A/N: I just so this commercial for this thing called robopet and there's a talking dog on it. The damn dog was so creepy, you have no idea. I'm gonna have nightmares now! It looked like the thing was possessed or something! Oh my god, it was just so frickin' scary, you have no idea. I just glanced at my tv and saw it and I was frightened. Speaking of nightmares, I need to get to sleep soon. I have an early class, Voice. My voice instructor says I have a nice singing voice. Generally, I would think she was just saying that to be nice or to get me to take the classes again or something, but then the other day my dad told me, "Hey, you do have a good singing voice", so now I'm starting to believe. Because my father doesn't compliment like that just to be nice, he only says nice things if he really means them. And, I'm off track again...

Just read the chapter and ignore me. ENJOY!

Chapter 8:

Corrine watched as Marshall deftly typed in various things that even she couldn't follow. He pulled up window after window, his fingers flying along the keyboard. Warnings would pop up, the computer would beep, he'd close those before Corrine could read them, start over again. She smiled, looking over at Josie who was obviously talking to the invisible Lucas.

"I wonder what they're talking about," she commented. Josie was blushing, obviously, about something, and her smile was faint but…different. Marshall glanced their way momentarily, pausing for a second or so on the computer before his attention went back to the screen.

"Yeah…it's kind of hard when you can only hear half of the conversation," he mumbled, caught up in his typing. Corrine sighed, hopping up on top of the desk and looking down at Marshall carefully.

"But…he's alive. Which is great, right?" Corrine went on. Marshall nodded absently. A thought occurred to Corrine and she grinned down at him, "Which means, you don't have to leave!" Marshall stopped completely, blinking at the screen.

"I forgot all about that," he told her candidly, then he smiled broadly up at her, "But I guess you're right. My parents might not be happy when I tell them I've changed my mind though, they've been scrambling to get things together to bring me home and…"

The door to the science lab swung open and Professor Z rushed in, shutting the door quickly behind him. He looked out at his students, who stared blank faced at him.

"I can't find the Oubliette," he announced, clapping his hands together and smiling broadly at all of them. All except Marshall were on their feet at once with questions and cries of surprise.

"What happened to it?" Josie demanded.

"It was in my room last I checked," Professor Z explained with a baffled shrug, "I'd hidden it…"

"In your room…that probably wasn't so hard," Josie commented, and Professor Z shot her a disgruntled glare.

"I have a safe, in my room, where I keep some of my more valuable possessions," Professor Z continued, "I'd put it in there. But it was gone. Nobody knows the combination but me."

"Uh…" Marshall spoke up from the computer and they all turned to him, "I have another peg to add to the weirdness factor. I have checked all the medical records on file in the city. The last Lucas Randall to have been checked into the city morgue in any hospital within a twenty-mile radius of the school was thirty years ago. And the last Randall to be checked into any hospital within a 100-mile radius of the school was a Beverly Randall two weeks ago for a check-up with her OBGYN, she had a yeast infection."

"That's…a little more than we needed to know," Lucas spoke up, and Josie shook her head at him, "So where's my body?"

"What are our options now?" Josie asked, looking amongst the others.

"Uh…we find my body!" Lucas cried, panic evident in his voice.

"Calm down," Josie shot to him, "We will find your body."

"Yes, Lucas," Professor Z stepped in, looking the completely wrong way, "There's no need to get upset or…whatever you're feeling right now…um…even though things seem dismal, there is always a bright side. There's always hope when you're not dead."

"Gee, thanks, Z," Lucas muttered sarcastically, "I feel so much better now."

"He says, thanks, you really helped," Josie smiled. Professor Z nodded brightly.

"No problem, Lucas."

"But there is a problem," Corrine pointed out, "We don't have any other leads to go on."

"We…just…might," Lucas spoke up, and Josie gave him a confused look, before she was struck with the realization.

"Victor," she exclaimed.

"What does Victor have to do with anything?" Marshall asked the question that was on everyone else's mind.

"Well," Josie began, walking in a circle about her friends, "When Lucas left this room to come get me, which I'm still not clear on how he did…" she gave Lucas a meaningful look.

"And you never will be," he calmly retorted.

