January 26, 2019, 10:33 am.

"The Forerunners run the Aetherium?" Beth asks Bem while I'm still trying to think of what to ask Wyonna.

"That's what the minister has claimed, yes." He doesn't meet her eyes, but I can't really blame him for that.

"Why doesn't anyone know this?" Rufka demands, pushing into his space.

"How should I know?" he retorts, looking up at her, his ears twitching in exasperation.

"This is rather unexpected," Roberts deadpans, stroking the stubble on his chin.

"Well, we hardly needed more of a reason to find this minister," I point out.

"Alexis is right. Whatever this is, it can wait. Once Josh is stable, we can find out what's really going on." Beth is nodding as she turns back to Bem. "How do we get to these offices?"

"They're just across the garden. But the exit is sealed off. The minister uses her magic to keep me locked in here."

Beth stares at him for several seconds before responding. "How exactly do you think we got in here?"

"Uhh," he scratches his head, then looks at us again, as if he literally hadn't given the matter any thought. "Magic?"

Beth rolls her eyes as she picks him up, though she is gentler, pulling him up by the elbow instead of grabbing him roughly. "And you think we're going to have a problem with a stone wall?"

"Right, right," he mutters as he heads towards the door that's still wedged into place. Before he reaches it, I start fixing it, drawing the metal back from the surrounding stone. By the time he reaches the door, I've finished fixing it. Mostly.

At the very least, it should open. I wasn't exactly careful when I drove the edges into the surrounding stone. I could fix it, but I'm having a hard time feeling bad about damaging the residence of the people who not only kidnapped Josh (twice!) but also ripped his core out then basically left him for dead.

"Okay, Alexis, I want you to stay in constant contact with Rufka. I imagine that shouldn't be a problem?"

I can't help but blush, nodding as Rufka chuckles before throwing her arm over my shoulder, "Sounds good. We need to catch up anyway."

"Not too much, she needs to be paying attention," Beth cautions, but she's smiling. It's strained, but it's still nice to see. Realizing that this would be a good time to contact Wyonna, I send her a quick message.

(A) "So, apparently the Aetherium is run by Forerunners. What the hell? How did you forget to tell me something this important?"

As Beth and I follow Bem through the stone hallway, we pass a lounge, the lush chairs neatly arranged at ninety-degree angles around a solid stone table. Bem ignores the room, but I can't help but poke my head in. There's nothing exceptional about the room, but I can't help but notice that there's a spot on the table that's more worn. And the corresponding chair is likewise threadbare.

Not important Alexis, focus!

Shaking my head, I accelerate time allowing me to easily catch up with Bem who's started up a set of stairs at the end of the hall while reading Wyonna's response.

(W) "What? No way? That's awesome."

(W) "Never heard of Forerunners running a government before. The only records I have of Forerunners on Akilo are from before the sealing. Let's see, I'll widen my record search to include all K'tharn. Looks like there were several involved in the core purging experiments about a hundred years ago."

(A) "Core purging, like the core removal that Josh is dealing with?"

(W) "What? This is why I hate being locked in this room. I have no idea what I'm missing."

When I reach the top of the stair, I realize Beth has disappeared, literally. I copy her, keeping a link to her and Rufka active.

(A) "Oh right, so, apparently minister Folthka is a Forerunner. They've extracted Josh's core, whatever that is, and he's floating in a tank. We have roughly a day and a half to figure out a way to stabilize him or he'll dissipate."

(W) "Oh no! Poor Josh."

(W) "It's kind of surprising. When they performed the original experiments, they hadn't been able to keep any of the volunteers from going poof in under an hour. I wonder what they're doing differently?"

Bem reaches the end of the next hallway, which is full of alcoves instead of doors, pointing at the one at the end. He's clearly confused when he turns around looking for us. His confusion turns to panic when I start reshaping the wall, yelping before running back down the stairs.

