The Foolish Man

All manner of personnel stare as they see a man coming out of the lifts from the lower level and stride through the hall, looking both furious and determined. These stares aren’t necessarily positive, though due to his high position in the facility they certainly could be misinterpreted as awe by any visitors.

It is possible that those visitors would perhaps also recognise the young man from his recent work into the study of arcanium. While it wasn’t publicly broadcasted or talked about, those that had heard of the metal or had read of it in other books appeared to know of both the young man and his book since the moment he published it. Not all who do appear to agree with him though.

But no, these stares all had the same look of contempt in them. They were warned of him before he was even invited to work with them. While some ignored the rumours and found that he was actually quite a kind and learned fellow when talked to, most didn’t bother. Instead from the outside he seems overbearing and disordered to those around him, which only solidified the opinion of most staff there. Luckily for him, one of the two head supervising scientists was one of those whom he counted as a friend.

His few friends in the facility were all surprised at the mentioning of his age, especially considering his accomplishments but his intellect quickly showed in his work. He always said he got his brains, blond hair, blue eyes and overall good looks from his mother. He doesn’t talk a lot about his father. A thing to be remarked though is that he is by far the youngest in the facility, the next youngest being in the forties. Even the security guards and maintenance personnel are well experienced and thus of a greater age.

The scientific personnel were mostly all accomplished experts of their field. While not all the greatest experts are stationed in the Entrus facility, nor have they all decided to work for the Collective Arcanium Research Corporation, commonly referred to as CARC by those who know of it. CARC isn’t especially secretive by nature, but their funders just prefer to keep it all from the public eye. So essentially the same thing.

It was the young man’s work, his first and thus far only book, on arcanium that got him enough attention to be selected for a project that most had to work dozens of years to be considerd for. And while nearly everyone who were assigned to the program weren’t given a role of much importance or import, especially from the start to everyone’s umbrage, this youth immediately started as assistant second head scientist and further got a chair on the local directory board. Not a serious posistion yet but many felt that that was already too much. Especially since they themsleves were better suited for it, naturally.

It's well then that the second head scientist, Dr Ouddam, was a rational man and not so quick to judge. While he is getting quite old, for all his knowledge even he had to admit that ‘a revelation on Arcanium’ is the greatest break through in theories on the use and nature of the power inherent to the stone since he himself joined CARC. That there was a strange sort of power seperate from thermal energy in the stone was something he proposed and had some light evidence for.

The young man goes into the hallway leading to the control room and as he walks past them, people stop talking here and there and stare at his passage. One of them tries to greet him, but his angry visage halts her words and stops her in her tracks. Instead she turns and goes back into the hall. The faculty announced that they had the rest of the day off. Day being a relative term underground. She intends to spend it in her room like most people. On such an important project, you rarely get to rest properly and when you do get some, you can recon it's only a few hours.

She steals a glance at the central laboratory door. It seems the technicians and the robots have finally finished installing the experiment and are now locking the door and reinforcing the few vents. She wonders at the reason for such needs but then quickly puts it out of her mind. She crosses the hall, walks past the cafeteria and eventually enters the common room. She takes a look around in their shared common room, only two of her colleagues were still there playing cards while the rest must have already gone to their rooms. She spares a passing glance at the floor plan of the facility before stepping into her private room and taking a well deserved nap. She fell asleep peacefully.

At the same time, the young man is simply waiting for the door to the control room to open. But he is clearly impatient and glares daggers into the security camera that is monitoring the door. He already entered the password and now he simply has to wait for the security personnel to check who stands there and press the button. It shouldn’t be that difficult for them or take this long. Nor does the youth fail to notice that.

The list of people who are allowed entry isn’t overly long. In fact, only five people could open the door and be authorised inside without supervision. Then there were only a dozen or so, perhaps up to two, people excluding security that were allowed to enter and work there under supervision of one of those five. Of course guest are allowed in after they have signed the necessary documents and must also remain within sight of their supervisor. It may seem a bit lenient when you have very, and stress that word, expensive devices and technology present, not to mention what would go wrong if they broke down, but for any of these people to be allowed in the elevator that connect the facility to the surface they must have been thoroughly checked first as well.

