It’s senior year for the investigators, and a quiet first few weeks of term end when a former classmate of Ryo’s, Veronica Nails, approaches him with a problem. Veronica tells Ryo that she accidentally spilled some black, oily substance on herself in her professor’s chemistry lab, and that since then, she’s been feeling a little headachy and detached. She doesn’t want to tell her professor, Dr. Ramirez, because he docks a full letter grade for any preventable lab accident. Knowing that Ryo and his friends have a reputation for digging up useful information, Veronica asks him to find out what the substance was and whether she should be worried.
Ryo takes Veronica to meet the rest of the team, and they check her out both psychically and with their ghost-hunting gear. Seeing no signs of any sort of supernatural activity, they determine to break into the lab and see if they can figure out what the substance was. Troy makes short work of the lock at the chemistry building door, but he’s brought up short by a complex keypad lock at the lab itself. Examining the lock and applying his Google-fu, Troy determines that the keypad is a Department of Homeland Security device connected to an alarm system. With a great deal of effort and some improvisation with his smartphone battery, Troy manages to access the lab.
Once inside, the team quickly finds the waste container, as well as a large number of other sample containers marked only with DHS number codes. Careful search of the lab reveals no information about the substance, so Ryo takes a stab at analyzing it using the lab equipment. Despite his limited skills at chemistry, he manages to determine that the substance is likely toxic if ingested, and also that it breaks down on exposure to UV light. The heroes attempt to clean up the lab and then lock it down for the night.
The next day, CP proposes an elaborate bluff – they will obtain some motor oil and ink and mix them to produce a vial of “substance”, and then confront the professor about it. CP, Troy, Marco and Ryo go to Dr. Ramirez’s office hours and say that they are investigating rumors that students have been breaking into Ramirez’s lab and stealing materials to make LSD. Despite CP’s persuasive skills, Ramirez will not disclose the nature of his work, so CP pulls out the vial and asks him about the substance. Ramirez then accuses the four of breaking into his lab and pulls his cell phone to call security, but CP knocks it out of his hand. The professor goes for his desk phone and CP threatens him with the motor oil vial, but the professor is undeterred and security arrives to take all four students into custody.
While the campus authorities interrogate the four unlucky seniors, Mariana follows Ramirez to his lab and enters, attempting to flirt with him to discover any information she can. Unfortunately, the information is not forthcoming, although Ramirez does encourage her idea about changing majors to chemistry.
CP, Troy, Marco and Ryo all stick to their story about the confrontation with Ramirez being a prank that went wrong; they are all released but put on probation. Any other disciplinary violations will result in expulsion from ETU.
At this point, Veronica texts Ryo and asks him to come to her dorm. The group heads over, to discover that Veronica has blacked out her room. She says that she has become highly sensitive to light and that the irises of her eyes have turned black. The heroes check their occult references, and still come up dry. As a result, they conclude that this phenomenon is probably the result of the substance, and Ryo suggests that she try UV therapy at a local tanning salon. This succeeds, and Veronica is cured.
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