"Are you absolutely sure that it can't be fixed?"

"You've azked him that a zillion timezz, Blitzy," Toolzz said. "Can't you lay off?"

"Actually," Genesix corrected, "you've azked me nineteen timezz, and the anzwer iz ztill yezz. There'zz nothing I can do that will fix Mirrorzz."

Blitzy Zulander, now dressed and waiting for breakfast, kicked nervously at the legs of her bar stool, considering. She was considering the fact that her big brother was missing and that she had no way of knowing where he was or even if he was still alive.

No, she told herself firmly, pushing the thought away as if it were a plate of lima beans. You can't let yourself think that. ZZ's fine. Really.

"Breakfazt!" Cook announced. The rotund BOYZZ entered from the kitchen, bearing a tray of steaming pancakes. Blitzy's mouth watered as Cook set the tray down on the bar and put three enormous pancakes on a plate. He slathered them with butter and syrup until they were dripping - just the way Blitzy liked them.

Cook's pancakes were fantastic, but they were so big that Blitzy could only eat three at a meal. Cook had made eight pancakes.

Why - Blitzy thought, and suddenly realized Cook's mistake. The extras were supposed to be for ZZ, she thought.

"I changed my mind, Cook," she said softly, hopping down from the bar stool. "I'm not hungry."

The room grew quiet for a moment. Blitzy Zulander simply did not refuse fresh pancakes without being noticed. Oblivious to the attention, Blitzy sat down on the couch and switched on the televiewer.

"You're tuned in to the morning news on Channel 16," a reporter greeted them. "Our top story today is an announcement from the RM Corp. In a shocking development, terrorist Ziv Zulander is once again working for the Corp."

At the mention of ZZ, all the BOYZZs gathered excitedly around the televiewer.

"Turn it up, somebody!" Blitzy, on the edge of her seat, ordered. No one moved to obey. They were all stock-still, and even the Talking Heads were quiet. Finally, Freehand flew over and turned up the televiewer volume.

"We now go to Lonnie Chang, who is live with Sir Louis Leon Paradim," the announcer intoned. The screen flashed to an image of famous reporter Lonnie Chang, who was standing in Paradim's office with a microphone and a flustered look. She had obviously gone to RM Corp City in a hurry for this interview.

"Good morning," she told the camera. "I'm here with Sir Louis Leon Paradim, chairman of the Robotics Megafact Corporation. Sir Louis, please tell us the situation regarding Ziv Zulander."

LLP was perfectly composed. "The situation is rather simple," he told the reporter. "Zulander was captured early last evening by Corp Greenbots. He agreed to work for the Corp. In exchange, we have dropped all charges against him."

"You were willing to grant amnesty to a man who has repeatedly broken the law at the Corp's expense?" Lonnie Chang was visibly mystified.

"Yes," LLP replied warmly. "Zulander was an important asset to the Corp before he turned against us. He's a brilliant scientist and inventor. We simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to have him working for us again."

"How can you know that Zulander won't turn on the Corp again?" Chang asked.

LLP chuckled. "I know it seems odd to speak of trust in today's world, but that's what it amounts to. I believe Zulander will keep his word. Besides, the Corp has more than adequate security forces in the event that a . . . situation . . . should arise."

Lonnie's face wore a baffled expression, but LLP looked content, even confident.

He really thinks ZZ is going to work for the Corp, Blitzy thought.

As the TV interview ended, Blitzy felt better than she had all night. She jumped up from her seat and switched the televiewer off the instant Paradim's office faded from the screen.

"ZZ's okay!" she yelled triumphantly.

"Do you call working for the Corp okay?" came a metallic voice from the shelf.

Blitzy shot T-1 an annoyed look. "He's not working for the Corp!" she said. "He's just pretending to work for the Corp so he can get their plans!"

DeNerd shook his head. "According to my probability ztudy," he quoted from a sheet of paper in his hand, "there iz only a one perzent chanze that ZZ would pretend to work for the Corp, and lezz than one tenth of one perzent chanze that he would do it without telling you firzt."

"He didn't know he was going to do it until he got captured," Blitzy retorted, as if stating the obvious. "He didn't have a chance to tell me."

The BOYZZs gave her doubting looks, all except for Kiddie, who always believed Blitzy.

