Something about this scene didn't sit right with Summer or Winter, though both kept their mouths shut as Preston Northwest spoke. He and the twins – and his daughter – were near the front porch of their modest brick house. It was five in the morning and muggy as sin, with inclement weather on the way. Clouds blurred the light of the quarter-moon visible through the far mountains and nearer forest. Only Summer was looking at the man. Her sister's attention was split between his voice and the document in her left hand.

"As you may have guessed, it'll be better if you buy your cars from now on instead of procuring them through other means," he advised, glancing down at a woozy Pacifica. "Cars that didn't exist show up oddly on background searches, as Colonel Greer has informed me. I do not recommend Gleeful Auto Sales if you want a vehicle that will actually work."

Summer acknowledged this with a nod. "I guess we'll go to that dealership on the other side of town. Will we be paying for anything ourselves?"

"We've set up bank accounts for you both – the details are in those papers. Any expenses will vanish into the infinite abyss of the federal government's black budget."

She tapped at her chin in thought. "Hmm. What about the monitoring?"

"Concluded. Those signatures are from the Director of National Intelligence and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The order was effective at midnight this morning."

"Oh." That meant Dipper's call to her was safe, even if the phones were unable to keep it a secret – assuming they'd kept their word.

Winter flipped a page over and kept reading. "I'm having trouble believing your government would just stop watching us, knowing what they know."

He smirked faintly. "They aren't stupid, Miss Weiss. There are other battles to fight – less costly ones. Besides, your presence would, well, let's just say it would be destabilizing if the general public knew. Easier for them to hush it up and keep you happy than risk making you upset again."

"Nnnnnnh...?" Pacifica droned, looking around slowly. She was a few feet away from the conversation. "My head hurts."

"I'm sorry, dear, we'll make this quick. Go back to the car."

She refused him with a dismissive motion. "That stupid seat makes my legs hurt."

"Are we supposed to stop asking questions now?" Winter asked, handing the papers over to Summer so she could read them.

"Actually, no. You are free to investigate."

Her eyes widened with surprise. "Why..." And then she frowned darkly. "They want to exploit the results, if there are any, while we do all the heavy lifting."

"I believe they would call it 'seizing an opportunity'."

Summer had gotten bored with the documents a few seconds after getting them and waited her turn to speak up. "I'm sure they would. What about the other offer? Is anyone willing to give us further details?"

"The Pentagon is considering it. For now, we all just have to wait." Preston watched his daughter stumble around the yard for a moment. "I think I should get her home."

Winter eyed her too, using a subtle, magical tug to stop her from tipping over as she moved about unsteadily. "Why did you bring her in the first place?"

"I didn't intend to. I was about to leave the... emergency room when Agent Trigger delivered the paperwork. Pacifica hasn't been feeling well since she returned home last night."

"Nngh," the girl mumbled, pulling out her phone. "5:13? Man... wait, how did these numbers get into my contacts list? I—whatever." She rubbed the side of her head and stared, bleary-eyed, off into space. "Dad, are we done yet?"

He nodded once, gently taking her by the hand. "Yes, we are. If you've any further questions, you know how to contact me. Good day."

"Very well," Winter said with a small wave. They watched him guide the disoriented Pacifica away, then drive off in his enormous silver Mercedes S-Class coupe until it disappeared around the ascending curve of the road. "What was wrong with her? She really did seem ill."

"And she forgot what Mabel did." Summer put her hands on her hips. "Preston knows something. I can feel it."

"As long as it doesn't affect our little group, I'll let it slide." She thought on this a bit more, eyes narrowing. "I don't even know why I'm hoping it won't, but there's no use in actively looking for more trouble, I suppose."

"Yes, why hunt it down when we can let it come to us." The red-eyed woman suddenly did a little dance. "I'm going to buy the reddest car I can find!"

Winter rolled her eyes with a smile, thankful for the levity. "You and your shiny objects."

Mabel had never been this quiet at a breakfast table in her life, but the bags under her eyes spoke volumes. Dipper had them too; after her dream, they'd spent the rest of the night in a futile pursuit of sleep. He was a little annoyed about it, too. She could see it on his face. "Dipper, I-"

"Not right now," he said around a mouthful of cereal. "Kinda grumpy. You kept me up."

