Hours slipped by and the sun moved through the sky, its glow drawing a line across the room through the window. Angel remained at his desk, scribe in hand as he attempted to coax the red cube’s true function out from it.

Whenever he saw a rune he didn’t recognize, he carved it into a piece of metal. He had to work fast, as the runes would only show themselves for a few seconds before fading away. By keeping a mental record of the runes, he was able to determine that they were actually looping in a pattern.

As the afternoon started to set, Angel rocked back and looked up for the first time since he’d started. His eyes were dry and sore, and a small headache had built up at the back of his head.

“I’m pretty sure I got every rune,” Angel muttered, looking at the carved metal scraps covering the desk before him. “But I’ve got absolutely no idea what this is supposed to be doing. Blue, I don’t suppose you’ve got any idea?”

“I can query the System,” Blue offered.

“Can you?” Angel asked, blinking. “Do that, then.”

The orb dimmed. A red light flashed at its core. The system artifact started to vibrate and an ominous hum rose up within it.

“Stop!” Angel yelled.

“Query aborted. Error. Connection to System failed. Out of range.”

“Aren’t you the System?” Angel asked, letting out a relieved sigh.

“No. I can interface with it, but this unit is not the System,” Blue replied, sounding slightly distressed. “I was capable of briefly communicating with it in the catacomb, but Cores have amplifiers that enable better access. I am not equipped with such amplifiers.”

“So if you don’t have the System, how are you… you know, doing all the level stuff?”

“An imprint of the System has been stored within every System artifact. It permits access to basic information and the artifacts share information with each other to ensure accurate analysis.”

Angel turned fully to face the orb. “You’re telling me we aren’t using the real System at all, then? Just a copy of it?”

“This summary is largely accurate.”

“But the real System is still out there,” Angel checked.

“Correct.”

“Do you know what type of amplifier you would need to access it better?”

“I can query the System.”

“Let’s not do that,” Angel decided, rubbing his forehead. “This is interesting. Wait, would the System be able to figure out what runes are missing on my Key diagram?”

“There is a high chance that the System would be able to process such a request,” Blue confirmed. “It contains a database of every reported rune. It is updated yearly. I can query the System to find out when its last update was.”

“We’ll hold off there as well,” Angel said, stopping Blue before it could try to connect to the System. “But it might be quite worthwhile to visit another Core and try to get a connection to the System running.”

“Not all Cores are capable of full communication with the System,” Blue said. “The Core I was utilized in did not have a good connection. I was only able to acquire data for five seconds. Any lengthy query posed to the System will require at least an hour.”

“I see,” Angel said. He pushed his chair back and shook his legs out to try and get some feeling back into them. “Is the connectivity in the catacombs random?”

“Stronger catacombs tend to have better connectivity as they have more magical power to spare.”

“A Great Catacomb, then,” Angel said, stroking his raggedy beard. “Now there’s a thought. Shelving that for now – I don’t need to go running off quite yet. We’ll see how much more progress I can get over here first.”

Blue let out an affirmative ding. As Angel moved to sit back down, there was a knock on the door. He turned mid-step and walked over to pull it open. Lilian and Silver greeted him on the other side.

“Having fun?” Silver asked.

“I’m honored that the legendary Wind Snake would visit me,” Angel said with a dry laugh, waving for them to come in. “I’m afraid I’ve only got one chair, so you’ll have to stand.”

“Not going to offer your chair to the lady?” Silver asked, taking his mask off and setting it on a counter.

“Not when the lady is a six hundred year old killing machine that can probably lift me with one hand,” Angel smirked. “What brings the two of you here?”

“We just wanted to catch up with our good friend,” Silver exclaimed, putting a hand over his heart. “Your words cut me.”

Angel cocked an eyebrow. Silver cleared his throat. “Okay, fine. I wanted you to make me a cool goodie. You made Lilian one! I should get one too.”

“I didn’t make – oh, you mean the core?”

