Inside the strong military building, dazzling moonlight poured down, reflected from the reinforced prototype glass windows set into the ceiling, casting dim, shifting shadows across the room.
Within that hall, seven people sat amid a hostile atmosphere. Despite their tense moods, Quinn moved forward and healed each of them. No one objected to what he did.
Vorden stood up and began walking around, scanning the walls as if searching for something. Eventually, he stumbled upon the backup generators and circuit breakers. He flicked one of the switches upward.
Suddenly, the entire room—along with the hallway, entrance, and reception area—was flooded with bright light, instantly dilating everyone's pupils.
"Would you shut those big lights off, Vorden?" Quinn said, squinting. "They'll consume the power faster."
"Yeah, right," Vorden replied.
He flipped down several smaller switches. At last, the hall was lit with dim lighting—
giving good visibility without overwhelming brightness.
It would have been a cosy atmosphere to sit & enjoy but the irony was, that it was neither the right place neither the right time
Everyone sat dispersed throughout the room. Quinn and Vorden gathered to discuss the urgent issue at hand.
"So what are we going to do?" Quinn asked.
"I don't even know what time it is, but it feels like almost a day has passed. Everyone's weak right now. How are we going to survive here? Where will we find food?"
That was the most important concern. No one had eaten anything since they arrived.
"Water isn't an issue," Quinn added. "I can satisfy everyone's thirst with my water ability."
"Yeah, about that," Vorden said, pulling a packet from his pocket. "Before I came here, I knew this might happen. Logan gave me these."
He opened the packet. Inside were food pills—250 of them.
"I have two more packets. That makes about 750 pills. With seven of us, this should last nearly a hundred days."
"That's brilliant, Vorden," Quinn said. "But do you really think we can survive here that long? Can we even stay in this place for a hundred days? What happens after that? Are we going to stay here forever?"
"I guess you don't know," Vorden replied. "Red portal planets aren't abandoned shelters. Travelers and adventurers live here. Companies even hire travelers to explore these planets. So are next mission should be to locate these people."
Quinn nodded. "Then we should sleep for now. Can you give everyone their pills?"
He paused before adding, "And it would be unwise if you carried all the packets. I'll keep one. We'll open one packet at a time and distribute it evenly."
"Agreed."
Vorden tossed a packet to Quinn, then opened another and handed Quinn five pills. He moved around the room, giving each person five pills along with instructions. They would last five days, after which he would distribute more.
After that once again silence crept into the atmosphere.
Amy and Sarah sat together, heads resting one on the other as they slept.
Erin sat alone, lost in her own thoughts.
The boys rested separately, exhaustion pulling them into sleep.
Vorden wandered through the building, inspecting the interior and familiarizing himself with the structure.
While, Quinn sat cross-legged on the floor.
As he calmed himself, he closed his eyes and began meditating.
That familiar feeling returned.
It had been a couple of months since he started, and the ball of energy within him had grown—from the size of a small ping-pong ball to that of a large football. Another thing he had noticed was that since his new race transformation, his Qi reserves had increased significantly.
This time Quinn focused on moving the energy from the center of his abdomen towards upward. To his disappointment, nothing happened at first. Ten to fifteen minutes passed. He felt strain building, but he remembered what Sergeant Leo had told him—this would take time.
He pushed away the distracting thoughts flooding his mind and focused deeply.
Time slipped by without him noticing.
Then he felt it—the energy moving upward. Slowly at first, then faster. It spread across the surface of his body, flowing into his chest, arms, and hands. His skin tightened slightly as a warm sensation spread.
Though his eyes were closed, he could see it.
Golden-white light coursed through his body, tinged with red and concentrated around his chest. Witnessing the different energies was a wonderful experience, and without realizing it, Quinn automatically activated his passive ability—Dragon Eyes.
Finally, Quinn opened his eyes. A strange, unfamiliar peace filled him, even in this troubling place. That was when he realized everyone else was asleep.
He was the only one awake.
Quinn lay down on the floor. His eyelids closed almost immediately, and he drifted into a deep sleep.