb over Dakota's palm.

"You know you can tell me." Dakota's frown deepened and tears welled up in the corner of his eyes. "I won't think less of you." The younger man took a moment too think it over, and then an even longer moment to finally answer. But Cavendish was willing to wait for Dakota to answer. He always was, after all, it was Dakota. What else was he going to do?

"It… It was about you…"

"Me?"

"Yeah. Well, kinda." Dakota ran a hand through his dark curls. "Brick kept saying that he would make a better partner for me because of how much better he was than you."

Cavendish felt his heart sink a little. Maybe Lotte was right after all. He was just one big joke to Dakota and an even bigger burden—

"But I told him it wasn't true."

Cavendish's heart skipped a beat and his face got a bit pinker.

"How could it be true! You actually respect me, you care about my well-being, and you're, well, you!"

"So I… You don't think I'm a burden?"

Dakota looked at Cavendish, surprised. "What? No! Of course not. Where would you even get that idea?"

"Lotte and I were talking and… well, you have to admit I'm not exactly the easiest person to get along with…"

"So you're a bit stubborn. It's cute and endearing."

Cavendish blushed again. "I'm not sure I would go that far…"

"Cav listen to me," Dakota pulled Cavendish's face closer, "you might be stubborn, and at times you can be a little uptight, but that doesn't mean I don't lo—like you… that doesn't mean I don't like-like you any less…" Dakota glanced down, embarrassed to have almost said the 'L-word' before he and Cavendish were really ready to say it, even if they felt it.

Cavendish, for his part, understood what Dakota was trying to say and smiled at him sweetly. Cavendish knew (or, at least, he sort of knew) what he felt for Dakota at this point. How could he not? But he wasn't ready to say it or really sure he was ready to hear it back, even if he knew how Dakota felt.

To show his gratitude, Cavendish leaned over and kissed Dakota. Hoping to convey just how much the man meant to him, even if he wasn't ready to say it yet.

The cute moment was interrupted, however, by the sound of ear-piercing, pained screams of thousands of people, followed by the lights flickering off above them, leaving them in the dark. Thinking quickly, Dakota pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight feature. "Good thing I actually remembered to charge it last night…"

"What do you suppose that was all about?" Cavendish asked.

"I dunno." Dakota glanced around. "I'm pretty sure there's a fuse box around here somewhere…"

"Hopefully, easier to manage then the one at Sara's high school."

The two men set off in search of the problem, stumbling around in the dark as they did, Dakota doing his best to illuminate the way with his phone's flashlight. They briefly pondered going out to their time vehicle to get their night vision goggles, but thought better of it.

Eventually the two men found the fuse box… lying on the floor, ripped out of the wall. Cavendish raised a brow. "Who do you suppose could have done something like this?"

"I think the better question here is, how did whoever did it do it?" Dakota asked. "I mean, look! It's ripped right out of its sockets."

"You'd be surprised what you can do with a little help…" The two men whipped around to find Jonah standing in the corner of the room.

"Jonah? You did this?" Cavendish clarified, confused. "Why? How?"

"And why're you standing in the corner like a creeper?" Dakota asked.

"I thought I heard voices coming this way. I hid because I wasn't sure if they were a threat or not."Cavendish and Dakota could practically Jonah smiling. "But turns out, it was just you two."

"Ok, that was kinda uncalled for."

"You didn't answer my question." Cavendish stated. "Why rip the fuse box out of the wall?"

"No power, no signal. No signal, no remaining time travelers get to call for help…"

Cavendish, a bit frightened, took a step back. He grabbed onto Dakota's arm for support while the tracksuit wearing man checked his phone, laughing nervously. "Hey, look at that. No signal… You sure know what you're doing, don'tcha?"

"Of course I do!" Jonah stepped out of the corner and closer to Dakota's flashlight's range. Cavendish and Dakota gasped in horror at the sight. Jonah's iris were a bright neon green, and neon green lines ran up and down his exposed skin. "I was just following orders…"

"W-what happened to you?!" Dakota asked. Jonah's new appearance reminded him and Cavendish of those two men from the motel room the other day. It was unsettling, to say the least.

