"What will you need?" Jenius said.

"Just your orb again," Sedriil answered, holding out his hand. "It shouldn't take long."

Jenius relinquished his orb once more, and Sedriil connected himself to the Orb Network. A minute passed … Two minutes passed … Three … Sedriil's expression transformed from placid to a grimace as the time passed. Sweat began to bead at his brow, and his grip tightened upon the orb. Even though they were supposed to be indestructible, Jenius started to worry that the android's strength might actually be enough to break it.

Sedriil's eyes suddenly flew open, and his grip upon the orb loosened. Had it not been suspended in the air by its own magic, it would have fallen directly upon his foot.

"Brother …?" Skori said tentatively.

"Did you find her?" Noroa added.

"No," Sedriil said, a bewildered expression slowly developing upon his face.

"What do you mean, 'no'?" Skori asked.

"No means no," Sedriil replied, at last turning to look upon his brother. "I couldn't find her. The system kept telling me that the number was not found."

"Maybe you just didn't make the search wide enough," Noroa said, standing up, and approaching Sedriil's side. Even Alaema had broken from her dismal sulking at this news. "Or maybe she gave you the wrong codec number."

"I tried a countywide, citywide, regional, and then worldwide search," Sedriil said, shaking his head, as if warding off the impossibility of it all. "I did them each three times just to make certain. But each time, the results were the same: number not found. And yes, sister, before you ask, I cross-referenced the number with the archives. It wasn't recent, but her name is listed. It's … as if she fell off the face of the planet." He hiccupped a growing sob back down into his stomach. "But that's just impossible, I tell you. It's just … illogical!"

"Meri …" Alaema muttered, backing away. "No …"

"Wait; it's probably not as illogical as you think," Tescadji said abruptly in the midst of the collected mindset of confusion. "She was with that Aldrec chap, right? Perhaps he has her under some magical protection?"

"The codec search grid was designed to be able to penetrate all known technological and magical barriers," Sedriil said. "There's not a known spell that could cloak anyone from it."

"That may be right," Tescadji said, rolling up the sleeve on his white shirt, revealing the complex array of runes tattooed upon his forearm, "but with unknown spell variants, it's fair game." He then stood beside Skori, and held his arm across his chest. A series of the runes upon his arm began to come alive, glowing white-hot.




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