Test of Character XXXVII

The people, the sound, it all didn't matter to her anymore. She left the tent. The determination kept her straight. She had to find the others… Richard stood outside, holding a torch. It was still earthly dark. She could see several other groups of people with torches, but further there was nothing.
'Symmetry…' He looked worried.
'Richard. I… who are we fighting?' He lit another torch and handed it to her.
'Here. You won't find anything without one… The Technician has arrived. The troops are gathering to face him.'
'I'll come with you.' Richard looked inquiring at her.
'Are you sure? You haven't trained for this… Do you even know what Technical Manipulation is?' Symmetry was embarrassed to shake her head. Richard sighed. 'You're a Theorist. You know it's a genetic thing, just like Code Linguistics, right? Technical Manipulation is a sort of magic that doesn't require specific genes. Technicians can't create Environments or summon the Satzen, but they know… other spells. Dangerous ones.' It sounded threatening.
'Can we beat them?' Richard sighed again and closed his eyes. Too late Symmetry realized she had asked him to look into the future. When he opened his eyes again, she could see a hint of his old confusedness. There was a fear in them too… a fear, she knew now, caused by the countless possibilities that overwhelmed him.
'I… I don't know. I can't tell…' Symmetry took his hand.
'That's all right. I shouldn't have asked it. We will see what happens when it happens. Come. We'll fight.' Together, they followed a large group of warriors.
'Symmetry… You should know… Technicians… they fight man to man.' Richard was trying to warn her. To kill or to be killed… It would be the first time she would be fighting other people.
'I can handle it.' He didn't answer, just pinched her hand. It was good to fight next to a friend, especially now she had no idea of what to expect… They didn't go in the same direction as earlier… probably because fighting on a field full of corpses wasn't exactly a moral stimulant…
They walked for quite some time, lighting the way with torches. Symmetry thought she saw Soren among the other warriors, but in the dark she couldn't tell for sure. After a while, they reached a clearing, an open field. Integrals were being pulled out. Now it was about to start. Richard let go of Symmetry's hand and pulled out his own Integral, a beautiful tall weapon with an intricate pattern carved in it. It was impossible not to admire it. She could only hope her Integral would once look so beautiful…  
On the other side of the field, torches appeared as well. The enemy had arrived. It was hard to see in the dark, but Symmetry saw there were both men and women, wearing identical dark purple coats. Some wielded double Integrals, others had the Chain in their hands. They all glowed purple. If Integrals are a reflection of personality… what does purple mean? It was the last lucid thing Symmetry thought before the battle officially started. The first lines moved forward…  Her Integral met the Integral of a Technician woman. Her eyes glowed purple, like her Integral. She didn't speak, didn't try to intimidate her. She just smiled at her. A lunatic's smile.  The Technician woman was very skilled, but Symmetry could handle it. She knew the techniques the woman used, knew how to counter them. She started to think they might very well win this battle… When suddenly an agonizing scream sounded through the air. More followed. She saw the Analysts drop to the ground, seemingly without any reason. Quickly, she looked through the cable. Her Theorist's vision unveiled what the Analysts could never have seen. Arrows. They were using some sort of higher dimensional arrows… They kept their fighting low, so the Analysts could approach them close enough… just to take them down with their Technical Manipulation… The cunning of that struck her so, that it made her rage. Her eyes glowed with Theoretical Magic and her Integral suddenly glowed blue like lightning when she stabbed the woman she was fighting with. Seeing the purple light in her eyes falter was the greatest sight ever… The sudden wave of hatred she felt gave her new energy…  But the battlefield was chaos. Theorists and Technicians were dying everywhere… with their arrows they even shot their own people… It had become an unequal fight. Their group consisted mostly of Analysts, and the few Theorists among them couldn't warn everyone in time for incoming arrows. It was as if things passed in slow motion. The screaming didn't reach her ears anymore, she just saw mouths move. In the middle of the chaos, a man stood. He had a short grey beard and looked old. His gold adorned purple cloaks told her he was the one in charge of this trap. That was the one… the hatred she felt got pointed at one person. Fighting her way through the Technicians, she tried to reach the man… Someone else reached him first though.
'Marcus!' A loud voice sounded over the battlefield. Symmetry turned her head. It was Master Isaac. He didn't look a thing like his old self anymore. He looked terribly frightening, almost… un-human… The leading technician referred to as Marcus moved his hands, clearly planning on casting a spell, but Master Isaac screamed. 'Don't you try that on me! Don't you know who I am?' His voice didn't sound human anymore either. He seemed to glow, grow larger, his Integral melting into his body instead of dissolving, making his skin light up gold like a huge Integral. With her Theorist's vision, Symmetry could see how he suddenly extended himself over multiple dimensions… In an instant, he had reached Marcus, who pulled out a giant purple Integral himself. He intended to hit, but Master Isaac dodged the attack… with his arm. The Integral shattered, and Symmetry could read fear in the eyes of the Technician. Master Isaac's glow was now stronger than that of any Integral she had ever seen… He hit the Technican, and she saw how the man dissolved, pulverised like a failed spell… An explosion of gold and purple filled the battlefield, threw them all on the ground. When the smoke cleared, the Technician had disappeared, and with him his troops. The only technicians left were the dead ones on the ground. Master Isaac still stood straight, breathing heavily, his eyes closed. The glow had gone, and he seemed to have regained his human form… Symmetry crawled up and wondered about what had happened. The Master… What was he actually? Didn't Analysts lack the ability to use magic? She looked around. She was among the few survivors… the cost wasn't as high as in the battle with the Satzen, but their group had also been smaller. But they had won. The Technician… Symmetry didn't doubt there was nothing left of him. A sense of victory flooded her. They had made it… They had won this one. While looking around, she saw Evan. Holding his guns, looking deranged as usual… or was it worry she saw? Then she noticed whom he was standing next to. Fear beat her to the heart…