Fractured Worlds (Worlds Away #1)

Brela Chapter 15: Trouble

The three of us arrived in the holding cells, Mae and Gryph already at the scene, along with Zyair, Donovan, and Socorro.

The security unit was running around frantically, calling out names and numbers, jumping away and reappearing just as fast. They were in chaos, though organised, trying to find the missing half-eternal.

"Good, Wayne, you're here," Mae said, turning to watch our arrival. "I need you to find out what happened, if the blocking failed, if he got out, or if he had help. We need to know everything."

"Was anything touched?" Wayne asked, placing his bag down.

"No," Gryph said. "All we did was open the cell."

"Gryph, sir." Gryph looked towards the security agent jogging over to him. "We've checked all the other cells; five others are missing. Three eternals and two half-eternals."

"What were the half-eternals' abilities?" Mae asked, turning to the agent.

"One was telepathic, and the other could manipulate mehalta."

"Razzerie," I gritted, knowing the latter. Mae and Gryph turned to me. "She's a half-eternal who can control mehalta. I met her on one of my earlier missions."

"The telepathic one is Dewitt," Zyair said.

"He's got a few screws loose," Socorro grumbled, clearly remembering back.

"More like a panel," Zyair muttered.

Donovan turned to Mae, the most serious out of the three. "The longer Dewitt goes without using his powers, the crazier he becomes. As soon as he uses them, he's as sane as anyone here. His time spent in captivity may have made him an even more unpredictable opponent."

Mae nodded. "Gryph, get me a list of names and photos of everyone who's escaped," Mae commanded. "We need to know who we have to track down. As soon as you have it, send a message to Averial to get her unit to look up the individuals. I want to know everything we can about these people."

Gryph nodded, the other security agent following him. They quickly engaged in a conversation; their steps hurried as they exchanged information.

"Why wasn't the alarm raised?" I asked.

"Gryph didn't want to alert the other prisoners just in case this was a piece of a larger plan in motion." Mae said, turning her attention to me.

"Well, he didn't get help, and I don't believe he picked the lock," Wayne said. We all turned our attention back to the leader of the science unit. "The jump restrictor isn't malfunctioning, nor has it been tampered with. Heck, he didn't even find it." The inventor stepped off the small stool, a panel removed from the wall, revealing the restrictor.

"So then how did he escape?" Socorro asked.

"I don't know," Wayne said, shrugging cluelessly. "It's like he just jumped out but with the jump restrictor, that's impossible."

"He is a half-eternal. Did he have an ability we didn't know about?" I asked.

"We don't even know who this guy was," Donovan added.

"What about the camera, did it catch anything?" Zyair asked.

"Nope." Wayne sighed, holding up the broken cord. It was ripped from the wall, the wires mangled.

"Get what you can from its memory," Mae said.

Wayne dragged the stool over and set to work.

Socorro crossed his arms. "This guy was thinking ahead."

"How did we know that he was missing?" Edoline asked.

"Gryph was leading us—" Zyair gestured to himself, Socorro, and Donovan— "to open cells for the eternals and half-eternals we brought in. We passed this cell and noticed it was empty."