Chapter 2: Familiar Territory...or not
The droids were sucked into a weird vortex, falling for what seemed like forever into the core of Ironstar. Finally, they landed onto cold, bluish stone. Vix looked around. This was a ruin of what had once been a high-tech research facility that was like one big laboratory.
"So this is Morbot Land?" She said, "Tsk. Not so great."
Glitch glanced at her, but said nothing as he began to walk forward, turning on his headlight to see details of engravings in the dark. "So, what can you do?" He asked.
She seemed surprised. "What do you mean?"
"They didn't just send you down here to test a prototype."
She rolled her eyes. "Professor Mindvolt told you that I'm a really good sniper, but that's not the only thing I can do. Doctor Metalhead programmed me to learn quickly. I can decipher codes just as well as any supercomputer," she boasted.
"I see. So they sent me, a big, strong, elite soldier to protect the nerd?" he joked.
She glared at him, anger flashing in her green eyes. She mumbled, "I don't need protecting," but didn't boldly argue.
The walked around, unsuccessful in their searchings for a while. Then Vix stumbled upon something she had never seen before.
"What is with this big gaping hole? Did Mobroots drill it or something? What does it do?" She queried, peering down into the hole.
Glitch rolled his eyes. "First of all, it's Morbots, not Mobroots. Second of all, just don't worry about the hole." Almost as soon as he had said it, he heard Vix's piercing scream.
"Glitch!" She cried. He spun around just in time to see her hand dissappear into the teleport hole. He dove in after the bot, desperate not to lose such a valuble prototype. She may have thought she didn't need protection, but Vix had no idea how wrong she was.
He fell for what seemed like longer than it was. Vix had fallen far enough that he couldn't spot her with his headlight. After a bit, he flipped over so he would land on his feet seconds later. He landed with a clunk to find Vix sitting on her rump, staring at the completely solid ceiling above her.
"That was a teleport hole," Glitch said before she could ask, "We think Morbots drilled it so they could move around their land more quickly."
She blinked before saying, "I knew that," though a slight squeak in her voice betrayed the fact that she was lying. She got up as Glitch began to turn around, noticing for the first time the mark on his head. "Stop," she said suddenly. The yellow droid halted, turning his head and beginnign to open his mouth to say "What", but she stopped him with a command before any words could come out. "Keep your head still!" He immediately turned his head to face forward while moving as little as he could. He knew how important it was for the code-cracker to know what she was looking for. He felt her cold metal finger trace the marks on his head, the electric charges that moved her joints literally sending shivers down his spine. How it hurt! However, he said nothing and only set his jaw.
She was quiet for several moments. "Well, what are you waiting for?" She snapped, making Glitch jump. He nodded and began to run to a tunnel just big enough for a droid to slip through. He looked back to make sure she was following, then skidded to a halt in front of what appeared to be a sign. "Vix, come here."
She was already there when he said it, already working the gears in her brain hard to decipher the Morbot language. "The...the react... the reactor! Yes, the reactor is... The reactor is... is the k... is the key! The reactor is the key to..."
Just then Glitch heard a Mining laser charge behind his back, the heat threatening to melt the metal in his spine.
"And just what do you think you're doing here?"
(End Chapter)