–In the year 2176–

Brick glanced out the window of the future-subway as it sped down the tracks, thoughts drifting to the conversation he had, and the spontaneous musical number he witnessed last night. Despite what he had originally hoped, the offer hadn't become less enticing with the passage of time.

The man scoffed quietly to himself, rolling his eyes. What the hell even is a TICC, anyway? It sounds pointless and stupid. Brick had even tried looking it up last night on the internet, just to see what it was. But, just like Chip said in the lyrics, you couldn't look it up on the internet. All he found were a couple links to a company that provided debt-capital to certain companies.

Honestly, Brick wasn't sure what he was more impressed by; the fact that Chip was right and this TICC he sang about couldn't be looked up anywhere or the fact that the aforementioned business had managed to stay relevant and thriving even after the Big Reform of 2092.

As the future-subway slowed to a stop, Brick felt his stomach rumble. After having another intoxicating dream about Vinnie Dakota last night, Brick had almost slept through his alarm and, to make sure he wasn't late again, he skipped breakfast and his morning coffee just to make it to work on time… Only to find out that he had set his alarm fifteen-minutes early just in case he slept through it again, so he skipped the most important meal of the day for nothing.

Sighing in defeat, Brick fished out his wallet as he stepped off the future-subway. While he more often than not made his own coffee at home and ate his own breakfast there as well, there were times when Brick conceded that a splurge at the Future-Starbucks was necessary.

Arriving on scene, Brick was pleasantly surprised to find only two people in line for the Future-Starbucks. Then again, as the top-agent stood in line, he realized he technically was fifteen minutes earlier than usual. As he waited in line, Brick felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He dug it out and raised a brow at the notification he just received from his news app. 'B.O.T.T. HACKED.'

Without a second thought, Brick opened the app and read over the article.

'A spokesperson for the Bureau of Time Travel has come out to publicly confirm that, yes, they have been hacked by an unknown party with unknown intention. However, as far as the Bureau knows, the only information that was stolen was a small list of agents and there assigned missions, a list of all known flavored-drink developers in the early 21st century, and accidents and mishaps of the bizarre and unexpected, unexplainable variety that occurred from the years 2008 to 2016. The connection between this list has yet to be made, at least in a public statement.'

As the line moved up one, Brick blinked in surprise. Hacked? Stolen information on agents and their mission? Drinks and odd mishaps? How did any of this make sense?

'The spokesperson has confirmed that this hacking seems to be in direct connection to a reported virus early this month. However, the spokesperson reassured the public that, so far, nothing else seems to have been taken. However, the spokesperson guaranteed that the Bureau is working with the best tech-support they can to get the hacker(s) out and the Bureau back-up and running again.'

Brick couldn't believe what he was reading. Sure, the Bureau's has made some enemies since it's founding, and a few of those enemies have tried to hack into the Bureau's system before, but thanks to some ingenious technology and routing systems, it made it virtually impossible to do from the metaphorical outside. Brick realized with an acute horror that this meant only one thing; it was an inside job.

"Next!" the young barista called out. Momentarily forgetting the article he just read, Brick handed the young man $20. "A cheese Danish and an Espresso Macchiato, please." The barista, who looked incredibly bored, tapped the screen a couple times before handing Brick his receipt, change, and (after packaging it) his cheese Danish.

"Name for the Espresso, please."

"Brick."

The barista nodded, scribbling the name onto a Styrofoam cup. "It'll be ten minutes. Next!"

Brick stepped out of line just as his phone buzzed again. Instead of an update on the Hacking story, like he was expecting, Brick found a text from Savannah. 'Any idea why Block pulled me into his office the moment I walked through the front doors?'

Brick shrugged to himself before replying. 'Honestly? No clue.' After he sent that reply, a thought occurred to him. 'Maybe this?' Brick copied a link to the article he just read and sent it over. It had taken a few minutes, but Savannah replied with a 'Might be it. I'll look into it.'

"Barwick? Espresso Macchiato!" Brick rolled his eyes and wondered if there was a special training seminar in which Starbucks employees learned how to mispronounce the simplest names, but grabbed his coffee nonetheless.

However, as he turned to head to the exit, he nearly choked on his coffee.

"Hey, Brick!" Vinnie Dakota smiled in greeting. God, that smile did things to Brick.

Swallowing what little coffee actually made it into his mouth, Brick smiled weakly in return. "Oh, h-hey! Dakota…"

"Guess we take the same route, huh?"

Brick chuckled nervously, and loudly. "I, uh, yeah! G-guess we do!"

Not noticing the top-agent's odd behavior, Dakota shrugged with a relaxed smile. "Cool, cool…" Before Brick could stammer out a response, the barista hollered "Next!" and Dakota gave a small wave. "Well, see ya around, I guess."

"Y-yeah… see you around…" Brick mumbled, smiling a bit as Dakota went up to the counter, not even noticing Brick still standing there, the top-agent quickly scurried out of line and up the exit's stairs. Once out, he paused to catch his breath on the other side of a railing. He glanced between the exit stairs and the cup of coffee in his hands. Smirking confidently, he took a bite of his Danish. "What was I thinking?" he asked himself through a mouthful of food. "I don't need a TICC. I just had a sort of conversation with Dakota." Feeling more confident than before, Brick began to make his way towards B.O.T.T. headquarters. "I don't need that stupid, musical-number-advertised hunk of ju—" Brick was cut-off from his overconfident rambling by the familiar sight of yellow and orange tracksuit wearing man walking out of the subway station. Irrational panic outweighing his common sense and pride, Brick dove behind the railing he just stood by. As he watched Dakota walk towards the building, realization of what he just did made Brick drop his head in shame. "What the hell is wrong with me?"

