More than Survive

by SmilesThroughFandoms

Brick is supposed to be the top guy, the James Bond of BOTT, however after being stuck on Pistachio Duty with no chance of getting off it and he might be in love with Vinnie Dakota, and is beside himself with self-loathing. Then, he is presented with a quick way to self-imporvement. What could possibly go wrong? (Also on Ao3 under same name. Cover art by thenonehater on Tumblr)

9. Chip Set a Fire

–In the year 2176–

Another beer was pressed into Brick's hands, and he had no idea where this one came from either. All he knew was that Chip had disappeared to somewhere, looking a little green around the gills as he left, and he was now left sitting in next to the oh-so-giggly-kind-of-drunk that was Aiden and the while the somehow-more-of-a-grouch-than-usual-when-drunk that was Jonah had wandered off halfway through with a sour look on his face.

According to their TICC's, they were supposed to forge stronger bonds with Aiden and Jonah for… some reason. The TICC's were being vague on the details, as usual, so the two men went in blind with vague instructions on what to do. Brick new he had to charm Aiden, but so far that wasn't much of a challenge. The two men had gone out on dates before, and Brick always internally loathed himself for those dates. The first-class agent could tell that Aiden really liked him, and Brick felt dirty for leading him on. But what was he supposed to do? Go against his TICC?

Yeah, not likely.

Aiden, for the first time since alcohol entered his system, stopped giggling. "Where'd Chip go?" He slurred.

Brick glanced around, suddenly aware that his companion had been gone for a long time. "Good question…"

"He didn't really look that good." Aiden mumbled, downing another shot. "Should one of us go look for him?"

"I don't know if that's a good id—"

"Yes, let's go look for him."

"Yes, let's go look for him." Brick parroted back.

"You go check the bathrooms and lounge, I'll check the dance floor and the back alley."

"You go check the bathrooms and lounge, I'll check the dance floor and the back alley."

"Sounds like a plan," Aiden smiled, "we'll meet back here when we find him." The 2nd class agent slid off the barstool and made his way towards the lounge, stumbling a bit on his way there. Brick downed the rest of his shot before heading towards the dance floor. Only for the TICC to turn him towards the exit near the back of the club.

"Uh, what're we doing?"

"Going to the back alley."

"Is that where Chip is?"

"I have no idea."

"How do you of all things not know where he is?" Brick asked, perplexed. "You're literally a super computer."

"That's not important right now." The TICC told him quickly.

"Is everything ok? Is Chip's TICC malfunctioning or something?"

"TICC's do not malfunction!"

"Ok, shit, sorry I asked."

"As you should be. Now, if you'll please just follow my lead." Brick shrugged it off. How could his situation possibly get any worse? Just as he approached the exit door, Brick passed a girl handing out drinks on a tray and covertly snagged a large glass of beer off the tray.

He felt more inclined to drink, as of late. He was sure it was nothing to worry about.

Brick was one-third of the way through his beer when the TICC led him to the back alley. The first-class agent scanned the area; a dim glow from a flickering street lamp at the alley's entrance, a rusty looking dumpster covered in some mold and what Brick hoped was just dried ketchup, and a few boxes and trashcans scattered around. He kind of felt like he was in some C-List Mafia movie. And, apparently, he now had a co-star.

Jonah was slumped against the side of the dumpster, the beer bottle in his hand matching the ones scattered at his feet. Brick wrinkled his nose, the man looked like a mess. "How long has he been out here?" He asked, taking a sip of his beer.

"I'm assuming forty-five minutes; my calculations could be off."'

"Could be off? Are you doing ok?"

"It might help if you lay off the beer, I am in your brain, remember?"

"Last one, I swear." Brick assured his TICC, taking a long, slow sip of his beer.

"Really?"

"Hey, I need all the alcohol in my system I can get if you're going to make me talk to the trash over there."

"Who handed you the salt?"

"What am I even doing out here again?"

The sound of a bottle shattering drew Brick's attention back to Jonah, who seemed pretty upset that he wasn't able to hold onto his beer bottle. However, the man just reached behind him and pulled out another beer bottle. "Let's just say that, in light of recent developments with Agent Wolowitz," the TICC buzzed, "we need to acquire some new leads…"

"Ok… what the hell does that mean?"

"It means get the hell over there and schmooze him, Zuojo." Brick furrowed his brow.

"What did you just call me?"

"I called you a Zuojo, like the Zuojo you are!"

Brick blinked in confusion. "Okay… whatever you say, boss."

"And don't you forget it." The TICC told him, seemingly oblivious to it's odd word choice. Brick approached the heavily intoxicated man, kind of wary. Jonah was normally a rational man, if not slightly aggressive, so there was no telling what he would be like drunk. Brick was just praying that he wasn't the "Cut your face cause you looked at him funny" kind of drunk.

"You've been out here a long time." Brick observed as he approached Jonah, testing the waters.

"Wash it to you," Jonah slurred, "ya… sonofabitching… bitch." Brick raised his brow.

"Mind if I sit here?" He gestured to the spot next to him on the crate.

"Yes. B-but you can sit here if you wans to. Don think it means I like ya though… cause I don." Jonah then proceeded to down the entire bottle of beer in his hand before dropping it to the ground and reaching behind him to pull out another bottle.

"I mean, he's not throwing anything at you." His TICC pointed out.

Brick sat down on the crate next to Jonah, cautiously stepping over the broken glass at there feet and making sure to put a good enough distant between them. He might not be throwing things at his head now, but Brick had the feeling that could change if he wasn't careful.

The first-class agent glanced behind him to see two six pack cases of beer sitting on the ground behind the crate. Four were missing. "Uh, aren't you worried about alcohol poisoning?"

"Pleash, I'm not ivan drunk!" Jonah gestured wildly with his arms, making the man wobble a bit. Brick grasped the man's shoulders to help steady him. "Fok, maybe I'm kiindaa tissy… but not drunk!"

"Yeah, you're stone cold sober." Brick said, finishing off the last of his beer. Even if he promised his TICC it would be his last one, he really needed that drink to deal with drunk-Jonah. So, he reached behind him and took one of the beers from the pack.

"Did I say you could have another one?"

"Oh lighten up, will you?" Brick told his TICC.

"You lightoen up!" Jonah snapped. "Bisch…"

"I am already experiencing some difficulties as it is. Put down the beer, or we might have some performance issues."

"Fine." Brick took a long, long sip of the beer and then set it on the ground, only for Jonah to inadvertently kick it over. "Now what?"

"Look at Jonah and ask him what's wrong."

Brick did as he was instructed. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Wouldn't y-you like to knoww?" Jonah slurred defensively. Brick gave a tight-lipped smile, Great suggestion, he thought.

"Ask again, Zuojo." Brick rolled his eyes but laid a hand on Jonah's shoulders, hoping that it was convincing enough to be comforting. "No, really, what's wrong? You've been acting strange all night."

Jonah stilled. For a moment, Brick thought he fell asleep, but then the man slowly tilted his beer bottle over his mouth before angrily slamming it against the ground. Brick was lucky a shard didn't get stuck on him. "Wats tha guys deal anywey?!" Jonah fumed. "He just… shows up and starts speaking… words and you eat it up like is cake or somethin!"

"Look I'm sure that he… wait, who are you talking about, here?"

"He jus… He's not goo enough for you! An what bout every… everythin we shared, huh?" Jonah slurred, glaring up at Brick.

"Um…" Got any idea what's happening here?

"I'm getting the mtorkkl he yqtonz that you are kyrk ktuksuy" Brick blinked in confusion.

"Is that Russian or something?"

"You tout I was rushing thinssss?" Jonah slurred. "Why didn't you say so?" This is the dumbest conversation I have ever had. "L-look, I hear wat your saying but… I jus really wanna do this an get it out of my sistem…" Jonah placed his hand on Brick's thigh. The first-class agent eye's widened in shock and slight fear as he stared at the hand on his thigh.

"What—?"

"Aiden jus-just truss me on thisss…" Jonah started to lean in closer.

Oh. Oh! Oh no…

Jonah thought Brick was Aiden. Jonah. Thought Brick… was Aiden.

This explained a lot actually. Jonah's defensive and protectiveness of Aiden, his sudden hostile mood when Brick appeared on scene, intending to woo Aiden, and his outright belligerent behavior towards Brick whenever he saw the first-class agent with the pink-haired man.

Jonah was jealous of Brick for getting all of Aiden's affections! And in his drunken stupor confused Brick for him (the man must be hammered beyond belief) and was going to… to…

Oh fuck me gently with a chainsaw! TICC what the hell?

"It's alright, Brick. Let's just see where this will lead…"

Are you crazy?! "Jonah, stop! You can't—we can't…" Brick tried to stand up, to shove Jonah away, to do something, but he couldn't move his arms or legs. "I can't move."

"You're welcome."

Brick's eyes widened, panicked. No, no, no, no, no this isn't what I want!

"It's the only way to get what you want! Don't be such a zuojo, Brick."

"What does that even mean?!" Brick tried once again to get his body to move, to regain control, to do something, anything, so he could push Jonah away. It did no good. Jonah was still moving closer, lips puckered, and Brick couldn't move any of his muscles. The buzzing behind his eyes letting him know that the TICC was still firmly in control.

"It mean… WARNING. MTOTXGW. Zuuhxk Motzgzyoto. Runuirg ul Tuozvsaytuixkbu: Zxuvkx Yazgzy. Kxargol Yskzyey."

"What?"

"Shutting down…" Just like that, Brick had control of his body again. The buzzing behind his eyes, and the general buzzing that had inhabited his brain as of late, was gone and, unprepared for his sudden renewed control over his muscles, Brick flopped onto his back on the ground. Unfortunately, Jonah—to drunk to really understand what was going on—had followed him down to the ground as well. Landing on top of the first-class agent in a rather compromising position.

Double unfortunately, the door to the alley way from the bar swung open at just that moment. "Hey Brick," Aiden called out into the night, "I haven't been able to find Chip. Have you had any luck out here…" The Pink-Haired man stood still, his mouth forming a tiny 'o' as he took in the sight before him. His partner lying on top of his crush, trying to kiss him.

The door to the bar slammed shut beside him.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Aiden shouted.

"A-Aiden, I know this looks bad!" Brick started.

"Aiden?" Jonah mumbled, confused, glancing between said man and Brick.

"I can explain!" Brick postulated this remark by roughly shoving Jonah off of him. Upon realizing that he could control his limbs again, he smiled. "Oh, thank God, they work again!"

