Helllooooo! How are you all today? Good, I hope! Hope you all enjoy this next update and me slowly losing my mind in Boyd's :) lol

"So how do we do this?" I gave Lili a curious look as I held the sign in my hand. "Got one sign and I doubt he'll let us both through that way."

"I got an idea, don't worry." Lili smiled wide as she took the sign out of my hand without a problem. "You can carry weight on your shoulders, right? Like having someone on your shoulders?"

"I have two little siblings, shoulder rides are often normal." I chuckled a little at the idea before I put the two ideas together. "Oh! So you're going to get on my shoulders and we're going to act like we're one person?"

"Exactly! Knew you had a brain up there, Aquato." I chuckled at her comment before squatting down a little to make it easier on her.

"Ready to roll, Zanotto?" She took this as her opportunity to climb onto my shoulders as I wrapped my arms around her calves to keep her upright as I stood up slowly. "Good up there?" I felt her adjust a little as I kept a good grasp on her legs so she wouldn't fall.

"Y-Yep! We're solid!" I felt a small pat on my head. It seemed to keep itself there on top of my helmet as if she was using it to stay steady. I felt a small heat rise in my cheeks as I tried my best to not let the setup mess with our goal in mind.

"A-Alright. Let's try out this plan here." I walked steadily back toward where the 'construction' man was standing as I felt Lili shift on my shoulders.

"Hello fellow construction person, we are fellow construction persons." I kept walking soundlessly as Lili mimicked the monotone voice the G-Men were using. "Nothing to see here, just fellow construction people." No one seemed to mind the tower of pre-teens as we walked easily through the small construction zone and out onto the other side. "Well, that was easy enough."

"Odd that a single prop can make the rest of his little sensory blocks just allow stuff to happen." I leaned my head back just enough to look up toward Lili as I continued walking. "A bit odd, isn't it?"

"Minds work in curious ways, Raz." I stopped suddenly as I heard the soft tone in her voice. "They see what they want to see and remember the oddest of details. Seems he fixates on symbols of authority. That only specific people have specific items and it doesn't matter about the rest."

"Huh." I looked forward once more as I took in the other side of the street. "This man's got a lot going on with him."

"He's a conspiracy theorist at the front of an asylum. He had issues to begin with, Razzy."

"True." I felt the blush reappear on my cheeks as I felt Lili's hand place itself on my head once more. "Do-Do you want back down?"

"Oh, um." I felt the blush deepen as I could hear the hesitance in her response. "I-I guess so for now."

"Gotcha."


"Okay, this place is making less and less sense the more we adventure through here." I watched Lili scratch the back of her head as we made our way through a hedge maze. "First the road work guy, then that Rainbow Squirt girl, and now we have to grab flowers to act like we're a widow? How much shit has this guy repressed? Burning down a market store does not equal this much trauma!" Lili gestured toward the maze as we approached the flowers that we figured were our next prop. She plucked a couple to form a small bouquet before handing them over to me and making her own. "We need to find another memory vault or something so I can make sense of this fucker."

"I doubt his mind looked like this before." I adjusted the flowers in my hands as I let their weight shift between my fingers. "I'm betting something occurred for a lot of this stuff to be placed here. As if someone else is keeping him from awakening something within him. Like there's something hidden he's not supposed to know or find."

"Like being brainwashed?" I nodded as Lili hummed in agreement. "It would make sense. I heard my dad talk about some cases he came across as an agent. It can really mess up someone's astral plain. Like I guess one case caused a guy's projection to go from the street he grew up on to a full-blown tower of darkness." I shivered at the idea as we continued walking through the maze. "But from you saw from that bird's perspective, thank God for your Clairvoyance skills by the way, this guy has a graveyard and everything. I wouldn't doubt that's what happened to him. Don't know many people who have literal graveyards and sensory blocks in their mind."

"Then maybe the other personality is placed within him too. Maybe that's why he's so fearful and wanted to know why the Milkman is a thing." I felt a small ache within my mind as Boyd's mind felt more like finishing a puzzle without any edges than exploring a normal mind. "God all of this is giving me a headache."

"At least the flowers don't scream at me here." Lili shrugged as we continued through the maze. "Or I would be right with you there." We came to the graveyard's clearing as more G-Men were out and about. Seemingly protecting a specific mausoleum while trying not to be suspicious themselves. "Way to make things obvious, mates." I could tell she was rolling her eyes as she made her way to the vine-covered grave sight. I followed after her slowly as I kept my eyes on the G-Men. I felt a shiver run down my spine as I watched their eyes, no matter what direction they were standing, follow my every move as we made our way to the mausoleum.

"Hey Lili," I spoke in a hushed whisper as I joined her side before the resting site. "They're watching us."

