Dipper was sitting on the floor, resting his chin on his hand. He couldn't remember ever being as bone-deep tired as he was listening to McGucket ramble about all the various robots he'd made. His anxiety about the situation prevented him from dozing, despite his all-nighter yesterday, but he also didn't have any adrenaline flowing from doing something, so he was mostly sitting there trying to pay attention in case something important was hidden in the rambling. Speaking of, his mind had been wandering for a while, so he listened in closer again.

"...So then, I said, 'You get them foot prisons away from me!' But that salesman, hoo boy, them salesmen was persistent in '05, I tell ya what…" McGucket was saying.

Dipper's heart sank at the mention of a year. McGucket seemed to be working backwards, and even though they'd been here for a few hours now, they were still about 25 years off where he needed McGucket's memory to be at. So he decided to try and expedite the process. "McGucket, you've made a lot of robots. Do you remember making anything else?" Dipper interjected, pulling out the laptop. "We know you made this back in 1979, do you remember making any other computers?"

McGucket hummed in thought, reaching out for the computer. Dipper hesitantly gave it up, ready to stop him if he tried to turn it on. McGucket didn't do that, though, instead running his hands over the case, eyes closed. "I remember…I remember hot, dry air. That's right, I made these computermabobs by hand, and I always had the door open to let in the breeze, because of that hot, dry air…" He opened the laptop, running a hand over the keyboard. "But this keyboard's different, it's got extra buttons. Why's it different?"

Dipper felt a spark of excitement. "Maybe it's different because you built it for someone with six fingers?" He pulled out his Journal. "Did you build this computer for the Author?! For Stanford?!"

"Erm, maybe…" McGucket said. He ran his hand over the keyboard again, while saying "Stanford…Stanford…" He kept doing this for a minute, then shook his head. "Nope, no bells are a'ringing!"

Dipper tried not to be too disappointed, pushing on with, "Well, if Stanford was the Author, then you must have seen this journal. C'mon, let's look through it."

"Well, alright then." McGucket said, scooching closer to Dipper. They began to flip through the book (starting at the beginning, Dipper didn't want McGucket to see the device blueprints and freak out again). McGucket didn't say anything as they passed gnomes, cursed doors, and all the other stuff. Dipper made an effort to explain the entries, even recounting some tales of his own in the hope that McGucket would see himself in the adventures. At some points, Dipper glanced at him, hoping to see some glint of recognition in his eyes, but there was nothing there.

After a while, Dipper asked, "Is this helping, like at all? Are you remembering anything?"

McGucket shook his head. "Sorry, boyo, but I don't recall." He grasped the next page of the Journal. "Like I said before, everything before 1982 is just a blur. Just a hazy-" He turned the page and cut himself off with a scream. "The Blind Eye! The robes, the men, my mind! They did something!"

Dipper, wincing from the shout directly into his ear, looked at him with sudden concern. "Who did?"

"I-oh, I don't recall," McGucket said, rubbing his temples again.

Dipper's mind started racing as he looked back down at the journal, considering the crossed out eye. I've seen this symbol around town before. And robes, maybe a secret cult? Messing with his mind, did they take his memories? Alter them? Is that why he can't remember anything? That temple rubbing thing, he does that a lot when he tries to remember. Does it physically hurt? But how would they do that? And why? "McGucket," Dipper said slowly, "it sounds like those people stole your memories." He looked at McGucket with determination. "And we're going to get them back!"

Unhelpfully, his voice cracked on the last word, and McGucket looked skeptical. "With just the two of us? I ain't too sure that's a good idea. 'Sides, how are we even gonna find these robe fellers?"

Dipper thought about it for a moment. "Well, if they messed with your mind, then logically the first thing you remember should be where they are. What's the first thing you remember?"

McGucket rummaged around for a newspaper, clutching it close to him. "This, I think. But I really think we should get some backup before-"

Dipper snatched the paper from McGucket before he could finish. "The Gravity Falls History Museum!" Dipper exclaimed. He started for the door. "Then that's where we gotta go."

McGucket scurried in front of him. "I don't think you're listening to me! This is dangerous! Ya can't just go charging off alone!"

Maybe it was the exhaustion, maybe it was the similarity to Mabel's arguments from last night, maybe it was the vision of the "Device Charging" screen flashing before his eyes, but that just made Dipper angry. He shoved past McGucket, saying. "I have to do this! You can come with me, or you can stay behind. Your choice." Dipper stalked off, barely registering McGucket's stammering, followed by reluctant footsteps as he left the dump and got on his way.

