• Original air date: October 5, 2002
• Writers: Jim Rapsas and Bruce Kalish
• Director: Patrick Williams

  Guest Stars:
  Actor's name	Character played
  Alicia Grimalos	Josie's stunt double
  Steve Jackson	Professor Middleton
  Kevin May	Worker #2
  Melissa J. Shaw	Worker Mam

  Nighttime at Blake Holsey High, it is thundering outside. Most of the lights inside are out. A boy races out of his room running down the stairs and swiftly through the hallways, swerving around other wanderers who happen to be out. He crashes into Principal Durst, who is wearing a pink robe and has her hair wrapped up in a blue hairnet with pink curlers, and she demands to know why he is out at the current hour. The boy rushes away from her, saying he is going to be late. Principal Durst tries to call him back; the boy’s name is Lucas.
      Lucas arrives at an office and knocks on the door. A teacher, his hair messed up and looking a bit panicky, cracks the door and abruptly asks, “What?”
      Lucas responds that he has his paper and the teacher comes close to rejecting it but Lucas says it is still on time. The teacher swipes the paper from Lucas, applauding his efforts and closes the door.

      Turning around, Lucas is confronted by Principal Durst who wants an explanation. Without warning, there is thundering inside the office and, through the glass window of the door, lightning can be seen flashing in conjunction with screaming. Principal Durst orders Lucas back to his room. Knocking on the door, she calls the teacher’s name, Professor Middleton, and she slowly opens the door. Papers are scattered all over the place, falling back to the floor. Principal Durst slowly moves in as Lucas watches from the door.

  The next morning, a girl walks into Blake Holsey High, going past Lucas and another boy, who are talking. Lucas is saying the Professor Middleton was there one moment and then he disappears in a flash of light. Approaching the stairs, a boy, with a cast on his right hand, overhears Lucas and teases him about the things Lucas has claimed to see, a ghost in the basement, a tornado in the gym, and a Woolly Mammoth in the pool. He walks off telling Lucas to get a life.

      Upstairs, the girl who walked into the building, walks into a bedroom and begins to rearrange it. She moves around the furniture and moves the clothes in the closet around. Another girl walks in and asks what has happened to her room. The girl who rearranged the room introduces herself as Josie and that she is moving in. The other girl appears frustrated that Josie has moved around all her things.

      In Principal Durst’s office, the room is hot and a portable fan is blowing. Principal Durst talks with Mr. Pearson, telling him that she can’t tolerate anymore vanishing people. Apparently Professor Middleton is the second person to disappear this year. Mr. Pearson states that he appreciates Principal Durst’s continued cooperation with the situation and bribes her into staying.

     In the science room, a teacher walks in and introduces himself as Professor Zackary and that he is the new science teacher. As he is writing his name on the chalk board, the chalk breaks. He turns to the girl from up in Josie’s room, Lucas, and the boy that Lucas was talking to earlier, saying that he is assuming they are currently in the room for Science Club. He says they’ll begin when everyone else arrives but the girl states that it is only the three of them. She establishes her name as Corrine, and introduces Lucas and the other boy, Marshall. Professor Zackary asks if they have any questions about what they will be learning. Lucas inquires what happened to Professor Middleton. Marshall sarcastically comments about the “he just disappeared” story and after Professor Zackary’s answer isn’t good enough, Lucas brings up the Janitor who disappeared last year. Corrine tells Lucas to stay away from all the disappearing stuff and molecular deconstruction stuff. Professor Zackary, however, tires to offer a scientific approach to Lucas’s theories.

      Out in the halls, Josie wanders to a door labeled “Do Not Enter.” It takes her into the basement where Josie continues to explore. Venturing close to a doorway of a dark room, a black cat startles Josie. Josie quickly calms down; rationalizing that it was only a cat and that she is hates cats. A lady comes out from behind Josie and Josie tries to explain her presence in the basement but the lady is more interested in Josie herself. The lady, in amazement that Josie is there, tries to touch Josie’s forehead but Josie runs off.

      Closing a door, Josie has come into the science room. Professor Zackary inquires if she is there for the Science Club and that they are currently discussing the molecular deconstruction of a science teacher. Josie states that she isn’t interested and tries to walk out but Professor Zackary tries to intimidate her into staying by asking if she is afraid that she will learn something. Josie swiftly replies with a comment putting down science teachers and slightly sarcastically tells the three others that the hypothesized teacher was probably sucked down a vortex.

      Marshall and Lucas race out after Josie. She asks if they really believe that there could be a vortex and is a bit disturbed that they do believe it. They arrive at Professor Middleton’s office and Lucas asks if she’d like to venture in. Josie reluctantly accepts. Lucas breaks in using his library card and they browse through the room looking for a vortex.

