Betrayal

Scientific Manipulation

I rush down to the lab to continue my mission. Sixer needs to trust me with every morsel of information he has, we can't risk losing that information, but he'd rather die than ever join Bill, so we have to be a bit more underhanded with our methods. I can't fail, it's too important.

I knock on the lab door, and wait for Sixer to welcome me in.

"Who is it?"

"Dipper, Sir. You told me you'd like a bit more of my help cleaning up the portal, and someone to assist in your experiments?"

"Oh, yes, come in my boy!"

I push the door, and it creaks open. Sixer has flipped up a welding mask, and is wearing large heat proof gloves.

"I'm trying to save some of the more valuable parts of the portal, they can definitely help with other projects. Do you know how to weld or solder circuits, son?

Don't call me that.

"Of course! It was my main job on the robotics team. What exactly do you need me to fix?"

He holds up some fried, but otherwise intact, circuit boards.

"These. They're pretty strong, and capable of storing large amounts of data, and could be extremely helpful. Think you're up to it?"

"Definitely. I just need to run into town and buy myself some new equipment, I didn't bring mine."

"That's fine, hurry back though. I don't know how long these will take to fix, and we have other things to do."

"Yes, Sir!", I shout, dashing out of the lab.

Now, to the cabin. This could be a great opportunity to bug his computers and install some internal spyware into the hard drive. I really, really hope Bill has the stuff I need, I only have so long.

Bill!?

Yes? Find something?

Possibly. Do you have hardware bugs and ways to install some spyware into some motherboards and hard drives? He wants me to fix some.

Great move! Get to the cabin as soon as you can teleport, I'll have whatever you need.

Fantastic! I'll be there in five minutes.

I rush out of the shack in the direction of town, but hook a right into the forest once I'm out of view. I snap my fingers, and after a dizzying moment of swirling colors, I'm at the cabin door.

I turn the knob, and run to my room, slamming the door behind me. But once I get there, he isn't in the room.

Bill? Where are you?

The lounge left of the front door, Pinetree.

Oh, okay!

I pivot on my heel, and run to the lounge as he directed. When I get there, little computer chips and drives litter the coffee table.

"So what exactly do all of these do? We really only need spyware and maybe a little malware to slip up some of the functions."

"Agreed. So, I have a fine selection, and some tools that can help you hide them."

"Perfect. So which things are what?"

After a detailed explanation, Bill sends me back to the shack with the tools in a generic plastic store bag. I teleport back to the path to town, and run to the shack as fast as I can.
I burst into the lab, panting, and hold up the bag.

"Found the stuff, Grunkle Ford!"

"Good job, my boy! Now hurry and get to work, son."

Ḭ̟͎̍̿͌ ̧̱̻̺̉̀͊̃s̡͙̪̘̝͆͑̕͝͡a͔̽i̤͖̠͛͐͗d̹̐ ͈̯̿̂ḓ̨̡̈͘͝o͎͙͓̒̊̇ ń͎̠̼̝̉͒̐ȯ͇̙͉̠̬̿̀̀͞t͍͗ ̞̖͎͍͊̋̓̓͘͢c̫͕̫͌͛͝a͔͘l̝̐ĺ̼ ̡͓̭͍̀̽͆̕m̫̊̚͟é̖͕͖̳̉̇̀ ̧̛͕̖̬͓́́̽́ṭ͎͍̄̍͐h̝͔̖̓͊̚a̢̠͂̔t.̗̕

"Yes, Sir!"

I sit there, fuming as I work. How dare he? He stumbles into my life through sheer coincidence, and he thinks he can act like him? I don't think so. I have to keep my temper in check, I can't risk screwing this up. Bill needs this to work. I need this to work.

I carefully slide every chip into place, hiding them in plain sight. I have to work quickly, or something will seem off when I'm done. I can't risk him seeing me.

After three hours of straight soldering and pushing each bug into place, I'm finally finished. I hand the repaired motherboards to Sixer for him to inspect. He looks them over for a minute, and sets them on the cluttered desk.

"Good work, son. I'm impressed with your range of skills at this age. Now go take a break, all that slouching isn't good for your back."

