Katie stands on top of a mountain in Alrest.
Katie: I need to figure out how to open another portal…
Rex, Pyra and Mythra approach Katie.
Katie: I told you…I DON'T NEED ANY HELP!
Rex: Well, we have something that might help you.
Rex hands Katie a portal gun.
Katie: What's this?
Rex: It's a portal gun!
Katie takes the gun, shoots it, and a portal appears.
Katie: Wow! I guess you guys…can help me. I guess I do need help.
Rex: See? Now let's all jump in that portal!
Katie, Rex, Mythra and Pyra jump into the portal.
Katie: Woah!
Rex: This place is so green and trippy!
Pyra: It's amazing!
Mythra: I think I might actually barf…
Katie, Rex, Pyra and Mythra reach the end of the portal.
Katie: I wonder where we are going!
The portal spits the four out in the Swiss Alps.
The four land on the ground.
Katie: Where the hell are we?
Rex: This doesn't look like Alrest…
The Swiss Alps are surrounded by hemispherical domes standing on three legs, like the ones in Chapter 10. They are Tripods.
Mythra: I think we're on a dystopian Earth…
Pyra: I don't care where we are! This place looks awesome! Look at those epic white mountains!
Rex: What are those three-legged things?
Voice: They are Tripods!
Pyra: Who just said that?
Suddenly, three boys emerge from somewhere. One of them is French and has glasses. The other two are English and have no glasses.
English Boy 1: I did. My name is Will Parker.
English Boy 2: I'm Henry!
French Boy: I am Jean-Paul Deliet, but you can call me Beanpole.
Mythra: What are you boys doing here?
Will Parker: We've been here for years. We've managed to escape the rule of the Tripods, and the Masters that control them.
Rex: The hell are you talking about?
Henry: Long ago, massive machines called Tripods took over Earth, and everyone is a slave to them because of mind controlling devices called Caps.
Katie: Do any of you guys have Caps?
Beanpole: No. We live in the White Mountains, which is a place that is free from the Tripods. Thus, we are not Capped.
Mythra: Can you get Capped?
Beanpole: Yes, or no. If a Tripod finds us and Caps us, there is a 50-50 chance that we might become a slave or become a Vagrant.
Pyra: Vagrant?
Will Parker: Vagrants are people which the Capping process failed on. They wear fake Caps and wander the countryside.
Katie: Are the Tripods sentient, or…
Beanpole: They are driven by the Masters.
Katie: Who are they?
Will Parker: They are aliens. They are much taller than a man, nearly twice as tall, and broad in proportion. They are mainly green, but often look yellow. They have three eyes, with one eye on top of the other two. They have two mouths: one is a breathing hole, and one is a mouth. They also have three arms and three short, stubby legs.
Rex: That sounds terrifying.
Will Parker: They weren't terrifying. They were so grotesque!
Katie: Yeah, I bet!
Will Parker: Hey, you wanna come to the White Mountains with us?
Katie: Hell yeah!