Chapter 153
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The island had reached New Orleans swiftly, the ruined city looked abandoned by both people and hope. The only light coming from the very outskirts, from the people that either refuses to leave or belong to criminal organisations.
Fortunately for the ones that refuse to leave, with the Explorer's Guild there they're still able to earn money and a reputation. Every now and then they're hired to go to another state before coming back with the rewards.
It's quite possibly the only thing that keeps them sane.
The skyscrapers in the distance have been torn apart and collapsed in on themselves, after being abandoned for so long their structural integrity wouldn't last long. Especially with the attacks from aquatic beasts every so often. Although they don't target the buildings; when fighting against another beast the surroundings are always under threat from the damage.
"It really has been abandoned," Lachlan remarked by the edge of the island. He was standing there along with the rest of the group, Marie, Valentina, Pedro, and Elena. They looked in awe at the ruins of the city, with the sunlight hitting the building the right way they could see light beams pass through the holes.
The overgrowth began to climb the walls, the roads have cracked and ruptured along with the pathways. The riverside has basically been completely destroyed, the trees were broken in half while any houses or buildings have been smashed apart.
"Should we really set up a branch here? I know there are still people and everything but it just doesn't feel right." Phoebe was concerned about the location, Marie had informed everyone of the residents of New Orleans. Phoebe wasn't too keen on making a branch here to help feed them. And although no one else spoke up it was obvious most of them agreed.
"What are you talking about, this is exactly the place where it's best to start a business!" Marie shouted abruptly. "Although it isn't exactly a nice business strategy, with the people here already in such desperate circumstances staff would be easy to find and there would be plenty of customers wanting good food."
"That kind of feels wrong," Phoebe muttered quietly. She wasn't alone either, something just felt off about exploiting people's situation to make money. Granted, just about every big brand did it before the evolution.
"Yes, it will feel wrong but remember, you're giving them both food and money. It's a win-win situation, not to mention there would be a lot more requests for the Explorer's Guild when it comes to hunting, so you're also providing jobs," Marie explained.
"She is right," Flynn stepped into the conversation. "Not only does it provide any current Explorer's Jobs, but it also gives people that aren't strong the chance of making money by getting employed. Not to mention just helping out won't be enough, sure it'll keep them on their feet for a month or so but then they'll be back to struggling. Giving residents a means of living is a great way to help."
"Well if you put it that way I suppose it does sound good," Phoebe said as she backed off. She couldn't argue against the logic, she too knew that temporary support won't be enough. Phoebe also knew that being in the industry they need to do such things to advance steadily.
"Alright, you can all deal with that, I'm going to stay on the island and do a bit of testing," Lachlan said before taking off. The group stared at his fleeting figure, disappearing above the treeline and past the mountains.
"What's he doing?" Simon asked as he tilted his head curiously.
"Probably going to do a few tests on the gravity stones and the spatial gate; he really wants to go through and explore but he also doesn't want to put the entire island at risk of collapsing due to it," Phoebe answered.
"Fair enough, he's probably jealous of my Wildfire," Simon said proudly. "We'll go do our things and let him do his things, and since he's doing it for the sake of the island we can also help out once we've finished down in the city."
Responding with a nod they all lept off the island; Marie had to be grabbed and pulled off the island because she was too afraid to jump. Just the sight of them being so high in the air made her slightly nauseous. Chloe was the on to pull her off, carrying Marie in one arm she carried them through the air.
...
In another area on the island, Lachlan had just landed on Anne's research laboratory. If there was anyone with the most experience in conducting experiments it should be Anne. Although there was plenty of things he could do by himself he doesn't want to miss anything that could jeopardise the island.
Walking into the laboratory Lachlan saw the screens were all lit up. Anne had set up hidden cameras around the edge of the island, hidden on treetops and in bushes they were heavily hidden. She wasn't worried about any human intruders but was instead interested in the beast intruders.
There were beast limbs just about covering every inch of the lab; Anne had continued experimenting with the limbs. Seeing if there was a way to use the blood of a beast to help a human, as their blood is far stronger and superior. There were also some rather unique ones as well; a flying spider had landed on the island a few days ago yet none of them noticed. Anne had taken care of it with technology, saying that the spider was a glass canon.
