January 26, 2019, 10:17 am.

Beth turns to the mini-taur, a single strand of her fiery hair falling loose as she responds, "What do you mean?"

"I sent my request for an official citizen response team over eighty years ago. Ever since Subsector 3-G went offline, I haven't been able to get a proper response. I don't know why I ever took a position this far out in the rim." His voice is deep, almost as deep as I'd expect from a full-size minotaur emanating from a frame that wouldn't come up to my waist if he wasn't flying. He waves us forward, leading us through the gate then to the side into a squat building.

"Uhm, I think you…" I start to correct the mini-taur when Beth Waves me off.

"Well, we're here now. What's the issue?" she asks. There aren't any other people around. It would seem this really is an out of the way spot.

"The issue is that for eighty years there's been an entire sector outside the control of the system. Did you even read the report?" The mini-taur's eyes flare open as it stops, turning on Beth.

"Not as such," Beth admits with a shrug.

"Figures. Finally, have someone show up and they haven't even read the report."

"It never made it into our hands," Beth notes as the mini-taur leads us to a massive desk. The surface of the desk is practically at my shoulder, yet he hops up onto his chair then looms down at us.

Not effectively. In fact, it's kind of cute and I can't help giggling. Rufka elbows me in the side yet I can't help but notice that she's fighting off laughter as well. Hypocrite.

"It didn't make it… you're not the Citizens I sent for, are you?" he asks, leaning away from us.

"No. But I'm sure we can help. What can you tell us about this sector?"

Even though there are no chairs or ways to set us at an equal height (other than flying or creating our own platform, both of which I'm considering) Beth manages to create a feeling as though she's the one with the higher ground.

The mini-taur doesn't respond. Instead, he weighs each of us in turn.

Welp, since he's doing it to us.

“Creature analyzed: Mabryn. Gene-seed E."

"While the Mabryn were once a unified force, the loss of their homeworld to a Reaver Gene-mother has left this once proud species lost and drifting. A Mabryn's natural instincts are to avoid direct confrontation, instead directing opposition through others or calling upon system resources. A hermaphroditic species, the Mabryn horns are one sign of a species adapting to regular access to mana. Mabryn are a common sight within the core worlds, often in positions that other species avoid. It's rumoured that large portions of the labyrinthine bureaucracy of the core worlds are a direct result of Mabryn efforts, though this has never been proven, as to do so would require filing the appropriate paperwork."

"Name: Geral de Vinkent"

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

"Attacks: Earth and Stone control."

"Defences: Physical: Low. Magical: High. Immunity to Stone. Immunity to Earth."

Not much of a threat from the looks of it. Unless we need to fill out a form.

"Well, you really are Citizens. Completely unrelated to my request. That figures. Guess I'll have to issue the quest personally." The Mabryn waves his (its?) hand in our direction.

"Quest obtained: Investigate Subsector 3-G for Geral. 0/1 investigations completed. Rewards: 5 Iron-rank integration points, 1 Iron-rank Progression Point, 5 Iron-grade essences."

In addition to the notification is a map. A map that indicates Sector 3-G is located on the outer rim not far from the other sealed gate. In fact, it looks like the building Josh is inside is located in this Subsector 3-G.

Beth and I share a look. Yeah, that's not a coincidence.

"This is your standard tiered quest. Find out what's going on, fix it and deal with anything that might prevent the sector from working properly in the future, understood?" he asks while leaning forward over his desk, his cute little paws pressed firmly against each other. Still not as cute as Smoulder, but he's surprisingly close. I'm glad Beth's doing the talking. I can feel my hand twitching as I almost reach out to pet him.

Somehow, I imagine that wouldn't go over well. So, I indulge my urge-to-pet by giving Smoulder head-scritches instead.

"Interesting. And you said it's been like this for eighty years? Is that sort of thing normal?" Beth asks from atop her still rising earthen throne. I was getting a little tired of him looking down at her.

"Uhh…. Yes. I mean, no. If it was normal, I wouldn't need a Citizen to fix it, would I?" Geral asks, shaking his head. Something weird is going on there, cause when he moves his horns, I can make out ripples echoing their shape.

"What can you tell us? Have any of the local residents been able to tell you anything?" Roberts asks from his position next to Beth on the throne. Not like I'd only give one of them a throne.

"Of course not. The sector's been locked off since we lost contact. Standard isolation protocol. Citizen training has really gone to the Reavers in the last few hundred years, hasn't it?" The last part is muttered beneath his breath, but that doesn't keep me from hearing it.

"Couldn't say. Wasn't around then," Beth replies, pushing herself up from the throne. "If you don't have any information, we'd best get to it."

"I may not have any recent information, but I can tell you all of sector 3 went dark before coming back online. Whatever caused the outage knew enough to overload the neighbouring subsectors, blinding us until the seals engaged. At least we know it isn't Reavers."

"How do you know it's not Reavers?" Roberts asks,

"Because Reavers wouldn't have sat tight for eighty years. We'd be hip deep in whatever fresh hell the genochef had cooked up." The way he states it as though it were an obvious fact causes a chill to run down my spine.