It was quite a ways to the museum without the golf cart. And with neither Dipper or McGucket in a mood to talk, it felt like an eternity. Dipper tried to focus only on the path, putting one foot in front of the other, but it was like he could feel the minutes ticking by as he wondered whether it was all going to end at any moment. Despite his fears, though, the world kept on turning. The sun, which had been high in the sky when he'd left the dump, had sunk low by the time they got to their destination.

The museum was closed, so they had to break in. However complicated Dipper's feelings about Stan were at the moment, Dipper was grateful for his lessons on various illegal activities as he cracked open a side window and climbed inside. McGucket followed a moment later, looking around nervously. "Oooh, I don't like this," he said, glancing around nervously, "Ok, kiddo, we gotta stick together. If I spot any danger, I'll hambone you a signal."

He slapped himself a few times, and Dipper responded by saying, "I have no idea what that means." Suddenly, he saw a flash of red from the corridor behind McGucket. "What was that?" Dipper said, rushing over. Turning the corner, he saw two robed figures quickly duck into a room further down the hallway. He ran after them, bursting into the room to find that it was empty.

"Well, kettle my corn," McGucket said, stepping further inside, "They vanishified!"

"They have to have gone somewhere…" Dipper said, looking around the room thoughtfully.

McGucket backed up. "It feels like all these eyes are a'watching me."

"Wait," Dipper said, tracing the eyelines, "They are. Stand aside." He pushed the panel all the eyes were pointing towards, revealing a secret staircase behind the fireplace. He and McGucket crept down the staircase, coming to a room where more of the robe guys were standing in a circle around a chair with restraints built in, chanting. Dipper and McGucket hid behind some curtains to watch what happened.

More robed figures pulled someone in with a bag over their head and fastened them to the chair. Another figure stepped forward and pulled the bag off their head, revealing… Hang on, is that Pacifica's minigolf coach?

"State your name," said the one who'd pulled the bag off. He seemed to be the leader of the robed figures.

"I am Sergei," said the minigolf coach, "One time Sportlypic minigolf champion."

"And what is it that you have seen?"

"I was captured by little golf ball people, left to their cruel devices by a group of children," Sergei said heatedly. Dipper winced. Maybe we could've done more to help him. "Ach, the horrible songs I was forced to listen to," Sergei continued, shaking his head fiercely, "Even now, they torment me!"

"Do not worry," said the leader, opening a chest that a couple of the others brought forth. He pulled out a strange looking lightbulb-gun thing and fiddled with the dial for a moment. "Those songs will bother you no longer." He shot a beam of blue light at Sergei, causing him to scream for a moment. Then, he was still, pupils dilated. "Sergei, tell me what you know of little golf ball people."

"My mind is clear, thanks to the Society of the Blind Eye," Sergei said robotically.

"Oh my gosh," Dipper whispered as the Society chanted and led Sergei away, "They just erased that guy's memories!" McGucket hamboned something that Dipper still didn't get as the leader pulled a tube out of the gun and dropped it into a pneumatic tube that zipped it away, apparently to somewhere called the Hall of the Forgotten. The Society started trailing out of the room, casually chatting like they hadn't just kidnapped and mind wiped a man. After they were all gone, Dipper walked further into the room, heading for the chest they'd left behind.

"Woah," he said, as he picked up the gun inside, "so you type stuff in with this dial, then it saves the memory in those tubes." He slipped the gun inside his vest. "Better hold onto this in case they come back." He looked over at McGucket, who was examining the pneumatic tubes with interest. "Is this bringing back any memories for you?"

McGucket shook his head. "Nope, I don't recall any of this."

"Well, from the sound of things, your memories should be in that Hall of the Forgotten," Dipper said, pulling a spare pen out of his pocket. He dropped it into the pneumatic tube and it shot off. "Follow that pen!" They raced after it, following it as it zig-zagged through the museum. They had a close call with some lingering Society members, but they made it unscathed to a large door with an eye drawn on it. Pushing inside, they found mountains of memory tubes. "Oh man," Dipper said, walking over to one, "They must've taken memories from everyone in Gravity Falls!" He noticed a machine nearby, with a screen and a slot for a tube. He picked one out and random and put it in, looking at a scene of Toby Determined being mistakenly kidnapped by the Gremloblin, who thought Toby was his long lost brother.

