The camp was once again quiet, the sun sinking low on the horizon and casting long shadows over the empty workspace. Storm stood at the edge of the camp, her eyes gleaming with mischief. She had been thinking about that diagram all day, the one showing the bunker door and its possible weak points. Sure, Depart had warned her off, but her curiosity was eating at her. There had to be something they were missing, something she could figure out. And with the scientists gone for the evening, this was her chance to take another look. "You're not seriously going back in there, are you?" Snap’s voice came from behind her, his tone dripping with concern. He had followed her despite his earlier protests, though he kept a safe distance as if his mere presence in Storm’s orbit would somehow get him into trouble. It often did, in his defence. "Relax," Storm whispered back, glancing over her shoulder with a grin. "No one's here. Everyone's already gone home for the night. We’ll be in and out before anyone notices." Snap groaned, rubbing his temples. "That’s what you said last time." "Yeah, and we didn’t get into any real trouble," Storm

shot back. "Besides, I want to take another look at that diagram. It’s been bugging me all day." Storm didn't wait for an answer, sneaking forward with a surprising ease. Snap lingered for a moment, weighing his options before reluctantly following her. Someone had to try and keep her out of trouble, after all. By the time he reached the door, Storm had already slipped inside, her dark fur blending into the shadows. The room looked much the same as it had earlier cluttered with papers and tools, the diagrams of the bunker still spread across one of the main tables. Storm moved quickly, her eyes scanning the documents as she sifted through them, looking for the diagram she had seen before. Snap, standing by the door, shifted nervously, glancing outside every few seconds as if expecting someone to catch them like last time. "Storm, can we please just " Snap stopped mid-sentence, his ears perking up. He wasn’t the only one. Storm froze, too, turning her head toward the back of the workspace, where a faint shuffling sound had just broken the silence. "What was that?" Snap whispered, his voice barely audible. Storm narrowed her eyes, creeping toward the

source of the noise. Snap was always surprised at how easily Storm moved trough the shadows. It was almost scary. As she rounded the corner of a shelving unit, her eyes widened in surprise. Standing there, hunched over a set of notes, was another whelp. She had soft, brown fur, and her eyes flicked up to meet Storm’s as soon as she noticed the black whelp approach. It was Spring, one of the more reserved whelps from the colony, though Storm had never expected to find her here, especially at this hour. "Spring?" Storm blurted out, her surprise evident in her voice. Spring blinked, her expression calm despite being caught. "Storm? What are you doing here?" she asked, her tone far more composed than Storm’s but still filled with a hint of confusion. Snap peeked around the corner, his face a mixture of confusion and relief. "Oh, thank the stars, it’s just you Spring." Storm quickly regained her composure, tilting her head curiously. "I could ask you the same thing. What are you doing here?" Spring straightened up, holding a small stack of notes. They seemed far less complex than the ones spread out over the other tables. "I’ve been

helping the researchers. They let me assist with the bunker investigation. I like solving puzzles, so they’ve been letting me look through their notes for patterns." Storm’s eyes widened. "Wait, they let you help? They wouldn’t even let us in here earlier!" Spring shrugged. "You technically didn't ask. Besides, I actually know a bit about what they’re doing." In all honesty it made sense. Spring, who was older than both Snap and Storm, had been made an assistant to one of the researchers, Bilo'bjorn, and had been working alongside him for some time now. Storm narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms. "So you’ve been working on this all day, huh?" "Pretty much," Spring replied, unfazed. "The researchers think the door is sealed with some kind of mechanism that they don’t fully understand yet. They’ve been focusing on cracking the code." Storm huffed, pacing in small circles around the table. "Cracking the code, huh? And you’ve just been sitting here, all day, pouring over their notes?" Spring nodded, her calm demeanour unshaken by Storm’s energy. "Yes. It’s slow work, but I enjoy it. They’ve been stuck for a while, though." Storm grinned, her excitement returning. "Well, I’m not giving up yet.

There’s _got_ to be something they’re missing. Maybe fresh eyes can help." Spring raised an eyebrow. "You want to help? You don’t exactly have a great track record with the researchers." "Hey!" Storm protested, waving a hand. "That was _one_ time. And besides, I’m good with puzzles too. I just need a chance." Snap winced, remembering the last time Storm had "helped" with this project. But he kept his thoughts to himself, not wanting to dampen her enthusiasm. Spring, however, seemed more thoughtful. "Alright, I guess, if you’re serious, I’ll show you what we’ve got so far. But you can’t mess with anything. Everyone was quite annoyed with you messing with things last time " Storm’s grin widened. "Deal. We won’t touch a thing."