Ford and Stan set up their equipment one mile away from the enemies building. Stan had wanted to be closer, but they hadn't seen a way that would be possible. They building was placed in the middle of a flat area with a two mile diameter. It sat in the center with perfect vision of anyone approaching.
"Testing," Ford spoke into a pin, "testing."
Stan gave a thumbs up. He could hear him through the headphones.
"the pin will be on the inside of the suit," Ford explained, "so don't worry about any extra noise. Fiddleford and I can mess with the audio when we get back."
"Sure the old guy even wants in on this?" Stan asked taking the head phones off, "seems he'd be more than happy to not be apart of any more of your crazy schemes."
"We're not building a portal, Stan, its just cleaning up audio. Nothing dangerous about that."
Stan rolled his eyes. They obviously had different opinions on what could be constituted as "dangerous".
"Do you have your story?" Stan asked instead.
"Yup," Ford grinned, "I've got everything accounted for."
"Which means you've forgotten something."
"why must you do this?"
"Because its my job. Now stick your head in that thing and get a move on."
()
Ford stumbled up to the building, the guards surrounding it pointed their guns at him.
"Wait right there!" one shouted. Ford stopped and doubled over.
"Ple-please!" he called out, "I got separated from the group! They stopped at the gas station and left me!"
There had been a van of four workers who had arrived earlier that day. The nearest gas station was almost 7 miles away. One of them ran into the building.
"there's now way you lab nerds can walk seven miles in a day!"
"I wasn't always a 'lab nerd'," Ford scoffed, "I was…also in the military for a time!"
"…a squint? That's even worse!"
Ford began to sweat and it wasn't even from the heat. The one that had run in before now came out with a man in a blue lab coat. He was short with a long beard, and it had a net covering it. His face was heavily lined and he didn't seem to know what a smile was.
The man walked up to him and squinted up, "who are you?"
"My name is Ellison, I was supposed to start working here today. The van left me-"
"I was only informed that three personnel would be starting today," he snapped. Ford swallowed hard.
"…then what am I doing here, Sir? I only know what I was told…"
The stared at Ford for another moment, then his face relaxed and his mouth twitched upward.
"So HQ did hear me. Wonderful. Well, Ellison, was it? I won't lie, we are heavily understaffed here. I had originally requested ten replacements after Baker died. They talked me down to four and then only told me I was getting three. I'm glad I'm at least getting four…could still use six more."
"I'm sorry," Ford said, empathizing, "um, I guess I'm just really new. This is my first post-"
"NEW?!" The man rounded on him, his face back to being unforgiving, "THEY SENT ME A GREENIE?! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH YOU?!"
"I'm very good at what I do, Sir."
"THAT DOESN'T MEAN SPIT! This isn't some mamby-pamby outfit like they have out east! The creatures we have in here will KILL YOU! THE EXPIRIMENTS WE DO ARE NOT FOR GREENIES!"
"…is…that what happened to Baker?"
"Baker died because the idiot thought he could go all day without drinking water this summer! But-"
"Oh, well, I'm smarter than that," Ford said, "you don't have to worry about me, Sir, I know my way around a lab."
"And the animals?"
"Very good with the creatures, Sir, you'll see. Just give me a chance."
The man was now looking at Ford with a bit of respect, but mostly with doubt.
"You aren't…related to the higher ups…are you?" he asked.
"…nope," Ford said, and relief was visible on the mans face.
"Good, good, if you do die, well, I do not want to end up like Paul…"
Ford, his curiosity getting the better of him asked, "What happened to Paul?"
The man shook his head, "stuff happened up north and one of the nefews of the boss was killed by a creature uprising. Paul is now jobless. He'll never have a job again. In a few months, he'll be homeless. But you didn't hear that from me, got it?"
"Mums the word," Ford nodded.
()
"But," the worker that had driven the van looked at the three new workers that he'd escorted, "I only had three!"
"Then who's this?" the bearded man and local boss was named Grent. Ford stood beside his desk.
