Ron stared ahead, trying to look pleasant as he did his morning routine. He smiled and waved at the secretaries, joined in a background dance of a song between the janitors right before it ended, and gave a nod as he passed Walt walking in the opposite direction. He opened the door to his office and walked in, feeling the pressures of the day get to him. He almost showed it on his face when he froze. Someone was already waiting for him in his office. “Oh, hello,” Ron said.

The head secretary was pacing the room, but stopped when he heard Ron. “I’m sorry, Mr. Reagan. I hope you don’t mind. I let myself in.”

“No, no trouble at all.” Ron scrambled through his mind as he tried to remember this man’s name. He could see the email in his mind and see his picture, but he had only glanced at the name. Ignoring the names of the head secretaries finally came back to bite him.

“It’s Fred Rogers, head secretary,” he said.

“Right, yes, yes,” Ron said as he set his briefcase down on his desk. “I’m so sorry I forgot. The S.E.A. cycles through head secretaries so fast that I can’t remember.”

“Yes, the S.E.A. wanted to stop that this summer, so I volunteered,” Fred said.

Ron nodded. “Yeah, now that I remember, you have been here longer than the others.” Ron sat down, and so did Fred. “Hey, I like your sweater.”

“Oh, thank you. My mom made it for me. It’s still rather chilly with the wind and rain right now,” Fred said.

“Yeah, that red looks good on you,” Ron said as he began sorting his things.

“Oh, is it red?” Fred asked, glancing down at his cardigan. “I’m actually colorblind. I can’t tell.”

“I didn’t know that. Well, yes, it’s red. It looks great.”

“That’s very kind of you.”

Ron settled into his chair. Fred crossed his legs and rested his palms on his knees. “I’ve come because I’m in need of your help.”

“Of course! What can I help you with?” Ron asked.

Fred looked as though he was trying to gather his thoughts. Ron waited. The silence stretched on as Fred continued to sort things out in his mind before he finally looked up at Ron. “I have to say that I’ve come here because I think you have admirable character.”

“Well thank you.”

“It doesn’t necessarily mean I agree with everything you do politically. I’m not a fan of how you placed your support in pushing towards more art and dropping science completely.”

Ron gave a small nod. “Yes, well, I’m sure we can disagree politically and still get along.”

“I’m simply trying to get a feel for how you might react,” Fred said.

“How I might react to what?” Ron asked. Fred studied him closely. Ron lifted an eyebrow, trying to smile to make the tension not feel so weird. “Come now, what is it?”

“Marie Curie came to my apartment last night,” Fred said.

The smile dropped from Ron’s face and his eyes widened. “Someone in the underground? Have you reported it to Mr. Germain?”

“No,” Fred said.

“Do you need me to contact him?” Ron asked as he picked up his desk phone.

Fred stood up and placed his hand on the phone to keep it in place. “Will you listen to me first?”

Ron stared at him, a frown on his face. “Fred, this is treason. You can’t just withhold information like this from President Arnold.”

“She told me a most remarkable story that I believe. It involves the boy who interned with you.”

“Albert? He’s been arrested. There’s nothing more to say about that.”

“They’re torturing him to get information out of him,” Fred said.

Ron snorted. “That’s ridiculous. The S.E.A. doesn’t torture teenagers. Albert is fine.”

“Then where is he?” Fred asked.

“In prison,” Ron said.

“I’ve checked. He’s not there.” Ron stared at Fred, wanting to fight back, but the desire left him. If Albert wasn’t in prison, where else would he be? “I checked early this morning at the police station, I’ve checked the list of inmates and the ones in juvenile prison. Albert Einstein isn’t there. His parents are. They’re worried sick about him because no one will tell him what’s happened to their son. But I can find no records of him.”

A frown grew on Ron’s face. “His parents are in prison?”

“Yes. Because their son turned out to be a member of the underground. That’s the only crime they committed. They didn’t even know this themselves. Albert kept it from them.”

Ron stared at Fred for a moment more before he had to break away. It was ridiculous that his parents were in prison because of that, but Ron had a nagging feeling in his gut that President Arnold had quietly started to gather more power than what was necessary. It made him uncomfortable to see the reality of it again.

There was a knock on the door. “Come in,” Ron said instinctively before glancing at Fred, a hint of fear on his face.

The door opened and John walked in. “Hey Ron, I wanted to talk to you about-” John froze as he saw Fred. The three men didn’t move as they each studied each other.

“What is it, John?” Ron asked.

“Um, maybe later?” John asked.

Whatever John wanted to say, he didn’t expect an audience. “Go ahead, John.”

John gave a sigh. “It’s about those two girls from yesterday.”

Ron had never fallen from a tall building before, but the sensation in his body seemed about the same. He sat in his chair as the feeling went out in his legs. John hadn’t even said anything and he already expected the worst. “What about them?” Again, John glanced at Fred with uncertainty. “Go ahead, John. You can tell us.”

