With two hours left until the speech, nearly everybody had their sky-blue and cloud-white school uniforms on. The men's uniform was a blue hat and overcoat with a pair of white pants and a shirt, while the female uniform sported a white skirt with a blue jacket and hat. While neither uniform traditionally required goggles, many wore their normal ones. On the left sides of their chests, they brandished a brass gear, the generic airman insignia.

"I feel so preppy," Cog said, arms outstretched at a downward angle, as if frozen in place. She remembered the last time she wore the uniform was for a job shadow on the A.S. Scavenger during her airship economics class. There were just twenty-five kids on the trip, but it created an unbearable wave of blue and white.

In contrast, there were at least ninety already in the mess hall wearing the uniform.

"More preppy than earlier?" Gogs shot. "You were already dressed for the occasion."

"Yeah, I was. I still have the heels on, too."

Sail walked over, also wearing the uniform, visibly uncomfortable. "This is too much for me. I prefer cotton and leather, not silk."

"Well, Sail," Gogs started, "the good news is, we're over Baton Rouge still. If you don't get eaten by an alligator, you can get all the cotton and leather you want." He elbowed Cog, prompting her to respond.

"Yeah," she agreed, "pure alligator leather. People like Gogs would die for it."

"No, he'd die getting it," Sprocket teased.

-=[ ]=-

The room was alive with talking and laughter, with just an hour and a half until President Carter was on television. People were bouncing in their seats with mixed emotions. Excitement buzzed like bees through the air, the teens acting as the unpollinated flowers. Anxiety laid low like fog. You could almost see and feel it. Very few were left unaffected by the rising level of energy.

For many, conversations drifted between Carter, Christmas, and the Nazis. Strange scenarios kept popping up, like the Nazis invading Israel on Christmas.

Cog had more tangible problems in mind, however.

"Since I didn't get to do as much practice as I should've," she said, "can we practice a little more?"

"I don't see why not," Sprocket reasoned.

Amp quickly rushed over as they approached the stage, out of breath. "I don't have a lot of time. There's some stuff in the cockpit I have to deal with. All I have to say is that you don't need to wear your uniforms, you can stay in whatever you were in. Sorry I didn't get to you before you switched into them. Best of luck, you guys. I'll see you five minutes ahead of time."

The four watched in disbelief as he jogged away.

"Wait!" Sprocket pointlessly called after him. "Do I get to wear my 'Steampunk Santa' outfit?"

"I guess it's time to change back," Gogs groaned, dropping his shoulders and walking back to change again.

-=[ ]=-

With just barely thirty minutes remaining on the clock, Lukas was ready, if not nervous. He grabbed the crowbar that was quietly stashed away and went to the pipe room, ever so lightly tapping the ball he had stuffed down there. It immediately expanded, blocking any further circulation.

His plan was now in motion. His despicable, dastardly plan. At that moment, thousands of toxic spores were released from inside the ball. They would now travel down the pipe, trailing rapidly to their end target.

Now was the time to act fast. He rushed down to Amp's office and stood at the doorway in front of him. Most doors on board were powered by gear trains, as they had previously learned in class. That meant if he could stop the gears from turning, the door would no longer open, vacuum-sealing the room inside.

He smashed the crowbar in between two gears, making sure it was lodged tight. In the moments immediately following, he heard both a coughing fit and a thud on the door. His target was inside, desperately trying to open the door. The gears made a deep groan as they tried to turn, but the crowbar was in deep enough. There was no escape. His watch raced by the minute mark.

Lukas' heart was racing as he mulled over what he'd just done. No doubt about it: this was murder. The pilot and principal of the Globetrotter was on the other side of the door, struggling to find enough clean air for a healthy breath. Part of Lukas knew what he was doing was sick and wrong. Amp was a great person who everyone loved. On the other hand, the rest of him enjoyed the process. Amp's life was entirely in his hands, and he would show no mercy.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Another thud pounded against the door, and then another, and another, slowly decreasing in strength and frequency. At last, the suffering of the man inside finally stopped. The last bang against the door symbolized the beginning of a new era. His watch ticked past the minute mark again, leaving him with five until the poison cleared out.

And so it begins, he reflected, quickly rushing back to his dorm. Amp's life wasn't going to be the only one in his hands tonight.

-=[ ]=-

The four met back in the cafeteria, now changed into their original outfits.

"Much better," Sail commented. "The other was too much."

"That it was," Gogs agreed. "That it was. Although, it looks like 'too much' just switched people."

Sprocket was decked head-to-toe in red and white Santa-like clothing with slight modifications. Underneath his thick coat was a pair of fuzzy red overalls. His hat was a red top hat with a white trim around the edge of the brim. The outfit kept the fuzzy white ball on top, however.

