The Acolyte holding the reading device looked up at Vanessa, as hesitation flickered across his face.
"Ma'am," he said carefully, "the rift is giving off unstable readings."
He paused, as his fingers tightened around the device.
"There's a high chance it might open before a week passes."
Vanessa fell silent.
Normally, when a rift entered its mutating phase, it sealed itself for a full week, no entry or interference.
That rule had been absolute.
But this one…
Vanessa's eyes narrowed slightly.
It must be because of how it was formed.
Mutant rifts were supposed to be natural phenomena. This one wasn't. It had been forced, tampered with by human hands. It wasn't surprising that it refused to follow established standards.
"Did you find anything else?"
The Acolyte hesitated.
"Well?" Vanessa pressed.
"I'm… not certain," he admitted. "It could be an error on my part, but the mutation isn't following regular patterns."
Vanessa frowned.
"Explain."