"My eyes were opened!" Jonah laughed, stepping forward. "The TICC opened my eyes and now I see everything!"

"Ooh," Cavendish frowned, "I think he's gone crackers…"

Dakota raised a brow at Jonah. "With extra cheese on the side."

Jonah smiled manically at the two other time travelers. "She warned me that you two might be the only ones left."

"Who's she?"

"But I'm not worried," Jonah pulled out a bottle of Green Gush from his jacket, there seemed to be some sort of light source at the bottom of the bottle, as it would momentarily flicker on and off, "I came prepared."

Cavendish and Dakota inhaled sharply before exchanging looks. "Run?"

"Run."

The two men bolted in the opposite direction of Jonah, ducking in between the old equipment. But, the second-class agent gave chase, always within fingers reach of the two men. "You can't run forever!" He called out.

"What'd we do?! What'd we do?!" Dakota screamed.

"I don't know!" Cavendish responded, not once letting go of Dakota's hand as he ran. "I don't even know what's going on!"

"Well we can't keep running foreve—" Dakota was promptly cut off when he and Cavendish crash into someone, sending all three of them to the ground.

"Ow! What the—?" Mr. Block glared at Cavendish and Dakota. "Cooperdink? Hampshire? What're you two doing?!"

"Mr. Block? You're ok!"

"Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?" The head of the Bureau shoved the two men off of him. "Why'd you two tackle me to the ground?"

"In our defense, sir, we were kind of in a rush."

"Yeah, we were just trying to get away."

"Get away? Get away from what?"

"From me." The three men glanced behind them to find that Jonah had caught up with them. Not only was Jonah standing behind them, but now, it seemed like every other time agent was as well.

Worse yet, they all had neon green eyes and neon green lines running up and down there bodies. Every single one of them holding a bottle of Green Gush. Mr. Block, a bit taken aback and slightly terrified, blinked. "Cooperdink, Hampshire, what's going on here?"

"Uh… we got nothin'." Dakota winced.

"We know just as much as you do, sir."

Jonah chuckled. "I believe the word 'mutiny' is what would best describe your situation right now, Blockhead."

"This isn't going to end well for anyone involved, is it?" Dakota asked rhetorically.

"What was your first clue?" Mr. Block took a step back, Cavendish and Dakota not too far behind.

"Oh, Cavendish, Dakota, you look thirsty. May I offer you a bottle of Green Gush? It's very refreshing~"

Cavendish remembered how Lotte tried to get him to drink a bottle of Green Gush not even an hour ago. No, no… she couldn't have known this would've happened… right? The mustached man shook his head, prompting Vinnie to do the same. "We'll pass, thank you much."

"Oh, how cute!" A female agent next to Jonah laughed. "They think they have a choice."

Jonah smirked at the two men. "You don't want to end up like Brick now, do you?"

Dakota narrowed his eyes at Jonah, remembering the odd conversation he had with Brick not to long ago. "What does Brick have to do with any of this?"

"Help!" The all to familiar voice of Brick called out, not far from them. "Someone, help! Pease!"

"Speak of the devil…" Jonah motioned for a couple agents behind him to go grab Brick. "You see, Dakota, he tried to step out of line. And, well, we can't have that now can we?"

"Stepping out of line on what exactly?" Mr. Block asked warily. He knew things were prone to going sideways at any second, so he was just preparing himself for what was to come.

"Of my plan, Blockhead." The three men turned to see Lotte, flanked by Gretchen, stepping towards them. The two agents that Jonah sent to grab Brick following close behind, dragging the man as he kicked and screamed to be let go.

Cavendish and Dakota gaped at their friend and partner. "Lotte? What happened to you?!"

Lotte smirked, doing a little twirl for her partners. "Pretty cool, right? Yeah, I'd say evil dictator bent on world dominationis a pretty good look for me. Don't you think so?"