"Anyways, when he left the lab to come get me, he says he saw Victor talking with Principle Durst. About what happened here. He wanted to see the science lab."

"And he knew about me being in the accident, he wanted to know if I was the only one affected. And he asked Durst if she called anyone else. She said she only contacted him" Lucas added and Josie passed it on to the others.

"This is a new development," Marshall said, "But what does it mean? And what does it have to do with Lucas's MIA body?"

The door to the science lab swung open and they all turned in surprise, trying to appear inconspicuous. They were stunned to see Vaughn standing there.

"Having a science club meeting without me?" he asked, sounding slightly hurt, "Why am I not surprised I'm out of the loop again?"

"You had football practice," Josie was quick to explain, but he held his hand up to silence her, shutting the door behind him.

"In any case, I'm glad you're all here," Vaughn told them, turning and shaking his head, "You're never going to believe this. But Lucas is…"

"Alive?" Corrine suggested.

"Uh…yeah," Vaughn scrunched his nose, "How did you…"

"I'm…looking at him…right now," Josie told Vaughn.

"You're…what?" Vaughn stammered, his knees giving out on him. He fell back against the door, clutching his head, "But…I don't see…"

"Yeah, only Josie can see him," Corrine clarified.

"You kind of missed out on…everything," Marshall shrugged.

"Oh…okay…so…what is everything?"

"Well," Professor Z took a deep breath, "Lucas is alive…he's in a…coma, sort of. Josie is seeing his…brainwave which is being transmitted to this classroom somehow as a radio frequency emission, we believe it had something to do with the Oubliette, which is missing and we're currently working on getting him back in his body, which we can't find. We were about to hear how your father was possibly involved in all of this when you walked in."

"Wait, Vaughn, how did you know Lucas was alive?" Josie questioned. They all looked at him as he was busy trying to process everything he was just told. He startled at her inquiry.

"Oh…uh…well…because I've seen him…er…his body, at least."

"You've seen my body!" Lucas cried excitedly, bounding over to Vaughn, "Where is it?"

"Where is Lucas's body?" Josie voiced.

"Well…my father is connected to all of this somehow. Lucas's body is…at Pearadyne."

"What?" Lucas's face fell, "What! My body is at Peardayne!" He stalked away, throwing his hands in the air and ranting, "I might as well be dead! Who knows what twisted experiments Victor is currently running on my poor, helpless body!"

"Lucas," Josie snapped, "In your own words, 'chillax'! We will get your body back and we will get you back in your body!"

"How can I chillax? Huh, Josie? Is your body at Pearadyne? No! Is Victor possibly running horrifically unimaginable experiments on you? No!"

"You don't know that," Josie argued, "Don't you think you're overreacting, just a tad? Jeez, what would Victor want running experiments on your body, anyways?"

"I don't know, Josie! Maybe to find out how I'm doing my out-of-body experience thing and use it to his advantage?"

"Hello! Earth to Lucas! He doesn't know about your out-of-body experience thing, he just thinks you're some unconscious sap who got stuck in a slightly spontaneous combustion!"

Vaughn looked to the others.

"Is that weird, or is it just me," he asked, motioning to Josie seemingly fighting with the thin air.

"It's weird," Corrine agreed.

"Very," Professor Z added.

"Yeah," Marshall nodded.

"Okay, even then, how are we going to get me back into my body?" Lucas demanded, "Anyone have any bright ideas? Because even if we get my body, we still don't have the Oubliette. And even if we had the Oubliette, we don't know what it did to me and…"

"Lucas!" Josie cried, covering her ears, "Give it a rest. You're giving me a headache."

"I'm sorry, Josie, but you didn't spend the last four days invisible to all your friends who just happened to think you were dead!"

"Josie, what's the matter?" Professor Z asked.

"He's just freaking out," Josie spat.

"I'm not freaking out," Lucas protested, "I'm just worrying."

"He doesn't think we'll be able to get him back in his body," Josie explained irritably.

"Well…he's kind of right to worry," Corrine conceded reluctantly, "We don't exactly have any ideas about getting him back in his body. And even if we now know where his body is at...it's at Pearadyne. How are we supposed to get it out of there?"

