Chapter 4
Brain Busting
The next day sometime after school both Dipper and Adam they go over to Candy's science lab which it at the very back yard of her house interconnected with the garage. Both Dipper and Adam they walk up to the door and Dipper he then knocks on the door and says, "Alright Candy we're here."
Candy says, "First you have to do the password."
Dipper says, "C'mon Candy, we have no time for this."
"That person beside you is a stranger, how do I know you haven't been brainwashed and you're trying to sneak him inside to uncover secrets."
"What, that's ridiculous you've watched a marathon of spy movies again haven't you."
"Yeah, well you can't be cautious enough in this world, so if you do the password then I know your legit, you have thirty seconds or you know what."
Candy's speaker voice is off and then Dipper is shaking his head and says, "This is fraking ridiculous, wait what the hell I'm I saying I live in ridiculous."
Adam says, "Wait what happens if you don't say the password."
"Don't know, don't want to know, and no time, alright now whatever you do don't laugh."
"I won't."
Dipper he then clears his throat and then suddenly does a dance and then sings.
Dipper sings, "Now I got to cut loose, Footloose, kick off my Sunday shoes…"
Dipper sings a few more lines and then the speaker is on again and Candy says, "Alright, you passed you can go."
Candy then presses a button, and the door opens automatically, Dipper he stops his dancing and then he looks at Adam whom has a smile on his face and his trying real hard to contain laughing but then he fails and cracks up.
Dipper looks at Adam with distain and says, "You said you wouldn't laugh."
Adam says, "I crossed my fingers."
As Adam is laughing, Dipper then just pushes him inside and then the door is closed.
Adam then sees the lab and is amazed at how slightly big and almost professional it looks. As he sees a few machines with scanner technology. A table that is a big white table for recent examination of archeological or any other big finds for analysis. One big, long table that has a set of test tubes all interconnected with a microscope nearby and a glass locked shelf with a set of chemicals. He also sees there are two other doors in the place which are labeled, one the tech and robotics lab and another the computer lab.
After Dipper closes the door, Adam then sees someone in front of him, he can tell from Asian decent with here eyes, pale skin, is wearing a white lab coat and with her long black hair that is slightly waving a bit in front of her glasses.
Candy sees Adam and says, "Alright Dipper make it better be good, remember I don't have a lot of time and a sleepover I'm going to tonight."
Dipper says, "Yeah, I understand your very busy, but I had to call you up to make sure the sleepover doesn't turn into a slumber party nightmare."
Candy says, "First things first, who's your new friend, he kind of cute."
Adam he has a small blush and realizes he doing this and shakes his head and looks down on the ground.
Candy says, "Relax I don't bite."
After that comment Adam lifts his head back up gently.
Dipper says, "Oh, this is Adam MacReady, he's the one that helped me out from that group of scum and the gassers, plus is a reporter for "The Log".
Candy looks at Dipper, "Dipper, you know I don't allow reporters here, I don't want the publicity and everything I do is private."
"He's maybe a reporter but he's been investigating the same case I've recently been doing."
"The Mad Gassers, yes I've seen the news about them."
"He's not a glory roader he's trying to stop them like I am and also unlike most reporters is the one that came the closest."
Adam then pulls out from his backpack two of the nets from last night bunched up together.
Dipper says, "These are what we both used in our attempt to capture them last night but were unsuccessful."
Adam is about to hand the nets to Candy, but she points them to the white table and Adam takes them there.
Dipper says, "Both contain some sort of cuts that have burn marks maybe you can identify the work; and also…."
Dipper pulls out from his backpack the Tupperware that contains the towels.
Dipper says, "These towels have soaked up the gas chemical from those wands they carry, figured you can have these analyzed but carefully, don't smell it whatever the gassers use is powerful."
Cany then signals Dipper to put the material, next to the nets on the white table, Dipper gives the containers to Adam and then he puts both in the same place.
Dipper then pulls out one of the cameras and says, "Of course…"
Candy says, "Yeah, I know you need to download the video in the computer lab, go right ahead."
Dipper he then is on his way to the lab and Adam is still standing and looking but then snaps out of it when he sees Candy and puts out his hand to Candy, "It's nice to meet you, you've got a nice lab."
Candy says, "Thanks, now you better go help Dipper, so I can get to work immediately."
Adam catches up with Dipper while Candy still eyes Adam suspiciously but then gets to work. Everyone does their business, Candy, she has a gas mask, along with black rubber gloves, and she has a tong handy. She comes to the white table and as she opens the one of the Tupperware and carefully takes out the rag with her tongs and she walks over to one of her machines which is a big scanner. She presses a blue button, and it retracts a tray, she then puts the towel flat into the tray, presses the button again and the tray then closes right back into the machine. Candy then presses a red button and, on the computer, terminal interconnected with he scanner it reads "Scanning in Progress" with a download bar currently filling.
While it's doing that, she then takes a magnifying glass and looks at the cut fibers of the net. She then takes a handheld scanner and get it to scan the cut fibers of both nets, then she goes to a computer and then hooks the scanner up and the computer is then trying to make sense of the data.
Meanwhile Dipper and Adam there in the Computer Lab and are sitting on some chairs watching two of the computer monitors, where one of the monitors are playing the videos of the footage they captured of the Gasser while another is downloading the photos, they took on their cameras, but as they have, they then see their just all completely blank.
Adam says, "I don't believe it, all of the equipment we set up was in operational order, checked it again this morning, from how close we are we should have picked up something."
Dipper says, "Same with the photos, haven't got one single photograph, well there goes our visual evidence."