I create a neat opening inside the alcove, Beth letting me know she'll check the area first. The courtyard beyond really does deserve the name garden, neat rows of brightly coloured plants flank the simple cobblestone walkway. Just like our current building, the far end of the path ends in a simple stone alcove.

(A) "Well, they have him floating in a tank in a room with zero mana, a really old pu'shaha who's tending him and an entire city block that's outside of the System."

(W) "Interesting. But it looks like Theglia tried all that. There must be something else that's different."

(A) "Maybe they've just kept trying it on everyone they can get their hands on. It's not like Josh volunteered for this."

(W) "Eww. There's no record of the Forerunners doing anything like that. Maybe they're only using the same name?"

(A) "You're kidding, right? What are the chances of that?"

(W) "Not that bad, about 1 in 10,314."

(A) "You made that up, didn't you?"

(W) "Extrapolation isn't 'making it up'. But yeah, I totally just threw a number out there. I have no idea why Theglia didn't provide me with any more information. Maybe they figured something out after I was deployed. It's not like I've been in contact with anyone since I was brought online."

Beth reporting an all-clear keeps me from responding, moving through the garden to the far side. Even the courtyard feels bare of mana. It's only as we step through into the new hallway, that I feel mana return. The experience isn't entirely dissimilar to diving into a pool. The mana doesn't seem to flow through the open doorway. I want to investigate the mechanics, but Beth prompts me to follow, reminding me that we're intruders here.

Shaping every alcove into a usable doorway seems like it would be a bad idea, cause it'd expose us too much, but Beth insists it'll be more useful if we need to move around quickly. The first room is full of crates. When we look in one of the crates, there are cables like the ones attached to Josh's tank. The next room is full of taller crates. Crates large enough to fit the pod.

"It looks like they're getting ready to scale their efforts up," Beth observes as we crack one of the crates confirming that they really do contain the same pods.

"Yeah. Do you think they're making more Fallen?" I ask.

"It's possible." We both stare at the pod for a second before continuing our exploration.

We're looking into a third storage room and I'm checking in with Rufka when she asks, "Hey Lexi, did you guys take Bem with you?"

"Nope. He skedaddled when I started reshaping the wall. Why?"

"He never came back. He probably told someone we're here."

Passing Rufka's thoughts on to Beth, she responds. "Good. Hopefully, they'll hurry back."

"What?"

"We need to find Folthka as soon as possible. If she comes hurrying back, all the better," Beth explains as we move to the next room.

"Right. And we're invisible, so hopefully, she doesn't notice us." I nod along, even though she can't see me.

"Won't matter if she does."

The certainty in Beth's voice sends a shiver down my spine despite the moonshine. I wouldn't want to be Folthka when we find her. Assuming she isn't more powerful than Ivicka. I'm not sure that'd matter to Beth at the moment.

Refocusing, I open the next alcove. The stone in front of us quickly disappears, this time revealing what looks to be the entrance to a small apartment. It almost makes me feel like I'm back on earth for a second with miscellaneous knick-knacks, abstract art on the walls (not sure if that's supposed to be a K'tharn or a tree) and even some dirty dishes cluttered on one end of a small coffee table. Currently unoccupied though.

Beth still heads into the room, while I keep an eye on the hall, letting Rufka know that we haven't found anyone yet.

It's as Beth's poking around behind a counter in the kitchen that I hear a 'whish' from outside the apartment. Letting Beth know we might have guests, I peek around the corner, trying to remain hidden even though I should be shrouded in invisibility.

The K'tharn with the golden fur is there, striding towards us from the direction of the courtyard. Which means she's passed all the open rooms already.

"Genitha, are you in here? You left all the storerooms open again." She walks into the room, looking around for a second before sighing. "I swear, some-users…"

I stand rigidly as she walks past me towards the kitchen where Beth is silently waiting. I remain frozen, waiting for Beth to let me know what we're going to do as the K'tharn starts making some sort of lunch. She doesn't get farther than putting meat on a chopping block before Beth appears with a knife at the K'tharn's throat.

