"Dogen normally acts brainless, you gotta be more specific here, Raz."

"No, Lili! I'm serious!" I pulled her over toward me and had her peek through his ear as well. "See?!"

"Holy shit." Her voice was wavering a little as she pulled back from our friend. "He's actually fucking brainless."

"W-What should we do?" I stammered a little as I tried to look and see if there was any sign of recognition in Dogen's eyes.

He's not even showing light recognition with the sun and shadows. No dilation in his eyes or anything. Jesus.

"Well, the best thing to do is to take him somewhere where he can't harm himself. Probably plopping him in front of the TV in the mess hall would be good enough."

"Like an actual brainless kid."

"Exactly." I nodded along as Lili then rubbed her chin. "Someone's gotta keep an eye on him too. Make sure he doesn't get into anything without anyone noticing. Milla's got her brain full of other kids at the moment and Sasha is normally busy with agent things, so that leaves good old Ford." My skin crawled a little as the old man's name was said.

"He's got a history of doing the opposite there."

"Raz, it's the best we got. Both of us are going to be busy figuring shit out here."

"What about Oleander?" She quirked an eyebrow at me as she put her hands on her hips.

"Really? Leave a brainless kids with Oleander? Hell no. Do you see how he treats normal children?" I swallowed hard as I nodded along with her decision.

"Fine. We'll leave him with Ford. But then we should get the competent agents involved. By then, Milla and Sasha should be free, right?"

"Hopefully. First priority is to make sure Mr. Tinfoil gets to the mess hall safe and sound." I nodded my head as I put an arm around the smaller boy.

"Come on, Doge. Let's get you somewhere with a TV, huh?" I turned him around to face toward camp before starting to guide him. "Slowly does it, buddy."

"Also," I looked over at Lili as we started making our way toward the mess hall. "We do not tell the other kids what's going on here or where we found him."

"You can't be serious, Lils. What happens if they end up losing their brains too? We gotta warn them that something's fucky here."

"Yeah, but try telling that to a bunch of kids who are being assholes to an Aquato camper who just so happens to have found one of his friends in the water, brainless." I felt myself run pale as Lili's voice grew serious. "They'll raise hell, Raz. They would treat you like some kind of witch in a Salem trial. Guilty till proven otherwise." She looked over Dogen's head toward me as a determined look took over her hazel eyes. One that left a chill down my spine as she continued to speak. "I will not let that happen. This is between you and me." I nodded my head as I felt her place her hand on my arm that was guiding Dogen. "Our secret for now."

"Our secret." I nodded as Lili seemed to try and comfort me by rubbing her thumb on my jacket. I crossed my eyes for a moment as I tried my best to calm my sudden nerves. "Was not expecting my first camp visit to go like this. I thought if I waited, that-, that things would go smoother but-."

"Hey," I opened my eyes to look at Lili as she pulled me and Dogen to a sudden stop. "This isn't your fault. Not like you stole his brain or anything. You didn't ask for this. Whatever caused your mental field to be screwy is what's the source of this. Whoever is behind this, we'll find them. You won't get blamed." I nodded along as I pulled my eyes away from her.

"But I'm cursed enough that even telling the truth to anyone else but two agents and a damned old man would lead to me being crucified."

"They won't know, Raz. I promise."

"Let's sure hope it goes that way, Lils." I looked over toward her with a broken smile as I tried my best to keep my composure as memories flooded my mind with ease. "Because if not, I can sure as hell say that shit is going to get ugly." I looked ahead of me once more as I tried my best to fight off the flashing images in my mind. One of a cold cell, the isolation chamber, and the police interrogation from when I was a kid. One of when I was held down by some of the other circus kids as they tried to 'teach the Aquato a lesson'. I felt a single tear escape my eye as Lili's soft motions continued on my arm once more.

Our little secret.

My mind mulled the words over as we made it to the mess hall.

Let's see if this one is kept safe.


"What in the tomfoolery?" I let out a sigh as I tried to sit the poor boy in front of the TV. "What's with the Boole boy and why is he acting more brainless than usual?"

"Well, Ford, that's cause he is," Lili stated the obvious simply as I made sure Dogen couldn't hurt himself with anything nearby. "We have a Psychonaut level issue here and it needs to be kept on a low profile."

"Quite scary how much you get like your father." The old man chuckled to himself as I turned to join them. "But how so?"

"Well, it started with the brain tumbler." I started simply as I put my hands in my jacket pockets. "Something was off with the fact that my own mental plan was starting to get mixed with one that was nothing like mine. There was a dentist dude who was talking about taking out Dogen's brain there, and then the next day, Dogen there walks out from the water brainless."