"Right. Anything else?" Beth prompts, her hand resting on the hilt of her pistol.

"Yeah. Don't die. If the System can't get a read on what's in there it might not be able to pull you out."

"Noted." Beth leaps down from the throne, which I return to my pack as we walk out the door, Geral muttering to himself behind us. I guess he's not guiding us.

His gaze weighs uncomfortably on my shoulders as we leave the ugly building.

"Ivicka?" I ask, looking to Beth as I share a drink from Rufka's flask.

"Maybe. But who or whatever it is, they have Josh."

"Mum never mentioned there was part of the city that was inaccessible." Rufka pulls out a stick like the one I saw the guards playing with, tossing it towards Tipan as we walk.

"I never would have guessed. I suppose it is near one of the sealed gates. I've never had reason to visit them on the inside." Tipan smoothly bats the stick into the air, barely pausing as it flips from arm to arm before she sends it spinning back towards Rufka.

I try to join Rufka and Tipan in their game, but it's worse than playing hacky sack. Which I'm already bad at. The stick has a strange balance. Even though I only have to hit it with two arms, I have a hard enough time just trying to catch it to pass to my other arm. Beth doesn't join in, focused on leading the way. Roberts not only catches it on his first attempt, but he also uses his ankles. It's as if he's spent his whole life juggling mishappen sticks.

As soon as we make it outside the entrance area, we take to the air, the game stored away as we approach. I can feel Josh just ahead when the connection starts acting… staticky.

Reinforcing the connecting with focus, I switch my perspective to Josh. Or at least, I start switching perspectives. The static makes it feel as though I've been pushed into a busy shopping mall, having to endure the crowd as I find my way to Josh. The most disconcerting aspect is I can't feel my body while in transit.

Suddenly, I'm there, Josh's senses, such as they are, entering my awareness. It's only been a few hours, but it's clear that things have changed since the last time I connected.

The most obvious change in his circumstances is that he's floating. There's a mask covering most of his face, but I'm able to make out a room crisscrossed with wires and tubing. Not that I'm able to focus on that at first. His throat aches, as though he's had it thrashed recently. Once I get used to the aching in his throat, I note that everything has a blue tint, but I think that's the edge of the tube or chamber Josh is floating in. As I inspect what lies within Josh's vision, he jerks his head sideways, a blinding flash of pain disorienting me.

Okay, note to self, I can feel others' pain through the connection. That sucks. Let's just turn that off.

Damn, can't change it while I'm connected. Luckily, the pain is going away. As I come back to myself, I notice Josh's chamber isn't the only one within the room. There's another on the far side where a K'tharn with a gnarled form is moving about.

"Uh guys," I start, my eyes watching carefully. "Josh is some kind of vat in a room with a gnarled K'tharn straight out of an old horror movie."

I'm guessing Josh can hear me, cause he starts mumbling through his mask. It's at this point that I realize the mask is probably the only thing keeping him from drowning. Beth starts issuing orders but there's not much more she can do. We're already flying straight towards him as fast as we can.

Of course, now that we're inside the city, I might be able to teleport to him.

"Not unless you bring me with you," Rufka shakes her head in denial, grasping my hand firmly when I propose the idea.

"All of us should go," Roberts disagrees, Beth a second behind him.

"We should keep an anchor out here," Tipan reminds us as everyone gathers together. She looks at where Rufka and I are holding hands, then to Roberts and Beth. "Which I believe would be me."

"Agreed. Let's do this, people."

We settle on a nearby roof, the sound of an open merchant stall nearby reminding me that we're not the only ones in the city. I think I smell cinnamon.

A moment later, I deposit us into the room, everyone ready to fight. The air here feels empty, like being inside the silver bullets.

Despite our battle-ready positions and moving to cover, the K'tharn doesn't even notice us, continuing to fiddle with a console with several bulky knobs on it.

"Ahem," Beth coughs out as Roberts and I step towards Josh, looking for a latch to free him from the tank.

The K'tharn starts, looking up at us in shock. "Wh-who are you?"

"No one important. We're just here for our friend," Beth replies, glancing over at me and Roberts. I can't find any latches. The entire container is sealed solid.

Right, magic. There are seams where it looks like it's sealed though.

"What? No, you mustn't remove him!" It's only as they're yelling that I notice they have a higher pitch than I'm used to hearing from most K'tharn. Glancing over, I see Beth easily holding them off the ground with one hand. I didn't realize it before but they're even smaller than your typical K'tharn.

"Right," Beth replies dismissively, as she looks at us, "what's the holdup?"

"There's no latch. I think I'm going to have to break the tank," I answer, reaching out to the glass enclosure. It's definitely earth, but there's resistance. Instead of being firm like in the tower, it's loose, as though there isn't anything to grab onto.

"No. You don't understand, he won't survive outside. His core's been remo... Gack," the K'tharn shouts, struggling feebly as Beth tightens her hand around their throat.

"Explain," she demands.

They try to answer, but they're barely able to wheeze out the word, "air," causing Beth to loosen her grip. Slightly.

"Minister Folthka took his core. There's no system to regulate his remaining mana. The incubator is the only thing keeping him from being dispersed."

