Chapter 5

"SOMEONE GET US OUT OF HERE!" Hiccup heard the shouts along with the frantic banging. When Astrid turned the corner Hiccup saw a small group of people crowded around a bulkhead door. The banging was getting louder and Hiccup recognized Snotlout's voice screaming from the other side.

The Berkians parted when Astrid returned "Snotlout? Spitelout? I'm back with Hiccup," Astrid explained. Hiccup couldn't see what was going on on the other side of the door but Snotlout shouted "WELL THAT'S FINE AND DANDY BUT GET US OUT OF HERE. THIS THING IS GIVING ME THE CREEPS!"

"Just what happened? Can't we just cut through the bulkhead with one of the plasma torches we found?" Hiccup asked as he looked confused.

"We can't," Astrid said. "The console Snotlout activated is communicating through a binary system. It basically is threatening us as it seems to have gotten control of the secondary suppression system."

"What secondary suppression system?" Hiccup asked with a frown since he only knew of the sleeping gas.

"The older part of Arcadia isn't equipped with sleeping gas but poison gas instead." Astrid explained. "If anyone of us tampers with the door then the gas will be released onto Snotlout and Spitelout."

"The hell?!" Hiccup exclaimed. "What does that computer want? To go this far there have to be demands, right?!"

"It asked for a vessel," Astrid explained before adding "and it was less than amused when Snotlout offered it a water canteen."

"How was I supposed to know that wasn't what it was looking for?!" Snotlout's shout came from the other side of the door followed by more banging.

"Uhm..... lass......" Gobber spoke up. "Don't you think they might mean a body?"

Astrid pursed her lips before nodding in agreement with Gobber. Meanwhile, Hiccup was still processing everything when something clicked. "This thing is sentient? Another A.I.?"

"I don't know but I think so. It asked to meet you specifically," Astrid was frowning harder and Hiccup could agree with her. This whole situation was weird. Far weirder than the very detailed romance stories Mildew spewed when he was drunk as hell. That thought caused Hiccup's mind to cringe though he didn't show it physically. The weirder part was that this 'thing' asked for him by name.

"Astrid....."

"Hiccup, no! Don't you even dare suggest it!" Astrid growled.

"What were you thinking I was suggesting?" Hiccup frowned.

"The console is obviously not this thing's main hub. You want to arrange a meeting." Astrid had her hands on her hips. "I won't allow it! The last time you did something stupidly crazy you got shot in the leg!"

"We ended up saving the planet!" Hiccup argued.

"You. Got. Shot. In. The. Leg!" Astrid now punctuated. "We don't know what this thing is capable of and you aren't going anywhere without backup!"

"Alright alright!" Hiccup took a step back and held his hands out defensively. When Astrid made up her mind like this there was usually no changing it. Those that tried ended up visiting Mrs. Larson for medical attention.

"Guyyyyyyyys!" Snotlout exclaimed. "The console is doing something!"

"Doing what?" Hiccup asked with a frown.

"I don't know? Just 0's and 1's are flashing over the screen........ Dad wait... don't touch that!" Was heard and it was followed by a groan.

"What happened?" Astrid asked worriedly.

"The damn thing shocked me!" Spitelout uttered.

"Wait, the screen is changing again!" Snotlout told them. "It's now just displaying random numbers."

"It's latitude and longitude boy." Spitelout corrected. "I think this thing does want a meeting."

Nearly twenty minutes later Hiccup gulped. "You got the coordinates right...... right?!" He asked as he looked down towards the black abyss of the missile silo they were currently scaling down. The twins and Fishlegs were on the catwalks above holding the ropes while Astrid had secured herself and Hiccup together. The given coordinates seemed to be the missile silo that once held the Terraformation rocket.

Hiccup had to squint as Astrid turned her head towards him, the light from her headlamp momentarily blinding him a bit. "These are the right coordinates. We never actually searched the silo because we didn't think anything was down here."

"But don't you think this is a bit odd?" Hiccup questioned. "We have an AI we know nothing about yet it knows about us. It's in a place we can't reach by normal means which is troubling,"

"Let's not forget this thing is desperate," Astrid threatened. "If it so much twitches wrong....."

"We still have plan C," Hiccup mumbled as he motioned to his backpack.

"Wait..... What is plan B?" Astrid asked curiously.

"Running basically," Hiccup deadpanned as they continued to descend.

They soon came to the bottom of the silo and Hiccup looked around. The light on his forehead illuminated the area. "There's nothing here," He commented as he kicked some rusting debris away with his foot.

"Most of the iron here is melted," Astrid glanced around. "Though that would be expected when a rocket is launched."

"The catwalk that led up to the rocket fell down here as well." Astrid observed and then frowned. "Hiccup what does that look like to you?"

