We headed back to the coffee shop and on the way called Zypher to meet us there. He was oddly receptive to the meeting, which honestly only made us all the more suspicious of his true intentions.

Zypher met us outside the restaurant, he was dark, tall and lanky, just a few inches taller than Alden. He definitely seemed to have a couple years on us, which definitely made our meetup look awkward. Zypher was, however, unexpectedly open and honest with us from the very beginning and made sure to learn our names and a bit about us before we got into our discussion. I explained how we had gotten to this point, and we were surprised to learn that our circumstances were exactly as rare as we had speculated. Every kid wants to believe they’re special in some way, but to actually get confirmation was a definite ego booster.

As we continued retelling our story I got to the part about the Guardian that had attacked me, seemingly at random.

“You were attacked by another Guardian?” Zypher asked with visible concern.

“Yeah, at least I’m pretty sure he was. Honestly, I got my butt kicked and it was apparently only his shadow clone? I won in the end I guess, but only because he let me...” I said, moping.

“That’s not good…I’ll have to ask my Commander but it sounds like it was Zryke. We don’t really know who he is or what he wants, so far he just hunts down new Guardians, almost as if he’s looking for something. He’s been making appearances in this area but I’m shocked to hear that he’d go after a kid,” Zypher said, rubbing his chin delicately, concern draped over his face.

“Wait, you never told me about this guy before. What if he came back?” Alden asked, his tone sounding hurt.

“Sorry…I should have said something earlier but I honestly wanted to solve it myself,” I said apologetically, staring down at the empty mug in front of me.

“Are you sure it wasn’t because you got your butt kicked?” Alden chided, in an attempt to lighten the mood. “Look, we’re friends, yeah? Just let me know next time, I would do the same,” he said, patting me on the shoulder.

“Yeah, sorry,” I said, smiling at him, genuinely feeling like I had let him down.

“It’s all good man. I guess we’ll figure out more on that later,” he said, changing the subject.

“My question for you, Zypher, is why we haven’t been contacted officially yet? So far, Cian and I have relied solely on each other's resources with the help of our Dratmana with absolutely no support from HQ,” Alden said angrily, remembering the significant loss of life from the attack a few weeks back.

“If we had more resources we could have saved far more!” Alden started, raising his voice which caused other patrons to stare awkwardly. “Sorry…it's just…frustrating,” Alden apologized, dropping his aggressive tone.

“I understand, but these are difficult times. Our resources are spread so thin that in the whole three months I’ve been assigned here, directly by HQ might I add, I’ve only been contacted once. So it’s not just you, believe me,” Zypher said, diplomatically.

“Ultimately, it's difficult to contact each other, so why don’t we just go there? Cadeyrn has been discussing a teleporter that should allow us to travel back and forth between the 3rd and 4th worlds,” I brought up suddenly.

“Hold on, a teleporter? No one has been able to get one properly working in over twenty years. Why would your Dratmana even have that information?” Zypher asked, shocked. “There’s just no way. We’ve been stuck using Quanum transference which requires at least six Guardians to perform,” Zypher added.

“That may be, but it seems we’ve found a way to develop one? We just need a few extra materials,” I explained with confidence.

“Hmm…what do you need?” Alden asked curiously.

I took a moment to sketch out a rough itemized list on a napkin and then slid it over to him.

“Yikes…Alright, I can get most of this I think,” Alden said as Zypher took the napkin and began reading.

“H-how…?” Zypher’s face turned white.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Don’t worry about it, Alden’s family has their ways,” I said.

“Okay, but I’m going to ask again later…Anyways I think I can get some as well. I have some cores we can use to calibrate it. Once we set it up it should be self sustaining off the ambient quanum,” Zypher said, with renewed determination.

“Is there anything I can do to help? I understand the risks involved but I want to help,” Nicole asked excitedly.

Alden, Zypher and I looked at Nicole briefly.

“If you really want to, I think you have the potential to become a great operator. I can provide you the resources if you would like,” Zypher offered.

“I won't stop you Nicole, but understand that you may lose your ability to use quanum entirely if it's not potent enough,” I warned.

