Anand always assumed the inside of a rift would look like what he had seen outside. A deep purple wave moving erratically in an ethereal space. Instead, he saw nothing; a void — not even the bright red shell protecting him. Even if there was a light source, it wasn’t illuminating anything. Anand would’ve forgotten the presence of the shield around him if he wasn’t resting against it. He expected to be adrift for a long time but quickly felt a change in the atmosphere. The red shell around him crumpled as it slammed into something. Anand’s head jerked violently as he came to an abrupt halt.

Volt tore apart from the impact. Anand never felt anything like his Glaive ripping off his body. As Cahlium plates broke apart from the armor, Anand’s clothes reverted. The chipped metal slipped through cracks in the cage. It took a couple seconds before the broken pieces clattered to the floor below. Anand held his breath for a moment and patted his head to make sure his helmet was intact. He let out a slow breath once he was sure it was. Every part of his Glaive seemed to react as it normally would.

Even though his armor was broken, the internal functions were still working. Good. Tori would be happy to know that Glaives could withstand coming through a rift. And if they weren’t traveling as fast as Anand was, they’d likely remain intact. He moved cautiously while examining the damage he’d sustained. It was surprising that his helmet and torso were mostly intact. His right leg seemed completely fine. And except for a few scuffs, his left arm was still protected. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for the rest of Volt. His left leg’s armor was broken up to his knee, revealing the dirty jeans and converse underneath. His right hand was still covered with metal but the rest of his arm was visible. He tugged his flannel sleeve to cover it. Upon closer inspection, all in all Anand was in better shape than expected. Especially after the stunt he’d pulled.

Once he was sure he’d found every bit of damage, he tried connecting to the team voice channel.

“Hello?” he whispered. “It’s Volt. Can anyone hear me?”

No response. Of course not. Parts of the Glaive had to be malfunctioning. Anand was on his own. He could feel panic encroaching and focused on planning to keep his mind occupied. There had to be a way for him to get out of his current predicament.

First, he had to figure out where he was. With a little pressure he forced open one of the cracks in the cage and peered through. The room he was in was massive. Walls stood four stories high with maps and diagrams covering every space. At ground level were dozens of pedestals holding intricate spheres. Anand moved to get a closer look. The shell around him shifted. He swore and held his breath. There was no doubt in his mind that he couldn’t stay up here much longer. He either had to descend voluntarily or he would come down forcibly.

At the base of one of the walls was a door. It was circular with a vertical slit along the center and a control panel to the right side of the arch. There weren’t any other points of entry. As long as Anand kept an eye on the door, he’d be ready for anyone.

He focused back on Ray’s shield and looked for another opening. It was right beneath where he was crouched. He peered through to confirm the distance to the ground. At most it was fifty feet. He’d dropped further before; this was nothing. With a foot against one side of the opening and his hand against the other, Anand pried apart the crack. Before he had a chance to steady his grip, he slipped through. He focused on landing on his armored right leg. He landed heavily and felt the shock through his entire body. Luckily, nothing was broken.

He looked up to see the cage dislodge from the wall. It loudly crashed on the floor and broke apart. Anand dove out of the way and grumbled. Someone was definitely going to find him any second. He quickly hid behind one of the pedestals and held his breath. Outside he could hear scrapes and squeaks. If the door opened, Anand was ready to fight. But no one came. Seconds of waiting turned to minutes. He was sure it was safe. As safe as it could be in enemy territory, at least.

Anand finally left his hiding spot and looked around. From the ground he could see the spheres above each pedestal floating in place. The plaques adorned on each one were illegible. The symbols didn’t look like anything Anand had ever seen. He roamed around until he reached one sphere that seemed to be in the middle of construction. From the shapes engraved on it, he could tell it was Earth. The nearby wall was decorated with the heads of different animals. Some were ones Anand had only ever read about. Next to them were images of buildings that had been destroyed years ago. Ones that weren’t able to be repaired.

