January 26, 2019, 11:12 am.

I'll admit, children running about playing tag was not what I was expecting when we came to rescue Josh from the evil lair. But that's clearly what the two small K'tharn who come barrelling into the room are doing.

The one in the lead jumps onto the table, their golden mane flying loose as they scramble away from the shorter one who sends a nearby chair spinning. At a glance, the cubs appear nearly identical, the only apparent difference is that the second cub is much louder and slightly shorter. The one in the lead is nearly halfway to where Beth and Folthka are standing before they notice them, stopping in place.

"Gotcha!" Their shorter cohort calls out, two paws raised in triumph when they catch them.

"Celthi, Qern, we have a visitor," Folthka calls sweetly, extending a paw towards them then gesturing them closer. Her greeting throws me off, but she keeps speaking, "Come say hello to…"

"You know, I never did catch your name?" Folthka remarks casually, turning to Beth with a grin full of sharp pointed teeth.

"You can call me Forerunner Raven Queen," Beth replies with an equally toothy grin. "I hope you didn't bring me here because you thought children would distract me from retrieving Rose's core."

"Where's your arm?" the shorter cub, the one Folthka referred to as Qern, asks. I was wrong about them being identical. Not only does he have the flatter teeth that indicate he's a male, but he also has a black star pattern over his left eyes. Eyes that are focused on Folthka's partial disintegration.

"Just another lab accident. You know how dangerous my work can be," she responds, ignoring Beth's remark. Both of the children nod, though they seem nervous. Celthi in particular keeps glancing at Beth while playing with a pink rose woven into her hair.

"How are you feeling Qern? Any nausea?" Folthka continues, who keeps herself between the children and Beth's gun.

I jump when Beth puts a new hole in the table. The children are as startled as I am, tripping over each other before collapsing on the floor. Then Qern starts crying.

"I suppose a little patience was too much to ask," Folthka sighs. Then she stares into Beth's eyes, "Rose's core is in my son Kalim. Removing it will kill him."

Beth's eyes narrow, flicking to the children, then back to Folthka. "Why? Why would you experiment on your own child?"

"To save his children," Folthka replies calmly as she kneels next to Qern, stroking his head reassuringly.

"How does this help your child? And how does it justify killing my… Forerunner Rose?"

"He's not dead, there's a chance he'll recover, free of the System. Really, you should be thanking me."

Beth snorts, before adding, "Unlikely. But if that's how you feel, perhaps you should take his place." I don't think she's kidding.

"And leave my children without their mother. I think not." Folthka shakes her head while helping the kids to their feet.

"Mom, what's going on?" Celthi asks, tugging at Folthka's sleeve.

"She's here to see the nice man who helped Kalim."

"You know Mr. Rose? He's nice. He gave me this flower," Celthi states, fingering the rose.

Beth stares at the child for a second before glaring at Folthka, who's still holding Qern. "I want to see him."

"Of course, your friend is this way," Folthka nods then takes a step towards the ramp.

"Not Rose. Your son. Kalim."

Folthka stiffens, her robe falling unnaturally still. "He's still recovering."

"And?"

Beth and Folthka spend several seconds staring at each other before Folthka nods, standing then shooing the children away, "go play in the arboretum."

Neither seems eager to leave, but Celthi gives Beth another look before taking Qern's hand, leading him away. They're not nearly as excited as when they came running in.

I can't say I blame them.

As the children wander out the right side of the chamber, Folthka strolls towards the door the children emerged from. Beth and I follow. I maintain my distance, ensuring I never get too close to either. I don't need one of them to bump into me. It may look like Beth has the advantage here, but Folthka remains too calm.

She takes us through a homier and more open hallway. Several worn benches are set along the hallway looking out through large windows into a sun-dappled enclosure to our right. I can't make out the children but I suspect that's the arboretum. As I'm gazing in, I realize the sun must be an illusion as the entire space is enclosed under a solid stone ceiling.

Interesting. I wonder how they do it? An application of twilight maybe?

We pass several closed doors, each of them made of wood instead of the stone doorways that block every other part of the facility. This is an area meant to be lived in.

Folthka stops at the second door from the end, hesitating. She draws herself up, before turning to Beth. "Look, I know you're upset about your friend. But Kalim… he's... Please don't hurt him."

"I don't hurt children," Beth offers, though she doesn't lower her pistol.

Folthka pushes the door open while mumbling something under her breath. It almost sounds like a prayer.

On the other side of the door is a small room. Every wall is covered in drawings, well, sketches really. There are several of a suspension style bridge, more of a grand arch and a large poster-sized sketch of the Builder tower. There's a desk in the corner with several half-finished sketches of the tower as well. The K'tharn I'm assuming is Kalim is lying with their back towards the door. At first, I think he's just sleeping, but then I see the thin cables running from his back underneath his bed.

