"A lot of fuss, over a storm," Gwen said.
She stood for a moment, in the doorway, looking at everyone.
"Are you OK?" Cassie asked.
"I'm fine." Gwen smiled sadly. "I'm embarrassed and I'm sorry for the way I acted."
"It's alright," Mariah smiled back. "Family stuff can be... complicated."
"Was it just a storm?" Miranda put in. "Or did Lucius really call it up?"
"I honestly don't know," Gwen admitted, taking her seat again. "That night, it didn't matter. The belief that he could was enough to motivate Bella to act, and I'm glad she did. My time with Section 6 was... uncomfortable."
----------------------
Section 6 Research Lab, 2000
Agent Hand brought me to an office building on Magnolia Prominade, and to what I gathered to be a hidden facility under that building.
I was given what I now know was a quick and indifferent medical examination. All I knew at the time was that I was stripped, given a simple shift and then weighed, measured, poked, prodded and stuck with needles. I was cold and afraid, but I held onto the hope that at least Cas was safe.
When they were finished, I was placed in a cold, bare cell and left alone.
For better or worse, I wasn't left alone for long.
"Ms. Gwenivar Silveroak, I must say it is rare and special honor to be in the company of one of the renowned Guardians of Glimmerbrook," he said. "You may refer to me as Doctor Key."
"Unusual name for a svartalf," I replied.
"Svartalf." Key seemed amused. "It's been a long time since I heard that particular name for my species. Here we are more commonly called aliens or Settlers. Some even, accurately in my view, call us Colonists."
"Where am I? Why am I here? What do you want from me?" I asked.
"Three excellent questions, Ms. Silveroak. I commend you," Key smiled. "You are in the custody of Section 6, a division of the Strategic Intelligence and Multinational Security Agency dedicated to monitoring and containing extraordinary threats to peace and stability.
"As a powerful psychokinetic active you are, indeed, an extraordinary threat," Key continued. "The fact that you caused a dangerous interdimensional breach is the official cause of your containment in this facility. Incidentally, you will find your psychokinetic abilities severely limited while you are within the containment cell. We have been dealing with your kind for decades. We are very capable of restraining you.
"However, the most interesting question is your last," Key smiled. "What do I want from you? I believe you, Ms. Silveroak, are the answer that I have been seeking for years. It is you, not I, who will truly be the key that unlocks this world for my people."
"As I am sure you are aware, neither of our peoples are native to this dimension." Key took on a lecturing tone. "We have both come here from other realms. We established the Colony here decades ago, using our wormhole generators to bridge the realms. However, our wormhole generators cannot, yet, create a stable wormhole inside a planetary gravity well. Our interdimensional travel requires the use of spacecraft, and so carries with it all the considerable risks of space flight.
"What we achieve with technology, you alfar achieve with your psychokinetic abilities... what you primitively call magic," Key explained. "We have observed that certain powerful Psychokinetic Actives are able to create wormholes between this world and your own native realm.
"Most critical to my research, however, is the existence of the Glimmerbrook Portal... a stable wormhole," Key continued as he walked over to a strange arch within his laboratory. "The very wormhole your people used when you, yourselves, colonized this realm centuries ago.
"Unfortunately, as you can no doubt perceive, our own attempts to create such a stable wormhole to our home dimension continue to be unsuccessful."
"You, Ms. Silveroak, are one of the Guardians of this Portal. Indeed, if my information is correct, you are the last Guardian," Key said, returning to my cell. "Your particular psychokinetic abilities allow you to maintain and control the Portal. I believe, if I can understand these abilities, I can create my own stable wormhole to my home dimension, opening a path for my people."
"You want my help?" I said, shocked. "You've got a strange way of asking."
"You misunderstand, Ms. Silveroak," Key said coldly. "I am not asking for your help. Your cooperation would simplify matters, perhaps, but it is ultimately unnecessary. I have been collecting and studying members of your species for decades, and I have rigorously documented the genetic basis of alfar psychokinetic abilities.
"Once I have mapped your psychokinetic connection to the Glimmerbrook wormhole, I will extract from you the necessary genetic codes and graft them into an engineered hybrid. I will, in effect, create my own Guardian to stabilize this wormhole.
Key's expression turned rapturous. "With a stable wormhole to our home dimension, we will at last be able to bring through a Birth-Queen and sufficient Protectors to secure our colony."
"You're talking about an invasion," I said, stunned.
"Spare me your moral outrage," Key snapped. "I'm sure the Natives considered the arrival of the alfar and the formation of your so-called First Empire to be an invasion. We will bring peace and stability to this world."
"You're crazy!" I shouted.
"As I said," Key sneered, "your cooperation would simplify matters, perhaps, but it is ultimately unnecessary."
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