The group filed into the Nut Room, with Heather and Sir Watson the most interested, thus leading the pack. As soon as Cameron entered the room, the slight scent of salted peanuts that lingered outside became much, much stronger, as it filled everyone's nostrils. No one complained, though. "You know, it's a good thing no one here has peanut allergies because I did not want to miss showing you this room! This is the Nut Room, which is where I prepare all the nuts that go into my candy! Although you probably smell them, peanuts are not the only thing prepared here, although they are the most commonly prepared nut here: We also prepare almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, Brazil nuts, et cetera, et cetera, you name it!" Chris said.

The group was standing in what appeared to be an observation deck, elevated above the bottom level of the room. A set of stairs led from the observation deck down to the floor. Similarly to the room with the Fizzy Lifting Drinks, the room was circular, with a high ceiling and a low floor. The Observation Deck similarly wrapped around the entire room, with a railing striped with red and white, making it look like a candy cane. However, the bottom level of this room was entirely fascinating to everyone. It consisted of a giant hole in the middle of the floor that dropped into a seemingly endless abyss. Stools were positioned in a large circle around the hole, and in front of each of the stools was a mound of walnuts, reaching almost six feet high each. Seated on those stools were…

"Squirrels! Oh my god, look at those adorable squirrels!" Heather exclaimed. Indeed, there were around forty squirrels standing on the stools. "Quite right, Heather! These squirrels have been trained to sort the nuts very meticulously. If the nut is good, then the squirrel will set it aside for use in my candy" Chris explained. "However, if the nut is bad, then it gets thrown into the chute, never to be used in my factory."

Cameron spoke up. "How do the squirrels decide if the nut is good or bad? Surely there's no way to tell them apart without cracking them open!"

"Wrong! It's actually quite easy to tell a good nut from a bad nut. See, if you were to take a nut and give it a good rap, just like you are knocking on a door, if you hold it up to your ear a bad nut will sound quite different from a good nut!"

Cody cleared his throat. "Yeah, but that doesn't tell us anything about what makes a good nut and a bad nut. Plus, it doesn't explain-"

"Please don't mumble next time you speak: it's quite annoying." Chris fired back. Cody protested. "Wha-I wasn't"

"Anyway, these squirrels can sort through almost a thousand nuts in a day! They have become really good at distinguishing between good nuts and bad nuts, so that only the finest nuts make it into my candy. God forbid a bad nut made it into a chocolate bar: it would not be pleasant!"

The group observed the squirrels picking up nuts. Just as Chris described, they took their little fists and rapped on the walnuts three or four times. They then lifted them up to their ears, and tossed some off to the side, while others went straight into the chute. The group could not hear the bad nuts hit the floor, so they imagined the chute went down a fair amount. Everyone was thoroughly impressed: Cameron was wondering how Chris learned how to train squirrels this well. He chalked it up to pure ingenuity, because there really weren't any other rational explanations.

"Oh. My. God! Daddy, those have got to be the most amazing squirrels I have ever seen in my life! The ones back home don't do that, they just run away from me!" Heather exclaimed to her father. Grandpa Joe leaned over to Cameron. "Those probably aren't the only things that run away from her", he said as they both chuckled. Sir Watson was also admiring the squirrels: "I agree, darling! Just think of how much cheaper it would be to replace everyone in the factory with those squirrels! It would be amazing!" Chris was talking to the others about the process of putting the nuts into the different bars as the Watsons excitedly stared at the squirrels before Heather turned to her father and firmly told him something.

"Daddy, I want one of those squirrels. Go get one for me now", she commanded.

Sir Watson was shocked for a second. "I-I mean, Heather, I don't know about that. It's a good idea and all, but I don't know if-"

"Daddy, I want a squirrel NOW! GET ONE FOR ME! I NEED ONE OF THOSE BECAUSE I'M GETTING BORED OF ALL MY OTHER PETS BACK HOME! THE PONIES ARE ANNOYING ME AND I DON'T LIKE THE CATS OR THE DOGS! IF YOU DON'T GET ME ONE OF THOSE SQUIRRELS I WILL HATE YOU FOREVER!" With that, Heather crossed her arms and glared at her father. She took a breath and prepared to yell at her father some more, but he reassured her. "Don't worry, dearest, I'll take care of it for you." He turned to Chris and pulled out his wallet. "Okay, Mclean, how much for one of those squirrels? My daughter has made it quite clear she wants one. Would $1000 be enough?"

Chris cleared his throat. "No. They're not for sale." Cameron thought he saw Chris grin as he said this. "Er-what do you mean by that? What about $1500? Would that work?", Sir Watson replied quizzically. The rest of the group stood back and watched this with interest: This could get interesting, they thought.

"Sir Watson, let me say it again: They're not for sale. She can't have one." Everyone gasped. Sir Watson's eyes grew wide. He turned around to face Heather, who was literally quaking with rage. Her face was beet red and her fists were shaking as she stomped past her father and over to Chris. "What did you just say to me?", she asked, her voice dripping with venom.

