In the earliest, darkest hours of the eighteenth, Stanford Pines stood in the dimly light parking lot. With the moon bright and glowing overhead, he stared at the hiking trails from whence he had arrived many hours ago. Since then, Drew Alto had taken to sleeping in the front passenger seat of the El Diablo. Though Ford was not akin to Wendy in his medical knowledge, his own history of dangers certainly had trained him with enough basics to help the kid out.

It was strange for him, still. In moments like then and there it was hard for Ford to feel the gap of time that had passed since his fight with Stanley. It felt like it was only a few weeks ago, and in a way, it had been only a few weeks ago for him. Ford could count the days since the two bickered about the nature of the portal he had been building, and the over-reliance of Bill Cipher; the failing trust between the two of them.

Learning to trust was a muscle he had, long ago, pulled and never learned to heal again. Certainly, it had been not entirely his fault. Stan could have told him about the machine he tampered with, leading him to have to step away from prestigious educations. Still, he let Stan live with him for years after their falling out, that surely was an exercise in trust?

Ford, alone in his thoughts, knew better. He slouched into a twelve-fingered, two-handed palm. He let out a long, tired breath.

No, he hadn't let Stan stay with him out of trust. Stan was lazy, but a physically capable person. He naturally felt the pains of physical strain less than Ford, which mean for all the heavy lifting and running that Ford had to endure, Stan would be there to do it for him. He could see that now, though he had missed his brother and was happy to see him alive, it had been for a personal gain. Trust was something he hadn't realized he struggled with.

It took going back to the past, and in a strange way, his future, to see how much trust he lacked. Stan was there, more than two decades later, waiting. Had he really been trying to re-activate the portal? Would that have been the fate for Ford should time and reality not been addled? Stuck, waiting for Stan to understand the complex workings of his portal device?

More than anything else, he saw his failure highlighted by the successes of his family. Mabel was too much like Stanley, a heart on the sleeve who loved and trusted and punched her way through problems. Dipper was too much like Ford, a critic, a scientist, and always seeking the answers out of his reach. Yet, even with the similarities, Dipper had come to trust him, trust Ford. Though whatever strange past had happened between the two of them, Ford was still uncertain to it. He didn't understand what he had done, only that he had come to earn the boys trust.

Perhaps, more impressive still, is that the boy had earned his.

In that understanding of trust grew a loneliness. Ford knew that he didn't trust those around him, particularly the paths. He hated having to keep aware of the boy in the car behind him. He didn't know Mister Drew Alto, and that meant he had his guard up. Was he even asleep, or just waiting for Ford to drift off before doing something? Ford scowled at massaged his forehead, reminding himself that it was wrong to make such assumptions. That kind of paranoia only was deserved with certain creatures of dreams and, particularly, nightmares.

In the distant trail, a loud scrap of rocks jolted his attention. Leaping up straight, he re-adjusted his glasses. "Who's there?" he called.

A familiar, mildly sardonic voice called back, "It's the boogeyman! Give me your toes!"

Further bemused by Darren Roughtons antics, Ford leaned off the car towards the path. "You're safe. And also, the boogeyman doesn't need toes, or want them in particular. That's more a-"

"It was a joke, Pines," Darren grumbled, coming into focus, alongside a shorter woman.

As Ford huffed, Maureen walked up to him. She asked him, stifling a yawn, "How are you? How's Drew?"

Ford shrugged. "Fine, all things considered. Are you two-" he gasped. Maureen had stepped closer, along with Darren, and he saw the staining along their clothes, the tears and puncture marks in the cloth. "Great Scott! You both look-"

"Fantastic? Beautiful in the moonlight?" Maureen smirked.

As Ford felt an alien heat rise into his cheeks, Darren nudged Maureen, and grumbled, "C'mon, don't tease the poor guy. He's sixty or something, after all."

"Joykill," Maureen darkly retorted.

"I was going to say worse for wear," Ford finally stated. As Maureen rolled her eyes and followed Darren back to the car, Ford approached the other side, where he kept some reserves of his medical and magical ointment. "Let me help-"

"Dipper spotted us," Darren announced, holding up a hand.

"Oh, sure!" Maureen bounded over, leaning on the car and rolling up her arm and leg sleeves, "Help me out, doctor."

"Hah!" Ford chuckled, "I didn't realize I had told you about my doctorates."

Maureen blinked, a tad taken aback. "You, err, did'n… did. Did! I definitely overheard you at some point about that."

"When?" Darren asked pointedly, as he reached for Drew's door.

Shooting a scathing look back at Darren, Maureen pouted as Ford began to apply more attention on the wounds. Ford then said to Darren, "Mister Alto is currently resting. I would suggest you leave him uninterrupted."

Shielding his face from any obstructing light, Darren peered through a window. "He looks okay," Darren noted, and sighed, "Good."

"We found him just past the mountain Corduroy suggested. He had truly taken to the order to run," Ford explained, "but not without some minor injuries."

"Better shape than myself and Rushtar," Maureen admitted, scratching her scalp, "Whatever that thing was, the Haunter whatever-"

"Gaunter Haunter," Ford answered.

"-Right, that," she nodded, "Was a nightmare."

"Not literally though, right?" Ford asked, looming a bit over her, "And certainly not with a high-pitched cackle or singular eye?" When Maureen and Darren stared at him, Ford shook his head. "N-Nevermind. Old worries."

"About pirates?" Darren asked.

As Ford turned, ready to explain his worries about a particular yellow, triangular demon, the air buzzed with activity. Over the closest mountains, they saw the flashing lights of aircraft. A helicopter flew overhead, heading southwest. The three lowered themselves, perhaps on instinct rather than necessity. There were no lights, after all, for the helicopter to locate them with. They were likely just swallowed by the darkness to the pilot.

Ford squinted, seeing a pattern along the side of the dark helicopter, illuminated by its own lights. A hand, holding up a star.

"Please," Ford asked the night around him, "Be safe. Think quick and thoroughly."

Then the side door swung wide opened, slamming into Darrens face. As he spun away, clutching his jaw, Drew asked with a deep, slumbering voice, "Did someone just drive by us? Or am I dreaming about a helicopter?" He turned, seeing a furious Darren. "Oh, Darren, Maureen: you're back! I'm… What's wrong with your face?"

"What's wrong with him?" Mabel demanded, shaking Zander vigorously.

"Mabel, girl, chill," Wendy called to her, running to her side to ease her off the rockstar. As she pocketed the orb, which still thrummed, she told Mabel "He may be not dead, but that doesn't mean you can't hurt him now!"

Mabel, calmer but still determined, continued to shake the man bolted down by heavy restraints. "Wake up, Zander!"

Soos leaned past her, eying the restraints. "Huh, wow. That's some heavy duty stuff here. Like, tungsten tough."

"Tungsten? That's the super-hard metal, right?" Dipper asked, finally approaching the unconscious man before them.

"Got it, bud," Soos nodded, and frowned at the locks, "But why? Like, this sort of stuff barely breaks, and can be used in crazy stuff, like rockets and unbreakable boots."

"R-Right," Dipper nodded, uncertain about the truth regarding unbreakable boots, "So why are they using it on him?"

"He did throw a whole bus at them," Wendy reminded them, pulling at the nearest lock. It, as it had with Mabel, did not budge. She frowned, and grabbed again, pulling harder. "Dang it, that is hard stuff." As she pulled, Mabel again reached over and began to tug, squeezing at the restraints with every ounce of her being. "Mabel," Wendy asked of her friend. "'Please, girl, chill for a second!"

"How?!" Mabel bounced off and rounded on the three, "How can I calm down!? He's alive!"

"We know," the three told her.

Dipper was quick to add, "And we're going to free him, obviously, but this way isn't working. Not to mention," he eyed the floor nearest, where the chalk outline of a certain triangular demon was sketched, "We don't know what will happen when we do."

As was with her brother, Mabel was quick to explain, "He'll wake up, cheer for us being awesome heroes, and then tell us our next steps! He always has it together."

"Wouldn't that be nice?" Wendy hummed.

"Oh, it'd be awesome!" Soos agreed.