“It’s fine, I understand the risks...I never realized how bored I was until now, doing the same thing day in and day out, nothing really changed. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I continued to stay in this monotonous current. Don’t you guys feel the same way?” Nicole asked, earnestly.

“Here she goes again with her big words and philosophies,” I teased, receiving a mock threatening glare from Nicole. “But yeah, I agree. This is definitely an interesting outcome,” I continued.

“Agreed,” Alden and Zypher both replied.

“Remember, this isn’t a game, this is a lot more dangerous than you guys are aware, trust me. You’ve seen first hand the kind of devastation that can happen when quanum is involved and you’ll learn there is far worse in time,” Zypher said, grimly.

With Zypher’s warning in mind, we continued going over what we had learned thus far. We focused on coming up with a plan to build the teleporter. Zypher had an amazing understanding of technology in general and was invaluable to creating a precise plan. Thanks to his help it didn’t take us long to finally agree on a proper course of action that made the ridiculous endeavour actually seem feasible.

“I think it's about time we head out, we should get started on this ASAP. Especially if it’s as groundbreaking as you say it is, Zypher,” Alden said, pushing himself away from the table, standing from his chair and stretching.

“Yeah, definitely, I’m still skeptical about it though. It seems a tad bit too convenient. Anyways, I’ll be taking off now, see you guys later,” Zypher said as he also got up and headed out the door of the coffee shop.

Nicole, Alden and I followed suit and headed to our homes. I was fairly satisfied with the results of the meeting but I wasn’t actually quite ready to go home so I headed to the forest to train.

“Cadeyrn, barrier please,” I said.

“Yes master,” Cadeyrn responded and the area flashed as a small barrier was erected.

The way it worked was simple, the moment anyone crossed the barrier they would be inundated with my quanum. The effect would suggest that it was dangerous to proceed and in general helped prevent people from noticing me at all. I decided that meditation would be a good first step after Cadeyrn had explained to me that it would help increase the quality and connection to my quanum. So far it had worked, and I already meditated daily anyway so it wasn’t a big deal. As per usual though, I began to get lost in my thoughts.

Something had been bothering me for a while, where did Alden’s ring even come from? He said it was just there on the road when he was out for a walk but…if quanum is our innate ability to alter our surroundings…could he have been so bored that he created it himself subconsciously? But wouldn’t that require some knowledge beforehand…? Is that even possible? I asked in my head, questions churning constantly.

“It’s technically possible without any fore knowledge Master, his device was ancient. Would you like to hear my theory?” Cadeyrn said aloud interrupting my thoughts, we preferred to avoid telepathy whenever possible as I found it took up too much focus.

Cadeyrn had started to act, speak, and direct itself in a more human manner since we first met. I assumed that meant we had a healthy relationship.

“Sure, hit me with it,” I replied, doing my best to maintain my meditative state.

“As you know, we Dratmana inhabit devices which enable guardians to utilize their quanum directly. A long time ago there was a massive war between guardians which had devastating consequences. With too many quanum users present, it warped space and created a void which trapped hundreds of guardians. With no way to enter or leave the void they all perished. Their devices however will last forever. My theory is that Alden’s subconscious use of quanum created a hole in the void in which the ring fell out. The chances are so astronomically low that I can’t believe I’m even suggesting it, but when we examined the area in which the ring was found I did detect minor traces of distortions that went beyond quanum,” Cadeyrn explained.

“In terms of quanum potential…does that mean Alden’s is stronger?” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

“It’s difficult to say as quanum can’t be measured in such a way. It’s more accurate to say that his use of it is simply very different from your own. However if you had to apply it in terms you humans use, your potential is equal, in fact, it's on a level never seen before. The only true difference is that Alden has a stronger connection to quanum than you do,” Cadeyrn stated.

“I see….Soooo, more meditation then?” I asked quizzically.

“A lot more,” Cadeyrn confirmed.

“Well, it beats doing homework. I guess we’ll stick it out for a few hours,” I said, entering deeper into my meditation.