"It's simple, really. You can't have a squirrel" He turned to face the rest of the group. "Now, the fun thing about how they crack the nuts is that-"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Heather let out a piercing scream that made everyone jump, even the squirrels. She pointed a finger at Chris. "YOU WILL LET ME HAVE ONE OF THOSE SQUIRRELS OR ELSE!" Chris laughed and said "Nah, I don't think so. You don't deserve one."

Heather turned back to her father, who was shocked but relieved that her anger was not directed at him. "Daddy, I demand that you tell Mr. Mclean that I need a squirrel! AND an intern! AND a giant pink candy boat! Now!" Sir Watson looked at Chris, then back to Heather, then back to Chris. Heather stomped her foot. "Fine! If you're not gonna do anything about it, then I'll do something!" And with that, Heather started walking down the stairs leading to the floor.

"Wait, Heather, come back please! Let's talk about it!" Chris said sarcastically as the girl reached the bottom of the stairs and looked around the room. Everyone moved to the railing of the observation deck as Heather started walking towards the center of the room. "I'm gonna have a hard time picking one out, they're all so adorable!", she said. At this point, all the squirrels had stopped testing their nuts and were now focusing on Heather as she walked from stool to stool, examining each squirrel. The silence was kind of eerie, Cameron thought. Heather was about halfway through her trip around the stools when she stopped in front of one for a little longer. The squirrel seated on that stool looked up at her and tilted its head.

"Ok, I choose this one! This one is the cutest!" Heather, with her mind now made up, bent over to pick it up. However, just before she could, it jumped up from its stool and landed on her shoulder. "Oh my gosh, how adorable! It likes me!", she exclaimed. However, her joy did not last for long. She quickly noticed that all the other squirrels had left their stools and were now racing over towards her. Around ten squirrels jumped onto Heather and clung to her, and she eventually lost her balance and fell to the floor with a thud. Everyone else in the room gasped, but Sir Watson was paralyzed, his eyes glued to the scene unfolding in front of him. Squirrels continued to pile on top of Heather until they almost completely covered her.

The squirrel that she had chosen now made its way towards her head before stopping to look directly at her. Back on the observation deck, Sir Watson was now panicking. "What in god's name are they doing to her?", he asked. "Well, I'm not positive, but I think they're going to see whether she's a good nut or a bad nut", Chris answered.

Sure enough, the squirrel reached out one of his paws and rapped on Heather's forehead three times. Then, the squirrels started moving Heather, dragging her towards the chute at the center of the room. Chris chuckled and said "Looks like she's a bad nut". As she neared the hole, Heather began to wriggle and squirm, but it was no use: the squirrels had a tight grip on her. "Daddy, help!", she cried out. Sir Watson was now in a frenzy up on the deck. Right as the squirrels got near to the chute, they paused for a second before letting go in one motion. Heather tumbled down towards the chute. She tried to grab the floor to hold on to it, but she couldn't grip it. She screamed as she tumbled down the chute into the abyss. Everyone was stunned, eyes wide open. Sir Watson turned to Chris. "Mclean, what exactly does that chute lead to?" Chris thought about it for a second. "Oh, you're not gonna like this. That chute leads to the trash compactor."

"Oh my god, she'll be crushed!"

"Not to worry, Sir Watson, they only run that trash compactor on Sundays! She'll be fine!"

Cody cleared his throat. "Actually, I think today is Sunday" Chris' smile dropped. "Well, in that case, I'll tell the interns to not run it today. Hopefully she'll be unharmed when we get her out of there."

"Nuts to that, I'm gonna go save her!" Sir Watson exclaimed as he raced down the stairs. The rest of the group, including Chris, were baffled by this decision as they looked at one another. Once he reached the stools, he stopped. All the squirrels stopped as well as they turned to look at him. Sir Watson took one look at the rodents before making his decision. He ran towards the chute and dove in headfirst, shouting "Heather, daddy's coming!", his voice trailing off towards the end as he went further and further down the chute.

"...Well, that happened. Even I was surprised by that, and not much surprises me these days!" Chris said as he turned to Cameron, Cody, Grandpa Joe, and Mr. Jameson-Anderson. "I guess I'll call the interns and shut off the compactor for the day…eventually. In the meantime, I think we should move along! There's just a couple more rooms that you need to see. But first, it looks like the interns are getting ready to sing again! Ah, they love doing this, don't they?" "These all seem kind of rehearsed. Are you sure they-" Cody began before Chris cut him off. "Shush! They're about to start!" The interns all stood in a line and began to sing:

Intern, wintern, a third time we come

Will these children ever stop being dumb

Intern, wintern, toffee and cream

Unfortunately, now we are sensing a theme

Wanting the best for your child is right

But never say "no" and it is a big fright

Your kid will grow up a spoiled brat

Caring no more for others than a dirty old rat

And we don't like the sound of that

Intern, wintern, don't be like Heather

A girl who will never make the world better

Be kind and humble and don't be a brat

And everyone else will be cool with that!

And there you have it! Only two more left: we're pretty close to the end, which is both exciting and terrifying for me haha! As always, feel free to leave comments, reviews, critiques, etc. and thanks for reading!
TUS