Prism and The Red Wolves

After their fifteen-minute drive through the inner city’s mall complex, RED-1 managed to arrive unscathed at Battle City’s notorious roundabout gate. The gate acted as a comprehensive and dynamic test for those tasked with entering the city’s tallest and most central structure, a place aptly named “The Center Building” by the Red Wolves who built it.

The building was surrounded by a circular road that served as a large roundabout that connected the inner city. Within that circle was a 10-meter high circular gate that featured numerous defensive and offensive technologies that were affixed within several cubic meter blocks that composed much of the gate’s outer structure. The gate looked like a grid of multicolored, connected squares, like the colorful building blocks that a child would play with.

The most dangerous aspect of the roundabout gate was that it had ten 12-meter laserliths built into its structure that provided comprehensive destructive coverage around the gate. The laserliths, the numerous traditional gun turrets, sonic deterrents, and electrified spiked blocks made the roundabout gate a true challenge to pass. Fortunately for Battle City’s challengers, the normally-aggressive hordes of murderous machines within the inner city avoided the roundabout entirely.

“How terrifying.” Prism said quietly.

He and the rest of RED-1 stood in front of their armored vehicle, staring the gate down. Ursun had parked the transport within the roundabout’s wide street, on the edge farthest from the gate to avoid its auto-attack range. While Prism examined the gate from a distance, he took note of the glowing spikes that protruded from most of its blocks. The illuminated spikes seemed to have a sort of pattern to them. The multicolored lights alternated between different spikes every few seconds, and not all of the gate’s spikes were lit-up.

“Like Leanna told you back at the first resupply depot, this gate is just a puzzle.” Ursun looked down and told Prism, who was standing beside him. “We’ll have to strike the correct spiked blocks in the correct order to solve the puzzle and open the gate. Opening the gate will deactivate all of its weapons.” Ursun added.

“And don’t think that we know the solution just because we’ve been through this crazy city before. Gnapp changes the puzzle for each new group.” Srell said while pointing at the patterns of light that flashed on the gate’s metal spikes.

“This puzzle looks particularly confounding…” Leanna said with her chin resting pensively on her slender fingers.

“I can see the gears turning in that magnificent brain of yours.” Jaik said with a wide smile to Leanna.

Leanna smirked at Jaik before resuming her visual analysis of the gate that was several meters in front of them.

“We have an hour of sunlight left. That’s our time limit.” Ursun noted to the group.

“I could probably just corrode through the entire thing.” Prism said with a scratch of the back of his head.

“Bad idea. Those laserliths are powered by a series of fusion reactors whose power conduits run through the entire gate. There’s no telling what would happen if you introduced that much corrosion to a system that was never designed to deal with such rapid oxidation.” Leanna was quick to dismiss Prism’s poorly-thought out idea.

“Going over it is out of the question too. Once something enters within their horizontal range of ten meters, the laserliths will shoot anything out of the sky that’s within the height of The Center.” Lorias further explained.

“Give it time. We’ll solve the puzzle and open the gate the old-fashioned way.” Jaik reassured Prism. “This is one challenge that you can probably sit out. Take this time to rest and reenergize yourself.” Jaik said to Prism while rubbing the smaller man’s back.

Prism looked around at the rest of his teammates, and saw that they were busy examining the gate’s alternating light patterns. Ursun looked down at Prism and nodded his agreement to Jaik’s words. Prism smiled goofily and walked over to the armored vehicle, which he’d managed to keep in good condition during their foray to the roundabout. Prism hopped into the passenger seat and sat quietly in the transport with the door open, watching the mercenaries work together to get past the gate.

Prism sighed, closed his eyes, and began to actively gather mana from his surroundings. He was impressed by how much mana was contained within the battle-scarred urban environment. The city began to remind him of another place he’d visited on many occasions, which happened to be a sprawling metropolis that seemed to always have conflict on each of its colorful streets.

As Prism drifted into reverie, he felt the pull of sleep inch its way into his mind a short time after. He knew that it was irresponsible to sleep during a mission, so Prism fought the urge and simply went into a slight meditative state instead. He wanted to be alert enough to aid his team in the event that things went wrong at the gate.

“Did he seriously go to sleep?” Srell said in irritation a few minutes later, after seeing Prism sitting in the transport with his eyes closed.

“I’m just meditating! I’m here if you need me!” Prism replied promptly, which only further annoyed Srell.