You wanna know what also isn't good for your back, old man? H̘̟̲̳͉͑̿̊́̿a͇̦̎͛V͙̥̦̍̾͒i͓̜͛̈N̠̙̗̙̅̈̄̚g̞̱̰̫͊̊̄́ ̬̣̓͝Y͖̥͉̝͇͋̑̋̇̚o̡̯̺̍̀͝Ȕ̺̖͈̅̃ŗ̺̗̊͑̒͜͞ ̢̪̮̖̌̉̈́̈́Sp̜͙̐̍Ǐ͓͎̲͒̇n̛͖̪̺͈̼͛̌̽̇Ė̗͎͉͋͊ ̛̮͍̘̻͑̿͝ŕ̝̠͕̾͝I̫̊̏͛͟͢p̨̛̳͇͌̏P̙̋ȩ̹͚̽͗͡D̛̝̮͂ ̨̟̒͠oUt̻̜̓̑̎͜ ̜̈́b̢̘͕̫͛́̓̚Ý̢̦̰̅̓ ̠̠͛͊̍͜bI̘̽l̝͓͔̼͛̌̾̕L̲̙̗̋͂͋͠ͅ ̦͎̭̈̈͘C̳̣͖̓̀͘͟͡i̱͑P̻̥̮̈́͊̒͜͡h̤̿́͟Eř͍͎̖̍͂!͎͐̒ͅ

I need a breather from that pompous asshat. Yeah, no shit, working for three hours straight isn't good, but it's not like I'm human enough for it to matter!
K̢̑î̗̤͖̑͝ĺ̩̘̘̬͛̋̕l̯͔͌̌ ̠̞̘̽̒̐ẖ̳͙̈́͑̋̽͟i̧̧̢̯̼̿̋̔͋̅m̡̅̽̽͜͜ k͎̦̤̲͐̓̈͋i̧̎l̳̞͚͍͗̊̌͌l̡̠͑̎ ̡̛̻̣͋̀͗͜h̟̃ǐ̬̻͈̦̿̉͝m̮̙̫͌̋̐ ̟̘̿͘k͇͔̗̻̈̎̇͌il̝̥͓̄̋͊͟͠ļ̛ ̗̫̅͡h̹̮͎͍͆͐̆̂im̢̰͉͆̈́́̚͢ k̜̲̘̀̅̆i̮͙̬̅̃̅ḻ̰̈͒̈́ͅl̠̙͛̎͐͜h̘̭̱͗̒͘i̜͔̽͛m̩̰̺̻̒̋̑͘k̬̇i̹͂́͜l̻̍͆͜ļ͇͕̭̈͌͑͗hi̤͔̮̹̽̑̈́͞m̧̖̬̪͛͗̾̔̕͜.

Pinetree.

Bill? Huh?

You need to calm down. Your magic is gonna spiral out of control, and we can't afford that. And considering your limited knowledge on controlling it, it could really hurt you. So breath, Pinetree.

I pull a shaky breath into my lungs, desperate to regain control. I can't let my temper ruin everything. I can't allow it.  I.  Won't.  Allow. This.

After five minutes of breathing and shaking, I finally got calm enough to really think straight.

There we go, good job, Pinetree. How are you feeling? Do you need me to help you keep your temper in check with Sixer?

Yes, please. If I blow my top everything will be ruined. We can't risk that. I'm sorry, now I'm wasting your whole day keeping me in check.

Hey, it's fine, Pinetree. This mission is important, and your first. Plus, you know have huge amounts of magic coursing through your body constantly. It takes a while to get used to, and Sixer is frustrating to be around. You're fine.

I'm fine? Are you sure?

Yes, Pinetree, I'm sure. Now, one more deep breath, okay? Now, can you go back for me? I'll be right there the whole time.

Okay. Thank you, Bill, seriously.

Don't mention it. Now, let's do this!

I walk back over to the vending machine and punch the special code into the keypad. The door swings open, and I make my way back down the stairs.

Remember why we're doing this, Pinetree. They' ve hurt you.

Jackie.

Underestimated you.

Stanley.

Used you.

Stanford

Betrayed you.

Mabel.

So, remember why you want this. Why you want to hurt them back. I can promise, it'll help your temper.

Oh, trust me, I remember. I want to burn them.

You will, I swear it. All you need to do is be patient. This suffering will make your vengeance ever more satisfying.

Yes. Yes, you're right. I'm ready.

Good.

I open the lab door, and walk back in, ready to get even closer to this old fool.

Ready to dance, Bill?

Let's tango, Pinetree.