Mind Over Matter

Chapter 21

"I think it's time I asked what the Lab is,"

Mark said. "I think it's time we told you," Alex replied, "It's the AHDL." "I thought you were the AHDL," Mark said. "Not that AHDL," replied Alex, "This stands for the Advanced Humane Discoveries Laboratories." "Humane?" asked Mark. "As in not inhumane like Area 51," replied Alex. "Oh!" exclaimed Mark, "So they're the ones who kept trying to break into the facility." "What?" asked Alex. "Well," replied Mark, "I remember Casper talking to this one girl, I think her name was Natally, about how 'the Lab' would be keeping an 'eye' on them. Then later I was forced to fight these people trying to break in and stop Shadow." "Hmm," said Alex, "We're in league with the Lab, and if there's any field work they usually send us to do it. That doesn't sound like them." "Do you remember anything about them?" I asked. "To be honest, I never really paid attention when they made me fight," replied Mark, "I was always trying to break the mind control." "You don't like hurting people, do you?" asked Alex. "Not at all," he replied. "Well," said Alex, "We'll just have to keep this in mind, there may be a third party involved."

We made it to the AHDL, or the Lab. Location: Classified. Sorry. I'd tell you... but then I'd have to kill you. I'm with Alex, that never gets old when you're the one saying it. We met Timmy, of all people. "Timmy?" I said. "Um," he replied, "Do I know you?" "Um..." I replied, "You don't happen to live in a house that a man named Mark users to?" "Are you the spies that kicked me out?" "How do you know about that?" I asked. "Wild guess," he said grinning. "Hi," said Alex, shaking his hand, "My name's Alex." Timmy looked confused. "What?" I asked. "Nothing," replied Timmy, "It's just, I had a friend named Alex, but he looks nothing like you." "You sound disappointed," said Alex. "I am," Timmy said, "I thought my friend was a spy, I guess I was wrong." I think I saw Timmy wink. "So you guys want to see Billy?" said Timmy. Billy. Such a weird name. I wonder if he did that on purpose. "Yes," replied Alex.

Timmy led us to this room, where Billy was. "Hey Billy!" said Alex. "Alex!" Billy replied. "Didn't this place blow up?" asked Alex sarcastically. "It did, remember?" Billy replied, winking. I don't even bother asking. I notice that there's a 5x5 Rubik's Cube on his desk. It's solved. "Anyway," said Alex, "We're here to ask if you know about the device that Area 51 is building." "Device?" asked Billy, picking the Rubik's Cube up. "He calls it the Ender's Box," replied Alex, "Have you heard of it?" "Oh yeah," said Billy, messing with the Rubik's Cube as he talks, "We just caught a double agent trying to send plans for it to them." "Funny," said Mark, "They've already built it." Billy almost dropped the cube. "What?!?!?" he exclaimed. "At least most of it," said Mark. "But how?" said Billy, "They were only sending the plans today!" "What was the double agent's name?" I asked. "I'd never seen him before," said Billy, "But he said it was Casper." Alex slapped his forehead. I shook my head. "What?" Billy asked, "You know him?" "Yes," replied Alex, "And he wanted you to find the plans."

"But, Why?" asked Billy, still messing with the Rubik's Cube. "Do you still have them?" asked Alex. Billy turned the Rubik's Cube. "Yes," he replied. He mixed the cube around so that all of the colors were mixed up. He walked over to a panel on his wall, that was about 6 square inches in area. He put his hand on it, and pushed it into the wall. The panel slid out of the way to reveal a slot in the wall about the size of his Rubik's Cube. He put the cube into the slot. Suddenly, the cube lit up green. Cool. A Rubik's Cube combination for a password. The whole wall slid out of the way, revealing a doorway. We went through it, and then down the stairs. The wall slid back behind us.

The staircase led us to a lab. Awesome. A secret lab. There was a table with a bunch of piles of paper on it. Then, there was a desk with a computer, and a 6x6 Rubik's Cube, sitting on some kind of scanner, connected to the computer. Billy walked over to the computer, mixed the Rubik's Cube around, and placed it on the scanner. "Accepted," came a voice from the computer. He pulled up something. It was a PDF document of blueprints. Blueprints to the Ender's Box.

We started looking through it. There were several pages, showing different shafts, hallways and rooms inside the box. "What I don't get," Billy said, "Is why it's so big." "What do you mean?" I asked. "I mean that if this was one thirtieth of the size it is," he said, "It could still destroy the planet." That's scary. "Then why build it so big?" asked Alex. "I don't know," replied Billy, scrolling through the plans. "Wait," said Mark, "Go back." Billy scrolled back slowly. "There!" said Mark. It showed a room with a button in the middle of it. "That's the room we were in," commented Alex. "Exactly!" Mark said, "And there are only three control panels in the plans." "So?" said Alex. "So," replied Mark, "There were four control panels when we were in there." "Maybe they decided to change it," I said. "Go back to the one that shows the outside of the Box," Mark said. Billy scrolled back a few pages. "There," said Mark pointing at the screen, "That door isn't where it's supposed to be. The door we went through was at the very top, but this one is a few levels down." "So either they changed a lot concerning the plans," said Billy, "Or these are false plans."

"So why would Casper want us to find find this?" asked Alex. "We have to think outside of the box," said Billy. I giggled. "What?" he asked. "Oh," I said, "I thought you meant to make a pun there." He rolled his eyes. I thought for a moment. "What would we use these plans for if they were real?" asked Alex. "A weakness," replied Billy. "And if these plans are fake..." started Alex. "Then they would show a false weakness," finished Mark. "Exactly," said Alex, "And if we counted on this showing a false weakness..." "Then they could put the true weakness there," I said, "And we'd avoid it."