A Snowed Abode

Lab

They were teleported, back to... somewhere. For the 'twos' it was a case of 'back to', though...

"Where...?" Pax said in utter surprise as somehow they ended up here, in some unknown place with glittering devices and a rather jaunty tune if I may say so myself, the kind that reminds one of pixels and clashing samurai, possibly? Never mind that, just one of those random flashes again; let us see what the first response of the 'two' that earlier seemed most comprehensive is...

"Welcome to our humble abode! Finally, we are free!" They said in a rather celebratory mood, just after approaching Pax and Clemens somewhat hastily... then again, if one was in some underground place after being randomly taken from your "comfortable" home by some airship invaders... one would be as happy, I suppose. Of course, here we are talking about 'two', not one.

"Abode? This is your home?" Clemens asked with a penchant for an inquiry. "Where you were taken from? Wait... why did the crystals even transfer us here? Also... what is this place?" Whoa, hold your horses, my dear mollusc, this seems to be a non-threatening environment anyway, from the looks of it, so why ask so much and so often? You did not even bother to question yourself when you were busy indulging in random foods left out in the open... what if someone came while you were vulnerable? Or possibly worse, bacteria! You know germ theory, right?

"I know you might have quite a few questions, but relax! We are back here now, and I assume there is no risk of being taken again, for what was wanted is gone, now... as for your questions, yes, this is our laboratory. Well, mine mostly (we are the two who mainly conduct experiments)... and... the crystals... I think were reprogrammed by someone, not sure when, though..." Well, that seems to answer a lot now, does it not? Except for the fact of how in the world crystals can even be programmed in the first place, yes, and the little thing about what was wanted? Or... perhaps that is just another attempt at starting three more words with the same letter, because these people seem to like doing that quite a bit, even if they mean little behind the words... and this is coming from this one too... two, I mean. They have been the most sensible and clear, so far... the others were as cryptic as the speaking flames... well, maybe not as much, but at least as obscure as the random pamphlets scattered around the castle, surely you would agree?

"This all makes little sense... as usual, but never shall we mind, I suppose. More crucially, what more can you tell us about why you might have been abducted? Did you... mention a prototype?" Clemens! You finally ask the pertinent question! You might not have done it due to my suggestion, as clearly you do not... or can not read any of this... but at least your random lottery of questions resulted in the most relevant one.

"Why, yes, indeed... you see, we were developing this innovative technology that might tap into... some primeval force, although we are still not sure about that... our home here is so isolated from the rest of the world... that we detected some sort of energy, that is usually apparently suppressed elsewhere. We speculated that is because of the preponderance of life in most other places, but we are not certain about that, either..." Suddenly, so much information... so theoretical, though. Seems interesting, nevertheless... could it be...? How did these people even end up building all this, anyway? Do they conduct experiments while walking in sync, too? I suppose it can sort of help, having four arms... practically choreographed science... without the need for practice. How convenient, is it not? Not that any of these are crucial questions...

"Curious and curiouser... lack of life enables this energy? What kind of technology could possibly tap into it too? Hey, are we possibly talking about the 'archetypes' here, that we have heard and read so much about? That the monarch likely wanted for some strange reason?" That would get my seal of approval as a crucial question, now... although, by all means, now that they are back at their homes I do not suppose we need to be so urgent with the amount that needs to be investigated... the monarch still needs to be stopped, but for now we should recuperate and think about our next steps... well, Pax and Clemens should, anyway; the narrator does not exactly need to do much within this world, except perhaps become exasperated at the impossibility of direct communication between the different dimensions....