Important! This story takes place after the events in Phantom Planet.

"Remind me why we're doing this..." Tucker asked from the back of the Specter Speeder.

"This is the fourth time you've said that," Sam turned around in her seat to raise a questioning eyebrow at her friend.

"I'm sorry! It's just - I don't see how this is in any way a good idea."

"Relax, Tucker," Danny offered him a glance before returning his gaze to the passing doors of the Ghost Zone. "I think we can all agree that I know how to deal with Technus."

"But breaking and entering? Danny, is this really necessary?"

"The whole city's blacked out, Tucker," Sam turned to him again with a serious look. "It's been like that for days now."

"Right," Danny added. "And if that doesn't sound like Technus, I don't know what does."

"Alright," Tucker held his hands up. "Let's say this is because of Technus. Do we really need to go track him down like this?"

"He hasn't shown himself yet after the power went out," Danny said. "If he's not going to make a move, I will."

"But isn't that the strange thing about it? I mean, doesn't Technus like to shout out what he's doing?"

"Tucker has a point." Sam turned to Danny, "Technus isn't the most secretive of ghosts. Normally he would have done something by now."

"That's what worries me," admitted Danny. "That's why I also think we should confront him now - see what he's up to."

"I think you're right," Sam told him. "But I also think that we should be very careful."

"Sam, come on." Danny grinned, "This is Technus we're talking about."

"I have to agree." When both of them looked to him, Tucker clarified, "With both of you. I mean, yeah, this is just Technus but, something just doesn't seem right about it."

"I know," the half-ghost nodded. "That's why I want to make sure that I see what he's up to."

A few moments of silence passed, the ghost boy staring determinedly in front of him. It was only after a small while that Sam said softly, "We're with you."

Turning his head to gaze at her, he replied with a small smile, "I know."

She returned his smile.

"Uh, I hate to interrupt this touching conversation but, isn't that our door?"

Surely enough, they had arrived at their destination - Technus's lair.

"How'd you know this was the right door?" Danny asked.

"The censor array went off," Tucker replied with a knowing smile, gesturing toward the radar that was making a soft beeping noise, telling them how close they were to their target. Danny hadn't noticed.

"Right," he muttered. "Stay here."

"We're coming with you!" Sam insisted, immediately standing.

"Sure are!" Tucker beamed.

"Guys-"

"We always come with you," Tucker reasoned.

"And you're not going in there alone," Sam added.

Danny softened. "Alright. Let's go."

Opening the hatch, the three stepped out of the vehicle and into the swirling green void. Holding his companions by the arm, Danny flew them to the front of the door they'd come to the Ghost Zone to find. The three stared at it, not entirely sure what to do next.

"Should we knock?"

"Tucker!"

"Just open it," Sam suggested.

And that's what they did. They opened the purple door slowly, as if they expected something to jump out at them. Or shock them, perhaps. This was the lair of Technus. Inside it was dark, hard to see anything at all. More accurately, it seemed as if the entire space was pitch black. Danny lit up a small ball of ectoplasmic energy in his hand, but the green light seemed to reach only more black. It was as if the entire room - if it was a room - was void of anything.

"Okaaaay," Tucker drawled uneasily. "That's not what I was expecting."

Danny hesitantly took a step inside, feeling there was indeed a floor, and not just empty space. The three ventured a bit further, keeping the door in sight, of course, trying to find something, anything. Anything but black.

After a while of complete silence, Sam muttered, "This can't be right."

"I know, right? I was thinking there'd be walls of computers, stretching for miles! That sort of thing." Tucker said, almost with envy in his voice.

"I don't like this," Danny said, scanning the area with his green eyes. "Where is he?"

"If you were looking for me, you could've just called."

The three spun around toward the source of the voice, which was none other than the one they were looking for.

"Technus!" Danny flew up to him, a mere few meters away, his fists clenched ready to fight should the situation go awry. "What is this about?"

This earned him a raised eyebrow. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes. You. Do!" Danny retorted. "I'm really not in the mood for this. I know you've got something to do with all this!"

When he was met only with silence Sam stepped up to Danny's side, Tucker following suit, "Our entire city has lost power."

"I am aware of that," Technus replied evenly, diverting his gaze from the halfa to the girl addressing him.

"And are you going to tell me that wasn't because of you?" she demanded.

"Yeah. You seem to be the cause of a lot of the mishap that happens when it comes to power outages." Tucker added.

