Zack, Melissa and Doofenshmirtz gave a confused look to the helicopter that was slowly making its land on the backyard in front of the not-evil shed.
"Doof… are you by any chance having an appointment with someone?" Melissa asked.
"Well, let's see… I and Perry the Platypus have an ice cream by using my latest Ice-Cream-Inator this Saturday… nope! I'm open."
"Careful… these people in the helicopter might be no good," Zack warned.
After the strong sense of wind blowing over their hairs, they were finally able to face-to-face with two men. The door of the vehicle seemed to have already opened to welcome whoever they wanted to meet.
They started staring silently to each other for a few seconds before Doof interrupting.
"Uh… ah, can I ask who you are, in case you want to discuss further?"
"Oh, yes, my apologies," the older man started to introduce himself and his partner. "Greetings, youths, pharmacist and… a yellow dog…"
Zack and Melissa turned around and immediately met Diogee looking and barking behind them.
"Diogee? Oh… hey, it tickles…" the dog came to play with Melissa as she was surprised with his sudden appearance. "We thought you were going with Milo."
"Hey, Diogee. Is Milo thinking you're not supposed to be at his place again?" Zack picked him up from Melissa's hands.
The girl turned around again and said, "Alright, so what do you want from us?"
"We want… you!"
The atmosphere turned silent again.
He didn't specify the 'you' in this situation. Melissa turned solid for a split second before saying, "Oh, you mean Doof, right? You want him?"
"I don't work for those weapon dudes," Doof immediately rejected the idea. "Besides, who's the pharmacist anyway? I'm a not-evil-anymore scientist /good guy alright?"
The girl stammered, "O-o-or you mean Z-zack? He's a real singer so he will be a great help if you want to throw a party."
"Hey, my ability is not for your purpose. Besides, I haven't been singing in public for a long time and I won't," Zack denied harshly.
"Uh… then he must be mentioning Diogee right?"
The dog barked.
"He said no," the strange man stated. "And you're all right. We're here for you, Melissa Chase. Only you."
"Please cooperate. You'll be useful for us," the shorter man and the assistant of the leader followed.
At this point, Melissa stood solid and didn't know how to react. She knew she was fearing and her heart rate was slowly raising.
"Hey, what you're gonna do to her?" Zack said like he was defending his girl.
"…guess it's fine?" Doof raised an eyebrow. "So it's not about me. What a relief…"
"More details about your sudden invitation?" Melissa asked.
"I wish, but unfortunately, we have to leave the detail for later. So you just have no choice but to go with us," the commander said.
"Now I wish I know your name to tell you not to approach me like that," Melissa worriedly rolled her eyes. "You know, the introduction interrupted by the dog."
"I… am… uh… you can call me Chief, and this guy here is Phillips, Phils for short."
"Yo, what's up?" unlike Chief, Phils is welcome a nice and peaceful conversation. "Oh, you're gonna see me a lot more. I direct most of the things around here, you know, to give Chief a hand because… he's already too busy."
"And… those vests… do you guys work for some sort of organization?" the girl questioned.
"YES!" Chief stated excitedly before calming himself down. "Welp, we're busted.
Yes, young lad. We work for a government education system experiment. We hope that this education system will fix all the… mistakes and bad rumors that the present one is facing. And to make it a reality, of course, we need students to test it. And Melissa Chase, we seek all kinds of students, from the least intelligent to the most intelligent. You're the last piece of our puzzle. You're smart, incredible…"
"R-really?" the girl slowly turned to face the guy. She was slowly appealing for this idea. She walked and looked up at the sky. Her face blushed a little and her eyes seemed to be glowing. "Am I just what you guys say – smart?...
But… how do you know this?"
"It's the intel from your school," Phils informed. "And judging from your expression, it looks like the school doesn't warn you about this… Oh, I'm monologuing again."
Doof cued Melissa while not having completely understood the situation, "Well, it's your choice. These dudes have great looks and… you'll be great."
"Doof?! You're just gonna let her leave like that?" Zack detested.
"Wha- What do you expect me to do? Shoot them with one of my inators and unintentionally cause World War III?" said the scientist. "Besides, you can consider it. It's a chance that an intellectual like Melissa can't miss."
Melissa shrieked like a fangirl after hearing Doof's words, "Really? Do you think I'm an intellectual?"
"You come over here!" Zack grabbed her arm and quickly pulled her far away (behind the shed).
Melissa was kind of mad at him and surprised by his acts, "What do you think you're doing? This is more th-"
"Not now… sh… let us discuss this over quietly," Zack tried to calm her down to have their discussion, which Melissa eventually agreed to follow.