Lachlan never got to see it alive so he wasn't able to determine whether or not the flying spider was a high grade or not. If that was so then it could mean many other beasts would grow wings in the future, which would make the skies slightly more unsafe.
"Hey Lachlan, what do you need from this old one." Anne was relaxing on her chair, looking at the screens that were analysing the spider's venom, she was wondering if she could make stronger anti-venoms, possibly saving humanity from the fear of venomous bites.
"I need your help with some experiments I want to try out. It shouldn't take long, only ten or so minutes if even that," Lachlan replied as he took a few steps forward and took a look at the screens. "So, have you gotten any closer in creating an anti-venom?"
'Surprisingly I actually have; that flying spider possessed a few components needed for the current anti-venom I'm working on," Anne replied with joy. She loved creating things of science, whether it be technology or cures; cause she knew they could be used to help people.
"That's great, how much longer till you think you could experiment with it?" Lachlan asked. Although he was curious as to how she would test it, they didn't have any small mouse to inject with venom or anything.
"It'll probably be another half a year before I'm able to assemble a good anti-venom; the problems with testing can be sorted out afterwards," Anne said, she knew what Lachlan was thinking about. It was also an issue she would have to deal with when the time comes.
Standing up she turned to Lachlan. "Alright, let's go do your experiments, I don't have a lot of spare time so we should hurry. And no, that is not consent for you to grab me and drag me through the skies as the speed of sound."
She was monitoring the cameras almost 24/7, she had seen the fright Lachlan gave Marie during her first time flying. Anne thought it was reckless and irresponsible; although she trusted Lachlan's abilities Lachlan wouldn't know how Marie would react to suddenly being brought into the air.
Lachlan faintly laughed. "Alright, I won't be doing that. You also have a stone of your own so go at your own pace. Granted, since you're in a rush I would suggest not going too slow."
By the time they reached the top of the staircase Lachlan had leapt off and was gone with the wind. Anne sighed as she shook her head before taking a graceful step off, she floated in the air peacefully before taking off at a moderate pace.
Unlike the others, she was quite weak, not to mention old.
By the time she reached the orphanage Lachlan was seen leaning against the cave wall, his heel tapping against the ground rapidly as his arms were crossed. When he saw Anne had finally made it over Lachlan rushed over.
"Alright, so do you know about spatial gates? Has anyone told you yet?" Lachlan asked in a rush. He was slightly hoping someone had taken the time to explain to Anne that there's a spatial gate in the cave and about the properties of the gate.
"Nope, I think I heard you all mention that name a couple of times but I have no idea what it is," Anne said as she scratched her head.
"Okay, so spatial gates are tears in space that connect to points in the universe or possibly universes. There's a spatial gate inside the cave, connecting to Aaron's world which is much larger and more dangerous than ours. Now, I want to know if gravity stones still work when someone goes through the gate," Lachlan explained very quickly and briefly to Anne.
"Alright, but you don't want to experiment yourself because you might be putting everyone's lives at great risk with the chance of the island crumbling down on the ground below," Anne added on. Lachlan nodded vigorously.
"Okay, let's begin," Anne walked into the cave, handing her gravity stone to Lachlan who was going to wait outside. Once she walked in far enough she just disappeared into the darkness, Lachlan could no longer sense her through any means.
Holding onto the stone he felt no changes to the gravity, not even the slightest. He suddenly remembered that he was still holding onto his gravity stone, the one being used to constantly nullify the island's gravity whenever he was on it.
Taking it out his pocket he gave it very specific commands, heavily limiting the stone's area of effect. Once that was done he tossed it away and the stone floated off into the distance. Although he had to bear the full force of the cave's gravity he's done it before. Not to mention now, he's a lot stronger.
Looking back at Anne's stone he still felt no difference in the gravity. He waited for a couple of minutes before Anne walked back out of the gate. "So, were there any changes?"
"Nope, none at all," Lachlan replied.
"Well, there's your answer. It seems that gates do in fact cut off your connection with the stone, I suppose we're going to have to do with another way if you really want to go back to the other side," Anne said mysteriously.
