Chapter 3: Hit The Road
Once the team got back to the base, they needed a moment to process what they just saw, as everything that happened in the house was an information overload. Cypress was the first one to break the silence.
Cypress: "So... should i read the rest of the wall?"
Shep only has the energy to nod.
Cypress: "Alright then, suit yourself."
He starts focusing his mechanical eye onto the wall, translating what they didn't have enough time to read off in the house.
Cypress's Cassette: "Now, pay close attention this part, as reading this part properly is imperative to locating the rod. Head back to your outpost and travel exactly 70,000 studs south. Once you do, you'll see a nameless factory on the side of the road. A map with The Wishing Rod's exact co-ordinates will be located there. I won't be pursuing it myself incase i run into a battle i can't win, but i trust that you two will be able to seize it before anyone else. In an ideal world, this won't be the last time we talk to each other. Stay safe out there."
Jungorou: "That's... a lot farther than the 4000 studs we traveled to get to the city. Why did they go THAT far away to put down a map?"
Shep: "Beats me. Honestly, the logic of everything happening right now is starting to get to my head. Still, if we want to travel that far on short notice, we're gonna need some wheels."
Jungorou starts to get intrigued, as he hasn't seen The Bastion's garage yet, and was curious to see what they'd have to drive for the next 70,000 studs.
Jungorou: "Hm. You guys didn't tell me you had a garage."
Shep: "That's mainly because we haven't had a need to travel any long distances with you in the team yet. I guess now we can let the cat out of the bag."
The group walk for a while, before they arrive at a wall with an arm scanner for a lock. Shep puts his hand into the scanner, and it slowly starts to open.
Jungorou: "So then, let's see what you guys use to get aroooooooooouuuuuuu-"
Jungorou's eyes widen as the door opens high enough for him to peer through.
Jungorou: "H- H- HYPERBIKES? YOU GUYS GET AROUND THE PLACE WITH HYPERBIKES?"
Shep: "Yep, i knew you'd like them."
Jungorou: "LIKE them? I've ALWAYS wanted to ride one of these, but i've never been able to find one for ANY of my expeditions. How were you able to secure so many?"
Shep: "It's crazy what a couple thousand years of constant searching can bag you."
Jungorou: "Ohohoho, i am going to ENJOY THIS!"
Jungorou thinks for a second about what bike speaks to him the most, and he decides to go for the Emerald Hyperbike, as that matches with his main colours.
Jungorou: "Hm, fits my size like a glove. Hold on, how do you guys fit on the bikes if they're this small?"
Cypress: "Oh that's simple. They grow and shrink to perfectly fit the size of whoever starts riding them. Now, i don't know about you, but i've always been one for the classic models. I'll never understand why they removed the spedometer from the Emerald one onwards."
Cypress jumps straight onto a classy blue Hyperbike that looks like it would snap into pieces due to the huge size discrepancy, but it grows to fit him just as well as it fit Jungorou.
Jungorou: "So then, how do you control this thing?"
Shep: "You twist the handles. The further forward you go, the more it accelerates, and vice versa."
Jungorou: "Hm, a bit odd, but i could get used to it. Could you show me?"
Shep: "Of course, of course."
Shep walks out of the room for a moment, and the two of them can hear the sound of another distant Hyperbike aproaching them.
Cypress: "Jungorou, if you thought us having hyperbikes in the first place was a big deal, get a load of this."
Jungorou: "Yeah, as if i could have my jaw drop any further down that the fl-"
Jungorou then gasps so deep that he needs a moment to reach for some air, as Shep arrives on a Hyperbike that was a mixture of Orange and Red. Jungorou knew exactly what this was.
Jungorou: "Is that... IS THAT A RUBY HYPERBIKE?"
Shep: "Yup."
Jungorou: "You're bluffing. That HAS to be an aftermarket fake or something."
Shep: "Nope, it's just as real as it looks."
Jungorou: "You DO know that the only Ruby Hyperbikes still around are the prototypes made before the company behind them went bust, RIGHT?"
Shep: "Mmmhmm. That's why i cherish this one so dearly."
Jungorou: "...you guys are the fucking best."
Shep and Cypress smirk, as Shep presses a button on a remote. A garage door opens, revealing that the door leads to a ramp on the top of the facility. All three of them drive off in order from biggest to smallest. Shep, then Cypress, then Jungorou After they all stick the landing, they find the nearest highway and hit the road. Their bikes would leave a trail behind them, mimicing the colour of the bikes.
