Valterion: The Space/Arch? Mage

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

The difference in layout is impossible to miss. The open space of the previous warehouse-like buildings is completely missing. Instead, we're back to the hallway with doors on the left and right layout. It's almost like we're back in the first three hospital buildings. There is one difference, though. The doors are further apart, and if I have to guess, I'd say the roomy area behind the doors is a lot bigger than the single-bed hospital rooms from before.

Only one way to find out! We walk down the first stretch of hallway as a group with Lucy's Shield spell covering us. She stops at the first door and looks at me. "Ready?"

I nod in confirmation, and Lucy presses the handle down. The door swings inward after a slight push. Those are some well-oiled hinges! Anyway, the inside of the room looks promising. I think my earlier guess that this place was somehow sealed off was correct, as we're now standing at the entrance of a living room that's still furnished. There's even a carpet on the floor! But one question immediately enters my mind. Why is there a living room?

Hesitantly, we step inside and look around. So far, there's no trace of additional traps or defenses. After we've checked the whole room, Lucy drops her Shield, and we begin to explore the room for real. Alina sits down at a big table on the right side of the room and leans back in the chair. "I think this was a break room for the employees. With the table and the small kitchenette behind me… That's where they could prepare their food, and after doing some relaxation on the couch or pool table over there."

"Sounds plausible… So, probably nothing to find here for us," I reply. "But let's still take a quick look."

We do so, and as expected, we find nothing. Well, not nothing, but expired food on the shelves doesn't count. Ten minutes later, we're back in the hallway and ready to open the next door. This time it's a gym… Surprisingly, most of the equipment still works. Tim does a few barbell curls, showing off his muscles. That earns him a few appreciative whistles from us girls while Nick shakes his head and mutters something like "showoff" under his breath.

The third room is the first one that looks like an actual lab room, and we spend considerably more time inside. I don't recognize the equipment on the table, but Nick tells us that it's used to examine blood samples. Now, much better devices exist, so we just take pictures of everything and ultimately leave the devices behind.

This continues for the remainder of the rooms along the hallway, and we find various devices to examine samples of anything that comes to mind. Nick patiently explains most of them to us, and when even he is unsure, Clara comes to the rescue and offers an explanation.

Now, while this is certainly better than empty warehouses, it is still rather disappointing compared to the one major discovery we've made inside this research center so far.

While I don't expect to find another Artifact, we've seen nothing of the magical research stuff that should be here somewhere. But maybe that'll change now as we're currently standing before another security gate. This time, the glass doors are still standing strong, and to complicate things, they are closed.

"Can I break it?" Lucy asks with a big grin on her face.

I shake my head and point at the panel on a hip-high column, standing at the side of the hallway about a meter before the gate. "Let me try to hack…" I stop at the sound of a throat clearing in my ear. "… Let Clara try to hack the panel first. You know we're encouraged to break as little as possible."

"You're no fun, but fine… Feel free to hack a panel without power."

I just wink at her and vanish for a moment, just to return right after with one of our battery packs in my hands. "I've come prepared," I reply and kneel next to the column.

Tim hands me a screwdriver, and I unscrew a square piece of metal at the back of the column. A bundle of colorful wires greets me, and thanks to Clara highlighting the right ones on my interface, I quickly manage to connect the battery.

"It's powering up!" Lydia exclaims in excitement, and I quickly stand back up.

"Alright, Clara, now it's your turn," I say while putting my hand on the panel. We idly talk while she's doing her thing, and five minutes later, Clara speaks up over a speaker.

"I've got good news and slightly worse news… First, I can't get us through the doors without spending multiple hours forcing my way through. But luckily, we don't have to spend that much time, as we do have an actual key."

I think for a second, then remember the panels I've previously encountered on Earth. "Lisa?" I ask, and Clara confirms.

"Exactly, the young Lady Song should be able to get us through without issues."

Lucy bounces up and down in excitement. "What are you waiting for, Sara. Go, get her!"

I feel a set of coordinates being locked in and chuckle slightly before casting the Teleportation spell. "Be right back." Then I vanish and reappear on the Stargazer to grab an additional specialized Earth suit for Lisa to put on. Then I give Lisa a call over a Communication spell so that she can lower the shields for me to teleport in.

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I could have teleported in regardless, but that would have been an unnecessary flex and also rather rude.

I meet with Lisa inside her office on her starship and explain our current situation. Of course, she's happy to help us out and quickly puts on the suit that protects her from incoming magical attacks.

Fifteen minutes after I left the research center, I cast another Teleportation spell that brings Lisa and me back down there.

Lisa gasps upon feeling the real gravity of Earth for the first time and takes a few deep breaths before she collects herself again. "Wow!" That's all she says for a while.

"I didn't expect to be down here so soon… It's crazy how normal it feels." That earns her a few laughs, as my friends were the same. "Anyway, where do you need me?"

"Actually, we just need your hand," Tim jokes and points at the panel.

Lisa quickly looks at me and winks, then she turns to Tim and grins wolfishly. "Alright, Mr. Silvani…"

Oh wow, I didn't expect her to drop that bomb just now.

Tim reels back in shock, barely able to form words. "I… I'm not… No!"

