“Archie!” Mechanic's voice echoed in the silence, her call for Archie reverberating through the air.

Archie stood still, frozen in time, unresponsive to Mechanic's pleas.

A pang of guilt washed over Mechanic. She couldn't shake off the feeling that Archie's current state was her fault.

Deadbeat, sensing her distress, placed a comforting hand on her shoulder,

“Don’t worry, he is just finding his call.”

Taking Deadbeat's words to heart, Mechanic retreated a few steps, her eyes never leaving Archie's motionless form.

“BANG!” Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, the sound echoing around them. Mechanic and Deadbeat were left stunned by the unexpected noise.

Slowly, Archie opened his eyes, his gaze landing on Mechanic and Deadbeat. Their expressions of shock and their wide-open mouths reminded him of characters in a cartoon, which only added to his confusion.

They were so engrossed in what had happened that they didn't notice Archie's open eyes. Their focus was on the spot where Archie had fired his gun. Following their gaze, Archie turned his attention forward.

What he saw left him stunned. A rift had appeared out of nowhere, floating in mid-air. It shimmered and pulsed, the force of its presence gently stirring the sand below.

“Why is there a rift here?” Archie questioned aloud, his mind racing to make sense of the situation. Then, a thought struck him,

‘I got rifted here from nothing too. Maybe this rift is something like that.’

“You... you shot that rift.” Mechanic managed to stammer out, her voice shaky. Deadbeat could only nod in agreement. The shock of the situation had rendered them speechless.

Archie was just as surprised. He stuttered out,

“That can't be. Stop messing with me.”

But Mechanic and Deadbeat remained silent. Their lack of response was enough to tell Archie they weren't joking.

‘How can this be? I shot a rift?’ Archie thought, his mind working overtime as he clenched his fist. Suddenly, he felt the weight of the gun in his hand and made a decision,

“I need to test this again, to see if it was just a fluke.”

In Archie's world, and indeed in every corner of the universe, Rifts are revered as sacred and beyond the realm of control or study. From their first appearance at the dawn of time until now, no one has ever been able to communicate with the Rifts, nor has anyone ever witnessed more than three Rifts appearing in one place.

To the Rift Runners and others, Rifts are an enigma, a mystery that mortals can never hope to unravel.

Now, Archie was filled with a mix of fear and excitement. He was on the verge of achieving something no species had ever dreamed of - controlling the Rifts.

Archie positioned himself in front of the rift he had previously shot. He studied the open rift, imprinting the image of it in his mind. He remembered the sensation of standing on water and seeing a rift. He visualized everything and allowed himself to relax.

As Archie's mind calmed, his vision sharpened. All he could see was the rift. The rest of his surroundings began to blur and fade away. His mind started to recall his previous encounter where he had seen an infinite number of rifts and had communicated with them. With that memory fresh in his mind, he took action.

“CLICK!” The sound of the gun's trigger being pressed filled the air.

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“SWOOSH!” The rift in mid-air began to swirl and was drawn into the gun.

“UGH!” Deadbeat, Mechanic, and Archie were left speechless. They couldn't believe what they had just witnessed.

The rift was completely absorbed by the gun, just like before. It twirled and entered the barrel, finally coming to rest in the cylinder.

“CLICK!” Archie pressed the trigger again, needing to confirm one thing before he could accept that he was able to control the rift.

“BANG!” The rift was released from the gun's barrel and curled in mid-air.

“I... I can control these rifts.” Archie's voice was filled with joy as he jumped up and down. He ran towards Mechanic and Deadbeat, exclaiming,

“Did you see that? I can control rifts. My Ethereal is Rifts.”

Until now, Archie had believed he had no Ethereal. But now, the thought of being able to control rifts filled him with pure ecstasy.

“WOOSH!” Archie turned towards the sound to see the rift slowly crumbling like broken glass and disappearing, leaving only a small white light behind.

