Practice Makes Perfect
- The room appears to be some kind of press office, but they don't have time to look around. Instead they hide inside a wooden crate and do their best to be quiet when Mr. C rolls in.
- There's a TV in the room, and when Mr. C turns it up, the kids hear a news anchor saying something about the Emergency, which makes Mr. Curtain giggle. Yes, giggle.
- Mr. C works for a while, almost discovers the kids, and then exits.
- Out of their cramped crate, the kids look around and find all kinds of weird news releases with future dates. The releases are obviously part of Mr. C's sinister plan, and most of them are about him accepting increasingly important posts in the government and helping to manage the Emergency.
- Reynie recalls Mr. C's journal entry about the power of fear and realizes Mr. C has created the Emergency in order to create the fear. Then he can step in and pretend to make everything better by transmitting the Whisperer's messages and making people think that he's brought them some kind of peace. They'll be so indebted to him and believe he's so great that he'll (insert evil laughter here) be able to rule the world.
- Even more unsettling, the kids realize that part of Mr. Curtain's plan involves a whole bunch of brainsweeping. Anyone who resists the messages will be brainswept and then "cured" of their sudden amnesia, by Mr. Curtain.