"We gotta make a plan of attack. We can't rezt till we get ZZ back," Jammerzz told the other BOYZZs.

"But we don't need to attack!" Blitzy and Kiddie said in unison. "ZZ's not a prisoner!"

Ignoring her, Jammerzz went to the center of the room and began giving orders. "The Zportzz BOYZZz, me, Toolzz, and - Ninj, where're you goin' off to? In a battle we'll be countin' on you."

Ninjzz, who was just leaving the room, paused to face Jammerzz. "We cannot rezcue ZZ until we know where he iz," he said matter-of-factly.

"Zo where are you goin'?" Toolzz wanted to know.

"To my room."

"What makez your room a better plaze to figure out where ZZ iz than the living room?" Toolzz demanded.

Ninjzz's reply baffled everyone in the room. "It'zz quieter."

"We'd better get busy," Ziv told Frenzy as they entered her office. "LLP wants a report by the end of the day."

"I don't know much about your thinking-bot technology, so I'm not really sure what we need to do," Frenzy said. This assignment was going to be another big test - Ziv was expected to devise a plan for the defeat of his own sister and bots. Don't worry, Frenzy told herself. You've got Ziv wrapped around your little finger.

"Well, first we have to get face-to-face with the bots," Ziv said, "and then render them helpless. Why don't you work on a trap to lure them here while I concentrate on the technical problems?"

"Wouldn't it be easier to go to them?" Frenzy asked. "If we go to their hideout, we can capture them all at once, but if we set up a trap, we can't guarantee that all the bots will come." Please tell me where your house is, she was thinking.

"No," Ziv said slowly, "that's . . . a bad idea. The house is . . . inaccessible . . . to our forces."

Frenzy smiled sweetly. "I didn't think of that. All right, darling, a trap it is." I have to find out where that house is, she thought.

"I'm going down to my lab," Ziv said. "I'll meet you for lunch."

"Let's go to the new Italian restaurant in Santa Marta," Frenzy suggested. "If you don't mind the long drive, that is."

"Of course not," Ziv replied. His face had brightened the instant she mentioned Santa Marta.

I wonder why, Frenzy thought, sure she had forgotten something. "Then meet me here," she said. "Eleven-thirty."

Ziv nodded and left the office. He took the elevator down a few levels and headed for a nearby door. The nameplate read "Z. Zulander," but there was a security lock across the door.

Why in the world is that there? he wondered. Reaching into his coat, he took out his intercom and pressed a button.

"Security Control, this is Doctor Zulander. Could you send somebody down here to unlock my office?"

The security officer at the other end hesitated. "Sure, Doctor," he finally replied. "I'll send someone immediately, sir." As soon as Ziv ended the communication, the officer activated another intercom.

"Hisssss here," came the reply.

"Sorry to disturb you, sir, but Zulander is requesting the priority security lock to be removed from his offices."

"Go ahead and follow hissss order," Hiss told the man.

"Yes, sir," the officer replied and headed downstairs. When he reached the laboratory level, Ziv was standing in front of his office, waiting patiently. The security man inserted a small tool into the lock, which flashed briefly with indicator lights. The officer entered a code into the lock's touchpad and the entire mechanism dropped into his hand. Ziv thanked the man and entered the office.

The room was dark and smelled strange, as if it had been closed up for a long time. Ziv found the light switch and flipped it on, revealing shelves, a televiewer/computer, and desk. Equipment in various stages of construction littered the shelves, but the desk was bare. There was a door in the back of the room, and as Ziv opened it, he noticed a hole at the bottom of the door, as if something had burned through it.

A sudden image flashed before Ziv's eyes:

He was sitting at the desk, speaking into a recorder. Nervousness, fear, and determination filled the room. There was a sudden noise, and a small bot jumped into his lap, whistling excitedly.

As suddenly as it had begun, the vision ended, and Ziv stepped into the laboratory beyond the door.

The lab held the standard equipment as well as a few oddities. The oddities were rather obvious; in fact, they stuck out like sore thumbs. A pair of Rollerblades sat on a shelf next to an audiodisc of rap music. Spread out on the lab table was a diagram of what appeared to be some sort of crossbow for shooting saw blades. Ziv examined the diagram, interested. It was labeled neatly: "Star-thrower, Ninjzz."

Another flash of recollection smacked Ziv in the face:

"Not for a ninja master, it won't!" That was him, addressing a tall black and red bot.