"As you can see, he's still not doing well."

Beth doesn't say anything. They both remain in the hall and I take the opportunity to sneak into the room to analyze him.

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

"This pu'shaha has had a non-pet System core integrated."

"Name: Kalim Folthka."

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

"Attacks: Wood and Chemical manipulation."

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

Well, that's not a very detailed descript… oh, what's this?

"Quest received: Not doing well. Do a more thorough analysis of Pu'shaha Kalim Folthka using Facet and Focus to create a codex. Requirements: 0/1 Pu'shaha analyzed. Rewards: 5 iron rank integration points."

That's a remarkably easy quest. Especially for five points. Glancing over, Beth is staring at Folthka, but she's not saying anything, her face blank.

Well, I'm already here, I'm not going to look a gift quest in the mouth. So, I pause time before analyzing him again. This time, I push extra Facet and Focus into what had become a routine interaction with the System. This time I can feel strands of facet as they pierce his exterior. It's as if I've wrapped him in a cocoon of invisible threads of Facet, each thread performing surgery on a microscopic level. Except, instead of cutting him into pieces, this dissection will leave him intact.

I hope.

I've used up over half my considerable reserves when the threads retract, pulling back into me, filling my mind with a complete understanding of his inner workings. I can feel his body healing. I don't know the terms to use to describe what was wrong with him, but he had incredible damage throughout his entire cardiovascular system. It almost looks like his blood was literally tearing holes in his body. Whatever caused it doesn't appear to be present anymore.

I'm also able to discern the edges of his 'System interface'. The layer is interwoven with his entire body, but it's not perfect. If I were to compare it to my own experiences, it reminds me of when I arrived then damaged myself.

He probably has a killer headache. It's a good thing for him that he's unconscious. But then that's what the pain killers are for. The scan ends and my quest updates. But I don't read it yet because I've run out of pause. And I'm still stuck in the room with the young, though according to my scan, adult, pu'shaha.

I cautiously duck beneath Beth's steady arm as she sighs. "Tell me why I shouldn't rip out your core to save Rose?"

"Because it wouldn't work. You don't have the expertise," Folthka answers, her voice level. But I see her body relax slightly at Beth's question. As Folthka is replying, I start messaging Wyonna, letting her know everything I just scanned. I'm even able to share the codex, as I did with Roberts.

(W) "Hold on, I'll go over this. Going to need a couple minutes."

"I think I'll take my chances. Better you than…" Beth waves in the unconscious pu'shaha's direction.

Folthka's right eyes twitch as she pulls the door closed. "On that, we can agree. Are you really only here because of Rose?" she asks, her hand lingering on the door before turning down the hall.

Beth pauses, waiting until I confirm I'm still with her before she starts following. "It's enough. Though I will admit, I'm curious."

"Do you intend to make your son a Fallen? If this doesn't work?"

Beth's question causes Folthka to spin in place, her eyes flaring and her ears laid back. "I would never make a loyal K'tharn into one of those abominations."

"Just the disloyal ones, huh?"

"I've never created a Fallen from a K'tharn. Such a thing would be a travesty."

"Sure…"

"Why do I suspect there's something you're not telling me?"

"Just how often do you get out of here?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business," Folthka declares, pirouetting about, her emerald robes brushing against the benches lining the hall.

"I'm just asking, because a certain Ivicka is running around using Fallen K'tharn. And she seems to be reporting to you."

Folthka's step falters for a second then she continues, responding with a too calm voice. "Clearly this low mana area is affecting me. Because I couldn't have heard you correctly. You expect me to believe that my loyal apprentice would commit the foulest crime possible?"

Beth snorts, "Doesn't matter if you believe me. With what you've done to J… Rose, I don't need to sort things out."

"He volunteered! He said it'd be worth it."

"Ha! Not likely."

Beth might not have any doubts, but I could see Josh doing it if he thought it'd help a kid. Especially, if it meant he'd have a reason to stop fighting. But I'd need to hear it from him to believe it, which could be a bit of a challenge at the moment.

We make it all the way up the ramp without incident. But as we're walking past the neatly organized room with the single threadbare chair, Folthka halts.

"These Fallen… how many are there?"

"I don't have exact numbers. Over twenty in the attack Ivicka led at Glimmering Sands. Encountered hundreds more back in the dungeon. A few of them had these," Beth replies with a shrug, holding up one of the soul stones we took from the Fallen. That lightning Fallen Bel'dast was damn creepy, there was no way I wanted to hold onto her soulstone.

Folthka just stands there staring at the soulstone. She starts reaching for it but Beth pulls it back into her inventory. Still, Beth seems to relax slightly. Then Wyonna contacts me.

