Dipper immediately saw Tyler, standing in the exact place he'd been hours before. Had he moved at all? Had he gotten lunch? Guarding the Mystery Museum looked like a super boring job.

"I'm going to go talk to Tyler," Dipper said, pointing. "Where are you guys going to go?"

"I don't know who else is out here," Janice said. "I guess we'll just pick anyone? I'd feel better if we all went together," she added with a glance at her husband and son.

Greg and Robbie agreed, so the Corduroys went off in one direction while Dipper walked towards Tyler (and Wendy stayed by the Museum to start her mural). Mabel's moon was shining its dim blue light, and Dipper couldn't tell if Tyler had noticed him or not. But he didn't say anything until he was close enough to talk quietly. He didn't want any of Cipher's servants overhearing their conversation.

He could soon make out Tyler's face, which was watching him warily. Dipper gave a disarming smile, though he stayed silent until he was standing only a few feet from the signs Melody had put out to mark the barrier. "Hi, Tyler," he said. "Long time no see. How are you?"

"I'm fine," Tyler said slowly. "What are you doing out here?"

"I thought you might be bored, standing here all day," Dipper said. "I thought I'd come keep you company for a bit."

A strange look — grateful and fearful at the same time — passed over Tyler's face. "Thanks," he said, "but I really am okay."

"You look pretty bored to me."

Tyler glanced around. "Well," he admitted quietly, "I am. But I have to be out here."

"How come?"

"To guard you. Keep you safe."

Dipper frowned, trying to make sense of that answer. "Keep us safe from what?"

Tyler looked uncomfortable, like he knew he probably shouldn't be talking to a Symbol. Still, "From the creatures in the forest," he said. "They want to use you for their own purposes. But we're here to keep them away, to keep you safe until Lord Cipher comes to rescue you." He attempted a benevolent smile, as if Bill coming to "rescue" them were a great mercy.

Dipper swallowed his instinctive angry outburst. Don't get angry, Dip. You have to show this guy that you're still his friend. "That's not how I understand it," he said carefully.

The air of discomfort grew. "Yeah, um, that's what they said."

"What who said?"

"The Northwest servants," Tyler said. He glanced around again. "Or, Cipher's servants. They say you think the magical creatures are on your side."

"Yeah, I do think that," Dipper said, a little more sharply than he meant to. "Sorry," he said, trying to calm himself. "How come Cipher's servants are acting like they're in charge?"

"Because they are," Tyler said; he looked a bit annoyed about this. "Lord Cipher put them in charge, since he can't—" He stopped and turned a little red.

"Can't what?" Dipper asked curiously.

"Never mind," Tyler said. "His servants speak for him now, on his authority. Like we're not also his servants," he added under his breath.

Tension between the Order members about the servants. Could Dipper and Gideon use that to their advantage? "It sounds like they're making you stand here all day," Dipper said sympathetically.

Tyler shrugged. "Well, yeah. They're doing it, too. Like I said, we're keeping you safe."

There it was again. Safe. The word stabbed Dipper in the heart. Mabel certainly wasn't safe. Neither were Dipper's grunkles. Did Tyler realize that?

"It'll be okay, Dipper," Tyler said, seeing the ugly look on the boy's face. "We'll watch you until you can help Lord Cipher, and then we'll all live freely in his dimension."

Dipper couldn't stop the noise of disgust in his throat. "Do you know what's happening to my sister right now?" he asked, his voice rising. "Do you know what Bill is doing to her?"

Tyler glanced up at Mabel's moon. "She's helping him get home."

"No, she's — well, fine, I guess you're technically right, but she's—"

"Is everything okay over here, Whittaker?"

A servant came over, drawn by Dipper's voice. Tyler jumped guiltily when he saw her. "Everything's fine," he said nervously.

"Hi there," Dipper said to the servant, plastering a smile onto his face. "I'm Dipper, one of the people you want to murder for your precious demon."

The servant raised her eyebrows, unimpressed. "You really think that?"

"Yes! You people told me as much just two days ago!" Dipper had come out with Gideon on Friday to talk to Cipher's servants, and they'd basically said that they were keeping them here until Bill was ready to kill them.

"Of course we wouldn't have said that," the servant said. "We're keeping you safe."

"Safe from the people who want to save us from you!" Dipper said. He had done his best to be kind to Tyler, but he had no kindness in his heart for Cipher's servants. "They're lying to you, Tyler. They told me two days ago that they were keeping me here until Cipher needs me. Do you know what Cipher needs me for? Do you know what he's really doing to—"

"That's enough," the servant said with a stern look in her eye. "You should go back inside."