"You… You're not…?" Jonah mumbled. The man blinked up at the enraged Pink-Haired man, sobering up just a bit. "Wait, Aiden? How loong have you been—?"

"I-I guess I just don't get it. I mean, I could probably expect this from Brick, he's kind of a prick as is—"

"Ok, I guess I kinda had that one coming but that was still a little uncalled for—"

"—but Jonah I… I mean I get that you've been mad at me for awhile now. I mean I don't get why because you never talk to me but to get back you go and… seduce my guy?! I thought we were friends how could you!?" Aiden looked close to tears at this point. As if Brick couldn't feel any worse about all of this then he already did.

Jonah quickly stood up, rocking back and forth slightly do to his state of mind. "Aiden, it's not what it looks like! I was drunk—"

"And that's supposed to make all of this better?" Aiden snarled, bowing his head a little and taking a few shaky breaths. He leveled the two men with one last venom filled glare. "Have a fun fucking time in hell, you two sons of two bitches!" He yanked open the bar door, not even sparing the two men in the alley one last glance as he stormed away.

Jonah stared at the door, Brick could see the man's heartbreak etched on his face. Another knot on the ever-growing rope of guilt that was his conscious. Jonah glanced at his hands and then snarled at Brick. "Why did you do that?!"

"Do what?"

"I don't know! Hurt him, come on to me—"

"You tried to come on to me!"

"I was drunk! Why didn't you stop me or at least try?"

"Because …" Suddenly the explanation of 'My super-controlling, super-computer guidance counselor took control of my limbs and wouldn't let me move' sounded a little ridiculous. Now that Brick thought about it, the whole situation with the TICC sounded ridiculous. The lying, the underhanded gossip, the whole thing was utterly ridiculous.

Jonah scoffed, mumbling one last "Prick," before running off. Calling after Aiden to wait, to hold on, to just listen to him for a second, please!

Brick picked himself up off the ground and sat back down on the crate. He thought back about everything that he has done since getting the TICC. Abandoning Savannah, breaking up a friendship and possibly ruining any chances for a relationship to grow, breaking numerous rules and protocols of the Bureau and for what? Just to have a chance with Vinnie Dakota?

How could he have let it get this far? Was any of this really worth it?

The bar door opened once again, and a man shakily dropped onto his hands and knees on the ground. Brick glanced up and frowned. "Well look who finally decided to show up!" Chip looked like a mess. He was shaking, he was barley standing straight, and he kept mumbling something to himself, but Brick couldn't quite make it out from where he was. "Where the hell have you been anyway? And what's wrong with you, how much did you have to drink?"

Chip stood up shakily, turning to glance at Brick. "Brick!... Power down!... Buddy, pal, amigo… Power down!... How's it going?" The curly-haired man walked over towards the first-class agent. Well, attempted to walk. It was more half-walk, half-limp. Not to mention, he swayed back and forth an awful lot. Not in the way a drunkard would, but more in the way a child who is just learning to walk would.

It unnerved Brick to say the least.

Chip practically flung himself onto the spot next to Brick. His smile was odd to. Like he was trying to appear all relaxed and confident, but a definite panic edge was seeping through. "Man, it is such a good night? Isn't it a—power down!—good night?"

"Hardly, everything with Aiden and Jonah went to shit! Where were you? I could've used you and your TICC as some back up!"

"Pfft, we don't need our TICC's, Brick." The first-class agent stared in confusion at the very man who had sold him on the idea of TICCs not to long ago, now saying they didn't need them. "But you know what you do need? Power down!"

"Are you ok, Chip?" Brick asked. "Really, are you ok?" Brick studied the man further and noticed something. While for as long as he'd known Chip, the man always had neon green eyes, not unlike the color of Green Gush. Now, however, something was different. While one eye stayed the same green color, the other seemed to be… changing. Blinking back and fourth between neon green and light brown. "Is something wrong with your TICC?"

"What, no? Nothing's wrong—Power down!—what would give you that idea?—Power down!"

"…Let's call it a hunch."

"Say I do have a problem?—Power down! You wanna know what would help me out?—Power down!—Like, a lot?" Chip's one green eyes twitched.

"Uh… what?"

"Systems back online." Brick's TICC announced. "Apologies Brick, but I did warn you to avoid all the alcohol. So, what'd I miss?"

"I could really use a Red Gush right now." Chip told him.

"What did he say?" The TICC asked, sounding panicked.

"Red Gush?" Brick questioned. "Wasn't that drink discontinued back in the—whoa!"

"WARNING! WARNING! Pending Danger to Host Body; Seek out Shelter for the next 13 Hours." A buzzing behind his eyes let Brick know that once again, he was no longer in control of his limbs. He stood up stiffly, shoving Chip to the ground as he did so, and began to run away.

"What the hell is going on?"

"There is a high probability for danger in this area for you at this given moment. I'm taking you back to your apartment for your own safety and self-preservation."

"Brick—Power down!—wait!" Chip called out, unable to keep up with Brick as the first-class agent sprinted away.

"What about Chip?"

"He won't be a concern of yours for much longer." The TICC replied, turning him in the direction of his apartment. Brick frowned, and while he couldn't do much, he was able to glance back at the alley, casting a helpless look towards it as Chip continued to scream, growing more desperate and scared as he went on.

"Brick don't listen to her—power down!—she's no good Brick! You'll end up like me if you're not careful—Power down! You need—Power down!—Red Gush, Brick! Power down! You need Red Gush! I need Red Gush! Power down! Power down! Power down power down power down power down!"

–Meanwhile, in the 21st Century–

Cavendish, Dakota, Lotte, and Savannah found the children huddled behind some trash cans on the curb near a run-down motel. They seemed to be talking amongst themselves and gesturing to a door.

"What're we doing here again?" Savannah asked.

"The kids said they were in trouble and needed our help." Cavendish explained.

"An' then we called ya two for back-up in case of a Murphy's Law incident." Dakota told them.

"What does Murphy's Law have to do with any of this?" Savannah questioned.

Cavendish raised a brow at Lotte. "She's been guarding pistachios with you for a week and a half now and she hasn't noticed a single Murphy's Law incident?"

"Half of it's bad timing, the other half is I think it's been kind of slow." Lotte shrugged. The four agents crouched down lower to the ground and made their way to the children. Melissa smiled in greeting, "Nice of you to join us."

"How long have you guys been sitting out here?" Lotte asked, crouching down by Milo.

"Long enough for a bunch of magpies to swarm Milo twice and that dumpster over there," Zack pointed to a dumpster across the street, which looked burned, "to catch fire."

"How does any of that even happen?" Savannah asked.

"Milo's kinda a Murphy's Law attractor-inator or somethin', I dunno." Dakota narrowed his eyes at the door the kids were staring at. "Soo… what're we doin' here exactly?"

"That thing that happened to Brick a few weeks ago? When he just sort of… y'know freaked out?" Melissa asked. "Well, we have on good authority that what caused him to freak out is behind that door."

"Behind that door there?" Lotte asked, almost sounding nervous.

"Yep!" Milo replied, not noticing his green-haired companion's sudden nervousness. "In fact, we know the name of what caused it."

"Really? What is it?" Cavendish inquired.

"They're called TICCs!" Melissa told them. Savannah's eyes widened, and she glanced over to Lotte, who was sheet white. Under her trademark sunglasses, Savannah noticed an eye twitching. "It stands for something like Tiny Computers Inside Your Head or whatever, I forget exactly."

"They take over a host and turn them into a zombie! Like a robotized zombie." Zack explained further.

"And they're activated using Green Gush!" Milo added before furrowing his brows. "Hey, is anybody starting to see certain parallels between the current events of our lives and our school play?"

Cavendish and Dakota merely raised a brow at Milo's question. Before they could ask him to clarify, Lotte began to laugh. And laugh, and laugh, and laugh. The three children were glaring at her, offended by her clear disbelieve, and Cavendish and Dakota were just simply shocked that she was being so rude to the kids. Savannah was simply staring at the door with a far-off look in her eyes. Lotte wiped the tears from her eyes. "C'mon guys, you have to admit this all sounds kind of yuaraiojox…" The kids, Cavendish, and Dakota stared at her in confusion. "Like, some evil person behind that door—"

"Actually its persons… y'know, plural."

"Wouldn't it be people then?"

"—is using some bug to turn others—"

"Not a bug, a computer!"

"I mean, in this case, kind of the same difference?"

"—into robot zombies? I'm sorry, but that sounds like something out of a cheap musical or a really tuoziol-tgl jgh." Lotte's smile faltered a bit upon noticing (most) of her companion's odd looks. "W-what? What is it?"

"What language are you speaking just now?" Cavendish asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You keep saying certain words like ya…yue… yu yu haku… other words that kinda sound like a different language." Milo pointed out.

"Like 's it Russian or somethin'?" Dakota asked. "Cause it sounds Russian to me."

"I would have said Romanian." Melissa said.

Lotte smiled nervously. "Whaat? No! You guys are just being a bunch of silly zuojos like always…"

"Seriously, though, it sounds kinda Russian t' me—"

A loud, ear-piercing scream of sheer pain and terror cut through the air and through Dakota's next remark. Savannah was on her feet in an instant, eyes narrowing at the door. With a sick sense of dread, the others realized the scream was coming from behind the door the kids had been observing.

"Um, what do we do now?" Zack asked, unsure of how to proceed. On one hand, he wanted to help whoever was clearly in a lot of pain. On the other, he (kind of) knew what was behind that door and he knew it wasn't good.

"What do you think?" Savannah asked. However as she was about to take a step forward, she winced and held her head in her hands, looking to be in some pain.

"Are you alright?" Cavendish asked her.

"I… My head hurts…" Savannah said through gritted teeth. Cavendish and Dakota exchanged glances while Lotte was casting wary looks between Savannah and the door. Melissa rolled her eyes. "Oh for the love of—Milo, go knock on the door!"

"Knock on the door?"

"Maybe Murphy's Law will kick in and do…"

Milo raised a brow. "Do what exactly?"

"I don't know! Just go knock on the door!" Milo shrugged and cautiously approached the door. Lotte, for whatever reason, was at his side the moment he stepped out around the trash cans. "In case something really bad happens." was her only explanation. Milo noticed, however, how anxious Lotte was. It seemed that whatever was behind that door was really important to her. And he had no idea why.

