Ben did the obvious thing. He screamed.
"Ben?!" Corey rushed over, stopping short. He saw….nothing. No Ben, no Davey, no wires or computers or antagonistic newsboys. "Where'd he go?" Andrew asked, peeking over.
"We've got a heartbeat!" Tommy yelled, and someone gasped.
"You're tellin' me there wasn't one before?!" Jack yelled, but Tommy quieted him. Crutchie's eyes flew open and he tried to sit up, looking wildly around. "You're okay, kid," Jack promised him, and he blinked. "What's Spot Conlon doin' 'ere?"
"Do you remember anything?" Corey asked, walking over. "We met you in the theater."
"After you almost got hit by that carriage," Jack informed him.
"Car," Tommy muttered.
"Car," Jack muttered back with a glare at Tommy. "Whatevah."
"Yeah, I remember that," Crutchie said. "Where's those fellas in the funny coats?"
"You remember that?" Jack asked, concerned, and Crutchie nodded. "They was cuttin' me open an' stuff."
"Alright, we need to find Ben, and get out of here," Corey asserted. "Crutchie, can you…never mind, we don't have the crutch, do we."
"I'll carry 'im," Jack offered, and Crutchie sighed a bit.
"Guys, don't we have a bigger problem?!" Andrew dashed back into the room. "Ben is missing!"
"Ben is missing!" repeated a computer screen. The group stopped.
"What was that?" Crutchie asked slowly, and a metallic voice that vaguely resembled his repeated, "What was that?"
"What are those machines, anyways?" Jack asked. They all paused, listening for an echo. There wasn't any.
"Why are the computers doing that—" Andrew was cut off by his own echo.
"We should go," Tommy said slowly. He didn't have an echo.
"Why is it only us?!" Crutchie asked.
"Why is it only us?!"
"This is freaky!"
"This is freaky!"
"Guys, we NEED to go!"
"Oh, I'm afraid you aren't going anywhere."
There was a beep and a harsh grating sound. The group turned, and Crutchie's mouth fell open. He took a halting step towards the figure hooked up to all the wires and machinery, ignoring Corey's cautious warning.
"Dave?!"