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Sorry, no action yet. This chapter's more of an interlude, so it's pretty short compared to the usual.

Also, saying this because I feel like it: 1 comment/vote = 1 hour of absolute joy for me, so thank you so much to those who have voted or left comments on my works so far! It may not seem like a lot to you, but it's probably the single most precious thing you could give to me. Hope my future works will be just as worthy of your attention!

***

The days seemed to pass by far too slowly for Ice after that first reunion.

One thing Ice noticed was that the guards seemed to be leaving the pocket dimension more and more frequently, as if in preparation for something. Small squads left and returned daily, but every now and then the entire army would leave. On the few nights they were gone, Ice took the opportunity to unlock his brothers' cells again, and together they snuck around the fortress in search of attack plans or other useful information (once almost running into a drowsy Pemberontak). Halilintar also fried the wires that ran the glass tubes while they were passing by.

Just over a week after meeting Pocketbot, Ice awoke at dawn to the word 'Taufan' spelt in dust underneath his window. The night after, Blaze found a notice in the guards' empty quarters about an attack set to take place in eight days, in which Pemberontak would participate. They returned to Pocketbot's room to send the message that same night.

Finally, the stepping stones to freedom were falling into place.

***

Ochobot's signature portal opened up in Tok Aba's front yard, discharging seven weary teens and the power sphera responsible. Ochobot, Fang, Ying, Yaya and Gopal offered tired goodbyes and trudged home (or to TAPOPS-U, in Fang's and Ochobot's cases, to make a report), while Gempa, Duri and Solar dragged their feet up the front steps.

Ever since Pemberontak had revealed himself to them a few months ago, his activity had picked up drastically. Hardly a week passed by without some new kind of disturbance from him, whether it be his minions wrecking part of a planet or the alien himself flaunting his elemental powers. But the most frustrating part was that, no matter what techniques were used, TAPOPS could never catch any of them. They always seemed to disappear into thin air just before opposing forces arrived, leaving TAPOPS to clean up their messes.

Whenever there was a moment to spare (which wasn't often) TAPOPS searched for its four missing cadets - the former three's cases having been picked up again with regard to the new leads. Gempa, Duri, Solar and their friends always joined in on those missions, leaving at dawn and coming home barely in time for a late-night dinner. Despite their protests, Tok Aba always insisted on waiting for them, citing loneliness, but Gempa suspected it was more so he could cheer them up after another day of fruitless searching.

That night, though, when the three siblings entered the house, they were greeted with the sight of Tok Aba gaping at the dining table, the remains of a bowl scattered around his feet.

"Tok Aba!" Gempa immediately raced forward, weariness forgotten, the other two on his heels, "What's going on? Is there something wr-?"

The sentence was cut off as Gempa caught sight of the dining table's surface. Or, more precisely, the snow resting on the dining table in the middle of summer.

"What??" Solar let out, sounding utterly befuddled.

It was then that Gempa noticed the odd patterns of the snow. Upon further inspection, they turned out to be... letters?

Shaking himself violently, he forced his mind to reboot and ordered, "Someone take a picture before it melts!"

Duri jumped and pulled out his phone, nearly dropping it in the process, and bounded over to Tok Aba's side to snap a photo. Meanwhile, Solar stepped over the bowl's remains to cautiously inspect the half-melted message.

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