�The time has now come for me to depart. I don�t know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.� She pressed a button on her laptop, and there was a flash of smoke as everyone�s hard drive was vaporized. Everyone gasped, and some started angrily towards the table; however, when the smoke had cleared, Susan had disappeared.
Later that night, Chris returned to Glass End. As he entered the door, he simultaneously saw Papa Resek staring into the fire and also stumbled over a disk which was lying on the floor.
�She�s gone to live with the Math department,� Papa Resek said, and Chris sighed sadly. �She left you Glass End, and half of her possessions, including that disk you have in your hand. I suspect that it may be the One Disk, but I will need to do some research.� He hurried out the door, leaving Chris with the disk and a slightly bemused expression.
Several months passed, and Papa Resek finally returned.
�Where is the disk?� he shouted, without bothering to say hello.
�Oh, it�s in my box of things to throw out,� Chris said. �CDs are the new way to go. I�ll get it for you; hang on a sec.� He rummaged in an old, dusty shoebox, at length coming up with the disk in his hand. Papa Resek grabbed it from his hand and put it into Chris�s computer.
�What are you doing??� Chris demanded angrily. �That could fry my whole computer!� He fell silent as his computer screen went black, replaced by a depiction of a horned skull graphic which had the eerie appearance of laughing at him. �See - I told you. This is going to cost me a fortune.�
�Be quiet and listen. This graphic proves what I�ve suspected all along - this is the One Disk itself. Forged by the Dark Lord Conner in the fires of the main office. She needs only this disk to destroy all computers in North Olmsted.�
�But Conner is gone. The Board voted her out when the levy failed. Conner�s power is destroyed,� Chris said. Papa Resek sat down heavily.
�No, Chris. The power of Conner survived. Although she was defeated, she has enough dirt on the Board members within this disk that with it she can force the Board to reinstate her and cover the whole Earth with darkness.�
�Well, why don�t we just format it?� Chris asked.
�It�s not that easy, my young friend. The information is heavily encrypted, and the keys we need to decode it can be found only in Conner�s personal computer in the Main Office. Besides, we are not the only ones who know the disk�s location. I searched everywhere for the creature Mattapp, but the enemy found him first. Among the screams and inane babble, they discerned two words: �Butternut� and �Glassburn�. You must leave Butternut immediately. Rendezvous with me at the Annex; I must see the head of my department; she will have answers for me. Oh, and when you leave, take Dan with you.� Papa Resek stood to go.
�Hey,� called an insulted-sounding voice from the window, �I didn�t agree to any journeys to who-knows-where.� Dan�s head popped up into view. �Not that I was eavesdropping or anything. I was just looking for a quarter I had lost, while simultaneously dusting this shiny clean window sill with Pledge Endust, the best dusting product available. I�ve tried others, but none has the same potency and lemony freshness.�
�That may be so,� commented Chris, �but what does it have to do with anything?�
�Product placement, Mr. Chris,� said Dan. �Without it, this parody has no hope of making its author millions of dollars. So pardon that I may blurt out a few from time to time.�
�Regardless,� interrupted Papa Resek, �you will go with Chris on this journey or I will turn you into a sausage and put you on a pizza.� Papa Resek swept out the door with a Hollywood-style cloak-swirling.
�Well,� said Dan, �I guess we�d better get going to wherever it is we�re going.�
�Hey, wait!� shouted two voices from another window, as Brad and Becky jumped through the window. �We�re going too, although we were not eavesdropping either.� The four friends linked arms and went out the door sideways, singing �We�re off to see the Dark Lord� as they skipped down the street.