Mason watched on through the heavily fogged glass of the Observation deck, glancing down at his friends trying to utilize what The Foundation had given them. He was a bit surprised that they have Axel, a tablet like device with blue liquid instead of red.
From what he had seen before they had handed it over, it was a sleek and shiny black box with a scree. It was rather bulky, almost like a book. It had a screen with numerous displays and information displayed.
Axel had a much more difficult time than Mason as he had no idea what he was doing. They gave him a list of abilities, once again reminding Mason of spell names, and told Axel that he should try to use them
They then changed the environment, one such as a small rural town. The observation area bled into the walls of a mountain. The entire town seemed to be coated in a thick layer of fog, and Axel seemed to be cold based on his constant shivering.
They hadn't given Marissa anything though. She was just left to watch Axel struggle with the tablet as they watched. Hannah was taken up into the Observation Area, of course, and had enjoyed several sandwiches before they even got the simulation started up.
B-64 had to give to the scientists, what they were doing was rather impressive. Even his sensors had a hell of a time trying to figure out if what he was looking at was reality or just simulation, though it was not impossible.
He glanced at Mason, who was intrigued with looking at his friends trying to figure out what to do. He looked like B-64 when he was observing Mason down there, even down to the small, but progressively bigger, worry beginning to itch itself on his face.
As the experiment hit the ten minute mark, the fog thickened somewhat. Mason had the strange feeling that he had seen this somewhere before, possibly a game or some book, he wasn't sure. But it felt familiar.
Finally, after another ten minutes of configuring and silence, Axel triumphantly declared that he had figured it out, and that he was ready. Marissa was standing close by him and peered over his shoulder.
They talked for a bit before Axel got into what he probably thought was a fighting position, but it just made him look more lame than anything. Axel placed the list against the tablet and breathed in air, before yelling out the words.
"Blue Blazes!"
Nothing happened. Nothing powered up, no ethereal blue flame, no nothing. Axel looked confused and glanced down at the sheet of paper before trying again, "Blue Blazes!", and nothing happened again.
"Try to speak calmly, it needs to recognize your voice." Lied stated, Axel flinching as he heard the voice. Marissa giggled for a few seconds, before returning to her stoic face.
"Okay... You got this, this is easy. Whoo... Okay..." Axel said to himself, jumping on the balls of his paws in an attempt to hype himself up. His hair bounced around as he did so, making him have to constantly move it.
Once collecting himself and gaining composure, Axel held the tablet out from him, squinted an eye and said, "Blue Blazes?"
This time something did happen. A blue emanate from the consul as a small, almost exhaust port lookin device stretched from the tablet. Axel's body glowed in an ethereal blue color as the power built up.
And not a moment later, a huge blue flame erupted from the small tablet, nearly five meters in length and high enough to scorch the simulated ceiling. Axel grinned manically, whipping the makeshift flamethrower around haphazardly, nearly scorching Marissa in the process.
But as one would know, there are few bad ideas that are of equal value as combining the words makeshift and flamethrower.
It soon got out of control as the fire expanded further and further, and Axel had close to no control over it. The tablet soon grew hot enough to begin to melt, and Axel tried his hardest to keep it from doing that, somehow not getting burned despite touching liquid metal.
"No... No! Shit!" He yelled, dropping the device down and attempting to stamp the fire out. It should've hurt him, but it seemed like the heat did nothing to him. Lied told him to leave it, as it wouldn't harm the sensors as they were made from tele-kill material, so they did not have to worry.
And after another five minutes has elapsed, the light blue liquid cartridge shot out from the side of the tablet, and the blue flame instantly died down. Axel whipped a bead of sweat from his forehead, though it was from nerves rather than from the intense heat.
Marissa had definitely felt it though, looking nearly petrified as he entire body and clothes were soaked in a layer of sweat, and she was in the farthest part away from the flame too.
"I-uhh... I think we should probably get a change of clothes." Mason muttered, pointing towards both Axel and Marissa. This was about the same time that Axel realized that although he wasn't affected by the heat, his clothing was.
He was left with charred, crumbing pieces of burnt and scorched leather that barely resembled what they once were. Axel took great care in trying to keep the ash-like clothing together, but it was no use. By the time that he got outside the room, the clothes were almost entirely gone.
Lied sighed and told the other scientists to end the operation, and to shut down the Infinity chamber. Mason wondered what he was thinking, seeing as how Lied had a neutral face that was almost entirely impossible to read.
Lied swiftly turned to another researcher, a ram that was about half his size, "Can you grab some clothes please? I believe we have some in the utilities closet, thanks." The ram nodded and quickly rushed out the room in search of said clothes.
Lied sighed deeply and positioned himself in front of the control module for the Infinity Chamber. He looked almost depressed, and even more so, completely done with everything.
"Hey, can I ask you something?" Mason asked, body still against B-64 despite not needing warmth anymore. Lied sighed again, but nodded all the same, "Why didn't Marissa get anything?"
Lied slid to hands against his temple and rubbed them together, his voice groggy and distant and a complete departure from earlier, "She... Well, she has a marker, as she did react with the Boson Energy differently than most do, it's just that we don't know which type."
B-64's visor showed what looked like a raised eyebrow, before quickly morphing into, "What different type?". Mason agreed with him, and asked the same question.
"So far, there have been two types of Boson Energy that we know of. Red and Blue. You have the marker for Red Boson Energy, a sort of pure energy that is abstract in concept, but more or less is the jack of all trades kind of energy." Lied explained, pushing himself off of the consol.
