The Lost Explorer
by Shadow RangerDisclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers, Doctor Who or JLA. They belong to their respective copyright owners.
The Lost Explorer
Frontier Lab . Planet 0117 . Galaxy A4
Imagine being dedicated to a goal, so focused on the destination that along the way you lose sight of everything else. Your friends, colleagues, partners... nothing matters except your work. Those watching your efforts from afar, cheering you on to make the collective dreams of your people come true, hoping that you will succeed while too timid to publicly acknowledge they believe your theories.
I was once that person. I was a scientist, dedicated to proving my theory, showing the rest of my kind how limited their understanding of the nature of existence was and how my ideas proved a superior intellect. I hate to think that I truly looked down upon my peers and their closed view of things. It was a lack of imagination on their part that drove me to prove them wrong.
The Morphin Grid had been revealed to the Morphin Masters long ago. Our people had studied its energies and understood them. We had achieved the ability to draw upon, contain and utilise the raw energy of the Grid while eliminating the harmful side effects of doing so. The Morphin Hearts our ancestors crafted allowed the safe manipulation of raw Grid Energy, a magical Faraday cage that shielded us in the case of direct contact.
However, I believed that there was more to the Grid than the volatile energy it contained. Some of our brethren had discovered that it was possible to travel inside the Grid and with a Morphin Heart in place, to assume a state where it was possible to interact with the environment, to live within the confines of the Grid surrounded by the energy. Some even went so far as to estimate the changes such direct and constant exposure would cause, calculating that it would mutate the cells of the body so that those that remained there would evolve beyond a state of flesh and blood.
Even this was not enough for me. I held the belief that the Morphin Grid was everywhere, interwoven with the material universe. And therefore it stood to reason that the Grid could be used for transportation. "With the correct equipment," I theorised, "I could step into the Grid here and emerge in a distant place."
My ideas were not ignored nor derided, but my brothers failed to give them the consideration I felt they deserved. And so I vowed that I would prove my theory and in doing so open the pathway for their ambitions to ascend into the Grid.
It took years of constant work. I forgot the world outside of my laboratory; my friends, my family and my life. At some point as the news of my progress reached the ears of the public, I even lost my name, becoming known by the title they bestowed upon me: The Morphinaut.
By that time most of my colleagues had either moved on or abandoned my project, unable to deal with the demands I made of their time. But one remained, loyal and dedicated to the end. I wish I had treated her better.
"Years ago, my peers and I discovered the possibility of entering the Morphin Grid, but while they saw that as a destination, I believed it was the doorway to greater things. Imagine being able to step into the Morphin Grid and arrive at the destination of your choice without years of travel. Normally entering the Grid would be fatal; to do so wearing a Morphin Heart is a survivable experience, but one that will alter the body and mind - for the energies of the Grid are mutagenic by their nature. This suit does not work like the Morphin Hearts, it does not seek to channel the raw Grid Energy, but rather keep it away from the wearer. It is with this suit and the technology of this Proto Arch, that I shall prove my theory. And now, at last, after years of calculations and predictions, nights and days spent analyzing and quantifying. All leading to this. Finally, it is ready for testing and my work will be proven right. I can enter the Morphing Grid and use it as a stepping stone to a distant place, proving that we do not need to ascend, for there is so much more to be seen out here."
"I?" a voice asked, interrupting his carefully scripted monologue, to be recorded for the ages. In all honesty, he was so used to being almost alone that he had forgotten that there was one scientist who had not abandoned his project the moment something more exciting had come up. "I think you mean we. After all, it has taken both our efforts to reach this stage."
"I'm perfectly capable of running this myself, Chendil" he groaned with frustration. "As I've told you repeatedly, this project is at a point where one man and a computer can achieve everything, perhaps more, than a team of scientists."
"And I've told you: a computer is only good so long as things run to plan. The moment they go wrong your computer will continue monitoring while leaving you in danger. This experiment is dangerous enough that the council almost closed it down... having an extra set of eyes is just enough or a reassurance to keep this going long enough for you to make this attempt."
