Chapter 6

"What are we doing here?" Snotlout shouted angrily, "What are you doing here Useless?! Do you know what kind of trouble you'll be in when we get back to the camp!"

"Honestly Snotlout, I don't care anymore." Hiccup hissed as he started making his way towards them. "Dad made it very clear that he thinks I'm a nuisance so why should I stay!"

"Hiccup.... I'm sure the Chief didn't mean it." Fishlegs tried to reason. "We are all pretty high strung right now. The sudden raid got to everyone."

"I don't want to talk about it Fish," Hiccup muttered.

"Yeah, and we don't want to talk to you either." Snotlout shot back, completely missing the glare the twins sent his way. "Come on, we're going." Snotlout made a grab for Hiccup's arm but his cousin yanked his limb away.

"Not before I figure out what is going on here Snot!"

"What's there to figure out. They are generators! Big whoop. Not like we can use them for the Caravan." Snotlout said. "Can you imagine the Chief's face when we come back with a gigantic generator that has no application?"

"Snotlout, sass does not suit you," Hiccup deadpanned which caused the twins and even Fishlegs to snigger. "What I meant was why is this place still here?"

"Fishlegs, was this place even on the old maps?" Hiccup asked as he turned to the husky blond. Fishlegs, not expecting to be consulted, startled at first before rattling off several statistics. "21st Century maps have no dam plotted at this location, neither do 22nd century maps. The map data from the second half of the 23rd century is sketchy as best because of the 'Starfall'." Fishlegs explained and Hiccup nodded. 'Starfall' was one of the most memorable events in human history. After the Genesis ships took off, leaving the Earth without many specialists, the satellite orbits around the planet started to decay. By that century there were so many satellites orbiting the Earth that it seemed like the planet had three metal rings. With no one monitoring the man-made objects they collided with each other and their orbits began to decay causing them to start crashing back towards Earth. Many of the satellites burned up in the atmosphere but the bigger ones, like the old Space stations, impacted not only the oceans but also the continents, killing hundreds of thousands. Therefore there existed no known satellite map data from the 24th and 25th centuries.

"So we have a working facility that is not on any known map. Pique your interests yet? There's more. What I want to show you guys is further inside." Hiccup said now that he had everyone's attention.

"Wait.... You guys are actually following him?" Snotlout sputtered. "What about getting home before the Chief blows a gasket?!"

"Snotlout aren't you at least a little curious?" Ruffnut asked with a raised brow.

"Yeah man, it's not every day we stumble onto something this big." Tuffnut added.

"And from the construction to the Generator configuration this facility seems to be early 22nd century." Fishlegs rambled. "I'm curious as to why anyone would want to hide this."

"You guys.... You guys....." Snotlout sputtered.

"You know you can just stay right where you are Snot." Hiccup called out. Snotlout huffed but followed along a few paces behind. There was no way he was staying alone in a spooky generator room filled with Thor-knows-what. Hiccup led the group towards a control room on the second storey and pointed towards the computer monitors what were emanating light. "Those were already on when I got here." Hiccup explained as Fishlegs quickly made his way to one of the monitors to check the data while the others looked around.

"Hiccup these generators........." Fishlegs paused as he quickly went over the data again. "They are operating at 100% capacity."

"I know, freaky right." Hiccup said. Then Snotlout interrupted with "What's so freaky about that?"

"Well... this place for one is abandoned, yet the spillways are working." Hiccup stated calmly. "Furthermore, the generators are working at 100% capacity even after all these years." He then turned to Fish to ask "What was another cause for the dams failing in the past?"

"Well excluding the closed spillways and exceeding pressure on the dam walls, there were instances of a Quagga mussel invasion."

"A what now?!" Snotlout asked looking more confused by the second.

"Quagga mussel, also called Dreissena rostriformis bugensis. It's a freshwater mussel that was primarily native to the Ukraine but later spread across the world. It's a very invasive species that would, if left unchecked, clog stainless steel pipes, especially cooling pipes systems from hydroelectric dams. There is no way a dam can function at optimal capacity then." Fishlegs rattled off. "This is a very strange situation."

"And Fish, I checked where the electricity and water is going to." Hiccup said. "The electricity and some of the water is being diverted to somewhere down below."

"Down?" The twins asked perplexed while looking at the ground as if in confirmation.

"Yes down." Hiccup said. "Something else is under this dam. According to one of the schematics there is something called WTRTRMT. I think it may be the code for an underground water treatment facility."

"Hiccup, if some is being diverted to a water treatment facility then......"

'Yeah Fish, I think that there are other humans besides us in this area." Hiccup concluded.

"So what now?" Snotlout asked with arms crossed. "It's not like we can go looking for these people."

"Well it certainly ain't raiders." Tuffnut remarked. "We'd already be dead by now."

"Whoever this is, they have a lot of tech. There may even be some here to help out the caravan." Hiccup suggested and then added "Snot don't give me that look." His eyes narrowed. "I've overheard a lot. I know our water supply is running out."

"Hiccup think clearly!" Snotlout said.

"I am," Hiccup retorted. "Look, the caravan's water supply is almost empty. We'd be dead once that happens. This place probably has a water treatment plant." Hiccup reasoned. "If we can even strike a deal to get water or more supplies."

"Hiccup your father won't like it," Snotlout reasoned.

"Screw dad!" Hiccup shouted. "He's keeping the caravan together yes, but so far what other solution is there to our supplies. We left a portion of it behind when fleeing the raiders!" He gestured. "Whoever is..... controlling this place. They may have clean water. You know as well as I do that surface water is undrinkable now, not without processing. With all the contaminants from the plastic and other waste the humans dumped in the past.... Is that such a surprise?"

"At this point..... What other choice do we have?" Hiccup reasoned.

Snotlout thought for a moment and then let out a sigh before saying. "Alright, we'll try to find these people." The group cheered but then Snotlout added "But if it gets too dangerous I am pulling the plug."

"Thanks Snot," Hiccup said.

"Don't thank me yet." Snotlout mumbled as Fishlegs started delving further into the program.

The group walked further into the facility after Fishlegs had found the blueprints for the place in the database. Those blueprints however didn't show that there was anything under the dam. The only thing suspicious was a reinforced bulkhead door at the end of the generator room that was supposedly bolted into the wall attached to the dam. The door certainly wasn't to let the water in.

When the gang reached it the bulkhead door looked to be in fairly good condition. The twins immediately started examining it. Ruffnut knocked against it and muttered "Watertight, double reinforced. Getting this open shouldn't be a problem."

To say Hiccup was amazed by the twins' skills at getting high security doors open would be an understatement. He made a mental note to never offend them or not even a reinforced panic room would stop them. It took the twins about twenty minutes with the tools lying around the facility to come up with a plan to pry the door open. Tuffnut held the makeshift blowtorch away from the locking mechanism triumphantly as the bulkhead was yanked open by his sister. Inside the group could see a concrete staircase going down.

"What do you think is down there?" Fishlegs asked as he wasn't sure people could live underground in such cold and damp conditions.

"Only one way to find out." Hiccup said as he shone his solar-powered flashlight into the abyss.