I'm baaaaccck!

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An small fishing boat speeds across the ocean, with Alice at the helm. Vera is examining the dead trilobite while Tristan controls the engine.

"So, how far do we need to go out here?" asks Alice, watching the calm ocean before them for any signs of movement.

"Not much further. Just a little longer and we'll be far enough out," answers Tristan.

"Why do we need to go this far out?" asks Vera.

"Out here is where most of the plankton will grow, and still be shallow enough to easily reach the bottom. That way, we can maximize the number of species we rescue. By the way, we should start dropping the ROV now. Nigel gave it to us for looking for some new rescues."

"Dropping ROV now!" is Vera's response as the tiny sub-bot goes into the ocean.

The ship begins to slow down. While the ROV has plenty of cable to work with, it isn't best to go too far away from it, incase a good catch shows up.

All eyes on the ship focus on the ROV screen, which has a surprising view in store for the crew.

On it is a brilliantly colored set of rocks. Vibrantly colored creatures fill the screen, resembling corals and anemones. Trilobites swim by, along with the occasional eurypterid or fish. Overall, the picture is not what you'd expect from such an alien world.

"Why's it so colorful?" asks Vera. "Corals haven't evolved yet."

"But sponges have," remarks Alice. "This is a sponge reef. Things like this will be the norm until coral appears in a couple hundred million years... We should probably start picking out sponges to rescue."

As Alice says this, a weird looking nautilus glides past the ROV. It has a strange curved shelled polka dotted with red spots on the otherwise brown body. It has tentacles that resemble noodles instead of normal cephalopod limbs.

"...What was that?" asks Alice.

"Phragmoceras," replies Tristan. "Remember, this was the age of the nautiloids."

"Okay. So, who's diving down for specimen collection?" asks Vera.

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While the younger crew prepares to take the plunge, Nigel is finishing up his catch.

In the Ancient Mariner, Nigel has already loaded up over a dozen giant sea scorpions. A few fish also inhabit some of the holding tanks, as do some on trilobites. Nigel himself is busy loading up the last of the capture cages.

"These eurypterids are the shape of things to come. In the future, their kind will be one of the most successful groups of arthropods to ever live, giving rise to some of the first creatures to crawl out of the water and live on dry land, if only for a few minutes before returning to the sea. They'll last all the way to the Permian, where they'll finally meet their end in the Great Dying. It's a sad ending, but until then, these guys will do very well."

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Meanwhile, in the present, Lucas and Marcus are doing some heavy lifting.

Lucas and Marcus are in a forest exhibit, digging out rather large holes in the ground. A fairly large pile of dirt is visible to the right of them, along with what appears to be a large mound of dung, followed by a large anthill.

"Argh, this is worse then when my mom wanted to start a garden," moans Lucas.

"I know, but I'd rather deal with this than with our clawed friends," replies Marcus, pointing to their left.

In a nearby forest, three ground sloths are visible. Two are laying on their sides, napping, while the third is gorging on the nearby branches.

"Who'd have thought these guys were burrowers?" remarks Lucas.

As it turns out, ground sloths are indeed burrowers. For the past week, most have been too busy exploring their new home to burrow, using thickets instead for shelter. These have become overcrowded, though, and now the giant beasts are becoming restless.

"I'm surprised these guys are too lazy to dig out their own burrows," remarks Marcus. "Well, except t=for that odd one... Didn't we name him Dirtclaw?"

"We did," replies Lucas who promptly points toward a large hole in the ground. A sloth head is extended from it, looking right at them.

The head keeps its focus for a few more minutes, before retreating back into the burrow.

"You know, if we hadn't seen this guy burrowing earlier, I don't think we would've know that these guys burrowed at all," remarks Lucas.

"Less talking, more shoveling."

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Back in OrdIovician New York, Alice and Vera have taken the plunge. In their hands are fish nets and, of all things, underwater power tools.

"I cant believe Nigel gave us waterproof tools for removing rocks with sessile creatures on them," remarks Vera, voice muffled by water.

"Me neither. He really is prepared for everything. Now let's go get some sea creatures!" replies Alice.

The two slowly approach the sponge reef. When they find a well populated outcropping, they quickly get to work.

The two begin chipping away at the base of the outcropping, carefully working around harming any of the sessile invertebrates calling it home. These species are just as precious as the rest of the animals in this world, so they are equally worth rescuing.

Just then, Alice feels something grabbing her neck. Turning around, she finds herself facing another Phragmoceras. The curious nautiloid is trying to see if she is food.

Fortunately, Alice has something just for this kind of creature. Careful to move slowly enough that she does not disturb the nautiloid, she pulls something off of her scuba gear and places it on the creature's shell.

Suddenly, the object inflates and begins lifting the surprised cephalopod upwards. A portal opens above it, dragging the creature into the present.

"You know, I didn't think Tristan's dad would make something like this. It feels like it came out of a videogame. Not that I'm complaining," remarks Vera.

"You're welcome," replies Tristan. "I can still hear you through the microphone."

"Not like I care."

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In the present, the portal closes as the device detaches itself from the cephalopod's shell. The nautiloid quickly retreats toward a small outcropping of coral, eager to hide itself from (currently nonexistent) predators.

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With nothing to obstruct them, Alice and Vera return to removing the outcropping. Picking up the pace, they rapidly chip away at the bedrock, gradually removing the rock from its base.

Finally, they cut off the last connecting segment, freeing the rock from its mooring. The quickly set up the portal, then send the rock through. The house sized rock disappears... along with a swarm of fish, trilobites, and eurypterids that swim right overhead of the pair.

"...Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" asks Alice.

Then, they hear a loud set of rubbing noises, as if something big is moving behind them. Turning around, they find themselves facing a very large eurypterid, which has pincers on its front legs.

"...Uh oh," remarks Alice.

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AN: Read and Review. This is Flameal15k, signing off.