Taking one last bite out of his Danish before throwing it away, Brick was about to begin his trek to work again when a blur of neon green dashed past him. Curios, Brick paused where he stood and watched as the blur of neon green, who turned out to be the girl who had knocked Chip out the other day, dash over to Vinnie Dakota, smashing what looked like a flimsy snowball into the back of his head before tucking and rolling to grab the tray of coffees the man was carrying, to assure they didn't spill.

Laughing, the woman asked Dakota "How badass was that? Like, on a scale of one to Liam Neeson, how badass was I?"

Trying to remove the snow from his head, Dakota gave the woman an odd look. "Lotte? Why the hell did you nail me in the back of the head with a snowball?" Brick, remembering Chip mentioning a Lotte, suddenly became very interested in their conversation.

"Um, helping you. Duh…" Lotte said, sounding as if it was obvious.

"How is this," Dakota gestured to the snow on the back of his head, "helping me? Unless ya wanna give me hypothermia."

"First of all, it's statistically impossible to get hypothermia from one mere snowball to the head. Second, it's all apart of the plan." The way Lotte said, 'the plan", made both Dakota and Brick wary. Dakota because, well, he's known Lotte long enough. Brick for more… petty reasons.

'Plan? What plan?' Brick asked himself. 'Is that Lotte-girl trying to get off him and Cooperdink off of Renaissance-Potty duty; can't really blame them for that, though. Wait, is that foreplay? Is she flirting with him?! Is he flirting back?!'

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but what 'plan'?" Dakota used air quotes.

Shoving the tray of coffee cups back into his hands, Lotte spun the tracksuit wearing man around and started fiddling with the snow in his hair. More specifically, she seemed to be arranging it in a very specific way. "The kids and I were conspiring over the phone last night, and we decided you and, well, you-know-who needed a meet cute."

A weight dropped into Brick's stomach at the way the phrase 'you-know-who' came out, and he became anxious because he couldn't really gauge Dakota's reaction to the aforementioned phrase.

"Meet cute? What's that?"

"According to what the kids told me last night and what I was able to find online, it's when you have to potential partners meet-up for the first time, to ensuing romantic hijinks."

Dakota nodded before turning slightly to look at the green-haired girl. "Cool, cool… but I already know—"

Lotte waved a dismissive hand. "Yeah, yeah. We know that. But, given the circumstances, you two need a meet cute."

"What'd ya mean, 'circumstances'—?" Dakota tried once again to turn around.

"I mean that the two of you are pining idiots who don't properly understand the phrase; Just get a room, already. Now, will you please stop turning around?! I've calculated the perfect pattern for the snow in your hair and you turning around to give me the stink-eye is messing that up!" Surprised by Lotte's snappish tone, Dakota huffed out a breath in surrender, letting the woman arrange snowflakes in his hair.

Brick slumped to a crouching position as he felt a lump form in his throat. This Lotte woman, and some kids, apparently, were trying to arrange for a meet cute with someone Dakota knew. Brick set his coffee down on the cold ground and tried to wrap his head around all of this new information.

'Is… is she trying to play matchmaker with Dakota and someone else? But, but who? And why? When? HOW?!' Brick shook his head, petty jealously over this unknown person warring for dominance with his own self-pity party.

"Aaaand, done!" Lotte took a step back, admiring her work for a brief second before spinning Dakota back around; Bricks' view of the man of his dreams was blocked by the green-haired woman. "Now, for the final touch."

She leaned forward slightly, and Brick heard Dakota protest. "Ow! Not so hard, that hurts!"

"You need rosy-cheeks for the meet cute to work!"

"Yeah, I but for rosy-cheeks to be a possibility, I need to have cheeks!" Dakota shook the woman off and she relented.

"Yeah, ok, I guess that's rosy enough."

"You can be kinda pushy. Y'know that, right?" Dakota asked. Lotte shrugged, taking the coffee that someone (probably Dakota) paid for with her name written on the cup.

"That's not important right now."

"Did it even work?" Lotte hummed thoughtfully and, coffee in hand, slowly circled Dakota, who rolled his eyes fondly. Lotte doing her inspection allowed Brick to get a good-look at the man and boy-howdy, was he unprepared.

Lotte had arranged the snow in his hair perfectly. That, couple with his red cheeks and the way the light hit him made Vinnie Dakota looked heavenly. Brick couldn't help but smile with dreamy eyes at the man from his hiding spot.

Lotte stopped circling Dakota just to his left, still leaving Brick a good enough of a glance, and exhaled. "Well, the good news is that I'm still incredibly gay, so you won't have to worry about me stealing either of you from the other."

Dakota rolled his eyes. "Thanks?"

"And the great news is that you look fabulous!" Lotte cheered before taking a sip of her coffee before crying out in surprise. "Ah! Too hot, too hot!" The green-haired woman stuck her tongue out and fanned it.

Dakota smiled. "Ha-ha, karma.~"

"Very funny," Lotte smacked his arm playfully. "We gonna go to work yet or not?"

"Eh, karma's not done with ya yet." Dakota smirked at Lotte. "You also have to carry Cavendish's coffee and throw away the tray I got."

"Hmm, I'll throw away the tray but no dice on the carrying thing." Lotte grabbed the recyclable tray and went to toss it in a nearby bin.

"Are you sure this'll work?" Dakota called out to her.

"No te preocupes, mi amante de la comida, amigo. Si las películas trashy-romance me han enseñado algo, es ese interés amoroso de la nieve en el pelo y las mejillas sonrosadas. ¡Un Grado A se ve lindo! Además—" As Lotte threw the tray in the recycling bin, she turned on heel and made direct eye contact with Brick, a peculiar look on her face "I know from a very recent field study, this kind of thing works."

With the way she said it, and that look on her face, a different, unnerving kind of weight settled into Brick's stomach.

