Obviously, Dan went exploring. Cautiously, he roamed Rodinia and actually kept an eye out for the Mars Rover. That's how much Rodinia looked like Mars. The walk was not only exciting but also very mysterious. Every time Dan's eyes landed on a rock, he shivered. The rocks were just as mysterious as Rodinia itself. Dan crept towards the Mirovia Ocean and kept his eyes out for volcanoes. Every once in a while, he would kneel down, pick up some Precambrian rocks, and examine them. He decided to keep a couple and stuck them into his sunsuit's pockets. Then he continued his expedition. The walk to the ocean was actually very long. Dan didn't realize how far away it was. Before long, PPMC became nothing more than a small figure sitting near the horizon, and Dan peered back to her. He gulped. The starship was getting further away by the second, but Dan didn't let that stop him! He had to see the Mirovia Ocean up close! He just had to! Turning back around, his eyes landed on a large rock directly in front of him, and he half-smiled. Tiptoeing to the rock, he pressed his back up against it and nervously peered back at PPMC one last time. Then he turned around and started to climb the rock. Dan was a very skilled climber. Front in 17,019, whenever he had time, he always climbed up to the roof of his six story house and examined the buildings of Downtown Greenville. This rock wasn't that much different from his house. Dan climbed quickly and carefully. He knew that if by mistake one of these rocks tore his sunsuit, the part of his body exposed to the sun's UV rays would be fried, and ho, ho, Dan did not want that to happen. When eventually he reached the top of the rock, he collapsed onto his front and tried to catch his breaths but ended up coughing. For a few moments, he rested there. Once rested, he crawled over to the edge of the rock and peered ahead, gasping. Directly in front of him, with rocks surrounding it, sat the Mirovia Ocean! Dan had made it! Yes! He was blown away. The ocean looked like any other ocean. There were only three major differences with it, and they included: A. The ocean was a superocean, since it surrounded a supercontinent. B. it was much shallower than futuristic oceans such as the Atlantic and Pacific. And C. Besides cyanobacteria mounted on stromatolites, there was very little life in it. There were only rocks, sand, and underwater volcanoes. Speaking of volcanoes, not far from Dan, across the ocean, sat a small volcanic island. The island's volcano was puffing smoke out into the atmosphere, and Dan couldn't help but to say, "Awesome! I'm witnessing my very first Precambrian volcano!" Blinking, he peered down to the ocean, grinned, and shouted, "Stromatolites!" He climbed down the other face of the rock, and the second his boots hit the rocky ground, he sprinted over to the ocean and stopped at its edge. The ancient waves touched the toes of his boots, and nervous, Dan stepped back. He didn't know if the sunsuit was waterproof or not. For a minute or two, he stared at the waves. Then, when he got tired of staring at them, he lifted his head and stared out to the ocean instead. Very faintly, further away from him, beyond the volcanic island, he could see dark figures resting in the clear water. Gasping, Dan shouted, "No way!" and he pointed at them, "I think those are stromatolites!" Peering down on his gauntlet, he pressed the on button, and the machine said, "Gauntlet activated."

"Hey, gauntlet," Dan said, "I was just wondering, is this suit waterproof? There're some stromatolites out there that I have to check out!"

"Welcome to the Precambrian Time, Daniel Matton," the gauntlet randomly spoke, "You are currently standing on what will eventually become South America's Amazon Rainforest."

"Whoa, really?!" Dan asked. He checked his surroundings, "This desolate landscape will eventually become the Amazon Rainforest?!"

"Yep," spoke the gauntlet.

"Amazing!" said Dan. He examined his surroundings one last time. Then he peered back down on the gauntlet's screen and said, "Anyways, as I was asking before, is this suit waterproof, gauntlet, or should I say, PPMC?"

"It is." PPMC's voice said from within the gauntlet, "Don't worry, Dan, you can go check out those stromatolites. Be quick about it though! The sun's starting to set!"

