The Fourth Button

Ms Pencil Caribou floated one inch above the Skywalk Hall floor, cape brushing her boots. The glass walls showed Tundra Metropolis blinking awake—hover-buses, snow-sweep drones, and the four pencil towers of the lodge pointing at the pale sky.

She landed and tapped her phone. The lodge app flashed: AURORA FESTIVAL THIS WEEK. Volunteers needed. No pranks.

“Good luck with that,” she muttered. Her giant pencil leaned against a bench like it was pretending to be normal.

A door whooshed open.

“Ms Pencil Caribou!” A small human girl hurried in, cheeks red from running. “I’m Juno. Someone spilled vanishing ink in the lobby. It keeps… eating the signs.”

Ms Pencil Caribou’s ears tilted forward. “Vanishing ink?”

“And people are saying a substitute hero is arriving today!” Juno blurted. “Like you called for help!”

“I did not.” Ms Pencil Caribou stepped into the hall’s shadow, fingers tightening inside yellow gloves.

Downstairs, a crowd cheered at something Ms Pencil Caribou could not see

Wet Footprints

Ms Pencil Caribou and Juno squeezed into a glass hover-lift. The floor dropped away, and the lodge lobby rushed up—bright kiosks, snack bots, and a half-built festival stage.

A puddle spread across the tiles like spilled soda, except it ate color. A poster that said AURORA FESTIVAL turned blank as the puddle touched it.

“Vanishing ink,” Juno said, hugging her orange jacket. “It splashes!”

A moose-shaped bellhop skidded by, and his name tag disappeared right off his vest.

Ms Pencil Caribou pulled her silver mask tight. “Stay by the wall.”

She flicked her yellow-gloved finger. Her body vanished. Only her silver cape winked out a second later.

Juno’s mouth fell open. “Oh no. Now they’ll think—”

A hummingbird-shaped security drone zipped over the puddle. “Attention! Substitute Hero on scene!” it chirped.

People cheered and crowded in. Someone bumped a luggage cart. It rolled, hit the puddle, and began spraying invisible splats toward the stage lights.

Ms Pencil Caribou sprinted after it, boots slapping the wet tile