–At the B.O.T.T. Head Quarters–

When Brick had finally gotten the gumption to pull himself to his feet and walk towards HQ, he felt exhausted from the day he head, and the sad part was it was only 9 AM. At the far end of the room, he saw Dakota, Cooperdink, and Lotte (coffee cups in hand) walking towards the garage, conversing among themselves.

After punching in, Mr. Block approached him, looking apprehensive. "We have a problem. My office, if you could."

Dread adding itself onto the numerous weights he felt in the pit of his stomach, Brick shrugged and trudged after his boss. Upon reaching Mr. Block's office, he found Savannah occupying one of the seats, looking apprehensive herself.

"Well, I wanted to tell you both personally once I found out, but apparently, PR doesn't take into consideration what the boss has to say, Gretchen." Mr. Block growled out, glaring at his still open office door.

Gretchen poked her head in, for once looking a bit more pissed off than actually bored out of her mind. "I did what you asked, and the PR has their own issues to deal with. Don't. Pin. This. On. Me." Gretchen sneered and retreated from the door.

"Oh, get back to work!"

"I'm on my lunch break!"

"At 9 AM?"

"Apparently!"

Brick and Savannah exchanged glances. Brick raised a brow, gesturing between Block and the exit. Savannah shrugged helplessly, "You were right. I know, I'm shocked too."

Ignoring the jab, Brick turned to his boss, who sighed in defeat. "Yes, the Bureau has been hacked and, sadly, your status at the Bureau, data on your frequented timelines, and your mission reports have all been taken."

"Do we have to worry about identity theft?" Savannah asked. Brick silently agreed that it was the most pressing issue.

Block shook his head. "As far as we can tell, no. But, I'd keep a close eye on any accounts, just to be safe."

The two top-agents nodded. Brick spoke up first. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Currently, I've got my hands tied trying to work with the nerds we keep here trying to figure out a way to get security back on line, so it doesn't get worse. However, one of the tech-guys was able to use some outdated mobile devices to get a sort of grasp on when and where we think it started." Block leaned back and pulled out a small piece of notebook paper and handed it to them. "It's not much, but it's all I can give you two right now."

Brick read the note over Savannah's shoulder. '21st Century. Googolplex Mall, Danville. After a video goes viral, chain of probable events (?) occur. Note to self: "Chain of Probable Events" is tangled and hard to decipher. This is more than likely not the start.'

Block shrugged helplessly. "I suggest you two get on it, and maybe stop by and talk to tech about an anti-virus for your home devices. Can't be too careful."

Brick and Savannah nodded, leaving the man to tackle the mess. As they walked to the foyer, Brick turned to Savannah "Think it's an inside job?"

"No doubt about it. No one else could get around the fire wall unless they worked here long enough. Question is, who and why?"

"Well, the Bureau has no shortage of enemies." Arriving at the foyer, Brick spotted Chip talking to a red-headed girl carrying a hologram-laptop, a standard trademark of a tech-worker here at the Bureau. "Uh, hey, if you can get the limo going, I'll go get the anti-viruses from tech for us." Savannah shrugged and headed off towards the garage.

Once she was out of his earshot, Brick made his way over to Chip, who seemed to be flirting with the read-headed girl. Once he was close enough, Brick cleared his throat to get his attention. He turned to the red-headed girl. "Block said I could get some anti-viruses from tech?"

"Oh, were you affected by the hacking?"

"Yeah. My partner and I both."

"Sorry to hear that. I'll got get a couple of anti-virus disks for you."

Chip smirked wolfishly at her, kissing the knuckles of her free hand. "I hate to see you leave so soon."

The girl giggled. 'Oh you, I'll be back soon enough."

"I await with baited breath." He gave her a charming smile, which the girl giggled at again as she walked away. Once out of sight, Chip held up a small disk in his hands. "You got hacked too, huh?"

Brick blinked in surprise. "Looks like you did too."

Chip shrugged nonchalantly. "Not to big of a deal, really. Block's given me some unpaid time off since I can't do missions alone, so it gave me an excuse to come to work today. Well, besides my normal excuse."

"Normal excuse?"

"You remember last night, don't you?"

"Unfortunately, yes." The song had been stuck in his head for the past twelve hours.

"My hook-up is back in the past. Access to time-machines makes it so much easier to get to it, y'know. I just gotta flirt with a couple of techies to get them to let me take a machine, and I'm off."

Remembering what had happened outside of the subway's exit, Brick frowned at the floor, not even pretending to feign interest. "What does TICC stand for anyway?"

Chip side-eyed Brick with a knowing smile. "Why? You wouldn't happen to be interested, would you?"

Brick thought about what he just said. On one hand, he could say no. Brick could say no, I am not interested, and be done with the whole matter. He could grab the two anti-viruses from the techie and meet Savannah to complete their mission. If he did that, however, once this whole hacking business has blown over, he'd be back on Pistachio duty, back to bickering with Savannah, and back to pining after Vinnie Dakota from afar. And after over-hearing the man's conversation with Lotte, it looks like he might not be the only one pining for the tracksuit wearing man.

On the other hand, he could say yes. He could say yes, and get a little extra help in the self-improvement department. And, from what he's seen with Chip, it looks like the TICC actually works.

Mind made up, Brick turned to Chip. "Yes, yes I am. What do I have to do again?"

Chip smiled and patted Brick on the chest in a friendly manner. "Meet me at the Googolplex Mall in Danville during the 21st century. I'll hook you up. And just for you, pal, I'll split the bill with you." Chip winked at him and, finger gunning him, he turned to head towards the garage. "I'll see you then, Brick."

–In the 21st century–

Milo, Melissa, and Zack sat on the steps leading up to the Googolplex Mall, despondent. They had faced just about any kind of disaster Murphy's Law had thrown their way and come out better for it. Whether it be a herd of stampeding emu interrupting their commute home or a tidal wave of nacho cheese interrupting history class. But nothing could have prepared them for the news they had just received.

