Bodal was extremely annoyed when Tom told him that he wasn't allowed to assist him with his device. On the other hand he was also a bit relieved. For the past three hours Tom would look over his shoulder and say 'nope' in his ear. No explanation of what was wrong or how to fix it, just 'nope'. It was the most frustrating thing Bodal had ever had to listen to. Bodal didn't care if Tom ever spoke to him again, but if he said 'nope' another time he was going to snap. With a frustrated sigh, Bodal still not wanting to let on that Tom had been able to get on his nerves, he sent the boy to finish inventory. Once he did that and moved the last of the crates upstairs he was free to go to his party.

"Bodal." A stern voice called out.

The little green creature jumped as Maxxor crossed the testing grounds to meet him. The noble forced a smile trying to seem confident.

"Ah Maxxor. Come to see my invention?"

"Not just yet. I was actually hoping to speak with Thomas first." He replied. "Have you seen him?"

"Probably in the back finishing inventory. He's been nothing but a pest all day." Bodal huffed, a tone of annoyance in his voice.

"He hasn't been helping you anymore has he?"

"No, if he had been I never would have finished."

Bodal turned to the large hunk of metal behind him and picked up the metal bracelets from the table.

"Now if I'm correct this machine will be able to transport me across the room and back. If it works I'll simplify it so it can fit inside the gauntlets. That way it would provide more movements than the telebracers and be easier to work. You see this device uses brain waves to select the location. All you do is think and then confirm the location on the right gauntlet." Bodal rambled.

"That's all well and good, but I still like to speak with Thomas first."

"Oh he'll be along in a minute." Bodal took Tom's scanner out of his pocket and showed it to him. "I don't like the idea of him scanning what he pleases and then running off so I keep his scanner until he's finished. He'll be here to get it in a few minutes."

"Bodal…"

"Just one demonstration. I'm confident it will work this time."

Maxxor groaned. He was not going anyway until Bodal's experiment blew up in face. So with a wave he told Bodal to get on with it. The little inventor immediately jumped on the opportunity and began to flip a thousand switches on his machine.

With a mechanical buzz the battle gear came to life. Bodal smiled crossing the gauntlets across his chest.

"Now watch carefully."

"I am." Maxxor said tiredly.

Closing his eyes Bodal was wrapped in a ball of energy and lifted off the floor. Maxxor watched, waiting for him to vanish and appear on the other side of the room. He was almost impressed when Bodal became translucent, but then suddenly everything shifted. The machine screamed out with a metallic cry that caused Maxxor to cover his ears. Immediately loosing his concentration Bodal did the same and fell to the floor, now solid again. Getting up he rushed to the machine and fought to shut it down.

"It's not supposed to do that!" He yelled over the miniature explosions within the machine.

Maxxor glared at Bodal as the room finally fell silent and smoke poured out of the machine. He had half a mind to chew him out for wasting his time and resources. His rage was quickly turned to confusion as he noticed something odd. Bodal's pocket was glowing. Following Maxxor's line of sight he pulled out Tom's scanner and saw that the screen was flashing and ominous red, the chaotic eye on the back glowed with the fiery color.

"That can't be good." Bodal said to himself.

"B-Bodal…"

The weak voice caused the two creatures to look up. Tom came stumbling into the room. Out of nowhere the boy's form appeared to 'jump', the way electricity did when it was drawn towards a magnet. It looked extremely painful. This was a fact that was only confirmed by the tears running down Tom's face.

"Thomas?" Maxxor question hesitantly.

Tom didn't respond. He just stood there shaking with his eyes locked on the floor. He had furled up inside the thick jacket that had appear around his shoulders and curled a bag close to him, one Bodal had never seen before. Bodal took a step back in shock as Tom's shape was stretched and returned two more times, momentarily turning him blue. The boy's scanner lay on the floor where Bodal had dropped it with the screen flashing bright red.

"Please…So…Cold…" Tom whimpered as the static jolts finally settled.

The boy became complete and stopped shaking so fiercely. Maxxor thought for a moment Tom might look up at him, but was sadly disappointed when the boy only crumpled to the floor. He dove catching the child before his head could hit the stone floor and harmed himself. Holding the unconscious child in his arm felt something inside suddenly snapped. He screamed at Bodal.

"What did you do?!"

Bodal quivered fearful. His mouth moved, but only nonsense came out as he honestly hadn't the slightest idea. This only made Maxxor's anger grow.

"Get Najarin now!"

With a yelp Bodal ran off with a speed that would put Gespedan to shame. Tom was left behind holding the chaotic player in his arms. There was a faint pulse on his neck, but he still felt extremely cold.

"Don't worry Tom, I'm here." He promised. "Just hold on."

He took the pedant out and helped Tom to hold it in his hand.

"Just hold on."

Two hours later...

