EJ 9-1-1,
Captain speaking.
Whoa,
Slow down,
Take a breath and tell me what's going on.
A missing delivery driver?
Okay,
You last tracked them to a set of coordinates.
Okay,
Got that down,
That's a great lead.
And who was the last package he was delivering a dress to?
Sir Genius McGee?
That's quite a name.
Did the driver report anything unusual before disappearing?
No?
Do not try to trace his steps.
Me and my partner Hero have specialized training.
No,
Sir,
Listen to me.
We'll have two people missing if you.
.
.
No,
Sir,
Please do not do that.
Sir,
I can't hear.
.
.
All right,
That's two delivery drivers missing.
Hopefully together.
Dispatch,
Don't let me down.
Hero,
This mission is no ordinary delivery mix-up.
It seems Quickby Courier Services has lost contact with one of their drivers and then one of their supervisors.
I was able to trace the call,
Identify the individuals and the package information.
The coordinates from the GPS tracker show the delivery truck is just outside of Dormir.
Actually,
This might not be the time,
But I'm so excited.
Warpino and I have been studying those tunnels.
You remember?
The ones cadets found?
Well,
Let me tell you.
There's a lot going on under the surface over there.
And these coordinates seem to lead us right to the tunnels.
Honeybee to Hero,
This is Warpino the alien,
Sending you many blinks on this fine day.
I haven't gotten a chance to meet with you regarding these tunnels,
So I will be joining you on a mission today.
I will be your sidekick,
So I will be Captain EJ's sidekick's sidekick.
Warpino,
There are two missing people depending on us.
No time!
If the missing people are deep enough in those tunnels,
They likely have more time than they can handle.
What?
Did you learn something new about the tunnels that you haven't told me yet?
We have no time,
Honeybee the mister.
We're not in those tunnels.
.
.
Yet.
EJ.
Captain EJ and Hero to the rescue.
Let's begin.
You are here with Captain EJ,
Walking the last few steps down a narrow dirt path on the outskirts of Dormir,
Where towering trees from a canopy overhead.
Their branches intertwine to cast long,
Gnarled shadows of the ground below.
The air is crisp,
But there's an underlying heaviness,
A feeling that something unseen stirs beneath your feet.
This is Dormir,
Where the unusual is the usual and the unexpected is simply the expected.
You're arriving just beyond the city limits at the untamed edge of the wilderness of Dormir,
Where anything is possible for better or worse.
Take a deep breath in through your nose.
Let the earthy scent of the forest fill your lungs and ground you in this simple moment,
Before you're propelled into the depths of the unknown to solve this mystery.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
Relax the space between your brows,
Your ears,
And lift your head high,
Elongating your posture and exuding the confidence you feel deep down.
There it is,
Hero,
Mr.
Honeybee's research lab.
Well,
His temporary research lab.
Leave it to Mr.
H to build a secret hideout under a pile of leaves.
Don't just let him hear me call it a hideout.
He'll insist it's a state-of-the-art field command center.
Captain,
Hero,
Get down here quickly.
Orpino and I have made some fascinating discoveries.
You're not going to believe what's happening with those tunnels.
You descend the ladder into the makeshift lab,
Hidden beneath the forest floor.
It's dimly lit with a few portable lights casting an amber glow over an assortment of gadgets and monitors.
The walls are lined with notes and sketches pinned to cork boards,
And a large central table holds a glowing holographic map of the tunnel network.
It's still very much in progress,
But this is what Mr.
Honeybee,
Roger Robot,
And Orpino have been working so hard at lately.
Orpino is perched nearby,
Studying a specific detail on the map.
His luminous outline flickers with energy as he peers into a scanner.
Honeybee the Hero,
Many blinks to you.
Welcome to the center of the universe.
Well,
Your universe,
Anyway.
These tunnels are.
.
.
How do you earthlings say it?
Mind-blowing?
If we're using earthling phrases,
I think a lot to take in might be more accurate.
No kidding.
Look here.
Remember how we thought these tunnels were medieval mining tunnels?
Well,
They are that,
But they're also so much more.
These tunnels are alive with energy.
Orpino and I have been tracking the way this strange sort of energy pulses through them.
It's incredible.
It's like they're communicating with each other.
And these coordinates we're heading to,
Are they part of this communication system?
That's the thing.
They're not just part of it.
They're right on top of a major area.
I don't really have the language for it.
This is where I come in.
I have all the languages.
I'd say,
Optimized for English,
You can call that area a node.
Thanks,
Roger.
If anything strange is going to happen,
It's going to happen there.
We've been watching it even before today.
And now?
Today?
Two people go missing right there?
That node seems to be some kind of convergence.
At the risk of sounding deranged,
Do you think the tunnels could have somehow taken the two delivery drivers?
That's pretty deranged,
Captain.
Even for you.
Wow.
What do you mean,
Even for me?
What do you mean,
What do you mean?
The one who thinks time is real?
Not to interrupt Roger the Robot and EJ the Captain,
Because this seems like a long-standing debate,
But time is both real and unreal.
Your Earthbound logic is a little lacking.
Earthbound?
How can you say that to me?
I say it with my words,
Like everything else.
Anyways,
What Honeybee the Mister means by strange is more like extraordinary,
Reality-bending phenomena that you humans have yet to comprehend.
But don't worry,
I'll keep you alert to all the dangers you cannot see.
I've got some very exciting theories about what's really going on down there.
I've been studying this my whole life,
And I'm 346 years old.
Wow,
Warpino.
You're much older than I thought.
Oh,
No offense,
Man.
You don't look a day over,
Uh,
200?
Why,
Thank you,
EJ the Captain.
Being told you're old is actually a sign of immense respect for my people.
Thank you for your respect.
You're very welcome.
Thank you for seeing what we cannot see.
So,
Team,
How do we get started on this?
I want to recover those guys sooner rather than later,
Before things can get any stranger.
Captain,
We're dealing with more than just strange energy here.
Look at this.
The Nucla compound is only a mile away from these coordinates.
If Pinky and Thumb have anything to do with this,
Or the tunnels,
It's not going to be good.
And with this strange energy amplifying things in unpredictable ways,
We need to act fast.
Agreed.
Hero,
Grab your BattleBuzz helmet.
Warpino,
You're with us.
Mr.
H,
Keep that map up.
We're going to need all the intel we can get.
The weight of the mission settles over you as you adjust your helmet,
The familiar hum of the BattleBuzz systems kicking in.
Warpino steps forward,
His outline flickering brighter,
And Mr.
Honeybee turns back to his monitors,
Already tracking every variable he can think of.
As the trapdoor creaks open again,
The forest above seems darker,
Quieter,
An unspoken warning of what lies ahead.
You close the trapdoor behind everyone,
And brush piles of leaves over the top of it to keep it concealed from.
.
.
From anyone else who happens to be out here.
The map says we're about a half a mile from the last known coordinates.
Stay sharp,
Hero.
If Pinky and Thumb are behind this,
They won't exactly roll out the welcome mat.
Rolling out a mat seems inefficient for villains.
I'd imagine they'd deploy traps,
Perhaps lasers?
Oh,
I do hope there are lasers.
Let's hope not,
Warpino.
You get so excited about things that could incinerate us humans.
Captain,
I'm monitoring the coordinates from here.
The energy readings are spiking,
Way higher than normal for this area.
It's almost like the tunnels are reacting to something.
Reacting?
Fascinating.
I theorize the tunnels might be sentient,
But if they're responding to external stimuli.
.
.
Let's focus on rescuing the delivery guys before we start theorizing you two.
You follow a narrow path deeper into the woods.
The trees are dense here,
Their branches knotted together like a living maze.
Every so often,
The ground beneath you feels different.
Less like soil,
More like stone.
Captain,
I've got something.
I was able to pull up the last recorded message from the delivery guy's GPS device.
Listen.
Uh,
This is Tribe on 42 reporting in.
That's all you've got?
Afraid so.
And Captain,
Based on his location,
Those weird hills were probably the surface of the tunnels.
He was right there.
Hmm,
He must have been drawn to the tunnels' energy even without knowing it.
Fascinating how your species gravitates toward things you cannot comprehend.
Thanks for the analysis,
Warpino.
Let's make sure this guy isn't still gravitating toward trouble.
Your attention snaps to the movement in the underbrush.
For a moment,
The world feels unnaturally still,
As if the forest is holding its breath.
Then,
The crack of a twig sends your heart racing.
Cadet,
What are you doing here?
You're supposed to be back at the house napping.
This mission couldn't get weirder if it tried.
Actually,
I take that back.
I don't want it to try.
Cadet,
Go home.
I told you not to sniff through the tunnels anymore.
We have no idea what's going on out here.
Wait.
Hero,
Look at this.
Cadet's onto something.
Cadet uncovers a patch of stone buried beneath the dirt.
Strange symbols are etched into its surface,
Glowing faintly,
As if they're charged with some kind of electricity.
Those markings,
They're similar to glyphs I've seen on my travels through the galaxies.
They're meant to direct forces like the way magnets do on Earth.
Great.
Mystical energy in the tunnels,
A missing delivery guy,
And the knucklers.
Just another day on the job.
Captain,
I'm picking up movement on the thermal scanner.
Several heat signatures near the coordinates.
Be careful.
Got it.
Mr.
H,
Hero,
Let's move.
Warpino,
Stay alert.
Cadet,
Go home.
As you descend a slope toward the coordinates,
The glowing rhythm of glyphs becomes more frequent,
Lining the path like silent sentinels.
You feel a strange pull in the air,
Something ancient,
Something alive.
I told you we should have left him in the truck and let them trace the GPS.
Are you stupid?
We're geniuses.
Now we're stuck with two spies,
Pinky.
That's our cue,
Hero.
Stay low.
It seems like he's talking to someone besides Thumb.
Listen.
I don't want to hear about your lies,
You spy.
What do you know?
Tell me now.
You and Captain EJ crouch behind a boulder,
Peering around its edge.
In the clearing ahead,
The delivery driver is tied to a tree along with his supervisor.
They're surrounded and being taunted by Pinky and Thumb.
The package that was supposed to be delivered lies unopened nearby,
Marked with the ridiculous name Sir Genius McGee.
Rather than intervening immediately,
You and Captain EJ use your shared mind to analyze the many possible variables of the situation,
As well as everything that could go wrong so you can avoid it if at all possible.
From your strategic vantage point,
You peer around the boulder through the goggles of your BattleBuzz helmet and take it all in,
For your safety as well as your best friend's.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the cool air coming in through your nose and reinvigorating your system with fresh,
Crisp inspiration.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
With your backs to the boulder,
You and Captain EJ share a look.
Then you look to Warpino.
Where did Warpino go?
As soon as you two think that,
A little spark of electricity lets you know that this is how he planned on seeing what you're unable to.
He's made himself invisible to the human eye,
Though squirrels seem to be able to see him and are startled.
So weird.
The squirrels might be able to run away,
But we don't,
Hero.
We're going to confront this head on now.
Pinky,
Thumb,
We need to talk.
Uh,
Pinky?
Captain EJ's,
Um,
Here.
I can see him too,
Genius.
He's always here.
I haven't managed to get rid of him,
Yet.
Oh,
Hello,
Captain.
I'd like to introduce you to my friend.
These guys.
Oh,
Will you stop whining?
Pinky's left me tied to a tree for days at a time.
It hasn't even been an hour.
You're fine.
And you.
If you hadn't come snooping around,
We wouldn't have to deal with this mess.
Actually,
If you two were better spies,
You'd have succeeded.
But I thwarted your efforts.
Who sent you after me?
Pinky,
Let's not escalate this.
You've got two innocent people tied up.
What exactly are you trying to accomplish here?
They know too much.
They saw the tunnels.
They've probably been taking notes,
Writing reports,
Sending coordinates to whoever spies send coordinates to.
Oh,
Pinky,
I don't think they're spies.
The one guy's wearing a quickie hat,
And the other one's holding,
Like,
A clipboard or something.
That's exactly what spies would want you to think.
Disguises them.
Disguises.
Gah,
You're so dumb.
You're your own problem,
And mine.
And I suppose that package over there is part of their spy gear,
Too?
You're so easily fooled,
And you call yourself a captain.
Captain of what?
Fools?
Thumb,
Where might you be going?
Thumb!
I want to see if that's actually your package.
No.
Do not take another step.
It's not.
I didn't order anything that big.
It's all a ploy.
They just wanted to get close to me to spy.
They're clearly spies.
Though bad ones.
I don't understand how you all don't get this.
Let me get this straight.
You ordered a package under the name Sir Genius McGee,
And when the delivery driver brought it here,
You tied him up.
Now you've got his supervisor,
Too,
Because he came looking for him.
How do you know that name?
No,
Don't tell me.
You're probably in on it.
It's not that simple,
Captain.
You're out of your depth here.
International espionage is not on your resume.
Well,
It all seems pretty simple to me.
Pinky,
You're literally holding your own delivery hostage.
Stop laughing.
No,
I am not.
That is not my package.
I ordered something tiny.
I'm actually waiting for a call from the real delivery service now.
This is a serious situation.
Just leave,
Captain EJ.
I'll handle this before my real package arrives.
You're right,
Pinky.
This is serious,
But it doesn't need to be.
Let's talk.
Help me understand why do you think he's a spy?
Why do I think he's a spy?
Oh,
I don't know,
Captain EJ.
Maybe because he was snooping around my bunker with a suspicious package.
Maybe because he knows about my bunker at all.
That package is probably packed with high-tech surveillance gadgets to expose my genius and then steal my.
.
.
They think they can outsmart me.
The world is desperate to steal my ideas.
Let's take a step back,
Pinky.
You're saying these guys are spies,
But it looks like they work for Quick B Courier Services.
They're delivery drivers.
How do you think they're spying on you?
What exactly are you working on that you think they're after?
I shouldn't even be telling you this,
But fine.
You want to know?
You want to understand what's at stake?
I'll tell you,
EJ.
But don't think for a second I trust you with this information.
Oh,
Here we go.
It's my latest invention.
A revolutionary prototype that will redefine physics as we know it.
Sounds ambitious.
What is it?
Let's just say it involves these tunnels.
There's something going on in here.
I've been working tirelessly to harness it,
To bend it like a branch to my will without snapping it.
Once I do that,
This power will allow me to create a device that makes toast faster.
Not just toast thumb.
It's a quantum energy toaster that can toast bread and unlock the secrets of the universe.
Toast and the universe.
Got it.
Don't mock me,
Captain EJ.
The tunnels hold power beyond your imagination.
I've only just begun to tap into their potential,
But I know everyone,
I say everyone,
Would love to get their grubby little hands on my research.
That's why these two snoops showed up.
To steal what's rightfully mine.
Or they were just delivering a package to you,
Pinky.
That's just what they want you to think.
A clever cover to get close to my work.
But I won't let them,
EJ.
I won't let anyone take what's mine.
No one's taking anything from you,
Pinky.
But keeping innocent people tied up because of a misunderstanding isn't the answer.
You've been working on something big,
And I get it.
You want to protect it.
But now you know who they are.
They're done as spies,
Right?
Even if we pretend for a moment that you are right,
Which you're not,
They're not covert spies anymore.
They're over.
Their careers as spies are over.
Got it.
Oh,
I hate that that pun was so clever.
But credit where credit is due.
That was a good one,
Thumb.
Got it,
Thumb.
Thanks,
Man.
Oh,
And Mr.
Honeybee enjoyed your pun.
Oh,
Did he?
Tell him hello from Thumbknuckler.
Maybe after we free the hostages?
Oh,
Yeah.
That's a better time to do it.
With every word,
We could feel Pinky's paranoia tightening its grip.
It was clear that his mistrust wasn't just about these two delivery drivers.
It was a reflection of his fears about the tunnels and what they might reveal.
The last thing we needed was Pinky poking around down there any more than he already had.
We had to play this smart.
If Pinky thinks the tunnels are more trouble than they're worth,
Or better yet,
Thought they were completely ordinary,
He'd lose interest.
That meant downplaying their importance,
Nudging him away from his obsessive project,
All while ensuring the hostages got out safely.
Team,
The energy spikes are off the charts.
It's like the tunnels are reacting to Pinky's own fluctuations.
When he screams,
They spike.
When he's quiet,
They're quiet.
He's on to something,
But good call to uproot that seed from his mind.
Pinky,
Listen.
I've heard plenty of wild ideas,
And I'll admit,
Your quantum energy toaster sounds unique.
But the tunnels?
They're just old mining shafts.
Sure,
They might look spooky with some shiny rocks here and there,
But there's no secret power to them.
No power?
Right.
Then why are you here,
Huh?
Why do you care so much about what I'm doing?
Because I care about people,
Pinky.
Not tunnels.
Not toast.
Just people.
These two delivery drivers are scared,
And we both know they don't belong here.
They want to leave just as badly as you wish they'd never showed up.
Let's end this now,
And you can go back to whatever it is you're working on.
Get these guys out of your hair,
And me.
I'll let them go.
I'll walk away and leave you to enjoy your toast.
Fine.
But don't think I'm letting my guard down.
Something about this doesn't add up,
EJ.
Spies,
Plots,
Tunnels.
There's something here,
And I'll figure it out.
I'm the only one who can.
If that's true,
Then you better get to work,
Pinky.
Meanwhile,
I'll take the delivery guys off your hands.
Problem solved.
Hold on a second.
I'm getting a call.
Thumb?
Don't let those drivers out just yet.
Captain EJ,
Stand down.
Let me answer this.
It's important.
Sure.
I guess I'll wait.
Hello?
Yeah,
What do you want?
My package?
Finally!
You took long enough to call me.
What kind of delivery service are you running,
Huh?
I've been waiting for many minutes.
While Pinky becomes fully absorbed in his phone call,
You and I calmly walk over to the hostages and free them.
What do you mean the driver's missing?
How is that my problem?
You're the delivery company.
Just tell me where my package is.
What?
Yes.
Yes,
I did pay extra for the package to be equipped with GPS,
But I wasn't able to track it because your good-for-nothing company doesn't update the information.
What?
It's none of your business what my name is.
I'm Sir Genius McGee to you.
Where is my package?
Look to my left?
What kind of games are you playing?
Transfer me to your supervisor.
Now.
Oh,
You can track the call too?
And we're right next to each other?
Me and my package?
Thumb,
Grab that package and say nothing.
I mean it.
Silence,
Brother.
Thumb expects the big box to be rather heavy,
But instead picks it up with an ease that throws his center of gravity backwards.
Pinky angrily hangs up on the customer service representative,
His face contorting with confusion and then embarrassment,
Which he covers over quickly with theatrics.
It seems there's been a most humorous mix-up.
I see you've already freed my hostages,
So your work here is done here,
Captain.
Good evening,
My friend.
So you're not going to admit you were holding your own package hostage?
If you're not ready,
That's fine.
But I'm just saying,
The first step is admitting you have a problem and you,
Pinky Knuckler,
Are very much your own problem.
It might help your life out to admit that,
But what do I know?
Warpino is bursting at his invisible seams.
We can see the flickers of light in the reflection of the sliver of sun that shines on the Dormir Valley.
But thankfully,
Warpino knows to keep his alien existence under wraps,
At least for now.
Pinky Knuckler,
On the other hand,
Arms tightly folded and his face beet red,
Lets out a disgruntled huff as Thumb places the suspiciously light package next to him.
Pinky dives into the cardboard box,
Rips it open,
Rips it to shreds.
He pulls out something tiny,
Something wrapped in several hilarious thick layers of bubble wrap.
So that was the reason for the oversized box.
Pinky is incomprehensibly flustered.
You and I wonder to ourselves,
Hero,
If Pinky has ever felt a single emotion in a healthy way.
The answer is likely no,
And for right now,
All we can think about is deterring him away from these tunnels and giving Mr.
Honeybee enough time to zoom in on that tiny piece of something wrapped in all that bubble wrap.
We hear the imperceptibly small nano-analyzers emerge from our Battle Bus helmets and churn the visual data they're gathering in real time.
At their controls is Mr.
Honeybee,
Who is now able to invisibly inspect the unwrapped package in Pinky's hand,
Alongside Warpino,
While Pinky stares at this new toy unaware.
Pinky,
No more spies,
No more hostages,
And you even got your package.
Today's looking up for you.
Guess my work here is done.
You think you're so clever,
E.
J.
,
But mark my words,
This isn't over.
This is just the beginning.
I'll keep that in mind.
You have a good evening,
Pinky.
Thumb,
Watch him.
You have some sense left in you,
Don't you?
Uh,
Thanks?
Yeah,
I guess so.
Bye,
Captain E.
J.
See you next time.
You and Captain E.
J.
Exchange a silent look and start making your way back toward the trapdoor leading to Mr.
Honeybee's hidden lab.
You leave Pinky and Thumbknuckler in the full light of day,
Yet totally in the dark.
Pinky may have thought he had two spies in his business before,
But now he definitely does.
Two of the smartest,
Mr.
Honeybee and Warpino,
Stay behind to be the eyes and ears we need to keep our friends close,
But our enemies closer.
Pinkyknuckler is set on being the enemy,
And so we keep showing up to take him down at every turn.
E.
J.
,
The Captain,
The coast is clear.
Pinky and Thumb are arguing too loudly to notice anything else.
I'll keep an electric eye on them.
Thanks,
Warpino.
Stay close,
But don't let them catch you.
Excellent work,
Team.
I've already started analyzing the tunnel's energy patterns again.
We can't let the Knucklers dig any deeper into this.
As you approach the hidden trapdoor,
Warpino materializes beside you,
His outline flickering faintly.
His look of concern mirrors the growing unease in your chest.
Honeybee the Hero,
I see that you understand what I'm going to say before I say it,
But I must say it.
These tunnels,
They are not just tunnels.
They are a gateway to something vast and incomprehensible.
If your species isn't ready to understand it,
You must at least protect it.
We'll protect it,
Warpino.
Let's secure the trapdoor for now and keep this place off the Knucklers' radar.
Together,
The three of you brush the leaves back over the trapdoor,
Ensuring it's completely hidden from sight.
Warpino lingers nearby,
Keeping watch with his shimmering near-invisible form,
And before you can close the trapdoor,
He peeks his little head in the open space.
If Pinky comes back,
I'll,
What's the phrase?
Zap him into next week.
I'd say that for emergencies,
Warpino,
But thanks for keeping an eye out.
Uh,
Captain,
You're never going to guess what just happened.
If Pinky took more hostages,
Just have Warpino zap him.
I gave him plenty of warning.
No,
It's not that.
I,
I just got a call.
You know those delivery drivers?
They weren't just delivery drivers.
They were spies.
What?
Their profiles just pinged on an intelligence network I monitor for unusual activity.
They were spies.
Real spies.
And they weren't after the Knucklers.
They were after the tunnels.
What?
Are you serious?
Wow,
Pinky was right.
Serious,
Captain.
And I promise never to tell Pinky you said that.
But if the Knucklers are getting close to understanding the tunnel's true power,
They're not the only ones.
These spies are part of a bigger picture.
Someone out there knows what we've uncovered,
And they're making moves.
As you and Captain EJ share a long,
Heavy look,
Thinking with your one mind what to do next,
You can't help but glance at the holographic maps once more,
To feel the weight of the secrets buried beneath in these tunnels.
The Knucklers might be loud and clumsy,
But they're determined.
And now,
You know they're not the only ones interested in the tunnel's mysteries.
What lies beneath Dormir could change everything,
And everyone seems to know it but us,
For now.
EJ.
.
.
That concludes our adventure.
I can't wait to see you again.
Captain EJ,
Over and out.
EJ-911,
Captain speaking.
This is.
.
.
Situation.
And I'm guessing by situation,
You mean something extremely dangerous?
Dr.
Knuck.
.
.
Malfunctioned.
Malfunction?
How?
Well,
Uh.
.
.
Spreading.
Freezing.
.
.
Everything?
Catastrophic!
We mean- World ending?
Understood.
We're on it.
Transferring to dispatch.
Hero,
This is a chilling development.
Pun emphatically intended.
It seems like the Knucklers' lab is in the middle of a frosty fiasco.
Their experiments have gone from cutting-edge to ice-cold chaos.
They gave me remote connection to one of their labs,
So you'll be able to get in.
On a side note,
Did you know they have multiple labs?
Multiple!
What are they doing there?
We need to resolve this freeze-over,
But also keep an extra eye out for anything you can see that will help us understand their real research.
One of their labs is very near to one of the strongest nodes in the tunnel systems,
Where Pino would freeze his circuits if he heard about this.
But don't worry,
I'll keep things cool on my end while you and E.
J.
Warm things up.
Oh wait,
I've got one more.
Don't let their problems snowball,
Hero.
So,
Let's nip this one in the ice bud before we have an iceberg in our midst.
Get it?
E.
J.
Captain E.
J.
And Hero to the rescue.
Let's begin.
You are here with Captain E.
J.
,
Walking through the sun-dappled woods of Dormir.
It's the kind of warm summer day where the air feels thick with humidity,
And the scent of blooming wildflowers mingles with the earthy aroma of the forest.
But there's an unnatural chill in the air.
A frigid breeze cuts through the warmth,
Sharp and biting,
Like Antarctica itself is sprouting in the middle of the forest,
In the middle of spring.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the coolness of the air coming in through your nose,
Colder than usual,
As the warm sun shines on your skin,
Warming you from the outside in as a chill runs up your spine.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
Ahead,
A weathered stone archway looms,
Partially hidden by the creeping ivy and the shadows of the dense trees.
Frost clings to the edges of the arch,
Glistening unnaturally in the sunlight.
A metal door insert into the stone bears the unmistakable knuckler insignia,
An intricate K overlaid on a silver atom.
The knucklers really have a thing for dramatic buildings,
Don't they?
This thing must be frozen.
Shut.
The icy door cracks,
Then creaks open,
And a rush of frigid air spills out,
Curling into the warm forest like a ghastly hand reaching out for the sunlight.
Beyond the door,
A set of frost-covered metal stairs spirals down into the darkness.
The temperature drops sharply with each step,
The chill biting at your skin despite the summer warmth above.
Just as you begin to feel the sting of the icy air,
Your Battle Buzz helmet emits a soft hum,
And a glowing orb of warmth surrounds you like your own tropical beach.
The orb adjusts dynamically with the environment,
Shielding you from the frost as you descend deeper into the knuckler's frozen lab.
That's much better.
With the helmet keeping us at optimal temperature,
We're able to focus on the mission at hand.
First,
Find both Dr.
Knucklers,
Then make it spring again.
The deeper you and Captain EJ go,
The more the ice seems to take over,
Creeping up walls,
Consuming cables,
And distorting the once-advanced lab into a frozen wasteland.
The centerpiece of the chaos stands ahead,
The fractional distillator pulsing faintly beneath a thick casing of ice.
Frosty tendrils radiate outward from the device,
Spreading like plague.
Hero,
You see that machine right there?
That's the heart of this operation.
It's supposed to extract silver particles from the air,
Not turn the lab into the North Pole.
And this frost is not exactly life-supporting.
If we don't stop it,
The whole lab and more could be lost.
We'll fix it,
Mr.
H.
The Knucklers aren't exactly known for tidy experiments.
There could be surprises.
Do you know where they are?
Let me fish around a bit.
I've never gone ice fishing before,
But today's the day.
You and Captain EJ move closer to the frozen machinery,
Careful not to disturb the equipment around you.
When things are this frigid,
There's no room to bend.
Things only break when it's this cold.
The air grows heavier with each step,
Thick with the metallic scent of silver and the biting chill of frost clinging to everything you see around you.
As you reach the central chamber,
The icy hum of the core fills the space,
Vibrating in your chest like a low growl.
Take another slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
You bring in with you the force of balance,
A compassionate warmth,
The only thing that can restore order to this science experiment gone wrong.
Allow the cold air to sharpen your focus on this truth,
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
A distant crack echoes through the lab.
Somewhere behind you,
The faint creak of metal suggests movement.
Some thing or someone that has not been frozen solid yet.
The sound reverberates through the icy halls,
Each creak and groan amplified by the stark,
Freezing air.
You pause mid-step,
Scanning the chamber with your BattleBuzz helmet.
It's sensors glowing faintly as they analyze the surroundings,
Picking up heat signatures that are few and far between with ease.
Hero,
But it's coming from somewhere behind the machine.
Could be the knucklers.
Could be something worse.
Let's hope it's the knucklers.
Keep tracking them,
Mr.
H.
Hero and I will check it out.
You and Captain EJ tread cautiously across the frost-covered floor,
Every step crunching softly against the ice.
Right foot,
Left foot,
Right foot,
Left foot.
The glow of the helmet's warmth illuminates the path ahead,
Reflecting off the jagged,
Frozen surfaces like a guiding light in this icy abyss.
It's definitely getting colder.
Distillation is spiraling out of control.
We don't have much time to stabilize it before this whole place freezes over.
There,
Did you hear that?
Voices.
Following the sound,
You make your way deeper into the lab,
Navigating around icy machinery and brittle cables that snap like icicles underfoot.
At last,
You spot a flicker of movement beyond a frozen console.
Dr.
Knucklers,
Are you there?
Captain EJ!
Behind the massive core of their state-of-the-art machinery,
You find the elder knucklers huddled together inside an improvised shelter made from insulated panels and emergency space blankets.
Their faces are pale,
Their breath visible in the freezing air.
They've rigged a small heat lamp to stave off the worst of the cold,
But the frost encroaches steadily,
Creeping closer to their fragile refuge.
Hang tight.
Hiro and I will get you out of here.
Good news.
Your BattleBuzz helmet is detecting a way to boost the warmth around them.
Get close,
And let the heat from the orb thaw out their escape routes.
You approach the knucklers,
The glowing orb of warmth expanding as you near them.
The frost melts away in shimmering rivulets,
Revealing the frost mechanisms that lock them inside.
Oh,
Thank you,
Thank you!
I thought we'd be popsicles forever.
It'd be worth it for the it's so cold.
We didn't mean for this to happen.
The distillation core,
It's never done this before.
What were you experimenting on?
And don't leave out any details,
Please,
For all of our safety.
We were trying to boost the core's output.
Dormir's climate provides perfect conditions for extracting silver particles,
But the core.
.
.
Overloaded.
We cannot figure out why.
Nothing we did would have caused this chain reaction.
Something's interfering.
Or someone.
And now,
Instead of releasing heat,
It's drawing it in,
Amplifying the cold.
There are so many strange phenomena around this area.
We still don't understand it,
But that's why we're here.
Phenomena?
Hmm.
It's complicated,
Captain EJ.
I wish I could say more.
Me too.
It would be helpful to know what you know about the- The what?
Uh,
About the malfunction.
The reversal of your distillation process,
I mean.
Captain,
Whatever they did,
It's destabilized the entire system.
Do not tell them what we know about the tunnels.
I don't trust that they won't tell their sons.
Focus on the mission.
If we don't shut down that core soon,
The cold could spread beyond the lab.
We're talking a freeze wave.
Dormir could be next.
And then,
Us.
Then let's not waste any more time.
Hiro,
Help me thaw them loose,
And then we'll take down that core.
As you,
Captain EJ,
And the Elder Knucklers move cautiously through the frozen labyrinth of their research lab,
The air seems to pulse with even more of a hostile chill.
The icy tendrils of this satellite Knuckler lab stretch in every direction,
An ever-expanding frozen wasteland threatening to consume everything in its path.
Somewhere in the chaos,
A distant metallic thud echoes,
Followed by muffled voices.
Thumb,
You've stopped tripping over everything.
You're going to make it worse.
How am I supposed to see where I'm going?
Everything's frozen.
You didn't think to invent frost-proof goggles,
Sir Genius McGee.
I'm all fogged up.
I can't see where I'm going.
Thumb,
Don't touch that.
I wasn't touching anything.
I was just,
Uh,
Inspecting.
Inspecting is touching with your eyes.
Knock it off before Mom and Dad see us.
We can all hear you and see you,
Knucklers.
Pinky,
Thumb,
What are you two doing down here?
Oh no,
They're coming.
Act natural during this catastrophe?
I knew it.
I knew you two had something to do with this.
What did you touch?
We didn't touch anything,
Dad.
I swear.
We were just,
Uh,
Checking on your experiment,
Making sure it was safe.
Safe?
Does this look safe to you?
The core is destabilizing,
The lab is freezing over,
And you two are lurking around like rats in a pantry.
We didn't mean to mess anything up.
Honest.
Thumb,
Shut it.
Don't make it worse.
Didn't mean to.
Doesn't cut it.
This is years of work.
Our work.
Teetering on the brink of disaster because you two can't keep your noses out of things.
Everyone,
Stop.
There's no time.
What matters now is stabilizing the core before the lab and everything else is lost.
He's right.
We can ground you longer than you've ever been grounded before.
Later,
Boys.
Hero,
We need that eagle-eyed focus of yours.
The core's main control panel is your target.
It's buried under all that ice,
But if you use the thermal pulse from your helmet,
You can melt your way in.
Uh,
That's a neat little trick.
Where'd you get that?
Can we get helmets like that?
They look useful.
Forget helmets.
You both sit there,
Quietly.
Let them focus on fixing your mess before it's irreversible.
Stand back.
Hero and I have this under control.
A beam of focused warmth radiates from the BattleBuzz helmet,
Cutting through the thick layer of frost like a blade through butter.
The ice begins to melt,
Steam rising as the controls are revealed.
Finally,
Now we can input the shutdown sequence before this turns into a full-scale arctic disaster.
Hero,
Roger,
Robot,
And I have hacked into their lab,
But don't repeat that.
This is a form of ecological warfare,
So the rules are a bit different.
According to me,
I sent the override sequence to your helmet.
Input it exactly as it appears,
And we'll be able to deactivate the core.
No pressure,
Though.
It's only the fate of the lab and the town at stake.
Did you hear that?
Someone's talking into their ears.
What are they saying?
Pinky,
What did I say?
Quiet.
You think they'll ever let us out of the house again?
No,
Brother.
We're done for.
We're on the night watch forever again.
I was kind of liking being out in the daytime.
It's sunny and nice.
The hum of the core grows louder as you carefully input the sequence.
Each button press is a calculated step toward stopping the frozen chaos.
Hero,
You did it!
The core is shutting down,
And the temperature's already stabilizing.
They did it!
Pinky,
We're saved!
Mom,
Dad,
Since your research isn't lost forever,
And the world didn't end due to our lack of mature foresight,
Do you think we can maybe only be grounded for a few years and able to see daylight again soon?
Hmm,
Fat chance.
Pinky,
I promise if there is one more snarky word from you,
I will turn you over to the proper authorities.
Thumb,
Can you seriously say this is saved?
Our experiment is ruined.
Setback exponentially.
You two are in the biggest trouble you've ever been in.
At least a year of tunnel duty,
And nothing fun.
Just night watch.
Okay,
Mom.
I understand.
The punishment fits the crime.
Tunnel duty?
Oh,
Don't you worry yourself about it,
Captain EJ.
Just science-y stuff.
We'll fill you in later.
There is something we'd like your and Hero's help with,
But now's not the time.
What could the Elder Knucklers want our help with?
They did mention wanting to collaborate some.
Hmm,
Maybe this will be the beginning of something.
Maybe we'll implant ourselves into the Knuckler compound and be able to finally curtail Pinky and Thumb's antics that way.
You continue to wander as the team begins their trek back up the frozen stairs.
The lab hums with residual energy,
Its secrets lingering just beneath the surface.
The Knucklers' experiments may be contained for now,
But you can't shake the feeling that this isn't the last time their work will cause chaos.
You step back into the warm summer sunlight,
The frozen nightmare of the lab now sealed securely behind you and slowly thawing.
The stone archway still bears a faint frost,
A testament to the chaos below,
But the biting chill in the air has already begun to fade.
Pinky and Thumb follow closely behind the rest of you,
Eager to get back into the sunlight,
Their voices rising in an all-too-familiar sibling squabble.
Their bickering carries into the open air as Dr.
Knuckler steps between them,
Silencing the argument with a sharp look.
Even without saying a word,
His icy glare freezes them in their tracks,
Ironic considering the circumstances.
Pinky and Thumb exchange uneasy glances before slinking off toward the far end of the woods.
The direction they're heading catches your attention immediately,
A faint trail leading into the dense forest.
You notice something strange as they approach,
A patch of frost clinging stubbornly to the ground near what looks like recently piled leaves,
Unnaturally put there on purpose.
Dr.
Knuckler adjusts his glasses,
His sharp gaze fitting toward you briefly before focusing elsewhere.
It's subtle,
But you can tell he hopes you don't follow up.
Why would they be sending Pinky and Thumb toward the tunnels as punishment?
What are they doing?
Dr.
Knuckler clears his throat and turns to address the group,
His tone shifting to something more cordial if not entirely sincere.
I'll admit,
Captain EJ,
That experiment was risky,
Perhaps slightly beyond the margins of what's considered safe.
But science isn't about playing it safe,
It's about progress.
Next time,
I'll simply adjust the margins.
And our safety,
Captain EJ.
We have some.
.
.
Hypotheses that could benefit from yours and Hero's expertise in the future.
I'll say this for now,
There's a lot more to those tunnels you unearthed,
And this town,
Than meets the eye.
We'll send an invitation when the time is right.
Bye for now,
Captain EJ.
And of course,
Our dear Hero.
Her words linger as the elder Knucklers turn back towards the satellite lab.
Their white lab coats thaw just enough to trail behind them in the warm breeze.
The faint shimmer of frost near the pile of leaves catches your eye again,
Sending a chill not from the cold,
But from something deeper down your spine.
Captain EJ feels it too.
I know what you're thinking,
Captain.
It'd be such a bad idea to ever collaborate with them.
Way too much proximity to those Knuckler boys.
Good thinking.
I wasn't thinking that at all,
Mr.
H.
Ugh,
I know.
I was trying reverse psychology.
Please,
Do not even consider going back to that compound.
Please!
If you focus on that prototype I know you're building that will let you read my mind.
Then maybe you'll see I have a plan,
And it definitely involves that Knuckler compound.
As the springtime warmth returns to the forest,
You can't shake the feeling that this is far from over.
Whatever lies beneath Dormir's surface,
The Knucklers seem determined to uncover it,
And if they're inviting you back,
You can bet there's more at stake than they're letting on.
Hero,
Looks like this mission's led to an even bigger one.
But first,
Do you think it's too soon for ice cream?
I knew you'd say that.
I have your favorite flavors back at the Command Center.
Come on back,
Team.
E.
J.
That concludes our adventure.
I can't wait to see you again.
Captain E.
J.
,
Over and out.
E.
J.
9-1-1,
Captain speaking.
A clone?
You can't tell them apart at all?
But if the clone is evil then,
Shouldn't it be obvious?
Oh,
They're both evil.
One Pinky Knuckler is enough.
We're on it.
Transferring to dispatch.
Hero,
This mission is a doozy.
I feel like I say that a lot,
But this time I mean it.
You have not one,
But two pinkies on your hands.
Uh,
Not pinkies on your hand.
Pinky Knuckle.
Uh,
I mean Knuckler.
Pinky Knuckler cloned.
Two of them.
I'm sending you and Captain E.
J.
Sticky suits and an iris scanner.
I doubt Pinky has the ability to capture all 250 characteristics of the iris.
Your eyes have more identification markers than your fingerprints.
Buckle up,
Team,
And don't forget your Battle Buzz helmet.
I need eyes on the ground.
Your E.
N.
V.
's are waiting with all you'll need inside.
E.
J.
Captain E.
J.
And Hero to the rescue.
Let's begin.
You are here,
Standing beside Captain E.
J.
In his driveway,
Watching as both of your E.
N.
V.
Magnetize to you with a simple hand gesture.
After so many missions,
This machine has become an extension of you and you feel superbly confident when at its controls.
As you zip the sticky suit Mr.
Honeybee sent you up to your chin and open up the door to climb in,
You feel as powerful as you've ever felt,
Ready to take on this double-take Confusion of Clones mission.
Holding the E.
N.
V.
Steering wheel in your hand,
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the cool air coming in through your nose and filling your lungs.