Melissa curled herself into a ball and tipped over onto her side. "I welcome you, death…"

"How could they do this?" Zack cried mournfully. "Aren't there laws to prevent this kind of thing?!"

Milo sighed sadly and slumped to the ground. "I refuse to move until time stops."

"What're you kids doin'?" The children glanced up to see Cavendish, Dakota, and Lotte standing over them.

"Close enough." Milo commented as Lotte pulled him to his feet. "And we're in mourning…"

"Mourning for what?" Lotte asked.

Zack, fighting back the tears, he took out his phone and handed it to Cavendish. The other two-time travelers read over his shoulders. 'Gush Corporations has announced that due to low performance sales; their soda, Red Gush, will be pulled from shelves permanently.'

Cavendish and Dakota shared a look, while Lotte scoffed. "Red Gush? Seriously, kids, I thought you had better taste than that."

Melissa sprang up from her spot on the ground, half of her covered in snow and slush. "Hey! Red Gush is the best drink ever. And it makes no sense that they'd continue it due to low sales, because that's their most popular drink!"

"Really?" Cavendish asked, uncertain. He scrolled down and read further in the article, that Red Gush would be officially taken off the shelves by mid-February of that year. "Because… well, remember what we said on New Year's?"

"Yeah. In the future, Red Gush has been discontinued for quite some time." Dakota added.

Milo sniffled, pulling his hat down. "It's worse than he thought."

"I don't see what the big deal is." Lotte shrugged, examining her glove-covered nails. "I think Green Gush is better than Red Gush, anyway."

All three children gasped, insulted and a bit horrified. Zack even went as far to proclaim, "I don't even know you anymore."

Smiling fondly, Dakota said, "You kids sure know a thing or two about drama."

"Speaking of drama, how is that school play of yours coming along?" Cavendish asked.

Melissa reached over into Milo's backpack and pulled out a sheet of laminated notebook paper. "Everyone else is doing set building today, so they sent the rest of us to get some props for the show, so Murphy's Law doesn't destroy the catwalk again."

Lotte let out a low-whistled, moderately impressed. "Never a dull day with you kids, huh?"

"We were about to check and see if some thrift stores in the mall when Sara sent each of us links to the worst article of all time!" Zack cried out, angrily stuffing his phone in his pocket.

Hating to see the children upset, the three time-travelers exchanged looks, silently agreeing to an unspoken plan. "How about we help you gather some of the items on your list?"

"You would do that?"

"Of course, we would." Lotte grabbed the list from Melissa's hands. "I mean, a Renaissance Princess costume, stuff for Prince cosplay, and twelve bean bag chairs… wait, twelve bean bag chairs?"

"In case Murphy's Law makes ten of them break." Milo explained, stuffing the list into his backpack. "But, wait, don't you guys have important time-travel stuff to do?"

"Nope. We finished all that this morning." It was sort of true. By the time the trio had arrived in the Renaissance, they discovered only one potty remaining due to a fire burning down the kingdom. Afterwards, they travelled to the 21st century to destroy the pistachios. After finding out that Brick and Savannah weren't on pistachio duty, Lotte had gone up and drop-kicked the crate of Pistachios into the frozen lake. She explained to the vendor there was a poisonous spider on top of the crate and she had panicked. Considering that Lotte was 5'3" and had successfully drop-kicked something that was twice her weight five-hundred feet away, the vendor put up no argument. They had come to the mall to get some Mr. Slushy Burger's; finding their favorite little rascals despondent on the steps of the mall was a surprising (but not unwelcome) deterrent.

"Well… we are gonna need help getting the bean bags…" Melissa trails off, knowing that the time-travelers will take the bait.

"Alright then," Dakota shrugged, smiling, "let's get those props… After we hit Mr. Slushy Burger. I'm starving." Melissa and Zack chuckled good-naturedly as Cavendish rolled his eyes, commenting how they just had mutton back n the Renaissance and how could you be hungry, for us it was quite literally ten minutes ago. As the four entered the mall, Lotte grabbed Milo roughly by his backpack and yanked him back to her.

"Did either of you get the group text I sent?" She asked him. The boy nodded, a mischievous smile on his face.

"Yep! And Melissa, Zack, and I already made-up a list of… Hang on," Milo reached into his backpack, pulling out a long, and quite frankly, impressive list labeled: 'Scenarios—and, or—possible dates we can put Dakavendish into, so they become cannon; Hard Copy, Ver. 2.5' and started counting off the many bullet points on the list, "42! 42 possible scenarios/dates we could put them into to help them become cannon. And this is just one of the hard copies that survived." Milo gestured to a section of the list that was obviously taped on. "We messed up that part. Melissa and Zack also have digital copies on their phones."

Lotte hummed. "I gotta admit kid, you come prepared."

Milo shrugged, stuffing the list back into his backpack. "Well, with Murphy's Law, it's better to be prepared for every eventuality."

"I know exactly how you feel, Murphy." Lotte smiled. "Well, shall we proceed with the plan?"

"Yes, yes we shall." Milo smiled, excited to get to work. The only thing standing in their way was the mall entrance, which quickly fell of it's hinges and fell to the ground at Milo and Lotte's feet, shattering. The two only shrugged at the mild inconvenience and went to go catch-up with their friends.

–Meanwhile, with Brick and Savannah–

The two top-agents were wary about using any type of technology, what with the hacking and all, but after a couple of hours wandering around the mall, the two agreed that they really had no other choice. However, that wasn't to say using their intertemporal communicator was of much help.

Whenever the two came across any source of information that might've been helpful, the communicator froze up before kicking them out of the page they had opened and back to the home screen. Savannah exhaled, clearly frustrated. "Well, any other ideas?"

Brick glanced around the mall, trying to come up with something. He blanched a bit as he spotted Chip by a nearby shoe store. Making eye contact, Chip motioned for Brick to follow him as he disappeared into the store. Swallowing, Brick handed Savannah the intertemporal communicator. "I'll take the north end of the mall, you take the south. We might actually be able to find something if we split up."

