"Not only is this a bad idea, Rex, it's just stupid." "No, no." "Not just stupid..." "outstandingly stupid." "Trust me, Noah..." "It's primal." "Scare Claire, and she'll grab the nearest guy for protection, and that would be you." "And that would be Claire and Annie." "This had better work." "I know what I'm doing." "Are you sure you want to see this movie?" "I hear it's really scary." "So is a jar of killer bees when it's knocked off a shelf in Biology class." "Uh... yeah." "He is absolutely positive." "Ew!" "That actually happened to someone I know." "Wait for it." "Still waiting." "Hey, Caesar!" "Hello, little brother." "Whoa." "So is that some sort of nanite thing?" "Mango smoothie." "But this is my hyper-electromagnet that can disassemble a tank from a kilometer away." "Mmm." "And evidently can also make deliciously creamy smoothies." "Nice." "But what I really need to do is scare a girl into my best friend's arms." "Oh?" "Noah and I took a couple of ladies to a horror movie." "Ah!" "To engage their paleomammalian brain so the fear response would be to cling to nearest male." "Did it work?" "Yeah, but they both clung to me." "I believe the word is "score."" "Yeah... except Noah pretty much hates me now." "He was supposed to be the hero." "So I need to step it up, and it needs to be foolproof." "I'm thinking..." "A haunted house." "Yes!" " Huh?" " A twin challenge." "Create a paranormal paradigm with technology in order to evoke a paionate response!" "That is interesting!" "The biochemistry of romance is simple." "The neurotransmitter chemical, phenylethylamine, is excreted by the hypothalamus." "I was thinking less excreting, more fog machine and lights." "Oh, this will be way better." "Trust me." "Cool." "# So make way to start the revolution # # make way # # we're gonna have fun tonight # # make way to start the revolution # # so make way # # so make way to start the revolution #" "# make way to start the revolution # # so make way #" "A ghost hunt?" "!" "Epic fail, dude." "This is better than a movie!" "Claire will be clinging to you before she's even inside." "Clinging?" "Doubtful." "The girls will probably freak at the sheer lameness of this stuff!" "Are those EMF detectors?" "Hey, guys." "And a thermal camera?" "Awesome!" "I knew if we were meeting at the Wrightson Hotel, it had to be about the haunting." "It was Noah's idea." "Really?" "Extra points to you." "Uh, yeah." "I'm...fascinated with the... mysteries of the paranormal." "But you don't believe any of that, right?" "U... um..." "No?" "At best, these detectors will pick up the electromagnetic distortions caused by the building's wiring." "Supposedly, even weak EMF can create feelings of unease and paranoia in the brain, although it's never been duplicated outside a laboratory setting." "Does this work?" "Uh..." "Ghosts make the needle wiggle?" "Right." "Okay, let's go." "Gee, look at me... 100% cling-free." "It's going to work out." "Trust me." "I know what I'm doing." "I heard that before!" "All clear." "Ugh!" "So, I don't see any bandages." "Things must be good with you." "Yep." "No more bad luck." "I haven't broken a bone this year." "At least, not one of my own." "Wow." "Didn't expect furniture." "That's because no moving crew would stay." "I read..." "That they just ran, completely terrified?" "Uh..." "Something like that." "And they would never speak of what they saw... ever." "Supposedly, the ghost of Wrightson still roams the hotel, his invisible hands opening and closing doors, checking on guests." "Paranormal activity increased after the nanite event." "Of course, everything was freaky after that, so even a hint of weirdness scared people away." "And that's why they closed down the hotel and left it..." "To the spirits." "Oh, yeah." "This is gonna work." "Whoa." "There's a guy in need of a party." "That's Wrightson himself." "You sure know a lot about this guy." "His name is under the painting." "That black cat is an icon of superstition and the occult, which triggers subconscious connections." "It's basic psychology." "And this is real science." " A marble?" " Just a simple