After 30 minutes of analysis, thought, and discussion, the mercenaries realized that their iteration of the gate puzzle was far more complex than any of the versions each of them had solved before. Not even the bio-computer in Leanna’s dronepack could provide a conclusive answer to the seemingly-random shifting wall of lights. Her powerlessness to compute the solution for her team given all the data she’d gathered frustrated Leanna to no end.

What had initially looked like a pattern turned out to be non-repeating gibberish. And towards the end of their group’s vexations, Jaik seemed to come up with an algorithm that made sense of the desultory display. But when it came time to strike the correct spiked blocks, even the former boy-genius was unable to calculate the sequence needed to open the gate.

“I’m starting to think that this puzzle doesn’t have a solution…” Lorias said with a flip of his hair.

“I agree. But why would Gnapp do that? I was told that we can’t access the Undercity until next week. That’s the only way that we can get into the Centerf without destroying the gate.” Leanna thought aloud, hoping that Ursun would explain how they should proceed.

“You’re right; we aren’t going through the Undercity yet. But as far as this gate is concerned, your guess is as good as mine.” Ursun explained to his team.

“Looks like Gnapp made it so that we need Prism for this one after all.” Jaik shrugged.

“Old fool…” Srell cursed under his breath before everyone turned to look at Prism.

Prism opened his eyes when he sensed several eyes on him. He’d been listening to their attempts to get into the gate and had thought of a few ways to bypass its defenses in the meantime. He jumped out of the armored vehicle and walked up to the mercenaries a short distance away. Once he stood in the middle of the group, Prism smiled at them before pointing at the gate.

“I think that I can just hijack it and gain control of it long enough to force it open.” Prism said almost cockily. “Magical hacking, as it were,” he added while tapping his helmet with the nail of his forefinger.

“And you just thought of this now!?” Srell shouted angrily.

“No, I…I’m just not sure how control magic works on this world yet.” Prism said with a guilty look on his face. “And this gate looks really complicated. That makes it even harder to gain control of it, even temporarily.” Prism explained while once again pointing at the gate before them.

“This gate is essentially unhackable. It is air-gapped, meaning that it can’t be accessed outside of its dedicated, hard-wired network. The only person with access to the gate’s system is Gnapp, using a single secure computer terminal located in the Undercity.” Leanna began explaining to Prism. “Tampering with its onboard systems directly will result in the gate’s laserliths neutralizing anything it sees as responsible, which will also cause them to fire lasers outside of their normal 10- meter horizontal sensing range.” Leanna stressed as she further explained the danger to Prism.

“All of you should head back into the mall while I attempt this, just to be safe.” Prism’s voice was calm and confident, though he made sure not to make eye contact with any of his teammates while he spoke.

“Think about this. You might actually die. I doubt even you can dodge a laser.” Lorias said just as calmly to Prism, not being fooled by the Elementeitan’s bluster.

“You’d be surprised.” Prism smirked and looked up at Lorias, who was a bit taken aback by Prism’s continued confidence.

“Let’s do as he says, everyone. We’ll take refuge in the mall to avoid detection by the laserliths while Prism attempts his proposed solution.” Ursun ordered while beckoning everyone back into the armored vehicle. “Time is of the essence.” Ursun emphasized.

When the mercenaries started to get into the transport, Jaik stayed rooted to his spot near Prism. He looked worriedly at Prism, but couldn’t think of the right words to say to change his small friend’s mind. Knowing that their options and time were limited, Jaik simply groaned before walking away and leaving Prism alone on the road of the roundabout.

Prism could hear Jaik’s worried thoughts like sirens blaring down empty streets, but there was little Prism could do but show his team that he could do what they couldn’t. That was Prism’s role in RED-1, as he was beginning to realize.

After making sure that the others were gone, and after taking a deep breath, Prism’s eyes began to shine with red light while he reached his hands out to towards the roundabout gate that loomed before him. He felt mana surge and flow out of him as he directed the red energy at the gate’s mechanisms. When the magical energy made contact with the gate, Prism felt a familiar pressure in his mind.

Prism delicately traced the myriad circuits and conduits with his mana, being careful not to trigger any alarms or other hardware security measures. When he found the circuit leading to the gate’s underground control terminal, Prism clasped his hands and used his magic to activate the computer. He was able to gain control of its circuits and use it to open the gate, bypassing the need for passwords or other such codes. Prism was surprised that there were no biological components within the terminal, but the purely-traditional technology was par for the course within Battle City from what he’d seen so far.

The blocks that formed a section of the roundabout gate began to shift and roll out of the way until a wide opening had formed between two of the gate’s laserliths. Prism closed his eyes and created a red spell circle upon the underground computer terminal so that he could maintain his connection with it long enough to get his team inside.