"Dipper!" McGucket suddenly yelled, perched on the statue at the end of the hall, "This one's got those words what people call me!"

"Well, grab it and let's see what's on it!" Dipper called back. Right as McGucket did, though, an alarm started blaring, and Dipper heard voices approaching fast. He took off running, while McGucket hid behind the statue. Dipper ran for a bit, trying to shake the voices, but eventually he decided to try and hide too. It didn't work, though, as a large pair of arms grabbed him from behind and started dragging him away. He fought, but his own weak, noodle arms weren't much help, and before long he was being shoved into the chair back in the main room.

Dipper felt a jolt of fear as the restraints clicked into place. Maybe Mabel and McGucket had a point. Their leader was stepping forward, though, so there was no time for regrets. He put on a brave face, glaring the leader down as he started speaking. "Well, well, well, what have we here? A young interloper, meddling where he shouldn't be, hm?"

"Who are you?" Dipper demanded, "Why are you erasing people's memories?"

The leader shrugged. "Well, I guess we are going to erase your mind, so it doesn't really matter." Around him, the robed figures let down their hoods, revealing various citizens of Gravity Falls. Dipper looked around, thinking hard. Looks like they didn't get McGucket. He's the best chance I've got. Gotta buy time. He missed the first part of the leader's spiel, but he'd pulled his hood down to reveal a strange array of tattoos. "-I am Blind Ivan," he said, "and we are the Society of the Blind Eye." The members wiped their hands in front of their eyes. "As for your second question, our founder…um, does anyone remember who he was?" The group mumbled amongst themselves for a few moments, shrugging.

Good, keep talking.

"Anyway," Ivan continued, "Our founder created the Society to protect the townsfolk from the supernatural beings of Gravity Falls. We couldn't do anything about the things that went bump in the night, so our founder invented the next best thing," he went to open the chest, "a way for us to for-" He cut himself off, reaching fruitlessly into the depths of the chest. He glared at Dipper. "You! What have you done with our memory gun!?"

It felt like the gun was burning a hole in Dipper's vest pocket, and Dipper started to panic. No! Gotta think! Gotta put them off the trail! As Ivan began to stalk toward him, though, Dipper had an idea. An idea that would buy him a lot of time. If it works. Dipper laughed. "I hid it before you guys captured me! You'll never find it in the Hall of-" Dipper cut himself off, putting on a panicked look (not hard, considering the situation) and said "Oh no!"

Ivan turned around and gestured to the Society. "Search the Hall of the Forgotten! Do not rest until we find our memory gun!" As the Society members ran off, Ivan got right up in Dipper's face. "You will regret trying to play smart with us, boy. Before, we would only have erased the Society from your mind, but now? When we find that gun, say goodbye to your summer." With that, Ivan stormed off, leaving Dipper alone in the room.

Dipper let out a sigh of relief. With all those mountains of memory tubes, it would take a while before the Society realized they'd been tricked. Experimentally, he tugged against the restraints, but they didn't budge an inch. McGucket really is my only hope. With that realization came another, that there was absolutely nothing he could do about anything. About the Society, about Stan, about McGucket, about Mabel, about Soos, or about the device. He'd lost whatever control he'd had over the situation, and with it gone he started to lose control over himself. As his breathing accelerated and he started to desperately strain against the chair, he had one last coherent thought.

Please hurry!

Z htiw A hctiws

GRXP GLXP, NXTFXPVG

Previous code: SHE WAS SO CLOSE

Notes: We've got all Dipper's POV for this chapter. I was originally going to cut it off when Dipper stormed away and switch back to Mabel, but I decided against it for a couple of reasons. The big one for me was that finding the Blind Eye is something that just kinda has to be ripped wholesale from the show, and I wanted to get it out of the way. I generally dislike fanfiction that spends too much time retelling events from the show. The occasional bit of dialogue can be a fun little reference, but retelling huge chunks of the story just feels pointless to me. Even in my retelling, I shuffled some details around, so hopefully it wasn't too boring.

Also, a less fun update is that I've officially run out of backlog chapters. My writing speed slowed down significantly once I was back to working, and the backlog's been shrinking more and more over the last month. The next chapter is about halfway finished, so I should be able to get it out on time, but after that it's a little iffy. I'll try my best to keep to the schedule, but don't be surprised if I start missing updates.

That's all, so as always I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Ratings and reviews are always very much appreciated. Thanks for reading!