"Charles, do you have a plan?" Sebastian asked, his voice steady but pressing.

"A plan…" Charles shook his head, a faint bitterness crossing his face. "I'm sorry, I don't have any detailed plan."

"Charles," Sebastian continued, "I've discovered something since arriving here: the time flow between our two universes isn't the same.

I can't stay here for long. At most, I have one month before I must return.

That's why I intend to resolve as much as possible within that time, and your help is essential.

You need to pull yourself together and figure out how to rescue the others."

After a long silence, Charles took a deep breath and nodded slowly. "You're right. I've been too depressed, too defeated. With only a month, we can't afford to waste time.

Let's take action immediately. However, Sentinels patrol every major city now, making it difficult for mutants to operate in urban areas.

We must be cautious. If we need to enter areas dense with Sentinels, we'll need your help, Sebastian. Since you're not a mutant, you won't trigger their sensors.

Plus, you can open portals. If we need to deploy, you can create a portal for us to move through, and we can retreat through it immediately after the mission.

This maximizes the advantage of our individual mutant strengths and mobility.

It's the only strategy I can think of right now. Otherwise, facing an army of Sentinels head-on, we have no chance."

"That works," Sebastian agreed. "Let's proceed with your plan."

With the strategy set, Sebastian didn't hesitate.

He discussed a few more details with Charles, then stood to leave. Their first target was New York, home to a Sentinel manufacturing plant.

While not the secret research hub for the robots, it was a critical facility.

Sebastian planned to infiltrate it, cause some destruction, and, with a touch of Legilimens, extract intelligence that might prove useful.

Before departing, Sebastian produced a crystal etched with intricate runes and handed it to Charles. "Charles, I prepared this long ago," he said.

"Use it as a relay, and you can contact me directly. It will shield your mental energy, preventing others from detecting you."

Charles accepted the crystal solemnly. "I'll use it carefully," he promised.

"If anything comes up, contact me immediately," Sebastian instructed.

With that, Sebastian's form twisted into a vortex of blue starlight, vanishing from the room.

Simultaneously, he reappeared atop a building in New York, overlooking the city.

Gazing at the 1990s New York skyline, he could faintly discern traces of his own world's version, though he mused that as this world progressed to that era, the similarities might grow stronger.

The Sentinel manufacturing plant in New York's suburbs wasn't a closely guarded secret.

By carefully observing the Sentinels' flight patterns, one could deduce its general location.

Sentinels required regular maintenance to prevent glitches, such as mistaking humans for mutants—a catastrophic error.

As one of the cities with the highest Sentinel presence, New York's robots routinely returned to this facility for repairs, making its location relatively easy for mutants to pinpoint.

However, the sheer number of Sentinels guarding it was so daunting that it deterred any attempts at sabotage.

For Sebastian, though, whether it was one Sentinel, ten, a hundred, or more made little difference. With a wave of his wand, he could unleash hellfire.

Though more effective against living beings than robots, hellfire could still overwhelm Sentinels.

If their diamond-skin transformation was even slightly delayed, they would melt completely under its heat.

Approaching the factory, Sebastian noted the Sentinels patrolling the skies and ground, complemented by squads of human soldiers.

The combination of human and machine formed an airtight defense network, designed to counter various mutant abilities, creating some interference for Sebastian's infiltration.

It was only a minor interference.

Sebastian's body shrank rapidly, his black trench coat swirling as he transformed. In an instant, he cast Animagus, becoming a Death raven with glossy black feathers.

Flying from his temporary hiding spot, he perched on a nearby building, cawing sharply. His call was answered by others, and soon, crows from across New York City and its outskirts flocked together, forming a massive swarm heading toward the Sentinel factory.

Sebastian cawed once more, blending into the flock, and infiltrated the factory's perimeter.

He avoided using Apparition or a portal, sensing a faint, inexplicable interference that could misdirect his teleportation, potentially landing him right in front of a Sentinel and alerting the facility.

As the flock approached the factory, the soldiers below grumbled about the bad omen but paid little attention, viewing it as mere animal migration. The Sentinels, however, reacted differently.

Their mouths and chests sprouted megaphone-like devices, emitting piercing sonic waves at the crows.

Under the assault of these sonic waves, the crows' organs ruptured, and they plummeted like rain, littering the factory grounds below.

The Death raven form of Sebastian was among the falling crows, but just as he touched the ground, he shifted into Phase state.

He sank beneath the earth, vanishing without a trace.

A wisp of black smoke seeped from the walls of the Sentinel factory's underground base, coalescing into a young man in a black trench coat.

Spotting a researcher approaching, Sebastian flicked his wand, casting Disillusionment Charm. His body faded into invisibility, and he trailed silently behind the researcher.

Following the researcher, Sebastian passed through a series of electronic doors lacking thermal imaging, arriving at the staff rest area within the underground Sentinel factory.

He moved noiselessly among the personnel resting and dining, observing everything.

Finally, he spotted a man in a military uniform, clearly a high-ranking officer. Sebastian started to approach, intending to shadow him, when another man, dressed like a researcher and carrying a tray of food, sat down beside the officer.

The moment Sebastian saw this man, he sensed something amiss. Simultaneously, the researcher seemed to feel a presence, turning his head to look directly toward Sebastian's invisible form.