“He did it! The gate’s open!” Srell shouted excitedly while he and Lorias sat in the back seat of the armored vehicle.

They’d been watching Prism and the gate out of a round window in the mall interior’s stone wall. They’d been shot at by attacking machines, but had been able to dispatch the enemies before they’d done any serious damage to their ride.

“Time to go, kids.” Ursun said before he drove them out of the mall and back to the roundabout, just before a trio of roaming machines discovered their stationary vehicle.

“Get in!” Jaik shouted to Prism when their vehicle stopped abruptly beside their contractor on the road.

Prism wasted no time hopping into the open door and sitting beside Jaik in the transport’s third row of seats. Ursun then eased on the throttle and sped the armored vehicle toward the open gate.

“We’re good. Just go on through.” Prism said loudly as the red light dimmed from his eyes.

Ursun glanced at Prism in his rearview mirror and then floored his throttle. RED-1 was speeding through the roundabout gate and driving out the other side. When they came to the perron stone staircase that led to the entrance of the Center Building, Ursun slowed down just a bit and kept going. Their transport rocked and jerked as they rode up the fifty stone steps. It didn’t take long for them to reach the flat stone platform at the top of the stairs. And with a hard twist of the steering wheel, Ursun skid their vehicle to a stop parallel to the glass building entrance.

“Looks like we made it.” Lorias said sarcastically, not at all amused by Ursun’s wild driving.

“Each of us is here in one piece, that’s what matters.” Jaik retorted.

“Everyone out. We won’t need this thing anymore.” Ursun ordered.

After leaving the armored vehicle, RED-1 gathered in front of the tall glass doors leading to the lobby of the Center Building. Prism peered into the building and saw that its lobby was vast and mostly empty. Its floors and walls were composed of a deep blue marble that gave the interior an opulent yet mysterious feel. There was a curved twin staircase near the middle of the room that led to a visible upper level that overlooked the lobby. Prism could also make out a pair of large elevator doors at the rear of the room, though something told him that his team wouldn’t have access to them.

When Ursun walked up to the crystal-clear glass doors, they rotated open with a loud hissing sound. He headed on inside before the doors could completely open, and the others followed behind him. Once they were all standing within the spacious lobby, Ursun turned around to address his team.

“We’ll rest here tonight. As most of you know, this lobby is a safe area and a resupply depot. There are beds behind the staircases behind me. Treat your wounds and stock up on whatever supplies you need. We’ll start our trek to the top floor at sunrise.” Ursun told the others.

RED-1 spent the next hour getting out of their armor, checking themselves for any injuries, eating a simple meal of rations, and winding down after four days of fighting within Battle City. Prism used his healing magic to treat his team’s bullet grazes and other occupational wounds, a skill that Srell joked made Jaik’s role as combat medic obsolete.

“I’d like to hear you say that the next time Prism becomes incapacitated.” Jaik joked back.

After making sure that everyone was taken care of, Prism stepped outside of the building and climbed atop the parked armored vehicle to watch the sun set on Battle City. From what he'd been told by Ursun, Prism thought that it would already be nighttime after his hour spent in the lobby. Prism figured that Ursun had frequently stressed the soonness of nightfall as a means of spurring on his team to get through the city more quickly.

"It sure is strange, isn't it? Being in the eye of the storm like this, I mean." Jaik said loudly while walking outside to join Prism atop the vehicle.

When Prism looked back to see Jaik approaching him, Prism was reminded of the young man’s incredible physique as the cool dusk wind caused Jaik’s black shirt to shift across his defined torso. Prism could see a tuft of black chest hair peaking from the top of Jaik’s shirt as well. From the looks of his hairy arms, Prism figured that Jaik was quite hirsute, though his day-to-day clothing hid it well.

"You're right...it is eerily quiet out here. No sounds of gunfire or heavy machinery..." Prism concurred as Jaik took a seat beside him on the flat roof of the transport.

"You did a good job with this vehicle, and with the gate." Jaik leaned over and said to Prism in a low voice, causing Prism to smile dopily up at him. "No, seriously. I grew up with so many people calling me a genius and a prodigy. I was showered with praise to the point that it started to mean nothing to me. But seeing what you can do, and how you push yourself over and over again...that's truly amazing."

