“Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey.”

  “Wha…what is going on?”

  “That's it, open your eyes, princess.”

  “Whose there?”

  “You’ve hurt my feelings. It’s me, your old buddy, Marvin!”

  “How did you get in my room?”

  “It looks like Aleck shook your brains loose. Don’t you remember anything from last night? I told you to be careful.”

  “I remember hitting him and celebrating….then everything went black.”

  “Exactly. It went black because he knocked you out. You slept on the cold floor all night. Look here, I took a picture.”

  Marvin held up a picture: Chris sprawled on the ground with a trail of spit escaping his mouth. Chris snatched it from Marvin’s bony hand and tore it to shreds.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve made several copies.” Marvin grinned.

  “Then I hope you’ll keep it between us.”

  “Relax. It goes in my ‘fools who didn’t listen to me’ collection. It’s a big one.”

  'His antics are going to drive me insane.'

  “What would I do without you?”

  “I know, right? Without me, you’d have missed your first mission. You were still out cold when I found you.”

  Chris finally realized that he had slept too much and was going to be late. He scrambled to his feet and wanted to leave, but Marvin grabbed him by the collar.

  “Why did you stop me? You said that I’m late?”

  “Hold it. I said you would’ve been late if I hadn’t woken you. And for the record, you stink.”

  He sniffed his armpit.

  'Ugh… he’s right.'

  “How much time do I have left?”

  “Enough to give your body a good scrub.”

  Chris took an hour-long shower and went to his room to change into his suit, then Marvin took him to the portal room to meet with Muzga. Muzga shook his hand, this time mindful of his strength.

  “Glad to see you, kid. Ready to jump into the fray?”

  “As ready as I can be.”

  “Good. Take this.” He took out a futuristic watch and handed it to Chris. “Your bread and butter. You can contact us with it, and it has a tracker for finding your target.”

  “So basically James Bond’s watch? That’s awesome!” Chris’s eyes lit up.

  “James… who?”

  “He is a spy from a series of movies that….”

  “Spare him, kid. If you start, he’ll pester me with questions until you get back.” Marvin cut in.

  “Why did you stop him? It sounded interesting.” Muzga frowned.

  “See what I mean?” Marvin muttered. “Now he’ll bother me with questions until you get back.”

  Chris buckled on the watch, still grinning.

  “When I get back, we’ll binge the movies starting with ‘Dr. No.’ Then ‘Indiana Jones’, ‘Star Wars’ and all the others.”

  “I’ll wait for your triumphant return, kid.” Muzga was fidgeting from impatience.

  “Can we get back to the mission already?!” Marvin snapped.

  “You’re right.” Muzga handed Chris a small box.

  Inside were four healing potions, two green vials, and supplies to treat his wounds.

  “What are these?” Chris held up a vial.

  “Antidotes. Those potions will help you get rid of poisons, but be mindful that it is not a miracle that can heal all the poisons. No potion can do that.”

  “Got it.”

  The box disappeared from Chris’s hands, leaving Muzga speechless. Marvin patted him on his shoulder:

  “Forgot to mention, he can do that.”

  “What was that?” He was still amazed.

  “Yeah, it’s part of my ability. I have an inventory where I can keep my stuff.”

  “An invento, what?” Muzga was confused.

  “It’s like a separate space where I can put and take out my stuff.”

  “You are full of surprises. What you described is similar to the subspace that most powerful mages can create.”

  Then he patted Chris’s back too hard, knocking him flat.

  “Sorry, I got too excited.”

  Behind him, a purple light flared as the portal formed.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  “The portal is beginning to manifest; it’ll take some time to stabilize, then you can jump into it.”

  After five minutes, the portal stabilized, and it began resembling a tunnel.

  “That’s your cue, kid. If you are ready, just jump into him and let it guide you.”

  “I’ve got everything in my inventory. I’ll see you soon.”

  Chris looked back, waiting for someone else to come and wish him good luck, but he was disappointed as there was no one.

  “Chin up and get your head back in the game, Chris.” Marvin waved at him. “Good luck, and try to get a good look at the landscape. I heard it is breathtaking.” His bones rattled as he laughed.

  It seemed that it was what Chris needed at that moment. He mustered up his courage and pushed forward. The portal absorbed him and took him down the tunnel.

  'It feels like I'm going down a water slide.'

  The tunnel was dark; the only light he had was coming from his watch. Then something strange happened: a status window appeared in front of him.

  -Caution: outside interference detected-

  Chris squinted at the glowing text.

  'What is going on?'

  -System warning: dangerous anomaly detected. Too risky to continue.-

  -Would you like to activate the safety protocol?-

  'What are you talking about?'

  -No response detected. Activating safety protocol automatically.-

  'Wait! Wait! What are you doing? Stop it!'

  -The host should prepare for the activation; it is recommended to put everything in your inventory-

  Chris shoved the watch inside just as the tunnel shook violently. A suffocating presence loomed over him, watching.