And that effort was exactly why both twins were exhausted. She'd done it in a guilt-fueled attempt to keep Bill away from him – after all, it was her fault that he'd be condemned to a... well, she wasn't exactly clear what, but she just knew it would be bad. Terrible. So she panicked, throwing things and poking and singing and knitting as loud as she could until the sun came up and slumber was out of their reach. It was her desperate attempt to take the bullet for once. "I just—I mean I did—because I wanted to..."

She sounded uncomfortably like him: awkward, unsure, stammering. It was a tone unbecoming of her, so he set his anger aside. "I know you were trying to keep Bill away from me, but we'll have to sleep sometime."

Listless pokes rained down on her waffles. "I knooooow. I guess I feel kinda stupid now." She stared at him, vaguely fearful. "You mad?"

He shrugged, busying himself with the colorful lumps in his bowl. "Not any madder than the last time you kept me awake."

"The last time?" She blinked while thinking... that was the electron carpet incident. "But we had a huge fight and you got all vulnerable and sentimental. And I learned things I did not wanna learn, man."

"Right," he said, unable to avoid snorting at her summary. "Come on, eat something. You'll need all the sugar you can get."

A thunk interrupted her attempt. Moments later, Stan wandered into the kitchen, looking as weary as his charges. "Huh? Who cooked?" He blinked at Mabel when she raised her hand. "Oh yeah. I forget you can do that sometimes."

"You mean without setting the cabinets on fire?" Dipper said with a chuckle.

"Th-that was on purpose," he said hastily, avoiding their looks by searching for a plate.

"So it was arson, then."

"Pffffff." Mabel covered her mouth for a moment and laughed into her sleeve. "Your eggs are sunny-side up. Just like you like them! I think. Do you even eat eggs? Not sure."

"They're fine, kid."

The three of them ate, or picked at their food, in silence for a while. Dipper finished with his meal first and stared across the table at Stan. "Busy with the portal last night?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, glancing all over the room. "Uh... yeah. Lot of calculations and stuff. Refueling. You know."

Dipper's gaze was adamant, even though the rest of his expression held no ill will. "I don't, actually, but I'll take your word for it."

"Are you gonna fight?" Mabel asked them, shielding herself with a chunk of waffle on the prongs of her fork. "'Cause I can't handle you fighting right now."

"What? No. Just trying to... I don't know." Dipper slid his bowl away and crossed his arms on the table before laying his head on them. "I don't know what I know anymore, you know?" They stared at him blankly. "I used too many knows."

Stan's tone was apologetic. "I get it, I do. I never meant for you to find out about any of this. I mean, I didn't even know I'd make this much progress while you were stayin' here. I had no idea where journal two was. How did Gideon get his grubby little hands on it?"

"No clue. I'm just glad he doesn't have it now." Dipper tilted his head to watch Mabel, who was finally eating in earnest. "I wonder when they'll get here. I could use a nap."

He wouldn't get his answer for a while. The table was cleared and the dishes washed, a task he and Mabel completed while Stan went to get dressed. After that, they dragged themselves upstairs to change. Once they'd finished and were back downstairs, his phone emitted a chime. "Eh?" He scanned the screen and found a message from Summer. "'Come look at our new car!' What? They got another one?" He lead Mabel to the gift shop porch. "Okay, where are they?"

"I hear something." She went to the edge and peered through the forest. It wasn't the ear-shattering apocalyptic roar of a Lamborghini for sure, but the sound still carried a snarling edge. As they watched, a dark blue Dodge Charger on gleaming five-spoke wheels arrived, coming to a halt in the free parking lot. "Oh, snap! They stole an FBI car!"

"That one was black." Dipper hopped down the steps and walked to meet them. "Geez! Pick a ride, will you?" he joked as Winter emerged from the driver's seat.

"I did," she replied while cracking her knuckles. "Summer has hers, but this one is mine. I liked the noise those agents' car made when I drove it. And it has four doors, so we can carry a group." Her face twisted vaguely at the portal's song.

Summer didn't visibly acknowledge it, nor her sister's expression. "I am so proud!" she chirped, clasping her hands. "She finally has something that isn't icy blue or black."

"I own blue jeans, you know."

"Those don't count, sister."

Mabel giggled at her. "Pfff, y'all are adorable. Grunkle Stan's around here somewhere, let's go find him!"

He was just about to enter the secret passage as they came in, scaring him half to death. "Oh! Good grief," he complained, straightening his fez. "Knock next time!"

"Nobody knocks on that door," Dipper pointed out.

"That's not—I mean it's just polite... never mind." After collecting himself, he looked to the older twins and nodded. "You two wanna come down with me?"