She was right of course, as the years progressed the scientist who now called himself The Morphinaut had cut corners to meet his own deadlines. It was not his theories that the council doubted, but his ability to conduct such experiments safely. An explosion of uncontrollable Grid Energy was devastating.
"I can confirm that that monstrosity you call a Proto Arch is online and correctly configured. We should do an overload test…"
"Engaging startup sequence," Morphinaut announced, "I've already located a destination."
"… Or not," Chendil said as the Proto Arch rumbled into life. "I… I can't believe it… it really worked. That's…"
"Yes..." the Morphinaut responded, distractedly. "This is the moment they said could not happen, I am inside the grid. I have proven what they only speculated: that the Grid is a physical dimension as vast as the material world with which it interacts. And more, finally, I can prove my belief, that the Grid is a means to travel to any point in the universe, no matter how far away it might seem. And with one more step... I pass through."
And there I was, on the cusp of greatness, my work to be heralded as the beginning of the building of Arch technology and easy travel around the cosmos. My work would inspire a generation to prepare themselves for a journey inside the Grid where they planned to live out their lives studying the Power.
But I had made an error. In my rush to prove myself correct, I had never considered what could lurk in the places I might journey. I never looked at the charts Chendil provided me, of the analysis of the energy reading with that distant place. It never occurred to me that some destinations should not be reached...
"Chendil are you getting this?" he asked.
"Oh, now you remember my name," she retorted. "Yes, recordings of audio, visual and complete spectrum analysis. The readings are off the charts! Are you sure that suit can withstand it?"
"The energy in this place is different somehow. I don't understand. This is not raw Grid Energy. It's different, processed almost. This dimension is strange, but I can see something ahead. It looks like a planet. The path beneath is growing less stable, I think my journey will end soon. Oh no!"
"What?" Chendil asked.
"I was wrong," he admitted. "I thought this place would be empty, devoid of life. I never expected anything to exist in such a place. I can see something." the first scientist began. "By the Power!"
"What is it?" Chendil asked. "Your vitals just spiked through the roof and the visuals are showing... something. The feed is all over the place."
"There's… there's something… someone here… It's… By the Creator, no! Chendil, shut it down!"
"I can't do that," Chendil said, "The system is in an open lock, it won't allow shutdown whilst you're inside. You need to get back."
"I can't!" he replied. "You need to close the link, be he gets through. Chendil... cut the breakers!"
"I can't, the system won't let me near. The Proto Arch is going haywire! What's going on?!"
"This is my fault," he said. "All my fault... Chendil, this thing... it mustn't get through. Use the override and blow the emitters."
"But then you'll be..."
"I'm sorry."
"No, there has to be another way. There's always another way. Get back through the arch and we can polarise it to stop... whatever it is."
"But then it will be loose within the Grid," Morphinaut stated. "It could go anywhere. It mustn't be allowed to escape. Break the connection and the pathway vanishes."
"No, I refuse to believe there isn't another way. There are failsafes..."
"I didn't include them."
"Safety lockouts..."
"They interfered with the targeting. Now I know why."
"... something. Please, just come back. If the Arch closes I don't know if I can bring it online again on my own! What are you doing?"
"Making certain that whatever this thing is it stays here where it belongs." He tapped a command into his gauntlet. He had intended to run the experiment alone and had arranged that he could control his equipment from a distance. Now he used it to do what Chendil refused to do. He caused a surge that overloaded the archway.
"What did you do?" Chendil asked as the Arch closed
But there was no response.
At that moment I made a choice between protecting the universe and my own life. I didn't realise at the time how selfish my choice would seem to those I left behind. But, I would admit that given the same choice, the same circumstances... I would make the same decision.
