January 20, 2019, 10:52 pm.

The fox person is grinning at us, the toothpick protruding as they wait for a response. Well, we were wondering who Demo was. Now we know.

As we stand there, I pause, using the opportunity to scan them.

"Creature Analyzed: Phothen. Gene Seed D."

"Despite being a long-established member species, the homeworld and culture of the Phothen has never been discovered. All that is generally known is they're explorers who tend to prefer peaceful resolutions to conflict."

"Name: Demo."

"Attributes: Physical; Low, Mobility; Medium, Magic; Medium, Awareness; Medium."

"Attacks: Explosives. Projectiles. Ice."

"Defences: Physical: Medium. Magical: Medium. Ice: High."

"Would you like to know more? Obtain the codex on the Phothen Exploriat for 11.4 focus and 11.6 facet."

Wow, that's impressive. The codex now costs more facet than focus. As I'm reading their status, I stare at the dull grey orb they're holding in their hand.

That's an explosive, isn't it? Not sure how explosives and peaceful go together.

Ending my pause, I feel a pressure followed by a faint tingling sensation wash over me as Demo stares at me. The sensation fades and his grin grows wider as he tosses the baseball-sized orb up before snatching it out of the air with a flourish.

"You're Demo?" Beth asks, not holstering her pistol, but lowering it further.

"Yep. Pure Phothen genius, yeh are," they grouse while inspecting each of us in turn. "Now, I've answered your question. What system-tainted business do you citizens have, pulling me halfway round the world away from my ship?"

"We found corrupted summoning stones," Rufka blurts out. Looking over, I see she's put her bow away and is hopping back and forth from foot to foot. "Are you a Phothen explorer? Like Ashkaban?"

Demo winces as if they've been struck, staring at Rufka before saying, "corrupted summoning stones? Never heard of them."

He completely ignored her question about being Phothen. Jerk.

"What are you doing here?" Beth asks, trying to get things back on track while I wonder about this ship he mentioned. He wouldn't have been on a world ship, would he? Those things are huge, there's no way he crashed one here.

"Me? After the damn quest showed up, there was an update. Seemed reasonable enough, offering to put me in contact with other citizens. When I accepted, did I get a nice little call or message? Nope. I was dumped here instead. Let's see how was it phrased, 'due to a Citizen's discoveries, you've been transported to a meeting point.'"

"Wait. The system brought you here? We barely knew we were coming here a day ago, when did you get your update?" I ask, forgetting to give Beth the lead.

"Oh, I'd say about a day ago. It's a nice change of scenery from the swamp I landed in, I'll admit that much."

"Do you know anything about the quest?" Beth asks as she decides to holster her pistol. At a wave from her, Josh follows suit, his spear and shield wilting away.

"Of course not. It's your system-warped quest, not mine. It did update to tell me I'd be meeting citizens here at Nexus point three-nine-two. Given the out of the way nature of the place, I figure you must be them."

Beth is walking towards Demo as she responds, "We are. I'm sorry to inform you, we're not planning on addressing the quest yet though."

"Yeh're kidding. Yeah?" Demo asks, his whiskers laying flat against his face as he stops bouncing the grey object.

"Afraid not, neighbour," Beth answers as she glances past him at the Nexus. He's blocking the path down, though I think there's another entrance on the far side.

"Of course not. Wish the system weren't such a pest, yeh know? No courtesy at all," Demo complains, hands on his hips.

"Yeah. Listen, speaking of courtesy, we've been travelling all day and we're ready to take a break, maybe relax a little. Why don't you join us, tell us all about your version of the quest and what brought you to Akilo."

"Ha. Good one. Citizens of the system wanting to know what brought a Phothen to Akilo."

When Beth doesn't respond but simply stares at him, Demo decides to continue. I don't blame him; Beth can get a good glare going.

"All I know is, one second I'm investigating a space station orbiting a black hole, the next, I find myself crashed in a swamp on a sealed world. As if that weren't enough, I end up enslaved by the system, ripped away from Saratesa, then I meet yeh here," Demo states as they edge away from us, crossing inside.