"Hey, what about us?" Mabel said harshly, glaring at him. "This is a team effort! We're on the team! Don't kick us off the team!"

"Uh..." Stan looked at the cuckoo clock with a frown. "You're right. We got time. Okay, come on."

"Woo! Go team!"

Once everyone had gotten off the elevator, the old man sat down at the desk full of switches, staring through the glass as the machine's lights blinked patterns only he understood. "It's weird, you know? I spent most of the summer of '43 with Uncle Stanton. My parents had no idea what he was really doing. I guess they wanted us to get to know him 'cause they were terrified he'd get drafted or something." That wistful look returned as he leaned back in the chair. Mabel and Dipper fell still when he gazed at them. "I was your age, more or less. Maybe history really does repeat itself."

"Wait, did you go on crazy adventures with your brother too?" Mabel asked, bouncing in place. "How long has Gravity Falls been so weird?"

"Forever. Even the people that lived here before Lewis and Clark showed up knew about this valley. Every tribe had a name for it, but most of those languages are long gone. The stuff you're seeing now didn't start until Project Apollyon finished building that thing," he said, waving at the portal. "It changed everything. Even the weather. Made it rainier during the summer."

Summer noticed journal one amongst the books on his desk and pursed her lips. "What else did it do?"

"Well..." Stan leaned up again and grabbed a musty, yellowed folder off the desk. "Hand this to her, would you?" Dipper obliged him. "All the official documentation is locked up somewhere. But Stanley took a lot of notes from Dietrich and Wilhelm."

Dipper shed his hat and tried to fan the stifling air away. "How did you get that close to a top-secret project?"

Stan chuckled a little. "It's not like we ever got down here, kid, at least not back then. The Seiferts were already around, and we became friends with Wilhelm. He explained to us what to expect so we wouldn't get scared and start blabbing. So did Uncle Stanton, after he found out we knew. Not telling us would have been worse, 'cause we'd have never kept our mouths shut about it if they hadn't convinced us to." Dipper's strange, contemplative look made him raise a brow, but he kept quiet since the boy's eyes were directed at the floor. "I guess I tried the opposite with you two. Looks like I was wrong."

Unlike earlier, Summer was actually interested in reading these papers. "I see a lot of items from the third journal listed here. Just how many of those is Apollyon responsible for?"

"Well, that's kinda complicated. There's the direct stuff – I mean things that were exposed to the portal energy and then buried in the woods afterward, like the original height-changing crystal. Then there's indirect stuff-"

"Wait, there was just one crystal? There's a whole formation now!" Dipper exclaimed nervously. "Oh man, you guys were right. Apparently this magic is just changing stuff at will."

"Not at will," Winter said, taking the notes from Summer. "If it were at will, your whole planet would probably be unrecognizable by now. It was likely just modifying its container to be more comfortable."

Mabel cocked her head and blinked. "What? Comfortable? It's magic! Whatchu talkin' 'bout?"

"Magic is just as alive as the people that use it," Winter said as she walked away from the group and watched the portal through the open door. It spoke to her lowly, almost calmly.

"And like water, it prefers to bead together and flow, gathering more of itself and looking for something to hold it," Summer added quietly. "If the container is not appropriate, the magic will do its best to make it so – it won't hurt a living thing, however. The fact that your crystal grew despite its restraint is a testament to how pliable this place is."

Dipper looked up at last and raised a hand. "So you're saying magic exposure wouldn't make someone... how do I put this... mentally impaired? So mentally impaired that they wouldn't notice fantastic and ridiculous things happening around them every single day?"

Both women regarded him with surprise. "No, it wouldn't," Summer replied. "Raw magic sees only to its own survival. Damaging something it would want to take shelter in wouldn't be very sensible."

Winter came back over and stood with her sister. "That isn't to say people don't use their magic for evil, or that magic itself can't become... unstable."

"W-wow, that sounds pretty terrifying," Mabel said with an anxious giggle. "How? Do we wanna know? Is it gonna make me cry?"

"If too much magic gathers in one place – or person – the effects can be very terrifying, yes." Summer rifled through the papers for a second longer and sighed. She intended to float them back to Stan, but a set of words caught her eye. "Hmm?" She gasped upon closer inspection. "It changed some people into things?"

"What?!" the younger twins said together. "What? What did they turn into?" Dipper came forward to look at the documents himself. "It doesn't say... shoot, this sort of stuff is why we really need the official documents."