  -Detecting a dangerous anomaly, the system will rush the activation of the protocol-

  Chris felt a sharp pain in his chest, and then he began losing his consciousness. Around him, the tunnel began collapsing, and he could hear a harrowing voice that was repeating the same phrase:

  “FOUND YOU! FOUND YOU! …. FOUND YOU!”

  The voice was ravaging his head as he felt it as if it was trying to get into his mind. Blood trickled from his eyes and mouth. The pressure threatened to rip him apart.

  -Host vitals are in critical condition. Beginning separation-

  'This paint won’t stop. Am I going to die?'

  - -Safety protocol engaged successfully.-

  The last thing he heard was the voice’s enraged scream:

  “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

  -– Unknown Time, Unknown Place–

  Chris gasped awake. Every breath felt like a knife in his ribs. His vision was blurry, but he could distinguish the familiar blue color of the status window. He tried to read it, but the pain made him lose his conscience again.

  He woke up again, and he could breathe now. Then he saw the blue pop-ups and began reading them all.

  From them, he understood that his body was in critical condition and, as he couldn't think clearly because of the pain, the system took action and used a health potion to save his life.

  'Thank you for saving my skin.'

  To his surprise, the system replied:

  - The system acted to preserve host life.-

  'You can talk to me?'

  -Answer: as the system had to take multiple actions without the host's permission, the system upgraded itself to improve autonomy-

  'Ok, but can you do something about your mechanical talk?'

  --Analyzing request. Answer: It will take some time. Reboot required. Estimated downtime: three hours. Proceed?-

  'Yeah, sure, do it.'

  --Understood, beginning update. Until the update finishes, the system will be nonfunctional.-

  - Warning: The host should remove necessary items before reboot. Countdown: ten seconds-

  Chris took out in a hurry the watch, some rations, and a sword that he hung around his hips. The system blinked out. Now he could only see a three-hour timer counting down. He put the watch on his hand and activated it.

  “Muzga? Marvin? You there? I had some trouble with the portal.”

  Only static. He couldn’t get in contact with them, and his tracker didn’t work.

  'Now I’m stuck, who knows where, and can’t get help from the office. That’s perfect. What can I do now? I should wait for the system to boot back.'

  But then a headache came, sharp and insistent. A voice whispered in his mind:

  “You are in danger; come to me. Quickly, before they find you again.”

  He tried to fight it, but the headache began getting stronger as he fought back. For a time, he resisted, but the pain was too much and he had to give in.

  “Ok! Ok, I’ll come!”

  Instantly, the pain stopped. He staggered upright and began walking, pulled forward by the invisible call.

  Chris didn’t realize as he left the safety of his hideout that something was different.

  –Back at the office–

  “Did you know about this movie ‘Iron Man’? It sounds interesting. We should watch it later.”

  “Please, spare me. Wait for Chris to come back, you can watch movies with him all you want.” Marvin groaned.

  Marvin tried to cover his ears, but remembered that he is a magical construct made of bones that doesn’t have ears. He had to wait for Muzga to stop talking, but he got lucky as he was saved by a new voice.

  “Did Chris depart on his mission?” Arwenwel stepped into the room.

  “As you can see, everything went smoothly.”

  Marvin gestured toward the swirling purple portal. Then misfortune struck, and the portal began to destabilize.

  “What is going on?!” Marvin barked.

  “I don’t know.” Muzga gritted his teeth, straining to stabilize it. “Something happened in the tunnel; it’s going to close.”

  “We have to get Chris back before it shuts down.” Marvin’s bones rattled with panic.

  Arwenwel sprinted toward the portal, but an explosion threw her back. She would have been crushed had a shield not manifested in front of her. The caster was Saddar, cradling an unconscious body in his arms; it was Chris.

  “Chris, are you alright!” Arwenwel began sobbing. “What happened, Chris?” She shook him, but there was no response.

  “He’s badly injured,” Saddar said grimly. “I have to get him to the medical ward.”

  With a flash, he teleported. Arwenwel and Marvin went to find them, and Muzga remained in the damaged room to find out what went wrong.

  Arwenwel ran around with Marvin on her tail to find where Chris was. They found Saddar outside an emergency room.

  “Sir, how is he?” they asked together, their voices full with concern.

  “We stabilized his body with potions. But…” Saddar’s face darkened. “The bigger problem is that his soul is missing.”

  Arwenwel fell on her knees, and the color in her eyes faded away. Marvin reached for her, but Saddar snapped his fingers, easing her into enchanted sleep.

  “Take her to her room. Tell no one. Until we learn more, this stays between us.”

  “I understood, sir. My mouth will be shut.” He made a motion of locking his mouth with a lock.

  He carried Arwenwel away in his bony arms. Saddar went to Chris’s bedside, lowering himself into a chair. He took Chris’s limp hand in his own and whispered:

  “Oh, Chris. I hoped they wouldn’t find you so soon. Prove me right. Don’t make me regret choosing you.”