Chapter 2 - Εν Τούτω..

Manuel was practically running through the corridors of the high tech research facility. Berto followed, trying to get an explanation out of his supervisor. They passed by many interesting labs and R&D branches, with the young engineer throwing glances left and right for something amazing. Something that could explain Guevera's ecstatic mood! They finally reached the central elevator and entered it. Manuel swiped his key card before pressing the button for the 5th floor, the one at the bottom of the facility. Berto's eyes widened at the realization. He didn't have clearance for that floor. He didn't even know what it was. Manuel smiled at him once he saw his expression.

 "We found something crazy Ninõ! The Champions are going to make an extraction now.. They'll be using our Mana containment coils so I talked the executives into allowing my assistant to take notes during the procedure.." Manuel exclaimed and winked to his protege. "Wait.. Sir.. an extraction? Did they find.." Berto had time to say until Manuel almost jumped out of enthusiasm! "A rift! A rift opened on the 5th! They said something about examining some ancient junk when one of them started a reaction. A rift opened and now we have the chance to finally study one up close!".

 Berto's jaw dropped. An actual rift.. A gateway to a parallel demi-plane or even dimension! Who could tell for sure without going in? "But wait.. Guevera Sir.. if there's a rift down there shouldn't we be running in the opposite direction?" the young Engineer managed to say without shaking. He tried to sound funny or casual even, but his mind kept conjuring images of horrific monstrosities, rushing out of a gate and turning this entire site into a horror film setting.

"It will all be fine! Thanks to my siphoning tech that my good assistant perfected! Ja ja! All that's left now is to study it until those tontos come swinging espadas at it.. Aah mios dios.." stated Manuel as the elevator's descent came to a stop with a cushioned *THUD*.

 The two men stepped out and headed deeper into the facility. Labs built like domes at the bottom of the sea, interconnected by tube-like hallways. The seafloor was illuminated and Berto marveled at the unique environment unfolding before him.

 The light could barely reach this depth and the vibrant blues were replaced by much darker shades, the further away you moved from a light source. They arrived at a door guarded by two security guards. Manuel flashed them his card and they allowed them access to the dome beyond the door. Berto kept swinging his head from side to side trying to absorb as much information as possible. The dome was simple but well built. It had an X-Ray scanner, Ultrasound scanner and other machinery surrounding a big "presentation area" in the middle. Berto guessed the equipment was for examining antiquities and relics discovered in the deep. And there it was.. Amongst the ruins of a salvaged, ancient galleon, cut in half by eons of decay.. a rift.. A tear in reality, space and time as we know them. It looked as if someone had torn a stretched out sheet with a knife but the area of the cut had taken on a prismatic effect, reflecting all kinds of colors in every direction. Of course anything beyond the tear appeared solely as a mess of dark colors sprayed with much more vibrant ones. Like staring at cosmic nebulae through a tear in some fabric.

 "Amazing.." Berto managed to say while staring intensely, his eyes refracting some of the majesty of the phenomenon. "Isn't it ninõ? And see!? See how our siphon is keeping it from expanding and yet it fights back?" asks Manuel, taking a few steps and leaning on the rails that separate them from the presentation area. "I see but.. that.. that doesn't make sense! You built the siphon in order to close rifts without the help of Champions. By absorbing the magic required to sustain it a rift should collapse in on itself!" replies the younger man before starting to take notes and examining the intricate machine's readings.

 "That should be the case.. unleeess?" asks Manuel like a teacher guiding their student. "Unless.. unless it had some kind of steady supply of energy.. or magic in this case.. " he answered, finally understanding his mentor's excitement who was now punching air left and right and laughing. Other scientists looked at them with weirded out expressions and the two colleagues seized their victory dance. "But Sir, that's insane!" says Berto while again fixing his gaze upon the mysterious phenomenon. "More insane than magia?" countered Manuel quickly with a smile. "Well no.. but still. We know so little about these things after all. Where does the magic come from? What supplies it? And.. why?" Berto said and received a pat on the shoulder by Manuel. Maybe it was his way of saying "Who knows.." but most likely.. he wanted to tell his protégé that they might find out one day.

 Berto suddenly blinked a few times and resisted the urge to shake his head, as he tried to confirm that he was seeing what he was seeing. It was something so peculiar and so unfitting in this setting, that his mind simply refused to register it.  