John gave a short nod. “I was as inconspicuous as possible. I followed them most of yesterday. Mr. McCarthy sent them back to their Junior Officials like he said, and nothing happened to them. But they’re not here today. Neither one of them. Their Junior Officials were told they dropped out of the internship. So I checked the files. There is no record of them ever attending the internship in the first place. It’s like they just disappeared,” John said.

Ron stared at John as the information came to him, almost overwhelming him. He turned to Fred who, though seemed deeply troubled by this news, didn’t seem surprised by it either.

“I still have their addresses, I’m planning on going on my lunch break to see if their parents-”

“Go now,” Ron said.

John looked surprised, then glanced at Fred. “What?”

Ron stood up again, the seriousness in his face. “Go now. Go to their houses, find them. Make sure they’re all right. I’ll cover for you.”

John paused, seeming to take in the seriousness of both their faces before nodding. “I’ll keep in touch.”

John turned and left. There was another pause as Ron took this in again before turning toward Fred. “Where is Albert?”

“President Arnold is keeping him in a secret basement here in the skyscraper,” Fred said.

Even with the concern of the girls on the forefront of his mind, he still couldn’t help but give Fred a skeptical look before he closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Fred, I am willing to believe the government isn’t as truthful as it says it is, but a secret basement is a little too hard to swallow. I would know about this. They wouldn’t keep an entire level of the skyscraper a secret from a Junior Official.”

“According to Marie, there are a lot of things that they’re keeping from you,” Fred said.

Ron shook his head. “I just don’t know Fred. Right now, my main concern is these two girls who have disappeared.”

“They’re part of the same problem, Mr. Reagan. Have John find the girls. You can find Albert,” Fred said.

Ron stared at the jar of jelly beans in front of him, shaking his head. “And exactly how do you expect I go about that?”

Fred sat back down, looking lost in thought. The man was comfortable with silence, Ron would give him that. Fred looked up at Ron. “Suggest to President Arnold that you would like to talk to him.”

Ron stared at Fred, trying to grasp what was going on. “Talk? To President Arnold? Do you have any idea how powerful a man he is?”

Fred stood. “Yes. And if Marie is right, President Arnold is a desperate man who is willing to do anything to get information about the underground. Including torturing a teenager.” Ron shook his head because it was instinctual. There was no way President Arnold would allow torture. Especially to a teenager. “If you go, offering your services to help get information out of Albert, President Arnold will let you see him.”

“If President Arnold is actually torturing Albert, there is no way he’s going to let me see him,” Ron said.

“Mr. Reagan, if President Arnold is torturing Albert, there is all the more reason to make sure that boy is okay,” Fred said.

Ron let out a defeated sigh before running a hand through his hair. “Fine. I’ll do it. I’ll do what I can to make sure Albert’s all right.”

Fred nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Reagan.”

“Is there anything in particular you want me to ask Albert? If I get a chance to see him?”

Fred paused again, thinking hard, then shook his head. “No. Nothing. If you do get a chance to see him, don’t ask anything. Just listen.”

Ron paused before giving a short nod. “I’ll do that.”

***

Marie had finished up her breakfast when Alice walked in. “I’ve been thinking all night. This plan is great, but the S.E.A. is really powerful.”

Sophie gave a nod. “Yeah, they are.”

“We are still in danger of getting caught every second we stay here, and though what Mr. Rogers said is promising and may distract them, there’s still this danger that I don’t feel comfortable with.” The remaining group had gathered around Alice, listening. Alice pointed toward Tom and Marie’s dad’s room. “We have an entire case of syrophil in there. We need to start making it into the cure for the hobos, then we need to hide them in strategic places in case something goes wrong. One of us should then go find a hobo that we know and trust and restore their memories and tell them to lie low for now. If they don’t hear from us in three days, they can get the rest of this formula and bring back their memories.”

“Would they still plan on attacking the skyscraper?” Billy asked.

“No, nothing like that. They have been without their memories for far too long, and they deserve to have it back,” Alice said.

“It will still be chaotic. You can’t just have a hundred people remember who they are and not have riots happen,” Charles said.

“If this fails with Mr. Rogers, then this will be our shaky plan B. If anything, the general public couldn’t ignore it,” Alice said.

Charles nodded. “Marie? You studied this formula. What’s the best course of action?”

“If Sophie is any indication, getting the memories back all at once can be a dangerous shock. We studied different ways to bring the memories back slowly,” Marie said.

“Do most of them with the gradual memory return,” Alice said. “It will still be chaotic enough. The S.E.A. wouldn’t be able to cover it up this time.”

“Instant return would be more chaotic, though,” Marie’s dad said.

“I’m more concerned about no medical professionals around to monitor them. We don’t want them dying of heart attacks,” Alice said. “Charles and I will plan on sneaking out later to scope out some of our friends we know are strong supporters and bring back their memories all at once. But the rest should be gradual.”

Marie stood up and headed for their makeshift lab. “I’ll write down the formula.”