January 17, 2019, 3:35 pm.

"You're sure?" Beth questions us as Rufka and I calm down from our flight. I wonder if there's any sort of limit on Tipan's Aetherium Challenge Race ability. I'd love to keep racing. I mean it's an easy, and fun, way to get integration points. What’s not to love.

"Yeah. We're ready to go. Do you want us to scout out their camp?" I reply, giving Smoulder scritches while gazing towards the camp.

"You know, that's what I was thinking. But now? Well, we should still scout their camp first, but Rufka and Tipan can do that. For you, I have another idea. Are you able to use your rapid spell casting while you're flying like that, slick?" Beth questions me, causing me to go still as I think about it.

Can I?

"I'll have to do more testing," I answer with a grin. There's a small part of me that acknowledges that maybe Muthica's moonshine plus flight may not be the best combination for a long and healthy life. Despite the health edge. But it's quashed by the part that wants to fly.

Every time I've used my time freeze while flying so far, I've slowed down or paused in place. Either because I've been trying to make use of cover or because it's hard to control my movements during a pause. Also, I'd rather not slam myself into a wall at freeze-frame speeds.

So, it hadn't occurred to me that I might be able to do a time freeze strafing run. Pretty obvious in hindsight, but the Fallen aren't usually clumped up like they are in their camp. Even now it might leave me exposed, but it's certainly worth investing some time into testing.

While I'm at it, I can test to see exactly how bad the time dilation reduction is for back to back pausing as well.

"I imagine you're going to do your testing soon slick?" Beth queries with a significant glance.

"Uhm yeah. I was going to do it now," I reply, not sure why she's asking.

“Before you go. Look. I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to call you down,” she apologizes, looking down.

Wow. I’m not sure how to respond. I’m in uncharted waters here, “Uh, apology accepted,” I shrug, slightly flustered.

"Good. While you’re out there, try to keep in that area so I can keep an eye on you, slick. Please," Beth directs, answering my unasked question with a wave of her hand.

'That area' was a large swath of the inner city which the system boss had recently passed through. I suppose by extension it could include the outer city on the far side, but I imagine that isn't what Beth meant.

"Will do," I reply, recasting my flight spell while lining myself up with her proposed trajectory. It's not like I was planning to turn during this little jaunt, so keeping a clear and open route is ideal. Nice to know Beth's going to be watching my back.

Looking over at her, I pass her Smoulder, “and please stop calling me slick. It’s awful. Kid’s fine.”

“Sure thing, kid,” Beth answers, her smile lighting up her eyes as Smoulder nuzzles against her.

Then, without further ado, I take off, dropping into pause the moment I'm at speed. Since I'm experimenting anyway, I attempt to adjust my body but I'm right about it being resistant. But that doesn't mean I can't change my course. I'm still able to adjust my thrust. In fact, if I'd been able to do this during my race with Rufka, I probably would have won by a landslide. But then again, she couldn’t use her special abilities either, so maybe not. It occurs to me I don't actually know what she has for special abilities.

Okay, back on task.

First test, paused-flight maneuverability, successful. I can steer my flight while paused by directing thrust appropriately.

Next test, whirlwind of destruction! Maintain speed while paused and casting spells.

What would be less than half a second later in real-time, the sky is filled with roaring winds, scorching flames and crackling lightning as I unleash a whirlwind of power. When I reach the far end, I can confirm that I'm able to keep flying at full speed even when casting. Looking down below me I realize I may have gone a little overboard in my testing.

The elemental energies I unleashed all dwindle to nothing, but there's a tumult of rough wind blowing through the others below, though Tipan quickly calms the air.

Oops.

They all seem to be okay, so I turn to my next experiment.

Official experiment name: Time dilation's diminishing duration determination. Hehe.

Erm. Ahem, time to get serious. Let's break out the journal for this one.

Hypothesis - Consecutive time-pauses reduce effective time dilation. The suspected ratio is halving each previous time-pause's dilation but insufficient data to confirm.

