Valterion: The Space/Arch? Mage

Location: Solar System; Earth; Outside of Shanghai; Song Medical

Aria gives us a final nod before we leave her shuttle to return to our actual job. We leave the Artifact with her, obviously. As soon as we exit the shuttle and take a few steps away from it, two things happen. First, the hatch closes behind us, and the shuttle immediately prepares for takeoff, and second, my magic returns! I let out a long breath in relief. That feeling will never become pleasant.

Aria's shuttle lifts off when we reach our own yacht, where the reactivated shields protect us from the swirling dust. The shuttle quickly vanishes in the clouds… Even without magical support.

"Shall we get back to it?" Tim asks after a moment of silence.

There's still plenty of daylight left, so why not? "Sure," I reply and begin to cast my Teleportation spell. I hold it back, though, and wait for what the others think.

I shouldn't have bothered… Of course, they are all on board and quickly gather around me. One quick flash of magic later, and we're all back in the security room within the research center – Right next to our PA400s. The suits menacingly loom above us, but we leave them where they stand. Now that the Artifact is gone, using Lucy's A&D Shields is much more convenient.

A minute later, we find ourselves back where Lydia pulled the Artifact out of the wall. So far, no more turrets have popped out, and I start to think we've got them all. But I don't want to jinx things, so I don't voice it out loud.

Anyway, with Lucy's Shield spell around us, we continue further down the hallway. Doors start appearing left and right, and we open them one after the other. It quickly becomes obvious that time wasn't kind to what's been inside those rooms before… Everything is gone, and the rooms are empty except for dust and debris.

But we're not discouraged that quickly and continue. With all those small rooms on both sides of the hallway, I'm pretty sure that those were once the hospital rooms where they treated the patients. It fits the floor plan at least.

Soon after, we're done with the first building and walk straight into the next one through an interconnection. Unfortunately, it's the same as the first one… Hallways and small but empty rooms. There's also little change when we continue to the third building.

The rooms are a little bigger, though, and the surfaces look a little bit more polished below all the dust. Alina calls it the rich-people-hospital, and I'm very inclined to agree with her. We also find a small safe within one of the rooms. Our best guess is that this was once some kind of office.

Obviously, the safe isn't a hurdle for us, and Lydia makes quick work of it. Nothing noteworthy is inside. Surprisingly, she doesn't even need magic to crack it. That earns her a questioning look from Lucy.

She shrugs. "I didn't always work as a receptionist."

Huh? She had a criminal past before meeting us? Interesting.

Her careless dismissal causes a few issues, though. Namely, Nick, Tim, and Alina look at her in confusion. "Receptionist?" Nick asks.

Lydia's eyes open in shock, and she quickly glances at me. I imagine her inwardly screaming shit, shit, shit while trying to come up with an explanation. Luckily, Lucy comes to the rescue. "Being an intern in a hotel doesn't count as working as a receptionist, Lydia. But do tell us more about safecracker Lydia," she says with a short laugh.

While Lydia explains how and why she learned how to pick locks, I make a decision. Once we're done with this research center, I'm coming clean with the boys. No more hiding!

Surprisingly, this decision feels like a heavy weight was lifted from my shoulders. It's long overdue, I guess. We also should probably tell Tim that we've known his secret for a long time now. But as I just said… After we're done with this location here. We can't be distracted right now.

Especially not with the new turrets that have just popped out of the roof of the connector to the fourth building. Bullets start impacting Lucy's Shield, and we immediately jump into action. Everyone but our two A&D Mages lifts their gun and starts firing at the angry turrets. One way Shields really are great! Meanwhile, both Lucy and Alina cast quick attack spells that obliterate the remaining turrets in a heartbeat. It's so much easier without the anti-magic Artifact.

We cautiously enter the fourth building after we've dealt with the turrets and the two rather vicious spike traps right before the door leading inside. I mean, who puts spike traps inside a building? This isn't some trashy grave robber movie!

But the second set of defenses has to mean something, right? Yeah, no… It's a warehouse. A big one, but just a warehouse. And of course, the wares aren't there anymore. Dang it! Maybe the final two buildings?

