Location: Laboratory Sanctum. Edinburgh, Scotland.
The lab was chaos. Alarms screeched, a deafening roar of warnings as toxic fumes hissed from broken vats. Langston's ears rang, the crack of shattering glass echoing beneath the noise. Chemicals spilled onto the floor, bubbling and churning, reacting violently to the magic thick in the air.
"We need to move! Now!" Langston shouted, his gauntlet sparking as he spun toward the exit.
Euphrates and Sasha sprinted ahead toward the portal room, boots skidding on the slick floor. Captain Scotty lagged a step behind, his flaming saber glowing in his hand.
Langston turned to follow but slipped, boots sliding on congealing vampire blood. He hit the ground hard, panic tightening his throat as the floor trembled with the impending explosion. "Damn it!" he hissed, scrambling for footing.
"Langston!" Scotty's voice cut through the noise. He doubled back, hand outstretched. "Get up, mate!"
Langston grabbed Scotty's wrist, hauled upright with surprising strength. "Thanks," he muttered.
Scotty grinned. "Thank me later. Let's go! That was like a movie! Explosions, running for our lives—even a slow-motion dive!"
They sprinted toward the exit, the room erupting behind them. The first vat shattered with an earsplitting crack, spewing neon-green liquid into the air. Glass and corrosive chemicals tore apart trapped monsters, their wet cries high-pitched and haunting.
The second explosion shook the ground. Langston glanced back, regretting it instantly. The air churned with gas and shards, vats obliterating. A nearly-formed Cu Sith howled, collapsing into fur and viscera.
"What the hell did you do back there, Euphrates?" Scotty bellowed, still running.
"Don't stop! Go! Go! Go!" Euphrates shouted from the doorway, waving them through.
Sasha was over the threshold, hands shining as she prepared a protective spell to shield them from the blast.
The final explosion hit as Scotty and Langston dove through the doorway, the force sprawling them across the floor, fire chasing their heels as the room disintegrated. The portal room was thick with heat and smoke, each breath stinging Langston's lungs with chemical fumes.
Langston coughed, dragging himself upright. "Everyone in one piece?" he rasped.
"Barely," Sasha said, her voice tight as she strengthened her flickering barrier, its edges unstable, light dimming with her shallow breaths.
Euphrates knelt nearby, hands glowing as she summoned a mist to push back the fumes. "This… is my fault," she admitted quietly, her voice trembling. "I thought I was shutting the lab down, not… causing this."
Scotty slapped a hand against the wall, grinning. "Mate, you turned that lab into a barbecue—smells like burnt sausage already!"
Langston's frustration boiled over. "Damn it. All of it just gone, erased in an instant." He kicked a broken chair, sending it crashing against a wall. "Alchemical processes, vampire research, maybe even cures for their toxins!"
Sasha frowned, crossing her arms. "Easy, tough guy," she said sarcastically. "Breaking chairs won't bring it back."
They moved back into the lab's wreckage, debris choking the hallway, fumes clinging like a shroud. Langston's gauntlet flickered as he led, jaw tight. "Keep your spells sharp. Don't touch anything unless it won't blow up."
Sasha cast a purifying spell, her hands glowing, the air shimmering to clear breathing space. "At least we can see now," she muttered, sweat beading on her brow.
Euphrates summoned a stream of water, her hands trembling as she washed away chemical sludge. Langston caught her eyes darting to the wreckage like she was haunted by her screw-up. "This stuff is everywhere," she said, voice tight. "More than just chemicals."
Scotty trailed at the rear, saber casting flickering light. "Thought a vampire lab'd be less… messy. What even is this stuff?"
Langston ignored him, scanning the wreckage. His gauntlet snapped out golden wires, slicing through collapsed pipes. The metal screeched, falling in a heap. "The regulator system might still be usable," he said, half to himself.
Euphrates flinched but kept working. "It wasn't a control panel. I thought it was, but it wasn't," she said, spraying water to clear greenish fluid. "It shorted everything out. I didn't mean to—"
"We know," Langston cut her off, tone clipped. "Focus on getting us through."
Sasha paused by a shattered vat, face pale. "The monsters," she whispered. "They had no chance."
Langston glanced back, face hard. "Good riddance. They'd have eaten you without blinking. They were just experiments. Stay focused, Sasha."
Scotty tapped her shoulder. "Come on. Almost through."