No matter how hard he tried, Anand couldn’t figure out the Oghrodi’s motivation. But he couldn’t just sit around trying to decipher them. He was pushing his luck by staying in one place. Anand checked his fists and emanated a small burst of lightning. It was all the confirmation he needed to continue his mission. He couldn’t waste any more time waiting. There were prisoners that needed saving. He quietly walked towards the door and placed a hand on the wall.

“Grid view. Overlay visuals,” Anand commanded. Through his helmet he could see a faint blue grid on top of everything surrounding him. Its real usage was to map the area beyond his vision. Relief washed over him as his radar displayed the area around him.

The room was on the side of a hallway that stretched for a few yards before turning to other halls and rooms. A group of purple dots moved along the left hall. It was unlikely they were prisoners. Anand waited for them to pass before exiting the room. He pressed his palm against the nearby control panel and the door opened with a faint hum. In order to avoid whoever passed, he went towards the right hall. Using his treads wasn’t an option. One: Anand only had one boot. Two: there could be Oghrodi around any corner.

He tried to remember what he’d done all those months ago when saving Sonia. Unfortunately, his stealth hadn’t worked back then. On the other hand, Eve had always been good at staying hidden. Even during training, Anand could only track her because of the map and communication. Eve would know exactly what to do here.

He couldn’t be sure of how the Oghrodi tracked him, but he could do his best to hide. Anand hugged the wall and tried to stay in the shadows. He’d never regretted Volt’s color scheme more than right now. If he had to exit the shadows, he did so behind the cover of pillars. Each movement was planned meticulously before following through. A step couldn’t be taken until Anand knew the three steps he’d take after. Honestly, he was lucky there weren’t any Oghrodi in his immediate vicinity. Either way, he was ready for combat.

Navigating the winding halls reminded him of the school — granted this hall had ceilings hundreds of feet high and walls made of an unknown metal. Anand noticed small control panels next to doors leading into empty rooms which he assumed were barracks. He avoided touching them but noticed recognizable characters on the machine. Some arabic numerals alongside letters from different Earth languages. Before he could look closer, he heard whispers in the distance. He remained stealthy but moved towards them, slowly discerning the words.

“I think we can be smarter about this,” a voice said.

Anand didn’t recognize the voice but it sounded tired, annoyed and shockingly human. He continued down the hall and rounded a corner before approaching a large doorway. The voice was louder behind the door. Though the symbol on his map marked it as an unknown creature, Anand was sure it was human.

“Yeah, I know. But this is ridiculous,” it complained. As Anand approached the door it said, “Hold on, someone is coming. I will call you back.”

Anand placed a hand on the panel and slipped through the door. The second it opened, he regretted his assumption. Looking back at him was a creature standing two feet taller than him. It had faded blue skin and gray eyes. Long white hair fell down to its back and partially covered the creature’s metallic armor. Each hand had four fingers donned with massive bladed rings. It was guarding another barred door behind it. From afar, Anand might have mistaken it for a human. But this close, there was no doubt it was an Oghrodi.

The creature tilted its head, furrowed a brow, and growled, “How did you get out?”

“How do I understand you?” Anand blurted as he took a fighting stance.

He didn’t dare take his eyes off the Oghrodi. It leapt forward and clawed at Anand’s head. He stepped back and slammed against the door. It had shut automatically. The room was no smaller than the training rooms but it felt suffocating when facing an Oghrodi. But Anand had fought hundreds of them. Sure, the ones he fought were simulations. Nonetheless, he could do this.

The Oghrodi punched the wall near Anand’s head. He weaved to the side and into the creature’s reach. With Volt damaged, Anand moved slower than usual. Mustering all his strength, he swung at the Oghrodi’s rib. Mid-battle it was much more obvious that his lightning was weaker than usual. Only a small spark appeared when he activated it. But Anand followed through. The spark was enough to tear into his opponent’s armor. The Oghrodi stumbled back. It seemed more surprised than hurt. Anand didn’t let up and stomped his armored foot expecting his treads to shift down. But he didn’t hear the click he’d grown accustomed to. He looked down to see that his treads had jammed. While he was distracted, the Oghrodi leapt forward and swiped its claws across Anand’s chest. He swiftly dodged backwards to minimize the damage but was once again met by the wall.

