The tunnel led downward via some stairs. Honeymarren and Kristoff had their hands by their ears as if they were following a sound.
"Why can't I hear anything?" Asked Elsa.
"Sh!" Said Honeymarren.
The stairs turned to their left, leading to a small observation area over a command center.
"Get down, and be quiet." Said Honeymarren as they got down on their hands and knees and crawled toward the edge of it, staying behind and below the short stone columns that could only work as effective handrails for the elves.
"Yeah. Uh huh. Uh huh. Okay."
In the area out from the observation area, there were rows of desks surrounding a globe model of Earth. Above the globe was a hanging monitor with dozens of TV-like screens on all four sides of it. On each TV screen was live footage of a kid across the world. A group of five elves were at one of the desks. One of them had a wide hat and wore what could be a passable military uniform, it was an Elf General.
"Well, that was the wrapping hall, chief. They just finished the last one."
"How's it wrapped?" Asked the Elf General.
"It's wrapped in candy-striped red with a number-seven holly-green bow."
Elsa took a closer look at the monitors. She saw her younger sister Anna appear in one of them, head tilted to the left with her arms above her, no doubt snoring.
"A number-seven bow? When we're this close to liftoff? What are they thinking down there?! Are they meshuggener?! What's the routing?" Yelled the Elf General.
"Uh, going to the states. Grand Rapids, Michigan."
Elsa and Kristoff both gasped.
"That's my town! I'm from Grand Rapids!" They both said at the same time.
Suddenly, a loud, heavy alarm started going off. They looked at the top of the hanging monitor and saw a sign with the word "NAUGHTY" written across it in maroon all-capital letters lighting up every second.
"We've got a troublemaker now! Just what we need! Things aren't bad enough! What's his 20?" Exclaimed the Elf General.
The center globe shifted so that the upper eastern seaboard was facing the elves. A red light started flashing in New Jersey. One of the elves closely observed paper as it started getting filled with information
"Apparently, some kid from Maplewood, New Jersey stuck some gum in his sister's hair!"
"New Jersey? Is that the same kid that put the tack underneath his teacher's chair last year?"
"No, sir. This kid's name is, uh, Steven."
"Steven."
"So, what do we do, Chief? Alert the big man? We talking nothing for Christmas here?"
The Elf General paced around one of the desks. He picked up a red and white striped phone, making the alarm stop as one of the monitor screens replayed footage of Steven saying "I didn't do it!"
"Look, Santa, it's almost Christmas, huh? We'll cut the kid a break." He said as he hung up the phone.
"But, you put him on the check-twice list for next year! All right, boys! Let's shut it down, all right? That's it for this year! Come on!"
The elves marched in a straight line toward a set of twin stairs that led to a platform right outside a strange contraption.
"Hey boss, are we taking the pneumatic?"
"Of course we're taking the pneumatic! It's the only way to get to the square on time!"
Elsa gasped.
"That thing can bring us back!" She loudly whispered.
"Let's go!" Said Honeymarren as they started moving through the observation area and toward the pneumatic.
"And time is money! Ready, and, mount!" Ordered the Elf General as all five of them stepped into the pneumatic, with him up front.
"Good. Close!" He said as he pressed one of the three green buttons at the front of it. Two glass flaps closed around the pneumatic and it sped away. A split second later, another empty one showed up in its place, both glass flaps opening.
As Elsa, Honeymarren and Kristoff ran through the area, Kristoff ran towards one of the desks.
"Kristoff, where are you going? Our ticket to get back to the others is this way!" Said Honeymarren.
"I know, but I wanna check something!" Replied Kristoff as he stopped by one of the desks behind the ones with typewriters and thick rolls of paper at their front. Next to it was a small black sign that had "G 1/3" written on it in white. Seeing a book on it, he opened it and saw that the pages were full of first names. Next to each name was that person's status for the year, whether they were naughty or nice. Kristoff ran to the desks behind it, looking at the signs. "Okay, this row is H... that's I... J... aha! K!"
Kristoff turned to his right and saw that the sign next to the book laying on it read "K 1/2". He went to the desk next to it. "K 2/2".
"What are you doing?" Asked Elsa.
"I want to see what my status for this year is." Answered Kristoff as he flipped through the pages of the book. About halfway through, he saw his name.
Name Location Status
Kristoff (Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA) Nice
Next to the word "Nice" was a note written in handwriting that differed from everything else written on the page.
"It looks like the Bjorgmans are finally learning their lesson. As soon as Kristoff makes some friends on the train, I know they'll be ready for their best Christmas in a long time!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Asked Elsa, who was also reading the pages.
"You tell me. 'Finally learning their lesson'? I don't understand." Said Kristoff.
"But I do." Said Honeymarren.
"Really? What does he mean by that, then?" Asked Kristoff.
"Last year, we got here ahead of schedule. Santa told all of us a story of a family from about three decades ago that thought they were too good for everyone else in the world after getting everything they wanted at Christmas. In an attempt to get them to realize that friends are just as important to a truly good Christmas as presents, he willingly reduced what they got each year. Some years they got nothing. Only after they made friends with their neighbors and people they regularly saw around the city did things go back to the way they used to, just like any other Christmas."
"So, you think these past 18, 19 years have been part of a lesson since we didn't have any major friends throughout that time?"
"That's my best guess. Unless you have a better idea in mind."
"No, no, I like yours. Maybe this means this year will finally be a noticeable step up."
Kristoff closed the book and he, Elsa and Honeymarren continued speed walking towards the stairs that led to the platform right outside the pneumatic. They took a look at the pneumatic's interior. Honeymarren thought to herself: If it could fit five elves, surely it can fit three young adults, right?
"All right, get in." She said as she and Kristoff stepped in, with her sitting closest to the front.
"Is this safe?" Asked Kristoff as Elsa stepped in, sitting behind him.
"It has to be if those elves regularly use it." She said.
It was a bit of a tight fit, but they all managed to fit nonetheless. Honeymarren looked at the three green buttons in front of her. Which one did that elf push? She pressed the middle one, and the glass flaps instantly closed and they sped away, just as fast as, if not even faster than when they were going down Glacier Gulch. The three of them held onto the sides of it for dear life as it went through the winding tube system so fast that they felt g-force going against them.
After less than a minute, the pneumatic came to a stop and the glass flaps opened.
"Okay, we are not doing that again!" Announced Kristoff as they stepped out.
"I thought we'd be done with excitement when we got to the North Pole, not get subjected to even more!" Said Elsa.
"Guys, I didn't press the right button." Said Honeymarren.
They looked ahead as they moved toward the front of the platform they stepped onto. They were in a massive, blue room with really long rolls of wrapping paper hanging from the ceiling going between rolls. Big ripped pieces of it were on either side of a conveyor belt with yellow arrows on it.
"I don't hear it. Do you?" Asked Honeymarren.
"No." Said Kristoff.
Elsa looked around the wrapping hall, trying to find a way out that didn't involve having to get back in the pneumatic. The conveyor belt in the center of the room caught her eye.
"I think we should follow those arrows." She said as she pointed to it.