Sensei's final words reverberated through Tess's mind, seizing time itself in an explosive pause. The meaning behind his cryptic mention of the "deceptive one" sent a surge of adrenaline coursing through her veins. Weren't she and her teammates all covert Syb-victim destined to be punished, tormented, or worse?
Cruel thoughts, the very ones that had driven her to flee to the sanctuary of the forest, clawed their way back into her consciousness, gnashing their teeth with merciless intent. Memories of whispered threats and vicious taunts danced on the edge of her awareness, threatening to engulf her in a whirlwind of darkness.
Doubt now tainted her perception, eclipsing all other questions that had filled her thoughts. A jolt of pain sliced through the depths of her consciousness, a visceral reminder of the weight of her secret. Memories surged forth, vivid and raw. Glass tubes with crimson X's, remnants of Petra's twisted experiments, flashed before her eyes.
She could almost feel the chill of the sterile lab, mingled with her desperation to conceal the mark on her neck. The words she had repeated like a desperate prayer, "I am not a monster," echoed in her mind, a plea to drown out her deepest fears.
But then, an image flickered before her—a reflection in a shattered mirror. In an instant, it transformed into a grotesque, monstrous creature, its visage tearing at her sanity. Fear gripped her heart, threatening to suffocate her as darkness encroached upon her consciousness.
Gasping for breath, Tess's eyes widened, capturing the ground where Sensei's shadow had touched. As she struggled to draw air into her lungs, a suffocating sensation overwhelmed her. The passage behind her nose constricted, swelling, making each breath a desperate battle against the forces of resistance. The once familiar sounds of droplets hitting the windowpane assaulted her ears, each impact reverberating with a sharp, almost painful intensity.
She had never experienced such torment before. Confusion and disbelief warred within her as she grappled with the revelation of her secret being exposed. How could Sensei have known? Worse, who else knew?
The realization shattered her assumptions, leaving her vulnerable and disoriented. Yet, she dared not confront the truth of her mark, her very core, even as an insistent itch taunted her from her left neck. Every nerve in her body seemed to scream, yet remained numb, shielding her from the full weight of her own vulnerability.
With fierce determination, she forced herself to remain composed, resisting any visible signs of the turmoil ravaging her soul. The cool breeze blowing in from outside suddenly felt arctic, amplifying her discomfort and triggering an impending shiver that threatened to betray her unease.
Alone with her thoughts, a strange and disturbing sensation began to overtake her, teasing the edges of her sanity. Doubt whispered in her mind, questioning if she was overreacting, if her fears had consumed her reason.
But then, Sensei's words resurfaced, clawing their way back into her consciousness, a sinister reminder of the webs of deception entangling them all. Telecoms, Lanse's criticisms—they echoed in her ears, fueling her determination to unravel the truth, to expose the machinations of those who sought to control and manipulate.
Sensei's words flowed from his lips with an unnerving nonchalance, the calmness in his voice contrasting sharply with the gravity of his message.
"Consider the grim reality," he said, his words punctuated by a weighty pause, "that your teleportation ability could be obliterated with a single direct blow. Picture this: a seemingly innocuous fall from a tree, and suddenly you find yourself trapped in a dire predicament, rendered utterly unable to teleport. I must admit, I'm disheartened that none of you even attempted to challenge this vulnerability during your exam with your opponents."
Lanse, still seeking vindication on the matter of the telecoms, could hardly fathom that Sensei persisted in challenging their understanding, even after they had passed his dumb exam. The simmering fury within him threatened to erupt, his arms tightly folding across his chest in a futile attempt to contain his rising anger. The growl in his head grew louder, a primal beast awakened by the casualness with which Sensei spoke, as if their lives were inconsequential.
"And yes, we could have utilized vortex teleportation, crafting a colossal gateway to transport you back here, and in so doing, linking that very death trap to our fiercely guarded top-secret base. We would lie in wait, daring those creeps to follow behind and enter our sanctuary."
