Buffy tried to step lightly. By this time, almost everyone had gone back to bed, but she was too wired to sleep. Seeing the way Angel - Liam, rather - had been after biting Cordelia had proved surprisingly disturbing to her. She knew well how much of a burden Angel's guilt about his past had always been to him, the way it filled his silences and darkened his face at all times, even when he smiled. But to see it so raw and new, as though he were experiencing it for the first time, was a horrible thing.

She went down the staircase into the lobby, where her early-morning wanderings would disturb no one. Or so she thought.

"Oh, hi," a small voice said. Buffy turned and saw Fred, the wispy, elusive girl who had barely spoken two words in Buffy's presence. Fred was sitting on the couch with a laptop computer on her knees. The light of the screen made her face glow pale blue in the dimly-lit lobby.

"Hi," Buffy said. "I thought everybody else was in bed."

"I was," Fred said. "But sometimes the thoughts just start whirling around in my head, and it's kind of like trying to sleep with the blender on. So I came down here to sort things out, and then it beeped."

"What beeped?" Buffy asked.

"The computer. It's got a partial translation of the page we found."

"Really? Should we wake up Giles, or-"

"No, there's not too much that makes sense. It looks like part of the plans for some sort of machine."

"A machine that turns lead into gold," Buffy deduced.

"I think so. It talks about a, a chamber, to hold a really big power source."

"Dawn," Buffy breathed.

Fred nodded.

"Oh, God. If they need her energy, then.what if they need her blood?" Buffy said with increasing alarm. "What if they kill her?"

"I don't think they will," Fred said. "Not if they can avoid it. If they're really building Tesorieri's machine, then they'll want to keep Dawn alive for as long as they can. She's their golden goose, literally. I mean, the golden part is literal, not the goose part."

"You're probably right," Buffy said. "I just hate the idea of someone using her like a tool."

"It's awful," Fred said, her eyes suddenly distant. "Taken away from home, to someplace where she doesn't know anybody, having to do whatever they say, or else they'll-" She stopped herself and smiled awkwardly. "I'm sure she's all right."

"Thanks," Buffy said.

"I just wish I understood about the subatomic particles."

"Okay, that was kind of a hairpin turn in the conversation," Buffy said.

"Sorry. I'm trying to figure out the alchemy machine. I mean, sure, anybody can change one element into another. Anybody with a nuclear reactor, anyway. It's all just about moving the protons and neutrons around. Did you take chemistry in high school?"

"Um, occasionally. Is that the class where the teacher smells kind of funny and always wears sweater vests?"

"I don't know," Fred said. "That could just as easily be English Lit. Anyway, all elements are just different combinations of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Electrons will practically jump if you look at them crosseyed, but protons and neutrons are hard to move around. It takes a lot of energy."

"Which is why they need Dawn," Buffy deduced.

"Right. If the Key has enough energy to open a portal to every dimension at once, it can certainly pull a few atomic nuclei apart."

"Okay, so this thing turns atoms into Legos. Take 'em apart, put 'em back together, build whatever you want."

"No!" Fred cried, giving Buffy a start. "Sorry," Fred said. "Didn't mean to yell. It's just that it's not that simple. There are so many elements and isotopes, and there's no way to control which one you're going to get. You might be able to turn lead into something, but it probably won't be gold; more likely, you'll get a lump of osmium, or some arsenic, or a big cloud of hydrogen that blows up in your face. Even with magic, I don't know how you could make all the particles come together in just the right way to make gold."

"Well, I hope they've figured it out," Buffy said. "Because if they try to turn lead into gold and get a big batch of extra-crispy carbon instead, they might decide that keeping Dawn alive isn't worth the trouble."

***

Dawn had hoped to be rescued before this moment arrived.

She was sitting on her bed listening to a CD that Hayden had given her, a strange brew of American pop vocals backed by an Indonesian gamelan orchestra - she kind of liked it, though Dawn would never in a million years tell her captor so. She was also trying to draw a picture of Diogenes, who had fallen asleep in a patch of sunlight on the windowsill. Then she heard the door open behind her. She didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

"It is time," Nicole said. "Come with me."

Dawn turned and saw the telepath standing in the doorway, flanked by a couple of vampires. She glanced down the hall past Nicole-

"Don't bother," Nicole said. "You won't get past the vampires. And they can easily carry you downstairs without hurting you...much."

"Whatever," Dawn said stonily. "Let's just get it over with."

