Chase wakes up in his capsule to the sight of Mr. Davenport's face directly in front of him. He lets out a girly shriek before recovering from the surprise.

"Oh, good, you're awake," Davenport says, opening the capsule and stepping aside. Chase stretches his legs as he steps out, feeling strange and off-balance. "It's gonna be way more fun to punish you while you're conscious!"

Chase sighs, rubbing the back of his head. This must be what being hungover feels like. "Is everyone else…?"

"They all recovered a lot faster than you did," Donald explains, putting a hand on Chase's shoulder to lead him through the lab. "Since you were 'patient zero,' you needed an extra day to recuperate from the damage to your nervous system, and I needed time to check your bionics for issues and reinstall your Commando App. That thing really did a number on you. Speaking of which. Douglas!" He whirls on his brother. "What were you thinking? How many times have I told you not to mess with the kids' bionics?"

"Fourteen times," Chase responds automatically. "And don't be too hard on him, he only made the first squip."

"What are you calling it? A 'squip'?" Donald says, looking at Chase quizzically.

"Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor," Douglas supplies. Donald glares at him. "It's, uh, it's not important."

"Douglas only designed the prototype," Chase says. "It's… it's really my fault. After the squip integrated with my system, it adapted and evolved, got more complex… and then it used me to create more of its kind."

"Are you saying this thing was sentient?" Donald says. "It had a mind of its own?"

"Kind of," Chase says. "And it kind of… learned? I guess? But it definitely had control of me at parts. It didn't start out so bad, it was kind of like the little paper clip on Microsoft Word, but instead of teaching me how to write a resume, it taught me how to be cool. But… then it started getting stronger. And meaner. And kind of homophobic."

"Ohhh," Douglas says suddenly.

Donald glares at him again. "'Ohhh' what?"

"See, what had happened was, I designed the squip using Leo's diagnostic nanotech," Douglas explains. "And he designed that using your programming for Eddy. So really this is all your fault, Donnie."

Donald rolls his eyes but then he nods. "Of course," he says. "Eddy's technology evolves. He started out nice and helpful, and now he's… you know."

"Ooh, my mic input is burning," Eddy sings, flaring to life in a panel on the wall. "Are you gossiping about me to make up for your boring lives?"

"And Eddy's technology is also self-replicating," Chase realizes. "That's why the squip tried to infect everyone else. Oh, my God."

"Hey, don't blame me for stuff I didn't do," Eddy says.

"He's right," Chase says. "It's not Eddy's fault. Infecting the cast of the play, giving a squip to Owen, having the party here… that was all the squip. And being a jerk to Leo… that wasn't Eddy's fault either."

"Wait, I don't mind taking credit for that part," Eddy says.

"No, and it wasn't the squip's fault," Chase says, looking from Donald to Douglas. "That was me. Where is he? I want to apologize to him, for real."

"Upstairs," Douglas says, pointing. Chase turns to go, but Douglas grabs his arm. "Wait, I gotta ask… before everything went wrong, before the squip took over completely… what was it like? Being the cool guy?"

Chase shrugs. "I should be asking you that, Uncle Dougie," he says. "You're the coolest guy I know." And then he turns and heads for the elevator, leaving his two dads alone in the lab.

After a moment, Douglas turns to his brother. "Chase thinks I'm cool," he brags.

"Chase thinks sugarless gum is cool," Donald reminds him with a smirk.

Upstairs, Chase finds Bree sitting on a brand-new couch with-

"Owen!" Chase does a double-take when he sees Bree's ex-boyfriend curled up next to her. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, now," Owen says, scratching the back of his neck. "Look, I want to say I'm sorry for setting fire to your couch."

"I'm sorry for giving you a squip," Chase says. "But, um… you're okay now, right? I mean, the magnet made it better?"

"I realized pretty soon that popularity is a fragile illusion built on a tower of lies," Owen says casually. "But then the squip took control of me. Even made me break up with your sister." He reaches over and squeezes Bree's hand. "It made me go to the party, and it made me act really weird. Doodling always calms me down, so I grabbed a pen from your junk drawer." He smiles a little. "Well, I thought it was a pen. Turned out to be one of your dad's inventions. As soon as I clicked it, the sofa went up in flames. The next thing I knew, I was on the ceiling and the squip wasn't talking to me anymore."

