The workshop fell silent except for Vex's portal apparatus humming with mechanical hunger. Each man absorbed the scope of their enemy's patience and preparation, realizing they had been several moves behind throughout the entire crisis.
"There's more," Colonel Hestian muttered. "The guild contracts specify bonus payments for detailed after-action reports. We've been paying premiums for the intelligence our enemies harvest."
Principal Whitmore laughed, a broken sound without warmth. "We're funding our own destruction while they steal our future." He stared at the portal apparatus with fresh desperation. "Master Vex, how long before this intelligence gathering operation becomes invasion?"
"If all students die while the dimensional connection bleeds energy, the white rift will become permanent," Vex explained, his hands moving automatically over calculations. "Based on dimensional resonance theory, we have maybe three days before the threshold consumes us."