Dipper folded his arms. "You can't make me."

The servant glanced at the nearby sign, which showed exactly where the barrier was. Dipper knew that Melody had put those signs out to warn innocent passersby, but he sort of wished she hadn't, if only so that these stupid servants would accidentally run into it and get knocked out. "See?" he said to the servant. "You can't get through this barrier. And neither can your bullets. Not that you'd ever try to shoot me, since you're trying to keep me safe, right?" he added sarcastically.

The servant closed her eyes briefly. "Of course I wouldn't try to shoot you," she said in exasperation. "Whittaker, why don't you go home for the day? I'll get someone else to take over for you."

"That still doesn't stop me from standing here and talking to whoever you get," Dipper pointed out.

Tyler glanced between Dipper and the servant, then muttered something.

"What?" the servant asked, annoyed.

"I can't go home," Tyler repeated, a little louder. "My house is across the street."

"Fine, then go back to wherever you're staying," the servant said.

"Why can't you go across the street?" Dipper asked in confusion.

The servant glanced between Dipper and Tyler. "Leave, Whittaker," she said.

"Okay, I'm going," he said. "Bye, Dipper. Thanks for talking to me."

"Bye," Dipper said, forcing himself to wave cheerfully at Tyler, although what he really wanted to do was glare at the servant.

He thought Tyler looked a little sad to leave him. Hopefully that was the case, because Dipper was determined to find the man again and convince him to help his and Gideon's escape.

Tyler didn't show up for the rest of the day, nor the next one. Dipper spent Sunday afternoon and most of Monday outside with the Corduroys, talking to people about Bill's true nature, about what it meant to be a Symbol, about what was really happening to Mabel in the sphere that hung in the sky. It hurt for Dipper to talk about Mabel and the pain she was no doubt experiencing, but he would do it if it meant convincing the Order members that they were in the wrong.

Cipher's servants weren't happy with this campaign, but there wasn't much they could do about it. On Monday afternoon, there was a terrifying moment when one of the servants tried to shoot Janice. But, just as had happened on Friday, the bullet simply disintegrated into white dust. Dipper and the Corduroys were left with ringing ears and bodies trembling from startled fear, but everyone was otherwise unharmed.

This incident greatly upset some of the Order members — after all, the Corduroys might be traitors to Bill's cause, but they were still the friends of most people in the Order. There were shouts and accusations — things like "We don't hurt people!" and "I thought we were keeping them safe!" — and general chaos. Greg helped a shaking Janice back into the house, and Robbie and Dipper stayed outside to add their own voices to the mix.

Eventually, the servants regained control by reminding everyone that Bill had put them in charge, and that the Order members had better listen or else be abandoned by Bill after he gained his freedom. This quieted the Order members, but they didn't mind talking to Robbie and Dipper afterwards (and many apologized for what the servants had done). The servants tried sending some of them away, like they'd done with Tyler yesterday, but they only had so many people available. The barrier around the Museum was pretty large, with plenty of trees to get lost in, so they had to guard it carefully. As far as the Symbols could tell, there were only about ten servants there, and they needed at least twice that to build a solid perimeter around the Museum. Without the Order members there to help them, the servants wouldn't be able to keep the Symbols trapped.

Gideon wondered aloud why there weren't more servants there, since there were a total of twenty people working for the Northwests (now working for Bill). The other ten servants were surely needed to guard Ford and Lee, and to do whatever else Bill needed, but there didn't seem to be any servants traveling back and forth between the Museum and the Manor. That was strange; didn't the two groups need to communicate?

Dipper didn't know what was going on with the servants. He just kept doing what he was doing with the Corduroys. Tuesday morning, he found Tyler once again, standing in a grove of trees on the side of the Museum, hidden from view. Like the servants were trying to hide him from Dipper.

The two of them got talking. Dipper wanted to return to the conversation on Sunday, where he was trying to tell Tyler about how Mabel's moon was draining her life force, but he turned the conversation on Tyler at first, to help him relax. "How come you said you couldn't get home the other day?" Dipper asked. "Why can't you go across the street?"

Tyler hesitated. "I. . . I shouldn't have said anything about it. I don't know if the servants want me to tell you this."

"Who cares what the servants think?"

It looked like Tyler agreed with this sentiment, but he said, "Well, they are speaking for Lord Cipher right now."

"It sounds like they're being more violent than Bill," Dipper said, trying to keep a neutral expression at this lie. In reality, the servants were probably being just as violent as Bill wanted.

"I guess. . . ."

There was silence for a moment, and Dipper tried again. "Do you miss your family? Do you have any kids?"