Silver nodded, putting on his best pouting face. It didn’t fit in the slightest on his handsome features. He swapped it to puppy-dog eyes, which was arguably even worse.

“Please never do that again.” Angel shuddered. “And I’ve got a lot on my plate right now, but I suppose I could get something built once I get the important work finished.”

“That’s my man,” Silver said. “If my crews were all as helpful as you, I’d have conquered the Barren years ago.”

“I’m sure,” Angel said. “Have you two found anything useful since getting here?”

“They don’t have much information on the Reawakening, but everyone’s pretty worried about the Buried Gods,” Silver said, his cocky grin fading. “I’m pretty sure the Academy is trying to prepare the students for a war. The Tinkerers are getting pushed hard to learn how to make weapons and they’re putting Seekers into Hunter classes.”

“Daliah seems to be backing a lot of these chances with her own wealth,” Lilian added. “She’s sponsored nearly a quarter of the new students in the academy.”

“Where’s she getting all that money?” Angel asked. “When we left Bronze City, she was at the cusp of a war with Brineview. I can’t imagine they just called it off.”

“Oh,” Lilian said, rubbing the back of her neck. “That’s probably our fault. Was our fault, I suppose. His deal with the Reawakening was to provide supplies until Vanessa was captured. When she reached Molten Ridges, I suspect he called the deal off since she was no longer easily accessible.”

“So he just gave up?” Angel asked.

“I have no idea what he would have done,” Lilian replied. “But the Reawakening doesn’t leave their outside agents alive. Normally, I would have been sent to take care of him. Since I defected, I suspect Reave probably killed him in my place.”

“I did see a message from Daliah to Vanessa that said she’d come into an unexpected windfall worth as much as a city,” Silver muttered. “I didn’t think she meant that literally. Daliah must have stepped in and put her agents in control of Brineview while they were recovering from the loss of their magistrate.”

“Doesn’t surprise me,” Angel said. “She’s a dangerous woman. It’s good that she’s on our side for the moment.”

“It’s certainly convenient,” Silver agreed. “She pays well. But what about you? Any progress on the key thing?”

“I’ve just been fixing my own weapons for the moment,” Angel said, shaking his head. “I’ve got a plan for the Key, though. It’ll just need some more work before we can act on it. At least a week or two.”

“I guess we’ll just relax until then,” Silver said. “This is the easiest job I’ve ever done. I’m starting to get a bit bored. Luckily, Daliah said I should help you out however possible. That means I can get paid and kill things. Isn’t that great?”

“I’m sure it’s just wonderful,” Angel said. Blue lit up and turned towards him. He waved the artifact away with a groan. “Either way, I’ve got more I need to get accomplished today. I’ve promised to tutor some students tonight, and I need to make more progress before that time comes.”

“Can you take a look at the core you made me when you get a chance?” Lilian asked. “I think it’s running out of energy.”

“Already?” Angel asked. “How badly?”

“There should be a few days left at the minimum.”

“I’ll take a look tomorrow,” Angel said. “And I’ll also look into fixing Soul’s core for you. We just have to be careful – I don’t trust him at all. I need to make sure that he hasn’t somehow tampered with it.”

“I understand,” Lilian said, inclining her head. “We’ll take our leave then. See you tomorrow, Angel.”

“Hey, wait. I haven’t told him what kind of cool item I want!” Silver complained. Lilian grabbed him by the back if his shirt and started to drag the former bandit out of the room. Silver could have resisted if he wanted to, but the man had a flair for the dramatic and instead let her pull him out the door.

“A cool hat!” Silver called, catching himself on the edge of the doorway. He grabbed his mask from the shelf and put it on. “A big one.”

Lilian yanked him again and his face vanished. The door slammed shut behind him. Angel chuckled, turning back to his desk.

“Now let’s find out just what these new runes of yours do,” Angel muttered, picking up one of the carved plates and studying it. There were a multitude of ways people could figure out what a new rune did. All of them took either time or extensive research. All but one.