He keeps the table between us even as we follow him into the rather cramped Nexus.

Oh. It's not one table, it's four tables spread around the edge with an open area in the middle. I count a total of twenty-four seats at the outer edge with none in the middle.

Rufka nudges my elbow as we take seats further from Demo, "I can't believe it. He's a real live Phothen," Rufka practically squeals in my ear as she stares at him.

"Is that special?" I ask. I mean I remember the Phothen world ship, but there were dozens of other more interesting models in that room.

Rufka's nodding, as she answers in a low voice while Beth and Demo begin trading notes. Apparently, Rufka used to read about an infamous Phothen explorer when she was young. I'm trying to listen to Beth, Roberts and Demo even as Rufka is telling me about this Ashkaban The Great yet Rarely Successful (apparently, she was a light-hearted Phothen more focused on exploring than completing whatever task she was attempting).

Beth mentions something about the system quest and Demo mentions the anti-corruption system but it's not until I remind Rufka that we're missing out that she quiets down, allowing me to hear them properly.

"That sounds good. We can work from there," Beth agrees, not giving me much to follow.

"If yeh're sure. This particular Nexus is lacking in pretty much every feature except basic amenities," Demo explains while maintaining a precarious balance on his chair.

"We have a way around that. Given some time and resources," Beth answers carefully.

"Good. Yeh're not gonna be a waste then. And if we're able to visit a couple of these dungeons yeh mentioned, maybe I'll be able to find a way off this mudball."

"We won't be able to leave until we finish the system quest, unfortunately," Beth answers.

"Well, if yeh want to get stronger before dealing with the quest, I can understand that. But Yeh'll not be leaving me behind. Now that the system has its hooks in me, I'll be making use of it," Demo demands, his arms crossed.

"Hmm. We'll have to talk about it. I'm told that six is the party limit, and as you can see, we're full," Beth replies, waving to the rest of us. I glance at Rufka, whose face has fallen, her fur flattened in disappointment.

"Kid, you want to activate the device. I'd rather finish this conversation at Raz's," Beth requests, looking at me.

I'm surprised she wants to bring this Demo with us to Raz's, but Raz did indicate his place was safe for almost anyone.

Shrugging, I pull out the dark tube that Raz sold me. Then I insert a mana essence. It hurts a little to spend what's essentially an integration point, but the system menu here at Nexus point 392 is limited to purchasing a selection of fresh fruit (which I acquire several kilos of for ten emgee) and the Negotiation Table. The table's interesting, preventing damage to any copper rank or lower being around it. It's like a test area that can be accessed without going into a dungeon. While we're sitting here, I'm unable to summon so much as a flicker of flame or bead of water.

On the other hand, Raz's device interfaces with the system without any issues, a simple prompt appearing when I insert the mana essence. Holding it in place, a quiet thrumming fills the room causing everyone's conversation to die out.

A moment later, a familiar neon light starts blinking. The pink sign appears between one blink and the next. Immediately after the sign appears, another exceedingly bright flash of pink blinds me. When my vision clears, I discover the familiar plain too-small door has appeared, seamlessly interwoven with the surrounding roots.

"Doorway to Raz's Remarkable Reststop and Repository linked to Nexus point 392. This door will disappear in ten minutes."

"Citizen Pandora may summon this door from their system menu at the following locations: Raz's Remarkable Reststop and Repository, Nexus point 392."

Basically, confirming what Raz told me, but still nice to see.

"Interesting. Artifice magic," Demo mumbles, scrutinizing the door.

"Yeah. The innkeeper seems to like making all sorts of things," Beth nods, observing Demo's reaction closely.

"This was done by the owner?" Demo asks while reaching for the handle.

"Indeed. He's been quite a wonderful host," Roberts notes from where he and Josh are standing on the far side of Demo.

"What do you say we get a table, have a drink and get to know each other?" Beth suggests, indicating the door in front of us.

