October 27, 2034

Elven Research Facility, Surgery Room 13

The room was bathed in cold, sterile light. Its walls were lined with instruments of both magic and science, their metal gleaming with anticipation. The scent of herbs mingled with the sharp tang of chemicals, filling the air with an oddly soothing aroma. Vaelin Tharos, the lead researcher, hovered over the human subject on the table before him. His eyes gleamed excitedly, an almost manic curiosity shining through as he studied the strange creature’s exposed organs.

“Yes, yes… so alien, yet…” Vaelin trailed off, his gloved fingers delicately tracing the veins of the human’s heart. The organ thumped weakly, kept alive by a mixture of potions and spells, and he leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. “So familiar.”

Beside him, his assistant Kaelen, a younger researcher, peered over his shoulder, his brow furrowed in concentration. “I’ve never seen anything quite like them,” Kaelen murmured, his tone reverent. “It’s as though they were built from the same design as us… yet the details are all wrong.”

Vaelin grinned, the corners of his mouth twitching with glee. “Indeed! Their bones and muscles remind me of the creatures we’ve encountered on the distant shores beyond the Sea of Scillia. You know the ones I speak of, don’t you, Kaelen?”

Kaelen nodded slowly, his gaze flicking down to the exposed ribcage of the human beneath them. “The amphibious beasts. The ones that walk on two legs but swim like fish.”

“Exactly!” Vaelin’s eyes sparkled. “We’ve seen this design before in the Scillian territories—creatures that appear so alien and bizarre yet still follow the same natural laws that govern us. This human—this magnificent specimen—may be a product of a distant world, but its flesh, its organs, are tied to the same rhythms as life across our lands. It’s the divergence that fascinates me.” He excitedly raised his hands, gesturing at the human’s exposed chest. “Look at this heart! It pumps blood, like ours, like the Scillians'… but see how its chambers are arranged. Different, but still functional. Adapted for… what? A different atmosphere? A different gravity?”

Kaelen leaned closer, narrowing his eyes at the still-beating organ. “It’s as though the gods themselves recycled the design,” he muttered. “As if life itself has a template, and the details are just… variations.”

Vaelin laughed, a sharp, joyous sound. “Precisely! A variation on a theme. But here’s the true question, Kaelen—how does it adapt? How does a creature like this come to wield psionic power? Such capabilities don’t belong to mere flesh. That level of power—no, that belongs to something… divine.”

Kaelen frowned, his fingers brushing the human’s skull, feeling the contours beneath the skin. “I wonder… is it the flesh that grants the power, or is it the mind? Could these beings have been… given psionics? Enhanced by some higher force, perhaps?”

Vaelin’s eyes flashed with excitement as he pondered Kaelen’s question. “Ah, now that is the question. Did they evolve naturally into these powerful psionics, or did something intervene? Something… darker, more sinister.”

His fingers danced along the human’s exposed nerves, tracing the lines leading to the brain. He picked up a scalpel and made a careful incision along the skull, peeling back the skin to expose the grey matter beneath. The brain pulsed faintly, alive with the energy of the enchantments, keeping the human conscious but paralyzed.

“Look at this,” Vaelin whispered, his voice filled with awe. “It’s not so different from our own, yet… it’s more robust. Almost as though it were designed to withstand the strain of psionics.”

Kaelen nodded, his eyes wide with wonder. “It’s remarkable. But what if… what if these beings are not so different from the creatures beyond the sea? The Scillians have animals that can manipulate water, command the tides, and even cause storms. Perhaps psionics are just another… adaptation. Like a claw or a fin.”

Vaelin chuckled darkly, his eyes gleaming. “Or like the bioluminescence of the deep-sea creatures! An evolution to survive in an environment that would crush most beings. These humans are no different. They’ve adapted in ways we can barely comprehend.”

He paused, his gaze drifting over the human’s body. “But it’s not enough to simply observe these similarities. We must understand them. Dissect them, experiment with them until we find the source of this power.”

Kaelen shifted uneasily beside him. “What are you suggesting, Vaelin?”

Vaelin smiled a sharp, predatory grin. “I’m suggesting that we take this further. We need to push the boundaries of what we’ve been doing. If these humans can be manipulated, if their psionics can be harnessed, think of what we could accomplish. We could wield powers beyond anything the Triad ever gifted us. We could become gods among elves.”

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Kaelen swallowed hard, his eyes flicking nervously to the human on the table. “Is that… wise?”

“Wise?” Vaelin scoffed. “This is beyond wisdom, Kaelen. This is evolution. This is what we were born to do.”

He turned back to the human, his scalpel gleaming in the cold light. “We’re not just dissecting them, Kaelen. We’re unlocking the future.”

And with that, he made another incision, his hands steady as his mind raced with excitement. The human body was just the beginning—a key to a door Vaelin was determined to open.