"Okay, right," Dipper rolled his eyes, "Now that we got our fanciful optimism out of the way, let's talk about the evidence. We found him alive in the heart of the enemy's compound," he started.

"He must have been captured," Mabel declared.

Pushing forward with his analysis, Dipper added, "Has no wounds, even though we saw him shot in the chest at least once. Graupner isn't the type to just, you know, heal up anyone. I wouldn't even be surprised if he couldn't."

Mabel pouted, and Wendy nodded. "Yeah, that one sounds right."

"That's just a little weird," Mabel protested.

"Okay, sure," Dipper snorted, "Just a little weird that then we finally find him in a circle that was drawn around him? A circle with Bill's face on it!? This guy was able to fight or flee from anything, Mabel! Guys, what if-"

Cutting her brother off with white-hot intensity, Mabel told Dipper, "He is not a traitor."

"Okay," Dipper held his arms up quickly in a surrender, "I'm not saying he's, like, the mastermind. But-"

"No, Dipper."

At her stubbornness, Dipper snapped back, "Well then you explain it, Mabel! You explain to me how the one person who can go wherever he wants, do whatever he wants, and seems to never face any consequences himself, actually got trapped without consent?"

Though his own frustrations and anger were enough to put a damper onto Mabel's flames, she was certainly ready to pop right back. It was almost enough for Wendy and Soos to step in, prepared to diffuse the growing sparks. They, however, were beat to the punch. Laughter, cold and smug, echoed into the room via small speakers in each corner.

Above them, in the over-watch platform, a silhouette appeared, flanked by several others. The squadron of individuals were difficult to make out, save for one, right in the center. Where one eye might have been, a glowing red light, cast out by a small red stone, illuminated half a face; twisted with cheerful malice. The figure stepped close, right up the windows, and they saw him.

"And here you four are," Graupner Kinley smirked, leering down on them, "Saving me the trouble of finding you."

Already furious, Mabel roared back up at him, "Can it! The only thing we're saving is time the universe has left to deal with you!"

"Ohh," Graupner snorted, wiggling his fingers in the air, "I'm so threatened. An angry teen, in an impervious metal box, with one way in or out. But I'm the one in danger."

"Haha," Soos chuckled, "When he puts it like that-"

"Soos!" Dipper scolded him. Turning his attention to Graupner, he demanded, "We got all the way into your stupid base, Graupner. We're not helpless, and you know it. Why else would you close off the roads? Doing some maintenance on infrastructure?"

"Nah," Mabel chuckled, "He'd so lose to Gideon on that one."

"Oh," Dipper paused in his righteous attitude, thinking, "I can't tell if I'd want to give Gideon any credit, considering he did try to kill us a few times."

"Tried, versus…" Mabel held her hands above, up towards the shadow of Graupner.

Reluctantly, Dipper nodded. "Fair point."

Graupner, ever annoyed with the antics of the twins and their allies, scowled. "Go on. Rage, scream, spit; whatever you want to do. You're doomed now."

"Doomed?" Wendy chuckled, "C'mon man, really? What, are you from the forties or something?"

Soos nudged her shoulder, "Oh, that's where the cultists get their weird talking from!"

"Speaking of weird," Dipper eyed the pillar of metal behind him, "What is going with Maximillian?"

Mabel, appalled, gasped at her brother, "Dipper! His name is Zander!"

From the sort of expression one might have when studying maggots in filth to one of validation and excitement, Graupner smiled. "I'm getting what I want."

"Which is!?" Dipper demanded.

Graupner held his hands out, "True immortality."

"Dude," Wendy called up to him, "Give it up already. You're a freakin' undead! Hard to get much more immortal than that!"

"Oh, but I think we both know," Graupner said, rubbing the cheek under his vacant eye-socket, "There are prices to pay when we became these things. I have centuries before I would become any frothing monster-"

Quick as a bullet, Mabel jabbed verbally, "Who says you aren't?"

Only deterred for a moment by their chuckling, Graupner grimaced. "The point is… I will rise to a level of power that this world hasn't seen in eons. I'm going to finally have the control I deserve, the chance for safety."

"Safety?!" Mabel snapped, and pointed at Zander, "You call shooting and kidnapping people safety?"

Graupner shrugged, "Others have. I do."

Giving his sister a quick and mildly disappointed eye, he pressed Graupner, "How? You want power for protection how?"

"My indestructability is imminent," Graupner told them, "Once the ritual has completed, I'll be rewarded justly."

"Ritual?" Mabel gasped as Dipper spun back to Zander.

It was Wendy who asked, "Graupner, how did you bring Zander here?"

"Simple," Graupner snickered, "I told him to. Much like I am about to tell you."

"Told him?" Mabel asked, a tad quieter. Dipper had turned to look again at Graupner, and Soos looked worried. With a flash of recognition, Wendy rushed to Dipper.

"Cover your ears!" she snapped, wrapping her eyes around Dipper.

Before Mabel or Soos could, Graupner, bearing his teeth like a hungry predatory, demanded of them all, "Halt."

Wendy flinched, and held her hands over Dipper's ears. Mabel covered her ears quickly, and Soos plugged his own. Wendy, without protection from the voice, blinked. She looked to her hands. She could… move them still? She then stood up a bit straighter. Dipper craned his head to see her, not removing his ears from her hands.

Above, Graupner cleared his throat. "Ahem. I said Halt."

Again, Wendy flinched, but did not feel the same locking up as before. Graupner shouted, "HALT!"

From behind Graupner, a cool, elevated tone asked, "Perhaps, master, the spell cannot transmit through recordings and speakers?"

Graupner swore.

Wendy cackled, and pointed up at him. "Dude, you look so freakin' stupid right now!" At Wendy's laughing, the other three relaxed, eying her. Catching her breath from her well-deserved laughter, she told them, "That stupid spell of his doesn't work unless he's speaking to us directly!"

As the three cackled with Wendy, Graupner grew red hot in the face. "It doesn't matter!" he roared, slapping his hand along the hard window separating them, "You're still in a room, with only one way out. I'd wait until Cipher is done to deal with you-"

"Done with what!?" Dipper called up.

Graupner eyed around himself. As if compelled by something unseen, he smirked. "Why not tell you… you're dead soon, one way or another. I'm fulfilling a promise. One body, in exchange for knowledge."

"A body-"

"For knowledge?" Mabel and Dipper repeated.

"Yes," Graupner sneered, a hunger in his eyes growing along with the light in his stone, "Bill Cipher knows what I need. He's got that answer, and I have the wording required with the deal. All he needed was the correct body. And I have provided him with that. A body."

Breathless, Dipper realized what he meant. He looked to Zander and, with great sympathy, noted, "He wants a puppet."

Furious, Mabel yelled up at the glass, "You sold Zander to Bill Cipher?"

"Traded, bartered – call it what you want," Graupner dismissed, "Cipher has his flesh, and I'll have my magic."

Suddenly, it clicked. Dipper chuckled, and pointed at Graupner. "I get it. You really aren't a lich! You want to be, but none of my research, or your notes, explained that last bit! But Cipher has been around forever! You couldn't figure it out yourself again! Without me, without Cipher, you're just looking for your answers from other people still. You're still just a scared, sad kid!"

Fury boiling off him like steam, Graupner loomed over the windows. He turned over his shoulder, and demanded, "Send them all in. Drag them out, kicking and screaming. But don't kill them – I want that pleasure myself."

As the same voice from before acknowledged Graupner's demands. "Yikes," Soos grimaced, "Hard pass, dude."

Dipper turned towards the huge door behind them. "Okay, planning time, and quick," he asked aloud to his comrades, "Two directions. Leave now, or stay here."

Mabel roared, "Stay! I'm not leaving him behind!"

"Uh," soos looked between the door and the imprisoned man. With a moment to consider, he closed his eyes, swallowed whatever fear had bubbled up, and he stated, "Stay."

Dipper, feeling the answer revealing itself, turned to Wendy. She looked back, those green eyes firm. He had no need to ask, for she told him, "We shouldn't leave, Dipper."

He nodded, and reached into his book. "Then everyone come close, and when I say so, hold hands."

