Theodore & The 7 Layers of Space, Book 1: Brick & Bird

Chapter 26: The Lost City of Spelunk

 As has been mentioned, after The Calamity of Gup, the Layer's ecosystem underwent many drastic changes in order to stabilize itself. Wandering monsters and an ever-encroaching forest were the immediate results of the disaster. But the diligent race of people who had once thrived in the scientific paradise of Gup had their own drastic consequences to face.

Those among the citizens of Gup who didn't succumb to the initial series of devastating quakes and explosions had to defend themselves against a sudden upswing in ravenous beasts. The scant survivors split themselves in two directions: up and down.

Those who went down settled in the damp caverns to form the city known as Spelunk. Only a few generations later, the citizens of Spelunk had adapted into masterful scavengers of technology with a rich culture of their own. Among those adaptations, they had all but lost most of their ability to see, as it was no longer necessary in their dark world.

***

When Isobel and Theodore returned to Isobel's prison island from Then, they found both The Buddy Bot and Terrycloth Green just where they'd left them.

They all decided to put aside their differences and help out in the interest of escape, or at least forward motion.

In theory, they need only get themselves to the next floating island, the Underground City of Spelunk, which they could just barely detect several miles due east. The Buddy Bot, Terrycloth Green and Isobel shared a rare agreement that from there, they should be able to get back to the surface of Gup. It took a moment of Theodore convincing them all that they actually agreed on this point, but they eventually got to work knowing that they'd need to modify Isobel's flying chair to accommodate all of them.

To that end they worked well and efficiently as a strange little team. Using Isobel's chair as a base and an engine, they combined bits from her mother's plane, pieces from the Buddy Bot, some duct tape that Terrycloth Green inexplicably had on him, and what they could find on hand, all in order to build something that might carry them all across the short but deadly distance. Their makeshift fly-box looked ready to fall apart at the mere suggestion of a notion of a breeze, but Isobel seemed confident, and that was assurance enough for all of them, really.

So they piled on and launched into the darkness, a wonky lumbering flight headed due east. They had stacked themselves together in an awkward pile to cross the chasm, their physical discomfort over-ridden only by their sense of impending doom. All total the flight was no more than five minutes, but it felt a good bit longer for all of them, as they coasted through in a collective silence that felt like a long-held breath. As promised, they did not fall apart, or crash.

And now Theodore, The Buddy Bot, Isobel, and Terrycloth Green made a bit of a clatter as they landed on a vacant shore. They skidded into the dirt, sending parts spinning in multiple directions. They coughed and clawed their way out of the wreckage.

"Is everyone ok?" Theodore asked. Each member of the rag-tag crew coughed again in response.

"Woo hoo! Nice landing!" Isobel wheeled past them all, re-invigorated by the near-death experience and related destruction. She socketed parts back onto her chair as she scooted through the dirt. The rest of the gang limped behind her, The Buddy Bot picking up stray screws as he went, hobbling on one foot, re-incorporating bits into his little body.

"It's cold, I'm hungry, this stinks," Terrycloth Green observed.

While there was already very little light, it grew even darker with each step away from the shore of the floating island. By the time the dust cloud cleared, a thick soupy darkness that felt more like a presence had swallowed them whole.