"This is a bad idea," Lucas says, leaning back on the counter with his arms crossed. Will and Mike are beside him, watching Dustin, Robin, and Steve talking to Erica at a table covered in bowls of ice cream, while Max and El are in the back room of Scoops.
Will shrugs his shoulders. "She's the only one who can fit."
"It's still a bad idea. My parents will kill me if they find out I let her crawl around the mall's air ducts to find out if there are Russians hiding out here."
"Then don't let them find out," Mike says.
Steve trudges past them and gets behind the counter to scoop out another bowl of ice cream.
"What are we even doing once she gets into the room?" Lucas goes on. "We can't all just go in there."
"I think we should be focusing on the Mind Flayer." Mike looks at Will. "Billy could be killing people right now for all we know. Is getting into this room really worth it?"
"We won't know until we see it," Will says. "What if the Russians reopened the gate? That could be the whole reason they're in Hawkins. If we close the gate, we kill the Mind Flayer."
"We don't know that the gate's even open."
Lucas sticks up his hand. "That would explain why the Mind Flayer's back though, wouldn't it? I mean, think about it... if the Russians opened the gate, that could be what brought the Mind Flayer back to life here."
"Okay," Mike says, "but even if the gate is open, what are we supposed to do about it? We don't even know where it is."
"If we figure out what the Russians are doing," Will says, "and if they really did reopen the gate, then we just have to find out where it is. That shouldn't be too hard. Plus, we have El. Once we find the gate, she can close it."
Mike taps the pads of his fingers on his bottom lip. "We still have to deal with Billy."
"I know."
"I just really think we should deal with him as soon as possible."
"I know, Mike."
"I think we should split up."
Will and Lucas both turn their heads at this. "What?"
"If we wait around to get into the room, we're risking people's lives by not figuring out if Billy's the host or not. He could kill people while we're just sitting around, doing nothing!"
"We're not doing nothing," Will insists. "This could be bigger than just Billy. This-"
"You said to wait for Robin to get back, and then we would figure out what to do. Well, she's back, and you still haven't told us what you want to do."
"I want to figure out what the Russians have to do with this. And yes, I know we have to get to Billy, but-"
"That's why we should split up!" Mike points to Dustin, Robin, and Erica. "They can check out the secret room or whatever while we get the Mind Flayer out of Billy, if it's even in him at all which we won't know unless we do something about it."
Lucas frowns. "Mike, calm down. It's only, like, four thirty. The pool doesn't close for another four-five hours, so we still have time to make a plan for both getting into that room and getting Billy into the sauna."
Mike huffs, staring at Will. "I thought the Mind Flayer was your number one priority."
"It is." The weight of Mike's stare makes Will want to curl up inside himself. "That's the reason why I think we need to investigate the Russians as well as getting Billy into the sauna. If the gate has been reopened, closing it is the way to get rid of the Mind Flayer, and I know we don't know for sure whether or not the gate's been opened, but that's why we need to check it out. So that we do know. And we will go after Billy, too, because if he's the new host, we'll have to get the Mind Flayer out of him anyway. But for now, I just need you to wait until we secure our plan for getting into the room."
There's a moment where Will is sure Mike's about to walk away from him. His eyes are boring into Will's like lasers, but then his face softens. Sighing, Mike motions to Erica, Dustin, and Robin. "Why are they talking so much anyway?"
Stepping out from behind the counter, Steve says, "She's hard to convince." He nudges Will. "Hey, Byers, instead of standing here and doing nothing, why don't give me a hand?" He shoves a bowl of ice cream in Will's hand and heads to the table. Will looks to Mike and Lucas who both shrug their shoulders. Letting out a sigh, he follows Steve reluctantly.
"We'll be in radio contact with you the whole time--" Robin is saying as Will slides into the booth beside her, and Steve leaves to get more ice cream.
Erica waves her hand in front of Robin, interrupting her. "Child endangerment." She rolls her eyes when Will pushes the bowl of ice cream Steve had shoved in his hands in her direction.
"Erica?" Dustin says. Erica eyes him. "Hi. Uh... We think these Russians want to do harm to our country. Great harm. Don't you love your country?"
"You can't spell 'America' without 'Erica.'"
Dustin and Will share a look saying what the hell. Erica grabs a smoothie in front of her and starts slurping it loudly. Will puts his face in his hands while Dustin looks down at the table. "Uh, yeah, yeah. Oddly, that's, uh, totally true. So, so, don't do this for us. Do it for your country. Do it for your fellow man."
"Do this," Will adds, "and you can be a hero."
Dustin snaps his fingers. "An American hero." He leans forward. "Do this for America... Erica."
Erica stops her slurping, shaking her shoulders. "Ooh!" She sets her smoothie down. "I just got the chills." Dustin and Will grin until she adds, "Oh, yeah, from this float, not your speech.
"Know what I love most about this country?" Erica glances between Will, Dustin, and Robin. "Capitalism. Do you know what capitalism is?"
"C'mon, Erica," Will says.
Erica tilts her head at him. "Don't you 'c'mon' me. I don't have to do anything for you if I don't want to."