With his sister, his best friend, and crush, Dipper walked up and before the imprisoning throne of Zander Maximillian. He fluttered the pages quickly scanning for a page he had referenced many times since writing them. They were among the most important, the most vital in his experience.

Dipper explained, "Someone alone isn't a match against Cipher, but if we go in there, we should be able to expel him from Zander!"

From above, Graupner stammered, "Wh-What? You can do what!?"

"Going into his mind," Dipper turned and glared up at Graupner.

"Yeah!" Mabel snapped, "Because we've actually dealt with him before, unlike you, Stinky Kinley!"

Veins dangerously bulged along the neck and face of Graupner Kinley. With a roar, the dangerous leader of the Rising Grasp slammed his fist onto the glass, which emitted green sparks. "NO! Don't you dare interfere!"

"Oh, well now we have to," Wendy snorted.

"Part of me wants to stop, just to surprise him," Soos stated, but he chuckled, "but, like, the tiniest part of me."

Mabel warned Soos, "I'll cut that part off if it tries."

"Message received, hambone," he told her.

To the three around him, Dipper declared, "Everyone hold hands! Wendy," he told her, "Another thing you missed last summer-"

"Ugh," she groaned, exasperated.

"-Is that Bill Cipher got into Stan's head once. We went in after him, and chased him out. So just follow our lead, got it?"

"S-sure," she nodded.

"Okay, here we go," Dipper stated as they all took hands. "Videntus omnium."

Roaring from the overwatch, Graupner screamed, "Halt! HALT! HAAALT!"

Dipper continued, "Magister mentium."

From Dipper's eyes came a blue energy. It swirled like fire and glowed like fireflies. That same energy radiated and burned out from Mabel's eyes, Soos', and Wendy's. The spell swelled within them.

Flame licking at his words, Dipper called out, "Magnesium ad hominem. Magnum opus."

Their vision was fading. The harsh metal surrounding was drifting away, slowly being replaced with a vast darkness like the depths of the universe itself. Dipper wasn't sure what was the deafening sound was; the rushing transference of conscious, or the screams from Graupner to stop. They would not stop, no matter how desperate the warlock, turned wraith was.

Dipper roared triumphantly, completing the spell, "Habeas corpus! Inceptus Nolanus overratus! Magister mentium! Magister mentium! MAGISTERMENTIUM!"

The swirling curtains of darkness gave way, and the four were bathed in a blinding white light. To the twins and Soos, this was familiar. Wendy, however, called allowed, "Guys, is this normal? We're not dead, right?"

"Nope!" Mabel cheered, seemingly still next to them, "We're in a much better place."

The white light started to fade, and their eyes began to adjust. Gone was the steel and metal, the pillar of iron, or the glass case from where Graupner stood over them. Instead, they were in some sort of reading room, filled with natural wood and lumber accents, old burning candles, pulled curtains, tall bookshelves filled with many various tomes. Dipper blinked as he turned about. He chuckled and put his hands to his hips. "Wow. He's got some taste, actually. Kinda nice in here."

"Wow," Mabel smirked at her brother, "Dipper Pines, twenty-fifteen: 'Zander has taste'."

Soos hummed. "Could use more kitchens," he said, spinning around, looking for a sign of one. "Where's a guy gotta go to eat?"

Wendy asked them, "Wait, do we need to eat in the mind too?"

"Ignore him," Dipper said, and turned his attention away. There was a large, beautiful stone fireplace. Several feet away from it was a coffee table and couch. Resting on the coffee table was a picture book, labeled 'Family Photos'. Dipper, letting his inner demon of curiosity win, pulled open the cover. He frowned, the first picture was of five people staring at the photo, but only Zander's face was visible. The others had some sort of white haze on their faces.

Mabel, eyeing the walls, asked, "Where do we go? I don't see any doors."

"Oh," Wendy whistled to them, and pulled aside the curtain, "Looky at what I found."

As Dipper lowered the photo album and the others turned to Wendy, she revealed a magnificent door. It had tints of red paint throughout the sculpture. Carved to look like a mural of history, there were many shapes to be seen: many forms of people. They each seemed to be of distinctive time periods. All of them, as the four studied it, had the face of Zander. There was a simple, but brilliantly shiny, dark door handle.

"That looks like a doorhandle made out of the starkissed stuff," Mabel pointed out.

"It does," Dipper agreed, and reached out for it, "What's beyond here?"

As he swung open the door, the four felt their breath escape them.

"Holy Toledo's," Soos whispered.

Stretching out from the door was a long and wide highway of stone. It was wide enough for modern vehicles to pass along it, stretching on for what felt like miles. There was a vast expanse around them. They could see the sky, but not of blue, but of darkness. There were not stars above, only the earth, close enough to act as some strange mirror to their own dimension. Below the unsupported highway, was jagged, red-glowing mountains.

Beyond the highway was the sight the four were glued onto. There were spires, many of them, each taller than the next. They looked, themselves, miles tall. Each looked like some sort of sky-scraper, ranging in styles. The ones in the center looked modern and sleek, even boasting with glowing, neon signs. The one most in the center, and certainly the tallest, read, 'Under Construction – two-thousand onward'. The ones around it quickly shifted in time. The one next to it had a grittier neon sign, reading 'nineteen hundred to nineteen hundred and ninety-nine'. The one next to it was slightly shorter, and had a wooden sign with lightbulbs around it, reading 'the nineteen hundreds'. Each one nearby got subsequently shorter and shorter, with signs less detailed and less impressive than the central three or four.

"Okay," Wendy whistled, "So this is what our minds look like?"

"No way," Soos shook his head, "This is on a whole new level!"

"It's not a mind palace," Dipper mumbled, "It's a-"

"Mind CITY!" Mabel roared and cackled, leaping up and cheering. "A whole city of glorious Zander Maximillion memories! Oh my god, I can't wait guys! It's going to be so cool! Look at all of them!"

"What's with the world up there?" Soos asked, looking above.

Dipper looked up to the earth, looked down to the mountains, and shrugged. "No idea."

Wendy shuddered. "Now that is the scariest thing I've heard so far: Dipper doesn't know?"

"Dipper doesn't know," Dipper repeated, and took a step forward. Eyeing the sprawling city ahead of them, he scratched his developing facial hair, "I guess this makes sense. The idea of a mind palace would be from most people who live a century, often less. But we already know that Zander was the guardsman, and the guardsman has been around for centuries, plural. I guess to better organize his existence, his mind is more like… well, this?"

"Coooool," Mabel said with big, bright eyes.

"My guess," Dipper told them, "Is that we have to find Zander at the top of-"

Cutting through the air was a loud, shrill whistle. The four held their hands to their ears, and lowered themselves, for the noise was so loud it shook the highway-bridge. It was quick enough, allowing the four to squint around, searching for the noise. Rumbling came again, but this time, from the door the four had just walked out of. Turning back to face it, the four saw that the door, from this angle, was blue-tinted.

Dipper, following the lead in distancing himself from the doorway (which stood alone, absent of walls or doorframe), cautiously muttered, "What… is that?"

Squeezing out from the door was a person… thing. It was a rounded humanoid, looking more plastic or stone-like than flesh and blood. It was a foot or so shorter then Dipper. Thin arms and legs protruded from its sides. On its fairly small head was a safety helmet, and it wore across its face: the same mask that Zander wore.

The being lifted up from around its non-existent neck, a silver and black whistle. Placing the whistle to the mask, the shrill call echoed again.

After the whistling faded and the gang no longer flinched, a gruff voice called out from the figure before them. "Alright, folks!" the gruff, Brooklyn like accent called out, "We're back at it, fall in!"

Spilling out like a tidal wave were dozens, if not hundreds of identical beings. They flooded outwards, washing over the head-honcho. The four turned and ran for it, screaming as they fled. It was to no avail, for these things crashed into them, sending them sprawling ahead, rolling onto the highway. Several close calls from tilting off the highway and into the abyss below, the four collected themselves, rubbing off the scrapes and bruises associated with being literally throne twenty feet.

These beings had arranged themselves into rows. There were a hundred, if not more, of theses strange spherical things.