Of those said guests, currently the minister of war and defence of the country that CARC had this facility in, the Netherlands, was present and talking to an old soldier next to him. The door finally opens, perhaps because the guards can’t stall the young man any longer, but nontheless the youth storms in. He walks right past this otherwise important guest, not even acknowledging him in the slightest.

“Errhart! What do you think you are doing? How dare you to throw out all my work! All the hours I worked, the meetings I attended, every single thing I had said, you have just pointedly ignored and dismissed! I can understand you being an unbelievably stupid arrogant bastard and I'll smile happily as you burn this whole place to the ground. But I won’t allow you to drag all of us with you!” The young man shouts as he marches up to dr Errhart.

Errhart himself is there talking to some of the maintenance staff about some new safety precautions in the central laboratory. The older scientist stops talking and gazes in the young man’s direction with a hard look. The young man stops two meters from dr Errhart, as if he couldn’t stomach to be any closer. Indeed, the youth seemed to barely manage this already. Errhart however steps forward until he can practically spit in the young man's face. It even seems for a while that he will also actually do so.

“I hope you’re not here merely to complain mr Bannecath, though it wouldn’t catch me by surprise. You always seemed to blame your incompetence on others, and the reason of your complains, hah! Spewing us such nihilism and gibberish. I don’t know what is worse, your presence or your opinion! Luckily I have been able to rectify both. Dr Ouddam was already called back on account of old age and ill health. He left with the elevator going up yesterday.” Dr Errhart says, barely looking mr Bannecath in the eyes. But dr Errhart's eyes twicht in the corners, barely managing to supress a gloatful smile.

The young mr Bannecath’s eyes widen as he finally notices that dr Ouddam isn’t in the room. Then they focus back into a seething anger. Luckily for him, he knows better than to let the fury loose. For now, he just takes a step back. “Then I see you’re mad. A gift from the demons themselves, after whatever hellish deal you made with them. At least Hassel won’t suffer from it. But don’t think this will be the last of it. Oh no, not by the least. You will pay back every last cent for this! Now, however, you will change the experiment back to the agreed to parameters. Or the board will hear of this.” Mr Bannecath ended with a hiss. No one in the room missed the anger underneath his words.

The door behind them opens again and two security guards enter the control room. “Perhaps, but that’s where you are so wrong again. I recently talked to the administrators of this company and they finally decided to listen to me. Due to your lack of activity and input, especially on our latest experiment, it's been decided to pull you from the project. Your suite downstairs has been emptied and you can take the few items on your desk here with you. Meanwhile, you are expected to remain in one of the guest rooms among the staff living quarters. The next elevator is in five days. Do enjoy your remaining days here.” Errhart replied, his face turning from a disgusted expression to a disgusting grin.

“Guards, if you could help him along. Goodbye mr Bannecath. I hope the only time you going to see me from now on is on television.” The security guards walk up to mr Bannecath and stop next to him. Mr Bannecath takes a step forward but both guards block the way to dr Errhart with their arms, holding him back.

“Errhart!” Bannecath shouts past the guards. “This is my life! You go too far! You worthless worm!” A fury so passionate burns his eyes to hot blaze. He pushes the arms aside and before they manage to grab him, he ducks under them. It only takes him a few steps until he reaches the old doctor. Pulling back his fist before anyone can stop him, he smashes it into Errhart’s face.

The scientist’s face, which previously showed shock and surprise, fills itself with both pain and hatred. And with a bloody nose he staggers backwards and even somehow manages to trip over his own feet. The few personnel still working in the control room, instead of already watching the heated display, all suddenly turn to see the outburst and the following crunch. Everyone stares in shock at the fallen dr Errhart and no one utters so much a word.

“Argh.” With a grunt of pain, the scientist stands up again and releases the onlookers from their stupor. The security guards immediately run up without a care about mr Bannecath's, now former, posistion. They grab him by his arms and hold him down against the floor, locked in a sturdy grip.

A man and a woman haste over to dr Errhart and check to see if he is fine and while a few staff get back to work, the rest really don’t know what to do. Most of them are thinking back at what they just saw. They knew mr Bannecath was weird and a nightmare to work under but they never saw him act with such vile cruelness before.

