Mount Masu
"Why go to all this length?" she asked her companion as they walked to the volcano. It had taken around twenty minutes for whatever he did to work, and the island was clear of the mud men.
"Length?" he turned to her, stopping. The scans of the island indicated an entrance hidden by an inconspicuous rock.
"Yes. I mean, you used your teleporter to recover a necklace that means nothing to you," she said.
"It is a matter of relativity," he explained, pushing the rock aside. "What is a great length to you is just a short adventure for me."
She tilted her head, watching him move a boulder that would take a heavy-duty vehicle to remove. "Fair, I suppose." Traversing hundreds of kilometers in the blink of an eye must put things in a different perspective.
"What does it say?" he asked, dusting over the half-faded letters.
She leaned close. "Welcome, the pilgrims who seek Kenlan's necklace."
Thairon took a deep breath. "I hate that guy."
He walked in first in case there was a trap. She followed him, more cautious.
"How did the Union military manage to fill this island with mud men?" he asked. Nax had already brought the relevant files in his vision.
"Asking for military secrets?" she teased. At his blank look, Tomoe shrugged.
"It was an attempt to control them through some top-secret tech. Since I work for the Excursion Intervention Corps, I don't know much."
One of her classmates from the academy had confided in her, going against all military regulation. The Union had almost succeeded in controlling the mud men and considered releasing them on the border for a trial.
Something had caused the control units to fry, and the mudmen had ravaged the military researchers on site. The project was dropped after that.
"You really hate the chairman, don't you?" She must have, to be able to enter the sole neutral military unit with the harshest standards on the planet.
How amusing that they were based really close to the arrival point without even knowing it.
She said nothing in response.
He didn't pry further. Scanning the area, he found that the path was clear of any toxic fumes. It explained how Leten could have entered here without proper protection.
"You have to be kidding me," she muttered. The tunnel led to an opening with a chasm below. The only way through was a rotting wooden bridge.
"Can you teleport us across?"
"The volcano weakens the connection. I'd rather not risk it." The volcanic lightning and other energized particles caused interference. The risk was low enough that he would take it any other time.
Tomoe rolled her eyes. Of course such a convenient tool would fail in a time like this. "How do we get across?"
Thairon looked at the ground. It was sturdy enough. The distance was just ten meters. Carrying Tomoe bridal style without even giving her time to be surprised, he leaped across.
"I am not even going to ask," she grumbled. Pretty sure that's a record.
"You are really quick to adapt," he said, putting her down. Even Kael had reacted much more openly. And he had visited the lab many times.
"When you have to fight the things we have to, you either adapt or die." She had seen enough brothers and sisters at arms die to know that.
The next section of the tunnel led to another opening. A box stood firmly embedded on a stalagmite. Which was in the middle of a lava river.
"I can't believe such a resourceful person chose to do this rather than anything else." Had Leten spent his time for much more constructive purposes, he would definitely be more famous than Kenlan.
"Told you, he was like a Saturday morning cartoon villain."
"Wait, something's wrong with the lava," he said. The river ceased flowing after a certain point and continued towards the end. He kicked a pebble inside, waiting.
The lava began to rise. It took a shape roughly similar to mud men but larger and more dangerous.
"I didn't know they could do that," she muttered. She moved to pull her companion back, but he stopped her.
Thairon took a spare comm link and threw it inside the lava man's mouth. It would resist the heat long enough for a transportation lock. He wouldn't risk him or his companion in these conditions, but a canister was free game.
He gave the mental order. Nax transported an X-57 canister right inside the creature. It bloated up first. He thought it might explode, but just as quickly, it deflated.
The fungi must have evolved to the point of manipulating lava of all things. It could be natural or a part of the Union's fuck-up.
"Rather quick on your feet," she said.
"Let's just get the necklace and leave. I had enough of Leten."
He jumped on the stalagmite. His enhanced muscles gave him the necessary strength to latch onto the stone. He ripped the rectangular box off and leaped back on solid ground.