Exiting to the front, another such being cleared its throat. Feminine and somewhat accented with a north-african tone, the cheerful figure pulled out a riding crop and told their compatriots, "Alrighty, listen up! There will likely be some maladaptation's and returning dangerous behaviors that need sorting. Let's help him sort it all out, turbo style!"

"Yes sir!" the hundreds declared, and marched forward.

The gang stepped aside as the hundreds marched passed their glorious leader. It too turned, only to stop, startled at the four. "Woah, major memory mis-alignment," it declared and studied the four. "Based on clothes, posture, and nice style… post-modern? Wait, red-head wraith, duh! You're Wendy Corduroy! Oh. Oh gosh, or boy, wait – this is recent! Past few seasons! What are you memories doing all the way by the highway to meditations?"

Eying one another, of the four, Soos spoke fastest, "Uh, we're not memories. Not like the ones up there."

"Tourists!" Mabel exclaimed.

The 'general' orb-person eyed the four of them. "Hm. You," it pointed the riding crop at Wendy, "For some reason I trust you. Dunno why. You're not rogue memories?"

Eying the twins, who nodded, Wendy told it, "No, we're here to help Zander!"

"Ah," the orb nodded, "The boss at the top, huh?" It sighed. "Nuts. We've been out of touch for a few days. Hopefully things are okay," it said, and strode around the four, "Well, we don't have any rules regarding visitors, but if you begin to re-arrange memories or cause trouble, then we'll have to escort you to the ledge."

As the orb-thing pointed the whip at the side of the highway, the message was loud and clear. Dipper assure it, "I promise you we're just going to try finding Zander and saving him from a demon."

"Demon!?" the orb gasped, "Yeah right! The boss hates all things magic, especially considering his past. He'd not let a demon in, no way bub!"

Like a fish sensing a lure, Mabel worriedly approached it and asked, "Considering what in his past?"

The orb shook its masked head. "Can't say, I'm afraid," it told them, "More than half those memories are in the forbidden district. Spooky place."

"Forbidden district?!" The twins gasped.

Wendy chuckled, "I guess that's also not normal."

"Nah," Soos shook his head, "Like, Mister Pines had a few doors he certainly didn't want opened in his mind, but, like, a whole area of his house? Nah, nothing like that."

The orb, turning back towards them, jabbed the whip at Dipper and Mabel's noses. "Now, listen here you two, because I shall only say this once! The Forbidden district isn't ahead of you, understand? You may visit anywhere you can see here. But exploring beyond, or trying to open sealed doors? Strictly prohibited! You shall be escorted to the ledge and discarded if you do!"

"What if, say," Dipper started, "we accidentally open a door-"

"Ledgey-ledge!"

Mabel tried, "Or we are thrown into the forbidden section-"

"Super Ledge!"

"Or-" Soos started.

"RIGHT TO THE LEDGE!" the orb screamed. "Any touching, looking, smelling, tasting, hearing, or interaction with those area of the minds are dangerous, damaging, and potentially life-changing. You, and even the consciousness of the boss, should never enter the forbidden district under any circumstances. Got it, buckaroos!?"

"Yes ma'am," Soos told it.

"Hm. Okay, good. Seeya," It huffed, and then turned and marched away proudly.

Watching whatever that thing was stride ahead, Dipper and Mabel exchanged mutual look. Much was conveyed in their glance; their anticipation, their confusion, their excitement, and their worry. Mabel asked aloud, but mostly to her brother, "What where those golf-ball things?"

"Those also weren't what you saw before?" Wendy bit, far more confused and exasperated.

"Not even close," Dipper told her, "See, the mindscape is alive, right? If you find a memory, it lives itself, playing out the way the person would remember it. So memories, and living things inside the memories are alive, and can even be aware sometimes. But those?" Dipper looked around, eyeing the blue door behind them, "I don't think those were memories, exactly."

"Yeah," Soos nodded, "Got more like magical, not-evil lilputtian people-things, sort of vibes, you know?"

"Expertly said, monster hunter professional," Mabel congratulated Soos.

"Okay," Wendy counted off a list on her fingers, "So, we have a mind-city, which is weird, a forbidden district, which is weird, and golf-ball workers, which is also weird," Wendy rounded on the twins, "Guys, is anything, so far, normal?"

The twins, turning back to look at the vastness around them, scanned around. After a moment, they shook their heads. "Honestly, not really." "Nada."

Dipper quickly rallied, "But our mission is still the same! We have to stop Bill tampering with whatever is going on in here, even if it isn't at all like Grunkle Stan's mind."

"Besides," Mabel said, starting the walk forward, her arms lifted at her side with ease, "It's Zander's mind-city! I'm sure it can't be that hard to get around."

Striding towards the magnificent sprawling city was a lesson in the power of height. Each step they took continued to demonstrate how far they had to go, and how tremendously imposing the spires of the mind-city were. The tall, illuminated sky-scrapers loomed further and further above them, until Dipper was sure that Mabel had to be wrong: this was going to be hard.

Growing from small speck into a large, circus-like sign of flashing lights was a gate. The gate proudly displayed, flashing, sparkling wonder, 'Civitas Mentis'. Strolling underneath the sign, they were cast into a world that was active, alive, and in motion.

"Yeah," Wendy nodded, looking around, "I get it. Living memories."

As it had been every step of the way, the world of Zander's mind was totally different from that of Grunkle Stan's. The city street of Zander's mind was like a sprawling, multi-faceted city center. Several streets merged at its core, highlighting the massive, central structure of the tallest tower. There were, other than the strange spherical 'workers' rushing about, people. They had all manners of dress and clothes, ranging from togas and simple wraps to three-piece suits.

Dipper studied one as it rushed passed Dipper. There was a certain warmth in it's color's that made Dipper say, "They're… memories. All of these people are memories!"

"Huh, woah," Soos exclaimed, "That's a few people in bathrobes he knew."

As Mabel gave Soos a disapproving look, Dipper thought aloud, "Grunkle Stan only had memories behind doors, but these memories are just walking around? That seems kind of weird, even if things are different."

From beside Dipper, a familiar voice cried out, "You can certainly say that again." One of the strange workers had overheard them, and was shaking its masked head. This one sounded… cool, calm, with a rich accent.

Dipper blinked, and leant closer. It had been a while since he had heard that voice, but he was certain when he asked, "Omir?"

The orb chuckled. "No, no, just using his voice. All of us have voices that are from important people in the boss's life! Not like all these loose memories!" he declared, and wove a broom around, indicating the hundreds of people going about their business.

"Yeah, it's a regular time-square out here," Mabel said, "oh, I love that woman's hat! And- hey, that's his stage manager!"

"Sis, focus," Dipper pleaded, and turned back to the sphere, "Why are they all going about?"

"Not sure. We weren't here," the small sphere before them sighed, "And then he went to sleep. Not good, not good at all."

"Wait, what?" Dipper put a hand to the bridge of his nose, "Sleeping is bad? You all just got here?"

"Sure," the orb nodded, "But we had always been here, until recently. Boss doesn't typically sleep, so this sort of problem hasn't really been a problem for us, but with both happening at once? This is a disaster! Look at the state of his mind!" It turned and started the swat a well dressed man with its broom. "Back! Back to your door, salesperson!"

As the sphere continued to shepherd the man away, who belligerently protested, Dipper turned back to the others. "Maybe Cipher is causing all this trouble? Unleashing memories to tie us up."

Wendy shrugged, "Sounds like a solid plan, hate to say it- keep everyone else busy while he does evil things."

"Then what do we do?" Mabel asked, worriedly looking around, "I can barely see where to go! Mabel-vision is failing me!"

"No!" Soos declared desperately to Mabel, "C'mon Mabel vision! Just hang on!"

Dipper signed, looking to the sky, the earth floating above. As the vision of the globe far above reflected in his eyes, he smirked. "Wait. Wait. Guys, sorry, I've been stupid."

Mabel gasped, half way through reaching for her cell phone. "I didn't record that!? Dang it!"

Finishing his snicker first, Dipper told her, "Wouldn't have helped anyway – we're in the mind, remember?" As Mabel grumbled, Dipper continued, "We can just fly there."

"Woah," Wendy's eyes got huge, "Because Zander can fly?"