Focus on the sensation of your ribcage expanding against the protective suit that you're wearing.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and take to the skies beside your best friend and partner in the good fight for what's right,
Captain E.
J.
There is only one of you,
Hero.
No one else can stick by Captain E.
J.
's side like you can.
A pinky knuckler seems to have made a mess of his sense of self.
The call into Captain's emergency line was from a concerned neighbor of the knucklers.
Once again,
Doctor and Dr.
Knuckler are away on a research sabbatical,
And Pinky has taken it upon himself to stir up more chaos.
This time,
Though,
He's the only victim of his own technological genius.
We slow down as we approach the gargantuan stone walls of the knuckler compound,
Scanning the landscape for two tiny pinkies at war with each other.
Mr.
Honeybee has equipped us with an iris scanner to detect a real pinky knuckler,
But like always,
We never know what state of emergency will greet us on these emergency calls.
We expect the pinkies to be running from each other,
Armed with science and ingenuity,
But instead,
We find not one but both pinkies trapped in the bear cages that stand guard at the front door of the compound,
One in each.
It's not often that the parties concerned are already separated when we arrive on the scene,
But that's what happens when you're at war with yourself like Pinky is.
You end up trapping yourself in a losing situation either way.
Pinky,
Pinky,
Pinky.
When will you give it up and just be good?
How many times must I defeat you?
Now you've resorted to defeating yourself?
I am the only one to do it.
You did not defeat me.
I will not agree to such libel.
But you have a chance to defeat him,
The fake Pinky.
I am the real Pinky.
Ask me anything,
I will be able to answer.
He is the imposter.
We could have worked together,
But no.
You had to show off.
I could say the same to you,
Pinky.
No need for lessons,
Captain.
Just let me out and I will do away with this failure of science.
Not so fast.
We need to determine who is the real Pinky,
And before that,
You need to absolutely learn a lesson in humility.
I am a humble servant,
Captain.
I was simply trying to help the world by cloning its most intelligent being.
But instead,
He's resorted to trickery and mischief.
Despicable.
Do away with him,
Captain.
Let's start fresh with just one of me.
The real me.
I have learned my lesson from the most worthy of teachers.
Myself.
We watch the two Pinkies have a war of words,
Our heads ricocheting back and forth like an evil tennis match.
We know how to keep our eyes on the ball,
Though,
Don't we,
Hero?
We look to each other with a nod and let the evil twins wear themselves out like rabid,
Caged animals,
All the while assessing the sticky situation with keen eye to finding out the fake.
From what we can tell,
In all the back and forth,
The real Pinky wanted to push the envelope of 3D printing,
So he found a favorite photograph of himself and printed it.
Therefore,
The cloned Pinky is not a perfect clone by any means,
So we let them continue to talk and subtly scan both of their irises for Mr.
Honeybee to analyze.
As expected,
Pinky did not optimize his clone on a 250 point match for the iris.
They say eyes are the window to the soul and both of these souls look like haunted houses.
One of these Pinky's eyes has lots of scratches and broken glass in their window.
One of the Pinky's has severe damage to the left iris.
We need some interrogation,
Captain.
Try to get a sense if something happened to the real Pinky recently that would cause this.
The clone would have the same eyes as he did in the picture he printed.
Pinky.
Yes,
Captain?
Hey,
You do not respond to that name.
Why?
It's my name.
Okay,
Okay.
You're clones of each other,
But not perfect clones.
What are you referring to,
Captain?
I do not like the tone of that statement.
We are both perfect.
I am perfect,
And this is a sad copy.
Well,
One of you has severe iris damage.
Did something else blow up in your face to cause that?
Yes,
You're right.
Wait,
No.
If one is pushing the cutting edge of technology for the human race,
Then surely there will be collateral damage.
I had to dip into the alchemical literature to make this copy and may have exploded some highly purified silver in the process.
Ding,
Ding,
Ding.
That's the real Pinky,
The failed alchemist.
Let me out of this prison.
I need to resume my experiments.
Sure thing.
Come with us.
Tell us more about your experiments,
Pinky.
Captain!
No,
That is the clone.
I am the real Pinky.
You see,
I had the clone back there doing my alchemical processes for me.
It's dangerous stuff and I cannot risk harm.
That was my only motivation for cloning myself.
But alas,
The world is not ready for two Pinkies.
We sure aren't.
Unhand me,
Cretins.
You have no right to detain me.
The world needs me.
You need my intelligence.
We handcuff the clone without incident,
Using his own big-headed hubris against him.
The cloned apple does not fall far from the rotten tree.
He rails against us,
But we have his hands behind his back and all of the power imbued in those who fight only for what's right.
You use your considerable strength to hold the clone still with his hands cuffed,
While I head back to the real Pinky for a quick lesson before I let him out.
Captain,
Please accept my apologies.
No need to give me a speech.
I am my own worst enemy,
But also,
No one can defeat me but me.
I've.
.
.
I've proven that.
You are very smart,
Pinky.
Wow.
Seems you've come around,
My friend.
I say that only to say that with intelligence comes power and responsibility.
You are responsible for what you create and have a duty to your fellow human beings.
Just be a person,
Pinky.
You're not a villain.
You're a person,
And you have a lot of good to offer.
Just try to see that,
Okay?
Okay,
Captain EJ.
I understand your point.
Surprised by Pinky's sudden ability to fall in line,
We want so badly to believe he's committed to turning over a new leaf,
But we're not new to this fight for what's right.
Pinky has taught us that he will take every opportunity to undervalue his own best interests and integrity.
We continue to walk back to the ENVs wondering silently what in the world we will do with this clone.
Well,
We can't recycle him like paper other things are printed on.
You're dangerously close to being able to read our minds,
Mr.
H.
My life's work is to be able to read both of your minds.
They're a work of art.
Especially the way you and Hero can communicate without saying anything.
I am learning how to anticipate your next sentence,
Though.
Like,
I bet you're wondering why I sent you sticky suits,
Huh?
Actually,
Yeah.
They're really sticky.
Hero and I are sticking to the clone.
Gotta figure out what to do with- Before I can finish my sentence that Mr.
Honeybee is trying to anticipate,
A familiar sound zaps at our detainee.
The clone disintegrates before our very eyes,
And when we look back,
None other than Pinky Knuckler is at the helm of the Distillator once again.
I figured the real Pinky would do something like that.
Those suits let you walk up walls.
Doctor and Dr.
Knuckler gave us a code to disable the Distillator when they're gone.
Come on,
Hero.
Let's walk up some walls and take Pinky Knuckler down once again.
Looking up the castle-like walls of the Knuckler compound,
Preparing to walk straight up,
Take another slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel your chest and your spirits lift as you ascend the walk,
Step by step,
To confront an unsuspecting Pinky.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth,
And enter the code to disable the machine.
We leave Pinky Knuckler to his tantrum,
And instead enjoy the rest of the afternoon climbing the tallest buildings in Dormir,
And then skyscrapers in the Honeybee neighborhood.
There is no height too high for our power to reach,
Especially when we're together,
Fighting for what's right.
Oh,
Hi,
Sally.
Is everything.
.
.
Are you okay?
What do you mean?
Your eyes.
.
.
Are stuck like that?
Wow,
I thought that was just a thing parents said.
No,
No,
Sally.
I'm not laughing at you.
I promise I'm not.
This is certainly an emergency.
Did you try taking a nap?
Okay,
Okay.
It's okay,
Sally.
You'll be able to get back to work in no time.
Try resting your eyes until we can get there and set things straight.
No,
I'm not.
I'm not laughing at you.
Sit tight.
We're on it.
Transferring to dispatch.
Hero,
This mission is.
.
.
Hmm,
How can I put this?
Delicate.
Sally Smith has stared herself cross-eyed,
Focusing on her latest silversmithing project.
Wow,
I thought that was just a thing I said to my kids.
I'm going to send you with a proprietary pair of sunglasses that are.
.
.
Well,
You'll see.
And hopefully,
So will Sally.
They will loosen up the spasms that are likely creating her predicament.
She'll also likely need to start a series of daily eye exercises,
Which I'll download into your BattleBuzz helmet.
This is why it's so important that you and Captain EJ take breaks to relax and unwind.
Otherwise,
You'll tie yourself up in knots of all kinds.
Your ENVs are waiting.
EJ.
Captain EJ and Hero to the rescue.
Let's begin.
You are here,
Standing beside your best friend Captain EJ,
Sharing a puzzled look as Mr.
Honeybee hands both of you your very own pair of googly-eyed glasses.
You look to Captain EJ,
Then to Mr.
Honeybee,
Who is wearing costume glasses with a fake nose and moustache attached,
As if he is attempting to disguise himself.
He hands you the glasses with the utmost seriousness,
And you cannot tell if this is another installment in the long history of prank wars between Captain EJ and his right-hand man.
But Mr.
Honeybee is serious.
These are the glasses that will help Sally.
I'm serious.
Try these out.
They'll change your life.
Okay,
But why are you wearing a fake nose and moustache?
Oh,
These?
This was my proto-prototype.
I had to dig into the Halloween costumes to find a spare pair of glasses,
Just in case the prototype didn't pan out.
But it did.
Taking the googly glasses with who-knows-what kind of technology built in,
You put them on with suspicion,
Still watching Mr.
Honeybee's face in case this is a prank.
Once the glasses make contact with your face,
Though,
You realize quickly that this is anything but a prank.
These glasses have built-in massagers.
You close your eyes and enjoy the quiet sensation of your eyes finally relaxing after a long while of being opened and attuned to every little thing.
It's as if a thousand microscopic robots were massaging each and every itsy-bitsy muscle around your eyes that you never realized you had.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Close your eyelids as tightly as you can and move your eyes in a big,
Sweeping circle to feel all the strength you have here.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
Let your eyes relax in their sockets even more deeply.
Let your jaw hang loose and feel the area around your eyebrows unfurl.
Our busy days imprint most on this part of our face.
Sometimes eyebrows will knit themselves into knots and your jaw will clench itself even when we don't realize it.
With our eyes still closed,
Mr.
Honeybee ushers us each into our ENV and sets its autopilot function to dormir.
Before we can help Sally unwind,
We first have to reconnect with our own relaxation.
People do not realize how crucial rest is to being a superhero,
But that's part of what we'll do on this mission.
When we get to Sally's smithing ranch,
We cannot find her anywhere.
We walk the perimeter of the sprawling property calling out her name and becoming increasingly worried with so many machines around.
After doing two loops around her ranch and a thorough sweep of her smithing workshop,
We finally hear a clue as to where she could be.
The stumbling sound leads us to her tool shed,
Where we find Sally Smith standing in the corner as if in trouble.
She hears us coming for her and immediately regrets asking for help out of embarrassment.
In an effort to make her feel better,
We put our googly eyed glasses back on.
A little laugh might lift her spirits.
Just go back to command center,
Captain EJ and Hero.
I'll figure this out.
I don't know how this happened to me.
I thought that was just a thing parents said,
But it's true.
My eyes are stuck crossed,
Looking at my nose.
I can't see anything.
Nothing.
I can't smith silver.
My last name is Smith.
I can't show my face around doormirror anymore.
Literally,
My life is over.
Sally,
Come on.
We have something for Mr.
Honeybee that will help.
Look at us.
We're wearing them too.
Wearing what?
I can't tell if it's just my blurry vision,
But it looks like you're wearing googly eyed glasses.
How on earth will those help me?
Are you holding out two pairs?
Why can't I grab them?
No,
No,
They're right here.
Here.
There you go.
Put those on and watch.
I wish I could watch anything.
Uh,
I mean experience.
Just put them on.
Trust us.
Sally puts all of her trust in us and reluctantly tries the strange glasses,
Which have an immediate effect.
Sally slinks down in the corner relieved.
Her eyes were so strained that the six main muscles that control our eyes all revolted at the same time.
We sit down on the floor of the tool shed that's covered in silver dust,
Listening to our longtime friend.
Some emergencies are urgent situations that require swift action,
But others require sitting cross-legged and cross-eyed with a friend until they feel strong enough to stand up straight again.
Sally Smith explains that she has been up for the last two days,
More than 48 hours fixated on fixing up one of her family's heirloom smithing tools.
She hasn't eaten,
Stopped,
Or hardly moved from the hunched over position she assumed for this project.
Curious about how she ended up in the tool shed,
She confesses she doesn't know where she's at because she cannot see much of anything.
Sally tried walking forward when we tell her we're in the corner of her tool shed.
She realizes she was walking in circles instead.
With a big sigh,
Sally Smith finally pauses from her work and her story and relaxes fully into the eye massage behind her glass.
She falls into an exhausted sort of half-sleep trance and doesn't even notice when you lightly remove the glasses from her eyes to do a few eyeball exercises that Mr.
Honeybee supplied us with.
One in particular that will help her spastic muscles is called the pencil push-up.
As quietly and discreetly as I can,
I search high and low for a pencil in Sally's workshop.
When I find one,
You sit by Sally to show her what to do.
Take another slow,
Deep breath in through your nose,
And focus on the tip of the eraser on the pencil I'm holding out in front of my face,
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth,
And follow the eraser as I move it closer to your nose.
Sally Smith does the same.
Before it goes double,
I move the pencil farther away,
And that is what finally unlocks Sally's stuck eyes.
Just like a push-up for your arm muscles,
Keeping the eraser in focus as it moves closer and then further from your nose engages the six solitary muscles around your eyes that help you focus intently.
When these become strained,
You can't focus as well,
And thus cannot be your best.
You slip the glasses back on Sally's face,
While we console and encourage her with our own struggles of how difficult it is to leave a mission behind us once we're done.
We tell her that things will stick in our minds long after the mission,
And that we have to intentionally distract ourselves with focused fun.
She giggles at the idea of focused fun,
Which is extra funny while she's wearing googly-eyed glasses,
But focused fun is something we believe in fully,
A secret weapon in our superhero toolshed.
Without realizing it,
She launches into another story,
Talking exaggeratedly with her hands before taking off the glasses.
Sally leads us through her smithing workshop,
Regaling us with the stories behind each of her tools,
Half-done projects,
And silver trinkets that fill up her space.
Sally doesn't realize,
But her eyes have uncrossed.
She's able to walk and see straight once again,
But to our dismay,
She goes right back to fixating on her fix.
It's just so exhilarating when you finish a project,
You know?
It's like you work and work and work,
And then bam,
You're all done.
You're done.
It's done.
And fixing up this one little thing is going to make a huge difference in the amount of silver I can smith in a day.
It's this tiny little dial.
I have bifocals to help me focus.
Ugh,
My eyes get so tired,
But it's so fun,
You know?
This must be the focused fun you're talking about.
Such a good idea.
Thanks,
Team.
I'm back to work.
Sally,
Don't you think you should let your eyes rest a bit more?
This is not focused fun.
It's just more focus.
We have more eye exercises that are good for strain.
You're gonna.
.
.
Before we can fully warm Sally Smith as she's headed right back into stuckness,
Her eyes give her a warning she can't ignore.
She goes cross-eyed once again and looks to each of us with one of her crossed eyes.
We'll have to do one more eye exercise,
But also figure out a way to unstick Sally from her fixation on work.
Immediately regretting her actions,
She pleads with us once more.
Take your slowest,
Deepest breath in and rub your hands together as fast as you can to warm them up.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and place the warmed-up palm of each hand over the corresponding cheekbone.
Cup your hand over each eye and close your eyes to focus instead of your breath,
Lightly applying pressure to this tender part of your face.
Once again,
Sally's eyes are unstuck,
And once again,
She rushes right back to work,
Having learned nothing from our emergency visit.
This calls for more drastic measures,
Which alarm Mr.
Honeybee back at Command Center.
Uh,
Captain,
What is that enormous claw-looking thing,
And what are you going to do with it?
It looks like it should be in one of those toy machines.
It does kind of look like one of those toy-grabbing claws,
But this,
This is going to pluck Sally out of her fixation.
She needs focused fun,
Mr.
H.
She's exhausted and refuses to eat.
Uh,
Happens to the best of us.
You going to do roller coasters or an escape room?
Roller coasters for sure.
Sally,
Hero and I are going to pick you up with this claw.
Sally,
Can you hear me?
I seriously love smithing silver.
I don't even mind that it turns me silver.
I kind of like shimmering.
This old tool has to be,
What,
200 years old?
When did we discover silver?
Imagine if we didn't.
Whoa,
What?
Is this my mining claw?
Captain E.
J.
,
Hero,
Are you plucking me out of my workshop with my own claw?
Yep,
Now you're going to learn what focused fun is.
Out in the sunshine of a beautiful bright day,
Sally's eyes finally get a break from staring at silver shimmer in favor of lush green.
We put her between us,
Front row for the highest looping roller coaster this amusement park offers,
And she loves it.
You wait for the feeling of your belly dropping on the rush down before it climbs up high once again.
This is focused fun.
This is how we can be as strong and valiant as we are,
Hero,
Because we make the time to have fun together.
It's just as important as our discipline and training are to our missions.
This is so much fun.
Thank you,
Captain E.
J.
And Hero.
That concludes our adventure.
I can't wait to see you again.
Captain E.
J.
,
Over and out.
E.
J.
9-1-1,
Captain speaking.
Oh,
Hello,
Your Honor.
It's not often that we get judges on the emergency line.
Is there a problem in your courtroom?
Wait,
You're transferring me to who?
Oh,
Hello,
Ma'am.
I don't know.
You called me.
Okay,
I'll hold.
How am I on hold?
On an emergency line?
Bureaucracy.
This is why I work for myself.
Oh,
Hi.
No,
I was talking to my friend while on hold.
Why am I on hold?
Who is this?
Wow,
A private investigator?
Of course we'll help you with your case.
How many identities have been stolen?
30?
Whoa,
Someone has been busy.
We're on it.
Transferring to dispatch.
Hero,
This mission is a doozy.
Okay,
I definitely say that too much.
To be more specific,
This mission is a whodunit mystery.
Identities have been stolen left and right from all across the Honeybee neighborhood.
Fingerprints are being swiped right off people's hands by an unknown perpetrator that lurks in the shadows.
But not for long.
Hero,
You and Captain EJ will be teaming up with a local private investigator who has been on the case.
He needs fresh eyes,
Ears,
And minds.
So I'm sending you both notepads with a very unsuspecting but high-tech pen.
We gotta go somewhat analog for this mission.
Oh,
And you'll need trench coats and a swanky detective hat.
There's no technology in them,
But you have to look the part.
Come to the command center.
I'll teleport you both directly.
EJ.
Captain EJ and Hero to the rescue.
Let's begin.
You are here,
Walking the last few steps up Mr.
Honeybee's driveway to his garage.
The command center is nested behind an unassuming garage door so as not to draw any undue attention to the groundbreaking,
Earth-shaking technology within.
The big garage door is open,
So we let ourselves in but look around and don't see Mr.
Honeybee anywhere inside.
We give each other the same look to ask,
Didn't he tell us to meet him here?
You point out where he set up the teleportation pad,
And I pick up the remote still on his work bench.
He should be here.
While I peek my head inside the inner door that leads to the house,
Mrs.
Honeybee confirms that her husband should be out in the garage.
That's when you see a mysterious shadowy figure slyly spy from around the corner of the garage.
You laugh when you realize it's Mr.
Honeybee,
Donning a full-film noir detective trench coat and a wide-brimmed hat tilted down to conceal his face and his penetrating thoughts.
Your giggle gets my attention,
And I cannot hold in my laughter quite as much as you.
Mr.
Honeybee,
Please tell me you don't think that's what detectives are like in real life.
What are you referring to?
Does anyone know your real name yet?
What's the secret code?
You sent me.
There's no code.
What are you writing down?
Private notes.
Private eyes have to note everything.
The secret code is bananas.
Remember that.
Where were you the night of.
.
.
Mr.
H,
Please always play the good cop in the good cop bad cop routine.
You can't pull off bad cop like this.
You're smiling.
I know,
Right?
I'm much better behind the scenes with technology.
But aren't these trench coats cool?
The hats,
The sunglasses.
I feel so neato wearing this.
Here it comes.
So incognito.
Do you get it?
Incognito?
Private investigator?
You can't see me because of my good disguise and detective skills.
I assure you,
We got it.
Okay,
Yours are over there.
And I have a miniature of the battle bus helmet as an earpiece.
Wow,
These are nice.
I can do a little private investigation in this,
And the hat,
And the earpiece.
Good work,
Mr.
Honeybee.
Wait,
Where'd you go?
Mr.
Honeybee?
Ah,
I can see you behind the wall.
That's not how detectives are in real life.
Just teleport us and stick to the prototypes.
We appear out of nowhere in the middle of nowhere.
Dormir's not-so-bustling downtown looks to be plucked from a country western movie.
We wonder if Mr.
Honeybee could teleport us some cowboy boots too as we approach a ramshackle building that looks like a saloon.
Donning our swanky new coats and hats with an earpiece miniature of the battle bus helmet in our ears,
Armed with notepads and silver pens,
We're on the lookout for anyone,
Anyone at all out here.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose and strengthen each and every one of your muscles.
Really feel your own strength surge with your breath.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and allow your muscles to relax and your mind to follow.
We'll need to be sharp for this most strange emergency.
There seem to be more tumbleweeds than people.
That is,
Until you point out someone slinking about the side of the building,
Peeking around the corner at us.
Assuming that must be the private eye that simply doesn't see us,
We saunter over to him.
When he sees us,
He ducks back behind the building as if we didn't see him.
So as not to sneak up on him,
We announce ourselves as we corner and find him wearing a trench coat just like ours with his hat tipped down low to cover his face and sunglasses over his eyes.
He lifts up the hat ever so slightly and lowers one eye of the glasses then promptly asks us for the secret code.
Bananas.
It's bananas.
I told you there'd be a secret code.
Wow.
A real life private eye.
And you thought real detectives weren't like this.
Of course they are.
Astonished that Mr.
Honeybee was right.
Shouldn't have doubted me,
Captain.
This is going in the notes.
As I was saying,
Astonished that Mr.
H was right,
The private eye scribbles down the code word bananas on his notepad and even takes the time to draw a cluster of bananas with colored pencils while we watch and wait.
When he shows us his artwork,
His entire demeanor changes.
He welcomes us into his saloon with a smile and finally removes his disguise with a sigh.
His work on this case has been exhaustive.
This identity thief doesn't know when to stop.
Just this morning,
Five more sets of fingerprints have been lifted right off the hands of unsuspecting victims.
He reminds us that that's a total of 50 fingers that have been heisted,
With zero witnesses.
He's never seen such technology and he's at his wits end.
In all his years of investigation,
He's never seen technology like this,
Or crimes like this,
Or cases like this.
He sighs hopelessly.
We shoot each other a knowing look.
That's the sentiment we had,
Hero,
Right before we defeated the knucklers.
But we're trying not to have the knucklers take up any more space in our minds or lives than they have to.
This is something else.
Someone else.
It has to be.
After a long,
Drawn-out pause,
You ask why the judge was the one to call in to the emergency line.
The private eye perks up,
Eyes sparkling with some excitement.
The judges,
Not one but several,
Are his only lead in the case.
They have seen an uptick in name-change petitions,
But they were all denied due to suspicion of fraud.
Mysteriously,
All the name-change petitions come back to one person,
But he hasn't been able to find this person.
He seems to be completely off the grid.
No public records that even a highly-connected private eye can get access to.
He checks his notes.
One Thumb Knuckler.
The dumbfounded look we give the investigator answers his questions for him.
We do know him,
And know him well.
We also know exactly how to find Thumb once again.
We hightail it to and simply knock on the door.
The private eye is flabbergasted and disappears behind the corner of the compound,
Slinking about unnecessarily.
Why are private eyes like that?
To his surprise,
Pinky Knuckler opens the door.
The investigator never considered something as easy as knocking on the door.
Oh hello there,
Captain.
The replacement cloning hasn't worked yet.
I mean,
To what do I owe this pleasure of your visit?
Pinky,
Why is your face singed like that?
Are you seriously doing alchemy again?
No one has ever turned lead into gold.
That's why I'm using silver.
And yes,
I will be the world's first true alchemist.
How many times must things blow up in your face?
At least two more times.
Then I'll learn.
What do you want?
I'm busy.
And who's that slinking about around the corner?
That's a private eye.
He's very private.
Anyways,
Where's Thumb?
We need to talk to him.
I haven't the slightest idea.
But when you find him,
Please send him back.
I initially thought I was glad he was gone.
And I told him as much.
But I need someone to stir my silver concoction again.
My vision is still blurry from the last explosion.
Oh goodness,
I gotta go.
The investigator is furiously taking down notes,
Which reminds us that Mr.
Honeybee gave us that silver pen.
As we make our way around the entire town of Dormir interviewing victims and documenting fingerprintless hands of all sorts of people,
We decide to take some notes ourselves and come to find that these pens write awfully fast.
That's right,
Captain EJ,
These pens write as fast as your mind think.
I figured you'd be able to put together the puzzle of clues faster that way.
People of all sorts have lost their fingerprints and their identities to Thumb.
A Thumb has stolen a finger,
Prince.
No,
Now is not the time for jokes.
But I note that one down for later.
Thumbknuckler has tried to assume the identity of every sort of person with every sort of occupation,
And even one pup has lost his pawprints.
The fingerprintless victims don't yield any further clues as to where Thumb could be.
But after some furiously fast scribbling,
You have an idea.
The private investigator,
Who has been so incognito throughout the interviewing phase that we haven't seen him at all,
Pops out of a bush to record your idea.
Didn't Thumb and Pinky have a treehouse hideout in the forest?
As soon as you say that aloud,
The pen acts as a sort of weathervane and points southeasterly from where we stand.
The pen is merging our thoughts with our intentions to solve this case.
The investigator is amazed.
Sure enough,
We find Thumbknuckler stowed away in his hidey house sitting amidst hundreds of fingerprints that hang up on his wall on transfer paper.
He's sitting on the floor,
Hunched over a sheet of transfer paper,
Diligently transferring his latest victim's fingerprints up for use when we climb up the treehouse ladder with the private investigator and startle him.
Thumb.
So you're not going to acknowledge the literal theft in your hands right now?
Oh,
Okay.
Let's just leave him to it,
Hero.
We can go get some ice cream with Private Eye.
What Private Eye?
He's hiding.
He'll peek out when you say something about why you're committing these crimes.
Oh,
Right.
Well,
I don't want to be a knuckler anymore.
All the judges denied my name petitions because they think I'll commit some kind of fraud.
They don't even know me.
Would you say those judges are onto something,
Considering you've hundreds of identities?
Yeah,
I guess so.
Wow,
You're really sharp,
Captain EJ.
Hold out your hand.
No,
Thumb.
You can't have my identity either.
Oh,
Is that the Private Eye that took a picture with the flash?
Yeah,
That's him.
Tell us what's going on,
Thumb.
Let's resolve this.
Thumb Knuckler explains that he's fed up with how Pinky treats him.
He doesn't want to be a part of his family anymore or a brother to Pinky,
But he feels trapped by his name.
Pinky doesn't appreciate all that Thumb does,
And that's all Thumb wants,
A little appreciation.
Not even like a full thank you,
Thumb.
It could be a simple smile,
Or even just a thank.
I'll say the U for him,
You know.
But no,
Pinky is just mean.
He demands I do all this alchemy for him,
And he won't even do anything I want to do,
Or even talk to me while I stir the molten silver.
I'm done with Pinky.
Absolutely done.
We get it,
Thumb.
It's demoralizing to give so much without getting anything in return.
Reciprocation is the key to healthy relationships.
I have an idea.
The problem isn't your name,
It's your brother.
He needs to realize how much he needs you.
Okay?
You need to hide.
Like,
Really hide.
Private Eye,
Where did you go?
I actually need your help on the case.
We don't need to document any more evidence.
I can see the flash.
Once we coax the Private Eye out of hiding,
We have him stash Thumb away somewhere we don't even know.
For our plan to work,
Thumb needs to be gone,
Mysteriously.
Captain,
Can you please not be so obsessed with me?
I understand you want to learn from my evil ways,
But I simply cannot be your friend right now.
Did you find Thumb?
My silver is ready.
That's why we're here,
Pinky.
It seems Thumb has completely disappeared.
From all the evidence collected,
It seems he's been kidnapped.
What?
Not my Thummy.
We have to find him.
I'm coming for you,
Brother.
Pinky Knuckler has an about-face attitude change when he thanks his beloved brother,
Whom he does not appreciate has gone missing.
He flees to their numerous hideouts,
Checks all of Thumb's favorite spots around town,
And ends at the treehouse,
Where we have staged a kidnapping.
Thumb's identity thief tools and fingerprint swiper are strewn about the wood floor.
Pinky is taken aback.
Brother,
You did successfully transfer prints.
I wasn't able to make it work,
But you did.
Brother,
Why didn't you tell me?
We have to find him.
Now,
Captain,
Find him.
We've done all we can,
Pinky.
He's just gone.
Looks like you got your way.
No more little brother to bother you.
Too bad we don't appreciate things and people when we have them.
It doesn't come until they're gone.
While Pinky reacts to what he assumes is the worst news of his life,
We see where the private investigator has stashed Thumb.
They're both on the roof of the treehouse,
Peeking down through one of the windows,
Watching this whole emotional scene play out.
Pinky throws himself to the floor,
Cursing his own selfishness.
He vows that if he were to have Thumb back,
Even for one minute,
Then he would change his ways completely.
Why did you have to be so selfish?
Why?
We let it go for a moment longer to really give Pinky some time to feel the consequences of his actions.
When he gets to the point of listing out all the things he appreciates about his brother,
Thumb cannot hold back any longer.
He leaps in through the window and Pinky assumes he's escaped the clutches of a kidnapper.
Their reunion is sweet,
A side of the evil brothers we've not seen before.
Pinky vows to his brother directly that he will never take him for granted again,
And Thumb sobs with joy.
And the private investigator gets a great picture for the family photo albums.
We know Pinky and Thumb,
And thus we know that this sensitive emotional moment will not last for long.
Both of us think the same thing and write it down on our notepads to confirm.
We need to get that swiper.
Pinky and Thumb all but think the same exact thing at the same exact time,
So you and I dive for the technology before they can get their hands on it.
I stash the swiper and you grab all the fingerprints to return to their rifle owners.
Mr.
Honeybee teleports us out of there just in the nick of time,
And he thinks it's just us,
But we soon realize someone else was hiding in the background of our teleportation.
Mr.
Honeybee finally gets to meet his favorite private eye,
And together they inspect this fingerprint swiping technology and detail its mechanisms on their notepads.
We laugh a little laugh and hang up our detective hats because this case has been solved.
That concludes our adventure.
I can't wait to see you again.
Captain EJ,
Over and out.
It's not an emergency.
I told you before.
Wait,
You're supposed to be in the backyard napping.
Oh,
You found that in our backyard?
That does sound like an emergency.
I stand corrected.
What do you mean am I sitting?
Okay,
I misspoke.
I am sitting,
So I sit corrected.
No,
Humans don't get treats for sitting.
I guess I'll meet you in the backyard?
Give me a sec.
We're on it.
Transferring to dispatch.
Yes,
You do too have to go through dispatch.
We have a protocol here,
Cadet.
Just sit.
Sit.
We'll be back there to see what kind of history you dug up.
And no more digging.
We talked about this.
Transferring now.
Hero,
This mission is right around the corner.
Captain EJ's pup,
Cadet,
Seems to have dug up some sort of history.
Her sharp sniffer has happened upon medieval ruins that she dug up while ruining Captain EJ's backyard with her digging.
Oh my goodness.
But in the process,
She seems to have unearthed some kind of mysterious object that requires our investigation.
Because it gave her paws.
Gave her paws.
Paws.
And she says there's much more to discover underground.
I stand behind that nose of hers.
Well,
I'm sitting down.
But I believe her excitement at the prospect of finding more underground.
Because dogs can smell in 3D.
When they sniff something,
They smell its shape and size and all of the stories it contains.
I'm going to grab my ground penetrating radar and maybe a shovel and head on over.
Maybe I'll bring the Millennium Squawkin' too.
Just in case we need a bird's eye view.
Never know when you'll need a lift.
We'll meet you over there in a jiff.
EJ.
Captain EJ and Hero to the rescue.
Let's begin.
You are here,
Walking the last few steps up to my backyard gate to join me and Mr.
Honeybee in my backyard.
The birds are singing.
The sun is shining.
This should be a pretty straightforward mission.
And then once done,
You have with you everything you'll need for an afternoon in the pool.
It's the perfect day to make a splash testing a new prototype.
Mr.
Honeybee installed a water slide that goes all the way from his backyard to Captain EJ's and you're excited to try it.
The pool is deep enough for cannonballs from the rooftop where we lay out and look at the stars.
So there is a lot to do after this mission that Cadet's nose stumbled upon.
Take a slow deep breath in through your nose.
Imagine what it'd be like to smell like we perceive in three dimensions as we see with our eyes.
Take in the invisible layers of your innermost being and outermost surroundings and slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and reach up to unlatch the gate to my backyard.
Before you can step in through the gate,
Cadet bursts out excited to see you again.
So excited that she completely abandons the mission for some of your famous belly rubs and snout kisses.
Crouch down to her level to be the loving recipient of slobbery dog kisses.
You can hardly look up to see me join you on the side of the house and from here you cannot see the mounds of dirt that used to be my backyard.
Cadet insisted it was an emergency but all I see from down here is dirt.
Dirt that should be grass but isn't anymore.
Anything to say about that Cadet?
Let's go up on the roof for a bird's eye view of the damage and findings.
Did someone say bird's eye view?
It's definitely not a bird,
Not quite a plane,
It's Mr.
Honeybee who appears out of the clear blue sky aboard some kind of mechanical bird-shaped contraption.
Before I can lower the ladder up to our spot on the roof he swoops down and with two surprisingly feather soft wings and scoops us up into our very own bird's eye view.
Welcome to the Millennium Squawkin' team.
I was gonna go with Falcon for the name but it's more of a raven looking bird machine.
I'm surprised we're not aboard the Edgar Allen Crow instead.
This looks a lot like the raven from his poem.
What?
Did you just come up with that?
That's good.
I need to reconsider everything.
Couldn't we have just looked down from the roof Mr.
Honeybee?
We could have but I got into so much research on how dogs noses work that I went down a,
Well,
Rabbit hole and got into the incredible mechanics of birds and insects and even rabbits.
So I figured this would be more appropriate.
Look,
The wings flap with the same aerodynamics as an actual crow.
Did you know that crows don't just use tools but they also create their own tools?
Watch this.
From the ground it appears as if the biggest crow ever seen just reached into its feathers with its right wing and pulled out the biggest pair of night vision goggles we've ever seen.
This is Mr.
Honeybee's version of ground penetrating radar and it's almost as shocking as what we see in x-ray through Edgar Allen Crow's goggles.
Cadet is down below running in circles trying to get our attention over a particularly aromatic section of my previously pristine backyard.
She's digging furiously because she cannot hear my command not to through all the machinery.
But underneath the ground,
Invisible to our eyes but flashing in neon lights to cadet's nose,
We see the outline of what looks like an underground city.
There are winding tunnels that seem to sparkle as if glitter bombs are being released continuously.
These tunnels which go deeper than our technologically enhanced vision can detect span my entire backyard even under the pool and extend to the edges of our block in the Honeybee neighborhood.
We cannot see where they end but looking off into the distance we see the familiar purple shaded mountains that form the Dormier Valley.
Cadet alerts us to something else down in the ground so Mr.
Honeybee lands us on the pool cover that pulls out into a helipad.
Apparently,
Without my knowledge,
He has also installed a perch apparatus on top of a stone water slide for Edgar Allen Crow to land and sit comfortably.
About 15 feet down into the ground,
Cadet hears us approach and climbs out of her excavation trench with a metal tool in her mouth.
She gallops over to us and sits in front of you,
Expectantly waiting for a head pat to let her know she's done a good job.
As we inspect the tool,
You give her three good head pats and she wags her tail before running back,
Furiously digging in that same spot.
This blackened tool is thinner at the bottom,
Looks to be some sort of wedge or chisel.
As we each look this over,
Cadet then proceeds to bring an enormous wooden device wrapped in leather with a small pipe sticking out at the end.
The leather wrapping makes this look like some type of bag.
Mr.
Honeybee takes the contraption from cadet and immediately opens and closes it,
Intuiting its function from sight alone.
Captain EJ,
Not having the gift of tool intuition,
Stands opposite Mr.
Honeybee,
At the end of the contraption where a small copper pipe protrudes.
Cadet quickly sniffs out the situation and sits behind Mr.
Honeybee,
Shepherding you along with her.
Captain EJ,
I don't know if you want to stand on that side.
Huh?
I want to see how this thing works.
What is it?
If this is what I think it is,
You don't want to be standing over there.
This thing opens and closes,
But it doesn't look like it's been opened in hundreds and hundreds of years.
Mr.
H just opened and closed the dang thing.
We could have already been done by now.
I'll watch this side.
Okay,
If you say so,
Captain.
Mr.
Honeybee expands the bag-like device open wide and then closes it rapidly.
When he does,
A big puff of musty,
Dusty air funnels out of the pipe and blows me backwards with a surprising force.
I am covered in soot and dust and all manner of medieval sediment.
Mr.
Honeybee and you try to stifle your laughter as I wipe the dust from my face and give you both a look that only the best of friends can understand.
A stern look in search of compassion that says,
Don't you dare say a word.
I dart Mr.
Honeybee an extra look as if to say,
Don't say I told you so,
Mr.
H.
Just don't.
Having received the messages loud and clear,
We quickly get back into investigation mode in a tense silence,
Which teeters on the verge of hilarious laughter every time you and Mr.
Honeybee catch a glimpse of me struggling through the soot.
An invisible light bulb that eternally lives above Mr.
Honeybee's head flickers and a moment of recognition flashes.
We know that look and it gets both of our attention.
Mr.
Honeybee has an idea what this is.
He runs over to where Cadet was digging and proceeds to climb down.
We watch as he lightly touches the layers of earth with his fingertips,
Following reflective streaks in the sediment.
Wherever he traces,
There seems to be a wooden structure below that area.
He continues to follow it down further and further,
Digging deeper where needed until he is completely out of sight.
Then,
In an instant,
He pops his head back up with excitement.
Team,
This is a mine and it seems to be a pretty old one.
Maybe from the middle ages,
From the look of these iron tools with wood handles.
That thing that we found that.
.
.
Don't say it,
Mr.
H.
Don't say it.
The thing that coughed in Captain EJ's face is a bellow.
It was used to dry out the mine so miners could literally set the area on fire,
Heat up the rock,
Then rapidly cool it so the rock cracks and they could dig deeper.
That's what this tool is,
A wedge.
They'd hit this flat end with a hammer,
An iron hammer,
And this pointy end would open up the cracked rock.
There's an exact mining shaft that leads to who knows where down there and it is remarkably preserved.
I don't see any signs of settling or an unstable foundation.
Want to follow where it leads?
Here,
Hand this to Edgar Allen Crowe,
Hero.
He'll take it to the garage and Roger Robot can use my accelerator mass spectrometry system to measure the beryllium.
Let's see how old this thing is.
While we wait for the advanced carbon dating method to process these tools,
We take more cutting-edge contemporary technology into our hands and put on the night vision goggles with advanced risk analysis.
Now when we descend into the medieval mine,
We can look at the wooden scaffolding and our goggles will ensure the structure is sturdy for us.
I bet the miners who dug this mine would have loved to have had these things.
It takes a moment for our eyes to adjust to the darkness and without notice,
The goggles transform into a face mask with fresh oxygen cycling.
Mr.
Honeybee,
These goggles are covering our whole face.
That's supposed to happen,
Right?
Of course.
The sensors must have detected low oxygen or polluted air.
These will keep the fresh air circulating while we're down here.
Even Cadet has a pair of night vision goggles that cover her snout in an impromptu face mask.
Through her mask,
She can still sniff a way around and between her nose,
Mr.
Honeybee's historical prowess and our bravery in the face of entire new underground situations,
We continue deeper and deeper into the mine.
Carefully inspected the wooden frame we use to climb down and follow across rickety bridges.