“Foolish.” The Oghrodi chuckled.

It slammed both its hands against the wall on either side of its prey. The harsh sound of metal against metal rang through the room as its blades cut through the wall. The Oghrodi strained and pulled its hands together in an attempt to slice Anand.

His heart raced. This wasn’t anything like training. He always had a fully functional Glaive. He always had a plan. He could use every part of Volt as Tori had instructed. Anand hesitated and looked back at his treads. Tori hadn’t directly told him everything Volt could do, though. Anand had figured out a lot of stuff on his own. He focused on his treads and tried to shift them behind his shins. He’d never felt luckier than he did at that moment. The metal plates crawled to the back of his legs and locked in place. Anand pressed his legs tightly against the wall. With a single command, the treads spun as fast as possible.

As the Oghrodi’s claws closed, Anand slipped through. He shot upward against the wall with a short trail of lightning following. He didn’t bother slowing down when he leapt off. The Oghrodi tore its claws out of the wall to defend itself. Anand reached out and placed his hand against them. Using the sudden shift in momentum, he flipped over the creature. With a single kick he pushed his opponent against the same wall that trapped him moments ago.

Before it could turn around, Anand gathered all his strength and drove his fist into the Oghrodi’s spine. Even if he couldn’t create a large burst of lightning, he was able to make multiple small ones. The repeated violent shocks tore apart the creature’s armor and revealed a tough hide underneath. Slowly, the skin began to burn and tear. The Oghrodi pushed Anand away and turned to face him. Without letting up, Anand rushed in again. He unleashed a barrage of rapid blows. As the Oghrodi grew weaker, it bounced between Anand’s fists and the jagged metal of the shredded wall. All sides of it were bloody and bruised. The Oghrodi groaned and fell to its knees while coughing up a dark purple ooze. It spat at Anand’s helmet and he stepped forward shakily with his fists raised.

“Fall,” Anand said, as menacing as possible. He’d noticed his lightning growing weaker. There was no way he could keep fighting.

The Oghrodi stared back menacingly before falling prone onto the floor. Anand slowly lowered his stance. Violet ooze seeped out of the crumpled mass. The creature stirred and Anand clumsily raised his fists again. He stood in a fighting stance for a few seconds until he realized the Oghrodi was no longer a threat. Anand stepped back and leaned against the nearby wall. The amount of blood on the floor was shocking compared to the wound Anand thought he’d created. The ooze spilled everywhere, covering the floor in a small pool. Shaky knees didn’t permit Anand to stay standing. He slipped onto the floor and cowered at the sight.

He’d only ever done this much damage in simulations. Anand was used to shattered polygons, not blood. This was more visceral than he’d anticipated. He gagged but stopped himself from vomiting. He had no way to be sure he could equip Volt if it was removed. He averted his eyes from the Oghrodi.

“Keep it together. You knew this was going to happen,” Anand mumbled.

He slowly stood up and examined the area. When he actually paid attention, it was obvious that the rest of the room wasn’t covered in blood. The guarded door was adjacent to a panel with a scanner. Anand placed his hand on it and unfamiliar red symbols appeared. He groaned and crept back towards the unconscious Oghrodi. Anand grabbed its arm and dragged it to the panel. He planted the hand on the scanner and it displayed white symbols. The door slowly opened and Anand stepped inside. A familiar wind brushed past him under the blue sky that hung thousands of feet overhead.

“What the-?”

Rows of massive buildings stretched for a mile before abruptly stopping at a sandy desert. The sky and sand stretched endlessly. Anand walked towards them, mesmerized. He reached down to touch the sand and felt a cold metal floor. The image of the sand distorted as his hand moved across it. He looked back up with squinted eyes. Focusing on the minute details he realized the clouds never changed. Whenever they flew to a certain point, they looped back to the other side of the sky. There were never any new formations. As Anand watched the clouds he realized that even the sun was too perfect. It never shone down in an unpleasant way and always hid from view. Anand was befuddled and approached one of the buildings, expecting it to be fake. It was a simple apartment complex with no damage anywhere near it. As he approached the door he heard someone shout.