Najarin had seen many things and healed many creatures in his time. However humans were not the same as creatures. Looking into Tom's mind he could find nothing wrong with him and there were no psychical wounds to heal. The best he could do was comfort Maxxor who sat by the boy's bedside.

"It is possible to use mugic to heal him, but not knowing what is wrong with him I do not know how it could affect him." Najarin said solemnly.

"I understand, is there anything we can do for him?"

"Only time will tell."

Najarin looked to the scanner that was set upside down on a side table. A half hour ago it had been blinking as if to give some sort of warning. Now it was blank; the screen was dark and it looked no different than it normally did.

"We should find another chaotic player. Perhaps they can enlighten us on what the flashing light meant."

"It's no use. They're all at some celebration." Maxxor explained holding his head in his hands. "There's no telling when we could happen upon one."

"It was a distress signal." A calm voice said.

The two looked up to see a masked figure dressed in a white robe facing them. In one hand he held a silver scanner in the shape of a triangle. Pushing a button upon the device a floating ball materialized. It floated over to Tom and cast a net made of blue light over him.

"Something caught his scanner signal causing a malfunction."

"Who are you?" Najarin asked, cautious of their guest.

"Codemaster Crellun. I apologize for the intrusion but Thomas is one of my subordinates and I had to ensure he was safe. If I had not been distracted I would have come a lot sooner."

"So you're one of the Codemasters Tom has told me about." Maxxor said arising from his seat. "Do you know if Tom will be alright."

"I'll know soon enough. But I already have some concerns. Interfering with a scanner's signal has dangerous effects. Brain damage, heart attack, assuming the heart doesn't explode all together..."

"Eh hem." Najarin said trying to make the human stop with his depressing rant. "How exactly does this signal affect a chaotic player."

Crellun's scanner beep and he held up a finger asking for a moment. Pressing another button the robot's light changed from blue to green. Seeing the process begin he continued to speak.

"Well chaotic players aren't real. We represent real people, but…oh how do I say this…There are two copies of the same person. One is physical but the other part is mental. When a human becomes a chaotic player these two halves are divided. The physical half remains behind our world working, going about their day, so on and so on. The mental half however is turned into code and is projected into your world. They store memories and bring them back to earth when they port out."

"I don't understand than how do we feel humans? If they're just…"

"Illusions?" Crellun finished. "That's were a scanner comes in. The signal it receives from the physical scanner back home creates a temporary barrier that allows the chaotic players to feel this world and temporarily become a part of it. Nothing can really hurt a chaotic player except near death injuries and death. These immediate affect their signal which can have lasting effects. Breaking the signal thus can be devastating."

The robot let out a loud honk-like screech as the net suddenly turned red. Crellun looked do at his scanner and began to shift through data trying to confirm the information the robot was giving him.

"Uh oh…That is not good, that is really not good."

"What's wrong?" Maxxor demanded instantly.

He looked down at Tom. Nothing seem to be wrong. Despite the annoying robot bleeping right next to his ear the boy was sleeping peacefully.

"The signal has inversed. Instead of transmitting data for storage the past few hours it's been receiving." He said panicked. "I have to speak with the others about this immediately. I'll need to take him."

He moved toward the bed, but Najarin stepped in his path.

"Tom is in no condition to be moved. Now what exactly do you mean by transmitting?"

"Instead of sending the mental half back home its been channeling him here. I.E Major Tom has become a part of Perim. He'll be alright in theory but… We've never had this happen before."

"Tom's condition is too critical for him to be teleported anywhere. It could end up making him worse." Maxxor said standing protectively over Tom. "But if you would allow me, he can remain under my care until you discuss this with your council."

Crellun looked down at the boy for a moment.

"If something happens to him before I return, you understand that you will be held accountable?"

"I accept those terms." Maxxor said boldly.

The Codemaster clicked his fingers and the robot returned to his side. Entering a short code on his scanner the robot shot a beam of light into Crellun's hand. A small bag appeared there and he presented it to Maxxor.

"If he doesn't wake after an hour you need to force him. Having him take two of the pills from this in the green bottle when he wakes. He'll be tired but he needs to stay up for at least half an hour. After that he can go back to sleep. This meeting will several hours so at the latest I'll be back at dawn. Until then keep him away from high places and if he starts to fell dizzy have him sit until it passes."

"I thought you said this has never happened before?" Najarin asked.

"Let me rephrase, a possibly permanent separation has never occurred where the player has survived. There's a two week time window so I'll work as fast as I can. Keep him inside and out of trouble."

Those were the last words the humans said to him before disappearing. Najarin looked to Maxxor who was looking at the bag with despair.

"He was very blunt wasn't he?" Maxxor said in a half hearted tone.

"We must step into the dark with confidence, for if we go fearfully then we are already lost." Najarin said wisely. "Thomas is strong and has done what seemed impossible countless times."

Maxxor smiled at his friend feeling reassured. His heart was only lifted higher as a groan came from behind them. Immediately Maxxor was at Tom's side. They had a lot to talk about.