"Come on, don't hold back on me Anne and just spill it," Lachlan said impatiently.
"What if the original stone works differently from normal stones, and that more then one person can take control of the stone," Anne suggested something Lachlan hadn't even thought for a second possible.
Lachlan thought about it momentarily. "I suppose it's a feasible idea, we'll test it out now so we can be certain whether or not that theory is true or not. Do you want to be the one to try?"
"You know, you're quite the trusting one aren't you?" Anne said as she shook her head. "Although I could and it wouldn't be a bad idea since I'm always on the island. I'm not sure if the others would trust me so much, aside from the research on intelligent beasts and mutated children, I haven't done anything good for you all."
"But those very things are the reason I trust you; granted, sure you could be bad, however, it'll only take a second for us to end your life if I were, to put it bluntly," Lachlan explained coldly. "Although I don't think your bad because of how much you've helped us over the time you've been here."
"Alright, I'll give it a try," Anne said before her eyes constricted from the sudden force of something pulling her away. Lachlan had grabbed hold of her the moment she said yes, bringing her through the air at 150km/h.
A gravity stone was following close behind them the entire way, Lachlan had commanded it to do so.
When they reached the centre Lachlan quickly brought Anne to the entrance, the root, ever so slightly off the ground. And the plethora of high-grade gravity stone beneath it. Holding up his hand the gravity stone smacked right into it.
Lachlan grabbed hold of it and placed it into his pocket. He then brought Anne through the cave, until the reached the hole where the origin stone is.
Anne looked over the edge, her eyes widened at the sight of a gravity stone so large. Holding her hands just above the hole she gave herself a small cut on her index finger. The droplet of blood fell slowly before accelerating.
"Oh yeah, you need more than one droplet of blood to take control over it." Lachlan swiftly remembered that the origin worked slightly different to normal stones. Lachlan had given it quite a bit of blood.
"Don't worry I'll eventually get to it, I'm not exactly young and full of youth anymore, and I'm certainly not like your group that can heal much faster than the average human either," Anne complained at Lachlan's rushing.
Lachlan sighed before going over to the cave walls and leaning on it. He waited patiently before he heard Anne gasp, she came running over to Lachlan with eyes of joy.
"It worked! It actually worked!" Anne shouted joyfully. "And it seems to work in a ranking system, the first one to take control obviously gets the most dominant control and it goes down from there. So if you're not here it falls to my command, if we get the others to drop some blood on there then if I'm not here it'll fall to their command."
"That's some great news, some absolutely wonderful news I was wanting to here," Lachlan replied happily as he could now travel between the worlds without worry. "Now then, set your command to allow the island to fly, we'll check it out ever so slightly."
Anne nodded before they left the stone and went back to the gate. Lachlan walked through the cave, once the cave exit disappeared behind him he walked back through. Anne was standing there with her thumbs up and a wide grin. "It works."
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The island had reached New Orleans swiftly, the ruined city looked abandoned by both people and hope. The only light coming from the very outskirts, from the people that either refuses to leave or belong to criminal organisations.
Fortunately for the ones that refuse to leave, with the Explorer's Guild there they're still able to earn money and a reputation. Every now and then they're hired to go to another state before coming back with the rewards.
It's quite possibly the only thing that keeps them sane.
The skyscrapers in the distance have been torn apart and collapsed in on themselves, after being abandoned for so long their structural integrity wouldn't last long. Especially with the attacks from aquatic beasts every so often. Although they don't target the buildings; when fighting against another beast the surroundings are always under threat from the damage.
"It really has been abandoned," Lachlan remarked by the edge of the island. He was standing there along with the rest of the group, Marie, Valentina, Pedro, and Elena. They looked in awe at the ruins of the city, with the sunlight hitting the building the right way they could see light beams pass through the holes.
The overgrowth began to climb the walls, the roads have cracked and ruptured along with the pathways. The riverside has basically been completely destroyed, the trees were broken in half while any houses or buildings have been smashed apart.
"Should we really set up a branch here? I know there are still people and everything but it just doesn't feel right." Phoebe was concerned about the location, Marie had informed everyone of the residents of New Orleans. Phoebe wasn't too keen on making a branch here to help feed them. And although no one else spoke up it was obvious most of them agreed.