I had awoken a sleeping dragon that day. A spectre of the darkness that had existed before creation. As I came to know it over the centuries I remained frozen in place between one side of the archway and the other, this being had been the corruption that had seeped into the universe at the moment of creation. It had corrupted the being that would go on to be the source of all evil in the new universe, its essence being granted form by that same evil. It was a twisted relationship between the evil from before and the evil of the new universe, chaotic and impossible to understand. In my mind I understood only two things: firstly that this was the creator and the child of the entity referred to in ancient texts as the Dark One; and secondly, its escape back into the material universe would put all life at risk.
It spent countless years trying to breach the broken archway, tormenting me with its dark powers while demanding my aid. I gave it no help, knowing that it was I that awoke it. I refuse to be the one who released it.
And here it seemed that my suit made the difference. Built to deflect the energies of the Grid and prevent them from reaching my body, they also shielded me from the creature's wrath. But there was a cost, while the suit protected me from short-term exposure to Grid energy, it could not prevent the slow erasure of body and mind. Time passed, memories faded and the man I had once been seemed to vanish. In its place I remained, standing guard against the darkness, preventing it from breaking through the Proto Arch, and happy in the knowledge that as days turned to years, turned to centuries, the Proto Arch would be forgotten and my final sacrifice would not be in vain.
Frontier Lab . Planet 0117 . Galaxy A4
Over a millennia had passed since the experiments with the Proto Arch. In the aftermath, Chendil had taken the records of their work to the council, realising that she alone did not possess the knowledge to repair and restore the Proto Arch. Indeed it seemed that all attempts to reactivate the Morphinaut's creation met with failure. They were able to duplicate the project, creating archways throughout the galaxy and reuniting their people. However, the original technology remained stubbornly inoperable.
In the end, even Chendil had to accept her friend, her mentor, was gone. She abandoned Frontier Lab, choosing to seek him out using a different Arch. She didn't realise that had he known of her efforts, the Morphinaut would have begged her to stop.
The rapid growth and development of the technology required those researching to move beyond the limitations of Frontier Lab and the facility was abandoned as a testament to the past and a tribute to the Morphinaut as a pioneer in the exploration of the Grid and the universe beyond. After centuries as a museum, the site was closed, to be used as a secret meeting house by children.
Now the Morphin Masters prepared for their final ascension into the Grid, a final step that would see them enter and remove their Morphin Hearts, allowing the energies of the Grid to alter their physical forms so that they could permanently reside within the Grid; such was the transformation that it was not known if, after their 'ascension' into denizens of the Grid, they would even remember their previous lives. And while they prepared, a young teenager sat listening to the recordings from the scientists long ago.
"Dictated by Chend… redirecting the energy through a conduit… necessary… previous attempts at discovering optimal mat… inconclusive…"
"Yes, yes, conduit," the teenager mumbled, "like you've said a billion times, Chendil. I understand about the conduit. What I need to know is how did you keep the system from overloading?"
"Ori!" The teenager groaned as the communicator he had been made to carry with him everywhere crackled to life. He pressed the accept button to activate the one-way communication. Now he could see his brother and reply to him without giving away his location. "Orisonth, I know you're there… where are you? The invaders have entered our system and will be here very shortly. I have orders to teleport everyone to another world and set the teleporter to self-destruct to prevent them from following us. Do I need to come find you myself?"
"I know, Kartor," Orisonth sighed "I know. You've called me three times already! I'll be there, ok? I'm just… doing some last-minute preparation."
"Do not make me explain to Mom and Dad why you're…" Kartor began
"You won't, gotta go, love these talks!" Orisonth said before closing the link. After a second though the communicator was deactivated. "One last time, this has to work… Please work," Ori begged.
It took the flick of a final switch to activate the Proto Arch and all the effort of the past year was rewarded with an explosion and the complete destruction of the equipment. Well, complete destruction was an exaggeration, but Ori realised there was now no chance of fixing it before it was time to leave. "I don't have time to replace the couplings before we leave. Guess I'll just file it under my greatest disappointments."