"Okay good. I'm gonna express my honest opinion: this is freaking suspicious," he explained. "I mean, some dudes exit from a helicopter and invite you to their experiment. Don't you think this is an obvious kidnap?"
"Zack, Zack," she chuckled as Melissa didn't buy any of his words. "You're worrying about nonsense again."
"…look who's talking," Zack mumbled about her version a few moments ago.
The girl then used her finger to shut his mouth and said, "Don't you see, Zack? I'm going to become a part of a new education system. It's all for the world's sake… or at least, America's sake and… I will be a part of it. If it eventually didn't help, we would lose nothing…"
"Yeah, our precious time in summer is on the verge of burning," the boyband turned to be sarcastic.
"…and spend one to two boring weeks without Milo?
Think about all the possibilities once this project is a success."
"You're just thinking about yourself, aren't you?" said Zack. "With all the praising and stuff."
"I don't see why you don't agree with this plan, Zack," Melissa was almost at it with her friend. "What's the deal, anyway? If that's a way to spend time without Milo then I will give it a try!"
"What is exactly wrong with you today?!" Zack yelled back at her after none of his words coming through her ears. "Haven't I told you this is freaking suspicious? If that was the case then you are taking a risk try, friend."
"Who's your friend…"
"…huh?" the boy was mixed between confusion and anger.
"You know what, never mind. I have made my choice," Melissa sighed. She didn't want to argue with Zack but she couldn't slip what seemed to be a once-in-a-blue-moon chance.
"…you're saying…" Zack was only able to whisper his words.
Melissa then walked out and left Zack behind without hesitation.
She walked past Doof and pat his back without saying a word.
"Okay, if that's an 'I'll miss you' then I guess I'll miss you too, Milo's friend!" Doof let her go without understanding any of the situation Zack trying to warn everyone about.
"…that I have never…"
Diogee barked.
Chief and Phils couldn't be more than delighted to have Melissa join their party.
"Welcome to the OPW project, Melissa?... Can I call you like that from now on?" Chief was kind of nervous inside but his outside showed that he could rest well from that point on.
"It's fine if that makes you comfortable. And… what's OPW?" the girl questioned.
"We'll explain later. Now come on!" Phils invited her inside while holding a pack of cupcakes.
"Are you making me eat that? Cupcakes are all over the place. But… I like your hospitality," Melissa said.
"…been your friend.."
"Wait!"
Doof stopped them for a moment, which the Chief had to question.
"What do you want now?"
"Wait, I'll shoot performing fireworks so I can make the best farewell party ever," Doof stated. "Let's see… I'm adjusting my inator, just wait for a few seconds!"
"Oh, Doof…." Melissa giggled. "I'm not going forever, ya know."
"She's right about that, though," Phils followed. "Such a smart girl, right Chief?"
Chief turned to be strict again. Having not heard any of those funny jokes but it was the job of a high-rank commander.
"Well hurry up then. You're lucky that our schedule is open today, and she's the last one for our class," Chief complained.
"Yeah, yeah, one or two minutes won't hurt so hold on your butts," Doof skeptically said.
Diogee barked and jumped around Doof excitedly, taking a look at Doof's inator.
"He's smarter than he looks, alright," Melissa whispered to the adults.
"I can hear you, ya know," Doof said.
"Unfortunately, we have enough scientists for the project. If else, we could have you to our team," Phils informed.
"I won't join you anyway but step aside, and beHOLD my latest invention: the Performing-Firework-Inator!" Doof then pointed it to the bright blue sky and said something like some kind of spell.
Nope, he was saying a good luck speech to Melissa.
"Melissa Chase, now or never, good luck… ah uh… Milo's friend girl, we all, including Milo uh…
…wait, my words are messing up here.
Good luck on your wonderful journey!"
The inator worked perfectly as it blasted fireworks. They were wonderful and safe enough for a small audience.
"Amazing…" Phils exclaimed.
"Take a picture, soldier. You don't wanna miss this moment," Chief ordered.
"Yes, sir!"
A nice and relaxing melody was coming out from the RV making its way to Arizona. As of the moment, Milo's family and Amanda's family were way too eager, as they would have lots of great memories and of course, know more about each other.
Milo's family were more eager though. Amanda's side remained normal, and they were fine with the singing because that's what family trip is all about!
"It's our family vacation song, Amanda. Should try to sing it!" Sara pulled her to sing but she preferred to relax anyway.
"No, thank you. It's delightful to hear you guys sing it."
"Sing it, Amanda!" her mom pushed her. "You know you want to."
"Milo once convinced you before, am I right? At the birthday party…" Bruno said.