Upon approaching the door, with Lotte standing behind him, her hands on his shoulders, Milo raised his hand. The youth was only able to knock one time before the wood door began to crack, like a windshield after being hit with a rock. With a dull yet impressive Snap! the door broke into splinters and shattered to the ground, the door knob, lock, and hinges clattering to the ground beside Milo's feet, allowing the youth and the time traveler access to the room.

Milo's face contorted in a silent scream of terror as Lotte shoved the boy behind her in an attempt to block Milo from the sights of the room. The other children made to come follow there friend, but a gesture from Lotte and the other agents held them back, with Cavendish going up to assist Lotte.

On the floor of the motel room lay the man Milo recognized from Monty's pictures as Rodney. He was out cold, Milo knew that much, but his entire body was twitching. His mouth hung open with a green, liquidy-substance pouring out. The skin that Milo could see was utterly covered in bright, neon green lines that, on first glance, looked like random tattoos. But, upon closer inspection from behind Lotte—who insisted that Milo look away—Milo realized that the green lines were actually the blood veins, made clear and visible.

The screaming, Milo realized with dread, was coming from Victor Verliezer. The man himself was on his knees beside Rodney, but he wasn't screaming out of concern. No, he was screaming in pain. His fists to his head, pulling at his hair, and some skin (Green-veined skin, Milo noticed) and screaming to Get out get out get outta my head! Tears running down his face, Victor looked up at him and Lotte. The former tech-giant's eyes locked on Lotte and his screams grew louder. With whatever strength he had he backed away, like a wounded animal. "No, stop, please, just get out! Get out!"

Lotte glanced up at Cavendish and the two exchanged tense nods. Cavendish lead Milo back to his friend while Lotte stepped inside the apartment. "What's going on in there?" Savannah asked.

Cavendish frowned. "Children, stay out here while we go in and… uh, I suppose, subdue Verliezer?" The uncertainty in Cavendish's voice, while understandable, did nothing to pacify the children's growing nerves. Dakota's brow furrowed, he glanced up at Lotte, who was trying to calm down Verliezer, or at least, that what it looked like to him.

Dakota gave Zack a tiny nudge, with a look that said, 'Stay here' and Savannah did the same for Melissa. "You three stay here. Don't come in until we—" Savannah started, until she caught the look Cavendish was giving her. "Um… just wait out here."

"Should… Should we call Monty and let him know what's going on?" Milo asked, quietly.

"Please just get out! Get out get out get—oof!" All six looked towards the door and saw Lotte's silhouette looming over an unconscious body. Dakota frowned. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea…"

Melissa nodded and pulled out her cellphone as the three time-travelers headed towards the motel room. Zack put a comforting arm around Milo's shoulder, the boy leaned his head on his friend's shoulder. "Before he picks up," Melissa said, putting the phone to her ear, "how bad was it?"

"It was… bad." Milo said. Zack's frown deepened. Melissa nodded.

"Oh, hey, Monty? It's Melissa, from the school? Um, listen, we decided to try and stop Verliezer ourselves, kinda nip the situation in the bud? But, um, well… you might wanna get over here." A pause. "Yeah, I guess it's pretty bad." Another pause, Melissa glanced between her friends and the motel room door. "Yeah, ok, we'll be here." She hung up. "Monty and some other agents are coming over, they'll be here in ten minutes."

"That's good, at least." Zack said. Milo glanced back at the door, and saw Cavendish and Dakota hovering over Rodney's unconscious body, seemingly unsure of how to help him.

–Meanwhile, with Lotte–

"Please just get out! Get out get out get—oof!" Verliezer crumpled to the ground once Lotte's elbow connected with his face. Kicking his unconscious body away, the green-haired girl wrinkled her nose. She glanced around the dingy room, at all the science equipment, and sighed.

"Well, that could've gone better." The ever-constant humming and buzzing in her head seemed to agree, it always agreed with her. "First Chip, now this." Lotte approached a table with a small tablet press on it, clearly of Rodney's design. Next to it was a small, plastic container of small, gray, oblong pills. At least a couple hundred. "Huh, guess you weren't completely iozknzgv after all."

"Sweet tap-dancing Christ, what happened in here?" Savannah's voice startled Lotte out of her train of thought.

"I don't know, but whatever it was," Lotte stealthily moved her body to cover up the container of pills, "I bet it had something to do with this machine here."

As Dakota approached the table, the green-haired agent quickly tucked the container behind her back and out of sight from Cavendish and Savannah. Dakota inspected the machine. "I'm probably not the expert here, but I think this machine was used recently." The younger man glanced down at the unconscious body of Victor and gave Lotte an unamused look. "Do I even wanna to know?"

"He was hysterical, it was either knock him out or deal with it the hard way."

"Right…" Cavendish trailed off, not really believing what Lotte was saying. "So, now what do we do?"

"Well, the kids have probably called there one friend, Monty," Lotte frowned at that, "and he'll probably be here soon."

"We should probably subdue and contain these two here," Lotte nodded towards the unmoving bodies on the floor.

"Subdue and contain? Lotte, they're out cold!" Savannah pointed out.

"For now. And let's face it, with Murphy's Law homing beacon right outside, it probably would be a good idea to make sure they can't get very far if they do wake up shortly." The other three agents exchanged uncertain looks before Savannah sighed.

"Cavendish, Dakota, you get egghead over there and put him on the bed." Savannah rolled her eyes. "I'll get Verliezer and then, I don't know, we'll tie them to the bed with rope or something?"

"Playin' it by ear?"

"Completely."

As Savannah bent down and grabbed Verliezer by his shoulders, and Cavendish and Dakota hovered uncertainly over Rodney's body, Lotte smiled. "Maybe we can use spare towels or something as a makeshift handcuff?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Great," turning towards the bathroom, making sure to keep the container of pills out of sight, Lotte's smile turned to a smirk, "I'll go grab some!" As the second-class agent stepped into the bathroom, she spared one more glance towards her companions, to see if they were looking her way. Seeing they weren't, Lotte tucked the container of pills into her jacket. No one was the wiser.

That was when all there communicators went off. A flashing red screen portraying the message: "Red Alert! All Agents report to secondary location as soon as possible"

–A little later, at Play Rehearsal–

Milo and Zack gave Melissa one last thumbs-up sign for encouragement as the music started and the lights shown down on her. As this was the last weekend before the show, today was the day to really work on all the musical numbers. Mr. Draco had decided to work on all the big group numbers first and slowly work down to the solo numbers.

Being one of the leads, Milo was resigned to be there for the rest of the day. Which Mr. Draco was actually grateful for, as it would be easier for them to prepare for the general Murphy's Law Incidents that could happen.

After powering through both the original and reprise of More than Survive and Be More Chill, The Play, and Upgrade having to deal with slippery floors, the lights that dangled precariously over student's heads, a sudden inability for the microphones to work, and a stampede of Chihuahuas dressed as wizards gave the students a sense of cautious confidence.

Except for Melissa, who was dealing with all the expected stage jitters.

Mr. Draco had instructed the cast to start rehearsing The Smartphone Hour and that was, in a sense, Melissa's big numbers, being the show's resident Jenna Roland and all. Milo and Zack had assured Melissa—who had been rehearsing both in and out of rehearsal for this number—that she would be great. And Milo felt confident that since he wasn't on stage for this number (as opposed to other numbers) there would be significantly less Murphy's Law related problems.

The curtain opened, and Melissa began to sing while furiously typing on her phone screen. "~O-M-G, Chloe, answer me! Whoa, wait until I tell you what I heard! It's to messed up to type, this news is ripe; Call back. I'll yell you every word!~"

A light shown down on the opposite side of the stage as Lydia appeared on stage. "Jenna Roland calling? Ugh, Jenna Roland calling. Jenna Roland calling… Hey!"

"Ohmygod-ohmygod—ok, so!" Melissa stepped forward slightly. "~At the end of last night's party, very end of last night's party, did you see Rich?~"

"Oh, I saw Rich."

"~So he's behaving hazy like a tweakin' junky, flailing crazy like a freakin' monkey!~"

"~He's gotta learn how to handle his high, shouldn't drink so much for a small guy~"

"Right, but he wasn't drunk."

"The heck you sayin', Jenna…"

"No, he wasn't drunk!" Melissa turned to Lydia to give her an assured look.

Lydia gave Melissa a surprised look. "The heck you sayin', Jenna?"

"~No! Because I heard from Dustin Kropp, that Rich had barely touched a drop! So you can't blame the things he did on alcohol~" Melissa struck a dramatic pose. "~It's just so terrible that I don't want to relive it all!~" Melissa straightened up a little, smirking almost teasingly towards Lydia. "But do you want me to tell you?"

"Spit it out! Spit it out!"

"You really want me to tell you?"

"Spit it out! Spit it out!"

"~I'll tell you cause you are my closest friend!~"

"No, I'm not."

"Yeah, I know." Melissa stepped forward on the stage, smack dab in the center. Milo and Zack smiled encouragingly to her and that's when Milo noticed Principal Milder talking to Mr. Draco, and the two seemed really happy about something. "~But here's what happened at the party's end: Rich set a fire and he burned down the house!~"

Milo nudge Zack and directed his friends attention towards the sight. "Do you think they're talking about the play?"

"Probably." Zack narrowed his eyes. "Wait, whose that guy standing near the doors?" Milo glanced over and saw a man in a pea green dress shirt and black shoes standing near the auditorium entrance doors. He held a folder with the trademark G and C combo that everyone associated with the Gush Co. brand.

Despite the low lighting in the auditorium itself (Murphy's Law causing a few lightbulbs to explode), Milo was able to make out the glow of his green eyes. His neon green eyes!

"~Whoa! Rich set a fire and he burned down the house!~"

"Neon green eyes!" Milo whispered to Zack, frightened. Zack's eyes widened.

"You don't think Verliezer or that Rodney guy sent him do you? To finish the job?" After securing Verliezer and Rodney, the time travel agents had gotten a red alert on there communicators. Saying that, with no exceptions, all agents were to report to the mandatory second location in 2176 as soon as possible. While Savannah and Lotte were ready to go then and there, Cavendish and Dakota made them all hang back until Monty and the other O.W.C.A agents showed up, so that the kids would be safe.

Thankfully, Monty and a bunch of trucks had pulled up not five minutes later. Cavendish and Dakota made each kid promise to call or text them if they needed additional help before Lotte and Savannah had all but dragged them into their own time vehicle.

