From his hiding place, Zane could hear loud footsteps and one of the guards speaking.
"Still no sign of Cole and the metal kid?" The guard inquired.
"We're pretty sure they haven't escaped the island yet. We'll find them. Search the labyrinth and lock this place down," another guard ordered.
The footsteps became quieter and quieter, then a door slammed and they could be heard no more.
"All clear," a rough, accented voice reported.
A moment later, Cole's face appeared above the opening of the barrel Zane was hiding in. "It's good, they're gone, we can come out now."
Zane looked up at him sheepishly. "I do not know if I can."
Cole frowned. "Huh?"
"You dropped me in here and now I cannot climb out. The sides are too tall," Zane explained.
Cole laughed. "Oh. Right. You're short. All right, arms up, I'll get you out."
Zane lifted his arms and Cole grabbed him under them, lifting him out of the barrel and setting him on the floor. Immediately, Zane moved to the side to halfway hide behind Cole. Cole had already introduced him to all these people, but Zane still didn't really know them. Also, it was the first time Zane had ever even been around more than one person at a time (if he didn't count Pixal and Cole, because Pixal was in his head and therefore not physically there), so it was more than a little overwhelming. Zane decided it was safest to stick close to Cole, and by close he meant so close he was pressed against Cole's leg.
"Okay. Back to our plan to all of us getting out of here," Cole declared. "Zane, buddy, can you project that thing again?"
"Miss Pixal?" Zane asked.
Pixal obliged, and a moment later a web of lines was floating in the air.
"Now, if we all tried to tackle the labyrinth, some of us would be sure to get lost, so that's not an option," Cole began. He pointed at the projection. "But I got Zane to ask Pixal to analyze the island, and she came up with a plan: the sewer network."
"Sewer network? Isn't that stinky?" The man with the rough, accented voice, who Cole had introduced as Karlof, asked.
Cole shrugged. "Hey, I'd blast my way out of here if I could, but all of our powers are gone. Now, Zane, did Pixal finish her analysis?"
Zane nodded against Cole's leg. "Uh-huh."
"What did she find?" Cole asked.
"The sewer network is old and can only sustain so much weight. But after adding up all of our combined masses, the pipes will hold by the slimmest of margins," Pixal offered.
Zane repeated what she said aloud.
Karlof frowned. "Did anyone else understand that?"
"He means it'll barely work, but it'll work," Cole explained.
"It'll work!" The crowd cheered.
That's when the large door to the factory opened with a screech. The crowd of people immediately rushed in between the doors and Zane and Cole, shielding the view of the two runaways from the eyesight of the guard who entered the factory. That also meant they shielded the view of the guard from Zane and Cole.
Zane couldn't see what was going on, but he could hear it. Someone grunted and there was a thud, like something or maybe someone had been thrown or set down really hard.
"Get to work," a guard's voice commanded, then the doors screechily swung shut once more.
Zane peeked around Cole's leg, trying to see what was going on now that the guard seemed to be gone.
A new voice spoke as the crowd parted, revealing a smiling man in a brown uniform. "Don't worry, boys. The Brown Ninja's here. But before I rescue you, can anyone show me how to make a puffy potsticker?"
"Dareth?" Cole asked, sounding shocked.
"Cole, you're here," the man in the brown uniform said happily. His gaze drifted down and to the side, and his smile widened. "And Zane! Is that you? Boy, have you changed."
Zane ducked back behind Cole again.
"What's gotten into him?" The man wondered.
"Long story, Dareth," Cole sighed.
Zane peeked around Cole again to size up this "Dareth," just in time to Karlof gesture at Dareth.
"When metal boy say slimmest of margins, how slim?" Karlof asked.
Cole groaned. "Ugh, it won't work. Back to the drawing board. Zane, does Pixal have anything else for us?"
Staring down at the piece of paper in his hands, Cole gave a frustrated groan and crumpled the paper up. "Okay, so maybe rolling ourselves up into giant egg rolls isn't the best plan."
Zane had kind of figured that from the beginning, but he had been too shy to say so. Cole, the only physically-present person Zane even kind of knew, was sitting on the conveyor belt, leading the discussion and not paying Zane much attention. Zane felt out of place. So he sat on the floor in front of the conveyor belt, just watching, not saying anything.
"Anyone else have another idea?" Cole asked, sounding a little desperate.
Karlof spoke up excitedly. "Karlof used to be aeronautical engineer back in Metalonia. Work on Roto Jets. Just one could take out entire army."
Zane frowned. What did that have to do with escaping?
"Oh, great idea," Cole said, not sounding very sincere. "But two things: we don't have a Roto Jet, and what good is a jet if we're underground?"
Just then, the conveyor belt Cole was on started moving. Cole looked slightly alarmed, but mostly resigned. He didn't do anything as the conveyor belt moved him along until he fell right off the end.
Zane felt a lot more alarmed than Cole looked. Getting up, he scrambled over to Cole and peered down at him. "Are you okay?"
Cole sighed. "Not really. But because of not knowing what to do, not because of falling off the conveyor belt."
Zane blinked. "Oh."
"Okay, don't mind me, carry on whatever important business you're all doing," Dareth announced loudly from his spot standing on the conveyor belt. When the belt had moved, it had carried him along so that now he was standing where Cole had been sitting. Dareth was holding several small mechanical pieces and, as Zane watched curiously, Dareth plucked another off the conveyor belt where Cole and the other people had gathered a bunch of them up. Then Dareth hopped off the belt and strode to a machine, plucking at its dials.
"Sure, we were only using that to hatch our escape," Cole retorted, climbing up off the ground. "Dareth, what are you doing?"
Without pausing what he was doing, Dareth replied, "Well, if there isn't a machine that makes puffy potstickers, then by golly I'm gonna make one."
Zane stood up straight, struck by an idea. "Can we do that, Mister Cole?"
Cole frowned slightly. "Uh, we're kind of busy planning how to get out of here, but if that's what you want to spend your time on, kid, then sure."
Zane shook his head. "No, not make a puffy potsticker machine. Make a Roto Jet! Like Mister Karlof was talking about."
"But, but we're underground," Cole objected.
"So we change the blueprints a little bit so it gets through the ground as well as the air," Zane replied readily. "It will help us escape!"
"Karlof does remember how Roto Jet is put together," Karlof pointed out.
Cole thought about that for a moment. "I guess it's the best plan we've got. Zane, kiddo, could you help Karlof with the blueprints?"
Zane tilted his head to one side. "I mean, I can try?"
"I will help you," Pixal added.
"Miss Pixal says she can help," Zane reported.
Cole smiled. "All right. Zane, Pixal, Karlof, figure out how we're going to make this thing. Everyone else, let's find some parts."