-

“Agh. Ha aha, you imbecile. Now you have done it. Do you know the side effects of the sleep chamber? I guess I can finally discover that myself. It will also be your first useful contribution to science yet. Guards take him and go!” Dr Errhart says with a mad but cold-blooded glint in his eyes.

A guard, the tall one of the two, looks rather uncertain but unsure whether or not to ask something. “Where do we have to bring him? I just want to be certain, that’s all. Especially considering that it's unadvised to use the sleep chamber outside of emergencies.” The woman, who turns from helping dr Errhart, looks at him mockingly. “Advised? The head scientist obviously knows what to do. Now leave!” she commanded him.

“Eghum.” The minister clears his throat, drawing upon him the gaze of the head scientist and his two helpers. The guards grab mr Bannecath and start half-dragging, half-pushing him forwards. The minister bodes them to halt “I am sure you know the risks, but I think this ‘sleep chamber’ isn’t that safe for casual use.”

Dr Errhart shakes himself lose of the man still helping him. He locks his gaze with the minister’s, eyes devoid of repentance. “I advise you to trust my judgement, minister. As you know, we will be partners for a while. Don’t endanger that, good man. And for him.” The scientist asserts. Then a vicious grin splits his face. “I don’t think we will be seeing much more of him ever again. So what does it matter how he leaves this place. GO then, idiots!” Spittle flies out his mouth, as if to abandon a burning ship.

The door to the control room opens and a well-dressed middle-aged man stepped through. The man has a rich and self-assured air around him, one so thick that even mr Bannecath gets a whiff of it from within the guards grasp. The guards hurriedly take mr Bannecath and leave through the open door.

The man watches the door close behind him. The employee the guards were dragging away seemed familiar to him but he probably just saw him in the facility. “Dr Errhart, how good to find you here. Could we perhaps begin the experiment? I see that the minister is present and I have personally sent my aide to inform miss Raye. He should return shortly and I would expect miss Raye to take another half an hour.”

Dr Errhart focuses on the new man. The fury from before can be visibly seen to calm and settle behind a smiling visage on the doctor’s face. “Ah, mr Bruvin. How pleasant to see you so eager. But I am afraid a few of the other sponsors aren’t to arrive but in a few hours yet. Nevertheless, allow me to further express my gratitude on you and your company’s backing.” He says, seemingly at odds at with his own geniality.

Mr Bruvin lets out a small laugh. “Of course, I have been curious about arcanium since my childhood. Backing such an important project took hardly a thought. Yet, I also doubt the others, those who aren’t already present, think of this project with the same idea of success. Indeed, if we were to go ahead without them.” He glances around the room, looking at the employees who were paying attention to their conversation. “ And the experiment fails, I doubt they would concern themselves overly much.”

Dr Errhart nods and turns around. His smile drops and an annoyed expression becomes prominent on his face. He lets out a sigh and looks at his employees in the room. “I am pulling the schedule of the experiment ahead. All non-essential personnel for the experiment have to leave.” A few people get up but it seems like most of them haven’t heard it. “I said go!” Dr Errhart shouts angrily.

Outside, the guards stop and pull mr Bannecath upright. The tall guard grabs mr Bannecath’s arm and twists it behind him. The door of the control room opens again and a stream of people leaves through it. With a yank, the tall guard returns mr Bannecath’s view forwards. But that only changed the object of his staring to the guards.

With another push the guard holding him stops mr Bannecath’s livid glaring and nearly trips him up, then with a yank, stops him before he does. With a grin on the guards’ faces, they continue on, as if parading to all who pass them, showing off their prisoner. The staff that they meet all stop and stare before continuing on. Most walk on with a smile on their faces, thinking that they were right all along. They now knew for certain the boy didn’t belong here, among actual scientists and adults.

Going through the main hall and out of the third right hallway, they continued on to their second left. The guard holding him lets go when out of sight of the hall and just pushes mr Bannecath forwards. Mr Bannecath instead turns back to the guards again but he then immediately punched by the other one.

