Tegan left right after breakfast the next morning to get started on gaining access to the lab for Reggie and Hyacinth. Since it would take a couple days at least for her to get the job done, Reggie wanted to check out the other red area shown on Hyacinth's map. However, when the map was laid out, it was blank. "What happened to the map?"

"Oh, skills, like magic spells, don't last forever. This one wears off after an hour. I will remake the map, give me a moment." Hyacinth closed her eyes and placed her hands flat on the paper. After a few seconds, the map started to redraw itself. It took about a minute for the map to be redrawn, then slowly the color spots came back as well. "Ok, there seems to be no real change. Though the main red spot seems to be brighter or bolder. That usually means there is now a stronger connection to the event."

The red spot that signified the lab location did appear to be brighter. The other red spot seemed to have shrunk slightly, though it was hard to tell. "Let's go check out this other area. I think that is a park in that spot." Reggie had been there before a few times. It was set up as a park but only in a general sense. There were only a few trees, no playground, and no benches to sit. It was basically just a grassy field. It sat near the center of town so there were usually people there at lunch that walked over from nearby offices.

As Reggie suspected, the park was mostly deserted. It was a weekday morning, so not many people would have the time because of work. "It is interesting that this is theoretically involved with our mission but I don't see anything worth looking into. How about you?"

"Yeah, I agree. We don't fully understand how this skill works so sometimes we get things like this. Since the foretold event is based on probability, it's possible there is some scenario where this location is involved but the answers won't be found here. At least not right now." Hyacinth seemed slightly disappointed. Reggie figured forecasting the future was going to have a degree of uncertainty so he wasn't discouraged by the lack of information at the park. They took a couple laps around the park and even walked across it but Reggie didn't see anything out of place. They left after only spending 45 minutes walking around.

"At least we got some exercise. Our trip wasn't entirely wasted." Reggie was trying to cheer up Hyacinth, who seemed a little down. She nodded but didn't smile. Reggie decided to bring up a new topic to aid him. "So, what other skills do you have?"

Hyacinth thought for a moment before turning to Reggie. "That's my main one. It's unique to me as far as I know. At least, never met anyone else that could use it. I can also do other types of scans using a map, but none of them cover as big an area."

"Do you only use a specific type of magic? Is it possible for me to learn any?"

"I am studied in a variety of elemental magic, mainly fire, water, and earth. I wanted to use wind originally, but it's more difficult than the others.There are fewer wind magic capable wizards than any other type. The other types of magic fall into the categories light, dark, utility, and occupational. As for your second question, since you are from a world without magic, it is not possible for you to learn it."

"What if I went to your world?" Reggie replied, wanting to keep the conversation going.

"It's generally accepted that anyone from a world without magic won't be able to use magic if they go to a new world. As far as I know, every time that has happened has resulted in no change." Reggie was a little disappointed with that answer but he couldn't change it so he let it go. The conversation kept up until they arrived home and even as they started making lunch. Hyacinth's sadness from earlier seemed to have disappeared which Reggie saw as a success. Once they finished eating, Hyacinth brought the map out again to show Reggie a few other skills.

"So, this time I am going to use a skill that basically anyone with magical ability can use. However, the range varies from person to person based on skill level and base magic power." Once Hyacinth finished explaining she placed her hands on the map again. The lines all drew in as before but no color spots showed up. "This is what I expected to happen. I did a magic search, looking for areas of concentration. On worlds that have magic, the whole map would fill in with a variety of colors showing the concentration of magic in the area shown. Since your world has none, it only draws in the map area the skill covers but no colors because no magic."

"I see what you mean by a smaller area. This one doesn't even go far enough to cover the lab." In fact, the map was approximately half the size of the previous one. Hyacinth pulled out a new sheet of parchment and laid it out. After putting her hands on the paper, it filled in with the map but no color showed again.

"An expected result. This is to show magic creatures. Basically monsters though not all are considered as such. A world with no magic can't naturally contain magic creatures. They can be brought over from other worlds, though. Can lead to its own set of issues." This map was about the same size as the magic concentration map, give or take a block or two. "If I had more parchment, I could show you a few more but maybe another time." Hyacinth rolled up the two maps together and sent them to her magic space.

Reggie wanted to learn some magic but it seemed that was impossible. At least he wasn't the only one, since the whole world shares his problem. Reggie continued daydreaming about doing magic while Hyacinth sat across the table wondering why he had gone quiet again. After a few minutes, Reggie noticed what he had been doing and snapped back to reality. The rest of the day was spent waiting. Tegan was supposed to be back by that evening to check in and get some rest, but she wasn't expected until at least dinner time, if not later. Dinner came and went, but still no Tegan.

"Should we be worried? It's getting late."

"Tegan is probably fine. She is a bit of a workaholic when it comes to paid work. I am sure she will be here before midnight." Hyacinth seemed certain of herself and sure enough, Tegan walked in just after 10pm. She went straight into the kitchen and rooted around in the fridge, sighing a few times as she searched, then sat at the table with some leftovers from dinner with a look of disappointment on her face.