"What are you talking about, this is exactly the place where it's best to start a business!" Marie shouted abruptly. "Although it isn't exactly a nice business strategy, with the people here already in such desperate circumstances staff would be easy to find and there would be plenty of customers wanting good food."
"That kind of feels wrong," Phoebe muttered quietly. She wasn't alone either, something just felt off about exploiting people's situation to make money. Granted, just about every big brand did it before the evolution.
"Yes, it will feel wrong but remember, you're giving them both food and money. It's a win-win situation, not to mention there would be a lot more requests for the Explorer's Guild when it comes to hunting, so you're also providing jobs," Marie explained.
"She is right," Flynn stepped into the conversation. "Not only does it provide any current Explorer's Jobs, but it also gives people that aren't strong the chance of making money by getting employed. Not to mention just helping out won't be enough, sure it'll keep them on their feet for a month or so but then they'll be back to struggling. Giving residents a means of living is a great way to help."
"Well if you put it that way I suppose it does sound good," Phoebe said as she backed off. She couldn't argue against the logic, she too knew that temporary support won't be enough. Phoebe also knew that being in the industry they need to do such things to advance steadily.
"Alright, you can all deal with that, I'm going to stay on the island and do a bit of testing," Lachlan said before taking off. The group stared at his fleeting figure, disappearing above the treeline and past the mountains.
"What's he doing?" Simon asked as he tilted his head curiously.
"Probably going to do a few tests on the gravity stones and the spatial gate; he really wants to go through and explore but he also doesn't want to put the entire island at risk of collapsing due to it," Phoebe answered.
"Fair enough, he's probably jealous of my Wildfire," Simon said proudly. "We'll go do our things and let him do his things, and since he's doing it for the sake of the island we can also help out once we've finished down in the city."
Responding with a nod they all lept off the island; Marie had to be grabbed and pulled off the island because she was too afraid to jump. Just the sight of them being so high in the air made her slightly nauseous. Chloe was the on to pull her off, carrying Marie in one arm she carried them through the air.
...
In another area on the island, Lachlan had just landed on Anne's research laboratory. If there was anyone with the most experience in conducting experiments it should be Anne. Although there was plenty of things he could do by himself he doesn't want to miss anything that could jeopardise the island.
Walking into the laboratory Lachlan saw the screens were all lit up. Anne had set up hidden cameras around the edge of the island, hidden on treetops and in bushes they were heavily hidden. She wasn't worried about any human intruders but was instead interested in the beast intruders.
There were beast limbs just about covering every inch of the lab; Anne had continued experimenting with the limbs. Seeing if there was a way to use the blood of a beast to help a human, as their blood is far stronger and superior. There were also some rather unique ones as well; a flying spider had landed on the island a few days ago yet none of them noticed. Anne had taken care of it with technology, saying that the spider was a glass canon.
Lachlan never got to see it alive so he wasn't able to determine whether or not the flying spider was a high grade or not. If that was so then it could mean many other beasts would grow wings in the future, which would make the skies slightly more unsafe.
"Hey Lachlan, what do you need from this old one." Anne was relaxing on her chair, looking at the screens that were analysing the spider's venom, she was wondering if she could make stronger anti-venoms, possibly saving humanity from the fear of venomous bites.
"I need your help with some experiments I want to try out. It shouldn't take long, only ten or so minutes if even that," Lachlan replied as he took a few steps forward and took a look at the screens. "So, have you gotten any closer in creating an anti-venom?"
'Surprisingly I actually have; that flying spider possessed a few components needed for the current anti-venom I'm working on," Anne replied with joy. She loved creating things of science, whether it be technology or cures; cause she knew they could be used to help people.
"That's great, how much longer till you think you could experiment with it?" Lachlan asked. Although he was curious as to how she would test it, they didn't have any small mouse to inject with venom or anything.
"It'll probably be another half a year before I'm able to assemble a good anti-venom; the problems with testing can be sorted out afterwards," Anne said, she knew what Lachlan was thinking about. It was also an issue she would have to deal with when the time comes.