“Greg, why did you let him go?” The annoying one asks the tall one. “Well, I didn’t expect him to try and attack us. There really isn’t any point in it.” The tall one bends down and looks mr Bannecath in the eye. “You hear me lad? There is only one way out of this place and for you it’s to do as we say. Or you can take a climb while the elevator is still up there. See how that goes.” The tall one spits in his face, holding him close by the scruff of his shirt.

When he lets go, the annoying guard gives mr Bannecath a kick and spits on him. “To kick in the point.” He reasons with a snicker. Mr Bannecath has calmed down a lot already, but there is little that’s currently going to help with. Well, calmed down. It would sooner be said that he’s fine with his current list of injuries.

They enter the sleep chamber and see that the lights are still on, though none of them can see anyone present. The room has two rows with four big upright glass tanks, some liquid inside visible with a green light. Or perhaps the liquid is green. Not that it matters actually. In the back, there was one that was in use. A man that was working in one of the smaller labs somehow managed to explode an arcanium compound he was working with. He required specialist treatment so they put him there to bring him back the next time the lift came down.

“Damn it, the one time you need him.” The tall guard says with a sign. “Link the screen to his room. He is usually there.” The annoying one points to a nearby desk. The tall one walks over, activates the monitor and taps a few buttons on the interface. Suddenly a man looking at mature things on a bed is visible. The guard is clearly surprised but looks more amused than otherwise.

“Ehem, Stennard.” The guard loudly clears his throat. The annoying one snickers in the background. The man nearly springs out of his skin, and closes the magazine while scrambling to put his pants on. Curses spewing from his lips, he throws his underpants at whatever is filming.

A few minutes later a somewhat bewildered Stennard appears on screen. His bed is perfectly clean though something can be seen through the covers on it. “What.” He asks, slightly apprehensive. “We have a new patient for you.” The tall one replies to him. “Really, that’s all? You basta…” The tall one cut off the feed and sat in the chair.

The annoying one still had a smirk on his face as he looked at the tall security guard. “You know you could have stopped it anytime right? Or even just have send him a text message?” The tall one just ignores him and closes his eyes with a devious grin on his face.

Then around ten minutes later, this Stennard arrives through the door. “Hi Stenn.” The annoying guard says with a smug look. Stenn just ignores him and walk up to the tall one. “You had a new patient you said?” He intoned with a neutral as possible voice. The guard still in the chair indicated at mr Bannecath with his head. “He seems perfectly fine to me. What did he do?” Stennard inquired curiously. Without waiting for a reply, he walks over to the closest tank.

“He punched dr Errhart in the face.” The annoying guard told him. Walking over to what Stennard was doing, he saw the man climbing up the stairs next to the tank and connect a few tubes with an oxygen outlet at the base. Stenn snorted as he attached a facemask to the other end of the tube. “Okay, bring him up. Don’t bother about the clothes.” He gestures to the guard to fetch mr Bannecath, who had just been warily standing next to the annoying guard.

Mr Bannecath is pushed up the steps as Stennard unscrews the top of the tank and pushes it a bit to the side, straining as he does so. “Well then. Hop in.” Stenn hands him a mask. “Strap that around your face. After you have done that, I’ll put ye to sleep.”

Mr Bannecath fastens the mask to his face and under the watchful gazes of the guards steps in. The liquid is ice-cold to the touch and fills most of the entirety of the tank, roughly two and a half meters tall. While mr Bannecath wasn’t short, he only took up a bit more than half the space.

The screwing back on of the top reverberated through the tank. Mr Bannecath closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable drowsiness of sleep. But that didn’t happen. Instead his body is starting to feel tingly. Like he got a glass of water when he was thirsty. Like he jumped into a nice cold pool when it was absolutely boiling.

After waiting a while, he opens his eyes again. And nearly chokes on oxygen out of shock. Before his eyes, the room was flashing red with an alarm going off in the corner. He couldn’t hear anything but he’d imagine that the alarm was also blaring in the whole facility. At the door, flames could be seen crawling into the room from the sides.

With panic in his eyes, he looked around the room but couldn’t see any of the security guards or the man working here. Then there was a boom that even he heard and the lights flickered out, the only remaining lights coming from the flames pouring into the room, slowly but steadily.

