The Listening Station
As you are probably well aware, the Lego Theme we know as Ninjago is comprised of 16 Realms. Nine of the Realms are known:
1. The Realm of Oni and Dragons;
2. Ninjago;
3. The Underworld;
4. The Realm of Madness;
5. Cloud Kingdom;
6. The Cursed Realm;
7. Djinjago;
8. Chima;
9. The Departed Realm.
There are quite a few ways to travel from Realm to Realm; many of these passages have been destroyed. Some passages then came back into being, and were then destroyed a second, or even a third time. Ninjago is that kind of Lego Theme.
Speaking of being destroyed, 2 of the Realms have met that fate. They are : The Cursed Realm ( aptly named); and, the sister realm of The Cursed Realm, which is named Djinjago. Also, 7 realms have yet to have been discovered ( or at least mentioned, up til now).
It should again be noted that what we call Ninjago is actually just one of the 16 Realms. No more, no less.
Our Story begins at a certain location in the Realm of Ninjago. This place is called the Sea of Sand. The Sea of Sand is a barren waste. It used to be The Endless Sea. After that sea dried up, Destiny’s Bounty became buried under sand, until it was found by Zane’s Falcon.
The Sea of Sand is also the home of Torchfire Mountain, one of Ninjago’s two active volcanos. Beneath the Sea of Sand laid the Lost City of Ouroboros. Under that city, the Great Devourer once rested. Not far away, still in the Sea of Sand, one will find Ed&Edna’s Scrap N Junk. That junkyard is home to Jay’s adoptive parents, Ed and Edna Walker.
So it was only fitting that this sandy hub of Ninjago activity become the location for a complex complex of sophisticated listening stations. The purpose of this Cyrus Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment, or CHIME, was to detect powerful, bright radio signals from one of the seven unknown realms, or, perhaps, even from a 17th undiscovered Realm. These fast radio bursts, or FRB’s, come from so far away that Ninjagoese scientists admit that they don’t know what causes them. One theory was that it was caused by Garmadon screeching four hands’ full of fingernails across some kind of Cosmic Blackboard, or CB.
Speaking of CB’s, it was Cyrus Borg Industries’ innovative dragon wing technology which was designed to pierce the dead space between portals. The geniuses over at Borg Industries managed to replicate dragon wings by examining molted wings found in the Spirit Coves. It was known already that dragons could travel back and forth from Ninjago to the Underworld. Synthesized wings were hoped to at least receive messages from other Realms as well. This technology originated in the so-called lost notebooks of Dr. Julien, which were found in the lonely lighthouse where he spent his exile at the hands of Samukai. Apparently the notebooks were hidden away in a tea table, kept safe there by Dr. Julien’s cute little robot servant.
So I hope that’s enough background for you, because it’s all you’re getting. Now, on with the story!
The first signal, or FRB, got through to the Red Listening Station. Unfortunately, there was a busy signal. The LOD ( Listener On Duty) was Prankzy from Emma’s Art Cafe’. He had failed to Re-charge his Station after running down the battery listening to his Wait, Wait, Don’t Build Me podcast. By the way, that podcast is hosted by Poppy from the Poppy’s Pod Set.
Two weeks later, the second FRB was successfully received at the Blue Listening Station. However, the Listener, a disgruntled Rex Dangervest, hung up, because caller ID gave the name of the caller as, “ United States of America”. Everybody knows those are bogus calls meant to suck the life out of, first, your technology, and, then, your bank account.
After these two Failures to Listen, Prankzy and Rex were both let go. I mean, they were literally dropped by Herbert Runagates, age 4. Prankzy landed under the dining room chair. Rex hit the chair leg and unpredictably bounced right under the base of the dining room table. Little Herbert was sent to fetch him, because Herbert has bendable four year old knees. Herbert complied. While he was down there, Herbert found the parrot from Steamboat Willie. For this feat, Herbert was allowed to choose who would man the Golden Station. His choice was deliberate, and inexplicable: Sandman, from Spider-Man’s Spider Crawler Set. Well, I guess it was somewhat explicable, because of all of that sand in the Sea of Sand. Ol’ Sandy felt right at home, there.
End of Part One.