"I don't believe you," Beth states, her eyes narrowing.

"It's true. It's true, I swear. He's one of our first successes," the K'tharn objects, their struggles against Beth nearly stopped now that their feet have returned to the floor.

I run my hand against the glass surrounding Josh. I can still feel him through the connection, but the static remains. Is it the lack of his core that's causing the static? As I'm running my hand along the glass, Josh pushes his hand up against the glass. I can't make out his expression, most of his face blocked by the mask, but his eyes are glazed over and have difficulty focusing on me.

There's a 'blurgle' through our connection as he attempts to speak.

"Roberts?" Beth asks, not releasing the K'tharn.

Roberts places his hand next to mine, closing his eyes as he focuses on something invisible to me. "He's stable. But there's definitely something wrong with him. I might be able to fix it, but I'll need time."

"Well, looks like our smash and grab just turned into an extended stay. Kid, you want to make sure that door's locked?" Beth asks, pointing to a heavy-looking steel door at the far end of the room.

I nod, picking my way over the cables that run across the room. As I'm making my way, my eyes fall on a device that I'd almost call an altar if not for the number of tubes and cables running in and out of it. I analyze it on reflex as I walk by, not surprised when there's no result.

I make it all the way to the door when I feel analyze finish. Never had a delay like that before.

"Object Analyzed: Core Containment Junction. This device could theoretically be used to hold a core once removed from a user. This device is currently empty. It is attached to Citizen Rose's incubation pod."

I'm gonna say that's important. So, I mention it to Beth while securing the door. I don't bother checking it visually, instead, expanding it slightly so that it fills the doorframe.

"Door's not going anywhere," I inform the others. It's only once the room is secure, I notice Rufka glancing over at the K'tharn every other second. "What is it?"

"Huh? What's what?"

"What's so interesting about her?" I ask, gesturing to where Beth has forced the K'tharn to her feet, hushing them to silence.

"Not sure. But I don't think that's a 'her'," Rufka answers slowly, her words unusually hesitant. Following her gaze, I analyze the old K'tharn.

“Creature analyzed: Pu'shaha. Gene-seed D."

"The opposite of K'tharn, these gentle creatures are the non-sapient counterparts to the warrior. Nearly extinct on the Vausian continent, there are rumours that many still exist in a distant land. "

"Name: Bem."

"You're right. His name is Bem. And he doesn't even have attributes." He's not even trying to fight Beth anymore.

Which is probably a good thing, as she's started muttering to herself while staring at the tank.

"Can we put it back? Would that save him?" she asks suddenly.

"In theory. You'd need to get a core quickly. We've only been able to keep the subjects alive for a day. I think I've improved the formula but his biology is unfamiliar. I don't…"

"Where's his core?" Beth demands, hoisting the scraggly pu'shaha high above her.

"I don't know what the minister does with them. I'm just in charge of trying to stabilize the freed hosts."

"Then where can I find this minister Folthka?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry, I'd tell you if I could," he mewls as the fur Beth was holding him up by rips free. He collapses at her feet with an awful screech.

"Is this really necessary?" Roberts asks as he stands next to Beth.

She ignores him, directing her statement at Bem, who's shaking on the floor. "I don't believe you."

"It's true. I don't know anything but my labs. They don't even let me into the gardens."

"But they let you run these experiments?"

"The lack of ambient mana drains them. They don't stay longer than necessary," he explains pleadingly. I'm glad he's being so cooperative. I get the impression Beth's just hoping for an excuse to hurt him again.

"Is there anything you can tell us? Please?" I ask, hoping to forestall Beth.

"I've heard them mention offices in the building across the gardens. There might be more information there."

Beth paces back and forth for a moment. She's avoided looking at Josh's tube since we came in, but now she stops and stares at it.

"Kid, what say you and I go take a look."

"Hold on, what about us?" Rufka interjects, indicating herself and Roberts.

"Unless you've figured out how to turn yourself invisible, it's too risky. Besides we need someone to guard Josh."

"Should we be splitting up?" I ask. Part of me just doesn't want to leave Rufka but I'm also worried about getting out of here quickly.

"It's not like we can leave until we figure out a way to bring Josh with us," Beth points out, gesturing at the large device currently keeping him alive. Hmm, I wonder if that's true.

"Object Analyzed: Forerunner Gene-seed D incubation pod. This device is currently stabilizing Citizen Rose's mana state. Note, Restoration and Protection abilities are tied to a Citizen's core. Estimated time until Citizen dispersal: 38 hours. "

"Well, it looks like we've got a day and a half to find his core before…" I start but my throat chokes up.

"Even more reason to move. The sooner we find his core, the faster we can get him back on his feet."

Reading the description again, I focus on the name once more. "Huh, that's weird. It's called a Forerunner pod. I wonder why?"

"Haven't you heard of Forerunner's before?" Bem asks, his voice climbing as Beth turns towards him.

"What do you know about the Forerunners?" Beth demands.

"Other than the fact that they're the ones who run these experiments and the central government? They're crazy, every one of them."

The room goes silent, the only sound a faint bubbling from Josh's incubation pod.

…..

Well, that raises some questions.