Baskadia

Chapter 8

   The Quanbots averted their gaze to me, something beamed in their eyes: respect.
   "You time traveled, and you also traveled through different universe. You have given us a hope for the future, Tesher Willington", Wasp said as she reduced herself to my size.
   "Uh..." I wanted to speak, but my voice wouldn't come out. I couldn't tell what I felt at the moment. I was speechless.
   "I think there might be some bad news", Bee said wearily.
   "What's the bad news?" Butler asked with a grim expression on his face.
   "Lilian already knows the location of the book".
   I gasped. Butler's face fell, but Uri still had that "everything's alright" stare on his face.
   "Just like I feared", he said gently. "The book is within the manor".
   "How sure are you?" asked Butler.
   "When you book traveled here, Tesher, I felt a part of me come alive. Forget the fact that you came right into Quantum 7, Uri Manor. Why will the book send you to an exact location without its receiver right there?"
   Everything Uri said was beginning to make sense to me. I wasn't sent here by accident, it was on purpose.
   "The book is somewhere in the manor's farmhouse", he concluded.
   "Yes. That's what Lilian said. She told us to search the farmhouse in the only manor on Quantum 7... she didn't mention the name of the manor", Wasp said as she searched for the farmhouse on the general screen.
   "Give me a minute", Uri said and went out of the room.
   "You all need to prepare, Lilian's coming!" Bee said, then he transformed into a rc monster truck and drove away.
   Wasp sighed, "he keeps acting like a child".
   I went into my room and changed my dress. I couldn't stop the feeling of hope building in me. There was a knock on the door, "come in". I made my voice as clear as possible.
   Wasp came in. She now had the appearance of a lady in her early twenties.
   "Wow!" I exclaimed. "You look different".
   "Yeah, I know that", she seemed worried. "I want to try look like a... sister to you. You make me feel hopeful".
   I blushed. Quanbots somehow knew how to develop emotions.
   "Oh, you look great in this shape. It is... you look beautiful", I said in a caring tone.
   "Awwn! Thank you", she said and gave me an unexpected hug.
   Downstairs, Butler was arming himself, he offered Bee an electrocution gun. Bee rejected it (he was now in a human form). "I've got loads of them", he said and splitter his abdomen to reveal different kinds of weapon.
   "Eww!" I muttered under my breath.
   Uri came down to the control room. Despite the fact that we will be going for a search very soon, he was still on suit.
   "Quanbots, remember the plan". Now, he sounded like a commander.
   Wasp and Bee nodded simultaneously, then they flew into the air and transformed into helicopters.
   "Butler, get into Wasp", he ordered.
   Butler looked confused, "which of them is Wasp?"
   "I am",Wasp landed beside him, then he bent down and entered.
   "Tesher", Uri called out gently over the noise coming from the helicopter blades.
   He slipped his hands into mine. "We will get you home, that's a promise".
   His voice increased the hope in me. I wanted to do something to him as remembrance; but once again, he had much to do, other than that.
   "You're going with Wasp, she'll take you and Butler to the farmhouse. Search for the book, don't stop. I'll be there in no time", he ordered me.
   He released my fingers, but I still held his, tightly. "Why aren't you coming with us?" I shouted.
   "I need to confirm some of my thoughts".
   I absolutely didn't understand what he meant. "Just be careful, okay?"
   He smiled, "I will".
   I returned the smile, then I went over to Wasp. I didn't climb into her, she seemed to suck me into herself.
   Seeing the manor from above made me feel dizzy. Firstly, I had never entered a chopper, I have only seen pilots control it. Secondly, I am acrophobic. With that, I kept my eyes closed and buried my head in between my legs.
   "Miss?" Butler's voice rang into my headphone. "Is there any problem?"
   "No, not at all", I shouted back.
   Wasp finally reached the farmhouse, she let us go down by ourselves, but Butler carried me to the ground; after that, she transformed back into the human lady.
   "Lets go in", Butler ordered. "Stay behind me, Miss".
   The farmhouse was filled with different kinds of strange plants. We splitted up: Wasp manipulated the gravitational laws and floated upwards, while Butler and I remained on the ground.
   "Does the building have a basement?" asked Wasp, from above.
   "Yes, it's on the left corner of the building. Look two o'clock ahead of you, that's the entrance", Butler replied.
   "I'm going in there", Wasp said and went over to the basement door. Without touching it, she activated her magnetic fields, then waved her hand over the door. "I'm in", she said as she turned the door knob and floated downwards.
   After Butler and I were fine searching an old silo, we joined Wasp down the basement.
   The basement had a stench, cobwebs spread round the cellar.
   "Psst!" Wasp whispered. "Come over here".
   Butler and I hurried over to where she was. She held a metallic chest which had a complex looking lock on it.
   "Do you think the book is in it?" I asked.
   "I can't scan through it and it isn't responding to my magnetic field", she said as she put down the chest. "I think the book is in it, by logic reasoning. Firstly: only Uri can create something we can't hack. Secondly: this thing has been here since last century. Thirdly: see these markings here?" She used her fingers to trace some writings which were encrypted on the chest.
   "What are they?"
   "After I decrypted it, it says... when discovered, use wisely".
   "What does that mean?" I blurted out the question without thinking.
   There was a moment of silence. I was just beginning to realise how stupid I am when Wasp finally replied.
   "As far as I can fanthom, those words are the key to the chest, and only one person can decipher it: Uri".
   "We have to call him now", Butler said slowly. He was about doing it when Wasp tapped her ear and spoke into it.
   "We need Uri now!
   "Did you just_" Butler seemed confused.
   "I did", she interrupted.
   There was a rumbling from above, followed by a landing. These bots are really fast, o thought.
   "The keys must be words, according to your decrypted codes", Uri concluded after Wasp finished explaining all to him.
   "Yes", she said and did something remarkable. She disappeared. "I'll be back, let me scan the horizon for any intruder", her voice came from above us.
   That can only mean one thing, I thought: she just reduced into her quantum size.
   Bee patrolled the cellar, making sure that we were all clear, while Butler stood behind Uri and I.
   "When discovered, use wisely", Uri repeated under his breath over and over again.
   "Do you think it's a rearrangement of words?" I asked him in a low voice.
   "I've rearranged the words seventy-seven times now", he replied.
   "Jeez! Seventy-seven times in less than a minute! This guy is a brainiac!" my mind exclaimed.
   "Think, think, think, you can come up with something", I urged myself.
   Uri turned to me, "Earth... the book on Earth, it will have a clue".
   "Uh... yeah, it should have. Just give me a minute", I couldn't believe the fact that mommy's recitation of the book was not all in vain.
   My mind did a quick rewind of the book. I recalled Uri's last word before his death, but they didn't rhyme. The last word of the first descendant of Uri_ it didn't match.
   I kept on reciting the words of Uri, but none of then rhymed. A thought came across my mind just when I was about to give up: a second name.
   "A second name", I repeated.
   "Did my grandfather have a second name?" Uri asked, bewildered.
   "Yes, he has a second name. It is..." I thought for a moment. "It's Dewn".
   Uri gasped.
   "What?" I asked.
   "I never knew my grandfather had a second name".
   I shrugged, "lets try it".
   Uri took a deep breath. "Uri Dewn", he said slowly.
   At first, nothing happened. I was already beginning to feel disappointed just when the chest made a movement. It began to pixilated till it was gone. All that remained was a book on the floor, it had the shape of a boxy laptop.
   "I guess it's done", Uri said and picked up the book.
   It was a mystery to find a book which had been kept for eons of decades, and there wasn't any pile of dirt or dust on it.
   The cover page read: URI DEWN.