Neither Tommy, Maggie, nor Antonio could believe what they saw. They were so shocked that they accidentally let out a unified gasp. All three instinctively covered their mouths and turned back away from the doorway to avoid being spotted. However, the girl knew she had heard the sound pretty clear.

“Hey, who's there?” She asked. She gently scratched her chin, wondering what to say to give away their hiding position. “Are you the ones who brought this gem here?”

“Um, no,” Tommy replied, “It came on its accord—” Maggie stopped him from finishing the sentence by smacking him across the head. “Ow! What was that for?”

“Why are you giving up our position?” Maggie hissed.

“But I thought—”

“Don’t bother; I already know you’re there.” The female interrupted, “So come on out. Unless you don’t care enough about the gem—”

“Hey, I care, and that was mine, to begin with!” Maggie came out and pointed at the girl.

“Oh?” The female in the ponytail raised an eyebrow. “Sorry to say for you, but this is mine and—”

“No way, another human like us? That’s unbelievable!” Antonio walked over towards the two. He adjusted his glasses and scanned the new female. “So, how did you get here?”

“Who is this? Calling me something like ‘human’?” The woman inquired, taking a step back.

“Uh, you’re taking offense to that?” Tommy questioned, getting out of his hiding spot. “You make it as though you’re not...”

“Man, you guys sure are dumb.” The red-haired lady scoffed. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Amy, and you can say that I’m an alien of sorts, or whatever you humans call it...”

“That’s so cool!” Antonio exclaimed.

“That’s so nonsensical!” Maggie retorted.

“Now, that’s not my real name,” Amy mentioned. “But that is one hundred percent classified information.”

But the alien part isn’t? Tommy thought, eyeing the area and sensing the tension in the room.

“I think I’d like Amy as a better option, regardless.” Antonio laughed nervously.

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“As you can see, I’m responsible for collecting these gems here,” Amy explained.

“But why?” Maggie asked.

“Will you let me finish?” Amy retorted.

“Ok, sheesh.” Maggie crossed her arms and turned around in a huff. Who does this chick think she is?!

“As I was saying, this pad is what I use to locate my missing colored gems. Sadly, I've made little progress. All I keep getting are mysterious portals that lead to columns of the sort, but I don’t know what it means or what to do with them.”

Antonio tried to pull the glued gem out, but he couldn't get it out, no matter how hard he tried.

How did it get off its pedestal in the first place?

“Do you think it has a connection with the gems there?” Tommy asked, pointing at the gemstone buttons on the control pad.

Amy thought about what Tommy said before replying. “You know, you’re not as dumb as you look.”

Tommy took offense at that as his mouth gaped open. “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Hey, Amy? What about the missing slots that have no gems inside?” Antonio inquired and pointed.

“Good eye, you’re correct to notice that my board is incomplete,” Amy replied, throwing her hands over them with gusto.

“Well, duh, anybody could see that.” Maggie retorted, rolling his eyes.

Amy squinted her eyes and scowled at her before continuing. “I need to find all of my things, bring them back, and assemble them right here. Once I do just that, I can fully make a portal and return to my planet.”

“Could you make one for us as well?” Antonio asked.

“Yeah, we also would like to go home,” Tommy added.

“Um, yeah, sure thing.” Amy nodded hesitantly.

“We can go back with the others? All right!” Antonio cheered, then paused. “Do you think we should tell those other guys about it, too? I’m sure they’d love to go back—”

“No way.” Maggie detested. “Those scientists are crazy, remember?”

“Yea, but they’re also—”

“Stop taking pity on them!”

“I didn’t say that I—”

Taking advantage of the two arguing, Amy turned her attention to Tommy to offer a proposal. “So, what do you say? If you guys help me out and collect the gems for me, I’ll make you that portal, which will take you back to your planet before I use it on myself to go back to my planet.”

“Well, I don’t know. What do you think?” Tommy asked Mandy.

To his surprise, he found that Antonio’s laptop had lost connection again, and the screen was nothing but static.

“You went through my shield, and not to mention, the gem chose you guys,” Amy continued, walking towards him and placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's up to you, but I wouldn't let go of this opportunity to kill two birds with one stone."

Tommy ended up getting stuck, having to decide himself as a lump rested in his throat. Tommy took a deep breath and exhaled for a quick moment before deciding.

“All right, we’ll do it.”

Maggie and Antonio stopped bickering and gasped in shock.

“Tommy, are you crazy?” Maggie asked.

“Then it’s a deal!” Amy grabbed his hand and shook it. “Amaze, thank you so much!” She clasped her hands in excitement.

“You’re welcome,” Antonio replied. “But where do we start from here? How do we find our first gem?”

“Man, you ask a lot of questions,” Amy murmured.

“Of course,” Antonio stood tall and proud, with his hands on his hips.

“Hey, why not go through this portal?” Tommy pointed at the portal Amy made, which comprised a mix of aqua and yellow-orange light. “It looks like you can go through it—”

“And you can!” Amy exclaimed, and shoved the trio through the portal. “Good luck, you guys!” She yelled out before closing it up behind them.