"~I thought I was dreaming, everybody was screaming.~"

After Monty had arrived and saw inside the motel room, he too forbid the younger children from entering. Taking one breath to reprimand them from coming here in the first place, "I wanted your help in stopping them, not for you three to come here all by yourselves." Even if Milo had pointed out that they called back-up. Then Monty had thanked the children for there bravery and for helping to bring them in. Again, Milo pointed out that it was the time travelers who had done all the real work. Monty had asked if the children could get the agents back in town for questioning, and they said they would try.

Then he got a panda in a fedora to drive the kids to rehearsal. An actual Panda, in a fedora. It was fun.

"~When Rich set a fire and he burned down the house!~"

Milo still couldn't get the image of Verliezer on his knees, screaming and begging for something Milo couldn't see to leave him alone. Or Rodney lying on the ground, unmoving and covered in green lines.

"Maybe…" Milo said, in response to Zack's question.

"~When Rich set a fire and he burned down the house!~"

"Let's try and get a closer look at this guy." Zack suggested. Milo nodded and the two turned and headed for the stage door.

–Meanwhile, in the year 2176–

The official rendezvous point for any Red Alert situation was a warehouse a block away from B.O.T.T. Headquarters. No one in the agency was ever really sure who owned the warehouse and why they allowed for a time travel agency to use it for emergencies, what with the fluctuating time lines and all. Sometimes it was owned by a well-know politician who was trying to make themselves likeable to the public for allowing an agency to use it. Other times a wealthy family with connection to the agency had given it generously to the agency, or it was something the agency itself had bought.

Either way, B.O.T.T. had a warehouse now to use for emergencies.

Specifically, emergencies that were not something that even a time travel agency could prevent. No matter how many agents they sent back to try.

Suffice to say; Cavendish, Dakota, Lotte, and Savannah were all worried about why they—and every other agent—had been called back. After pulling into the parking lot, they all started to get an idea of why they were called back.

Between the agents who looked like they had been pulled straight from an inferno to the lingering smell of smoke, the answer was obvious. A fire. But who set it? And why would they? Were they targeting a specific agent or was it just an attack on B.O.T.T. in general? Lotte pulled the lemon of a time machine near the wall, it was crooked, and the others could barely get out of the car because of the lack of space, but they didn't care. They had questions, and they had a good idea on who could give them answers.

"Mr. Block!" Savannah called, spotting her boss. The man in question turned and sighed in relief upon seeing them. "What happened?"

"And why does everyone smell like a barbecue gone wrong?" Dakota added.

"Haven't you figured it out?" Block asked them. "An agent set B.O.T.T. HQ on fire!"

"What?!" Cavendish, Dakota, and Savannah exclaimed.

"Bummer," Lotte frowned. Block ignored her.

"Reports came in that a suspicious figure was stumbling down the street in the early morning and then a few hours later, the board room was up in flames!"

"How could this have happened?" Cavendish asked. "Agent or no agent, this arson would've been caught by security, right?"

"And if not security, wouldn't graveyard shift have saw them?" Savannah added.

"Or what about the emergency safeguards? Or at least a time traveler with nothin' to do?" Dakota added.

"Who was this ass-clown who set the building on fire anyway?" The head of the agency and the other three agents gave the green-haired girl a look for her comment. "What? Oh, the 'ass-clown' thing? C'mon, you guys know I could come up with something worse like that." Lotte snapped her fingers to emphasize her point.

"I'm not sure, but whoever did it had almost encyclopedic knowledge of how the Bureau works. Security shifts, database recognition hacks, and structural spots that would be most damaged by a fire." Block shook his head, still not quite wrapping his head around the whole ordeal.

"Excuse me, sir," Gretchen approached the group, holding out a phone to Mr. Block, "White House is on line one, they want a statement on what happened."

"Ugh! Can't you stall a bit longer, I'm still trying to make sure all the agents got back ok."

"I'm sorry, sir. But they need some kind of statement for the time being." Block pinched his brow. He turned to Savannah.

"See if you can't figure out who did this, would you?"

"Of course, sir."

Block snatched the phone from Gretchen, before storming away, muttering to whoever was on the other end about how they could've given him a little longer than an hour to figure things out. Gretchen crossed her arms and sneered. "A 'thank you' would've been appreciated." Then she reluctantly followed after him.

The four time-agents raised a brow before huddling together. "Ok, let's think about what we know of the situation." Cavendish suggested.

"Right!" Lotte agreed. "Ok, someone burned down HQ. What else?"

Dakota stroked his chin in thought. "Block did say it was early in the morning. Maybe it was some drunk who got lucky?"

"I don't believe so. No drunk would be able to just stumble in and burn an entire agency's head quarters to the ground. At least not without getting caught." Cavendish said.

"But they weren't caught." Dakota pointed out. "At least, not by the agency."

"And they also knew where to lite the fire." Savannah mused.

"That's right! This arson knew when security shifts were, when they would end and when there breaks were."

"And they knew how to get pass the more important security checks." Dakota scratched his head. "It's like they had encyclopedic knowledge of the entire agency and how it works."

"Encyclopedic knowledge?" Savannah, Cavendish, and Dakota exchanged glances and then glanced at Lotte, who glared at her companions.

"Oh fuck you guys! I didn't do it." Lotte crossed her arms defensively.

"We know, we know, you were with us the entire time." Even when he was saying it, Cavendish knew that was a flimsy excuse. An unspoken perk of being a time-traveler, you could leave and go to another time period and then return without being noticed. And Lotte's dislike of the Bureau, and Mr. Block, were well known. And the woman did seem to have encyclopedic knowledge of most things.

"It's just that, well, lately…" Savannah trailed off, and Dakota fiddled with his jacket, glancing away.

Lotte glared. "Gee, I feel loved."

"Well who do you think it was?" Cavendish asked.

"You know I'm not the only one with a good memory here, right?" Lotte asked. The three agents raised a brow. "Yeah, Chip has an even better memory than me. He was always beating me at those memory games."

"So, you think it was Chip?"

Lotte shrugged. "Well, it wasn't me."

"If only we knew someone Chip was close to, maybe someone he hangs out with. They might be able to tell us." Cavendish said.

"Brick seemed pretty close to him—" Dakota started.

"No." Savannah said sternly, startling the younger man.

"—Ok, maybe not ask Brick."

Lotte snapped her fingers. "I got it! Agent Aiden Rosetti and Agent Jonah Olwen! They hang around Brick, who hangs around Chip. Maybe they know something about all of this?"

Dakota shrugged. "Best lead we got."

–Meanwhile, in the 21st Century–

While Zack and Milo snuck out the door, Melissa exited the stage, making room for Joni to take her place while Lydia stepped forward on stage. "~O-M-G, Brooke, answer me! Look, wait until I tell you what I saw.~"

Joni made a face and tapped her phone. "Ignore."

Lydia harrumphed. "~And also space and frowny face…~" Lydia furiously typed at her phone screen, texting. "And I'm sorry that Jeremy made out with me at the party, but it was totally his fault and let's not let boys ever come between us ever again, ok? Smiley face, lipstick, kitty paw!" Lydia placed her phone to her ear and bounced on her heels, impatiently, while Joni made a show of checking her phone slowly.

Zack and Milo came around the side entrance to the stage, making sure to be as quite as they could be. Thankfully, the worst Murphy's Law got was the doorknob snapping off in Milo's grip. Upon entering the auditorium proper, Zack and Milo dropped to their hands and knees and did an army shuffle towards where Mr. Draco and Principal Midler were.

"Isn't it a bit weird for a play to have sponsors?" Mr. Draco whispered, not wanting to drown out his students performance.

"No weirder than our marching band having a plastic bucket player." Principal Midler pointed out. Milo and Zack exchanged glances. Sponsorship?

"Hey." Joni said.

"We cool?" Lydia asked.

"We are." Joni said, in an ambivalent tone.

"Ok, so!" Lydia launched into her next part. "~At the end of last night's party, did you see Rich?~"

"No, I was crying."

"~So he's behaving weird and I was frightened, because I feared his state was heightened.~"

"~He's gotta learn to not really smoke a lot, he shouldn't get so high for a tiny guy!~"Joni sang before Lydia joined her for the next verse. "~He's gotta learn to not really smoke a lot, he shouldn't get so high for a tiny guy!~"

"Right, but he wasn't high!" Lydia explained. "~So you can't blame the things he did on pot!~" She then faced her phone towards her, appearing to be video chatting. "~It's just so awful, so I'll talk about it a lot!~"

"Well then, it seems everything is in order." Mr. Draco said.

"Excellent! I hope the children like Green Gush." Milo and Zack's blood ran cold while Mr. Draco made a face.

"Yeah we might have a slight problem there."

–Meanwhile, in the year 2176–

It took longer than the four time-travelers would like to admit for them to find either Jonah or Aiden. But after a bit of searching, they were able to find Jonah, the poor soul, who seemed pretty tore up about something when the four found him. Reeking of alcohol and pot. "Sweet sugar-fried Lord, Jonah, what the hell happened to you?" Lotte asked, with her usual level of decorum.

Jonah winced. "Not so loud, please."

"Oh, sorry!" Lotte whispered.

"Still too loud…" Jonah moaned. Cavendish and Dakota winced.

"You don't look so good, Jonah…" Cavendish said as quietly as he could manage.

"No kidding…"

"How did, well, this," Savannah gestured to the man's messed up state, "even happen?"

Jonah sighed heavily and slid to the floor. "I was just… trying to forget the pain…"

"Pain?" Savannah asked. "What pain?"

"Did you get caught in the fire?" Lotte asked, more curious than sympathetic.

"Fire?" Jonah mumbled. "No, I wasn't anywhere near HQ last night."

"Then where were you?" Cavendish asked.

"I was with… with… ugh!" The man sank even lower onto the ground, sobbing. The four other agents took a step back, not really prepared for this. "I was with him!" More sobbing, as Jonah curled in on himself.

"It's like watchin' a drunk noodle cry." Dakota noted quietly.

Cavendish shot his partner a look. "Listen, Jonah, I understand this is a bad time for you—"

"I don't know, he seems like he's having a lot of fun." Lotte interjected. Savannah and Dakota glared at her.

"—but I need to know if you saw or heard from Chip last night."

"Chip?" Jonah sniffled. "He… he was with me and… and him and… and Brick last night."

"Where was that?" Savannah pressed.

"We went to some bar… I don't remember."

"Ok, what happened there?"