“Now!”

Anand pivoted to face his assailant. Unfortunately they blinded him by draping something over his head. There was definitely more than one person attacking. At least it felt like it from how many fists and feet were hitting Anand. They bound his arms and legs behind him and dragged him across the floor. With a tight knot, they tied him to a metal pole.

“Don’t let up. Let’s show it we won’t stay here quietly,” someone suggested.

Another voice said, “Let’s kill it and take the keys to get out of here!”

“Stop attacking it. What if it transforms?” a third voice said calmly. “We should ask it some questions and advance our plan from there.”

People murmured before agreeing with the commanding voice.

“Good.” There were distincts footsteps of a person moving closer. “Now then, who are you and where is the warden?”

This was the worst possible situation. Anand assumed his captors were the prisoners he was trying to save. Convincing a bunch of civilians was going to be difficult. Anand could only talk to people who knew him well. On the other hand, he knew Ray could handle this easily. Anand sighed. He used to imitate Ray as a joke and it was exhausting. But he was the man for a job like this. He always said what he was thinking and people trusted his words.

Anand took a deep breath and asked, “Who’s the warden? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m here to rescue you.”

“A likely story,” someone argued.

“I’m a GDF agent! Check my left shoulder. There’s a GDF logo on my gear.”

Anand felt a tug on his arm.

“It’s possible he escaped from the Oghrodi and came back here,” a nearby voice suggested.

The commanding voice replied, “Why would it take over a week to get back to this prison?”

“Wait, what do you mean escaped?” Anand asked. “I just got here through a rift. The GDF launched a rescue operation.”

“A one-man operation?”

“I… I got separated from my team. I didn’t realize I was the first one here,” Anand replied. “My communication gear isn’t working so I’m roaming around blindly. I swear, I’m here to get you all back to Earth.”

“What is your name?” the man asked again.

Anand hesitated. The sack was torn from his head. Through his helmet he saw the familiar, furious face of his father. Anand had never been so thankful for his Glaive. Had it even cracked slightly, Arjun would have lost his mind.

“What. Is. Your. Name?” he asked.

Anand was shocked he hadn’t recognized his father’s voice. He paused and replied, “I’m surprised you don’t remember since I helped you reach your Runner. I am Volt. Glaive for the Gaia Defense Force. Situated at the Midwest Base.”

“What is a Glaive?”

“It’s this… tattered suit I’m wearing. It allows me to combat the Oghrodi. That’s how I got in here. I won against the guard.”

Arjun eyed over Volt. He hesitated at the sight of the blood soaked converse. In a stern tone he replied, “It looks like you did more than win.”

Anand looked at his feet and hands. A layer of blood was caked all over his armor.

“But it proves that I’m not one of them,” he said.

“Then why don’t you remove your helmet?” someone asked.

“I’m not able to connect to the system that lets me control the gear. I haven’t been able to remove it,” Anand said, not sure he was lying.

“What you need to do is connect to the Oghrodi’s network and control system,” a boy said as he joined Arjun. It was the noisy brat who had complained about Anand’s lack of flair. He was messing with what looked like one of the tablets from the GDF.

“Are you sure we should be telling him that, Ezra? Do you trust him?” Arjun asked.

Anand rolled his eyes. He had studied for years and Arjun never listened to him. It had barely been a week and he was taking advice from a child. Maybe his father’s trust wasn’t all that important, after all. But saving the prisoners was more important than Anand’s pride.

Ezra nodded. “Yeah, he’s not tracking in their system. Though he is a lot more talkative than last time.”

“I have to be since I don’t know where my team is,” Anand grumbled. “You sure know a whole lot about the Oghrodi.”