*******Alexis' Math Notes Start*******

Shorthand:

paused-time: PT real-time: RT Focus: f Facet: F

Okay, I already know the second dilation is going to be two PT minutes per one RT second, which is confirmed as I activate it at the end of my first pause. Cost remains at 0.1f and 0.1F.

Now, will the next pause halve the PT again? I'm leaning towards yes. But time to verify.

Holy crap. Nope.

Third consecutive pause PT= 30 seconds. RT remains at 1 second and cost remains at 0.1f and 0.1F.

Okay, new expected dilation. Need to be quick about this one. PT decreases to…. Uhh. Let's see. the previous pause duration times ½ to the power of the number of consecutive pauses?

So, PT2=PT1*½^1, which would mean PT4=PT3*½^3 which would be…..

I don't have time to figure out the answer before I start the fourth pause.

Fourth pause PT =11.0 seconds, RT =1 second, cost remains steady at 0.1f and 0.1F.

Fifth pause, again PT =11.0 seconds, RT =1 second and the costs are 0.1f and 0.1F.

Sixth, seventh, and eighth pause, PT, RT, f and F all remain stable which feels like sufficient data to be a pattern. While I'm in the relatively mild dilation of 11.0, I discover I'm able to move my body with relative ease. It feels slightly sluggish, but it's still much faster than my body could move in real-time.

Further testing reveals that if I only wait five seconds after the previous dilation, I still have the minimum 11.0 PT of dilation.

Waiting 30 seconds resets the PT dilation to 30 seconds. Waiting a minute resets it two minutes and waiting two minutes resets it to four minutes.

I thought the fourth pause should have been

⅛*30 or ¼*15, which would be 3.75 PT/RT for 0.1f and 0.1F.

But it appears a different formula takes over once PT approaches RT leaving me with

11.0 seconds PT/ 1 second RT at a rate of 0.1f and 0.1F per second. Or, 11.0 PTs/RTs @ (0.1f and 0.1F)/s

Checking my status to see how much facet I've used; I notice my facet edge is 11.0. Could it be that my edge is setting the minimum for my dilation? Interesting.

********Alexis' Math Notes End*******

Conclusion - pause time becomes accelerated time upon the fourth consecutive activation and thereafter. Accelerated time (AT) allows me to move and interact, unlike paused time. Pause time (PT) recovers completely after two minutes of real-time without use.

Now, the real question is. How do I get accelerated time as my default, with pause as the backup?

It's literally the easiest thing I've done since I've arrived here. I simply focus on my facet as I'm trying to activate the effect only to discover that the Accelerated Time effect is the most basic use of temporal manipulation. I can even power either effect with mana. Eventually.

I say eventually because the current cost to use mana would be 970 mana for one activation! That's more than double my current mana pool. This means a single point of facet is equivalent to, oh let's see, roughly 10,000 mana.

I suspected that my facet was powerful, but….

Well, if I wasn't flying right now, I'd probably have collapsed in disbelief. As I think about it, I realize that maybe it's not quite 10,000 mana per facet. It might be something more reasonable like 6000 mana.

Because that's totally reasonable. Yep.

What the actual….

How did I get such a powerful resource?

"Wyonna. What the hell is up with my core? How is 1000 mana for time manipulation even reasonable?" I demand. Even though she can't normally answer me, I've gotten plenty of temporal manipulation skill increases recently so it shouldn't be a problem.

"Mana isn't efficient at interacting with the Temporal Tides. Facet is. In fact, facet is better at interacting with the Temporal Tides than any other resource discovered."

"Okay, that explains almost nothing. But there have been references to Temporal Tides before. What are they?"

"The Temporal Tides are the forces of time. It's a reference to the best understanding the system has to the true nature of time."

"You've got my attention Wyonna. Please continue," I urge her, waiting patiently. Did she decide to stop talking? Then I realize she probably got locked out

Figures.