"And if you could tell us without crying on my boot, that would be awesome." Lotte wrinkled her nose. Jonah sat up with a little help from Cavendish and Dakota.

"I went with Brick the Prick and Chip and… and…"

"Him?" The other four agents asked.

"Yeah, Aiden." Jonah sniffled again, and Cavendish offered him a hankie out of pity. "Of course Aiden was hanging off of Brick's every word, and I just couldn't stand to watch it anymore, so I went outside to have my own fun. I drank a bit too much, I don't remember what happened next." Jonah seemed to scowl. "But the next thing I know, I'm in that asshole's lap and Aiden is crying and won't even look at me and—" A sound somewhere between a growl and a sob escaped Jonah's throat.

"I think we get the picture!" Lotte said quickly, not really wanting to deal with anymore of Jonah's emotions. "But, listen, as much as you need a shoulder or boot to cry on right now, we have more pressing matters."

"Lotte!" Cavendish scolded. "Show some heart." Lotte rolled her eyes.

Savannah placed a hand on Jonah's shoulders. "Listen, this whole fire thing, we have an idea who might have done it, but we need to know what happened to that person. So, do you think you could tell us what happened to Chip after last night?"

"Chip?" Jonah asked. "I honestly don't know. Last I heard he was being taken to the ICU during the early hours this morning. But so were a lot of other agents, so that doesn't mean much."

Dakota sighed. "Do you know if, uh, he would know?"

Jonah moaned and placed his head in his hands. "Maybe…"

"Guess that's our next lead." Savannah said. "C'mon, guys, let's go."

Savannah began to lead the way, with Cavendish and Dakota in tow, but Lotte hung back. "I'll catch up, ok!"

"Ok, just be quick!" Cavendish told her. As he turned to acknowledge her, he saw Lotte kneeling down and pulling something out of her pocket, handing it to Jonah.

–Meanwhile, at Play Rehearsal–

"~Rich set a fire and he burned down the house! Whoa!~" Lydia sang, Joni now stood up. Excited for the latest piece of gossip. "~I thought I was dreaming, everybody was screaming!~"

Milo and Zack couldn't believe what they were hearing. The play was being sponsored? By Gush CO.? Did this have something to do with TICC's? Were Verliezer and Rodney behind this?

"What do we do?" Zack asked Milo. "What does this mean?

"~When Rich set a fire and he burned down the house!~"

Milo frowned. "I… I don't know…"

"~When Rich set a fire and he burned down the house!~"

Due to the loud music, the two friends didn't hear the footsteps approaching them from behind.

–Meanwhile, in the year 2176–

Aiden was, thankfully, easier to find. The four found the pink-haired man sulking outside, on the hood of his time vehicle. Now, Aiden was one of the most well-liked agents in the Bureau. Known for his friendly demeanor and just general approachability. So, imagine the surprise of the four agents when they found he man had a deep, angry scowl on his face.

The four were contemplating if was really worth talking to him when Lotte sighed. "Oh, fuck this. Hey, Aiden!" The green-haired girl approached the pink-haired man.

The man in question glanced over and raised a hand. "Oh, hey. Lotte, right?"

"Yup!" Lotte sat down next to him on the hood of the car as her companions joined her. "Mind if we ask you something?"

Aiden's nose wrinkled. "If you're here to get me to talk to the ultimate Jackass, nice try. Half the agency's already tried."

"That's not what we were tryin' to do." Dakota said. "But, I mean, the guy seems pretty messed up about… whatever happened."

"Didn't seem to messed up when he was in my boyfriend's lap." Aiden mumbled darkly.

"Did Blockhead just send us out to be goddamn marriage counselors to these two?" Lotte mumbled.

"Shush," Cavendish told her, "Aiden, we came to ask where you were when the fire started."

"Uh… I don't know if I can tell you that." Aiden shifted away from Lotte.

"Why not?" Savannah asked.

"Because… well, I could get in a lot of trouble for it…"

"Wait, were you the one who started the fire?" Lotte asked, surprised.

"What? No! I wasn't anywhere near the fire when it was started."

"So, where were you?"

Aiden paused and then looked up at the four other agents. "If I tell you… do you guys promise to not tell Mr. Block?"

Lotte shrugged. "I never tell him anything, anyway, so no problem. Right guys?" Despite there friend's obvious readiness to this, the other three agents were a bit wary. Aiden said he didn't start the fire, but that didn't mean he wasn't trying to protect who did. Could they trust him?

"You… uh, ya promise ya didn't start the fire?" Dakota asked.

"I swear on the Code of Conduct, I didn't."

"Wait, there's a Code of Conduct?" Lotte asked.

"So, if you didn't start the fire," Savannah asked, ignoring Lotte, "what were you doing when the fire was started?"

"I… I… was about to go back and stop Brick, Chip, Jonah, and I from ever going out to drink!"

"What?!"

Aiden sat up, looking angry, sad, confused, and tired all at once. "I know, I know! It's against the rules, but I was so angry last night. My best friend cheated on me with my boyfriend—and I don't know what's more upsetting about that! The fact that I didn't trust Brick from the start and yet this still happened or that Jonah could just break my heart like that. I was… I just… I wanted a do-over…"

Dakota frowned and placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "Nothing wrong with a do-over, right?" Aiden wiped a tear from his eye.

"Didn't even get the chance to go, anyway. The fire started right before I could grab a time vehicle." Aiden shook his head. "To think, I was with him a majority of the night… and then he burns down a building…"

"Who burned down the building?" Cavendish asked.

"Chip Wolowitz. You didn't know?" The four shook their heads. "Yeah, I guess he snuck past all the guards and set the place on fire. I guess he set himself on fire too…"

"Really?" Dakota asked, horrified.

"Yeah, that's how he ended up in ICU. I guess people saw him practically throw himself into the fire. Said he was acting funny beforehand."

"What do you mean?"

Aiden shrugged. "I don't know, I didn't hear. My pal Sylvia from accounting saw the whole thing though. She told me he kept screaming for some drink, uh, Red Gush?"

"Red Gush?" Chorused Cavendish, Dakota, and Savannah.

"… Red Gush?" Lotte asked, sounding nervous.

"Yeah. I don't know. It was taken off the market before any of us were born, I think." Aiden reclined back onto the hood of his car. "Guess it must have been a good drink if Chip was thinking about it before he decided to become a literal Human Torch."

Savannah frowned, "Guess we'll never know." She tuned to her companions. "Let's go tell, Block. He'll want to know about this." The former first-class agent once again led the way, with Cavendish and Dakota following close behind.

"Thank you, for the help, Aiden." Cavendish told him.

"Yeah… no problem…" Aiden sulked, scowl deepening.

"Yo, Lotte, you comin'?" Dakota asked. The green-haired girl waved her friend off.

"Relax, I'll catch up in a bit." Dakota nodded, but as he turned around, out of the corner of his eye he saw Lotte reaching into her coat pocket and pull something out. Aiden seemed quite intrigued by whatever it was.

–Meanwhile, at Play Rehearsal–

Melissa rejoined Lydia and Joni at the front of the stage, along with the remaining cast who were also apart of the musical number. "~Hey everybody, have you heard? Rich set a fire, now go spread the word!~"

Lydia stepped in front of Melissa. "Sending a text!"

"Text!" The chorus responded.

"Sending a tweet!"

"Tweet!"

"Sending a text!"

"Text!"

"Tweet!"

"Tweet!"

"~Release the information, step, and repeat!~"

"I'll spread the word!" Joni smiled gleefully, stepping in front of Melissa and Lydia.

"~Woooord!~"

"That Rich is squeaked!"

Lydia and Melissa, along with the other cast on stage gave Joni an odd look. "Squeaked?"

"No, I meant screwed."

"Oh…"

"Did I say 'squeaked'?

"Yeah…"

"Sorry guys, that's just my autocorrect."

"~Always be aware of autocorrect~"

–Meanwhile, in the year 2176–

Block had taken the news that it was Chip who set the fire about as well as to be expected. Of course, when he learned that Chip was among the few agents who had been taken to the hospital, his mood had soured. More so than usual, anyway. Block, having to deal with at least five other high-ranking officials breathing down his neck over the ordeal, had ordered Gretchen to let the hospital know that Chip had to be placed in a maximum-security wing.

Gretchen, of course, pointing out that the man was probably still unconscious fell on deaf ears. So, she did as she was told. Meanwhile, the four agents were sent away with a half-hearted "Good job". Dakota had gone off to go get some food for the four of them, Lotte had gone to make a few phone calls ("Some of my friends might be worried, y'know?" She said), Savannah had wandered off at some point, and Cavendish was left to wonder the new building that, until further notice, was to be the Bureau's new office.

All in all, it was what he expected. A mostly open floor plan, a couple offices on the upper floors, and a bunch of old, rusty equipment leftover from whatever the heck this place used to be before the Bureau got ahold of it.

The break room near the back of the warehouse was a nice change of pace, Cavendish found. Somewhat cleaner than the rest of the building and seemingly stocked with a functional bending machine. True, it was mostly filled with Green Gush, but hey, it was the thought that counts right.

The mustached man thought he was alone, what with the lights still being off, unlike other rooms in the warehouse. That was until he heard a moan of pain. He glanced around the room and was kind of surprised to find Savannah sitting at a nearby table near the vending machine. Cavendish approached and knelt down beside her. "Savannah?"

She groaned and shushed him, though she sounded kind of weak. Cavendish frowned. "Am I correct to assume this is a migraine?" He whispered. Savannah nodded. "Hold tight." The man approached the vending machine and, upon seeing that the only options were Green Gush and Bottled Watered, selected a bottle of Green Gush. He did a favor for his co-worker and opened the bottle and dropping it down. "Sorry, this is all they have, really." Savannah shifted slightly and raised a brow at him. "It will help."

"Thanks…" Savannah mumbled, taking a slow sip. Cavendish nodded before grabbing himself a bottle of water out of the machine.

"Do you need an aspirin?" He asked quietly, sitting across from Savannah.

"Just took one." Cavendish nodded, taking a sip of his water as Savannah took a bigger sip of the Green Gush, only to wrinkle her nose in disgust.

"God this soda sucks."

Cavendish shrugged, glancing at the vending machine. There was clearly an imbalance of Green Gush in the vending machine, with three and a half of the five rows being filled with nothing but the drink in question. "If I didn't know better, I'd say there was a bias here."

"I think in one timeline," Savannah muttered, "this place used to belong to Gush. Co."

"Really?"