Ori was neither used to failure nor accepting of things not going according to plan. This was just a harsh lesson that some things were not meant to be.
Elepis Station . Planet 0117 . Galaxy A4
"Vivali, if they aren't here on time I will end them," Kartor promised as he looked around for Ori and the others.
"They would not be the only ones, Kartor," the woman, Vivali said "The way station on Namize stopped responding to us an hour ago. We're the only planet in the system left with access to a Master Arch, transport sites around the world have been going offline not accepting incoming transmissions. Right now the standing orders are to destroy the Arch if there is any sign of the enemy."
"It is as I feared, then," Kartor said, "news of the Ascension has leaked. Whatever security footage there is will have to wait. If it is as it was on at Halloch's way station, we cannot waste… forgive me, the stress from the evacuation has made me careless."
"We cannot waste any more time," Vivali finished. "It's okay. You can say it. My Shandra hoped against all odds and did what she felt was right. That was her choice. We honour my daughter's memory by ensuring we get as many of our own to safety as we can. We cannot help Namize and there is little we can do about Halloch if the terminus is gone. We must concentrate on what we can do and help ourselves."
"You're right" Kartor said "It's why we've moved evacuation up. As we speak, the south quarter is assembled to teleport, ahead of schedule. The Ascension will go ahead from a new location."
"That leaves a quarter of the city" Vivali said "I will call in whoever is left of the reserves to help prepare the west quarter. If we're careful, we can avoid starting even more of a panic."
From a rooftop, Vivali's daughter Rhian is listened in on the conversation.
"Footage, huh?" Rhian asked herself and then noticed her friend and his giant pet were calling up to her. "You realise if you keep feeding her, Phiro, she isn't going to know what to do with herself when we're gone"
"Wendi will be just fine, thank you very much," Phiro said. "Besides, Rhian, it's not like I can take five tons of feed with me. And it keeps me from doing things like, I don't know, spying on my mom?"
"Another site just went down, just like the terminus on Halloch," Rhian told him. "But this time it's different... there's footage."
"Rhian…" Phiro warned.
"Don't you want to actually see what happened, instead of taking their word for it?" Rhian asked "Don't you want to know what actually happened to her? Well, I want to know."
"And how are you going to do that?" Phiro asked as Rhian ran off. "Rhian? Hey, wait up!"
Rhian did not wait up. Fortunately, Phiro knew her well enough to understand where she was heading: their friend Telosi lived nearby. He arrived at the house in time to see Phiro toss a pebble at the bedroom window. It worked and Telosi looked out.
"Perfect," Telosi said, "I need to talk to you all."
"Yeah?" Rhian asked.
"Xev hasn't called," Telosi told her, the concern evident.
"Something's going on," Rhian replied.
"Besides this whole early evacuation thing?" Telosi asked sarcastically. He paused, gathering his thoughts. "You're right. Even if Xev has already been teleported across the galaxy, he'd call. Period."
"Apparently there's more to it all," Phiro said... "Rhian heard something."
"Overheard, technically," Rhian corrected, "but something happened at Namize. The way station went silent and the rest of the planet has been sealed off."
"Namize?" Telosi asked. "That's where Xev was supposed to be. He had to stop off there before diverting here."
"We don't know, Telosi. This planet cut off incoming transmissions a short time ago. He might have had to go elsewhere." Phiro said.
"But there's a video…" Rhian began.
"Please tell me you have this video," Telosi interrupted.
"Well, no," Rhian said regretfully. "Buuut, we know someone who can help us get it… any idea where Ori is?"
Frontier Lab
Orisonth had finished packing when an unexpected voice filled the gloomy room.
"Don't forget to lock the door," a teenage girl said, walking up
"Aleia," Orisonth groaned. "Are you trying to kill me with a heart attack?!"
"You look alive to me," Aleia joked. "Aren't you supposed to be at the teleport site already?"