Looking through your green tinted night vision goggles,
Take your slowest,
Deepest breath in through your nose.
Focus through your goggles as a shimmering cloud of neon green wafts into view like a storm of glitter moving in.
Reach out your hand to see your hand shimmer and sparkle like a kaleidoscope,
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
And watch as the sparkling specks flutter away from your powerful exhale.
From behind us,
Mr.
Honeybee shouts out that he got word from Roger Robot.
This mine is at least 500 years old.
We continue walking back through time,
Unsure of where this adventure into medieval times will lead,
But determined to reach the end wherever it leads.
We walk for what seems like an eternity,
Bombarded by neon green glitter through our night vision goggles,
Which we come to realize are floating silver particles because this is a silver mine.
A shiver runs down our spine,
Remembering all that we learned from defeating the Knuckler brothers the first time.
That their parents,
Dr.
Mrs.
And Dr.
Mr.
Knuckler,
Do high-level scientific research on silver,
With the aim of mining microscopic particles from the air.
Could the Knucklers,
Elder or younger,
Have something to do with these mines?
It doesn't look like anyone's been down here recently,
But it is very well maintained.
The risk analysis in our goggles displays a little checkmark next to our view of each structural component.
Finally,
And rather abruptly,
We cross the last bridge,
Which looks like it passes over a pitch black abyss,
And reach a solid rock wall.
Confused,
Cadet sits down to let us know that this is where her scent ends.
This seems to be where the medieval miners sort of packed up shop and left so long ago.
What happened to make them stop?
We are underground,
But what's above us right now?
Petting Cadet's fluffy ears,
You scan your immediate surroundings through the night vision goggles to spy any sort of exit point,
Or something above us that will lead us back to the surface.
The earth above us is soft,
It's not rock-solid.
You reach up to touch the cool earth with your fingertips,
Following silver ore that's still present and streaks in the ceiling.
That's when you stumble upon a tiny flash of light beaming through a sliver in the ceiling.
You lightly tap-tap-tap it with your hand until… You jump back just in time for the loose dirt ceiling to fall into the abyss below the rickety wood bridge,
And reveal a wooden ladder with a faint light at the end of a long tunnel.
Cadet leaps up onto my back,
A trick I'm grateful that I taught her,
And we all ascend the wooden ladder rung by rung,
Right hand,
Right foot,
Left hand,
Left foot.
The light at the end of the tunnel gets brighter and brighter.
The air becomes more and more fresh.
The night vision goggles and attending mask retract into sunglasses when,
Together,
You and I punch open the cover of the ladder and peek our heads out into the afternoon.
What we see takes us by surprise.
A surprise that we are stuck still in the shock of so much so that Mr.
Honeybee cannot see what it is.
What is it?
What do you see?
I can't see anything but your shocked faces.
Hero,
Is that what I think it is?
At ground level in the dense forest,
We can peer out through the shade of the trees to see not only the shady valley of Dormir,
But the Knuckler compound.
Mr.
Honeybee squeezes up in between us,
Determined to get a look at what we're seeing since neither of us has said a word.
He is just as shocked.
We all three sit in stunned silence,
Running through endless scenarios and questions in our minds.
Do the Knuckler brothers know about this mine and the snaking tunnels?
Have they used them to get to us?
Where else do these tunnels lead?
What's under the Knuckler compound if we found what we found underneath my backyard?
The time for swirling questions passes in an instant when,
Out of the side of our eyes,
We see movement at the eastern fortress wall.
We duck down below the earth like frightened groundhogs,
And to our dismay,
Happen upon a literal groundhog.
It wasn't as random as it seemed to us because we accidentally disturbed his burrow,
Which is off to the side just a bit.
Mustering all the covert spy skills we have,
You and I peek just our eyes above the soil line while Mr.
Honeybee fumbles through his prototype pack for a submarine part he's working on.
With that ingenious development,
We can now see further without being seen.
Off in the distance,
We see Pinky and Thumb emerging from behind their fortress walls of the Knuckler compound,
Approaching something that looks a lot like Edgar Allen Crowe,
Which is likely back to its perch on my waterslide in the backyard by now.
Mr.
Honeybee cannot contain his shock and awe,
And quite frankly,
Annoyance,
At the Knuckler brothers.
Team,
I've had it up to here with these Knucklers.
Did they steal the blueprints to your prototype?
Hero,
I thought we were the only ones who knew how to get in the garage when it was triple locked.
What?
You got through all three?
It's a wonder I'd get anything done with all this sneaking around.
Look at that thing.
It looks nearly identical to the Millennium Squawkin.
I thought we were going with Edgar Allen Crowe.
That's beside the point.
Well,
If they've copied your prototype blueprint,
Then we know that it can't do anything that evil.
Not so fast.
I already see what they've added.
Look here.
See that little protrusion right there?
This is where you attach drones,
Meaning they can have eyes,
Ears,
And their grubby little hands everywhere,
And potentially,
Without us even knowing.
I think we'll see a gigantic mechanical crow,
Mr.
H,
But I get your point.
One sec,
I know exactly what to do.
Hero and I are the only ones who are allowed to sneak into your garage.
This ends now.
No one should be sneaking in.
No.
Mr.
Honeybee thought he was introducing us to Edgar Allen Crowe,
But we long knew about it,
Didn't we,
Hero?
So when I reached into Mr.
Honeybee's prototype pack,
He wears on his back like a backpack.
An activated flight for the mechanical bird,
Then summoned it with a specialized whistle sequence,
He just shook his head back and forth in feigned disappointment.
There's only one way to fight for what's right in this strange situation,
And that's a standoff between robots.
That's really more of an ambush.
Meanwhile,
We keep our periscopic eye on the brothers.
They've definitely lifted the blueprints for Mr.
Honeybee's garage,
But there are additions that concern us greatly.
Namely,
What Pinky has hunched over tending to now while barking orders to Thumb.
He orders his brother to retrieve drone after drone which Pinky is attaching to the undercarriage of the bird,
Which is a lot smaller than Mr.
H's and thus a lot more covert and worrisome.
We have to get this out of their evil hands and into ours.
Just as Pinky is attaching some kind of canister to the bottom of his mechanical bird plane,
Which will spray some unknown obnoxious and frankly probably noxious aerosol from the sky,
We hear the comforting sounds of Edgar Allan Crowe approaching in the distance just in time.
When Thumb brings back the wrong kind of drone,
Pinky berates him and insists that if you want something done right,
You must do it yourself,
Which all of us can relate to in this moment as a team.
I hand the controls over to you because while I got the whistle down,
You're a master of the landings,
And this landing needs to be perfect and swift.
With eyes on the mechanical bird plane,
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel your chest and your spirits lift as Edgar Allan Crowe prepares for the swoop.
Hold your breath at the top for a moment,
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and extend the wings out,
With one lowered to dive toward the ground just as Pinky angrily leads Thumb away,
Telling him all those terrible things his frustration thinks are real at this moment.
In one fail swoop with you at the helm,
The bird plane gracefully plunges to the ground,
And just before it makes contact,
Launches up into the air carrying the Knuckler Brothers copycat prototype.
Fine,
Copy bird prototype.
When Pinky and Thumb return,
They are dumbfounded at the disappearance of their evil twin prototype.
They quickly turn against each other even more before their parents have to break up the brawl ensuing in the front yard.
We slink back underground and put all of our heads together as to how we can seal up this mineshaft so the Knuckler's reign of terror can finally be over.
Using all the prototypes in the pack at our disposal,
We settled on something Mr.
Honeybee is calling ground glue,
Which is a stickier version of mud that is a bear to handle for us,
But Cadet loves it.
Good thing she's just as good at burying things as she is at digging things up.
We'll need to put that to good use in my backyard.
But for now,
We make our way back down the tunnel,
Over all the abyss bridges and back to my yard,
When you point out that there are several turnoff points in both directions.
We weren't able to see them before because we were too focused on taking it all in,
But this time,
We must do our due diligence.
We meander down each of these turnoffs and pop our heads out of the ground in the most random outposts of the Honeybee neighborhood.
One of those spots looked awfully familiar,
A hidden treehouse out in the middle of the forest.
That looks like a Knuckler enclave we've seen before.
We apply extra ground glue to that opening because now we're certain these obnoxious brothers know about these mine tunnels.
When all entrances and exits have been sealed,
We leap out of the ground into my backyard.
The mission is almost complete,
But there is still one very important thing to do.
Cannonball from the roof.
You,
Of course,
Go first because you are not only an expert at the remote controls of Edgar Allen Crow,
But you're also the cannonball champion.
Standing on top of the roof,
Looking down at the deep blue sparkling pool,
Take your biggest,
Slowest breath in through your nose.
Send the fresh air down to your belly as you prepare to jump,
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth,
And launch off the roof into the biggest cannonball you can muster.
I go next,
Then Cadet,
But when we look around for Mr.
Honeybee to go after us,
We can't find him anywhere.
We walk to the other side of my roof,
Where we are able to see into Mr.
Honeybee's garage,
But he doesn't know we can see from here,
So we know exactly when he turns in for the night,
And when the coast is clear to test our prototypes,
There he is,
Sitting next to Edgar Allen Crow and across from the evil twin of Edgar Allen Crow.
He looks so pensive,
Contemplating something very serious,
So much so that we're surprised to hear our BattleBuzz helmet watches beep.
EJ,
That concludes our adventure.
I can't wait to see you again.
Captain EJ,
Over and out.
EJ911,
Captain speaking.
Mr.
Honeybee here.
This is an emergency mission of epic proportions.
It will take us to the moon and back,
And we'll be in two parts.
Settle in for part one now.
Captain EJ,
Please hurry.
Emergency.
Melody Bee,
Is that you?
Do you mean emergency?
No,
I mean emergency.
Okay,
Tell me what's going on with a little more detail.
The moon is having an emergency?
Captain EJ,
I just don't know how much more plain I can make it.
The moon is acting strange,
Like really strange.
It's flickering.
I think maybe an alien is throwing some kind of disco or something up there.
That sounds kind of fun.
I'd go to an alien disco.
I wonder what kind of music they play.
Something electronic,
Or maybe it'd be some kind of green noise.
Melody Bee,
Did you know there are all kinds of colors of noise?
Mr.
Honeybee was telling me about the color spectrum of noise this week,
And green or brown is the best for sleep.
But maybe for a disco,
You'd want red Captain,
The color is red because it's an emergency.
Please go check on the moon.
I garden by the moon,
Captain EJ.
Of course,
Of course,
Melody Bee.
I don't know how to help the moon in an emergency,
But we'll figure it out somehow.
We're on it.
Transfer.
Oh,
That's weird.
Dispatch is calling us.
Melody Bee,
Please hold.
I cannot hold.
Dizzy,
Captain!
Okay,
Okay.
What's going on tonight?
Mr.
Honeybee,
You do realize you're calling the emergency line.
I was just going to transfer a call to you.
Something's going on with the moon.
That's why I'm calling the Earth's satellite.
Not one of my satellites.
I mean,
The moon.
Strange.
I've never seen an anomaly like this.
What do you see,
Melody Bee?
I don't have any data.
I just have nocturnal blooms that are keeled over from disturbed moonlight.
It's okay,
Melody Bee.
We'll figure this out together.
We always do.
I've sent an alert to Hero 2.
What could be wrong?
Wait,
We're in the same house,
Melody Bee.
I'll just show you.
Come to the garage.
Oh,
Of course.
Wait,
Guys.
I'm still on the line.
I think Mr.
Honeybee's data is a good place to start.
Are you serious?
There's another call coming in,
And it seems to be coming from the same house?
Let me guess.
Mrs.
Honeybee?
Wow.
You're very good at your job,
Captain EJ.
How did you know?
Just an educated guess.
My dear,
Is that you?
Mr.
Honeybee?
What are you doing on EJ's emergency line?
Are you okay?
Yes,
We're fine.
Not all of us are fine,
Mrs.
Honeybee.
These nocturnal blossoms are suffering.
The moon is in distress.
That's actually why I was calling.
I usually get all my story writing done very quickly on the moon.
It's so inspiring to me,
But this one doesn't seem as powerful.
I don't know if it's just me or just.
.
.
Wait,
Someone else is calling from a block number?
EJ 911,
Captain's.
.
.
Hear me.
This is top secret.
I repeat,
Top secret.
There is a serious emergency on our hands.
I don't know what's going on,
And please do not repeat this to anyone,
Especially Mrs.
And Mr.
Honeybee,
Or Melody Bee.
She just goes right back to Mrs.
Honeybee.
They're connected at the hip.
I wouldn't even tell Cadet or Harold.
Dogs have their own way of spreading the word.
Anyways.
.
.
Wait,
Roger,
There are.
.
.
Silence.
This is crucial.
I need to talk quickly.
They're probably looking for me right now.
I'm hiding in my cubby.
Okay,
I may have a secret satellite for secret stuff.
I sent it to the moon,
But the moon is going haywire.
Please don't tell Mr.
Honeybee about this.
He can be so bureaucratic with prototype testing regulations,
Blah,
Blah,
Blah,
Blah,
Blah,
Blah.
We need to get to the moon,
Brother,
And fast.
Roger,
He's on the line.
He as in Mr.
?
Yeah.
Oh,
Oh,
Oh,
Never mind.
April fools.
Cancel emergency.
Uh,
Thanks.
Gotta go.
Bye.
Roger Robot,
You need to tell me when you send off prototypes.
Mrs.
Honeybee,
It's just dreadful.
Starving for moonlight.
Maybe we can write a story about this.
Aw,
Melody Bee,
That's a great way to process sadness.
For Honeybees and for Blossom.
Yes,
Let's do that.
Bring up some of the Blossoms.
Maybe if we put them under the moon nightlight in my writing room,
They'll feel like they're getting moonlight.
Okay,
I'm on my way up.
Bureaucracy.
Everyone,
Hello?
You're still on the line.
Hero,
Just meet me at the garage ASAP.
Apparently we're on moon patrol tonight.
Bring your space suit,
I guess,
Just in case.
All right,
Transferring to.
.
.
Oh,
No dispatch.
We'll transfer ourselves to the command center.
EJ.
Captain EJ and Hero to the rescue.
Let's begin.
Together,
You and Captain EJ walk up to the familiar,
Inconspicuous garage that we know contains untold technological achievement,
But doesn't look in any way like it does.
We knock like we usually do,
And there's no response.
We try again.
And still nothing.
Harold is the only one who hears us,
But no one inside hears him.
With a wordless glance between you two,
Both you and Captain EJ are convinced that everyone,
Mrs.
And Mr.
Honeybee,
Melody Bee,
And Roger,
Are all still bickering amongst themselves.
Captain EJ shouts out once again and tries ringing the doorbell,
But even he knows it's moot.
No one inside is paying attention.
All have been swept up into this emergency situation that the two of us are standing outside trying to solve.
As if sharing a mind,
We both look up to the moon on cue to see for ourselves what all the fuss is about.
It appears as if the moon is flickering.
What on earth could cause that?
Maybe the cause isn't on earth.
Maybe,
But before I could launch into a brainstorm of what could possibly cause this phenomenon,
You point out a way forward that just so happens to be inside the closed garage.
We look inside to see all of Mr.
Honeybee's tools strewn about the command center,
And can see that Roger Robot is trying to roll himself out of the mess his accidental confession got him into.
He zooms back and forth in and out of the garage trying to evade Mr.
Honeybee's prying questions about his top-secret satellite.
But on our tippy-toes,
What we also can see through the little windows that line the top of this automatic garage door,
Is that Mr.
Honeybee clearly learned nothing from all the many times we've broken in to play with,
Ahem,
I mean,
Test his prototypes.
After one particularly fun break-in,
You broke down and let Mr.
Honeybee in on all the shenanigans going on under his nose.
You made the many vulnerabilities very clear when you explained all the ways thieves and best friends alike could get into the garage and access all of his prototypes.
You point out,
Rightly,
That he hasn't secured the automatic opener tonight,
Though you warrant him to.
There is a long red cord dangling from the opener with a red plastic handle at the end.
You told him to remove that handle or trim the cord so we couldn't gain entry with nothing more than a bent-out-of-shape wire hanger.
But there that cord and its bright red handle hang like a bullseye.
All we have to do is get something slim and long enough to catch the cord and pull that little plastic handle to release the emergency opener.
Luckily,
Mrs.
Honeybee and Melodybee keep this front yard lush,
Full of trees and bushes which are full of twigs.
We braid a few of those together to create a hook and I give you a boost.
While on my shoulders,
You easily look in through the windows to maneuver the makeshift hook and catch the little red handle.
Just like that,
We can simply open it manually without using any of the technology in this garage.
Now,
To assess the emergency like only we can,
Just like any other emergency situation,
We need to calm everyone down first.
We've seen lots of disturbances on our emergency missions,
But none more frazzled than this house is currently.
Even when we're inside the garage,
They don't notice us.
We try to wave to get their attention,
But their eyes have shut off and they only see their frenzy.
Instead,
We take a practical approach.
I hang up the phone Mr.
Honeybee called in on,
And you take to Roger's cubby and hang up that phone.
We make our way inside and upstairs,
Past all of them unaware,
And hang up the phone Mrs.
Honeybee called on,
And finally end in the garden to hang up that phone Melody bee called on that hangs up on the glass wall of a greenhouse.
From here out in the peace and quiet of the garden,
We get our first uninterrupted look at what's going on with an equally curious Harold by your side.
You pet the soft white fur of his fluffy ears and look up at the expanse of sky above the Honeybee house.
There are a cluster of telescopes out here that it seems everyone inside has been using to aid their panic.
We put our eyes up to them to see what we can see.
Again,
It appears the moon is flickering silver,
And when it does,
Impossibly bright flares flash into the telescope and cause us to jump back away from one telescope after another.
None of them work.
All technology seems to be affected by this mysterious flickering phenomenon.
We even try to engage various features of the Battle Buzz helmet to no avail.
Nothing is working,
And we can only do so much this far away from the problem.
That's when we decide quietly to ourselves that we truly have no choice but to go directly to the source.
We're going to the moon,
Hero.
We open the back door and the frenzy returns,
Muffling our attempts at getting their attention.
Hey,
Everyone,
We gotta go.
Hello?
Listen to me.
I need your help.
Hey.
That's better.
We have to go to the moon.
Can you be ready in five?
Oh,
Captain.
Captain.
Captain.
Tell me straight.
Do you think there are aliens out there?
I can't even imagine what I'd say to an extraterrestrial life.
Real life ETs.
Your guess is as good as mine,
Roger.
But yeah,
Sure,
Why not?
Let's call it an alien invasion.
We're going to the moon.
While Mrs.
Honeybee packs up all the stuff we'll need for our trip,
Including plenty of astronaut food and aptly named moon cheese,
Melody Bee sets out coordinated space suits for all of us,
Plus one extra,
Just in case we happen upon a friend out there.
We assure her that if the aliens are out there,
They probably already have their own space suits,
But she cannot be swayed.
Our suits,
Of course,
Come with an adaptive Battle Buzz helmet,
Should our specific set of skills be needed.
With the latest software update for our trusty helmet,
It no longer matters where we're wearing our gear.
It will ensure homeostasis is maintained through a painstakingly exact support protocol.
With suits on,
Extras packed,
And snacks secured,
We meet out in the driveway just as Roger Robot finishes up his shine.
Roger knows no bounds when it comes to helping his friends,
And if that means changing his shape,
His size,
His function,
So be it.
For this particular mission,
He will be just the robot rocket ship we need.
We all climb inside and pick our seats next to a circular window.
For now,
When we look out,
We see a sleepy,
Unsuspecting neighborhood,
But in a blink,
We'll see nothing but stars.
Bring your hands out in front of you like you're about to clap,
And take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose as we prepare to launch.
Rub your hands together to feel the intense heat of the rocket's engines as your chest lifts,
Ready for takeoff.
Then,
Rest your warm hands on your heart,
One on top of the other,
And slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth as we launch up into the twinkling sky.
Breathe every last bit of air out,
And hold your breath out at the bottom.
Feel the emptiness of your exhale like the emptiness of outer space as we leave our atmosphere.
Let your body feel as heavy as possible.
Not only are you supported by your surroundings,
You are weightless inside this spaceship,
Encapsulated by twinkling stars.
Your attention is glued out the window,
Watching and studying the moon as it gets closer and closer,
But it's becoming increasingly difficult to stay in one place looking out your window.
Your weightlessness floats you upward to the roof of this robot rocket,
And it takes most of your strength to anchor yourself back down next to the window.
The puffy fingers of your spacesuit slip and slide from your anchor,
And instead,
You find a way to tether yourself with an extra strap that hangs off your suit for what seems to be this exact purpose.
Now,
You're able to stare at the moon,
And you're in good company doing so.
Everyone is staring at the moon,
Silently.
Even Roger Robot,
Who is giddy as he glides through the universe,
Is silent with anticipation.
Will he see his first alien?
The extraterrestrial life he's only read about in research rabbit holes and machine dreamed about?
The thought alone propels him faster like the fuel it is,
And you feel a sudden jolt as the bottom drops from your belly,
And you're hurled even more swiftly through the electromagnetic vacuum of outer space.
The flickers become more prominent and appear to turn on and off,
As if someone is using several satellite-sized flashlights to inspect Earth for something hidden.
Captain E.
J.
Has an idea.
All technology has failed except for the BattleBuzz helmet.
This extraordinary machine has stood up to the test of whatever is causing this ecological techno-glitch.
You catch on,
Even before he says anything,
And the others watch in suspense,
Darting their glances between you two and the mysterious moon like they're watching a tennis match.
Captain E.
J.
Initiates several test sequences to analyze the heat signatures of his entire visual field.
While he's doing that,
You begin to wonder about the silvery sheen that the phantom flickers bestowed upon Earth.
Why silver?
Within your own BattleBuzz helmet,
You used a built-in spectrophotometer to measure the reflectivity of whatever is causing this.
And also,
For good measure,
You also analyzed the behavior of light that shines on it.
We know it's flickering to our eyes,
But what does it do when it's under the spotlight?
Before you and Captain E.
J.
Can assess the results of these tests,
Mr.
Honeybee shows you both a real-time radar screen of one of the satellites that powers all of his prototypes.
He shows you historical data that looks like a steady heartbeat of transmission,
Thin lines rising and falling in perfect symmetry.
Then,
He scrolls over to tonight,
To something that came in just seconds ago as you both initiated your experiments.
A huge spike in electromagnetic radiation that nearly electrified the satellite.
You can practically see the smoke emanating through the screen and out both of Mr.
Honeybee's ears.
He's worried and he's never worried.
This makes both you and Captain E.
J.
Even more determined to figure this out,
Once and for all.
The results are in and ready to be interpreted.
With one mind,
You and Captain E.
J.
Read over the readings while Mr.
Honeybee frantically tries to back up all the data to servers that are not behaving properly,
Without the assistance of his right-hand robot,
Who is currently hurtling through space as a rocket.
Mrs.
Honeybee and Melody Bee keep one eye conducting visual assessments of the e-moongency and the other making sure Roger Robot doesn't overheat.
Roger is in a nearly hyperventilating,
Excitable state.
He's traveling faster than the speed of light towards the possibility of meeting an alien,
Which troubles the docket of light tests you've conducted,
But even still.
You can clearly see that there is something on the moon which is both absorbing an inordinate amount of light,
As well as reflecting it.
Silver reflects 95% of the visible light spectrum,
Which gives it its sheen.
But what's absorbing the light,
And so much of it?
Translucent objects refract light waves and absorb some light.
Some opaque objects are known to absorb this amount of light and convert it into thermal energy.
Something like that could account for those sorts of results.
But what is translucent,
Opaque,
And reflective all at the same time?
When suddenly,
A burst of light,
The likes of which you've never experienced,
Floods all the windows of the robot rocket.
As if tidal waves of light have crashed over each of us in the rocket,
We all shield our eyes from the brightness.
All except for Roger Robot,
Who cannot look away.
He stares wide-eyed and mesmerized without blinking.
His systems fail immediately upon impact,
And you can feel the velocity trickle down to a purposeless float mid-mission.
Roger,
Is everything okay?
What was that?
Captain,
He might not be able to hear you.
Roger,
Did you look directly into the light?
Are you able to reboot?
Roger,
Your systems have been overridden.
You're not making sense.
Hero and I can climb out and check on the engine.
If you can guide us,
Mr.
H.
Roger,
We're going to reboot your engines.
The colors,
There are colors everywhere.
Yeah,
Everything's down.
We have to do a manual reboot.
When the doors opened,
We're greeted face-to-face with an otherworldly hue of green light projecting against the backdrop of twinkling stars and pitch-black nothingness.
We float out the door,
Tethering ourselves to anchors along the way to the rocket's engines.
In Roger's hypnotized state,
He means this reboot like humans need to unplug.
That's ironic.
Anyways,
This will be refreshing to him.
As we reboot Roger Robot,
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Focus all your systems on the coolness of each particle of oxygen coming in through your nose and infusing each and every one of your cells.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
And feel the invigoration of a fresh power cycle breath as we follow the last few instructions from Mr.
Honeybee for this reboot.
I have no random access memory for the last several minutes.
I need something.
What do I need?
Think,
Roger.
Think.
Roger that,
Roger.
We need solar filters.
Solar filters?
Yes.
We need to filter some of the light to be able to stare at this phenomenon without blinding ourselves in unconsciousness.
Solar filters.
How do I make solar filters?
Hi,
Roger.
Would these solar filters go over our eyes?
Precisely,
Mr.
Honeybee.
Get on board.
Something up.
They need to be flexible to fit our face,
And oh,
Oh,
Darkened a little bit.
Light enough to wear,
But sturdy enough for solar filtration.
Roger.
That sounds a lot like- And,
And,
And,
They need to have some sort of way of offsetting the light.
Darkened in some way.
Small and nimble.
Are you getting this down,
Mr.
Honey- With our new solar filter glasses on,
We can now look directly at the brilliant light that casts a green hue when it dims.
Every so often it will shine to ultimate brilliance,
Then dim back down.
It cycles through this like we do with breath and a rhythm.
We float around the ship trying to get the best vantage point of the moon.
When we're just about to the top of the ship,
Where Roger reluctantly dons his star-shaped sunglasses,
We hear Mr.
Honeybee come in through the Battle Bus helmet.
Did you see anything?
Are there coordinates in space?
According to the Battle Bus helmet,
We're oriented toward 39.
9-ish degrees north,
75.
1-ish degrees west.
We see what you're seeing,
Mr.
H.
That looks like- A UFO.
A what?
A UFO.
Roger Robot's systems are intact,
But his emotion is high,
Containing too much giddiness for his mechanisms to process.
He instantly and accidentally transforms into a glitter bomb that explodes like fireworks in the stillness of outer space.
He bounces around as a bright blue glittery shooting star,
Closer and more convinced than ever that he will soon be face to face with a real-life extraterrestrial.
We try to contain his excitement,
But like a pinball,
He maneuvers out of our forceless grasp in zero gravity.
I'm gonna meet an alien.
An alien.
A real alien.
Just imagine untold intelligence contained in the melding of those minds.
Roger,
You can't go anywhere without us.
A robot and an alien.
A friendship made of the cosmos.
We will take over the world.
No,
No.
Thinking too small,
Silly robot.
The universe.
What are we supposed to do while you're doing that?
Just float here?
That's your business.
I have aliens to encounter.
We'll be at a zoo.
Bye-bye.
Roger transforms into a magnetic rover that can rove through the vacuum of outer space,
And just before he does,
Captain EJ ejects a minuscule magnet from his Battle Bus helmet's built-in toolkit and holds it up in his palm,
Trying to magnetize Roger's metal back into shape.
Floating in outer space,
You eject your magnet as well and double the magnetic force,
But nothing is able to slow Roger Robot down.
He's like a robot dog after an alien bone and there's nothing to do but wait.
We watch him get smaller and smaller as he approaches the UFO.
Through our highly filtered glasses,
We can see Roger Robot form into a flurry of shapes.
He's so excitable that he cannot keep his form stable.
What is he seeing over there?
The light isn't blinding,
But it's brilliant.
It blurs everything around,
And from here,
It appears as if Roger Robot disappears into a ball of light more intense than the sun,
Coming from the moon.
The last thing we see before Roger disappears is him excitedly transform into a bouquet of balloons.
Well,
He must be happy about whatever he's found.
Is he celebrating with those balloons?
Yeah,
That's something he learned on his own.
I didn't program that.
This is kind of nice.
I'm okay with floating for a while.
Me too.
Can you go upside down like this?
Oh yeah,
And in circles.
That's it for part one of our adventure.
Keep your BattleBuzz handy for part two.
That concludes our adventure.
I can't wait to see you again.
Captain EJ,
Over and out.
EJ911,
Captain speaking.
Mr.
Honeybee here.
This is an emergency mission of epic proportions.
It has already taken us to the moon,
And in this episode,
Part two,
We have a bit more exploring to do before we head back to with a little something special in tow.
If you want to listen to part one,
That episode is called To the Moon.
But if you want to pick up right where we left off,
With a UFO in our sights,
As we float in the emptiness of outer space,
Settle in for part two now.
From the outside,
You'd never know that our sharp minds are hard at work while we float in playful shapes.
In our BattleBuzz helmet,
As in our hearts,
We always have everything we need right here with us,
So we can relax into our problem solving,
Knowing that all will be right sooner or later.
Sharing a mental wavelength like we always do as we spin in slow,
Upside-down circles,
Looking out for Roger's return,
We formulate a plan to get us closer to that UFO without the help of a very convenient,
Though highly distracted,
Robot rocket.
These magnets are among the most powerful on Earth.
We are among some of the most powerful people on Earth.
Both of those truths must mean something for outer space too.
Mr.
Honeybee attempts to float an idea past us,
But it turns into more of a butterfly swim,
And then a sort of frantic dog paddle.
When he does finally get to us,
We three arrive at the same exact thought.
We must combine our power with the magnet's power to get us to that UFO.
Mrs.
Honeybee and Melody Bee continue trying to get Roger's attention,
But he has been fully enveloped in the brilliance on the moon and shows no signs of returning anytime soon.
We have to get there and make sure all is well with our flighty robot friend.
Every so often,
Another little balloon of celebration floats away,
So we know that whatever he found must be incredible,
Alien or otherwise.
Captain,
Hero,
I think we'll need your high-powered voices for this one.
Combined with the charge in those magnets,
It'll likely pull us directly to the UFO,
So we can turn that U into an I.
From unidentified to identified.
An I-F-O.
A little professional goal of mine,
To turn all UFOs into IFOs.
This will be the first.
No pressure there,
Team.
I know we've been practicing in the stronghold,
But you'll need to focus very intensely on these magnets,
Because we haven't tested the photovoltaic effect of your vocal waves in the vacuum of space.
Hero and I were just thinking the same thing.
We will need to take off our battle bus helmets for that though,
Right?
Right.
Once the magnets are steady,
Floating in space,
We'll need to take a deep breath and shout all your vocal power directly at them.
I don't yet know how your voice does this,
Captain EJ,
But thanks to that battle bus helmet,
Both you and Hero can create light from sound waves,
And electricity from that light.
Speaking of,
Did the elder knucklers Dr.
Mrs.
And Dr.
Mr.
Knuckler ever get a hold of you?
I spoke with them earlier this week about getting into the lab.
You're gonna work with them?
And Hero?
Sure,
I will.
You think we shouldn't?
Oh,
I don't know.
Maybe because both of their sons kidnapped me,
Tried to flood the entire Honeybee neighborhood,
And are somehow stealing my prototype designs to this day?
That was in the past,
Mr.
H.
We have to be able to forgive and move forward at some point,
Don't you think?
Maybe we can hold my grudge for a teeny bit longer.
Fine.
At least until we get back down to Earth.
Deal.
But they have to earn my trust back.
That's fair.
Deal.
You ready,
Captain?
Ready.
Hero,
You ready?
We gently place the magnets we want to supercharge away from Mr.
Honeybee,
And far from Mrs.
Honeybee and Melody Bee,
Who are doing visual assessments of the flickering phenomenon through their solar filtration glasses,
And their somersaults,
And reporting back any anomalies.
Swimming through the nothingness,
Out over an expanse of bottomless nothingness,
We maneuver as if we are swimming against the strongest tide.
We swing alternate arms out in front of us with all our considerable strength,
Right arm,
Left arm,
Right arm,
Left arm.
Holding the all-purpose magnet in the puffy-gloved hand of the spacesuit,
Place the magnet itself in midair as if you're setting it down on an invisible table.
It stays put,
Just as weightless as you are and Captain EJ does the same.
Now,
The tricky part.
Take your slowest,
Deepest breath in through your nose.
Focus intently on the magnet as you slowly fill up with fresh air,
From the bottom of your belly,
To your chest,
All the way up to the very tip-top of your throat.
When you cannot take in any more delicious Earth air streaming in through your Battle Buzz helmet,
Press the mask release and breathe all the way out through your mouth with an audible sigh.
The invisible waves emanating from your vocal cords have the surreal look of a translucent wave,
Shooting from the open mask of the Battle Buzz helmet directly to the magnet,
Gliding through the emptiness of space like few other forces can.
These invisible waves are not able to be seen,
In and of themselves,
But their slight motion seems to bend time and space.
When the stray reflections of light flicker from the moon,
We can see the actual electricity emanating from our vocal sound waves by the wavy way they refract the light.
Though we're shouting with all our might,
We can't hear anything.
With the magnet sizzling,
We close up the mask and resume the glorious rhythm of our natural breathing,
Which goes unnoticed far too often.
We can tell our plan has worked because the metal of our Battle Buzz helmets are already making their way,
And our way,
Head first to the UFO.
We intercept and catch the magnet before it sticks to the Battle Buzz helmet,
And then feel a most peculiar wiggle.
We wiggle and jiggle in place for a quick moment,
And are then projected through space by our hands.
Mr.
Honeybee,
Mrs.
Honeybee,
And Melody Bee grab hold of our free hands and our feet as we fly by headlong toward the UFO.
They hold onto us for dear life as these supercharged,
Electrified magnets in our hands make their way of least resistance through the stars,
And closer and closer to that brilliant light.
As we approach,
The brilliance of the light overtakes us once again.
We have to squint slightly even from behind our solar filtration glasses,
And then all at once,
The lights go off,
The flickering stops,
And while we're flying through space faster than our minds can process,
We suddenly see something approaching us.
It's bright blue and looks like a dart that someone aimed at an intergalactic dartboard,
If we were that dartboard.
What do you think you're doing?
That's enough of your little science experiments over here.
The blue dart darting towards us was actually Roger Robot,
Morphed into a dart,
But he somehow was able to stop the magnetism that was whooshing us through space so powerfully just seconds ago.
Roger,
How did you do that?
You might be a superhero,
Captain EJ,
But I'm a superconductor.
And that means?
His metal can block magnetic fields.
Superconductor mode engaged.
Roger,
That was a bit abrupt.
I saw all of you moving quickly,
And I had to report back to see what was going on over here.
Wait,
So that means you saw us floating aimlessly too,
When you left us.
When I risked my life and limb to go into the breach first and make sure it was safe for my friends,
Is that what you meant,
Melody Bee?
Sorta.
Well,
That brings me to something marvelous.
You will literally marvel at this news,
Everyone.
Gather round,
Gather round,
Gather round.
We're already gathered,
Roger.
We can't really move without gravity.
Perfect.
Guess,
Just try to guess what I found.
You found.
.
.
You'll never guess.
This is world-altering,
Universe-shaking news.
The biggest news I'll likely ever break in my eternity's long life.
What is it,
Roger?
Okay,
Get ready.
This is gonna knock your socks clean off.
Everyone,
Listen up.
You found an alien?
Wow,
Yeah.
Wait,
Way to take the wind out of my sails,
Captain.
Sheesh.
You don't need wind in space anyways,
Roger.
Everyone except Captain EJ,
Come with me.
Hey,
I was kidding.
Whoa.
Before Roger Robot can leave Captain EJ in his windless dust,
You grab from my hand and anything you can grasp of Roger's dart,
And we're all darted into the brightest,
Most magnificent light you've ever seen or felt.
It's a warmth you can hardly describe,
And the experience is otherworldly.
You don't know what to expect,
But you're moving so fast that you don't think about anything much.
You're squarely in this out-of-this-world moment and about to come face to face with.
You can hear a disembodied voice whirling around you,
But you can't see much of anything else as the brilliant light flickers wildly.
The closer you get,
The dimmer the light becomes,
Or are our eyes adjusting somehow?
Unsure of anything,
We stay open in mind,
Heart,
And spirit and meet whatever alien creature with similarly open arms.
Another peculiar sound rings out as the lights darken,
Leaving us only shadows from the twinkling stars.
You know you're approaching the moon because you saw its gray cratered surface from far away,
But you wouldn't know it by looking straight ahead like you are,
Trailing behind Roger Robot as a bright blue dart who's traveling a lot slower now to navigate through the shadows.
What you see in front of you eclipses the moon in size and hovers in the shape of Saturn,
With a massive ring around it that is made up of smaller,
Crystallized particles.
Something that looks like chunks of silver or that seem to be on fire on the inside,
If such a thing is possible.
The ring of this gargantuan UFO is partly what is causing the flickering phenomenon back down on Earth,
But what's causing the technology disruption?
This UFO is on its way to becoming an IFO if you and I have anything to say about it,
Hero.
We study every detail with a robot-level precision and stamp it in our memory banks as we dart towards it.
You can see every possible shade of green represented on the outer casting of this UFO,
With the most illustrious verdure's shine.
Sizzling electricity crackles and swirls around the ship.
Not only does this electrical current power the ship,
It seems to hold it together as well.
The silver fires within the individual chunks that make up the outer ring seem to be feeding the electricity in some way,
And that amount of static electricity could certainly disrupt our technology.
This alien must be huge,
Unlike any Earth-sized creature we've seen before.
Maybe even bigger than a blue whale or a dinosaur.
Roger Robot slows his dart down considerably to navigate us through the individual chunks of fiery silver that make up the outer ring.
We duck our heads and tuck up our feet to clear the scorching ice hot silvery rocks as we pass them.
Up close,
These chunks look like shiny silver ice rocks with a blue hot fire burning within each one,
And there are billions of these chunks in all different sizes.
The rocks crash into each other,
Vibrating intensely with immense energy stores and causing little explosions that make the buzzing electricity surge.
What kind of alien would need this much electricity and space?
Again,
As we make our way into the inner chamber of the UFO,
We wonder to ourselves how humongous this alien creature must be as a massive door opens from the bottom of the ship.
We can only imagine what kind of gigantic lumbering creature is about to emerge,
Gargantuan step by gargantuan step.
The most glorious pinkish-red hue shines from inside the UFO when the door opens.
It soothes our nerves with its color alone.
A smile comes to your face unconsciously,
As if the color itself is speaking sweetly to your physiology.
Your muscles relax more and more with each exhale,
And you float a little easier while you wait and watch for the footsteps with the rest of us.
Roger Robot calls out to this creature who goes by the name Warpino.
When no one responds,
He grabs hold of some kind of remote control device that not even Mr.
Honeybee has seen before.
He must have received this alien technology on his first jaunt over to this UFO.
Mr.
Honeybee's eyes widen behind his spacesuit helmet.
Roger tells us that per the extensive and instantaneous polyvalent conversations with Warpino in his alien language,
Which Roger machine-learned in seconds,
This device will emit a summons to the creature.
Depending on several instinctual and split-second decisions made remotely by Warpino himself,
The summons will be successful or it will fail.
Roger Robot is unsure of the calculus by which Warpino and his species of people decide upon these factors,
But all of that is for us to learn from our new friend.
Once we finally see him for ourselves,
Not only can you see Mr.
Honeybee's giddiness,
You can feel his pure joy radiate out to all of us even in the vacuum of space.
Now,
The summons.
It was successful.
We watch,
And we wait,
Spreading out amongst ourselves amidst the already expansive space,
Just to give this enormous alien creature enough room to emerge.
