Dawn, Prime Shard, 2565 A.D.

Archos Alpha Site, Northeastern Continent

Everyone was on edge now, in a way the sudden transport to a new world hadn't quite managed. Security had doubled in the hallways, and there were even several guards posted in their workroom. What they were looking for was harder to say.

Alessia wondered if she should talk to one of them about the strange behavior she'd seen from Melinda - but decided that was more dangerous than it was worth. She didn't want them taking her for a crazy. Instead, she focused on her work during the day, mage-practice at night with Barb, and working out in the gym in the morning.

The gym was becoming one of her new favorite places - and not just because it was the only places besides the cafeteria, dorms, workroom, and communal bathroom where she was allowed access. It was a small space but well equipped, with both traditional physical machines for targeting various muscle groups, as well as a few bio-chambers to enhance fat burning and customized toning. Doing reps let her work off tension and steam, especially on the rower, while challenging the treadmill helped energize her for the start of the day.

But the real reason was deeper - some of the novice spells for manipulation and healing dealt with little things like stamina and temporary strength. So hitting the gym was a great area for 'secret practice.' Barb could give her a second wind when she got tired, and Alessia could practice using her aura to "intend" a weight be lightened or her arm be strengthened. They had to be careful - silent spells, discreet motions, and aura direction only; verbal commands or obvious hand gestures couldn't be used in case anyone was watching the cameras or the bored guard in the corner looked up from the game of solitaire on his pad. And they couldn't stay long - not only was it physically exhausting, but Barb couldn't cast more than a few "Refresh" spells before tiring out.

They'd dubbed it, "aura depletion," as whatever the aura was, it seemed to ebb if used and flow back over time. And while Alessia had a little more to start than Barb, it didn't last long if heavily called upon. They wondered what aura everyone else on the team had, but without a private place to test, or talk, there wasn't a good way to find out. As far as Barb and Alessia knew, no one else on their team had figured out how to cast the spells outside of the computer - whether because they didn't think to try it, or didn't have the aura for it. Although, Farash had dropped a comment about how nice it would be if one of his privacy spells worked in real life. It was possible he was hinting that he could use it - and a privacy spell *would* be handy as they were constantly being watched.

Friday night, Alessia decided to try it herself back at the dorm. The info on all the spell schools was still in her pad, after all.

Journeyman Illusionist Core Spell Target Range/Limitation Use Requirements Privacy Cast - Target Person/s; Self; 2 meter cone; 3 minutes; Up to 3 minutes A small, invisible privacy field encloses the targets. Onlookers cannot make sense of their speech, and feel like they should keep their attention elsewhere Voice; Hand Gesture; or Aura manifestation

"Barb, I need you to stand over there -" Alessia gestured her roommate to get out of range, on her own bed. "I'm going to try casting one of Farash's spells. Try to repeat back the next thing I'm going to say."

"Sure," Barb set her tea down on the coffee table and clamored over to her bed. "Ready whenever."

Alessia nodded and cast the Privacy spell with her hands. She wasn't familiar enough with it to use aura manifestation. The gesture itself was interesting - a rubbing of the hands while moving towards the chin. Then one hand would be slowly risen, the index finger against the lips. The nice thing was, the other fingers didn't matter so much - so if one was in public, you could just hide the motion as being thoughtful vs. making a "shhh" sign.

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"Jumping monkeys will steal your hovercar if you let them," Alessia said, then dismissed the spell a few moments later. Barb looked like she'd lost attention as soon as the spell was cast.

"Hmm, what was that?" Barb muttered, looking up from her pad. "Sorry I didn't catch it."

"I think it worked, then. That was the privacy spell." Alessia groaned a bit, "but it took more out of me than I thought it would. I don't think I'm up for a repeat right now."

Instead, she made some tea of her own, and the two brainstormed how they might let Farash know magic was 'real' here. Texts were potentially trackable if the company set key-words and was willing to violate privacy; voiced whisper was too obvious; and there didn't seem to be a way to dual-cast privacy and voiced whisper. Privacy might work, but it would be very short-lived, and Farash unfortunately sat across from Alessia, not next to her. Maybe they could catch him in the cafe, where it wouldn't be as out of place to strike up a conversation. Would Privacy fool any cameras watching, though, or just the people nearby? And would those with high enough aura be potentially immune?

It wasn't a priority issue, but it was a bit unfair they couldn't share their secret, yet. Still, it was nice Barb was in on it - Alessia was surprised how well they seemed to be bonding. Back at college, Kai was really her only friend on campus.

Thinking of Kai, Alessia sighed. "What's happened with him?" The only thing he'd texted back all week was, "I'm fine." No details or anything.

"Still worried?" Barb asked, pointing towards Alessia's wrist.

"I guess I was staring at it." Alessia turned her wrist around to show Barb the big empty text box hovering just above it. "Still nothing. He was in an interplanetary incident that got us all yanked into another universe, and all I know is he's not dead."

"Boys," Barb shrugged. "Weren't you two supposed to meet tomorrow?"

"We were," Alessia nodded, "But I'm not sure we can now since he's in a different section than ours. We don't share a cafeteria."

"Didn't you see the alert?" Barb asked, holding out her pad. "Restrictions will be less on the weekends. We can even go outside on the planet, so long as we stay within company grounds."

"Whaaat, really?" Alessia blinked and read the company-wide bulletin. "I hadn't checked! That's amazing, I've been wanting to see the outside. Hmm." She clicked on the update on her own pad. They'd helpfully linked to a partial map - not fully detailed, but enough to show several more sections as well as a generous area outside several kilometers wide. "There are gardens here, and paths, and even a pond - it all looks landscaped, too. Maybe this place was meant as more than just an emergency shelter, after all."

"Maybe we can get Farash out to tour it with us - if we get away far enough, there won't be any cameras close enough to matter, especially if you use Privacy."

"Great idea." Alessia agreed. They'd both decided Enz was too unreliable to approach about the working magic, as he wasn't the type to keep his mouth shut. And Peter - well, best case he would be equally interested. Worst case, he'd report them to the company and remove their pad access. Or perhaps the real worst case was mysteriously disappearing, dragged off by the security guards to who knew where in the Mirror Universe. But Farash should be safe enough to include - they hoped.

"We can text him a time," Barb offered. "If you still plan to meet Kai, would morning or afternoon work better?"

"Let's meet up with Farash after lunch," Alessia decided. "My appointment with Kai is at 11:30, and I wouldn't want to get stuck too far exploring to get back in time. Speaking of which - " she looked over the map again and picked one of the outdoor cafeteria & garden spots. "I should text Kai this location, just a sec."

"Kai - if we are still meeting up at 11:30, will this café work? The info says they'll have crepes!"

Surprisingly, she got a reply back fairly quickly, this time.

"Sure. That's in range. Let's enjoy some delicious crepes at the café."

"Huh," Alessia frowned. "That's a bit unusual." Kai knew well her obsession with crepes, but it was a bit of a running joke between the two that he hated them. "Rubber pancakes," he called them. Still, he'd agreed to come, and maybe he was just being friendly after a few days of distance. And she was looking forward to it - their first lunch in the open air of a different planet!