Seemingly, a few minutes later another crash shook the facility and made dust fall from the ceiling and tears appear in the stout walls. During all this the emergency power still hasn’t switched on. After the blackout, the oxygen supply had started to lessen but now it had become a struggle to breathe. Suddenly, the lights flickered back on and illuminated a charred husk of a room, slowly growing as if the footprints of the flames. The sprinklers finally activate and a small relief washes through him only to be taken away again together with the lights and sprinklers.

The only thing calming him somewhat was the feeling from before, only it was starting to increase gradually, until it becomes a fierce burning across his whole body. He immediately tries bashing in the glass walls but it doesn’t even hurt his own hands. Unable to do anything, he starts thrashing as his oxygen slows from a trickle to a halting ooze of pitiful air.

Nearing his end, his movements slow and his eyes dim but the burning never ceased. Suddenly, a torrent of something that wasn’t air but instead like a conquering tide of new sensations floods him. With great but barely conscious will, he pushes forwards.

As the liquid starts rushing out through the cracks, the cracks then spread before finally shattering entirely, leaving a huge hole in the front of the tank. Mr Bannecath is dragged along with the stream and thrown on land like a fish out of water, desperately gasping for air. Exhausted, he falls into a painful and fitful sleep.

Alder Errhart

Now then, it’s finally time. The other two are finally out of my way and I have enough backing behind me to continue with the plan. If this experiment succeeds, all this worry will seem so trivial. But a lot of things will suddenly seem trivial, if one is ageless.

Verna and Jacheal are sitting at their monitors, both doing their job surveying the experiment. They know what to do, as they have been training for this for the last few months, even ignoring the dozen of years they spent working here. And even beyond that, they are capable. I selected them myself after all, not everyone is worthy to join me in immortality. Then again, they are also easy to lord over.

“Iss everything ready for plan b?” I ask them. My nose still hurts from where that idiot punched me, but it wasn’t broken and a nurse came and gave me a cool pack for it. At least it gave me a reason to throw him into one of those slumber tanks. I’d be damned to hell if he survives plan b.

Jacheal turns around in his chair while quickly tapping some more keys on the interface before giving me his attention. “Most of the staff are currently going or already in their living quarters. We have a few stragglers in the recreational room, the cafeteria and in one of the smaller labs. There is still of course the security centre but going by rough estimations they should be out of the imbuement radius.” He quickly reads of the screen.

With a hand I motion him to shut it. “What do you mean rough estimations? I gave you my equation for it didn’t I.” I darkly intone. Jacheal turns somewhat pale. “Well, we. Ehm. Well, I don’t think there is much proof to support your equation. Your theory on imbuement is most likely correct, we even managed to do some unseen test to prove some concepts of it but the equation seems to decrease the maximum range too much to be accurate if you ask me.”

I now focus on him with squinting eyes. “Jacheal.” I said with a sigh. “Yes sir?” Jacheal actually looked hopeful there, the fool. “Don’t ever again dare to openly doubt me. Or you’ll remind me of mr Bannecath and that certainly issn’t a compliment.” I stated with a looming visage. And I crushed that hope of his. You are mine Jacheal, just like Verna, so remember your place.

“Continue.” I commanded him. “Of course.” He affirmed, not looking me in the eyes as is proper. “So, there are packages planted near each all doors leading into the common rooms as well as the guest chambers and the entrance to the staff living quarters. To prevent the sprinklers from activating, we have deactivated the emergency generator. We’ll blame the deactivation on old age and a lack of maintenance and since the actual maintenance crew will hopefully have all perished nobody will be refuting that.” Jacheal reads out from his notes and then look expectantly at Verna.

At a glance at Jacheal and a sigh, she continues reading out the preparations. “The few who won’t be in the staff quarters will be harder to get but from the kitchen and beyond we won’t need to worry anymore, just like with the security centre. The offices are only partially in range but they are empty currently. Just in case, I can sound the alarm after both we started the experiment and activated the packages in the staff living quarters. All scientific and non-security personnel are instructed to assemble in the hall. The sleep chamber and the test subjects hold should be just out of range as well but it could swing the other way as well. Unknown variables in the test sir.”

