Another

Chapter Four: Return Trip

For the second time that day, Flint woke me up. The light of the molten rock gleaming off his metal, almost making him look made of lava. But there was another source of light shining off of him, this one more of a light blue...

Feeling terrified again, I reached into my pack, still staring at Flint, and unsheathed my sword, turning to attack the monster. My sword collided with a giant wall of ice. I gasped, and Flint let out a low "Ooh..." I looked at him, actually hopping with glee.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Ice..." Flint simply answered.

I laughed, looking back at him, "No, like... what is the ice?"

Flint let out a high-pitched chirp and started speaking in his "matter-of-fact-computer-voice".

"Glacier. A slowly moving mass or river of ice formed by the accumulation and compaction of snow on mountains or near the poles." He stated.

"Poles?" I asked again.

"Poles. Either of the two locations, North Pole or South Pole, on the surface of the earth, or of a celestial object, that are the northern and southern ends of the axis of rotation. Also the sources of the magnetic fields-"

"That's enough Flint..." I interrupted, "It's... huge!"

A lower-pitched chirp erupted, Flint was back to normal. "It is isn't it?"

"Wait, this is the temperature fluctuation! Ice and lava... yes we're here!" I exclaimed.

"Yes I know Jacob, this is what-" he stopped, his pupil shrinking. "Jacob, the someone!"

Flint's uneasiness made me uncomfortable... "Who?"

He pointed at the glacier. As I turned to where he meant, I noticed a slightly darker area in the ice. There's something in there...

"Flint!" I shouted, "Melt them out! But be careful..." I jumped out of his way as he brought his little dishes out. He pointed them under the silhouette, and they started glowing red-hot. Water started trickling off the edge of the glacier, slowly, but then rapidly, producing a large stream.

"That's enough! Now hurry! We need to melt the rest of them off." I quickly said. Flint's microwave dish made a small cave in the glacier, directly underneath the something.

Flint brought out a small laser and melted around the shadow. The shape of the figure slid out, surprisingly small. I caught it, realizing how heavy it was.

"Wow..." I grunted. "This things been packing on some weight!"

Flint ran to the lava and looked up. "Jacob! The sun is up! Let's go home!"

I looked at the block of ice, still too hard to see any detail inside. "How are we going to bring this-" My jaw dropped. Flint was blowing up a bunch of his balloons from out of my pack.

"I think I found a solution." Flint said happily.

We dragged the ice block back to our cave house. Flint said he had an idea on how to melt it. He had ran inside for less than a minute when he came back, holding a hairdryer. He set up his solar panels, and plugged the socket in his side outlet. The hairdryer let out a small hum, and Flint aimed the nozzle at the ice.

I sat. Waiting. Until finally I had an idea.

"Flint. Couldn't we just bring the block to Motherboard? I'm sure she'd have a better idea on how to melt the ice." I said inquiringly.

The hairdryer stopped, and Flint ran back inside. When he came back out, he had a poorly-constructed box with four poles and a battery attached to it. Good ol' R.C.

We reached the front entrance to Mom's castle. It was quite different from the back door, very large gates were open, letting me and Flint easily carry the ice block through. We had a couple of robots staring at us while we dragged the ice, but most were happy to see Flint back home. The thick, reinforced steel doors to the castle were open, so I left the ice for Flint to watch while I alerted Mom.

I ran quickly up the stairs to her domain. Her large screen lit up, the blue pupil widening at the sight of me.

"Oh, Jacob, have you returned with the information on the temperature? I'm excited to know what was wrong. So-"

"Motherboard? Is there some sort of heating room we could reach? We seem to have found some sort of... thing... inside the ice."

"Thing? Has Flint scanned to see if the specimen has been properly preserved?"

I hesitated. "Well... The ice is pretty dense... But I was hoping you could melt it?"

She sat there for a moment, then said "Check the infirmary. We don't use it anymore anyways..."

I was relieved. "Thank you. Flint and I will be heading there right now."

After getting Flint and the ice, I started to walk to the infirmary. The lights were turned on inside, but that's only because Motherboard turned them on before we arrived. I opened the door to see a robot inside powering up. A quick glance at his chestplate proved that his name was D0C-B0T. Simple enough. His purple pupil camera contracted.

"Welcome to the infirmary. My readings suggest that Motherboard has requested a de-cryogenesis procedure." he said in an obvious male voice. I nodded and placed the ice on the table.

He examined the block, rotating his camera and adjusting it around. After a few seconds he turned to us.

"If you could please leave while we perform the procedure, thank you." he pushed us out.

I looked back at the door. "What was that about? I wanted to see what was in the ice..."

"Perhaps the heat is too much..." Flint decided.

"I guess you're right... Wow... I'm tired. I'm going to sit here and sleep. You should enter power-saving mode." I said, yawning.

"I guess you're right as well Jacob... Goodnight!" he said cheerfully.

I nodded. Getting sleepier and sleepier, I wanted to know what was in the ice... I finally fell limp. I'd have to wait until they woke me...