"You got that right, Botzz Mazter!" the bot replied before turning several back handsprings and jumping up to the roof of a building. Jagged-edged discs shot from one of his arms, striking several Corp Greenbots.

Ziv shook his head to clear it and the vision fled. Since when have I helped Blitzy's bots attack Corp buildings? he asked himself. Oh well, it's been a long week. You really need to get some sleep, Ziv.

Ziv went back to the office and activated the computer. He wanted to check the plans for the thinking-bots so that he could decide on a method of defeating them. There were no files in the computer.

Maybe Blitzy erased them when she took the bots, he thought. She could have guessed that I would try something like this. Oh well, he thought, I'm sure I can remember enough to come up with a weapon.

Ziv leaned back in the office chair and closed his eyes, searching his memory for the graphs, equations and diagrams vital to the operation of the thinking-bots. Within five minutes he was asleep, dreaming of circuits and disk slots.

Ninjzz sat cross-legged on the floor of his room, preparing. He knew ZZ was in trouble, and that was enough to make the BOYZZ very angry. Ninjzz had a changeable temper that usually helped him, but in matters such as this it was a curse.

Finally calming himself, Ninjzz slipped into a trance and began searching. He wasn't exactly sure what to look for, but knew he would recognize it when he found it.

ZZ, he thought, where are you? The mind that ZZ had created reached out, searching for its master.

There was a slight noise as the door to Ninjzz's room opened and Blitzy walked in with the Street BOYZZs. Ninjzz didn't look up.

"Come on, Ninj, don't keep uz waitin'. You've got plenty of time for meditatin'," Jammerzz complained.

"Shh!" Blitzy told the annoyed rapper. "Let him do what he wants. ZZ's fine, you don't have to rescue him."

"Why can't you zee what'zz happened, Blitzy?" Toolzz asked. "ZZ'zz gotta be in trouble."

"He's just fine!" Blitzy said defiantly. "When he's ready to come back, he'll let us know."

"But we don't know where he iz!" Toolzz nearly yelled.

"I have found him."

All three of them spun to face Ninjzz, their argument forgotten.

"What? Where? How?" Blitzy demanded.

"I have found ZZ," Ninjzz repeated quietly, his voice coming from somewhere far away.

"Where is he? What's he doing?" Blitzy asked excitedly. All her pretending had fallen away, and it was quite obvious that she had never really believed her own conviction that ZZ was all right.

Ninjzz didn't answer right away, because he didn't know the answers. Instead, he blocked out Blitzy's ardent inquiries and took a closer look at what he had found. It wasn't as if he had stumbled upon a sign that said "ZZ"; it was more like an ocean that had familiar fish swimming in it. Ninjzz settled into it like a warm bath and knew he belonged there. There was no mistaking; this had to be coming from ZZ.

Ninjzz relaxed and began examining the thoughts that floated up to him like bubbles. There was a girl, and some bots. No, the BOYZZs, Ninjzz decided. The scene gradually shifted until he was looking at wires, the wires inside himself, and then the wires weren't in him but on him, and he was trapped in them like a spider's web and they were telling him lies and he couldn't get out, he couldn't get out and where was Blitzy??? With some effort, Ninjzz pulled himself out of the wires and asked again, Where are you?

Who are you? Get out! he heard, and was suddenly, violently expelled. Yet right before the vision fled, there was one last, lingering image; the RM Corp Tower.

"No, no, get out, leave me alone . . ." Ziv awoke with a start. What a nightmare, he thought, and it's not even lunchtime yet! Already the dream was fading from his memory, but he clearly recalled an image of the ninja-bot Blitzy had stolen from him.

You must be losing it, Ziv, he told himself. Working on bot designs never gave you nightmares before. Shaking his head in confusion, Ziv returned to the lab and took down some equipment. Oh well, nightmares are just imaginary, he thought. On the other hand, my magnetic field projector is going to be real. Better than real, he amended. This is going to render Blitzy's bots completely helpless.

"Ninj! Ninjzz! Answer me!" Ninjzz heard the voice as if from far away. Who's that? he wondered.

The voice spoke again. "There's something wrong with him. Go get Watson." There was a soft hissing noise and the sound of a door opening.

"I wonder what's wrong with him?" the voice asked.

