Ozen, Serah, and Erik continued to stare, eyes wide with surprise. They watched as Dharen lightly swung his hammer in a sequence once more, eventually following up with an empowered swing of Restraint. After a few more cycles of the same, the wall had broken open enough to allow the group members to squeeze through.

Dharen turned back to them with a smug grin, gesturing for them to move into the next room. He lead the way, with the others still somewhat frozen and flabbergasted.

Finally, Serah gave Ozen a hearty slap on the back. “Look at that! Guess you don’t get to throw your life away yet, after all.” She stepped forward cheerfully, making her way to the fractured opening in the wall.

Ozen waved his hand, looking slightly sheepish. “I already said that I do not plan to die,” he grumbled quietly. He moved to follow behind Serah, stepping towards the newly-created aperture. Erik merely laughed uproariously, having lost much of his previous tension.

The group entered the adjacent room, met by a large and advanced workshop. Dharen had broken through the wall near the middle of the room. It was fortunate that he had not done so in the exact middle of the chamber’s wall, however, as a large desk was pressed against it. Though that would have not been enough to stop him, it might have ruined the atmosphere if the other three had to watch as he was forced to bash his way through an innocent piece of furniture after having broken through the obstructing wall.

The quartet eagerly split up, spreading through the room. If anything, the new chamber seemed even more promising than the last. Though the last had held a wealth of information, it had held an admittedly prominent dearth of tangible solutions. Hopefully, the new hole in the wall would be the bridge that linked the theoretical to the physical. Otherwise, it’s over for us Dharen thought. No pressure.

He continued searching through the area, examining the various devices that it held. Interestingly enough, there were a number of display cases. With no other lead, it was those that he decided to investigate.

However, unlike the others, he had the advantage in that he could read the labels on the display cases. The first one was called an Amarea; knowing the name, truth be told, was entirely unhelpful. But with a modicum of rummaging, he was able to whisk out a tattered plaque that described the device from within a drawer of the case.

The Amarea may be used in conjunction with Elben protocols to subsume the Sasam Paradigm. Further research is necessary to determine full application.

Dharen read the description again, but found himself at a total loss as to what the so-called Amarea actually did. Out of a desire to not leave anything that might be useful behind, he whisked it away into his spatial ring.

He continued perusing through the display cases, reading description plaques when available and pocketing devices that seemed useful, until he finally found what he was looking for.

His heart leapt when he read the plaque adorning the display case. Pulser Mk1. He hurriedly smashed the glass separating him from his prize, reaching out to take the Pulser within his grasp.

It was a wand-like tool with a crystal placed on one end. With no other recourse, he looked for the accompanying description plaque.

The Pulser Mk1 has been created to destabilize war-augmented Orbel in the event that they enter a berserk state. This device has been created in accordance with Eiben protocols and has been linked to the organic matter of its principal creator. Contact the Administrator with any inquiries.

Dharen lifted the device from its place in the case, gripping it loosely in his hand. He began to experimentally fiddle with it in an attempt to discover how it worked. A depressable indent, similar to a button, was inset at the lower shaft of the device.

Pointing the Pulser away from himself cautiously, he pressed the button. Nothing happened. After pressing it a few more times for good measure to no result, he was forced to admit that he had absolutely no understanding of how he might activate the device.

Calling the others over, he displayed the device for their examination. They each had their own methods. Serah spilled her hands over its entire surface, meticulously searching for an activation method. Erik focused on the button-like indent much as Dharen had, alternating various pressing lengths and rhythms. Ozen simply bashed it against a table a few times before pressing the button, much to the shock and horror of everyone in the room. Fortunately, the Pulser was made of sturdy stuff. Despite that, Dharen still made a note to himself that Ozen was not allowed anywhere near the potentially life-saving tool again.

As they began to discuss what to do next, a thunderous crash resounded from the next room. The discordant notes of splintering wood and shrieking metal assaulted their stress-heightened senses. A rumbling began, the rolling sound of advancing mechanized fury.

Erik blanched. “Quick, block the opening!” he howled urgently. The others, Dharen included, hopped quickly to it; soon the hole in the wall was covered by a veritable storm of debris and rubble.

Panting with the most recent exertion, the desperate party glanced at each other hopelessly.

Ozen stormed about the room, knocking over the occasional offending display case. He raged and seethed, grumbling various profanities and curses. He whipped around, turning violently towards the now-barricaded aperture and pulling at his axes.

“I’m damn well not going to sit here and wait to die,” he snarled. “If I am to go out, it will not be lying down and hiding like a fucking dog. These beasts will regret the day that they went against me.”

Erik raised a hand and spoke with a mocking half-smile. “Well, that may be a little hard. I don’t think they actually have any real memory. But please, do go ahead and throw your life away needlessly. While you do that, we will work on accomplishing something actually useful and learn how to activate the device.”

Dharen glanced back and forth between the two agitated men as they glared at one another. It was evident that the desperate air was infecting the two of them greatly, causing them to become increasingly vitriolic towards one another.

He thought furiously, searching his memory of the journal for any clue on how to proceed. He nearly slapped himself in the next moment. There was a particular phrase that jumped out at him. He had previously ignored it, being too focused on the general existence of the Pulser Mk1.

“We have...formed the necessary link between it and the bodies of myself and my colleagues to prevent the invaders from employing the device against us.”

As he remembered the words, Dharen began to feel a sinking in his stomach.

Dharen growled, filled to the brim with ire. “Ozen’s right, in some ways. We cannot sit in here and wait to die. Because if we wait, die we will. I believe that I know how to activate the Pulser. But to do that, I have to get back to the skeleton.”

The others looked at Dharen, then back to the wall of debris as it vibrated with the multitude of impacts that were being struck by the horde of Orbels. They looked back at Dharen, apprehension in their eyes.