"They couldn't have possibly known about it, I doubt psychic abilities are one of theirs."
"No, but judging from their unforms their possibly military, from the way they were able to sneak in, the moves they pulled on us, it would mean they have access to certain equipment."
"You think it's possible they have built some sort of sophisticated portable jamming and emp devices?"
"It can explain a lot of things, the gas they created who's to say they wouldn't have something to block out the broadcast of their moves, it explains why street and home cameras never once had footage on them, our cell phones inoperative."
Dipper he then gets ups and then looks at Adam and says, "Sorry, it looks like your story might not make front page again, would have been awesome if it did."
Adam says, "That's not important, we should probably come up with another attack plan as no doubt the Gassers are going to try again."
Dipper says, "And the plan needs a serious upgrade as I hate to admit it but I've underestimated them."
Adam says, "These guys aren't the bad dudes you fight every day, I don't think any ninja training could've prepared me for them."
"How did you become a ninja?"
"That's a story for another time, maybe you can tell me a little on what got you into your business."
"Fair enough, alright let's bring up the map on the Gasser's recent activities."
Dipper he then goes to the computer again and shuts down their previous program. Dipper he then takes out a flash drive, opens it and it brings up a map and all the marked spots. Dipper then gets a connection wire up and then connects it to the giant flat screen monitor that is up on the wall, and he then gets the image of the Gravity Falls map displayed onto that screen.
Both come near it and are looking at each of the spots broken into are marked with red dots and the prevented break in areas all three have blue dots. Dipper and Adam come near it and then are both pondering at the same time the plan of attack.
Dipper says, "I honestly don't get it."
Adam says, "Get what."
Dipper comes near the map a little and then looks at Adam.
"Just like in the 1940's it's all the same, they break in and spread their gas, no signs of physical assault, rape, theft, and now years latter they've come back doing the same thing all over again."
"It might not be the same Gassers could be copycats."
"Could be but I doubt it, it's never been entirely discovered their precise methodology of break in and physical description wasn't one hundred percent accurate. Their outfits, equipment, how they move, those things can't be replicated or at least not as perfectly as those two."
"What about that gas, we have some knock out gas also."
"Yeah, but nothing that comes remotely close to what they had as the gas was described to . But what puzzles me to this day is simply the why of it all and why now."
Adam then takes a breath and says, "Personally, I think they just do it because they can."
Dipper looks at him and says, "Still doesn't make much sense."
"My dad uses to say, "Evil doesn't have to make sense, it just does it for the sake of doing it." The goal of evil is always the same chaos, terror and destruction.
Adam comes up to the computer and then brings up one of the sketch pictures of "The Mad Gasser of Mattoon" and says, "These figures they use terror, they've turned places we come to for warmth and memories into places of cold and nightmares, because the sad truth is even our homes can't shelter us from evil."
Suddenly a door opens and both Adam and Dipper slightly jump and then look behind them and see Candy has entered the room with a clipboard of printed data and notes.
Candy says, "Sorry guys, did I scare you."
Dipper says, "No, just a little startled, have you got the results."
Candy says, "Some but not much, the gas is a sophisticated kind of chemical which is a combination of several chemicals.
Dipper says, "What kind?"
"It's unfortunately hard to classify as most don't fall into the periodic table, however one of the chemicals I found was Tetrodotoxin."
"What's that."
"It's a substance known from a fish called The Puffer Fish, this fish is known to inject a toxin paralyses drug from contact with its spikes or skin for its prey or defense, both the big animals it's a defensive mechanism to make them go into a high or even kill them with enough contact, but for animals smaller it causes paralysis and then death, and afterward they chomp them without a worry of being poisoned themselves."
Adam says, "Makes sense each of the victims they all clam they went under some sort of paralyses."
Dipper says, "But the victims didn't die."
Candy says, "The must of mixed something else or some set of chemicals to somehow neutralize that effect and isolate the paralysis effect."
Dipper says, "What about the cuts on the nets."
Candy says, "Judging from how the ropes where cut, they contained some small burns almost like that of a blow torch but make precision cuts a scalpel would make."
Adam says, "Could be another button from those wand devices they had."
Adam looks at Dipper.
Adam says, "Remember how they were able to admit the different colored gasses black and red which had different uses, well what if they had another kind of gas that could cut though."
Dipper says, "An excellent theory, seeing them in action I don't doubt they haven't developed a substance that can do it."
Dipper looks at Candy.
Dipper says, "Can this chemical on the net strands and towels be traced."
"For the net strands that's a negative if it was cut by a gas, traces of that chemical have dissipated, probably part of the point of that chemical leaving no trace."
Candy takes a breath.
"You know it's too bad I don't know who both of these Gassers are, the gas they created would almost be the dreams of most chemists."
Dipper says, "Candy the trace."
Candy shakes her head to get back to the subject at hand.
Candy says, "For the towel chemical I couldn't tell you where, but I was also able to find one other chemical on the towel which is Morphine.
Dipper then snaps his fingers and says, "Gravity Falls use to have a chemical plant here called the Llewellyn plant. This plant use to make those chemicals was a big selling commodity for this town at the time until there was a bad accident sometime in late 1944 where a few of their silos exploded which created a release of chemicals which passed by the town for a while. After that incident they shut it down, it's been abandoned since."
Adam says, "You think that where their lair is."
Dipper says, "It's possible, it's something to check out at least and we better do it right now, we're losing daylight which means the Gasser's could make their move tonight."
Dipper then looks at Candy.
Dipper says, "That phone call earlier, I asked for certain items."
Candy says, "Of course I've never forgotten about those."
