Chapter 8

"Welcome to Arcadia," Rang through the large dome-like room. The female voice appeared to be everywhere. The gang looked around in shock, hoping to spot speakers or any other device that could transmit the sounds. There certainly wasn't a human with them right now.

"Ghosts! It has to be ghosts!" Snotlout shouted as he frantically looked around. They heard a feminine chuckle before the woman spoke again "Please wait here, someone will be with you in a moment."

"Guys don't you think that this place is a bit hinky?" Fishlegs asked.

"Fish, we are in a tropical rainforest, inside a mountain, in the desert!" Ruffnut summarized. "Hinky is an understatement."

"Who cares about that," Snotlout said as the short man walked towards what looked like a creek. "They have water here. I can finally wash this stink off of me!"

"I would highly advise against that course of action," The female voice interrupted in a somewhat monotone manner causing Snotlout who was toeing off his boots to yelp.

"Why is that?" Hiccup asked as everyone looked around.

"The water flowing through this biodome is untreated as of yet," The voice answered clinically. "It comes straight from the reservoir and contains contaminants that could cause diarrhea, vomiting, severe skin rashes, neurological disorders and cancer."

"So this water is flowing towards the room we just came out of?" Hiccup asked as something got his attention. "Where does all that water go next?"

"The clean water is distributed throughout the entire facility." The voice stated.

'Facility' Hiccup mouthed towards the others.

"What exactly is Arcadia?" Fishlegs asked.

"Arcadia is our pride and joy," A male voice interrupted. The gang turned to see two camouflaged double doors open to reveal three people in lab coats.

"It is such a surprise to have visitors here," A portly man with greying blond hair stated. "With the state of the world and all right now. I am Dr. Hank Hofferson. May I introduce my lovely wife Dr. Mary Hofferson." The woman with greying brown hair that was pulled in a bun nodded at them. "And our colleague Dr. Drago Bludvist." That man had long dreadlocks hanging over his lab coat and only gave the group a gruff "Hello".

"Hiccup I think they are scientists. Actual scientists!" Fishlegs, visibly excited, came to stand next to Hiccup and whispered.

When Hiccup saw that the three were waiting for their introduction he quickly said "I'm Hiccup, this is my cousin Snotlout, the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut and Fishlegs. We're from a Caravan not too far from here."

"Would that be this caravan?" Mrs. Hofferson asked as she pushed something on the slim tablet she was carrying. She turned it around and the gang could see footage from outside. It showed the Berkian vehicles approaching the entrance to the dam.

Hiccup's eyes widened and then he whispered "Oh Thor, I'm dead meat!"

"How did they even find us?!" Snotlout shouted.

"Uhm......" Ruffnut mumbled. "We.... uhm..... Might have told Gobber."

"YOU WHAT!" The group exclaimed.

"He wouldn't give us the tracker unless we told him." Ruffnut shrugged.

"He also did mention that he was going to have to tell the Chief if we were gone for more than three hours." Tuffnut muttered.

"I'm dead, I'm dead. I'm so dead!" Hiccup shrieked. "Dad's never gonna let me leave the bus! He might even tie me to Mildew!"

"Well if they are your people then why don't we invite them inside." Hank suggested. "We have been monitoring your little group and the caravan since you've arrived. We wanted to make sure you were friendlies before we revealed ourselves."

"I know one person who is gonna be anything but friendly," Hiccup mumbled.

"Honey, that caravan is passing the hidden loading docks on the plateau. We can have them enter the facility from there." Mary suggested.

"Great idea honey. Dock 2B should be empty. We can give everyone an explanation of what we do here then." Hank said as he indicated for the gang to follow him. The three scientists walked out of the biodome and through long brightly lit hallways towards their destinations. The group looked at their surroundings. The hallways that they passed all had closed bulkhead doors and Hiccup wondered how big this place was. When they finally approached the loading docks they could hear some commotion happening in there. Drago who had been quiet and glowering at everyone could be heard muttering "What now?"

Inside of the loading docks was a mess. The Berkians were armed and their weapons trained on those that entered. When they saw that it was the teens they put them down, yet they were still wary of the three unknown people.

"Just what happened here?" Fishlegs asked while the twins groaned "We missed all the fun!"

In the middle of the armed group of Berkians lay Stoick facedown and spasming. Gobber was near him but the man had no clue what to do.

"Gobber I can't feel mah limbs!" Stoick's voice carried.

"Stoick how many times do I have to tell ya. I'm a mechanic, not a doctor!" Gobber shot back.

"The red-bearded gentleman showed increased signs of stress, and violent tendencies when your people entered." The female voice answered Fishlegs but her voice could clearly be heard all over the room. The Berkians in the caravan looked around for the source as well but could not find any. "When I greeted our new guest he shouted several obscenities and threats at myself. I chose to nip the problem in the butt as you humans would say." After explaining a holographic screen popped up in front of the teens showing them how Stoick got tazed. "He should be getting feeling back in his body within five minutes."

"Our A.I. can be a tad........ Forward," Mary laughed.

"A.I.?" Hiccup asked.

"Oh yes, this place is maintained by an A.I., one of the most advanced artificial intelligence computers we ever accomplished building. We should really explain things properly." Hank stated.

True to her word, Stoick regained use of his limbs within a few minutes. He stood up and was about to say something, probably something rude, Hiccup realized when the A.I. cut him off with a "Sir, I hope you will not repeat the same mistake with me. I am a lady of culture." The teens had to laugh as Stoick sputtered. Their laughter however caused the Chief's ire to turn on the teens.

"You five!" Stoick bellowed.

"Uh... oh..." Hiccup gulped as his father's eyes zeroed in on him.

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the 3rd!" Stoick shouted. "What have you done?! I told you specifically to stay in the camp!" Stoick, red in the face with anger, was marching towards Hiccup. Hiccup cringed but something happened that he never thought would happen. "Chief, Hiccup didn't do anything. It was all on me!" Snotlout suddenly shouted causing Stoick to turn his head sharply.

"What?!" Stoick's eyebrows shot up. "And what is that smell?!"

"I....uh..... I wanted to go exploring and decided to drag Hiccup and the others with me." Snotlout explained. "All Hiccup is guilty of is finding clean water for the caravan. Lots of clean water."

"You?" Stoick's red bushy eyebrows shot up in disbelief. Hiccup and the other teens were gaping at him as well.

"Yeah.... Yeah... it was all me. Hiccup isn't to blame." Snotlout nearly stuttered at the look the Chief gave him.

"Very well. We shall talk about this later, Snotlout," Stoick muttered as he then asked "What is this place?"

"Maybe we can talk someplace more comfortable?" Hank suggested as the Chief's gaze turned towards the three unknown scientists. He nodded and the Berkians followed after their leader leaving the teens to take up the rear.

"Snotlout, why did you do that?" Hiccup asked his cousin in a whisper.

"Look, I don't like you or anything," Snotlout started "But you did find this place and probably saved us all from dehydration." Snotlout wasn't looking at Hiccup but instead straight forward. "Let's just say I owed you one."

"Wow" Ruffnut said as she overheard them and clapped Snotlout on the shoulder. "You've impressed me Snot."

Snotlout actually blushed and diverted his head.

"You still need a bath though," Ruffnut added as she scrunched up her nose while wiping off her hand.

AN: Next update will be on Friday