"Oh no…" Phineas said. "We're too late."

An ambulance was driving away from the O.W.C.A.

Many agents were standing outside, watching sadly as the ambulance left.

A baby narwhal cheerfully waved it goodbye.

"Come on, Ferb." Phineas said, pulling on Ferb's arm. "Let's see what happened."

"What about me?" Candace asked.

"Monogram doesn't know you know about Perry." Phineas explained. "You have to stay here."

Candace sighed. "Fine. I'm going home to call Stacy. You two better not be late for dinner again, or you are SO busted."

The boys entered the O.W.C.A.

Animals were running around in circles. Monogram was standing in the center of the room, shouting.

"Agent E, CALM DOWN! Agent C, HUSH! Agent L, STOP RUNNING! Agent H, DON'T STEP ON AGENT W!"

The animals ignored him.

The boys carefully dodged their way over to the major.

"Please come back later." Monogram said. "There's been another accident."

"Was an agent hit over the head with a pot while he was loading things onto a truck?" Phineas asked.

Monogram frowned. "Yes, Agent Harry the husky."

"Oh no. Is he okay?"

"He will be. We transported him to the hospital. But… how did you know?"

"Sir, whoever this attacker is, he's after all the agents." Phineas nudged Ferb, who handed the Fall of the Fallen to Monogram. "And he's using that book as a plan to eliminate all of them."

Monogram gasped. "The Fall of the Fallen. Of course. Well… it can't be Knap who's doing this. Knap croaked two years ago."

"Was she a frog?" Phineas asked.

"This is perfect." Monogram flipped through the book. "We can figure out what attacks are coming next and counteract them- or at least stop our agents from falling into the trap."

"Great." Phineas said. "Glad we could help."

"Um… actually…" Monogram handed the book back. "Would you two mind keeping on top of that? I'm in the middle of some very important business and I can't take the time to…"

"Well…" Phineas looked at Ferb, who shrugged. "We don't know, sir. I don't know how good we're going to be with stopping the attacks."

"Agent P trusts you and your abilities." Monogram said. "And I have seen from your summer projects that you two are definitely capable of handling anything."

Phineas smiled. Ferb shrugged.

Monogram handed them a piece of paper. "This is a map of the agency. Use it for reference if you need to."

"Yes, sir." Phineas said.

Monogram gave them a stern look. "This will be dangerous, boys. I am putting the agency at serious risk by letting you two do this, but it seems that we have no other choice. So I do warn you… don't get yourselves into any trouble."

"We won't, sir." Phineas said. "Not on purpose, anyway."

"Good. In that case, I'm off to deal with my important business." Monogram put on a pair of flower-shaped sunglasses. "CARL! Where are my disco pants?"

"So what's the next attack, and for whom?" Phineas asked.

"Hang on. Still looking." Ferb quickly skimmed over the next chapter. "The next victim, in the book, anyway, is named Charles. He's described as very thin and very short for his age."

"Can I see?" Phineas took the book from Ferb and looked at the page.

…Charles, indeed, was thinner and shorter than one should be at his age; but by no means did this make him any less attractive than any other; he was well-liked for both his mind and his stamina; he could sit and listen to others for hours; always knew how to reply; how best to help. Calm and mild-mannered Charles would never be suspected were someone to lose something; for why would Charles ever? However, all knew that he had quite an ability for coming and going with barely a whisper; not a trace that he had been there at all.

"I wonder if the attacker is going to go after someone like Charles, or just pick someone random for Charles's fate." Phineas said.

Ferb turned a few of the pages. "Here we are. Charles gets electrocuted when he sticks a key in a lock."

Phineas sighed. "That could be any key and any lock. So… we'll have to figure out what agent fits Charles's description, I guess… but… we don't know any of the agents well enough."

"We'll ask Perry tomorrow." Ferb closed the book.

"I don't want to worry him about whoever's next." Phineas said. "What if it's one of his friends?"

"Well, perhaps we can find a way to ask him without telling him it has to do with the attacks." Ferb said.

"Hey, boys." Perry said as they walked in. "Either of you want an almond?"

"You seem better today." Phineas said, sitting down next to his bed.

Perry shrugged. He held out a plastic tray that had four little sections for different foods. "Seriously, take some almonds. I can't stand these things. I'm okay with the cheese and crackers, I like the strawberries and blueberries…"

"I'll eat them." Ferb said.

"You'll eat anything." Perry said, putting a slice of cheese on top of a cracker and biting into it. "This isn't gonna fill me up at all. I'll starve come dinnertime. They're gonna start serving me these healthy deli packs for every single meal now that they're not force-feeding me. I've only had one today besides this one and I'm already sick of them. I'm really craving a veggie burger and some nice salty fries… maybe a large chocolate shake…"

"We could smuggle you in something from Mr. Slushie Burger." Phineas offered.

"Would you? That would be amazing. This way, if I end up throwing my lunch up due to the delicate state of my stomach, at least it'll taste good coming back up."

Phineas cringed.

"Large fries, large veggie burger with olives, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, no meat… and a very big chocolate shake with whipped cream and a cherry." Perry said. "You got that?"

"Yes." Ferb said. "We'll bring you some tomorrow."

"Yay. You guys are wonderful. Oh, and can you bring me my blue blanket from home next visit, too? I really miss it. And maybe one of my squeaky toys."

"Sure, Perry." Phineas said.

