A sleeping Jasper finds himself back in his reoccurring dream as he floats in the familiar pearlescent space. He nervously scans the area in front of him, but the dark figure from before is nowhere in sight. He wonders where it's gone and starts to inspect the area surrounding him. His anxiety grows as he looks around and is unable to locate the figure. After scanning either side of him, he reluctantly turns around to check behind him.
Jasper's heart sinks as he turns around and sees the figure floating directly behind him within arm's reach. It has the figure of a small woman with long hair, but its entire body is jet black like a shadow. He tries to move away in panic, but like the dreams before, he is unable to. After desperately flailing around for a few moments, Jasper notices the figure hasn't moved and slowly regains his composure.
"Who are you?" Jasper tries to ask, but the words don't come out.
While Jasper tries to think of a way to communicate, the figure starts slowly raising one of their arms. Jasper's heart skips a beat, but he senses no hostility in the figure's movement and manages to remain calm. After a few moments, the figure fully stretches out its arm with its palm facing up as if it's reaching out for Jasper's hand. Although he knows nothing about them, Jasper feels a strange sense of familiarity as the figure reaches out to him. Almost instinctually, Jasper starts to reach out to them as well.
As his hand gets closer to the figure's, sparks of iridescent energy begin to arc between their fingers. Jasper quickly pulls his hand back before noticing it didn't hurt. The figure remains still with their hand outstretched, and Jasper decides to try reaching out again. The iridescent sparks arc between their fingers again, but this time Jasper doesn't hesitate, and the closer his hand gets to the figure's, the more intense the sparks become.
Jasper stops his hand just before it touches the figure's and watches the iridescent energy bounce between them. After a few moments, he reaches a little further, and the tips of their fingers touch. There is a blinding flash of light as their hands meet, and Jasper feels a surge of power coarse through his body. The intense sensation causes him to wake up, and a stream of iridescent lightning shoots out from his fingertips. The energy hits his hoverboard, causing it to sputter to life and thrust the various tools scattered around his desk onto the floor.
What the hell was that, Jasper thinks to himself as he examines his fingers for a few moments before noticing that his hoverboard is still powered on, hovering a few inches above his desk. He leans toward the hoverboard and pushes down on it slightly with his hands, but the board doesn't budge as its hover engines push harder against the desk to support the added weight.
Jasper's face lights up with excitement, "No way..." he mutters as he realizes the hoverboard seems to be working now. He presses a button near the back of the hoverboard and powers it down, but as he goes to see if the board will power back up, he glances at the digital clock above his door.
"Shit..." Jasper mutters to himself as he reads the clock, "8:18 AM".
Without a second thought, he quickly grabs his phone and hoverboard from the desk and slips on his Cronus-branded sneakers before running out of his room. He sprints through the waypoint toward Sebastian's office, trying his best to keep the clunky hoverboard tucked firmly underneath his arm as he runs.
After a few minutes, he eventually reaches the correct floor, and Sebastian's office comes into view. As Jasper approaches, he notices Ainsley leaning over the walkway railing just outside the office and freezes up. He looks at himself in a window nearby and realizes his hair is a mess and he's wearing the same clothes as the day before. A wave of embarrassment washes over him, and he slowly starts to creep toward Sebastian's office.
Jasper manages to sneak up to the office door, but as he peers inside, he notices Sebastian isn't there. Before he can sneak away, Ainsley looks back and notices him creeping around.
"Whatcha doin'? Ainsley asks as she watches Jasper tiptoe down the hall.
Jasper freezes up again before slowly turning around, "Oh, um, I was supposed to meet Sebastian here for my first mission, but he isn't here, so...".
"He had to take care of something, but don't worry, I'll be filling in for him," Ainsley interrupts.
Jasper's heart drops, "Oh... ok," he mumbles nervously.
Ainsley notices Jasper's tired look, "Did you sleep last night?" she questions.
"Um... sort of," Jasper says as his dream starts to replay in his mind.
"Did you get it working at least?" Ainsley asks, but Jasper ignores her as his mind wanders.
Ainsley leans forward and snaps her fingers in Jasper's face, "Hello?"
Jasper snaps back to reality, "Wait, what?" he asks.
Ainsley looks worriedly at him and points to his side, "Your hoverboard, did you manage to fix it?"
"Oh, yeah, or at least I think so," Jasper replies.
"You know, if you're not feeling up to it, we can just do this tomorrow. You should get some proper rest," Ainsley tells Jasper.
Jasper forces a smile, "I'm fine, really, I just haven't had time to fully wake up since I was running late," he reassures Ainsley, not so convincingly.
Ainsley continues to look worriedly at him, "Alright, let's go I guess."
The two of them walk through the waypoint until they reach the armory on the first floor.
"I'll meet you out here whenever you're ready. Take your time, and again, if you aren't feeling up to it, we can always do this another time." Ainsley tells Jasper.
Jasper forces another smile, "For sure, see ya in a bit," he says before entering the male side of the armory.
Ainsley concerningly watches him disappear before heading inside the female side of the armory.
Inside the armory, Jasper makes his way over to his locker. He leans his hoverboard against the bench in the middle of the aisle and presses his thumb onto a small scanner near the handle of his locker, but before he can open it, the searing pain starts to resonate through his head again as he remembers the last time he was here.