Standing up she turned to Lachlan. "Alright, let's go do your experiments, I don't have a lot of spare time so we should hurry. And no, that is not consent for you to grab me and drag me through the skies as the speed of sound."
She was monitoring the cameras almost 24/7, she had seen the fright Lachlan gave Marie during her first time flying. Anne thought it was reckless and irresponsible; although she trusted Lachlan's abilities Lachlan wouldn't know how Marie would react to suddenly being brought into the air.
Lachlan faintly laughed. "Alright, I won't be doing that. You also have a stone of your own so go at your own pace. Granted, since you're in a rush I would suggest not going too slow."
By the time they reached the top of the staircase Lachlan had leapt off and was gone with the wind. Anne sighed as she shook her head before taking a graceful step off, she floated in the air peacefully before taking off at a moderate pace.
Unlike the others, she was quite weak, not to mention old.
By the time she reached the orphanage Lachlan was seen leaning against the cave wall, his heel tapping against the ground rapidly as his arms were crossed. When he saw Anne had finally made it over Lachlan rushed over.
"Alright, so do you know about spatial gates? Has anyone told you yet?" Lachlan asked in a rush. He was slightly hoping someone had taken the time to explain to Anne that there's a spatial gate in the cave and about the properties of the gate.
"Nope, I think I heard you all mention that name a couple of times but I have no idea what it is," Anne said as she scratched her head.
"Okay, so spatial gates are tears in space that connect to points in the universe or possibly universes. There's a spatial gate inside the cave, connecting to Aaron's world which is much larger and more dangerous than ours. Now, I want to know if gravity stones still work when someone goes through the gate," Lachlan explained very quickly and briefly to Anne.
"Alright, but you don't want to experiment yourself because you might be putting everyone's lives at great risk with the chance of the island crumbling down on the ground below," Anne added on. Lachlan nodded vigorously.
"Okay, let's begin," Anne walked into the cave, handing her gravity stone to Lachlan who was going to wait outside. Once she walked in far enough she just disappeared into the darkness, Lachlan could no longer sense her through any means.
Holding onto the stone he felt no changes to the gravity, not even the slightest. He suddenly remembered that he was still holding onto his gravity stone, the one being used to constantly nullify the island's gravity whenever he was on it.
Taking it out his pocket he gave it very specific commands, heavily limiting the stone's area of effect. Once that was done he tossed it away and the stone floated off into the distance. Although he had to bear the full force of the cave's gravity he's done it before. Not to mention now, he's a lot stronger.
Looking back at Anne's stone he still felt no difference in the gravity. He waited for a couple of minutes before Anne walked back out of the gate. "So, were there any changes?"
"Nope, none at all," Lachlan replied.
"Well, there's your answer. It seems that gates do in fact cut off your connection with the stone, I suppose we're going to have to do with another way if you really want to go back to the other side," Anne said mysteriously.
"Come on, don't hold back on me Anne and just spill it," Lachlan said impatiently.
"What if the original stone works differently from normal stones, and that more then one person can take control of the stone," Anne suggested something Lachlan hadn't even thought for a second possible.
Lachlan thought about it momentarily. "I suppose it's a feasible idea, we'll test it out now so we can be certain whether or not that theory is true or not. Do you want to be the one to try?"
"You know, you're quite the trusting one aren't you?" Anne said as she shook her head. "Although I could and it wouldn't be a bad idea since I'm always on the island. I'm not sure if the others would trust me so much, aside from the research on intelligent beasts and mutated children, I haven't done anything good for you all."
"But those very things are the reason I trust you; granted, sure you could be bad, however, it'll only take a second for us to end your life if I were, to put it bluntly," Lachlan explained coldly. "Although I don't think your bad because of how much you've helped us over the time you've been here."
"Alright, I'll give it a try," Anne said before her eyes constricted from the sudden force of something pulling her away. Lachlan had grabbed hold of her the moment she said yes, bringing her through the air at 150km/h.
A gravity stone was following close behind them the entire way, Lachlan had commanded it to do so.
When they reached the centre Lachlan quickly brought Anne to the entrance, the root, ever so slightly off the ground. And the plethora of high-grade gravity stone beneath it. Holding up his hand the gravity stone smacked right into it.
