Tatiana pulled the unwilling Wendy behind her as she marched through the maze of modular walls and doors. Luckily, the Spriggit woman didn’t weigh much and wasn’t truly trying to put all of her effort into resisting her. She just wore a deeply aggrieved expression as she stared at Tatiana. “I swear that all I need is a few more minutes of examination! I am so close to a breakthrough… did you know there as been some organic growth in Kharon’s core as the moss spirits develop more intelligence? It shouldn’t be possible!”

And as she continued to talk, Wendy only built up additional steam. “Living Engraving is actually a misnomer; it would be better to call what Randidly can do ‘self-replicating Engraving’. It can’t truly grow, it can only make itself bigger. Yet there are small, systemic changes that have appeared in the engraving! And if we could figure out the evolution mechanism-”

“Wendy,” Tatiana sighed and stopped pulling Wendy while they were standing on the plush red carpet of the main hallway. “This is Randidly’s party. You can go back and study the engine after the party is over. Don’t you want to celebrate a bit? Let loose?”

“No,” Wendy shook her head so fiercely that Tatiana considered if she had drastically misread Wendy and Randidly’s relationship. “It seems a waste of time, especially when we know that Randidly won’t care much. Better than that… wouldn’t the best sort of birthday gift be for me to figure out the secrets of Kharon’s engines…”

...it’s not that they secretly dislike each other, they are both just workaholics, Tatiana rolled her eyes.

“Nice try,” Tatiana chuckled out loud. She turned away from Wendy and opened one of the side doors into an adjoining room. As she peeked her head into the room, she looked at the three individuals that were lounging on the low couches of the drawing-room. “Are you three ready? Everyone prepared to meet people from Earth?”

Azriel snapped the book she was reading shut and then looked admiringly at her hands. “Of course. It’s quite a delight to just be a normal individual for a while. Being a pseudo-deity is surprisingly exhausting.”

“Of course we are currently acting on faith that the Earth Golem Emperor doesn’t cause another economic collapse while you are gone,” Prince Armgrast said with a scowl. Then he looked uneasily around at the ornate walls and shook his leonine head. “I still cannot believe that our entire world exists inside of Randidly Ghosthound. It seems… unnatural.”

“It’s more accurate to say that the world is Randidly, but I see your point. Perspective changes are difficult for some people to adjust to.” Azriel said as she looked at the prince with a sharp smile. The man raised his chin and stood with a straight spine.

The third individual stood as well, albeit much more slowly; Tatiana took this chance to carefully examine the expression of Alta Bounty. She had a lovely face with high cheekbones, but she didn’t seem to be paying attention at all to the conversation. Instead, her eyes constantly roved the surrounding area. Tatiana had noticed the way that she had been determinedly rubbing at the upholstery of the couch previously.

Randidly had warned Tatiana quietly about Alta Bounty and what she had done in the past. In actual fact, Randidly had just generally asked some of the administration of his inner world about the party and was extremely surprised when she had accepted his invitation to celebrate his birth. Tatiana had, in fact, questioned why he had allowed her to come and Randidly had laughed.

“I’m already inviting the Nemesai, aren’t I? And the party is about demonstrating the consequences of the System. And for that, I think she is an ideal candidate to attend.”

...so now, while Randidly went through his own preparations, Tatiana was effectively babysitting the group from the Alpha Cosmos. As though she didn’t already have enough things that demanded her attention…

Tatiana resisted the urge to raise her fingers and rub at her temples. Already she regretted leaving Wolfram outside to handle any issues that would happen in the park portion of the evening. Better to let the representatives from other Zones eat each other alive than risk spending the rest of the night with a migraine. “Well if everyone’s ready, let’s good. It’s time to open up the venue.”

Luckily, the group nodded in agreement. Azriel and Wendy continued to discuss the scientific implications of the Alpha Cosmos while Prince Armgrast looked dazed and Alta continued to seem distracted by the substance of the surroundings. They walked out of the study and then down the hallway to the entrance to the building.

The venue was laid out as a giant rectangle. The front third of the building was a series of interconnecting dining rooms, billiard rooms, and libraries in a grid shape. Each wall looked extremely solid, but they could be rather simply disassembled and reassembled to extend the various rooms. This portion of the building was designed to be used by many different individuals at once, satisfying their individual needs by changing which rooms they were given access to.

The back one-tenth of the building was for the catering staff and event workers. The kitchens were top of the line and Kharon currently had several chefs on staff. In addition, the sides of the building were designed thick enough that there was a rather cleverly hidden passageway that enabled people who were aware of it to move relatively unseen along the perimeter.

And of course, the remainder of the building was dedicated to the vast, two-story ballroom that would host Randidly’s birthday party. As Tatiana briskly led the Alpha Cosmos-ers forward, she checked every room along the way to make sure everything was in place. The rooms directly out from the door to the ballroom had all been cleared and the modular walls rolled backward; it was a grand passageway prepared for the guests. The side rooms were left open for individuals to freely wander.