"Thanks." Perry looked down at his hands. "I'm really homesick. I wish I wasn't stuck here. I want to go play in the yard and run up and down the stairs and curl up in the warm laundry basket and cuddle up in my basket at night and… I just… I miss it."

"You'll be home soon." Phineas patted him. "You'll get better."
"Not unless they make a scientific breakthrough and discover the antidote." Perry sighed. "All they can do is keep the remaining poison from killing me until then. It's nasty stuff. Whoever created it really didn't want there to be any chance of survival."

"Let's play a game, Perry." Ferb said.

"Is it 'How Long Will This Food Sustain Me'? I played that at breakfast. And just now." Perry tossed the last cracker into his mouth.

"We'll describe someone to you, and you think about who it reminds you of." Ferb said.

"Good game idea, Ferb." Phineas said.

"Okay, I'll go first." Perry said. "Incredibly annoying. Horrible screechy voice. No sense of rhythm."

"Kendrine Adems, international pop sensation?" Ferb asked.

"Correcto. You win. Your turn." Perry handed Ferb his tray, which held the rest of the almonds.

"Good listener. Knows how to reply. How to help." Ferb kept the book low in his lap so Perry couldn't see it. "Calm. Mild-mannered."

"Sounds like Lowe." Perry shrugged.

"Lowe?" Phineas asked. "That agency therapist?"

"Yeah. Mild-mannered is pretty much what you'd use to describe him. Rarely shows emotion."

"Um… does Lowe ever unlock stuff?" Phineas asked.

Perry raised an eyebrow. "What kind of a question is that?"

"I… I meant… where is he usually?"

Perry shrugged. "I don't know. His office? Why do you wanna know?"

"We were gonna find some people you liked and ask them to come visit you." Phineas said. "You seem so lonely. We were thinking of asking Lowe and Sven… people like that."

"Oh." Perry smiled. "Thanks for the thought. That would be nice. Only if they want to, though. I can give you Sven's number if you want. I don't think he knows what happened."

"Okay." Phineas said. He handed Perry a piece of paper. Perry scribbled the number down and handed it back.

"Thanks, guys." Perry closed his eyes. "If it's okay, I think I need to sleep a little bit."

"That's fine." Phineas said. "We'll see you tomorrow. Feel better."

"Like I have any control over that." Perry snickered.

A wolf growled at the boys as they ran down the hall.

"Sorry!" Phineas called back. "Didn't mean to step on your paw!"

Ferb looked at the agency map. "Lowe's office should be right around here… that door! That door there!"

They screeched to a stop. Phineas opened the door, and they went inside.

"Lowe?" Phineas asked. "It's Phineas and Ferb. We're Perry's owners."

A small squeak came from a corner of the room. The boys turned.

A fennec fox was curled up in a hole in the carpet. He was looking at them curiously through a pair of huge glasses.

"Aww." Phineas said. "You're adorable."

The fennec fox winced at the comment.

"Here." Ferb reached into his pocket and pulled out a small electronic collar. "We need to talk to you. We originally made this translator for Perry when our first one didn't work out years ago, but it didn't work on him."

"He just wasn't talking." Phineas said. "That was the problem."

"Anyhow, we need to speak to you." Ferb held out the collar. "This will help."

Lowe climbed out of the hole and stood up. He took the collar from Ferb and fastened it around his neck.

"We think you might be in danger." Phineas said. "See, all the attacks that have happened to agents so far are based on this book." He held up the Fall of the Fallen. "The next victim gets killed when the killer attaches a wire to a keyhole and the victim tries to unlock the door. Perry said the description of the victim in the book sounds like you."

Lowe frowned. "I can't think of anything I'd unlock besides the door of my house. And no one has asked me to open anything so far."

"Just don't unlock any doors." Phineas said.

"Are you certain I'm the next victim?" Lowe asked. "The other attacks had some kind of manipulation involved. Herman received a note asking him to meet someone near the lamp that exploded. The communication wires in the O.W.C.A net were sabotaged so that only thirteen agents received Terry's call for backup. And Harry was told over the phone to load the truck parked outside of the agency. It makes sense that the attacks are based on a storyline now… but I haven't been asked to do anything. I'm not saying that I'm not next- thank you for warning me, I will sleep here tonight- but I feel as though there is also a possibility that someone else could be in trouble. Someone who is likely to put a key in a lock of great importance, rather than just someone entering their house."

"It does say at the end of the description that the victim is very sneaky." Phineas said. "Do you think that could mean something?"

Lowe closed his eyes for a moment. "Judging by that… and the nature of the attack… I'd say you're looking for an agent that specializes in breaking and entering."

"That makes sense." Phineas said. "If they were told to break in somewhere…"

Lowe thought for a moment. "Peter. Peter came by earlier asking me to tell Monogram he was flying to Seattle for a few hours. When I went to inform the Major, he was frazzled because the wrong house coordinates had been sent to Peter for his breaking-and-entering mission tonight and he was unable to contact him."

"Oh no…" Phineas said. "So Peter's the next victim. What house was it?"

"I believe you can get the coordinates from the Major." Lowe said. "You have an hour before Peter returns to Danville. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

"Actually…" Phineas looked down at the book in his hands. "We don't really know the agents or the agency that well. It would be nice to have someone who could help us figure these attacks out… like you just did."

"I'd be glad to help." Lowe gave a nod. "Come in anytime."

"Great." Phineas dragged Ferb out of the room. "But right now, we need to hurry."