"All right, everyone, one step at a time," Professor Z interrupted, stepping forward and clearing his throat, "First thing's first, any ideas on getting Lucas back into his body?" He looked at the youthful faces of his students patiently. They looked amongst one another. No one made any suggestions. The minutes ticked by slowly.

"Maybe, we could try shoving him into his body," Marshall suggested.

"Tried something similar," Lucas muttered, "I don't exactly stick to the body. I just kind of…go through." Josie repeated his words.

"Okay," Marshall muttered, frowning, "Moving on."

"We could…" Corrine brightened, then dimmed, shaking her head.

"Well, why don't we…" Vaughn started, then downcast, "Never mind. I don't even understand what's going on."

More silence followed.

Lightening flashed and thunder boomed outside. Lucas bolted upright suddenly.

"Galvanization," he proclaimed proudly. No one but Josie reacted and for a moment he was disappointed until he remembered they couldn't hear him.

"What? That was really random…" Josie scrunched her nose, and the others looked to her startled and observant.

"Galvanization," Lucas repeated, "It's the use of electricity to stimulate muscles or nerves." Josie stared at him uncertain of what to say, the wheels in her head turning. Lucas shrugged, "I wrote a paper on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein for English class last semester. I focused a bit too much on the science of the work rather than the actual literature of the story…professor wasn't impressed. I think it was just because she couldn't understand half of the paper."

"That's…brilliant," she stated, looking to the others, "Galvanization."

"Gavin Sensation? What's that?" Vaughn questioned, looking completely confused around the room.

"Galvanization. In medical terms?" Corrine said, "Its when you use electricity to get responses from muscles or nerves. Which is brilliant. Of course, that's assuming Lucas really is some form of electromagnetic radiation…"

"Corrine mentioned astral projection. I'm not suggesting that…" Lucas took over, "But what if the Oubliette somehow, in the explosion, turned my thoughts into radio waves." Josie snapped her fingers.

"And somehow turned this room into one big electrical conductor," she took over, "It's a giant antenna!"

"…and it somehow turned Lucas's body into an alternating conductor with accelerated the electrons that make up the electric current that carries his thoughts and brainwaves," Professor Z added excitedly, "Maybe we've been looking at this all wrong. We haven't been tying together the coma-like state and the transmission of Lucas's brainwaves. Perhaps they are directly related...in fact, perhaps Lucas's thoughts are being transmitted through radio waves because he is currently in his 'coma'. Galvanization is a great idea…it just might work!"

"But we'd need a big enough electricity source," Corrine mentioned.

"We can't use the school's," Lucas muttered.

"Yeah, we could cause a blackout…and the bill alone…that could get us in serious trouble," Josie agreed, and when she received questioning looks from Corrine and Professor Z she simply said, "school" and they nodded understandingly.

"Then it's a good thing we have an electrical storm right over us," Corrine grinned.

"That's right," Z conceded, "That's perfect. So we have a plan."

"Is anyone else not following this?" Vaughn demanded, looking about the room.

"Uh…yeah…I'm confused too," Marshall admitted. Professor Z smiled broadly at them.

"We're going to electrocute Lucas," he clarified. They mouthed, "oh's" and exchanged rather befuddled looks.

"Just one problem you guys," Josie spoke up, "How much electricity should we use and how are we going to control it?"

"Well…I would suggest, enough to awaken him, but not enough to toast him," Corrine mumbled.

"Yeah, let's not fry my nervous system," Lucas supplied unheard by all but Josie, he looked to her expectantly, "I just want it clear, I don't want my nervous system fried."

"I think I have an idea on controlling the amount of electricity we administer," Professor Z admitted, "However… it's going to take some preparation and we still need to get Lucas's body."

"That's going to be hard," Lucas commented, "It's at…" he scrunched his nose, deeply in concentration. Josie gave him a quizzical look.

"Pearadyne?" she supplied.

"Yeah. Pearadyne. And that place is swarming with…with…" he frowned, "That's funny. I had something to say and now it's gone."

"Lucas…are you alright? You look a little…pale," Josie said concerned. Lucas lifted his hands, staring at them strangely.