And then,
With a bubbly sort of minuscule squeak,
A comparatively tiny alien bursts out from the ship,
Taking up a mere fraction of the space allotted to him through the open door.
We can only see his brilliantly whitish-blue outline,
But other than that,
We see right through him.
That is,
Except for a silvery beating heart that seems to be on fire on the inside,
Just as the rocks we saw in the outer ring are.
It's that same fire which creates his outline.
When he's this close to us,
We can hear the peculiar beat of his heart,
Fueled as if it is by this fire.
Though he's mostly transparent,
We can see a depth of expression in his globular black eyes that blink much more rapidly than his rapid heartbeats.
We can see his eyes so well because he comes extremely close to each one of us,
Individually,
Like a greeting of the most intimate kind.
Warpino comes as close as his sizzling electricity will allow,
As if he knows his electric touch might be incompatible with our human one.
With his face so close to ours,
He methodically approaches each one of us,
You first.
Something about your spirit must have called to him,
And he spends the most time gazing directly into your eyes,
Tilting his head from one side to the other slowly,
As if he is reading your life like a book.
You are not fearful.
You have no instinct to flee or disrupt this process.
You're totally in it.
He leans in close,
Tilting his tiny,
Oblong head downward toward his chin and staring at you with the most intense glare through fluttering eyelids.
We can see the excitement in his blinking and intuitively know that this is how Warpino expresses joy.
So we do what comes naturally to us.
You smile sweetly at first,
Just at the corners of your mouth.
Then,
The longer this goes on,
You start to smile bigger and bigger just like we do,
And then the smile grows to show your teeth just like ours do.
At the sudden appearance of six toothy grins,
Which appear to Warpino as brandished weapons,
His eyes open to become even bigger as they stay that way,
Stuck in unblinking fear for a split second.
Then,
Just as quickly as we had our first alien encounter,
Our new alien comrade disappears into the vast expanse of his spaceship.
Why?
What happened?
Roger leaps into action,
Leaving us to float in confusion once more while he bridges the schism between human and alien communication.
Roger Robot transforms back into his robot shape to rectify this rapidly devolving problem.
He floats into the opening of the UFO door and reaches out a mechanical hand towards what looks like empty space,
Backlit by the steady pinkish-red hue.
That's when we see where Warpino went off to,
Or rather,
The special way in which Warpino has adapted emotionally to his own world.
Warpino,
Who has not disappeared,
But has become extremely tiny as a response to fear,
In a language we do not understand but that Roger Robot is learning the contours of,
He speaks with Warpino about his own ability to transform and explains that teeth are just calcium and phosphorus deposits that settle inside the human mouth in funny shapes.
Roger admits this revelation was most strange to him as well,
When he saw his first human.
Slowly,
Warpino grows in size proportional to his growing trust in us not to eat him with our teeth,
Which is what he thought our smiles meant.
As we watch Roger Robot coax Warpino out of his reactive tininess,
Captain EJ whispers,
Only closed mouth smiles from now on,
Everyone.
Captain EJ,
You're showing your teeth when you talk.
So we need to talk like this?
It seems so.
You guys,
You guys look so funny.
Roger looks at us with the annoyance of a librarian shushing rambunctious patrons as we each zip it,
Intensely wishing in this moment that we could shrink into disappearance when we're embarrassed or fearful.
But that seems to be a special ability of Warpino's kind,
And perhaps something we can learn from him.
So far we've learned that even joyful things like smiling and laughter frighten Warpino.
This is not what we expected from an alien encounter.
In the private laboratory of our own minds,
We each silently question all that we assume about ourselves and our human world.
While Roger Robot tries and tries again to coax Warpino back to us,
He once again uses the device to summon Warpino,
But this time it fails.
One more time.
Warpino,
It's me,
Roger.
Oh wait,
Let me try in his language.
There he is,
And in his normal size.
I promise we won't do anything to scare you,
At least not on purpose.
Now will we,
Everyone?
We won't,
We promise.
I explained to him what teeth and laughing are,
So you're good to show off your calcium deposits.
Warpino,
This is everyone,
Everyone,
This is Warpino,
The real life alien.
Hi Warpino,
I'm Captain EJ,
And this is my best friend Hero,
And that's Mr.
Honeybee.
Hi there,
And Mrs.
Honeybee.
Hi Warpino.
And Melodybee.
Hello Mr.
Warpino,
Sir.
It's so nice to meet you.
Can you switch to Earth language?
English mode for them?
They can't learn languages as quickly as,
I mean,
As we can.
Oh my gadgets,
I can't believe I just said that.
And tell them what you told me.
You won't believe it,
Everyone.
Warpino actually- Let Warpino tell us,
Roger.
Oh,
Oh,
Oh,
Okay,
Okay.
I can't believe this day has finally come.
I am over the moon,
Literally.
Hi everyone,
Blinks all around.
We blink when we're happy,
But it seems that you Earthlings do something called laugh.
Can I practice what you call laughing with you?
Then I'll need a refresher of your names,
Because that was a lot of Earthling all at one day.
Ha,
Ha.
Did I laugh right?
You were close.
It's more of a natural thing,
Something you don't have to think about consciously.
All you gotta do is think about something funny,
And then it just happens.
Yeah,
Like when I try to wink,
But can't.
I try to close just one eye.
And then,
Inevitably,
She holds her other eye open with her fingers.
Ha,
Ha.
And then,
There go both eyes,
Closed.
Like I said,
Melody B,
If you wink with both eyes,
It's a double wink.
Twice as fun.
Winking isn't very hard,
But humans do it all the time.
Roger,
Can you wink?
Too much can be said with a wink.
I like my language precise.
I can.
Oh,
Wink.
Wink.
Melody B,
I think it'll help if you say it while you do it.
Focuses the Earthling mind.
I just realized I'm an Earthling.
How exciting.
I did it.
Is it really easier to wink if you say it while you do it?
Wink?
Oh,
Wow.
It does help.
Try a wink with each eye.
One right after the other.
Wink,
Wink.
Wink,
Wink.
Wink,
Wink.
Wink,
Wink.
Wink,
Wink.
Wink,
Wink.
Wink,
Wink.
Wink,
Wink.
Wink,
Wink.
Fuck me.
That's right,
Warpino.
This is pretty funny.
Laughing will probably be something you get to practice a lot with all of us,
Especially if you visit us in the Honeybee neighborhood.
I'll get to visit?
Of course.
How else will we be able to exchange ideas and eventually take over the whole universe?
That's enough about us.
Warpino,
We want to hear about your intelligence.
Where is your brain?
Do you have a microchip?
Hard drive?
It looks like your voice comes directly from your throat.
Whoa.
Please start at the beginning and speak quickly.
Roger the Robot,
Did you say Honeybee neighborhood?
Is this Earthling by any chance Hero the Honeybee and you,
EJ the Captain?
Yeah,
That's Hero and I'm Captain EJ and that's where we came from,
Where we all live.
The Honeybee neighborhood?
The one and only?
The one and only.
Have you heard of the Honeybee neighborhood all the way out here?
Have I heard?
Roger the Robot,
My friend,
Do humans always ask these silly questions?
Literally always.
Of course,
I've heard about the Honeybee neighborhood.
Who hasn't?
Nobody from my planet thinks you really exist.
I set out on a quest to prove them wrong though,
All by myself with my ship.
That's my ship.
I created my own flashlights and lined the ship with them so I could see across several galaxies at once while I fly.
I knew you all were real and here you are,
Really real.
You must be Honeybee the Mr.
And you,
Honeybee the Mrs.
And Melody the B.
And I get to stand right beside you?
I,
Warpino the.
.
.
I'm standing here with everyone.
Blink,
Blink,
Blink,
Blink,
Blink,
Blink,
Blink,
Blink,
Blink,
Blink,
Blink,
Blink,
Blink.
We are most definitely real.
Do you blink when you're happy,
Warpino?
Oh,
My gloves of lightning.
I could blink myself into oblivion right now.
I cannot believe what I'm seeing.
Do you all like squeezes?
I love squeezes.
What are we squeeze?
Okay,
Ow.
Warpino the Aliens lean in for what he calls a squeeze,
And what he calls a squeeze we call a hug.
A surprisingly big hug for such a small creature.
He scoops both of us up into one big squeezing hug,
Blinking and sizzling with excited electricity,
As if his arms can extend themselves far beyond his tiny size.
Before he even realizes what's happening,
You are quite literally shocked by such friendliness from our new friend.
In his excitement,
He forgot how sensitive the outer layer of most Earthlings is,
Even through our spacesuits.
He pulls back from us,
Horrified at such an oversight.
His once rapid blinking has slowed to a heavy,
Sullen stare,
And we can clearly see how the rate of Warpino's blinking is directly proportional to his emotional state.
Warpino is upset that he's accidentally shocked us,
And he freezes in that sadness momentarily,
Unable to take in new information,
Just stuck.
Black eyes wide open,
And though they don't look any different,
They feel empty.
Between the two of us,
We finally convince him that we're okay and that it was just an accident.
With time,
His blinking slowly comes back,
Little by little,
Until all of the enthusiasm returns.
After much trial and error,
With Roger Robot assisting with precise measurements and ratios,
We figure out a space-hugging method that works for all of us,
But it works differently for Warpino than it does for us.
We can't get closer than 5.
379 inches to Warpino's electrical outline,
For even a millisecond longer than 8.
938 seconds,
Or else he will unintentionally sizzle us.
Instead,
We stand at safe distances and give space hugs whenever Warpino needs them,
And from what we can tell,
People from his planet are big-time huggers,
But something about it is peculiar.
When he stands in front of us for a space hug,
He squeezes the nothingness of outer space as if he were squeezing us,
And somehow,
The electromagnetic force he carries wraps the empty air around us as if it were a hug.
There's more to Warpino than meets the eye,
And this initial encounter is a happy testament of what's to come when we hopefully tow him and his UFO back to the Honeybee neighborhood with us.
When he accidentally gets too close during one of his many,
Many space hugs,
Which happen very randomly during conversations,
Even to the interruption of his own sentences,
We notice yet another peculiarity of Warpino's presence and its effects on us.
After Mr.
Honeybee invites him back to Command Center,
And you and I assure him that there is plenty of room at my house and your house for him to stay as long as he wants,
Warpino is overcome with joyful blinks and wraps all three of us,
You,
Me,
And Mr.
Honeybee,
Into a huge space hug that gets just a tad too close before Roger Robot can transform into a ruler and separate us efficiently.
A shock of static electricity,
More noticeable than the others before it,
Pops against our spacesuits and within milliseconds,
All three of us shrink and disappear.
You can feel the electricity coursing through us like the most potent energy.
We already felt microscopic compared to the infinite expanse of outer space,
But now we can float next to a single speck of space dust and see it as a massive boulder.
Warpino immediately realized what has happened and shrinks right along with us.
Roger Robot,
Confused and unsure of how to even be in a confused state due to his limitless knowledge,
Whips his metallic head back and forth looking for us with the utmost panic.
Mrs.
Honeybee and Melodybee swim all around where we were just standing and no matter how much we wave our hands and shout out to them,
We are too teeny tiny for them to see.
We are essentially invisible.
You and Mr.
Honeybee rightly point out that this will be extremely useful in stealth missions of all sorts,
And I have to explain what stealth missions are and even what a mission is to our new friend Warpino.
He is delighted to help in any shocking or not so shocking way he can and accepts our invitation back to Earth without hesitation.
But we can't get there while we're this size.
The trip was long enough at our usual size,
So we need to figure out how to reverse this.
By the time we're in problem-solving mode,
Wishing our problem-solving robot friend Roger could see us and be here to help,
He arrives on the scene as tiny as can be.
Warpino,
My size-shifting brethren,
You were able to transmit this intelligence?
Humans are hopelessly stuck in their general size for their whole lives.
It's so sad.
What happens when they are frightened?
They just stay the same size?
Or when they're overjoyed?
They cannot grow to contain all the happiness and joy of that feeling?
I don't know about all that,
But they're one-sizers.
You said you grow when you feel happy?
Can you make us grow too?
Yeah.
But first,
You have to feel happy-happy,
With a big smile that shows all of your weapons.
Weapons?
Warpino,
Humans call those teeth,
Remember?
Even though they're technically weapons,
They don't think of them like that.
Teeth!
Happy teeth!
Have happy teeth,
And then we can grow big.
While Warpino waits for us to feel the joy needed to grow,
He playfully jumps from one speck of space dust to another,
Trying to skip two at a time but falling into a float.
Roger Robot studies Warpino,
Trying to learn all that he can about him,
And in doing so,
Succumbs to his most competitive spirit.
When Warpino tries to skip two specks of space dust,
Roger Robot tries for three,
And a competition ensues.
We,
On the other hand,
Are trying to get our size back,
Since this emergency mission has,
For the most part,
Been resolved.
There's so much more to learn about Warpino and his ship and his home planet,
But we can do so much more of that back at Command Center,
Back home.
So we focus on our personal growth like always.
Place both hands over your heart,
One on top of the other,
And take your slowest,
Deepest breath in through your nose.
Feel the sensation of your heart beating both within your chest and against your hands,
And allow yourself to sink into the space created by your heart.
That space is infinite and goes well beyond our one-size human bodies.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
And just as you do,
Warpino flashes over to us for a small shock,
And we grow.
And grow.
And grow.
We grow well beyond the size of Warpino's enormous spaceship,
And Warpino grows to a size fitting of his ship.
Roger Robot has never shapeshifted to something this huge.
He's bigger than the moon.
We all are.
Taking up this much space in space makes Earth look a lot closer and a lot smaller.
We marvel at the change in perspective,
But Warpino and Roger Robot have turned to more competitive pursuits.
They race each other to get bigger and smaller,
Quicker and quicker,
Shrinking into disappearance and growing even beyond the size of the moon.
Oh,
What this must look like down on Earth.
Ha.
But Roger isn't marveling anymore,
And he isn't even giddy to have a new alien friend.
He's dumbfounded by Warpino's dexterity over his size.
Emphasis on dumb.
Roger Robot,
For the first time in his life,
Doesn't feel like the smartest,
Most technologically advanced creature in the room.
And no matter what maneuvering Roger tries,
Warpino is always just a few milliseconds quicker.
And that is a new experience of our robot friend.
Quite alien to him,
If you will.
Much to our surprise,
Like everything in this mission,
The size change wears off naturally,
Just like all emotions eventually do if you let them.
When we appear back to Melody Bee and Mrs.
Honey Bee,
Our typical sizes,
They are overjoyed.
And when Warpino happens to brush against their arms in one of his size races with Roger,
They too get to experience being the size of the moon.
That is a remarkable experience for Melody Bee,
The talking bee who gardens by the moonlight most nights.
She's the one who waves to us each night as you and I set off on the neighborhood watch overnight shifts,
And she is enamored with being face to face with the face of the moon.
Mrs.
Honey Bee is soaking it all in,
In the silent contemplative way she does.
Her inspiration is soaring,
And who knows how many stories will come from this mission turned adventure.
When everyone and everything naturally winds back down,
Back to their typical size,
And back to a state of calm baseline,
We all find ourselves floating and looking back toward Earth,
Toward our home.
It's time to go back,
And we're excited to bring Warpino along.
Roger Robot transforms into a rocket,
The same rocket that got us here,
But Warpino is reluctant.
He can't breathe air.
His home planet's air has lots of radiation in it,
And that's what he needs to keep his heart fire burning.
Roger Robot and Mr.
Honey Bee put their heads together to figure out how to create more electromagnetism for Warpino,
But nothing compares to what he suggests.
Warpino invites us into his spaceship,
Which can't rightfully be called a UFO any longer.
Though we don't know yet what Warpino is made of,
Or how to accommodate his physiological needs,
He knows almost everything about us.
Warpino explains that in his pursuit to prove we were real and not just legends known around the cosmos by our stories,
He began a long and intensive study of Earth and its Earthlings.
He knows evolutionary biology.
He knows our history.
He even knows our philosophy,
The way we muse about things unseen and wonder about things unknowable.
Through the use of advanced radio signals,
He knows our music and our news.
He knows us so thoroughly,
And we can't help but feel how much that knowledge translates into love and admiration.
The one thing he might not yet know is how excited we are to have him accompany us,
To get to know him,
And to show him what the Honeybee neighborhood is really made of.
Friends,
And neighbors,
And lots and lots of laughs.
We float our way over to his spaceship,
Facing the brilliant magenta light that washes over us.
It feels otherworldly just being at the door of this alien mode of transportation,
But the electricity is so thick and dense that it transmutes into pulsating vibrations.
Imperceptible theta waves calm every aspect of us and put us in a dreamlike state as we walk with ease up into the ship from the bottom.
Right foot,
Left foot,
Right foot,
Left foot.
We learn that the color of the light changes based on the collective mood of everyone inside.
We learn that the green we saw before was curiosity,
When Warpino first saw us and was curious about us.
That magenta hue is the kind of easy feeling that comes after a lot of other feelings,
Catharsis,
Resolution,
Rest.
We're happy to relax after such an out-of-this-world mission,
And when the spaceship takes off,
Our bodies feel heavy in our seats,
Heavy with relaxation and peace and comfort.
Warpino makes us all feel more at home than we sometimes even feel at home,
And we relax into the many driver's seats of this IFO,
This newly identified flying object.
He accommodates our every need,
Even Roger Robots when he asks to take a detour to check on his secret satellite.
We still have no clue what that robot is doing with the secret stash of satellites,
But we're so tired that even Mr.
Honeybee leaves the issue for another day,
And another mission.
We instead enjoy the spaceship ride back home at warp speeds,
Talking to our new friend,
Who can hardly contain his delight at traveling to the magical,
Mythical place he knew was true,
And finally prove to himself that it was,
Our home,
The Honeybee neighborhood.
The scientist got stuck where?
What do you mean,
Sixth dimension?
No,
No,
I don't mean a definition of the sixth dimension.
I mean,
How did she even get there?
I guess that'll have to be our first mission,
Replicating this mad scientist's technology.
Then we'll find her and bring her home.
We're on it.
Transferring to dispatch.
I do not kid when I say I've been waiting for this moment my whole life.
Too bad it took one overly ambitious scientist to bring us here.
But once she's back in this dimension and safe,
This mission will be a leap forward for the command center's technology.
Come straight here to the command center today.
I have dimensional jumpers and all sorts of other things even I can't believe are real.
The day has come.
We're traveling to different dimensions,
Hero.
See you soon.
Captain EJ and Hero to the rescue.
Let's begin.
You are here in the bustling command center of the Honeybee neighborhood.
Mr.
Honeybee has already sprung into inspired action,
His hands flying over the complex controls of a device that looks like it belongs on a rocket ship.
It's encased in sleek metal,
Pulsing with light and formulated by equations that few can even imagine.
What's that,
Mr.
H?
It's almost done.
No time to talk.
We've got a short window to pull the mad scientist back before the dimensional tear stabilizes and traps her there.
With no time to waste,
Mr.
Honeybee hands us each a dimensional jumper,
A belt equipped with various gadgets and gizmos,
Each more mysterious than the last.
This simple device blends the latest theoretical physics with adapted space exploration technology and is our only hope to navigate the unstable dimension and retrieve the lost scientist.
All right,
Strap this on,
Hero.
Make sure it's snug.
We're going dimension diving.
Remember,
You have a very short time after you enter the sixth dimension.
The fifth would have been a much better place for her to get lost.
But the sixth?
Keep focused,
Team.
I'll be monitoring all dimensions and portals closely.
I have a 3D GIS dimensional map.
I can't believe I just said that.
Okay.
I have a dimensional map from the scientist's own records.
Luckily,
She writes scrupulous notes on her experiments.
From what I've gathered,
The portal will shortly become too unstable.
We're so lucky she travels with satellite phones.
Make sure you're both back or you'll be permanent residents of the sixth dimension.
I'm a fan of these measly old four dimensions of our world.
We'll be back,
Mr.
Honeybee.
The portal opens with a low hum.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel your chest and your spirits lift as a flash of blinding light swallows us whole.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
As we're forcefully ejecting out into a dimensional world that defies explanation.
The sky swirls with neon colors.
The ground beneath your feet feels like gelatin.
And bizarre creatures flit through the air,
Their forms blurred and shifting.
You follow Captain EJ who navigates the terrain with the confidence of a guy who's faced far stranger than this.
His confidence and bravery reminds you of your inner strength,
Which makes you the only sidekick for him.
Your destination is a beacon signal pulsing steadily on a device clipped to Captain EJ's belt,
The last known location of the lost scientist.
Navigating this dimension proves treacherous.
The landscape seems to rearrange itself with every blink and what was once a hill might suddenly dip into a valley.
You keep close as Captain EJ leads,
His focus never wavering from the mission at hand.
You eventually spot the frazzled scientist,
Though she does not spot you.
She's engrossed in a malfunctioning piece of equipment,
Frustration clear in her tense shoulders and furrowed brow.
Her experiments,
Strange contraptions that bend light and sound in impossible ways,
Lay scattered around her,
Half buried in the multicolored soil.
Silently,
Captain EJ motions for you to stay back as he approaches the scientist.
There's a delicate balance to maintain here,
Not just of the physical surroundings but also in handling a mind that's been isolated in such a warped reality.
A sense of relief washes over the scientist,
Who follows without a word.
She doesn't know how you got here or what will happen next,
But she senses the quiet power of your combined resolve and takes your hand to lead her back to safety.
With the scientist following silently,
You make your way back to the portal location.
The return journey is even more perilous than the arrival.
The dimension,
Sensing its visitors' intent to depart,
Increases its resistance.
The ground shifts aggressively,
And the air seems to thicken,
Trying to disorient and delay your retreat,
As if this extended dimension wants to keep all of us here.
Mr.
Honeybee will be happy to hear that the sixth dimension wants visitors just as much as he wants to visit.
The portal looms ahead,
Its stability waning as the minutes tick down.
Mr.
Honeybee radios into our BattleBuzz helmet.
Captain,
Hero,
Are you almost done there?
We're losing time.
But tell me everything.
Is it awesome?
Like,
Truly awesome?
In that it inspires awe?
What's it like?
Captain,
I need to know.
Mr.
H,
For someone who wants to know so much,
You're sure not giving us time to talk.
And speaking of,
We have no time to talk.
Captain EJ pushes the pace,
Urging you and the silent scientist forward as the boundary between dimensions begins to blur and flicker.
Just as you reach the portal,
It shrinks rapidly,
Threatening to close.
Take your biggest,
Slowest breath in through your nose.
Feel the edges of your breath push against the boundary of your chest.
Fill up your lungs with as much fresh air as will fit,
Exploring every possible space within you.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
As we leap for our home dimension in utter desperation,
You and Captain EJ,
With the scientist in tow,
Dive through the narrowing gateway.
The portal snaps shut behind you,
Sealing off the bizarre dimension with a sound like the world itself exhaling.
Back in the command center,
Mr.
Honeybee is a picture of relief.
His gadgets and screens blink back to normal,
The immediate thread now contained in the brilliant scientist now back safe.
The scientist,
Still quiet,
Seems overwhelmed by her return to normalcy.
Her gaze lingers on the now inert dimensional jumper.
Another day,
Another dimension hero.
The Honeybee neighborhood goes on with its daily existence.
Unaware of the cosmic disturbances just beyond their sight inside the unassuming garage.
As you and Captain EJ enjoy the snacks and refreshments,
Mr.
Honeybee doesn't let the recuperating scientist relax one bit.
His questions come with the ferocity of his curiosity,
And he,
Once again,
Does not hardly give her a chance to answer before he regales with another litany of questions.
We laugh to ourselves as we gobble up the last of the cookies.
With Mr.
Honeybee's genius,
And Captain EJ's bravery,
Along with your steadfast courage hero,
There's no boundary we can't breach,
And no scientist too mad to save.
You look out of the windows of command center to see that the stars have taken over the sky and the sun has set.
You wonder what other mysteries await in the vast,
Unexplored multiverse.
In the world of heroes,
The line between the ordinary and the extraordinary is thin.
And today,
You have once again walked that line with the steadiness of those destined to protect and serve.
The call to action is clear,
And you are ready to answer it,
Whatever dimension it may pull you into next.
EJ.
That concludes our adventure.
I can't wait to see you again.
Captain EJ,
Over and out.
EJ-911,
Captain speaking.
Hmm,
I see.
That does sound unsettling.
An old hotel,
Ghostly phenomena,
And trapped guests?
Absolutely.
We take every call seriously.
No,
Don't attempt to put the ghost on the phone,
I believe you.
Yes,
We'll handle it from here.
Thank you for alerting us.
We're on it.
Transferring to dispatch.
Hero,
The situation at Old Dormir Inn appears quite spooky.
Apparently,
The Old Inn isn't just a name.
The inn is quite old.
Like,
Over a century old,
From the records that Roger Robot dug up.
Reports indicate that numerous guests are experiencing supernatural phenomena,
Seeing operations and experiencing eerie,
Inexplicable cold spots.
They're unable to leave due to mysterious forces locking down the hotel.
The exits have somehow been sealed by these forces,
Confining everyone inside,
And no amount of battering from their battering ram.
Wait,
Huh?
Who has a battering ram at an inn?
Dormir is surely strange,
To say the least.
I'll activate the spectral scanners and set up a paranormal activity console to monitor the disturbances closely.
Prepare for a ghostly encounter,
Hero.
Boo!
I'm just kidding.
Okay,
I know.
That wasn't funny.
We have real ghosts here,
And I don't want to make angry with my bad ghost impressions.
It's getting cold over here,
Too.
I gotta check for ghosts at the command center.
I gotta split.
Keep your eyes peeled out there,
Hero.
EJ.
Captain EJ and Hero to the rescue.
Let's begin.
You are here,
Standing alongside Captain EJ as we once again enter the city limits of Dormir,
A place that seems to take up more and more of our time.
We stand back and lay our eyes upon the formidable silhouette of the old Dormir Inn.
When Mr.
Honeybee sent the mission brief over to our Battle Buzz helmets,
I assumed,
Perhaps naively,
That we'd be visiting a ramshackle,
Dilapidated old lodge that has fallen into despair.
We feast our eyes on anything but the latest in an unending stream of surprises from the town of Dormir.
The old inn rises majestically against the backdrop of a starless night.
It has pointed gothic spires that cut through the mist like ancient monoliths.
Moonlight is the only thing that shines against its stone facade.
Even at high noon,
This place would look haunted.
But at night,
Eerie shadows come out from their hiding places and dance across the crumbling masonry.
As we approach the massive front doors carved with the intricate faces of forgotten deities,
A chill sweeps over us,
Not from the cold,
But from what lies within.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Envision the energy of an old,
Wise entity holding centuries of secrets,
Ready to unfold them before us.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
Stepping into the inn's magnificent lobby,
The grandeur of a bygone era surrounds us.
Dormir looks like a long-forgotten frontier town from those old western movies,
But this,
This is downright fancy.
Opulent tapestries hang from the walls,
Depicting scenes of lavish festivities now silenced by time.
The air is heavy,
Scented with the musk of aged wood and the faint aroma of lilac,
Perhaps a lingering trace of the perfumes once worn by the ritzy travelers who waltzed in here.
Each step on the marble floor echoes through the vast emptiness,
A sound as isolated as the inn itself.
Our investigation begins at the heart of the hotel's mysteries,
The recently restored ballroom reputed to be the epicenter of the ghostly disturbances.
Guests have reported seeing visions of Victorian-era figures,
Hearing disembodied laughter and witnessing spectral dances that end as abruptly as they begin.
These spirits seem tethered to specific artifacts and renovations,
Suggesting a deep unrest tied to the inn's history.
Inside the ballroom,
The air shifts.
Chandeliers tremble lightly as if stirred by invisible breath.
The mirrors along the walls not only reflect our forms but occasionally,
Fleetingly,
Those of others.
Figures dressed in old-fashioned garb fading in and out of view with forlorn expressions trapped in an eternal soiree.
The temperature drops near these mirrors,
A palpable coldness that seems to suck the warmth from the air.
Take another slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the cold air,
Even colder,
Coming in through your nose and expanding your chest filled with invisible life force.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth,
And continue walking in the way we do,
Moving forward,
But each having the other's back,
For a strategic 360-degree view.
We always seem to have to watch our back in Dormir,
Don't we?
What is it about this place?
Armed with Mr.
Honeybee's cutting-edge spectral technology,
We set out to decipher these anomalies.
The Paranormal Activity Console,
A network of screens and sensors that appears in the periphery of our vision with the Battle Bus helmet,
Illuminates with a spectral light as it begins to track the movements of these apparitions.
The spectral scanners,
Resembling small luminous drones,
Whir softly as they drift through the room,
Their sensors flickering as they map out zones of high ectoplasmic activity.
Captain,
Hiro,
The initial scans are showing layers of spectral energy densely woven into the ballroom's fabric.
It appears the renovation work has inadvertently disturbed these resting spirits.
You need to deploy the spectral harmonizers to ease this unrest.
Can you see what we're seeing,
Mr.
H?
Yes and no.
Huh?
How can it be both?
Well,
I can see what you're seeing,
But I'm covering my eyes because I do not like scary movies when they're made of movie magic,
No less in real life with my best friends.
Tell me when it's okay to look.
No one can do what you do,
Mr.
Honeybee.
Even with your eyes covered,
You've made an excellent observation.
We'll get this settled so you can resume your vision.
Let's set up the harmonizers.
They'll emit a frequency that soothes the spectral energies,
Helping to calm the unrest and perhaps communicate our intentions of peace.
As the harmonizers begin their work,
A remarkable transformation unfolds,
And we can hardly believe our eyes.
The spectral figures start to appear less agitated,
Their movements slowing as if lulled by a gentle melody only they can hear.
The laughter and cries that once echoed off the walls diminish,
And a serene quietude begins to reclaim the ballroom.
Do you feel the air getting warmer,
Hero?
The cold seems to be related to the spirit's unrest.
The echoes of the past fade into a peaceful silence,
And the Old Dormir Inn's own spirit seems to sigh in relief.
With the ghostly phenomena under control and the spirits appeased,
The Inn slowly returns to normal with a shocking amount of people coming and going.
In no time,
Guests cautiously step out from their rooms,
Their faces subtly changing from fear to relief as they gather in a now peaceful lobby.
Smiles begin to replace the looks of horror,
And the staff resume their duties,
Grateful for the return of calm.
It's remarkable that such an old place is still so active.
I wonder how old this place is.
It seems the Old Dormir Inn is 400 years old.
Wait,
Mr.
Honeybee,
Did you read my mind?
What?
Huh?
What now?
Roger.
Roger,
Robot.
Turn it off.
Turn the prototype off.
I accidentally responded.
Turn it off.
Haha,
Hero.
Our mission here is complete.
We've solved the mystery of the Old Dormir Inn,
But another mystery has cropped up.
Mr.
H is being awfully suspicious.
I think a little testing session is due soon.
If he's going to read my mind with prototypes,
The least he can do is not mind when we slip in and fire him up.
But seriously,
We calmed the restless spirits and ensured the safety of all within these walls.
Another day,
Another spectral challenge overcome.
As we leave the Inn and Dormir to its newfound peace,
Remember that bravery isn't just about facing danger.
It's also about understanding and compassion for the unseen.
Until next time,
Keep your heart brave and your mind open.
And keep an eye on Mr.
Honeybee.
I sense an epic prank coming soon.
That concludes our adventure.
I can't wait to see you again.
Captain EJ,
Over and out.
EJ911,
Captain… Pinky,
I know it's you.
Your name is registered to this phone number.
What have you done now?
Oh,
Captain EJ.
Always so quick to jump to conclusions.
I didn't know where else to call,
You know.
Why don't you do yourself a favor and turn on the TV?
There's about to be some… breaking news.
Pinky,
Don't play games with me.
What are you talking about?
Please hold.
I have someone else on the line.
Now,
I know you can do this.
Pinky,
Who are you talking to?
What are you trying to do?
Pinky,
Answer me.
I hope for your sake this is a cruel joke and you're not leading someone into a dangerous situation.
Oh,
Captain E- Pinky,
How do I know if you're just baiting me?
I don't want to take your wicked bait,
But is this real?
How do I even begin to find this person?
Captain EJ,
We need backup on the highway.
The driver isn't responding to orders to stop.
Got it.
We're on our way.
Transferring to dispatch.
Highway patrols tracking a high-speed chase.
No communication,
No response.
We know Pinky Knuckler is involved,
And we can assume this is real and diabolical.
But the highway patrol doesn't know Pinky like we do.
He's hijacked someone's radio and somehow tricked them into believing they're on a rescue mission.
I've loaded your ENVs with a signal disruptor to break through Pinky's interference and a tracking beacon to lock onto the vehicle if you can get close enough.
Stay sharp and stay safe out there,
Hero.
Your ENV is waiting.
EJ.
Captain EJ and hero to the rescue.
Let's begin.
You are here,
Piloting your ENV on the road beside Captain EJ as we race down the highway.
The chaos ahead is impossible to ignore.
Vehicles swerving,
Brake lights flaring like tiny explosions of mayhem,
And in the middle of it all,
The road car is zigzagging through traffic as it's running for its life.
Amidst all the madness and mayhem,
You know that you need to focus your mind to let everything but the mission fade into the background.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the cool air coming in through your nose,
Lifting your courage like a shield in all the ways the ENV is physically supporting you right now.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
Feel your heart rate steady,
Your mind clear,
And your grip tightened on the controls.
Your ENV feels alive in your hands,
Responding to your every move.
The controls hum with energy,
Vibrating slightly as the speed builds.
The bright green driving gloves you wear grip the wheel firmly,
Enhancing the control your mind has over this unique vehicle.
As you weave through the storm of traffic,
You feel the gentle tug of the seat harness that keeps you securely grounded,
Even as the ENV moves like an extension of your own instincts.
Hero,
This driver's panicked and fast.
Pinky's got them convinced they're saving someone's life,
But they're actually putting all our lives in danger.
We need to stop this.
We need to slow this driver down.
The highway patrol vehicles race alongside us,
Their sirens wailing,
Trying to corner the road car along with us.
We match their speed,
Our ENVs gliding effortlessly between the patrol cars,
Seamlessly blending into the chase.
Let's take it up a notch,
Hero.
Time to show them what these ENVs can really do.
With a burst of energy,
We activate flight mode.
Both ENVs lift off the ground simultaneously,
Transforming into sleek aerial machines.
The highway patrol officers glance up in shock as we soar past them,
Leaving the groundbound chaos behind before their chopper can even start its engine.
Stay with me,
Hero.
We'll close in on the road car from above and cut this chase short.
Pinky's not getting away with this.
Reconnect with your resolve.
Take another slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel your chest expand as you take command of the adrenaline that naturally filters information for us in emergency situations.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
Let your hands steady on the ENV controls,
Ready for whatever might come next.
With precision and teamwork,
We accelerate in formation,
Determined to end this chase before anyone gets hurt.
The road car below swerves dangerously,
Weaving through traffic so erratically that it's difficult for us to follow it from the air.
The police cars below are having even more trouble.
We look behind us to see a trail of more than thirty emergency response vehicles,
Including armored cars that can make direct contact with the car should contact be needed.
They all wait at our command.
You and I move in perfect formation,
Piloting our ENVs to close the gap as best we can.
From up here,
The chaos is glaring.
Horns blare,
Brake lights flash,
And vehicles veer off course to avoid disaster.
But the road driver keeps going,
Fast and determined.
Hero,
Whoever's behind that wheel knows what they're doing.
Look at the control.
They're holding speed and maneuvering like a pro.
Whoa,
Pull up,
Pull up.
Great reflexes,
Hero.
Construction crews definitely didn't know this was going to happen today,
Or that the guy in the crane would have to watch out for ENVs.
We got a wide open patch of road coming up.
Most of the traffic is behind us.
We need to bring this in before it's too late.
Let's ground the ENVs and flank that car.
Keep them from veering off the highway while we have them surrounded.
I'll try to get through to them.
We drop closer to the highway,
Boxing in the rogue car from both sides.
As we pull up alongside it,
We make eye contact with the driver.
It's Sally Smith.
Hero,
Look,
It's Sally.
She knows Pinky.
We'll get through to her if she can hear us.
Sally,
Sally,
It's Captain EJ and Hero.
Captain,
Your helmet has a megaphone in it.
Just tap your right ear twice.
Sally,
It's Captain EJ.
Pull your car over.
You're being deceived.
Pinky is lying to you.
No,
You don't understand.
I have to save him.
I'm the only one who can.
And he helped save me,
So I cannot let him down.
Please,
Just let me go.
It'll all be fine.
Pinky is helping me.
That's right,
Sally.
Pinky is here to help you.
Like I told you,
They've all been compromised.
They're trying to stop you because they're part of it.
They don't want you to save him.
Sally,
Who are you supposed to be saving right now?
You're doing more harm than anything else,
Sally.
Pinky is tricking you.
Pinky says Mr.
Honeybee has been held hostage because of his prototypes.
He says that Mr.
Honeybee has gotten in with the wrong people and they're out to get us,
Captain EJ.
What?
Mr.
H is fine.
He's on the line right now.
What?
What do you mean?
He's okay?
No,
Mr.
Honeybee is not okay.
It's Captain EJ who's holding him hostage.
Don't trust them,
Sally.
Trust me.
Captain,
Hero,
Mr.
H here.
Not being held hostage.
I've been listening in,
And this is too well-timed.
Pinky's not guessing.
He's watching.
He must have hidden a device in or around Sally's car.
Find it and disable.
That will disable Pinky.
Good thinking,
Mr.
H.
Hero,
Get Sally's attention.
Tell her to listen.
Mr.
H,
I'm projecting you through my loudspeaker.
Tell Sally you're okay.
Sally,
This is Mr.
Honeybee.
I am- No,
Do not turn off your- I'm so sorry,
Captain.
I thought it was real.
It's perfectly okay,
Sally.
Slow down.
Slow all the way down and stop safely.
Pinky lied to you.
There's no rescue.
He's using you for his own plans.
With the radio silent and Pinky's lies exposed,
Sally hesitates,
Her hands trembling on the wheel.
Slowly,
She pulls the car to a stop on the side of the highway.
He lied to me.
I almost hurt someone.
Sally,
It's over.
You're safe now.
Pinky won't be able to manipulate you anymore.
Hero,
I'll take care of Sally.
Go find the device he was using.
That'll be key evidence.
Use the signal disruptor just in case so we can keep a secure line through the BattleBuzz helmet.
The chase is over,
But the fight against Pinky isn't done yet.
Now,
We have to trace his tricks back to their source and stop him before he can try this again.
With Sally safely swept away into the care of rescue workers,
You begin your meticulous sweep of the vehicle.
There's no room for error.
If Pinky's devices are still active,
His reach could extend far beyond this chase.
Like always,
You work diligently,
Starting at the rearview mirror where you find a hidden camera,
Its lens glinting faintly in the light.
Beneath the dashboard,
You uncover a microphone,
Cleverly concealed to pick up everything Sally said.
Then,
Near the trunk,
You discover a small but powerful signal jammer,
Pinky's way of keeping Sally cut off from help.
Take a slow,
Deep breath of relief in through your nose.
Relax your shoulders and feel the tension ease as you disable the last device.
Then,
Slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth,
Knowing that you and Captain EJ have effectively saved this day.
With each device removed,
Pinky's control slips further away.
Once you've collected all the devices,
You place them carefully into the EMV's teleportation module to send to Mr.
Honeybee with the click of the remote that's always at your hip.
The devices shimmer in the flood of red emergency lights before disappearing into thin air,
Sent directly to Mr.
Honeybee at Command Center for analysis.
Got it,
Mr.
H.
Hero,
Let's move.
Highway Patrol will follow us.
He deserves whatever justice is coming his way.
We arrive at the outskirts of Dormir,
At the edge of the forest,
Where Pinky's hideout sits camouflaged among overgrown brush and rusted machinery.
His tech bunker hums with electricity,
A hive of his twisted ingenuity.
Pinky must have known we'd come because he certainly has been cut off from gathering any more covert intelligence.
We can hear the sound of traps around his bunker activate,
But you,
Hero,
You see them with your eagle eyes.