Lachlan grabbed hold of it and placed it into his pocket. He then brought Anne through the cave, until the reached the hole where the origin stone is.
Anne looked over the edge, her eyes widened at the sight of a gravity stone so large. Holding her hands just above the hole she gave herself a small cut on her index finger. The droplet of blood fell slowly before accelerating.
"Oh yeah, you need more than one droplet of blood to take control over it." Lachlan swiftly remembered that the origin worked slightly different to normal stones. Lachlan had given it quite a bit of blood.
"Don't worry I'll eventually get to it, I'm not exactly young and full of youth anymore, and I'm certainly not like your group that can heal much faster than the average human either," Anne complained at Lachlan's rushing.
Lachlan sighed before going over to the cave walls and leaning on it. He waited patiently before he heard Anne gasp, she came running over to Lachlan with eyes of joy.
"It worked! It actually worked!" Anne shouted joyfully. "And it seems to work in a ranking system, the first one to take control obviously gets the most dominant control and it goes down from there. So if you're not here it falls to my command, if we get the others to drop some blood on there then if I'm not here it'll fall to their command."
"That's some great news, some absolutely wonderful news I was wanting to here," Lachlan replied happily as he could now travel between the worlds without worry. "Now then, set your command to allow the island to fly, we'll check it out ever so slightly."
Anne nodded before they left the stone and went back to the gate. Lachlan walked through the cave, once the cave exit disappeared behind him he walked back through. Anne was standing there with her thumbs up and a wide grin. "It works."
The island had reached New Orleans swiftly, the ruined city looked abandoned by both people and hope. The only light coming from the very outskirts, from the people that either refuses to leave or belong to criminal organisations.Fortunately for the ones that refuse to leave, with the Explorer's Guild there they're still able to earn money and a reputation. Every now and then they're hired to go to another state before coming back with the rewards.It's quite possibly the only thing that keeps them sane.The skyscrapers in the distance have been torn apart and collapsed in on themselves, after being abandoned for so long their structural integrity wouldn't last long. Especially with the attacks from aquatic beasts every so often. Although they don't target the buildings; when fighting against another beast the surroundings are always under threat from the damage."It really has been abandoned," Lachlan remarked by the edge of the island. He was standing there along with the rest of the group, Marie, Valentina, Pedro, and Elena. They looked in awe at the ruins of the city, with the sunlight hitting the building the right way they could see light beams pass through the holes.The overgrowth began to climb the walls, the roads have cracked and ruptured along with the pathways. The riverside has basically been completely destroyed, the trees were broken in half while any houses or buildings have been smashed apart."Should we really set up a branch here? I know there are still people and everything but it just doesn't feel right." Phoebe was concerned about the location, Marie had informed everyone of the residents of New Orleans. Phoebe wasn't too keen on making a branch here to help feed them. And although no one else spoke up it was obvious most of them agreed."What are you talking about, this is exactly the place where it's best to start a business!" Marie shouted abruptly. "Although it isn't exactly a nice business strategy, with the people here already in such desperate circumstances staff would be easy to find and there would be plenty of customers wanting good food.""That kind of feels wrong," Phoebe muttered quietly. She wasn't alone either, something just felt off about exploiting people's situation to make money. Granted, just about every big brand did it before the evolution."Yes, it will feel wrong but remember, you're giving them both food and money. It's a win-win situation, not to mention there would be a lot more requests for the Explorer's Guild when it comes to hunting, so you're also providing jobs," Marie explained."She is right," Flynn stepped into the conversation. "Not only does it provide any current Explorer's Jobs, but it also gives people that aren't strong the chance of making money by getting employed. Not to mention just helping out won't be enough, sure it'll keep them on their feet for a month or so but then they'll be back to struggling. Giving residents a means of living is a great way to help.""Well if you put it that way I suppose it does sound good," Phoebe said as she backed off. She couldn't argue against the logic, she too knew that temporary support won't be enough. Phoebe also knew that being in the industry they need to do such things to advance steadily."Alright, you can all deal with that, I'm going to stay on the island and do a bit of testing," Lachlan said before