“We are still here.”

Ever since Artifactron picked up that message, Buzzadont hadn’t been able to get it out of his head. It hovered somewhere between his left ear and wing.

He tried everything to shake it off.

Held a solo Zroop-bean marathon.

Played “chase the shadows.”

Even pretended to keep a journal.

None of it worked.

“Zroop… I wasn’t made for passive waiting,” he muttered at last. “If someone’s calling — then it’s time to go.”

“You weren’t made for morning stretches either,” grumbled Artifactron.

“But I was made for adventure. So let’s go!”

Buzzlet spun through the air:

“Just… not another upside-down world, please? I still feel like I’m walking on the ceiling.”

The portal stayed silent.

Artifactron entered the coordinates, but nothing activated.

“Zroop?” Buzzadont frowned. “Is it broken?”

“No. It’s waiting… for synchronization.”

A pause.

The air shifted slightly — like something outside just winked at them.

Then—flash.

First, soft. Almost friendly. As if the structure of the universe itself whispered, “Go ahead. We’ve got you.”

Then came a second pulse. Sharper. Quicker. Like a beam of light falling from above, landing exactly where it needed to.

“System synchronized,” Artifactron announced. “Transition now possible.”

Buzzadont squinted. “What was that?”

Artifactron paused.

“Legacy modules… and a spark from the sky.”

Buzzlet buzzed:

“Zroop! Someone sees us!”

Buzzadont smiled.

“Maybe. Or maybe it was just Forma doing what Forma does — structuring the unknown.”

A pause. Then he added:

“And Highlight… well, sometimes light just knows when to show up.”

Buzzlet squeaked:

“Wait, those are names?”

“Or metaphors,” Artifactron replied. “Depends on how poetic you’re feeling today.”

Buzzlet buzzed with joy:

“Aha! Someone sees us!”

“Maybe,” Buzzadont smirked. “Or maybe someone just turned on a flashlight so we wouldn’t feel alone in the dark.”

He was already stepping toward the portal when Buzzlet asked:

“What about… the ones who were with us from the start?”

He paused.

“They were the first to thaw the ice.

And some of them are still with us — just moving at their own pace.”

“Zroop,” he said. “Time to go.”

And with that, he stepped into the portal.

What lay ahead was what had been waiting all along.

The story of the Zroopers was finally beginning.