Savannah gave him a skeptical look. "We just spent the past two hours looking for any sign of anything suspicious happening in this mall, but ok. Not like we have anything better to do." As she walked off, Brick all but sped-walked toward where Chip disappeared to. Spotting him, Brick slowed his pace, as to not seem to eager. Upon approach, Chip raised a brow.

"You got the three-hundred?"

Brick flashed his credit card. "You bet."

Chip sighed, annoyed. "He only takes cash."

"You didn't tell me that!"

"Well I'm telling you now! Ugh, I swear, why it's so insistent on you being in on the plan, I'll never understand…"

Brick blinked, confused. "Plan?"

Chip winced in pain, bringing a hand to his head, and then suddenly dropping it. His suave, smooth façade once again in place. "Tell you what, when we get back to 2176, pay me back. Ok?"

"I couldn't ask you to do that—"

"I wanna do it!" Draping an arm across Brick's shoulder, leading him towards a dark corner in the store. "Think of it as… a friend helping a friend… improve. Besides, if someone offered to buy me something this expensive, I'd take it." Brick nodded, after all, Chip had a point.

The two men approached a tall man with a large, bald head in the store's uniform. Brick could tell that the mustache and beard the man were sporting were fake but considering that was the least sketchy thing about this whole operation, Brick decided not to comment.

The man merely glanced at them over his shoulder before telling them in some kind of European accent. "We're sold out."

Chip merely leaned against a nearby shelf and, inspecting his nails, told the man, "Pinocchio shoots red pineapples with a bubblegum rocket."

The balding man stilled and then glanced around, as if to check if they were being watched. "You got the money?" Chip reached into his jacket before pulling out a large wad of cash. "Wonderful! Gentlemen, follow me please." The two men followed him to the back corner of the store where the bald man, once again after checking to see if anyone was watching, reached up and grabbed a shoe box down from the top shelf. "I must warn you, this technology is highly experimental. Only one other person beside you two has officially tested it."

Chip shrugged, uncaring. Brick, on the other hand, was starting to have doubts. "Only one other person?"

"Yes, and I'm not allowed to tell who! Doctor-patient confidentiality and all…"

Brick leaned over and whispered to Chip, "He's a doctor?"

Chip merely shrugged, unsure of that himself. Nonetheless, Chip handed the large wad of cash to the man, who balanced the shoe box on his hip before flipping through the bills, counting the amount off. Once satisfied, the man glared anxiously behind Chip and Brick, as if daring anyone to interrupt the transaction.

The man flipped the lid off the box, and Brick was a bit surprised to see the contents of the box. He didn't expect shoes, not in this kind of deal, but the shoe box was filled halfway with tiny, grey, oblong pills. The bald man reached in and plucked one out before slamming the lid back on the box and shoving the box back onto the top shelf.

Holding the pill between his thumb and pointer-finger, the balding man gave the two agents one final warning, "Remember: Highly experimental. My business partner and I claim no responsibility for any… ill-fated side-effects you may have after taking this."

"Side-effects?" Brick turned to Chip. "You never mentioned anything about side-effects!"

Chip scratched his chin, a small grin on his face. "I thought it was implied."

The balding man reached over and placed the pill in Brick's hand before closing his fingers around it. Smiling, he told Brick, "Congratulations, my good man. You are now the proud owner of the latest version of the TICC. To activate it, you must take it with Green Gush—I don't know why! Probably has something to do with the dye…" Brick glanced at Chip who, again, shrugged.

The two started to walk away before the balding man cried out "Oh, wait! There's something I forgot to tell you; something very important." Noting the man's urgent tone, Brick and Chip went over to him.

"What? What is it?"

"It's very important to know that—WE'RE SOLD OUT!" The man shouted over his shoulder suddenly, startling Brick and Chip. The two men glanced over to find a trio of teenage girls staring at the man in surprise, which quickly morphed into confusion.

"You're sold out… of shoes?" The teenager with long brown hair with a white flower in it asked.

"In a shoe store?" The teenager with short orange hair in a red shirt questioned.

The balding man blinked at the girls before awkwardly turning to face them, "Oh… You girls are here for shoes?"

The Asian girl with a blue bow raised a brow, gesturing around her. "Well, it is a shoe store."

"Of course, I'll be right with you ladies." The bald man started to walk over to the girls before Brick grabbed his arm.

"Wait, what were you about to say?"

"Oh, that's right!" The man leaned in and whispered, "All sales are final." The man walked over to the girls, mention that they just got in a shipment of cruelty-free boots, making the girls "Oooooh!" in fascination as he led them away from Brick and Chip, who exchanged odd glances at the man's strange behavior.

–Meanwhile, with the Time-Traveling-Trio and Milo, Melissa, and Zack–

Melissa rolled her eyes, nobly resisting the urge to facepalm. 'Time to scratch Plans 12, 27, and 36.5 off the list.'

Lotte, Milo, Zack, and herself had been trying for the past two hours to get Cavendish and Dakota into a romantic situation in hope of getting their favorite time-travelers to admit that they're in love. And Melissa wasn't sure if it was Murphy's Law or Cavendish and Dakota's apparent inability to get the hint that a situation was supposed to be romantic or some other force of the universe that didn't want any plan to succeed; but one romantic situation after another romantic situation seemed to fail.

Now, since they were in a mall, Lotte suggested they try and go along with any plan that might coincide with their current plan. So that was the end of Sections A, B, F, M, and Q of their list. However, Lotte mentioned something about the two men wanting Mr. Slushy-Burger. The kids decided to initiate Plan 12: Sharing a Meal. Luckily for them, Mr. Slushy-Burger was having a two-for-one deal that day. By one meal, get the second meal free.

