Well now. Fry and Leela have been freed from that dungeon, but there are a lot of questions to still be answered.

Chapter 5: In Between

Fry and Leela followed Ben and Melinda into the elevator. Once inside, Ben pressed the button for the sixth floor. As usual, the elevator zoomed up so fast that Fry and Leela couldn't see what was on each floor.

Just as the elevator passed the fifth floor, Ben placed his finger above the elevator buttons and pressed. His finger hit a camouflaged button, and the elevator stopped between floors with a screech.

The lights in the elevator flickered, then went dark.

"What happened?" Fry panicked. "Is this Limbo?"

"No, Fry. We're between the fifth and sixth floors," Ben explained. He bent the elevator door open. Thumping noises and screams could be heard from both above and below the secret floor.

A few meager fires scattered light and shadows across the room.

"This is where all the humans are."

Fry and Leela gasped. There were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of human slaves crammed in the space between floors. There was no real furniture, and the humans were all wearing what looked like burlap sack tunics.

The human slaves stared with wide eyes at the group. As they picked their way through them, Leela noticed a few mutants in the masses of slaves.

Fry stopped in front of an enslaved couple sitting on a thin mat and holding a tiny baby. The father looked a little like a male Amy, only with three eyes and Kif's skin color. The mother was obviously a mutant. She looked like Vyloet, except with one eye and an arm where her left ear. Their child had four eyes. The infant also had skin that was the mother's color but as smooth as the father's. Three teensy feet peeked out of the baby's tunic.

Fry crouched down to get a better look at the baby. "Cute kid," he said. "What's his or her name?"

The family looked at Fry, alarmed. They didn't say a word, and just scooted away slowly.

Fry looked at Leela, Ben and Melinda. "Was it something I said?"

Melinda cracked a smile. Ben frowned at her and replied "Only robots can talk, Fry. When my father took control, all the slaves had their tongues cut out. The same thing happened with each generation. Eventually, slaves started being born without tongues."

Fry wrinkled his nose. "Gross."

The group continued tiptoeing through the throng of slaves. Leela began to get impatient. "What are we doing here, anyway?" she finally snapped.

Fry and Ben were taking the lead. They were so busy exchanging stories about Bender that they didn't hear Leela. Melinda, on the other hand, was walking right next to Leela.

"I know it's a frustrating walk, Leela, but you have to trust Ben," said Melinda. She blushed purple. "Believe me, I've been with him since he started this rebellion."

Leela looked at Melinda. "Are you two dating?"

"What?" Melinda yelped. "No, no!" She blushed harder. "Is it that obvious that I want to?"

Leela snorted. "You're like Fry before we started dating… except Fry was more out loud and proud about being in love with me."

Melinda let out a squeaky giggle. "I want to tell him how I feel. But what does it matter? If we go through with this plan, I may never exist…"

Leela filed Melinda's words into her memory. Better to ask Ben about his plan later. "If you think you will cease to exist," Leela said slowly. "Then it's even more important to tell Ben that you love him. I learned that lesson the hard way. When I finally confessed my feelings to Fry, I thought I was going to be obliterated in a black hole."

Melinda nodded slowly. "Maybe you're right, Leela."

A loud scream from the floor above pierced the air. Leela winced. "What's with all the noise?"

"The floor below is where the Donbot and the Robot Mafia stays when in town. And the floor above is where the new-and-improved Robot Hell is," Melinda explained. "Together they make a lot of noise."

Their group had reached the end of the room. A bunch of silhouetted figures stood there, their backs against the wall.

"The noise makes this the only place where we can't be overheard."

Ben smiled proudly at Fry and Leela. "I am honored and humbled to introduce you to… the rebellion." At those words, a fire lit up, revealing a group of saluting robots.

Leela was not impressed.