Rip hummed softly as she looked trough Spring's reports. The whelp had been doing surprisingly well. The whelp hadn't really made any breakthroughs, but her insights were incredibly useful nonetheless. In fact, Rip found herself impressed by the way Spring had pieced together subtle clues that had confused some of the more seasoned researchers. Her sharp eyes scanned the detailed notes and diagrams one more time and as she did, she heard a small knock on the door, followed by Spring peeking into the messy room.

"Come in, Spring," Rip said, gesturing for the whelp to enter. "I was just looking over your latest report." She set down the notes as she spoke. They almost dissapeared in the mess, reminding Rip to clean up sometime soon.

Spring stepped inside, her posture tense but controlled. "I hope it was helpful. I know I haven’t made any major breakthroughs yet, but-"

"You’ve done more than enough," Rip interrupted gently, offering her a reassuring smile. "Your insights have been incredibly useful, especially this part about the symbols." She tapped the page again, drawing Spring’s attention to it. "I think you might be onto something here."

Spring’s ears perked up, a hint of pride flashing in her eyes. "Really? I’ve been trying to figure out if the symbols are part of a code, but I couldn’t find a direct translation."

Rip nodded. "That’s what I was thinking too. There’s a pattern to them, but it’s subtle. It might not be a traditional code- but you mentioned here that with the pattern of text, it could likely be a language of sorts."

Spring’s eyes widened. "You think the symbols could lead to us unlocking the door?"

"It’s possible," Rip said thoughtfully. "We’ve been focusing on the keypad, assuming that was the only way in, but maybe these symbols are a secondary system."

Spring’s brow furrowed in concentration. "If that’s the case, then maybe we should focus translating those symbols..."

"Exactly," Rip agreed, feeling a spark of excitement. "We’ll need to run some tests, but I think we might be closer to a breakthrough than we thought."

Spring’s face lit up with a rare smile, her nerves quickly replaced. "I’ll get started on that right away. Maybe I can match some of the inscriptions to each other, and then try to figure out the patterns from there. I'm sure Bilo'bjorn will be able to help me!"

Rip smiled at her, nodding. "I'm sure he'd be more than happy to help. I myself was thinking maybe the inscriptions are some sort of manual- a note left to future generations, so to speak. Maybe if we translate it we can figure out what it says, exactly." Spring seemed a little confused at this, so Rip reassured her "It's nothing for you to worry about, of course. We'll figure it out together."

Rip smiled, watching the whelp leave with a wide smile on her face. As the door closed behind her, falling back into it's locks with a heavy thud, Rip leaned back once more, her thoughts buzzing with the possibilities. It wasn’t a breakthrough yet, but it was, at the very least, a step in the right direction. And maybe that was all they really needed.