"I could ask the same thing of you," Orisonth replied.
"I'm just doing a farewell tour," Aleia explained "I couldn't leave without saying goodbye to our old clubhouse. Is this where you've been disappearing for the last few weeks? You've been so secretive lately, I was scared you were trying to plan another surprise party."
"Hey!" Orisonth exclaimed. "Nothing as terrifying, no."
"Something less terrifying then?" Aleia asked. "You know where you're concerned that doesn't really narrow it down."
"Well…" Orisonth began.
"Ori!" Rhian interrupted as she arrived with Phiro and Telosi in tow.
"Oh wow," Phiro said, taking a moment to appreciate their location. "I haven't seen this place in forever. Did you keep the stasis chamber we put in?"
"How'd you even know he was going to be here, Rhian?" Telosi asked.
"Just had a hunch," Rhian said.
"Now everyone comes to visit?!" Orisonth asked.
"Wait, are you here to bully Ori into hanging out again too?" Aleia asked.
"Yeah, because you've all been rushing to do just that," Orisonth muttered before turning to Rhian. "Okay, I'm here. What do you want?"
"Rude much?" Rhian asked. "I need help hacking into Command's computer."
"Again?" Orisonth asked. "If this is another shift change..."
"Wait, what did I miss?" Aleia asked.
"Namize's communications are down," Rhian explained. "Their transport system is offline... blacklined."
"Like Halloch…" Orisonth pondered. "they shut down the terminus knowing that would stop any transport to or from the planet.
"I think there's video this time," Rhian offered. "Instead of just vague claims of an emergency. I know I can find the video if you just get me into the system, Ori... Please!"
"Last time we did this, Halloch doesn't even show up on the star charts anymore." Orisonth said, "Are you sure about this, Rhian?"
"If what happened at Halloch has happened to Namize… please, I just need to know. Phiro needs to know. Can you get me in?"
"I might be able to find my way passed their security wall…" Orisonth began but stopped as the lights faded. "They're diverting power away from the outer districts. That can only mean they plan to open the Arch. We're not going to be teleporting to the Ascension site, we'll be ascending from here."
"How long do we have before they're ready?" Phiro asked.
"Not long enough," Orisonth replied. "Diverting power like this means they're omitting most of the safety protocols. They could be ready within the hour. Either way, no power, no hacking... but, I think I have a solution." After pulling out a device and connecting it to the computer, powering it up, practised hands skilfully navigated into Command's computer, using the backdoors planted when the group had first tried their wits against the skills of the security services. "All yours Rhian," Ori said as he allowed Rhian to take the keyboard to find the footage.
"And that is… what exactly?" Aleia asked, looking at the power supply.
"A little something I whipped up to siphon energy from Morphing Grid to power our devices. It should be more than enough to power the computer."
"Wait a minute," Rhian said, "when did you get a connection to the Morphing Grid? How did you get a connection to the Morphin Grid?"
Why didn't you tell us? was left unasked.
"I was poking around here a couple of months ago and found a secret room," Orisonth said as he pulled out a box. "All that was in it was this box." Inside the box, they could see six crystals, each a different colour. The crystals had been etched in such a way that there appeared to be an animal cut into their cores.
"This seems like a lot just for a computer's backup power," Telosi observed.
"I'm guessing that wasn't the original plan," Rhian said.
"The Proto Arch..." Orisonth said, "the Morphinaut's last discovery before he disappeared. I was trying to get it to work. I thought, maybe I could get it powered up. I could enter the Morphing Grid and find answers to whatever happened to the Morphinaut."
"Did it work?" Telosi asked, eagerly. It was a question many had tried to solve, but the answers had been beyond their reach.
"No," Orisonth said before adding: "well, not really. I briefly got it to start its power cycle a few weeks ago. But, I never got it to fully connect. Something is blocking the signals. Maybe, maybe if I had a little more time I could have gotten it working. But we'll never know now. The Morphinaut will remain a mystery."