      They wonder what traces of a vortex would resemble when Marshall points out the floor before them. It is warping back and forth. Corrine comes to the open door and exclaims that the room is off limits. Lucas orders Corrine to come in and close the door behind her. Marshall states that it is true that Professor Middleton was sucked down a vortex. Corrine is skeptical, however, saying it only looks like a warped floor. She places her foot on the warping floor and it sucks her foot in. Josie, Marshall, and Lucas quickly grab onto Corrine’s hands and try to pull her out. Corrine’s hands slip out of Josie’s and all Josie is left with is Corrine’s bracelet. Corrine is lost to the vortex.

  Principal Durst walks into her office. Lucas, Josie, and Marshall are standing before her desk. Professor Zackary is also present behind them at the opposite side of the room. Principal Durst restates their story.

      Principal Durst calls for Professor Zackary’s assessment. He says it saw no evidence of anything wrong in Professor Middleton’s office and in Corrine’s room it appeared that a tornado hit half the room. Josie informs that that half is Josie’s half. Instead of the students’ story, however, Principal Durst tells them that Corrine’s parents picked her up 20 minutes ago. She will be attending a school in Switzerland. Principal Durst warns the three of them not to go snooping around.

      She then places them in Professor Zackary’s responsibility. All four walk out and Principal Durst picks up the phone, calling Mr. Pearson, telling him that they’ve lost another one and this time the person is a student.

      Lucas, Josie, and Marshall wander around outside following a stone wall. Josie asks what is on the opposite side. Marshall answers that it is what is left of Pearadyne Industries after an explosion destroyed it. Victor Pearson, the owner, never rebuilt it.
      Up on a balcony, Mr. Pearson watches through binoculars. Vaughn comes out, asking his dad what he is looking at. Mr. Pearson replies that it is nothing and goes back inside the house.
      Josie is sitting at the front of Blake Holsey high. The lady from the basement approaches again, telling Josie that she was an employee at Pearadyne Industries 15 years ago and was involved in a top secret project. A horrible explosion occurred there and the lady was trapped but Josie saved her. Josie doesn’t believe the story, stating her age as 14 and that it would be impossible. The lady tells Josie that she was there for another girl and that there isn’t much time left to save her.
      Back in Professor Middleton’s office, Josie purposes to Lucas and Marshall that the vortex is a black hole, as the only way to explain a way that she was in a place that would be impossible for her to be. After being warned that a black hole can rip anything that does into it atom by atom, Marshall and Lucas volunteer to stay behind. Josie steps on the affected floor and nothing happens. Looking around, Josie begins to figure it isn’t there when she is absorbed abruptly into the floor. She comes out on a platform, like a plank, in a room full of flashing lights of all colors. A rapidly spinning gyroscope turns behind her. A man is at the door where the platform begins, playing with a touchpad. Josie asks him what is happening and he answers that the place is going to blow up. He quickly grabs her arm and pulls her out of the room.

      Out in the adjoining room, electrical explosions occur all over the room from surrounding machines. Josie sees Corrine about to be pulled into the elevator by another man. Corrine escapes the man’s grip and tells Josie they have to leave. Josie, on the other hand, tells Corrine that if she leaves, she will be trapped 15 years in the past. Josie and Corrine head back to the room with the gyroscope when Josie hears a call for help. She tells Corrine to go back and that she will follow soon. Josie goes off to find the cries for help.

      Josie finds the lady trapped under fallen debris. Lifting it out of the way and allowing the lady to escape, Josie tells the lady that she is a friend from the future and that she will see her in 15 years. Running back to the gyroscope, Josie finds Corrine still there. Corrine says that she was waiting for Josie because Josie came back to save her. Josie tries to get access back to the room with the gyroscope but the keypad’s screen reads “Access Denied.” The door opens anyway, revealing Professor Zackary who has come to retrieve them.

      Into the room, the gyroscope spins chaotically and begins to explode. Around them, a view of the universe, stars and planets, forms around them.

      Professor Zackary sends Josie back through the vortex first, followed by Corrine, and then him.
      Professor Zackary lands on the floor of Professor Middleton’s office as Principal Durst walks in. They tell her that Professor Zackary was showing them that there is no way for anyone to be sucked into the floor. Josie points out that Corrine has returned from Switzerland. All walk out of the room, one by one going past Principal Durst. Principal Durst then walks off, leaving the door open. A Janitor, approaches, looks into the room, and then closes the door.

      In front of the school, Lucas, Josie, Marshall, and Corrine are walking along the path. Marshall asks Josie if she would be in the science club.

      Inside Principal Durst’s office, Principal Durst tells Victor Pearson that something happened in Professor Middleton’s office and that none of them will say what.

Episode notes:

• Patrick Williams, director of the episode, was nominated for the award Outstanding Achievement in a Television Series - Children's in the 2003 Directors Guild of Canada Awards

Personal thoughts:
This episode was a bit much. A lot of science to grasp, on top of the thought process required to figure out the time travel working out (I think about it too much), which made me feel somewhat left behind in various parts watching it. I don't know if I would have been hookled if I saw this episode first. This episode leaves me with a confused feeling. My first episode was "Fate."
Rating: 5/10.