As Tegan's thoughts became indistinguishable from his own, Alan recognized the presence of another consciousness alongside his sister's. "So you have been Putnamized," he thought accusingly. "Did Beat come up with another Opticron device?"

"No," was Tegan's mental reply. "I absorbed Putnam's personality by mind-merging with her. And that's not all—now I can transfer Putnam into another person's mind, like I did with Mansch and Mavis."

"You won't Putnamize me," thought Alan with defiance.

"Why do you fight it?" Tegan wondered. "A smart boy like you should be glad to share his brain with a genius inventor."

"Don't do this, Tegan!" Alan pleaded.

"Resistance is futile," his sister assured him.

And it appeared to be so—no matter how much he squirmed and struggled, his mind remained firmly locked in Tegan's grip. He felt as if he was being forced to watch a high-speed movie of someone's life, filmed from the perspective of the person's eyes, accompanied by feelings and sensations. It would take only a few minutes for Putnam's dreams and desires to forcibly supplant his own. Alan Powers would cease to exist, and he wouldn't even notice it happening.

Reaching deep into his mind and soul, he searched for a shred of strength to withstand the mental onslaught. He held out little hope for himself, seeing that a clever and strong-willed man like Raymond Mansch had fallen easily, but he still had to try. If he failed, who would be left to stop Tegan from raising an army of Putnams?

Suddenly, almost instinctively, he knew what action to take.

A virtual panorama opened before him, like a vast desert pock-marked with sagebrush and juniper. Looking at the sagebrush caused him to think of Tegan, while looking at the juniper reminded him of Putnam. It became intuitively clear to him that the desert flora represented life experiences. If he uprooted a juniper bush, one of Putnam's life experiences would be forgotten. If he uprooted them all...

He had to act quickly and conclusively, as he was already starting to recall childhood memories of the 1920's. Exercising all the will power he could muster, he wished for the juniper to die, wither away, and disappear.

It promptly obliged. Only sagebrush remained. The flood of Putnam's recollections stopped.

Tegan shuddered and stepped back. Alan saw confusion and fear in her expression, and hoped he hadn't harmed her somehow.

"Wh-what did you do?" she demanded after moving the barette back to the crown of her head.

Vague memories haunted Alan—memories of growing up with a different set of parents, in a time when computers and TV didn't exist. To his relief, he felt no desire to impose his will upon others through diabolical inventions.

"It's so strange," Tegan marveled. "I feel like someone was in my head, using my powers to spread to other people, like a virus."

"You mean...Putnam's gone?" said Alan with astonishment.

"Who's Putnam?" Tegan asked.

----

"You may have the mind of a brilliant scientist inside of you," Roger Simon scolded, "but you're still my daughter, and you'll do as I say."

"Yes, master," said Beat sarcastically.

"You could have killed us with worry," her father continued. "I don't care if you have a scientific experiment to work on, or if you just want to take a walk. You do not wander off unless you tell us where you're going. Do I make myself clear?"

"Abundantly," said Beat in a bored tone.

"You're grounded for a week," Mr. Simon declared.

"My life is over," Beat sighed mockingly.

The rabbit-aardvark girl retired to her bedroom, unconcerned with her punishment and intrigued by the possibilities arising from the skills she had taught Tegan. A human being whose brain possessed all the power of the Opticron device would provide an immense advantage in Putnam's scheme to infiltrate and revolutionize society. No more would ignorance and misunderstanding hold sway over the world...

Her pleasant reverie was interrupted by the arrival of Alan and Tegan Powers, who were welcomed into the apartment by her father. The bear siblings wore unworried grins. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon," Beat said to Tegan.

"Things happened quickly," Tegan responded.

Once certain that Mr. Simon couldn't hear their conversation through the closed bedroom door, Beat asked, "What things?"

"Alan got a little too curious," Tegan answered. "I had to Putnamize him."

Beat scrutinized Alan's smiling face. "So you're one of us now," she said thoughtfully.

"Correct," Alan replied.

"Excellent." Beat folded her arms. "But from now on, you will both refrain from the use of the word 'Putnamize'. I don't like it."

"There's something else you should know," Tegan told her. "While I was, er, transferring Putnam's persona into Alan's mind, I discovered that he has some mental powers of his own."

"Really," Beat remarked with interest. "What kind of powers?"

"He'll demonstrate."

