Elevatia

14. Here comes the third act

"So, I think Lady Hanson really wants me to become an actuary." I explained to my friends later.

"What did she say exactly?" Jayla asked suspiciously.

I told them everything that had happened. Then they told me about a thing called "subtext".

"I think she actually wants you to overthrow Vyle." Chip offered.

I thought it through for a bit. "Huh. That does actually make more sense. Nice, well who's in?"

"Me!" they all yelled.

I smirked. "It's time to break into Vyle's palace."

We convened in Munk and Jayla's secret lab. I swiped everything off a table and laid a map of Elevatia.

"I'll fix those later," Munk said nudging the broken gizmos I'd swiped onto the floor.

"We are here," I said, placing a small token on the map.

Chip moved it 5 miles west into the correct position.

"Vyle is here," I said, placing a token on the map.

Chip moved it 10 miles north west into the correct position.

"And he's not expecting us to have these."

I pulled out a sheaf of papers from my inner pocket and laid them out.

Chip removed the dinner menu I'd just put on the table and replaced them with the plans for Vyle's palace.

"There are numerous traps indicated on these plans. And guard patrol routes. But there are also secret passageways that will likely be free from standard patrols. We can make our way into Vyle's throne room by following this path."

I drew a path through the winding corridors. Jayla rubbed the path out with an eraser and redrew it to avoid the death traps.

"A small group of us should be able to get through the palace undetected once we get into the District. Any questions?"

"How are we going to get to the Tall District in the first place? We have to cross the High Seas." Chip asked, brow furrowing.

Munk smiled and looked meaningfully towards the large tarpaulin covered object in the corner of the room.

There was a pause for a few seconds.

"Wait I don't get it," I said. "Are we swimming?"

"No," Munk said, "we're using this."

She pulled the tarpaulin off and Jayla played a few dramatic chords on a keyboard for the reveal.

Shortly afterwards, the four of us were fully equipped in new mission gear pushing Munk's large submarine towards the water at the edge of the Medium District.

"Nearly there," I gasped.

A large crowd of curious Mediums was gathering at the edge of the District, wondering what was going on.

Some Upright had started to notice and were pushing their way to the front of the crowd.

"Almost there," Jayla said through a grimace.

"You there, stop!" An Upright called.

"That's it, get in!" Munk yelled.

The submarine eased into the water as the Upright began to fire.

We scrambled into the hatch on the top of the submarine as it sank below the surface and we set out across the High Seas.

"Phew," I gasped. "That was close! Is everyone okay? I think I banged my head a bit as we got in."