"Do you not like the food? I can make you something else." Reggie had no problem whipping up something for her. However, it wasn't the food that was the problem.

"The food is fine, Normie, I was just hoping you would have picked up some alcohol today." Once Tegan finished her statement, she immediately began eating as though she hadn't eaten in a week. The leftovers were soon gone and Tegan seemed slightly less disappointed.

"Sorry, I guess I should have thought of that after yesterday. I will get something for you tomorrow so you have something when you get back."

"That would be very much appreciated, Sunshine. I guess you guys want to know the progress. I am pretty sure I will be able to secure those passes for you tomorrow. I was able to get all the information I needed today, so I should be able to finish the job by dinner tomorrow." Before getting any sort of response, Tegan got up and walked to the couch where she lay down and immediately fell asleep. Reggie walked over and placed the blanket from the back of the couch over her before heading upstairs and going to bed.

The next day, Tegan left right after breakfast again. Reggie wanted to discuss some things about their mission with Hyacinth since they had nothing else going on. "What else can you tell me about the coming disaster?"

"It's not like we get specifics or anything. I don't know what else to say about it except..."

"Except what?"

"Except something was a little odd about it. Besides the fact that the predictions changed so suddenly, many of the possible outcomes ended the same way. Normally you get a handful of outcomes with some variation in how they end. Most of the outcomes for your world were the same. Total destruction. It's not even clear if the planet itself survives or not." Hyacinth seemed perplexed by the unique situation. The stakes were pretty high and Reggie wanted as much information as he could get.

"I am no expert, but from what you told me it seems like it's possible that even if we figure out what's coming we might not be able to stop it." Reggie didn't like the odds being against them this much but at least there was still a chance. That's what Reggie convinced himself of, anyway.

"Yes, that seems likely." Hyacinth agreed with Reggie. The room remained silent for several minutes. Reggie was betting big on finding information at the lab. Based on Hyacinth's detection skill, it seemed likely to be true but nothing was guaranteed. The conversation turned to small talk to help alleviate some of the tension.

It was just before lunch, when Tegan suddenly returned. She seemed spooked by something but despite their prodding wasn't ready to talk about it yet. Reggie, with help from Hyacinth, served lunch as they sat around the table waiting for Tegan to open up. After eating something, her face seemed to relax but not entirely.

"What happened? It's unusual for you to be scared like this." Hyacinth was concerned for her friend. She had never seen her like this in all the years they had known each other. Tegan seemed conflicted, as though she was internally debating what to do. Eventually, she sighed and gave in.

"Ok, so while I was working on getting keys for you, I detected something. A powerful magic. I have never felt anything like it. It just appeared suddenly for just a few seconds before disappearing again. I only had my magic detection skill active out of habit." Tegan took a deep breath. Her breathing had sped up as she recalled what happened.

"Are you sure it was magic? It's not supposed to exist in this world." Hyacinth was skeptical. No magic exists or has ever existed on this planet. The sudden appearance and disappearance was cause for concern, though. There have been incidents involving magic being transferred to a non-magic world. Mostly they are a type of natural incursion that involves a bridge developing between dimensions allowing magic to cross to the other world. "Do you think it was a natural incursion of magic?"

"I have never personally witnessed an event like that, but this was far different from what I have heard about them. It was like a switch was suddenly flipped with the volume set to max. And then it turned back off."

"Yeah, my experience is these events are more like leaks than anything. Just small amounts moving from one side to the other. They typically close up on their own, though the length of time varies greatly." Hyacinth recalled what she could from her own experiences. She also heard first hand from witnesses of similar events. While the amount of magic transferred would vary, it was not enough to be called powerful. The conversation stalled as everyone contemplated this news.

"Hopefully this won't affect you being able to go back and finish up." Reggie couldn't relate when it came to magic so he fell back to their mission. Tegan tossed a couple cards onto the table.

"No need to worry, Sunshine. I got what you wanted right here." Tegan looked extremely pleased with herself. Reggie was impressed that she got it done so quickly. He picked up one of the cards to look at it. It was a blank white plastic electronic key. Basically the same kind used all over to control access to sensitive areas. "I got one for each of you. I even made sure to use your pictures in the profiles, but with fake names so they can't hunt you down later."

"That's great! Glad you were able to get it done so quickly." Reggie praised Tegan's work. He had no clue what was involved but figured it wasn't as easy as she made it seem. "Now we just need to look the part."

Hyacinth groaned slightly. She wasn't a fan of the work appropriate outfit she had to wear the first time they visited the target building. They were tight and didn't allow for a lot of movement. Reggie, on the other hand, had no problems with the dress code. He had been working in an office for a long time and had long since gotten used to it. "I would like to plan this out a little more. Make sure we have any supplies we might need."