His traps spring to life,
Electric snares,
Smoke plumes,
And a swarm of buzzing drones designed to disorient intruders.
You emerge victorious from your EMV,
Stomping down twigs and piles of leaves as you approach carefully.
You move with precision,
Disarming each trap before it can cause harm.
Your steady hands and sharp focus clear the way for the Highway Patrol to advance.
With the last trap neutralized,
I follow your lead and together we breach the bunker.
Inside,
Pinky is waiting,
Smug as ever,
Standing amidst his chaotic array of gadgets.
Well,
Well,
Captain EJ and Company.
Took you long enough.
I was starting to think you didn't care about my brilliance.
Brilliant?
You put innocent lives at risk,
Pinky.
Manipulating someone's loyalty for your own gain is a new low,
Even for you.
Oh,
Captain,
Spare me the lecture.
You're just upset I was three steps ahead of you.
And admit it,
You love the chase.
Not as much as I love seeing you in cuffs.
It's over again,
Pinky.
With the culprit apprehended and handed over,
Take your slowest,
Deepest breath in through your nose.
Feel the cool air coming in through your nose and the overwhelming calm settle into your spirit.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
With the devices deactivated and Pinky in custody,
The air feels lighter,
Clearer,
Warm.
As you leave Pinky's hideout,
I can't help but reflect on how close he came to causing true harm.
Sally's loyalty was almost her undoing,
But our quick thinking gave us the tools we needed to end Pinky's scheme.
There will always be another Pinky Knuckler planned to thwart,
But for now,
Dormir is safe again.
With teamwork and trust,
We'll be ready for whatever comes next.
EJ.
That concludes our adventure.
I can't wait to see you again.
Captain EJ,
Over and out.
EJ-911,
Captain speaking.
Whoa,
Slow down.
Take a breath and tell me what's going on.
A missing delivery driver?
Okay,
You last tracked them to a set of coordinates.
Okay,
Got that down.
That's a great lead.
And who was the last package he was delivering address to?
Sir Genius Mickey?
That's quite a name.
Did the driver report anything unusual before disappearing?
No.
Do not try to trace his steps.
Me and my partner Hero have specialized training.
No,
Sir,
Listen to me.
We'll have two people missing if you- No,
Sir,
Please do not do that.
Sir,
I can't hear you- Alright,
That's two delivery drivers missing.
Hopefully together.
Dispatch,
Don't let me down.
Hero,
This mission is no ordinary delivery mix-up.
It seems Quick B Courier Services has lost contact with one of their drivers,
And then one of their supervisors.
I was able to trace the call,
Identify the individuals,
And the package information.
The coordinates from the GPS tracker show the delivery truck is just outside of Dormir.
Actually,
This might not be the time,
But I'm so excited.
Warpino and I have been studying those tunnels.
You remember,
The ones cadets found?
Well,
Let me tell you,
There's a lot going on under the surface over there,
And these coordinates seem to lead us right to the tunnels.
Honeybee to Hero,
This is Warpino the alien,
Sending you many blinks on this fine day.
I haven't gotten a chance to meet with you regarding these tunnels,
So I will be joining you on a mission today.
I will be your sidekick,
So I will be Captain EJ's sidekick's sidekick.
I- Warpino,
There are two missing people depending on us.
No time.
If the missing people are deep enough in those tunnels,
They likely have more time than they can handle.
Huh?
What?
Did you learn something new about the tunnels that you haven't told me yet?
We have no time,
Honeybee the mister.
We're not in those tunnels yet.
EJ.
Captain EJ and Hero to the rescue.
Let's begin.
You are here with Captain EJ,
Walking the last few steps down a narrow dirt path on the outskirts of Dormir,
Where towering trees from a canopy overhead.
Their branches intertwine to cast long,
Gnarled shadows of the ground below.
The air is crisp,
But there's an underlying heaviness,
A feeling that something unseen stirs beneath your feet.
This is Dormir,
Where the unusual is the usual and the unexpected is simply the expected.
You're arriving just beyond the city limits at the untamed edge of the wilderness of Dormir,
Where anything is possible for better or worse.
Take a deep breath in through your nose.
Let the earthy scent of the forest fill your lungs and ground you in this simple moment before you're propelled into the depths of the unknown to solve this mystery.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
Relax the space between your brows,
Your ears,
And lift your head high,
Elongating your posture and exuding the confidence you feel deep down.
There it is,
Hero,
Mr.
Honeybee's research lab.
Well,
His temporary research lab.
Leave it to Mr.
H to build a secret hideout under a pile of leaves.
Don't just let him hear me call it a hideout.
He'll insist it's a state-of-the-art field command center.
You descend the ladder into the makeshift lab,
Hidden beneath the forest floor.
It's dimly lit with a few portable lights casting an amber glow over an assortment of gadgets and monitors.
The walls are lined with notes and sketches pinned to cork boards,
And a large central table holds a glowing holographic map of the tunnel network.
It's still very much in progress,
But this is what Mr.
Honeybee,
Roger Robot,
And Warpino have been working so hard at lately.
Warpino is perched nearby,
Studying a specific detail on the map.
His luminous outline flickers with energy as he peers into a scanner.
Honeybee the hero,
Many blinks to you.
Welcome to the center of the universe.
Well,
Your universe,
Anyway.
These tunnels are.
.
.
How do you earthlings say it?
Mind-blowing?
If we're using earthling phrases,
I think a lot to take in might be more accurate.
No kidding.
Look here.
Remember how we thought these tunnels were medieval mining tunnels?
Well,
They are that,
But they're also so much more.
These tunnels are alive with energy.
Warpino and I have been tracking the way this strange sort of energy pulses through them.
It's incredible.
It's like they're communicating with each other.
And these coordinates we're heading to,
Are they part of this communication system?
That's the thing.
They're not just part of it.
They're right on top of a major area.
I don't really have the language for it.
This is where I come in.
I have all the languages.
I'd say,
Optimized for English,
You can call that area a node.
Thanks,
Roger.
If anything strange is going to happen,
It's going to happen there.
We've been watching it even before today.
And now,
Today,
Two people go missing right there?
That node seems to be some kind of convergence.
At the risk of sounding deranged,
Do you think the tunnels could have somehow taken the two delivery drivers?
That's pretty deranged,
Captain.
Even for you.
Wow.
What do you mean,
Even for me?
What do you mean,
What do you mean?
The one who thinks time is real?
Not to interrupt Roger the Robot and EJ the Captain,
Because this seems like a long-standing debate,
But time is both real and unreal.
Your Earthbound logic is a little lacking.
Earthbound?
How can you say that to me?
I say it with my words,
Like everything else.
Anyways,
What Honeybee the Mister means by strange is more like extraordinary,
Reality-bending phenomena that you humans have yet to comprehend.
But don't worry,
I'll keep you alert to all the dangers you cannot see.
I've got some very exciting theories about what's really going on down there.
I've been studying this my whole life,
And I'm 346 years old.
Wow,
Warpino.
You're much older than I thought.
Oh,
No offense,
Man.
You don't look a day over,
Uh,
200?
Why,
Thank you,
EJ the Captain.
Being told you're old is actually a sign of immense respect for my people.
Thank you for your respect.
You're very welcome.
Thank you for seeing what we cannot see.
So,
Team,
How do we get started on this?
I want to recover those guys sooner rather than later,
Before things can get any stranger.
Captain,
We're dealing with more than just strange energy here.
Look at this.
The Nucla compound is only a mile away from these coordinates.
If Pinky and Thumb have anything to do with this,
Or the tunnels,
It's not going to be good.
And with this strange energy amplifying things in unpredictable ways,
We need to act fast.
Agreed.
Hero,
Grab your BattleBuzz helmet.
Warpino,
You're with us.
Mr.
H,
Keep that map up.
We're going to need all the intel we can get.
The weight of the mission settles over you as you adjust your helmet,
The familiar hum of the BattleBuzz systems kicking in.
Warpino steps forward,
His outline flickering brighter,
And Mr.
Honeybee turns back to his monitors,
Already tracking every variable he can think of.
As the trapdoor creaks open again,
The forest above seems darker,
Quieter,
An unspoken warning of what lies ahead.
You close the trapdoor behind everyone,
And brush piles of leaves over the top of it to conceal it from anyone else who happens to be out here.
The map says we're about a half a mile from the last known coordinates.
Stay sharp,
Hero.
If Pinky and Thumb are behind this,
They won't exactly roll out the welcome mat.
Rolling out a mat seems inefficient for villains.
I'd imagine they'd deploy traps,
Perhaps lasers?
Oh,
I do hope there are lasers.
Let's hope not,
Warpino.
You get so excited about things that could incinerate us humans.
Captain,
I'm monitoring the coordinates from here.
The energy readings are spiking,
Way higher than normal for this area.
It's almost like the tunnels are reacting to something.
Reacting?
Fascinating.
I theorize the tunnels might be sentient,
But if they're responding to external stimuli- Let's focus on rescuing the delivery guys before we start theorizing,
You two.
You follow a narrow path deeper into the woods.
The trees are dense here,
Their branches knotted together like a living maze.
Every so often,
The ground beneath you feels different.
Less like soil,
More like stone.
Captain,
I've got something.
I was able to pull up the last recorded message from the delivery guy's GPS device.
Listen.
Uh,
This is Troy.
I follow the GPS,
But there's nothing here.
Just some- That's all you've got?
Prayed so.
And Captain,
Based on his location,
Those weird hills were probably the surface of the tunnels.
He was right there.
Hmm,
He must have been drawn to the tunnels' energy even without knowing it.
Fascinating how your species gravitates toward things you cannot comprehend.
Thanks for the analysis,
Warpino.
Let's make sure this guy isn't still gravitating toward trouble.
Your attention snaps to the movement in the underbrush.
For a moment,
The world feels unnaturally still,
As if the forest is holding its breath.
Then,
The crack of a twig sends your heart racing.
Cadet,
What are you doing here?
You're supposed to be back at the house napping.
This mission couldn't get weirder if it tried.
Actually,
I take that back.
I don't want it to try.
Cadet,
Go home.
I told you not to sniff through the tunnels anymore.
We have no idea what's going on out here.
Wait.
Hero,
Look at this.
Cadet's onto something.
Cadet uncovers a patch of stone buried beneath the dirt.
Strange symbols are etched into its surface,
Glowing faintly,
As if they're charged with some kind of electricity.
Those markings,
They're similar to glyphs I've seen on my travels through the galaxies.
They're meant to direct forces like the way magnets do on Earth.
Great.
Mystical energy in the tunnels,
A missing delivery guy,
And the knucklers.
Just another day on the job.
Captain,
I'm picking up movement on the thermal scanner.
Several heat signatures near the coordinates.
Be careful.
Got it.
Mr.
H,
Hero,
Let's move.
Warpino,
Stay alert.
Cadet,
Go home.
As you descend a slope toward the coordinates,
The glowing rhythm of glyphs becomes more frequent,
Lining the path like silent sentinels.
You feel a strange pull in the air,
Something ancient,
Something alive.
I told you we should have left him in the truck and let them trace the GPS.
Are you stupid?
We're geniuses.
Now we're stuck with two spies,
Pinky.
That's our cue,
Hero.
Stay low.
It seems like he's talking to someone besides Thumb.
Listen.
I don't want to hear about your lies,
You spy.
What do you know?
Tell me,
Now.
You and Captain EJ crouch behind a boulder,
Peering around its edge.
In the clearing ahead,
The delivery driver is tied to a tree along with his supervisor.
They're surrounded and being taunted by Pinky and Thumb.
The package that was supposed to be delivered lies unopened nearby,
Marked with the ridiculous name Sir Genius McGee.
Rather than intervening immediately,
You and Captain EJ use your shared mind to analyze the many possible variables of the situation,
As well as everything that could go wrong so you can avoid it if at all possible.
From your strategic vantage point,
You peer around the boulder through the goggles of your BattleBuzz helmet and take it all in,
For your safety as well as your best friend's.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the cool air coming in through your nose and reinvigorating your system with fresh,
Crisp inspiration.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
With your backs to the boulder,
You and Captain EJ share a look.
Then you look to Warpino.
Where did Warpino go?
As soon as you two think that,
A little spark of electricity lets you know that this is how he planned on seeing what you're unable to.
He's made himself invisible to the human eye,
Though squirrels seem to be able to see him and are startled.
So weird.
The squirrels might be able to run away,
But we don't,
Hero.
We're going to confront this head on now.
Pinky,
Thumb,
We need to talk.
Um,
Pinky?
Captain EJ's,
Um,
Here.
I can see him too,
Genius.
He's always here.
I haven't managed to get rid of him.
.
.
Yet.
Oh,
Hello,
Captain.
I'd like to introduce you to my friends.
These guys.
Oh,
Will you stop whining?
Pinky's left me tied to a tree for days at a time.
It hasn't even been an hour.
You're fine.
And you.
If you hadn't come snooping around,
We wouldn't have to deal with this mess.
Actually,
If you two were better spies,
You'd have succeeded.
But I thwarted your efforts.
Who sent you after me?
Pinky,
Let's not escalate this.
You've got two innocent people tied up.
What exactly are you trying to accomplish here?
They know too much.
They saw the tunnels.
They've probably been taking notes,
Writing reports,
Sending coordinates to whoever spies send coordinates to.
Oh,
Pinky,
I don't think they're spies.
The one guy's wearing a quickie hat and the other one's holding,
Like,
A clipboard or something.
That's exactly what spies would want you to think.
Disguises them.
Disguises.
You're so dumb.
You're your own problem and mine.
And I suppose that package over there is part of their spy gear,
Too?
You're so easily fooled and you call yourself a captain.
Captain of what?
Fools.
Thumb,
Where might you be going?
Thumb,
I want to see if that's actually your package.
No.
Do not take another step.
It's not.
I didn't order anything that big.
It's all a ploy.
They just wanted to get close to me to spy.
They're clearly spies.
Though bad ones.
I don't understand how you all don't get this.
Let me get this straight.
You ordered a package under the name Sir Genius McGee,
And when the delivery driver brought it here,
You tied him up.
Now you've got his supervisor,
Too,
Because he came looking for him.
How do you know that name?
No,
Don't tell me.
You're probably in on it.
It's not that simple,
Captain.
You're out of your depth here.
International espionage is not on your resume.
Well,
It all seems pretty simple to me.
Pinky,
You're literally holding your own delivery hostage.
Stop laughing.
No,
I am not.
That is not my package.
I ordered something tiny.
I'm actually waiting for a call from the real delivery service now.
This is a serious situation.
Just leave,
Captain EJ.
I'll handle this before my real package arrives.
You're right,
Pinky.
This is serious,
But it doesn't need to be.
Let's talk.
Help me understand why do you think he's a spy?
Why do I think he's a spy?
Oh,
I don't know,
Captain EJ.
Maybe because he was snooping around my bunker with a suspicious package.
Maybe because he knows about my bunker at all.
That package is probably packed with high-tech surveillance gadgets to expose my genius and then steal my- They think they can outsmart me.
The world is desperate to steal my ideas.
Let's take a step back,
Pinky.
You're saying these guys are spies,
But it looks like they work for Quick B Courier Services.
They're delivery drivers.
How do you think they're spying on you?
What exactly are you working on that you think they're after?
I shouldn't even be telling you this,
But fine.
You want to know?
You want to understand what's at stake?
I'll tell you,
EJ,
But don't think for a second I trust you with this information.
Oh,
Here we go.
It's my latest invention.
A revolutionary prototype that will redefine physics as we know it.
Sounds ambitious.
What is it?
Let's just say it involves these tunnels.
There's something going on in here.
I've been working tirelessly to harness it,
To bend it like a branch to my will,
Without snapping it.
Once I do that,
This power will allow me to create a device that makes toast faster.
Not just toast,
Thumb.
It's a quantum energy toaster that can toast bread and unlock the secrets of the universe.
Toast and the universe.
Got it.
Don't mock me,
Captain EJ.
The tunnels hold power beyond your imagination.
I've only just begun to tap into their potential,
But I know everyone.
I say everyone.
Would love to get their grubby little hands on my research.
That's why these two snoops showed up.
To steal what's rightfully mine.
Or they were just delivering a package to you,
Pinky.
That's,
That's just what they want you to think.
A clever cover to get close to my work.
But I won't let them,
EJ.
I won't let anyone take what's mine.
No one's taking anything from you,
Pinky.
But keeping innocent people tied up because of a misunderstanding isn't the answer.
You've been working on something big,
And I get it.
You want to protect it.
But now you know who they are.
They're done as spies,
Right?
Even if we pretend for a moment that you are right,
Which you're not,
They're not covert spies anymore.
They're over.
Their careers as spies are over.
Got it.
Oh,
I hate that that pun was so clever.
But credit where credit is due.
That was a good one,
Thumb.
Got it,
Thumb.
Thanks,
Man.
Oh,
And Mr.
Honeybee enjoyed your pun.
Oh,
Did he?
Tell him hello from Thumbknuckler.
Maybe after we free the hostages.
Oh,
Yeah.
That's a better time to do it.
With every word,
We could feel Pinky's paranoia tightening its grip.
It was clear that his mistrust wasn't just about these two delivery drivers.
It was a reflection of his fears about the tunnels and what they might reveal.
The last thing we needed was Pinky poking around down there any more than he already had.
We had to play this smart.
If Pinky thinks the tunnels are more trouble than they're worth,
Or better yet,
Thought they were completely ordinary,
He'd lose interest.
That meant downplaying their importance,
Nudging him away from his obsessive project,
All while ensuring the hostages got out safely.
Team,
The energy spikes are off the charts.
It's like the tunnels are reacting to Pinky's own fluctuations.
When he screams,
They spike.
When he's quiet,
They're quiet.
He's on to something,
But good call to uproot that seed from his mind.
Pinky,
Listen.
I've heard plenty of wild ideas,
And I'll admit your quantum energy toaster sounds unique.
But the tunnels,
They're just old mining shafts.
Sure,
They might look spooky with some shiny rocks here and there,
But there's no secret power to them.
No power?
Right.
Then why are you here,
Huh?
Why do you care so much about what I'm doing?
Because I care about people,
Pinky.
Not tunnels.
Not toast.
Just people.
These two delivery drivers are scared,
And we both know they don't belong here.
They want to leave just as badly as you wish they'd never showed up.
Let's end this now,
And you can go back to whatever it is you're working on.
Get these guys out of your hair,
And me.
I'll let them go.
I'll walk away and leave you to enjoy your toast.
Fine.
But don't think I'm letting my guard down.
Something about this doesn't add up,
EJ.
Spies,
Plots,
Tunnels.
There's something here,
And I'll figure it out.
I'm the only one who can.
If that's true,
Then you better get to work,
Pinky.
Meanwhile,
I'll take the delivery guys off your hands.
Problem solved.
Hold on a second.
I'm getting a call.
Thumb?
Don't let those drivers out just yet.
Captain EJ,
Stand down.
Let me answer this.
It's important.
Sure.
I guess I'll wait.
Hello?
Yeah,
What do you want?
My package?
Finally!
You took long enough to call me.
What kind of delivery service are you running,
Huh?
I've been waiting for many minutes.
While Pinky becomes fully absorbed in his phone call,
You and I calmly walk over to the hostages and free them.
What do you mean the driver's missing?
How is that my problem?
You're the delivery company.
Just tell me where my package is.
What?
Yes.
Yes,
I did pay extra for the package to be equipped with GPS,
But I wasn't able to track it because your good-for-nothing company doesn't update the information.
What?
It's none of your business what my name is.
I'm Sir Genius McGee to you.
Where is my package?
Look to my left?
What kind of games are you playing?
Transfer me to your supervisor.
Now.
Oh,
You can track the call too?
And we're right next to each other.
Me and my package?
Thumb,
Grab that package and say nothing.
I mean it.
Silence,
Brother.
Thumb expects the big box to be rather heavy but instead picks it up with an ease that throws his center of gravity backwards.
Pinky angrily hangs up on the customer service representative,
His face contorting with confusion and then embarrassment which he covers over quickly with theatrics.
It seems there's been a most humorous mix-up.
I see you've already freed my hostages,
So your work here is done here,
Captain.
Good evening,
My friend.
So you're not going to admit you were holding your own package hostage?
If you're not ready,
That's fine,
But I'm just saying.
The first step is admitting you have a problem and you,
Pinky Knuckler,
Are very much your own problem.
It might help your life out to admit that,
But what do I know?
Warpino is bursting at his invisible seams.
We can see the flickers of light in the reflection of the sliver of sun that shines on the Dormir Valley,
But thankfully,
Warpino knows to keep his alien existence under wraps,
At least for now.
Pinky Knuckler,
On the other hand,
Arms tightly folded and his face beet red,
Lets out a disgruntled huff as Thumb places the suspiciously light package next to him.
Pinky dives into the cardboard box,
Rips it open,
Rips it to shreds.
He pulls out something tiny,
Something wrapped in several hilarious thick layers of bubble wrap.
So that was the reason for the oversized box.
Pinky is incomprehensibly flustered.
You and I wonder to ourselves,
Hero,
If Pinky has ever felt a single emotion in a healthy way?
The answer is likely no,
And for right now,
All we can think about is deterring him away from these tunnels and giving Mr.
Honeybee enough time to zoom in on that tiny piece of something wrapped in all that bubble wrap.
We hear the imperceptibly small nano-analyzers emerge from our Battle Bus helmets and churn the visual data they're gathering in real time.
At their controls is Mr.
Honeybee,
Who is now able to invisibly inspect the unwrapped package in Pinky's hand,
Alongside Warpino,
While Pinky stares at this new toy unaware.
So,
Pinky,
No more spies,
No more hostages,
And you even got your package.
Today's looking up for you.
Guess my work here is done.
I'll keep that in mind.
You have a good evening,
Pinky.
Thumb,
Watch him.
You have some sense left in you,
Don't you?
You and Captain EJ exchange a silent look and start making your way back toward the trapdoor leading to Mr.
Honeybee's hidden lab.
You leave Pinky and Thumbknuckler in the full light of day,
Yet totally in the dark.
Pinky may have thought he had two spies in his business before,
But now he definitely does.
Two of the smartest,
Mr.
Honeybee and Warpino stay behind to be the eyes and ears we need to keep our friends close,
But our enemies closer.
Pinkyknuckler is set on being the enemy,
And so,
We keep showing up to take him down at every turn.
I'll keep an electric eye on them.
Thanks,
Warpino.
Stay close,
But don't let them catch you.
Excellent work,
Team.
I've already started analyzing the tunnel's energy patterns again.
We can't let the Knucklers dig any deeper into this.
As you approach the hidden trapdoor,
Warpino materializes beside you,
His outline flickering faintly.
His look of concern mirrors the growing unease in your chest.
Honeybee the Hero,
I see that you understand what I'm going to say before I say it,
But I must say it.
These tunnels,
They are not just tunnels.
They are a gateway to something vast and incomprehensible.
If your species isn't ready to understand it,
You must at least protect it.
We'll protect it,
Warpino.
Let's secure the trapdoor for now and keep this place off the Knucklers' radar.
Together,
The three of you brush the leaves back over the trapdoor,
Ensuring it's completely hidden from sight.
Warpino lingers nearby,
Keeping watch with his shimmering near-invisible form,
And before you can close the trapdoor,
He peeks his little head in the open space.
I'd save that for emergencies,
Warpino,
But thanks for keeping an eye out.
If Pinky took more hostages,
Just have Warpino zap him.
I gave him plenty of warning.
No,
It's not that.
I just got a call.
You know those delivery drivers?
They weren't just delivery drivers.
They were spies.
What?
Their profiles just pinged on an intelligence network I monitor for unusual activity.
They were spies.
Real spies.
And they weren't after the Knucklers.
They were after the Tunnels.
What?
Are you serious?
Wow,
Pinky was right.
Serious,
Captain.
And I promise never to tell Pinky you said that.
But if the Knucklers are getting close to understanding the Tunnels' true power,
They're not the only ones.
These spies are part of a bigger picture.
Someone out there knows what we've uncovered,
And they're making moves.
As you and Captain EJ share a long,
Heavy look,
Thinking with your one mind what to do next,
You can't help but glance at the holographic maps once more,
To feel the weight of the secrets buried beneath in these Tunnels.
The Knucklers might be loud and clumsy,
But they're determined,
And now you know they're not the only ones interested in the Tunnels' mysteries.
What lies beneath Dormir could change everything,
And everyone seems to know it but us,
For now.
That concludes our adventure.
I can't wait to see you again.
Captain EJ,
Over and out.
And I'm guessing by situation you mean something extremely dangerous?
Doctor,
No.
Malfunctioned.
Malfunctioned?
How?
Well,
Uh,
Spreading.
Freezing everything?
Catastrophic!
We mean- World ending?
Understood.
We're on it.
Transferring to dispatch.
Hero,
This is a chilling development.
Pun emphatically intended.
It seems like the Knucklers' lab is in the middle of a frosty fiasco.
Their experiments have gone from cutting edge to ice cold chaos.
They gave me remote connection to one of their labs,
So you'll be able to get in.
On a side note,
Did you know they have multiple labs?
Multiple!
What are they doing there?
We need to resolve this freezeover,
But also keep an extra eye out for anything you can see that will help us understand their real research.
One of their labs is very near to one of the strongest nodes in the Tunnel systems.
Morpino would freeze his circuits if he heard about this.
Don't worry,
I'll keep things cool on my end while you and EJ warm things up.
Oh wait,
I've got one more.
Don't let their problems snowball,
Hero.
Let's nip this one in the ice,
But before we have an iceberg in our midst.
Get it?
EJ.
Captain EJ and Hero to the rescue.
Let's begin.
You are here with Captain EJ,
Walking through the sun-dappled woods of Dormir.
It's the kind of warm summer day where the air feels thick with humidity and the scent of blooming wildflowers mingles with the earthy aroma of the forest.
But there's an unnatural chill in the air.
A frigid breeze cuts through the warmth,
Sharp and biting,
Like Antarctica itself is sprouting in the middle of the forest in the middle of spring.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the coolness of the air coming in through your nose,
Colder than usual,
As the warm sun shines on your skin,
Warming you from the outside in as a chill runs up your spine.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
Ahead,
A weathered stone archway looms,
Partially hidden by the creeping ivy and the shadows of the dense trees.
Frost clings to the edges of the arch,
Glistening unnaturally in the sunlight.
A metal door insert into the stone bears the unmistakable knuckler insignia,
An intricate K overlaid on a silver atom.
The knucklers really have a thing for dramatic buildings,
Don't they?
This thing must be frozen shut.
The icy door cracks,
Then creaks open,
And a rush of frigid air spills out,
Curling into the warm forest like a ghastly hand reaching out for the sunlight.
Beyond the door,
A set of frost-covered metal stairs spirals down into the darkness.
The temperature drops sharply with each step,
The chill biting at your skin despite the summer warmth above.
Just as you begin to feel the sting of the icy air,
Your Battle Buzz helmet emits a soft hum,
And a glowing orb of warmth surrounds you like your own tropical beach.
The orb adjusts dynamically with the environment,
Shielding you from the frost as you descend deeper into the knuckler's frozen lab.
That's much better.
With the helmet keeping us at optimal temperature,
We're able to focus on the mission at hand.
First,
Find both Dr.
Knucklers,
Then make it spring again.
The deeper you and Captain EJ go,
The more the ice seems to take over,
Creeping up walls,
Consuming cables,
And distorting the once-advanced lab into a frozen wasteland.
The centerpiece of the chaos stands ahead.
The fractional distillator,
Pulsing faintly beneath the thick casing of ice,
Frosty tendrils radiate outward from the device,
Spreading like plague.
Hero,
You see that machine right there?
That's the heart of this operation.
It's supposed to extract silver particles from the air,
Not turn the lab into the North Pole.
And this frost is not exactly life-supporting.
If we don't stop it,
The whole lab,
And more,
Could be lost.
We'll fix it,
Mr.
H.
The Knucklers aren't exactly known for tidy experiments.
There could be surprises.
Do you know where they are?
Let me fish around a bit.
I've never gone ice fishing before,
But today's the day.
You and Captain EJ move closer to the frozen machinery,
Careful not to disturb the equipment around you.
When things are this frigid,
There's no room to bend.
Things only break when it's this cold.
The air grows heavier with each step,
Thick with the metallic scent of silver and the biting chill of frost clinging to everything you see around you.
As you reach the central chamber,
The icy hum of the core fills the space,
Vibrating in your chest like a low growl.
Take another slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
You bring in with you the force of balance,
A compassionate warmth,
The only thing that can restore order to this science experiment gone wrong.
Allow the cold air to sharpen your focus on this truth,
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
A distant crack echoes through the lab.
Somewhere behind you,
The faint creak of metal suggests movement.
Some thing or someone that has not been frozen solid yet.
The sound reverberates through the icy halls,
Each creak and groan amplified by the stark,
Freezing air.
You pause mid-step,
Scanning the chamber with your BattleBuzz helmet,
Its sensors glowing faintly as they analyze the surroundings.
Picking up heat signatures that are few and far between with ease.
Hero,
But it's coming from somewhere behind the machine.
Could be the knucklers.
Could be something worse.
Let's hope it's the knucklers.
Keep tracking the Mr.
H.
Hero and I will check it out.
You and Captain EJ tread cautiously across the frost-covered floor.
Every step crunches softly against the ice.
Right foot,
Left foot,
Right foot,
Left foot.
The glow of the helmet's warmth illuminates the path ahead,
Reflecting off the jagged,
Frozen surfaces like a guiding light in this icy abyss.
It's definitely getting colder.
Distillation is spiraling out of control.
We don't have much time to stabilize it before this whole place freezes over.
There,
Did you hear that?
Voices.
Following the sound,
You make your way deeper into the lab,
Navigating around icy machinery and brittle cables that snap like icicles underfoot.
At last,
You spot a flicker of movement beyond a frozen console.
Dr.
Knucklers,
Are you there?
Behind the massive core of their state-of-the-art machinery,
You find the Elder Knucklers huddled together inside an improvised shelter made from insulated panels and emergency space blankets.
Their faces are pale,
Their breath visible in the freezing air.
They've rigged a small heat lamp to stave off the worst of the cold,
But the frost encroaches steadily,
Creeping closer to their refuge.
Hang tight.
Hiro and I will get you out of here.
Good news.
Your BattleBuzz helmet is detecting a way to boost the warmth around them.
Get close and let the heat from the orb thaw out their escape routes.
You approach the Knucklers,
The glowing orb of warmth expanding as you near them.
The frost melts away in shimmering rivulets,
Revealing the frost mechanisms that lock them inside.
Oh,
Thank you.
Thank you.
I thought we'd be popsicles forever.
It'd be worth it for the research,
But it's so cold.
We didn't mean for this to happen.
The distillation core,
It's never done this before.
What were you experimenting on?
And don't leave out any details,
Please,
For all of our safety.
We were trying to boost the core's output.
Dormir's climate provides perfect conditions for extracting silver particles,
But the core.
.
.
Overloaded.
We cannot figure out why.
Nothing we did would have caused this chain reaction.
Something's interfering.
Or someone.
And now,
Instead of releasing heat,
It's drawing it in,
Amplifying the cold.
There are so many strange phenomena around this area.
We still don't understand it,
But that's why we're here.
Phenomena,
Hmm.
It's complicated,
Captain EJ.
I wish I could say more.
Me too.
It would be helpful to know what you know about the.
.
.
The what?
Uh,
About the malfunction.
The reversal of your distillation process,
I mean.
Captain,
Whatever they did,
It's destabilized the entire system.
Do not tell them what we know about the tunnels.
I don't trust that they won't tell their sons.
Focus on the mission.
If we don't shut down that core soon,
The cold could spread beyond the lab.
We're talking a freeze wave.
Dormir could be next.
And then,
Us.
Then let's not waste any more time.
Hero,
Help me thaw them loose,
And then we'll take down that core.
As you,
Captain EJ,
And the Elder Knucklers move cautiously through the frozen labyrinth of their research lab,
The air seems to pulse with even more of a hostile chill.
The icy tendrils of this satellite-knuckler lab stretch in every direction,
An ever-expanding frozen wasteland threatening to consume everything in its path.
Somewhere in the chaos,
A distant metallic thud echoes,
Followed by muffled voices.
Thumb,
You've stopped tripping over everything.
You're going to make it worse.
How am I supposed to see where I'm going?
Everything's frozen.
You didn't think to invent frost-proof goggles,
Sir Genius McGee.
I'm all fogged up.
I can't see where I'm going.
Thumb,
Don't touch that.
I wasn't touching anything.
I was just,
Uh,
Inspecting.
Inspecting is touching with your eyes.
Knock it off before Mom and Dad see us.
We can all hear you,
And see you,
Knucklers.
Pinky!
Thumb!
What are you two doing down here?
Oh no,
They're coming.
Act natural.
Act natural?
During this catastrophe?
I knew it.
I knew you two had something to do with this.
What did you touch?
We didn't touch anything,
Dad.
I swear.
We were just,
Uh,
Checking on your experiment.
Making sure it was safe.
Safe?
Does this look safe to you?
The core is destabilizing,
The lab is freezing over,
And you two are lurking around like rats in a pantry.
We didn't mean to mess anything up.
Honest.
Thumb,
Shut it.
Don't make it worse.
Didn't mean to.
Doesn't cut it.
This is years of work.
Our work.
Teetering on the brink of because you two can't keep your noses out of things.
Everyone,
Stop.
There's no time.
What matters now is stabilizing the core before the lab,
And everything else is lost.
He's right.
We can ground you longer than you've ever been grounded before.
Later,
Boys.
Hero,
We need that eagle-eyed focus of yours.
The core's main control panel is your target.
It's buried under all that ice,
But if you use the thermal pulse from your helmet,
You can melt your way in.
Uh,
That's a neat little trick.
Where'd you get that?
Can we get helmets like that?
They look useful.
Forget helmets.
You both sit there,
Quietly.
Let them focus on fixing your mess before it's irreversible.
Stand back.
Hero and I have this under control.
A beam of focused warmth radiates from the BattleBuzz helmet,
Cutting through the thick layer of frost like a blade through butter.
The ice begins to melt,
Steam rising as the controls are revealed.
Finally.
Now we can input the shutdown sequence before this turns into a full-scale arctic disaster.
Hero,
Roger,
Robot,
And I have hacked into their lab,
But don't repeat that.
This is a form of ecological warfare,
So the rules are a bit.
.
.
Different.
According to.
.
.
Me.
I sent the override sequence to your helmet.
Input it exactly as it appears,
And we'll be able to deactivate the core.
No pressure,
Though.
It's only the fate of the lab and the town at stake.
Did you hear that?
Someone's talking into their ears.
What are they saying?
Pinky,
What did I say?
Quiet.
You think they'll ever let us out of the house again?
No,
Brother.
We're done for.
We're on the night watch forever again.
I was kind of liking being out in the daytime.
The sunny.
The nice.
The hum of the core grows louder as you carefully input the sequence.
Each button press is a calculated step toward stopping the frozen chaos.
You did it!
The core is shutting down,
And the temperature's already stabilizing.
They did it!
Pinky,
We're saved!
Mom,
Dad,
Since your research isn't lost forever,
And the world didn't end due to our lack of mature foresight,
Do you think we can maybe only be grounded for a few years,
And able to see daylight again soon?
Fat chance.
Pinky,
I promise if there is one more snarky word from you,
I will turn you over to the proper authorities.
Thumb,
Can you seriously say this is saved?
Our experiment is ruined.
Setback exponentially.
You two are in the biggest trouble you've ever been in.
At least a year of tunnel duty,
And nothing fun.
Just night watch.
Okay,
Mom,
I understand.
The punishment fits the crime.
Tunnel duty?
Don't you worry yourself about it,
Captain EJ.
Just science-y stuff.
We'll fill you in later.
There is something we'd like your and Hero's help with,
But now's not the time.
What could the Elder Knucklers want our help with?
They did mention wanting to collaborate some.
Hmm,
Maybe this will be the beginning of something.
Maybe we'll implant ourselves into the Knuckler compound,
And be able to finally curtail Pinky and Thumb's antics that way.
You continue to wander as the team begins their trek back up the frozen stairs.
The lab hums with residual energy,
Its secrets lingering just beneath the surface.
The Knucklers' experiments may be contained for now,
But you can't shake the feeling that this isn't the last time their work will cause chaos.
You step back into the warm summer sunlight,
The frozen nightmare of the lab now sealed securely behind you and slowly thawing.
The stone archway still bears a faint frost,
A testament to the below,
But the biting chill in the air has already begun to fade.
Pinky and Thumb follow closely behind the rest of you,
Eager to get back into the sunlight,
Their voices rising in an all-too-familiar sibling squabble.
Their bickering carries into the open air as Dr.
Knuckler steps between them,
Silencing the argument with a sharp look.
Even without saying a word,
His icy glare freezes them in their tracks,
Ironic considering the circumstances.
Pinky and Thumb exchange uneasy glances before slinking off toward the far end of the woods.
The direction they're heading catches your attention immediately,
A faint trail leading into the dense forest.
You notice something strange as they approach,
A patch of frost clinging stubbornly to the ground near what looks like recently piled leaves,
Unnaturally put there on purpose.
Dr.
Knuckler adjusts his glasses,
His sharp gaze fitting toward you briefly before focusing elsewhere.
It's subtle,
But you can tell he hopes you don't follow up.
Why would they be sending Pinky and Thumb toward the tunnels as punishment?
What are they doing?
Dr.
Knuckler clears his throat and turns to address the group,
His tone shifting to something more cordial if not entirely sincere.
I'll admit,
Captain EJ,
That experiment was risky,
Perhaps slightly beyond the margins of what's considered safe.
But science isn't about playing it safe,
It's about progress.
Next time,
I'll simply adjust the margins.
There won't be a next time unless we reinforce the safety protocols.
That's what I was hoping to talk with you more about.
Having you in the lab more often might really help our progress and our safety,
Captain EJ.
I appreciate your kind words.
What would Hero and I help with?
We have some hypotheses that could benefit from yours and Hero's expertise in the future.
I'll say this for now,
There's a lot more to those tunnels you unearthed,
And this town than meets the eye.
We'll send an invitation when the time is right.
Bye for now,
Captain EJ.
And of course,
Our dear Hero.
Her words linger as the elder Knucklers turn back towards the satellite lab.
Their white lab coats thaw just enough to trail behind them in the warm breeze.
The faint shimmer of frost near the pile of leaves catches your eye again,
Sending a chill not from the cold but from something deeper down your spine.
Captain EJ feels it too.
I know what you're thinking,
Captain.
It'd be such a bad idea to ever collaborate with them.
Way too much proximity to those Knuckler boys.
Good thinking.
I wasn't thinking that at all,
Mr.
H.
Ugh,
I know.
I was trying reverse psychology.
Please,
Do not even consider going back to that compound.
Please.
If you focus on that prototype I know you're building that will let you read my mind.
Then maybe you'll see I have a plan,
And it definitely involves that Knuckler compound.
As the springtime warmth returns to the forest,
You can't shake the feeling that this is far from over.
Whatever lies beneath Dormir's surface,
The Knucklers seem determined to uncover it,
And if they're inviting you back,
You can bet there's more at stake than they're letting on.
Hero,
Looks like this mission's led to an even bigger one.
But first,
You think it's too soon for ice cream?
I knew you'd say that.
I have your favorite flavors back at the Command Center.
Come on back,
Team.
EJ,
That concludes our adventure.
I can't wait to see you again.
Captain EJ,
Over and out.
EJ,
9-1-1,
Captain speaking.
A clone?
You can't tell them apart at all?
But if the clone is evil then,
Shouldn't it be obvious?
Oh,
They're both evil.
One Pinky Knuckler is enough.
We're on it.
Transferring to dispatch.
Hero,
This mission is a doozy.
I feel like I say that a lot,
But this time,
I mean it.
You have not one,
But two pinkies on your hands.
Uh,
Not pinkies on your hand,
Pinky Knuckle.
Uh,
I mean Knuckler.
Pinky Knuckler cloned.
Two of them.