"Too much thinkin' 'bout 'ninja wizdom' if ya azk me," another voice answered. This second voice was squeaky and metallic.

Then the door opened again and there was the sound of someone running into the room, accompanied by the hissing whirr-swoosh that had left the room a few moments before. There was a moment of tense silence, and then a third voice; a flat, slightly nasal monotone.

"The BOYZZ iz zeriouzly zhort-zircuited," it said. "Hazz he been around any electrical zurgezz?"

"All he's been doing is sitting here," the first voice said. "He was looking for ZZ."

The name cut through Ninjzz's awareness like a knife. ZZ, he thought. Blitzy, Jammerzz, Toolzz, Watson. He opened his eyes and saw Watson kneeling in front of him.

"He'zz coming around," Watson said to the room in general. Ninjzz looked around slowly. He was sitting on the floor of his room again, and Blitzy was still there. Now, though, it was Ninjzz and not ZZ that she was immediately concerned with.

But ZZ needs her, he thought, remembering the terrified question that could only be from ZZ.

"Are you okay? What happened?" she asked.

Ninjzz slowly got to his feet, pushing Watson aside.

"BOYZZ, when you've been feelin' zick, it'zz a bad idea to get up zo quick," Jammerzz said. Ninjzz ignored him and went to Blitzy.

"ZZ'zz in RM Corp Zity," he told her, and started for the door. Blitzy, however, had seen the look in the BOYZZ's glowing blue eyes and knew there was more.

"What's wrong?" she insisted.

Ninjzz turned to face the frightened girl. He sighed, an action that was completely out of character for him and served to worry Blitzy even more.

"Everything," he admitted. "The Ztreet BOYZZz were right. We have to zave ZZ. Zoon."

"Then what are we waitin' for?" Toolzz asked. "I'll get Zplitvan ready."

"Wait juzt a minute!" Watson said. "Ninjzz izn't going anywhere until I check him out."

"Maybe he's right," Blitzy said. "You really gave us a scare."

"I'm fine," Ninjzz said, although this was only half true. "ZZ iz the one who needzz help."

"Abzolutely not!" This outburst came from Watson and was completely unexpected. The doctor rarely raised his voice, so when he did, people tended to notice. "Ninj, you're coming to my clinic. ZZ can wait half an hour." Blitzy opened her mouth to protest and then shut it again. She knew no amount of arguing could change Watson's mind; and besides, wasn't she the one who'd insisted all along that they didn't even need a rescue mission?

"I guess he's right, Ninjzz," she said. "We'll wait for you." As Ninjzz and Watson left the room, Blitzy wondered, What did he mean by "everything?"

Ziv pushed his welding goggles up onto his forehead and bent to examine his work. On the worktable in front of him was a conglomeration of tiny circuits connected to a dime-sized magnet. Ziv attached a miniature battery to the device and stuffed it into a metal box the size of a personal pager. In fact, it had been a pager, or at least, the casing for one. Ziv sealed the box and put it in his pocket.

Glancing at his watch, Ziv realized that it was time for him to meet Frenzy. You spent over four hours working on that device, he thought. It had better work. He left the office and headed for an elevator.

When he reached Frenzy's elegant Grecian-style office on the one hundred sixty-third floor, the Corp's executive vice-president was applying lipstick in anticipation of her "husband's" arrival. She was mildly surprised that Ziv had arrived in her office on time. Her association with Doctor Hiss had led her to believe that all scientists were chronically late.

"Ready to go?" Ziv asked.

"Sure," Frenzy replied, hastily putting away her makeup. "The limo is waiting outside."

The two of them left the office and went downstairs, where Frenzy's pink limousine was waiting just outside. The driver-bot opened the doors for them and then resumed it's seat, starting the car and pulling away from the Tower. After a drive of about forty-five minutes, they reached the small town of Santa Marta. The limo stopped in front of a restaurant on the corner, where Ziv and Frenzy got out.

"I think I'll try the fettucini alfredo," Frenzy said once they were seated in the restaurant and studying the menu. "What about you?"

Ziv didn't reply. He was staring out the window with a strange look on his face, as if he were trying to put together a difficult jigsaw puzzle. "Did they move the post office?" he finally asked.

Post office? Frenzy thought. "I don't know," she replied. "I've never seen the Santa Marta post office."

