“So, explain to me again what this thing is.”

“It’s called an anechoic chamber.” I think Spotch is losing his patience with me, but it’s hard to tell with his lack of facial expression. “My mom uses it a lot for her acoustics experiments.”

“Acoustics?” I sure wish that Mighty Mega Supergeniusness would kick in, so I didn’t have to feel so clueless about so many things. I mean, Bula got hers and she’s only four. I still haven’t figured out how that’s fair.

“You know, the study of sound. That’s my mom’s scientific specialty. Her lab down here is filled with cool stuff like this chamber.”

“Yeah, I see that. But you said this could be my reputation changer. My one big thing. How’s that going to work?”

“Okay, here’s the deal.” I can tell Spotch is serious now. Not from the tone of his voice, because that hardly ever changes, but because he’s grabbed me by the shoulders.

“An anechoic chamber is designed to be absolutely quiet. All those cone shapes covering the walls and ceiling absorb sound waves. You don’t get any noise reflecting off the surfaces. No echoes. When you’re in there with the door shut, the only sounds you hear are the ones you make yourself. There’s no background noise of any kind. It’s almost like being out in space.”

“Got it.” And I really think I do this time. “But I still don’t see how this is going to help me.”

“Look over there.” Spotch points toward a sign on the side of the chamber.

“My mom says the lack of sound will make you freak out after a while. You’ll begin to feel strange and maybe even start hallucinating when you’ve been in there for too long. Forty-two minutes is the longest anyone’s been able to last. Kelvin, that can be your name on that sign!”

Now we’re talking! Sit on a chair in a nice, quiet room for forty-three minutes and change my reputation forever! This sure beats eating larvae.

“Let’s do it!”

I step into the chamber. The only thing inside is a chair. I sit down on it.

“There’s a timer on the door. It’ll start when I shut it and stop when I open it back up, so we’ll have a record of how long you’re in there. There’s a microphone in the chamber, so if you can’t take it anymore, just let me know.”

Fat chance. I’m going to put this record so far out of reach, it’ll last forever!