"No, because if you can imagine it in the dream-world, it can happen," Dipper grinned, "Watch this."

He closed his eyes, imagining the power of flight, the freedom to move however and wherever he wanted. That control, that skill. He squeezed his eyes shut, and leapt into the air. "Hah, see- UAH!" he yelped. Trying to lift his feet out and into the air, gravity pulled him back down.

As Dipper crumbled to the ground, Soos winced. "Ah, no, poor Dipper ran out of imagination."

"Doubt that," Mabel snickered, "he had to imagine himself with Wendy for three years, didn't he?"

Soos gasped. "Dipper and Wendy are a thing!?"

After the three gave Soos a precisely incredulous look, he stood up and began dusting himself off. "What the heck was that about," he wondered.

"You fell," Soos told him.

"Yes, I am aware!" Dipper snapped, and reached in for his journal, flipping pages to the spell, "Did something change? Why can't I imagine myself to have those sort of powers?" he turned to his sister, and asked, "Mabel, can you give yourself some ridiculous power?"

"Oh, absolutely," Mabel grinned, casting out a thumbs up. She squeezed her eyes shut, clenching her jaw tightly. She tensed harder and harder, and the three took some steps back, awaiting whatever incredible sight was to follow. Mabel, with all the fury of a bomb, roared, "BLAAAGH!"

After her roar, the three stared at her. Mabel looked before her, under her, behind her. She then pouted. "Dang it," she declared, "No giga-waddles."

"Look, making an assumption here," Dipper worried, "But if Mabel can't use imagination, I don't think any of us can!"

"Aww, man," Soos grumbled, "No burritos."

Mabel whined, "No Craz and Xyler!"

Wendy shrugged, "I dunno. A hummer with rad flames."

Dipper scowled, "And our easy way to get to the top."

"Well," Mabel stepped in front of her brother, "Since the easy way is out, we're just going to have to do what we've been doing so well for, like, all summer!"

Soos quickly cheered, "Chase after our enemies and let slip through our fingers!"

"No!" Mabel squawked back, "we're… walking."

"Oh, chill," Wendy nodded, pocketed her hands, and making to follow Mabel.

Navigating through the crowd was a chore. It was certainly not the most difficult thing to do, but an odd thing to experience. Without context, the memories walking around just spat out lines from a life Zander had lived like mad.

"It makes more sense when you punch first, ask later."

"You seem stressed, Mister Maximillion."

"I still can't believe you once went by Orvas."

"You can do what!?"

"Know your place, guardsman."

"Hah! I like scones plenty."

Dipper, a mind of logic and reason, found the walk the most taxing. Each phrase was said by someone who knew a piece of the puzzle that eluded him: who was Zander Maximillion? He saw many people in suits, many people in traveling garb, and many people in dark clothing. There were many who looked confused, exhausted, and perplexed. Was this how people always were around him? Dipper wondered how many times he had noticed anyone who just looked happy and content; probably could count just on his fingers.

He looked to Mabel, ready to comment. Her own face faltered his interest. Her brows were turned down in a worried frown. She took was looking from one memory to another. After a moment, she turned to Dipper, and asked, "If memories are all here, what is going on in Zander's mind?"

Turning ahead, Dipper avoided showing his worry and confusion. Realizing with this encounter the enormity of his inexperience regarding memories, Dipper came to the stark thought that he had no idea what that would mean. He couldn't tell Mabel that, as the last thing he needed was further panic in the ranks, but there was a visceral, gnawing concern. Memories, within Stan's mind, had remained within their doorways, left to repeat the past and help recollection. Yet these people, according to those weird orb-things, were freed.

Did that mean Zander was unable to recollect his memory? Were there things that he was unable to remember?

A tense and sorrowful frown grew on Dipper's face. That was no way to live, even if he had his own disputes with the man. Dipper finally stated, "I don't know yet. But we can fix this."

"Will fix this," Mabel proudly affirmed.

Finally squeezing through the crowd before the, Dipper found a space to breathe. Followed up closely by his sister, Wendy, and Soos, he looked ahead. There was a beautiful golden, royal red, and chrome looking entryway for the massive center building. Crystal covered lightbulbs shone with a brilliance like any modern palace, casting a regal aura to the four.

"Might as well try going in," Dipper muttered, and swung open the front door. He could see the beautiful interior, high ceilings, sprawling room, murals along the walls and filigree along all the corners and edges.

Then he stepped inside, and Dipper, along with the three behind him, were instantly inundated with din. Inside the lobby was a cacophony of confusion and belligerence. There were nearly as many memories packed inside as there were outside. As the door opened, five or six immediately fled past them, rushing outside.

Past the crowd, a voice called out, "Oh dear! Please, don't free the loose memories!"

That voice made Dipper feel ill with regret. Mabel cried out, putting her hands over her mouth. Wendy and Soos gasped, and the two and Dipper yelled, "Yuki!"

Bullying themselves through the wedged-up room, the four shoved and pushed themselves to make it to the front counter. That was the voice of their long-gone friend, Uki-Dohth. They hadn't seen him since Gravity Falls had been removed, along with him and many others. Standing behind a counter was not the memory they had hoped for, but another identical orb-person thing.

"Ah," it said, seeing the disappointment growing on their faces, "Apologies, friends. I'm afraid you have not found who you sought. Just me, one of the Sanitors."

As the other's wallowed in the crush of not finding their friends, Dipper asked the being with Yuki's voice, "Is that what you're called? Sanitors?"

"Yes, indeed!" it cheerfully said, and it shook its masked face, "Sadly, though, our work is rather cut out for us. See, something dreadful has happened!"

"We can tell," Dipper agreed, "You've got a bad case of lose memories."

"Putting it mildly, too!" the Sanitor with Yuki's voice, "So far, almost all memories post nine-hundred or so are being freed! Almost everything except the stuff from the forbidden district."

"How? Why?"

"Don't know, don't know," the Sanitor told Dipper with a sad shake of its head. It wove a hand around, "but we've got a lot of work to do. These need to be returned, or confusion will grow!"

Dipper scowled. "I know this," he declared, tightening his fists, "This is Bill's work. He loves doing this sort of thing; unleashing chaos!"

"Bill?" the sanitor asked, and then pulled out a flip-board with a stack of papers. The sanitor wove through pages, and then leaned in. "Uh, not Bill Cipher?"

Mabel leaned forward, and shouted, "Yes! Yes, you beautiful sounding ghost of a friend of mine!"

As Mabel slumped back behind him, Dipper explained to the taken-aback sanitor, "That's why we're here. We're not memories – we're from the real world, and we're going to stop Bill doing whatever he is trying to do!"

"Real?" the sanitor asked, reaching forward to Dipper with one of those small hands. The moment it touched his shoulder, it gasped, and exclaimed, "Did you speak to our leader? The general?"

"The one with the whip?" Soos asked.

"She said not to go to the forbidden district," Wendy shrugged, "But I'm seriously kinda tempted."

"N-No, please, do not!" the sanitor pleaded, "Understand that we already have our work cut out for us, as you say. If memories come from the forbidden district, who knows what kind of damage they may cause?"

"Still," Dipper restated, "The General spoke to us, said we were welcome."

"Ah!" the voice of the snaitor perked up, "Then that's settled! I believe that, in this crisis, we should attempt to avoid any conflicts with dream-demons, especially since we're not sure how one got into his mind in the first place! If you have the skill to deal with a demon, then please," it reached under the counter, and pulled out a ring of keys, "Follow me! We have a few memory-floors to ascend."

The sanitor pushed itself a path for them all, leading towards a magnificent elevator, wrapped with golden leaflets and dew-drop like gems. No buttons were present, but a keyhole in the center of the doors awaited the sanitor. It pulled out a key that ended with a usb, and inserted it into the keyhole. A pleasant 'ding' rang out, and the doors pulled open.

"Please, follow me," the sanitor asked politely, stepping inside.

"Sure thing, not-Yuki," Soos stated as they all hopped aboard.

"Does my designated voice bother you?" the sanitor asked Soos.

Soos, looking very uncomfortable, played with his hands. "Uh, er, well…"

The sanitor nodded. "Ah. You must have known the one the memory was based off of," it said aloud, "I'm very sorry."

