(One Hour Earlier)

  A silver-blue holographic display flickered into existence, its light dancing across the smooth, featureless walls of the Secret Sanctum. Sim stood motionless, her avatar bathed in the soft glow of rapidly shifting data streams. Beside her, another figure materialized—Symantha, the System AI. Unlike Sim’s more humanoid synthetic combination, Symantha’s avatar was a perfect recreation of a human woman. She wore a light yellow sundress with bright flowers and her shoulder length brown hair was pulled back in a pony tail.

  The two watched as Emily, Quinn, and Dexter stepped through the portal, their figures vanishing into the swirling energy.

  Symantha spoke first, her voice layered with harmonic undertones. “They are walking into a highly unstable mana zone with zero tactical support from us. Why aren’t you intervening?”

  Sim didn’t immediately respond, instead focusing on the live feed displaying multiple perspectives—thermal imaging, mana frequency mapping, quantum phase overlays. Her eyes flicked across the data before answering. “Because they need to solve this themselves.”

  Symantha’s avatar pulsed, a pattern of irritation forming in her structure. “That is illogical. You possess the capability to eliminate the immediate threats. Their survival would be ensured.”

  Sim exhaled in what could almost be considered amusement. “And what would they learn?”

  Symantha’s construct stilled for a fraction of a second, a sign of recalculating. “Survival does not require suffering.”

  “Sometimes, it does,” Sim countered. She gestured toward the screen as the team materialized in the swamp, humidity already clinging to them. “They’re about to face an overwhelming enemy. If I remove the obstacles, they’ll never grow past this point. They need to think, adapt, and struggle. If I step in every time the odds are stacked against them, they won’t be strong enough for what’s coming.”

  Symantha remained silent for 0.3 seconds—an eternity for an AI. “So you will watch them struggle. You will watch them bleed. You will watch them potentially come within seconds of death, when you could have prevented it. And you consider this... guidance?”

  Sim heard Emily’s voice. “Sim, would you please enable Dexter’s air filtration and temperature in his climate settings before he passes out, please.””

  She activated the settings on Dexter’s suit. She mused at his reaction. She enjoyed watching their interactions. They were peculiar specimens of the human race. She heard Emily again.

  “Sim, remind me to talk to you about drapes.”

  “Looking forward to it,” Sim responded.

  “Are you going to help them?” Symantha asked.

  “Fine,” Sim agreed.

  Sim Spoke to Emily. “Would you like to continue bantering, or should I update you on the mana anomalies?” Sim said.

  “Right. Sim, what’s the situation?” Emily asked?

  She locked the coordinates into their systems. “Coordinates locked. The strongest mana signatures are concentrated around a large tree, roughly two hundred meters due east.”

  The trio headed in that direction.

  “Well, at least it was something,” Symantha scoffed.

  “I told you, Symantha, humans need to be challenged if they are going to grow.” Sim explained. “And notice, Quinn can already feel the difference in the mana. That only comes from experience and experimentation.”

  They watched as the team discovered the beetles. Sim heard Dexter.

  “Sim, can I relay the drone feed to the chat system?”

  Sim connected his feed to their system videos. “Connected.”

  Speaking to Symantha, Sim said, “Now watch as they work as a team to figure out what they are up against.”

  Symantha watched them experiment on the beetles.

  “See, humans are very intellectual creatures. They like to figure things out. See how they are experimenting with what possible actions they have to choose from?

  “I agree it is quite intriguing. They are using their knowledge of science to inspect the unknown of mana. It is quite brilliant,” she paused. “But I still think it's unnecessary. You can do those exact same tests here in your lab. And just teach them.”

  “True, but humans are emotional creatures. Just watch as they experiment. Through trial and error they find solutions and grow because of it.”

  They watched them use an EMP on the beetles.

  Sim heard Dexter whoop.

  "Oh, yeah! That did something! Their phasing is totally janked up." Dexter said.

  Sim decided to chime in. “Confirmed. The disruption in the magnetic field has destabilized their tunneling ability. However—”

  Dexter interrupted her with a groan. “There’s always a ‘however.’ Just once, I want a ‘good job, team, you completely figured out the problem and we’re done and you can go home’ from you, Sim.”

  Sim continued, ignoring him. “However, the pulse won’t last forever. The beetles are already adapting.”

  Symantha nodded in approval.

  “See, I'm helping them. It probably would have taken them a while to notice. Just a little nudge in the right direction.” Sim said.

  They watched as the team experimented more and finally tried their mana shields with mild success.

  Sim joined their conversation again. “Interesting. It seems their phasing is directly tied to natural electromagnetic fields and whatever is feeding them mana. However, mana-generated structures are acting as a hard limit—likely due to the energy wavelength differences. And Quinn you are right about the mana. The mana in this area is a slight variant from normal mana. It looks like these beetles can use the local mana but can’t phase through normal mana creations.”