"Jealousy is a bad personality trait, Gogs."

"Odd coming from you, Sprocket."

To add to all the chaos that was already happening in the mess hall, the different news stations were now buzzing to life, commenting on everyone's emotions, and even giving some interviews. One such interviewer went over to Sail and Gogs.

"Back to the Globetrotter on channel twenty-seven news, where we're all mega-excited to hear the president speak. Tell me, you two, what are your names?"

"I'm Neil," Gogs said, but Sail was frozen with fear.

How could this happen? For her entire life, she'd always been a quiet girl who liked to lie low and stay unnoticed. On board the Globetrotter, it took just two days for everything to change. All because of a single pair of goggles. She wanted more than ever to hide, curl up in a ball, and cry.

"And she's Katie," Gogs said, after Sail stood motionless for an uncomfortably long amount of time. "She's really, really camera-shy."

"What lovely names," the newscaster pined. "Now, I understand you two will be part of the group that speaks to the world, right?"

The world. Sail repeated in her head. Oh no, no, no. she never wanted to give it too much consideration, but with time ticking down by the minute, the realization was overbearing.

"Yes, ma'am, we are," Gogs answered, squeezing Sail's hand. She squeezed back.

-=[ ]=-

Cog checked a wall clock in the room, which told her she had twenty minutes left until the broadcast was scheduled to air. She wasn't sure when their part began, but Amp told them he'd be there, so she wasn't too worried.

"Are you nervous?" she asked Sprocket, who tried to play it cool, despite the sweat running down his face.

"Only a little," he admitted, his palms clammy and sweaty. More like a lot. He played it a lot cooler than Sail, but the mounting pressure was finally getting to him.

He was just as anxious as the rest of them. His stoic facade was melting away.

Lukas grabbed the bottle that had been sitting in his room, along with the picture he'd made just for this plan. He mischievously hid the bottle in one of his overcoat pockets, grabbed a rag from his clean laundry bin, and hurried over to the study hall. By now, Cog should be nearly on her way, and the office should be cleared of the toxins.

He put the painting on a table and hid himself in a corner.

Time to see if she upholds her end of the bargain.

Anxiety and anticipation rippled through him. He knew she would. You didn't have to have the ability to read minds to know that.

-=[ ]=-

Cog checked the clock again and decided it was time to go help Lukas with his picture. She set down her script and waved goodbye to the other three before making her way towards their planned meeting point.

Hopefully this is quick, she prayed, passing the teachers' lounge. They all sat on couches, waiting for the presidential seal to appear. Most appeared excited, yet relaxed.

Then, she walked past Amp's office, remembering what he'd said to her earlier that morning: "I'll always care, but sometimes not in the way you'd like." Ever since she'd arrived here, Amp had been there as a curb to keep her going in the right direction. He was always like a second father to her, with Ike being like the first.

She considered knocking on his door, but decided against it. He'd seemed pretty stressed earlier, and she was short on time, anyway.

When she finally arrived at the study hall, there was no sign of Lukas. She glanced around, expecting him to be sitting at a table. Instead, she was met with a lonely picture. It was a low-quality sketch of a World War II German airship.

She glanced down at the name of the ship, displayed snugly in the bottom-right portion. It was the A.H.A. Gotcha.

It didn't hit her until it was too late.

Behind her, Lukas held the rag doused with the bottle's contents over her mouth. She gasped in a panic, which was ultimately her downfall. Her body fell limp right into his arms.

"Part two complete," he whispered to himself, carrying her quickly and quietly through the passages, down to the restricted area.

Prior to going down the flight of stairs, he quickly flipped a switch. This triggered the radar he had hidden in the vents forty feet away, which was creating a ping noticeable from as far as ten miles away.

-=[ ]=-

With ten minutes left on the clock, Sprocket began to worry. Not just about Cog's absence, though. His nerves were bubbling under his skin at the notion of half a billion people tuning in and hearing him.

Sail felt nearly the same way, and had remained with tight lips and a pale face since the newscaster came up to her and Gogs.

Gogs, on the contrary, was totally calm. "I've made speeches in front of three hundred hooligans," he said, dramatically taking a sip of water. "What's another couple hundred million?"

-=[ ]=-

The atmosphere grew more edgy and anxious by the second. That said, the trio was on edge for a different reason: there was only one minute left, and Cog still wasn't back.

Her absence didn't stop the screen in front of them from buzzing to life, however. The speakers began trumpeting the national anthem while the television displayed the proud American flag in all its glory. It faded away, revealing Jimmy Carter on screen.

He opened his mouth, ready to speak to the world.

Instead, he was immediately replaced with the Nazi symbol, its red and white background dousing the room in a bright, blood-colored wave.