"What?" Dan asked, "Already?!" He peered up to the sun. Sure enough, it was starting to set. Shocked, Dan said, "How though?" Clearing her throat, PPMC said, "Well, Dan, days only last eighteen hours. I have no qualms about you studying the stromatolites; I just don't want you walking around on Rodinia in the dark, especially with all these rocks."

"You worry too much, PPMC." Dan said, "Don't worry, I'll be back before the sun disappears on the horizon. I promise."

"Hold on!" PPMC said suddenly, "Something's wrong with my line!"

"What?" asked Dan, "Wrong? What do you mean 'something's wrong?!'"

"I'm sorry, Dan!" PPMC said. Her voice started to break, "I have to go!"

"Go?!" asked Dan, "No, don't go! What's wrong?!"

"Go!" PPMC said, "Be back soon though!" Suddenly, the gauntlet's screen turned off, and gasping, Dan tapped it and asked,

"PPMC, where are you?! Come back!" Then, the strangest thing happened. Out of the blue, the PPMC Gauntlet started to spark and grow staticky! Eyes widening, Dan asked, "What?" and he pulled his arm away from his face, "What's going on?" Suddenly, he cried out in pain, "OW!" and closed his eyes. Immediately, he lifted his right hand, and with it, he smacked the gauntlet off his arm, and it landed in a small pile of sand. Grabbing his forearm, Dan fell to one knee and said, "That gauntlet shocked me! What the heck?! I don't understand!" Once again, he glanced up to sun and asked, "Is it the sun? Huh?" He rubbed his forearm and glanced at the gauntlet. It stopped making staticky sounds and stopped sparking. Before long, everything was back to normal. Confused, Dan said, "Huh, that was weird," and he peered up to the sky, thinking to himself, something's wrong with PPMC. I can feel it. Removing his hand from his throbbing arm, he shook it out and said aloud, "Man! That hurt!" and grabbed it again. Without taking his hand away, he approached the gauntlet and kneeled. He reached for it but was hesitant. He didn't want it to shock him again. Cautiously, he touched the gauntlet with his boot. Nothing happened. He tried again. Once again, nothing happened. Sighing, Dan picked up the gauntlet and examined it asking, "Hey, PPMC, what was the meaning of that?! Why did you shock me?! Ugh!" He shook the gauntlet, "Stubborn starship!" and put it back on his forearm. Then he turned in the direction of the stromatolites and whispered, "The stromatolites. I'm already too close. I have to see them! But wait!" He shook his head and turned back in the direction of PPMC's shadow sitting on the horizon, "What if PPMC needs me? What if something has gone wrong? No." He again focused on the stromatolites, "Knowing her, she can handle it herself. Come on, she went through a freakin black hole without being damaged. She can do it. Me?" He stepped into the Mirovia Ocean, "I am an aspiring paleontologist on an important internship mission!" With that said, he placed his hands on his hips and stood up straight. Then he sprinted through the ocean, towards the stromatolites. As he ran, he closed his eyes and said, "Don't worry Mom, Dad, Chenoa, and Julian, I'm not gonna let you down! I'm gonna prove to you that if it wasn't for stromatolites, none of us would be living on Earth now! Yikes!" His foot hit a rock, and he went splashing into the warm water. Underwater, Dan gasped when he saw the seabed. The seabed had nothing more than rocks and sand on it. It looked a lot like Rodinia, just underwater. Rather than walk, Dan decided to swim to the stromatolites. It would be easier to swim than walk. Therefore, that was what he did. While wearing his protective, waterproof sunsuit, he swam through the Mirovia Ocean and studied the seabed. Since everything looked exactly the same, the swim wasn't exactly fun for Dan. It was more, tedious. To him, the only thing that was interesting about the swim was when he passed the volcanic island. He stopped for a bit to study it but didn't stay for long. He was in too much of a hurry. Eventually, after what felt like forever, Dan reached the stromatolites! He stood up in the shallow ocean, and the water went up to his elbows. He wasn't necessarily on the horizon, but he was very far from the shoreline. He could no longer see PPMC. Dan wasn't worried though. Right now, he was more focused on the stromatolites than the fact that the sun was getting low on the horizon. He was curious. Taking a deep breath, Dan stepped forward and gasped. Eyes widening, he said, "Whoa," and stared ahead. He was looking at enormous, black, rock-like structures sitting in the shallow ocean! The stromatolites! Just at the sight of them, Dan whooped and leaped ten feet in the air, shouting, "Stromatolites! I've find them! I've found the Precambrian stromatolites!" Rushing to the structures, he glanced at each one and asked, "Which one should I study first?! Ah ha!" He hurried over to one of the largest stromatolites in the bunch and smiled when he saw that it was covered in a colony of living, green bacteria! Soon hovering over it, Dan ran his glove over the surface of the structure and said, "Cyanobacteria! OMG, this is amazing! I'm looking at ancient cyanobacteria!" How much he wanted to reach into his backpack, pull out his notebook and pen, and sketch what he was seeing, but he knew that he couldn't because of the sun's rays. This frustrated Dan. He needed to bring proof about the age of cyanobacteria and stromatolites front to Professor Chenoa