Once I seen him do this and he, like, winks? I thought he was being a spaz or something. But the next time I catch his eye he winks again. And I look at him and all of a sudden I like know there's someone in there?

Anyway turns out he's not out of it at all, he's really sharp, and I ask him how can he be smart if he's been skimping on his Oil? Mom says it's the only thing that keeps our brains from turning into stone because of the comet, like they said in school. I mean I'm already 11 and I'm supposed to get the Grown-Up Oil next year. Some times I'm scared my brain will turn to stone because of the comet. Why hasn't his brain turned to stone becaue of the comet?

And he leans forward and he says" there wasn't any got-damned comet and the man who invented the oil to save us wasn't a got-damned cook on a got-damed boat, they made that up. They made it all up. Every time you stand up in school with your hand over your heart and praise Hubert you don't know what you're doing. He's just a face they put on it 'cause the real face is too hideous to bear. Folks went mad when they saw it. Now I don't know if they gave folks the Oil to make it easier to see their faces or easier to control or if they're just seasoning us up for something, nobody knows. But there wasn't any comet. We haven't been drinking the Oil for years and years. It happened last month, for God's sake. Last month. Three weeks ago."

Then he asks if I hear a buzzing sound, and I don't, but I do hear a pop and I smell, like, hair on fire, and then there was this man in the room in a black suit, and he said "Rise and Shine, Shy Flavor," and I guess that's why we're here talking now, right? Gee this is a swell lab. You got computers and everything!

What are we going to do now?