"Yeah…I'm fine…uh…um…" he stared at her blankly.

"Josie…" she told him, as the others watched with uncertainty. They could sense from the way she looked at him that something was not right.

"I knew that," Lucas tried to reassure her, but it was a failed attempt, "I just need to sit down…too much excitement, I guess..." Josie looked to the others, worry evident on her face as Lucas walked away and took a seat.

"You guys. I don't think we have much time," she told them, her voice low.

"Alright," Professor Z announced, "We need a plan and we need it fast."

"I think what Lucas was trying to say was that the security on Pearadyne is going to be difficult to get past," Josie stated. Vaughn cleared his throat.

"Not for me," he volunteered, "I can get in with no problem. I know where Lucas's body is at, but the cameras may pose a problem. If they catch me, my dad will have serious questions."

"A blackout caused by 'the storm' could possibly knock those out," Marshall suggested slyly.

"But we don't have time to wait for the storm…" Vaughn started, but faltered as he saw the looks past amongst his companions, "Oh."

"Marshall, can you set that up?" Professor Z questioned. Marshall grinned.

"No sweat, Z."

"Knocking out power should give us thirty seconds at the least before the backup generators kick in," Vaughn said, "Plenty of time for Marshall and me to grab Lucas and get out of there."

"Good," Professor Z told them, "Corrine and Josie will stay here and help me," he rubbed his hands together and smiled enthusiastically to the girls, "We will be building a…lightening rod! Which will be used to power our own generator."

"Then let's get started," Corrine announced. Marshall and Vaughn were out the door without a second glance. Professor Z frowned, looking about the room where most of his supplies for science experiments and such had been destroyed.

"This is going to pose a problem," he said silently, "There are things down in storage, but I'm not sure we'll have everything we need."

"Josie and I have things in our room that could be useful," Corrine offered.

"And Lucas has a lot of spare parts in his closet that I'm sure he won't mind us taking," Josie added. Professor Z brightened.

"Then let's go. Corrine, bring down whatever sheet metal and wirings you have up in your room. Josie, you'll be raiding Lucas's closet, and I'll be up in my room getting my books on building a lightening rod and generator…" Corrine started out the door and Josie grabbed onto Professor Z's sleeve, holding him back. Corrine turned, looking expectantly at them.

"Go on ahead, we'll meet you back down here," Josie told her and she shrugged, heading out the door. After one worrisome glance Lucas's way, Josie turned her attention to the teacher, a grave shadow over her face, she spoke in a very quiet whisper, "I didn't want to say anything in front of the others. I didn't want to worry them…or pressure them…"

"What is it, Josie?" Professor Z returned in just as quiet a voice.

"It's Lucas…his memory's getting fuzzy, he's not thinking so well…and…," Josie took a deep breath, glancing once more at Lucas, "He's fading."

"What?"

"I thought he was looking paler, but then I realized, he's turning translucent," Josie explained, "I don't think he's noticed yet and I don't want him to know. We really don't have much time. I think we've got at least an hour until he's completely gone!"

"Following suit with our theory this makes sense. The longer a person is in a coma, the less probable it is that they'll come out of it," Professor Z explained, "His mind is dwindling…the electric currents aren't as strong. With coma patients, if they hadn't woken up within the first twenty-four hours, the chances of them coming out of it is reduced at least by half. Lucas has been like this for four days. I think you're right in your assumption that we don't have long. I believe if we don't get this done before the Lucas you are seeing completely disappears then…"

"He'll never wake up," Josie finished, staring intently at the brainwave version of Lucas sitting on the ground, head clutched between his hands.

END A/N: I'm so tired...just one more chapter. I've been updating this story in three's, and it was completely on accident! I swear!

This chapter had all the technical talk that gave me a headache to write. I rewrote it all last minute too, because I did some last minute research. I'm not sure howmuch, if any, is even remotely accurate. I'm tired and I was having trouble understanding how electromagnetic radiation worked...there's no one here that's an expert on any of that, is there? Heh...heh...just remember, even the show was more fiction than science. And when you factor in the black hole...

Anyways, please excuse any grammatical and typing errors and please REVIEW!

Thanks for reading.