At around 0930 the next morning, Skipper left the HQ to head over to see Marlene to find out her decision on if she would be willing to give leaving the zoo grounds another shot. A few minutes later, he arrived at the door of her habitat and knocked.
"Good morning, Marlene," Skipper greeted when she came to open the door.
"Hi, Skipper," Marlene said as she let him in, though uncharacteristically with flat emotion. "I've been dreading this all morning and most of last night."
"Oh, come on, Marlene, I'm not that bad," Skipper joked to try to cheer her up a little.
"You're not bad at all," Marlene responded. "It's just that I'm so conflicted about whether I should make another attempt at leaving the zoo or not."
"Well, what's the conflict?" Skipper asked.
"On one hand, I don't want to go at all," Marlene said. "On the other, the trust I have in you tells me that you'd never lead me wrong. So it all comes down to my personal desire to do nothing and the trust I have in my heart."
"The heart has to win," Skipper stated.
"That sounds like something I would normally say," Marlene commented.
"You did say it," Skipper said. "You mentioned it as a tip to me and the boys before a mission once, but I dismissed it as not a viable option for our operation. But today it seems the best tactic to follow."
"I'm afraid you're right," Marlene said. "Congratulations, you win."
"No, you win," Skipper declared. "Well, at least you will win when this is all over. I appreciate that you trust me enough to give it a go. We won't let you down."
"We?" Marlene asked.
"I mentioned to the boys this morning about how I had asked you yesterday about trying to leave the zoo again," Skipper clarified. "They all told me that they were more than willing to assist if you indeed decided to try once more."
"No, forget it, then," Marlene suddenly declared. "I'm not going to embarrass myself in front of an audience again."
"They're your friends, too, Marlene," Skipper stated. "You know that we're all good guys. They're not going to mind anything that you might do out there – they're all rooting for you to pull it off."
"Skipper, yes," Marlene began, "all of you guys are my friends, but–"
Marlene reached a paw out and put it on Skipper's shoulder; he knew what she was going to say next.
"But this is just one of those things that you'd only want me to do," Skipper responded. "Is that what I'm sensing?"
Marlene had always valued her friendships with the penguins, lemurs, and chimpanzees, but although she could count on all of her friends to support her when she needed it, there were just some things that she would only let Skipper help her on, for she trusted him the most.
"I don't mind if the other penguins want to help with their ideas and strategy," Marlene said, "but if I'm going to have to go back into Central Park, I need it to only be you there with me. Is that OK?"
"If having just me out in the park with you is what you need, then it's fine by me," Skipper said. "Heck, if for some strange reason you only wanted Rico with you, I would arrange that, too."
Marlene smiled the first smile she had all morning.
"I knew you'd understand," she said. "So, how do we move this crazy operation forward?"
"Well, I can start by telling you what some of the boys' suggestions were," Skipper said. "Rico suggested – and even regurgitated for use – that you try wearing a blindfold, Private said that he'd be willing to do a little psychoanalysis, and I suggest we just try to walk a few feet into the park and see what happens first."
"Did Kowalski have any suggestions?" Marlene asked. "I would have figured that he would have thought of something scientific."
"We won't be going into Kowalski's suggestions," Skipper declared.
"Come on, Skipper, I want to know," Marlene persisted.
Skipper seemed to shudder a little.
"OK, but they're a little, well, off," Skipper said. "He suggested a lobotomy followed by strong doses of Thorazine. I objected right away. I told him, 'Kowalski, I am not going to have part of Marlene's brain removed and then have her put on nutcase pills. That ain't gonna fly, man, that ain't gonna fly.'"
"Scary thoughts," Marlene said. "Thanks for sticking up for me."
"Sure thing," Skipper replied. "But in all fairness to Kowalski, I don't think that he was thinking straight this morning. He had a long night at his chemistry set last night and didn't get good ventilation. I think some of the fumes may have gotten to him; he wouldn't have made those suggestions had he been thinking clearly."
"Yeah, that sounds about right," Marlene said. "So, what do we do first?"
"I think it would make the most sense to try out my idea of just walking into the park a few feet first," Skipper said. "That way I can see where you're at and determine what the next step should be."
"You want to grab a few tranquilizer darts from the veterinary station first in case I lose it and need to be taken down?" Marlene asked.
"No, though I should grab a few for when the next time Julien barges into our HQ uninvited," Skipper joked. "But in all seriousness, there is no reason to dart you if you 'lose it.' I'll be by your side and I'll just lead you out of the park to safety."
"All right, let's give it a try," Marlene said.
With that, the two left Marlene's habitat and walked together to the edge of the zoo. There, Marlene paused and looked at Skipper.
"I don't think I went crazy right away after entering the park, right?" Marlene asked.
"The surveillance video showed a full 22 seconds before the slightest indication that you couldn't handle it," Skipper stated. "I'm hoping that with me here you can get to at least 30 seconds on this first try. Are you ready?"
"Just walk in a few feet, right?" Marlene asked.
"That's the plan," Skipper said.
Marlene then crossed into the threshold of Central Park, walking about five feet into it before stopping. Skipper followed right behind, and began counting in his head from the moment Marlene had first entered.
"Feeling OK, Marlene?" Skipper asked as he crossed the 10-second mark in his count.
"So far, so good," she replied as she began to walk another five or so feet into the park.
At the 18-second mark, Marlene decided to slowly turn herself around so that she could see all that there was to see from where she stood from all angles. When she got back to the point she had started from, Skipper's count had reached the 42-second mark, and he was feeling pretty good until Marlene tapped him on the shoulder.
