The next morning at the home of The Slayer, the Witch and their Wardrobe (tm Clue), Buffy gets up and goes to brush her teeth. Back in the room, Willow in her pink and brown bizarre pajamas (Sep suggested that these pajamas are cow patterned, but I think they actually have pictures of giant hairballs or hedgehogs on them) arises and Buffy says, "Good morning." Or at least she mouths, "Good morning," but no sound comes out. She puts her hand to her throat and tries again. Still no sound. Creepy music tinkles in the background and the girls look alarmed. Buffy mouths, "Can you hear me?" but Willow can't. Willow worries that she's gone deaf. But Buffy disagrees, mouthing, "I don't think we can speak." The creepy music kicks into a higher gear as the girls open their door to reveal people in the dorm halls gesturing wildly but just as mute as our heroines.

Now we take a quick detour to Loser Lounge (tm Freyja) where Xander and Spike are realizing their predicament. Xander points at Spike accusingly but Spike, who is still tied in the chair, makes a palms-up "I didn't do anything" gesture. Xander mouths what are probably more accusations in Spike's direction and Spike gives him the British two-fingered salute. Xander at this point grabs the phone to make a call. He's probably panicking right about now so I won't make a snide comment. The phone in Buffy and Will's room rings and Buffy picks it up as both parties mouth hello before realization sets in. Spike is clearly as unimpressed with Xander's power of reasoning as I am and shoots him a "you sodding idiot" stare.

Establishing shot of Lowell House. Riley and Forrest make their way downstairs to the elevator that will take them down to the Initiative's secret Bat Cave. Now that we have a clearer view of the layout at Lowell, I notice that the elevator isn't very hidden at all. It's literally right around the corner from the lobby. The elevator descends and Forrest scribbles "it's all over town" on a little notepad, which he shows to Riley. The elevator halts as the computerized voice intones, "Vocal code not accepted. Please state your name for vocal identification." Riley leans in to breathe on the speaker real hard (nice move, Riley Wiggum), but the computer tells them that they have twenty seconds to enter a vocal code or there's going to be trouble. Riley opens a panel on the other wall of the elevator and is prompted by a LED read-out to enter an override code. Forrest looks surprised at the existence of an override code. Riley can't seem to recall the code correctly and Forrest cracks me up by writing, "Come on! Come on!" on his little notepad. The computer informs them, "Lethal countermeasures engaged," and green smoke begins to fill the elevator. As the screen goes black, Ace and Sep let out a rousing cheer. Unfortunately, Riley must have remembered the code just in time because the blackness only lasts for a second and then Riley and Forrest race out of the elevator to see Professor Hardass and two henchmen waiting for them. The Professor gives Riley and Forrest a very dry look and points to the wall behind them before walking away. We see a sign on the wall that reads, "In case of emergency use stairway." Snerk.