Since there six people in the group total (and four conspiring members) Milo initiated that they each group up in two so they could split the bill evenly. And, "coincidentally", Milo and Melissa had decided to split a bill while Lotte offered to go hafizes with Zack. Unfortunately, when Cavendish and Dakota ordered their meals, Dakota had paid the bill without giving Cavendish time to calculate half of the bill. Dakota claimed that he and Cavendish were now even, saying the latter often had to pay for their meals if they went out to eat. While disheartened, Lotte was quick to point out to the kids how it can be romantic to take the bill. And it would've been an unconscious romantic gesture, if Cavendish wasn't quick to point out they were hardly even when it came to paying for the bill, causing the two men to respectively agree to disagree.

Plan 12 was a flop.

After the group had finished shopping at some costume and craft stores for the supplies needed for some of the costumes for the play, Milo pointed that a store with a surplus of everything (including beanbags) was located on the top floor of the mall. Dakota pointed to an elevator, saying they could get there quicker. Lotte and the kids exchanged excited smiles behind Cavendish and Dakota's back; they decided to initiate Plan 27: Seven Minutes in Heaven.

Milo quickly pulled out a map of the mall and, as they all entered an elevator, excitedly pointed out that there was a cosmetics store that specialized in stage make-up on the second floor. Zack offered to go with Milo to get the make-up they needed. Cavendish and Dakota didn't pay this no mind, but Lotte and Melissa nodded in understanding. After the two boys exited, the girls exchanged mischievous smiles behind the other time-traveler's backs. Upon reaching the top floor; Lotte and Melissa dashed in front of the two men, with Lotte smashing the down and close-door button as hard as she could. Sure enough, the elevator closed behind the two women and sent Cavendish and Dakota back down to the second floor. While Melissa and Lotte were too busy congratulating themselves on a plan-well-done, Cavendish and Dakota came back up in the elevator. They took it rather well, however. Dakota laughing at the "prank" the girls just pulled on them.

When Milo and Zack rejoined the group, the three kids and Lotte agreed that they didn't think Plan 27 through all the way.

And finally, after purchasing ten beanbags and placing them on a flatbed Milo had stored in his backpack (everyone sort of gave the boy an odd look but knew better than to question anything), Zack spotted a hipster-music store. The boy might have casually mentioned that their director, Mr. Drako, had the idea of having some songs play throughout the auditorium before the play actually started.

Catching his drift, Milo and Melissa were quick to point out that since the play they were performing had a sort of hipster, cult-classic vibe about it, that the music store Zack pointed out would be the perfect place to find some songs. The group had entered the store and initiated Plan 36.5: Slow dance (To a catchy, yet romantic 70's song, so it'll appeal to Dakota). Lotte had also advised the kids to go about this in a sneakier manner than the previous two plans, as both Cavendish and Dakota had questioned her if something was going on.

So, sneakier is what the kids and Lotte became. The store had a few computers where you could sample a song and see if it was something to your liking. So, they each divided into their own groups, making it seem as natural as possible. Everyone picking out songs they felt would make a good addition to the soundtrack the kids were putting together. They got some songs by Love in October, Lindana, Love Handel, Tipling Rock, Saint Motel, Tiny Cowboy, Cage the Elephant, Silver, Fleetwood Mac, Milky Chance, Cheap Trick, and Looking Glass. And then Lotte "accidentally" stumbled across Fooled Around and Fell in Love by Elvin Bishop. It was perfect; just slow and romantic enough to thrall Cavendish and old and classic enough to ensnare Dakota.

"~I must have been through about a million girls, I'd love 'em then I'd leave 'em alone~" The kids and Lotte laid the trap perfectly, blasting the song on the computer as high as it would go and swaying in time to the beat. "~I didn't care how much they cried, no sir. Their tears left me cold as a stone~" Milo pulled Lotte to the center of the floor and the two started spinning around in each other's arms in a semblance of a slow-dance. Melissa followed suit and did the same with Cavendish and Zack did the same with Dakota. "~But then I fooled around and fell in love. I fooled around and fell in love, yes I did~" While Cavendish and Dakota initially gave their four companions odd looks, they fell into the rhythm as well. With Dakota even joining Milo and Lotte with singing the lyrics. "~I fooled around and fell in love… I fooled around and fell in love~" Then, when the two time-travelers weren't looking, Zack and Melissa spun themselves into each other's arms, while making sure to spin Cavendish and Dakota into each other's arms as well.

And that's when Plan 36.5 crashed and burned. The two men seemed to finally register what the song was about and, realizing what type of situation they were in, blushed as red as tomatoes, and stepped away from each other, spell broken and laughing awkwardly at the situation before going back to looking for songs, at separate corners of the store.

Melissa buried her head in her hands as Milo and Zack stared in open mouthed shock. "That one almost worked… They were so close!" Milo lamented.

Zack sighed. "Maybe we shouldn't try and force them… maybe we should just let nature take its course?"

Lotte rolled her eyes. "Zack, we'd be waiting for the end of time if we did. No, what we need to do is—" Lotte suddenly stopped and stuck her arms out, as if trying to regain balance. "Oh, that isn't good…"

"Lotte, are you ok?" Melissa asked, concerned.

The green-haired girl shook her head slowly, bringing her hands to her temples and lightly massaging them. Judging by how her face was scrunched up, the kids knew she was experiencing some pain. Nervous, Zack called out to Cavendish and Dakota, only for Lotte to tell him "Please, no shouting…"

The other two time-travelers rushed over, concerned etched on their faces. Milo motioned for them to speak in hushed tones before Dakota asked, "What's wrong?"

Lotte wobbled a bit, and Milo and Zack both reached out a hand to help her balance. Lotte slowly shook her head and mumbled "… Hurts…" Cavendish blinked at her before realization hit him. Turning to Dakota, he whispered "Migraines."