I'm sending you and Captain EJ sticky suits and an iris scanner.
I doubt Pinky has the ability to capture all 250 characteristics of the iris.
Your eyes have more identification markers than your fingerprints.
Buckle up,
Team,
And don't forget your Battle Buzz helmet.
I need eyes on the ground.
Your ENVs are waiting with all you'll need inside.
EJ.
Captain EJ and Hero to the rescue.
Let's begin.
You are here,
Standing beside Captain EJ in his driveway,
Watching as both of your ENV magnetize to you with a simple hand gesture.
After so many missions,
This machine has become an extension of you and you feel superbly confident when at its controls.
As you zip the sticky suit Mr.
Honeybee sent you up to your chin and open up the door to climb in,
You feel as powerful as you've ever felt,
Ready to take on this double-take Confusion of Clones mission.
Holding the ENV steering wheel in your hand,
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the cool air coming in through your nose and filling your lungs.
Focus on the sensation of your ribcage expanding against the protective suit that you're wearing.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and take to the skies beside your best friend and partner in the good fight for what's right,
Captain EJ.
There is only one of you,
Hero.
No one else can stick by Captain EJ's side like you can,
But Pinky Knuckler seems to have made a mess of his sense of self.
The call in to Captain's emergency line was from a concerned neighbor of the Knucklers.
Once again,
Doctor and Dr.
Knuckler are away on a research sabbatical,
And Pinky has taken it upon himself to stir up more chaos.
This time,
Though,
He's the only victim of his own technological genius.
We slow down as we approach the gargantuan stone walls of the Knuckler compound,
Scanning the landscape for two tiny pinkies at war with each other.
Mr.
Honeybee has equipped us with an iris scanner to detect the real Pinky Knuckler,
But like always,
We never know what state of emergency will greet us on these emergency calls.
We expect the pinkies to be running from each other,
Armed with science and ingenuity,
But instead,
We find not one but both pinkies trapped in the bear cages that stand guard at the front door of the compound,
One in each.
It's not often that the parties concerned are already separated when we arrive on the scene,
But that's what happens when you're at war with yourself like Pinky is.
You end up trapping yourself in a losing situation either way.
Pinky,
Pinky,
Pinky.
When will you give it up and just be good?
How many times must I defeat you?
Now you've resorted to defeating yourself?
I am the only one to do it.
You did not defeat me.
I will not agree to such libel.
But you have a chance to defeat him,
The fake Pinky.
I am the real Pinky.
Ask me anything,
I will be able to answer.
He is the imposter.
We could have worked together,
But no.
You had to show off.
I could say the same to you,
Pinky.
No need for lessons,
Captain.
Just let me out and I will do away with this failure of science.
Not so fast.
We need to determine who is the real Pinky,
And before that,
You need to absolutely learn a lesson in humility.
I am a humble servant,
Captain.
I was simply trying to help the world by cloning its most intelligent being,
But instead he's resorted to trickery and mischief.
Despicable.
Do away with him,
Captain.
Let's start fresh with just one of me,
The real me.
I have learned my lesson from the most worthy of teachers,
Myself.
We watch the two Pinkies have a war of words,
Our heads ricocheting back and forth like an evil tennis match.
We know how to keep our eyes on the ball though,
Don't we,
Hero?
We look to each other with a nod and let the evil twins wear themselves out like rabid caged animals,
All the while assessing the sticky situation with keen eye to finding out the fake.
From what we can tell,
In all the back and forth,
The real Pinky wanted to push the envelope of 3D printing,
So he found a favorite photograph of himself and printed it.
Therefore,
The cloned Pinky is not a perfect clone by any means,
So we let them continue to talk and subtly scan both of their irises for Mr.
Honeybee to analyze.
As expected,
Pinky did not optimize his clone on a 250 point match for the iris.
They say eyes are the window to the soul and both of these souls look like haunted houses.
One of these Pinky's eyes has lots of scratches and broken glass in their window.
One of the Pinkies has severe damage to the left iris.
We need some interrogation,
Captain.
Try to get a sense if something happened to the real Pinky recently that would cause this.
The clone would have the same eyes as he did in the picture he printed.
Pinky.
Yes?
What,
Captain?
Hey,
You do not respond to that name.
Why?
It's my name.
Okay,
Okay.
You're clones of each other,
But not perfect clones.
What are you referring to,
Captain?
I do not like the tone of that statement.
We are both perfect.
I am perfect,
And this is a sad copy.
Well,
One of you has severe iris damage.
Did something else blow up in your face to cause that?
Yes,
You're right.
Wait,
No.
If one is pushing the cutting edge of technology for the human race,
Then surely there will be collateral damage.
I had to dip into the alchemical literature to make this copy and may have exploded some highly purified silver in the process.
Ding,
Ding,
Ding.
That's the real Pinky,
The failed alchemist.
Let me out of this prison.
I need to resume my experiments.
Sure thing.
Come with us.
Tell us more about your experiments,
Pinky.
Captain,
No,
That is the clone.
I am the real Pinky.
You see,
I had the clone back there doing my alchemical processes for me.
It's dangerous stuff,
And I cannot risk harm.
That was my only motivation for cloning myself,
But alas,
The world is not ready for two Pinkies.
We sure aren't.
Unhand me,
Cretins.
You have no right to detain me.
The world needs me.
You need my intelligence.
We handcuff the clone without incident,
Using his own big-headed hubris against him.
The cloned apple does not fall far from the rotten tree.
He rails against us,
But we have his hands behind his back and all of the power imbued in those who fight only for what's right.
You use your considerable strength to hold the clone still with his hands cuffed,
While I head back to the real Pinky for a quick lesson before I let him out.
Captain,
Please accept my apologies.
No need to give me a speech.
I am my own worst enemy,
But also,
No one can defeat me but me.
I've.
.
.
I've proven that.
You are very smart,
Pinky.
Wow.
Seems you've come around,
My friend.
I say that only to say that with intelligence comes power and responsibility.
You are responsible for what you create and have a duty to your fellow human beings.
Just be a person,
Pinky.
You're not a villain.
You're a person,
And you have a lot of good to offer.
Just try to see that,
Okay?
Okay,
Captain EJ.
I understand your point.
Surprised by Pinky's sudden ability to fall in line,
We want so badly to believe he's committed to turning over a new leaf,
But we're not new to this fight for what's right.
Pinky has taught us that he will take every opportunity to undervalue his own best interests and integrity.
We continue to walk back to the ENVs wondering silently what in the world we will do with this clone.
Well,
We can't recycle him like paper.
Other things are printed on.
You're dangerously close to being able to read our minds,
Mr.
H.
My life's work is to be able to read both of your minds.
They're a work of art.
Especially the way you and Hero can communicate without saying anything.
I am learning how to anticipate your next sentence,
Though.
Like,
I bet you're wondering why I sent you sticky suits,
Huh?
Actually,
Yeah.
They're really sticky.
Hero and I are sticking to the clone.
Gotta figure out what to do with- Before I can finish my sentence that Mr.
Honeybee is trying to anticipate,
A familiar sound zaps at our detainee.
The clone disintegrates before our very eyes,
And when we look back,
None other than Pinky Knuckler is at the helm of the Distillator once again.
I figured the real Pinky would do something like that.
Those suits let you walk up walls.
Doctor and Dr.
Knuckler gave us a code to disable the Distillator when they're gone.
Come on,
Hero.
Let's walk up some walls and take Pinky Knuckler down once again.
Looking up the castle-like walls of the Knuckler compound,
Preparing to walk straight up,
Take another slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel your chest and your spirits lift as you ascend the walk step by step to confront an unsuspecting Pinky.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth,
And enter the code to disable the machine.
We leave Pinky Knuckler to his tantrum,
And instead enjoy the rest of the afternoon climbing the tallest buildings in Dormir,
And then skyscrapers in the Honeybee neighborhood.
There is no height too high for our power to reach,
Especially when we're together,
Fighting for what's right.
Captain speaking.
Oh,
Hi,
Sally.
Is everything.
.
.
Are you okay?
What do you mean?
Your eyes.
.
.
Are stuck like that?
Wow,
I thought that was just a thing parents said.
No,
No,
Sally.
I'm not laughing at you.
I promise I'm not.
This is certainly an emergency.
Did you try taking a nap?
Okay,
Okay.
It's okay,
Sally.
You'll be able to get back to work in no time.
Try resting your eyes until we can get there and set things straight.
No,
I'm not.
I'm not laughing at you.
Sit tight.
We're on it.
Transferring to dispatch.
Hero,
This mission is.
.
.
Hmm,
How can I put this?
Delicate.
Sally Smith has stared herself cross-eyed,
Focusing on her latest silversmithing project.
Wow,
I thought that was just a thing I said to my kids.
I'm going to send you with a proprietary pair of sunglasses that are.
.
.
Well,
You'll see,
And hopefully so will Sally.
They will loosen up the spasms that are likely creating her predicament.
She'll also likely need to start a series of daily eye exercises,
Which I'll download into your BattleBuzz helmet.
This is why it's so important that you and Captain EJ take breaks to relax and unwind.
Otherwise,
You'll tie yourself up in knots of all kinds.
Your ENVs are waiting.
EJ.
.
.
Captain EJ and Hero to the rescue.
Let's begin.
You are here,
Standing beside your best friend Captain EJ,
Sharing a puzzled look as Mr.
Honeybee hands both of you your very own pair of googly-eyed glasses.
You look to Captain EJ,
Then to Mr.
Honeybee,
Who was wearing costume glasses with a fake nose and mustache attached,
As if he's attempting to disguise himself.
He hands you the glasses with the utmost seriousness,
And you cannot tell if this is another installment in the long history of prank wars between Captain EJ and his right-hand man.
But Mr.
Honeybee is serious.
These are the glasses that will help Sally.
I'm serious.
Try these out.
They'll change your life.
Okay,
But why are you wearing a fake nose and mustache?
Oh,
These?
This was my proto-prototype.
I had to dig into the Halloween costumes to find a spare pair of glasses,
Just in case the prototype didn't pan out.
But it did.
Taking the googly glasses with who knows what kind of technology built in,
You put them on with suspicion,
Still watching Mr.
Honeybee's face in case this is a prank.
Once the glasses make contact with your face,
Though,
You realize quickly that this is anything but a prank.
These glasses have built-in massagers.
You close your eyes and enjoy the quiet sensation of your eyes finally relaxing after a long while of being opened and attuned to every little thing.
It's as if a thousand microscopic robots were massaging each and every itsy-bitsy muscle around your eyes that you never realized you had.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Close your eyelids as tightly as you can and move your eyes in a big,
Sweeping circle to feel all the strength you have here.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
Let your eyes relax in their sockets even more deeply.
Let your jaw hang loose and feel the area around your eyebrows unfurl.
Our busy days imprint most on this part of our face.
Sometimes eyebrows will knit themselves into knots and your jaw will clench itself even when we don't realize it.
With our eyes still closed,
Mr.
Honeybee ushers us each into our ENV and sets its autopilot function to Dormir.
Before we can help Sally unwind,
We first have to reconnect with our own relaxation.
People do not realize how crucial rest is to being a superhero,
But that's part of what we'll do on this mission.
When we get to Sally's smithing ranch,
We cannot find her anywhere.
We walk the perimeter of the sprawling property,
Calling out her name and becoming increasingly worried with so many machines around.
After doing two loops around her ranch and a thorough sweep of her smithing workshop,
We finally hear a clue as to where she could be.
The stumbling sound leads us to her tool shed,
Where we find Sally's smithing tools,
Standing in the corner as if in trouble.
She hears us coming for her and immediately regrets asking for help out of embarrassment.
In an effort to make her feel better,
We put our googly-eyed glasses back on.
A little laugh might lift her spirits.
Just go back to command center,
Captain EJ and Hero.
I'll figure this out.
I don't know how this happened to me.
I thought that was just a thing parents said,
But it's true.
My eyes are stuck crossed,
Looking at my nose.
I can't see anything.
Nothing.
I can't smith silver.
My last name is Smith.
I can't show my face around Dormir anymore.
Literally,
My life is over.
Sally,
Come on.
We have something for Mr.
Honeybee that will help.
Look at us.
We're wearing them too.
Wearing what?
I can't tell if it's just my blurry vision,
But it looks like you're wearing googly-eyed glasses.
How on earth will those help me?
Are you holding out two pairs?
Why can't I grab them?
No,
No.
They're right here.
Here.
There you go.
Put those on and watch.
I wish I could watch anything.
Uh,
I mean experience.
Just put them on.
Trust us.
Sally puts all of her trust in us and reluctantly tries the strange glasses,
Which have an immediate effect.
Sally slinks down in the corner relieved.
Her eyes were so strained that the six main muscles that control our eyes all revolted at the same time.
We sit down on the floor of the toolshed that's covered in silver dust,
Listening to our longtime friend.
Some emergencies are urgent situations that require swift action,
But others require sitting cross-legged and cross-eyed with a friend until they feel strong enough to stand up straight again.
Sally Smith explains that she has been up for the last two days,
More than 48 hours,
Fixated on fixing up one of her family's heirloom smithing tools.
She hasn't eaten,
Stopped,
Or hardly moved from the hunched-over position she assumed for this project.
Curious about how she ended up in the toolshed,
She confesses she doesn't know where she's at because she cannot see much of anything.
Sally tried walking forward.
When we tell her we're in the corner of her toolshed,
She realizes she was walking in circles instead.
With a big sigh,
Sally Smith finally pauses from her work and her story and relaxes fully into the eye massage behind her glass.
She falls into an exhausted sort of half-sleep trance and doesn't even notice when you lightly remove the glasses from her eyes to do a few eyeball exercises that Mr.
Honeybee supplied us with.
One in particular that will help her spastic muscles is called the pencil push-up.
As quietly and discreetly as I can,
I search high and low for a pencil in Sally's workshop.
When I find one,
You sit by Sally to show her what to do.
Take another slow,
Deep breath in through your nose,
And focus on the tip of the eraser on the pencil I'm holding out in front of my face.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth,
And follow the eraser as I move it closer to your nose.
Sally Smith does the same.
Before it goes double,
I move the pencil farther away,
And that is what finally unlocks Sally's stuck eyes.
Just like a push-up for your arm muscles,
Keeping the eraser in focus as it moves closer and then further from your nose engages the six solitary muscles around your eyes that help you focus intently.
When these become strained,
You can't focus as well,
And thus cannot be your best.
You slip the glasses back on Sally's face.
While we console and encourage her with our own struggles of how difficult it is to leave a mission behind us once we're done,
We tell her that things will stick in our minds long after the mission,
And that we have to intentionally distract ourselves with focused fun.
She giggles at the idea of focused fun,
Which is extra funny while she's wearing googly-eyed glasses,
But focused fun is something we believe in fully,
A secret weapon in our superhero tool shed.
Without realizing it,
She launches into another story,
Talking exaggeratedly with her hands before taking off the glasses.
Sally leads us through her smithing workshop,
Regaling us with the stories behind each of her tools,
Half-done projects,
And silver trinkets that fill up her space.
Sally doesn't realize,
But her eyes have uncrossed.
She's able to walk and see straight once again,
But to our dismay,
She goes right back to fixating on her fix.
It's just so exhilarating when you finish a project,
You know?
It's like you work and work and then bam,
You're all done.
You're done.
It's done.
And fixing up this one little thing is going to make a huge difference in the amount of silver I can smith in a day.
It's this tiny little dial.
I have bifocals to help me focus.
Ugh,
My eyes get so tired,
But it's so fun,
You know?
This must be the focused fun you're talking about.
Such a good idea.
Thanks,
Team.
I'm back to work.
Sally,
Don't you think you should let your eyes rest a bit more?
This is not focused fun,
It's just more focus.
We have more eye exercises that are good for strain.
You're gonna.
.
.
Before we can fully warm Sally Smith as she's headed right back into stuckness,
Her eyes give her a warning she can't ignore.
She goes cross-eyed once again and looks to each of us with one of her crossed eyes.
We'll have to do one more eye exercise,
But also figure out a way to unstick Sally from her fixation on work.
Immediately regretting her actions,
She pleads with us once more.
Take your slowest,
Deepest breath in and rub your hands together as fast as you can to warm them up.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and place the warmed-up palm of each hand over the corresponding cheekbone.
Cup your hand over each eye and close your eyes to focus instead of your breath,
Lightly applying pressure to this tender part of your face.
Once again,
Sally's eyes are unstuck,
And once again,
She rushes right back to work,
Having learned nothing from our emergency visit.
This calls for more drastic measures,
Which alarm Mr.
Honeybee back at Command Center.
Uh,
Captain,
What is that enormous claw-looking thing?
And what are you gonna do with it?
It looks like it should be in one of those toy machines.
It does kinda look like one of those toy-grabbing claws.
But this,
This is gonna pluck Sally out of her fixation.
She needs focused fun,
Mr.
H.
She's exhausted and refuses to eat.
Ah,
Happens to the best of us.
You gonna do roller coasters or an escape room?
Roller coasters for sure.
Sally,
Hiro and I are gonna pick you up with this claw.
Sally,
Can you hear me?
Sally?
Captain E.
J.
,
Hiro,
Are you plucking me out of my workshop with my own claw?
Yep.
Now you're gonna learn what focused fun is.
Out in the sunshine of a beautiful bright day,
Sally's eyes finally get a break from staring at silver shimmer in favor of lush green.
We put her between us,
Front row for the highest-looping roller coaster this amusement park offers.
And she loves it.
You wait for the feeling of your belly dropping on the rush down before it climbs up high once again.
This is focused fun.
This is how we can be as strong and valiant as we are,
Hiro,
Because we make the time to have fun together.
It's just as important as our discipline and training are to our missions.
Woo-hoo!
This is so much fun.
Thank you,
Captain E.
J.
And Hiro.
Woo-hoo!
E.
J.
That concludes our adventure.
I can't wait to see you again.
Captain E.
J.
,
Over and out.
E.
J.
9-1-1,
Captain speaking.
Oh,
Hello,
Your Honor.
It's not often that we get judges on the emergency line.
Is there a problem in your courtroom?
Wait,
You're transferring me to who?
Oh,
Hello,
Ma'am.
I don't know.
You called me.
Okay,
I'll hold.
How am I on hold?
On an emergency line?
Bureaucracy.
Ugh.
This is why I work for myself.
Oh,
Hi.
No,
I was talking to my friend while on hold.
Why am I on hold?
Who is this?
Wow,
A private investigator?
Of course we'll help you with your case.
How many identities have been stolen?
30?
Whoa,
Someone has been busy.
We're on it.
Transferring to dispatch.
Hiro,
This mission is a doozy.
Okay,
I definitely say that too much.
To be more specific,
This mission is a whodunit mystery.
Identities have been stolen left and right from all across the Honey Bee neighborhood.
Fingerprints are being swiped right off people's hands by an unknown perpetrator that lurks in the shadows.
But not for long.
Hiro,
You and Captain EJ will be teaming up with a local private investigator who has been on the case.
He needs fresh eyes,
Ears,
And minds.
So I'm sending you both notepads with a very unsuspecting but high-tech pen.
We gotta go somewhat analog for this mission.
Oh,
And you'll need trench coats and a swanky detective hat.
There's no technology in them,
But you have to look the part.
Come to the command center.
I'll teleport you both directly.
EJ.
Captain EJ and Hiro to the rescue.
Let's begin.
You are here,
Walking the last few steps up Mr.
Honey Bee's driveway to his garage.
The command center is nested behind an unassuming garage door so as not to draw any undue attention to the groundbreaking,
Earth-shaking technology within.
The big garage door is open,
So we let ourselves in but look around and don't see Mr.
Honey Bee anywhere inside.
We give each other the same look to ask,
Didn't he tell us to meet him here?
You point out where he set up the teleportation pad,
And I pick up the remote still on his work bench.
He should be here.
While I peek my head inside the inner door that leads to the house,
Mrs.
Honey Bee confirms that her husband should be out in the garage.
That's when you see a mysterious shadowy figure slyly spy from around the corner of the garage.
You laugh when you realize it's Mr.
Honey Bee,
Donning a full-film noir detective trench coat and a wide-brimmed hat tilted down to conceal his face and his penetrating thoughts.
Your giggle gets my attention and I cannot hold in my laughter quite as much as you.
Mr.
Honey Bee,
Please tell me you don't think that's what detectives are like in real life?
What are you referring to?
Does anyone know your real name yet?
What's the secret code?
You sent me.
There's no code.
What are you writing down?
Private notes.
Private eyes have to note everything.
The secret code is bananas.
Remember that.
Where were you the night of- Mr.
H,
Please always play the good cop in the good cop bad cop routine.
You can't pull off bad cop like this.
You're smiling.
I know,
Right?
I'm much better behind the scenes with technology.
But aren't these trench coats cool?
The hats,
The sunglasses.
I feel so neato wearing this.
Here it comes.
So incognito.
Do you get it?
Incognito?
Private investigator?
You can't see me because of my good disguise and detective skills.
I assure you,
We got it.
Okay,
Yours are over there.
And I have a miniature of the battle bus helmet as an earpiece.
Wow,
These are nice.
I can do a little private investigation in this,
And the hat,
And the earpiece.
Good work,
Mr.
Honey- Wait,
Where'd you go?
Mr.
Honeybee?
I can see you behind the wall.
That's not how detectives are in real life.
Just teleport us and stick to the prototypes.
We appear out of nowhere,
In the middle of nowhere.
Dormir's not-so-bustling downtown looks to be plucked from a country-western movie.
We wonder if Mr.
Honeybee could teleport us some cowboy boots too as we approach a ramshackle building that looks like a saloon.
Donning our swanky new coats and hats with an earpiece,
Miniature of the battle bus helmet,
In our ears,
We head into the city.
Armed with notepads and silver pens,
We're on the lookout for anyone,
Anyone at all out here.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose,
And strengthen each and every one of your muscles.
Really feel your own strength surge with your breath.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth,
And allow your muscles to relax and your mind to follow.
We'll need to be sharp for this most strange emergency.
There seem to be more tumbleweeds than people.
That is,
Until you point out someone slinking about the side of the building,
Peeking around the corner at us.
Assuming that must be the private eye that simply doesn't see us,
We saunter over to him.
When he sees us,
He ducks back behind the building as if we didn't see him.
So as not to sneak up on him,
We announce ourselves as we round the corner and find him wearing a trench coat just like ours with his hat tipped down low to cover his face and sunglasses over his eyes.
He lifts up the hat ever so slightly,
And lowers one eye of the glasses then,
Promptly asks us for the secret code.
Bananas!
It's Bananas!
I told you there'd be a secret code!
Wow,
A real life private eye!
And you thought real detectives weren't like this?
Of course they are!
Astonished that Mr.
Honeybee was right,
Shouldn't have doubted me,
Captain.
This is going in the notes.
As I was saying,
Astonished that Mr.
H was right,
The private eye scribbles down the code word Bananas on his notepad and even takes the time to draw a cluster of bananas with colored pencils while we watch and wait.
When he shows us his artwork,
His entire demeanor changes.
He welcomes us into his saloon with a smile and finally removes his disguise with a sigh.
His work on this case has been exhaustive.
This identity thief doesn't know when to stop.
Just this morning,
Five more sets of fingerprints have been lifted right off the hands of unsuspecting victims.
He reminds us that that's a total of 50 fingers that have been heisted,
With zero witnesses.
He's never seen such technology and he's at his wits end.
In all his years of investigation,
He's never seen technology like this,
Or crimes like this,
Or cases like this.
He sighs hopelessly.
We shoot each other a knowing look.
That's the same sentiment we had,
Hero,
Right before we defeated the Knucklers.
But we're trying not to have the Knucklers take up any more space in our minds or lives than they have to.
This is something else.
Someone else.
It has to be.
After a long,
Drawn-out pause,
You ask why the judge was the one to call in to the emergency line.
The private eye perks up,
Eyes sparkling with some excitement.
The judges,
Not one but several,
Are his only lead in the case.
They have seen an uptick in name change petitions,
But they were all denied due to suspicion of fraud.
Mysteriously,
All the name change petitions come back to one person,
But he hasn't been able to find this person.
He seems to be completely off the grid.
No public records that even a highly connected private eye can get access to.
He checks his notes.
One Thumb Knuckler The dumbfounded look we give the investigator answers his questions for him.
We do know him,
And know him well.
We also know exactly how to find Thumb once again.
We hightail it to the compound and simply knock on the door.
The private eye is flabbergasted and disappears behind the corner of the compound,
Slinking about unnecessarily.
Why are private eyes like that?
To his surprise,
Pinky Knuckler opens the door.
The investigator never considered something as easy as knocking on the door.
Oh,
Hello there,
Captain.
The replacement cloning hasn't worked yet.
I mean,
To what do I owe this pleasure of your visit?
Pinky,
Why is your face singed like that?
Are you seriously doing alchemy again?
No one has ever turned lead into gold.
That's why I'm using silver.
And yes,
I will be the world's first true alchemist.
How many times must things blow up in your face?
At least two more times.
Then I'll learn.
What do you want?
I'm busy.
And who's that slinking about around the corner?
That's a private eye.
He's very private.
Anyways,
Where's Dom?
We need to talk to him.
I haven't the slightest idea.
But when you find him,
Please send him back.
I initially thought I was glad he was gone.
And I told him as much.
But I need someone to stir my silver concoction again.
My vision is still blurry from the last explosion.
Oh,
Goodness.
I gotta go.
The investigator is furiously taking down notes,
Which reminds us that Mr.
Honeybee gave us that silver pen.
As we make our way around the entire town of Dormir interviewing victims and documenting fingerprintless hands of all sorts of people,
We decide to take some notes ourselves and come to find that these pens write awfully fast.
That's right,
Captain EJ.
These pens write as fast as your mind think.
I figured you'd be able to put together the puzzle of clues faster that way.
People of all sorts have lost their fingerprints and their identities to thumb.
A thumb has stolen a finger,
Prints.
.
.
No,
Now is not the time for jokes.
But I note that one down for later.
Thumbknuckler has tried to assume the identity of every sort of person with every sort of occupation,
And even one pup has lost his pawprints.
The fingerprintless victims don't yield any further clues as to where thumb could be,
But after some furiously fast scribbling,
You have an idea.
The private investigator,
Who has been so incognito throughout the interviewing phase that we haven't seen him at all,
Pops out of a bush to record your idea.
Didn't Thumb and Pinky have a treehouse hideout in the forest?
As soon as you say that aloud,
The pen acts as a sort of weathervane and points southeasterly from where we stand.
The pen is merging our thoughts with our intentions to solve this case.
The investigator is amazed.
Sure enough,
We find Thumbknuckler stowed away in his hidey house sitting amidst hundreds of fingerprints that hang up on his wall on transfer paper.
He's sitting on the floor,
Hunched over a transfer paper,
Diligently transferring his latest victim's fingerprints up for use,
When we climb up the treehouse ladder with the private investigator and startle him.
So you're not going to acknowledge the literal theft in your hands right now?
Let's not talk about it.
Oh,
Okay.
Let's just leave him to it,
Hero.
We can go get some ice cream with the private eye.
What private eye?
He's hiding.
He'll peek out when you say something about why you're committing these crimes.
Oh,
Right.
Well,
I don't want to be a knuckler anymore.
All the judges denied my name petitions because they think I'll commit some kind of fraud.
They don't even know me.
Would you say those judges are onto something,
Considering you've stolen hundreds of identities?
Yeah,
I guess so.
Wow,
You're really sharp,
Captain EJ.
Hold out your hand.
No,
Thumb.
You can't have my identity either.
Oh,
Is that the private eye that took a picture with the flash?
Ah,
Yeah,
That's him.
Tell us what's going on,
Thumb.
Let's resolve this.
Thumb Knuckler explains that he's fed up with how Pinky treats him.
He doesn't want to be a part of his family anymore or a brother to Pinky,
But he feels trapped by his name.
Pinky doesn't appreciate all that Thumb does,
And that's all Thumb wants,
A little appreciation.
Not even like a full thank you,
Thumb.
It could be a simple smile or even just a thank.
I'll say the you for him,
You know.
But no,
Pinky is just mean.
He demands I do all this alchemy for him,
And he won't even do anything I want to do,
Or even talk to me while I stir the molten silver.
I'm done with Pinky.
Absolutely done.
We get it,
Thumb.
It's demoralizing to give so much without getting anything in return.
Reciprocation is the key to healthy relationships.
I have an idea.
The problem isn't your name.
It's your brother.
He needs to realize how much he needs you.
Okay?
You need to hide.
Like,
Really hide.
Private Eye,
Where did you go?
I actually need your help on the case.
We don't need to document any more evidence.
I can see the flash.
Once we coax the Private Eye out of hiding,
We have him stash Thumb away somewhere we don't even know.
For our plan to work,
Thumb needs to be gone,
Mysteriously.
Captain,
Can you please not be so obsessed with me?
I understand you want to learn from my evil ways,
But I simply cannot be your friend right now.
Did you find Thumb?
My silver is ready.
That's why we're here,
Pinky.
It seems Thumb has completely disappeared.
From all the evidence collected,
It seems he's been kidnapped.
What?
Not my Thummy.
We have to find him.
I'm coming for you,
Brother.
Pinky Knuckler has an about-face attitude change when he thinks his beloved brother,
Whom he does not appreciate,
Has gone missing.
He flees to their numerous hideouts,
Checks all of Thumb's favorite spots around town,
And ends at the treehouse,
Where we have staged the kidnapping.
Thumb's identity thief tools and fingerprint swiper are strewn about the wood floor.
Pinky is taken aback.
Brother,
You did successfully transfer prints.
I wasn't able to make it work,
But you did.
Brother,
Why didn't you tell me?
We have to find him.
Now,
Captain,
Find him.
We've done all we can,
Pinky.
He's just gone.
Looks like you got your way.
No more little brother to bother you.
Too bad we don't appreciate things and people when we have them.
It doesn't come until they're.
.
.
Gone.
While Pinky reacts to what he assumes is the worst news of his life,
We see where the private investigator has stashed Thumb.
They're both on the roof of the treehouse,
Peeking down through one of the windows,
Watching this whole emotional scene play out.
Pinky throws himself to the floor,
Cursing his own selfishness.
He vows that if he were to have Thumb back,
Even for one minute,
Then he would change his ways completely.
Why did you have to be so selfish?
Why?
We let it go for a moment longer,
To really give Pinky some time to feel the consequences of his actions.
When he gets to the point of listing out all the things he appreciates about his brother,
Thumb cannot hold back any longer.
He leaps in through the window,
And Pinky assumes he's escaped the clutches of a kidnapper.
Their reunion is sweet,
A side of the evil brothers we've not seen before.
Pinky vows to his brother directly that he will never take him for granted again,
And Thumb sobs with joy.
And the private investigator gets a great picture for the family photo albums.
We know Pinky and Thumb,
And thus we know that this sensitive,
Emotional moment will not last for long.
Both of us think the same thing and write it down on our notepads to confirm.
We need to get that swiper.
Pinky and Thumb all but think the same exact thing at the same exact time,
So you and I die for the technology before they can get their hands on it.
I stash the swiper,
And you grab all the fingerprints to return to their rifle owners.
Mr.
Honeybee teleports us out of there just in the nick of time,
And he thinks it's just us,
But we soon realize someone else was hiding in the background of our teleportation.
Mr.
Honeybee finally gets to meet his favorite private eye,
And together they inspect this fingerprint swiping technology and detail its mechanisms on their notepads.
We laugh a little and hang up our detective hats because this case has been solved.
Emergency?
Your favorite ball bouncing over the fence is not an emergency.
I told you before.
Wait,
You're supposed to be in the backyard napping.
Oh,
You found that in our backyard?
That does sound like an emergency.
I stand corrected.
What do you mean am I sitting?
Okay,
I misspoke.
I am sitting,
So I sit corrected.
No humans don't get treats for sitting.
I guess I'll meet you in the backyard?
Give me a sec.
We're on it.
Transferring to dispatch.
Yes,
You do too have to go through dispatch.
We have a protocol here,
Cadet.
Just sit.
Sit.
We'll be back there to see what kind of history you dug up.
And no more digging.
We talked about this.
Transferring now.
Hero,
This mission is right around the corner.
Captain EJ's pup,
Cadet,
Seems to have dug up some sort of history.
Her sharp sniffer has happened upon medieval ruins that she dug up while ruining Captain EJ's backyard with her digging.
Oh my goodness.
But in the process,
She seems to have unearthed some kind of mysterious object that requires our investigation because it gave her pause.
Gave her pause.
Pause.
And she says there's much more to discover underground.
I stand behind that nose of hers.
Well,
I'm sitting down.
But I believe her excitement at the prospect of finding more underground.
Because dogs can smell in 3D.
When they sniff something,
They smell its shape and size and all of the stories it contains.
I'm going to grab my ground penetrating radar and maybe a shovel and head on over.
Maybe I'll bring the Millennium Squawkin' too,
Just in case we need a bird's eye view.
Never know when you'll need a lift.
We'll meet you over there in a jiff.
EJ.
Captain EJ and Hero to the rescue.
Let's begin.
You are here,
Walking the last few steps up to my backyard gate to join me and Mr.
Honeybee in my backyard.
The birds are singing.
The sun is shining.
This should be a pretty straightforward mission.
And then once done,
You have with you everything you'll need for an afternoon in the pool.
It's the perfect day to make a splash testing a new prototype.
Mr.
Honeybee installed a water slide that goes all the way from his backyard to Captain EJ's and you're excited to try it.
The pool is deep enough for cannonballs from the rooftop where we lay out and look at the stars.
So there is a lot to do after this mission that Cadet's nose stumbled upon.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Imagine what it'd be like to smell like we perceive in three dimensions as we see with our eyes.
Take in the invisible layers of your innermost being and outermost surroundings and slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and reach up to unlatch the gate to my backyard.
Before you can step in through the gate,
Cadet bursts out excited to see you again.
So excited that she completely abandons the mission for some of your famous belly rubs and snout kisses.
Crouch down to her level to be the loving recipient of slobbery dog kisses.
You can hardly look up to see me join you on the side of the house and from here you cannot see the mounds of dirt that used to be my backyard.
Cadet insisted it was an emergency but all I see from down here is dirt.
Dirt that should be grass but isn't anymore.
Anything to say about that,
Cadet?
Let's go up on the roof for a bird's eye view of the damage and findings.
Did someone say bird's eye view?
It's definitely not a bird,
Not quite a plane.
It's Mr.
Honeybee who appears out of the clear blue sky aboard some kind of mechanical bird-shaped contraption.
Before I can lower the ladder up to our spot on the roof,
He swoops down and with two surprisingly feather-soft wings and scoops us up into our very own bird's eye view.
Welcome to the Millennium Squawking Team.
I was going to go with Falcon for the name but it's more of a raven looking bird machine.
I'm surprised we're not aboard the Edgar Allan Crowe instead.
This looks a lot like the raven from his poem.
What?
Did you just come up with that?
Ah,
That's good.
I need to reconsider everything.
Couldn't we have just looked down from the roof,
Mr.
Honeybee?
We could have but I got into so much research on how dogs' noses work that I went down a,
Well,
Rabbit hole and got into the incredible mechanics of birds and insects and even rabbits.
So I figured this would be more appropriate.
Look,
The wings flap with the same aerodynamics as an actual crow.
Did you know that crows don't just use tools but they also create their own tools?
Watch this.
From the ground,
It appears as if the biggest crow ever seen just reached into its feathers with its right wing and pulled out the biggest pair of night vision goggles we've ever seen.
This is Mr.
Honeybee's version of ground penetrating radar and it's almost as shocking as what we see in X-Ray through Edgar Allan Crowe's goggles.
Cadet is down below running in circles trying to get our attention over a particularly aromatic section of my previously pristine backyard.
She's digging furiously because she cannot hear my command not to through all the machinery.
But underneath the ground,
Invisible to our eyes but flashing in neon lights to Cadet's nose,
We see the outline of what looks like an underground city.
There are winding tunnels that seem to sparkle as if glitter bombs are being released continuously.
These tunnels,
Which go deeper than our technologically enhanced vision can detect,
Span my entire backyard even under the pool and extend to the edges of our block in the Honeybee neighborhood.
We cannot see where they end but looking off into the distance,
We see the familiar purple shaded mountains that form the Dormier Valley.
Cadet alerts us to something else down in the ground so Mr.
Honeybee lands us on the pool cover that pulls out into a helipad.
Apparently,
Without my knowledge,
He has also installed a perch apparatus on top of a stone water slide for Edgar Allen Crow to land and sit comfortably.
About 15 feet down into the ground,
Cadet hears us approach and climbs out of her excavation trench with a metal tool in her mouth.
She gallops over to us and sits in front of you,
Expectantly waiting for a head pat to let her know she's done a good job.
As we inspect the tool,
You give her three good head pats and she wags her tail before running back,
Furiously digging in that same spot.
This blackened tool is thinner at the bottom,
Looks to be some sort of wedge or chisel.
As we each look this over,
Cadet then proceeds to bring an enormous wooden device wrapped in leather with a small pipe sticking out at the end.
The leather wrapping makes this look like some type of bag.
Mr.
Honeybee takes the contraption from Cadet and immediately opens and closes it,
Intuiting its function from sight alone.
Captain EJ,
Not having the gift of tool intuition,
Stands opposite Mr.
Honeybee at the end of the contraption where a small copper pipe protrudes.
Cadet quickly sniffs out the situation and sits behind Mr.
Honeybee,
Shepherding you along with her.
Captain EJ,
I don't know if you want to stand on that side.
Huh?
I want to see how this thing works.
What is it?
If this is what I think it is,
You don't want to be standing over there.
This thing opens and closes,
But it doesn't look like it's been opened in hundreds and hundreds of years.
Mr.
H just opened and closed the dang thing.
We could have already been done by now.
I'll watch this side.
Okay,
If you say so,
Captain.
Mr.
Honeybee expands the bag-like device open wide and then closes it rapidly.
When he does,
A big puff of musty,
Dusty air funnels out of the pipe and blows me backwards with a surprising force.
I am covered in soot and dust and all manner of medieval sediment.
Mr.
Honeybee and you try to stifle your laughter as I wipe the dust from my face and give you both a look that only the best of friends can understand.
A stern look in search of compassion that says,
Don't you dare say a word.
I dart Mr.
Honeybee an extra look as if to say,
Don't say I told you so,
Mr.
H.
Just don't.
Having received the messages loud and clear,
We quickly get back into investigation mode in intense silence,
Which teeters on the verge of hilarious laughter every time you and Mr.
Honeybee catch a glimpse of me struggling through the soot.
An invisible light bulb that eternally lives above Mr.
Honeybee's head flickers and a moment of recognition flashes.
We know that look and it gets both of our attention.
Mr.
Honeybee has an idea what this is.
He runs over to where Cadet was digging and proceeds to climb down.
We watch as he lightly touches the layers of earth with his fingertips,
Following reflective streaks in the sediment.
Wherever he traces,
There seems to be a wooden structure below that area.
He continues to follow it down further and further,
Digging deeper where needed until he is completely out of sight.
Then in an instant,
He pops his head back up with excitement.
Team,
This is a mine and it seems to be a pretty old one.
Maybe from the middle ages,
From the look of these iron tools with wood handles.
That thing that we found that.
.
.
Don't say it,
Mr.
H.
Don't say it.
The thing that coughed in Captain EJ's face is a bellow.
It was used to dry out the mine so miners could literally set the area on fire,
Heat up the rock,
Then rapidly cool it so the rock cracks and they could dig deeper.
That's what this tool is,
A wedge.
They'd hit this flat end with a hammer,
An iron hammer,
And this pointy end would open up the cracked rock.
There's an exact mining shaft that leads to who knows where down there,
And it is remarkably preserved.
I don't see any signs of settling or an unstable foundation.
Want to follow where it leads?
Here,
Hand this to Edgar Allen Crowe,
Hero.
He'll take it to the garage and Roger Robot can use my accelerator mass spectrometry system to measure the beryllium.
Let's see how old this thing is.