"Yeah, they made some of the drinks here at the turn of the century." Savannah explained. "Until this place fell under and they sold it to B.O.T.T for a pretty penny."

Cavendish hummed in response. "Learn something new every day, it seems." Savannah nodded and the two sat in fairly comfortable silence for quite some time. With Savannah, reluctantly, nearly finishing the bottle of Green Gush given to her. Then Cavendish noticed something.

With the only light being the dull one coming out of the vending machine, it was hard to miss at first. But there it was; a bright, neon green line running up and down Savannah's arms and hands. Cavendish raised a brow. "Did you get a tattoo recently?"

"Hmm?"

"A tattoo? On your arm there." Cavendish pointed to the spot and Savannah glanced down, eyes widening in surprise.

"What the—ah!" Savannah winced in pain, bringing a hand to her head.

"Are you ok?"

"How long has that been there?" Savannah asked. Cavendish shook his head.

"I just noticed it, so I assume not—"

"Well of course I'm concerned! There are green lines on my arm!" Savannah glared down angrily at her arm.

"I, uh, what?"

"Side-effect? What'd do you mean side-effect?!"

"I never mentioned anything about side-effects…"

"Get rid of it!" Savannah gestured angrily to her arm. "Now!"

"I don't think I can do that—"

"I wasn't talking to you," Savannah snapped, "I was talking to—" Savannah was cut off. Slapping a hand, ironically the green one, over her mouth. It seemed, to Cavendish, that the woman was surprised that she did that. "I didn't want to do that…" The woman muttered.

"Savannah, you're starting to worry me." The woman glanced up at Cavendish, and the man's eyes widened in surprise. "Uh, Savannah, please tell me you wear color contacts and one of them just fell out."

"Why?"

Swallowing, Cavendish pulled out his phone and turned on the selfie-camera before turning it to Savannah. The former-first-class agent gasped in shock when she saw that one of her eyes had changed color. Instead of its usual dark brown hue, her left eye was neon green. "How did this happen?" Her brows furrowed. "I didn't want this."

"I don't blame you, but—"

"I didn't want this, and you knew it!"

"I can assure you, I knew nothing of whatever is happening now!"

"I never wanted this—augh! Stop!" Savannah grasped her head, tipping over her chair in the sudden action. "Get out! Get out of my head!"

"Savannah!" Cavendish rushed to his companion's side.

"It hurts, get out!" Savannah cried. "Get out!"

"Get what out? Me? Something else?" Savannah gritted her teeth, face turning red. She looked like she wanted to scream something, to shout something, to just open her mouth and let something out. But, for whatever reason, her mouth remained closed, almost as if she was forcing herself to keep it closed.

Cavendish was unsure of what to do. He knew he needed to do something, but he wasn't sure what. There was no real protocol. If he had a moment to think, which Cavendish obviously didn't, he would've found that this situation was eerily similar to what happened at the New Year's Party.

Savannah groaned in pain, and effort, before finally choking out two words, "Power. Down!" And it was like a switch was flipped. Savannah slumped to the ground, panting in exhaustion. Cavendish hovered beside her. Is she alright? What just happened? What do I do? Who was Savannah talking to? Cavendish set a hand on her shoulder and Savannah looked up at him, horrified.

"I made a mistake."

–Meanwhile, at Play Rehearsal–

"~R-I-C-H, can't you see?~" The cast on stage sang, switching between singing to their phones and to the audience. "~Just how much I care about your tragedy? Changed my profile pic to you, now I fully understand what you're going through!~"

–Meanwhile, in the year 2176–

"Mistake?" Cavendish asked. "Savannah, what are you talking about?"

"I-I made a mistake and now I'm… Oh God, I don't have that much time." Savannah pushed herself to her feet. Albeit shakily. Luckily, Cavendish was there to steady her. Savannah turned to him. "Do you know where Lotte is?"

"Uh, no, I don't. She kind of wandered off…"

"Good!"

"Good?"

"Don't tell her where I went!" Savannah ordered. "Or when, for that matter."

"Where you—Savannah what are you doing?!"

"Don't worry, I'll be right back." She called, exiting the room. "I'll explain everything when I get back."

"Get back from where?" Cavendish called out but Savannah was already out of the room. The man shook his head, confused. "What the blazes just happened?" The mustached man glanced over at Savannah's partially full bottle of Green Gush. Wrinkling his nose in disgust he walked over and threw it in the trash.

"Hey, Cavendish!"

"Great googley—Lotte!" Cavendish exhaled. "Don't do that, scared me half to death." Lotte smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, I thought you heard me come in. So, what'cha doin'?"

"Just… relaxing I suppose."

"That's cool." Lotte smiled. "Have you seen Savannah by any chance?"

Cavendish schooled his features. What were the odds that Savannah told Cavendish to not mention to Lotte she was going somewhere and then Lotte comes in and asks for her location? Probably small, but the coincidence didn't escape Cavendish's notice. "N-no, I haven't. Why do you ask?"

–Meanwhile, at Play Rehearsal–

"~R-I-C-H, it's a drag!~" The cast gestured between themselves. "~I read, she read, they read you're in a body bag!~"

–Meanwhile, in the year 2176–

Lotte shrugged. "I was looking for her. Wanted to give her this," Lotte held up a large bottle of Green Gush, "Savannah said she was craving it. Figured I'd help a friend out. Y'know?"

Cavendish recalled how disgusted Savannah was when he gave her the drink a few minutes ago. "Uh, yes, quite."

"Do you know where Savannah went?"

Probably to a time machine. "No, sorry, I haven't."

"Ok… So, this is just a hypothetical here, but, do you know when she went?"

Cavendish stilled. While he really didn't know when Savannah went, the fact that Lotte somehow knew to ask was alarming. "Now, what makes you think that's an option?"

"I mean, we're time travelers." Lotte said. "It's a probable theory."

"Right, right."

"So… Do you know when she went?"

Cavendish frowned. "No, I don't. Apologies…" Why is it so important that she knows? What does it matter if she doesn't. Lotte's one of your oldest friends, Savannah is someone who barely tolerates you. What does it matter?

"Oh, damn. Real shame to let this bottle go to waste. Ice cold and refreshing and all." Lotte's face lit up. "Hey, why don't you have it?"

–Meanwhile, at Play Rehearsal–

"~R-I-C-H, can't you see? Just how much I love your tragedy?!~" The cast on stage squealed excitedly. Splitting up into separate groups, acting as if they were excitedly texting, calling, and video-chatting with each other.

"Hi?"

Milo and Zack's frowns deepened. Gush Co. sponsoring was one (slightly strange) thing, but with everything going on it was another completely.

"Hi!"

Were they in danger? Were there friends in danger? Was the school in danger?

"Hi!"

Did anyone else drink Green Gush? Were they infected with a TICC? How were they supposed to handle that? Should they call Monty and let him know? Should Cavendish and Dakota be called again? Maybe Savanah? Or maybe Lotte knew something about all of this?

What were they supposed to do?

"Hi!"

A hand reached out and grabbed both Milo and Zack's shoulders.

–Meanwhile, in the year 2176–

"No, thank you, Lotte. I'm not really a fan of Green Gush. Besides," he held up his water bottle, "I already have a drink."

"C'mooon, I'm sure you'd like it if you try it!" Lotte twisted the cap off and held it out towards Cavendish.

"Uh, no, thank you, again. Like I said, I'm quite happy with my water."

"I'm almost certain you'd be happier if you at least try Green Gush!" Lotte stepped towards Cavendish this time, almost into his own personal bubble, still holding out the drink.

"Lotte, I'm fine with my drink choice."

The green-haired girl yanked the water bottle out of his hand and set it on the table. "Oh, don't be such a fuddy-duddy, Cavendish. Give it a try!"

"Lotte, stop, I don't want it."

"Sure, you do just give it a chance!"

Lotte, no! I don't—" Cavendish was cut off when Lotte suddenly, and quite literally, stepped on his toes. Making him flinch and effectively backing him into a corner. Lotte grabbed his tie, shoving the drink towards his mouth.

"Just—try it!"

"Lotte, stop!" Cavendish shoved his friend roughly, and then slapped the drink out of her hand. More as a reflex than anything but it was still effective. The plastic bottle clattered to the floor, spilling the contents onto the floor and onto Cavendish and Lotte's shoes. The older man exhaled. "What was that? Why would you try to-try to force me like that?!"

Lotte straightened her sunglasses. "What's wrong with me?" The woman leveled a mighty glare from behind her sunglasses. "What's wrong with you?! I didn't want to do it, but I had no choice!"

"What could you possibly mean by that?"

"I was trying to help you! Y'know? Help you to relax more, Cavendish. Maybe if you did instead of acting like such an uptight, pansy ass, maybe Dakota might actually like you instead of feeling like your damn babysitter!"

The green-haired woman stormed away, leaving Cavendish to process the odd events. The man knew she was angry at him, despite she being clearly in the wrong. But the sudden doubt couldn't be helped.

Does… Vinnie really think of me that way? Cavendish thought. Am I a burden to him?

–Meanwhile, at Play Rehearsal–

"Yo?"

Milo and Zack barely managed not to scream when they felt the hands grab there shoulders. It took a resounding follow up question from Bradley of "What are you two doing out here?" to get them to calm down.

"Yo!"

"We could ask you the same thing." Zack whispered, not wanting to be spotted, or ruin his friends rehearsal.

"I saw you guys leaving and you two have been whispering about that guy in the suit for the past few verses." Bradley explained. "And why are you two on the auditorium floor? You know they probably don't clean this thing, right?"

"Yeah, we know." Milo sighed.

"And we were fine ignoring it until you pointed it out." Zack added.

"And to answer your question, we're spying on that guy from Gush Co."

"Gush Co.? Why is someone from Gush Co. here?"

"They're sponsoring the play."

"Why would we need a sponsor for the—never mind, I heard it as I said it."

"Yo!"

"We think something bad is going to happened if Gush Co. gets involved in the school play." Milo explained.

"What bad could come from a soda company sponsoring a school play?"

"A lot more than you would imagine."

"Does this have something to do with Murphy's Law?" Bradley asked disdainfully.

"Uh… I'm sure it's not helping things but, no, not really."

Bradley blinked in surprise. "Wait, really?"

"Yo!"

"The events that have been transpiring for the past few weeks have been largely out of our control." Zack told him.

Bradley glanced over at the Gush Co. employee, who was smiling at the performance on stage. "Ok, on a scale of one to invading Russia in the winter, how bad are things going to get?"