Mechanic and Deadbeat remained silent. After a while, they retreated into a small cave without saying a word. One thought was running through their minds,

‘Just who are you, Archie?’

As night fell, Mechanic and Deadbeat remained silent. Archie's excitement had gradually calmed down.

“Kid, never reveal your Ethereal to anyone.” Deadbeat's voice broke the silence. His words were a warning about the danger of Archie's Ethereal.

That was the last thing either of them said that night.

Archie drifted off to sleep with a mix of joy and fear in his heart, while Mechanic and Deadbeat stayed awake, their minds filled with thoughts about Archie's Ethereal.

As they silently pondered what to do about Archie, the night passed and the sun rose.

“Kid, wake up.”

Deadbeat's voice roused Archie from his sleep. Still groggy, Archie saw Deadbeat and Mechanic standing in front of him, a rifle in Deadbeat's hand.

Archie got up, puzzled. Deadbeat handed him the rifle.

Archie examined the futuristic rifle. It was rugged and durable, with a predominantly grey and black color scheme accented by red indicators. Key features included a reinforced short barrel, a sturdy stock with a textured pattern, and an ergonomically designed grip with a trigger guard. The weapon also had several mounting rails for accessories and lacked traditional sights.

Deadbeat led the way out of the cave, with Archie and Mechanic following him. Mechanic wore a wide grin on her face that sent a chill down Archie's spine.

“Shoot these things.”

Mechanic commanded, pointing at small ice cubes marked with a red x that were placed on an ice stool.

“Why!” Archie was taken aback by Mechanic's sudden outburst, which led him to ask,

“I don't understand what we're doing.”

“Kid, what you possess is far more dangerous than you can imagine. If anyone from the High Orders found out about it, they wouldn't hesitate to kill you.”

Deadbeat's words were a stark warning, making Archie realize the gravity of his situation.

Reluctantly, Archie took aim at one of the seven ice cubes.

Archie focused on the task at hand, visualizing the shooting of the rift. He concentrated and took a deep breath.

“BANG!” Archie fired the rift, which swirled in the air and flew towards the ice cube at a tremendous speed, scattering the sand below.

As the rift hit the ice cube, it suddenly warped and disappeared, leaving the other ice cubes untouched.

“What just happened?”

Archie voiced his confusion aloud. He was at a loss when it came to Rifts, and he wasn't the only one. Mechanic and Deadbeat were just as clueless.

“Kid, what were you thinking when you shot the rift?” Deadbeat asked, stroking his chin as if he had figured something out from the shot.

Deadbeat and Mechanic had spent all of last night thinking about rifts, so they wanted to test some theories that might help Archie.

Archie responded to Deadbeat's question in a shaky voice,

“I wanted the rift to shoot down the ice cube.”

“Archie, Rifts can't shoot down or destroy anything. They can only warp the objects they touch.” Deadbeat clarified, leaving Archie puzzled,

‘In school, they taught us that Rifts can destroy or kill humans, but he's saying otherwise. Which one is true?’

“Kid, this time try to shoot the rift you shot before where it absorbed the ice cube.” Deadbeat instructed.

“Why!” Archie's curiosity was piqued by Deadbeat's unusual instruction.

Deadbeat gave a faint smile and explained,

“Do you remember how you absorbed the rift yesterday with your pistol?”

Archie nodded, prompting Deadbeat to continue,

“Yesterday, we noticed that the rift you shot absorbed some of the sand on the ground when you first shot it. After you absorbed the rift and shot it back, the sand that the rift had previously absorbed fluttered to the ground.”

Deadbeat simplified, “Mechanic believes that your rifts can absorb and shoot back things that they absorbed, like a storage system, exactly like my Rift Watch.”

Mechanic interjected, instructing, “Try to visualize the rift you shot earlier that absorbed the ice cube and try to make it shoot that rift again.”

Archie took his position and closed his eyes. After a few minutes,

“BANG!”