While we wait for the advanced carbon dating method to process these tools,
We take more cutting-edge contemporary technology into our hands and put on the night vision goggles with advanced risk analysis.
Now,
When we descend into the medieval mine,
We can look at the wooden scaffolding and our goggles will ensure the structure is sturdy for us.
I bet the miners who dug this mine would have loved to have had these things.
It takes a moment for our eyes to adjust to the darkness,
And without notice,
The goggles transform into a face mask with fresh oxygen cycling.
Mr.
Honeybee,
These goggles are covering our whole face.
That's supposed to happen,
Right?
Of course.
The sensors must have detected low oxygen or polluted air.
These will keep the fresh air circulating while we're down here.
Even Cadet has a pair of night vision goggles that cover her snout in an impromptu face mask.
Through her mask,
She can still sniff a way around,
And between her nose,
Mr.
Honeybee's historical prowess,
And our bravery in the face of entire new underground situations,
We continue deeper and deeper into the mine.
Carefully inspected the wooden frame we used to climb down and follow across rickety bridges.
Looking through your green-tinted night vision goggles,
Take your slowest,
Deepest breath in through your nose.
Focus through your goggles as a shimmering cloud of neon green wafts into view like a storm of glitter moving in.
Reach out your hand to see your hand shimmer and sparkle like a kaleidoscope,
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth,
And watch as the sparkling specks flutter away from your powerful exhale.
From behind us,
Mr.
Honeybee shouts out that he got word from Roger Robot.
This mine is at least 500 years old.
We continue walking back through time,
Unsure of where this adventure into medieval times will lead,
But determined to reach the end wherever it leads.
We walk for what seems like an eternity,
Bombarded by neon green glitter through our night vision goggles,
Which we come to realize are floating silver particles because this is a silver mine.
A shiver runs down our spine,
Remembering all that we learned from defeating the Knuckler brothers the first time,
That their parents,
Dr.
Mrs.
And Dr.
Mr.
Knuckler,
Do high-level scientific research on silver,
With the aim of mining microscopic particles from the air.
Could the Knucklers,
Elder or younger,
Have something to do with these mines?
It doesn't look like anyone's been down here recently,
But it is very well maintained.
The risk analysis in our goggles displays a little checkmark next to our view of each structural component.
Finally,
And rather abruptly,
We cross the last bridge,
Which looks like it passes over a pitch-black abyss and reaches a solid rock wall.
Confused,
Cadet sits down to let us know that this is where her scent ends.
This seems to be where the medieval miners sort of packed up shop and left so long ago.
What happened to make them stop?
We are underground,
But what's above us right now?
Petting Cadet's fluffy ears,
You scan your immediate surroundings through the night-vision goggles to spy any sort of exit point,
Or something above us that will lead us back to the surface.
The earth above us is soft,
It's not rock-solid.
You reach up to touch the cool earth with your fingertips,
Following silver ore that's still present and streaks in the ceiling.
That's when you stumble upon a tiny flash of light beaming through a sliver in the ceiling.
You lightly tap-tap-tap it with your hand until… you jump back just in time for the loose dirt ceiling to fall into the abyss below the rickety wood bridge and reveal a wooden ladder with a faint light at the end of a long tunnel.
Cadet leaps up onto my back,
A trick I'm grateful that I taught her,
And we all ascend the wooden ladder rung by rung,
Right hand,
Right foot,
Left hand,
Left foot.
The light at the end of the tunnel gets brighter and brighter,
The air becomes more and more fresh.
The night-vision goggles and attending mask retract into sunglasses when,
Together,
You and I punch open the cover of the ladder and peek our heads out into the afternoon.
What we see takes us by surprise,
A surprise that we are stuck still in the shock of so much so that Mr.
Honeybee cannot see what it is.
What is it?
What do you see?
I can't see anything but your shocked faces.
Hero,
Is that what I think it is?
At ground level in the dense forest,
We can peer out through the shade of the trees to see not only the shady valley of Dormir,
But the Knuckler compound.
Mr.
Honeybee squeezes up in between us,
Determined to get a look at what we're seeing since neither of us has said a word.
He is just as shocked.
We all three sit in stunned silence,
Running through endless scenarios and questions in our minds.
Do the Knuckler brothers know about this mine and the snaking tunnels?
Have they used them to get to us?
Where else do these tunnels lead?
What's under the Knuckler compound if we found what we found underneath my backyard?
The time for swirling questions passes in an instant when,
Out of the side of our eyes,
We see movement at the eastern fortress wall.
We duck down below the earth like frightened groundhogs and,
To our dismay,
Happen upon a literal groundhog.
It wasn't as random as it seemed to us because we accidentally disturbed his burrow,
Which is off to the side just a bit.
Mustering all the covert spy skills we have,
You and I peek just our eyes above the soil line while Mr.
Honeybee fumbles through his prototype pack for a submarine party he's working on.
With that ingenious development,
We can now see further without being seen.
Off in the distance,
We see Pinky and Thumb emerging from behind their fortress walls of Knuckler compound,
Approaching something that looks a lot like Edgar Allen Crowe,
Which is likely back to its perch on my waterslide in the backyard by now.
Mr.
Honeybee cannot contain his shock and awe,
And quite frankly,
Annoyance,
At the Knuckler brothers.
Team,
I've had it up to here with these Knucklers.
Did they steal the blueprints to your prototype?
Hero,
I thought we were the only ones who knew how to get in the garage when it was triple locked.
What?
You got through all three?
It's a wonder I'd get anything done with all this sneaking around.
Look at that thing.
It looks nearly identical to the Millennium Squawkin.
I thought we were going with Edgar Allen Crowe.
That's beside the point.
Well,
If they've copied your prototype blueprint,
Then we know that it can't do anything that evil.
Not so fast.
I already see what they've added.
Look here.
See that little protrusion right there?
This is where you attach drones,
Meaning they can have eyes,
Ears,
And their grubby little hands everywhere,
And potentially without us even knowing.
I think we'll see a gigantic mechanical crow,
Mr.
H,
But I get your point.
One sec,
I know exactly what to do.
Hero and I are the only ones who are allowed to sneak into your garage.
This ends now.
No one should be sneaking in.
No.
Mr.
Honeybee thought he was introducing us to Edgar Allen Crowe,
But we long knew about it,
Didn't we,
Hero?
So when I reached into Mr.
Honeybee's prototype pack he wears on his back like a backpack,
An activated flight for the mechanical bird,
Then summoned it with a whistle sequence,
He just shook his head back and forth in feigned disappointment.
There's only one way to fight for what's right in this strange situation,
And that's a standoff between robots.
That's really more of an ambush.
Meanwhile,
We keep our periscopic eye on the brothers.
They've definitely lifted the blueprints from Mr.
Honeybee's garage,
But there are additions that concern us greatly.
Namely,
What Pinky has hunched over tending to now while barking orders to Thumb.
He orders his brother to retrieve drone after drone which Pinky is attaching to the undercarriage of the bird,
Which is a lot smaller than Mr.
H's and thus a lot more covert and worrisome.
We have to get this out of their evil hands and into ours.
Just as Pinky is attaching some kind of canister to the bottom of his mechanical bird plane,
Which will spray some unknown obnoxious and frankly probably noxious aerosol from the sky,
We hear the comforting sounds of Edgar Allan Crowe approaching in the distance just in time.
When Thumb brings back the wrong kind of drone,
Pinky berates him and insists that if you want something done right,
You must do it yourself,
Which all of us can relate to in this moment as a team.
I hand the controls over to you because while I got the whistle down,
You're a master of the landings,
And this landing needs to be perfect and swift.
With eyes on the mechanical bird plane,
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel your chest and your spirits lift as Edgar Allan Crowe prepares for the swoop.
Hold your breath at the top for a moment,
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and extend the wings out,
With one lowered to dive toward the ground just as Pinky angrily leads Thumb away,
Telling him all those terrible things his frustration thinks are real at this moment.
In one fail swoop with you at the helm,
The bird plane gracefully plunges to the ground,
And just before it makes contact,
Launches up into the air carrying the Knuckler Brothers copycat prototype.
Fine,
Copy bird prototype.
When Pinky and Thumb return,
They are dumbfounded at the disappearance of their evil twin prototype.
They quickly turn against each other even more before their parents have to break up the brawl ensuing in the front yard.
We slink back underground and put all of our heads together as to how we can seal up this mineshaft so the Knuckler's reign of terror can finally be over.
Using all the prototypes in the pack at our disposal,
We settled on something Mr.
Honeybee is calling ground glue,
Which is a stickier version of mud that is a bear to handle for us,
But Cadet loves it.
Good thing she's just as good at burying things as she is at digging things up.
We'll need to put that to good use in my backyard.
But for now,
We make our way back down the tunnel,
Over all the abyss bridges and back to my yard,
When you point out that there are several turnoff points in both directions.
We weren't able to see them before because we were too focused on taking it all in,
But this time,
We must do our due diligence.
We meander down each of these turnoffs and pop our heads out of the ground in the most random outposts of the Honeybee neighborhood.
One of those spots looked awfully familiar,
A hidden treehouse out in the middle of the forest.
That looks like a Knuckler enclave we've seen before.
We apply extra ground glue to that opening because now we're certain these obnoxious brothers know about these mine tunnels.
When all entrances and exits have been sealed,
We leap out of the ground into my backyard.
The mission is almost complete,
But there is still one very important thing to do.
Cannonball from the roof.
You,
Of course,
Go first because you are not only an expert at the remote controls of Edgar Allen Crowe,
But you're also the cannonball champion.
Standing on top of the roof,
Looking down at the deep blue sparkling pool,
Take your biggest,
Slowest breath in through your nose.
Send the fresh air down to your belly as you prepare to jump,
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and launch off the roof into the biggest cannonball you can muster.
I go next,
Then Cadet,
But when we look around for Mr.
Honeybee to go after us,
We can't find him anywhere.
We walk to the other side of my roof where we are able to see into Mr.
Honeybee's garage,
But he doesn't know we can see from here,
So we know exactly when he turns in for the night,
And when the coast is clear to test our prototypes,
There he is,
Sitting next to Edgar Allen Crowe and across from the evil twin of Edgar Allen Crowe.
He looks so pensive,
Contemplating something very serious,
So much so that we're surprised to hear our Battle Bus helmet watches beep.
Captain.
Hero.
I couldn't possibly cannonball right now.
I'm working on something very important.
I need your help.
Sure,
Mr.
H.
What is it?
What do I call this thing?
It needs a name.
I'm going to take it apart to figure out how it works,
And remove all the evil stuff,
But when I put it back together,
It needs a name,
And I'm stumped.
You're right.
That is important.
Nothing is coming to me.
Hero,
What do you think it should be named?
E.
J.
That concludes our adventure.
I can't wait to see you again.
Captain E.
J.
,
Over and out.
E.
J.
9-1-1,
Captain speaking.
Mr.
Honeybee here.
This is an emergency mission of epic proportions.
It will take us to the moon and back,
And we'll be in two parts.
Settle in for part one now.
Captain E.
J.
,
Please hurry.
Emergency.
Melody Bee,
Is that you?
Do you mean emergency?
No,
I mean emergency.
Okay,
Tell me what's going on with a little more detail.
The moon is having an emergency?
Captain E.
J.
,
I just don't know how much more plane I can make it.
The moon is acting strange.
Like really strange.
It's flickering.
I think maybe an alien is throwing some kind of disco or something up there.
That sounds kind of fun.
I'd go to an alien disco.
I wonder what kind of music they play.
Something electronic,
Or maybe it'd be some kind of green noise.
Melody Bee,
Did you know there are all kinds of colors of noise?
Mr.
Honeybee was telling me about the color spectrum of noise this week,
And green or brown is the best for sleep.
But maybe for a disco,
You'd want red noise.
Captain,
The color is red because it's an emergency.
Please go check on the moon.
I garden by the moon cycles,
And none of my nighttime blossoms are blooming.
That help,
Captain E.
J.
?
Of course,
Of course,
Melody Bee.
I don't know how to help the moon in an emergency,
But we'll figure it out somehow.
We're on it.
Transfer.
Oh,
That's weird.
Dispatch is calling us.
Melody Bee,
Please hold.
I cannot hold.
This is an emergency,
Captain.
Okay,
Okay.
What's going on tonight?
Mr.
Honeybee,
You do realize you're calling the emergency line.
I was just going to transfer a call to you.
Something's going on with the moon.
That's why I'm calling.
Something the Earth's satellite.
Not one of my satellites.
I mean,
The moon.
I've never seen an anomaly like this.
What do you see,
Melody Bee?
I don't have any data.
Oh,
My goodness.
It's okay,
Melody Bee.
We'll figure this out together.
We always do.
I've sent an alert to Hero 2.
What could be wrong?
Of course.
Wait,
Guys,
I'm still on the line.
I think Mr.
Honeybee's data is a good place to start.
Are you serious?
There's another call coming in,
And it seems to be coming from the same house.
Let me guess.
Mrs.
Honeybee?
Wow.
What's up,
Captain EJ?
How did you know?
Just an educated guess.
My dear,
Is that you?
Mr.
Honeybee?
What are you doing on EJ's emergency line?
Are you okay?
Yes,
We're fine.
Not all of us are fine,
Mrs.
Honeybee.
These nocturnal blossoms are suffering.
The moon is in distress.
That's actually why I was calling.
I usually get all my story writing done very quickly on the full moon.
It's so inspiring to me.
But this one doesn't seem as powerful.
I don't know if it's just me or just.
.
.
Wait,
Someone else is calling?
From a block number?
EJ 911,
Captain's.
.
.
Captain,
Hear me.
This is top secret.
I repeat,
Top secret.
There is a serious emergency on our hands.
I don't know what's going on,
And please do not repeat this to anyone,
Especially Mrs.
And Mr.
Honeybee or Melody Bee.
She just goes right back to Mrs.
Honeybee.
They're connected at the hip.
I wouldn't even tell Cadet or Harold.
Dogs have their own way of spreading the word.
Anyways.
.
.
Wait,
Roger,
There are.
.
.
Roger,
He's on the line.
He as in Mr.
?
Yeah.
Oh,
Oh,
Oh,
Never mind.
April Fool's.
Darving for moonlight.
Maybe we can write a story about this.
That's a great way to process sadness.
For honeybees and for blossom.
Yes,
Let's do that.
Bring up some of the blossoms.
Maybe if we put them under the moon nightlight in my writing room,
They'll feel like they're getting moonlight.
OK,
I'm on my way up.
Everyone.
Hello.
You're still on the line.
Hero,
Just meet me at the garage ASAP.
Apparently we're on moon patrol tonight.
Bring your space suit,
I guess,
Just in case.
All right,
Transferring to.
.
.
Oh,
No dispatch.
We'll transfer ourselves to the command center.
EJ.
Captain EJ and Hero to the rescue.
Let's begin.
Together,
You and Captain EJ walk up to the familiar inconspicuous garage that we know contains untold technological achievement,
But doesn't look in any way like it does.
We knock like we usually do,
And there's no response.
We try again.
And still nothing.
Harold is the only one who hears us,
But no one inside hears him.
With a wordless glance between you two,
Both you and Captain EJ are convinced that everyone,
Mrs.
And Mr.
Honeybee,
Melody Bee,
And Roger,
Are all still bickering amongst themselves.
Captain EJ shouts out once again and tries ringing the doorbell,
But even he knows it's moot.
No one inside is paying attention.
All have been swept up into this emergency situation that the two of us are standing outside trying to solve.
As if sharing a mind,
We both look up to the moon on cue to see for ourselves what all the fuss is about.
It appears as if the moon is flickering.
What on Earth could cause that?
Maybe the cause isn't on Earth.
Maybe,
But before I could launch into a brainstorm of what could possibly cause this phenomena,
You point out a way forward that just so happens to be inside the closed garage.
We look inside to see all of Mr.
Honeybee's tools strewn about the command center,
And can see that Roger Robot is trying to roll himself out of the mess his accidental confession got him into.
He zooms back and forth in and out of the garage,
Trying to evade Mr.
Honeybee's prying questions about his top-secret satellite.
But on our tippy-toes,
What we also can see through the little windows that line the top of this automatic garage door,
Is that Mr.
Honeybee clearly learned nothing from all the many times we've broken in to play with,
I mean,
Test,
His prototypes.
After one particularly fun break-in,
You broke down and let Mr.
Honeybee in on all the shenanigans going on under his nose.
You made the many vulnerabilities very clear when you explained all the ways thieves and best friends alike could get into the garage and access all of his prototypes.
You point out,
Rightly,
That he hasn't secured the automatic opener tonight,
Though you warned him to.
There is a long red cord dangling from the opener with a red plastic handle at the end.
You told him to remove that handle or trim the cord so we couldn't gain entry with nothing more than a bent-out-of-shape wire hanger.
But there that cord and its bright red handle hang like a bullseye.
All we have to do is get something slim and long enough to catch the cord and pull that little plastic handle to release the emergency opener.
Luckily,
Mrs.
Honeybee and Melodybee keep this front yard lush,
Full of trees and bushes which are full of twigs.
We braid a few of those together to create a hook,
And I give you a boost.
While on my shoulders,
You easily look in through the windows to maneuver the makeshift hook and catch the little red handle.
Just like that,
We can simply open it manually without using any of the technology in this garage.
Now,
To assess the emergency like only we can,
Just like any other emergency situation,
We need to calm everyone down first.
We've seen lots of disturbances on our emergency missions,
But none more frazzled than this house is currently.
Even when we're inside the garage,
They don't notice us.
We try to wave to get their attention,
But their eyes have shut off and they only see their frenzy.
Instead,
We take a practical approach.
I hang up the phone Mr.
Honeybee called in on,
And you take to Roger's cubby and hang up that phone.
We make our way inside and upstairs,
Past all of them unaware,
And hang up the phone Mrs.
Honeybee called on,
And finally end in the garden to hang up that phone Melody bee called on that hangs up on the glass wall of a greenhouse.
From here,
Out in the peace and quiet of the garden,
We get our first uninterrupted look at what's going on with an equally curious Harold by your side.
You pet the soft white fur of his fluffy ears and look up at the expanse of sky above the Honeybee house.
There are a cluster of telescopes out here that it seems everyone inside has been using to aid their panic.
We put our eyes up to them to see what we can see.
Again,
It appears the moon is flickering silver,
And when it does,
Impossibly bright flares flash into the telescope and cause us to jump back away from one telescope after another.
None of them work.
All technology seems to be affected by this mysterious flickering phenomenon.
We even try to engage various features of the Battle Buzz helmet to no avail.
Nothing is working,
And we can only do so much this far away from the problem.
That's when we decide quietly to ourselves that we truly have no choice but to go directly to the source.
We're going to the moon,
Hero.
We open the back door and the frenzy returns,
Muffling our attempts at getting their attention.
Hey,
Everyone,
We gotta go.
Hello?
Listen to me.
I need your help.
Hey.
.
.
That's better.
We have to go to the moon.
Can you be ready in five?
Captain!
Captain!
Tell me straight.
Do you think there are aliens out there?
I can't even imagine what I'd say to an extraterrestrial life.
Real life ETs.
Your guess is as good as mine,
Roger.
But yeah,
Sure,
Why not?
Let's call it an alien invasion.
We're going to the moon.
While Mrs.
Honeybee packs up all the stuff we'll need for our trip,
Including plenty of astronaut food and aptly named moon cheese,
Melody Bee sets out coordinated spacesuits for all of us,
Plus one extra,
Just in case we happen upon a friend out there.
We assure her that if the aliens are out there,
They probably already have their own spacesuits,
But she cannot be swayed.
Our suits,
Of course,
Come with an adaptive Battle Buzz helmet,
Should our specific set of skills be needed.
With the latest software update for our trusty helmet,
It no longer matters where we're wearing our gear,
It will ensure homeostasis is maintained through a painstakingly exact life support protocol.
With suits on,
Extras packed and snacks secured,
We meet out in the driveway just as Roger Robot finishes up his shine.
Roger knows no bounds when it comes to helping his friends,
And if that means changing his shape,
His size,
His function,
So be it.
For this particular mission,
He will be just the robot rocket ship we need.
We all climb inside and pick our seats next to a circular window.
For now,
When we look out,
We see a sleepy,
Unsuspecting neighborhood,
But in a blink,
We'll see nothing but stars.
Bring your hands out in front of you like you're about to clap,
And take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose as we prepare to launch.
Rub your hands together to feel the intense heat of the rocket's engines as your chest lifts,
Ready for takeoff.
Then,
Rest your warm hands on your heart,
One on top of the other,
And slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
As we launch up into the twinkling sky,
Breathe every last bit of air out and hold your breath out at the bottom.
Feel the emptiness of your exhale like the emptiness of outer space as we leave our atmosphere.
Let your body feel as heavy as possible.
Not only are you supported by your surroundings,
You are weightless inside this spaceship,
Encapsulated by twinkling stars.
Your attention is glued out the window,
Watching and studying the moon as it gets closer and closer,
But it's becoming increasingly difficult to stay in one place looking out your window.
Your weightlessness floats you upward to the roof of this robot rocket,
And it takes most of your strength to anchor yourself back down next to the window.
The puffy fingers of your spacesuit slip and slide from your anchor,
And instead,
You find a way to tether yourself with an extra strap that hangs off your suit for what seems to be this exact purpose.
Now you're able to stare at the moon and you're in good company doing so.
Everyone is staring at the moon,
Silently.
Even Roger Robot,
Who is giddy as he glides through the universe,
Is silent with anticipation.
Will he see his first alien?
The extraterrestrial life he's only read about in research rabbit holes and machine dreamed about?
The thought alone propels him faster like the fuel it is,
And you feel a sudden jolt as the bottom drops from your belly and you're hurled even more swiftly through the electromagnetic vacuum of outer space.
The flickers become more prominent and appear to turn on and off,
As if someone is using several satellite-sized flashlights to inspect Earth for something hidden.
Captain EJ has an idea.
All technology has failed except for the BattleBuzz helmet.
This extraordinary machine has stood up to the test of whatever is causing this ecological technoglitch.
You catch on,
Even before he says anything,
And the others watch in suspense,
Darting their glances between you two and the mysterious moon like they're watching a tennis match.
Captain EJ initiates several test sequences to analyze the heat signatures of his entire visual field.
While he's doing that,
You begin to wonder about the silvery sheen that the phantom flickers bestowed upon Earth.
Why silver?
Within your own BattleBuzz helmet,
You used a built-in spectrophotometer to measure the reflectivity of whatever is causing this.
And also,
For good measure,
You also analyzed the behavior of light that shines on it.
We know it's flickering to our eyes,
But what does it do when it's under the spotlight?
Before you and Captain EJ can assess the results of these tests,
Mr.
Honeybee shows you both a real-time radar screen of one of the satellites that powers all of his prototypes.
He shows you historical data that looks like a steady heartbeat of transmission,
Thin lines rising and falling in perfect symmetry.
Then,
He scrolls over to tonight,
To something that came in just seconds ago as you both initiated your analysis.
A huge spike in electromagnetic radiation that nearly electrified the satellite.
You can practically see the smoke emanating through the screen and out both of Mr.
Honeybee's ears.
He's worried and he's never worried.
This makes both you and Captain EJ even more determined to figure this out,
Once and for all.
The results are in and ready to be interpreted.
With one mind,
You and Captain EJ read over the readings while Mr.
Honeybee frantically tries to back up all the data to servers that are not behaving properly,
Without the assistance of his right-hand robot,
Who is currently hurtling through space as a rocket.
Mrs.
Honeybee and Melody Bee keep one eye conducting visual assessments of the e-moongency and the other making sure Roger Robot doesn't overheat.
Roger is in a nearly hyperventilating,
Excitable state.
He's traveling faster than the speed of light towards the possibility of meeting an alien,
Which troubles the docket of light tests you've conducted,
But even still.
You can clearly see that there is something on the moon which is both absorbing an inordinate amount of light,
As well as reflecting it.
Silver reflects 95% of the visible light spectrum,
Which gives it its sheen.
But what's absorbing the light,
And so much of it?
Translucent objects refract light waves and absorb some light.
Some opaque objects are known to absorb this amount of light and convert it into thermal energy.
Something like that could account for those sorts of results.
But what is translucent,
Opaque,
And reflective,
All at the same time?
When suddenly,
A burst of light,
The likes of which you've never experienced,
Floods all the windows of the robot rocket.
As if tidal waves of light have crashed over each of us in the rocket,
We all shield our eyes from the brightness.
All except for Roger Robot,
Who cannot look away.
He stares wide-eyed and mesmerized without blinking.
His systems fail immediately upon impact,
And you can feel the velocity trickle down to a purposeless float mid-mission.
Roger,
Is everything okay?
What was that?
Captain,
He might not be able to hear you.
Roger.
Oh,
The colors.
There are so many colors.
Roger,
Snap out of it.
Your systems have been overridden.
You're not making sense.
Hero and I can climb out and check on the engine.
If you can guide us,
Mr.
H.
Roger,
We're going to reboot your engines.
Some color.
Yeah,
Everything's down.
We have to do a manual reboot.
When the doors open,
We're greeted face-to-face with an otherworldly hue of green light projecting against the backdrop of twinkling stars and pitch-black nothingness.
We float out the door,
Tethering ourselves to anchors along the way to the rocket's engines.
In Roger's hypnotized state,
He means this reboot like humans need to unplug.
That's ironic.
Anyways,
This will be refreshing to him.
As we reboot Roger Robot,
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Focus all your systems on the coolness of each particle of oxygen coming in through your nose and infusing each and every one of your cells.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
And feel the invigoration of a fresh power cycle breath as we follow the last few instructions from Mr.
Honeybee for this reboot.
I have no random access memory for the last several minutes.
I need something.
What do I need?
Think,
Roger.
Think.
Roger that,
Roger.
Solar filters.
Solar filters?
Yes,
We need to filter some of the light to be able to stare at this phenomenon without blinding ourselves in unconsciousness.
Solar filters.
How do I make solar filters?
Hi,
Roger.
Would these solar filters go over our eyes?
Precisely.
Mr.
Honeybee,
Get on board.
We need something up.
They need to be flexible to stare our face and,
Oh,
Oh,
Darkened a little bit.
Light enough to wear,
But sturdy enough for solar filtration.
Roger.
That sounds a lot like- And,
And,
And they need to have some sort of way of offsetting the light.
Darkened in some way.
Small and nimble.
Are you- With our new solar filter glasses on,
We can now look directly at the brilliant light that casts a green hue when it dims.
Every so often it will shine to ultimate brilliance,
Then dim back down.
It cycles through this like we do with breath in a rhythm.
We float around the ship trying to get the best vantage point of the moon.
When we're just about to the top of the ship,
Where Roger reluctantly dons his star-shaped sunglasses,
We hear Mr.
Honeybee come in through the battle bus helmet.
Did you see that?
I need coordinates.
Are there coordinates in space?
According to the battle bus helmet,
We're oriented toward 39.
9-ish degrees north,
75.
1-ish degrees west.
We see what you're seeing,
Mr.
H.
That looks like- A UFO.
A what?
Roger Robot's systems are intact,
But his emotion is high,
Containing too much giddiness for his mechanisms to process.
He instantly and accidentally transforms into a glitter bomb that explodes like fireworks in the stillness of outer space.
He bounces around as a bright blue,
Glittery shooting star,
Closer and more convinced than ever that he will soon be face-to-face with a real-life extraterrestrial.
We try to contain his excitement,
But like a pinball,
He maneuvers out of our forceless grasp in zero gravity.
I'm going to meet an alien.
An alien.
A real alien.
Just imagine the untold intelligence contained in the melding of those minds.
Roger,
You can't go anywhere without us.
A robot and an alien.
A friendship made of the cosmos.
We will take over the world.
No,
No,
Thinking too small,
Silly robot.
The universe.
What are we supposed to do while you're doing that?
Just float here?
That's your business.
I have aliens to encounter.
We'll be at a zoo.
Bye-bye.
Roger transforms into a magnetic rover that can rove through the vacuum of outer space,
And just before he does,
Captain EJ ejects a minuscule magnet from his battle bus helmet's built-in toolkit and holds it up in his palm,
Trying to magnetize Roger's metal back into shape.
Floating in outer space,
You eject your magnet as well and double the magnetic force,
But nothing is able to slow Roger Robot down.
He's like a robot dog after an alien bone and there's nothing to do but wait.
We watch him get smaller and smaller as he approaches the UFO.
Through our highly filtered glasses,
We can see Roger Robot form into a flurry of shapes.
He's so excitable that he cannot keep his form stable.
What is he seeing over there?
The light isn't blinding,
But it's brilliant.
It blurs everything around,
And from here,
It appears as if Roger Robot disappears into a ball of light more intense than the sun,
Coming from the moon.
The last thing we see before Roger disappears is him excitedly transform into a bouquet of balloons.
Well,
He must be happy about whatever he's found.
Is he celebrating with those balloons?
Yeah,
That's something he learned on his own.
I didn't program that.
This is kind of nice.
I'm okay with floating for a while.
Me too.
Can you go upside down like this?
Oh yeah,
And in circles.
That's it for part one of our adventure.
Keep your Battle Buzz handy for part two.
EJ,
That concludes our adventure.
I can't wait to see you again.
Captain EJ,
Over and out.
EJ911,
Captain speaking.
Mr.
Honeybee here.
This is an emergency mission of epic proportions.
It has already taken us to the moon.
And in this episode,
Part two,
We have a bit more exploring to do before we head back to Earth with a little something special in tow.
If you want to listen to part one,
That episode is called To the Moon.
But if you want to pick up right where we left off,
With a UFO in our sights as we float in the emptiness of outer space,
Settle in for part two now.
From the outside,
You'd never know that our sharp minds are hard at work while we float in playful shapes.
In our Battle Buzz helmet,
As in our hearts,
We always have everything we need right here with us so we can relax into our problem solving,
Knowing that all will be right sooner or later.
Sharing a mental wavelength like we always do,
As we spin in slow,
Upside-down circles looking out for Roger's return,
We formulate a plan to get us closer to that UFO without the help of a very convenient,
Though highly distracted,
Robot rocket.
These magnets are among the most powerful on Earth.
We are among some of the most powerful people on Earth.
Both of those truths must mean something for outer space too.
Mr.
Honeybee attempts to float an idea past us,
But it turns into more of a butterfly swim and then a sort of frantic dog paddle.
When he does finally get to us,
We three arrive at the same exact thought.
We must combine our power with the magnet's power to get us to that UFO.
Mrs.
Honeybee and Melody Bee continue trying to get Roger's attention,
But he has been fully enveloped in the brilliance on the moon and shows no signs of returning anytime soon.
We have to get there and make sure all is well with our flighty robot friend.
Every so often,
Another little balloon of celebration floats away,
So we know that whatever he found must be incredible,
Alien or otherwise.
I think we'll need your high-powered voices for this one.
Combined with the charge in those magnets,
It'll likely pull us directly to the UFO,
So we can turn that U into an I,
From unidentified to identified,
An I-F-O.
A little professional goal of mine,
To turn all UFOs into IFOs.
This will be the first.
No pressure there,
Team.
I know we've been practicing in the stronghold,
But you'll need to focus very intensely on these magnets,
Because we haven't tested the photovoltaic effect of your vocal waves in the vacuum of space.
Hiro and I were just thinking the same thing.
We will need to take off our BattleBuds helmets for that though,
Right?
Right.
Once the magnets are steady,
Floating in space,
We'll need to take a deep breath and shout all your vocal power directly at them.
I don't yet know how your voice does this,
Captain EJ,
But thanks to that BattleBuds helmet,
Both you and Hiro can create light from sound waves,
And electricity from that light.
Speaking of,
Did the Elder Knucklers,
Dr.
Mrs.
And Dr.
Mr.
Knuckler ever get a hold of you?
I spoke with them earlier this week about getting into the lab.
You're gonna work with them?
And Hiro?
Sure,
I will.
Do you think we shouldn't?
Oh,
I don't know.
Maybe because both of their sons kidnapped me,
Tried to flood the entire Honeybee neighborhood,
And are somehow stealing my prototype designs to this day?
That was in the past,
Mr.
H.
We have to be able to forgive and move forward at some point,
Don't you think?
Maybe we can hold my grudge for a teeny bit longer.
Fine.
At least until we get back down to Earth.
Deal.
But they have to earn my trust back.
That's fair.
Deal.
You ready,
Captain?
Ready.
Hiro,
You ready?
Okay.
We gently place the magnets we want to supercharge away from Mr.
Honeybee,
And far from Mrs.
Honeybee and Melody Bee,
Who are doing visual assessments of the flickering phenomenon through their solar filtration glasses,
And their somersaults,
And reporting back any anomalies.
Swimming through the nothingness,
Out over an expanse of bottomless nothingness,
We maneuver as if we are swimming against the strongest tide.
We swing alternate arms out in front of us with all our considerable strength.
Right arm,
Left arm,
Right arm,
Left arm.
Holding the all-purpose magnet in the puffy-gloved hand of the spacesuit,
Place the magnet itself in midair as if you're setting it down on an invisible table.
It stays put,
Just as weightless as you are and Captain E.
J.
Does the same.
Now,
The tricky part.
Take your slowest,
Deepest breath in through your nose.
Focus intently on the magnet as you slowly fill up with fresh air,
From the bottom of your belly,
To your chest,
All the way up to the very tip-top of your throat.
When you cannot take in any more delicious Earth air streaming in through your Battle Buzz helmet,
Press the mask release and breathe all the way out through your mouth with an audible sigh.
The invisible waves emanating from your vocal cords have the surreal look of a translucent wave,
Shooting from the open mask of the Battle Buzz helmet directly to the magnet,
Gliding through the emptiness of space like few other forces can.
These invisible waves are not able to be seen,
In and of themselves,
But their slight motion seems to bend time and space.
When the stray reflections of light flicker from the moon,
We can see the actual electricity emanating from our vocal sound waves by the wavy way they refract the light.
Though we're shouting with all our might,
We can't hear anything.
With the magnet sizzling,
We close up the mask and resume the glorious rhythm of our natural breathing,
Which goes unnoticed far too often.
We can tell our plan has worked because the metal of our Battle Buzz helmets are already making their way,
And our way,
Head first to the UFO.
We intercept and catch the magnet before it sticks to the Battle Buzz helmet,
And then feel a most peculiar wiggle.
We wiggle and jiggle in place for a quick moment,
And are then projected through space by our hands.
Mr.
Honeybee,
Mrs.
Honeybee,
And Melodybee grab hold of our free hands and our feet as we fly by headlong toward the UFO.
They hold on to us for dear life as these supercharged,
Electrified magnets in our hands make their way of least resistance through the stars,
And closer and closer to that brilliant light.
As we approach,
The brilliance of the light overtakes us once again.
We have to squint slightly even from behind our solar filtration glasses,
And then all at once,
The lights go off,
The flickering stops,
And while we're flying through space faster than our minds can process,
We suddenly see something approaching us.
It's bright blue and looks like a dart that someone aimed at an intergalactic dartboard,
If we were that dartboard.
What do you think you're doing?
That's enough of your little science experiments over here.
The blue dart darting towards us was actually Roger Robot,
Morphed into a dart,
But he somehow was able to stop the magnetism that was whooshing us through space so powerfully just seconds ago.
Roger,
How did you do that?
You might be a superhero,
Captain EJ,
But I'm a superconductor.
And that means?
His metal can block magnetic fields.
Superconductor mode engaged.
Roger,
That was a bit abrupt.
I saw all of you moving quickly,
And I had to report back to see what was going on over here.
Wait,
So that means you saw us floating aimlessly too,
When you left us.
When I risked my life and limb to go into the breach first and make sure it was safe for my friends,
Is that what you meant,
Melody Bee?
Sorta.
Well,
That brings me to something marvelous.
You will literally marvel at this news,
Everyone.
Gather round,
Gather round,
Gather round.
We're already gathered,
Roger.
We can't really move without gravity.
Perfect.
Guess.
Just try to guess what I found.
You found.
.
.
You'll never guess.
This is world-altering,
Universe-shaking news.
The biggest news I'll likely ever break in my eternity's long life.
What is it,
Roger?
Okay,
Get ready.
This is gonna knock your socks clean off.
Everyone,
Listen up.
You found an alien?
Wow.
Yeah.
Wait,
Way to take the wind out of my sails,
Captain.
Sheesh.
You don't need wind in space anyways,
Roger.
Everyone except Captain E.
J.
,
Come with me.
Hey,
I was kidding.
Whoa.
Before Roger Roebuck can leave Captain E.
J.
In his windless dust,
You grab from my hand and anything you can grasp of Roger's dart,
And we're all darted into the brightest,
Most magnificent light you've ever seen or felt.
It's a warmth you can hardly describe,
And the experience is otherworldly.
You don't know what to expect,
But you're moving so fast that you don't think about anything much.
You're squarely in this out-of-this-world moment,
And about to come face-to-face with.
Warming.
You can hear a disembodied voice whirling around you,
But you can't see much of anything else as the brilliant light flickers wildly.
The closer you get,
The dimmer the light becomes,
Or are our eyes adjusting somehow?
Unsure of anything,
We stay open in mind,
Heart,
And spirit,
And meet whatever alien creature with similarly open arms.
Another peculiar sound rings out as the lights darken,
Leaving us only shadows from the twinkling stars.
You know you're approaching the moon because you saw its gray cratered surface from far away,
But you wouldn't know it by looking straight ahead like you are,
Trailing behind Roger Roebuck as a bright blue dart who's traveling a lot slower now to navigate through the shadows.
What you see in front of you eclipses the moon in size and hovers in the shape of Saturn,
With a massive ring around it that is made up of smaller crystallized particles,
Something that looks like chunks of silver ore that seem to be on fire on the inside if such a thing is possible.
The ring of this gargantuan UFO is partly what is causing the flickering phenomenon back down on Earth,
But what's causing the technology disruption?
This UFO is on its way to becoming an IFO if you and I have anything to say about it,
Hero.
We study every detail with a robot-level precision,
And stamp it in our memory banks as we dart towards it.
You can see every possible shade of green represented on the outer casting of this UFO,
With a most illustrious verdure's shine.
Sizzling electricity crackles and swirls around the ship.
Not only does this electrical current power the ship,
It seems to hold it together as well.
The silver fires within the individual chunks that make up the outer ring seem to be feeding the electricity in some way,
And that amount of static electricity could certainly disrupt our technology.
This alien must be huge,
Unlike any Earth-sized creature we've seen before,
Maybe even bigger than a blue whale or a dinosaur.
Roger Robot slows his dart down considerably to navigate us through the individual chunks of fiery silver that make up the outer ring.
We duck our heads and tuck up our feet to clear the scorching ice-hot silvery rocks as we pass them.
Up close,
These chunks look like shiny silver ice rocks with a blue-hot fire burning within each one,
And there are billions of these chunks in all different sizes.
The rocks crash into each other,
Vibrating intensely with immense energy stores and causing little explosions that make the buzzing electricity surge.
What kind of alien would need this much electricity and space?
Again,
As we make our way into the inner chamber of the UFO,
We wonder to ourselves how humongous this alien creature must be as a massive door opens from the bottom of the ship.
We can only imagine what kind of gigantic lumbering creature is about to emerge,
Gargantuan step by gargantuan step.
The most glorious pinkish-red hue shines from inside the UFO when the door opens.
It soothes our nerves with its color alone.
A smile comes to your face unconsciously,
As if the color itself is speaking sweetly to your physiology.
Your muscles relax more and more with each exhale,
And you float a little easier while you wait and watch for the footsteps with rest of us.
Roger Robot calls out to this creature who goes by the name Warpino.
When no one responds,
He grabs hold of some kind of remote control device that not even Mr.
Honeybee has seen before.
He must have received this alien technology on his first jaunt over to this UFO.
Mr.
Honeybee's eyes widen behind his spacesuit helmet.
Roger tells us that per the extensive and instantaneous polyvalent conversations with Warpino in his alien language,
Which Roger machine-learned in seconds,
This device will emit a summons to the creature.
Depending on several instinctual and split-second decisions made remotely by Warpino himself,
The summons will be successful or it will fail.