test." "The floor isn't level." "And a tilted hotel explains those doors opening and closing by themselves." "Human nature can't be deconstructed into theorems and formulas, miss test tube." "Science requires provable evidence." "Everything else is guesswork." "Well, guess what I'm thinking right now." "If we leave now, we can still have a decent date at the snack shack." "I spent all afternoon setting this place up to make you look like a hero." "Just give it a chance." "Setting up?" "Great." "Passing potential embarrassment and proceeding directly to utter humiliation." "Time to turn on the tunes." "Thanks, Rex." "Kind of handy having a hero around." "Nice work back there." "How was the clinging?" "Well, what was I supposed to do?" "Just get Claire to use the thermal camera near the fountain, and you'll be..." "Whoa!" "Check out the claw marks." "Looks like the work of a chisel-point pickax." "L..." "long story." "But he's fine now." "Good to know." "Okay, I say we split into teams to cover more ground." "As long as you're not afraid." "Yeah." "Those two are absolutely terrified." "Claw marks?" "Really?" "But..." "I didn't make these." "I'm getting strong EMF readings in this direction." "Whoa!" "It's going nuts!" "Probably picking up the pipes from the fountain." "Do you feel cold?" "Aren't ghosts supposed to be cold?" "Very funny." "The walls of this atrium must funnel breezes to this spot." "Can a breeze do that?" "It's frozen solid." "Try the thermal camera." "Right." "The cold spots are coming from the fountain." "What?" "!" "Weird." "Must have been a video glitch." "Well?" "How did the cold spot work?" "Wonderful." "She monitored wind direction while I froze." "Okay, then go take EMF readings by the sofa." "Trust me." "I..." "Whatever." "Just go." "Gosh, the meter is going wild." "Something's gonna happen." "Nothing is going to happen, because there's no such thing as ghosts." "Perfect." "Whoa!" "That was crazy." " How could that happen?" " It doesn't make sense." "Do you think it heard what I said?" "It heard what I said!" "Not possible." "Not possible!" "But..." "I didn't..." "This place is haunted!" "Whatever it was is gone." "Excuse us for a second." "That...was...awesome!" "What else is in your bag of tricks?" "Noah, listen to me." "The howling and shredding..." "Not me." "Must have been a power surge." "Maybe your brother's magnet is more powerful than you thought." "Uh, maybe." "It was made to disassemble a tank." "And pulp mangoes." "There has to be a scientific explanation for what happened, so I say we find it." "What was that?" "You three, stay here." "I'll check it out." "Uh, I better go." "You stay." "No." "I'll go." "No!" "I will!" "We're all going." "Nobody splits up." "Not that it's a ghost or anything." "Right." "Because that's...ridiculous." "Maybe that crash was a stray cat." "Let's hope so." "Here, kitty." "Here, kitty." "It could be a dog." "Here, doggy." "Here, doggy." "Or a raccoon." "Raccoons do that, right?" "Okay." "That was more than a cold spot." "We need to get out of here!" "No." "This is too important." "We have to document it..." "Like scientists." "Something weird is happening here... something dangerous." "Facing the unknown is always dangerous, my friend." "Noah!" "This is real!" " It isn't one of my tricks!" " It isn't?" "And by "tricks," you mean what, exactly?" "So, you thought you'd have some fun scaring the girls." "No." "That wasn't what..." "And you were the mastermind, using this electromagnet to move things around." "I moved the couch." "I didn't shred it." "Probably a power surge." "That's what I said!" "I thought you were different." "I'm different!" "Way different!" "I would never be, uh, the same, 'cause..." "I'm different." "Claire!" "Look at this!" "This is more your kind of stuff, but I'm impressed." "A mini-chiller." "I read about these in science journals." "Never thought I'd hold one." "That's my brother's design." "We weren't talking to you." "Well, I'm talking now." "There's something in this hotel that I didn't fake." "We need to leave before someone is hurt." "Because Annie and I are so