The K'tharn doesn't even bat an eye as she continues working. "Really Genitha, I thought you'd be more imaginative by now. Though I suppose the dagger at the throat thing does have a certain, pre- Vaus' Awakening charm."

I'm surprised Beth isn't exerting force or attempting to ask any questions when the K'tharn steps out of her grasp to retrieve something from beneath the counter.

"You know this means your daughter is going to suffer, don't you? We can't have you…" she trails off as she finally looks at Beth.

"Oh. Now, this is interesting," she says as she inspects Beth, poking her in the side. Beth looks around frantically, letting me know she's still aware at least. I reassure her as I move closer. Don't know what this K'tharn is doing, but she doesn't seem to know I'm here.

As I'm inching closer, she continues talking, "You must be related to 'Forerunner Rose'. I must say, that was quite the surprise. Not as surprising as the fact that Ivicka neglected to mention that he had a companion though. Oh, where are my manners? My name is Agatha Folthka."

"But you can call me 'Forerunner Thark'."

I'm less than three metres away when I notice the soft fluttering of a piece of the cut meat. Cautiously I reach out with my air manipulation, detecting a light flow of wind mana swirling around Folthka.

"Where…" Beth manages to squeeze out as I'm studying the air magic. The whole thing reminds me of how Ivicka ripped the air out of my lungs.

"Your friend? Oh, he's here. Not far away, in fact. He's not doing so well though. A minor case of displaced core." As I watch, Beth is floated out of the kitchen then set on a nearby chair as Folthka resumes working on her lunch.

"But you may be just what he needs. What do you say? Would you like to volunteer for a core transplant?" She flicks a bit of bloody meat in Beth's face as she gestures in her direction. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. Here, let me get that."

She's shaping water to clean Beth's face when it occurs to me that I don't need to take control of the wind magic binding Beth in place to free her. I can just disrupt the spell. It'd be mostly effective, though I'll need to sweep Beth close to me using water. With Beth in arm's reach, I could teleport us out. But we came here looking for minister Folthka and we've found her.

But there's no sign of Josh's core. Maybe I should let Folthka continue. She is performing a very useful villain monologue. Then I notice the ropes moving towards Beth, completely out of her line of sight.

Damn, I guess she's not just monologuing. Stupid smart enemies.

Sighing, I pause time, sending a massive amount of wind mana into Folthka's spell to disperse its effects before reaching for Beth with water mana. Except, my massive burst of wind mana doesn't just disrupt her spell.

Instead, it generates a massive gust, sending Beth, the chair and pretty much everything in the vicinity flying over the counter. Including Folthka's half prepared lunch.

Oops.

Folthka's eyes are still expanding as I reach out to pluck Beth out of the air with water mana. We're still trying to get information out of her, so let's see if I can't make this seem like it's Beth's doing. With a little bit of pushing and pulling, I manage to assist Beth in doing a roll then landing on her feet, her pistol drawn and pointing at Folthka. This time from a couple metres away.

Honestly, I didn't even have to do much, Beth figured out what I was doing on her own then went along with it.

Since the rope and chair were already flying in her direction, it doesn't take much effort to secure much like Josh had been tied recently. They're about as responsive to my attempts to manipulate directly as before, but it takes little effort to draw the water from the nearby meat to direct them into position instead.

As my pause ends and time resumes its natural flow, I watch the room carefully.

"Disappointing," Folthka states, searching the room with her eyes.

"I'm sure," Beth responds, patting Folthka down. "Where is it?"

"Where's what?" Folthka asks, fluttering her eyes with faux innocence.

"Josh's core. Bem said you had it."

"Oh, he did, did he? That little rascal." Her words are accompanied by her rising from the chair, the ropes snapping as though they're made of spaghetti. She only makes it halfway to her feet when she's struck by a dark blast from Beth's pistol.

She pauses in shock, looking down at where her upper right arm now just... ends.

"Sit," Beth commands.

"Amazing. A mere iron rank able to create such damage." She does sit as Beth commanded, though her focus is on her missing arm which seals itself closed. It doesn't even have time to bleed on the remainder of her emerald sleeve.