Jasper stumbles backward and sits down on the bench while he tries his best to endure the pain. Although it is just as intense as it was in the past, he is now somewhat used to it and manages to keep himself together. After a few moments, the pain fades away along with his memory.
He takes a second to catch his breath before standing up and opening his locker. Inside the locker, his rifle is mounted on one of the side walls, his suit hangs in the middle, and his boots and collar rest on the bottom. Jasper takes his time gearing up as he tries his best not to think about his last mission. After a few minutes, he finishes getting ready and grabs his hoverboard before leaving the armory.
As he walks out, he notices Ainsley leaning against a wall nearby. This is the first time he's seen her in an agent suit, and he can't help but notice her unusually curvy figure again. Before he can get her attention, Ainsley looks over and notices Jasper.
"You ready?" she asks as she walks toward him.
Jasper quickly looks away in embarrassment, "Um, yeah, I think so," he replies.
Ainsley notices Jasper blushing, but decides not to tease him about it, "Cool, let's go."
The two of them walk through the waypoint's main floor toward the heavily guarded fracture in the middle. As Jasper walks alongside Ainsley, he notices she isn't carrying anything with her.
"Where's your weapon?" Jasper asks curiously.
Ainsley looks at him with a cheeky grin, "I don't carry one," she tells him.
Jasper looks curiously at her, "Isn't that like, super dangerous?"
"I didn't say I don't use a weapon, I just don't carry one," Ainsley giggles.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Jasper questions.
Ainsley skips ahead of him as they approach the fracture, "You'll see," she replies.
Jasper worriedly watches an unarmed Ainsley walk toward the fracture and can't help but think she must be playing some kind of sick joke as he remembers how dangerous it is on the other side.
Ainsley senses his anxiety, "Last chance, are you sure you're ready to go back?" she asks.
Jasper averts his gaze, "I doubt I'll ever really be ready, but Sebastian didn't make it sound like I have much of a choice, so I'd rather just get it over with," he replies nervously.
"Don't worry, we won't be going too far from the waypoint today, and if we do run into trouble, I'll have you know, I'm pretty strong," Ainsley says with a wink.
Jasper looks at her skeptically, "If you say so."
"See you on the other side," Ainsley says before stepping into the fracture.
As Jasper watches Ainsley disappear, he remembers Delaney saying the same thing and braces himself for the searing pain he is sure will follow. However, this time, the pain doesn't appear. Jasper sighs, but not in relief, as he was looking for any excuse not to return to Latent Space. Having already agreed to go and not wanting to worry Ainsley any more than he already has, he reluctantly steps into the fracture.
The fracture pulls him inside as the space around him morphs into a tunnel of spiraling, iridescent energy. A powerful surge of energy, like the one he felt in his dream, pulses through his body, and his eyes radiate iridescent light. As he flies through the tunnel, the surge of power causes his body to shudder, and he loses his grip on the hoverboard. He tries his best to control himself, but the sensation is too overwhelming.
After a few moments, the fracture spits him out into latent space, and unable to control himself, Jasper lands face-first on the hard metal platform underneath the fracture with his hoverboard landing nearby. As the sensation fades, he manages to stand up and looks around for Ainsley.
Jasper notices she isn't in the immediate vicinity and starts to panic. He scans the surrounding area before finding her standing on the edge of a cliff in the distance.
"Hey! Shouldn't we stick together?!" Jasper yells out to her, but Ainsley doesn't respond as she continues to look out over the cliff.
Jasper picks up his hoverboard and starts quickly walking toward her, "Ainsley! This isn't funny ya know!" he yells again.
Ainsley continues to ignore him, and Jasper's brisk walk turns into a jog.
"Seriously?! Is this some kind of game to you?!" Jasper yells as he jogs toward her.
As Jasper waits for a response, Ainsley leans forward and dives off the side of the cliff.
Jasper drops his hoverboard, and his jog turns into a full sprint, "What the fuck?!"
As Jasper approaches the ledge to look over, a colorful streak of light erupts from beneath the cliff, followed by a powerful gust of wind that knocks Jasper over. He starts to panic and reaches for his rifle while he tries his best to track the incredibly fast object as it darts around the various floating rock formations surrounding the fracture. Before he can lock on to the target, it lands directly in front of him and shakes the ground with its impact.
Jasper sits in shock as the dust around him settles and reveals a massive entity. Roughly the size of a bus, it has a long torso with four muscular limbs protruding from its lower sides, and a pair of fleshy wings connected to the backside of its two front limbs. A series of razor-sharp claws dig into the ground as its large feet grip the rocky terrain. A long tail swings back and forth while the creature stares at Jasper with its vibrant, reptile-like eyes. Its massive head is covered in small spikes, and its jaw is littered with dozens of razor-sharp teeth. The creature's entire body is covered in colorful, shimmering scales, and it has a few patches of similarly colored feathers sticking out from its tail, limb joints, and head.
After a few moments, Jasper regains his composure and readies his rifle again, but just before he pulls the trigger, he hears a familiar giggle coming from the creature's back.