Tess, lost in her own thoughts, snapped back to reality with a blink, her mind jolted by the horrific alternate reality Sensei had conjured within their minds. The memories of their encounters with the hooded one, the terror of their deaths transformed into a twisted game, flooded back with harrowing clarity.
The speed and agility of their adversary replayed in their minds like a haunting film, each moment etched with a sense of urgency and danger. Questions gnawed at their minds, their doubts intertwining with a tangle of unease. Would the adversary have pursued them through the vortex, seeking to drag them back into the nightmarish realm they had escaped?
They pondered the adversary's relentless pursuit, even after acquiring the fragment, their actions shrouded in mystery and malevolence. The memories they carried, the memories they swore were born from the darkest corners of their nightmares, held a truth they dared not ignore.
Sensei mused, his tone dripping with a cold certainty. "Your encounters with death, the harrowing experiences you've faced, they would pale in comparison to what we would have endured.
"You see, unlike the five of you, we are not intricately bound to the life-stream of this planet. We would not possess the luxury of miraculous healing or endless resilience. No, that would have been our ultimate downfall, or perhaps something even more sinister."
The five recruits found themselves gripped by a mix of curiosity and unease as Sensei continued to weave his unsettling narrative. Each sentence he uttered seemed to carve vivid, disturbing images into their minds, like dark brushstrokes on a twisted canvas.
Sensei's voice took on an eerie calmness as he divulged the secrets of their unique teleportation device. The weight of his words settled upon them, the gravity of their situation becoming increasingly apparent. They exchanged glances, their brows furrowing deeper in confusion and concern.
"The belt teleporters were deemed too risky, too prone to potential mishaps," Sensei explained, his tone betraying no hint of benevolence. "So, we decided to create something specifically tailored to your important missions. A wristwatch-sized teleporter, designed to be as close to indestructible as possible."
His words hung in the air, a bitter taste of irony lingering in the room. It was clear that Sensei's intentions were far from benevolent, his promises of assistance ringing hollow. Doubt crept into their hearts, fueled by the dispassionate expression on his face.
"Aside from its durability," Sensei continued, his voice tinged with a touch of arrogance, "the teleporter boasts additional features. It can be concealed by your summoning gloves, and its lightweight design ensures it won't hinder you in battle."
Their brows furrowed further as the conversation took a somber turn. Sensei's tone grew more serious, his words painting a complex web of technicalities and mystic forces.
"With all the advantages I mentioned, there is a drawback," Sensei revealed, his voice lowering in intensity. "The tiny device requires a longer time to initiate teleportation. You see, enabling non-living objects to perform chants is a groundbreaking discovery. It necessitates the intervention of the Chewlete to create a bond, linking the glyphs or recorded reality rules to a Shinra source."
Zack, unable to contain his curiosity any longer, interjected, his voice trembling with excitement. "Chants, that's a magic term, isn't it?" He leaned forward, teetering on the edge of the bed, only to quickly retreat. "I knew it!" he exclaimed, a mix of awe and apprehension dancing in his eyes.
Tess's body jerked involuntarily, her muscles reacting to the shock of Zack's sudden outburst. Fortunately, her movement went unnoticed amidst the intensity of the moment. Zack's eyes widened, reflecting the sunlight pouring through the expansive windows, as if mirroring the spark of realization that ignited within him.
"They were using magic," Zack exclaimed, his voice trembling with a mix of awe and disbelief. "Those swords that appeared from black smoke, the way Lanse described how I died... It couldn't have been technology."
Sensei's response cut through the room with a forceful clarity. "We don't use the term magic here," he declared plainly, his voice rising in volume and causing Zack's shoulders to flinch involuntarily. Sensei's stern gaze locked onto Zack, filling his eyes with a deep-seated terror.
Leaning off the wall, Sensei's presence became more imposing. "That made-up mockery term is child's play and does not exist. It is an insult to every Chewlete, past, present, and future."