"Yeah! Come on, please! You should stay out of your phone once in a while," Milo begged her.
"Oh, Milo, how could I say no with those fake eyes from those glasses..." Amanda sighed and said. "Well, guess I have no choice."
"Yipee!" Milo and Sara cheered.
That was how the trip started. So far, so fun.
"Then we'll help with the beats," Martin raised his hand for his and Brigette's turn.
"I'll help hearing then," Amanda's mom stated, which the daughter didn't seem to be pleased by.
"I'll help with the driving. As the old saying goes, 'they can drive, but I drive five times better than them.'"
Live it up, guys! Now it's the Murphy-Lopez Families Vacation Song playing, performing by Milo, Amanda, and Sara.
Well, we're going to Arizona
And we have an ETA
And some complicated stuff that can help us make it
Oh yes, we're on our way
We've got a mini-fridge filled with electrolytes
For when we feel the need to replenish
And a funky foreign second-hand GPS
That only speaks to us in Flemish
"You have it too?" Martin questioned.
"Well yeah, GPS speaking Flemish we can buy the same stuff, ya know," Bruno laughed.
Woah-oh-oh-oh
The Murphys and Lopez's to Arizona
The day can't get any better
When we're singing this song together!
Woah-oh-oh-oh
Memories from a destination
Can pull us through all complications
And make the fun last forever!
So let's hit the road!
"Bravo! Bravo!" Ms. Lopez clapped for a great singing from the three. "You three have such amazing singing voices."
"Well, it's nothing, really," Milo was flattered.
"Milo…" Amanda held one of Milo's elbow, much to his curiosity.
"What is it, Amanda?"
It took a few seconds for her to comment.
"I like your voice, Milo. Let's sing together sometimes!" Amanda said.
And that comment made Milo slightly blushed. He didn't expect Amada to praise his voice but she did after all.
"Yeah, we should do it again sometimes. Your voice is cute too," Milo replied.
"Uh… yeah, thanks though I'm not much of a singer," Amanda took the hit from Milo too.
"Hey! What about my voice?!" Sara questioned. "Why does no one talk about it?"
"Oh, I forgot, my dear Sara," Brigette then turned to praise her. "Your voice is-"
Cut to Doof who was spending five minutes looking at that sun and that sky.
After Melissa had given her last moment on this backyard before departing and leaving Doof, Diogee behind, the pharmacist thought he could see the last of the ship, even when the dot was getting smaller, and smaller and smaller…
"Welp, guess I can only see particles now," Doof then stretched his body after having looked at the same spot and partly ruined his posture.
He looked around and was finding another friend of Milo.
"Where's the boyband though? Zack? Boyband?" Doof looked around but couldn't remember exactly where he last saw him.
Diogee helped him look around as well.
The dog sniffed for Zack's scent. Being too familiar with it, he soon found out a suspicious spot and barked for Doofenshmirtz.
"Oh, you mean behind my shed. Oh come here, Zack!" Doof was certain that he had finally found him but he wasn't expected that.
"He's not here… And this backyard has this as an only hiding place," the scientist exclaimed.
"Where could that silly boy go?"
Meanwhile, things were fine back in the helicopter. Nothing happened and Melissa could finally relax and follow what she had decided to take.
The look of the helicopter is messy and noisy but its interior is without complaining. Clean halls, fresh air and comfortable flying… she stated that she shouldn't have been worried in the first place.
"Having a trip? Well, what do you think about our helicopter?" Phils humbly asked Melissa.
"This is… better than I expected! And just as expected from agents working for the government!" Melissa stated.
"That's great to hear…" Chief just accepted her compliment.
"So about that OPW name… can someone explain it?"
"I'm sorry, Melissa. I know I had promised but I broke the promise this time, okay?" Phils whispered loud enough that only two of them could hear each other, "I can pretty much explain anything except that OPW. And for all circumstances, you must NOT question anything about it. You can get hurt or something, I don't know."
"Okay, got it. Thanks for the warning," Melissa obeyed. "Alright, if it hurts to know it then I guess I won't. Ha! I know how to protect myself alright, unlike that-"
"Good! Now stay put. You have cupcakes and… do you bring your phone along?" Phils asked.
"Yeah, it's right here," she showed it to him.
"Excellent! The internet here is strong and I hope you will have a great time while waiting…"
"Yay!"
"The password is just right at the end of the hall. Also letting you know, we won't get to the lab right away," Phils informed.
"Oh, is that so…?" the girl showed a bit of disappointment before quickly shrugging it off. "No worries, haha, I can wait. By the way, where are we heading to exactly?"