Tyler shook his head. "No, I live with my sister and her husband. Haven't seen them since the earthquake. There's. . ." He hesitated again, then continued. "During the earthquake, the town and forest split apart. There's a gigantic rift right down main street. You can't see it from the Museum, since there are trees in the way, but the road is a chasm now. There's no way across."

Dipper blinked. "No way."

Tyler nodded. "It goes off into the forest, and the servants say there are rifts throughout the entire area. The town is basically split in two, on their own little islands. You can't get across." He shuddered a little. "I've looked down the chasm. There's no bottom; it goes all the way down; you can see stars below it. I think the only reason the various parts of the forest are still together is because of the barrier around the township."

An image came into Dipper's mind of different parts of town and the forest drifting away from each other into space. "Woah," he said.

"Yeah. Pretty scary."

"You realize Bill caused this?" Dipper asked. "He's the reason you can't get back to your family. Why you're stuck here in the cold, guarding the Museum."

Tyler shook his head. "Nobody knew that the rifts would form. They weren't in the prophecies or anything. It's scary, yeah, but we're all going to the same place. I'll see my family again, and we'll be in Cipher's dimension, where we can live free and happy."

"And I'll be dead," Dipper said softly.

Tyler's eyes widened in alarm. "What?"

"If that happens, I have to die first," said Dipper in grim surety. "That's what I was trying to tell you yesterday, about what's really happening to Mabel up there." He pointed at the soft blue moon above.

Tyler shook his head again. "No, she. . . she's fine. She's helping Lord Cipher, and he generously rewards those who help him."

Dipper had to stop himself from losing it. "No, he doesn't," he said, making sure to keep his voice down so Cipher's servants wouldn't come into the trees and stop their conversation. "In order to power the township, Bill is draining my sister's life. All ten of us Symbols have to die before you reach Bill's dimension. I don't—" His voice broke. "I don't know how long Mabel has. I don't know if she's in pain or — or if it's even possible to rescue her."

Tyler stared at Dipper in shock.

"Can you help Bill, knowing that?" Dipper said. "Can you really stand there, keeping me 'safe,' knowing that Mabel's dying?"

"I—" Tyler swallowed. "I don't know who told you that—"

"Andrew the minotaur did," said Dipper. "The guy who's in charge of Bill's prison. He knows basically everything there is to know about it. If he says we're going to die if we get cut by that dagger, then I believe him. It's a dagger, Tyler — it's meant to kill people."

He could tell that Tyler's mind was racing as he tried to process this. "You. . . you can't trust the supernatural creatures."

"Yeah, I can," Dipper said. "They're the ones who put up this barrier to protect us from the Order and the servants. Did you hear about what happened yesterday?" Tyler hadn't been there when the servant had tried to shoot Janice, but surely he'd heard about it.

"I did," Tyler said, "and I'm sorry it happened. Janice and Greg don't deserve that. We don't hurt people."

"Then how come you helped Pacifica kidnap Mabel?" asked Dipper. "I saw you that night, when we came to rescue her."

Tyler looked uncomfortable. "We. . . we wouldn't have let her get hurt. Cipher didn't."

That's what Greg and Janice had said last week. "He didn't let Pacifica kill her, but he didn't stop her from getting hurt," Dipper said. "You say that you don't want us to get hurt, that you're protecting us, but it's Bill and the Order that have hurt us. Not the supernatural creatures."

"Maybe they're lying to you," Tyler said. "Maybe they're luring you in with a false sense of security so they can hurt you later."

"That's exactly what Bill is doing to you," Dipper said. "Look, it's a simple test. Bill can't lie, right? So, ask him in your head to show up in your dreams tonight. If he does, ask him if Mabel is dying. If he says no, then you know I'm wrong. If he says anything else — anything other than a simple 'no' — or if he doesn't show up at all, then you know I'm right."

"I. . . I can't talk to Bill right now," Tyler said.

"Why not?"

Tyler hesitated, then shook his head. "I can't tell you that. I. . . I really shouldn't be talking to you."

"Because I'll make you face reality?"

Tyler flinched. "Please, Dip, don't — don't act like that."

"Don't act like what?" he demanded. He was losing control; he knew it, but he didn't really care. "Don't act like my sister is in danger? Don't act like I might not ever see her again?"

Tyler glanced around nervously. "Don't yell."

"I have every right to yell! You should believe me! Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I don't know what I'm talking about!"

Tyler put his hands up. "It's not that you're a kid—"

"Then what is it? I get that people don't usually take me seriously, I'm okay with that — until I'm actually trying to be serious! This is serious!"

