ALL NOVEL Loop 254 - Worry
“What is taking Cal so long? He may be annoying, but he doesn’t usually push things this far,” Ethel said as she looked at the shimmering gateway they had all just exited through. The vortex had been steadily breaking down and she was getting worried about the boy. Would the loop restart properly if he was lost somewhere in a spacial rift? She didn’t want to explain to Bug how she lost her Brother. God knows why, but that dog cared about him more than anyone else.
The portal spat out a small, nearly translucent form before sputtering into nothingness. “Sleek, how did you arrive without Cal? Were you not inside his core?” Fulginanis asked the moment the spirit appeared.
“I felt something pull hard on him. I tried to go too, but it just kept yanking on his core until it threw me back out,” She answered. She sounded exhausted from the effort of trying to stay with Cal.
“What do we do?” Stan’s booming voice cut through the suddenly panicked chatter.
“Albert, go tell Gus we need to route the root network mana into here. Tell Oakbert to let Fulginanis siphon every drop they need,” Ethel ordered.
“On it,” Albert ran from the room.
“I can still somewhat detect Cal’s core signature. He wasn’t pulled far off the initial path. It’s going to be close, but if we can get enough power, I can likely make contact with him again,” Fulginanis said, looking to Ethel.
“Good, that’s why I was giving it to you; take everything you need, even if it means draining me for the rest of the loop. The kid is too important to leave behind,” Ethel said. She meant it entirely. Dying now to get Cal back was a price she was entirely willing to pay.