"It's somewhere in Colorado," the blond man added. Phils has yellow hair, yeah. "Oh, and you know what, it's near to the peaceful and calm Arizona. Aw, there is a hot tub back there that I want to visit again ever since I finally cured of flu. Hot spring is always the best treatment."
"Right! Maybe we can visit it sometimes, right?" Melissa and Phils laughed.
They were having a fun conversation but it bugged Melissa that he mentioned Colorado where is near to Arizona, "…and Milo is there…
Well, if he has already set his foot on Arizona then I'll suggest him this hot tub."
"Say, can you tell me the location?" Melissa asked.
"You got it!" Phils rightfully agreed and went in a flash. "I'll find the card in my room."
The girl could finally relax her whole body after a long while. Talking to that man is tiresome while fun at the same time.
She took out her phone and stood up.
"Almost forgot. Check out the end of the hall and look for the password, boom!"
A short walk could be really helpful if you ever cared about staying fit and staying away from diseases. Anyway, after she successfully accessed the Internet, she quickly back to her seat. Then, a sight caught into her eyes.
There were a few more rooms in the hall she was walking. From the glass of the door, she could see a boy was sobbing.
He was sitting on his bed. Sure, she looked around and saw everything was fine at least. There were toys, a nice view from the window and… even a television… and a Nintendo switch!
Couldn't have a better living condition than that!
"Then what bothers this boy so much…" Melissa thought. She could think of a few reasons for it.
Loneliness. She couldn't feel it for now…
…guess that was what she could think of in her head.
Either way, she couldn't help but feel bad for that boy and wished him the best as she continued her happy stroll.
"That didn't bug me. No, it never, at all!
Just keep this happy appearance and you'll be fine for the most part. Yeah, this is fun, and exciting!"
While Melissa kept motivating herself for what she believed. Phils had managed to meet her again.
"Sorry, I have hidden it too deeply. Anyway, here's the card," Phils gladly gave her the card. "The number, the address, everything you need is in there."
"Neat!" she quickly took a picture of it, then offered again. "And… sorry for bothering you but… can you call my dad and warn him about my absence today?"
"Well, haha, not too worry about that. We're two steps ahead of you," the blonde gladly informed. "It takes like five hours to finally convince him, so you're good now."
"Hah… good…" Melissa immediately lied on the sofa and made it as she fainted.
"Oh no, you're okay, Melissa Chase? Do you need Chief?" Phils was concerned about her act.
"No, it's fine. It's just…" the girl chuckled. "I feel even more relaxed. I feel relaxed more than EVER!"
"That's good then!" Phils sighed in relief. "You made me worried just now."
Meanwhile, Dakota and Cavendish had finally agreed for another trip to the future – their present – 2175. They were promised by Gretchen to meet her in front of the Time Bureau and that would be the time when they were going to solve the Gretchen mystery.
2175. As the two exited from the time void, the sky turned dark and the future Danville felt like borrowing from the New York center at night.
They then drove the time vehicle to the Time Bureau and parked the car in front of it as order.
Standing and waiting for the two was none other than the welcoming Gretchen. She looked different than her usual self.
As you can already have figured out, it wasn't working time anymore, and she changed from the uniform you always see to a more slightly informal outfit.
Her white shirt combining with a long black dress might make her aged 3 to 4 years old up.
"Did you do this on purpose?" Cavendish questioned.
"Do what?" Gretchen tilted her head as she hadn't got the idea in his last sentence.
"Dress like this and try to bride us huh?"
"You know nothing, Cavendish," Dakota pouted. "That is her normal attire. You always see her work most of the time that you haven't known anything about her daily life."
The disco guy then proudly stated, "Lucky for us, I have."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Gretchen then informed. "Anyway, we will be back in my room at an apartment. I had already informed the landlord about your arrivals…"
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! So you're telling me that you called us all the way out here with that serious tone, just to take a nap in your room? Really?!" the British complained. "I'm not surprised by your disappointing timing."
"Oh come on, it will be fun," Dakota had an attempt to comfort him. "We can have a sleepover party… I never had one during my childhood, which is… pretty sad."
"I admit that this sleepover party will be awesome, but will this guy ever cooperate?" Gretchen furiously pointed at Cavendish who had time to time tried to pick up a fight on her.
Cavendish sighed. Things didn't go as his way but he couldn't care less, "Fine. But I probably won't enjoy it much anyway. It's… also my first time."
"We'll figure something out. I'm sure of it," Dakota assured the two.
Having done with their conversation, Gretchen entered the car before all of them, with Cavendish on the wheel, exited the Time Bureau and drove to the apartment.