Milo and Zack exchanged look, having a silent conversation between themselves before turning back to Bradley. "Somewhere between casting that guy from The Terminator in a comedy to a literal zombie apocalypse." Bradley frowned.

–Meanwhile, with Brick–

Brick glanced around the parking lot, bag of chips in hand. His TICC informed him that Vinnie Dakota would be here, and Brick couldn't be more excited. He was finally going to make his move! Of course, he had to find Vinnie first.

"Three more clicks forward, and then make a right." His TICC informed him.

"Why clicks? We're not on a boat."

"Just keep walking, lover boy." Brick rolled his eyes but complied, nonetheless. Soon after, he saw him. Vinnie Dakota was glancing down at his phone in confusion, looking as radiant as ever. Brick smiled. "You ready, big guy?"

"More than ready."

"Alright. Open the bag of chips and eat a couple." Brick did as he was told. "Good. Now, approach with a casual greeting and then offer some chips." Brick walked towards Vinnie Dakota, heart beating a mile a minute. Thankfully, his TICC was able to get it under control. Slightly. A man in love or however that phrase goes, after all.

"Hey, Dakota." The tracksuit wearing man glanced up, offering a small smile.

"Hey, Brick."

"Want some chips?" Brick held out the snack bag. Dakota shook his head, frowning.

"No thanks, I'm not really that hungry right now." Brick's eyes widened in surprise. Dakota, it seemed, was always snacking on something.

"Ok, that's fine." Brick leaned against the wall, tossing a couple more chips in his mouth, watching Dakota out of the corner of his eye.

"Keep the conversation going, zuojo."

"Uh… what'cha looking at?"

"Lotte keeps textin' me, askin' if I know where Savannah is." Dakota narrowed his eyes. "I keep tellin' her that I don't know, but it's like she doesn't believe me!"

"That's… That's rough, buddy."

"Smooth, Brick. You're a regular Casanova, aren't you?"

That's why I have you!

"Fair point. Repeat after me: Why would Lotte even care about where Savannah is anyway?"

"Why would Lotte even care about where Savannah is anyway?"

Dakota raised a brow. "Uh… cause they're partners?"

–Meanwhile, at Play Rehearsal–

"S'up?"

"What does this mean for the play?" Bradley asked, casting a wary glance towards the man from Gush Co. "What does this mean for us?"

"We don't know, exactly…" Milo admitted.

"S'up!"

"What we do know is that it's bad!" Zack added.

"Are you two and Melissa in trouble?" Bradley asked.

Milo and Zack frowned nervously and then nodded slowly.

"S'up!"

"Is anyone else in danger?"

"Maybe?"

Bradley sighed exasperatedly. "Is there anything we can do?"

"Milo and I know some people who might be able to look into this guy."

"Ok, that's good, but what about us?" Bradley gestured to himself and then the cast onstage.

"S'up!"

"What'd you mean?"

"Look, if we're looking at a Murphy's Law-mixed-with-a-zombie-apocalypse type of situation—"

"The zombie apocalypse part might be a bit of a reach."

"—then we need to know if there is anything we can do to protect ourselves."

"FIRE!"

"Best thing you can do? Do not drink any Green Gush. No limits or acceptations."

"Done! That stuff tastes terrible anyway." Bradley rolled his eyes. Zack glanced back at the Gush Co. employee and narrowed his eyes.

"How would Gush benefit from this anyway?"

"Apart form the obvious, you mean?" Milo asked.

"Yeah,"

"No clue."

"Hey!"

"Ha!"

"Exactly! It doesn't make sense. Why would Gush sponsor a play in the first place?" Zack's question got the wheels in Milo's head turning. The boy glanced up to the stage and, from his seat on the floor, he could get a small glimpse of the prop table near the back wing of the stage. On it sat the green bottle that they had been using for the Mountain Dew bottle, filled with water dyed to look like the green drink, of course. After finding that soda was hard to clean up after a lighting-related Murphy's Law incident, the cast and crew found that this was a safer, and frankly cheaper, replacement to the soda.

Wait.

Replacement. Soda. Green Gush!

"Oh no, they're gonna replace all the regular Mountain Dew in the show with Green Gush!"

–Meanwhile, with Brick and Dakota–

"Oh, right, partners. I forgot about that." Brick smiled sheepishly.

"Right…" Dakota trailed off, stuffing his phone into his pocket.

"Repeat after me: How are your mission's going?"

"How are your mission's going?"

"I mean… Renaissance Potty cleanin' can get kinda annoyin' at times, but I guess… I dunno."

Brick smirked. 'Shit happens?"

Dakota looked at him, amused but incredulous. "Did you just—" and he started to laugh. Brick prided himself on getting Vinnie Dakota to actually laugh. Unfortunately for Brick, the laughter didn't last long. But at least Dakota was smiling at him. "That was a good one."

The TICC made him shrug nonchalantly. "It just came to me."

"I mean, I could do better but, for you? Not bad."

"You think you can do better?" Brick smiled, challengingly.

"Oh heck yeah."

"Prove it."

"Nah, I don't wanna."

"Why not?"

"Cause I got other shit to worry about." Brick face-palmed, laughing.

"That was bad."

"C'mon, I'm just sink ing to your level." Brick laughed.

"That was worse."

"Yeah, all this toilet humor kinda stinks…"

"Please stop, I believe you."

"Aw, c'mon, I'm on a roll!" Both Brick and Dakota laughed at this one. Dakota even admitting in between breaths that the last joke was just bad, which just made Brick laugh more. Dakota smiled and raised a brow at Brick. "Ok, can I be honest with ya real quick?"

"Of course!"

"I never knew that you could well, y'know, do that."

"Do what?"

"Make jokes… Laugh and just kind of be in the moment." Dakota smiled. "It's kinda nice."

Brick felt himself blush, just a little bit. "R-really?"

"Yeah. You've been kinda, I dunno, uptight lately. It's kind of nice to see you relax and have some fun. Even if it's under less than groovy conditions…"

"Did you seriously just say 'groovy'?"

Dakota laughed and Brick's heart fluttered. "I gotta live up to my aesthetic."

Brick smiled at the curly-haired man. This was it. This was the moment he was waiting for. He was alone with Vinnie Dakota. No one else in sight, no missions, or partners to come in and mess this up. He could finally ask him, but, even with the TICC in his head…

"I just, don't know what I'm supposed to say right now."

"I have a few options that might be helpful."

But, before Brick could even consider those options, Dakota spoke up. "Just say what's on your mind, Brick."

–Meanwhile, at Play Rehearsal–

"Talk it, text it, pass it, talk it!" The cast said before ad libbing a few lines. The most notable among these were talks about how rich this story was, how they had to spread the word, and the like. Although, given the direction to by Mr. Draco, one boy had shout out "I hope Jake's ok!", which would lead into a pay-off in a later scene.

"Why would they replace the Mountain Dew with Green Gush?" Bradley asked.

Zack, being more aware of the entire situation, was quickly putting the pieces together. "TICC's are activated by Green Gush—"

"What do ticks have to do with any of this?"

"—they're going to replace all the Mountain Dew in the show with Green Gush—"

"Seriously, how did we get from talking about a possibly evil soda company hijacking a middle school play to talking about some invasive species?"

"—whoever's behind this is going to try to TICC our friends during the play!" Zack exclaimed.

"Maybe whoever's behind this is the reason Victor Verliezer and that Rodney guy were, uh, found the way they were this morning?" Milo suggested.

"And now that one tech giant's involved in this. Wonderful. I'm completely confused."

"Whoaaaaa!" The cast on stage did the wave. Completely ignorant to the minor freak-out Milo and Zack were having.

–Meanwhile, with Brick and Dakota–

Brick steeled his nerves, taking a deep breath. "Dakota, I think you're really, uh, I guess, cool…"

"Oh, uh, thanks!" Dakota smiled good-naturedly. "I think you're really cool too…"

Brick's TICC was quick to squash any rising hope he had. "Vinnie Dakota doesn't seem to understand what you mean by this. I advise you try again."

"Wait, no, what I mean is… I think that you and I would make a good team! Of partners… I mean…"

"That's nice and all, but I already got a partner." Dakota smiled fondly.

"Try again on the partner angle," His TICC informed him, "statistics say that's your best angle right now."

"Ok but, I was thinking a different kind of partner…" Brick trailed off expectantly(hopefully).

Dakota narrowed his eyes in confusion. "… A sparring partner?"

"You really know how to pick 'em, don't you, Brick?"

Hey, knock it off! It may be frustrating but he's adorable, so it's ok! "No, Dakota, I mean…" Brick sighed. How could he get this message across in a way Dakota would understand. Any ideas?

"Repeat after me: What I'm trying to say is—"

"What I'm trying to say is…"

"Uh-huh?"

"—I admire you and I think—"

"I… I admire you! And I think…"

"Yeah?"

"—that I would make a marginally better partner for you then Cavendish."

"That I would make a better partner for you then Cavendish."

Dakota's smile dropped almost instantly, an odd look appearing in his sun-glasses covered eyes. "What… what do you mean by that?"

–Meanwhile, at Play Rehearsal–

"Matches!" The cast shouted excitedly. "Ashes!"

"This is bad! This is very bad…" Zack frowned, running a hand through his hair.

"If wat happened to Victor and Rodney happens here than… oh boy…" Milo trailed off. Suddenly, a horrible thought occurred to Bradley.

"Uh… what if Green Gush doesn't just make it into the play?"

"Ready?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that Mr. Draco is planning on having a small concession stand outside before, during, and after the play." Bradley explained. "There will be a lot of foods, and drinks, for sale…"

"Ok!"

"And one of those drinks—" Milo started.

"—Could be—" Continued Zack.

"Green Gush!" The boys realized in unison.

"Exactly." Bradley frowned.

"Our families… our friends… they're all in trouble!"

"Things couldn't get any worse…"

"Here we go!" The cast huddled together in a formation on stage.

–Meanwhile, with Brick and Dakota–

"Um, wh-what I mean is…" Brick stammered

"We are more compatible."

"We are more compatible!"

"Really?" Dakota raised a brow at him.

"Yeah… Uh…"

"I'm of a higher rank than Cavendish, so I match you in terms of experience."

"I'm of a higher rank than Cavendish, so I, uh, match you in terms of experience."

Dakota's eyes narrowed. Not out of confusion, though. "Is that so?" He asked, tone a bit harsh.

