As the group continued forward, a massive robot guardian blocked their path. It had a crimson body and two arms with prongs at the ends, held aloft by four jets under its bulk. Each arm could unfold to generate a large energy shield, or fire a focused laser. It looked very impressive, especially with how fast it moved. Unfortunately, it proved to fall prey to the same problem all massive enemies they had encountered did...an inability to handle multiple targets. Not only that, its main power core took up the entirety of its torso and was improperly shielded. It went down depressingly fast...and its destruction opened a new path between high stone platforms, held up by brightly colored singing robot heads.
"This is...creepy," Twilight murmured softly, glad she could just fly up.
"It's an abandoned orphanage," Cronk pointed out, indicating a nearby spinning wheel ride, the sort kids stood on while it spun them around slowly. He then pointed to scattered colored pages and finger paints on the walls, along with a hopscotch field etched into the stone at their feet. "It's supposed ta be creepy."
Once they cleared the path, another audio journal sat waiting for them. Twilight quickly played it as they moved into the orphanage.
"Mr. Eye says Nef and I are special. He says we come from a different place. I told him I wanted to go there, but he says Nef and I have been in this world too long to survive there."
Twilight and Ratchet both looked somber as their speculations continued to be confirmed. The sorrowful, longing tone in young Vendra's voice as she spoke of these things tore at the heart.
"But maybe...maybe we can bring them here! I'll need books. Lots and lots of books!"
"Shut up!" Twilight snapped with a blush as everyone else burst into laughter. "It's a logical approach..."
"Quantum Mechanics, Transdimensional Tunneling...but this could work."
"Wow," Ratchet murmured softly. "You and Vendra are almost terrifyingly alike. This tape...she doesn't sound like she could be much more than six, which is when you were reading books at that level."
"The only reason you weren't reading books of that level at that age, Daddy, was because Veldin didn't have them available until you started making money through Gadgetron," Twilight countered. "I'd more say she's a lot like both of us."
"More you than Ratchet, Twilight," Clank offered. "After all, when Ratchet is confronted with a problem, he is far more likely to try and 'wing it' than you, while you more readily turn to books. However, the assessments do seem to be accurate: Vendra would fit very well in our odd little family."
"And she's threat-flirting with Ratchet," Zephyr added curiously. "This is going to be...interesting."
As they continued through the orphanage ruins, Ratchet was careful to avoid entering anything that looked like a bedroom, much to Twilight's amusement. That amusement diminished, however, as they found another audio journal.
"It looks like the rifts were created during some sort of temporal disruption eons ago. Like a hiccup in the space-time continuum. With the right equipment, we may be able to amplify the anomalies and bring out Mr. Eye. Of course, we'll need some room to experiment. Nef says he knows what to do about them. By this time next year, the entire sector will be ours to experiment with."
When a wooden floor collapsed beneath them, the group found an underground area where the walls were covered with crayon drawings of purple beings, ones they could readily recognize as various kinds of Nethers. Nearby, another audio journal left Twilight feeling crushed.
"I've heard about someone who might be able to help us. Twilight Sparkle. She's a sophont of a completely unknown type, just like us, and she's only five years younger than me. At the same time, she's dominated every scientific field she's been a part of. Nef thinks it'd be a great idea to contact her, to see if she can help us with our project. She might even be able to find a way to let us readapt to the other dimension without dying, if such a way is possible. Mr. Eye says we shouldn't, that outsiders can't be trusted...but I tried anyway.
"...Mr. Eye was right. The message we finally got back from Gadgetron was that she was unavailable for such things because she was 'on vacation'. I should never have even hoped..."
Twilight stared at the time stamp, and saw her interpretation was right. This journal had been recorded while she, Ratchet, and Clank had been on Pokitaru after Dreadzone. "If we hadn't been under a comm block for anything business related...I might have been in contact with her. I...I might have been able to help her..."
"You can't be blamed for that," Ratchet hastened to assure her. "Besides...we're helping her now."
"Shh!" Cronk warned as they moved deeper into the caves. "Listen!"
In the near distance, Vendra and Neftin could be seen at work on something. "Is it ready?" Vendra asked coldly.
A Thug approached, and gave Vendra the last thing any of the group ever expected to see here...a Dimensionator. "They built their own Dimensionator?" Twilight gasped out in shock. "That's...so cool! Oh, I can't wait for when we've managed to fix everything and I can do some research with her! The things we'll come up with..." She began to hoofy-dance in excitement.
"You have to concentrate on who you wanted to find," Vendra instructed Neftin firmly as she tossed the device at him. "You need to wear it while I channel my energy into you. If we put my energy in directly at this point, it could overload and destroy the Sector."
Nodding, Neftin placed the Dimensionator on his head. Vendra floated around to behind him and placed her hand on his back. As energy flared, Neftin spoke. "Dimensionator! Find the Nethers!" He then pulled the cord.
The Dimensionator unfolded, functioning flawlessly while Neftin's bulk let him stabilize it readily. Nether energy erupted from the device as portals opened. Large purple energy beings in black armor leapt and flew out of the portals, snarling and roaring as they gathered.
Vendra grinned widely as she stepped away from Neftin. "Welcome all of you!" she greeted warmly.
A snarl from the wall drew all attention. The stone wall seemed to have turned to glass, and behind it a massive blue eye could be seen, gazing down at Vendra. It continued to snarl in a language that Twilight and the others could not comprehend.
"We're getting closer," Vendra promised fervently. "We'll have you out soon."
"Nakto eenid arun imgo," the Eye responded angrily.
"Don't be like that," Vendra pleaded, her voice almost a whimper. "Look how far we've come. It's taken time, but the walls between our worlds are wearing thinner by the day."
"Mago!" the Eye snapped. "Tego umbata salakupo."
"No," Vendra hastened to assure the figure. "No one knows about Planet Silox. The city's been abandoned for over a decade. We saw to that."
"Ukootu rehabshalam," the Eye growled thoughtfully. "Eenid...Agee!" The Eye's gaze swung to where Ratchet and the others were hiding...and Twilight's notepaper stuck out from behind the boulder. "Shilaktamon!"
"Twilight!" Ratchet snapped out as he realized what had led to them being discovered.
"Sorry!" Twilight whimpered. "I was trying to analyze and translate the language..."
Mr. Eye glared down at Vendra. She glanced back and forth between him, the Nethers, and Ratchet's group. Finally, her eyes closed as she turned slightly away. "...kill them," she offered, her voice barely controlled, but sounding on the edge of despair.