taking off. The group stared at his fleeting figure, disappearing above the treeline and past the mountains."What's he doing?" Simon asked as he tilted his head curiously."Probably going to do a few tests on the gravity stones and the spatial gate; he really wants to go through and explore but he also doesn't want to put the entire island at risk of collapsing due to it," Phoebe answered."Fair enough, he's probably jealous of my Wildfire," Simon said proudly. "We'll go do our things and let him do his things, and since he's doing it for the sake of the island we can also help out once we've finished down in the city."Responding with a nod they all lept off the island; Marie had to be grabbed and pulled off the island because she was too afraid to jump. Just the sight of them being so high in the air made her slightly nauseous. Chloe was the on to pull her off, carrying Marie in one arm she carried them through the air....In another area on the island, Lachlan had just landed on Anne's research laboratory. If there was anyone with the most experience in conducting experiments it should be Anne. Although there was plenty of things he could do by himself he doesn't want to miss anything that could jeopardise the island.Walking into the laboratory Lachlan saw the screens were all lit up. Anne had set up hidden cameras around the edge of the island, hidden on treetops and in bushes they were heavily hidden. She wasn't worried about any human intruders but was instead interested in the beast intruders.There were beast limbs just about covering every inch of the lab; Anne had continued experimenting with the limbs. Seeing if there was a way to use the blood of a beast to help a human, as their blood is far stronger and superior. There were also some rather unique ones as well; a flying spider had landed on the island a few days ago yet none of them noticed. Anne had taken care of it with technology, saying that the spider was a glass canon.Lachlan never got to see it alive so he wasn't able to determine whether or not the flying spider was a high grade or not. If that was so then it could mean many other beasts would grow wings in the future, which would make the skies slightly more unsafe."Hey Lachlan, what do you need from this old one." Anne was relaxing on her chair, looking at the screens that were analysing the spider's venom, she was wondering if she could make stronger anti-venoms, possibly saving humanity from the fear of venomous bites."I need your help with some experiments I want to try out. It shouldn't take long, only ten or so minutes if even that," Lachlan replied as he took a few steps forward and took a look at the screens. "So, have you gotten any closer in creating an anti-venom?"'Surprisingly I actually have; that flying spider possessed a few components needed for the current anti-venom I'm working on," Anne replied with joy. She loved creating things of science, whether it be technology or cures; cause she knew they could be used to help people."That's great, how much longer till you think you could experiment with it?" Lachlan asked. Although he was curious as to how she would test it, they didn't have any small mouse to inject with venom or anything."It'll probably be another half a year before I'm able to assemble a good anti-venom; the problems with testing can be sorted out afterwards," Anne said, she knew what Lachlan was thinking about. It was also an issue she would have to deal with when the time comes.Standing up she turned to Lachlan. "Alright, let's go do your experiments, I don't have a lot of spare time so we should hurry. And no, that is not consent for you to grab me and drag me through the skies as the speed of sound."She was monitoring the cameras almost 24/7, she had seen the fright Lachlan gave Marie during her first time flying. Anne thought it was reckless and irresponsible; although she trusted Lachlan's abilities Lachlan wouldn't know how Marie would react to suddenly being brought into the air.Lachlan faintly laughed. "Alright, I won't be doing that. You also have a stone of your own so go at your own pace. Granted, since you're in a rush I would suggest not going too slow."By the time they reached the top of the staircase Lachlan had leapt off and was gone with the wind. Anne sighed as she shook her head before taking a graceful step off, she floated in the air peacefully before taking off at a moderate pace.Unlike the others, she was quite weak, not to mention old.By the time she reached the orphanage Lachlan was seen leaning against the cave wall, his heel tapping against the ground rapidly as his arms were crossed. When he saw Anne had finally made it over Lachlan rushed over."Alright, so do you know about spatial gates? Has anyone told you yet?" Lachlan asked in a rush. He was slightly hoping someone had taken the time to explain to Anne that there's a spatial gate in the cave and about the properties of the gate."Nope, I think I heard you all mention that name a couple of times but I have no idea what it is," Anne said as she scratched her head."Okay, so spatial gates are tears in space that connect to points in the universe or possibly