"Yeah, I feel it too." She glanced out the corner of her eyes toward the G-Men before looking back toward the grave site. "The worst thing that happens is that we get projected back out of Boyd's mind and we have to go back to the beginning. They can't truly harm us in here." I nodded my head as I tightened my grip on the flowers in my hand. The thought was reassuring, but the nagging pit in my stomach said otherwise as its warning rang within my mind.

"Can we subtly get into the mausoleum here?"

"Vines are in the way, I can burn them but it's going to be noticeable. Anything we do is going to be noticeable."

"What do you think they're hiding here then?"

"Maybe the Milkman? Maybe he's a 'dead' thought or existence in here. That he's 'asleep' until needed."

"Like some kind of sleeper cell?"

"Exactly." I swallowed hard as Lili extended her hand toward the vines covering the entrance. "Ready, Raz?" I took a second to steel myself before giving her a simple nod.

"Ready."


"A book." I shook my head like a wet dog as I picked myself up slowly from the ground where Lili and I were left. "All that to see a book." Lili groaned as it was obvious her astral projection was also put through hell by the G-Men that captured us.

"What was in Cooper's fridge? Are you or have you ever been a member of the Rainbow Squirts? What did the Rainbow Squirt tell you? What's in the milk? What did you see?" I watched as she sat up on the grass with me as she held her head up with her right hand. "What kind of interrogation questions are those?"

"The milk kind, I guess." I got up onto my feet and rolled my shoulders just a bit. "Thought you said they can't harm us?"

"Not physically." Lili got up slowly before shaking her head a little too. "Make us mentally exhausted, totally possible." I dug my hand into my pocket as I pulled out two of the small candies my Nona had given me for such a moment.

"Good thing I have these from my training days at home." I handed one to Lili who took it without question.

"Dream fluffs, perfect." She unwrapped the candy quickly before popping it into her mouth. "Who gave you these?" I chuckled a little as I unwrapped mine as well.

"My Nona made them for us when we did our psychic training." I popped mine into my mouth and quickly felt a change in my mental energy. A small surge swelled within my mind as I felt restored in a way. It was slow but very much effective as I sucked on the little candy piece. "I have no clue how she makes them, but they're helpful little things." The taste of cotton candy filled my mouth while tingles of energy filled my being with ease as Lili smiled happily at the thought.

"They taste better too. I'll need to ask her for some. Otto has the weird flavorless ones that just feel like you're being shocked repeatedly."

"She makes blue raspberry ones too. They're the best."

"Makes sense Raz would like raspberry," Lili smirked before swallowing the candy. "These work though, thanks."

"Anytime." I swallowed my piece quickly before holding out my hand toward her. "Let's get down to business then and get the hell out of here." She took my hand quickly so I could help her up before dragging me toward Boyd's house where the G-Men dropped us off.

"Yes, before I lose my mind." Once we entered the house with a soft click of the door behind us, Boyd nearly jumped out of his skin to greet us.

"Did you find him? Did you get him? Is he dead?" The man grabbed my shoulders and shook me roughly for a second. The motion caused my head to spin as Lili quickly pull him off of me. "Is the Milkman alive?!"

"Calm your ass, Boyd!" I shook my head a little as I tried to calm the feeling of my brain being rattled in my own skull. "And if you grab him like that again, I'll burn your ass to a crisp. Got me?"

"I-I just need to know if he's still out there. Watching." I watched as Boyd shivered at the idea before rushing to the window to check the blinds. "Always watching."

"The people watching at the moment are the trench coat people," I shook my head a little once more as the rattled feeling slowly left me. "The G-Men."

"The people hiding him." Boyd shook a little as he pulled himself away from the blinds. "Always hiding, always watching." I looked over toward Lili who was now standing protectively beside me as it was obvious the man was losing it more than normal.

"Right." She drew out the word for a moment before crossing her arms over her chest. "Look, we say a book in a mausoleum and they caught us to integrate us for a bit. We didn't say anything or see anything major, but they know we're here. I guess."

"Not goods. Not good at all." The man brought his hand to his lips as if he was biting his nails before walking across the house into his kitchen. "Need protection." I swallowed hard as I brought a hand up before me, ready to pop open a mental shield if needed. After digging around for a little, Boyd then came back with two rifles in his hands. He placed them on the ground before us before stepping back a few feet. It was as if he already knew he couldn't trust himself specifically with the items. "Take." I lowered my hand slowly as Lili moved to grab the two weapons.

"Weapons from a wacky man, totally normal."

"Have you seen most of America?" I shrugged at the idea as Lili handed me a rifle before shouldering the other. "Guess it gives us some protection here beside our powers. Who knows? Maybe we need them as a prop too. Wouldn't doubt there's like assassins or spies that we have to act as."

"There's a tall building on the outskirts of town. Men with rifles are always there. Use them. That tower holds something I can feel it." I nodded to the older man before looking back toward Lili.

"Guess we play mental soldiers, huh?" I chuckled as Lili let out a dramatic sigh before turning toward the door.

"Anything to get me the fuck out of here."