"Oh." Ziv seemed unusually quiet. "I guess I'll have lasagna."

Why would Ziv know anything about the Santa Marta post office? Frenzy wondered as she signaled for the waitress. Suddenly she remembered. The Zulanders were from Santa Marta. Oh, no! she thought. How could you have been so stupid? Well, there's still time to save the situation. Just say you forgot something and . . . "Ziv, I just remembered," she said. "I have an important - "

"ZZ, is that you?" Frenzy spun to see who had interrupted her. It was the waitress, a girl with short blond hair. The girl had not yet seen Frenzy, who was panicking.

"It is you, isn't it?" the girl continued.

"Y . . . yes," Ziv answered confusedly. "Do I know you?"

"Quit joking around, ZZ," the girl said. "It's me, Millie."

"I don't . . . know anyone named . . . Millie." But he did, and there she was standing in the middle of the room, making vague explanations to her father and a Greenbot as he lay hiding under the bed. And then . . . or was it earlier?

"I always knew science was your first love," she had told him.

Millie laughed. "I think that's my line, ZZ."

Ziv blinked away the daydream. He hadn't realized he was speaking aloud.

Frenzy was getting more frantic by the second. Was there no way to get Ziv out of this town, away from these people? Suddenly a bright light came on and Frenzy found herself staring into a video camera.

"What . . . No!" all three of them were saying.

"He'll remember - "

"He'll get caught - "

"Why is everybody so interested in me?!"

"This is Lonnie Chang live at the Little Italy restaurant in Santa Marta," the newswoman intoned, ignoring the protests of the three at the table, "with Ziv and Frenzy Zulander."

Millie now wore a look of disgust blended evenly with fright and horror. "Frenzy . . . Zulander?!"

"That's right, dear," Frenzy told the astonished girl.

"But you're . . . Lady Frenzy! From the Corp!"

"You small-town girls are so observant," Frenzy said dryly.

"You'd better leave," Millie said threateningly. "The people of Santa Marta chased the Corp out before, and we'll do it again. We aren't afraid of you!"

"And why should you be?" Frenzy was beginning to get nervous. This conversation was headed in a dangerous direction.

"Don't act stupid," Millie said angrily. "ZZ told us all about the Corp's plan to take over the world."

"I what?" Ziv burst out.

"Are you getting this? I want this on the news!" Lonnie Chang told her cameraman excitedly.

"Why can't we eat lunch without being harassed?" Ziv demanded.

"I'm sorry, sir, but you're news. Inquiring minds want to know!" Ms. Chang said. "Can I ask you a few questions?"

"Sure," Ziv said, ignoring Lady Frenzy's rapidly shaking head. "Just as long as you let us eat in peace."

"Agreed," the eager reporter said. "Can you tell us why you decided to work for the Corp?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Ziv replied. "The RM Corp is the biggest and best company on earth."

Millie went to the kitchen to call her father, concerned. First married to Lady Frenzy, and now working for the Corp. Something was seriously wrong with ZZ.

"Blitzy! There'zz a call for you!" Genesix ran into the clinic with this news.

Blitzy brightened immediately. "Is it ZZ?" she asked.

Genesix's face fell. He knew how Blitzy felt about the caller on the line. "It'zz Alizha," he finally told her.

"Why in the world is she calling?" Blitzy complained. "If she watched the news this morning, she should know that ZZ isn't here."

"I zeriouzly doubt that Alizha watchezz the newzz," Watson said from across the room.

"I think you're right, Watson," Blitzy said with a laugh as she tried to imagine ZZ's airheady fashion-model girlfriend watching the news.

Blitzy picked up the phone as soon as she arrived in the living room. "Hello?"

"Hi, Blitzy," Alisha said in her typical fashion-model voice. Blitzy tried not to gag at the bubblegum intonation.

"What do you want, Alisha?" Blitzy was not kindly disposed toward Alisha, especially at times like this. What with the present situation, she felt like tearing the model's vocal cords out. Fortunately for Alisha, that wasn't possible over the phone.

Oblivious to her good luck, Alisha said, "I want to talk to ZZ."

Airhead,Blitzy silently accused, but out loud said simply, "He's not here."

"That's what I thought," Alisha replied crisply. "Are you watching the televiewer report?"