Mabel nodded frantically. "Hey, what if they really are in the graveyard thingy? I mean, that summary or whatever was there."

"Hold on, you found official stuff?" Stan became restless, getting out of the chair. "Where? Did you see anymore?"

His niece was just as antsy. "There's a chamber hidden in the cemetery with all sorts of junk. Blubbs interrupted us when we were looking, so we don't know what else is down there."

"What the... how'd he know to show up?"

"He said there was an alarm—oh, man. Even if I hadn't made that phone call he probably would have told the feds anyway. Dang," Dipper said, grumbling and crossing his arms.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the local government had some idea. Then again..." Winter trailed off, thinking. "The people here are blissfully unaware. I wonder how that can be possible, given all the magic we detect. It must be affecting something near a population."

Summer perked up at that. "Oh! Sister! Tell them what happened this morning," she said, motioning around at everyone.

"Mm? Oh, that's right. Preston dropped by and informed us that the spying is over. What's more interesting is how Pacifica was acting. She doesn't seem to remember all of yesterday. I think he knows why."

Dipper nodded. "Makes sense. They're rich. Rich people have information, man. We should interrogate them."

"Easy kid. We just got one powerful entity off our back, I don't wanna mess with another." Stan cleared his throat and tried to sound in-charge. "Okay, we got a lot of stuff to juggle. How we wanna handle this?"

"Can we sleep first?" Mabel asked, rubbing her eyes. "Uggggggh, Bill was right, he's already won. We can't not sleep. Stupid triangle."

This was news to Stan. "You had one of those dreams last night? Did he speak in riddles? He likes that. He likes to claim he owns you, too." He slumped on his feet when the young twins stared at him. Their expressions were clear – to them, Bill appearing in one's mind was equivalent to a death sentence. Mabel, especially, seemed ready to cry. "That's what Pacifica was here about yesterday, wasn't it? Uh... you wanna—you wanna talk about it?"

Dipper's face twisted with misery. "I don't feel like it right now. Let's just figure out what to do."

"Before we run off again, I'd sort of like to know what's on the other floor of this facility."

They turned or looked at Summer with expressions ranging from stoic to utter shock. "The other floor? What other floor?" Dipper looked up at Stan and repeated himself. "What other floor?"

"I see you didn't pay much attention to the elevator ride. You can't go from one to three without a two, you know." Stan patted him on the head reassuringly and snickered. "Anyway, I wish I knew what was on that level. The door's locked tight. Never been able to get in."

All the Pines gasped and stepped back when Summer's hands ignited in black, sparkling fire. She raised her right one and grinned. "There isn't a door on either of our planets that can stop us, Stan."

"Aheh, that looks a lot like what Bill d-does... uh... could you stop that please?" Mabel pleaded quietly. Her fidgeting made Dipper came over and give her a hug. "Thanks, bro."

"Oh, sorry." Summer extinguished her fingers and frowned sheepishly. "Let's go break into something!"

"I love breaking into stuff!" Stan yelled, pounding his hand into his fist as he moved toward the elevator. "Besides, I wanna see you two at work." The warbling of an alarm stopped them in their tracks. "Oh, come on!"

Dipper was right next to a bank of screens and turned to check them. On one monitor, Wendy was visible parking her bike. "It's cool, it's cool. Just Wendy."

He straightened his tie while proceeding onward. "Yeah, but that means it's 9:30 – assuming she's actually on time for once – and I've got a group comin' in soon. Besides, we need to let her and Soos in on this too. We could use their help to look around anyway."

"Why do you insist on having tourists after all that's happened?" Winter asked.

He entered the code and tugged at his shirt collar. "'Cause if I didn't, certain, uh, people would get suspicious about what's happening out here. Gotta keep up appearances."

Mabel accepted that answer with a happy nod. "Oh, that makes sense—hold up." Her smile shattered in an instant. "What people, Grunkle Stan?"

"Uh... well, you know. The people."

"Grunkle Stan!"

He drew back at her shriek and cringed. "The military, okay? Yeesh. I'm not exactly gonna tell everyone I've got a working portal, you know? That's why I'm not gonna turn the thing on full-blast until I'm good and ready."

"And we're back to death by shadowy government agency," Dipper said with a sigh. "Bill's after us, the assassins are probably going to be after us again, and who knows who else wants a piece of our pie that we haven't even thought of yet."

Winter, thoughtful and quiet, entered the elevator before putting in her two cents. "It might be all right. We're being allowed to investigate what happened here. I suppose they want us to clean up their mess."

