Danny asks Clockwork about halfas.

Clockwork wasn't in the viewing room anymore when Danny went looking for him. Danny floated in the center of the room, glancing around for a sign of his mentor. Danny's eyes caught one of the screens.

It showed himself when he was alive. Danny recognized the scene. He was walking into the basement with Sam and Tucker. Sam held up her camera and pointed to the portal. Danny watched as his past self pulled on a spare hazmat suit and stepped into the portal.

The screen filled with static and the image fizzled out. Danny stared at it curiously.

"In here, Daniel." Clockwork said from the next room.

Danny turned and flew through the doorway. He had never been in Clockwork's office before. Danny wondered why he even had one.

The walls were filled, floor to ceiling, with hourglasses. Each one moved at a different speed, from almost no movement to fast draining. There were no identifying marks on the devices, but Danny assumed Clockwork knew what each one was for.

Clockwork was hovering by the far wall, marking something down in a large leather-bound book in a language Danny didn't recognize. "You have questions."

"Yes," Danny replied. He was getting used to Clockwork stating the obvious. "What are halfas?"

He couldn't get the image of Vlad's transformation out of his head.

Clockwork nodded. He wave a hand and the book disappeared. "Halfas are rare creatures. They are entities that walk the line between life and death. They are formed when ectoplasm mixes with living blood."

Danny frowned. "How would that happen?"

"There is only one way." Clockwork stared him in the eyes. "A portal to the Ghost Zone must open with a living person inside."

Danny froze. He thought back to the scene from the viewing screen.

As if he knew what Danny was thinking of, Clockwork nodded. "In another timeline, your parents portal opened with you inside and you, Daniel, became the second halfa in existence."

Danny shuddered. He couldn't imagine being a halfa. He supposed, in the other timeline, he was probably grateful to be at least half alive. But here, now, Danny felt utterly repulsed at the thought of being such a strange hybrid. It was wrong, wrong, wrong.

Suddenly, Danny realized something. "You said it happened in another timeline? So you changed things to this timeline, right? Why did you do that?"

Clockwork smiled. "I liked this one better."

That bothered Danny, but he didn't argue. If Clockwork was strong enough to change any moment of time, who was to say that Danny hadn't already done this before, only to forget due to interference? "How did Vlad encounter a portal?"

"He and your parents created a prototype in college. As I'm sure you can guess, it ended badly."

Danny hummed. His parents didn't talk much about their college days. Danny had always assumed that was just because nothing interesting happened, but maybe it was because of whatever had happened to Vlad? It had to have been bad for his parents to cover it up. "Can you tell me anything else about him?"

Clockwork smirked at him.

"I'm guessing that's a no," Danny sighed. "Alright, fine."

Clockwork turned to examine the hourglasses, sometimes fiddling with one or turning another. Danny watched him work in silence.

Finally, Clockwork said, "If you want to know more, you should talk to your parents."

Danny frowned. He didn't want to see them, but what Clockwork said made sense. His parents knew Vlad from around the time of the accident. And he had to talk to them eventually, anyways. They had plenty to discuss.

Danny sighed. "Tomorrow. I'll talk to them tomorrow. Today, though, I'm going to find Jazz."

Danny didn't wait for Clockwork to argue. He turned and left the tower. As he flew to the FentonWorks portal, his mind raced with thoughts of Vlad and his parents. He was dreading seeing all three of them again, but even without Clockwork telling him, he knew he had to.

Hopefully, Jazz could help him.