At first, nothing seemed to happen. There was utter and complete silence... before she started to hear the ancient hum of the technology she had just activated.

The mechanical components whirred and groaned to life as connections were made, circuits completed, and electronic orders issued.

One of the tubes started to light up, as valves opened on the bottom of it, and a light green liquid came rushing out, pooling in some areas of the floor, but mostly leaking through the numerous cracks that surrounded the thing.

Top valves opened up, and cold air was blasted out of them... before the front opened up, revealing the man inside... exactly as he had been placed in the tube.

Lack of clothes and all.

"Ngh..." the man groaned, as he ran a hand through his red and black striped hair.

"...ugh, boy do I feel groggy." he muttered, as he rubbed his eyes.

"Is it finally time, Rene?" he asked, as he yawned loudly.

Ash caught the bag, recognized the voice of his sister, and then realized he was naked in front of her.

"Ah, geez!" he exclaimed, using the bag to cover himself.

"Wait, what?" he then asked.

"What are you talking about?" he asked her, before looking around, surveying his dilapidated surroundings.

"And when did THIS place go to pot?" he muttered, sighing.

"Whatever." he mumbled, as he started to get dressed.

Ash raised an eyebrow when he heard that.

"Uh..." he stammered.

"Okaaaaay..." he said.

"So what should I call you then?" he asked her.

"Violet? Fyra? Girl? Sis?" he asked further.

"....and centuries?" he then mumbled.

"How long WAS I in there?"

Ash quickly finished getting dressed, and walked over towards his sister.

"Vic." he said.

"Okay." he commented.

"I have questions." he then said. "A LOT of them." he told her.

"But let's ask a more immediate question." he then said further.

"Why can you not go with me?" he asked her.

"What is stopping you?"

Again, Ash raised an eyebrow.

"Uhhhhhh...." he stammered. "Oooookaaaay..." he said.

"Get the feeling there's a story behind that." he commented.

"Also get the feeling that you're not going to be telling me why. At least, not right now." he said further, before looking around again.

"Ah, yes, how long WAS I in there?" he asked her.

"I was under the impression that I would miss about 10 years, maybe 15." he commented.

"But the way you speak makes it sound like I've been missing for... well, as you said before, centuries, but... how MANY centuries?" he asked.

Ash's jaw almost dropped when he heard that.

"...f...f..." he stammered, unable to form words for a moment.

"Fourty-Three-Eighty-Four!?" he then exclaimed.

"Two thousand years!?" he exclaimed further.

"Wh... I mean... h... b-but..." he stammered and stuttered further, before shaking his head and slapping himself back to some semblance of coherence.

"Holy shit." was all he said.

"This PLACE didn't go to pot, the WORLD did."

".........right." Ash muttered.

"That's... depressing." he said.

"Very, very depressing." he commented.

"But... what can -I- do?" he asked her.

"You mentioned that I was strong, but... what can that do?" he asked further.

"I doubt I can help fix the world..." he muttered, surveying the desolation.

"Manaboninations?" Ash asked.

"Oh, like Mana Abominations." he realized.

"Wait, they absorb mana?" he then asked further. "That's... terrifying." he said.

"And to overload them... like filling a crystal with mana, but giving it too much, so it can't contain it, so it shatters." he then continued.

"That... DOES make sense..." he admitted.

"Still... I don't envy you for living in this world." he mumbled.

"............never thought I'd hear that about Fyranes..." Ash muttered.

"That's scary." he said.

"This is NOT a good state of affairs..." he went on.

"But, seriously, Vick-" he started to say 'Vicki', before he caught himself. "...what are you going to be doing, and where will you be going?" he asked her.

"What have you been doing all this time? Looking for me?" he asked further.

"And if so, now that you've found me, what now?"

"....afraid of you... and hate Lindsay...?" Ash asked.

"Those are two things I thought I'd never hear." he sighed.

"Again, there's probably a story behind that." he muttered, shaking his head.

"All right, so how many people out there have strong mana?" he asked her.

"Old world mana, I guess."