The first game day without Turbo felt weird. Felix came home to an empty penthouse, stayed there for as long as possible to put up a pretence of normalcy, and then quickly made for the station.

The little train was pulling in when he got there. Sergeant Tamora Calhoun got off it, stretching languidly to get rid of the stiffness that came from cramping up those long legs in the cart.

"My lady," Felix greeted her brightly. Too brightly, a part of him knew. "What a pleasant surprise."

"Well, I had to see you. Not like you were gonna see me," she replied, though she smiled. Felix relaxed minutely.

"Well, yeah, Turbo… was poisoned," said Felix. She'd be able to see through any lies he told, he was just that bad of a liar.

"Poisoned?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "Who'd do that? Not that the little bug doesn't deserve it, but poison?"

"It was Gene," said Felix. "But… I should tell you something first."

"And that is?" She planted a hand on her hip and leaned into it. Felix had to look away.

"Well, I, uh…" He removed his hat and ran his hand over suddenly sweaty hair.

"C'mon, out with it," she said, rolling her eyes.

"I slept with Turbo." There, it was out. He felt better, but no less guilty.

"When was this?" She didn't sound upset, but when Felix looked at her, her eyes were like ice.

"The night before you." It came out so small.

"Was he that bad?" If he couldn't see her eyes, he would've thought that her laugh was genuine.

"He seduced me," said Felix, but he knew it was a lie.

"You're as bad at lying as Peach is at not being kidnapped," Tamora snapped. "It takes two to tango, fix-it, and you were not the one walking with a limp."

"You noticed?"

She glared at him. "I thought it was because he'd slept with that DJ guy."

"He rejected him for me," said Felix. "I suppose you don't wanna talk to me or see me anymore now, huh?"

"Not for a while," said Calhoun. "But I'll see what I can do about this Gene guy. You said he was poisoned? What with? What were the symptoms?"

"I don't know, it was put in his ice cream and probably mine too, now that I think about it, but I didn't eat any. He got all sweaty and pale and then he passed out. He's also been glitching and he hasn't woken up yet. He's over in Sugar Rush."

"What's he doing over there?"

"It was coded off Turbo Time. Oh, thank you, my lady." Felix went to hug her, but she turned away.

"I'll ask around, look and see if it's in my game. Maybe I'll even find an antidote."

As she left via the train, Felix smiled after her. Oh, if only Turbo wouldn't mind sharing.

Vanellope sat on her throne in Sugar Rush, chewing on her lower lip as she thought about her current dilemma. She so badly wanted to talk to Ralph about this, but he wasn't coming over today. He'd already been to the castle and told her the bad news, saying that he needed to be in his game. Yeah, that made sense. He had just found out that a member of his game had poisoned someone, after all.

"President, can I make a suggestion?" asked Sour Bill.

"You're going to anyway," said Vanellope.

"Do you want to get to know your father?" asked Sour Bill.

"I knew my father," said Vanellope, crossing her legs and resting her chin on her hand. Sour Bill frowned at her position on the throne, but said nothing about it. "He was a good guy. So kind and loving. But he died years ago, and I became the greatest racer in the land."

"Yes, but surely you miss him," said Sour Bill.

"Yeah, I do, but… Turbo's a bad guy! How can I see him as my dad?" said Vanellope.

"Your best friend is a bad guy," said Sour Bill.

"Yeah, but he's different," said Vanellope. "He was coded as a bad guy, and he tries to make up for it."

"Perhaps Turbo will make it up to everyone too," said Sour Bill. "But you'll never know unless he wakes up. You do want him to wake up, don't you?"

"I guess," said Vanellope. "But how can I help him wake up? I don't think he has a virus, but it could turn into one. It's like he's got a… a bug or a glitch or something."

"You've looked in the code room, then?" asked Sour Bill.

"Yeah. And trust me, seeing his avatar in there… it was weird," said Vanellope with a shiver. "But he's definitely my father. I looked in my code box too, and our code is very similar. Even my original kart was coded after his car."

"And what did you find out about the bug?" asked Sour Bill.

"That I can't understand it," said Vanellope. "I feel so dumb. I'm the head of my game, how can I not understand my own code?"

"Game characters were never supposed to understand it," said Sour Bill. "However… there are people around who aren't game characters."

"You mean like Skrillex?" asked Vanellope.

"Yes," said Sour Bill. He had to move his whole body to nod, which looked strange, but Vanellope understood it as a nod.

"Okay then, I'll go see him," said Vanellope. "Hopefully he knows something."

Though Skrillex didn't have an official game, he did have some places where he hung out regularly. He looked up from his laptop with a smile when he saw her come into his apartment at DDR.

"Hey there," said Skrillex. Then, he adjusted his glasses. "Oh, sorry, I thought you were someone else."

"Well, it's about him," said Vanellope. At least, she assumed Skrillex had mistaken her for Turbo. "Turbo is… sick. He was poisoned and now he's got something wrong with his code. I don't know what it is but I was wondering if maybe you could understand it." She began fiddling with her ponytail.

"Sorry, I don't know much about coding," said Skrillex. "But I might know someone who does."

"Do you know where I could find them?" asked Vanellope, feeling hope spark in her heart.

"Yeah, she usually hangs out at Litwak's Laptop," said Skrillex. "I'll take you to her. Her name's Jackie."

"Jackie," Vanellope repeated.