Very well, dubious reasons but I prefer her to Jacheal anyway. It could also be true. From behind a short laugh came out. One of their guests, who were quietly talking amongst themselves till now, was walking over to them. “Good day mr Bruvin. Can I help you with anything?” I inquire politely. “Is our last guest nearly here? It is only just a short walk from the premium guest chambers to the control room.”

“Yes, she should be here any second now. But that wasn’t the reason I came over. No, the reason was that I couldn’t help but hear that that sleeping chamber might be in the imbuement range. Wasn’t that where you send that vicious fellow from before? Wouldn’t want to include him in our plan, now would we?” Mr Bruvin responds with a sly smile, clearly not expecting any denial.

With a somewhat strained smile I look at him directly. “Certainly not. But do not worry, the equation I discovered for the imbuement range shows it should fall just short.” Mr Bruvin still seemed dubious as he stole a glance at Jacheal. In fact, now I would certainly need a private conversation with the aging but still younger man. Why do people always leave the tasks of leadership and wisdom in the burdened hands of their elders? Luckily, I am up to the task of immortality but those thugs like mr Bannecath shouldn’t even know of the glory that would be his future.

I can hear a door opening and turn around to see miss Raye stepping through the door. As agreed she has come with only one of her own guest, which would also have been used if she brought an employee. “I see everyone is now present. Then lets start the experiment. May death never dare touch us again!” Miss Raye just walks up to mr Bruvin with her own bodyguard. Mr Bruvin for some reason brought a butler with him, but while it may be handy and he seemed competent I doubt I would bring such a person with me into immortality.

The only one and last private backer of mine present who didn’t bring an employee for any kind was the minister of war and defence. He brought with him an old friend from the military. Apparently he was his officer before he got selected for specialist training but they always stayed in touch. That man should be elated we deigned to grant him immortality.

I stop paying attention to them, they are just a means to an end, even if they are an important one. I feel someone tapping my shoulder. With a sigh and an annoyed look I turn around but that immediately turn into a cheery smile as I see it’s that accursed mr Bruvin again. “Yes?” Mr Bruvin still has that smile on his face as always but it’s starting to annoy me. A necessary evil Alder, don’t forget that.

“Well I was wondering, which if you could so kindly satisfy it for me, how you discovered this… I don’t seem to recall you referring to the power extracted from arcanium as any other than that in your letter. So lets call it mana shall we? Then the question is how did you discover this mana imbuement process? It is a very curious thing to discover. The other day I read that book from that colleague of yours but for all his reasoning and plausible theories, he never once thought of it. The fact that he purposed a theory that would make a full arcanium to mana conversion possible is sheer luck.” Mr Bruvin finally finished his rant.

While he clearly is an intellectual, I can barely stand to be in his presence. It's not that he is threatening or scares me in any way. No that would be utterly ridiculous and unbecoming of me. Indeed, but his questions might distract me from something important. I glance over my shoulder to see if my subordinates need my help or utterly anything else needs my attention. How unfortunate.

“Firstly, you shouldn’t take that fools work to heart. Most, if not everything, is entirely unfounded and has not been proven, and again if at all, to sufficient reason. The only ‘evidence’ he has comes from works and reports we published. I doubt he managed to ascertain anything particularly useful that we haven’t already, and especially from only the items we give to the public.” I deftly stated. If I can disillusion even more person of the assumed genius of mr Bannecath, I’d be glad to. A shame that most of the people I actually shared it with will die today.

“So you have read his work?” Mr Bruvin inquired. “What?” I nearly shout out, completely shocked. “Hells, no. Why would I want to read such dribble?” The other guests all take a look at us, not knowing the reason for my small outburst. My subordinates don’t look up from their monitors, just like they should. “If you have not read the book, then how can you be so certain of its contents?” I can’t help but contort in disdain at those words. “Of course it's gibberish. What else would you expect from those people. Those scum.” I tell him fervently.