Prism felt waves of admiration and even respect washing over Jaik's mind, which in turn gave Jaik a sense of pleasure and relief. Prism marveled at how Jaik's sharing of his innermost thoughts actually made the young man feel so good. There were other thoughts and sensations that Prism sensed from his connection with Jaik, feelings that did not have form enough to give words too. When Prism delved into those feelings more deeply, he could feel himself become nauseous. He was violating Jaik's privacy without even thinking about it, while also ignoring the sincerity of Jaik's words.

"I'm sorry, Jaik. I don't want you to think lesser of me, especially after what you just said, but I need to share something with you that you might find disturbing..." Prism crossed his arms and said guiltily while looking away from Jaik.

"Reading my mind again?" Jaik said with a chuckle.

Prism's eyes opened wide and stared into Jaik's with a look of shock.

"You knew!? But I...I didn't sense your awareness at all! It's like the surface of your mind is an open door to me, whether I want it to be or not." Prism calmed down while he spoke, revealing the extent of his confusion.

"I've known something weird was going on between us since I saw you after your combat test. You'd be a bit more awkward around me than you were with everyone else. I tried to be more buddy-buddy with you, and it seemed to help a little bit, but you'd still respond to me in unexpected ways. I didn't know for sure what was causing it until last week." Jaik started to explain himself fully.

Prism felt Jaik's sincerity oozing from the young man's mind, which lulled Prism into a state of complete trust and understanding. It was as if their strange connection was strengthening with every honest word that they said to one another.

"Last week? While we were hiking through the mountains?" Prism asked.

"I sort of laid a trap for you." Jaik laughed and said, eliciting a raised eyebrow from Prism. "I had a weird dream that second night in the woods. It involved you fighting some sort of tattooed madman who was dressed in a blue-and-white coat. The dream was so vivid that I just knew it was something that had really happened. When I woke up, I felt a weird déjà vu when I looked over at you sleeping. It was then that I realized there was something strange going on between us, something that I couldn't really understand or fully perceive." Jaik seemed to digress from his initial joke, though Prism soon realized where Jaik was going with the story he told.

"The tree!" Prism suddenly remembered.

"Right, right. While you were asleep that night, I reasoned that you’d been reading my thoughts since the live combat test. And you hadn’t been acting so awkward around the others, so I figured that I was the only one.” Jaik watched Prism’s responses intently, and saw Prism nod at certain statements. “So to test my hypothesis, I spent the better part of an hour thinking up a plan. When you woke up, I started obsessively thinking about a pine tree with a white ring painted around its trunk. I knew that there was practically no way that you could know the significance of that tree." Jaik's eyes became a bit watery while he spoke, and Prism could sense the complex emotions that Jaik associated with that tree.

"When we came within twenty meters of the tree an hour later during our hike, and I went out of my way to walk to it and ask specific questions about it..." Prism started to fully understand.

"You couldn't have known that someone had died there. That was a fact that was kept secret, even from Ursun. So when you asked if the white-ringed tree involved some sort of research, and if it served as a memorial of some kind, those questions confirmed my hypothesis." Jaik sighed and cleared his throat.

"When I asked you if you knew about the white ring, you just shrugged and said that it could mean any number of things. Who was it that died there? I understand if you don't want to tell me, especially after you fought so hard to keep those thoughts from me." Prism grabbed Jaik's shoulder and said softly.

Jaik looked behind them to see if anyone was listening to their conversation. Satisfied that they were alone, Jaik began to speak again.

"When I worked alongside Dr. Liam within the Science Division a year ago, I would sometimes be called out to handle sensitive medical matters that involved the Red Wolves. One of those matters involved a pair of high-ranking researchers who'd been investigating electromagnetic emissions that were coming from what they believed to be an underground cave further up on that mountain. One of those researchers came directly to Dr. Liam in a panic and told the doctor how his research partner had gone mad and injured himself after running down the mountain. Dr. Liam sent me, Dill, and Dy to find the injured researcher. Even back then, Dill and Dy were known for their discretion. Needless to say, I discovered the missing researcher’s dead body in front of that tree, which he'd marked with a white ring for an unknown reason. Dr. Liam quickly classified the incident and marked the researcher's death as a suicide. I assisted him with the autopsy, but we didn't find anything to indicate he was murdered. The other researcher was reassigned to a different project after being thoroughly tested and given a clean bill of health by Dr. Liam."

Jaik's retelling of the odd events put Prism on edge; especially sense Jaik was nervous the entire time he told the story. Flashes of the events came into Prism's mind while Jaik remembered them. All Prism could think about what was the role Dr. Liam had played in the cover-up.

"What would make Dr. Liam hide this from his colleagues in Command?" Prism asked.

