Chapter Thirteen

PLATYBORG

I tumbled on landing, but I made sure that I was on my feet as soon as possible. I looked back at Perry, who was unconscious and looked like he was in horrible shape. I rushed over and checked his breathing and pulse, both of which were still going. He was still alive.

A few Good Samaritans rushed over to help me render medical attention, and a young kid with curly red hair and freckles dialled a number. "Sir, we have a situation," he said. "A four fifty-one on First Street." I recognized the code instantly. Agent injured in the line of duty. He snapped the phone shut. "Okay, everybody, help is on the way." He knelt next to Perry and looked at me. "How is he?" I chattered, and he nodded in understanding. This kid must've interacted with Perry on a daily basis. "Okay, be careful with the neck," he ordered the group. "It could be broken. He has a pulse, and he's breathing." He checked Perry's torso and added, "Several broken ribs. Anything else?" I chattered again. "There could be internal bleeding and organ damage."

We could do no more for Perry but remain by his side and wait.

Sirens cut through the air, and seconds later, an ambulance was on the scene. Monogram, along with two others, hopped out of the ambulance, and we helped them load Perry onto a stretcher. The kid and I leapt into the back with him and helped with the neckbrace, bandages, and several other medical devices. When we were no longer needed, we hung back, and then and only then did the kid collapse in a heap, crying like he'd lost his beloved pet dog. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he managed at one point, but the rest of his words were lost in his tears. He let out another 'no' several minutes later, and the tears came more heavily. He didn't even try to speak.

Gingerly, I rested a hand on his shoulder.

PNF

First Dimension Monogram walked into Perry's room in the O.W.C.A. veterinary facility, followed by First Dimension Phineas and Ferb, and I watched them anxiously from Perry's bedisde. "Thanks to Platyborg and several civilians, Agent P. has been stabilized," Monogram said. "Thanks to Carl's quick action, we could get him here in time to help with the more serious injuries."

"So, he's gonna be okay, right?" Phineas asked, notes of hope in his voice.

"Yes, yes he is. Now, I realize that this is a different set of circumstances than the first time you learned Agent P.'s identity, and we can't risk using the amnesia-nator again for fear of long-term mental damage."

"Sir, if you have to send him away, could you wait until he recovers? He doesn't travel well when he's hurt."

Monogram seemed taken aback by the statement, as if this was the first indication he had of Phineas and Ferb understanding their pet this well. "Uh, of course," he managed.

I thought of something and gestured for Monogram to come closer. I pulled a copy of the spy manual out of the drawer in Perry's bedside table, opened it to a section somewhere in the middle, and handed it to him, indicating the subheading I was thinking of. He read it over, and I chattered when he finished. "Personal effects?" Monogram asked. "Well, we have this locket." He handed me a webbed-foot-shaped locket on a chain, and I gestured for Monogram to follow me. If my thinking was correct, then Perry was a genius, no matter the risks he was taking.

If it killed me, I had to help him. He was me, after all, and it was my fault he was hurt. I couldn't let my regrets haunt me, otherwise I'd have killed myself by then.

I opened the locket, revealing pictures of five-year-old First Dimension Phineas and Ferb, along with a younger version of Perry. I smiled softly and looked up at the long hallway. I began to wonder where exactly the veterinary facility was with relation to the surface-level city of Danville. Eventually, though, we reached Perry's lair, and I typed in the access code without hesitating.

I pressed the locket into the keyhole and typed out a few commands on Perry's computer. Images appeared on the screen, and a feminine voice asked, "Please select the invention you would like to study."

"What's all this?" Monogram asked. I pointed toward the hall that led to the two boys and Perry. He began scanning through the inventions in Perry's computer system. "The boys built these?" He looked back at me, and I chattered, indicating that it appeared to be the case. I may not have known what Perry was doing or thinking in entirety, but it seemed that I understood his thought process relatively well. "Aren't they a little young to be building things like this?" I nodded. Boy have I heard that one. My Phineas and Ferb were beginning to build on this scale, since summer was a recent addition to their lives, so I recognized some of the inventions this dimension's Phineas and Ferb created. "So why are you showing me this?" I chattered. "Agent P. is behind this? Why?" I chattered again. "Well, uh, I really don't know what to say. I've never encountered an agent who was so close to his host family, but it certainly does explain his devotion to his work." I couldn't blame him for that, that was for sure.

Carl, who still looked rather frazzled and puffy-faced, walked into the lair. "Oh, there you are, sir. What're you looking at?" he asked. He was clearly trying for the sake of his superior

"Apparently inventions from Agent P.'s owners," Monogram replied. "By the looks of things, they average a project a day."

"That's pretty impressive."

"Come on. We have some things to discuss with those two boys."

Monogram and Carl walked back down the hall, and I followed, desperately hoping I'd done right by Perry. Carl and I walked into Perry's room while Monogram talked to the boys in the hall. Perry's eyes fluttered open, and I chattered, indicating what I'd done. He reached over, took my hand, and smiled.