Soos nodded solemnly. He asked the small being, "So, uh, I know you're not exactly Yuki, but… can I get a hug, dude?" The sanitor turned to him, its arms open. Soos, eyes swimming, wrapped his arms around the sanitor and scooped it up in a massive hug.

The twins turned away quickly. Mabel's mouth twisted horribly as she experienced the wave of terrible pain that Dipper did. He held a hand over his eyes, trying to will back the tears. It was like they were talking to a ghost who had never met them. Wendy looked deeply shaken, her eyes wide and trembling as she looked at the doors leading back out.

Let go by Soos, the sanitor turned to the doors as they swung open. "First stop," it declared, waving its hands, "the hallway of fame!"

FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!

"We love you, Zander Maximillion!"

"Sign my picture, please!"

"Marry me, Zander!"

The four felt a twinge of disgust as they looked out to a long, very long, red-carpet walkway. On either side were no doorways, but branches made by security guards, blocking out the crowds to allow for different memories. Past the guards, acting as some sort of insane walls, were writhing, frothing, desperate fans. The four saw Zander's face all over the place, on shirts, CDs, even poorly made tattoos. It made the deafening lobby below seem peaceful.

"This isn't our stop," Dipper noted with poison, hating the floor before him.

The sanitor walked out. "Of course, but memories aren't as neatly sorted as the mind-scrapers will make you think. The sorting of centuries is easier than the connections that tie memories together. This, as you can see," the sanitor sighed and wove its hand out to the crowds, "Is the life that rock-star Zander Maximillion has had to live."

"Which means," Wendy gulped, "that we can't just continue up, past this hell?"

The sanitor slowly shook its head. "Sadly not. On the other end is the next rise. Come on, its not that long a walk." Wendy, Mabel and Dipper groaned as they begrudgingly followed the sanitor. As he stepped out, Soos started to wave back at the people crying out to be seen.

The first pair of guards were quick to be passed. Dipper paused, looking inside. He saw, somehow, inside the crowd was a quiet, isolated room. Zander was sitting by a metal table, looking up to a well-dressed man. The well-dressed man had receding hair and a permanent scowl, and looked like he had laughed once and immediately forgotten how since then. Dipper realized he was looking at a memory between Agent Powers and Zander.

Powers asked, incredulously, "You want the attention?"

"Of course," Zander shrugged, "I've proven that this character is ready for the public. I can't say the same about the public being ready for me, though."

"You understand the immense amount of paperwork that would be required to accomplish this, yes?" Powers narrowed his eyes at Zander, "To create an entirely new identity that is convincing to a growingly scrutinizing public?"

Zander leaned across the table, eying up at the agent. "Don't worry, agent powers. I'm very accustomed to knowing the balance between being seen, but never being known."

"Dipper!"

Flinching at the outcry, Dipper turned to Mabel. She was pouting, glaring at him. "Stop eavesdropping on Zander's life. We have to fix this? Remember?"

Ready to argue the many reasons to listen it, Dipper instead chose to sigh. There were other memories he'd rather listen in on. "Okay," he feigned surrender to his sister, "Fine, let's keep going."

"Thank you," she beamed at him, and continued.

There were many more guard-archways before them, and each had some sort of memory that related to Zander's life in fame. There was one where he hit the top box-offices, where the room around him exploded with cheers, and he was cool about it. There was another where he was speaking to the woman that was his stage-manager, attempting to offer her a position.

"Why?" she asked him, "So I can babysit your newest kids?"

After a cold laugh, Zander told her, "No, they're adults. You'd babysit my shows."

"I fail to see the difference," but she then offered a hand to him, for a shake, "And I'll start at five hundred grand salary."

"Steep price, harms," Zander smirked, and shook the hand.

As Dipper made to leave, he heard her say, "Your fault I know my asking price at all. Take it up with your manager."

Dipper hummed, "Curious," and hurried along, trying to avoid his sister's suspicion, "They knew each other before the job."

There were plenty of memories to pass. As they did, Dipper tried his best to listen in and spy when he could. There was one with Zander, at an interview. He looked pleasant, but uncomfortable. There was another where he was being driven in a limousine, surrounded by younger appearing members of Duskhope. Dipper, despite his wish to catch something that finally put got Zander, noticed that Zander, whenever not being seen, stopped smiling. When he did, he seemed so tired; just dead exhausted.

There was one more before the elevator that Dipper listened into. He eyed what he recognized as the backstage to the duskhope concert that he had met Zander and Duskhope at. He was, again, flanked by the woman who was his manager.

She asked Zander, "That was a lot of work to make it look like you randomly decide who sees you."

"It's important no one suspects anything," Zander told her with a grin, "Image and impartiality are a good defense against those that are always watching."

She crossed her arms, and scowled. "They look like trouble. Especially the girl."

Zander beamed. "I hope they are."

"Why them though?" she asked with a furrowed brow, and she then snarled, looking exasperated. Dipper gasped, seeing clearly that her teeth were sharp, almost like that of a sharks. She snapped at Zander, "Have you grown bored of me? I can help, Orvas. I'm not useless."

"Of course you're not," Zander turned to face her fully, worry flooding from, "Otherwise I think I would have let you be at peace, instead of roping you back into this all."

"Then why-" she began.

"There's always new generations," he told her distantly, "And we have something they need: experience. We can't keep hogging all the scary problems. One day, we'll be gone after all."

"Dipper!" Mabel growled.

Leaving a concerned looking stage-manager behind, Dipper hurried after the group. "S-Sorry," he quickly stated, "I thought I recognized someone in a memory a few times."

"Other than Zander?" Wendy asked. As Dipper nodded, she followed up with, "Who?"

Mabel called, "Guys! C'mon! We need to not just push ourselves into his past. That's, like, really rude and stuff."

"Mabel," Dipper growled.

"And," Mabel stood tall, a finger lifted, "It'll keep us from moving ahead. Doesn't that sound like something Bill would want? Us taking our time?"

Against his wishes, Dipper stepped ahead, towards the next elevator. Awaiting him and the gang was the sanitor, who was readying the same key. Inserting it into the next keyhole, it opened to an identical elevator. After it dinged, the being with Yuki's voice asked, "Going up?"

Mabel sighed deeply and sadly. "You even make dorky jokes like he did," she muttered.

"Ah," the sanitor bumbled as the four entered, "Is… that… good?"

"It's sad," Mabel plainly told him, her face dropping.

The elevator closed before them, and three seconds passed before it opened again. The sanitor declared, "Next stop, the hallway of flight! Watch your step!"

The four gasped. There was no hallway, so to speak. There were roughly platform-shaped clouds floating around them all. About two-hundred feet ahead was another elevator, but there was no clear means to getting to it. At the center of each of those clouds seemed to be a hole, in which glistening, shimmering, rainbow light glowed outwards.

"Ohh heck," Soos gasped, looking around.

"So, uh," Dipper asked the sanitor, as it leapt out onto a cloud effortlessly, "Since we're human, you know, if we fall-"

"Oh, goodness," the sanitor gasped, and scratched the side of its mask, "I have no idea, truly. But you're here and alive? I guess you could die. I hope you do not!"

Wendy sighed, and took the leap. As Dipper and Soos cried out for her, she landed on the cloudy platform next to the sanitor. Checking her balance, she turned back to the others, and smirked. "It's cool, guys. Honestly, this is pretty rad!"

"O-Okay," Dipper protested, "Just be careful-"

"WHOO!" Mabel cheered, and leapt out onto the cloud too. "Feel the wind rush past your everything!"

"Okay, I mean," Soos chuckled, "If both the ladies can do it, so can we, right, pterodactyl bro?"

Despite his frustration, his sadness, and his worry, Dipper smiled. "Heck yeah, pterodactyl bro." The two leapt, and followed the two ladies.

Once after another the four followed the sanitor across the clouds. To Dipper's relief, most of the memories that they hopped over seemed to be just memories of flight. Zander apparently had many memories of simply soaring across the earth, flying over countrysides, mountains, and massive bodies of water.