"Yeah, I mean, c'mon, Dakota." Brick shrugged. "Cavendish is a… guy, but you and I are just a better match."

"Give me one good reason on why I should believe that."

"Because Cavendish doesn't respect you the way I do. He doesn't know you the way I do."

"Because Cavendish doesn't respect you the way I do. He doesn't know you the way I do." Dakota's eyes widened, appalled. "Here me out! He doesn't respect your opinion, he treats you like crap, and is just a huge jerk to you 24/7!"

"And how is that any different than how you treat me and Cavendish?"

Both the question itself and Dakota's icy tone and expression caught Brick off guard. "Wh-what'd you mean?"

–Meanwhile, at Play Rehearsal–

"~Rich set a fire and he burned down the house! Whoa!~" Instead of singing along with everyone else on stage, she just simply screamed. "~Rich set a fire and he burned down the house! It was so terribly gory, I got the whole bloody story!~" With Melissa, Lydia, and Joni leading the cast, they continued to sing. "~Yeah, I wasn't quite there. But, I know what happened, I swear!~"

–Meanwhile, with Brick and Dakota–

"I mean," Dakota narrowed his eyes, "that even though Cavendish can be kinda persnickety from time to time, he treats me like an actual human being!"

"I never treated you like you weren't."

"You and Savannah are the reason Cav and I got demoted in the first place!" Dakota shook his head. "Honestly, I don't understand what's going on with you lately."

–Meanwhile, at Play Rehearsal–

"~When Rich set a fire and he burned the house down! When Rich set a fire and he leveled the town!~"

–Meanwhile, with Brick and Dakota–

"You've been acting like such a… a… cocky cock!" Brick could feel his heart imploding. "One minute ya hate me, the next minute you act all jumpy 'round me, then you insult my partner, and then ya say that you're a better match for me, that you know me better? What is wrong with you?"

"I just… I thought we would make…"

Dakota narrowed his eyes. "What's my favorite tv show?"

"Huh?"

"You say you know me better than Cavendish. Prove it. What's my favorite tv show?"

–Meanwhile, at Play Rehearsal–

"~When Rich set a fire and he fled to Bombay!~"

–Meanwhile, with Brick and Dakota–

"Um…"

"Where did I grow up?"

"Uh…"

–Meanwhile, at Play Rehearsal–

"~When Rich set a fire cause he knew he was gay!~"

–Meanwhile, with Brick and Dakota–

"On a perfect day, what would I want to do?"

"You would want to…"

–Meanwhile, at Play Rehearsal–

"~When Rich set a fire and he melted his head!~"

–Meanwhile, with Brick and Dakota–

"What was I afraid of when I was growing up?"

"You were, uh…"

–Meanwhile, at Play Rehearsal–

"~When Rich set a fire and he's totally dead!~"

–Meanwhile, with Brick and Dakota–

"What's my favorite food?"

"Pistachios!" Brick answered without thinking. Dakota shook his head.

–Meanwhile, at Play Rehearsal–

"~When Rich set a fire and he burned down the house!~"

–Meanwhile, with Brick and Dakota–

Dakota knew he wasn't being fair to Brick, but he couldn't help it. Brick insinuating something about himself and Dakota was one thing, insulting Cavendish in that same breath was something else entirely.

Cavendish knew the answer to all these questions because they talked, they connected, they learned to trust each other. Cavendish knew the answers to almost all of Dakota's questions, like Dakota knew almost all the answers to Cavendish's. Brick didn't know any of the answers, he didn't even know which questions to ask.

"Ok, what's my favorite color?"

–Meanwhile, at Play Rehearsal–

"~Burned it down! Whoa!~" The cast danced gleefully on stage. "~Yeah, yeah, yeah! Did ya hear? Did ya hear? Burned it down! Whoa!~" Melissa, Lydia, and Joni took center stage, obviously as the ones who unleashed the gossip in the first place. "~Did ya hear? Did ya hear? Yeah, yeah, yeah! Burned it down! Whoa! Did ya hear? Did ya hear?~"

–Meanwhile, with Brick and Dakota–

"Favorite… color?" Brick couldn't answer the question. Help me! He begged his TICC.

"I… I can't…"

Why not?!

"My information is limited to what you and others close to you know."

Are you telling me that you, a god damn super-computer, don't know the answer to a simple question?!

"I… My apologies Brick."

Brick shook his head, unable to answer even the simplest of questions about the man he loved. Vinnie Dakota shook his head, having all the proof he needed. "I'll… Bye, Brick." The finality in the man's tone shattered whatever was left of Brick's heart.

–Meanwhile, at Play Rehearsal–

"~That Rich set a fire and he burned down the—Rich set a fire and he burned down the—Rich set a fire and he burned down the house!~"

The majority of the cast on stage shuffled backwards, leaving Melissa, Lydia, and Joni at the center. "He told me because he's my best friend!"

–Meanwhile, with Brick–

Brick watched Dakota leave, unable to do anything about and his TICC was dong nothing. The first-class agent leaned heavily against the wall and then slid to the floor. He had it. Brick had the perfect opportunity to talk to, charm, and possibly even win over Vinnie Dakota. He had it… and then he blew it. Not only did he blow it, he majorly blew it.

Brick would be lucky if Vinnie Dakota ever looked at him again, let alone talk to him. Wiping away the tears the pricked at the corner of his eyes, the first-class agent choked down an angry sob.

"Brick, please, calm down. You'll dehydrate yourself."

Brick stopped crying. For the first time in a long time, he knew it was of his own free will, his own doing. He narrowed his eyes at the floor. Chip had told him that TICC's were all knowing. That TICC's knew every single statistic and probability and would account for it, that they would account and play towards a favorable outcome for there host. Yet…

"Why didn't you know?"

"Pardon?"

"You didn't know the answer to any of Dakota's questions. How? Why?" A sob threatened to escape Brick's throat, but he shoved it down. "You're supposed to know everything!"

"Brick I am a super-computer. I might know everything, but I was made by man. Therefore, I have the capacity for error."

"Yeah, that was some error back there!" Another thought occurred to Brick. "And why did you make me insult his partner like that?"

"I had believed that saying those things would set you on a path to winning Vinnie Dakota's affections." His TICC stated, as if Brick's life wasn't imploding around him at this very moment. "Besides, Brick, it's not like you hold any favorable feelings towards Balthazar Cavendish."

"That's not the point!"

"Then what is the point, Brick?"

The first-class agent crumpled the bag of chips in his hand in an attempt to vent some anger. It helped, but not much. "The point is the only reason I decided that this whole thing was a good idea was that you said you would help me get Dakota!"

"And I can help you! I can still get him to do whatever you want, I just need you to—"

"To what?" Brick scoffed. "Upgrade? I already did that and look at me! Savannah doesn't trust me, Chip's in the E.R., I lead Aiden on, then he and Jonah got into a fight, and Dakota can't stand my guts!" Brick hugged his knees close, tears starting to drip form his eyes. "Some help you were…"

"I'm sorry Brick, but the events that occurred were just simple… accidents. Mistakes caused by human error, if you will."

–Meanwhile, at Play Rehearsal–

"~Rich set a fire and he burned down the house! Send-end!~" The cast dispersed, leaving only Melissa, Lydia, and Joni on stage to strike there final pose. Applause from both in the audience and in the wings erupted.

Melissa smiled at Lydia and Joni. "You guys were awesome!"

"So were you!" Lydia told her.

Mr. Draco and Principal Midler stepped forward, followed by a man in a pea green dress shirt and black shoes. Melissa raised a brow. Who's the suit? Behind the approaching trio of adults, Melissa noticed Milo, Zack, and Bradley huddled together on the ground, practically hidden behind the rows of seats. What the…?

The teacher and principal went on to congratulate the group on a good performance, they began to introduce the man as Frank Gryns, a representative of Gush Co. The man in question went onto say that Gush Co. would be sponsoring the school play. This, under normal circumstances, would've ben good news. Odd news, but good news, nonetheless. Now they could afford to fix some of Murphy's Law's greater messes, and maybe increase the show's special effects budget by a couple more dollars.

That's when Melissa noticed it. Frank Gryns, a man who was working for Gush Co., had neon green eyes. Memories of Monty's texts to her, there meet-up, and then what had happened to Verliezer and Rodney this morning came flooding back.

As Frank Gryns went onto explain that the only condition for the money was that the kids use Green Gush in the play, and that it be offered at concession stands for the show, Melissa met Milo and Zack's eyes.

One shared look, one silent conversation between the trio of friends, was enough to confirm Melissa's fears. Her castmates on stage cheered at the good news, eagerly talking about what they might be able to do with this money among themselves.

Melissa suddenly felt very sick.

–Meanwhile, with Brick–

"Mistake?"

"Yes, Brick." His TICC assured him. "Just a simple mistake."

It seemed, for the first time since getting a TICC, Brick saw everything clearly.

"This whole idea was a mistake… The TICC, trusting Chip, everything…" Brick ignored how loudly his TICC began to buzz, almost as if the machine itself was panicked. "A big mistake…"

First of all I would like to thank all of you for sticking with this story as long as you have. It's hard to believe that a little over a year I was first publishing it. And now look at us! Four chapter from the end, plot starting to wrap up, and the whole shebang! As a sort of unplanned celebration of this story turning a year old, have the literal longest chapter I've probably ever written for any story, ever.

Seriously, 15521 words and 41 pages. That's how long this chapter is.

Did I plan on this? No. Will I complain? Only a little. Cause while awesome, this was a pain to write.

Now, I have no idea when I'll be able to update next. My new schedule for this semester is crazier than the last, and it shows no signs of slowing down. I have a sort of regular system worked out to where I can work on both homework and stories in a given day before and after certain classes, but it's not set in stone.

It also stands to mention that I am trying a new technique to combat a problem that occurs whenever I get close to finishing a story. Basically, I am trying to finish up writing Story A (this one) while also starting to work on the story I plan to focus on once this is over (Story B) if you will. It's worked well so far, I got this behemoth of a chapter out of it anyway.

The long and short of it is, while I have a few systems worked out, I don't know when I'll be able to update next. I honestly wouldn't expect one until after summer starts, and even then I am being generous. But don't worry, dear readers, I will finish this story! And I am super excited for what's to come. We are nearing the end, after all.

Again, thank you so much for supporting and loving this story for over a year! You all mean the world to me. Don't forget to comment and tell me what you think and I will see you guys next time!