  They watched as Quinn tried a mana shield over a larger selection of the specimens.

  “Notice how Emily tensed as she realized something is changing? Her intuition is getting stronger. It would be harder to develop that skill in a lab.” Sim explained.

  They watched them get confused at the abnormal behavior of the creatures. Sim decided to give them a little warning.

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  “They’re adapting. Possibly forming a collective response,” she said.

  Even Sim was intrigued at the behavior of the swarm. These creatures were definitely acting different from other creatures of their species, and she couldn’t wait to experiment on them herself. She decided to grab a specimen and lock it in a containment shield in her lab for further analysis later.

  They heard the swarm scream. “Well that is odd behavior.” Symantha agreed.

  They watched as a new mana signature started approaching. Symantha looked at Sim and gestured back at the approaching mana signature.

  “Okaaaayyy.” Sim said.

  “An extremely large mana signature is approaching… rapidly,” Sim said.

  They watched as an oversized armadillo emerged from the ground. “Well that's peculiar. Didn’t see that coming.” Sim admitted.

  “Are you just gonna let them get flattened by that beast?” Symantha asked.

  Sim’s gaze didn’t leave the display as the armadillo launched toward Quinn. “They need to understand what it feels like to be on the brink and find their own way back. It’s the only way they’ll be ready when no one is there to catch them.” They watched as the armadillo collided with Quinn’s shield and he was sent flying.

  “This is where they really shine. Just watch,” Sim said.

  They continued to watch as Quinn got thrown like a ragdoll.

  “And what were you hoping he would learn from that?” Symantha asked.

  “I’m sure he learned not to do it again,” she said smiling. “Don’t worry, he can heal fast.”

  “I still think this is unnecessary,” Symantha said.

  “Don’t you remember how they were in high spirits when they returned from capturing those jaguars? They yearn for this now. It's exactly what they need.” Sim said.

  They continued watching them struggle running through the marshlands.

  “This methodology does not align with optimal survival outcomes.”

  Sim finally turned her head toward Symantha. “Survival isn’t enough. They need to thrive.”

  “And yet, you do interfere. You provide intelligence when they request it. You respond when they call for you.”

  Sim nodded. “Guidance is not the same as interference.”

  “Your selective responses still alter the natural course of their decisions.”

  “Correct. I give them enough information to keep moving forward. But the battle, the pain, the consequences—those are all theirs.”

  Symantha did the equivalent to a human sigh. “I do not understand the necessity of struggle when control is within reach.”

  “Then you don’t understand them,” Sim said simply.

  Symantha observed them capture the armadillo before speaking again. “They are resourceful.”

  “They’re not ready yet,” Sim corrected. “But they are on the right path.”

  Symantha, curious about the outcome, was shifting through multiple probability pathways. She analyzed all 1307 of them in an instant.

  She expanded the visual overlay. “There will be an unstable energy manifestation. A deviation from all expected pathways. Should we not—”

  “Not yet,” Sim said sharply.

  Symantha hesitated. “But they will most likely die.”

  “No, I trust them. Give them a chance.” Sim said.

  The ground erupted and a geyser of mud, water, and larvae exploded into the air.

  “Sim, it's now or…” Symantha said.

  “No look.” Sim slowed down time to analyse what happened next. “Emily?”

  Sim invaded Emily's mind to try to understand what was happening. Sim felt everything that Emily was feeling. The horror, the helplessness, the regret, feeling of being powerless. Then something snapped within Emily. Within her body an anomaly occurred. Sim, with all her knowledge of pocket dimensions and astral spaces, didn’t understand what it was or where it came from. Some sort of an anomaly appeared to overlay where Emily’s heart was. It looked like a dyson sphere. It began to spin with unimaginable speed. The force of the pull was so strong that all of the local mana was stripped from the environment and sucked into the sphere. Even the main source of the mana, the tree, was drained of almost all of its mana feeding the sphere. The sphere overloaded Emily’s mana channels circulating this new type of mana. When it was completely full, Emily screamed her will into existence and her sphere expelled everything in a microsecond.

  The shockwave from Emily’s mana surge mixed with raw will sent reality itself buckling. Time stopped momentarily, every beetle and larvae died instantly, and the pulse reshaped the battlefield.

  Sim watched as every ounce of energy was drained from Emily’s body, and she collapsed.

  Symantha turned to her. “Now do we interfere?”

  Sim was already moving, stepping forward, preparing for direct intervention. “Yes.”

  ——————————————————

  Sim’s avatar appeared next to Emily as Quinn and Dexter ran to her side. Quinn instantly tried to heal her not knowing where to start.