"Shame." Jaik said with a dramatic pause. "Dr. Liam wouldn't want to admit that one of his favorite scientists died in such a meaningless way. Not to mention that the two researchers hadn't fully shared what they were even researching with Liam. He still doesn't really know what they were doing on that mountain, other than the simple "underground electromagnetic emission" explanation." Jaik sighed and leaned back on the roof, placing his arms behind him to prop himself up.

"Quite a story. Thank you for trusting me with it." Prism said sweetly while staring gratefully into Jaik’s bright green eyes.

Prism reached up and tousled Jaik’s curly, undercut black hair. Jaik soon grabbed Prism’s arm, and lowered it back down to Prism’s side. Prism became a bit worried when he saw Jaik’s face become dour, and sensed a serious shift in Jaik’s mood.

"You seem good at keeping secrets, which brings us back to your mind-reading." Jaik said, not wanting to let Prism off the hook so easily.

After a very pregnant pause, Prism looked up at the night sky and took a deep breath before he began to speak.

"To start, I'll tell you that I'm relieved. I was worried that the magic I used to heal your leg and bring you out of that coma had radically changed your personality, but now I see why you've been acting so friendly towards me." Prism's expression hardened as he carefully chose his words. "And in all honesty, I'm not entirely sure why this one-sided telepathic bond has formed between us. If I had to guess, I'd say that the raw mana I used to treat you has made you...a bit magical." Prism smiled nervously at Jaik, seeing that his friend was even more confused by the explanation.

"I'm assuming that this "raw mana" you're talking about is the energy you got from connecting to our world when Ursun took you out to the waterfall? And I'm also going to assume that it is more unpredictable than the sort of mana you normally use?" Jaik asked intelligently.

"Your assumptions are correct. The mana I get from initially communing with a world is especially wild and powerful. I normally need a day or two to "digest" it, so that I can fully utilize it and better understand the world that I'm on. I'll admit that what I did to save you was dangerous, but I didn't have time to wait. Once I'd digested that raw mana, you could've been dead." Prism explained in earnest.

"I'll always be grateful to you for saving my life and making me whole again. You know that. Though...I have a new reality ahead of me now, apparently. What does being "magical" entail?" Jaik looked over at Prism with complete naiveté.

"Well, since your people don't seem to have the ability to even perceive magic, your new magical nature probably doesn't affect you much at all. But since I can sense magic, I have a unique ability to see and hear you in ways that others on Æba can't. Your body is enmeshed with the magical energies of your world. You radiate raw mana, something that I am only starting to realize. And because of that, even your thoughts have become magical in nature." Prism's explanation gave Jaik a budding sense of excitement. Jaik began to see himself as truly special for the first time in years.

"Does that mean that I'll be able to use magic, like you?" Jaik was surprised by his own question, but was made giddy by it, as well.

"I don't think so." Prism said softly, soon sensing Jaik's disappointment. "Whatever prevents your people from using magic is still affecting you. And I'm now pretty sure that the mana that I used to heal you is fading away and returning to Æba, since you lack the ability to absorb it. You'll probably be back to normal in a few more weeks." Prism told Jaik, whose disappointment grew with each word Prism spoke.

"I see," said Jaik with a slight frown. "But at least I'm alive! That's what's important!"

Jaik rose to his feet after shouting joyfully and stretched his long, toned arms up to the sky in an energetic, triumphant pose. Prism smiled up at him, glad that he was focusing on the most positive aspect of his magical recovery. Jaik looked down at Prism and beamed at the bald, youthful alien. Prism could sense the love radiating from Jaik, and it made him feel warm and happy.

"What's going on!? Are there enemies nearby!?"

A half-dressed Ursun charged out of the lobby with his coilgun in hand, with Srell and Lorias following close behind. When Prism and Jaik heard Ursun's shouts and saw him running towards them, they both laughed and waved their arms to gesture that everything was okay. Ursun cursed to himself and turned around to head back inside. Lorias flipped his hair at the two youngest-looking members of RED-1, while Srell stayed behind to give them a piece of his mind.

"The bootcamp isn't over yet! Get your asses in gear! This ain't no time to be goofing off!" Srell yelled to them irately before heading back to the lobby as well.

"You heard the man. Let's get ready for bed. We've got a lot of stairs to climb tomorrow." Jaik said to Prism with a jokingly overly-determined expression.

"Yes, sir!" Prism shouted with the same silly look, even going so far as to give a mock salute to Jaik.

The two of them laughed their way back to the lobby, pushing and shoving each other along the way.