Two towers [an unknown location in the new world], local time [???], Earth time [2029-12-04]

They didn’t experience any interaction with a System when entering this Fissure. Assuming there was a System. They probably needed to take in enough Mana into their bodies, as was reported by some Eltears. And that would slowly kill them. Mana poisoning is not something that kills immediately, but if the System was set to pump them full of Mana immediately… It all comes to one guess and one basic question. Was the System prepared for them? Were they willing to make a test subject of themselves?

And Zeph was. For a long time, he felt like he was slowly falling apart mentally. It took so many years, but they finally found a world with a System. Probably with a System. Now, they were on the clock, there was no way for Eltear Logan to get here in time and check things out for them. The only other option was to force some locals from Earth to get into the Fissure, which was out of the question. Zeph was here in search of redemption, among other things. Not to make people into his test subjects. Above all, he didn’t have the patience to wait for years for the next, safer opportunity. He needed to know if this world would grant him what he wanted.

Or he would die.

The team had other concerns, too. Was there a way to go into other worlds from this one, or would they be trapped? Was there any sapient life? If a System existed, it should. But they could only guess.

Would he want to go back to Earth? Maybe, but definitely not soon. He was one of those ready to depart even through the unstable Fissure, as were Alex and Alana.

His team was made of like-minded people, and that helped him to endure, but it felt like he was on a time limit. He even considered suicide sometimes; his mental health was worsening year by year. So far, he didn’t find a way out of this slope, and he knew psychoactive drugs weren’t an answer either, at least in his case. This sounds quite dark, but in reality, it actually worked just as depression – an invisible burden slowly consuming your perception of life. Just another aspect of his wasted lifetime.

And so, this decision was most natural for him. The rest wasn’t so sure this was a good idea.

“Are you trying to fall into the ‘do or die trying’ trope?” Alana asked.

“You know we have a lot of time on this side to accurately examine this Fissure?” Jorge added.

“I will not take a risk of losing this opportunity. We don’t know what exactly is happening with this one, on more than one account, and it’s the first place with a System... probably a System, we’ve found. It took us years, I must remind you. And we will need to go back in a week or so, what if the Fissure closes suddenly at that time? You expect me to be cautious?” he started, then looked at Jorge. “You know that our methods of making it safer will work only in extreme theoretical cases, examining the Fissure will not change that. This will only prolong the inevitable,” Zeph declared. “A live test needs to be done sooner or later, and I was ready for this years ago.”

“Zeph, you are unusually hasty,” Alex noticed. “I am not going to dissuade you, but do you remember the possible consequences?”

“Of course, I do. I can die, or destroy my soul if this thing really exists,” replied Zeph.

“Do you see no problems with it?” Alex continued.

“Why should I? I lived my life until now because I wanted this chance. I really don’t think I will be able to wait for years in case one of you test it instead and the test fails. You know how I am, it’s not getting better,” he said.

“Hmm, indeed,” answered Alex after some deliberation. He needed to make sure Zeph wasn’t mentally influenced. “Procedure ‘Black’ is starting now,” this procedure assumed that the estimations about the time constraints were incorrect. "First things first, we need to take our ‘exploration kits’ from the base outside, return the magitech, and send a report to the HQ. You have 5 minutes outside. We already smell of gunpowder, so we will confront any aggressive entities on the way, instead of trying to circle around. If danger assessment doesn't go above level 3, that is. We will be heading towards the ruins after we go back, it should make for a better shelter."

After packing up, the team started the trek back. The way through the Falls was easy, the route cleared already. It was not the time for meandering. In the forest they met more aggressive vegetation, but nothing in numbers like on the waterfall, so they used incendiary ammunition from distance after a quick assessment, to great effects. Strangely, there were no traces of any big fauna. Not like they complained about it, but it was unusual enough to be slightly unsettling.

They spent around 10 hours inside. Outside, only 5 minutes have passed. Then, they wasted another 5 minutes getting their gear and sending reports. Local forces were flummoxed by the speed of events.

“So, Jorge, Gregory, what is your decision?” Alex asked them after everyone finished. The two never declared an unstable Fissure was enough for them. They should have had ample time to think about it by now.

“I will stay, boss. It’s a little too much after all those years of routine,” said Gregory.

“Yea, everything already stabilized here some years ago. We have a good job and new discoveries about Prana are made as we speak. I don’t want to risk it,” Jorge confirmed.

“Good. Make sure to keep an eye open for our Fissure in the future. You have the Mana parameters, just make sure the HQ will keep it at medium priority,” Alex said. He expected this outcome.

“Aye, Sir!” was their answer.

“Continue with the analysis. I will hand over the command to the HQ,” he said and started moving towards the commanding officer of local forces.

“Just make sure to follow the instructions from the HQ,” Alex said to the lieutenant after explaining shortly how to use their communication equipment and giving them passwords. He knew Spanish good enough to communicate directly.