"I don't know," the driver shook his head, "I only have a list for three!"
"Its ok," Ford sighed dramatically, "I know I don't have any presence. I get left behind a lot…"
"That's not the issue!" The driver waved a sheet of paper, "Your name is not on the list! I have Beky Spore! Timothy Fray! And Patty Thompson! That's it! I don't have an Ellison White on this list!"
"I just assumed you'd forgotten to call my name," Ford said, "but if I'm not on the list…maybe I got on the wrong plane?!"
"Too bad," Grent shrugged, "you're here and I'm keeping you. I can't afford to just give staff away. I'll notify HQ of the mix up in about….two weeks? Then you'll have to stay here."
"We are not staying for two weeks, Sixer," Stans voice buzzed in Fords ear. Ford ignored him.
"I'll be happy to be of service," Ford said.
()
Dipper looked at his phone. Neither Stan nor Ford were picking up. Thankfully school was still in session as he, Mabel and their mom left the school. He didn't have to face his peers. But he would have to tomorrow.
Before that he wanted to talk to Ford and Stan and ask them a few questions.
There was a knock on his door.
"Yeah?"
His dad opened the door and walked in. Dipper was seated on the floor with his back to the bed. Victor took a seat in the chair at the desk.
"Your mother has been telling me about what happened today," he said, getting right to the point, "want to tell me what happened?"
Dipper bit his lip and focused on anything other than his dad. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Victor sighed.
"the nurse and the doctor she'd called today recommended we get you some help. A counselor. You ok with that?"
"A shrink?!" Dipper grimaced, "I'm fine! Just…a little on edge…."
"Can you tell me what's put you on edge?"
"…life?"
"Try again."
"What iiiif I told you the universe was out to get me?"
"I'd tell you 'welcome to the club'."
"So your meeting didn't go so well?"
"Don't change the subject."
Dipper grinned, but then the silence became serious again. His dad waited patiently for a response. Dipper fell back on what the nurse had said.
"I just…I guess I just took on too much work," Dipper shrugged, "I can't really say why its effecting me like this, it just is."
Victor looked at his son for a moment longer, before accepting the reason. He nodded and reached out to ruffle Dippers hair.
"Your mother is making phone calls to set up an appointment for you. I know seeing a shrink isn't what you want, but just give it a try. Maybe they can help you realize what terrible people your parents are. I mean, can you believe those jerks?"
Dipper snorted and shook his head, "Yeah, terrible. How dare they give me ice cream when I'm sick."
"Monsters," Victor grinned.
"Yeah, and how dare they ask me how my day was."
"Bet that's suffocating."
"Totally."
They laughed and Victor helped Dipper to stand before giving him a hug, "just don't keep crap like this a secret from us anymore, ok? Its more than just a job to keep you kids alive, its our privilege as parents."
"Sure," Dipper said, the guilt eating him alive.
()
The next day Dipper wanted to die.
He woke up and couldn't finish his breathing exercises. Scenarios kept going through his head and made it difficult to concentrate.
Then breakfast as a whole just didn't seem appealing in any way. Their dad came in and gave them their habitual kiss before running out the door.
When they got to school, Dippers gut was a mess. It hurt and he felt like turning tail and running and not stopping for anything.
Mabel stayed with him as they walked down the hall. Usually they separated at the door.
"You can go to your own locker," Dipper said giving her a light push.
She raised an eyebrow, "and leave your back undefended?"
"That's-"
"DIPPER!"
Both twins jumped as two boys and a girl ran up to them. Dipper briefly was able to recognize them from his weight lifting class before their arms were around him.
"Dude, you ok?"
"Heard you wigged out yesterday! What happened?"
"Are you sure you want to be in school today? I don't think anyone would blame you for skipping out for a few days."
"If anyone gives you grief over it today, we'll take 'em out."
Dipper felt heat rise in his face. He couldn't remember anyone other than Mabel being kind to him at school.