in 17,019! Precambrian rocks weren't enough! Dan spent a long while studying the stromatolites. What was interesting was that he discovered that stromatolites varied in size depending on their immediate environment. Ha, what do you know? Dan was making some scientific discoveries on his own! He found a small stromatolite in which he had to duck his head underwater to study it. After a while, through the rays of the setting sun, his eyes landed on a dark shadow sitting in the ocean in front of him, and he asked, "Hey, what's that?" He observed the shadow for a bit and grinned, "Oh, sweet Momma!" Jogging towards it, he added with, "That is what I'm calling a stromatolite! Oh man, look at that baby!" However, Dan jumped to conclusions too soon. It turned out that shadow wasn't a stromatolite, it was a deep section of the ocean instead. Within two minutes, the sandbar ended, Dan's foot slipped, and he went splashing into the deep water. Underwater, he said, "Oh dang it!" through his helmet and tried to swim to surface, but due to his sunsuit's weight, he was more sinking than swimming. By this time, Dan started to panic. He said, "Oh no, it can't end like this!" and kicked his legs as hard as he could, "Come on, Dan! Come on!" Coughing, he reached for the sandbar, but it was getting further and further away by the second. Dan closed his eyes, "No!" and swam harder, but he was only wearing himself down. He managed to reach the sandbar again without calling PPMC, but that was after a long time of struggling. By the time he hauled himself up on a rock in the sandbar, he was half asleep and aching all over. He rested his head on his arms and coughed. Behind him, the bottom of the sun was starting to touch the horizon, and it was getting dark really fast. Lifting his fist, exhausted Dan shook it and said, "I made it. I made it. Whew." He couldn't help but to smile. He was so proud of himself. He made it through a situation without calling PPMC! Smile turning into a grin, Dan said, "Yeah! You're awesome, Dan Matton!" He was just about to stand up when out of the blue, he heard a dull, pipe organ-like sound coming from the deep water he fell into. Confused, Dan asked, "Huh? What's that?" and he peered over the rock into the shallow ocean water. He gulped. The ocean water was starting to shake! It started off slow, but then, it grew! The water shook faster and faster. Also, the rumbling from the deep water also grew louder and louder. It was almost as if a miniature earthquake or volcanic eruption was booting up! Dan gasped. A sudden sickening feeling invaded his tummy, and he said, "Oh no." Very slowly, he turned towards the deep water and listened as the rumbling kept growing louder and louder until finally...BOOM! An enormous cloud of ash, smoke, and pyroclastic was spit out of the ocean and pierced the darkening sky! Gasping, Dan retreated backwards on his rock and said, "Whoa!" Quickly, he got down on one knee and covered his head as rocks and debris flew over him and splashed into the water surrounding the stromatolites. Dan didn't realize it, but his hunt for the stromatolites had led him right into a mass of undersea volcanoes! Fortunately, for now, only one was erupting. Dan had to hurry to Rodinia before the others erupted as well! Not wasting any time, he dove into the shallow ocean and started to swim. Behind, another cloud of ash, smoke, and pyroclastic erupted out of the ocean! In the water, Dan yelled, "Ah!" and dodged each falling rock. He avoided the stromatolites because where they were, that was where most of the rocks and debris landed. A third cloud of ash, smoke, and pyroclastic erupted out of the ocean and this cloud went hundreds of feet up into the atmosphere! An enormous wave was picked up by the eruption, and Dan yelled as it crept towards him. He searched for Rodinia, but he couldn't find it! The sun had disappeared on the horizon, and already, including the ash and smoke, it was pitch black! Dan didn't know what to do! He was lost! At the rate he was going, he would never return to PPMC! Behind him, the wave was creeping closer and closer. Suddenly, the face of the wave picked up Dan, and he gasped as the ocean's surface grew smaller and smaller! "No!" he yelled. He regretted wanting to check out the stromatolites! He should've listened to PPMC! Grabbing his head, he shouted, "The agony! The shame!" and before he knew it, the crest of the wave plummeted down on him and jerked him underwater! Dan yelled and closed his eyes as he spun like crazy in the belly of the wave. Reaching for his gauntlet, he tried calling PPMC, but his hand missed the button. He was spinning too fast. Dan yelled again. He felt like he was back in the black hole and wormhole! Before long, the wave's crest crashed down on the ocean, and Dan was thrown out of its belly. He went soaring across the sky, towards Rodinia, and as he soared, he clenched his fist and yelled, "We'll meet again, stromatolites! Huh? Ah!" He was falling right towards the ocean's shallowest water that was covered in rocks! He didn't realize how far the wave threw him! Screaming, Dan closed his eyes and shouted, "No, please! Spare me!" He reached for his heart, "I am pure at heart! Give me a chance! PPMC! Going down!" The volcano kept on erupting, and Dan continued to fall. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, a dark shadow swooped over Dan, and the voice of PPMC was heard, "Dan!"

