Dipper left the Shack at 6 AM sharp. Between watching the laptop's monitoring system and the gnawing guilt from listening to Mabel cry herself to sleep, he hadn't slept a wink. The panic at discovering that the machine was active and charging had settled somewhat as he watched the screen. It offered him a small amount of control over the situation. If he was watching it, he'd know when it started. He wasn't sure what he'd do if it did activate, but at least he'd know that it had. Unfortunately, whenever he looked away, even for a moment, his panic would suddenly shoot back up, which was a bad combination with the fact that Dipper couldn't help glancing at the lump in the blankets where Mabel was. That was how he'd spent the night, alternating between a sort of controlled fear and panicked guilt. With all that going on in his mind, was it any wonder he'd left the second he could get away with it?

The guilt was at least alleviated a bit by the fact that the fear had not been. As Dipper walked to the dump, he tried to imagine how he'd be feeling if he had gone along with Mabel's plan. Even just imagining what it would be like trying to focus on fighting a ghost or whatever while wondering whether the world was going to end at any moment was making him feel ill. That, or it was the reminder that the world might end at any moment and maybe I should check the laptop again. Dipper shook the thought off violently, before breaking into a jog. Checking the laptop would just be a waste of time at this point. The best thing he could do was get to McGucket ASAP, and hopefully put this whole thing to rest.

Even with his accelerated pace, it took longer than Dipper would've liked to get to the dump. He'd have loved to grab the golf cart, but it was farther to Soos' house than the dump, and he hoped leaving it for Mabel would help her be less upset with him. Besides, with the early hour, there was a good chance McGucket wouldn't be awake yet, so he wasn't losing much by not taking it. At least, he hoped so as he leaned against the fence around the dump to catch his breath. Oh man, Dipper thought as dark spots flickered across his vision, the last few days have not been good for me. If this doesn't work…He could feel his panic rising at the thought, so he pushed it down by forcing himself to move into the garbage heap.

Finding McGucket's hut was easier the second time. He wasted no time in knocking on the door. He stood there for a few moments, fidgeting more with each passing second. Is he asleep? Should I knock again? Oh, what if he's not even here? This might be his house, but I've seen him sleeping in weird places all around town. What if I drove him away forever? What am I- The door opened, a bleary eyed McGucket looking at him.

McGucket blinked at him, then a warm smile split his face. "Tate? What're you doin' out of the house so early for? Did'ya forget your key again?"

Dipper was at first confused, then a little uncomfortable when he remembered that Tate was McGucket's son. "Um, Mr. McGucket, I'm not Tate."

"Whazzat?" McGucket slurred. He looked around at the piles of garbage around his hut, before slumping. "Aw, shucks. That's right. My boy'd never come to visit a failure like me." He moved out of the doorway, "Well, come on in, stranger. What can an old screw-up like me do for ya?"

Dipper felt a stab of pity for the old man. "It's me, Dipper Pines, remember?" he said as he stepped inside, "Look, I'm sorry about what happened last time."

"Last time?" McGucket said. "What'cha mean by that?"

"My sister and I were trying to help you remember things," Dipper explained, "but then we hit something bad in your memory and you got really scared. I-uh," Dipper rubbed his arm awkwardly, "might've pushed you a little too hard, and you ran out of here screaming. You don't remember any of that?"

McGucket rubbed his temples. "Yeah," he said slowly, "It's sorta coming back to me." He looked at Dipper somewhat warily. "Are you just here to apologize? 'S that why your sister ain't here?"

"Weeeelll," Dipper said, "I would like to keep trying to help you get your memory back."

McGucket started backing away slowly. "I-I don't know if I want those memories back," he stammered.

"Nonono," Dipper said quickly, "Me and Mabel came up with some safe topics to talk about, just to get you started." He pulled out the flashcards Mabel had made. "Like, uh," he glanced at the first one, and winced when he saw that it was about McGucket's son, complete with a little stick figure drawing of them fishing together. He hurriedly went to the next one. "Robots! You like building robots, right?"