"I had nothing to do with it," the words were like venom coming from Technus, which was something that the three had never seen before. Somewhere deep down, it scared them to see this side of him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do. I hope that you will leave this place and never break into my home again!" With that, he turned to stalk off into the darkness, but stopped with a sharp inhalation of breath and a hand to his temple. It lasted but a mere instant, but the three teenagers could not deny the pained expression on the ghost's face. When the instant passed, it was gone; Technus straightened and let his hand fall to his side as if nothing had happened, the expression on his face long gone. Instead it was replaced by a contemplating one.

"It's happening faster than I thought," he muttered.

"What?"

The technological ghost looked up, as if he had forgotten the three teens were there. They could tell by the look on his face that he had probably wanted to have kept what he said to himself, but they all knew how Technus could be.

"It's nothing," he waved it off after a time of silence. He turned to leave again but a beam of ectoplasm struck his chest, sending him flying back with a cry into the blackness. Danny had lost his patience.

"Danny!" Sam and Tucker cried out in unison as the ghost-boy flew after his target in the dark. They were both worried about a conflict starting and confused by what had transpired just moments before. Watching their friend fade in the darkness, they hesitated for only a second before following him.

Technus hit the floor, his chest burning from the shot fired directly at him and dazed from the impact, allowing Danny to easily catch up with him and fire another burst of blinding green. Though Technus was ready this time, forming a circuit board shield in front of him, the ectoplasmic impact coursing through the circuitry before dissipating entirely.

"I do not want to fight you, Ghost Child!" Technus shouted at him as he raised himself from the floor.

A strange attitude for Technus, but it was hardly noted in Danny's aggressive state. "Then tell me what's going on here!"

"Danny!" Sam and Tucker had finally caught up to their friend, and took their places by his side once again.

"You wouldn't understand!" Technus seethed.

"We don't know that! Can't we just talk this over?"

Silence. All eyes were on Tucker.

"What?" He asked nervously. "Why should we fight when we can just... work things out?"

Looks were exchanged between all of them. Finally, it was Danny who broke the silence. He sighed. Looking to Technus, he asked, in a much calmer, but still slightly exasperated voice, "Technus... what's going on?"

Green eyes stared into black, reflective lenses long enough to become quite unnerving. Neither of them spoke, for a while, Technus seemingly at a loss for words - for once - and Danny not wanting to provoke him again, earning him another 'It's nothing'. Instead, he waited as patiently as he could while the other thought, neither taking his eyes from the other. Tucker and Sam glanced at each other nervously.

Finally, Technus sighed. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he said in a soft voice, "You want to get involved in this? Very well."

With a wave of his hand lights came on from an unknown source, almost blinding considering the pitch black they were in not seconds before. The light, however suddenly bright it was, did confirm one earlier suspicion - the room they were in was empty, not a single difference even in the walls.

"Dude... This is your room?" Tucker asked questioningly.

Technus did not respond. Rather, he seemed to be concentrating on a spot directly in front of him. With another widespread wave of his hand, a seemingly holographic image appeared. It was a complex computer system, the circuitry unfolding and constructing itself in the wake of his hand. There were several monitors, all of which were different sizes and seemingly had different functions and displays. The entirety of it spanned the whole face of one of the walls.

All three of the teens' jaws dropped.

Turning back to Tucker, Technus said, "Yes. This is my room. And I assure you this is not the extent of its features. Or rather, my features."

"Sweeeeet." Tucker was clearly in heaven.

"How did you do that?" Sam asked, genuinely curious. "You've never done anything like that in your fights with Danny."

"This system's purpose is to solely display information. It is a part of my conscience, very similar to that of the Ghost Writer and his keyboard. I can interact with it, but it can not interact with the environment, and vice versa."

"Aww, man." Tucker pouted.

"It serves its purpose, nonetheless." Technus looked to Danny. "You want to know what's going on?" He didn't bother to answer the rhetorical question. The ghost turned back to the system, "Then take a look."

The three hesitantly gathered around, unsure of what to think of their current situation. The main monitor showed what seemed to be two images of a world map, each dotted with countless white specks on the continents. Danny had a bad feeling about this.

"This" - here Technus pointed to the first of the maps - "is a representation of all electrical energy sources in the world. This representation is about two weeks old." Now that he mentioned it, the three could tell that the accumulation of specks were most frequent especially in large cities. "Now this" - here he illustrated the second map - "is a map of the same data, only this information is up-to-date."

"There are fewer energy sources in the second map..." Sam observed.

"Correct. For whatever reason, sources of energy world-wide are virtually disappearing, causing entire cities to blackout instantaneously. Whether they are somehow being drained, or whether there is some form of interference, it isn't clear. What is clear, is that, for whatever reason, electrical technology is failing world-wide, and the rate of failure is increasing across the globe."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, that within the next month, the entire world will experience a blackout."