It is not technically a prison. It is a temporary holding facility with mana shielded cells of which two are beyond the wall in front of you. . .

I look over at Sam and say, “This is apparently a holding facility for accused criminals. They stay here for trial or transport or somethingorother.”

Sam’s face pales and his head turns towards the wall. “That’s bad.” I nod in response. He says in a low voice, “How could they have gotten through the wall?”

“We don’t know they did.”

[Joe, what is on either side of us? He could have turned and entered either building.]

As part of the agreement with the prisoner holding complex, both buildings are owned by the city and act as reinforcement and solid supports for the facility wall. It is unlikely they were able to move that way. It is also why there are so many surveillance devices in this area of the alley and how suspicious it is that they were all disrupted at a most inconvenient time. . .

Step back, flip on [Mana Sight] and scan the wall. First I face my head towards the left corner of the alley and sweep right slowly, looking for any disruption in the mana particles that could give away anything relevant to finding an entrance or exit. As I reach the right corner I have found nothing even remotely suspicious so I scan up and around. Maybe they climbed up to the roof? It would be a hell of a climb with no holds and straight up 20 meters and in such a short time. Aria is certainly not that skilled a climber and has never used climbing gear. No, climbing is out. If left is out, right is out, and up is out, that leaves down. I step back even further and scan the ground from left to right.

My emotions are getting a little out of control again as I am almost all the way to the right with no hope of finding her.

“There!” I call out jabbing my finger towards the ground at the very edge of the right wall about two meters away from the facility. Jogging over I hear Sam behind me. “There is something off about the ground over here. It is not as solid.”

I approach and kneel down. Pressing my hand to the center of the area Jo speaks to me.

There is a remote connection door here. It appears to be an emergency exit in case of an uncontrolled situation in the facility. I suspect it will slide down and into the right wall based on the instruction set. While I am able to defeat the system, it has leviathan-level defense protocol and will take time. I recommend a more direct approach. . .

“Step back, Sam.” He does and I raise my hand over what I think will be the top-right edge of the door. A beam of white plasma drops from my palm and punctures the door. It takes a moment to breach all the way through the apparently thick steel and stone.

This exit appears to be inscribed for strength and resistance to Magica. An unexpected level of protection for a secret doorway. I will proceed with my attempt to defeat the defensive protocols while you continue. . .

Not responding, drop my beam of plasma and stand. “Get behind me Sam. And cover your eyes.” Building up mana, my hands begin to glow white with an occasional crackle of purple sparks. Ten seconds of charging later, I release a beam of pure bright white with lightning spiraling around it. I close my eyes and think about my elf. This had better work. If he’s hurt Aria I don’t know what I’ll do. I might not be safe to be around. Maybe I should ask Sam to stay.

With the mana spent and me not adding more, the beam dies suddenly and everything seems darker. Where there was once smooth stone ground, now there is a glowing and smoking circular hole leading to a pair of stairs. Apparently, I went a little overboard because the stairs are also melted into the form of a glowing hole eventually ending in a likewise glowing crater of the same width.

I start walking down, sending ice mana with each step causing the stone stairs to give off soft cracking sounds as a thin layer of frost forms over them. Calling back, “Sam, I don’t think you should come further. A Special is nothing to take lightly and by all accounts, he appears to be at least moderately talented in combat.”

“I’m coming unless you give me an order not to. After everything, I owe her.”

I let out a sigh and say, “Alright. But you have to follow orders. Clear?”

“Absolutely.”

A quick check of my ring tells me Aria is still alive but she also remains dimmed somehow. Time to move. Creating a light globe two meters ahead, I reach the bottom of what remains of the steps and find myself in a long stone tunnel with small dim mana lights every meter. Dousing my own light, I jog forward prepared to act if I see a threat, or hopefully a sighting of Aria and this Charles Atkinson. Sam’s footsteps behind me tell me is staying two meters back which is fine.

Neither the entrance nor this tunnel appear on the schematics. . .

Fine. This walkway under the facility ends after approximately 250 meters at another set of stone steps. Reaching the steps I look up and find another horizontal sliding door. Creating a globe I press my hand to it and hear Jo again.

I have almost breached their defensive crystal structure. Thankfully there is not a nano intelligence behind their anti-penetration protocols. . .

20 seconds later I hear a click and low hiss as the door drops down a few inches and then slides sideways into the wall, as Jo originally surmised. A poorly lit room is just above the entrance. I slowly stick my head above the edge, ready to drop in case of attack. What I find is a two-by-two meter room devoid of any humanoids but with stacked boxes and shelves lining the walls and covering much of the space. There is a clear, if winding, path to the only visible door.

Climbing out I walk to it but turn around to see Sam just stepping out of the doorway. “I have no idea what to expect here but I want to recommend again that you turn around and go back. Whatever happens, I can tell you it will likely not be good. We are breaking into a government facility which may result in charges against one or both of us. If you are worried about owing Aria, consider another way to repay it.”

Sam looks at me and then looks down. I let out a sigh and put a hand on his shoulder. “Sam, please go back. I’m sure you have family and friends to go home to. Please. If you and Aria really are friends, she wouldn’t want you putting yourself at risk this way. Go home.”

He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly and nods. “Sister.”

I blink at him. “Excuse me?”

“I have a sister. She. . . isn’t well. I have to pay for her treatments.”

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe when this is over, I can help. Go home to your sister and don’t get into trouble. You have to work to help her right? Don’t jeopardize that.”

[Jo?]

Researching. . .

He turns around and climbs back down the stairs without another word.

[Allright. Time to break into a prison.]