The Atlantis Expedition

Chapter Twenty-One: The Road of Trials

The rumbling continued for several minutes then slowly died down, and the dot on the screen flashed green before disappearing, and script began scrolling through. "What's it say, Busy??" Unikitty asked, bouncing in place. He leaned over, silent for a minute as he tried to read it as quickly as it was scrolling by.

"It's giving instructions," he said at length, smirking.

"Ew, gross!" Unikitty whined. He laughed.

"I really don't understand what you Master Builders' aversion to instructions is all about. You talk about training to become one, but what's training but just another type of instructions?"

Unikitty stared at him in horror, jaw working as she tried and failed to come up with a response to that. "Cat got your tongue?" Bad Cop asked, and she whirled to glare at him. Benny snickered, clapping a hand over his mouth when she turned that glare onto him.

"...Okay, that was funny, but not appreciated. And you! Stop messing with my head like that!" Business grinned.

"So what do the instructions say?" Airheart asked, bringing them back on topic.

"They're saying that 'the platform has been raised' and that it will require all four keys to 'unlock' Atlantis."

"Okay, so where's the fourth?"

"You have to build it."

"Is it showing another enchantment?" Unikitty asked.

"It is. It's just showing the same thing over and over again, so it'll come back up," he explained as she scooted closer to see.

"Is there anything else?"

"There is. It's describing a machine of some sort, that apparently never got finished." He looked at Bad Cop. "I think that's what we're after. It's telling us how to complete it." Unikitty muttered to herself as she memorized the spell. "But there's something... weirdly familiar about it."

Benny tilted his head at that. "What do you mean?"

"The calibrations for the machine it mentions. I can't quite put my finger on it, but..." Business shrugged. "I'm sure it'll come back to me." He set his tablet to record the instructions for later reference. Lucy began hunting around for any spare materials to create a key from.

Emmet returned to their group at that moment, cupping something in one hand. "Where did you get that?" Lucy asked upon seeing it was a chipped-off piece of blue crystal.

"Oh, it broke off while the thing was firing the beam down, I guess the vibrations shook it loose. I thought it was pretty, so I grabbed it-"

"Emmet it's perfect," she exclaimed, and kissed his cheek.

He looked bewildered. "It is? For what?"

"We have to make the key for the sky temple!" Unikitty chirped.

"Ohh, okay! What else can we use?"

"I think there was a few extra inches of that copper wire," Benny mused, and floated back down to retrieve it. Bad Cop hummed thoughtfully, and wandered outside.

"What's he doing...?" Airheart asked, watching him go.

"Showing off again," Lucy sighed as they heard a faint thump from high up, tilting her head back to see a small shadow on one spot of the ceiling. She watched the dark spot move across the dome of the ceiling, making its way toward the opening.

"Ohh, be careful-!" Emmet gasped as he watched Bad Cop drop himself down onto one of the rings.

"I don't think he can hear you, babe."