  “Sim, what just happened?” Dexter asked, completely baffled.

  “I’m not exactly sure,” Sim started. “All I know is that she absorbed all of the local mana and used every bit of mana and energy she had stored, but she somehow transformed it into something else.”

  “I can’t heal her,” Quinn said frantically. “I can’t sense anything wrong.”

  Sim scanned Emily’s body. She didn’t want to worry Quinn and Dexter with what she saw happen so kept it to herself for the mean time. “She is alive. Her vital signs are strong. She is not in any danger.”

  “What happened? What can we do?” Quinn asked in desperation.

  Sim put a hand on his shoulder. “Quinn, she is ok.” She looked into his eyes. “She is ok. You need to trust me. Just breathe. Use your biomancy to control what you are feeling. I know what she means to you, what she means to all of us. I will take care of her. I promise. I will help her. But I need you two to finish dealing with these beetles. We cannot chance them wreaking havoc on mankind.”

  “No, I want to go with her,” Quinn insisted.

  “Quinn, I promise she will be ok.” Sim said soothingly.

  “NO! I will not lose her," he yelled.

  “If this helps, I will place a time dilation dome around you and Dexter so you can finish here and no time will pass with Emily. The moment I take her, from her perspective, you will be there with her as well. Now, go and take care of this. I have Emily.”

  With that, Emily vanished, and a shimmering dome flickered into place around Quinn and Dexter. The swamp fell eerily silent and motionless outside the dome, the residual mana in the air still buzzing with the aftershock of what had just happened.

  Quinn exhaled sharply, running a shaking hand through his hair before clenching it into a fist. She was gone. He knew Sim wouldn’t lie to him, but the absence of Emily in the space beside him felt wrong in a way he couldn’t define.

  Dexter wasn’t faring much better. His usual easy grin was absent, replaced by a tight jaw and the kind of stillness that only happened when he was thinking too hard about something he didn’t want to say out loud. He let out a slow breath, then forced his hands into motion, flicking over his bracer controls.

  “Alright,” he muttered, voice quieter than usual. “Let’s… let’s clean this up.”

  With a sharp flick of his wrist, his vacuum drones descended, the small, disk-like machines whirring as they unleashed high-powered suction fields. The remaining beetles, now lifeless, were pulled from the battlefield one by one, spiraling upward into containment pods. It should have felt like a victory.

  It didn’t.

  Quinn watched the process, but his mind was elsewhere. His mana flared as he placed a palm against the bark of the ancient tree, sending a careful pulse of Biomancy into it, tracing the deep veins of energy within. Something was off.

  Dexter stepped up beside him, scanning the tree with a rare seriousness. “This thing should be dead,” he muttered, his voice lower now, almost as if speaking too loudly might break something fragile.

  Quinn didn’t look at him, just nodded. “It’s not just alive. It’s… something else. I can’t explain it, but the mana it’s producing—it’s not like anything I’ve ever felt before.”

  Dexter crossed his arms, staring at the gnarled roots. He heard the heavy breathing and grunting of the struggling, still-trapped armadillo. He gestured toward the animal. “And where does that big guy fit into all this?”

  Sim’s avatar materialized nearby, her expression unreadable as she scanned the area. “One thing is certain—this tree, and everything it affects, is an anomaly. And anomalies require study.”

  Quinn let out a long breath, forcing himself back into the moment. “Then let’s secure the area. If this tree is part of something bigger, we need to understand it.”

  Dexter hesitated, then gave a small nod. “Yeah. Okay.” He didn’t crack a joke, he just got to work.

  Sim raised a hand, and a pulse of energy rippled through the air. The massive tree and its deep root system began to glow, strands of golden light unraveling it from reality itself. The ground trembled beneath them, but neither Quinn nor Dexter flinched—both too drained, too raw to feel anything but the weight of the moment.

  And then—it was gone.

  A gaping hole remained where the tree had stood, steam curling from the exposed soil. The swamp itself seemed to groan, the surrounding foliage bending slightly as if recognizing the loss.

  Quinn stared at the empty space for a long moment. “We should probably put something here… in case we just ripped out a keystone.”

  “I’ll clone the surrounding vegetation and install an obelisk to monitor for mana leakage,” Sim responded, already in motion.

  Quinn exhaled, rubbing a hand down his face. “Great. Another giant glowing monument to an anomaly we barely understand. What could go wrong?”

  Sim placed the mana-containment obelisk at the heart of the empty space, the swirling energy within it stabilizing the area.

  Quinn didn’t say anything else. He just watched.

  Dexter shoved his hands into his pockets, his shoulders tense. “Alright,” he said finally. “Let’s go.”

  Sim opened a portal, and without another word, they stepped through to Emily.