"Hmmm...what a peculiar thing..."

"Let me go! What do you want!?"

"Just forfeit everything...your life, your soul, your heart...and I will give you the gift of relief..."

"Stop! Let me go! IT HURTS!"

Forthright went through all the old memories in her head again and again. Is this what she wanted?

Is this what she was going to get?

Ah. Nothing like a relaxing day at the Axiom with your family. They had heard of a spa, but were mostly unfamiliar. That is, until they felt the warm water.

"It's sooo soothing..." EVE sank lower, letting the water fill her neck.

"I love this..." Ruby went all the way under.

"Look at all the bubbles!" Aya giggled, "This one is pink and blue! And this one is yellow and blue!"

"Shut up..." Rio mumbled.

"Evah?" WALL-E peeked over the rim of the pool of steaming water.

"You want in too?" EVE took her arm out of the water to stroke his cheek, "

I don't know...you're already so rusty..."

"Come on, Eve!" Aya teased, "You know you want him to join us!"

"Stop being so creepy!" EVE shifted, "Oh! Come here, you!" she dragged WALL-E underwater and he yelped.

EVE laughed as WALL-E resurfaced, growling, "Haha! Sorry. Couldn't resist."

He immediately slid further into the water, "Ahhhh~"

"He's so cute!" Aya grinned goofily.

EVE sighed as WALL-E nuzzled his head under hers, "We have to get out..."

"And we have to fight Forthright..." Rio continued.

"And we have to destroy her before she does it to us first..." Aya added.

"And get everyone back to town..." Leah finished.

Everyone took a simulated breath and let it out slowly.

"Ugh. I'm gonna fall asleep." EVE poured the hot water from her neck, "I have to get out."

"Me too." Rio shook her head as she rose, "Let's wrap this up."

"We just got heeere..." Rose complained.

"No..." Leah retorted, "We've been here for almost three hours..." she sank further down, "We need to leave soooon..."

"We're coming back as soon as Forthright is gone." Rio promised, "Now come on you guys."

Rose's voice reverberated through the water, "Five more minutes..."

"Sorry, Rose." Leah sank until her eyes were at the surface, "We really should get going..."

"Ugghhh..."

"We'll come back..." EVE insisted, but made no move to leave.

"Evah?" WALL-E whispered.

EVE moved her hand to WALL-E's back, gently rubbing it, "I don't wanna leave..."

WALL-E sighed in contentment.

"Eve. We have to go." Rio told her.

"I know. You're right." EVE slowly carried WALL-E and herself out of the spa onto the hard floor, "It's too cold out here."

"Agreed, but Forthright won't wait." Rio tugged on Leah's arm, "Come on. We're coming back once this is all over."

"Yeah yeah...I'm coming..." Leah told her, "Go on without me...I'll catch up..."

"Fine. Be that way. Let's go, Eve."

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Everyone screamed as Ruby jumped out of the water and scared them.

"Ruby!" Aya exclaimed angrily.

"AHAHAHAAA! I got you guys so good!" Ruby laughed histarically.

"You scared me to death!" Rose huffed.

"Not cool, Ruby!" Leah added.

"Haha!" Rio chuckled, "That was good!"

"Were you in on this!?"

"No, but I wish I was!" Rio high-fived Ruby.

"That was pretty good." EVE admitted.

"Evaaah!"

"Calm down, Baby." EVE lightly scratched his cheek with her thumb, "Well, that certainly woke me up. Let's get going."

EVE made extra sure WALL-E was dry before they set off for the science lab. It hadn't been used since the EVE Probes were built, and so it was pretty neglected.

"Are these cobwebs?" Aya broke them with her hands.

"I guess..." EVE smiled, "Maybe nature is trying to take all this back."

"Yeah. You keep telling yourself that." Ruby eyed the webs, disgusted.

"Alright..." EVE cleared a space on the dusty countertop, "Where's Chibi?"

"Right here." Leah set him down on the cold surface, "Do your thing, Sweetie!"

Chibi nodded, removing all the ingredients from his head while EVE was squeezing her eyes shut and whispering, "Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it..." over and over. When he was finished, EVE stretched out her fingers.

"Alright, here we go..." she turned to Giga-Robo, "How does it work?"

First, mix the salt and the vinegar, then very carefully add the acid. Make sure you put all this into an acid-proof container, or we'll never be able to finish.

EVE sifted through all the test tubes in the lab, "Like what? How industrial are we talking?"

Get the strongest container on the Axiom. It must be strong.

"Okay..." EVE grabbed a graduated cylinder after scanning it, "This is it. It's made of fine-tuned rubber and sealed with silicon glue."

That should be enough. Get two of those.

"So, mix the salt and vinegar first?"

Yeah.

"Then...add the Citracid?"

Is that what you're calling it now?

"Eh...Aya came up with it, not me."

Yeah. Add it SLOWLY.

EVE took that seriously, adding a drop per second, "How much?"

Until it starts to foam.

One...two...three... EVE unconsciously counted each and every drop, watching them fall into the cylinder, seven...eight...nine... everyone else watched anxiously, waiting for some kind of reaction. Finally, the mixture began to foam and EVE stopped, "Is this good?"

Yes. Perfect. Now in a different container, mix the hygrogen peroxide and ammonia, but make sure there's much more ammonia than hygrogen peroxide.

Do we really need this? Chibi asked, Dad didn't have to add those two.

I know, but they act as buffs. They make the acid much stronger.

"I guess that makes sense..." Aya said.

EVE swirled the new liquid in the second cylinder, "Does this look right?"

Yes. Now mix that with the foam, and be gentle with it. Don't let it overflow.

EVE added drop after drop, a little faster this time, one, two, three, four... EVE tapped the side of the glass, placing it to the side, "Is this it?"

Yeah. It'll mix on its own from here, so we're done. Keep the water in a separate container until we're ready to use it, or it'll explode immediately and we won't be able to use it in the Index.

"It looks weird..." Rio remarked, "I've never seen anything like it before..."

"Me neither. What kind of color is that anyway, brain juice?" Aya asked.

"It looks like brown, but also green and orange..." Ruby shook her head, "So once we mix this with water, it'll melt through all the casing around Forthright's computer?"

If it doesn't, I will be very surprised. Giga replied, We should leave as soon as possible. That acid isn't very stable.

"Yeah, it's still bubbling. Let's hurry then." EVE turned to Leah, "You should carry the water. We don't need much, just a drop, right?"

I would take a few tablespoons, just to be safe. Giga said.

"Okay, I can do that." Leah left just then, returning with a vial of water, "Here we go."

"Right." EVE lead the way, "Let's head out then."