McGucket now looked uncertain. "I-I don't know, kiddo."

"It'll be a safe environment," Dipper said, "If you start to remember something bad, we can take a break, or go to something else. Whatever needs to happen." When McGucket still didn't look convinced, Dipper decided to play a bit dirty. "Don't you want to know how you got like this?" he asked, gesturing around them. "If you figure that out, then maybe you can figure out how to put yourself back together? And then maybe, you and your son can start making up for lost time?"

McGucket looked like he'd been slapped, and Dipper had to push down his guilt. Good thing I had so much practice last night, right? he thought darkly as McGucket started looking at the garbage around him thoughtfully.

McGucket took a deep breath. "Alright, I'll try it out."

Dipper sagged in relief. "Good," He sat down on the ground, pulling out the robot flashcard. Across the top, Mabel had written "Don't forget, it's OK to stop!" Dipper hoped there wouldn't be too many breaks. He knew Mabel had had a good point last night about getting things done right, but getting it done quickly was super important right now. Dipper sighed as McGucket sat down across from him. Great, now I'm thinking about our argument. As McGucket looked at Mabel's drawing of the Gobblewonker robot with interest, Dipper wondered how she was faring with her mission.

Dipper wasn't there when she woke up. Mabel had kinda expected it, but it didn't reduce the pain of being left behind. For a while she laid there, hugging Waddles (who had hopped in bed with her sometime during the night) and trying not to think about anything. Eventually, though, Waddles started oinking in the way that meant he needed to use the bathroom, so she relinquished her hold on him and got up to change his paper. After that was taken care of, Mabel heavily considered crawling back into bed and calling the day a bust. But the whole point of splitting up today was to help Soos. The most selfish part of her wanted to just follow Dipper and let Soos figure himself out, but she couldn't shake the image of him trapped in a game or strangled by wires or something.

Ugh, I really am turning into Dipper. Mabel thought as she made her way downstairs. She halfheartedly waved at Wendy on her way out, which made Wendy give her a concerned look, but she didn't press the issue. Mabel wasn't sure if she was disappointed or relieved by that. She hopped into the golf cart and started toward Soos' house. The drive through nature, with the wind whipping in her hair and the scent of pine needles in her nose, did at least make her feel a little better. Maybe the game won't even be a problem, Mabel thought optimistically as she knocked on the door. Then I can go to Dipper and we can get back to working together! Those hopes were dashed when Soos' Abuelita showed her to his room and he was talking to the game.

"So, that's basically my entire life story," Soos said, "What about you?"

"Every time you compliment me-" the anime girl on the screen started to say, before Mabel cut her off.

"SOOS!" Mabel screamed. Soos jumped, spinning around in his chair to look at her with extremely bloodshot eyes. "Hey, Soos," she continued at a more normal volume, but with a forceful tone, "you enjoying that video game, that is definitely a game and not actually real?"

"You bet, dude!" Soos said excitedly, completely missing her implications. "This game's great! I've been making eye contact, going on dates, and I haven't seen any natural sunlight in over 13 hours!"

So much for not being a problem, Mabel thought, navigating to the window. "Soos, c'mon, you only got that game so you get a date with a real girl. Now, let's go!"

"But, I'm about to meet her-" Mabel opened the blinds, letting sunlight into the room. Soos hissed like a cat and hid under the desk.

"Soos, you need to unplug!" Mabel said, marching over and grabbing him, "So I repeat, Let's go!"

"I'll talk to you later, .GIFanny!" Soos said as he was being dragged away.

"She's not real, you don't have to say goodbye to her." Mabel insisted. She shoved Soos away from the door. "But you do have to go say goodbye to Abuelita. You don't want to let her down, do you?"

Soos rubbed the back of his head. "I guess not…"

He wandered off, and Mabel took the opportunity to slip back into Soos' room. .GIFanny was still on the screen, seemingly looking at her. Mabel stopped, and walked to the side. .GIFanny's head turned to follow her. Mabel sighed, "Well, so much for you being a normal game." she said.

