Sam tried her best to keep her attention on Professor Rosen, despite the death stare she was getting from Katherine. Brow furrowed with confusion, the girl tried again and again to access Sam's mind, each attempt proving fruitless.

The professor had led them out another set of doors, and they stood looking out at the heart of ISH. Professor Rosen began to explain each of the buildings.

    "The tallest building there in the middle of the lawn is the control tower. All of the ISH's important systems are controlled from up there, including the security systems, the plumbing and the power. Only staff is allowed up there, so I'm afraid it's not included in our tour."

"The large buildings on the far side of the campus are the student dorms. Many of our students come from all over the globe, which makes it difficult for them all to find housing beyond the school. There are, of course, exceptions," Professor Rosen continued. "On our left we have the training hall and the archives."

"Archives?" Daniel asked, looking at the Roman styled building the professor had pointed out. "What's that?"

"The archives not only keep many historical documents pertaining to super heroes, but they also contain all the research materials the students need," Professor Rosen said. "Books and computers filled with valuable information. We believe that mental strength is just as important as physical strength."

"So it's a library?" Sam asked.

The professor made a face. "That's perhaps a cruder way of putting it. But yes, if you want to call it that so you can comprehend it better, please do so."

Sam blinked. "All I meant was that, when most people say 'archive' they mean-"

"And moving on," the professor interrupted, "We have the lovely science lab to our right here. My personal favorite, which will be our first stop on the tour. If you all will follow me."

The young ones fell into step with Professor Rosen, who led them at an alarming speed.

"She seems eager to get to the lab," Daniel joked quietly to Sam. "I wonder if she's excited."

"Excited? Her?" Sam made a point of quickly glancing at the professor. "I doubt it."

Daniel snickered but forced his expression to become blank when the professor looked back for a split second.

Sam noticed Katherine, traveling a bit behind them, was still peering at Sam intently. It made her uncomfortable. She continued with her Spice Girls serenade.

So here's a story from A to Z, you wanna get with me you better listen carefully...

"Hey," Sam whispered to Daniel. "Do you get the feeling that... I don't know, maybe your sister doesn't like me?"

Daniel smirked. "Honestly it's a miracle if Katherine likes anyone."

"I can hear you guys," Katherine said with a slight smile.

"Ice cold. She doesn't even deny it," Daniel said, still whispering as if Katherine wasn't listening. Sam managed to muffle the outburst of giggles that she couldn't hold down any longer.

Randy turned around and shushed them all, which only made Daniel and Sam laugh harder. Finally, Professor Rosen had had enough.

"Listen up," she said, stopping suddenly and whirling on them, "When you are a student at ISH, you will be treated like an adult. You are expected to act like one- at all times." She continued towards the science lab, Randy hot on her heels.

"She's just the life of the party, isn't she?" Daniel muttered.

"Is everyone here like that?" Sam wondered out loud.

"If you don't like it, now is your chance to leave," Katherine said, appearing by Sam's side. "Being a hero is a serious job. If you're just looking for a good time, you should have been an artist or something."

Sam just stared at her.

"Katherine, lighten up a little," Daniel said. "You're gonna scare her off."

"I'm just being honest. She should know what she's getting into," Katherine replied. She glanced at Sam and bit her lip in regret. "Sorry about that. I don't mean to upset you. I tend to be a bit..."

"Rude?" Daniel suggested.

"Impulsive when it comes to words," Katherine finished.

"Not to mention rude," Daniel said under his breath.

"It's alright," Sam said, unsure whether or not Katherine's apology was genuine. The group approached the science lab and the automatic doors slid open.

"This entire building is devoted to researching new technology to give our students an extra edge," the professor explained. "Stronger armor, advanced robotics, you name it; the experts are all here."

"Ma'am?" Katherine asked suddenly. "If you don't mind my asking, what do you do here?"