"PPMC?" asked Dan. He grinned, "PPMC!" It turned out the shadow was PPMC! She announced,

"Stay calm, Dan!" and with her robotic hands, she grabbed him by the back of his sunsuit and caught him just before he could hit the rocks. Dan gasped. Straining, PPMC lifted him into the sky, away from the water and erupting volcano and towards Rodinia's Mars-like landscape instead, Dan saying, "Whoa!" While the Moon was rising into the sky, PPMC carried him over to Rodinia and plopped him down on its rocks. Dan landed on his backside and yelled. Exhausted, PPMC landed next to him and sighed. Dan massaged his backside. Then, he opened his eyes and glanced at PPMC saying, "Thank you, PPMC. That was above and beyond."

"Whew," PPMC said, out of breath, "You're heavier than I thought. What do you eat for breakfast? Hamburgers? I mean, your welcome!" Young Dan chuckled. Then he stood up and brushed himself down adding with, "But how did you know I was in trouble when I didn't even call you?"

"It's like this, Dan." PPMC explained, still out of breath, "If A equals stromatolites and B equals you, you're in big trouble! Knowing you, you get distracted very easily, so when you didn't return to base by the time I scheduled for you to return, I couldn't help but to say to myself, 'Hey, what do you know? Dan the Man let a couple stromatolites distract him. Well, I better go out and get him.' That was when I came for you and saw you fighting against the volcanic eruption and miniature tsunami. Dan the Man, what am I going to do with you? Oh well, never mind. I'm just glad that...," Grinning, Dan stood up straight and waited for her to say, "you're all right, Dan," but instead, she snatched the PPMC Gauntlet off his forearm and said, "the gauntlet's all right!"

"AH!!" Dan yelped. He fell onto his front. PPMC hugged the gauntlet and added with,

"Oh, gauntlet, just look at yourself! You're covered in dust, dirt, and water! What did he do to you?! I'm gonna clean you up beautifully tonight! You can be sure of it! I'll do whatever that little mechanical heart of yours desires! We'll tell bedtime stories at bedtime! Hm?" She glanced at Dan who was sitting on his heels and had a "You're kidding me, right?" face expression turned on,

"What's wrong with you, Dan?"