"Yeah, she's a coder," said Skrillex. "She's been working on a way for me to get back into the real world. Fixing a bug should be no problem for her."

"I hope so," said Vanellope.

Skrillex led Vanellope to Litwak's Laptop, though she knew where it was. Personally, she thought that he just wanted an excuse to go there herself. He certainly grinned when they came into the brightly-lit station. Vanellope squinted her eyes as the screen lit up.

"Hey, Jackie, you here?" Skrillex called. An icon of a horse flashed, and suddenly a blonde-haired girl appeared.

"Where else would I be?" said Jackie with a smile.

"I'm surprised you aren't coding," said Skrillex.

"Gotta take a break sometime," said Jackie. "Who's this?"

"I'm Vanellope von Schweetz from Sugar Rush," said Vanellope. "Skrillex said you knew about coding?"

"Only a lot," said Jackie with a laugh.

"What about bugs?" asked Vanellope.

"Yeah, I know about those," said Jackie.

"Well, a… character in my game is bugged," said Vanellope.

"Have you tried resetting it?" asked Jackie.

"No," said Vanellope. "The game was reset a few days ago and the players will get suspicious if it's reset again so soon."

"Why would that be bad?" asked Jackie.

"Because then we'll get the out of order sign, and then we'll get unplugged," said Vanellope.

"Right, yeah, that thing," said Jackie. "Well, if resetting doesn't work, I might be able to help."

"Well, you can at least try," said Vanellope. "Come on, I'll show you to my game."

"Just a warning though, it's a bit girly," said Skrillex. "And full of sugar."

"Good thing I'm not diabetic, then," said Jackie.

"You might be by the time you leave," Skrillex chuckled as the two girls walked off.

True to her word, Calhoun got straight to interrogating her soldiers once the game day finished. As the men began to head for the exit, she fired a shot over their heads.

"Not so fast!" she barked. "Do any of you chuckleheads know anything about poisons?"

"Of course we do," said Johnson, one of the troops. "Cybugs have poison, we learn all about it in our first year of training."

"Good," said Calhoun, nodding. "Then you might be able to help me identify this poison and where it came from. Unfortunately, the culprit used all of the poison, so not a trace remains, but I know from a reliable source what it tastes like, and I've seen what it does. It causes intoxication, similar to alcohol, but rapidly turns into unconsciousness. The victim is currently in a coma, appearing feverish and experiencing glitches. The poison is also bitter in taste."

"Well, it's not cybug poison," said Frederickson. "Have you asked one of the scientists?"

"I will soon," said Calhoun. "If none of you can tell me what it is, anyway."

"Sorry, we only know cybugs," said another soldier. Calhoun sighed.

"Alright then, you can go," said Calhoun. "But if I find out that even one of you was withholding information from me, I will have you in front of a firing squad."

As she marched away, she hoped that she'd scared them.

The laboratories were situated far away from the killing fields, deep underground and surrounded by impenetrable walls. They couldn't have cybugs burrowing in there, not with the materials they worked with.

The head scientist looked up when Calhoun walked into the brightly-lit room.

"Ah, Tamora," said the scientist, smiling at her. "What brings you here? A new species of bug, perhaps?"

"Oh, it's a bug, alright," said Calhoun. "Poison. Causes intoxication and then a comatose state. Also causes fever and glitching. Tastes bitter. Talk. Now."

"Ah," said the scientist. "Yes, well, that would be death flowers."

"Death flowers, huh?" said Calhoun. "Well, I hate to disappoint you, but the victim is still alive."

"Oh? How could that be?" asked the scientist. He suddenly felt something cold pressing into his back as he turned to busy himself with his work.

"You little rat," said Calhoun, her voice dripping with venom.

"How did you figure it out?" asked the scientist.

"I wasn't born yesterday, sweetheart," said Calhoun.

"And why do you care?" asked the scientist. "The victim is trying to steal your boyfriend!"

"The victim also happens to be the father of a little girl I happen to care about very much," said Calhoun. "But that's beside the point. You're lucky we managed to get him into his own game in time."

"Has your boyfriend tried fixing him?" asked the scientist.

"Bugs can't be fixed," said Calhoun. "And poisons can only be cured by an antidote. Make me an antidote now, and I might let you live."

"It takes time," said the scientist.

"Then get going," said Calhoun. "Did you also deliver the poison to Gene?"

"Yes," said the scientist. "Yes, I did, okay? But only because I thought you'd want him out of the way."

"You don't kill love rivals!" Calhoun snapped at him. "You kill bugs! That is all! Do you understand that, you little worm?"

"Do you want this antidote or not?" asked the scientist.

"Yes," said Calhoun. "And if you fudge it up, I'll have your guts for garters."

The code room made Jackie's blonde hair seem to glow, despite the lack of any light other than that cast by the code boxes.

"Do you know how to fix it?" Vanellope asked, floating beside the girl. Both of them were suspended on ropes of red licorice.

"Well, resetting won't fix it," said Jackie. "This bug has been saved in his code."

"I was afraid of that," said Vanellope. "My friend said he was poisoned."

"Well then, I'm afraid that the only way to fix him is to administer the antidote," said Jackie. She turned to Vanellope with a frown, closing the code box. "Sorry I couldn't help."

"It's okay," said Vanellope. "You did your best. And now I know how to fix him."

"Good luck," said Jackie.

"Thanks," said Vanellope. She floated there for a few minutes longer, and then returned to the castle to escort Jackie out.