Current Data Analysis - The Mission

[Cassandra]

You can hear the whirring of machinery and some electrical noises in what appears to be the bridge of a giant spaceship. They are cloaked with magitechnology and orbiting through space. There are various windows of data reflecting off of the virtual monitor in Cassie's glasses. She's quickly sifting through tons of data, much more quickly than other employees sitting at the other various consoles of the bridge. Cassie was a critical element in the various experiments that were taking place at the C.O.R.P.R.A. HQ. Unfortunately all of the experiments recently had been failures.


    C.O.R.P.R.A had specifically chosen Cassie when she was in college to come work for the company. She thought of it as an honor and a privilege considering the goals of C.O.R.P.R.A. and her goals aligned quite nicely. She owed the company a lot for giving her this opportunity. Cassie was using her power to quickly compile the data and using it to make alterations for their next experiment. As she used her power she scowled a bit, the fact that this power was what was helping her reach her goals seemed ironic. She had to concentrate on the data though and change all the right variables.


    C.O.R.P.R.A. HQ was cloaked and orbiting through space for a reason. This was the top secret headquarters where their most vital experiments were taking place. There were plenty of people who couldn't be risked knowing this location. The group running around referring to themselves as 'The Heroes' and want magic users, creatures, and humans to get along together in peace. Cassie scoffed at the idea. Her parents had died due to things like them. Then there was the band of thieves known as the Black Rose Bandits who had been managing to steal magic-infused items that we have been creating at our other labs.


    So far the data gathered from the experiments has done nothing but raise more questions. Cassie hypothesized that the reason that C.O.R.P.R.A. has been unsuccessful in forcing the last few rifts to 'The Other Side' to close is due to the fact that our version of the Earth has no renewable source of Mana. The only Mana left on our Earth is the Mana that is coming through the rifts to 'The Other Side'. The Other Side appears to be a feudal era where Mana is still naturally occurring and abundant in nature. Magic users and other various creatures exist there and sometimes are capable of coming through the rifts to our world and they pose a threat to our existence. The rules don't apply to people who can bend nature and reality to their will.


    The experiments to artificially convert Spiritua into mana have all been failures. The two types of magic are incredibly incompatible with each other, sometimes even toxic. Spiritua is magic that comes from someone's feelings, their heart, their soul, their mind, their life force, etc. Overuse of their power can fatigue and even kill them. Mana is the magic that occurs in nature and is usually elemental or related to nature in some way. Some people are born with the ability to manipulate mana. The items we imbued with the Spiritua and Mana that we gathered were also only compatible with certain people. Both items were able to be used by people who had no affinity for magic. Those are people who aren't inspired enough to create their own magic and weren't born with the ability to use mana. Spiritua items couldn't be used by Mana users nor could Mana items be used by Spiritua users. Sometimes it was possible but the use seems to be toxic and eventually leads to death.


    A video feed pops up on Cassie's monitor. The next batch of 'Volunteers' were ready for experimentation. She scanned the test subjects, they all had a listless, zombified look on their faces. Mana users were in the tubes to the left and the Spiritua users were in the tubes to the right. Cassie hypothesized that if the energies were tuned to the right frequencies they could be combined to create a new form of self-sustaining hybrid magic. Even if this experiment resulted in failure she would tweak every single variable until she found the solution; Cassie knew that beyond doubt she would find the solution eventually.


    Cassie noticed that one of the test subjects was a little girl, probably no older than Cassie had been when everything changed for her. The little girl had the same apathetic look as the rest of the test subjects, she had no idea what was about to happen next. "Commencing operation," Cassie says, being echoed in turn by the other employees at their consoles who are also pressing various buttons. Cassie presses 'Enter' on her console and looks at the video feed. The machines begin to whir more loudly as they spring to life. Suddenly the test subjects in their tubes are screaming out in pain, sparks flying from the tubes as the test subject have their energy siphoned from them. The energy was being collected in a glass chassis in the center of the room shaped like an orb. Many of the test subjects had already fallen to their knees. The little girl was laying in her tube in the fetal position.


    The energies seemed to be combining well, this might be it. The people in those tubes might die but everything is worth it if we can rid the world of those things for good, Cassie knew that. A part of Spiritua is the life force of the human who uses it. Half the test subjects are magical creatures from the dimensional rifts to The Other Side and their life force is Mana.


    "All systems critical!" shouted a tan-skinned girl with brown hair at another console on the bridge. "The energy is becoming unstable! Systems are failing trying to contain it! What do we do!?" she was shouting in a bit of a panic. Cassie had a bit of a bored expression on her face as she was already in the process of releasing the energy and letting it dissipate before it exploded. She had already fixed the situation, systems were operating at normal parameters. Cassie had already foresaw this as a possibility when she was calculating probabilities. She knew it could become unstable and for her this reality was just as real as any of the other possible realities that she has seen. Maybe these 12 people died for nothing this time, but they would get it right eventually. Just then a picture pops up on Cassie's monitor.


    "Let Madame Director know that 'The Heroes' have been spotted and are somewhere in The City," Cassie shouts to one of the other employees who quickly runs off.