helpless, right?" "I seem to remember kicking some evo tail at the prom." "Yeah!" "Of course, we had a fully armed battle tank then." "Rex, the plan's a bust." "Give it up." "But it's not like getting out of here is a bad idea." "Run!" "Now!" "I'll make our own door if I have to!" "Aah!" "Huh?" "Aah!" "Rex, are you okay?" "That wasn't a trick." "That was a real ghost." "It's not a ghost." "It's an evo." "Come on!" "Come on!" "Where's the water?" "!" "Sorry." "Sorry." "Weak pipes, I guess." "It's okay." "So, how long was I..." "So, what is it?" "An invisible evo?" "I know it sounds weird, but I could sense some sort of group of floating nanites, like a nanite cloud or something." "Can you stop it?" "Not if I can't touch it." "Maybe you should call Providence for backup." "I'm not getting my brother in trouble." "We didn't exactly go through the proper channels to... borrow this stuff." "Besides, dealing with evos is my job." "This is doable." "So the nanites are like a termite colony..." "Lots of individuals that make a sort of hive mind that can think without being solid." "Felt solid enough when it was slamming me around." " That's good." " What?" "!" "That's when the nanites are closest together." "If we magnetize them, they might cluster enough for you to make contact." "Can you guys rip a magnetic field that will do that?" "Didn't exactly cover that in sophomore physics." "Try sticking your brother's magnet into the cloud." "Simple enough." "Yeah." "But wait until it's slamming you around." "At least we don't have to worry about Wrightson's ghost anymore." "Unless he's the evo." "Great... ghost evos." "Because I was getting bored with the normal stuff." "Get down!" "Uhhhhhhh!" "Really wasn't that bored!" "Whoa!" "Noah!" "I did it." "Maybe you should call Providence for backup now." "Are you kidding?" "Now I can touch it." "Do I have your attention now?" "Good." "Just hold still, and I'll get those nanites out of you." "I thought you couldn't cure nonhumans." "Getting better." "Let's hope I get lucky." "Huh?" "!" "Good trick." "Here's one of mine." "Now, come here, and we'll see if I can cure you!" "The magnet isn't strong enough." "Is there a way to fix that?" "It probably has a neodymium alloy core, which increase in strength the colder it gets!" "We need the mini-chiller." "That was covered in sophomore science?" "Extra-credit project." "I got it!" "Whoops." "Whoa!" "Whoa!" "Unh!" "Ugh!" "Hey, Rex!" "When you have a sec, we're stuck!" "Claire?" "Are you okay?" "I'm good." "No problems." "Claire, by any chance, are you, um, claustrophobic?" "A little bit." "Get the freezer thingy!" "I'll keep it busy!" "That's right..." "Deep breaths." "Don't look at the walls." "Look at me." "I'm so sorry for getting you into this." "No matter what happens, I will get you out of here, safe and sound." "Right." "As soon as you find your crowbar." "I swear I had it with me this morning." "It's gonna be okay." "Come on, kitty, kitty, kitty!" "Put a move on!" "This is not working." "I need a plan "b."" "You okay?" "Just another Monday for me." "Aah!" "Rex!" "Duck!" "H... how..." "How would ducking have helped?" "Let's give this one more shot." "Oh, you're such a pretty kitty." "He's so soft." "Annie, maybe you're not the one to be handling a black cat." "Bro, haven't you ever heard of knocking?" "Thank you." "A lot." "You were..." "Kind of my hero in there." "Ah, just basic psychology." "Not that..." "It's a real science." "Seems to have a battery problem." "But you can certainly see the potential for your spook show." "The..." "Uh..." "Show you are planning for... for next Halloween." "Can't get started early enough." "Ladies and gentlemen, my brother, Caesar, the inventor of tonight's illusions." "O... okay, most of them." "So, Claire, I thought we might..." "Your electromagnet used a neodymium alloy core, right?" "Impressive deduction." "Claire used the mini-chiller to boost its power to condense the cloud evo." "A cloud evo?" " Still waiting." " I'm sorry." "Tonight didn't work out quite the way I..." "Did that thing just cross our path?" "Quick!" "Maybe we can circle around!"