Professor Rosen smiled. She was obviously pleased by the question. "I'm a neuroscientist. You may be familiar with my work involving memory manipulation. By studying the abilities of young Mentas, we have been able to understand the human brain better now that at any point in history. It's the Menta students that make my research possible, so needless to say I am very pleased to have you and your brother here," she gushed, practically grinning at Katherine and Daniel.

"We're pleased to be here," Katherine said calmly.

Only moments later were they walking briskly through the halls of the labs. Huge windows lined the walls and offered peeks at whatever projects were in the works.

"Here," the professor said, stopping at a window, "Our chemists are doing their utmost to replicate the bonding created by Conjoiners. Though we've managed to come up with a super glue ten times the strength of anything yet invented, we've yet to get the mix just right."

The others peered into the room, where a man had accidentally leaned onto a table and gotten the elbow of his sleeve glued to it somehow. He struggled for a moment before his coworkers finally wrenched him away, leaving a patch of fabric stuck to the table and a hole in his lab coat.

"And, of course," Professor Rosen said, watching the scene with a slight cringe, "Getting things to stick has turned out to be a lot easier than getting things to not stick. Let's move on."

They continued down the hallway until they came to a room completely dark except for a large, clear tank of glowing, blue liquid. Sam stopped suddenly. "What's that, Professor?" she asked, tapping on the window.

Professor Rosen barely stopped walking. "Ah, just the Super Serum," she said disinterestedly. "A sort of combination of Forzatac, Sensun and Menta DNA. With something extra, I'm told. It was supposed to be a miracle serum to strengthen supers, but I believe the experiment was cancelled when supers began experiencing side-effects." She picked up the pace again.

Sam nodded, unable to take her eyes off of the serum. This must be what Midas is after, she thought, making a mental note of the serum's location before catching up with the group.

"Ah, here we are," the professor said, opening the door to another lab. This one was fairly busy, with about five or six others working at desks. There were no strange chemicals here, but many machine parts lay here and there. Charts of the brain and nervous system hung on the walls for reference.

"Stay close, everyone," the professor said. "And don't touch anything."

Daniel put down the small piece of machinery he'd just picked up and casually stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Who would like to participate in an experiment?" the professor asked suddenly, taking a strange device that looked a bit like a water gun off of a nearby station.

Randy raised his hand eagerly.

"Yes, Randy, perfect," the professor said. "Now, I'm going to tell you something you didn't know Randy. Listen carefully: My middle name is Jane. Can you repeat that to me?"

"Your middle name is Jane," Randy said, looking a bit dumbfounded at the simplicity of the order.

"Say it two more times," the professor said, clicking a few things in place on the pistol.

"Your middle name is Jane. Your middle name is Jane," Randy repeated, looking more and more confused. The others watched on curiously.

The professor looked at Sam, Katherine and Daniel. "It's a fairly simple name to remember, correct?"

They nodded.

"We'll see," Professor Rosen said, pointing the gun-like device at Randy's head. She pulled the trigger, but no projectile came out. In fact, there was no evidence that the gun had been fired.

"Now, Randy," the woman said, "I have a question for you."

"Okay," Randy answered.

"What is my middle name?"

Randy made a face. "How the heck would I know that?"

The professor motioned to the others. "They all know. What's my middle name, children?"

"Jane," they answered in unison.

The shock displayed on Randy's face was genuine. Professor Rosen placed a hand on his shoulder. "There's no need to be alarmed, young man. You did terrific." She held up the device. "This is the first generation of memory manipulation technology. Although still quite primitive, with it, I have just deleted the last twenty seconds from our young friend's brain."

"Amazing," Sam breathed.

"Does it work on Mentas?" Daniel asked.

"I'm afraid not," the professor answered.

"That's too bad, I was hoping for another demonstration," Katherine said wistfully. She glanced sidelong at Sam. "I don't suppose..."

Sam grinned, unable to resist the idea. "Okay, sure."