“I understand, but what with the—” the lieutenant started asking.

“The Fissure will close in hours at worst,” Alex interrupted him. “There is no hazard as long as you keep your distance. Just follow orders and everything will be good. Jorge and Gregory will assist you, just ask them if you need something,” he said, turning to his team.

“Everyone ready?” he asked. Zeph and Alana nodded. Soldiers seemed quite lost, but no one asked more questions. Leaving the camp behind, the trio delved again into the new world.

The way back was even easier than the previous trip. There still was no sign of the alien animals, and most of the plant life was rather stationary, so the whole route was clear. In no time they passed the place of their old camp and were briskly moving towards the ruins.

“It’s getting dark, should we continue?” Alana asked.

"I estimate it will take us another 4 hours to reach the ruins," Zeph added.

“We don’t know the nocturnal activity here. Those large mushrooms Zeph mentioned earlier are suspicious. It would be safer to move away. You have permission to use lights,” Alex explained.

It took them three hours to leave the forest and another two to reach the ruins. Seemingly unending grass plains were quite a surprise. The ruins, though, were larger than anticipated. The distance was hard to estimate on the flat terrain, so Zeph’s guess was misled by the sheer magnitude of the ruins.

Everything was built from at least 3 meters high white stone blocks. From the distance they could tell that the ‘castle’, or rather the main keep, was barely standing, only two towers and the main building still existing. Vegetation has taken over, destroying the pavement made from similarly monstrous stone blocks. Almost everything was covered by a verdant green blanket, some houses were even destroyed by trees previously growing on them, as the high, aboveground roots indicated. It was night already, the town looking ethereal and foreboding in the light of their LED torches. Yet no Mana-rich entities were present.

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There were no walls around the town or the main structure. The smaller buildings took up a lot of space around the keep, maybe 300 m in diameter around it. Most of the architecture was destroyed, though. The keep itself managed to stand by the virtue of sheer complexity. The building had three floors but had a height of at least 30 meters. Most of the stones, or rather, voussoirs, as these parts were called on Earth, were arranged in arches. The structure was stable thanks to that, the many arches keeping everything in place.

They couldn’t even find any remnants of furniture in what was left of houses. This city was abandoned for hundreds of years, at least.

Finally, they made it to the main keep side. They decided to use the climbing equipment, as it would create a fast escape route. It was a difficult endeavor, the vegetation growing on the walls made it hard to secure pitons and hexes in the stone, yet the plants were too weak to support their weight. After a good hour, they managed to make a small camp on the flat roof.

“It seems the connection is working,” said Alex after checking the feedback from outside of the Fissure. They left some transmitters along the way to allow for direct communication with the outside camp. The transmitters compensated for the time difference, sending slowed-down signals. They could work for three days at best, no one was going to change their batteries. The data from their scanners and cameras was sent back that way. Of the scanning equipment, only Mana scanners were left.

The trio sat in silence for a minute. Then, without preamble, Zeph started to loosen the gloves of his suit.

“So…” started Alana.

“Yea, I will just do it. Let’s not say our goodbyes,” Zeph solemnly said, while starting to work on his armguard. He had his ‘explorer’ backpack and most of the gear on him, just like the other two, just in case. No one knew what would happen next. “It will just bring bad luck.”

“Remember to report everything vocally,” was all Alex said, he and Alana standing up and moving back to give him some space. They would record everything, but that was all they could do.

Zeph sighed deeply, “here we go then,” he said, removing his armguard at last.

Almost immediately, he could feel Mana rushing into him through his hand and reacting with Prana in his body. The flow was much faster than it should. He could feel his body starting to heat up. The invading force was coming in waves, permeating his being again and again. He almost lost consciousness; the pain was of a strange kind he never felt before, but so much more intense than normally.

“Mana is flowing… too fast… external influence confirmed… it’s painful... ugh…”

He started breathing deeply to stay conscious. Sweat was covering his whole body. The pain becoming worse with every second. After a while, he started to scream, his whole body convulsing. The pain was too much. He was unable to lose consciousness anymore, no matter how he wished it was possible.

His teammates just observed, they really could do nothing now but watch and listen. After a minute the waves stopped, and most of the pain subsided, but he could still feel it deep behind his eyes. He was left delirious, unable to see or hear anything clearly, weakly wobbling his head from right to left.

It took a minute for him to come to his senses again. Taking deep breaths again, eyes closed, he continued to report in a cracking voice, “the Mana comes in waves, the pain is related to them... I still feel some behind my eyes,” he started slowly describing what happened. Not half a minute later, the pain behind his eyes stopped.

ഇന്റർഫേസ് നിർമ്മാണം വിജയകരമായി സംയോജിപ്പിച്ചു. വിഷ്വൽ ഫംഗ്‌ഷൻ വിജയകരമായി നിർവ്വഹിച്ചു.

“Visual confirmation… a System exists,” he said weakly.