“We got this off one of the more incompetent guards,” Ezra replied while holding up the tablet. “I messed around with it and was able to change the language. We’ve been using it to make a plan to break out and free ourselves. The problem is that anyone who could be our frontline is either scared or was taken; like the original GDF agents who were with us.”

Anand broke the rope binding him and got up. Some people stepped away but Ezra didn’t flinch. Arjun watched the boy and Glaive calmly.

“Who else could be a frontline?” Anand asked.

Ezra handed over the tablet and answered, “Them.”

The tablet displayed multiple camera feeds of halls. Where doorways would be instead were cages housing individual aliens. All of them wanted freedom but many carried a saddening weight in their eyes.

“How can you understand them?” Anand asked.

“Something in this prison is allowing us to understand each other,” Arjun answered.

“I see. Where are they?”

Ezra looked around towards the massive apartments. “Everywhere.”

“If everyone is locked up, how come you guys are free?” Anand asked.

“Only 40 captives are free at a time,” Arjun answered. “We are in shifts and they rotate us around. Today is longer than usual since the guard who was supposed to rotate us is indisposed.”

Anand looked intently at different camera feeds and muttered, “I doubt they want to go to Earth. I need to get in touch with my team and figure out how to get everyone out of here.”

“Are the aliens really our responsibility?” Ezra asked.

“We’re going to save everyone. That includes them.” Anand shoved the tablet into Ezra’s hands. “What can you tell me about the guard rotation?”

Arjun replied, “The guards rotate every hour. They have not done any kind of reporting within our earshot so I can only assume they work on that hourly schedule.”

“So, we have a little under an hour to find my team and get everyone out of here. Wonderful.” Anand groaned. “First things first, we need to get everyone out of the cages. Regardless of species. Any ideas how?”

“You would need to get to the control room,” Arjun answered. “Ezra has the coordinates on that tablet.”

“Yeah, this thing has everything. I can give you the data so you can get there,” Ezra said excitedly.

“I’ll need you to come with me, if you’re up to it,” Anand replied. “That thing has too much information not to have bypasses for the locks. If you come with me, we can avoid any fights until we get to the control room. I can handle anything that might come our way though.”

“I don’t think it is okay for you to take a child with you!” Arjun stepped between Volt and Ezra. “Take me instead.”

It took every fiber of Anand’s being not to question his father. Arjun was willing to step up for some random kid after a week but hadn’t ever backed Anand up.

“Look… What’s your name?” he sighed.

“Arjun Desai,” his father replied.

Anand nodded as if he didn’t know. “Mr. Desai. Ezra here clearly has a better handle on what’s going on in this place than anyone else here. You have command over all these scared civilians. Both of you have clear strengths so I’d rather trust you with what you know.”

“We’re not scared!” someone nearby yelled.

“You literally just attacked me and were about to kill me without figuring out who or what I was. Seems to me like you were scared,” Anand replied before turning back to Arjun. “Listen to me, get everyone ready. We’ll try to create a rift for you to go through. It will take you back to Earth.”

“What about the Oghrodi, won’t they follow?” Arjun asked.

“My team and I will stop them,” Anand said assuredly. “You all worry about getting through the rift.”

“What about-?”

“The longer I have to spend explaining to you, the less time we have to get out of here. Please, just hide and wait for our signal,” Anand demanded.

Arjun hesitated and nodded. “Understood, Volt.”

“Come on, Ezra,” Anand said as he left.

They made their way back to the entrance of the room. The hand of the incapacitated Oghrodi stopped the door from sliding shut. Anand pulled the door to get inside and carefully moved the hand.

“I was going to question how much your tattered suit could help us but clearly it can easily handle Oghrodi,” Ezra said. He kicked the Oghrodi’s stomach and chuckled as blood dripped from the creature’s mouth.. “You really wrecked this thing.”

He went to kick it again but Anand stopped him.

Anand shook his head and said, “Leave it. Just tell me where we need to go.”

Ezra held the tablet between them. The map was far more detailed than Volt’s radar. Anand recognized the path he had followed from the trophy room which seemed like a tiny closet compared to some of the other rooms on the display. Small green dots moved around the screen. One remained still next to a red and blue dot in the room Anand was in.