Dakota's eyes widened in realization. "Ok, ok… Lotte, do you have any medicine on you?" The green-haired girl shook her head vigorously, then regretted the decision, as she was forced to lean heavily onto Milo and Cavendish for help standing up. Dakota turned to Milo, "Do you have anything in your backpack for this?"

Milo shook his head. "I'm only allowed to carry a small bottle of ibuprofen in my bag. Legal reasons and all."

Lotte, whose face was buried into Cavendish's shoulder in an attempt to block out light, said in such a low tone it was hard for anyone to hear her "… Lie down… dark…"

"There's a mattress store by the elevator we came out of." Zack suggested. "It's not very dark, though."

"I got towels in my backpack. My dad says a wet towel or rag can really help a migraine, so I could use it to block out light and bring relief. I also got noise cancelling headphones, if that helps." Lotte nodded once, agreeing with the plan.

Cavendish brought Lotte's arm around his shoulder and motioned for Milo to do the same with her other arm. "Milo and I will take her to the mattress store and get her situated. Zack, you go back to the food-court and get her something to drink. Something with caffeine in it, if you can." Zack nodded and dashed out of the store towards the food court. Cavendish turned to Dakota and Melissa, "You two stay here and finish up the transaction we started. Join us as soon as you can, alright?" Dakota and Melissa nodded, still concerned over Lotte.

After Milo handed Melissa the bag of supplies he had been carrying around, he and Cavendish escorted Lotte to the mattress store, going as slow as she wanted, while also trying to block out as much noise and light as possible.

–Meanwhile, with Brick and Chip–

The bottle of Green Gush fell to the bottom of the vending machine with an unimpressive thunk. Brick reached in and grabbed it, giving the soda a wary look. "Three-hundred and one dollars… for this." Brick looked down at the TICC in his hands.

"It's worth it, trust me!" Chip reassured him.

"You keep saying that."

"Because it's true!" Chip smiled encouragingly, motioning for Brick to take the TICC.

The top-agent shrugged. "Bottoms up, I guess." Popping the TICC pill into his mouth, Brick opened the Green Gush bottle and took a swig, his nose wrinkling in disgust as the flavor hit his tongue. After swallowing, Brick brought the drink away from his mouth and wiped it in disgust. "God, that tasted terrible!"

"You'll get used to it." Chip said cryptically. After a moment, Chip looked at him expectantly. Brick's eyes shifted from his hands to his arms and then back to his hands. He didn't feel different or special or even anything out of the ordinary. "Nothing."

Chip blinked in surprise. "Nothing? Absolutely nothing at all?!"

Brick nodded then a thought occurred to him. "If I have to drink more of this terrible soda, I'm out!"

Chip shook his head, stroking his chin in thought. "No, no… If you tasted it, you obviously had enough to activate it." He turned back to Brick. "Try saying something cool."

Brick thought briefly before blurting out, "I think I just cheated us both out of three-hundred-and-one dollars on this cheap drink and a placebo pill…"

Chip deadpanned. "Nope… not cool… not even chill." The man shook his head and groaned in frustration. "Great, just great! This is a real setback for the plan!" Before Brick could question what he meant, Chip was storming off in the direction of the shoe store. "Meet me in five minutes, I gotta go talk to my guy." And he was gone.

Brick glanced at the bottle of Green Gush in his hand. Frowning in disgust, Brick walked over to the nearby trashcan and tossed it in and then, feeling like a chump, leaned against the can. "Well now what the hell am I supposed to do?"

Just then, out of the corner, Brick saw the Zack-boy who seemed to hang around that Milo-kid dash over to the vending machine Chip and himself just stood in front of. The boy frantically inserted a dollar and some change before quickly hitting the buttons. Bouncing nervously on the balls of his feet, the Zack-boy watched impatiently as a bottle of Green Gush fell to the bottom of the vending machine. The boy quickly snatched it out of the machine and ran back in the direction he came from, only to double back and rush over to a nearby taco stand and grab a straw from the vendor, before rushing back in the direction he came.

Suspicious, Brick forgot Chip's directions and started to trail after the Zack-boy. He kept his distance, so no one would suspect anything, but also walked at a quick enough pace so he wouldn't lose him. Brick followed the boy to the top floor of the mall and to a mattress store. Brick watched from behind a nearby post as the boy brought the drink with the straw to Lotte, who was lying on a mattress with a towel across her face and wearing some type of headphones. Cooperdink and the Milo-kid were nearby, wearing concerned looks. Brick watched as Zack handed the drink to Lotte, who seemed happy (if not just a bit tired) to receive the drink.

Realizing that, while weird, there was nothing suspicious going on, Brick turned to leave, but he heard faint music coming from a couple stores down. Curious, Brick abandoned his post and went to go investigate. As he got closer, he was able to make out lyrics to the song that was playing.

"I think you're seein' what I've been sayin', 'cause I hear you singin' to the tune I'm playin'. And now that it's said and we both understand; let's say our goodbyes before it gets out of hand~" Brick approached a hipster-music store, head unconsciously nodding along to the beat. He entered the store and found nothing out of the ordinary. Until he heard a young girl laughing and turned to find the Melissa-girl being spun around by Vinnie Dakota, the two of them appearing to be having a good time as they danced, and Vinnie sang along to the song. "~Bye! Bye, Baby! I'd really like to stay, but we'll remember the best time in our life~"

Brick had never heard Vinnie sing before. It was rough, but angelic. It had a certain quality to it; like he never had a formal singing-lesson, but it wasn't the first time he had been singing. Brick smiled dreamily, he loved finding out this stuff about Dakota, it was like finding a puzzle piece after it being missing for so long.

