November 8, 2152
Far away from the battles on Temia and Vostea, the Sol System was quietly absorbing the news. Even though Earth was more than eleven light years away, information traveled quickly. Of course, there was a little delay between when the battles happened and when the general public heard about them, but the High Collective and the Council of Witches got frequent updates from either Jask or the Council leaders on the ground respectively. Chicago became the second largest city in North America after the war with the Mantoan when Los Angeles and Mexico City were destroyed. Over the last hundred years, the metropolitan area had spread out onto Lake Michigan and out into the surrounding lands.
Little did most people know the secret behind one of the fanciest mansions. The Orson manor was a house from a long past era; some say it was built before Chicago itself. Those people were mostly right, although the current residence had been rebuilt after the Great Chicago Fire. It was one of the best kept secrets by the Council of Witches. In a room deep within the manor, Brunnya sat at a desk in front of a computer. Unlike most of the Witches, the Orson clan had embraced modern technology. They still had enchanted items like cleaning materials but also used electricity. This fusion of worlds fostered their deep love of research, much like the Aurelias clan. As of late though, their studies had taken a darker tone.
Brunnya continued looking at the charts that littered her screen, flipping through different ones until she looked at a particular one that totaled the study's results. As she stared, a gentle knock came from the door on the far side of the room. A woman called, "Lady Orson, Lord Grey is here to see you."
"Let him in," Brunnya sighed as the door opened, "Roy, what can I do for you?"
"I just rounded up the next batch and thought I would check on how things are going," Roy proudly remarked.
"Slow," Brunnya grumbled, "I know that we have the right seal markings, but either the order is wrong or I'm missing something. It's frustrating to say the least."
Roy asked, "Is there anything I can do to help? Are these test subjects not up to the standard you need?"
"The test subjects are fine," Brunnya frowned, "If you got them any other way, we might get discovered. No, I think there must be a component missing. Though what that component is, I have no idea."
"What's happening now that makes you think something is missing?" Roy questioned.
"The core forms for a brief moment before it collapses in on itself," Brunnya answered with annoyance in her voice, "Once it collapses, we quickly lose the test subject. It's the same result no matter what we do to try and stabilize it before we lose them."
At that point, both of their pockets vibrated, and they pulled out identical rocks from their pockets. Clarine's voice echoed in their minds, "Lady Supreme has asked all Council leaders to meet her at the following location in six days. Please report to Ross 128, planet B now named Yuzuno in six days." Then the transmission ended without any more instructions.
"What's this about?" Roy trembled, "Do you think she's uncovered our research?"
"That's not likely. It's probably something about the war," Brunnya scoffed.
"We're already getting consistent reports from Clarine and Elffin; what more is there to say?" Roy huffed, "I don't like this. Something feels off about the order."
Brunnya brushed his worries aside, "Nothing we can about it. You've seen her power; she could just teleport us there if we don't show up. Worse, she will really think something is going on if we skip. Better if we just keep our heads down and go with the flow. Now, if there's nothing else, I'd like you to leave. I'm quite busy here without your questions."
"I'll be on my way then," Roy sheepishly turned back towards the door, "Just one last thought, but all the test subjects so far have little to no experience with magik, right? Maybe you should try the seal on someone with a decent vessel instead. They might at least survive long enough for modern medicine to take over. Just a suggestion." He walked out the door before she could respond for fear of drawing her ire. Then again, he might have had a point, she considered. Slowly standing up from her chair, Brunnya walked to the door as well and cracked the door ajar.
"Beatrice, please find a few of our level five clan folk," Brunnya directed a nearby guard, "Tell them it's for a special project for which the whole community will benefit." Before she could shut the door, the guard scurried down the hallway with their boots clacking along the stone floor. Returning to her computer, Brunnya kept reviewing the data until a knock was heard about ten minutes later. Brunnya replied, "Come in."
Five teenagers in dark purple robes entered swiftly and stood at attention in front of her desk. Standing up, Brunnya moved next to the disciples and carefully looked them over. She didn't say anything, just sized them up one by one. After five minutes of studying them, Brunnya clapped her hands and caused a medical bed to rise from the floor behind them. Once it was in place, she led one over to the bed and had them remove the top half of their robe. Then, she had them lay face down on the bed while she grabbed a paintbrush and some black paint from her desk.
Brunnya began to gingerly apply paint to the person's back, sketching ancient runes in a circular pattern. Once she was done with one circle, she inscribed two more rings of text around the outside of the first circle, creating three concentric circles of symbols. The pattern took up most of the space on the person's back. When she finished drawing, she gathered raw magik in her hand and slowly pressed it to the person's back. At first, the runes glowed lightly, but as seconds turned into minutes, the light grew brighter. Then, after a bright pulse of light, the circle disappeared completely from the person's back.
A grin grew across Brunnya's face until the person on the table began twitching. She quickly pulled out some machines from under the medical table and began hooking them up to the person on the table. In just a couple moments, Jask's familiar voice cut through the air, "Patient's pulse is dropping quickly. Life-saving treatments are currently being administered."
"What about the core?" Brunnya huffed as she moved the screens aside.
"Core detected but fractured," Jask chimed, "Magik running wild throughout the body currently."
Brunnya tapped on a couple of the monitors, "Administer adrenaline. If we can stop the magik from running wild, maybe we can fix the core." Blood began oozing out the patient's nose as Brunnya put her hands over the body and a yellow glow began leaking from her hands.
"Adrenaline in," Jask beeped, "Stats coming up. Pulse leveling out. Excess magik being drained from patient's body."
"And the core fractures? Are they getting better or worse?" Brunnya groaned.
