Ms. Snow led the kids through the halls of the Blue Monday facility, successfully shooting down any and all security guards and other assorted minions that foolishly strayed into their path. It almost felt too easy, getting over to Ross' office in what had to be record time. After all, she was sure nobody had ever before run all the way across the facility guns blazing like that.

Everyone's suspicions were further raised when they finally reached their destination and found Ross simply seated at his desk. He jumped in surprise when they barged in, but Ms. Snow knew better. A fan of the Earthen TV show Lie To Me when it had first been on the air, she remembered that true surprise reactions only manifested for about a split second. Ross had demonstrated the jump and the widened eyes for much longer than that.

Nevertheless, Ms. Snow decided to keep up appearances of a victorious incursion on her ex's inner sanctum. "As soon as my boys come back, you're gonna let them go," she said, holding her gun as steady as possible as she aimed it at Ross.

"Darla, come on, let's be reasonable." Ross tittered nervously as he looked around at the equally-armed teenagers standing guard on the door. "There's no need to kill me. I was gonna return Alex and Gabe to you anyway."

"Oh really?" Ms. Snow asked, not at all fooled. "Are you prepared to release them now? Or are they lost in that other universe?"

"The answer to both questions is 'no,'" Ross said. "If I thought they were in any danger, I would have had them brought back home immediately. I did send in an agent to watch over them."

"Nobody gets to 'watch over' my boys but me," Ms. Snow hissed. If she hadn't been holding on to the gun, she would have added air quotes. But she felt that her sarcastic tone was more than enough to get the message across to Ross.

Outside the door, someone was knocking. "Alpha?" It was the voice of that Lambda woman. Leah, or whatever her real name was. "Is everything all right?"

"Absolutely, Lambda," Ross said. "Except for the armed woman and adolescents who have just come in uninvited."

Before the kids could do anything about it, Leah came in with a gun of her own, and also a pair of security guards who proceeded to disarm everyone else. Then they placed the guns behind them, on top of Ross' filing cabinets.

"See?" Ross said. "I told you, Darla. There's no need for violence."

Aron tried to sneak around and grab at least one gun, but the guards grabbed him and held him back. Not for long, though - the youngest kid in the room put up a good fight. Soon, he was able to grab two pistols and aim them at each security guard, holding them like a Wild West gunslinger.

"Stop!" Ross yelled. "Put the guns down, everyone, then take a seat." As soon as order was had once again, Ross cleared his throat so he could continue. "Okay. Well, Darla, we've fallen out of contact with our agent, but that could easily be the result of signal interference. But don't worry. The boys were able to get into the Second Universe on their own, so there's no reason why they shouldn't be able to get back just as easily."

"What the hell are you making them do in the Second Universe?" Luca asked.

"It's just a test," Ross said. "To see if it is, in fact, possible for mortals to cross over. And it appears our test has been a success, so we can start on the next phase soon enough. Don't worry," he added quickly when Darla made to start yelling at him again. "We won't need the boys to help us for another few years. Maybe four or five. We'll first need to train our men and women on how to fight in the Second. The world works slightly differently there. For instance, they don't have a sun, only the moon."

"And that's important how?" Paul asked.

Ross was about to answer when his phone started ringing. He pressed the intercom button and asked, "Yes?"

"This is Romeo Alpha Tau," said Russell's voice. "We've got the Breakers back, and now we're leaving."

Ross shook his head. "Not just yet, Tau. Bring them to my office for a final...um...debriefing."

"Acknowledged. Romeo Alpha Tau out."

Ms. Snow looked terrified. "What are you gonna do to them?" she asked.

"Nothing harmful, if that's what you're afraid of," Ross said.

"Or so you say," Leah chuckled darkly. She then took the gun Aron had grabbed earlier and turned it on Ross.

"Lambda?" Ross asked, his confidence visibly cracking. "Lambda, what the hell are you doing?"

"I'mgonna do what I should have done a long time ago," Leah said. "I'm gonna endthis crazy experiment once and for all."��.