Opening the box, he pulled out the simple copper necklace. He put it back, and the room began to shake. The stalagmite was splitting in half. Tiny holes opened on the wall at the back of the room.
Darts were racing at him.
He felt legs wrap around his midsection and pull him to the floor. The darts flew over, missing both of them. Though he was grateful, the poison, if the darts were poisoned, would have degraded into less harmful substances.
The darts seemed to be the first step.
A wall slowly rose to cover the entrance. Flipping forward, he lifted Tomoe and dashed through the door.
Which is when the tunnel started to shake as well. Leten was serious about killing anyone that retrieved the necklace, it seemed. He kept running, leaping over the chasm again. The first part of the tunnel was safe from the collapse.
It did not make him any more willing to stay there.
"That was quick," she muttered once they were out. They had just retrieved Arlex in less than an hour. If it wasn't for the near-death experience, she would even count this as fun.
"Can't believe that guy went into all this trouble over a necklace," Thairon said. It was so illogical his mind refused to believe it, even with all the present evidence.
Tomoe lay on the ground, gazing at the black clouds. "I was supposed to rest today."
"First this little artifact hunt, and of course," her lips twitched, "our illuminated leader had to visit the temple."
"Because of the scroll."
"Which you brought to my mother."
"Seems I ruined your vacation."
"Seems so."
"How about I buy lunch? I know this really fancy place that serves great food."
—
Glassport
Golden Telam
Rather than immediately question where they were, she just took a seat. She was supposed to be on vacation, yet this short little adventure had tired her more than military life.
Mostly mentally.
"Where are we?"
"Glassport."
"Almost the other side of the continent," she said, gazing at the restaurant. The floor was empty. Her date seemed to more than just know this place.
He chuckled and took his seat. The variety of food offered in Golden Telam could not be found anywhere else.
Tomoe was bound to find something for tastes.
The conversation was light. She wanted to know how he found the scroll in the first place. He saw no reason to hide it.
A black market tech dealer had come across the containment unit of a dark matter cannon from the Glaive. Thairon, upon catching wind of it, wanted to buy the part.
"A component from the Glaive? And you wanted to buy it?" She pointed her fork at him, narrowing her eyes. Possessing illegal rupture tech was a felony with a lifetime prison sentence, sometimes even execution in special cases.
"That containment unit could have helped in the creation of a fusion reactor for clean, cheap energy."
Which would be legal under specific circumstances. "Alright. Go on."
The dealer had cancelled the arrangement unilaterally and sold it to another person. He responded by ambushing both sides during the handoff. He had killed one of the nobles of the republic, in addition to the black market dealer. The component, however, was damaged during the battle. He still made use of it in developing containment harmonics.
Tomoe cupped her own face. "Can't believe a part of that thing was out there. I thought we had destroyed them all."
"It was a two-kilometer ship that crashed in a sparsely inhabited area. You were unlikely to secure all of it," he said. He knew it was cold comfort. Several incidents had occurred due to stolen parts. There were over a thousand citizens dead in union and republic lands.
"At least it wasn't a full-on weapon."
"It wouldn't have mattered. The weapon requires more energy than a nuclear reactor could produce. Reverse engineering is just as impossible," he said. If someone had managed to fire a weapon, even accidentally, the loss of life could have ranged anywhere from a hundred thousand to millions.
"Anyway, forget the component. You were speaking about the scroll?"
The noble in question, Jared Hazimen, had made it a hobby to collect advanced technological objects and arts that arrived through the dimensional ruptures. He couldn't leave all that treasure gathering dust in the collection of a noble.
"You were the one who burned the Hazimen mansion to the ground," she exclaimed. The incident had appeared on the news. The official statement was a party gone wrong, but no one had bought it. To think it would be such a scandal.
"It was an accident. His automated security shot at me, so I fried the whole system. It blew a fuse. The rest is history."
Burning the mansion down had drawn too much attention. Something he preferred to avoid.
"Is that where you found the scroll?"