"Of course it is," Tyler said soothingly, but he didn't say it like he actually believed it. He said it like he was a concerned adult trying to calm down a frightened child. Dipper was originally drawn to Tyler because he didn't act like that — he didn't treat Dipper like just some kid — and yet here he was, doing it now. "I get that you're scared. I'm worried, too. But everything will work out. We just have to trust that it will."

"Do you really believe that?" Dipper snapped.

Tyler blinked. He opened his mouth and closed it again. He had no answer.

"Do you really believe that some yellow triangle who appears in your dreams and never gives a straight answer will actually live up to his promises, and that the kid who's terrified for his sister is just plain wrong, and that the girl up there in the sky"—he jabbed a finger up at Mabel's moon—"isn't getting hurt somehow, and that the dagger used to get her up there isn't dangerous at all, and that the people with guns who tried to use them on innocent people aren't evil? Is that what you believe?"

"What's going on over here?" someone called; Dipper could hear the snow and tree branches crunching as the person drew nearer. He ignored the sounds, staring up at Tyler defiantly.

Tyler's face closed into a stony wall. "Leave me alone," he told Dipper. "Don't come out here and yell at me."

"I'll do what I want! You can't stop me!"

One of Cipher's servants appeared. "This kid bothering you, Whittaker? You can switch places with me."

Tyler nodded shortly, turning away from Dipper and walking away.

"Don't walk away from me!" Dipper yelled after him. He was about to follow when—

"Dipper!" Another person came clomping through the snow — this time from behind Dipper. Robbie came up beside him. "You okay?"

"No!" Dipper turned and stomped away.

Robbie followed. Dipper wanted to go find Tyler and yell at him some more, but Robbie guided him back to the Museum. "Go in there and take a breather," he said. "I know, these guys can be really frustrating. . . ."

"He was acting like Mabel isn't in danger!" shouted Dipper. He shouted some more things, too, though they weren't coherent. They passed Wendy, who was standing in a cloud of spray paint fumes, and made it back to the porch. Dipper left Robbie, stomped up the steps back into the house, and slammed the door behind him.

"Dipper?"

Oh, no. It was Pacifica. She stood in the entryway, staring at him with wide eyes.

Dipper didn't think. He only acted. He pushed Pacifica into the hall and shoved her against the peeling wallpaper. "Bring her back!" he screamed in her face. "Bring my sister back!"

"Dipper!" Melody ran over and pulled him away from Pacifica. "Pacifica, get back into the parlor," she said.

Pacifica didn't even argue. She scrambled away.

Dipper fought against Melody's grip, but she was firm. "Stop," she said. "I know you're hurting. Don't take it out on anyone else."

He struggled against her like a child throwing a tantrum in his mother's arms. "Lemme go!"

She did so, and he stumbled against the sudden lack of resistance. "Please, Dipper," Melody said quietly, "try to stay calm. You and Gideon have a plan. You're going to get Mabel back."

"Do you really believe that?" he snapped, just as he had with Tyler.

Melody took a slow, deep breath. "I want to believe it," she said. "I hope for it. And I've found that the best way for your hopes to happen is if you make them happen. You and Gideon are going to make them happen."

He glared at her — not because he was mad at her specifically, but because he was trying to process her words. "I shouldn't have to get Mabel back," he said. "She should be here, safe."

"You're right. She should."

He waited for Melody to say more, but she didn't.

Dipper looked down the hall after Pacifica. He wanted to go after her — to throttle her—

Melody put a hand on her shoulder. "Please don't come back this way," she said. "Stay in this part of the house, okay?"

"Fine," he said. He turned and went up the stairs.

He thought he heard Melody call something kind and encouraging after him, but he wasn't paying attention. When he got the top of the stairs, he saw Gideon, sitting on the window seat in the main part of the attic. "Gideon," he said, "you're right."

"About what?" the boy replied, unsurprised.

"We can't trust the Order members. It's dumb to think we can get them to help us."

Gideon nodded, sucking in a breath. "So, sneaking out it is?"

"Yes," Dipper said resolutely. "And I have more information that'll change our plans."

"Let's work on that, then," Gideon said. He got up and grabbed the notepad that had their plan on it and the pen from Dipper's room, then returned to the window seat. "What did you find out?"

So Dipper started talking. As much as he wanted to just run outside and leave right now, he knew it would help to make a plan. He and Gideon had to give themselves the best chance of escaping the Museum, and that meant generating ideas and working together.

They would escape. Dipper was adamant about that. They'd get out of here, and no stupid servants or Order members would stop them.