"Yeh might have the right idea. But I think it's best that yeh go first," he replies, pulling the door open. He keeps his eyes fixed on us as Beth nods, stepping through the doorway with no hesitation. Tipan, Roberts and Josh are only a moment behind.

Rufka and I are standing next to him and Rufka is doing the foot hopping thing again when he glances at her. She's about to speak when he catches sight of her then retreats through the door. He doesn't slam it behind him, but his disinterest is clear to me.

"Isn't he cool?" Rufka exclaims rhetorically. At least I'm hoping it's rhetorical. He doesn't seem too keen to face her. And I've realized what Rufka's doing.

She's gone full-on fangirl.

Sab and I never really had fangirl moments. Okay, Sab might have gotten excited whenever we went to the observatory or she found a new article about space exploration. But that wasn't over people.

"Uh yeah. His tails are pretty awesome," I admit while sending Smoulder a mental message that her tail is awesome too. Smoulder reassures me that it's okay to look at other creature's tails. It's her fire that makes her special, not her tail.

"So awesome. And did you see his hat? I want one just like it. I wonder if Raz can make me one?"

"Probably. Speaking of Raz, why don't we head inside?"

"Right. Sorry. I'm just excited. I never thought I'd ever meet a real live Phothen, you know?" Rufka gushes as she leads the way through the door.

I nod along, thinking of what I'm going to do next, probably hit the change room, retrieve my loot then upgrade my class a level. However, when I step in behind Rufka, I find we're not in the bar.

Instead, we find ourselves in an octagonal room with doors set into each side. It still looks like Raz's with the familiar hardwood floor and polished doorframes. But other than vague discolouration on each door, there's no clear indication of where to go.

Our entire group is still taking in the doors when the door to our right opens.

A short creature about a metre tall emerges. They're propelling themselves on a large number of tightly packed limbs. They kind of resemble a bundle of licorice, if a bundle of licorice could peel the very ends then use them to move. And was light pink with a single rapidly blinking eye the size of my fist on top. One of the pink… Limbs? Tentacles? One of the tentacles is curled upwards waving a clipboard as the creature speaks. I'm not entirely sure where its voice is coming from other than under its legs somewhere, but the tone is warm yet warbly. I'm not certain how, but I feel it's distinctly feminine.

"Welcome guests to Raz's Remarkable Reststop and Repository. Can I have your names for the waiting list?"

"Waiting list? Where's Raz? Who are you?" Beth asks in what I'm guessing is surprise. Which is fair, I'm a little shocked too. Raz mentioned he was usually busier, but I didn't expect a waiting list. Or a new face. At least, I think we're looking at her face. She's honestly a little more shocking than the waiting list.

"Yes. I'm sorry, my name is Amanana. I'm new. Mr. R hired me on after he received an unexpected surge in popularity when he returned from his sabbatical."

"Your innkeeper was on sabbatical, was he?" Demo asks, glancing at us for a moment.

"We were here just two days ago," I mutter, wondering how much busier he could have gotten in two days.

"Oh, are you on his existing customer list? He did mention he was expecting some special guests," the jellyfish-like being warbles, her body undulating up and down as her complexion around her eye changes colour, resembling a blue star in a pink sky for a moment.

"Indeed. In fact, we have outstanding orders with him," Roberts mentions, "under Roberts, Rose and Tipan I believe."

"Oh. One second," she responds. As the jellyfish inspects her clipboard, I inspect her.

"Creature Analyzed: Weldiqa. Gene Seed C."

"A relatively recent member species, most of the Weldiqa were annihilated shortly before their species integration. While few records of their time before integration remain, traces of apocalypse class weapons and genocidal propaganda indicate a successful eugenics campaign. The remaining Weldiqa are ruled by an autocratic council known as the Weldiqa Ten."

"Name: Amanana."

"Attributes: Physical; Minimal, Mobility; Minimal, Magic; Minimal, Awareness; Low."

"Attacks: Paralyzing touch."

"Defences: Physical: Minimal. Magical: Minimal."

"Would you like to know more? Obtain the codex on the Weldiqa Ten for 11.4 focus and 11.6 facet."

