[Book 3] *Birds Of A Feather* •Twisted Wonderland X Reader•

🐲Family Shroud: Part 22🐲

3rd POV
"Could it be that the time on this island has stopped....?" Ortho mutters. "Is that why I will be brought back to this place if I tried to go outside? I-Im other words... Malleus Draconia-San's magic isn't something that makes all living beings fall asleep... but it's a magic that freezes all time and space inside the area of his magic..." Ortho couldn't believe what he just discovered and realized.

"Unbelievable! I've only seen such legendary magic in history books before!" Ortho yelps in disbelief. "There are mages who can control time and space exist in real life? Isn't it just... a 'living disaster'? What should I do? I feel like we were involved in something terrible right now. I need to inform 'S.T.Y.X' as soon as possible. But how? My gear is not moving, and I can't leave the island by diving through the internet. If I'm not mistaken, my emergency magic disaster alert should have activated a moment earlier than Malleus-San's Magic. I hope 'S.T.Y.X' receives the alert..."

Ortho's slowly growing hopeless and desperate. He needs to find a way to reach S.T.Y.X and fast before something else disastrous starts.

"But, what if... What if Malleus-San's Magic doesn't only freeze time and space, but it also has the effect of harming the mind and body..." Ortho whimpers. "If they continue to sleep without taking any nutrition, their body might become weaker. I can't wait for help to come. But I can't do anything when I can't move my gears now..."

Helpless, Ortho hung his head low in defeat. He close his eyes and takes a deep breath to clear his mind from the heavy thoughts and what-ifs. Ortho realized something.

".... no, wait. Nii-San's tablet..." Ortho turns to Idia's tablet. "I remember 'S.T.Y.X' launched a satellite broadcast for trial... It should be able to connect to the communication satellites." Ortho remembers what Idia told him a while back.

"Sage's Island is a remote island, so there were some concerns regarding the broadcast communication during a disaster..." Ortho mumbles. "And Nii-San said he doesn't want to skip a daily gift of his game even if he caught up in any kind of natural disaster. That's why he security set up an antenna in the big tree behind the school."

"Let me try starting up the tablet from Nii-San's computer with the remote app... Go!" Ortho enters the tablet and opens the network. "Open the network settings... Ah!! Y-YES! IT'S CONNECTED!! The network speed is... Uhh! It's slow!" Ortho let's out a sigh. "Compared to 4G network on smartphones, the speed is only about 1/10. Nii-San said he only used it for exams so it wasn't practical, but this is way too slow! This is worse than ADSL! I have never once experienced such a slow network in my life!" Ortho huffs.

"And there are only a few communication satellites that can be used, so I can only connect to it for a few hours a day. It's barely connected now, but I don't know when it will lose connection." Ortho sighs. "This is bad... my data has expand more than before. Even if I was lucky enough to upload all the data to the communication satellites... will I be able to reach the personal gateway of 'S.T.Y.X'? What if I'm stranded in space...?" Ortho shakes his head, dismissing those thoughts.

"But... This is the only way. Right now, only a data (AI) like me could exit the magic barrier of the island through the radio waves." Ortho takes in a deep breath. "I have to go." Ortho takes a second to look back at Idia. "I'm going, Nii-San. ... To space!" And with that, Ortho's off to S.T.Y.X.

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At S.T.Y.X. Laboratory in the control room, alarms were going off. Many researchers scramble to get information of what is happening.

"At 21:18, an emergency magic disaster warning call was received from LOD area 9-40!" One of the Researchers reports. "The source ID of the signal is... Magic Humanoid ORTHO!" They pause as they re-read the signal source. "...!? What? At 21:18, the alarm stopped. Communication finished."

"Obtain the log of the blot measuring instrument in the LOD area. It seems that a large-scale magic disaster has occurred on Sage's Island." Another Researcher added.

"Immediately after the disaster occured, the log of the blot meter was interrupted. The detailed damage situation is unknown."

"Sage's Island..." Someone comes into the control room. They bear a helmet with a blue glow - quite similar to Ortho's - coveres their entire head and face.

"Director!" The Researchers gasps.

"You're back." One of them say.

"Yeah. Please check the damage caused by the disaster now." The Director says to the Researchers. The Director pulls out his phone and dialed a number.

"The number you failed is not available at this time."

"... I can't even contact Idia. Maybe he has been involved in this disaster along with Ortho." The Director mumbles, pocketing his phone again. "Contact the substation of Magical Force on Sage's Island."

"Ha! ... Director."

"What's wrong?"

"I can't contact the situation of Magical Force....!" The Researcher says to the Director.

"We also contact the police, firefighter, and even the private company of ships, but all of them were having a radio disturbance and it's impossible to communicate!" Another Researcher adds.

"What....!?" The Director is confused.

"Obtain the latest image of Sage's Island from the observation satellite! Displaying on the monitor now." The image of Sage's Island shows up on screen. Everyone gasps in horror and shock at the image.

"What is this...?" The Director mumbles. "'Something' is covering the whole of Sage's Island."

"According to the observation satellite magic optical sensor, it is expected to be a magic energy field." One of the Researchers explains.

"A highly concentrated blot reaction when a magic disaster happens, and the energy field that covers the whole island..." The Director mumbles. "Maybe the humans on the island... My son's have already..."

"Don't worry, they are definitely alive." Someone says to the Director. They wear a helmet similar to the Director's but with a pink glow.

"Chief of the Technology Department!"

"Why are you sure that Idia and the others are still alive... Chief?" The Director asks.

"This is the opinion of engineers based on the data we have been able to grasp for now... That's what I wanted to say." Chief says to the Director. "But this is a 'mother's' intuition, papa."

"... Isn't an unfounded 'intuition' the most hated by engineers?" Mr. Shroud - formerly the Director - asks.

"Intuition can be said to be an immediate calculation based on the data we collected in the past." Mrs. Shroud - formerly the Chief of the Technology Department - explains. "Being pessimistic doesn't make things better. Let's be positive." Mrs. Shroud turns to one of the Researchers. "Are you sure the emergency alert was sent from Ortho?"

"Yes, but it's completely silent after that." The Researcher nods.

"Maybe the gear is broken, or the radio waves were blocked by the energy field that covers the island... Hmm." Mrs. Shroud hums. "... Hmm. Isn't there used to be a trial communication satellite launched by 'S.T.Y.X'?"

"Huh? Y-Yes. But the current condition is far from being practical..." The Researcher stutters. "We are currently using it to collect data from the blot meter in mountainous areas where there are poor connection."

"I see. It can be used." Mrs. Shroud noted.

"What? In sorry, Chief. I don't understand..."

"Can you please send me the satellite access logs of the past 3 years to my device?"

"U-Understood."

"... I knew it! There are several traces of unauthorized access from LOD area 9-40 in the past 3 years." Mrs. Shroud mumbles as she looks at the data carefully. "You might think that you're successfully erased the traces, but you can't fool your own mom!"

To Be Continued~