The doctors grilled Aiya relentlessly for the first twenty minutes of the meeting. After she willingly explained how bacteria from a monster had caused a metamorphic change in her anatomy, they cut her off.

Apparently, they had more important business to attend to than trying to convince Aiya to let them conduct a hundred and one tests.

Derek stared at his long-time friend and the woman who owned his heart. He wasn't sure how he felt about her transformation.

The light sparkled off her blue-tinted skin when she shifted in her chair, and he felt his guts twist.

Derek knew it was irrational, but she looked more monster to him now than a human. An image of the cute blond from the cafeteria came to life in his mind's eye, and he couldn't stop comparing the two women.

Aiya wasn't human anymore. That's all there was to it.

Shame and guilt ate at Derek's soul as he realized he would never be able to see Aiya the same way he had before. And he felt even worse as he came to accept he would rather the blond's company than Aiya's now.

Aiya had been his dream, a never-ending fantasy that had kept him driven and focused. It had helped him find reasons to survive when he had wanted to give up.

Perhaps fantasies are best left as fantasies. Derek sighed heavily at this thought, rubbing his face with one hand.

He was glad she was ok, but besides the noticeable visual changes, there had also been that weird energy he had felt coursing through his body when their fingers had touched.

It had left him feeling raw, vulnerable and empty. The look of pity and overwhelming sadness in her eyes had cut him deeper than he could have ever imagined possible.

He now struggled between feeling a bitter sadness and anger. They should never have come here. It was ruining everything.

Suddenly, Derek wanted to punch something.

Derek debated getting up from his seat around the conference table and just walking out. He didn't need to be there. He had no say and had only come along to make sure his best friend didn't disappear on him forever without a trace.

However, before he committed to the idea, someone nudged his shoulder. He turned to see Chris giving him a funny look.

"What?" Derek mouthed. Derek tried to make the anger inside quiet. He didn't want Chris to think he was pissed at him.

Chris gave a slight nod towards the front of the room, where the doctors stood, lecturing everyone about something vital to the survival of all humanity that should have concerned Derek, but at the moment, really didn't.

"Do you think they really know how to find this portal thing?" Chris whispered the words, leaning toward Derek so only he would hear him.

Derek gave a half-hearted shrug and mouthed back.

"Does it matter?"

"They want us to live in a long mechanical worm, drilling towards the centre of the Earth for three weeks, risking potential death constantly, and you don't think it matters if these old fucks know what they are talking about?"

Chris's eyes were wide with disbelief. Unfortunately, his voice had risen in volume with his doubt. He was genuinely upset with Derek's lack of concern. But in fairness, Chris hadn't been listening to Derek's inner monologue and had no clue he was debating just walking away from everything.

However, the more Derek thought about it, the more he liked the idea. Maybe it was time to find his own path.

He had followed Marvin and Aiya since they were kids. They were his family, but he couldn't chase them around forever. He needed to build a life for himself that he wanted.

What did he want?

Fuck me. What do I want?

Derek groaned audibly, putting his head on the table. Why had he been acting like a lost puppy for so long? Why had it never occurred to him to consider what he wanted or needed?

"Bro, you alright?"

Derek lifted his head so fast at the sound of Marvin's voice that he almost gave himself whiplash. The entire room was looking at him.

Right. Chris and his loud mouth. Derek stared blankly back at the room, his eyes bouncing from person to person.

What should he say? Was this his moment? Announce he was done with all this bullshit and wish them luck saving the world, and walk out?

Derek's gaze met Marvin's, and he froze. Marvin hadn't been blind to the affection Derek had for Aiya. Marvin's eyes didn't hold pity or even sadness, though. Not like Derek had expected to see when his best friend had finally figured it out.

Instead, Derek saw his brother, understanding touching his soul through Marvin's deep eyes.

Marvin knew Derek would do what Derek would do, and Marvin silently gave him the support he had always given him.

A half smile tugged at the left side of Marvin's mouth. He saw Derek's decision before Derek knew he'd made it.

Derek shook his head and grinned.

"Sorry, everyone. I just realized I am in the wrong place." Derek's grin turned rakish as everyone's, except Marvin's, eyes stared at him in confusion as he stood up. "You all have your mission here, but it has come to my attention that no one has offered to help repopulate the world after you guys save it. It looks like I have my work cut out for me."

With that, Derek winked at the room in general, telling himself he hadn't been looking at Aiya for her reaction as he strutted from the room with hands in his pockets, hoping to find the cute blond again.

***

Marvin watched his best friend leave the room, a mask of confidence and defiance plastered on his dark, exotic face. Everyone else probably didn't realize Derek was faking it. Well, Aiya might be able to tell, but there was no way anyone else who hadn't grown up with the man could spot the tiny signs of stress and turmoil writhing inside him.

Marvin saw Derek's hand clench in his pockets, his forearms twitching slightly with each flex of his fists. The fake smile hid the haunted look in Derek's eyes almost flawlessly, but there was a sparkle, a twinkle of mischief, missing that told Marvin Derek was hurting inside.

Lastly, almost imperceptibly, Derek's shoulders curved inwards. Not hunched exactly, but tense with emotion.