Carefully, I place a pleasant smile back on my face. “But that wasn’t your original question was it? No, I was working on a not so special minor experiment in one of our smaller laboratories. It must have been ten years ago. Yes, I think it was. I remember being fifty-two when he died. I was working with a colleague you see. For some reason I can’t quite remember my partner was angry at the failure of one another experiment, the effect of oxidation on arcanium with a limited carbon supply. The important part was that he had cut himself recently. The man managed to cut himself on the weirdest things…” I trailed off, reminiscent in some good memories. A genuine smile flashes on his face for the briefest second.

“Go on.” Mr Bruvin bade, clearly interested. “Of course. He had a cut on his hand you see, and in his famed and unreasonable fits of rage, he grabbed the measly 20 grams of arcanium. When his injured hand touched the still in flame metal, it exploded. I was blasted backwards, but as I went, I felt this faint tingling like faint rain against your skin. I felt rejuvenated. And then the intake suddenly doubled. I later discovered this was when my friend died. I was in no shape but dr Ouddam later discovered that there was now a thin layer of copper oxide present on the arcanium.”

I stopped to take a deserved breath, actually going deep into the memories and story. “You see, our arcanium is of course the purest we have available, normally we detect no other metals within. But my theory is that, what did you name that energy again?” “Mana.” He supplied. “Thank you. It's that that mana imbued my cells with vitality, though I haven’t been able to observe it with a microscope. But the arcanium isn’t just made of mana, no, arcanium is a pure metal given different properties and appearance due to an imbuement of mana. Some covert testing showed that it probably takes time or high concentrations of mana to imbue a metal enough for it to arcanise.” I said between excited breaths.

“But didn’t this mr Bannecath propose some vague theories, perhaps better to call them ideas, on how to make metals react with arcanium?” Mr Bruvin asked, forgotten during the conversation my thoughts on that thug. Nearly immediately my face was back as the mask it should be. Alder control yourself!

I was about to re-inform him of my opinion when the tell tale sign of a slight prickling across my body started. Yes, it really did feel like faint rainy mist against my skin. I turn back to Verna and Jacheal, my rant forgotten. “Well?” I asked them. “You should be feeling it, if it's all working.” Verna didn’t look me in the eyes when she replied but that is easily explainable to the moment.

From behind me, a few of the guest gasp but it didn’t sound like mr Bruvin was among them. Pity, that would have been amusing. Figuring now was as good a time as any enact plan B he nodded to Jacheal. “Start plan B.” This did still draw conflicted looks from the minister and the butler. The alarms start sounding in the control room but Jacheal quickly deactivates it.

“You have a plan B, so what was plan A?” The minister decides to ask me. “Something naïve I came up with years ago when I didn’t have the motivation to continue yet. It summarised as either sending all the staff away or keep them the furthest away as possible from the experiment while remaining in the facility. Of course, the experiment I had in mind then was entirely different that this and would have been a catastrophe. Both versions of the plan also included hoping the governments didn’t take notice of it.” I tell everyone dismissively.

I walk over to a desk and press the button that I know opens the iron curtain, blocking the view this room has directly into the central laboratory, where the experiment is currently on going. They open slowly but even then there is only a fiery storm visible in it. The butler does look somewhat sceptical and mistrustful of the spectacle. “I presume some precautions were taken?” He asks, somewhat unsteadily.

I decide to ignore his faltering faith, and instead answer him. “I deemed the explosion a side effect. Caused by what, I don’t know. But I specifically asked for some sort of channel to the power generator, for efficiency, and they added a smaller line to the incinerator.”

The butler still seemed cynical, and the minister along with his friend and miss Raye’s bodyguard were starting to show doubts. “It is all perfectly under control. Just try enjoy the sensation for it will only happen once. Nothing can go wro…” I was trying to reassure them but then Jacheal dared to interrupt me. “Sir, I think both the channel and the port to the power generator are reaching their maximum limit. Even the protections in the central lab are starting to wear down.” The bodyguard of miss Raye slowly walks over to the desk where he had seen me open up the reinforced steel curtain before, and has them slowly close again.

