Return of the Gods #1: Artemis (Chapter 2)

Chapter 2: Claire

            “Am I the only one who’s trying to figure out how we’re possibly supposed to do anything underwater?” I asked.

            “Absolutely not,” Alex replied.

            “Now that we’re clear on that, what exactly are we supposed to do?”

            I dipped my foot in the water and it didn’t get wet. I went deeper into the lake and put my entire head under. I couldn’t see anything that would stop someone from getting wet. Then it dawned on me that I could see everything and I was breathing normally. If you consider inhaling water and exhaling bubbles of (hydrogen, Alex tells me) gas norma. Which most people wouldn’t consider normal. I came out of the water and informed Alex and John of this latest discovery.

            They both tried doing it. They could both see and breathe underwater. That would make anything in the lake much easier. So we swam out into the lake and looked for any clues or anything that would tell us what to do. Then someone or something started pulling me down. Alex and John came over to try to help, but they were pulled down by the same thing. We landed on a cold dark marble floor. That is not something you usually find underwater. Why does this not surprise me a bit?” asked Alex.

            “I don’t think this is just any room,” I said.

            There were ten jail cells with a robotizen in each one. I was absolutely confuzzled (confused and puzzled combined) by this.

            “A prison? Why would they keep a prison underwater?”

            “So no one could find it!”

            Past the cells, I saw a huge, thick steel door. Something was in there that the Officials didn’t want anybody to see. I looked at the paper sign taped to the door. It said

Dangerous criminal! Do not enter under any circumstances!

            For the Officials, dangerous criminals are usually amazing people who have tried to change their stupid totalitarian society. So naturally we had to open that door. Except we had no way to open the door. The only way to open it was to know the combination. And we didn’t know the combination.

            “What are we going to do? We have to get in there!” I demanded.

            “Wait a second! There are two numbers above the cells! One is on top of the other,” said Alex.

            “So? They’re probably two digit numbers. Big deal.”

            “But there are only ten cells. Having two numbers would be superfluous. Look at that cell. The number is 93. There aren’t 93 cells. Which means this has something to do with the combination.”

            “Maybe the top number is the order of the numbers in the combination.”

            The combination was 9401952873. I tapped the numbers and I heard a quiet beep. The door moved very slightly from its original position. I pulled it open and we went inside. The cell itself wasn’t special at all. There was a small bed, a toilet, and a sink. The door had a slot for food and drinks to be sent in. It was the person inside the cell that shocked us.

Tell me if you want more of the chapter! This is only the beginning!