"I don't think what I'm doing falls under the concept of investigation, but we can hope." Stan pressed a few more buttons after everyone was inside. "Let's just get through the day. If we're going to be snooping, I'd rather skulk around at night when people can't see. And it's harder for them to shoot at us."

Wendy quietly read the latest issue of Avoiding Eye Contact Monthly while Soos busied himself with a quick check of the remaining inventory, humming an idle tune. Both were lulled into a sleepy calm by the drizzle that had been coming down since noon. Stan's last group of the day had departed the shack about fifteen minutes previous. The old man himself was in the office sorting out the proceeds – or so they thought. He startled them both as he returned from the living room. "Geez, man, don't walk so soft," she scolded him. "Where are the little guys?"

He taped an "out of order" sign on the vending machine while replying. "Wakin' up. Summer just called, said they're on their way."

"Cool. I guess. What are we getting up to this time?"

"That's what we're gonna decide," he said, moving over to lean on the counter. "You two all right being in on it?"

Soos gave him a smile and a thumbs-up. "Sure, Mister Pines. What's the worst that could happen?" His hand dropped when they both glared. "Don't even ask. I got it, I got it."

"Mabel, whyyyyyyyy," Dipper moaned, stumbling through the doorway and bumping off one of the nearby displays. "I was sleeping so well. So well."

She came in behind him, arms raised and dancing. "'Cause it's adventure time, broface! We got questions to answer, answers to question, sights to see, death to avoid. My priority is on the death-avoiding."

He could barely prop his eyes open and walk, much less do a jig. "I don't want adventure, I wanna go back to that incredible dream I was having about Weeeeeee-" As she looked over at him expectantly, he froze with terror. "...Westinghouse! George Westinghouse, pioneer of electricity and champion of the alternating current! Yeah! Ahaha!"

Wendy cocked a brow and stared at him. "Real smooth, dude. Real smooth."

He was still laughing nervously. "Y-yeah! I s-sure love industrial history." Mabel, standing beside him, facepalmed hard.

Fortunately, the arrival of Winter's blue Charger made enough noise to get him off the hook. Summer was the first to come in a few moments later. "Hello!" she chirped. "You two look rested."

"We crashed hard," Mabel confirmed with a light smile. "No Bill, though."

"Wait, the triangle dream guy? Aw, man, I'd just forgotten about him," Wendy complained, slumping forward. "Oh well. Was nice while it lasted."

Winter poked her head through the door before entering. "I haven't heard back concerning the government's desire for us to decontaminate the area. I'm getting annoyed."

Dipper stared at her in confusion. "Decontaminate? What are you talking about?"

Her face grew even more irritated. "Sister, I thought you texted them?"

Summer folded her arms and frowned. "I did! Maybe it didn't go through? The bars go up and down so much when we drive around."

"She's got a point. Reception can be pretty loopy around here," Wendy said with a smile. "Anyway, good to see you guys again."

"Mm. Have we given some thought as to how we should split up?"

"I'm definitely gonna need one of you two to poke around in the basement," Stan said as he began to walk. "I'm interested in that cemetery thing the kids were talkin' about too, though. Someone needs to go over there."

"And risk getting arrested by the Sheriff?" Summer asked as she magically straightened up some of the items on the shelves.

Wendy raised her hand, grinning wryly. "Pff, I'll go. Blubbs knows better than to mess with my dad, I should be fine. Soos can tag along."

"Dude, yes! I love digging up other people's closely guarded secrets!" A bevy of stares made him swallow. "N-not that'd I'd do that to you guys. No way."

Winter's eyes were daggers until they went back to Stan. "Mm. I wanted to take a tour and see what sort of magic we're dealing with, so I'll need Dipper and the journal. More than one, if you'll let him take them."

The old man issued a nod. "He can take two, but one is stayin' with me."

"I'm going wherever Dipface is going!" Mabel said with a flourish. "So I guess we got two groups of two and one of three? Should somebody go check on Pacifica or something?"

"You could if you want."

Her face screwed up at Winter's suggestion. "Iiiiiiiiiiii will pass, thanks. I don't want whatever happened to her to happen to me."

"But we'll still need to talk to them at some point. See what they know." Dipper checked the pockets of his vest for supplies. "Okay, journal, flashlights, aspirin, new phone... I'm good to go."

"Hold your horses." Stan took a look at his obnoxious gold watch. "We got some time before the sun goes down. No need to rush off."