"Yes. Seems he took great joy in holding something so valuable that the Union had lost."
"Bastard," she scowled.
"Since your mother gave the scroll to me, I'll keep it locked up unless she wants it back."
He had already locked it in his room, a place only three people knew existed.
Tomoe nodded. It was for the best. If the Union military acquired and translated the scroll, who knew what they would do with the arrival point?
She continued to eat in silence. The memories of the race against time to recover all the parts of the Glaive soured the taste of the fish.
"Say, Mr. Genius of Unparalleled Intellect," she began. "Do you think you'd be able to repair the fabric of space and put an end to these ruptures?"
The union, the republic, and the kingdom all had similar levels of technology. It meant none of them were anywhere close to putting an end to the ruptures. This man before her might be the only choice for the foreseeable future.
Thairon leaned back on his chair. "I am working on it, but the issue is more complex."
"How so?" she asked, pulling her chair closer to the table.
Thairon created a holographic wall that represented the barrier between dimensions. Narrow holes, as if ants had dug tunnels, kept tearing through different parts of the barrier before retracting and doing the same again.
"The ruptures open to thousands of different dimensions in a subatomic form. Each second, they are repaired, but the energy rebounds and creates new ruptures. The incursions occur because high-intensity energy pulses force the subatomic ruptures to expand."
A pulse appeared on the other end of one of the ruptures. The subatomic tunnel expanded, and a holographic representation of the Glavie came through.
"Fixing the fabric of space would be akin to taking a wall with a giant hole in the middle and covering the hole with plaster. I need to fix the tears in such a way that each existing rupture will be closed at once, and the energy must be drained. The fabric of space will naturally repair itself."
The holographic interface showed a machine that drained the excess energy in all the subatomic ruptures at once. The tear in the fabric of space disappeared, leaving a seamless barrier behind.
"I don't know anything about the science behind this to help you. But, if you can prove that this works, I might be able to help you in other ways." She was a first lieutenant and had access to the technology acquired from the ruptures. Her job, in tandem with several other lieutenants, was to ensure the samples were destroyed.
It would be extremely risky to steal samples. Observers from all three nations were on site to ensure there was no leak. None trusted the others enough for cooperation.
But teleportation could change everything. She could sneak the bracelets inside. Once they were thrown into either the incinerator or the chasm—depending on the component—no one would realize anything if it suddenly was teleported out.
That is, if he could actually present a solution.
"I'll let you know if I need anything."
"Huh, look at the hour," she muttered. They had left the temple before noon, and the sun was about to set in Hatsuzumi. She hadn't even realized how the time had flown.
"I'll take you back home," he offered.
—
Hatsuzumi
Nax, having heard it, teleported both to the entrance at the back of the temple. The sun was setting, and the warm colors seeping through the clouds cast a majestic view on the temple.
He watched fitfully for a while, just as she did.
"I have to meet my brothers tomorrow, but after that, I am pretty much free," he said. It was the first time he was asking someone out.
Usually, the girls either bored him to death or were political matches, which he detested. Tomoe seemed to live beyond the nationalistic urges that most of the populace did. She was willing to do what was necessary for the betterment of the planet.
Yet, there was something else to her selfless attitude.
"That works for me. I need to catch up on my sleep. Though, maybe we should do something less adventurous?" she asked. Military life was tiring enough. She didn't need to be running after long-lost relics in her spare time.
Romance was not something she had considered. The military, especially as a part of EIC, did not give anyone time for it, unless they served in the same unit.
Which had regulatory problems, so no one attempted it.
This guy had made one hell of a first impression to not try. Even if nothing came out of it, she had no doubt it would be fun.
"We can get ice cream," he offered.
Tomoe pursed her lips and nodded. "Alright. Pick me up at ten."
—
Yumiko watched her daughter converse with the most interesting guest the temple had in recent years.
Her eyes were as wide as the pans the charity workers cooked food on.
Her daughter was going on a date for the first time in her life.