…

The room flickered in and out of focus, a swirling dream of sterile surfaces and dim lights. Red wasn’t here in body, but his sharp and aware mind inhabited the space, piecing together what was happening to him. The elves were vivisecting one of his own—another human strapped down on the table, pale skin illuminated by violet crystals that pulsed and twisted under his flesh. These weren’t natural—no, something was happening. Something that the elves seemed ecstatic about.

Red’s eyes darted to the tools the researchers were using, a strange mix of arcane instruments and high-tech devices that vibrated with power. Every so often, one of the researchers leaned over a microscope-like apparatus, their hands trembling with excitement as they studied the cells under its enchanted lens.

“What’s going on here?” Red muttered to himself, though his voice didn’t echo in the dreamscape. He felt the static in his head buzz stronger now, an irritating hum that pulsed in sync with the strange crystals growing on the body beneath him.

Then, Red had an idea.

He focused, pulling at the static swirling in the back of his mind ever since they’d been transported here. It was a mutation; he realized an adaptation. Whatever was happening to their bodies, the virus or the psionic energy was mutating them. And it wasn’t just happening to him but to everyone. The others could feel it, too, even if they didn’t fully understand it.

Red watched the cells under the microscope. They were changing—incorporating the violet crystals into their structure. Some cells burst, unable to handle the transformation, while others adapted, the crystals fusing with the nuclei, strengthening them. The elves practically vibrated with excitement, exchanging rapid-fire words in their language. But Red didn’t need to understand the words to know what was happening. This mutation was giving them an edge.

Red could feel it in his own body, too. Every muscle ached, and the cell felt like it was on fire, but power was beneath the pain. He just needed to figure out how to tap into it—how to spread the adaptation faster, strengthen it before the elves did something to stop them.

Date: October 30, 2034

Location: Elven Research Facility, Dreamscape

Three days had passed since the vivisection—three days since Red had witnessed the horrifying and exhilarating discovery of the mutation within his cells. He’d seen it up close, through the elves' magical tools, the way the violet crystals merged with human tissue, transforming them, strengthening them. Now, Red could feel those same changes in his body, humming with power, but he struggled to control it.

He sat at the bar, the dreamscape humming around him, a familiar space where he could think. The bar had become their gathering point in this strange realm, a place for planning and rest, but lately, Red had been using it as a training ground. The others hadn’t seen him here much—he preferred to work in isolation, figuring things out at his own pace. Today, though, he had a specific goal: to align his dream self with his physical body.

Red left the bar for a room of his own. It wasn’t a mix of his thoughts, and Zack’s format was almost like a PS-1 game’s graphics. In comparison, Red’s world appeared retro, like a Super Nintendo game. He had a ground that looked brownish and trees made of pixels that blinked out when he gave too little attention to them. The more minds worked together to create a room, the more accurate it appeared.

He kicked the ground and scattered some pixel rocks. Red felt a pain in his toe like he had kicked some rocks in the real world. It was slow going. His body reacted like it was his pre-transfer body. He needed to change his dream body to synergize with his physical body.

Looking at himself, he was like a photo cropped into a retro game background. It felt strange, but at least he could feel something. Red jumped but couldn’t fly the room he was in while physical laws like the real world bound retro.

The dreamscape allowed them to bend the rules of reality, but Red knew that if he wanted to test his limits and get a fundamental understanding of what his body was capable of in the real world, he needed to make the dream mirror reality. He went over the steps in his mind, visualizing creating a room, a mental space that could replicate his physical body’s exact state.

He needed a process to streamline the creation of rooms. He clearly had the power to create a room, but he didn’t have the knowledge to make one appear real.

He visualized his body as in the real world—stronger now but burdened with the static that crackled through his veins. The mutation was natural; he could feel the power coursing through him. He just needed to control it.

“Start small,” Red muttered, trying to ground his thoughts.

He focused on a small pebble on the bar floor beneath one of the stools. It was tiny, insignificant, and perfect for what he had in mind. Red extended his hand, his eyes narrowing as he reached out with his telekinesis. The static in his mind buzzed, responding to his will, and he could feel the pebble shift slightly. He pulled at it, imagining the force he wanted to exert, the way the energy would flow from his mind to the object.

The pebble lifted, hovering a few inches off the ground.

A smirk tugged at Red’s lips. This was easy, simpler than he expected. But just as the thought crossed his mind, the static flared. The power surged through his body, lighting up the mutated cells like electricity. The pebble shot forward faster than he intended, and with a loud crack, it blasted through the ground, leaving a jagged hole where it had once been.

Red cursed, clenching his fists as he felt the energy in his body spiral out of control. His muscles tensed, the static buzzing louder, filling his mind with the overwhelming rush of power. He took a deep breath, trying to rein it in, but it was like holding back a flood with a handful of sand.

“Damn it,” he muttered, shaking his head as the energy finally subsided.

He’d felt the connection between his body and the power surging through his veins. The mutation wasn’t just some passive change; it was alive and responded to his emotions and focus. Red could see now why the elves were so excited. This wasn’t just a weapon. It was something far more dangerous.

He just had to learn how to use it.