It had been five minutes already. The journey had never seemed that long before. Were they slowing down or was time speeding up? It had happened to them before, who's to say it can't happen again?
Long, curving hallways, high corridor ceilings, everything looked the same, the doors, the floors, the view out of any window even. But Jet knew where he was headed. The route had been ingrained into his memory after traversing it for so many years. Straight ahead for thirty feet, turn left, down the slope, right turn, straight ahead, down two levels, right turn, walk for fifty steps, and look right.
And, Ladies and Gentlemen, on your right we have, The Pit. The home of every child aged two to seventeen. Accessible only if you knew the passcode or had your mental imprint saved into it's memory banks. This was a place where the children of Atlantis could get away from their overbearing parents, or hide from them when they didn't want to do something. It used to be the place you would go when you became a Dragon, but things changed after the Wraith constantly came after them.
Jet stood before the doors and sent his mental image, the one that would give him entry, to the Presence, as he called it.
Nothing.
He tried again, varying the image slightly.
Still nothing.
Something very weird, weirder than normal, was going on here. And he was determined to find out what it was.
Jet tried his passcode this time.
The doors stubbornly remained shut.
Taking a deep breath in, then slowly breathing it out, he was suddenly aware that the weight in his arms was getting heavier, and that the others were shifting and shuffling about behind him.
So, if the new codes and prints weren't working, then what about….
The phrase was sent.
The doors opened.
The puzzle had become even more complex.