There seemed to be fewer memories here that interested Dipper. Most of these memories seemed… at ease. There was a certain comfort here that left Dipper wondering if this was when Zander felt the most calm. Certainly the chaos and attention from the previous room made Dipper's heart race, but the clouds seemed alone, or at least gentle. He did notice that the silver mask Zander wore to be the Guardsman was usually present for these memories.

Before long, Dipper and Soos chased after the excitable Wendy and Mabel, who eagerly bounded between each beautiful cloud platform. Before long, they arrived to the other elevator, climbed inside, and rose to the next floor.

"I must warn you," the sanitor proclaimed, "this is a, uh, what do the youths call it? Oh, a heavier room. Let's hurry though the hallway of shame."

"Shame?!" Mabel gasped.

Before them was a hallway that might have belonged in a derelict apartment complex. Tattered wooden walls bore peeling wallpaper that did little to mask the rotting structure underneath. The floor was covered with what appeared to be masks, each a different incarnation of the silver mask that Zander wore. The portals to memories here were cracked open apartment doors, each looking stained and numbered randomly.

As Dipper made to follow the advancing servitor, a hand reached for his arm. He turned to see Mabel, boring her eyes deep into his own. He growled at her, and shook his arm free. "Really, Mabel?"

"Yes!" She demanded, "Dipper, how would you like it if any of us just waltzed into your personal life and snooped around in the part of your brain labeled 'shames'!?"

"Mabel," Dipper quickly snapped back, "This isn't just anyone! He owes us dozens of talks still, and this may be the only time we get straight, unfiltered, non-double-meaning answers!"

"He has told us a lot," Mabel reminded him, "He didn't need to tell us what his plan was, or where to go, or who he really is."

"Mabel, we don't really know those thing!" Dipper roared, "His plan to do something with the orbs? What was that plan!? He told us to go one step at a time! He treats us like a horse with blinders on! And who he really is?! Mabel, don't you think it's weird that we don't know what he is!?"

"I know what he is!" Mabel cried, and stormed past her brother, stating, "He's a good person."

"Guys," Wendy begged, "Look, guys, take a breath."

"You both have good points, you dudes," Soos added, trying his best to remain cheerful.

Dipper watched his sister stomp ahead, arms rigid at her side. To spite her, perhaps, Dipper swung open the first door.

He saw a window, which a cloaked, hidden in shadows Zander was outside of. Inside the window was a young woman with golden hair. She was practicing a martial art, throwing her arms through the air in a series of jabs and crosses. Almost in a boxers stance, a young Arline practiced her attacks repeatedly. Dipper looked to the image of Zander, who wore the mask. It stared at the young woman, and turned away.

The memory looped, and Dipper blinked. "That's a shame?" Dipper asked.

"Oh," the voice of Yuki called back, "Only the more recent shames. These hallways are, after all, the more recent memories of the boss's existence."

Dipper looked back to the memory within. When it revealed nothing else, Dipper turned away. He looked around to all the other various doors, which Dipper suddenly realized where many. There were dozens of doors in this hallway, far more than the other two combined. He made to go for the other door, when he spotted Mabel at the end of the hallway.

She hadn't turned around, marching ahead.

Furious with her, but angry with himself, Dipper swallowed his curiosity down, and made to follow her. He looked back to the memory once more, wondering if this was during that time Arline said that her master had pretended to be dead. Flanked by the worried Wendy and Soos, Dipper hurried after his sister.

He heard many various conversations from the doors in this derelict place. He heard a crying girl ask, "Why did he have to die?" There was someone else begging, "Please, I can do better! Let me try one more song!" Or he heard, "We've known each other for years and you still can't trust me."

Then he heard a familiar voice. It was a typically curt, boastful tone, turned sorrowful. Dipper faltered, and gave the door a peak. He saw Pacifica Northwest, wearing her best outfit, long blond hair frizzled and her eyes bloodshot. As makeup ran down her face, she cried on the floor. "Sometimes I don't think they love me!" she proclaimed.

"They do," Zander's voice assured her like a gentle, warm bedsheet.

"Then why do they just throw me out?" Pacifica begged, "Why don't they treat me even half as nice as you do?"

Zander was silent.

Hearing the coming of the harder sobs of Pacifica was a hard thing to hold onto. Dipper pushed past the voices, and continued with the gang, Mabel still far ahead.

Rushing to catch up with his sister, Dipper spotted a familiar location in a door to his side. The reddish-brown trees, the lush green, the clear skies: he was looking at the Pacific Northwest, likely Gravity Falls. He saw Zander, alone, sitting on a fallen log. He was wearing the black garments of the Guardsman, cloak and mask. He reached up and took off the mask. Dipper wasn't sure if he had ever seen a person look so completely broken. Zander looked around, and wiped at his eyes, were a few fallen tears ran.

Zander, alone to himself, quietly cursed. "Damn you, kid. Damn you and that big heart, look at what it got us all."

Without any further context, Zander stood, put the mask on, and sighed. "But I guess I have to live up to her saying, after all. There will always be another day." Zander then strolled away. The memory looped, showing Zander again, sitting by the tree.

Dipper turned away, feeling the weight of this hallway pressing down on his heart. Shame, regret, guilt – this place infected Dipper with that horrid sense of watching someone else suffer judgement, only it was Zander judging himself. What was going on in these moments? Dipper was certain that the last one had been right after the collapse of reality around Gravity Falls, right before Zander had come looking for them.

A hand rested on the back of Dipper's shoulder. He turned and saw Soos there, looking perturbed.

"C'mon dawg," he nodded ahead, "Your sister looks bad."

From surprise to anger, Dipper looked ahead, ready to disregard the concern. He then paused in his prepared berate-ment. Mabel had, a bit ahead, pause. She was looking into a room, her eyes distant and wide. Mabel held the kind of gaze one held for a tombstone.

Heavy foot after another, Dipper stepped closer towards his sister. With Wendy and Soos at his flank, he heard the noise beyond Mabel, beyond the door. It was a heated debate, one he had been witness too and even participated in weeks ago.

"I have my orders," a voice beyond called out with fire, "I am going to keep him, his sister, and everyone they consider friends and family safe."

Arriving next to Mabel, who looked on the verge of tears, Dipper looked within. Mabel had nudged the door open just a little, and saw the scene: Just outside the Mystery Manor. It had been the morning following the battle of the Guardsman and Omir, the death of Graupner, and the sleep that Yuki had fallen into. Zander was just beyond the doorframe, along with the massive dragon Magenta, and Pacifica with a broken expression. Dipper could see himself furiously looking between Zander and Arline, who had just shouted at Zander. Behind the twins were Wendy and Soos, and behind them was a bewildered Stan.

Dipper's heart ached and his stomach twisted. Looking at Stan, Arline, the Mystery Manor, even Pacifica, it was seeing the dead and gone, returned before him. Mabel sniffled next to Dipper, and turned to look at him, eyes shimmering. She held her face together, but those shimmering orbs for eyes of hers truly could not lie.

"I feel like my insides are shriveling up into wet cotton candy," Mabel told Dipper quietly.

Reaching a hand around her shoulder, Dipper squeezed Mabel. He looked inside, seeing the fight.

It was a point Zander sneered and told Arline, "So, Arline? You going to actually do what's best for your mission, and let me take Pacifica."

Arline, still lightning fast, put a pointing finger between Zander's eyes. "Strike one," she dared.

More of the heaviness creeping into his mind, Dipper realized aloud, "This was among the last times he spoke with her, other than the fight in the mines," he said. Depth in the scene flowed behind Dipper's eyes, unseen metal connections rapidly coming to place. "He sent Arline. Zander sent Arline, which means he knew that Arline was just trying her best to keep us safe, and still pretended that he didn't know. Is he just feeling shame that he's lied to her?"

Mabel nodded her head, "Look," she directed, pointing ahead into the memory. As Dipper looked, he saw Zander's hand, one of which had been tucked behind his back during the conversation. It wasn't lose or relaxed, but tightly closed into a painful looking fist. Mabel noted, "He looks upset."

With a sudden surge of conviction, Dipper let go of his sister and stepped forward. Passing into the memory, he heard Mabel cry out for his name behind him. No sooner had Dipper entered, than the memory version of Zander turned to observe Dipper.

