The LA Technical University loomed large just outside of the city. An old dark purple Chevy pulled into the visitors’ lot and stopped. The drivers’ door opened... and Micky got out. He shut the door after him and headed for the Visitors’ Center, looking for the directory.

Inside, Micky stopped by a table set up with pamphlets... and one in particular caught his eye. It wasn’t professionally printed as the others were, but rather looked like they were printed by the University itself. He picked one up and opened it. It showed pictures of a scanning machine and had paragraphs written by students trying to guess what it was.

Micky shook his head and tucked the pamphlet in a back pocket of his carpenter’s shorts. He glanced around and found a handwritten sign showing the way to the machine. He walked down the hall and found the room. He peeked inside, first, and saw no one around.

Micky walked right up to it, his eyes narrowing at the sight. The scanning arm was retracted and dark, while the entire machine sat quiet. He wished he’d been able to talk Mendrek into letting him look the machine over before donating it to the University, not to mention reassuring the others that him being near the thing actually wasn’t a bad idea.

He pulled on a pair of gloves, then ran his fingers over the metal casing, searching for a panel of any sort. There were no buttons or switches on the outside of the machine, but Micky knew that Sheila had flipped a switch on it to make it work, he just had to find it. Finally, he found a latched panel. He swung the latch and the panel door flung itself open. Inside the panel was a switch, along with several buttons and a small display screen.

Micky glanced around, then blue lighted the door locked. He returned his focus to the machine and flipped the switch. The machine hummed to life, and the arm began to glow, but remained retracted. He frowned seeing that the display remained blank. His fingers hovered over the buttons as he continued to frown. As curious as Micky was about the machine, he couldn’t bring himself to push any of the buttons without knowing what they did. After all, he sure as heck didn’t want to create another unwanted clone. The others had already given him enough grief about just wanting to look at it, not including the half dozen times he’d promised Lauren that he wouldn’t even touch it.

Micky shook his head. He wanted so badly to find out more about this machine, like if there were any side effects. The only one he knew of was the change of color in his light. He’d come to the conclusion that there had to have been some evil left in him from being turned, causing his light to darken, and when the clone was made, it was made from that remaining evil. He scratched the back of his head, then sighed. He flipped the switch, shutting off the machine, and closed the panel door. As he walked to the door, he blue lighted it unlocked. When he reached the door, he turned one last look at the machine, sighed again, and left the room.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Micky sat at the top of the wooden fortress in their backyard, looking out at the water. It was getting late and the sun was beginning to set. He didn't even move when he heard movement on the ladder.

"Babe, I know I promised I wouldn't touch it, but I had to look at it atleast..." Micky turned and was shocked to find that it wasn't Lauren who'd joined him.

Davy grinned, settling next to Micky. "That comment you just made is so loaded..."

"I thought Lauren was coming up. She's usually the one to find me."

"I found you all on my own, Mick." Davy paused. "Did you actually see that machine?"

Micky nodded. "Yeah, they had it in a room of its own."

"And you played with it. Please tell me there's still the same number of you as there were before you went in there."

"I turned it on, but didn't do anything else with it, if that's what you're asking. I didn't wanna take any chances."

"That's a first, mate," Davy said, which earned a glare from Micky. "Sorry, Mick." He paused. "I know you're thinking about something. I can hear the gears turning."

"Why me, Dave? I was the first one to fall for Sheila's sweet-talking. I was the one that crazy Lady Plaisir wanted to mess with. I'm the one that gets cloned to make a devil-in-training, I nearly got beaten to death by our gangster doubles, I was shot out West--" Micky rambled.

Davy grabbed Micky's shoulders and got a good look at the wild look in the drummer's eyes. "Mick! Calm down! You're not doing yourself any good like this!"

Micky dipped his head as he began to breathe heavier.

"Mick, Alex is gone. You defeated him yourself. And we've pretty much figured that everything that's happened to us has been courtesy of the devils. We're down to Sheila and I'm willing to bet she won't be back for a long time." Davy paused, then frowned hearing Micky's breathing hitch. "Okay... let it out, mate."

Micky didn't argue. He covered his face with his hands as the sobs came out. Davy pulled out the handkerchief he carried with him and let Micky take it, then rubbed Micky's back.

Davy looked out over the water, admiring the view. He had to admit that Micky certainly had an eye for certain things. He lost track of time in his own thoughts, gazing out at the sunset, and continuing to rub Micky's back comfortingly.

Davy was caught by surprise when Micky's head came to rest on his shoulder. He turned and found he'd fallen asleep. Davy grinned. "What're best friends for, right, Mick?" With that, he blue lighted Micky and himself into the house.