"Guys, I'm sorry! I really fucked up—" Brick tried to apologize.

"Would you just shut up?!" Lotte seethed. "You already made a mess of things once, don't try something stupid, like playing hero."

"What's going on here?" Mr. Block demanded. "What is the meaning of all… all this?!"

"Block don't let her go back in time, she's gonna—" Brick tried again.

"Shut. Your. Mouth." Brick immediately clamped his mouth shut. But the three remaining time travelers knew it wasn't of his own accord. Lotte exhaled. "As I was saying, Blockhead… Brick here stepped out of line. I'm just making sure that doesn't happen ever again…" Brick's shouts were muffled by his closed mouth, not able to be clear due to his mouth being forced shut.

"What're you planning, Landero?" Mr. Block asked.

Lotte giggled. "Isn't it obvious? You're retirement party! And all these people," she gestured widely with her arms, "are here to see you off."

"Retirement party?" Dakota questioned. "Lotte you can't be serious…"

"Oh, believe me Dakota, I am." The green-haired girl stepped towards Block, glaring daggers. "You took everything from me! I'm only returning the favor…"

"Ok, I feel as though I can follow that line of logic—" Cavendish started.

"I'm glad one of us does!" Mr. Block shouted.

"—but where does turning yourself into a walking green marker come into play?"

"Heh, nice one…" Dakota smiled at his partner.

"Oh, you mean all this?" Lotte gestured to the green covering her entire body. "It's just a piece of dangerous tech I picked up from the 21st century and allowed to bond with me in order to obtain untold intelligence and control over mankind."

"Well, if it's that simple." Dakota frowned.

"The only drawback is that I still have it's original intent and programming inside my head. But, hey, that's a task that can easily be carried out. Besides," Lotte's smiled maliciously towards Cavendish and Dakota, "I'm sure the kids won't mind if I bring a few friends to their play."

Cavendish and Dakota blanched at the obvious threat towards Milo, Melissa, and Zack. There faces morphing into ones of fear. Dakota's however, quickly turned to one of protective anger as he stepped towards Lotte. "Touch one hair on either of there heads, and I'll fry your circuits!"

Lotte laughed, going toe-to-toe with Dakota. "I'd like to see you try…"

Brick made another muffled scream, jerking his head to the side. Cavendish raised a brow at the man and the two made eye contact. Frantically, obviously afraid of Lotte seeing him, Brick jerked his head to the side. Confused, Cavendish glanced over and saw what Brick was gesturing too.

A fire alarm.

Ever since a horrible incident at the turn of the 22nd century, it was common place for any and all buildings to have a fire alarm and sprinkler system that weren't connected to the main electric power source of the building. Instead, many were run on internalized batteries. If Cavendish pulled the alarm now, it would go off and turn the sprinklers on as well.

I suppose if the fire department got here quick enough they could help but I honestly see no other way this is beneficial. Cavendish cast a wary glance at Brick and then nodded towards the fire alarm, raising his brow questioningly.

Brick nodded his head furiously, Cavendish was worried it might fall off by how fast it was shaking. The mustached man exhaled softly, as to not let Lotte know what he was doing, and then slowly backed up towards the fire alarm.

"Oh, don't think I forgot about you and Cavendish, Dakota!" Lotte smiled. "You two are some of the best agents I've seen. We just need to work on your… quirks."

Cavendish pressed his back against the wall, eyeing Lotte and Dakota out of the corner of his eye, just to make sure nothing happened.

"What makes you think we'll cooperate?" Dakota snarled.

"After I shove a bottle of Green Gush down your throats, you won't have much of a choice."

Slowly and carefully, Cavendish stretched out his long arm toward the fire alarm. One wrong move and he and the other three men could be in hot water. Mr. Block noticed what Cavendish was doing out of the corner of his eye.

"You won't get away with… whatever you're planning!" Dakota assured Lotte.

