Warden in the Box

"Warden in the Box" is the pilot episode planned for Volkonir: The Series. It recaps what has happened to Volkonir since his release from the toy spell, while also establishing the setting of his current life as elite security detail and counter-espionage for HanomCorp in Bozeman, Montana. Also introduced are heroes Dr. Fred J. Hanom of HanomCorp and Kayla Reese Tarington; the latter a soon-to-be-ex-convict whose past experiences with the evil Gwirdons could prove crucial to Team Volkonir's mission - if they can rescue her in time when the Gwirdons set their sights on silencing her for good!

Synopsis
After a HanomCorp employee makes a gruesome discovery regarding the would-be thieves of a revolutionary new HanomCorp invention - and pays with her life for trying to protect that secret - the lost Cortascian Prince Volkonir and his new allies in HanomCorp embark on an investigation to uncover who else has become a target of the Gwirdons.

With evidence mounting that the evil King Gwirmalesh has returned, the next set of clues lead Team Volkonir to discover that the evil Gwirdon Hiktomoph may have compromised a prison in Texas - in order to silence a key witness among the prisoners once and for all. The team must ready themselves to get to Texas and ensure their witness lives long enough to share what she knows. Hanom reveals to Volkonir that he actually has a history with the woman, and that rescuing her is going to be a matter of keeping a promise.

Plot
Alice Plegion, an electrician for the conglomerate organization HanomCorp based in Bozeman, Montana, runs into some Gwirdon Treaders stealing a device that Fred Hanom himself earlier that day had shown off at a demo meeting to be capable of converting air into metal, through something he called "the Tapestry." When she is spotted by the Treaders trying to alert security, a chase ensues. A mysterious knight comes to her rescue, blowing up the Treaders with his magical sword. A confrontation with the Gwirdon Leader Mogabir ensues immediately afterward, and the knight identifying himself as "Volkonir" covers Vanessa's escape as she attempts to contact security again.

Mogabir finally retreats, but Alice is intercepted and captured. As Mogabir attempts to force her to explain exactly how Hanom's device can harness the powers of EccentriaCore to 3D print weapons from literal thin air, Volkonir arrives at the barn and provides yet another diversion. Alice discovers a box with dead man inside. She discovers inside the box also is an ID. Mogabir threatens her that she should give up on "saving Kayla," that Hiktomoph will have that loose end tied up soon enough. Alice protests loudly that she has no idea what Mogabir is talking about. He grows impatient, using his buzzsaw-sword to decapitate her right as Volkonir arrives on scene. As the two fight, Volkonir puts his sword Selshon into "fire mode," burning up the motor in Mogabir's sword and rendering its saw inoperable. Mogabir retreats once more, this time making sure Volkonir can't follow him.

Volkonir deactivates his Golden Lion Cortascian Knight armor, revealing himself to have adopted the civilian alias of "Vinny Mason." He contacts Dr. Hanom by phone, urging him to get there and help take pictures of the scene and analyze it before Vinny contacts police. Hanom informs Vinny to take a picture of the man's driver's license and leave the rest of the scene intact, then head back to base after calling police and giving the usual HanomCorp Security spiel.

The plan works, and Vinny is soon able to arrive at an underground hidden lab with the data. Other security detail are called in to secure the device that Mogabir was trying to steal. Volkonir objects that it's unusual for Mogabir to be so exposed, and usually that's Hiktomoph's job. The name, Jeffrey Mozeb, is revealed to be a match for a warden that is supposedly still active at the Federal Medical Center in Texas. "Kayla" is revealed to be a reference to an inmate there: Kayla Reece Tarington. Hanom notes that at Kayla's trial for assaulting a CPS agent, that she mentioned being part-Cortascian. She also mentioned a "Gwirdon Gang" in court, and warned of "the return of Gwirmalesh." She even went so far as to call the agent she punched - Terrence Hoshijo - a "Gwirdon spy." She blamed him for the death of her daughter, Lucy, citing his incompetence leading to Lucy drowning in a creek as being the reason for breaking his nose out of revenge.

Volkonir has flashbacks to Gwirmalesh: the evil Gwirdon king that hit him in the back with a wand and trapped him in the form of a toy for over 400 years. He vividly recounts how he spent his years of enchanted imprisonment looking for a way back to the Pool of Healing. Few things could be more chilling for him than to hear that Gwirmalesh was alive and well in the present day. He also had vivid flashbacks to the loss of his mentor - Silnya Semaphry. Vinny is revealed to have written a journal entry detailing a history of the fall of Cortascius, with promises to revisit each highlight later and elaborate on it more.

Returning to his conversation with Hanom, Vinny remarks that he'd seen Kayla's face before many years ago, down in Texas when he battled Scanikrite. He notes how Kayla heroically saved herself and some other women; even taking on Lumkatin - with no prior powers or experience - and managing to hold him off long enough for everyone except one girl to get away safely. She would make a fine addition to HanomCorp Security Elite, as the job kept Vinny pretty busy by himself. The challenge would be to prove to everyone else that Kayla isn't "just some crazy woman." Hanom mentions that he's had a run-in with her before at a job fair, and nearly hired her to his security detail then. However, a Gwirdon attack at the job fair ended things quickly. Hanom made a promise that he'd come looking for Kayla one day. Today was that day that he started. He informs Vinny that he first has to contact Alice's family and explain the situation to them - without revealing too much. Vinny assures Hanom that he already knows what to do next.

Vinny drives his motorcycle to a different office in Bozeman, and meets with HanomCorp travel advisor Lance Bard. Lance, following Vinny's instructions from Hanom, utilizes a burner phone to contact the Federal Medical Center in Texas and inquire if he may speak to Jeff about the release date of a certain Kayla Tarington. A security guard named Susan Avante confronts Lance about his number being untraceable, stating in hushed tones that she is aware of what the callers are really after. She will speak to Hanom directly - when it's safe to. Lance inquires after Susan hangs up what exactly is going on. Vinny states that it's an ongoing investigation regarding the murder of an employee and the attempted theft of the Tapestry Printer. Vinny believes Kayla knows something about the thieves, and needs to get to her before the imposter warden does.

Meanwhile, the fake Jeff does indeed reveal himself to Kayla behind the doors of her solitary confinement cell that he is, in fact, Hiktomoph. Kayla vows that Hiktomoph will pay for what he did to the real Jeff. However, Hiktomoph knocks her out with a mist spray and then taunts about how he will arrange her execution soon. He assumes his disguise as Jeff right before an increasingly suspicious Susan Avente can see him. She alerts him that there are strangers calling and asking about Kayla. Hiktomoph urges Susan to redirect them however possible, and that they should not abide by Kayla's listed release date as an absolute. He leaves before Susan can check on Kayla, tending to other matters in the facility to avoid questions being asked of him.

Cassandra Kleeb, another inmate in a different cell of the solitary block, begins protesting loudly that the man dressed as Jeff is not the real Jeff. Not wanting the CCTV cameras to capture incriminating audio, Susan begs Cassandra to be quiet "just a little bit longer," while Susan tries to find out "why Jeff is acting funny." Cassandra realizes that Susan also suspects Hiktomoph, but is trying to avoid Hiktomoph learning the truth through a hallway camera. Susan enters Kayla's cell, and revives her. Kayla whispers the details to Susan of how Hiktomoph has been treating her, and gives her Hanom's secret phone number to contact after hours. Susan vows to find Volkonir and expose Hiktomoph, as well as ensure that Kayla gets released after all since her time is up.

Susan finally goes home later that night, and calls Hanom on a burner phone using the number Kayla supplied. Hanom confirms her fears, and promises to send some help to that location.