The two girls had made their way to the mall, and Christine was making her way to the Payless shoe store, nothing but sheer determination and anticipation in her eyes.

“Okay...that guy is creepy.” She muttered, pointing to a stock boy who she assumed was Chloe's hookup. “Extremely creepy…” Christine mumbled as Jenna continued pushing her towards the counter. “Oh umm...hi I'm uh...here f-for a….” Christine looked to her left and right before whispering “I'm here for a Squip.”

“Well you came just in time, I only have one left.” The man pulled out a shoe box and Christine stared at it. “You got 400 dollars?”

“400?” Christine asked to make sure she heard right.

“Yes 400. You gotta problem with that?”

“Well this girl I go to school with said she got it fo-” Jenna shook her head to get Christine to stop and luckily she saw her. “Four hundred you say? Well o-okay.” Christine handed him the money and got the box.

“Oh yeah, just so we're clear, this is untested technology and it's not exactly legal, which is why you're paying for it in cash in the back of a shoe store. I have no control of what you do with it or it does with you.”

“W-What it does with m-”

“Also activate with Mountain Dew. I dunno why, just...something about mountain dew. And finally-”

“Hello?” The three of them turned around and Christine realized Michael Rolan had stepped into the store.

“We're sold out!”

“O-Of shoes??? This is a Payless.” Michael pointed out and the man coughed.

“Oh you're here for shoes?”

“Yes?”

“...that is my bad. Come on, I gotta nice pair of heelys in the back that are lit af.” The man went to leave but Christine bit her lip before speaking out

“Wait. Before y-you leave, you were saying something.”

“Oh yeah. No refunds.” With that Christine and Jenna were alone again.

***

“Okay...I hope you're worth 400 dollars…” Christine mumbled, tossing the pill back and forth between her hands.

“401, Chrissy. Remember the Mountain Dew.” Jenna smiled and Christine nodded.

“...right.” Christine sighed and looked at the Squip thoroughly. “Well, here goes everything.” She plopped it in her mouth and took a sip of the Mountain Dew.

“So, how does it taste??”

“Kinda minty.”

“How do you feel?”

“...like...like a chump.” Christine threw her face into her hands and sighed violently.

“Wait, nothing?” A nod. “Try to say something cool.”

“I think i just wasted my Hamilton money on a wintergreen tic tac.” Christine muttered and Jenna patted her back.

“Yeah that's not cool.”

“Just...let me mourn alone with my Chili Fries and Hamilton playlist...forever.” Christine took a bite of her Chili Fries in irritation and Jenna stood up.

“Five minutes.”

“Where are you going?”

“Okay so this dude at Spencer's got his hands on Crystal Pepsi!”

“The nineties stuff?”

“Yep. It's like regular pepsi...only it's clear. I've gotta go get it, I'll meet you back here!” Jenna ran off and Christine sighed. When Jenna vanished from sight, Christine's vision darted over to a bright red shirt and realized Jeremy Canigula was at the same mall as her...and with Brooke Dillinger. Christine took an earbud out to listen to them.

“Where is the rest of the cast?” Jeremy asked innocently, proving he didn't even see Christine sitting in the food court.

“We're not meeting the rest of the cast. It's just gonna be me and you..cause I thought maybe we could get to know each other... Which is why I wanna take you to my favorite place in the world, aka Pinkberry. Trust me, their froyo is amazing!” Christine bit her lip. Brooke liked Jeremy and it was very obvious. She had to act now or she could lose him, so she forced herself up and walked over to them.

“Hey J-Jeremy.” She stammered out and Jeremy turned around and smiled.

“Hey Christine, I didn't see you there!”

“Yeah you're kinda hard to notice.” Brooke muttered and Christine fiddled with her thumbs.

“Jeremy there's uh...something I have to tell you…” Christine began and Brooke rolled her eyes.

“Right now?” She asked and Christine ignored her. She went silent for a few seconds and Jeremy cocked his head.

“I uh...what was I saying?” Christine asked before feeling a shock and looking around.

“Target male inaccessible. Initiation sequence in process, please excuse some mild discomfort.” A voice Christine recognized rang in her ears before she heard a loud buzzing sound and fell to the ground in pain. It felt like she was being repeatedly shocked.

“Christine!?” Jeremy got on his knees and looked at her, helping her back on her feet. “Are you okay?”

“I'm f-fine...I just uh-

“Initiation complete. Beginning access procedure...discomfort level may increase.” Christine felt another wave of pain and she fell again. Jeremy wanted to help her up but Brooke grabbed his arm.

“C'mon, the freak show's freaking out. We gotta go.” She dragged him away and Christine didn't even notice.

“Accessing muscle memory. Accessing neural memory. Access procedure complete. Christine Heere, welcome to your Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor.” Christine looked up to see a pink, glitchy figure form in front of her. “Your SQUIP.” It stuck its hand out and helped her up, to which her eyes widened.