Lotte smirked condescendingly. "Shall I run through my list of other cliché conversation tropes or do you just want to except the inevitable right now and get it over with?"

"Cooperdink, what're you doing?' Mr. Block's questioned called Lotte's attention to Cavendish, who just got a solid hold of the fire alarm. Green eyes widened in fear.

"Cavendish, wait—"

With one jerk, the fire alarm came down and the shrieking siren blared over the rusted sound system in the warehouse. The sprinklers high above whirred to life before showering everyone in water. Lotte, Gretchen, Jonah, and the other controlled agents let out anguished screams. Convulsing before dropping to the ground.

Brick winced in pain, the water having a slight affect on him as well, as he was released form his captors. He lunged forward, closer to the other three men and out of reach of the TICC-ed agents. Cavendish blinked in confusion. "Wait, that worked? What'd that even do?"

Bricked panted. "I don't know. I think it's because they're essentially connected to a computer—it's kind of confusing to understand."

"Less talking, more running!" Mr. Block ordered the other time agents. Brick tried to stand up, but found he couldn't move his legs. More than likely, due to his shaky yet still stable connection to Lotte's TICC army.

"Guys help!" Mr. Block and Cavendish doubled back to help the man to his feet, while Dakota ran ahead. The track-suit wearing man calling back "Get to the time vehicles! Get to the time vehicles!"

The men hurriedly made their way outside, with Cavendish and Mr. Block being forced to carry Brick due to his lack of mobility. Behind them, they heard gun shots ringing out behind the noise of the fire alarm, this only prompted the men to run faster.

Brick spared a nervous glanced behind and nearly screamed. A few TICC-ed agents, still affected by the onslaught of water, were staggering slowly towards them, arms stretched out in a vain attempt to grab them.

Suddenly, Brick was being shoved into the backseat of Cavendish and Dakota's busted up old lemon of a time vehicle. Block sitting next to him, Cavendish riding shot gun, and Dakota trying desperately to get the engine going.

"You're flooding it—" Cavendish told him.

"No, I'm not!" Dakota shot back frantically.

Block reached over and slammed the door shut behind him, blanching at the sight of the TICC-ed time agents making their way towards the car. "Hurry! They're getting closer!"

Finally, the engine in the time vehicle roared to life. Dakota threw the machine into reverse and slammed on the gas pedal. The car shot clunkily out of its spot—knocking over the few agents that actually made it to the car—before Dakota flipped the switch to open a time vortex. Not sparing a single glance back towards the corrupted agents, the tracksuit wearing man shifted into drive, slamming on the breaks, and careening into the time stream with all the graze of a drunken elephant. As they shot into the time stream, with no real set destination in mind, all four men thought one thing.

The future had fallen.

–Meanwhile, with Lotte–

It hurts! Lotte's voice echoed throughout her head. It hurts! It hurts!

It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts IT HURTS!

Lotte could feel the little line of electricity that were stretched across her skin short-circuiting with every single drop of water that she came into contact with. Her thoughts, the signals from the TICC's in her head, and the collective thoughts of those stuck in her happy little hivemind mentality were all screaming in one chorus of agonizing unity.

It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts IT HURTS IT HURTS!

Clutching her head, Lotte glared angrily at the four men making a dash for the exit and, if her hypothesize was correct (and it was), a time vehicle. The green-haired woman sneered. Great, now she was going to have to do think of a solution to this mess that Brick had caused!

IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS!

"To bad I can't THINK WITH ALL THIS RACKET!" Jonah dropped to his knees beside Lotte and the woman spotted it.

Jonah's hand gun!

With a twitching hand and the legion's of voices in her head crying out in agony, Lotte reached into the holster around Jonah's hips and pulled out the gun. The energy that took, coupled with the stream of cold water hitting the exposed circuitry of every single one of her soldiers and her, caused Lotte to roll onto her back. Near exhausted.