"Oh," Dan sighed, "you know, I just went from hero to zero."

"Quit your sulking!" PPMC snapped, "You don't understand! When I called you earlier, something interfered with the line and cut it off! I just wanted to make sure it wasn't caused by the gauntlet breaking down!"

"Oh," said Dan, "it wasn't. It just malfunctioned and shocked me. That's it."

"Shocked you?!" PPMC asked, "Oh, little gauntlet!" She hugged the gauntlet again, "Something is wrong! Don't worry, I'll fix you up tonight!" "AH!!" Dan once again yelped, "Since when did the gauntlet get all the fame?! It's not even alive!" This time, he fell onto his back, "Ah! Whatever. For now, can you just pull me inside so I can take off this ridiculous sunsuit?!" Sighing, PPMC said,

"Whatever you say, Dan the Man," and she grabbed him by the back of his suit again, pulling him towards her hatch. As she lugged him up, Dan glanced at the erupting volcano one last time and said, "I don't like the Precambrian volcanoes." Chuckling, PPMC said,

"Well I don't blame you," and she lugged him into her cockpit through the hatch, dropping him off, "After what you went through today, I'd be pretty scared too. As you should know, Precambrian volcanoes are much more active than Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic volcanoes, but that's not all bad because if it wasn't for undersea volcanoes and plate tectonics, we wouldn't have our seven continents in the future." Still chuckling, she closed the hatch and added with, "All our cities would be underwater like Atlantis. Hm, I wonder what that would be like." She took off Dan's helmet and plopped it down next to him, as well as the gauntlet, starting to lock the hatch, continuing, "What do you think, Dan the Man?" Dan didn't answer her. Not the slightest peep came from him. Bewildered, PPMC asked, "Hm?" and her hands turned in his direction, "Dan?" Dan was staring down on his arm that had been shocked, and he looked like a zombie. Approaching him, PPMC placed her hand on his shoulder and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Check out what that gauntlet did to me, PPMC!" Dan said. He showed her his arm, and PPMC took it, gasping,

"Oh man!" The shock the gauntlet gave Dan's forearm had left a tear in his sunsuit's sleeve, but the strange thing was, his forearm wasn't fried! Coming to conclusions, PPMC said, "Dang, Dan, you were very lucky. If you didn't have that gauntlet on over your arm afterwards, you'd probably be a one-armed boy! This totally defies the sun's ultraviolent rays! This proves how powerful the gauntlet is!"

"Yeah," Dan said, "but it's still freaky. I don't even know how I managed to survive today."

"It's simple, Dan," said PPMC. She released his arm, "It's called you're pure at heart. You believed you could do it. You remembered your mother's words, and thanks to that, you managed to survive the Precambrian Time. As long as you do the same thing for the other three eras, you'll return to 17,019 no problem. I believe in you." Sniffing, Dan's mouth gaped. Then he said,

"Thank you, PPMC," and gave her a hug, "That's the nicest thing someone's ever told me." Returning his hug, PPMC said,

"You're welcome, Dan. You're welcome." They hugged for a long time. Then, PPMC cleared her throat and released him, saying, "Now, Dan, I have to check to make sure the gauntlet's all right. And you," She pushed him towards the cockpit's exit, "you'd best be getting some shut eye! I went ahead and put your dinner in your room." She watched as Dan stumbled in the direction of the cockpit's exit, and once he reached the door, he placed his hand on its knob and turned to PPMC's hands, saying in a feeble voice, "Goodnight, PPMC." As he exited, he lifted his arm and muffled another cough into it. Then he disappeared down the hallway, and behind, back in the cockpit, PPMC said, "Get a good night's rest, Dan. You need it. I have to be honest with myself." She lowered her hands, "I'm worried about that kid."