XXXV

Leo gets the battered Argo II airborne and brings the crew over the ruins of Epidaurus, searching for Asclepius and the physician’s cure. Spotting a disk-like stone circle with concentric rings, Leo identifies it as a massive Archimedes lock. Using his ship’s grabber arm, he rotates the rings and reveals a spiral staircase, despite Hazel sensing something dangerous below.

Leo, Piper, and Jason descend into a gleaming underground chamber lined with benches and dominated by a statue of Hygeia holding a cup with a golden serpent. Electronic signs indicate Asclepius is incarcerated and a number is required. When the trio approach, Hygeia animates, demands insurance and sanitation, and unleashes the golden serpent, which heals itself and resists damage. Piper and Jason’s attacks fail as Hygeia and the serpent quickly self-repair.

Realizing brute force is useless, Leo calls for distraction while he accesses the guardians’ internals. Piper stalls Hygeia with improvised insurance talk as Leo jumps onto the serpent, opens a panel, and rewires it. With Jason’s help, Leo reaches Hygeia’s head, adjusts her regulator, and sets both constructs to his improvised “idiot mode,” making them act absurdly and disabling them as threats.

With the guardians neutralized, Leo hacks the door controls by reprogramming the overhead signs, changing the status to allow entry. The metal door unlatches, and the trio open the way to Asclepius, advancing their quest for the cure with time running out.