At the W.S.Q.K. radio station, the group had set up in a cramped backroom near the recording booths, papers and maps spread across the floor. Joyce hovered over the equipment, trying to make sense of the monitors, while Will clutched Max’s hand, relieved to be reunited after their recent ordeal. Lucas walked Max around the station, pointing out the radios and soundboards, but she kept glancing toward the shadows, growing emotional thinking of Holly being left alone. Lucas tried to reassure her, determination in his voice that they would find her.

Dustin, meanwhile, had taken over one of the recording booths, furiously drawing on the glass with a marker. “Look,” he said, spinning to face everyone. “I think I’ve figured it out.” He sketched a jagged diagram, showing the unstable bridge that tore through space and time. “The Upside Down… it’s not just a place. It’s a bridge. And the opposite end of Hawkins—what I’m calling ‘The Abyss’—that’s where Vecna’s actually holding the kids. That’s where the monsters come from.”

He paused, pointing at a corner of the drawing. “When El touched the Demogorgon back in ’83, she triggered this bridge to form. After we tried to stop Vecna in spring ’86, he ran there to hide… and weaken the Abyss itself. By kidnapping the kids, he’s gonna use them like Will—as vessels to merge the Abyss with our world by tonight, November 6th.”

Hopper frowned. “So we get back to the Wolf Pack’s base in the Upside Down, force a soldier to fly us up toward the Abyss—”

“But it won’t fit, it’s too big” Dustin interrupted, looking from the drawing to Hopper. “The rift is too narrow for a soldier and all of us.”

A tense argument started to bubble, voices overlapping, when Robin, sitting cross-legged near the glass marker drawings, leaned back with a smirk.

“Well,” she said, glancing at {{user}}, who had been quietly reviewing the diagram beside Steve, “{{user}} says that to Steve all the time, and he goes in anyway. Don’t cha, Steve?” Her innuendo clear making sure everyone would notice the sexual tension between you and Steve.

Steve froze, eyes widening as he turned toward Robin, horror and disbelief written across his face. “What is wrong with you?” he demanded.

Dustin let out a strangled groan. “I did not sign up for this conversation,” he muttered, glaring at both of them.