The next hallway was worse, glass shards mixed with pulsing organic veins. Langston's gauntlet sparked, burning away a strand creeping toward Euphrates' boot.
Euphrates stomped it, swallowing hard, dousing the hallway with water. The tendrils recoiled but kept spreading. "This isn't just chemical. It's magic," she said, voice shaking. "Feeding off the residue."
Langston nodded grimly. "Then we burn it. Scotty?"
Scotty grinned, raising his saber. "Gladly." Flames surged, consuming tendrils in a burst of heat. "Smells like sausage now. Burnt sausage, but still."
Sasha gagged, focus faltering. "You're disgusting," she said through clenched teeth.
Langston didn't look up. "Scotty, shut up and keep burning. Euphrates, focus on the floor. We're almost at the regulator."
Fire, water, and light reclaimed the hallway. The regulator system loomed, sparking with unstable energy. Langston's jaw tightened, examining the cracked casing, wires tangled and charred. "Completely ruined," he muttered, nudging a wire with his gauntlet. Sparks flew. "But the wiring…"
"This way," he said, motioning forward. They pushed past shattered vats, the air heavy with magic and a buzzing presence.
They reached a control station, untouched, surrounded by a silver magical bubble repelling debris. Langston's curiosity flared as he brushed rubble from the edge.
"What is that?" Sasha asked, peering over.
"A protective barrier," Langston said, narrowing his eyes. "Someone didn't want this damaged." He flexed his gauntlet, silver wires snapping outward. "Let's get inside."
The wires hit the shield, which pulsed, zapping them back. Langston frowned, adjusting settings. The wires shifted color, glowing gold, then copper, then soft green, each hue pulsing with a different magical frequency, Langston felt, as he tuned the gauntlet to crack the barrier's defenses, like tweaking a radio to catch a signal.
The barrier resisted, but holes opened, letting wires slip through. Langston guided them, sweat beading, wrist aching from the gauntlet's vibration. "There we go," he murmured.
The screen flickered, red letters flashing: WARNING. WARNING. WARNING. CATASTROPHIC FAILURE DETECTED.
"What does it say?" Euphrates asked, craning her neck.
"Catastrophic failure," Langston said flatly, flipping a switch with his wires. The console buzzed, shield dimming. "Almost there…"
With effort, he pressed the sequence, the shield collapsing with a pop. He stepped closer, inspecting the console, buttons bearing unfamiliar symbols.
"Great," he muttered. "I can read the warnings, but these symbols might as well be hieroglyphs."
Scotty squinted. "Think you can figure it out?"
Langston hesitated, fingers hovering. "Maybe." He pushed a couple, one opening a cup holder. Scotty laughed.
"At least it didn't blow up. Connecting with it would make me feel better. Moira?" Langston called.
"There you are," Moira responded in his mind, warm and mystical. "What's up?"
"I can't read these symbols, and I'm cautious to not blow this place up... any further," Langston said.
"Ohhh, I see," Moira replied. "That's the infernal language. I never learned it. Sorry."
Langston sighed. "Well. That's a big help."
Moira continued, "You are a technomancer. Use your device; connect directly. There are problems in Doras Dagda right now, so I'm going back. Be safe!"
Langston grew anxious about what might be occurring at Doras Dagda, as Moira's words stirred unease about what mess awaited back home. But he shoved it aside, focusing on the console. "What problems?" he started to ask, but she was gone. He shook his head. "She's right. I am a technomancer."
Euphrates tilted her head. "What's a technomancer?"
Langston adjusted his gauntlet, twisting a dial for hacking. "It's a unique class, fusing magic with tech. I can enhance devices with magic or create them from magic and materials. I'm a magical computer or inventor of magi-tech devices."
He sent wires into access ports, adjusting readouts. As wires wiggled into the computer, his screen flashed, rebooting. "Aha, I'm in."
The Enclave logo appeared on both screens. Langston's expression darkened, fury growing. "No fucking way," he said, voice heavy with anger. "This… This is not possible."
The others leaned around. "Enclave Corp," Scotty read. "What about it? Looks standard to me."
Langston was beside himself. "Standard? Don't you see? This is an Enclave computer from Earth, in the hands of these monsters, in the lair that spawned a Nuck. There's nothing standard about this."
Realization struck. "…Enclave is working with the Warlock?" Euphrates whispered.
Langston spoke through clenched teeth, "It would seem so."