A/N: Okay, two things. One goes here, and I'll put the other at the end. The first thing is about that contest I had at the end of the last chapter. Apparently it was far too easy, because every single person who reviewed got it right. The correct answer was Neopets, but I don't really have time to go and find everyone who got it right. Just know that if you reviewed, you got it right. Congratulations, guys!

Now, on with the story, but make sure you read the A/N at the end.

Chapter 25: Information Overload

Fang's POV

I didn't trust this Minerva person at all. She was far too…nice. I know that sounds extraordinarily paranoid, and maybe it is, but something about her just struck me as wrong. Nudge, Gazzy, and Iggy sat down at the kitchen table, but I remained standing, both because I could tell it would get on Minerva's nerves and because it made it much easier to make a fast get-away.

Minerva bustled around the kitchen, pulling out plates, forks, and napkins. Then she pulled a chocolate cake out of the fridge, and Nudge and Gazzy's faces lit up with delight. As appetizing as the cake looked, it only made my Danger Meter shoot up even further. Why would they have had an entire chocolate cake laying around? They had obviously been expecting us, and that made me uneasy.

"So, are you Jeb's wife?" Nudge asked Minerva through a mouthful of cake.

Minerva smiled. "No. I'm just the housekeeper." She opened the fridge and pulled out four bottles of Mountain Dew. If I'd been more prone to expressing my emotions, I'm sure my eyeballs would have popped out of their sockets. Was this lady stark, raving mad?! She was going to make them all hyper, and dealing with a hyper Nudge is incredibly annoying. You know, the kind of annoying that makes you want to pull out all your hair or shove someone off a cliff. I decided to intervene.

"I don't suppose you have anything a little less…caffeinated, do you?" I asked. "These guys don't react well to overdoses of caffeine, as a general rule."

Minerva looked over at me. "Oh. I'm sorry." She went back to the fridge and took out a carton of milk instead. "Is this better?"

I nodded, avoiding Nudge's look of indignation, and Minerva poured it into glasses, then passed them around. When Minerva came over and offered one to me, I refused.

"Are you sure?" she asked, frowning. "Calcium is good for the bones, you know."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure."

She continued frowning, but eventually walked back and set the glass on the table.

This whole scenario was giving off a very strange vibe.

Max's POV

I followed Jeb into the living room. Once we were both inside, he closed the door behind him and went to sit on one of the two couches that were facing each other. He gestured for me to sit in the other one, and I did so, but only because there wasn't really anything else to do.

"So, Maximum," he began.

"Max," I interrupted. "It's Max. Not Maximum." Despite the fact that Maximum was my name, I really didn't like how Jeb and the Voice constantly felt the need to use the whole thing.

He didn't seem surprised or angry. He just nodded and continued. "Max. You want to know about Angel and her Voice, correct?"

I nodded, not bothering to ask how he knew that. I'd learned that Jeb knew things, and questioning how only got you strange half-answers that never made any sense.

"Well, I believe I have some of the answers you're looking for," he said. "Angel's Voice is the same as yours."

What?! But…my Voice had said it wasn't the same. It had never lied to me before, so I had never thought it might be lying this time. All I managed to say was, "But…I…"

Seeing my shocked expression, Jeb shook his head. "I phrased that wrong, didn't I? What I meant was, Angel's Voice is the same kind of thing as yours. Not the same entity, just the same sort of entity."

I frowned. "Entity? You mean the Voices aren't human?"

"No," Jeb replied. "They're not. They're…It's kind of hard to explain. I guess the closest thing to it would be that they're really just random bits of energy and consciousness floating around. Every once in a while they'll find a mind that they can connect with enough to…inhabit it."

I blanched. "It's inhabiting me?" I really didn't like the sound of that. It made it sound like it was some sort of parasite or something that was taking over my brain.

