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"I suppose that one of us is going to need to go down and have a look-see," said Cynthia. "Is the rope strong enough to support a human? Could we make a sling and send somebody down?"

"Rope? Who needs one those?" Neal said with a mischievous grin at Vegan Woman before jumping onto the edge of the well.

"Geronimo!" with that, Decker disappeared into the blackness of the well.

"HELLO?" Cynthia called down into the darkness, cupping her hands around her mouth. "CAN — YOU — HEAR — US?"

"If he just mysteriously died from some semi-ironic death, I'm going to assume you're the murderer and push you down the well," Anna commented idly.

"That would almost be appreciated if I were dead, but I really don't want her harassing me in the afterlife." Decker commented dryly from the bottom of the well.

Delia looked over the edge, then glanced at her watch.

"Eh, I've got time," she muttered, swinging her legs over the edge and dropping down beside Neal. "Hello, Sweetie."

She looked around the dry well, inspecting the stone walls.

"There's a notch in that one," she said, pulling a flashlight out and inspecting it. "The key could, possibly, fit in here. Who has it?"

"Please dear, not in front of the children." Neal said as Delia started inspecting the wall. Running his fingers over the key shaped hole, Decker fumbled around in one of his duster pockets. "Here we go."

Taking the key, he inserted it into the hole in the well... and turned. The familiar click of an unlocking mechanism filled the hole... followed by silence.

"Well, that was anticlima..." before Neal could finish, the floor beneath their feet opened and the pair disappeared.

----

After coming around from the fall, Decker quickly surveyed their new surroundings. They were in a room of some sort, apparently very large from the echoes though not much was visible thanks to hardly any lights being present. The only light came from a huge screen several feet away. From the screens illumination, rows upon rows of computer boards could be seen stretching on into the darkness. The constant low hum of the processors were simultaneously soothing and unnerving not to mention the heat emitting from them.

"I think we found Mother." Neal finally said dryly, dusting off his fedora.

"Well, couldn't I just assume you were the murderer at the same time and we'd only end up catfighting?" Cynthia said to Anna, equally idly as she peered down into the darkness where Decker and Delia had vanished. "Oh dear, I think they've fallen through the bottom of the well. Perhaps they're in some subterranean body of water now, being eaten by blind piranhas. I lost a bit of one of my pinky-toes to a piranha, you know. It was during the family's vacation in South America when I was eleven. Hmmm. Perhaps I ought to call down to them and make sure they're all right?"

Cynthia cleared her throat and shouted, "ARE — YOU — STILL — ALIVE?"

Delia walked back over to the well and looked up.

"We're not that far down. We jumped, remember?" she said. "There's a computer down here."

"Yes, yes, but you two really should have said something after you fell the second time. One can't be too careful about piranhas," Cynthia said, before grabbing the rope and descending into the depths below. She dusted herself off and looked around. "What a lot of computer-y thingies!"

"We've known the well was dry since...well, since we got here," Delia replied, rolling her eyes. "Now to figure this out...."

She walked toward the screen and inspected it, then reached out and touched it. The screen turned on as it came out of hibernation. Delia's belt started beeping.

"Sorry, guys, looks like I'm out of time," she said, reaching down and turning the timer off. "I'll do my best to help from the outside once I can get back to Ditto Town again. Until then, good luck."

She hit a button on her belt, and then vanished, a few bits of ash left floating in the air.

"Okay, so the computer is password protected," Anna said, taking Delia's place at the screen. "Ideas on a password?"

"'All's well that ends well'?" Cynthia suggested. "Or maybe 'take us back home, you dastardly lunatic'? Or perhaps 'jinx' or some variation thereof?"

"Try "my home". It was on the map, but was scribbled out." Neal said as he stood beside Anna. "Worth a shot at least."

Anna typed the suggestion into the computer, but an "INCORRECT PASSWORD" message appeared.

"Any other ideas?"

"What about 'jinx the hologram'?" Cynthia mused. "Or what about all of the numbers and characters branded into the victims' skin, in the order that the murders took place?"