Robin leans back in the booth, letting out a groan. "Okay, we get it, but what do you want then?"
"This is a free market system," Erica says, "which means people get paid for their services depending on how valuable their contributions are. And it seems to me, my ability to fit into that little vent is very, very valuable to you all."
Dustin breathes out loudly, scowling, and Will buries his face in his hands again.
"So, you want my help?" Erica points to a bowl of ice cream on the table. "This USS Butterscotch better be the first of many. And I'm talking free ice cream for life."
Robin takes a second to consider this deal while Will taps his knuckles on the table impatiently. The more time that passes by, the more anxious he feels about getting into the secret room and getting Billy into the sauna. He hides his relief when Robin nods her head and shakes Erica's hand. "Okay. Deal."
"So what's the plan exactly?" Will asks once Steve has joined them at the table. "We go to the loading dock, Erica gets the secret room open, then what?"
"We check it out," Dustin says.
"All of us?"
"I don't see why not."
"Don't we need look-outs? You know, to make sure the Russians don't find us snooping around."
Robin shrugs. "Yeah, that would be a smart idea."
"So?" Will lifts a shoulder. "Who should be the look-outs?"
"Not me. I'm definitely checking out that secret room."
Dustin and Steve shake their heads. "Me neither."
Will sighs. "Alright, I guess I'll be a look-out."
The door to the back room bangs open. Will, Dustin, Robin, Steve, and Erica whip their heads around to see Mike standing by the counter. Lucas, Max, and El are hovering behind him. He motions at Will to come over.
"What is it?" Will asks when he joins them.
Mike's voice is low. "We were wondering when we're going to start this plan with the air ducts."
"As soon as possible. Why?"
"We didn't want to wait too long to get Billy into the sauna. The pool closes in a few hours, but we still have to figure out what our plan is and set it up."
"Alright." Will glances back at Dustin, Robin, Steve, and Erica who are now talking animatedly about something. "Well, Erica's agreed to go into the ducts, so we can start soon."
Max frowns. "How is this going to work? Are we all just going to wait until Lucas's sister gets into that room for us to go and get Billy?"
"I'm going to be a look-out while Dustin, Steve, and Robin check out the room, so I figured you guys can look-out with me or check out the room as well. If we go now, we should have enough time before the pool closes to set up a plan to get Billy into the sauna, too."
"No, nope, not happening." Max shakes her head. "What if something happens, and we get stuck in the room? Or it takes longer than we expect for Lucas's sister to get in? I don't want to risk it."
Max, Mike, Lucas, and El stare at Will expectantly as if he'll have the answer to everything. Instead, their hawk-eyes make his mind go blank. He stares back at them, his brain short-circuiting.
El takes Will by the hand. In a soft yet strong voice she says, "I really think we need to deal with Billy. I don't think we should waste any more time."
Seeing the desperate look in her eyes, Will knows she's right and nods. He looks to Mike. "How many people do we need to get Billy in the sauna?"
Mike bites his lip, counting on his fingers. "Obviously, we need El there. We also need a couple people to lock up the doors and the sauna, and we need someone to get Billy in there in the first place. I don't know exactly. Four or five?"
"Okay, perfect!" Will points to El, Max, Mike, and Lucas. "There are four of you. That'll be enough?"
Mike crosses his arms. "Wait... you're not helping?"
"No, I'll help plan or whatever. I just won't be there to get Billy in the sauna." Will nods to Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Erica. "They need a look-out in case something goes wrong with the secret room. I can be their look-out while also keeping in contact with you guys."
Lucas throws his arms up. "Wait a second! I'm not letting my little sister crawl around the mall's air ducts to get into some secret Russian room with those idiots."
"Hey, we can hear you!" Robin shouts.
Rolling his eyes, Lucas continues, "If something happens to Erica, I'm dead. Either I'm going with you guys or she's not going in those air ducts."
Will frowns, trying to think of who would work best where. He couldn't help but feel if he went to the sauna, El would basically do all the work. What good would he be there? "Alright. Lucas, you can be a look-out with me." To Mike, he asks, "Can you handle getting Billy into the sauna with three people?"
Mike lets out a groan. "Are you serious? What good is two look-outs? Why do you need six people to get into a secret room?"
"Why do you need more than three people to get Billy into a sauna when you have El?" Will shoots back.
"Well..." Mike's shoulders slump. "Why can't you come with us?"
"I can't just ditch Dustin. Besides, I've been helping with the Russians since we heard the transmission on the Cerebro. Whatever they're hiding, I think it's important, and I want to see for myself if it has anything to do with the Mind Flayer. Especially if it might mean the gate's reopened. We can meet up afterwards anyways. Once we find out what's in that room, and once you guys see if Billy's the new host, then we'll figure out what to do from there."
"You'll keep in touch though, right?"
"Of course."
"Oh, wait, but what about your Supercom? You forgot it at your house."
Lucas holds up his walkie-talkie. "I've got us covered."
Mike looks disappointed, but he nods anyway. Turning, Will waves Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Erica over to them and once everyone's gathered by the counter, he explains the plan.