"Huh? What supplies?" Hyacinth didn't understand. She had everything she needed on hand basically all the time and wasn't sure what else would be needed, if anything.

"Well, for instance, a USB drive in case we want to copy files to read later. There was plenty on the server just from the few minutes we were there the first time. I could have used it then for sure." Reggie had found a lot of documents about the lab on the computer he used but didn't have time to read them all. He just opened a few to skim for useful information.

"What is youesbee?"

"It's a small electronic device that allows for information to be stored when plugged into a computer." Reggie's explanation seemed to work as Hyacinth and Tegan both nodded. He also had a few other things in mind to bring with in case they were needed. As was his way, Reggie began to make a list.

***

Two days later, Reggie and Hyacinth were standing in front of the Marlino Corporation building. They spent the previous day preparing so that they could investigate as efficiently as possible. It was decided that the best time for them to come check things out was just before lunch. The lab would likely be empty, or at least that was what Reggie was hoping for. They entered the building through the lobby again and took the elevator down to the lab. As they walked up to the electronic scanner, Reggie held his breath. The moment of truth. He held the plastic key up to the scanner and a second later the light on the scanner turned from red to green and a click was heard as the door unlocked.

Hyacinth pushed through the door with Reggie following close behind. He realized he was still holding his breath and let it out. "So far, so good." Hyacinth nodded in agreement. They looked at each other for a second then each tried one of the doors. Both were unlocked. Hyacinth's door led to a utility closet. She quickly closed it and went to the next one. Reggie opened his door to find a small office with four desks spaced evenly around the room. Each had their own computer. Reggie stepped inside and closed the door. At the same time Hyacinth stepped into another room.

They had agreed beforehand to split up once they got inside to be able to cover more ground. Reggie was to find a computer to access, while Hyacinth was to investigate areas of the lab. Reggie sat down at a computer, which hadn't been logged out yet. Whichever employee this workstation belonged to probably figured the need to lock it after use was unnecessary since the lab was a secured space. It wasn't the only one, though. Two others in the room were also still logged in. Reggie wasted no time and quickly started looking through files and folders on the server. He found a lot of information to go through later when he had more time. He plugged the USB drive into the computer and copied as much as he could. Meanwhile, he was reading a report on the status of one of the projects associated with the lab. It only referred to the project by a code name, Project Delta. Reggie noticed the majority of the information from the lab was also about this same project, making it likely to be the main things being worked on here.

The files finished copying to the drive, so Reggie grabbed it and walked towards the door. He opened the door and nearly ran into someone entering. "I'm sorry, I need to pay more attention to where I am going." The man apologized to Reggie. He looked like one of the researchers. The guy looked to be in his fifties, and wore a white lab coat.

"No, problem." Reggie quickly replied to the old researcher then began to walk away. He didn't want to have to talk to anyone for fear of being caught. He was starting to turn down the hallway, when the man spoke again.

"Are you busy? I came looking for one of the junior researchers to help me." Reggie froze. He didn't want to be rude but also didn't want to stick around. Thinking it best to play along, Reggie turned back toward the man.

"I was just about to head to lunch."

"Ah, I see, but this will only take a minute or two." The man seemed nice enough. Reggie figured it could also be an opportunity to get more information.

"Alright, lead the way."

"Fantastic!" The old man was elated to find someone to help with whatever it was. "The name's Roger, by the way."

"Re– I am Tom." Reggie gave his alias that Tegan used for his access pass, though almost gave his real name. He followed Roger deeper into the lab. After passing through a door into a larger office space, they came to a set of double doors with small windows at about eye level. Reggie could see the next room was much bigger.

Once they passed the double doors, they entered a huge space. Reggie couldn't believe what he was seeing. The ceiling was at least 40 feet above them and had cables and pipes running all directions. It seemed like everything led to the center of the room where a large something was set up. Reggie had no clue what he was looking at but all the cables and pipes led to the device. Roger kept walking through the room to the other side where a workbench was set up.

"Ok, I need you to hold this piece in place here so I can attach it. I would do it myself if it weren't so heavy but I think you look strong enough to handle it." Roger was pointing to a big metal piece lying on the bench next to some sort of apparatus Reggie couldn't identify. Grabbing the piece, he held it in place on the side of the device. It was indeed quite heavy. Roger quickly bolted the piece in place.

"Excellent! Thanks for the assist, Tom." Roger gently smiled at Reggie. Then he quickly excused himself and walked off through another door near the workbench. Reggie breathed a sigh of relief as he walked back the way they came. He needed to find Hyacinth and leave before they got caught for real. Luckily, Hyacinth was entering the big office space as Reggie was coming back through the double doors.

"Ready to go?" Hyacinth asked. Reggie nodded and the two quickly left the building. Once they were back outside at street level, Reggie relaxed. He hadn't noticed until now but his body was tensed up the whole time since running into Roger. A wave of relief passed over him as they silently walked home.