ഭാഷയോടുള്ള പ്രതികരണം നെഗറ്റീവ് ആണ്. സഹാനുഭൂതിയുള്ള ആശയവിനിമയം നടപ്പിലാക്കുന്നു.

Suddenly Zeph got a feeling. A danger. A need to sleep. A need to communicate. It was good here, and it all was needed. Now.

ഒരു മാനസിക സ്കാൻ ആവശ്യമാണ്. പുതിയ അറിവ് നൽകുന്നതിന് നിങ്ങൾക്ക് പ്രതിഫലം ലഭിക്കും. നിങ്ങൾ അംഗീകരിക്കുന്നുണ്ടോ?

A question. Am I adaptable? No… Am I agreeable? The meaning of this one was hard to grasp, but he got the point.

“I am going to agree to whatever the System is proposing, I am not sure what it means… it communicates by text… in another language,” he continued, forcing his abused body to keep him conscious. He could feel his strength diminishing with every breath.

“Do what you have to do, you are dying right now,” Alex said, looking at readings from scanners and Zeph’s suit.

“We got your back,” Alana stated, grounding her teeth. Observing her teammate being basically tortured wasn’t something she could just calmly endure.

Zeph sent back a thought of acceptance. He hoped it would be enough.

It was. His body suddenly felt cold, his thoughts slowing down. In a few seconds, he lost consciousness.

==============================

After an indefinable time, he started to dream. He was semi-conscious but in a state different from a lucid dream, he wasn’t able to think by himself. Many emotions were flying around, though.

His first years after being born were something he never expected to see. Especially from the first-person perspective. He forgot it all a long time ago, and the fragments he remembered were always from a third-person perspective. Has his brain retained some of those old memories? His confusion was sourceless, as he still couldn’t think logically, but he could discern the emotion. Then he got a strange feeling. One created from grasping the situation, more or less. An understanding that he was going to mentally experience his life again. He recognized other feelings too, aversion and anger.

Later, he would complain a lot to the entity responsible, for showing him this mess of events from his life, that had no chronological or logical order at all.

=========== Alex POV ===========

After Zeph became unresponsive, things took a turn for worse. The stone around Zeph’s body started to encase him, flooding him like a mud tide. The very stone they were standing on. The construct was getting bigger with every second, consuming the surrounding structure.

Worse yet, he could feel Mana leaking into his suit, even before the alarms blared. The density was getting above the threshold.

“We need to get out!” Alex immediately shouted.

“What with h…” Alana started answering, startled, so he slapped her on the back of the helmet.

“There is no time! Get to the ropes, soldier! Now!” Alana started moving.

Her body was reacting automatically. Calling a teammate a ‘soldier’ was a deeply rooted signal. As was the slap in the head, but in an entirely different context. She chooses the worst moments to be an idiot. She followed orders without thinking and truth be told, she didn’t seem to be in any state to think right now. Seeing stone molded en masse like it was mud wasn’t exactly a normal experience, even for them.

They used an escape route prepared beforehand, ropes that were fixed near the edge of the roof. Only after going down and away, into another ruined building, did they notice the System wasn’t communicating with them.

“We had contact with a lot of Mana there…” Alana started.

“It may be waiting for the process the Zeph is going through to finish…” Alex guessed. He could feel the first symptoms of Mana poisoning showing up. A horrible hangover awaited him for sure.

“Or we need to take in yet more Mana, like—” She wasn’t able to finish her thought. The keep collapsed. The noise could even damage their ears if not for the helmets. Echoes of it reverberated for a good half minute.

When the dust started to settle out, they could see a pile of rocks in the place of the main keep. They watched in silence as the air cleared, both shocked a little.

“Zeph…” Alana’s voice cracked.

Alex sighed deeply, “Alana. We cannot get emotional now. This ruckus is sure to bring some monsters here,” he looked in her direction, “we need to prepare ourselves.”

“…”

“We will see how it plays out soon; he should still be alive if encasing stone is any indicator. Let’s focus,” he said.

He wasn’t wrong. Not an hour later, the first creatures arrived. The duo relocated to one of the towers, as somehow those buildings didn’t take any damage from the collapse of the main keep. The entrance was 25 meters above the ground, which added some security.

The mushrooms from the forest came three days after. Myconids, but much slower than their fantasy counterpart. They cleared the vicinity from all Mana-rich life in just a few hours, it was mostly slow vegetation life, though. Only birds managed to escape. They used herd tactics to trap and encircle their victims. Some vegetation even seemed enticed to get closer.

The two managed to camouflage the entrance by that time, so the chances of being spotted were minimal. Still, they only had food for two weeks. Maybe three if rationed radically. Thankfully, the water wasn’t a problem with the surface condenser and Prana batteries for cleansing water from Mana. The batteries should last them for four weeks. There was no way out now, though. The Myconids stayed active outside. Their numbers were definitely too much for them.

And so, the weeks passed as they waited.