"Alright," the professor said, humoring them. "Once more. Sam, here's something for you to remember: My dog's name is Luther."

"Your dog's name is Luther," Sam said, laughing nervously. She just had to experience this for herself. "Your dog's name is Luther."

"Everyone remember?" the professor asked.

There were nods all around. Without a word, the professor pointed the device at Sam and pulled the trigger. Sam felt something click in her head.

"Sam," she said, "Do you know what my dog is named?"

Sam's smiled faltered. "It's Luther," she responded. "Are you sure you pulled the trigger?" She noticed Katherine smirking slightly, as if she'd just proved a point to herself. The professor looked bemused as she tinkered with the device. Sam felt her heart began to race. Was something wrong?

"Let's try again," she said, changing a dial on the pistol. She again pulled the trigger. The click came again in Sam's head. "Sam, what is the name of my dog?"

Luther, she thought. She didn't dare say it out loud.

"I... I don't know," Sam said, attempting to look as bewildered as Randy had. "Did you tell me his name?"

"Ah, there we go," the professor said, setting the device back down. "Just a minor calibration error."

"Wait," Katherine said to Sam, "If you don't remember the dog's name, how did you know it was a 'he'?"

Sam felt her heart leap within her chest. She mentally screamed and hoped neither Katherine nor Daniel could hear it. "Lucky guess?" Sam said.

Before anyone could reply, a man in a lab coat approached Professor Rosen. Goggles hung around his neck and sweat glistened on his forehead. "Ma'am? I know you're in the middle of a tour, but I think you'll want to see this."

"Is it important?" the professor asked.

"It is," the man said, grinning ear to ear. "I think we've finally cracked it. Come see for yourself!"

The professor nodded eagerly and turned to the group. "I'll be right back. Stay here. Don't move!" She left to follow the other man through a door in the back of the room, which sealed behind them.

Sam waited half a beat before making for the exit. Now might be the only chance she got to slip away.

"Hey, where are you going?" Katherine asked.

"To find a bathroom," Sam answered, saying the first thing that came to her mind.

"Now?" Katherine called after her.

Sam was already halfway down the hall. "It's an emergency!" she shouted back.

Katherine frowned and sent a thought towards her brother. Something about her isn't adding up.

I know, was his reply. I felt it too.

<><><><><><><>

    Sam tried to make her way across the campus as casually as possible, doing her best to keep a low profile. Her confusion over what had happened with the memory device had been quickly replaced with excitement for finally being in ISH. Even if she wasn't actually going to be a student here, a tour was a step closer than she'd ever been to her goal.

    She made a beeline for the library.

    Not library, she reminded herself. It's "the archives."

    As she walked, she kept her eyes peeled for any sign of White Flame. She found none, but saw a variety of students in their hero garb and masks, which was apparently the dress code for ISH.

    I wonder if that's why Midas still wears his uniform, Sam thought. He probably got used to it at ISH.

    She suddenly felt very out of place in her normal clothes. She probably stood out more than she thought. Realizing this, Sam doubled her pace, eager to get to the archives where there were hopefully places to hide.

    A sense of relief washed over her when she finally entered the dark building. Part of her wanted desperately to go through every section of the archives, devouring all the information on supers that must be contained within these walls. She forced herself to look for a computer. As she followed the signs to the computer lab, she recounted Taro's instructions to her.

    "The virus is on this flash drive. All you have to do is open the file on any computer and the virus will do the rest. Hopefully it'll spread everywhere. After it's activated, I figure we have four days tops until the ISH nerds find the problem and destroy it."

    Sam entered the computer lab, trying to draw as little attention to herself as possible. She sat down at a computer in the back and turned the display on. Resisting the urge to snoop through the files, Sam quickly plugged in the USB drive and uploaded the file. Not two minutes later and all the screens in the room suddenly flickered out and came back to life.