Dawn walked between the two vampires like the prisoner she was, eyes downcast. Nicole led them down the front stairs to the front hall, then turned and walked down a wood-paneled hallway towards the back of the house. She stopped halfway down the corridor, took a key from her jacket pocket, and opened a door to her left, revealing cement stairs that went down.

The change in decor was very abrupt. Above ground, Hayden's house was all dark wood and the muted light of shaded lamps. The basement stairs, on the other hand, were gray-white concrete, illuminated by bare bulbs fixed to the ceiling. The stairs went down a good fifty feet before they ended in a concrete-walled room.

The room was perhaps thirty feet square and bustling with activity. Ethan Rayne stood in the middle of the room as white-coated technicians scurried around him, sometimes stopping to report some bit of information to him or to receive instructions. Two more techs pecked away at the twin keyboards of a console at the far end of the room. The console was set in front of a large window that appeared to be made of extremely thick glass.

As Dawn was led into the room, she could see more technicians behind the glass. They stood in front of two boxes covered in what looked like lead plating. One box was about five feet square, the other a bit more than two feet on a side. The boxes were very close together and were connected by a short, five-inch wide pipe, also made of lead.

Ethan saw them come in and looked over at Dawn. "Ah, our power source has arrived. Are you ready to make alchemical history, child?"

"Bite me," Dawn said sullenly.

"Perhaps later," Ethan said with a sardonic smile.

Just then, Cassio entered the room from what appeared to be a small office next door. "I have double-checked everything," he said to Rayne. "If we are all blown to tiny pieces, it will not be because of the translation. Eh, bambina," he said, noticing Dawn and the nervous look on her face. "Don't worry about nothing. This won't hurt more than a mosquito bite."

"Good," said a voice from the stairway door. Lucas Hayden walked in with Kogue just behind him. "I don't want our lovely Key getting tarnished. Are you certain that the shielding poses no problem, Mr. Rayne?"

"It shouldn't affect the functioning of the machine, no," Ethan replied.

"W-why do you need all that lead?" Dawn asked nervously.

"Fausto Tesorieri, according to legend, died a few hours after he first used this machine. We believe that the device emits large amounts of ionizing radiation when in operation. Don't worry, you'll be well protected." He looked over at his two lieutenants. "Nicole, Kogue, put her in the power chamber."

The blonde telepath and the bulky demon both started towards her. Dawn's eyes widened. "Hey!" she shouted. "I'll go myself, all right? You don't need to get all handsy."

Nicole and Kogue merely followed as Dawn walked into the room containing the two boxes. Kogue pulled open the heavy, lead-plated door on the front of the larger box and pointed for Dawn to go inside. Gulping, Dawn complied.

The interior of the chamber looked nothing like the outside. The inside of the box was all wood - pine, with some sort of finish that made it darker. All along the wooden walls were a variety of strange symbols cut from gold leaf. Additionally, there was a wooden chair in front of a circular steel tube, about four inches in diameter, which protruded from the side of the box. Dawn realized that the tube must be part of the pipe that connected this box to the other.

"Sit down," Nicole ordered. Dawn complied, albeit slowly. The chair creaked a bit as she sat. She could now see into the tube in front of the chair. It appeared to be lined with black rubber, and, at the back of it, Dawn could see a hunk of some sort of purple crystal.

"Give me your hand," Nicole said. She was reaching for something in her pocket.

"What are you going to do?" Dawn said. She couldn't hide her anxiety now, even if Nicole hadn't been a mind reader.

Nicole didn't even bother to answer. She just snatched up Dawn's wrist with cobra-like speed as her other hand darted out from her pocket. Dawn felt a sharp pricking sensation on her fingertip. When Nicole withdrew her hand, Dawn saw that her finger was bleeding, and that Nicole had a tiny lancet between her fingers.

"Ow!" Dawn cried, more with outrage than pain. Before she could make any other response, Nicole forced Dawn's hand into the steel tube and onto the crystal inside. A drop of blood smeared onto the smooth, faceted surface.

Suddenly, the inside of the tube contracted around Dawn's wrist. Her hand was now trapped against the crystal.

"Relax," Nicole said in a tone that was not remotely relaxing. "It will be over in a few minutes." She stepped back and closed the box; there was a small puff of air as the door sealed tight.

If Dawn had been nervous before, she was flat-out scared now.