Okay, now I feel bad for thinking of her as a jellyfish. She's the least powerful person I've analyzed.

"Ah. Here you are. I'm so sorry about that. Right this way please," she trills waving her clipboard in the direction of the door. As she's about to lead us inside, she stops for a second to look at her clipboard again, which is when I notice it's blank.

Invisible ink? Maybe she has an ability that lets her read it. Or maybe she sees in a different spectrum?

Even as I'm contemplating why she has a blank clipboard; she leads us through into a much louder and more crowded bar. In the corner is our large table, but it's currently occupied by creatures that resemble Raz. They're much larger and more colourful though.

"Yeh know, this almost makes leaving my ship behind worth it," Demo states, taking in the bar with his tails all flowing behind him. Even as I watch, they settle together near the floor. It's almost like he's only got one truly fluffy tail.

Like, super fluffy.

"This way please," Amanana trills, leading us past the bar to a pair of tables sitting in the corner. As everyone takes their seat, we discover we're short a chair. I let everyone else take a seat while I remain floating. Why stand when you can fly?

"Oh. I'm so sorry. It says here you're a party of six. I'll just. Uhm. Give me a moment, I'll find another chair," she exclaims, spinning back and forth before disappearing between two tree-like beings. They're very humanoid, but all their features are wooden. But not fresh living wood. More like faded beachwood, a light beige and hard.

They're still expressive though, their wooden eye ridges rising in apparent surprise when Amanana squeezes past them.

There are several other species throughout the room and several are staring right back at us. Guess they've never seen a human before. It's kind of overwhelming, so I turn back to the conversation already starting at the table.

"Now, what did yeh have in mind to keep me from being left out?" Demo asks Beth as trays start floating over to our tables.

"Actually, I might have a solution to that," Rufka admits with a pinched face, her fur laying especially flat.

"We're out of the Aetherium's core now. The only way you'll be further from the Aetherium's reach is if you decide to book passage on the narrow sea. I'm going to return to free my mum."

"The whatsits core?" Demo asks in confusion. Roberts explains to Demo about the Aetherium with Tipan clarifying while Beth addresses Rufka.

"Are you sure? I meant it when we said we'd help you."

"Yeah. My mum's been their prisoner for too long now. I was almost ready to make an attempt when Lexi came stumbling into my life," Rufka explains, squeezing my hand.

"I almost wish I could get to know Demo before going after mum. A real live Phothen. Wow."

"Well, you can get to know him when you get back with your mom, right?" I console her.

"Yeah. Mum's going to be so excited too!" Rufka exclaims.

Amusingly, despite Rufka's worries, we spend the next half hour getting to know Demo. A solo explorer (apparently most Phothen who leave their world ships are), Demo was investigating a strange signal being routed through the space station. His comms beeped. When he answered, he got a burst of static before he and his ship popped.

"So suddenly, I'm not in space, the hull starts creaking under the sudden change in pressure and I'm completely without power. Do I panic? Not even a little. I've flown through Reaver space before which is non-stop wormholes. A little powerless flight is nothing to me."

"Awesome," Josh mutters, as Demo continues.

"So, knowing a freefall spin will just end up with my guts splattered six ways to Odeon, I grab the controls, guiding Saratesa into a smooth landing in the swamp. All without power, of course," he leans back, looking satisfied.

As Josh and Rufka hover over him, I listen as he describes fighting off the local wildlife while working on his ship. He'd gotten several of his ship's systems back online when we triggered the system quest, though it was still far from flight-worthy. Something about a missing engine.

While all this is interesting, and Rufka is hanging on his every word, I find myself regularly distracted by the busier bar. It reminds me of what Raz said about being able to enter from any location we've already entered. If I'm able to teleport back to the stone circle, then I'd be able to move between the two using Raz's as a waypoint. And I'd be able to set my return point here. Maybe we'd even be able to use it to travel back and forth as a group.

Before that though, I want to access the change room.

First, so I can level.

And then, there's that other little thing that I wanted to pick up.

Immortality.