For the chorus, the Melissa-girl joined in the singing as she and Dakota performed a little dance. "~We had a wham, bam shang-a-lang! And a sha-la-la-la-la-la, babe. Wham bam shang-a-lang! And a sha-la-la-la-la-la babe. We had a wham, bam shang-a-lang! And a sha-la-la-la-la-la, babe…~" As the song faded, the two laughed merrily. Melissa wiped a tear from her eye. "That was fun! And I really like this song."

Dakota tapped the screen, smiling coolly. "Yeah, you can nevah go wrong with Silver. Oldie, but a goodie, I always say."

"I've never heard you say that. before." Melissa teased. She went over and tapped the computer screen a few times before a tiny slip of paper came out of the printer just underneath it. "But, the good news we completed the album for the Pre-Show! Mr. Drako will be so happy."

Dakota continued to smile and gestured to the slip of paper. "Want me to get the bill?"

Melissa shook her head. "Mr. Drako gave Zack and I some money to pay for everything. We're good, but thanks anyway." She started to walk to the cash register, slip in hand.

"Ooh, ooh! Melissa, hang on a second!" Dakota turned to the computer excitedly and tapped it a couple times before the song they were playing earlier, started to play again. The two friends exchanged cool smirks before Melissa started to dance her way to the cash register, leaving Dakota to dance by the computer.

As the tracksuit wearing man continued to dance, Brick just stared on in awe. He was never worried about what others thought. He was easy-going, relaxed, and just usually did what he wanted without considering what others might think. Brick knew that he would be to self-conscious to dance to some song from the 1970's in the middle of a hipster-music store in a crowded mall. Yet, Vinnie Dakota was doing just that, and with an ease and grace that suggested he had done this before and would continue to do it.

It was enchanting, just like everything else about Vinnie Dakota.

"Yo, Brick!" The top-agent blanched, his heart coming to a stop. "What'cha doin' here, dude?"

Embarrassed at being caught ogling Dakota, Brick tugged at his collar, contemplating running out of the shop and jumping the railing just to avoid this conversation. "I was… um… on a mission…?"

Not seeming to notice the man's sudden nervousness, Dakota approached Brick. "That's cool. You taking a break or somethin'?"

"Yyeeeess?" Brick eyes shifted across the store nervously. He noticed Melissa glaring at him in suspicion. "I heard music playing… and I thought—"

"That you'd come check it out?" Dakota chuckled, glancing at some shelves of records before turning his attention back to Brick. "Yeah, this place isn't half-bad actually. I mean, yeah, where we're from we naturally have more variety, but for early 21st century, this ain't that bad of a set-up."

Brick nodded vigorously. "Yep! Yep, looks, uh… really vintage."

"Heh, yeah that's the early-hipster for ya. So, you like Silver?"

"Um, I guess it's a cool metal but—"

Dakota chuckled and shook his head, gesturing back to the computer that was still playing the song. "Nah, man. Silver the band. The one singing Wham Bam right now… Well, not right now, since it's a recordin', but y'know what I mean." Upon seeing the lost expression on Brick's face, Dakota further elaborated, "I saw you smilin' when I was dancing, so I figured you really liked the song."

If it was possible, Brick turned a deeper shade of red. "Uh, y-yes! That's it! I… really like the song."

"Me too! Gotta be in my top-ten songs of all time, honestly…"

"R-really?" Brick straightened just a bit. "I'd say top fifteen, at least." Brick knew he was talking out of his ass, but he couldn't help it, he was learning more about Dakota. "You know, maybe sometime we could get together and talk about our favorite—" A sharp, sudden, stabbing pain in Brick's head cut him off. "Ow!"

"Brick?" Dakota asked, a little concerned.

"Target male; inaccessible." At that moment, a legion of monotone, robotic, female voices told Brick. The top-agent glanced around, trying to figure out where the voices were coming from. Another sharp, stabbing pain in his head made Brick step back from Dakota, gripping his head in an attempt to relieve the pain.

"Brick, you ok?" Dakota asked again, more concerned.

"Ugh—what the hell is going on?" Brick mumbled, clearly in pain.

"Calibration in progress." The voices told Brick as another round of pain entered his head. "Please excuse some mild discomfort."

"Mild?!" Brick questioned as another round of pain nearly sent him to his knees.

"Brick, what's wrong?!" Dakota asked, hands out to the man in case he needed to catch him.

From over by the cash register, Brick heard Melissa shout to Dakota "That guy's freaking the freak out!"

"Calibration complete. Access procedure; initiated." The voices told him. The pain subsided a bit and Brick was able to stand a bit better.

"Whoa-whoa-wait… Wait-wait-wait-wait…" Brick exhaled. He glanced around to see Dakota, Melissa, and the cashier looking at him with a mix of concern and confusion, and he noticed Melissa had her phone trained on him. It hurt to look directly at any light sources and the loud volume of the song Dakota had playing in the background didn't help, but overall, Brick was ok. "I'm fine. I just… I just need—"

"Warning: discomfort level may increase."

It was as if someone had stuck electrodes in Brick's brain and turned the power up full blast. Brick doubled over in pain, clutching his forehead, screaming in agony. His vision blurred and the sounds around him muffled, as if someone had stuffed cotton into his ears. Around him, he saw a yellow-and-orange blurry blob kneel down beside him while a smaller, pink-black-and-white blurry blob rushed to the first blob's side. Brick thought he heard a few people asking if he was ok, but he wasn't quite sure.

"Accessing neural memory… Accessing muscle memory… Access procedure: complete." Finally, the pain subsided, and Brick was left clutching his head, panting in exhaustion. Staring at the floor through his blurry vision, still not hearing anything clearly, except the voices that—Brick realized belatedly—was coming from inside his head.

As his vision began to clear, the voices spoke again. "Agent Brick Dalton, Time-Traveler first-class, welcome to your Tiny Intel Core Computer. Your TICC."

Hey guys, I'm back at school now so updates will be less frequent. But don't worry, I will continue on! Hopefully this story will be finished by summer.