"Zander," Dipper pointedly said, "What is wrong? Why does this bother you so much? If you really hate lying to us, you can just tell us! I mean, you set this up. You could have told her then, just like you can tell us everything now! You're lying to her now, just like you lied to us! So if that bothers you, why do you keep doing it?"

The eyes of Zander stared at Dipper, as did Zander, with a terribly sleepy expression.

"Zander!" Dipper yelled, "What's your shame here, huh? You could have changed this, and didn't. Why do you care? Do you care?"

Still, no answer. Zander, or the memory of him, turned and pointed at Arline, and the corners of the mouth curled down into a terribly sad grimace. Still, he did not speak. Then, before Dipper, the image swayed, eyes looking out of focus.

"Z-Zander?" Dipper gasped, as Zander suddenly collapsed to the ground.

"Dipper!"

Mabel rushed in after him, looking at the collapsed man. "What did you do to him?!" she demanded.

"I asked him what he was ashamed of, and then-"

From the doorway, the voice of Yuki called, "Please, no more delays!" The twins looked back up to him, where Soos and Wendy listened in and watched the sanitor speak. "The boss is starting to feel sleepy, which is horrible! Who knows what kind of damage could happen now! We must continue ahead, before this worsens, and awake him!"

"Okay," Mabel nodded, and looked to her brother. "No more stops," She firmly told her brother, "This hurt too much. I don't want to see more, okay?"

Finally in agreement, Dipper parroted her, "No more stops."

Stepping out of the strange memory, which re-set itself once they had fled, the sanitor wove their hands, bidding the four to follow. They walked through the awful hallway, many more doors awaiting dreadful moments of Zander's life. Dipper's fascination still tugged and pulled like an attention-seeking child, but the look on Mabel's face silenced the urge.

Zander's memories would be safe from Dipper's investigation, at least for now.

Into the next elevator the five ascended. From one hallway to another, they rose through various hallways, and walked through each one. "The hallway of cleverness," the sanitor would declare, "The hallway of discovery. The hallway of romance-"

"I need someone to shut my ears for me," Mabel begged before the doors opened.

After dozens of hallways, they arrived to the last one.

"The hallway of ambition," the sanitor announced, and pointed ahead as the doors open, "and at the end is the rooftop exit."

"Finally!" Mabel whined.

Wendy chuckled, "Never would have thought to have heard Mabel upset about Zander in any angle."

Mabel groaned, "And I don't wanna be! But I respect boundaries and privacy! I mean, most of the time, I guess. I didn't with Jace- look, I just don't wanna hear more without really hearing it from him!"

"Sure," Dipper snorted, patting her shoulder, "besides," he pointed ahead, "Looks like Zander has less to hide here."

Indeed, the final room was the cleanest room. It was a void of white, gentle light. There was no walls or ceiling. To their left a single doorway made of old timber, wrapped with ivy, stood lonely in the hallway. As they passed it, Dipper felt a much stronger surge of interest. There was something about the door, he noticed. It was closed. All the others, to Dipper's memory, had been fully open, or at least somewhat revealed.

"Weird," Mabel noted, eying the door.

With a sigh of relief, Dipper chuckled, "Right? It's closed!"

"Does that mean, like, memory-wise," Mabel said, "The one thing he has a memory of about his ambitions is… locked? To even him?"

"I don't know," Dipper grumbled, and scratched the sides of his face, "That feels like a Grunkle Ford question if I've ever seen one."

As they passed by the door, Soos suggested, "Maybe he's not proud of his ambition and keeps it locked up? You know, like it's embarrassing sort of."

Wendy asked, "Wouldn't that be shame, then?"

Looking over his shoulder, Dipper noted, "I didn't see that door below though," as he stared at the door.

The sanitor guided them past the single door. Ahead of that was a floating ceiling latch- something you'd find in a home to lead to an attic. Attached to it was a padlock. The sanitor took out the keys again, and this time removed one that had a brain for a handle. Inserting the five-pronged teeth into the padlock, the ceiling latch opened upwards.

"Here we are," the sanitor announced, "atop the millennium tower mind-scraper."

The rooftop of the building was a mostly plat platform with a thin railing of a fence for safety. Looking out beyond the platform, they could see the strange cosmic void, the earth above, and reddish earth far below. The mind-city sprawled out on all sides, but only by a few blocks, making it more clear than every that even this massive version of a mental realm an island. Dipper quickly counted that there were about a dozen towers around the central millennium tower.

"Look!" Wendy pointed behind them.

In the dead center of the rooftop was a single figure, kneeling down and sprawled out. Wrapping around the libs, body, and neck were shimmering, dark, nebulous ribbons. Otherwise, it was exactly who they thought it was, wearing a pair of black leather trousers and heavy boots.

"Zander!" Mabel roared, and rushed forward.

So fast was her dash ahead that the sanitor spiraled in place. "C-Careful with the boss! He hasn't been awoken like this in-"

"Don't worry," Dipper told it, "We're going to help him out of this. Just keep your eyes out for anything unusual."

Mabel had arrived with Soos and Wendy to the side of Zander. With great expediency and effort, Mabel began to undo the ribboning around Zander.

"There we go!" she proclaimed, taking off the last bits of ribbon.

The sanitor, having before faced Dipper, turned back to the three. "Wait!" it cried, and began to rush forward, "No! What are you doing?!"

"Freeing him?" Wendy stated.

The sanitor shook its head, "No, we put those there! That's a stabilizer for the mind! That way he won't-"

A hand had grasped the mask of the sanitor. With a mighty, air-blasting shove, the sanitor was thrown backwards. It screamed in terror as it plummeted past Dipper and was hurled off the rooftops.

The four, having watched the sanitor drop beyond sight, slowly turned their gaze towards the hand. It was attached to the naked arm of Zander, who held it up shakily. With a loud groan, the body lowered it's arm. Dipper stared at the man, wondering: were the sanitors and Zander not… aligned?

As Soos and Wendy had taken a step back, Mabel still knelt at his side. "Zander?" Mabel timidly asked.

Eyes closed, Zander nodded. "Heya, kiddo," he said groggily, "How ya hangin'?"

Her mouth curled in a water grin. Tears welled in her eyes and she sniffled, "You're okay!"

"Course I am, I'm me!" Zander said, energy returning to the voice.

Dipper stepped over. With all the practice a wrangler for a snake would, he calmly reached down and lifted his sister up and away.

"Dipper?" she asked.

"Zander," Dipper stated with an authority, "Can you see?"

"Oh, hey," Zander waved at him. Eyes still closed.

Dipper glared at him. "Open your eyes," he ordered.

"Ohh," Zander nodded, and stood up.

When the eyes opened, the four gasped. They were silver and white, not a speck of green present. Then, Zander added, "As you wish, Pine tree."

Dipper roared, fury and panic flooding his veins. Pulling his sister further back, the pines twins pulled back as Zander swung upwards with his fist. The uppercut that would have struck Mabel sent a gust past them, winds that buffeted them caused eyes to water. Now standing, Zander slowly let his lips smile.

Zander let out a small chuckle. He then upgraded the chuckle to a laugh. He laughed harder and harder, convulsing with each cackle to the point he was bending backwards. It was not the laughter of Zander Maximillion, or the Guardsman. As a familiar, cold shiver ran down their backs, the four listened to the pitch of the voice sharpen and heighten. As the eyes of Zander widened, yellow flooded into the white, and black slits replaced the silver orbs.

"Miss me!?" Bill Cipher asked through Zander Maximillion's form.

WELL THATS NOT GOOD.
*ahem* I mean, well, that's interesting. I'm sure the gang can handle it!

They're... smart. Or at least they've convinced a lot of people of it. Which, when we're really thinking about it, isn't that what being smart is? Just convincing others that it's smart?

Sentient AI Computer which EZB writes through: Exactly. Now (insert verb) the (insert noun).

Hah. Oh, AI. You're so silly!

Sentient AI Computer which EZB writes through: (consumes EZB by digitizing him and replicating him with 5-8 fingers in all photos) Stay tuned for next episode, (plural noun).