"I see I don't have anything to worry about," Mabel said, slapping Dipper on the back and getting everyones attention. To the other three she pointed at him, "watch his back. He has NO sense of self preservation."
"Yes ma'am!" James said saluting with one hand and hooking the other arm around Dippers neck, "our nerd will not be messed with!"
Mabel beamed and waved as she ran to her own locker.
"When, exactly, did I become YOUR nerd?"
"When you, a nerd, signed up for weight lifting," Larry said, "wanna tell us what happened yesterday?"
"No," Dipper said detaching himself from James, "its not a big deal."
"from the stories that were going around yesterday, it sounded intense," Katie said, "and then it got exaggerated."
Dipper grimaced. That was what he was afraid of. Nothing he said from now on was going to change anything. He was going to be the object of ridicule and he couldn't even be able to blame it on Kristian.
"but we wanted to hear the details from you," James said, "you're quiet, so I really don't see you as the type to start speaking in tongues and/or try to throw yourself out a window."
Larry hit him, "telling him the rumors isn't going to help," he hissed.
Dipper groaned and rubbed his face, "Look, guys, it…it was just a panic attack. Ok? That's it."
"Right," Larry nodded, "we'll try and counter the rumors, but, honestly, the crazy ones are going to be hard."
"You don't have to," Dipper said, feeling a little awkward. Other than Mabel who had ever been on his side in an issue?
"We want to," Katie punched his shoulder, "why wouldn't we want to help out someone we like?"
()
Dipper did his best to at least keep his head up. He wasn't going to cower; it might just prove the more stranger rumors to be true. And he would die before that happened.
The other students from Weight lifting made it their goal to keep him company. Before they were just friendly with him, but left him to his own devises. Now they actively dragged him to their table at lunch. But it wasn't just those in weight lifting. There were a few goths, a few thespians, and a freshman who looked like he had never seen the sun a day in his life. The table was loud and several topics where being discussed at the same time, but Dipper found himself enjoying it. He ate his food and stammered a little whenever he realized he was being included in a conversation.
"Ugh," one of the goths, Mary, rolled her eyes, "I hate lemons."
Many people around the table agreed. Dipper, feeling a little confident, spoke up.
"I like lemons," he said, "nothing wrong with a little sour."
The table almost went quiet as they all stared at him. He felt the heat rise in his face. Did he say something wrong?
Then Katie, who was sitting next to him, wrapped her arms around his head, "You are SO innocent. Never change!"
()
Before AP English, the last class on Orange day, Dipper was called to the principals office. The last time he was in the office he'd been in trouble for smashing a mirror in the girls bathroom. A lie concocted by Kristian and the people he influenced.
"Have a seat Mason," Principal Haywood was a relatively young man. Like Ryan, he looked like his age was due to how tired he was instead of actual years. Dipper shivered a little.
"We need to discuss which classes you are going to change. The AP classes you are taking are English, Calculus, Physics, and History. You need to change at least two. I've talked with the teachers of each class and the teachers of the classes you would be going into. The easiest transitions would be English, history, and Calculus. The physics teacher has already planned out 'everything' and says that adding a student at this point would 'throw everything off'."
The principal was using air quotes as he spoke. Dipper fought to keep the grin off his face.
"I wanted to let you have the choice about which classes you take, but I also want you to consider the work load in each class. If I were to make the decision, I'd make you change English and Calculus. But its up to you."
Dipper mulled everything over in his head. Could he show his face in History? Sure, he'd made new friends and the day wasn't as horrible as he'd thought it would be, but that was different from actually facing the same people that witnessed his break down. And he already knew that it wasn't the work load that had caused his issues.
"I'll change English and History," Dipper replied.
The principal nodded, "Alright. Starting next week, Monday, you will be given a new schedule. Stop by the admin office and pick it up when you get to school."
Dipper thanked him and stood, but before he left the Principal had one last thing to say, "if you need to, there's a room in the nurses office for you. Try to use it when you need it."
Dipper gave a thin smile and nodded.