Marvin sighed wearily. As the door closed behind Derek, he found his sister's eyes. Looking at her was a mistake. He saw the sadness and regret there, but the worst part was the guilt that accompanied it. Her glowing ice-blue eyes glimmered with such intense shame and remorse Marvin thought he might start to cry.

Coughing loudly, "uh-huh," he forced himself to turn back to the two lab coats. "Sorry, doctors. You were explaining why no one has been able to create a proper pressure shield for the deep Earth. What are we talking about here? Fifty thousand pounds per square inch? A hundred thousand?"

"Actually, young man, that is precisely the problem. We still, after all this time, have only minimal data available to aid in calculating the amount of pressure and heat fifteen thousand miles underground." Dr. Thompson looked as though he was going to elaborate, but found himself cut off by the excitable Dr. Walsh.

"In de early twenty-first century geolahgests calculated dat, fahr every mile you deg beneat de earth's soehrface, de temperature rose fifteen degrees ferheniet and de pressure increased simoehltaneooehsly at a rate o' abooeht seven thousand and three-hundred pooehnds per square inch."

Dr. Walsh was almost impossible to understand as his accent seemed to thicken with his excitement. However, he didn't get to talk long as it appeared Dr. Thompson took offence to being cut off mid-explanation, and with a dirty look at his colleague, he continued speaking.

"It was discovered through chemical analysis that certain garnet fragments uncovered had formed one hundred and twenty miles underground, where the pressure is more than eight hundred thousand pounds per square inch, and the temperature is normally two thousand and two hundred degrees Fahrenheit. That's roughly six thousand, six hundred and sixty-six point six, six, six, seven pounds per square inch per mile and eighteen point three, three, three degrees Fahrenheit per mile. And let's keep in mind that human bones will be crushed completely once there is pressure of twenty-five thousand pounds per square inch. That's only a few miles below the Earth's surface."

Marvin did some insane, quick math in his head that would have rivalled any twenty-first-century computer processor and blurted somewhat incredulously, "So you are saying we will need a shield that can handle anywhere from ten million to eleven million pounds of pressure per square inch and twenty-two thousand five hundred degrees to twenty-seven thousand four hundred and ninety-nine and a half degrees Fahrenheit?"

"Naht to mention bahdy suits. Wance we get to de pahrtal, we'll need to be able to get ooeht and analyze it." Dr. Walsh completely missed the look on Marvin's face and made this announcement with evident pride at his ability to remember this particular necessity.

A burst of uproarious laughter made Marvin swivel his head to look at his sister. She was laughing so hard that she did her snort laugh and almost choked herself with an effort to suppress it.

Marvin felt his lips twitch as he watched her. Shaking his head, he sighed. Aiya was right, though. This shit was so crazy that you had two choices: laugh or cry.

"Good news, though, young man. This," Dr. Thompson carefully pulled a small device from his pocket and placed it on the table, "device was discovered when we found the first travellers and contains technology that humans on this planet haven't even dreamed of inventing yet. I want you to examine it, Marvin. I think it will be the inspiration you need to make your magic happen as your sister describes it."

Errend let out a barely audible hiss on the other side of the table, across from Marvin. Without looking at the man, Marvin knew that Errend knew precisely what the strange white and silver metal device was.

It was small enough to fit into a child's palm, shaped like a tiny egg or an oval river stone. The white metal that seemed to make up the majority of the oval object was covered in intricate designs made up of gently glowing silver lines.

There were so many glyphs and strange, tiny geometric shapes connected by spider-web-thin lines all around the object that the entire thing appeared to glow on the dark table.

As if in a trance, Aiya slowly reached out a shimmering blue-tinted hand and gently placed the tip of her index finger on one of the shapes.

Marvin heard Errend gasp and whisper, "How?".

Then his eyes felt like they would pop right out of his skull as he watched a swirl of colours leave the device when the fine silver lines clicked and slowly split apart.

The movement of the object increased speed and was too fast for the human eye to track. It suddenly transformed, and the swirling rainbow of lights leaking from the former cracks swirled together like smoke until they blended into a white light that burned the eyes.

Sounds of gasps chorused in the room. There was a small scream from someone, and a groan from almost everyone as they instinctively ducked their heads or covered their eyes.

As everyone cowered from the intense blaze, a silence so thick that only the sound of everyone's heavy breathing echoed in Marvin's head settled in the room.

Slowly, Marvin opened one eye, then the other. The white light was gone, and a clear but shimmery dome had settled around the table, encompassing all the people in the room.

It sparkled as if alive, with small pops of pinpricks of colour randomly flickering on its transparent surface. However, there was no mistaking that it was there. Even though it was clear the shield was thick, like peering through tempered glass.

"What in the universe is that?" Eric's awe-struck whisper spoke the words Marvin was thinking.

"It's a portable atmosphere generator. We use it in case our portal opens into an uninhabitable world."

Marvin looked over at Errend with his mouth hanging open. Not many things could shock him, but this did. This was straight out of a sci-fi movie or something.

Turning back to the two lab coats, Marvin only understood one thing for sure.

"I need to see that."