 A robed individual, looking almost like a wizard from a typical fantasy movie or RPG passed them by, heading for the stairs leading to the presentation area. They wore mostly dark colors with splashes of purple in between. "Hey.. Guevera sir? Is it, 'bring your cosplay to work' day?" said Berto while chuckling louder than he intended. "What is cosplay?" inquired Manuel looking back but not spotting the strange individual, who was now moving towards the rift.

 "Why are they approaching the anomaly? Oh, wait.. are they a Champion working for C.D? I haven't seen them before.. actually I still haven't, with that cowl and cape.." continued the young engineer as he stood up, moving closer to the steps leading down. Manuel soon realized who Berto was referring to and joined him. At that moment the door leading back to the main facility opened and a security guard stepped into the room. The female security officer, immediately collapsed to the ground, drawing everyone's attention to her fall as well as her charcoaled skin! Her entire body was covered in third degree burns and her uniform, what was left of it,  was still smoking from whatever flame reduced it to this state. She gasped for air and let out a horrible scream of pain and desperation as she looked down towards the presentation area. "STOP HIM!!".

 Her cry was short and precise but even so.. it did not produce the desired results. Everyone turned to the hooded, mage-like, individual in horror and disbelief. No one engaged him in any way or had enough courage to press a distress button. All eyes were on him yet all bodies frozen but his own. He shifted towards the machine, constantly siphoning energy from the rift and extended his hand to it with an open palm. Manuel Guevera, suddenly possessed by horrible emotion ran down the stairs and towards him yelling, "NOOO! Don't you fool, you'll kill us all!". Berto, not knowing what to do ran after his mentor! The senior engineer grabbed at the man's arm and tried spinning him around as an explosion, emanating from the mage's palm shook the dome with a *BOOM*. The explosion caused by the machine's destruction, although terrifying,  was something to behold. The expulsion of all the mana it was containing in its coils lit up the entire room and blasted the two men away! Flame, black smoke and ash filled the entirety of the facility. Everyone was moaning, disoriented on the ground, while a low hum at the center of the presentation area was now becoming louder and louder.

 A dark void, ironically encased in a bright prismatic halo, started absorbing the smoke and flame around it, making the area less obscured. Berto raised his head and realized, after his ears stopped ringing, that he saw red out his right eye. His mentor, Mr Guevera, was laying on the ground a few meters in front of him. His body glowing, irradiated by magic. Normal people couldn't withstand that. If they didn't die outright, this kind of exposure just guaranteed some type of cancer by the end of the year.

 This is why Champions were so highly coveted, well paid and adored as heroes. Because they kept away the magic, the evil that caused.. these kind of things to happened.

 The young man crawled towards his senior trying to call out to him. His voice crumbled under the ache and pain of his body as he struggled to move on all fours. When he finally reached Manuel he was devastated to see him in this state, burnt and broken. More of a thing than a person. He was too afraid to even touch him as he was overcharged with magic. His gaze shifted towards the mage as they stood in front of the dimensional gateway. His eyes full of hate as much as fear. "Why?" he thought. "Why would someone do this to us?". The mage grabbed something that was floating at the center of the rift and pulled it towards him. It was a horn.. a drinking horn, like the ones used by Norsemen and other peoples in times of old. It had a dark luster hue and somehow had a weight to it, even by just looking, the young man could feel it. The item's top seemed to be sealed by some sort of marked waxen cork. The mage studied it and ran his finger across something etched on the seal as he smirked, his face barely visible to Berto.

 "Εν Τούτω Νίκα.." he spoke passionately almost chanting the words as Berto listened. There was a flash, as if lighting struck and then an explosion of light followed as thousands of small golden glowing orbs flew out of the horn and towards the sealing! The horn dissolved into the same glowing orbs of light and joined its kin as they swirled above the destroyed facility. The mage rejoiced in this event. As if he waited all his life for it to happen and finally there was no stopping it! The golden orbs suddenly flew into a vortex, swirling down towards the ground. The man opened his arms wide, like he was waiting to be engulfed in a rain of golden light! However.. destiny had a different story to tell. The mage blinked expectantly only to see every single one of the orbs falling on and into Berto! Into an unassuming.. plain.. and unworthy mechanic!