"That's still pretty amazing," Phiro said. "You've probably done more than anybody since Chendil left. Why didn't you tell us sooner?"
"I didn't think any of you would…" Orisonth began.
"Be interested?" Rhian challenged. "I think you've forgotten who we are. I'm in."
Meanwhile, the footage had been quite revealing.
"That… that can't be Namize," Telosi said as they looked at the footage of the planet Namize being attacked by an unknown force. The way station, the site of the planet's largest teleporter, had been overrun as the rest of the planet had fallen to the invading army.
"They were attacked?!" Phiro exclaimed, "Why didn't anyone tell us? Why did they not warn us?"
"So was Halloch," Rhian confirmed, "but they never said by what. I don't think they really knew."
"What is that... thing?" Phiro asked, pointing to a shape in the background.
"Hey, why does it keep switching feeds?" Telosi asked as the footage skipped again.
"That data's been corrupted, scrambled almost," Orisonth said. "Somebody did not want this getting out. To be honest, I'm shocked they got this much."
"Wait," Phiro said, "does anyone else hear that?"
"It's feedback," Aleia assured him.
"No, no, it isn't," Orisonth realised. "There's something else there, I just can't make it out. Can you clean it up a little, Rhian?"
Rhian adjusted the settings and managed to clean up the footage, revealing more than they had wanted to see.
"By the stars, what is that thing?" Phiro asked.
"I… I can't look" Aleia said as they watched people rush towards a teleporter as the order to close the link was heard.
"They… they aren't going to make it," Rhian said as she noticed the teleport operator trigger a failsafe mechanism to render the machine inoperable.
"They didn't have a chance," Orisonth said sadly.
"What are those things?" Phiro asked, peering at the monstrous creatures filling the video feed. "Someone? Anyone?"
"There were people there!" Telosi growled. "How could the government just remotely self-destruct the teleporter like that? They trapped them there!"
"Telosi…" Rhian began.
"They left half the population behind," Telosi snarled.
"They were being attacked, Telosi, they…" Rhian began again. "They couldn't risk allowing them to gain access to teleportation. That would expose the safe havens and the Ascension site."
"I don't care about the reason!" Telosi cut her off again. "There were people there... Xev was there and he still hasn't called. They left my brother there to die."
"Maybe they felt they had to do it…" Rhian said. "… to save everyone else. From whatever that is."
"Like what happened to your sister?" Telosi asked. "Was her life worth everyone else's?"
"Telosi, c'mon," Rhian said, wiping a tear.
"Hey, you all…" Orisonth said from outside the Lab. "I think you all need to see this"
They looked up into the sky and saw a familiar sight.
"Isn't that what attacked Namize?" Phiro asked.
"The teleporter… they've turned it on!" Orisonth realised. "The evacuation has started!"
"We have to get to the teleporter, now!" Rhian exclaimed, picking up on Ori's thoughts.
It was all my fault. Although at the time I didn't realise it. I managed to shut down the archway, trapping myself and the enemy within. But I failed to understand the nature of the enemy, the way its mere presence could corrupt and turn others to its service. A piece of it made it through, not enough that it could ever be more than just a voice whispering suggestions, but through my ignorance, I had polluted the material realm with a foe they were not prepared to handle. They didn't even see it coming.
Over time, that fragment of the darkness I encountered, infested the hearts and minds of those it encountered, seeking a host to use for its schemes. And when it found a suitable vessel, it corrupted others. It turned them into an army with the single goal of returning to the Proto Arch and allowing the darkness trapped there to fully escape.
I had resigned myself to death, or even to an eternity trapped beyond the threshold of the Proto Arch, locked in place with the darkness lurking around me. I never expected to be rescued. I had hoped those outside would have the sense to leave me.
Rhian, Telosi, Orisonth, Phiro, and Aleia arrived at the teleport site.
"Ori, you really do wait until the last minute," Kartor observed. Inwardly he was relieved Ori had made it.