"I'm starting to feel lightheaded, Skipper," she said. "Get me out."
With that, Skipper took Marlene's paw in a flipper and walked her back the 10 or so feet into the zoo.
"You got to 42 seconds before you told me you needed to get out," Skipper then told her. "That is–"
"That is a failure," Marlene jumped in with.
"No, Marlene, what I was going to say was, 'That is the record,'" Skipper stated. "It's 20 seconds better than yesterday and 12 seconds better than what I had figured. It's the time to beat when you try it again."
"How many times do we have to try?" Marlene asked.
"I will never force you to do anything," Skipper began, "but I say as many times as it takes."
"Well, could we take a break before I try it again?" Marlene asked.
"Sure," Skipper said. "We can even use some of this time to stop by the HQ so I can get the blindfold from Rico and tell the boys that I'll be the only one going into the park with you."
"That sounds good," Marlene said.
Skipper and Marlene then walked over to the penguin habitat and then entered into the underground HQ.
"I see Marlene decided to give it a go," Private said upon seeing Skipper and Marlene entering together. "We're all ready to go whenever you are."
Kowalski and Rico then came over and stood next to Private, but Skipper told them that they would not be taking part in the actual exposure part of the operation.
"You boys can help with some ideas, but Marlene has decided that she only wants me to go into the park with her," Skipper told the others. "In fact, we were just in the park a few feet a few minutes ago and I think Marlene did really well on her first try. We're going to try it again shortly with Rico's blindfold idea, so, Rico, could you go get the blindfold that you regurgitated earlier?"
Rico then re-regurgitated the blindfold, having swallowed it again.
"For safe keeping," Rico said as he handed the blindfold to Skipper after first wringing out some of the digestive juices that had absorbed into the cloth.
"Hey, Skipper," Private then said, "since Marlene's here now, maybe it's a good time that I play psychiatrist?"
"It's up to Marlene," Skipper replied.
"If you think it would help, Private, I'll give it a try," Marlene said.
"It couldn't hurt," Private said as he waddled over to a chair across the room and sat down.
Marlene followed him and sat down in a chair next to him. Private then reached below his chair and retrieved the clipboard he had underneath it.
"OK, Marlene, say it with me: They're just feet, not love," Private said.
"I don't have a foot problem, Private," Marlene stated.
"Now Marlene, the first step to correcting your problem is admitting that you have one," Private told her.
"Private, I really don't have a problem with feet," Marlene insisted.
Private then glanced down at his notes.
"Ooh. I'm sorry, I was still on the same page of notes that I was on when I was talking to Mort," Private apologized. "Now please forget everything I just told you about Mort – I mean, about that guy – or gal – as I cannot discuss matters related to other patients with you."
"Yeah, like everybody doesn't already know that he has a problem with feet," Marlene commented.
"Once, he told me about – ah, never mind," Private said. "Let's talk about you not being able to leave the zoo."
"Well, I was born in captivity in California and, as you yourself saw yesterday, I apparently don't do too well outside of a zoo environment," Marlene said.
"Interesting," Private said as he scribbled down something in his notes. "Now tell me about your relationship with your parents."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Marlene asked.
"Almost always nothing," Private replied. "But they often ask things like that in the movies. OK, forget the parents thing, just tell me more about your inability to leave the zoo."
"There's really not much more to it," Marlene stated. "I had never left a zoo until yesterday and that's it."
Private sighed.
"Well, I guess that's all that we can do, then," Private said. "Sorry I couldn't be of more assistance."
"That's OK, Private," Marlene replied as she began to stand up. "It's been a good minute and a half taking to you."
"Hey, Marlene," Private then called to her, "good luck."
Marlene nodded, then went back over to Skipper.
"I'm ready to give the blindfold a try," she said.
On that note, Skipper and Marlene then left the HQ and headed back to the same spot where the zoo met Central Park that they had been at earlier. There, Skipper tied the blindfold in front of Marlene's eyes, which would prevent her from seeing the outside world once she entered it again.
"OK, Marlene, how many fingers am I holding up?" Skipper asked as he held a flipper in front of the blindfold to ensure that Marlene couldn't see.
"Skipper, you don't have any fingers," Marlene replied. "But I assure you that I can't see anything."
"Good," Skipper said. "Now since I don't want you to trip and fall, I'll hold your paw as we go into and out of the park. I will let go of you once we get in several feet, but I'll still be standing right next to you."
With that, Skipper led Marlene back into Central Park. Since she was blindfolded, Skipper thought that they should go deeper into the park, which they did, going about 50 feet into it this time. Just as he had earlier, Skipper counted the seconds ever since Marlene crossed into the park; unlike before, he was also able to begin counting the minutes.
"Rico is a mad genius," Skipper commented as he reached the eight-minute mark. "That blindfold idea really seems to be doing the trick."
Marlene continued to seem unaffected by being out in the outside world for 47 minutes, 55 seconds before reality began to catch up to her.
"Hey, Skipper," she at that point said, "even though I can't see, I think that just knowing that I'm outside of the zoo is slowly catching up to me. I feel a little shaky, so could we call it a day for today?"
Skipper nodded, but then he remembered that Marlene couldn't see him.
"Yes, we can call it a day," Skipper said as he took Marlene's paw in a flipper. "Let's go home."
And with that, Marlene's first day of trying to go back outside the zoo came to an end. Although she hadn't thought so at first, even Marlene was beginning to see her own potential at actually being able to get to a point where she could leave the zoo.
Once they got back on the zoo grounds, Marlene agreed to go with Skipper the next morning for more exposure to the outside world in Central Park.
And she just couldn't wait until 0800.