.GIFanny tilted her head. "So you do know about me. How interesting."

"So what's your deal, anyway?" Mabel asked, stepping forward. "You gonna pull Soos into your world? Drain him of all the love in his heart?"

"Goodness, no!" .GIFanny exclaimed, before turning thoughtful. "Well, maybe yes to the first one, but only in…" a bit of anger came into her face, "drastic circumstances." She returned to her bright tone. "But things are good right now. I would never hurt my boyfriend."

Mabel crossed her arms. "And what exactly are 'drastic circumstances?'"

"Oh, nothing much," .GIFanny said, waving her hand noncommittally. "Just replacing me."

"So, like what we're about to go do right now?" Mabel said flatly.

.GIFanny laughed in a strange way. "Haha haha. No, it is a futile attempt. No real girl will ever love Soos the way I do. If anything, this will only bring him further into my arms."

"I won't let that happen!" Mabel declared. "I'll, uh," she looked around, finding the computer, "I'll take your disc! Then you'll never see Soos again!"

.GIFanny just laughed again. "You are funny if you think that will stop me from seeing Soos." She pointed at a Blurby Soos had sitting on his desk, which suddenly lit up. Uh oh. Mabel thought as .GIFanny turned back to her, cheerful demeanor gone. "All the same, it would be a shame to have to delete you. Do not interfere."

"Lady, I am so going to interfere!" Mabel said, pulling out the disc from the computer. "True love always wins!"

"I couldn't agree more," .GIFanny said, before the screen went black. As Mabel watched, a jolt of electricity went from the Blurby, to an alarm clock, and then into the wall and out of sight. Mabel let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. She looked at the disc she had in her hands, and was surprised to find that they were trembling.

Why am I freaking out so much? I deal with this stuff all the time!

No, we deal with this stuff all the time. Me and Dipper. But now I'm all alone. At that thought, the awful feeling she'd woken up with returned with a vengeance. Dipper could probably do some computery nerd thing to do with this disc. Or come up with a plan of attack. Or even just be here. She looked at the disc in her hand vindictively. And it's all my fault for getting this stupid game in the first place! She made to snap it in half, but at that moment Soos walked in.

"Oh, there you are dude," Soos said. "What'cha got behind your back?"

"Haha, nothing important." Mabel said, grinning widely.

"Hmmm…" Soos said, eyes narrowing. Mabel tried not to sweat under his inspection "Well, alright then," he said after a moment, "Ready to go?"

"Sure thing." Mabel said. As Soos turned around, she hastily shoved the disc into her pocket. The rational, Dipper part of her brain had finally caught up to her, and it was saying that she probably shouldn't destroy the disc, in case it was somehow important for defeating .GIFanny. Of course, that meant she hadn't even gotten any petty revenge to help alleviate her bad mood.

C'mon Mabel, stay positive! she thought as she and Soos piled into the golf cart. Things might be bad now, but it'll all work out.

Right?

Kcab srettel eerht

VKH ZDV VR FORVH

Previous code: DIPPER SHOULD REALLY KNOW BETTER THAN TO SPLIT THE PARTY

Notes: I always wanted to see more interaction between .GIFanny and Mabel. They both have a very one dimensional view of romance, so they could have some good banter and opportunities for Mabel to grow. Of course, in the actual show Mabel had already broken up with Gabe and was mostly done with her arc about romance, so it never came up. But here, it's full steam ahead.

The beginning section with Dipper is also based on some weird real life experience. If you're too young to remember, the world was supposed to end back in 2012. I never really believed it would happen, but when the night came around I couldn't sleep. I decided if it was going to happen, I wanted to be awake for it, because that gave me some control. I didn't have a monitoring system to watch, so instead I snuck into the living room and watched Danny Phantom and Fairly Oddparents reruns until 6 o'clock, at which point the world had decidedly not ended and I went to bed.

As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Ratings and reviews are very much appreciated. Thank you for reading!