universes. There's a spatial gate inside the cave, connecting to Aaron's world which is much larger and more dangerous than ours. Now, I want to know if gravity stones still work when someone goes through the gate," Lachlan explained very quickly and briefly to Anne."Alright, but you don't want to experiment yourself because you might be putting everyone's lives at great risk with the chance of the island crumbling down on the ground below," Anne added on. Lachlan nodded vigorously."Okay, let's begin," Anne walked into the cave, handing her gravity stone to Lachlan who was going to wait outside. Once she walked in far enough she just disappeared into the darkness, Lachlan could no longer sense her through any means.Holding onto the stone he felt no changes to the gravity, not even the slightest. He suddenly remembered that he was still holding onto his gravity stone, the one being used to constantly nullify the island's gravity whenever he was on it.Taking it out his pocket he gave it very specific commands, heavily limiting the stone's area of effect. Once that was done he tossed it away and the stone floated off into the distance. Although he had to bear the full force of the cave's gravity he's done it before. Not to mention now, he's a lot stronger.Looking back at Anne's stone he still felt no difference in the gravity. He waited for a couple of minutes before Anne walked back out of the gate. "So, were there any changes?""Nope, none at all," Lachlan replied."Well, there's your answer. It seems that gates do in fact cut off your connection with the stone, I suppose we're going to have to do with another way if you really want to go back to the other side," Anne said mysteriously."Come on, don't hold back on me Anne and just spill it," Lachlan said impatiently."What if the original stone works differently from normal stones, and that more then one person can take control of the stone," Anne suggested something Lachlan hadn't even thought for a second possible.Lachlan thought about it momentarily. "I suppose it's a feasible idea, we'll test it out now so we can be certain whether or not that theory is true or not. Do you want to be the one to try?""You know, you're quite the trusting one aren't you?" Anne said as she shook her head. "Although I could and it wouldn't be a bad idea since I'm always on the island. I'm not sure if the others would trust me so much, aside from the research on intelligent beasts and mutated children, I haven't done anything good for you all.""But those very things are the reason I trust you; granted, sure you could be bad, however, it'll only take a second for us to end your life if I were, to put it bluntly," Lachlan explained coldly. "Although I don't think your bad because of how much you've helped us over the time you've been here.""Alright, I'll give it a try," Anne said before her eyes constricted from the sudden force of something pulling her away. Lachlan had grabbed hold of her the moment she said yes, bringing her through the air at 150km/h.A gravity stone was following close behind them the entire way, Lachlan had commanded it to do so.When they reached the centre Lachlan quickly brought Anne to the entrance, the root, ever so slightly off the ground. And the plethora of high-grade gravity stone beneath it. Holding up his hand the gravity stone smacked right into it.Lachlan grabbed hold of it and placed it into his pocket. He then brought Anne through the cave, until the reached the hole where the origin stone is.Anne looked over the edge, her eyes widened at the sight of a gravity stone so large. Holding her hands just above the hole she gave herself a small cut on her index finger. The droplet of blood fell slowly before accelerating."Oh yeah, you need more than one droplet of blood to take control over it." Lachlan swiftly remembered that the origin worked slightly different to normal stones. Lachlan had given it quite a bit of blood."Don't worry I'll eventually get to it, I'm not exactly young and full of youth anymore, and I'm certainly not like your group that can heal much faster than the average human either," Anne complained at Lachlan's rushing.Lachlan sighed before going over to the cave walls and leaning on it. He waited patiently before he heard Anne gasp, she came running over to Lachlan with eyes of joy."It worked! It actually worked!" Anne shouted joyfully. "And it seems to work in a ranking system, the first one to take control obviously gets the most dominant control and it goes down from there. So if you're not here it falls to my command, if we get the others to drop some blood on there then if I'm not here it'll fall to their command.""That's some great news, some absolutely wonderful news I was wanting to here," Lachlan replied happily as he could now travel between the worlds without worry. "Now then, set your command to allow the island to fly, we'll check it out ever so slightly."Anne nodded before they left the stone and went back to the gate. Lachlan walked through the cave, once the cave exit disappeared behind him he walked back through. Anne was standing there with her thumbs up and a wide grin. "It works."