Fine. I haven't done an ice torrent before. Most of my regular torrents still get an increase on every other cast, so my first ice torrent should be a guaranteed increase.

I create the familiar double helix structure, channelling the cold mana through my arms into the work, holding it for a moment to inspect the spell structure before I release it. Even as I hold the spell, I can't help but picture my frost rimmed eyes staring back at me, a familiar chill running down my spine.

When I release the spell a thousand glistening shards reflect my gaze back at me. The shards shoot forwards for a hundred metres before gravity exerts its influence, causing them to tumble then fall on the empty city far below. I barely watch as I force myself to turn my attention back to my notifications.

"Skill increased: Ice Manipulation (31 to 32)"

"Uhm. It's not a well-documented field. On account of it being so difficult to interact with the tides. But the philosophical idea is that time is kind of like an ocean with waves, swells, tides, currents and all that. And using magic to affect time is like being on a one-person raft. With a stick. You can kind of affect it, but mostly you're just moving yourself relative to the ocean. And any disruption you might make will smooth itself out."

"But your facet is more like having a personal motorboat. You're still not going to affect the entire ocean that much, but it's a lot better than a raft with a stick."

"Huh. Okay, that's surprisingly easy to grasp," I reply as I head back to the others now that my experiments are done. I’m surveying the city on my way back, noting the system boss seems to have settled down near the centre of the city. The boss is nestled near a building that reminds me of the Eiffel tower. If the Eiffel tower was made of the same reflective material as the 'silver bullets' throughout the city.

Huh. I wonder if that tower is related to the eye?

"Oh, and just like an ocean there are powerful creatures that lurk within the depths."

"But I'm not going to have to worry about those, right? I'm just a person in a motorboat," I worry, suddenly forgetting my previous musings.

"Well, you should be safe. Considering their existence has only been inferred. They're suspected to be behind worlds disappearing from history. But since the worlds just disappear, it's hard to know. Plus, there aren't many people in motorboats to compare you to either."

"This conversation is a little insane Wyonna. How do you know about a world that disappears from history?" I demand, feeling myself panicking a little. This is so freaking out there. I was already worried about our world being destroyed, but apparently, there are even worse things.

"Because distance in space affects the Temporal ocean's reach. Plus, time isn't clean. It doesn't care about all the details. Just that history is close enough. When a world disappears, it leaves behind millions of little references."

"I think that this is all incredibly crazy. But it's not something I can do anything about, is it? At least not at the moment," I decide, glancing towards the Fallen camp.

Now that's something I can deal with. Yeah. Let's deal with nice normal undead K'tharn.

What the hell has happened to my life?

"Not really. It’s not something anyone can worry about; you know what they say. Keep calm and all that. And I'm out of ti-"

"Take care Wyonna. Thanks for the lesson," I mumble as I float down towards the others, going straight for Smoulder. She senses my discomfort, hopping straight into my arms before I've even had a chance to land.

"Hey, girl. It's okay. Just some crazy stuff is all."

"So, I take it your test was a success kid?" Beth asks, confusing me until I remember why I started experimenting in the first place.

"Yeah, a complete and total success. Even figured some other stuff out," I answer, while Smoulder hops onto my shoulder. I wonder if I can incorporate a Smoulder-shoulder-holder into my flight spell. I could just make a pouch while I figure it out.

"Excellent. While you were testing, Tipan and Rufka scouted their camp. They found something unexpected," Beth explains as Tipan brings the map up once more, showing a rough outline of the newly fortified Fallen camp.

But that's not what Beth is pointing to. At the base of the silver building, almost precisely where the awakened Fallen were camped when we first stumbled across them, is a fuzzy indistinct shape which appears to be an opening.

"Is that a tunnel?" I question Tipan.

"I believe so. Their new defences appear to be centred around it," Tipan discloses, rotating the map, showing that they've built more walls all around the camp.

"They're not sending their squads out as far anymore either," Rufka notes, moving to stand next to me.