"Blue is more about... Well, elements I guess I could call them. You know, fire, water, the basic building blocks if we go with a spell kind of thinking." Lied twiddled his thumbs and sat down on the table opposite of Mason and B-64, "But there are at least four other Boson Energies."
This caught Mason, and B-64 in surprise. Sure, they knew about the three, but three more? Even B-64 didn't know what the rest were, but granted, he hadn't been at his home planet for quite a while.
"There's three more?" Mason blurted out, Lied taking notice.
"Three? You know three?" He asked, seemingly a spart being ignited inside his eyes, "What is it?"
"Black Boson Energy" Stated B-64's visor in plain green text. Lied's mouth twitched into a smile.
"So wait. If there is red and blue... Opposite colors. I don't know, but maybe they have something to do with the spectrum of colors. I mean, if there is black, then maybe there's white..."
"And there is a good likelihood that Marissa can harness one of them!" Lied acted like a kid high on caffeine and sugar. He quickly rushed over to a set of computers and turned one on, the computer responding instantly.
Mason decided to leave the good doctor to his work, and to not disturb him. The other researchers also didn't say anything, besides telling them both that it'd be best for them to get back to their room while they ran some tests.
So, Mason helped his sleeping sister into his arms, grabbed B-64 by the hand and led them to the hallway, where a guard was ready to escort him to his room.
The trip back to their room was uneventful, both Mason and B-64 having grown accustomed to the winding halls of The Foundation, and the fact that Hannah was asleep. The guard didn't try to talk to them, and so, they didn't try to talk with the guard.
The guard, after reaching their room, knocked on the door, with Axel quickly responding that they could come in. They entered the room quickly as the guard left to go back and guard.
Mason was a little surprised to see his hyena friend, who was rather well known to mainly wear leather jackets even in a hundred degree weather, wear what looked like a pink button up shirt.
He wore the shirt, alongside a pair of blue denim jeans and a white lab coat, which was discarded into the kitchen, "Yeah, it's funny..." Marissa said, sighing as she looked down at her clothes.
She was wearing a dark green t-shirt with tight fitting women's jeans, little pockets and all, "This is why I still prefer to wear men's pants." She told him, sighing as she could barely fit her hand in her pocket. She was the one wearing her lab coat, albeit loosely.
B-64 shrugged and let go off Mason's hand to allow him to safely put Hannah on a bed, which he did. He knew that they did not really have to be quiet, as she could sleep through almost anything. It was frankly incredible.
Mason was alright with his clothes. A pair of denim jeans, light red t-shirt. However much it clashed against his dark black fur, and not to mention his green neck stripe, he liked it because it was comfortable to wear.
Mason shrugged it off and fell onto one of the beds, his jaw hurting a little bit with the sudden action. He would be the first one to admit that he wasn't sure what happened to him when he did that Crismon Smile thing, nor would he be the last to admit that it scared it him.
He didn't really see anything during that time, his vision went sort of hazy, like a thick fog had enveloped his senses, and his mind was driven on one point, and one point only. Bite.
He toyed with the last little bit of red matter in his mouth, contemplating on how much longer he had to keep it in there before it corroded. He knew that the Red Boson Energy affected reality, Lied had said as much, but what had changed to do what it can do?
And most importantly, at least to him at that moment, how had they learned to do all these things? The triggers to activate it, because if it could change reality, then why can't they use it to just, well, snap the enemy out of reality.
Maybe he was thinking about this just a little too hard. Maybe he shouldn't care, the researchers and scientists should know, they had B-64 for years. They had told them about how they learned. Of course they experimented before.
But still, what was the limit? If it had true limitless abilities, then why did they have to be restrained to certain things, certain spell-like abilities that did one thing? If it could change reality, then why couldn't it do it on a large scale.
All these burning questions ate Mason up as he sat on his bed, the large AC fan in the ceiling activating due to Axel also getting rather warm. He sighed, turning over onto his side.
And B-64, how did his feelings fit into all this. He had already had this internal debate with himself, he was aware, but he couldn't keep his mind off of it. There was no reason why he should be feeling this way. Like he didn't have a choice.
It was, for lack of a better word, an intense feeling. Not love, not anger or sadness or joy. But just a feeling that he linked B-64. A lot more than a friend, but not love. He wasn't sure if there was a word for it.
B-64 took notice of his frown, and he wanted to remedy it. He slid behind Mason and enveloped him in a hug, something that Mason greatly needed at that moment. It wasn't just a reassuring pat on the back, or just a pure hug. It showed him what he already knew was true.
It was proof that he liked B-64. Not a mutual liking, not a friendship, nor companionship. Beyond words that he knew. That hug confirmed it for him, confirmed his feelings. And Mason didn't care. He wasn't afraid to admit it anymore, now that he knew for sure.
He had an inkling before, sure he did. He knew that he liked him a lot, more than a friend. But he wasn't sure to what degree. Now he was sure to what degree. He may not love B-64 all the way, but he knew that it was a bit more than a simple crush.
He-
Mason's ears popped and perked up as he heard the sound. The sound of explosions, and their room was bathed in a deep red color as lights flashed
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Heya!
Another chapter today. I've been feeling really... I'm not really sure. In-between happy and apathy. I don't want to do anything, but when I do something I get really happy, then I get really bored. Then I do something, get happy, and the cycle repeats.
So expect a lot of chapters soon. I do mean a lot too, all about 2.5k words in length, maybe even 3k if I try hard enough.
I just hope you enjoy this chapter!
~ Candle