Tash could hardly be seen beneath the swarm of savage dogs.

"End simulation!" Zak cried out. Tears of fear and frustration burned in his eyes. "End simulation!"

It was no use. The program would not stop.

Without thinking, Zak leaped from the skimboard. He had been afraid of the invisible insects earlier, and he was afraid of the battle dogs now. But none of that compared to his fear of losing his sister. He charged into the dog pack, trying to pull them off Tash.

One of the dogs turned and growled, baring a mouth full of sharp fangs. It crouched down, ready to spring at Zak's throat.

"End simulation," Tash's calm voice stated.

The entire pack of battle dogs melted away. So did the field in which Zak stood. He was back inside The Nightmare Machine again. Tash was standing across the room from him.

"T——Tash!" Zak sputtered, caught between fear and confusion. "You're okay! But... but I thought we were in the hologram together. You were being mauled by Cyborrean battle dogs."

"It wasn't me," his sister replied. "It must have been a hologram of me. There weren't any battle dogs in my hologram."

"Mine was terrible," Zak muttered. "I tried to end the simulation, but it wouldn't respond. I wonder if that's another bug that needs to be worked out."

"Well, we've spent enough time here, in any event," Lando concluded. "Let's tour the rest of the park, shall we?"

They left The Nightmare Machine and walked out into the artificial light of Fun World.

"I'd like to visit the lagoon again," Tash suggested.

"All right," Zak agreed. "It's over here." He turned to his left.

"No it's not," Tash laughed. "It's over here." She pointed to the right. Between two buildings, they could just see a thin blue strip of water.

Zak shook his head. "That's funny, I could have sworn I saw it over on this side."

Deevee tilted his head understandingly. "The large number of holographic projections in this space could confuse a species. Unless, of course, one happens to be a droid of superior quality."

"Right, Deevee," Tash groaned. "Let's go."

But Zak wasn't listening. As he looked around to get his bearings, he caught a glimpse of something disturbingly familiar. A large, pale creature clung to the side of a wall, its double-jointed arms and legs twisted at bizarre angles. Zak saw the flashing blood-red eyes and an enormous head. But by the time he'd turned to look directly at the thing, it was gone.

"What's wrong?" Tash asked.

"Did you see that?"

She looked around. "See what?"

Zak didn't respond. The creature had been clinging to the outside wall of the Hall of Reflection. Zak thought he'd seen it slip inside.

"Zak?" Tash prompted him.

"I think I saw it," he replied. "The creature I saw in The Nightmare Machine."

Deevee heaved an electronic sigh. "Zak, we've been through this already. That was merely a hologram."

"Maybe. Maybe not," Zak said. He started toward the building.

He didn't have time to argue. By the time he convinced them to follow, the creature would be long gone.

Zak reached the steps of the Hall of Reflection. The building looked basically the same as it did yesterday, yet somehow different. It was darker and more shadowy. Zak did not pause to dwell on the change. He plunged into the mirror maze.

Inside, there was no sign of the brain creature. But Zak decided to keep looking.

He saw his own image reflected dozens of times. Just as before, the reflections were distorted, but now they were even more hideous. Zak wasn't just reflected as a silly-looking troll. Now he looked like a monster. With each twist and turn that took him deeper into the hall of mirrors, Zak's reflection became more hideous.

Finally, as he reached what he guessed was the center of the maze, Zak saw an image that made him gag. He was looking at his own face, but his skin had melted and hung from his cheeks in sagging clumps. His eyes had sunk back into their sockets so that they looked like holes in his skull. His arms had grown twice as long. His knuckles dragged on the floor. His elbows reached down to his knees, which were now jointed in the opposite direction so that they pointed backward instead of forward.

"Agh!" he cried. He reached out to touch the glass that held his distorted image. His reflection jiggled as it moved and reached forward in the same motion. As Zak touched the glass, his reflection touched the glass at exactly the same point, and the whole image shimmered into a blur.

When the mirror cleared again, Zak was looking at a perfect image of his true self. He saw his own messy brown hair and his own face. His reflection was grinning wickedly. That was odd, because Zak didn't think he was smiling.

He tried to raise one hand to touch his face, but his arm felt heavy and awkward. With some effort he managed to lift his hand... only to find that it was as long and deformed as the horrible image he'd seen before.

He tried to step back from the mirror but stumbled. His own knees bent backward. Zak dragged his two clumsy hands up to his face, and felt the skin hanging limp and soft from his cheeks. He let out a wail. Zak had turned into a monster.