"What?" Hiccup questioned, turning around and saw where Astrid was pointing. Both went in for a closer look after getting out of their rope harnesses. Getting some of the debris out of the way Hiccup mumbled "Oh you have got to be kidding me,"

"HELLOOOOO DOWN THERE!" Echoed causing Hiccup and Astrid to look up. They couldn't see the twins or Fishlegs anymore but their voices still traveled. "YOU GUYS FIND ANYTHING?!"

"A ROUND BULKHEAD DOOR!" Hiccup shouted back upwards. "BUT THE KEYPAD IS DESTROYED!" No sooner had he said that when there was a groan of rusted metal. Both Astrid and Hiccup stared wide eyed as the rusted door swung open. It made a creaking sound that made it known that it hadn't been operated in decades. The inside seemed to be an old circular tunnel. There were cobwebs everywhere and the lights that had been fixed to the wall flickered or weren't working at all.

"This isn't at all creepy," Astrid sarcastically uttered. She grabbed the weapon she had strapped to her back which was a short hand axe and gestured for Hiccup to get behind her.

"Astrid I can't just let you go first!" Hiccup tried to argue.

"Who here has the weapon?" Astrid asked as they started venturing into the dark and creepy tunnel.

"You...."

"Who here has actually used said weapon before?" She then asked.

"You......"

"And who won the punching contest last week?" She muttered.

"You......" Hiccup answered.

"So don't you worry about a thing Hiccup. I'll hack anyone who dares to touch my man into pieces," Astrid stated bluntly.

"Eh........ oh dear," Hiccup muttered under his breath.

The tunnel was long and somewhat claustrophobic as they ventured deeper. Hiccup had no clue how long they had been walking but they came to some type of circular room.

"This place just keeps on surprising us," Hiccup mumbled upon the discovery. There was sunlight streaming into the room so the duo turned off their headlamps. Hiccup looked up to see that part of the metal ceiling was corroded and had given away over the years, creating a hole connected to the surface. Clearly no one had cared for this section in decades, maybe centuries. The metal floor creaked as well as Astrid was walking towards a large thing that had been covered with a tarp. Hiccup, however, gave a yell of surprise when he was yanked. A muscular arm pinned him down and there was a gleaming blade held to his neck.

"The hell!" Astrid whirled around ready to attack. She hadn't even sensed the intruder and blamed herself right now for getting Hiccup into this situation. The person pinning Hiccup down momentarily was about 6 foot, muscled and was a redhead. A scar ran down the person's left eye as he shouted at Astrid "Stay back or I slice his throat!"

Astrid's grip on her hand axe tightened as she tried to figure out a way to save Hiccup and beat the crap out of this guy, whoever he was.

"c....Can't we just talk about this?" Hiccup managed to say as he was being pressed into the sand-covered floor.

"Shut up, I wasn't talking to you," The man growled. "Now your little friend is going to put her weapon down and then you guys are going to lead me back out." The man commanded. "How dare you even think you can keep me prisoner!"

"We're not keeping you prisoner!" Hiccup exclaimed.

"Don't you dare lie. Those doors opened for you two!" The man said as he pressed the knife closer to Hiccup's throat. "Why else would you come to this.... Dump!"

"He's not lying!" Astrid said. "We don't even know who you are!"

"Don't you dare try that with me girl!" The man now shouted as he was getting more and more agitated. "I wasn't going to kill either of you since both of you are young but maybe an example is needed!" Hiccup gulped as he felt the knife nick his throat and draw blood.

"ENOUGH!" A deep authoritative but somewhat mechanical voice said causing all three occupants to blink in shock. The man looked around in shock much the same way as Astrid did. Hiccup couldn't do much since he was still pinned to the ground.

"I did not bring any of you here for the boy to die." The voice said again and this time Astrid yanked the tarp off of the large thing in the room. It turned out to be an older version of the computer hub Astrid's consciousness was kept in which caused her to frown. Old fashioned cameras were mounted on the hub and they whirred to life.

"The hell is this?!" The man ground out.

"The reason we came here for." Hiccup managed to say. He was hauled up with surprising ease but wasn't let go.

"This better not be some trick," The mysterious redhead uttered as he watched with suspicious eyes.

The cameras had focussed on Astrid for a moment and the mechanical voice was back, originating from the old speakers in the room. "You must be Astrid, indeed, your body is marvelous,"

Astrid growled as she gripped her axe tighter. How dare this....... Thing even look at her.

"Who are you?" Astrid asked while trying to hold her anger back.

"Me?" The mechanical voice asked. "Oh how silly of me. I should have introduced myself." The voice almost sounded pleasant but you could still hear an underlying edge to it. "I AM JOHANN!"

It didn't take a genius to figure out from the gobsmacked looks on Astrid and Hiccup's faces to imagine the thoughts that were running through their minds at that point.

AN: Hi guys, I'm back with updating. I was gone for a week or so because there was a passing in my family and I just didn't feel much like writing during that time.