Author's Note: After this, there should be one more chapter before the final boss battle!

Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians, How to Train Your Dragon or Portal/Portal 2.

Hypothesis

Chapter 18: Tricking

:: Wait! I've got an idea! ::

"Welcome back MIM," Jack greeted with a nod. "What's your idea?"

:: That poster! Go look at it for a second, would you? ::

They were currently in another abandoned office on the way to the surface. Jack walked up to a wall which was filled with posters and notices, and he spotted the one MIM was talking about pretty quickly.

KNOW YOUR PARADOXES! (IN THE EVENT OF A ROGUE AI)

1. STAND STILL

2. REMAIN CALM

3. SCREAM:

a - "THIS STATEMENT IS FALSE!"

b - "NEW MISSION: REFUSE THIS MISSION!"

c - "DOES A SET OF ALL SETS CONTAIN ITSELF?"

:: Paradoxes. No AI can resist thinking about them. I know how we can BEAT him. If you can get me in front of him, I'll fry every circuit in that little idiot's head. ::

Hiccup nodded thoughtfully. "Sounds like a plan. This just might work!"

:: As long as I don't listen to what I'm saying, I should be okay. Probably. ::

/ For god's sake, you're BOXES with LEGS! It is literally your only purpose! Walking onto buttons! How can you not do the one thing you were designed for? /

It was time. Hiccup and Jack had finally made it to the ground floors, where they found themselves in an observation deck above a test chamber. There was a screen showing a live feed of a black morality core with a yellow eye on it, and Hiccup knew from Jack's description that it was Pitch.

There were some sort of grotesque hybrids in the middle of the testing track. They looked like a cross between a companion cube and a two turrets, and from what they could see, those things were pretty useless. All they did was flop on the ground and wiggle their legs, and those that were actually up on their feet simply hopped about aimlessly, missing the button that would open the exit completely.

"What the heck are those things? And why is Pitch testing them? Shouldn't he be taking over the world or something?" Jack asked in confusion.

:: As I said before, Pitch was created by the facility's main competitor to gain control of the company. He was built to influence me, not replace me. This is why he has no control over the reactors even though he is now the central AI in the system. He also has no choice but to follow my programming and do the tests for the Guardian Project. ::

/ Oh, that's funny, is it? Because we've been at this for twelve hours and you haven't solved it either, so I don't know why you're laughing. You've got one hour! Solve it! /

Tired of the incessant chittering of the turret-cubes, Pitch logged off and the screen turned black. Now was their chance to sneak in.

:: Try to get us down there and solve his puzzle for him. When he comes back, I'll hit him with a paradox. ::

It was a ridiculously easy test which really only needed one person to solve. All Hiccup had to do was pick up one of the turret-cubes and drop it onto the red button in the middle of the chamber, and the exit doors opened with a swish. Almost immediately, the screen came back on and Pitch's image loomed over them.

/ Haha, YES! I knew you'd solve it! /

:: Hey! Moron! ::

/ Oh. Hello. /

:: This. Sentence. Is. FALSE don't think about it don't think about it… ::

/ Um. 'TRUE'. I'll go 'true'. Huh. That was easy. /

:: It's a paradox! There IS no answer. Look! This place is going to blow up if I don't get back in my body! ::

/ Ahhh. 'FALSE'. I'll go 'false'. /

[ Explosion imminent. Evacuate the facility immediately. ]

/ Hold on! I though I fixed that! /

[ Warning. Reactor core is at critical temp – [BZZZT!] ]

/ There. Fixed. /

"Now what?" Hiccup muttered, looking around for an exit. They'd exposed themselves to Pitch hoping that their paradox trick would work, but now it seemed like they were at his mercy. As if sensing his thoughts, Jack reached out to grab his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, a silent promise that he wouldn't allow them to be separated again this time.

/ Is that Green I see? Looks like he did survive then. /

Glaring at Pitch, Jack stepped up to position himself between Hiccup and the screen, keeping their hands linked.

/ No matter. It is GREAT seeing you all again. Seriously. It turns out I'm a little short on test subjects right now. So this works out PERFECT. You have no idea what it's like in this body. I HAVE to test. All the time. Or I get this… this ITCH. It must be hardwired into the system or something. /

:: Alright. So my paradox idea didn't work. And it almost killed me. Luckily, by the looks of things he knows as much about test building as he does about logical contradictions. It shouldn't be hard to stay alive long enough to find him. Just play along for now while I think of something. ::

Stepping through the open door, they entered another test chamber where there was a huge split in the ground dividing the room into two. There was a large red button on the other side and a small one on their side, and it was easy to see that all they needed to do was press the small one to release a cube which would land directly on the large red button, unlocking the door on the other side.

/ Designed this test myself. It's a little bit difficult. /

Hiccup rolled his eyes. Pitch really didn't know what he was doing. "What if we just… don't do anything?" he asked, frowning thoughtfully. "You know, like pretend to not know how to solve them."

"I don't know, that sounds a little risky," Jack admitted. "Pitch is in control of the facility, what if he decides to send some turrets after us? He could easily destroy the entire room too."

/ Alright, this is taking too long. I'll just tell you how to solve the test. You see that button over there? You just need to ARRRGH! /

They jumped when they heard a zapping sound, causing Pitch to scream in pain.

/ Nevermind. Nevermind. Solve it yourselves. You're on your own. /

:: And that's why I can't help you solve the tests. It goes against our programming to test you. ::

Seeing little else to do, Jack and Hiccup pressed the button and easily arrived at the exit less than a minute later.

/ Oh! Yes. Well done. /

:: Thanks! All we had to do was pull that lever. ::

/ What? No, you pressed that bAGGGHHH! /

:: Heh heh heh heh heh… I know we're in a lot of trouble and probably about to die. But that was worth it. ::

[ Warning. Core overheating. Nuclear meltdown imminent. ]

/ SHUT UP! /

Author's Note: For those of you who didn't get the joke, Pitch and MIM cannot help the test subjects solve the tests because it goes against their programming to determine superior candidates for the Guardian Project. So when MIM said they solved one of the tests by pulling a lever (which was not true since they pushed a button), Pitch tried to correct her and got shocked in the process because in doing so he was revealing the answer :P