"Did I watch, you mean," Blitzy retorted. "It was on at six o'clock this morning, Alisha, study your tenses. And yes, we're working out a plan. And no, your help would not be appreci - "

"I don't mean that televiewer report," Alisha said with something very close to anger. "I mean the one that's on right now."

"Now?" Blitzy dropped the phone and jumped down to the televiewer, switching it on even as she landed on the couch.

"I don't know where you heard that," ZZ's voice was saying, "but it's not true. I've always been loyal to the Corp." The picture had come into focus now, and it showed ZZ and Lady Frenzy sitting in a restaurant.

"My sister is the real terrorist," ZZ continued. Blitzy's jaw dropped at that. ZZ's calling me a terrorist?she thought. Ninj was right. There's something seriously wrong.

Lonnie Chang apparently thought so too, for she said, "But your sister is only ten years old, Doctor Zulander. How can she be a terrorist?"

"Easily," ZZ replied. "She stole my thinking-bot designs. Those bots have helped her insane war against the Corp."

"I have videos on file," Ms. Chang said, "which clearly show you leading bots into combat against the Corp. There have been countless witnesses - "

"I think it's time we got back to the office," Frenzy said pointedly.

"But our food hasn't even come yet!" ZZ protested.

Lady Frenzy got up. "We're leaving. Now."

ZZ reluctantly got up and followed Frenzy out. "I'm really sorry about all this, Ms. Chang," he apologized over his shoulder as Frenzy nearly dragged him out of the restaurant. "It's been a very confusing day."

The camera followed ZZ and Frenzy out the door, where a man in a sheriff's uniform stood in front of their limo.

"Sheriff Ramsey!" Blitzy exclaimed. "They must be in Santa Marta!"

"Hold it right there, Zulander!" the man barked. ZZ and Frenzy stopped in their tracks and stared at him.

"Y . . . yes, Sheriff?" ZZ said.

"I've got to talk to you, son. Now, I know that your relationship with my daughter is none of my business - "

"Excuse me?" Frenzy snapped, hands on hips.

" - but when one of our own betrays us, I can't take it lying down," the sheriff finished.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, sir." ZZ seemed truly mystified.

"You drove the Corp out of Santa Marta!" the sheriff exploded in anger. "They promised never to come back! We trusted you and now you're bringing the enemy here!"

"I'm sorry, but my husband and I have an important meeting to get to," Frenzy said, pushing past the sheriff. As Blitzy watched the televiewer screen in growing horror, Frenzy nearly shoved ZZ into the limo ("Zhe actually opened the door herzelf," Genesix remarked), got in, and shut the door in the faces of both the sheriff and the cameraman. As the limo pulled away, Blitzy turned the televiewer off and sank deeper into the couch.

This is all wrong, she thought. ZZ is working for the Corp! He's married to Lady Frenzy! He thinks I'm a terrorist!

"Juzt a zecond, Alizha," Genesix said after a moment. "Blitzy, Alizha wantzz to talk to you again."

Blitzy dragged herself up the steps and took the phone from Genesix. "Hello," she said bleakly. "I'm . . . sorry I was mean with you, Alisha."

Genesix paused in his work. Blitzy Zulander did not apologize to anyone, especially Alisha. Alisha was taken aback as well.

"Oh, um, that's okay, Blitzy. I'm sorry too. I was just so upset when I saw ZZ on the televiewer with Lady Frenzy. Do you know what's going on?"

"Not really," Blitzy replied. "At least, I don't, but I think Ninjzz knows more than he's telling me."

"Well, I know one thing for sure," Alisha said. "They must have done something horrible to ZZ if he's pretending to be married to Frenzy."

Blitzy knew it didn't take much pretending, but didn't say anything. She knew Alisha's position on the subject.

"Well, you don't need to worry, Alisha," she told the model. "We'll rescue ZZ. Bye!" Blitzy hung up the phone and left the living room before Genesix had a chance to say anything. She ran into ZZ's room and threw herself down on the bed, hugging the teddy bear ZZ had gotten for his birthday.

"Despair is a noun," the bear squeaked, "meaning loss of hope! It is also a verb meaning to lose hope! He was filled with despair! She despairs of finding the lost shoe!"

"ZZ isn't a shoe!" Blitzy yelled between sobs. She threw the bear against the wall and ran out of the room, crying all the way to the BAL.