Randidly had wanted to close those side rooms off, but Tatiana knew that the people would want to be able to slip off to private locations at a large gathering such as this. Not giving them any obvious opportunity to do that would just mean they would find unusual places to plot and gossip. Far better to leave the rooms open and allow them the illusion that they are undetected that provide an incentive for people to wander around Kharon.

Not that Tatiana was worried about people causing trouble. In her mind, it was much more likely that some fool from another Zone would wander around and offend someone that would grievously injure them without thinking anything of it. And then suddenly it was a political problem… better that they just are allowed to play in the surrounding rooms.

Finally, Tatiana reached the front door and pushed it open. The heavy doors shuddered at first, but then smoothly pivoted outward to create a three-meter space that the guests could use to enter. Immediately, all of the assembled guests turned to face Tatiana and she made sure that her image was wrapped tightly enough around herself that the mental probes she received wouldn’t phase her in the least.

At the very least, it’s proof people are paying attention to image, Tatiana thought as several guards of the various factions made attempts to pressure her mentally. She released a beaming smile, pretending to be ignorant of the small attacks coming her way. A few lessons would need to be taught, but that could wait for later.

Instead, she just kept her bright smile as she surveyed the several hundred individuals who had gathered. “Thank you all for coming to Randidly’s Birthday party. Our guest of honor is still preparing… but I’d like to welcome everyone to Kharon’s Glowstone Ballroom.

“Feel free to explore, but for now, follow me to the ballroom. I have a few more things to stay before this party really gets started.”

Then Tatiana turned on her heel and began to walk slowly back down the hallway. Azriel grinned out at the crowd of people and elbowed the prince in the chest. Her eyes began to glow a bright crimson color. The image pressure in the area abruptly skyrocketed. “A bunch of weaklings looking a little too deeply at me, eh? Rude. I suppose I will reprimand these-”

Tatiana hastily turned back around and took Azriel by the elbow. When she spoke, it was quietly into her ear so none of the very perceptive people watching would be able to tell what was going on. “Please, let it go for now. Tonight, the role of punisher goes to Randidly.”

“Bah, just because its his birthday he gets to have all the fun,” Azriel said sourly. But she did turn away and follow Tatiana back into the interior of the building. The rest of the crowd, not realizing that some of them had narrowly avoided the mental equivalent of sticking their hands directly into a fire, began to gradually shift and head into the interior.

Tatiana walked slowly at first so the closest groups could follow, then steadily increased her pace as more people entered into the building. Behind her, Tatiana heard people making admiring comments about the artistry of the wooden paneling and the rich softness of the rugs, but Tatiana just smirked. You ain’t seen nothing yet.

Despite her direction that the guests follow her directly for the moment, Tatiana didn’t miss that several groups split off from the pack and investigated the side rooms. She rolled her eyes, safely facing forward at the head of the sluggish river of bodies; likely people would regret missing what she had to say at the beginning.

Or the show that was almost guaranteed to occur shortly after that.

But eventually, Tatiana’s precise steps had carried her to the doors of the ballroom. Like all the others, they were unadorned and wooden. This touch was her decision, creating the impression that what lay beyond was exactly what came before. A screen of anonymity to hide the valuable core of the Glowstone Ballroom. These mundane doors she pushed open with relish.

Leading the individuals from the Alpha Cosmos, she quickly entered and moved off to the side. People filed into the room, their eyes widening as they looked around at the ballroom that gave the Glowstone Ballroom its name.

The entrance was tiled with marble, and immediately to the right and left of the entrance were two wide staircases that led up to the second level. Sitting to the side of the left staircase was the table that was covered with the small party favors. Next to the right staircase was an open bar. Beyond that, the low ceiling caused by the second floor ended and the ballroom really opened up.

Twelve large gold and obsidian pillars formed the perimeter of the actual ballroom, with most of the floor being covered in Randidly’s special tiles. There was a significant area along the left wall where the food was set up that had normal tile and also a place at the right where gifts were to be placed. And in the center of the ballroom, there was a small island.

On that island was five bulky objects covered in tarps. But those were Randidly’s demonstrations, so for now, Tatiana’s gaze moved past them.

The lighting in the room was provided by a tight bit of Engraving that Randidly had to do himself. It was a much dialed back version of the same energy system that ran Kharon, so golden globes of light floated around through the air. Randidly suspected that these wouldn’t be able to develop the same sentience as the moss spirits, or at least not nearly as quickly, but secretly Tatiana hoped he was wrong.

After all, the lights were basically drifting around randomly now. It would be much easier if they could be trained to distribute their light efficiently.

As more and more people enter into the front area and milled about while admiring the construction, Tatiana gave a quick speech. “Now that we are all here, the dining period has officially begun. You’ll see the food tables off to the left. In addition, everyone is welcome to take some of these Engraved amulets as a token of Kharon’s appreciation. I believe you will find them quite useful. And the bar is open, folks; please enjoy yourselves.”