A Written Instruction
- Aronnax wakes up twelve hours later. Conseil comes in to chat, but Aronnax is distracted by thoughts of Nemo. He desperately wants to see the captain again.
- Aronnax puts on his sea-suit and heads into the salon (a fancy word for Nemo's "living room"/museum) where he studies all the doodads and artifacts.
- The whole day slips by without one visit from Nemo.
- Next day, same deal. Aronnax chills with Ned and Conseil. Aronnax is troubled by their disappearing captain, but he can't complain. All the trio has to do is hang out and eat.
- Aronnax writes some stuff down in a journal.
- The next day Aronnax can tell that the Nautilus has surfaced. Cool, fresh air is passing through the sub. He heads up to the platform. The sea is flat and gray. Captain Nemo's nowhere to be found. Only the pilot's up on deck.
- Aronnax hears someone coming up to the platform; he's excited to finally see Nemo… but the noisemaker turns out to be an officer. This guy pulls out a telescope, scans the horizon, then says something in that strange language to the pilot: "Nautron respoc lorni virch."
- The pilot heads back down into the sub.
- Aronnax watches this same routine—same guy, same phrase—five days in a row. Captain Nemo never shows up.
- On November 16, Aronnax finds a letter from Nemo in his room. It's an invitation to go hunting in Nemo's "forests of Crespo Island" the next morning. Conseil and Ned are invited too.
- Ned Land is pumped. They're surprised to hear that Nemo does go on land sometimes.
- Our heroes head over to the big map to find Crespo Island. It's a tiny island about 1,800 miles from where they started. It seems Nemo only likes deserted pieces of land.
- When Aronnax wakes up the next day, he realizes the Nautilus has stopped moving. He finds Nemo waiting for him in the salon.
- Nemo asks Aronnax if he wants to accompany him (on the hunting trip), but doesn't bother mentioning the whole not-appearing-for-an-entire-week thing.
- Aronnax tells Nemo that he's down for the hunting trip, but he has a question: what business do you have on an island if you hate land so much?
- Nemo lets him in on a little secret. His forests are… underwater. And they're going to hunt on foot.
- Aronnax's mind is blown. Now he thinks Nemo must be a total wacko.
- Nemo and Aronnax sit down for breakfast. He tells Aronnax not to judge him; he can tell Aronnax thinks he's crazy.
- Nemo explains that he's created special suits that let him travel freely underwater—you know, like, 19th-century scuba gear, complete with special lights for undersea exploration. Oh, and sweet guns that shoot deadly balls of electricity. He's got those too.
- Aronnax can't argue with this epic-sounding gear; he's ready to follow the good captain into the forests.
- Breakfast over, they head to a special, um, "changing room," along with Ned and Conseil.