“Then don’t sit here doing nothing! Send someone to check it, or decrease the intensity of the experiment.” I quickly tell him. With a slight panic in his eyes Jacheal stands up. “We CAN’T send anyone because we are killing them all! That was the plan remember. Nor can we just go ourselves because we wouldn’t know what to do or could we even reach it. Furthermore, we also CAN’T decrease the intensity. Arcanium reactions are self-supplying after a certain threshold. And if we did then…” Jacheal was suddenly stopped by a violent crash that reverberated through the control room.

Jacheal sprints over to the reinforced and supported glass that has closed halfway by now but doesn’t find any damage to it. He was about to out a sigh of relief but then everyone feels a thunderous crash. The lights start to flicker and then die out and the reinforced steel curtain stops, with only a quarter of the glass still uncovered.

Jacheal spins around and shouts at Verna. “Active the emergency power!” And she immediately runs to a corner of the room, manually trying open a small hatch there. Jacheal instead runs back to his monitor and bashes keys on his dead interface. The bodyguard pulls miss Raye with him as they run to the entrance. Smashing against it, the bodyguard tries to break it open since there is no power and while it does quickly start to show wear it will take too long.

Instead I just stand there as the rest needlessly panic, feeling the mana imbuing his cells and further taking it all in. Then another deafening impact shakes the room, seemingly echoing through the facility. “Yes!” With a cry of success Verna manages to reactivate the emergency power. Jacheal stops aimlessly hitting buttons and tries to get back in control.

“Why is it restarting!” In a fit of desperate wrath he picks up his chair and throws it away. A look of heart-rending shock, one you can only see once a life, craved itself on Jacheal face as he looked at the chair’s trajectory.

Jacheal isn’t a strong man, or particularly young. I would guess his age to be around fifty-five or fifty-eight. Any chair he’d throw wouldn’t get far but that was before the experiment progressed.

With a painful sharp thud, the glass shudders and cracks slowly start to spread. Jacheal just slumps on the ground and Verna soon copies him, crying pitifully. Miss Raye and her bodyguard haven’t managed to break down the door but it is only hanging on its hinges and showing an orange glow behind it. The minister and his friend try to pile up desks and other loose furniture into a barricade. Mr Bruvin and his butler are just standing there but unlike me, they aren’t basking in the imbuement of power, they are frozen with fear and indecisiveness.

With a loud crack the glass starts to give way and spurs the butler into action. He jumps at and tackles mr Bruvin, and throws him under Jacheal’s desk. Then the glass finally shatters and floods the room. First it swallows Jacheal, the closest to the flames, and from the darker shape within there briefly follows harrowing screams until that too is fully devoured.

I don’t try to run away as it surges towards me, the fiery maws of a storm. I reach for the power now stored within me and with great will and faith, I believe myself invincible, protected by it. It passes through me and leaves nothing but ash, granting me at least a painless death.

The butler didn’t survive long but he died with less regrets than anyone would have expected, but only wishes he could have told his son, who he just tried to save, the truth.

The minister and his old military buddy might as well have stayed standing as well, for all the good their barricade did. Their screams sound through the room, reaching the ears of the miss and her bodyguard before the flames do, but not by much. Miss Raye’s emotions fall away as she looks at her death, the woeful screams of the tortured souls still dying strong. Contrary to expectations and true to herself she steps forward into it, not hesitant to say the least.

Mr Bruvin though, he is the most protected of all of them. Thrown under the desk he is still bewildered as the first flames reach past his butler’s charred corpse into his little sanctuary. His death was the slowest of all of them, giving him the greatest amount to regret.

Nearing his end, he stops thrashing, stops screaming and nearly lies still. The constant cold prickling sensation had grown into a flood and only prolonged his suffering even more. With a great but barely conscious will, he runs away. Under a desk, behind a charred husk, trapped within the control room, in the Entrus Scientific Facility, a lifeless body burned alive but made not a sound.

From within the earth, more magic awoke. All the mana that went unused rushes out from the facility, seeking more arcanium. All over the globe, this mana eventually finds it's destination, but arcanium already is the densest natural occurring form of mana. So it reacted the opposite way. The extra mana destabilises the arcanium and ruptures it everywhere, though not the same way as during the experiment. The mana, freshly released, seeps back up the earth and towards its unexpected hosts.