Lotte narrowed her eyes up at the sprinkler above her head. Cocking the gun, she took aim and fire, destroying it with one hit. Free from the stream of water, Lotte took a deep breath before turning her attention to the parking lot.

"They're still out there…"

"What do we do?"

"Get them!"

She felt a small group start to approach the time vehicle the four men were using. As Lotte continued to shoot the sprinklers down, she heard the unmistakable roar of Cavendish and Dakota's engine and the sound of a time portal opening.

Not bothering to look at the sprinkler she aimed the gun at, Lotte pinched her brow. "Great! Now I have to do things the hard way…"

Bang!

The final sprinkler was shot down, but the alarm was still going. Lotte dropped the gun to the floor before turning to Gretchen and Jonah.

"They got away…"

"We won't let it happen again!" Gretchen assured her.

Lotte hummed thoughtfully, quickly crunching numbers and calculating probabilities for possible outcomes. "The fire department will be here soon enough. There are enough spiked drinks to deal with them." Lotte laid a hand on Gretchen's shoulder. "Gretchen. You're in charge until I get back."

The secretary's eyes brightened. "You mean, ma'am?"

"Of course!" Lotte smiled, cupping Gretchen's cheeks. "Who else would I trust to watch the changing of a timeline for me?"

"Block, Brick, Cavendish, and Dakota escaped, Lotte." Jonah informed her. "What do we do now?"

Lotte extended her hand and, with not verbal command needed, Jonah handed her a bottle of Green Gush, still glowing from the TICC pill he placed in their not to long ago. "I know exactly where they're heading. Prepare a time machine, Agent Olwyn. You're coming with me." Lotte gave one last look to Gretchen. "After we leave, destroy all the other time machines. I don't want anyone getting any ideas about following us…"

"Of course!" Gretchen saluted Lotte, like anyone would do a high ranking officer.

Lotte smirked, watching as the agents all scrambled to gather and salvage as much as the spiked Green Gush as they could. In the distance, she heard the fire truck's siren blaring out. Gretchen stepped aside, ready to assume the leader position Lotte(the TICC) had promised her, as the green-haired woman and surely second-class agent made their way to the time vehicles.

"Let's save the pitiful children, rap-beep-beep-bop!~" Lotte sang. "~Let's save the pitiful children, re-bop-bo-beep-bop-bo-beep-bop-bo!~" Her soldiers joined in. "~Let's teach the pitiful children, who haven't a clue…~" Lotte grinned eagerly. Milo, Melissa, and Zack wouldn't know what hit them! "~If that's what we do, if that's what we do~" Once she got Cavendish and Dakota under the influence, and was able to get Brick back in line. She would be unstoppable! "~Then everything about us is going to be wonderful!~"

"~We love everything about TICCs!~" Her army sang with her.

"~Everything about us is going to be so alive!"

"~We could never live without TICCs!"

"No one will feel left out or unsure~" As Jonah started up the engine to his time convertible, Lotte watched with giddy anticipation as a couple fire trucks pulled into the makeshift parking lot. A few firemen stepped out, only to be tackled to the ground and force fed the spiked Green Gush. "~Not pitiful children anymore!~"

The rush of pain Lotte felt whenever a new member was added to the server that was her mind was well worth the utter joy she felt now. The agents that weren't converting and upgrading the firemen were smashing the remaining time machine's to pieces. Lotte turned to Gretchen as her migraine worsened.

It hurts! It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts!

Despite the pain, Lotte managed an almost manic smile towards Gretchen. Confident that her new little pawn could watch over things here until she got back. It wouldn't take long, after all…

Sliding into the passenger seat as Jonah punched in the coordinates, Lotte once again joined the chorus of her happy little hivemind. "~'Causeeverything about us is going to be coolwhen... we... rule!~"

31 pages and 13, 296 words for this bad boy! Not to shabby if I do say so myself…

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter and please leave a little review telling me what you thought. I'm curious about your thoughts on this one in particular.

(Psst! ~3 chapters left~)