After breaking into the demiplane of the Felwardens, Emmett’s group laid low that weekend. Emmett continued making servers while Athena experimented with the stolen magic staff. Clara alternated between looking over their shoulders, doing yoga, and meditating.

It was Sunday afternoon, and each day more and more traffic was coming through the city. Outside the apartment window, there was a steady stream of workers and trash trucks. Emmett felt like they were pushing back the tide a second time—only this time, it was the tide of destruction.

“Aha!”

Athena’s voice broke the silence of the room. Emmett sucked in a breath. Thankfully, his robotic arms and hands hadn’t flinched, otherwise he would’ve miss-soldered the server he was working on.

He glanced at Athena. She was holding the magic staff out triumphantly and it glowed with a soft UV light. Clara had been meditating on the floor. She leapt up and went over to the counter.

“I’ve finally got it.” Athena reached over toward the haphazard stack of appliances and pots on the kitchen counter. She set a toaster by itself on the counter.

Athena uttered magic words and the light around the staff flared. This time, even Clara held a hand up to shield her eyes. Most magic glowed blue in Mod’s UV vision, but now the light from the staff changed color. It shimmered like the surface of a lake, dancing with blue and purple light.

Athena touched the tip of the staff to the toaster, and the appliance vanished. She cackled with delight.

Clara stared at the empty spot on the counter. “That was pretty cool. …What exactly did you do?”

Athena smiled. “I opened up a demiplane. …An admittedly small one, but I also figured out the magic words and intent to use the staff. The hardest part of using an item like this is gaining the initial command of it.”

Emmett added, “So not only did you have to sever the mage’s control of it, you had to gain control over it?”

“In short, yes. If the staff had been made for me, then it would’ve been easy—as simple as slipping on a suit of magical armor. But it was made for someone else, so it took some magical convincing.”

“But the staff is yours now,” Clara said. “So what are you going to do with it?”

Athena shook her head. “I don’t think the staff is ever going to be easy for me to wield. I’m not a mage, and I’m not a Felwarden… But it at least responds to me now. As for what I’m going to do… Right now, I’m going to bring this toaster back.”

Athena uttered the same words again, her inflection changing slightly. She waved the staff and pointed it toward the same spot on the counter.

Magic sputtered in the air, then fizzled out.

Athena frowned. “This is why I don’t do magic.”

Emmett added, “That’s our only toaster.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll bring it back. The toaster and the demiplane are still there. I can feel them. I just can’t pull them out yet.”

Now that Athena mentioned it, Emmett could still see a flicker of magic in the air where the toaster used to be. It was nothing like the Ferris wheel portal—it was a magnitude smaller, for one—but the longer Emmett stared at it, the more similarities he saw.

“It’s not your imagination,” TINA said. Her voice was quiet and in his head. “There is a similar pattern between the Felwarden’s portal and this one. Both are demiplane spells, so despite their sizes they both share characteristics. But they both were also created by the same magic staff.”

Stolen novel; please report.

Athena was staring at him. “Don’t tell me you’re about to unravel the secrets of magic and become the world’s first cyborg mage—”

Emmett smirked. “I’m not, but TINA might.”

TINA spoke up from Emmett’s phone. “Don’t worry Athena. I’ll share my findings with you.”

Athena sighed. “Until then, I’ll continue learning magic my own way—one step at a time.”

Both Emmett and Clara watched Athena intently as she tried bringing the toaster back again and again… and again. Finally, Clara crawled over to the couch and sprawled out.

“Did you know it’s been three weeks since the war ended?” She mused, pulling her hoodie down over her eyes. “Three weeks of being cooped up in here—no offense!”

Athena chuckled. “None taken.”

Emmett smiled to himself while he finished soldering a wire. He couldn’t believe it’d been that long already. As much as he missed going out on the town and running across the rooftops, there was a certain appeal to losing himself in this kind of work. It reminded Emmett of his time at the university and losing himself in his studies.

Except this was infinitely more satisfying.

A moment later, Athena set the staff down on the counter. “Have you thought anymore about leaving?”

“Are you kicking us out?” Clara asked jokingly.

“Of course not. But I’m sure Dr. Venture didn’t plan on you staying here in Belport forever. Especially not when everyone and their mother will be looking for you.”

TINA spoke up from the table. “Dr. Venture and I discussed the issue at length before the lab was taken over. Emmett and Clara had two options: The obvious choice was to leave the city. There is a small isolated lab outside of Belport. It would offer several advantages, including equipment and raw material, but there was no guarantee that it would remain safe. I tried to purge as much of my records before Midas came, but Dr. Venture deemed it too much of a risk.

“Staying in the city, specifically in a magic safehouse, was deemed the safest option. Athena had the forethought to have one already.”

Athena crossed her arms. “But that’s not all of it, right? Surely getting out of Belport has to be safer than staying here—safehouse or not…”

“The Summit will expect you to run. The Brotherhood won’t care either way. If Midas can find you here, then he can find you anywhere.”

Clara sat up on the couch. “We have the mask protocol now and TINA can scrub our communications. Which means if we can hide here, then we can hide anywhere.”

Athena winced. “It just doesn’t sit right with me. Staying under the nose of the enemy might work in the movies, but in the real world, people run as far away as they can.”

Emmett set his tools down on the table. “Soon there won’t be any point in running. They’re going to have the entire Allied States under surveillance. Those drones and biomechs won’t just be here—they’ll be everywhere. Soon Midas will have everyone under his thumb. If someone like him gets that kind of control, we won’t be able to get it back.”

Athena’s voice softened. “Emmett, I don’t mean to be that gal, but taking on the Brotherhood is a tall order—one that even Dr. Venture didn’t try.”

Clara replied, “But Dad did try. He pushed back, even if he didn’t fight. He helped Emmett. He helped TINA grow. He gave us the tools so that we could continue after we lost the lab.”

Athena said, “You should consider leaving.”

“We’re not leaving Belport,” Emmett replied. It came out sterner than he meant it to. “We know Belport. We have allies here. Dr. Venture is here. My fam… My family is here. And eventually, we’ll need to take back the lab.”

Clara and Athena shared a look, but ultimately said nothing.

His family wasn’t the only reason Emmett wanted to stay in Belport, but Emmett couldn’t deny that it was a factor. Even if he couldn’t talk to them, there was something about being nearby that assuaged that feeling of isolation.

And a part of Emmett was worried that if he left Belport, he might never come back.

Athena sighed and picked up the staff. “Well, if you’re not planning on leaving, then hopefully I’ll be able to expand this place a bit. First step, bring back a toaster. Next step, try sending one of you guys into the demiplane. Eventually, add a second floor to the apartment.”

Emmett’s eyes widened. A second later, Clara caught what she said.

Clara replied, “There’s a few more steps between us and the toaster… right?”

Athena just smirked.

~ ~ ~