Veronica woke up in a hospital bed, seeing Zoe, Michael and Evan stood above her.  She rubbed her forehead. "Ow."

"Doing any better, Veronica?" Asked Michael. She sat up, smirking playfully. 

"Yeah, my head just low-key exploded." She looked over at Zoe. "How are you up and walking?" Then it hit her. "Hold on, how long have I been out?" 

They all looked at each other, a hint of pity in Michael's eyes. He leaned in. "3 years." He said quietly." 

Veronica's eyes went wide in shock, until Michael jumped back, laughing. "Nah, I'm just messing with you. It's been 4 hours." 

She rolled her eyes, relived but annoyed with Michael's antics. "Zoe, when did you get up?"

Zoe shrugged. "Two hours ago. Why were you out for so long?" 

"I have no idea. God, that hurt. I can still feel it." Veronica rubbed her head, but Zoe looked confused at that, so did everyone else. 

"Zoe, is your head still hurting, too?" Asked Evan. 

Zoe shook her head. "No, it's fine now." She turned back to Veronica. "And the doctors gave you WAY more painkillers than me." 

Veronica looked at Michael for help. "You're the one who knows the most about it." She said. "Any ideas, Michael?" 

"I don't know. Maybe it was an older version or something? Did you notice anything, Zoe?" 

"She was screaming Deactivate just before she passed out. I wasn't saying anything." 

"Hold on. I don't remember that." 

Everyone glanced at each other. "Maybe we should just get you checked out for now." Evan said. Veronica nodded, trying to hide a twinge of nervousness. 

..........................................................

The four of them went down to Veronica's house. Veronica opened up her bedroom door, where Michael instantly flopped down on her bed, making himself comfortable. Zoe sat down on the edge, while Evan just stood stuttering in the door. 

"Are you sure your parents won't mind?" 

"They're helping fund the construction on Westerberg's gym. They'll be out for a couple of days at a fundraiser out of town." Veronica explained. She closed her bedroom door behind her. "So Zoe, tell me what you remember, because I don't remember anything after drinking the mountain dew red." 

"Well, it's about what you would expect. As soon as we started shouting, a bunch of doctors showed up." She explained. 

"No, I mean... you said that I was saying deactivate." 

Zoe crossed her legs, now sitting entirely on the bed. Michael sat up too. "Well, that's just it. Right before I passed out, I heard you screaming deactivate." 

"Didn't you say that the SQUIP had to be on to work?" Asked Evan, looking at Michael. Michael nodded.

"Maybe the Mountain Dew Red hit it before Veronica told it to deactivate." Zoe suggested. "Why would you even say that?"

"I don't know, maybe in the heat of the moment I thought it would make the pain stop... I don't know." Veronica sat down in the chair across from her bed. 

"I've got an idea!" Evan, suddenly vocal again, perked up and ran to Michael's backpack. He pulled out a bottle of Mountain Dew Red. 

"You're going to make her drink it again?" Zoe raised an eyebrow.

"Well, if it didn't make it go away the first time, this should make it go away, right?" Evan suggested. 

"Then let's try." Zoe took the bottle in her own hand. "Reactivate." She said. 

They all waited in silence for something to happen. "No voices." Zoe said. "No one's showing up." She unscrewed the cap of the mountain dew red and took a quick sip. She licked her lips. "Nope, nothing." She passed it back to Evan. 

"So Zoe's SQUIP-free." Michael said. "Veronica, you've got to try." 

Veronica sighed and took the bottle from Evan. "Alright, but if I turn into a Heather again, remember; Evan holds me down, Michael pours." 

"Can't Zoe hold you down?" Evan mumbled nervously, attempting to cover up the insane amount of blushing around his cheeks. 

Veronica rolled her eyes. "Let's just get this over with." She said. She took a deep breath. "Pray for me, guys." She closed her eyes. "Reactivate." 

There was silence for a bit. 

"Anything?" Michael asked. 

"I'm not even hearing anything." She said. Then she opened her eyes. 

And everything went to hell. 

Veronica was screaming. She jumped up on the chair and punched the air. Zoe, shocked, fell backwards off the bed. Evan pressed himself up against the wall, terrified. Michael stood up on the bed, still freaking out. 

"What the hell?!" Zoe was screaming. Michael and Evan  were just making very loud noises that might have been words in some alien language. 

Eventually, Michael jumped off the bed. "Veronica! The bottle! Drink it!" 

Veronica seemed to calm down a bit, or really, she just got quieter, now just sobbing uncontrollably. She squeezed the bottle tightly, attempting to raise it to her lips. Her arm jittered, as if the bottle weighed a thousand tons. She grabbed her own elbow and tried to push it up, the bottle shaking with each jittery movement. 

"Evan, help her!" Michael shouted. 

Realizing this was the bit where he was needed, Evan approached her, but Veronica quickly stopped him by throwing the bottle at his face. Evan recoiled in pain, holding his nose. Zoe, the only one still paying any attention to him, couldn't tell if the red under his nose was mountain dew or blood. 

Michael picked up the bottle, now empty, as most of the contents were on the floor. When he looked up, he was met with Veronica's fist. Michael fell to the ground, and Zoe and Evan went to his side. 

Behind them, they heard a lock click. Veronica had locked herself in the closet. Zoe, the only one unwounded in the group, stood up and pressed her ear against the door. All she could hear was Veronica's quiet sobbing. She tried the handle, and she was unsurprised to find it locked. 

Zoe leaned up against the door. "Veronica? Are you okay?" She asked quietly. 

No one said anything. 

"I need you to go, guys." 

"Veronica-" 

"Get out!" She screamed. 

"Okay, okay. We're going, we're going." Zoe backed away, hands above her head. She could see Veronica's eye peeking through the crack in between the doors, still crying.

Veronica saw him put his arm on Zoe's shoulder. 

"Get away from her!" She screamed hysterically, banging on the door. Zoe jumped back and grabbed Evan, Michael following close behind. Michael slammed the bedroom door as soon as they got into the hallway. They could still hear Veronica freaking out.

"So that's a new reaction." Michael said. "I'll talk to Rich or something. Um... Zoe, I know she told us to go away, but..." 

Zoe put a hand up to stop him. "I'll wait here." She said. "I'll call if I get anything new. Make sure she doesn't hurt herself." 

"Thanks, Zoe." Michael said. "Oh, Evan, speaking of plans and such, didn't you say that Jeremy and Carrie had a date tonight?" 

Evan's eyes went wide in shock. "Right. I forgot about that. I've got to go." He ran off down the stairs, but Michael stopped him. "Actually, Zoe's brother said he'd help you out." 

"Connor? Why?" Zoe asked. 

"I think Christine sparked something in him." Michael shrugged. "He said he'd meet you at the old orchard. Said that he figured out where they were meeting." He looked at Zoe. "He talked to Jenna." 

"I'll meet him there, then." Evan ran down the stairs and bolted out the door. Veronica was in a bad place, yes, but Jeremy and Carrie were up to something, and he had to figure it out. Maybe Connor would help, too.