    Was that me? Sam wondered as she pulled away the flash drive and stored it in her pocket. She quickly exited to room, glancing over her shoulder to make sure nobody had noticed her. It didn't seem anyone had.

    "Mission accomplished," Sam whispered triumphantly to herself. She turned back around, only to come face to face with-

    Sam froze. It was Red Phoenix, Midas' former teammate who had fought Rachel during their little scuffle

    Red Phoenix seemed just as surprised to see Sam there. They both just stared at each other for a moment, the silence becoming awkward.

    "Well, I gotta go, so-" Sam turned on her heal and began to head the other way, but Red Phoenix was too quick and stood in front of her once again.

    "Oh. You want to talk," Sam stated, unable to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach.

    "I got two questions for you," Red Phoenix said.

    "Okay. Shoot," Sam said nervously.

    "First, the girl I fought the other day, the short one. She okay?"

    Sam raised her eyebrows. She certainly wasn't expecting that. "Rachel? She's fine," Sam assured him. "She said you were going easy on her."

    "I was," Red Phoenix said, nodding. "But when she was down I couldn't wake her up, so I was worried I'd gotten ahead of myself again. I'd been wondering if I hit her too hard."

    "Nah, she's as energetic and skeptical as ever," Sam said. "Anyway... You said you had two questions for me?"

    "What are you doing here?" Red Phoenix finally said.

    "I'm on a tour," Sam said, holding up a wristband.

    Red Phoenix squinted at her. "Since when did you have a power? I thought Midas' new crew was a bunch of nobodies."

    "We're not nobodies," Sam argued.

    "Yeah? Then why you trying to leave them, hm?" He crossed his arms and shook his head, as if he couldn't believe her.

    Sam sighed. "Okay, listen. I'll tell you the truth, but you have to promise to let me go after that."

    "I don't have to promise to do anything," Red Phoenix said. "You're gonna tell me what you're doing here, and then I'll decide what to do with you."

    Sam took a deep breath. "Fine."

    "Let's walk and talk," Red Phoenix said, steering her away from the computer lab.

    "So," Sam begin, "The truth is, I've always wanted to be a hero. As long as I can remember, really. So, when I made a friend from ISH, I told him that. He said that someone here owed him a favor, that he could get me in for a tour. Maybe I'll never get to come here for real, but this is closer to ISH than I've ever been and I wasn't about to turn down that opportunity."

    Red Phoenix nodded, thinking. "What does your friend call himself?"

    "White Flame," Sam answered. "Do you know him?"

    Red Phoenix stopped walking. "White Flame?" he asked. "Yeah, I knew White Flame. Wish I didn't."

    Sam subconsciously cocked her head to the side. "Wait, am I missing something?"

    "Well you're obviously missing a lot if you consider White Flame your friend," Red Phoenix said, rubbing his temples. "I don't even want to talk about him, he just-" He drew in a sharp angry breath through his nose, unable to finish.

    "He just what?"

    "Look, you need to stay away from him," Red Phoenix said. "Whatever he tries to get you to do, don't do it. He's a liar. And whatever he tries to make you think about him, know this: he's no hero."

    "But of course he's a hero," Sam said, her tone very serious. "He goes to ISH. How could he not be a hero?"

    "You didn't know?" Red Phoenix asked. He paused a moment, shaking his head. "White Flame was expelled. Recently."

    Sam felt her mouth drop open. She stared into space, trying to comprehend what she had been told. White Flame, her idol, her role model,was expelled?

    "That's impossible," she murmured.

    "What's even more impossible is that he had the connections to get you a tour," Red Phoenix muttered. "He left with such a bad rep, I doubt anyone would do him any favors."

    Sam snapped back to reality. "The tour!" she exclaimed. "I gotta go!" She turned to run.

    "Wait! I wasn't finished!" Red Phoenix called after, but not giving chase.

    "I gotta go!" was all Sam replied. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her, praying she wasn't already too late.