"Dentist dude?" Ford gave me a curious look as I just shrugged.

"He was talking about how Dogen's brain was a bad cavity or something. Had blue skin and a shower cap." Ford rubbed at his chin for a moment as he seemed to try and connect some of the dots together.

"I can look through some of the files in my little lair under the camp and see if there is anyone we've encountered in the past that meets that description. I believe we have, actually."

"What should we do till then?"

"I would just keep an eye out for anything unusual. Try and see if there is anyone asking out of sorts or at least, more out of sorts than normal. I'll have to speak to Milla and Sasha after lessons to see what they believe should follow."

"What about the water?" My voice was soft as I looked the man in the eye. "If anyone finds out about the water connection-."

"No one can find out about the water connection." His voice grew dark as his eyes glossed over. "They'll treat you the same. Even if you are both so different." I gritted my teeth for a moment as a thought rang out in my head.

But we're also so much alike too, huh? Which is it, old man?

"But you two will be my eyes and ears for now. If anything comes up, let me know and I'll do the same with you." I had to keep myself from rolling my eyes as Lili just nodded along.

"Trust is gonna go a long way right now, so we'll hold you to it." I looked over toward Lili as I noticed she glanced at me from the corner of her eye.

Guess she's saying that for me, too. She knows me too well already.

"Sounds good. Sasha and Milla should be done with their lessons and things, so I'll get them over to my lair. Stay out of too much trouble until then."

"Guess we can watch the water for now." I shrugged as Ford went on his way. "See if there is anything disturbing it. I might be able to sense something if I try hard enough too."

"You can sense things in the water?" Lili turned to give me a curious look as I just shrugged.

"Mainly it's the water talking, but yeah, sometimes. If it has a strong enough connection with the water itself."

"So like fish?"

"Not really," I pulled a hand out of my jacket pocket to scratch the back of my neck. "It's a little hard to explain."

"Well, water whisperer, let's see what you got. To the lake we go."


"So how does this work?" Lili moved to take a seat next to me as I began to take my boots and socks off. "Do you just go in a little or something?"

"Kinda." Once I had my socks and boots off, I shrugged off my jacket and held it out for her to grab. "I need to go in a little further. Submerge myself, basically."

"And you're going to do that in pants and a t-shirt? Do you circus boys not have a thing got swim trunks?"

"Us circus boys don't have money, my friend." I gave a cheeky smile as she reached out and grabbed my jacket from me. "Even then, it's not like I don't have extra clothes or anything. Water dries." I started to pull my shirt over my head as I continued. "Even then, I'm going in with just the pants. This shirt won't like the drying process very well. The patches are a bit older." Once free from the garment, I handed it out to Lili, who took it with a little bit of hesitance.

"Y-Yeah, I get ya." I gave her a curious look for a moment as her demeanor changed quite suddenly.

"Are you okay?" Lili glared at me as she put my shirt and jacket on her lap.

"Shut up and do your water thing." I put my hands up with a smile as it was obvious she was hiding a small blush.

"Whatever you say, Zanotto." I pulled my goggles from my head, which pulled my helmet off with it. "Just make sure these are safe for me too." She took them without a problem as she muttered under her breath.

"Fine just go already, Water Boy." I chuckled at that for a moment before jogging over toward the water. Once at the shoreline, I took my time walking into a deeper portion before taking a deep breath and diving in. The water rushed up over my head as the loving whooshing noise filled my ears. I felt a bit of joy in my heart as I swam down to sit on the lake's floor.

Alright, old friend.

I put my legs in my lap as before closing my eyes so I could focus on the connection between the water and me.

Tell me all that you're feeling.

It was silent for a moment, but then I snapped my eyes open as a crippling pain struck me in the chest.

Jesus Christ!

I placed a hand over my heart as I was allowed to feel the anguish of a creature within the water. My chest ached as it was obvious the creature was suffering. Its mind and emotions are filled with rage. Its heart was heavy and its mind was even heavier, as its body and mind seemed to be submerged in pain and despair as well.

That's enough, that's enough!

I blinked hard for a couple of moments as I tried my best to dampen the connection. My heart was banging in my chest as I pushed up from the lake floor so I could make my way back up toward the surface.

Whatever is taking kids into the water, I doubt it's doing this all on its own.

My head broke the surface of the water and instantly, I let out a gasp. The weight of the emotions now rolling off me as I let myself stay there for a moment.

Nothing in that much pain and distraughtness can ever truly know what it's doing. There's always a puppet master with those poor beings.

I swam closer to shore as a different pain spread across my chest, this one completely my own. My glowing eyes shone back at me from the water as I kneeled not too far from the shoreline.

After all, an Aquato would know best.