“The green dots are Oghrodi, huh?” Anand muttered.

“I’m guessing so. We need to avoid them and get here,” Ezra said and pointed to a large room a few corridors away. “That’s the control room. I saw it when they moved us here.” He hesitated as he examined the map. “Wait, where’s your team? They should be spread out in this place, right?”

Anand said nothing and continued as if the question hadn’t been asked. “The control room looks pretty empty. Most of the Oghrodi are patrolling around.”

Ezra furrowed his brow and sighed. “They probably don’t need too many people in there since it’s all automated. I’ll make sure we avoid the cameras.”

“You’re pretty calm for someone in your situation.”

“I’ve been trying to get into Cahlgren University. I need to show that I’m prepared for anything.” Ezra replied.

Anand nodded. “Right. Try to stay that way if anything happens. Let’s get moving.”

He wiped the blood off the nearby panel and dragged the Oghrodi towards it. With a heavy thud, its hand landed on the screen and opened the door. The closest patrol was nowhere nearby so Anand didn’t hesitate to move. He stayed close to the shadows and made sure Ezra remained close. When another green dot looked like it was approaching them on the map, the duo took a detour. They didn’t dare risk crossing paths with an Oghrodi if they didn’t need to. Ezra signaled Anand with gestures as remaining silent was imperative. They eventually got to the end of a hallway with no green dots nearby. Anand stepped forward and was awestruck by the sight from the massive window that stretched along the wall.

A beautiful, massive marble hung in the sky amongst shining dots on an endless black canvas. Slow swatches of white moved along serene blues and greens. Anand was speechless seeing his home from an angle he had only ever imagined.

“Sometimes, you look at the moon wondering what it’s like up there but I never considered what it’d feel like to look back at Earth,” he said calmly. “I thought we were on some other planet but we’re not even that far.”

“We’re on a ship in space,” Ezra said dryly. “That’s pretty far if you ask me.” He began to walk away. “Come on. We’re getting close.”

Anand took one more look at Earth before continuing down the hall. They approached the door leading into the control room and stood on either side of it. According to the map, there was no one inside. Anand checked his knuckles and tested if the electricity was still working. It was weaker than before but it would have to do. Anand nodded to Ezra and he started working with the tablet until it connected to the panel on the door. He was able to open it with ease. Anand took the lead going inside and checked for any movement.

The room was dimly lit with massive cables intricately weaving throughout its entirety. A large switchboard was in the center of the room that looked like a dozen humans could work on it at once. A hollow upside-down dome sat on the end of the switchboard with its own panel on one side of it.

“Looks to be clear,” Anand said. “Ezra, connect that thing to the system. We need to figure out how to release everyone and get a rift created in the prison.”

“Why not take the escape pods? Why create a rift?” Ezra asked.

“I doubt there’s enough escape pods for everyone,” Anand answered. “Plus, I’ve been through a rift and know it can be safe.”

Ezra already had another doubt and asked. “What about the aliens? We probably shouldn’t send them to Earth. Who knows if they’re hostile.”

Anand contemplated the situation. “Is there data on what planets they’re from on the tablet?”

Ezra quickly swept through the tablet and replied, “Yeah. I guess we can make rifts for them too. But it looks like this thing can only handle one rift at a time.”

He placed the tablet down and started typing on the large panel on the switchboard. Anand watched as Ezra deftly worked with the incomprehensible system. He didn’t hesitate despite the sheer amount of information that appeared on the screen. Without a word, Anand focused on guarding the door but his gut told him no one would be coming.

“I can open the cages but the system will sound an alarm the moment it happens. Likewise if we open a rift,” Ezra explained. “What do you want to do, Volt?”

Anand hesitated. “Well we could… no, that’s too risky. I could maybe… no, I’m not fast enough. Maybe if-”

“Anand?” a fuzzy voice said in his headset. Even with all the extra static he knew who it was. He couldn’t contain the mixture of excitement and relief he felt.

“Ray.”