Roger Robot is unsure of the calculus by which Warpino and his species of people decide upon these factors,
But all of that is for us to learn from our new friend.
Once we finally see him for ourselves,
Not only can you see Mr.
Honeybee's giddiness,
You can feel his pure joy radiate out to all of us even in the vacuum of space.
Now,
The summons.
It was successful.
We watch and we wait,
Spreading out amongst ourselves amidst the already expansive space just to give this enormous alien creature enough room to emerge.
And then,
With a bubbly sort of minuscule squeak,
A comparatively tiny alien bursts out from the taking up a mere fraction of the space allotted to him through the open door.
We can only see his brilliantly whitish-blue outline,
But other than that,
We see right through him.
That is except for a silvery beating heart that seems to be on fire on the inside,
Just as the rocks we saw in the outer ring are.
It's that same fire which creates his outline.
When he's this close to us,
We can hear the peculiar beat of his heart,
Fueled as if it is by this fire.
Though he's mostly transparent,
We can see a depth of expression in his globular black eyes that blink much more rapidly than his rapid heartbeats.
We can see his eyes so well because he comes extremely close to each one of us,
Individually,
Like a greeting of the most intimate kind.
Warpino comes as close as his sizzling electricity will allow,
As if he knows his electric touch might be incompatible with our human one.
With his face so close to ours,
He methodically approaches each one of us,
You first.
Something about your spirit must have called to him,
And he spends the most time gazing directly into your eyes,
Tilting his head from one side to the other slowly,
As if he is reading your life like a book.
You are not fearful,
You have no instinct to flee or disrupt this process.
You're totally in it.
He leans in close,
Tilting his tiny,
Oblong head downward toward his chin and staring at you with the most intense glare through fluttering eyelids.
We can see the excitement in his blinking and intuitively know that this is how Warpino expresses joy.
So we do what comes naturally to us.
You smile sweetly at first,
Just at the corners of your mouth.
Then,
The longer this goes on,
You start to smile bigger and bigger just like we do,
And then the smile grows to show your teeth just like ours do.
At the sudden appearance of six toothy grins,
Which appear to Warpino as brandished weapons,
His eyes open to become even bigger as they stay that way,
Stuck in unblinking fear for a split second.
Then,
Just as quickly as we had our first alien encounter,
Our new alien comrade disappears into the vast expanse of his spaceship.
Why?
What happened?
Roger leaps into action,
Leaving us to float in confusion once more while he bridges the schism between human and alien communication.
Roger Robot transforms back into his robot shape to rectify this rapidly devolving problem.
He floats into the opening of the UFO door and reaches out a mechanical hand towards what looks like empty space,
Backlit by the steady pinkish-red hue.
That's when we see where Warpino went off to,
Or rather,
The special way in which Warpino has adapted emotionally to his own world.
Warpino,
Who has not disappeared,
But has become extremely tiny as a response to fear,
In a language we do not understand but that Roger Robot is learning the contours of,
He speaks with Warpino about his own ability to transform and explains that teeth are just calcium and phosphorus deposits that settle inside the human mouth in funny shapes.
Roger admits this revelation was most strange to him as well,
When he saw his first human.
Slowly,
Warpino grows in size proportional to his growing trust in us not to eat him with our teeth,
Which is what he thought our smiles meant.
As we watch Roger Robot coax Warpino out of his reactive tininess,
Captain EJ whispers,
Roger looks at us with the annoyance of a librarian shushing rambunctious patrons as we each zip it,
Intensely wishing in this moment that we could shrink into disappearance when we're embarrassed or fearful.
But that seems to be a special ability of Warpino's kind,
And perhaps something we can learn from him.
So far we've learned that even joyful things like smiling and laughter frighten Warpino,
This is not what we expected from an alien encounter.
In the private laboratory of our own minds,
We each silently question all that we assume about ourselves and our human world.
While Roger Robot tries and tries again to coax Warpino back to us,
He once again uses the device to summon Warpino,
But this time,
It fails.
Roger!
Oh wait,
Let me try in his language.
There he is,
And in his normal size.
I promise we won't do anything to scare you,
At least not on purpose.
Now will we,
Everyone?
We won't,
We promise.
I explained to him what teeth and laughing are,
So you're good to show off your calcium deposits.
Warpino,
This is everyone,
Everyone,
This is Warpino,
The real-life alien.
Hi Warpino,
I'm Captain EJ,
And this is my best friend Hero,
And that's Mr.
Honeybee.
Hi there,
And Mrs.
Honeybee.
Hi Warpino,
And Melody Bee.
Hello Mr.
Warpino,
Sir.
It's so nice to meet you.
Can you switch to Earth language?
English mode for them?
They can't learn languages as quickly as,
I mean,
As we can.
Oh my gadgets,
I can't believe I just said that.
And tell them what you told me.
You won't believe it,
Everyone.
Warpino actually.
.
.
Let Warpino tell us,
Roger.
Oh,
Oh,
Oh,
Okay,
Okay.
I can't believe this day has finally come.
I am over the moon,
Literally.
Hi everyone,
Blinks all around.
We blink when we're happy,
But it seems that you Earthlings do something called laugh.
Can I practice what you call laughing with you?
Then I'll need a refresher of your names,
Because that was a lot of Earthling all at one day.
Ha,
Ha,
Did I laugh right?
You were close.
It's more of a natural thing,
Something you don't have to think about consciously.
All you gotta do is think about something funny,
And then it just happens.
Yeah,
Like when I try to wink,
But can't.
I try to close just one eye.
And then inevitably she holds her other eye open with her fingers.
And then there go both eyes,
Closed.
Like I said,
Melody B,
If you wink with both eyes,
It's a double wink,
Twice as fun.
Winking isn't very hard,
But humans do it all the time.
Roger,
Can you wink?
Too much can be said with a wink.
I like my language precise.
I can wink.
Wink,
Melody B.
I think it'll help if you say it while you do it.
Focuses the Earthling mind.
Oh,
I just realized I'm an Earthling.
How exciting.
Let me see if that helps.
I did it.
Is it really easier to wink if you say it while you do it?
Wink.
Oh,
Wow.
It does help.
Try a wink with each eye,
One right after the other.
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And though they don't look any different,
They feel empty.
Between the two of us,
We finally convince him that we're okay and that it was just an accident.
With time,
His blinking slowly comes back,
Little by little,
Until all of the enthusiasm returns.
After much trial and error,
With Roger Robot assisting with precise measurements and ratios,
We figure out a space-hugging method that works for all of us.
But it works differently for Warpino than it does for us.
We can't get closer than 5.
379 inches to Warpino's electrical outline,
For even a millisecond longer than 8.
938 seconds,
Or else he will unintentionally sizzle us.
Instead,
We stand at safe distances and give space hugs whenever Warpino needs them.
And from what we can tell,
People from his planet are big-time huggers.
But something about it is peculiar.
When he stands in front of us for a space hug,
He squeezes the nothingness of outer space as if he were squeezing us,
And somehow,
The electromagnetic force he carries wraps the empty air around us as if it were a hug.
There's more to Warpino than meets the eye,
And this initial encounter is a happy testament of what's to come when we hopefully tow him and his UFO back to the Honeybee neighborhood with us.
When he accidentally gets too close during one of his many,
Many space hugs,
Which happen very randomly during conversations,
Even to the interruption of his own sentences,
We notice yet another peculiarity of Warpino's presence and its effects on us.
After Mr.
Honeybee invites him back to Command Center,
And you and I assure him that there is plenty of room at my house and your house for him to stay as long as he wants,
Warpino is overcome with joyful blinks and wraps all three of us,
You,
Me,
And Mr.
Honeybee,
Into a huge space hug that gets just a tad too close before Roger Robot can transform into a ruler and separate us efficiently.
A shock of static electricity,
More noticeable than the others before it,
Pops against our spacesuits and within milliseconds,
All three of us shrink and disappear.
You can feel the electricity coursing through us like the most potent energy.
We already felt microscopic compared to the infinite expanse of outer space,
But now we can float next to a single speck of space dust and see it as a massive boulder.
Warpino immediately realized what has happened and shrinks right along with us.
Roger Robot,
Confused and unsure of how to even be in a confused state due to his limitless knowledge,
Whips his metallic head back and forth looking for us with the utmost panic.
Mrs.
Honeybee and Melodybee swim all around where we were just standing and no matter how much we wave our hands and shout out to them,
We are too teeny tiny for them to see.
We are essentially invisible.
You and Mr.
Honeybee rightly point out that this will be extremely useful in stealth missions of all sorts and I have to explain what stealth missions are and even what a mission is to our new friend Warpino.
He is delighted to help in any shocking or not-so-shocking way he can and accepts our invitation back to Earth without hesitation.
But we can't get there while we're this size.
The trip was long enough at our usual size,
So we need to figure out how to reverse this.
By the time we're in problem-solving mode,
Wishing our problem-solving robot friend Roger could see us and be here to help,
He arrives on the scene as tiny as can be.
Warpino,
My size-shifting brethren,
You're able to transmit this intelligence?
Humans are hopelessly stuck in their general size for their whole lives.
It's so sad.
What happens when they are frightened?
They just stay the same size?
Or when they're overjoyed?
They cannot grow to contain all the happiness and joy of that feeling?
I don't know about all that,
But they're one-sizers.
You said you grow when you feel happy?
Can you make us grow too?
Yeah.
But first,
You have to feel happy-happy,
With a big smile that shows all of your weapons.
Weapons?
Warpino,
Humans call those teeth,
Remember?
Even though they're technically weapons,
They don't think of them like that.
Teeth.
Happy teeth.
Have happy teeth,
And then we can grow big.
While Warpino waits for us to feel the joy needed to grow,
He playfully jumps from one speck of space dust to another,
Trying to skip two at a time but falling into a float.
Roger Robot studies Warpino,
Trying to learn all that he can about him,
And in doing so,
Succumbs to his most competitive spirit.
When Warpino tries to skip two specks of space dust,
Roger Robot tries for three,
And a competition ensues.
We,
On the other hand,
Are trying to get our size back,
Since this emergency mission has,
For the most part,
Been resolved.
There's so much more to learn about Warpino and his ship and his home planet,
But we can do so much more of that back at Command Center,
Back home.
So we focus on our personal growth like always.
Place both hands over your heart,
One on top of the other,
And take your slowest,
Deepest breath in through your nose.
Feel the sensation of your heart beating,
Both within your chest and against your hands,
And allow yourself to sink into the space created by your heart.
That space is infinite,
And goes well beyond our one-size human bodies.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
And just as you do,
Warpino flashes over to us for a small shock,
And we grow,
And grow,
And grow.
We grow well beyond the size of Warpino's enormous spaceship,
And Warpino grows to a size fitting of his ship.
Roger Robot has never shapeshifted to something this huge.
He's bigger than the moon.
We all are.
Taking up this much space in space makes Earth look a lot closer and a lot smaller.
We marvel at the change in perspective,
But Warpino and Roger Robot have turned to more competitive pursuits.
They race each other to get bigger and smaller,
Quicker and quicker,
Shrinking into disappearance and growing even beyond the size of the moon.
Oh,
What this must look like down on Earth.
But Roger isn't marveling anymore,
And he isn't even giddy to have a new alien friend.
He's dumbfounded by Warpino's dexterity over his size.
Emphasis on dumb.
Roger Robot,
For the first time in his life,
Doesn't feel like the smartest,
Most technologically advanced creature in the room.
And no matter what maneuvering Roger tries,
Warpino is always just a few milliseconds quicker.
And that is a new experience of our robot friend.
Quite alien to him,
If you will.
Much to our surprise,
Like everything in this mission,
The size change wears off naturally,
Just like all emotions eventually do if you let them.
When we appear back to Melody Bee and Mrs.
Honey Bee,
Our typical sizes,
They are overjoyed.
And when Warpino happens to brush against their arms in one of his size races with Roger,
They too get to experience being the size of the moon.
That is a remarkable experience for Melody Bee,
The talking bee who gardens by the moonlight most nights.
She's the one who waves to us each night as you and I set off on the neighborhood watch overnight shifts,
And she is enamored with being face to face with the face of the moon.
Mrs.
Honey Bee is soaking it all in,
In the silent contemplative way she does.
Her inspiration is soaring and who knows how many stories will come from this mission-turned-adventure.
When everyone and everything naturally winds back down,
Back to their typical size,
And back to a state of calm baseline,
We all find ourselves floating and looking back toward Earth,
Toward our home.
It's time to go back and we're excited to bring Warpino along.
Roger Robot transforms into a rocket,
The same rocket that got us here,
But Warpino is reluctant.
He can't breathe air.
His home planet's air has lots of radiation in it and that's what he needs to keep his heart fire burning.
Roger Robot and Mr.
Honey Bee put their heads together to figure out how to create more electromagnetism for Warpino,
But nothing compares to what he suggests.
Warpino invites us into his spaceship,
Which can't rightfully be called a UFO any longer.
Though we don't know yet what Warpino is made of or how to accommodate his physiological needs,
He knows almost everything about us.
Warpino explains that in his pursuit to prove we were real and not just legends known around the cosmos by our stories,
He began a long and intensive study of Earth and its Earthlings.
He knows evolutionary biology,
He knows our history,
He even knows our philosophy,
The way we muse about things unseen and wonder about things unknowable.
Through the use of advanced radio signals,
He knows our music and our news.
He knows us so thoroughly and we can't help but feel how much that knowledge translates into love and admiration.
The one thing he might not yet know is how excited we are to have him accompany us,
To get to know him and to show him what the Honeybee neighborhood is really made of,
Friends and neighbors and lots and lots of laughs.
We float our way over to his spaceship,
Facing the brilliant magenta light that washes over us.
It feels otherworldly just being at the door of this alien mode of transportation,
But the electricity is so thick and dense that it transmutes into pulsating vibrations.
Imperceptible theta waves calm every aspect of us and put us in a dreamlike state as we walk with ease up into the ship from the bottom.
Right foot,
Left foot,
Right foot,
Left foot.
We learn that the color of the light changes based on the collective mood of everyone inside.
We learn that the green we saw before was curiosity,
When Warpino first saw us and was curious about us.
That magenta hue is the kind of easy feeling that comes after a lot of other feelings,
Catharsis,
Resolution,
Rest.
We're happy to relax after such an out-of-this-world mission,
And when the spaceship takes off,
Our bodies feel heavy in our seats,
Heavy with relaxation and peace and comfort.
Warpino makes us all feel more at home than we sometimes even feel at home,
And we relax into the many driver's seats of this IFO,
This newly identified flying object.
He accommodates our every need,
Even Roger Robots when he asks to take a detour to check on his secret satellite.
We still have no clue what that robot is doing with the secret stash of satellites,
But we're so tired that even Mr.
Honeybee leaves the issue for another day,
And another mission.
We instead enjoy the spaceship ride back home at warp speeds,
Talking to our new friend,
Who can hardly contain his delight at traveling to the magical,
Mythical place he knew was true,
And finally prove to himself that it was,
Our home,
The Honeybee neighborhood.
That concludes our adventure.
I can't wait to see you again.
Captain EJ,
Over and out.
EJ-911,
Captain speaking.
The scientist got stuck where?
What do you mean,
Sixth dimension?
No,
No,
I don't mean a definition of the sixth dimension.
I mean,
How did she even get there?
I guess that'll have to be our first mission,
Replicating this mad scientist's technology.
Then we'll find her and bring her home.
We're on it.
Transferring to dispatch.
I do not kid when I say I've been waiting for this moment my whole life.
Too bad it took one overly ambitious scientist to bring us here.
But once she's back in this dimension and safe,
This mission will be a leap forward for the Command Center's technology.
Come straight here to the Command Center today.
I have dimensional jumpers and all sorts of other things even I can't believe are real.
The day has come.
We're traveling to different dimensions,
Hero.
See you soon.
EJ.
Captain EJ and Hero to the rescue.
Let's begin.
You are here,
In the bustling Command Center of the Honeybee neighborhood.
Mr.
Honeybee has already sprung into inspired action,
His hands flying over the complex controls of a device that looks like it belongs on a rocket ship.
It's encased in sleek metal,
Pulsing with light and formulated by equations that few can even imagine.
What's that,
Mr.
H?
It's almost done.
No time to talk.
We've got a short window to pull the mad scientist back before the dimensional tear stabilizes and traps her there.
With no time to waste,
Mr.
Honeybee hands us each a dimensional jumper,
A belt equipped with various gadgets and gizmos.
Each more mysterious than the last.
This simple device blends the latest theoretical physics with adapted space exploration technology and is our only hope to navigate the unstable dimension and retrieve the lost scientist.
All right,
Strap this on,
Hero.
Make sure it's snug.
We're going dimension diving.
Remember,
You have a very short time after you enter the sixth dimension.
The fifth would have been a much better place for her to get lost,
But the sixth?
Keep focused,
Team.
I'll be monitoring all dimensions and portals closely.
I have a 3D GIS dimensional map.
I can't believe I just said that.
Okay.
I have a dimensional map from the scientists' own records.
Luckily,
She writes scrupulous notes on her experiments.
From what I've gathered,
The portal will shortly become too unstable.
We're so lucky she travels with satellite phones.
Make sure you're both back or you'll be permanent residents of the sixth dimension.
I'm a fan of these measly old four dimensions of our world.
We'll be back,
Mr.
Honeybee.
The portal opens with a low hum.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel your chest and your spirits lift as a flash of blinding light swallows us whole.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
As we're forcefully ejecting out into a dimensional world that defies explanation.
The sky swirls with neon colors.
The ground beneath your feet feels like gelatin.
And bizarre creatures flit through the air,
Their forms blurred and shifting.
You follow Captain EJ,
Who navigates the terrain with the confidence of a guy who's faced far stranger than this.
His confidence and bravery reminds you of your inner strength,
Which makes you the only sidekick for him.
Your destination is a beacon signal,
Pulsing steadily on a device clipped to Captain EJ's belt.
The last known location of the lost scientist.
Navigating this dimension proves treacherous.
The landscape seems to rearrange itself with every blink and what was once a hill might suddenly dip into a valley.
You keep close as Captain EJ leads,
His focus never wavering from the mission at hand.
This place,
It's like nothing I've seen.
But keep your eyes on the prize,
Hero.
We can't afford any distractions.
You eventually spot the frazzled scientist,
Though she does not spot you.
She's engrossed in a malfunctioning piece of equipment,
Frustration clear in her tense shoulders and furrowed brow.
Her experiments,
Strange contraptions that bend light and sound in impossible ways,
Lay scattered around her,
Half buried in the multicolored soil.
Silently,
Captain EJ motions for you to stay back as he approaches the scientist.
There's a delicate balance to maintain here,
Not just of the physical surroundings but also in handling a mind that's been isolated in such a warped reality.
Time to head back,
Doctor.
Let's not overstay our welcome here.
Plus Mrs.
Honeybee has fresh gingersnap cookies and lemonade.
The snacks are incredible back home.
A sense of relief washes over the scientist,
Who follows without a word.
She doesn't know how you got here or what will happen next,
But she senses the quiet power of your combined resolve and takes your hand to lead her back to safety.
With the scientist following silently,
You make your way back to the portal location.
The return journey is even more perilous than the arrival.
The dimension,
Sensing its visitors' intent to depart,
Increases its resistance.
The ground shifts aggressively and the air seems to thicken,
Trying to disorient and delay your retreat,
As if this extended dimension wants to keep all of us here.
Mr.
Honeybee will be happy to hear that the sixth dimension wants visitors just as much as he wants to visit.
The portal looms ahead,
Its stability waning as the minutes tick down.
Mr.
Honeybee radios into our BattleBuzz helmet.
Captain,
Hero,
Are you almost done there?
We're losing time.
But tell me everything.
Is it awesome?
Like,
Truly awesome,
In that it inspires awe?
What's it like?
Captain,
I need to know.
Mr.
H,
For someone who wants to know so much,
You're sure not giving us time to talk.
And speaking of,
We have no time to talk.
Captain EJ pushes the pace,
Urging you and the silent scientist forward as the boundary between dimensions begins to blur and flicker.
Just as you reach the portal,
It shrinks rapidly,
Threatening to close.
Take your biggest,
Slowest breath in through your nose.
Feel the edges of your breath push against the boundary of your chest.
Fill up your lungs with as much fresh air as will fit,
Exploring every possible space within you.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth,
As we leap for our home dimension in utter desperation.
You and Captain EJ,
With the scientist in tow,
Dive through the narrowing gateway.
The portal snaps shut behind you,
Sealing off the bizarre dimension with a sound like the world itself exhaling.
Back in the command center,
Mr.
Honeybee is a picture of relief.
His gadgets and screens blink back to normal,
The immediate threat now contained and the brilliant scientist now back safe.
The scientist,
Still quiet,
Seems overwhelmed by her return to normalcy.
Her gaze lingers on the now inert dimensional jumper.
Another day,
Another dimension hero.
The Honeybee neighborhood goes on with its daily existence,
Unaware of the cosmic disturbances just beyond their sight inside the unassuming garage.
As you and Captain EJ enjoy the snacks and refreshments,
Mr.
Honeybee doesn't let the recuperating scientist relax one bit.
His questions come with the ferocity of his curiosity,
And he,
Once again,
Does not hardly give her a chance to answer before he regales with another litany of questions.
We laugh to ourselves as we gobble up the last of the cookies.
With Mr.
Honeybee's genius,
And Captain EJ's bravery,
Along with your steadfast courage,
Hero,
There's no boundary we can't breach,
And no scientist too mad to save.
You look out of the windows of command center to see that the stars have taken over the sky and the sun has set.
You wonder what other mysteries await in the vast,
Unexplored multiverse.
In the world of heroes,
The line between the ordinary and the extraordinary is thin,
And today,
You have once again walked that line with the steadiness of those destined to protect and serve.
The call to action is clear,
And you are ready to answer it,
Whatever dimension it may pull you into next.
EJ.
.
.
That concludes our adventure.
I can't wait to see you again.
Captain EJ,
Over and out.
EJ-911,
Captain speaking.
Hmm,
I see.
That does sound unsettling.
An old hotel,
Ghostly phenomena,
And trapped guests?
Absolutely.
We take every call seriously.
No,
Don't attempt to put the ghost on the phone,
I believe you.
Yes,
We'll handle it from here.
Thank you for alerting us.
We're on it.
Transferring to dispatch.
Hero,
The situation at Old Dormir Inn appears quite.
.
.
Spooky.
Apparently,
The Old Inn isn't just a name.
The Inn is quite old.
Like,
Over a century old,
From the records that Roger Robot dug up.
Reports indicate that numerous guests are experiencing supernatural phenomena,
Seeing operations and experiencing eerie,
Inexplicable cold spots.
They're unable to leave due to mysterious forces locking down the hotel.
The exits have somehow been sealed by these forces,
Confining everyone inside,
And no amount of battering from their battering ram.
.
.
Wait,
Huh?
Who has a battering ram at an inn?
Dormir is surely strange,
To say the least.
I'll activate the spectral scanners and set up a paranormal activity console to monitor the disturbances closely.
Prepare for a ghostly encounter,
Hero.
Boo!
I'm just kidding.
Okay,
I know,
That wasn't funny.
We have real ghosts here that I don't want to make angry with my bad ghost impressions.
It's getting cold over here,
Too.
I gotta check for ghosts at the command center.
I gotta split.
Keep your eyes peeled out there,
Hero.
E.
J.
Captain E.
J.
And Hero to the rescue.
Let's begin.
You are here,
Standing alongside Captain E.
J.
As we once again enter the city limits of Dormir,
A place that seems to take up more and more of our time.
We stand back and lay our eyes upon the formidable silhouette of the old Dormir Inn.
When Mr.
Honeybee sent the mission brief over to our Battle Buzz helmets,
I assumed,
Perhaps naively,
That we'd be visiting a ramshackle,
Dilapidated old lodge that has fallen into despair.
We feast our eyes on anything but,
The latest in an unending stream of surprises from the town of Dormir.
The old inn rises majestically against the backdrop of a starless night.
It has pointed gothic spires that cut through the mist like ancient monoliths.
Moonlight is the only thing that shines against its stone facade.
Even at high noon,
This place would look haunted.
But at night,
Eerie shadows come out from their hiding places and dance across the crumbling masonry.
As we approach the massive front doors,
Carved with the intricate faces of forgotten deities,
A chill sweeps over us,
Not from the cold,
But from what lies within.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Envision the energy of an old,
Wise entity holding centuries of secrets,
Ready to unfold them before us.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
Stepping into the inn's magnificent lobby,
The grandeur of a bygone era surrounds us.
Dormir looks like a long-forgotten frontier town from those old western movies,
But this,
This is downright fancy.
Opulent tapestries hang from the walls,
Depicting scenes of lavish festivities now silenced by time.
The air is heavy,
Scented with the musk of aged wood and the faint aroma of lilac.
Perhaps a lingering trace of the perfumes once worn by the ritzy travelers who waltzed in here.
Each step on the marble floor echoes through the vast emptiness,
A sound as isolated as the inn itself.
Our investigation begins at the heart of the hotel's mysteries,
The recently restored ballroom reputed to be the epicenter of the ghostly disturbances.
Guests have reported seeing visions of Victorian-era figures,
Hearing disembodied laughter and witnessing spectral dances that end as abruptly as they begin.
These spirits seem tethered to specific artifacts and renovations,
Suggesting a deep unrest tied to the inn's history.
Inside the ballroom,
The air shifts.
Chandeliers tremble lightly as if stirred by invisible breath.
The mirrors along the walls not only reflect our forms but occasionally,
Fleetingly,
Those of others.
Figures dressed in old-fashioned garb fading in and out of view with forlorn expressions trapped in an eternal soiree.
The temperature drops near these mirrors,
A palpable coldness that seems to suck the warmth from the air.
Take another slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the cold air,
Even colder,
Coming in through your nose and expanding your chest filled with invisible life force.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
And continue walking in the way we do,
Moving forward,
But each having the other's back,
For a strategic 360-degree view.
We always seem to have to watch our back in Dormir,
Don't we?
What is it about this place?
Armed with Mr.
Honeybee's cutting-edge spectral technology,
We set out to decipher these anomalies.
The Paranormal Activity Console,
A network of screens and sensors that appears in the periphery of our vision with the Battle Bus helmet,
Illuminates with a spectral light as it begins to track the movements of these apparitions.
The spectral scanners,
Resembling small luminous drones,
Whir softly as they drift through the room.
Their sensors flickering as they map out zones of high ectoplasmic activity.
Captain,
Hiro,
The initial scans are showing layers of spectral energy densely woven into the ballroom's fabric.
It appears the renovation work has inadvertently disturbed these resting spirits.
You need to deploy the spectral harmonizers to ease this unrest.
Can you see what we're seeing,
Mr.
H?
Yes and no.
Huh?
How can it be both?
Well,
I can see what you're seeing,
But I'm covering my eyes because I do not like scary movies when they're made of movie magic,
No less in real life with my best friends.
Tell me when it's okay to look.
No one can do what you do,
Mr.
Honeybee.
Even with your eyes covered,
You've made an excellent observation.
We'll get this settled so you can resume your vision.
Let's set up the harmonizers.
They'll emit a frequency that soothes the spectral energies,
Helping to calm the unrest and perhaps communicate our intentions of peace.
As the harmonizers begin their work,
A remarkable transformation unfolds,
And we can hardly believe our eyes.
The spectral figures start to appear less agitated,
Their movements slowing as if lulled by a gentle melody only they can hear.
The laughter and cries that once echoed off the walls diminish,
And a serene quietude begins to reclaim the ballroom.
Do you feel the air getting warmer,
Hero?
The cold seems to be related to the spirit's unrest.
The echoes of the past fade into a peaceful silence,
And the old doormeer inn's own spirit seems to sigh in relief.
With the ghostly phenomena under control and the spirits appeased,
The inn slowly returns to normal with a shocking amount of people coming and going in no time.
Guests cautiously step out from their rooms,
Their faces subtly changing from fear to relief as they gather in a now peaceful lobby.
Smiles begin to replace the looks of horror,
And the staff resume their duties,
Grateful for the return of calm.
It's remarkable that such an old place is still so active.
I wonder how old this place is.
It seems the old doormeer inn is 400 years old.
Wait,
Mr.
Honeybee,
Did you read my mind?
What?
Huh?
What now?
Roger.
Roger,
Robot.
Turn the prototype off.
I accidentally responded.
Turn it off.
Hero,
Our mission here is complete.
We've solved the mystery of the old doormeer inn,
But another mystery has cropped up.
Mr.
H is being awfully suspicious.
I think a little testing session is due soon.
If he's going to read my mind with prototypes,
The least he can do is not mind when we slip in and fire him up.
But seriously,
We calmed the restless spirits and ensured the safety of all within these walls.
Another day,
Another spectral challenge overcome.
As we leave the inn and doormeer to its newfound peace,
Remember that bravery isn't just about facing danger.
It's also about understanding and compassion for the unseen.
Until next time,
Keep your heart brave and your mind open.
And keep an eye on Mr.
Honeybee.
I sense an epic prank coming soon.
E.
J.
That concludes our adventure.
I can't wait to see you again.
Captain E.
J.
,
Over and out.
E.
J.
9-1-1.
Captain.
.
.
Pinky,
I know it's you.
Your name is registered to this phone number.
What have you done now?
Oh,
Captain E.
J.
,
Always so quick to duck to conclusions.
I didn't know where else to call,
You know.
Why don't you do yourself a favor and turn on the TV?
There's about to be some.
.
.
Breaking news.
Pinky,
Don't play games with me.
What are you talking about?
Please hold.
I have someone else on the line.
Now,
I know you can do this.
That's why I don't call you with this information.
Compromised.
They're counting on you.
Don't mess this up.
Critical.
If you don't do this,
I'll call out on your phone right.
.
.
Save him.
I hope for your sake this is a cruel joke and you're not leading someone into a dangerous situation.
Oh,
Captain E.
.
.
Pinky,
How do I know if you're just baiting me?
I don't want to take your wicked bait,
But.
.
.
Is this real?
How do I even begin to find this person?
E.
J.
9-1-1,
Ca.
.
.
Captain E.
J.
,
We need backup on the highway.
Driver isn't responding to orders to stop.
Got it.
We're on our way.
Transferring to dispatch.
Highway patrols tracking a high-speed chase.
No communication,
No response.
We know Pinky Knuckler's involved,
And we can assume this is real and diabolical.
But the highway patrol doesn't know Pinky like we do.
He's hijacked someone's radio and somehow tricked them into believing they're on a rescue mission.
I've loaded your ENVs with a signal disruptor to break through Pinky's interference and a tracking beacon to lock onto the vehicle if you can get close enough.
Stay sharp and stay safe out there,
Hero.
Your ENV is waiting.
E.
J.
Captain E.
J.
And Hero to the rescue.
Let's begin.
You are here,
Piloting your ENV on the road beside Captain E.
J.
As we race down the highway.
The chaos ahead is impossible to ignore.
Vehicles swerving,
Brake lights flaring like tiny explosions of mayhem,
And in the middle of it all,
The road car zigzagging through traffic as it's running for its life.
Amidst all the madness and mayhem,
You know that you need to focus your mind to let everything but the mission fade into the background.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the cool air coming in through your nose lifting your courage like a shield in all the ways the ENV is physically supporting you right now.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
Feel your heart rate steady,
Your mind clear,
And your grip tighten on the controls.
Your ENV feels alive in your hands,
Responding to your every move.
The controls hum with energy,
Vibrating slightly as the speed builds.
The bright green driving gloves you wear grip the wheel firmly,
Enhancing the control your mind has over this unique vehicle.
As you weave through the storm of traffic,
You feel the gentle tug of the seat harness that keeps you securely grounded,
Even as the ENV moves like an extension of your own instincts.
Hero,
This driver is panicked,
And fast.
Pinky's got them convinced they're saving someone's life,
But they're actually putting all our lives in danger.
We need to stop this.
We need to slow this driver down.
The highway patrol vehicles race alongside us,
Their sirens wailing,
Trying to corner the road car along with us.
We match their speed,
Our ENVs gliding effortlessly between the patrol cars.
Seamlessly blending into the chase.
Let's take it up a notch,
Hero.
Time to show them what these ENVs can really do.
With a burst of energy,
We activate flight mode.
Both ENVs lift off the ground simultaneously,
Transforming into sleek aerial machines.
The highway patrol officers glance up in shock as we soar past them,
Leaving the ground-bound chaos behind before their chopper can even start its engine.
Stay with me,
Hero.
We'll close in on the road car from above and cut this chase short.
Pinky's not getting away with this.
Reconnect with your resolve.
Take another slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel your chest expand as you take command of the adrenaline that naturally filters information for us in emergency situations.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
Let your hands steady on the ENV controls,
Ready for whatever might come next.
With precision and teamwork,
We accelerate in formation,
Determined to end this chase before anyone gets hurt.
The road car below swerves dangerously,
Weaving through traffic so erratically that it's difficult for us to follow it from the air.
The police cars below are having even more trouble.
We look behind us to see a trail of more than 30 emergency response vehicles,
Including armored cars that can make direct contact with the car should contact be needed.
They all wait at our command.
You and I move in perfect formation,
Piloting our ENVs to close the gap as best we can.
From up here,
The chaos is glaring.
Horns blare,
Brake lights flash,
And vehicles veer off course to avoid disaster.
But the road driver keeps going,
Fast and determined.
Whoever's behind that wheel knows what they're doing.
Look at the control.
They're holding speed and maneuvering like a pro.
Whoa!
Pull up!
Pull up!
Great reflexes,
Hero.
Construction crews definitely didn't know this was going to happen today,
Or that the guy in the crane would have to watch out for ENVs.
We got a wide open patch of road coming up.
Most of the traffic is behind us.
We need to bring this in before it's too late.
Let's ground the ENVs and flank that car.
Keep them from veering off the highway while we have them surrounded.
I'll try to get through to them.
We drop closer to the highway,
Boxing in the rogue car from both sides.
As we pull up alongside it,
We make eye contact with the driver.
It's Sally Smith.
Hero,
Look!
It's Sally!
She knows Pinky.
We'll get through to her,
If she can hear us.
Sally!
Sally!
It's Captain EJ and Hero!
Captain,
Your helmet has a megaphone in it.
Just tap your right ear twice.
Sally,
It's Captain EJ.
Pull your car over.
You're being deceived.
Pinky is lying to you.
No,
You don't understand.
I have to save him.
I'm the only one who can.
And he helped save me,
So I cannot let him down.
Please,
Just let me go.
It'll all be fine.
Pinky is helping me.
That's right,
Sally.
Pinky is here to help you.
Like I told you,
They've all been compromised.
They're trying to stop you because they're part of it.
They don't want you to save him.
Sally,
Who are you supposed to be saving right now?
You're doing more harm than anything else,
Sally.
Pinky is tricking you.
Pinky says Mr.
Honeybee has been held hostage because of his prototypes.
He says that Mr.
Honeybee has gotten in with the wrong people and they're out to get us,
Captain EJ.
What?
Mr.
H is fine.
He's on the line right now.
What?
What do you mean?
He's okay?
No,
Mr.
Honeybee is not okay.
It's Captain EJ who's holding him hostage.
Don't trust them,
Sally.
Trust me.
Captain.
Hero.
Mr.
H here.
Not being held hostage.
I've been listening in and this is too well timed.
Pinky's not guessing.
He's watching.
He must have hidden a device in or around Sally's car.
Find it and disable.
That will disable Pinky.
Good thinking,
Mr.
H.
Hero,
Get Sally's attention.
Tell her to listen.
Mr.
H,
I'm projecting you through my loudspeaker.
Tell Sally you're okay.
Okay.
Sally,
This is Mr.
Honeybee.
I.
.
.
Turn off your radio.
No.
Do not turn off your.
.
.
I'm so sorry,
Captain.
I thought it was real.
It's perfectly okay,
Sally.
Slow down.
Slow all the way down and stop safely.
Pinky lied to you.
There's no rescue.
He's using you for his own plans.
With the radio silent and Pinky's lies exposed,
Sally hesitates,
Her hands trembling on the wheel.
Slowly,
She pulls the car to a stop on the side of the highway.
Lied to me?
I almost hurt someone.
Sally,
It's over.
You're safe now.
Pinky won't be able to manipulate you anymore.
Hero,
I'll take care of Sally.
Go find the device he was using.
That'll be key evidence.
Use the signal disruptor just in case so we can keep a secure line through the BattleBuzz helmet.
The chase is over,
But the fight against Pinky isn't done yet.
Now,
We have to trace his tricks back to their source and stop him before he can try this again.
With Sally safely swept away into the care of rescue workers,
You begin your meticulous sweep of the vehicle.
There's no room for error.
If Pinky's devices are still active,
His reach could extend far beyond this chase.
Like always,
You work diligently,
Starting at the rearview mirror where you find a hidden camera,
Its lens glinting faintly in the light.
Beneath the dashboard,
You uncover a microphone,
Cleverly concealed to pick up everything Sally said.
Then,
Near the trunk,
You discover a small but powerful signal jammer,
Pinky's way of keeping Sally cut off from help.
Take a slow,
Deep breath of relief in through your nose.
Relax your shoulders and feel the tension ease as you disable the last device.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth,
Knowing that you and Captain EJ have effectively saved this day.
With each device removed,
Pinky's control slips further away.
Once you've collected all the devices,
You place them carefully into the EMV's teleportation module to send to Mr.
Honeybee with the click of the remote that's always at your hip.
The devices shimmer in the flood of red emergency lights before disappearing into thin air,
Sent directly to Mr.
Honeybee at Command Center for analysis.
Captain,
Hero,
I've got something.
The devices you just sent over are broadcasting tracking signals,
But I don't think they're doing this on purpose.
They lead directly to Pinky's bunker.
I'm sending you the coordinates now.
Got it,
Mr.
H.
Hero,
Let's move.
Highway Patrol will follow us.
He deserves whatever justice is coming his way.
We arrive at the outskirts of Dormir,
At the edge of the forest,
Where Pinky's hideout sits camouflaged among overgrown brush and rusted machinery.
His tech bunker hums with electricity,
A hive of his twisted ingenuity.
Pinky must have known we'd come because he certainly hasn't been cut off from gathering any more covert intelligence.
We can hear the sound of traps around his bunker activate,
But you,
Hero,
You see them with your eagle eyes.
His traps spring to life,
Electric snares,
Smoke plumes,
And a swarm of buzzing drones designed to disorient intruders.
You emerge victorious from your ENV,
Stomping down twigs and piles of leaves as you approach carefully.
You move with precision,
Disarming each trap before it can cause harm.
Your steady hands and sharp focus clear the way for the Highway Patrol to advance.
With the last trap neutralized,
I follow your lead and together we breach the bunker.
Inside,
Pinky is waiting,
Smug as ever,
Standing amidst his chaotic array of gadgets.
Well,
Well,
Captain E.
J.
And Company.
Took you long enough.
I was starting to think you didn't care about my brilliance.
Brilliant?
You put innocent lives at risk,
Pinky.
Manipulating someone's loyalty for your own gain is a new low,
Even for you.
Oh,
Captain,
Spare me the lecture.
You're just upset I was three steps ahead of you.
And admit it,
You love the chase.
Not as much as I love seeing you in cuffs.
It's over again,
Pinky.
With the culprit apprehended and handed over,
Take your slowest,
Deepest breath in through your nose.
Feel the cool air coming in through your nose and the overwhelming calm settle into your spirit.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
With the devices deactivated and Pinky in custody,
The air feels lighter,
Clearer,
Warm.
As you leave Pinky's hideout,
I can't help but reflect on how close he came to causing true harm.
Sally's loyalty was almost her undoing,
But our quick thinking gave us the tools we needed to end Pinky's scheme.
There will always be another Pinky Knuckler planned to thwart,
But for now,
Thormir is safe again.
With teamwork and trust,
We'll be ready for whatever comes next.
E.
J.
That concludes our adventure.
I can't wait to see you again.
Captain E.
J.
,
Over and out.