Nope… The fifth one is another warehouse, and I start to get annoyed. "Why call it a super secret research center if there's nothing there?" I cry out in exasperation.

Tim chuckles darkly. "Maybe that's why it's called a super secret research center? Maybe we just haven't found the interesting parts yet. There's still one more building left, and if I'm not mistaken, it's the one called the lab."

I smile weakly. "Maybe you're right… Let's get it over with. If it's another bust, I'm happily giving the location to Prince Kai!"

Lucy chuckles and takes point. Her Shield spell is still going strong, and we quickly walk through the empty warehouse until we reach the exit on the other side. A solid-looking double door blocks our way forward. Lucy extends her hand and pushes… Nothing happens, and she pushes a little more. Still nothing. With a grunt, she changes directions and starts pulling. The door doesn't move. "It's locked," she calls out and steps back.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Good thing we have a lock pick with us. I grin and pull out an energy blade. "I've got this!" I activate the blade, and a yellow light extends from the hilt. Then I take a step forward and push it in between the seams and move the blade alongside them. Air starts hissing, but I think nothing of it and quickly encounter resistance in the form of a deadbolt, which quickly gets melted through. This continues until I've completed a full circle around the two doors and step back again.

I obviously left the hinges be, and so the doors still hang there. "Try again, please," I beckon Lucy forward. She pushes the doors again, and this time, they do move! They both open up surprisingly smoothly and show a dark hallway beyond. At the end of it is another set of doors, but I ignore them for now because the hallway is much more interesting.

For once, there are the walls. Paintings are hanging left and right. And I'm talking about real paintings, not remnants of them. This reminds me of the preserved areas inside the Valterion planetary headquarters. Wait, was the air hissing earlier actual air being sucked it and this hallway was hermetically sealed?

"Careful," I call out. "This is different than before!"

"Obviously," Alina chuckles and casts an additional Shield spell around our group. Lucy hesitantly takes a step forward and puts her foot down on the first tile right in the center of the hallway. Nothing happens, and we all let out the breath we've been holding. So far, so good.

Her next step on the second tile is fine too, but the third tile lowers itself with an audible click when she steps on it. Rows of panels flip open all around us, and red, sustained laser beams focus on where Lucy has just put her foot. The Shield spells hold, but quickly start distorting. Lucy hastily steps back, but the beams follow her. Alina's Shield, which was the outermost layer, pops, and she cries out when the backlash hits.

Then, Lucy leaves the final tile and is out of the hallway. Suddenly, the lasers stop as fast as they came, and the panels close again. One thing is certain. Those are strong lasers!

"Thoughts?" I ask after we've got ourselves back together.

"We're lucky the Artifact isn't here… Those lasers would have melted our PA400s like butter," Lucy starts.

"I think so too," Nick chimes in. "But I do have a theory… I've seen a movie that had a similar floor right at the entrance of an ancient tomb. There were traps all around, but there was this stone plaque with a riddle. And the solution led to a safe passage across the trap-filled hallway. I think Lucy accidentally discovered the first two steps of such a safe passage. We just have to find the rest."

"Hmm, that sounds plausible," I reply. "But I don't think we can afford a trial-and-error approach. Not with those lasers in the play."

"Agreed," Nick replies, deep in thought. "We need to discover the key… If there even is one."

The others continue to discuss how to find a way through the trapped hallway. I, on the other hand, find myself fascinated by those paintings. My eyes narrow. They look too new. Like freshly painted. I don't think even the best preservation could have kept them in that state for more than 11,000 years. Are they a fresh addition? But why?

The paintings portray significant milestones in Song Medical's history. A short description on a plaque below each painting describes the depicted milestone. It all starts with Li-Ming Song, who founded the company on the sixth of June, 2251. A few years later, Song Medical is the fastest-growing company in all of Asia and makes its first connections with four other fast-growing companies. Together, they are later known as the Big Five.

