The rat appeared completely unchanged, much to the girls' disappointment. An especially annoyed Tiff said:
"I should have known this was bogus. There's no such thing as a transforming machine.
-I don't know, maybe it's so old it doesn't work anymore.
-Or maybe it never even worked at all. It could just be an oversized magic light show, for all we know.
-C'mon, you're getting too worked up over this. Maybe there's something else in this house that will work. Let's keep looking.
-That won't be necessary, young lady.
-Hey, you're not much older than- wait, who said that?"
The girls realized that they weren't alone in the room. They heard a voice talking to them, but couldn't figure out where it came from.
"W-who's there? Where are you? Are you spying on us?
-Of course not, I know better than to spy on cute and innocent young girls. And by the way, I'm down here, in the machine.
-In the machine? No way..."
Katie and Tiff leaned down, and noticed that the rat was now standing upright, like a human; it had grown human intelligence, and the ability to speak. The girls' jaws dropped so much that one could expect to see them fall to the floor any minute. Katie was too grossed out to utter a word, so it was Tiff who broke the silence by saying:
"You have to be kidding me. This rat can talk!
-Yes, and that is thanks to you. The machine's rays gave me the ability to think and talk like you humans do.
-Wow, this is so weird... I'm talking to a rat.
-I must say, it is quite strange for me, too. I haven't seen any humans in years, and never directly talked to one before.
-Wait, in years? You've been living in this house for years? Then maybe you can tell us more about the scientist who used to live here!
-You are interested in his story, are you? Then I'll tell you about him."
Katie, who managed to get over her disgust, piped in at that moment:
"Wait, shouldn't we find out as much as we can by ourselves? I don't think our school is going to believe our story came from a talking rat. ...No offense...
-None taken. I understand how incredible this is for all of us. Still, I'll be there if you want me to explain about the scientist's story, or if you need help figuring out how the machine works.
-You know how it works?
-Of course I do. I've lived in here for all my life, and know everything there is to know about the scientist's inventions, and quite a lot about their creator, too. I just couldn't put that information in words or to use until now, due to my limited rat intelligence.
The girls briefly talked it over, and eventually decided to...