"Where's his core?" Beth demands, firing a warning shot into the nearby floor to get Folthka's attention.

"With the others of course. You probably walked right past it. Ah, Bem, always so clever."

"Take me to it." Beth backs away, keeping her pistol trained on Folthka who calmly rises then starts walking towards me. I backpedal out of the room, waiting for them to emerge into the hallway while contacting Rufka to let her know we've found Folthka. And maybe have her hostage.

Either she's got nerves of steel or she doesn't see Beth as a threat even after having her arm literally disintegrated.

"You know, it's either brave or foolish of you to come here alone. I'm impressed though. Not many would be able to sneak into our inner chambers without tripping the warding scheme." As we move down the hall, I notice that all the alcoves are closed again. Someone was busy.

"Uh-huh." Beth doesn't wait for Folthka to reshape the alcove leading back into the courtyard, drawing a second pistol from behind her back. Her eyes remain fixed on Folthka as she blasts a jagged hole in the wall.

Folthka picks her way carefully over the ruined wall, pausing momentarily at the threshold as her eyes flick to the jagged edges of the hole. Beth doesn't tolerate the wait, gesturing forward after another warning shot at Folthka's side.

Raising her brows, Folthka steps into the courtyard. I can almost see her posture stiffen when she passes through the invisible barrier that holds the mana from following her. Beth follows behind as I stare at the jagged edges of the opening. It reminds me of what happens when I teleport something without taking care, but less neat. As I watch, more of the stone disappears, the edge getting even more jagged.

Eep.

I use a quick burst of accelerated time to catch up to Beth and Folthka when Rufka contacts me. "Hey Lexi, you're not going to believe what just happened."

(A) "Can't talk right now, don't want to risk Folthka discovering my presence."

We're only halfway across the courtyard when Beth fires, ensuring there'll be no waiting when we reach the far side.

"You know, there's really no need for the hostility. I'm sure we'll find this is all a terrible misunderstanding," Folthka says when she enters the hall.

"Sure. You accidentally ripped Rose's core out of his body then left him to die." I can hear Beth's sneer as they make their way down the stairs. Folthka really wasn't kidding. We're almost back to where we started when she stops in front of a section of unadorned wall. Unlike the other entrances, there's no alcove here. It's just a featureless plain wall.

"May I?" Folthka asks, gesturing in front of her.

"Fine." Beth grunts, sidling against the far wall as Folthka begins creating the passage. The grinding of the stone is audible as I message Rufka telling her where we are. Then Folthka finishes, revealing a new passage ten metres long leading down at a gentle slope.

"His core is down there?" Beth asks, her eyes flicking down for only a second before returning to Folthka. As they're talking, I reach out to the stone, reinforcing the structure when I notice several sections that were left weakened. Trying to trap us, I bet.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Folthka replies with a shrug.

Beth takes a half-step towards Folthka before she stops herself. "You'd best speak plainly. What do you mean 'in a matter of speaking'?"

Folthka lays her ears back, tilting her head up as though thinking before responding. "It's better if I show you."

"After you," Beth acquiesces, waving Folthka forward. Folthka nods, and I can see her glance up at the recently reinforced roof then back at Beth. Noticed my reinforcement efforts, I'm guessing. Might have been better to let her think she could trap us here. Oh well.

She starts making her way down the hallway.

I'm about to follow her when Rufka messages me again, reminding me she has important news. I inform her I'd love to hear it but she insists I need to come see in person. She tells me it'll keep for a couple of minutes, she doesn't want to spoil the surprise. Apologizing, I tell her it's not a good time as I hustle after Beth, sneaking down the hall before they get too far ahead.

Emerging from the sloped hallway, we come out into a room dominated by a long, low stone table with dozens of short chairs pushed underneath it. I've barely noticed the table when a high voice rings out, followed by another.

While surprising, the sound is familiar. I heard it all the time when I walked past the park near my father's care home.

It's the sound of children playing.