6:20 a.m.
You spot Claudette Byron wandering toward you, a heavy coat wrapped around her, the wind tugging at her curly hair. "So yeah, here we are, alien invasion and all…." she says.
"Yes," you say. "That's exactly right."
"So, yeah…I think we have a problem. I've been going over the steps we've taken to gain control of the Surgeons' spatial portal. And I'm not happy with them. In a perfect world, I'd like to have another month or so to work on our solution. As it is…success is far from guaranteed."
"How likely is it that we can either stabilize or collapse the portal?" you ask.
"Expressed as a percentage…maybe 40 percent."
"Those odds aren't great," you say.
"There's more. The barrier enchantment we discussed…the magical power source I provided isn't reliable. It works, but only intermittently."
"An intermittent barrier is no barrier at all," you say. "I'm disappointed, Claudette. You've left me facing an extraterrestrial incursion with no weapons, no tricks up my sleeve."
Claudette nods. "I know. On the plus side, I've theorized that it might be possible to tap the Surgeons' spatial conduit to power that barrier enchantment: the Surgeons will do much of the work for us. I just need to figure out exactly how."
You've brought the Zapp Sapper up to the rooftop with you. You think back to Mekk's intentions for the device. He wanted to use it to drain away the Surgeons' power, to turn it into a weapon he could use against them.
"I may be able to provide that power source for you," you say.
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