Tegan reached up and pulled her barette down, initiating a three-way mind merge. As Beat felt the thoughts of her two companions flowing through her being, the reality of the situation shocked her. She strained to break free from the link, but to no avail.

About two minutes later, Tegan raised her barette while Alan and Beat felt a wave of calm and relief.

"He's gone," Beat marveled. "They're both gone—Putnam and Mavis. I'm alone in my head again."

Too delighted for words, Alan simply leaned forward and drew Beat into his arms.

"I was such an idiot," Beat reflected, her chin resting on Alan's shoulder. "I volunteered to have Putnam planted in my brain again, even after what I did to Sue Ellen and Frankie. How did you get him out?"

"I'm not really sure myself," said Alan, seating the girl next to him on the bed. "When Tegan merged with me, I reached into her mind and made Putnam go away. Then I figured, maybe I could do the same thing to you."

"Interesting," said Beat. "Perhaps the fact that you're Tegan's sister gives you a special influence when you're linked with her."

"We can talk about that on the way to Mavis' house," Tegan suggested.

----

The bespectacled hamster girl glanced around in amazement as Tegan moved her barette up. "I feel weird," she muttered. "I feel like...like someone possessed me."

"It was Putnam," Alan told her.

"How could it be Putnam?" said Mavis incredulously. "He's dead. Unless it was his ghost."

"Do you still remember attending Uppity Downs?" Beat asked her.

"Yes," Mavis replied. "I remember Mr. Pryce-Jones, and all my friends, and Muffy, and...and you. You were possessed too. We had some sort of device, and we used it to switch people."

"It's all over," Alan promised her. "You're normal again."

"I...kissed...Binky," Mavis recalled.

"Mansch is the last person on our list," Beat reminded Alan.

"We should be careful," the bear boy advised. "He probably thinks we know where he hid the diamonds."

"Leave him to me," said Tegan. "He's promised not to commit any more crimes as long as I work with him, and I know he's not lying."

----

"Thank you," said Mansch as he bid farewell to Alan, Tegan, and their companions. "And next time, warn me before you put someone in my brain."

The kids exchanged satisfied smiles as they walked away from the cat man's house. "Well, that went off without violence," Beat remarked.

"I just thought of something," Mavis said to her. "Francine and Sue Ellen still have mixed-up personalities from when you switched them. If Alan really does have the power to erase memories when he merges with Tegan..."

"An excellent idea," said Alan.

----

At Mrs. Krantz' house, Alan and Tegan, barette lowered, held Francine, Sue Ellen, and April in thrall. Once Tegan lifted her hairpiece and broke the spell, the other girls started to gaze about in wonder.

"Omigosh," Sue Ellen marveled. "I can't remember Francine's life anymore."

"Neither can I," said April.

Francine jumped to her feet and attempted a few karate kicks and punches, only to be disappointed by her clumsiness. "I've lost my martial arts skills," she observed.

"Please don't try to play the saxophone," April urged her.

"How well do you remember your own life?" Alan asked Sue Ellen.

"Perfectly," the cat girl replied. "Too perfectly."

"Good," said Alan. "I'm new at this, so I'm afraid of making mistakes."

"After all this time," said Francine in astonishment, "I finally have my brain to myself."

Alan and Tegan rose to leave, but the girls wouldn't let them go so easily. "Group hug!" April blurted out, and affectionately embraced the Powers siblings along with Sue Ellen and Francine.

Once she had expressed her appreciation and gratitude, Francine immediately set out for Arthur's house with an important errand to accomplish. She had mixed feelings about the task, fearing she might break the aardvark boy's heart.

"Hi, Arthur," she said with a sheepish grin.

"Come in, Francine."

The two kids took seats in the living room. Arthur reached over and took Francine's hand, making the girl uneasy. A few seconds of uncomfortable silence passed.

"Arthur," said Francine quietly, "I don't have Sue Ellen in my head anymore."

He needed a moment or two to process her meaning.

"Alan's sister Tegan did it," she explained. "She's got some sort of mind powers."

"Does this mean..." Arthur began.

"I'm not in love with you anymore," she admitted solemnly.

The husk of Arthur's body was intact, but Francine could tell that his soul had been mercilessly crushed. They didn't speak, preferring to let the fatefulness of what had happened sink in.

Finally Arthur thought of something to say. "But...we're still gonna get married, right?"

----

to be continued