(W) "So, it looks like his condition is improving on its own. I think a lot of the damage you found was from a condition K'tharn haven't suffered from since before integration. Some kind of degenerative disease. But that's not the really interesting part. He has access to System functions, but he's fully disconnected from the network. There's no oversight on his System at all. I can't find any limiters either."

(A) "What does that mean?"

(W) "It means he's got access to more rights than a Citizen. At least for his own body. He wouldn't be recognized by the System as a user though. No System Quests or Nexus access. I don't think this was an accident, these changes are too thorough. And specific."

While I'm getting the deets from Wyonna, I'm whispering what she's learned to Beth who's letting Folthka lean against a wall. I must have missed something, because Folthka's convulsing with laughter.

"Of course. She would. It all makes sense now. Here I thought she'd finally seen the importance of our mission. But no. She's been using my research to amass personal power. I'm such a fool."

"Yep."

Even as Beth prods Folthka back to her feet, I let Rufka know we're coming while Wyonna continues her update.

(W) "Oh. I think I know why they did this. You said there were young K'tharn there right? Male and female?"

(A) "Yeah?"

(W) "Well, if they're able to do this with several people they'd be able to keep most of the advantages of the System. But they'd also be able to start having kids without any System restrictions."

(A) "Why would that matter? Couldn't they just complete the 'have a child' quests?"

(W) "Right, I never mentioned, but one of the things the System doesn't really advertise before allowing a user to create a conservatory world is the procreation quests become limited. They're not getting as many of those quests as they used to. The System only awards the best of a species with those quests, so once they send enough people off-world, those on the planet stop getting the quests. If the species survives long enough in the Core Worlds, it leaves nice, mostly empty worlds without the destruction of conquest. And if they don't, then the quests maintain a small 'stable' population on their homeworld until the System decides they're ready to 'play' again."

(A) "Wow. So, we're like what to the System? Corgis?"

(W) "If Corgis were bred to be warriors in the Eternal War instead of being cute, sure. Actually, strike that. There are some species that are kept around for their cuteness. I don't think that'll be humans though. You're more horror than cute."

(A) "Harsh."

I don't have time to keep chatting with Wyonna since we're finally opening the door.

"Hold on a minute," Beth commands Folthka before signalling behind her back. It takes several seconds for me to realize she wants me to teleport into the room so Folthka doesn't realize I've been following around invisibly.

Shrugging, I do as Beth asks. Using Rufka as a reference, I pop into place out of sight of the door, right behind her. Seems like the perfect time to surprise her.

I end up getting an elbow in my stomach followed by a quiet apology. Followed by soft giggling. Turns out I came into the room as she was turning, leaving me on the receiving end. There's no sign of Bem, but Rufka, Roberts and Josh are still here as expected. I kind of forgot that Rufka mentioned there was something she needed me to see, which I'm guessing is the other occupant. Talking in low tones with Roberts is another K'tharn. They're both consulting a panel in front of Josh's tank.

She shares Rufka's tawny colouration and short fur. In fact, she's pretty similar to Rufka in height as well. There are two major differences though. The first is the heavy collar and chains linking her limbs together. The second is the crimson red tattoo that covers half her body. Starting just below her left eye, the intricate details of the fractal-shaped tattoo reach the tips of both her left hands, while also stretching down both legs.

Before I have time to process the implications of this apparent prisoner further, the door swings open, Folthka gliding through. Smoulder decides this is a good time to escape my pocket, picking up that we're going to be visible for a while. I send her mental thanks for being quiet. She reminds me that I owe her double head-scritches and a full-size obstacle course later.

Folthka jerks backwards when she notices everyone scattered about the room waiting for her.

"So, you didn't come alone," she states before her eyes land on the crimson tattooed K'tharn. "Genitha, are you okay?"

"Your worry is touching, if somewhat misplaced, Agatha," Genitha responds, her voice vaguely familiar.

"Ah, Beth. Good, I've been talking with Genitha and I believe we can… who's this?" Roberts straightens, glancing between Beth's tight face and her drawn weapon.

"This is minister Agatha Folthka. She also goes by 'Forerunner Thark'. She's the one who put Josh in the tank."

"Ah, yes. About that. I believe I should be able to stabilize Josh. I don't want to make any promises but I think we can restore him using his Citizen restoration. But I'll need Alexis' assistance," Roberts searches past Beth before turning back to discover me next to Rufka.

"And who is she?" Beth asks, clearly indicating Genitha.

"Ah, my apologies. This is their resident expert in the transferal process. A prisoner as it happens. Her name is Genitha. She's been quite helpful."

"She's also my mum," Rufka whispers to me, squeezing my hand as Smoulder's tail dangles between us.

Oh, that's why Genitha looks so familiar.