When afternoon came, the door of the Pad burst open as Micky returned home from shopping. Mike stood up with a finger to his lips.

”Mike, guess what!” Micky shouted, while Mike persisted in hushing him.

“Would you be quiet? I finally convinced Peter to take a nap,” Mike said.

“Sorry,” Micky paused, “Why does Peter need to take a nap?”

“Because he was acting weird. Every now and then, he would say he had a headache and then the next second he would say he was fine.”

“Oh.”

”So…uh, what were you yelling about?”

“Oh, yeah, I got us a job! Isn’t that great?”

”What? Yeah, Mick, of course that’s great. Where at? What kind of job is it?”

“It’s at this club downtown. All thanks to Mr. Wistcroft. He felt bad about us losing our job so he made some phone calls and viola!”

“So technically, you didn’t get us a job. Mr. Wistcroft did.”

“Well, yeah, but he told me about it. I could have just lied and said I was the one to do it all. At least I gave him credit.” Micky said.

“Yeah, right. Well, at least with us getting this new job, we can put all of this behind us.”

“I wouldn’t count on that.” Mike and Micky turned towards Davy, who was leaning against the doorframe of his and Peter’s bedroom.

“What do you mean?” Micky inquired.

“It’s Peter. He just had a nightmare,” Davy said, solemnly. Upon hearing this, Micky rushed into the bedroom to check on him. Davy was about to follow in suit, but Mike put a hand on his chest.

“What about you? How are you doing?” Mike asked.

“Me? I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

”Do you remember what happened last night?” Davy shook his head. “Then you’re not fine. I’m gonna get to the bottom of this.”

“How?” Davy asked. Mike paused a long time before answering.

“I’m going down there. And I’m not leaving until they answer my questions.”

“No!” Peter staggered in from the bedroom, looking worn-down and exhaustion.

“Pete,” Micky started, coming in behind him with a hand on his shoulder. Peter cut him off before he could continue.

“You can’t go down there, Mike. We have to forget about it. Act like it never happened.”

Mike stared at Peter, trying to find the feelings in him. There was something very different about his attitude and behavior. It wasn’t just Davy who noticed it.

“You’re the reason I’m going!” Mike shot back. “I’m doing this because the two of you are lying to our faces! You expect me to just let it alone and not do anything about it? You keep getting headaches, and now you’re having nightmares! Davy can’t remember squat, and I’d bet on my life that all of this has to do with those scientists!”

“Michael, you’re shouting,” Peter stated, calmly.

“Yeah, I’m shouting!” Mike yelled. “I have good reason to! If you don’t start explaining things to me now, I’m walking out that door and I’m going to the lab and make them tell me.”

”Mike,” Davy stepped in.

”You be quiet.” Mike replied.

“No, listen to me. You think you’re going to get any information from them?” Davy said. “Even if they did do something, you think they’d own up to it? They’d probably end up doing something to you. Don’t do it, Mike. Let’s just do what Petah said. Forget about it.”

”What? Now you’re doing it too? Micky, you want to join in on this ‘gang up on, Mike’ deal?” Mike looked at the three of them in disgust and raced out the door before anyone could object.

“If you ask me, I think he has problems,” Peter said.

As Mike approached the lab, he noticed it was heavily guarded. More security than they had previously. Realizing he wouldn’t be able to get through, he darted behind a car, hoping to think of a plan.

“C’mon, Mike,” he coached himself, “You’re smarter than those stupid guards. Think.” Mike put a hand to his chin. “Need a diversion.”

He spotted a payphone a few feet away on the sidewalk along the street. He slipped his hand into his pocket, but found zero loose change. He muttered a soft curse. “Maybe I can create my own distraction.”

“I’d rethink that if I were you.” Mike froze, feeling the barrel of a gun against his neck. His mouth went dry; his bottom lip quivering in fear. “I think you’d better come with me.”

”What are you talking about? I was just looking for my keys.”

”Yeah, sure. In this parking lot? I don’t think so.” The man pulled Mike up the collar, pushing him towards the entrance of the lab. Before he knew what was happening, he was presented to Ms. Angela Bates.

“He was spying, Ms. Bates,” the guard spoke, his hand still on Mike’s collar.

“I was not spying. I was looking for my car keys and this goon of yours picked me up!” Mike raved, hoping she would buy it.

“You seem familiar to me. I feel like I’ve met you somewhere before.” Ms. Bates trailed off, trying to place his face. “What’s your name?”

”Uh…my name? Right, my name. It’s…uh,”

“Aha, that proves it! If you were confident you didn’t know me then you would have just said it. You’re stuttering, therefore you do know me!” Ms. Bates stood up from her desk as she spoke, walking around towards Mike. “Who are you?”

”Mike Nesmith.” Mike prayed that she didn’t know his name. He couldn’t remember if he had told her on their first meeting. “I stuttered because you’re making me nervous. I swear, I was just looking for my keys.”

”Why would your keys be in our parking lot?” the guard barked at him.

“Henry, Henry. Remain calm,” Ms. Bates said. “Mr. Nesmith, I hope you’ll forgive us. You see, we run a very tight ship around here. We can’t let anyone through.”

”So I can go?”

”No, of course not!” she replied. “I apologize because I’d like to keep you in our custody for a few hours just to be on the safe side. Once we’ve given you a couple tests to see if you’re telling the truth, you’re free to go.”

Mike gulped loudly, but it went unnoticed. He knew he was lying and he knew the penalty for lying would be unpleasant. But he couldn’t even imagine what the penalty would be for his attempt at breaking in.

It was about an hour later when Ms. Bates exited her office, only to be met with Samson bumping into her. She scowled, placing her hands on her hips.

“Excuse me, Ms. Bates,” he apologized quickly as his anticipation increased, “We got him. We got the one you asked for.”

”Good work, Samson. Where is he?”

“Downstairs.”

”Good. Send everyone home and lock all the doors. Keep three guards at every entrance.” Ms. Bates paused. “We can’t take anymore chances.”