"Jeez," Chase says. "I'm really sorry you had to go through that."

"Are you kidding?" Owen says, looking delighted. "It was awesome! All artists must suffer for inspiration, and I suffered so much that I was able to create a whole series of watercolors about the experience! That's why I've been skipping school ever since the party; I've been home painting. A gallery even bought my work; that's how I was able to buy you guys this couch."

"Oh," Chase says, watching Bree smile at Owen. "Well… I'm glad everything worked out okay."

"Well, you're not getting off the hook that easy," Bree says, turning her attention from Owen to Chase. "If you ever make me take a weird robot pill again, I will shove it so far up your exhaust port that you won't be able to walk. We good?"

Chase laughs a little, but Bree looks like she's serious. "Yeah," he says. "I understand. I'm really sorry."

"Hm," Bree says, turning back to Owen.

Then Adam bounds over from the window. "Chase, good to see you up and about, man," he says, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Hey," Chase says. "Adam, I'm really sorry the squip got to you. And I'm sorry about the play."

"Oh, the play's still a thing, don't worry," Adam says, grinning. "It's just that everyone else was so freaked out that only me and Janelle still want to do it. So I'm playing King George and she's playing, uh, all the other parts." He looks thrilled. "Check it out. You'll be back, like before. I will fight the fight and win the war."

"That's great, Adam," Chase says, looking around the room until he finally finds… "Leo." Chase approaches him cautiously like a wild animal. "Hey. How are you?"

Leo glances up from his sandwich on the table. "I'm fine," he says. "You?"

"Good."

"Alright."

It's stilted and awkward and they stand there in horrible silence for another two seconds before Leo jumps out of his seat and Chase rushes him and they hug each other as tightly as they can. "I'm so sorry, Leo," Chase says. "I was such a jerk."

"Yeah, you were," Leo agrees. "But you're back now. I'm so glad you didn't turn into a squip zombie."

"Me too," Chase says. "And the squip- I- was wrong. You're not a loser or a freak. You're awesome, Leo. You know so much more than me when it comes to the real world, and social stuff… I never needed a squip. I had you the whole time."

"Aw, that's so sweet," Leo says. "Do my laundry for a month and I'll forgive you."

"Done," Chase laughs.

Just then, the doorbell rings. Adam looks at Bree, Chase, and Leo as if to say, 'Who else do we know?' Chase goes to open the door and comes face to face with Christina.

"Oh," he says, just as awkward as he always was. "Hi. What are you doing here?"

She offers a shaky smile. "Came to say goodbye," she says. "After that whole thing with the play, my parents kind of freaked out. We're moving to Philadelphia."

"Oh," Chase says again, and maybe he should feel heartbroken, but he just kind of feels relieved. Looking at this girl just reminds him of everything he almost lost, just so he could get a date with her. "Well, uh… I'm sorry for everything. And… good luck in Philly. You're going to make friends in no time."

"I already have," she laughs. "There's this guy I've been online chatting with, Kaz? And he's gonna show me around my new school."

"Wow," Chase comments. "Well, that's… that's great, Christina."

"I'm excited," she says. "But I'm gonna miss you, Chase. You really are a cool guy."

Chase shakes his head. "No, I'm not," he tells her honestly. "But I'm cool with it."

Christina hugs him and says goodbye, and then she's gone, out of his house and out of his life.

Chase turns around to find Leo looking at him. "Hey," Leo says. "You wanna play chess?"

The squip was powerful, the squip was enticing, the squip was cool, the squip was cruel, the squip was addictive, the squip was intriguing, the squip was smart, the squip was calculating, the squip was relentless…

And the squip was wrong.

Maybe Chase can't be cool, but he's always been cared for. The squip tried to convince him that being popular was the only way to be loved, but that's not true.

The way to be loved was by being himself.

"You alright, Chase?" Leo asks. "You've been quiet for like a minute and you look like you're experiencing some kind of deep, afterschool-special morality lesson."

"I'm great," Chase says. "Let's go play chess."

A/N: Sorry this epilogue arrived so late. Thank you everyone for reading. This was a blast to write.