"Those things!" Orisonth said, pointing at the sky. "What are they?"
"I'll explain later," Kartor promised, "we need to get through."
"Are you going to destroy it all, like you did at Namize?" Telosi asked.
"Is this what happened on Halloch?" Rhian pressed.
"How do you know… No, never mind. There's no time!" Kartor urged. "I promise, we'll talk about this later, after we are through the archway. Now, you all need to get in the teleporter before…"
Beep!
Orisonth's wrist computer drew the attention of the group.
"The Proto Arch… it's powering up… on its own!" Orisonth said, confused. "Somebody just overrode the lockout and something came through… no… someone… That's a person right there. They need my help!"
"Wait!" Phiro cried. "You can't go running off alone right now. We're coming too!"
"Ori, no!" Kartor said. "Please, don't make me explain this to Mom and Dad. We need to go, we can't leave the teleporter active for much longer. Not without risking everything, everyone."
"Kartor..." Orisonth started. "I think I know who came out of there. If they're who I think they are, they could help us fight back this threat. Besides I couldn't live with myself knowing I left someone behind."
"Go on then," Kartor said, resigned to the knowledge that there was nothing he could do to stop Orisonth. "I'll keep the teleporter online for as long as I can. But hurry, okay? We need you. I need you."
"If you say so," Orisonth replied before rushing off towards the Lab, with Rhian, Telosi, Phiro, and Aleia following behind.
The doorway opened once more and I plummeted through. It was all so sudden that it took me a moment to close the Proto Arch again. I had no idea if I had been in time to prevent more of the darkness from escaping. But I was free again, against my will. And with freedom, the time I had spent imprisoned on the boundary between Frontier Lab and the dark dimension I had been fleeing, caught up.
Inside the Grid the suit had protected me from the destructive properties of Grid Energy. Outside of that environment, the suit proved that it had limits. The protections on the suit had perished long ago, allowing the raw Grid Energy to seep inside. And now it burnt away the flesh and bone, mutating my body into an empty shell. I should have died right there and then. Instead, I lived. Once more, cursed to survive.
So little of me remains. Even my memories are lost, scattered through time. I once had a name, something beginning with D, I think. But now I don't recall. I am a shell of the man I was, a ghost trapped inside a suit.
Frontier Lab
Rhian, Telosi, Orisonth, Phiro, and Aleia rushed into the laboratory and stopped in disbelief at the glowing white suit passed out on the ground before them.
"Are they… alive?" Aleia asked, uncertain that anything should have emerged from the Proto Arch like that. That glow was not healthy.
"I swear that suit seems familiar," Telosi commented.
"Remember that old photo we keep… somewhere around here," Orisonth replied, looking around. "There! That's him. The Morphinaut!"
"But why is he glowing?" Rhian asked, "Is it safe to be around him?"
"I'm sure it's fine," Phiro said, reaching out to touch the fallen figure. "I can't seem to find a pulse though. He might be dead."
But any concerns about the state of the Morphinaut were laid to rest when he started to move, twisting upright with a groan. And then as his senses returned, panic set in.
"He's… coming!" the Morphinaut said before he was overcome by a bout of pain.
"What's happening?" Aleia asked.
"Some sort of energy overload," Orisonth replied. "That suit is designed to protect him inside the Grid. Now he's outside it doesn't work as well."
"What is that energy anyway?" Rhian asked.
"He came from the Proto Arch," Orisonth said slowly, "which was used in the hope of being able to enter the Morphing Grid… that energy is pure Grid energy. I think those monsters weren't just destroying things for destruction's sake, they were looking for something… the Proto Arch... and a way to enter the Morphin Grid."
And in his mind, the Morphinaut tried to find the strength to tell them that they were wrong. That the enemy could have gained access to the Morphin Grid from any of the gateways they had seized. They were looking for a link to their master's prison and there was only one way to reach it: through the Proto Arch.
To be continued…