Next button is yellow! But does it mean fear or happiness?
With the remote now forgotten beside him in the seat, Peter accidentally hit a button with his side, making Mike’s eyes briefly flash yellow.
“Okay, that’s it! Everybody out of the car!” Micky pulled over into the first diner he could find, “What’s going on? Mike, why are you acting so funny?”
“Funny!” Mike’s voice cracked, “Y-you think I’m acting funny?”
“Yeah, you’ve been really moody ever since we stopped rehearsing, mate…” Davy got out of the car, throwing his arms up.
“I-I don’t know…” Mike rubbed his neck unconsciously, still unable to feel the chip planted there, “You think I’m sick? Do I got some kind of awful disease? Guys, what diseases cause mood swings?? Do I feel feverish to you?”
“Mike, just calm down and breathe!” Micky rested a hand on his shoulder, which only made him flinch.
“Oh! Sorry…I thought you were going to hit me…” Mike held his chest and backed away a couple paces, “You…you guys are mad at me, aren’t you? Please don’t hurt me.”
“Hurt you?!” Micky echoed incredulously.
“We’d never hurt you, Mike!” Peter grabbed the remote and got out of the car next, “Talk to us. What’s wrong?”
“I-I don’t know!” Mike wrung his hands together, nearly about to hyperventilate, “I’ve never felt like this before! I’m gonna explode!”
“Why don’t we just go inside and get some food…?” Davy pinched the bridge of his nose, “Maybe you’re hungry. Have you eaten anything yet today?”
Mike feebly shook his head, still wringing his hands.
“That must be it. Let’s get some food.” Micky helped lead the others into the diner he’d parked by, just desperate to do something. What had gotten into him?
Sadly, food did nothing. Mike at first questioned if people were staring at him, worried they were spies investigating them. Micky wanted to call him paranoid but they had run into spies in the past. Next, Mike made all of them wash their hands before they ate so they didn’t get germs, then the waitress gave Mike a weird look so Mike worried she’d spat in his food or poisoned him.
Peter chewed his lip and brought out his new toy, offering it to Mike, “Here! Why don’t you distract yourself? I found this toy back on the terrace. I can’t figure it out but you’re smart, maybe you can.”
Mike shakily accepted the device and looked at it for a while, confused by the design and all of the buttons. He hit one and it made him flinch, turning his eyes into a sunset orange color.
“Hey! That’s a groovy game, Pete! Thanks for sharing it with me!” Mike laughed at the thing, looking at it for a while, “Wow, what a weird toy! I’ve never seen anything like it!”
The guys sighed in relief. Okay, he seemed happy now. That was a good sign, right?
Then he pushed another button and his eyes flashed blue. Mike immediately frowned, “I can’t figure out this game! I’m gonna lose! I can’t do anything right!”
The guys all let out a deep sigh of disappointment. Well, there goes that hope. Micky took Davy to the side while Peter tried again to cheer Mike up and get him to calm down while people were looking at them.
“What the heck is going on?!” Micky whisper-yelled at Davy.
“I don’t know! You think I know?” Davy laughed humorlessly, “We’re gonna have to take him to a doctor or someone.”
“They’d have him committed…” Micky glanced over his shoulder at his sobbing friend before turning to Davy again, “We’ll have to save that as a last resort. We’ve had weird things happen before. We just need to figure this out…”
Davy snapped his fingers, “I got it! He’s tired! You know how bad his sleep schedule is. He’s always the last one to bed and the first one to wake up. He’s like a kid! He’s tired!”
“Yeah, tired!” Micky’s eyes lit up and he nodded eagerly in agreement, “We’ll just have to have him take a nap at home!”
“If we can get him home…” Davy gulped.