"In a manner of speaking, yes." He looked at my face, seeming to notice the fearful expression there. "Don't worry, it's not possessing you or anything. It's just using your mind as a way to speak to the world, because it has no other way. You're more like a conduit of sorts."

"How did it know all that stuff it was always telling me?" I asked, thinking back on all the advice I'd ever gotten from the Voice. It had usually been right.

"As a bit of consciousness, it has a way of reaching out to the rest of the consciousnesses of the world," Jeb replied. "It can sort of…feel things that most people can't. Therefore, it knows things that most people don't. Occasionally it can even read minds, if they're close to the same–well, wavelength, so to speak–as it is. It can only inhabit ones that are almost identical to it, though."

I decided to get a second opinion on all the wacky stuff Jeb was telling me.

Is he telling the truth?

Yes. All of this is true. Angel's Voice is just another bit of energy, like me.

Was it just me, or did the Voice sound a little bitter? I wondered if it didn't like the fact that it was just some random bit of consciousness floating around. I suppose I wouldn't like it, if it was me. I'd probably feel pretty darn insignificant.

It's okay, I thought. You're more than just a random bit of energy to me.

That's really nice of you to say. Thanks, Maximum.

You're welcome, Voice.

Well, wasn't this nice. I was having a touchy-feely conversation with the voice in my head. Quite the Hallmark moment.

I returned my focus to the conversation at hand. "So what does this have to do with Angel, and why is she trying to take over the country?"

"It seems as though Angel's Voice has a bit more control over her than normal," Jeb replied. "It's possible that it's because her mind is so young. Or because it's so different, what with the mind reading and mind-control. Either way, something about her is different, and it has allowed her Voice to get more of a hold on her mind, instead of just inhabiting her and talking to her. My guess is that whatever Voice Angel has is one that isn't quite as nice as yours, and it has some rather tyrannical ideals."

I processed this new information for a minute. It was all so strange. Random bits of consciousness? Tyrannical Voices? Angel being possessed, so to speak?

"Okay," I finally said. "I have two questions, both of them important."

"And they are?"

"The first," I said. "How do we get this thing out of Angel?"

"A good question," Jeb agreed. "And one I'm not completely sure I can answer. The only way I know of for certain is, well…killing her."

I stared at him. "No!" I finally exclaimed. "I am not killing Angel! No way!"

"Calm down, Maxim– Max." At least he remembered my request about the name. "I didn't say it was the only way. Just that it was the only way I was certain about. I have heard of other options, it's just that none of them always work, and some of them have never even been attempted. But I would never ask you to kill Angel."

"So what are the other ways?" I asked desperately, trying not to lose control. I couldn't kill Angel…I couldn't kill Angel…

"There are a few," he began, and after that the talk turned very scientific. All I really got out of it was that they all involved knocking her unconscious and injecting her with stuff. As much as that sounded better than killing her, I still didn't really want to resort to that.

"There's got to be a way," I said, still hearing desperation tinge my voice. "Some way to just…make it go away."

"Well, I'll research it," he said. "But I'm not promising anything." We were both silent for a moment, then Jeb said, "You had another question?"

"Oh, yeah." The answer I'd gotten to my last question had completely pushed my second question out of my mind. Now, though, it came back. "How do you know all this stuff?"

Jeb smiled. "I would have thought it'd be obvious. I have a Voice as well."

A/N: Gasp! Who's surprised? So, this was the 'load of information' chapter. I hope it satisfied you guys.

Anyway, here's the second thing that I said I'd put at the end, which is both the reason this chapter took so long to come out, and the reason you probably won't be seeing another one for a while: I'm doing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, for those who don't know), and I'm currently devoting most of my time to finishing my 50,000 word novel before November 30th. So please don't shoot me if I don't come out with another chapter for a while. And for those of you who are also reading Unwilling Celebrities, it's the same situation for that one, and I'm afraid I probably won't be able to update that one any time soon. Thank you all for your wonderful support and understanding.

Now, review! =)