My friends aren't better, looking quite shocked as well. I mean, they knew Tim was a Noble, just not how far up the food chain. And there isn't much higher up than the Silvanis.

Seeing Tim squirm like that flips something inside of me, and I burst out laughing. I laugh and laugh, it's just too funny. Tim still tries to deflect while everyone else keeps pestering him with questions.

When I finally compose myself, I turn to Lisa, who wears the biggest smirk I've ever seen on her face. "Please tell me you've got this recorded."

She laughs. "You bet, I have! That's pure gold."

After five minutes of ineffectively trying to deflect, Tim lets out a long sigh. "Fine, I admit it… But how did you find out?"

His admission causes another round of gasps while I give him a deadpan stare. "Tim Skadi, duh… That's too on the nose."

Alina's eyes go wide in realization, and she face-palms. "Oh my god! Now that you say it… It's so obvious! And we already knew he was a Noble. Damn, now I feel so stupid."

Tim seems to still be working through my words from a few seconds ago when his brain processes Alina's words. He reels back again, and his head snaps to the girl. "What do you mean you knew I was a Noble?"

"You're a bad actor," Lucy chimes in. "I mean, come on, who would believe such a sloppy story with a Noble friend that does everything for you?"

Tim sits down and burrows his head in his hands. "How long?"

I shrug. "How long have I known that you're a Noble? Almost the whole time… You being Timothy Silvani? That took much longer. Lisa and I only found out a few months ago."

Tim is silent for a minute and takes a few deep breaths. When he looks back up, his face is firm. "Yes, my real name is Timothy Silvani, but I still go by Tim. I'm sorry for deceiving you. It just felt easier to just be Tim instead of the prodigy of the Silvani family. I'm not sure if anyone besides Lisa here can relate, but such a famous name comes with a lot of baggage… And I just want to study in peace. If you don't want me on your team anymore, I can leave… Just say the words."

I stare at him, a bit confused. "Why would we want you to leave us? You're our friend!"

"I… I lied to you. And who knows who else finds out about me… That mess will spill over to you too."

"So what?" I reply with a shrug and point at Lisa. "We're used to it and like Alina just said… We pretty much knew all along and are still with you. The only thing that changes is that we cannot laugh about your silly slip-ups anymore."

Lydia bursts out laughing, and even Lisa chuckles at Tim's dumbfounded expression. His mouth opens and closes a few times before he finds his words. "I… Thank you."

We take another twenty minutes to talk and joke about Tim's identity until I notice that he's finally come to terms with it. I chuckle slightly and point at the column with the panel. "Now, enough dilly-dallying, Lisa, if you'd be so kind."

She nods once and extends her right hand to touch the panel. For a few seconds, nothing happens, and I grind my teeth. Then the panel lights up around Lisa's fingers, and a progress bar appears. It's underlined with the word "scanning."

The process is agonizingly slow, but at least the progress bar moves forward steadily. Two minutes later, it's completely filled up, and the panel flashes green before going out again. There's a clicking sound of locks disengaging, but besides that, nothing happens, and the security gate stays closed.

"And now?" Lisa asks with a slight frown.

"Now we find a way to open the doors… Do you want to stay?" I reply with a shrug, having already expected something like this to happen. I mean that the panel even worked was a small wonder already. Even crazier, the locks are disengaged, meaning we should be able to simply move the doors aside. In theory, at least.

Lisa looks at us, then nods. "Yeah, I'd like to stay for a bit."

I give her a thumbs up, and Lucy and Tim get closer to the doors. They put their hands on the glass and push it to the sides. There seems to be a slight resistance, but the doors start moving! We all cheer them on, and a minute later, it enough space for us to walk through. We do so and now stand inside a glass cabinet. Before us is another set of sliding doors. Unfortunately, they do not budge.

"Can I break it now?" Lucy asks again.

Before I can answer, Nick speaks up. "Wait a moment. I've seen such security gates before. I think the door behind us has to be closed before we can open the other one."

Everyone face-palms, me included. "Like an airlock," we say in unison.

As I'm standing in the back, it's my turn to close the doors now. Lydia helps out, and we push them closed again. It takes another minute, but once they touch, there's another set of clicks.

"It works!" Tim calls out, and he and Lucy begin pushing the second set of doors apart.

Behind the gate is another small room with what probably once was a desk on the left side. Compared to the stuff in the rooms before, this one is in a much worse state. Lydia walks around it while I'm wondering why that is so. Her hands trail along the jagged tabletop, which causes some dust to swirl around. She bends down at the end of the desk and begins to open the drawers.

"What was the security gate for?" Alina asks with a frown on her face. "This room is so underwhelming, and there's no way out."

Yep, that's what's bothering me too. The room is not only small, no, it also features only a single door, and that's the one we just entered through.

*Click*

Lydia jumps back up with wide eyes. "I accidentally pressed a button!" She exclaims and looks around. On the other side of the room, right next to where Nick is standing, a tremor goes through the ground, and the dust in a one-by-two-meter area starts moving.

"The floor's retracting!" Nick calls out and takes a step back. A screeching sound drowns out any further words. It stops a minute later, and the dust settles again. We all assemble around the new opening in the ground. Stairs lead down into the darkness. A secret passage! Excitement fills me, and I immediately beckon Lucy forward.

"Time to see the real lab!"