It wasn't that far away and Gretchen could drive on her own, but coincidently, her car engine had a dangerous crack on it and so she had an engineer fix it for her that day. Also she had made a perfect plan in which she was able to have Cavendish and Dakota drive her home.
Cavendish drove with much experience he already had and complained about how many turns he had to take. And finally, they set their foot in front of the apartment. It isn't as large as the men imagined but it is fascinating enough in height.
And it has a weird T shape too.
"Cavendish, why don't you drive your car to the parking lot while we wait for you at the elevator," Dakota commanded.
Cavendish simply nodded as he drove his car inside to the parking lot.
Leaving Dakota and Gretchen having fun with the spinning door at the entrance.
"Hey, this is fun- oh, watch out your face," Gretchen giggled.
"Now you see me, now you don't. Now, you can't keep up with me!" Dakota tried to make himself fun.
It had been a long while since they played with their childish antics.
"Let's get inside," Dakota said.
"Mhm."
"What's your room number? And is it large enough?"
"It's 143, floor 5th. And believe me, you will be amazed by what it contains," Gretchen informed. "The rooms aren't numbered in order, but by some random technique and according to someone I know from the other room, each number of each room has its meaning that the owner of the building wants to give to us."
"143… I think I have heard it somewhere…" Dakota started to think of the answer.
"You won't find it in just a day. There's someone so close to finding the meaning of his room number but unfortunately, the landlord wasn't there," the woman added. "Who and how the landlord is is remained a mystery to us. He lives on the top of the building and unless you get outside and see him do stuff from far away up to the 35th floor, there's no chance you can meet him directly."
"Wow. Living in this apartment works your brain out a little," Dakota commented.
"Indeed."
After the conversation was over, they silently walked to the elevator where Cavendish should meet them up.
It had also been a while since Dakota and Gretchen talked and conveyed their ideas to each other like this.
They could feel an embarrassing yet easy feeling around them. Dakota could only wish he hadn't been taken away from Gretchen back at the orphanage so that Gretchen wouldn't have suffered it all – the pain she tried to endure day to day during her teenage life, during her whole school life, and even before, during and after her graduation.
She used to be lifeless and unhappy, as Dakota hadn't been there for her and show her how to be on her own, to ignore all of her anxiety and to start a life that she ever wanted.
That would be the perfect story for her life but… we will never know what fate has in stored for us. So let's just safe to say that the more comfortable Gretchen is back.
"Dakota…
…You're simply lonely, aren't you?"
Due to an incident, Cavendish's car wasn't able to move any further inside the parking lot. To be exact, he didn't even reach the boom barrier and the cashier along with other workers who were fixing the incident.
"Sorry, sir. You can't move any further as there is a hole on your way. Mind you leave your car right here?" the cashier explained.
"Then mind telling me where did that hole come from?" Cavendish asked.
"Well… it's our landlord who made this mess…" he hesitantly revealed. "Oh please don't tell that to him or he will eat my head… I mean, not literally but like… he often destroys and damages the property. Not only the parking lot but some other stuff in the apartment. And not only in this apartment, but other households are affected as well."
"Hm… It appears that the owner is the naughty one," Cavendish then requested. "Can you lead the way to the elevator? My friends are waiting."
"Oh, right…" the cashier led him in a hurry. "Just this way, sir."
Sidestory of An Adventurer (Part 1)
Night had also fallen on where the helicopter took a break and its surrounding was nothing more than a medium desert.
Around 11 p.m. and mostly everyone had been in a deep sleep. That goes to Chief and Phils, as they were certainly not to let any accident happen before the experiment began.
Melissa had done her final texting not too long ago and she was staying put and sleeping on the sofa just like what Phils had ordered. She wasn't bothered by this, as even the sofa was believed by herself as high quality.
…Someone made a small noise. He tried to step carefully in order not to draw himself attention.
"Okay, got the password… let's see, the… living room?"
Following the direction on his phone, he finally made his way to where he wanted to reach.
While the girl having had the best day ever was sleeping so well that she forgot to put the phone back to her pocket and drooling innocently, this sneaky guy took it gently from her hand.
He already picked where he was going to lie in: under Melissa's sofa. Maybe he was lucky that he could be able to find out a perfect space to follow all of this girl's activities.
It was pretty much his motivation at that moment.
"Okay. Text this and this and… send. That's what you have to pay for…"
Not too long after his action, he gently put the phone back into her palms again. He also quietly took a few cushions from another sofa and used it as his cover while this space under where Melissa was having a nice sleep would be where he had his nap.
As he took out his phone and looked back to another message he had texted.
"Mom and Dad, try not to look for me.
I'm fine now. I will be on my own for a while.
Wait for me, okay?
I will be back…
- your dearest son."