***

Ethan Rayne glanced down at the sheet of paper in his hands. Cassio had given him the invocation days ago, and Rayne had more or less memorized it, but in a situation like this, where so much risk and potential reward were involved, it was best not to leave anything to chance.

"Are we ready, Mr. Rayne?" Lucas Hayden asked.

"Very nearly, Mr. Hayden," Rayne said.

A technician had opened the other, smaller box next to Dawn's and was placing a square tray of lead powder inside. Once the tray was centered inside the box, the tech closed the small door, made certain that it was sealed properly, and came back out to the control room. The door to the experimental chamber automatically shut behind him. The tech nodded at Rayne and then got out of the way.

"Very well, then," Ethan said. "It's time to change the world."

He held up his sheet of paper and began to recite.

"Spiriti tenebrarum, servi Plutonis et Hecates, vos invoco."

***

Dawn felt a funny tingling in her hand, originating in the fingertip that Nicole had punctured. She couldn't help staring down at the tube that gripped her wrist; she thought there was a tiny bit of light emanating from inside it, around her hand. The chamber was vibrating slightly, and there was a low-pitched hum that was getting louder. Dawn also found that the chamber was getting warmer, and she was beginning to perspire. She was breathing a little harder, too. Was it the heat, or fear, or something else?

As the tingling sensation moved up her arm, Dawn realized that she didn't really want to find out.

***

"How much longer, Mr. Rayne?" Hayden asked.

"Any moment now," the warlock said, his eyes glued to a timer on the main console. Forty seconds had passed since Rayne had spoken the invocation and activated the machine.

The two lead-covered boxes began to glow white, rapidly growing brighter and brighter. Light flooded the room until the onlookers were forced to cover their eyes. Cassio, who was standing in the back of the room, found the light unbearably bright even through his eyelids; he had to cover his eyes with his hands to block it out.

And then the light abruptly faded. Everyone removed their hands from their faces and gazed about dazedly except for Kogue, who, being from the white expanses of the far north, had eyes that were better adapted to the glare.

When Hayden recovered from his dazzlement, he turned to the crew of techs. "Check the sample," he said.

A technician, dressed in a yellow protective suit and helmet and carrying what looked like a small metal suitcase, stepped out the door of the rear laboratory. He waved for everyone to back away from the door to the experimental chamber. When they had done so, he opened the metal door, entered the room, and opened up the smaller of the two lead boxes. Hayden, Ethan Rayne, and Cassio stepped up to the thick glass window to watch.

The tech removed the sample tray. The metallic powder at the outer edges of the tray still had the color of lead, but the center portion was a silvery white. Cassio's brow furrowed, but when he looked over at Hayden, he saw the man nod approvingly to himself. Cassio gave him a questioning look, but Hayden did not respond. He simply watched the tech seal the sample tray into the case and then carry it out of the experimental chamber, through the control room, and into the laboratory in the rear. As he passed Lucas, the tech said, "We'll have the results of the analysis in a few minutes, Mr. Hayden." Ethan Rayne turned and followed the tech into the lab.

"I'll wait for them," Hayden replied. "Nicole, Kogue, go and retrieve Dawn, if you please."

As his two lieutenants entered the experimental chamber, Hayden pressed a button on the console marked "Restraint". Cassio assumed he was freeing Dawn from whatever was keeping her connected to the crystal conduit inside the box.

Dawn was barely conscious when they opened the door. Her skin appeared pale and clammy, and she was clutching her right wrist in her left hand. Kogue half-carried her back into the control room and sat her down on a chair in the corner.

The rear door opened, and Rayne emerged with the technician. Hayden looked at them expectantly.

"It appears we're in luck," the warlock said.

"The center of the tray contains at least fifty cubic centimeters of material, ninety-four percent pure or better," the technician added.

"Pure what?" Cassio blurted. "That did not look like gold."

"My dear young friend," Hayden replied, with a smile that made Cassio's stomach tighten, "whoever said we were trying to make gold?"

"Then what-"

"I'm afraid," Hayden cut in, "that Fausto Tesorieri, despite his brilliance, never accomplished his goal. Not his fault, really - neither he nor any of his contemporaries could have had the knowledge of subatomic physics that the task of turning lead into gold requires. But there was still the possibility of accidental discoveries. And, in Tesorieri's case, it was a discovery that would not be repeated for another four hundred years.

"The device doesn't make gold, Cassio. It makes plutonium."

END CHAPTER 9