Magic is a constant companion for Song Medical. Shortly after Magicon's first generation of Magitech products, Song Medical managed to magically treat 44 previously incurable diseases and even completely cure 35 of them. That's a huge success, but according to the paintings, it pales before the achievement the company made just 6 months later.

The next painting shows Li-Ming Song proudly presenting the first working prototype of Song Medical's trademark longevity treatment. This first version prolongs the human life by 7 years up to a theoretical maximum of 7 treatments or 48 years.

I stop and read the sentence again. That's wrong. 7 times 7 isn't 48! But why? A simple typing error seems unlikely. This is Song Medical, one of the biggest companies there is. They don't make such silly mistakes. I read it for the third time and blink. What's that miniature symbol above the number 8, and where have I seen it before?

It's a small square and painted in 3D, as if it stands out from the other letters and numbers on the plaque. Just like a button that can be pressed… But it's so small and also far too far away to be useful. But where have I seen the button symbol before? I look back at the other paintings and suddenly, I notice it everywhere. Well, everywhere is exaggerated, but there's at least one symbol below every single painting. They are also exclusively above numbers.

In the end, I'm looking at the first painting again. Here, the two sixes bear the button symbol. What do you mean? Tell me, Li-Ming…

Absently, I catch on to the discussion that my friends are having. Frustrated, Tim tries to argue that we might just run across the hallway with our PA400s and additional Shield spells.

Nick, on the other hand, stops this plan before it can grow further. "No, that's not gonna work. The laser activates as soon as the tile descends and clicks… there's no way to block the sustained damage. You've seen how fast our spells cracked. And one of them was at the Master level. With 16 tiles to cross, our Pa400s won't help us either."

Descend.

Click.

16 tiles to cross.

16 button symbols below the paintings.

No, not buttons. Tiles!

The first two tiles Lucy stepped on were safe.

They are both the sixth tile from the left in each row.

06.06.2251

The tile symbols above the two sixes!

That's it!

I quickly look at the second painting, the one with the Big Five. The number five is marked – the fifth tile has to be safe.

"Guys."

I'm ignored, and the discussion continues to heat up.

"Guys!" I turn around and get closer to the group. They still ignore me. "GUYS! I think I figured it out."

Now that gets their attention, and I quickly explain my thoughts. Lucy looks at the paintings and shrugs. "There's only one way to confirm it. Stay back, I'll try on my own."

She casts her Shield spell before anyone can stop her and steps on the first tile – the one we know to be safe. As expected, nothing happens. Alina quickly adds another layer to the Shields around Lucy while she steps on the second tile. So far, so good.

Now the moment of truth. Instead of walking straight ahead, she puts her foot down on the fifth tile – one tile to the left – and nothing happens. My theory works!

Lucy looks back at the paintings. This time, the number 4 is marked twice in a row. She hesitantly takes another step forward and slightly left so that she lands on the fourth tile. Again, nothing happens. This continues until she reaches the tile that corresponds with the longevity treatment painting.

"The math's wrong," she calls back to us, indicating the 48 as a result for seven times seven.

"Yeah, I noticed," I call back. But look at where you're currently standing on. It's the seventh tile, and there's never been a two-number jump between tiles. I thought about it a lot, and I think the 48 is correct in this case… Which means your next step is the eighth tile. I think they've put in the paintings just for us… They look too new, and why would Song Medical present the solution for their trap floor for everyone to see? No, I think the original workers knew the code, and we got the paintings instead. Maybe they didn't have anything fitting to depict the number 8 and so decided to make that small error? Anyway, so you all agree to try it? Also, Lucy, I'll teleport you out in case I'm wrong."

She thinks for a second, then nods. "Let's do this!"

One step and she stands on the eighth tile. Success! I sigh in relief. After that, it's smooth sailing, and Lucy soon reaches the door on the other side. It opens to the barest touch and shows a small and also dark antechamber. Lucy waits there for us and provides Shields just in case.

We cross the hallway one after the other. No one activates the lasers, and we take a short break in the antechamber.

But all too soon, our gazes lock onto the second door that leads out of the chamber.

Time to find out what the lab is hiding!