"Core fractures are healing slowly," Jask replied robotically, "Magik poisoning should plateau at stage three. Please continue to sap excess magik to help stabilize this patient."
Brunnya rolled her eyes, "I will. Estimated time of completion?"
"Process should be finalized in three minutes," Jask answered flatly. Brunnya sighed but continued to sap the magik from the patient's body. When the three minutes were up, Jask said, "The process is complete; the patient now has a magik core. However, be advised that the traumatic nature of the procedure has put the patient in a temporary coma."
"How long will they be in a coma?" Brunnya pressed with anticipation welling up inside her.
"Exact length is undetermined," Jask advised, "Based on the damage done to their internal systems, I would guess between a week and a month. I'm sorry; I don't have any data to make a more precise prediction."
Brunnya smiled, "No matter. The rest of you can leave for now." While the four remaining disciples exited the room, she pulled out the stone from her pocket and held it in her hand. When it turned green, she started, "Lord Grado, I bring a small update."
"Well, get on with it then," Zephiel gruffly spoke, "What's going on with the project?"
"After extensive testing, I managed to create a core. However, the patient is currently in a coma, so I can't do a thorough examination at this time," Brunnya happily responded.
"You managed to create one?" Zephiel exclaimed, "How can you be sure if the test subject is in a coma?"
Brunnya replied, "Jask has detected one. The procedure almost killed the subject, but we were able to revive them in time."
"This is good news," Zephiel smirked, "Let me know when they've woken up. On a different note, I assume you got the message from Clarine."
"I did. I assumed it had to do with the war, but in case it doesn't, I figured we should attend anyway. That way no one is alerted to our experiments," Brunnya explained.
"That is correct," Zephiel agreed, "We can't have the rest of the Council on our trail, not with what we've planned so far."
Brunnya nodded, "Very well, Lord Grado. I will see you in a few days and will update you when the patient's condition changes." The stone returned to its cloudy state with Zephiel ending the conversation without so much as a goodbye. "He's as petulant as usual; I would have guessed this kind of news would make him a bit more enjoyable," she whispered under her breath as she put the stone back in her pocket.
She returned to her computer and began going through charts and reading of the current patient. Everything looked much better than her previous test subjects, but she couldn't decide if it was because of the age or magik difference. After all, most of the subjects she had tested the seal on were older and had limited experience with magik. In the end, she decided it was most likely a combination of both factors as the older subjects with some experience in magik had lasted longer than those with no experience, though not long enough to make any significant difference once they were on the operating table.
While she continued pouring over the data, she received an anonymous email with the subject line "Let's work together". Confusion marked Brunnya's face as she opened the message carefully.
"We know you're working on magik core formation. We have already found one solution to the problem, but we assume you are working on it from an independent sphere angle. We are prepared to share our information with you, if you are willing to share information with us. If this proposal sounds agreeable to you, please click the link below. If not, please delete this message and go on with your normal day. Sincerely, a potential ally."
Brunnya clicked her tongue as she finished reading the email. The biggest concern for her was the method this person or group had used to find out what she, Roy, and Zephiel were working on. Was there a spy in their group or had the data been mined directly from their databases? Furthermore, what kind of information did this mysterious entity have that would be worth trading this kind of secret for? These questions rattled around in her mind while her cursor floated over the link at the bottom of the email. Perhaps, she could just speak to this person and learn more about them before handing over secrets. Given what her group was planning, it might be in their best interest to have another secret partner. Finally, after going back and forth in her mind for several minutes, she clicked the link.
A window popped up, and a video call was ringing. For a couple minutes, her mouse hovered above the hang-up button until it finally connected. It was a blacked-out screen except for the call duration in the middle, indicating there was someone on the other side. She cleared her throat, "Hello? This is Lady Orson. Is there someone there?"
"Lady Orson, pleased to meet you," a deep, altered man's voice responded, "You may call me Q. I'm glad you decided to speak to me regarding the email that was sent to you."
"The pleasure is all mine, Q," Brunnya warmly said, "Your email was quite curious. As I'm sure you know, the research we've been working on is quite secret. I'm curious to know how you came across this information."
"We are quite good at uncovering secrets. I represent an interested party in your research, one that would even like a continued partnership instead of a simple exchange of information. Would you and your friends be interested in this kind of arrangement?" Q asked in a very straightforward manner.
"That depends," Brunnya paused, "What kind of information do you have available to trade? As you can imagine, the research we've done on magik core formation would be fundamentally life-changing for our entire race."
Q curled his lips as he replied, "What about the secrets of bioengineering and a working understanding of the Void sphere? I would argue that those are equally groundbreaking fields of research."
"The Void sphere?" Brunnya quivered, "What can you possibly gain from understanding a sphere we have no access to?"
"Perhaps there is more access than you think. I cannot say more until we are partners," Q slyly answered.
"I would need to discuss this opportunity with my current partners," Brunnya wavered as greed filled her mind, "Is this a time-sensitive offer?"
Q grinned cheekily, "I know a conference is scheduled to take place in a few days between several parties. If you want to wait until after that meeting, my party would be happy to wait until you conclude that business first. We'll be in touch."
The call ended abruptly, leaving Brunnya with more questions than answers. Her mind was filled with thoughts about the Void sphere because it was the only known sphere to counter the Arcane sphere. She didn't care much about bioengineering, but she was blissfully unaware of how much of an impact that could have on humanity as well. Still, she was unsure if she should report this discussion with Zephiel immediately or wait until she saw him in person. In the end, she decided to keep this to herself for the time being; it would be better to discuss this with both Roy and Zephiel. Little did she know just who had contacted her and the implications this partnership would have if it came to be.