"Why would they be building a tunnel," I wonder, looking to the others.

"That's the question. Maybe they're trying to escape. Maybe they want a bunker. But I think the fact they're doing it in the shadow of the silver building is significant. Whatever those buildings are, these Fallen want inside,” Beth states, tapping the floating image of the entrance.

"And we're going to stop them?”

"Well, they've demonstrated they're not going to leave us alone. While we're safe from them here, that system boss makes this a less than ideal base. So, I think it's time to hit them back. The plan is pretty simple. Alexis and Rufka will attack the lesser Fallen along the flanks while the rest of us attack from these buildings here," Beth explains pointing at several buildings that run close together, leading next to the camp.

"That said, we're not in desperate straits here, and we have a fallback position, so if there's trouble, we'll fall back. It looks like every Fallen we take down is staying down, so no need to take them all at once. If they can follow us here or we get split, Alexis should be able to contact you. If we're not able to communicate, try to make it here," Beth continues pointing at a spire-like building near the south edge of the inner city.

"It's still in the inner city, but it should be far enough out that the system boss will leave it alone."

"Questions?"

"Why don't we just finish the zone quest?" Josh asks.

"This is still our best place to safely train, assuming we can deal with the Fallen. Raz's has a lot of features that we won't find anywhere else unless we gain access to a major Nexus. And most of those are locked away by the Aetherium or on another continent," Tipan supplies, running a hand through her fur while inspecting the map.

"Uh. But we can just access Raz's from any Nexus as long as we have this," I mention as I pull the Raz's tube out of my inventory. Raz gave it to me for three essence after I'd bought my tenth meal last night saying that since I liked the food so much, I should have a way to get back. For only three essence, I hadn't even blinked before buying it.

Beth and Tipan just look at me while Rufka chuckles as Roberts pats me on the shoulder, "Ha. It's good to see one of us thought to get the device off him while we had the chance."

"I guess we do have a choice. Shall we hold a vote, people?" Beth asks, getting nods of ascent from the group.

"I need to learn more about Bel’dast, and if possible, I'd like to send her to Astra," Tipan confirms, "I vote we attack the Fallen."

"Hmm. As do I," Rufka agrees, glancing at me as she says so.

"Me too. They've attacked me every time they've seen me," I state, crossing my arms. What goes unsaid is that I’m silently supporting Rufka. I don't know why she doesn't want to tell the others, but I know what it's like not wanting everyone to know your business.

I shake my head, not wanting to dwell on memories of high school.

"Well, that's half our number. I'm not comfortable hurting them, but I'll be there to shield you," Roberts evades, tactfully sidestepping voting, I note.

"Josh?" Beth prompts, turning towards where he's standing. Unlike the rest of us, Josh is gazing up the hill towards their camp.

"Most are basically zombies made by the system, yeah? I say we approach them. If they're willing to talk, then we listen. But if not," Josh responds, turning back to face us.

"Okay. That sounds reasonable. I'm personally all for confronting them. Considering their track record so far, I don't think we'll be talking, but we'll stay open to it. But there's something dangerous going on here. I'd rather take it on than leave it behind us," Beth states, getting nods from all of us.

"So…. If we're going to try to talk, I guess we're not going to fly up then just start shooting?" I mention, shooting hand-pistols at the map. The little balls of wind and water that fly from the tips of my fingers are why having magic is so great.

"We'll see. We'll all get into place on that building, then Alexis and Rufka can watch our flanks as we move in," Beth replies, pointing at the nearby building before grabbing her glider from where it rests nearby.

The others grab their gliders while Rufka and I both cast our flight spells.

Once we're all ready, Beth smiles, standing on the edge of the building before leaping off while calling, "Let's do this, people."

And so, we all follow her. I know Josh is hoping for peace, but I don't think it's likely. They've attacked me repeatedly without provocation.

If they give us peace, then okay. We're all alive and healthy. We can give them peace.

But if they don't.

Well, as the saying goes, war, war never changes.