"Wha.. no.. it can't.. I would have known! How!? HOW IS THIS HAPPENING AGAIN?!" he shouted with malice and raised his arms towards the struggling young man, now wrapped in gold light. As he closed his eyes and took a breath to start chanting all the wind was knocked out of him when a completely healed Berto tackled him into the rift!

 • • •

 "I've never fought before.. I mean actually punch someone.. like.. in the face. Ugh.. I drove into this guy with everything I had! If he wasn't even scrawnier than me, we would've just fallen over! But I did it.. I pushed him away from everyone! And.. doomed myself. Maybe it's better this way. At least all my coworkers will be safe and I'll finally have something to brag about.. even if it's the last thing I'll do.

 We drifted through space him and I.. we wrestled and fought as we fell into the unknown. Like flying through the cosmos. We got separated, he.. he did something and vanished half way through. After a few seconds I landed in a glass tunnel, very much like the one from our submarine train track. However.. it was different, haunting, deserted...infested! I got attacked while trying to cross it on foot, hoping that sooner or later I'd arrive at the coast of Santa Barbara. But I knew.. deep inside I knew that I wasn't in my world anymore. As long as I remained trapped in the rift I would just be wondering in a magical imitation of reality. The creature that attacked me looked like one those hermit crabs that live in the coral reef along the train tracks. The main difference was that it was as big as a bear and its pincer could break concrete in its vice. I wasn't fast or fit enough to run away. It got a hold of me and mauled my leg. After getting healed by that strange light it was more than disappointing, losing my chances at survival like that. It was horrifying.. being at the mercy of that thing.

 It was about to cut off a literal piece of me when reality shifted again. The tube cracked, twisted and caved separating me from the monster. And.. here i am, just waiting to die. I'm thankful for you Mariah. You almost had me thinking I went mad when I first heard your voice. The strange things you made me see didn't help either.. well until you made the screen in my head look like a video-game. But you're here.. listening to me.. listening to everything I regret. Helping me not feel alone.

 I did well at work but.. there's so much more I didn't do.. that I didn't do well at. I wanted to make more friends. I wanted to see the world. I wanted to become strong and sure of myself. I wanted to love again.. So many things. I realize now that, strangely, I'm not afraid to die. I'm more afraid of dying before becoming everything I dremt of..".

Mariah: Rare Achievement unlocked! "Flash before one's eyes": Recollect your past before an audience while in critical condition. 100xp awarded. 2 Attribute Points awarded.

New Skill acquired! Insight lvl1 (A). "Insight" is a passive skill that raises your understanding of patterns, behaviors and social queues in order to come to, more accurate conclusions. Doing so successfully will raise the skill's level. 100xp awarded.

*PING* Level up! You have reached level 2! 100/300xp to level 3. 3 Attribute Points awarded. Mutation Points culminating, available: 0. Health and Mana points receive no passive increase due to having negative modifiers in their respective Attributes. Health Restoration initiated! Estimated time until full recovery 30 minutes due to excessive trauma received. User no longer in critical condition.

Rare Achievement unlocked! "Any Last Words..": Give an honest confession before a demanding audience while in critical condition and survive the ordeal. 3 Attribute Points awarded!

Congratulations User Berto! You completed your Side Quest and the System saved your life. YOU saved your life. It awarded you handsomely so don't let this go to waste.

"You know.. I do feel a little better. How did you do it? Painkillers?"

Mariah: No User Berto. You still refuse to see.. I am pulling up your Status Screen! Please distribute your remaining Attribute Points and you'll understand that this is not a game!".

 When Mariah first spoke to Berto the young man almost had a panic attack. The strange disembodied female voice, claimed to be a "Collective" and was now the the thinking embodiment of his link to the "Evergreen Force". She dispelled the incomprehensible images and noises that plagued Berto since he fused with the golden lights and said that she would change the "Evergreen" in order for it to be more familiar and accessible to its User, meaning him of course. That is why their connection appeared to the young Engineer as a video-game system. Berto understood the logic of RPGs and was immediately able to grasp how it was supposed to work, even though he still believed it to be a simple survival trick. A sort of "stimulant", a placebo Mariah was willing to use to help him cope. Then again.. that still left more than a few questions unanswered. Who or What was Mariah? What was her connection to the magical horn? And just what was the Evergreen..