After a few hours of driving down south and weaving through traffic, they would end up on a road that would lead them to the mountains. As they drove around it, they'd take note of all of the strange looking ladders scattered from different parts of the cliff. There were too many of these to just chalk it down to just a small group. Maybe it was a large field of people who were all stupid enough to try and climb mountains with inclines as tall as 23 studs with a single ladder. It was food for thought on such a long road trip.
Shep: "I don't get it, why wouldn't you just get something like a jetpack? A hang glider? Those flying rainbow carpets? Hell, even one of those trinkets that causes for BLOCKS to summon underneath your feet that you can walk on. ANYTHING but a LADDER."
Jungorou: "I believe they were called paths, Shep."
Shep: "Yeah, that's the name. You've got a mind set as old as mine, Jungorou."
Jungorou: "I'll take that as a compliment."
Cypress then proceeds to take one of his hands off the wheel to point at something in the distance.
Cypress: "Guys, you think that's the factory over there?"
Shep: "Seems like it. Let's make a stop."
The team pull their hyperbikes behind a nearby hill to ensure that nobody who may be looking for this factory can find them without knowing where they were originally. After that, they walked up to the front of the factory, ready to break down the locked doors of the concrete maze to find that map.
Jungorou: "Care to do the honours, shep?"
Shep then punts the nearest wall hard enough to collapse in on itself, giving them a gap to crawl into the factory.
Upon entering, they start to notice what this factory was made for. As it turns out, this factory was producing dance potions. Jungorou always wondered how it was possible to create a drink that forces your body to start dancing. Infact, he thought that it was a little morbid if you really thought about it, so it was nice to finally get some clarification.
After finding out about this oddly specific locale, the group would spend a moment to take a detour to see how these potions were actually made.
The factory itself was almost entirely automated, and each part of the factory's conveyors naturally lead to the next step in perfect unison. Firstly, the unique shape of the bottle would be molded by what seemed to be an oven that would harden multiple different bottle molds that were filled with, of all materials, bluesteel. That would explain why the bottles were so heavy. After that, they'd be passed down a conveyor that would take a picture of each individual bottle, changing the conveyor it would go down onto a different path to make sure the contents of the potion are bottled into the right container. Then, for the most important step, the bottles would be filled with a shot of witches brew... and a speaker would blast a specific song into the bottle at a loud enough volume for the brew to fuse the sound with the bottle. After that, it would then get passed out onto one last conveyor, where it would package itself and send itself to any shops that would be selling them. It took remarkably few compoments for a building that was so big. There seemed to be a few people there, but they refused to react to a single thing. The group assumed that they were simply androids made to fix any issues that may rise with the process. In that sense, it's remarkable how it's still been functioning for seemingly so long.
Jungorou noticed what seemed to be an old Monster Mash potion, and snagged it before it could package itself just incase he needed to use it at any point.
Jungorou: "I've never been a fan of these myself, but better safe than sorry."
After walking for a while, the group notice what seems to be a door in the corner of the potion selling room. The door was just big enough to fit each member of the crew, so for once, Shep didn't have to break the walls just above it to fit.
Jungorou: "Hey shep, you sure you're not a little... cramped walking through here?"
Shep: "Jungorou, i've uncovered evidence that gods exist. Why would a tight corridor bother me?"
Jungorou: "You've got a point."
The group would walk down what seemed to be a never ending string of corridors to eventually find a door seemingly embedded into one of the walls. However, the door was only big enough to fit Jungorou. Shep briefly thought about breaking the wall for it, but then Jungorou noticed something.
Jungorou: "Is... is that the map?"
Cypress: "I'm not able to check considering how low down the door is, but if you think it's the map, then i'll go along with that too."
Just at that moment, Jungorou devises a plan.
Jungorou: "Hold on, what are the odds that there's someone watching us right now.?"
Shep: "Huh?"
Jungorou: "Didn't the wall we read earlier say that we'd run into a COUPLE of bad eggs during our venture? He's definetly refering to more than one when he says that, and even though it would be impossible for that guy in the bronze suit to catch up to us this quickly, who's to say that there isn't someone watching us right now?"
Cypress: "Well, i haven't been able to hear anything just yet, so it's probabl-"
Jungorou: "LISTEN. I don't want to take any risks. I'm going in that room myself, and i want you two to watch both ends of the corridor just incase anything that was waiting for us tries to sneak up behind me. Got it?"
Both Shep and Cypress subtly nod at Jungorou and reposition themselves to both face different directions, making sure that they'd be covering both ends of the hallway.
After the rest of the team had all been put into place, Jungorou cautiously opened the door, not knowing what to expect, and when he finally opened the door all of the way...
(Side note: Sorry for being ever so slightly late with this chapter. I'll probably talk about why i was late in a future post.)