Zack felt the air escape his lungs, his mouth agape with disbelief. The contradiction in Sensei's words left him reeling, struggling to make sense of the shifting truths presented to him.
"Sorcery," Sensei continued, his unwavering gaze fixed on Zack, "is a divine practice that demands immense skill and cognitive prowess. It exists and is practiced here."
"What?" Tess blurted, her mind struggling to process the bizarre turn the conversation had taken. It felt as though she had been plunged into a labyrinth of nightmares within nightmares.
Sensei paid no heed to Tess's confusion, pressing on with his explanation. "At Primus, technological engineering and Shinra sorcery are symbiotic. Your telecoms and summoning gloves are evidence of that intricate relationship. Sorcery, or what the outside world mistakenly calls magic, adheres to rules and limitations. It is not a quick fix for every problem, as you might believe."
Tess shifted her gaze away from Sensei, searching the faces of their companions. To her dismay, she found them wearing expressions of profound bewilderment, akin to students faced with the daunting complexities of higher-level math at the beginning of a new academic year.
From her mysterious healing, the hint of her secret exposed, and then the notion that magic was real? It was clear to Tess that her comrades were also grappling with the revelations and mysteries that unfolded before them, their minds caught in the whirlwind of uncertainty.
Sensei's words flowed uninterrupted, his voice resonating with an air of authority and complexity. The room crackled with a sense of anticipation as he delved into the intricate workings of Shinra sorcery.
"Compacting a large Shinra store of Shinra into a size suitable for each telecom was just one of the challenges," Sensei explained. "Breaking down the compacted form is crucial to perform even the most basic levels of Shinra sorcery."
His words hung in the air, accompanied by a palpable tension. The group leaned in, their senses heightened, ready to grasp the depths of this arcane knowledge.
Sensei continued, enumerating the complex factors involved. "Manipulating living versus non-living objects, mastering high-level chants versus lower-level chants—all these play a role in determining the required amount of Shinra."
He paused, his gaze fixed on his attentive audience. "When using the teleportation function, it would take approximately ten minutes for the small device to create a sufficiently large teleportation field.
"To maintain the process, you would need to apply constant pressure on the button to reanimate the glyphs, while your body remains frozen, preventing any interruption. To add to that, your frozen bodies emitting a blue glow, caught in the liminal space between destinations is not all stealth. Danger lurked in the intricate dance of teleportation."
Sensei's tone shifted, veering into rhetorical territory. "Teaching the five of you how to drift for teleportation is beyond the scope of our mission. The Elders wouldn't permit it, and rightly so. Why instruct the guardians of the planet, endlessly connected to its lifestream, in a technique they inherently possess?"
He nodded, affirming his own words. "Your inheritance lies within the entire storage of Shinra energy coursing through the planet. The power each of you possesses is beyond the grasp of Chewlete comprehension, and that speaks volumes since Chewletes are considered the most intelligent beings on this planet."
Sensei leaned back against the window, exuding an air of nonchalance, his hands tucked into his jacket pockets. The anticipation in the room grew, as the group awaited the revelation behind their collective teleportation ordeals.
"Now, let's get back to the reason why all five of you must teleport simultaneously using the telecoms," Sensei finally said, causing Lanse to hold his breath in anticipation, who yearned for the explanation that would justify their arduous trials.
Sensei's gaze shifted, locking onto Lanse. "Activating multiple teleportation fields simultaneously, in close proximity, creates a peculiar acceleration effect. The overlapping of all five fields causes an instantaneous teleportation, bypassing the freezing stage altogether. The intricacies behind this phenomenon would only serve to bewilder your primitive minds. Even I cannot claim a full understanding of its underlying mechanics."
Lanse's arms remained tightly folded, but a flicker of hope ignited in his eyes. "So, you're saying we could have teleported all along?" he asked, unable to conceal a glimmer of frustration.
Sensei met his gaze with a plain expression. "Well, yes," he replied simply, leaving the group to grapple with the realization that their torment could have been avoided all along.