January 26, 2019, 4:43 pm.

I spend a minute at the workstation looking through the entries. It doesn't take long to understand why I don't have all of these as quests. There are thousands of things the System wants scanned. And a reward of five iron-rank integration points is on the absurdly low end. There's an entry for a creature that seems to be the offspring of a tentacle monster crossed with an old fashioned storage trunk. It's listing offers ten silver-rank advancement points. Just for scanning it. That's enough to cross the rank border from silver to gold ten times.

I haven't even come across a single iron rank advancement point

Yeah, I'd rather not come across whatever this Boxxy-class devourer is.

There are filters for general habitats and I am able to add half a dozen possible listings under my notes for Akilo. None of them pay as well as scanning Kalim did, but they're also listed as minimal threats.

Interestingly, there are options to download codices as well, though not for free. Each entry costs 1 mge. Which, I mean, it gave us an entire secret base with time dilation effects. Not including free intel seems weird.

Upon further perusal, I discover the cost for Akilo entries is 1/100th the cost of codices for any other world. At least it's giving us a discount.

Searching through the database, I find a codex for the Aethop's Daughters we encountered. Whatever that one doll did to me, she disrupted the process and I never did get a codex for them.

As I accept the prompt to download the codex, I'm reminded why the System might always impose a cost.

It almost feels as though I have one of the dolls poking around in my head for a second but then the download finishes and the feeling abates. Now that my understanding of the dolls has reached an intimate level, I'm able to ascertain that I only have to worry about those mental attacks if I connect to them in some way. Such as when I analyzed it. But it can also be through ongoing spell effects such as my channelled flame spell.

Deciding I shouldn't keep this to myself, I motion to Beth before filling her in on the basics.

"Good job kid. This is exactly the sort of advantage I was hoping we'd find."

This leads to a round of everyone downloading codices. Beth insists we don't stop at the threats we've encountered, resulting in us discovering that the System has a warning when you're bypassing your 'absorption threshold'. At least when you're doing it this way.

I already knew my limit was five at a time, but it turns out my rate of recovery is one every twelve minutes. That's five per hour. And not realtime hours, but every hour that we spend here in the chamber. Considering we can stay in here for a day and a half while only half an hour will pass on the surface, I'd be able to download over a hundred codices during lunch in the real world.

If I skipped out on sleep.

Which is nothing. Genitha could download over a hundred without it affecting her. On the other end of the spectrum, Rose is limited to one per hour.

Genitha's not downloading the codices though. It turns out the discounted price is only for Citizens. Not our agents.

I can circumvent this by downloading them, then transferring them to her. But that brings her down to my level. Which is still fast enough that Genitha insists it's worth it.

Once we've all hit our download limit, we gather around the round table at the centre of the ring. If I didn't know better, I'd say the System was listening to us when we'd been arguing about Merlin.

In fact…

"Ahem. I, Queen Alexis, call this meeting of the knights of the round table to order."

"Kid, hate to break it to you, but you're no King Arthur. I think you're more of a Merlin."

Rose blurts out, "No way. Tipan's totally Merlin. And Roberts is totally Galahad. Beth's Arthur, obviously. Rufka is Leon. I'm Lancelot. Lex is probably Mo…. uh."

"What. Don't stop now, you're on a roll," I prod him. I have no idea why he thinks any of those are appropriate, except maybe Beth, since she goes by Raven Queen, but I'm curious where he's headed.

He can't meet my eyes as he mutters, "Lex is probably Morgana."

I can't help it. My eyes light up with glee. I release my best cackling laughter while drawing Smoulder forth with one arm. I'm even able to conjure some small sparks from the tips of my fingers, though it's like drawing a super thick milkshake through one of those coffee stirring straws.

"Are you accusing me of being a witch," I accuse in my best high pitched voice while throwing sparks in an arc over my head. Rose stares at me mouth agape while Roberts starts laughing so hard, I'm worried he's going to fall out of his chair. At least someone got it.

Rose stammers an apology before Beth gets us back on track. I let my lightning fade, though I keep a small spark bouncing between my fingers. It's only been fifteen minutes, but it feels like it's been so much longer.

I can't help but think it's funny that Rose would compare me to Morgana. I always considered her to be a misunderstood character. She was persecuted because of who she was, and while she was… wait, didn't she kill a whole bunch of people when trying to take over the kingdom repeatedly?

Whatever. My call sign is Pandora and Morgana is badass. I'm going with it.

Besides, Smoulder full-heartedly approves of my demonstration. Though she's under the impression I did it to show her off.

"That was awesome," Rufka whispers to me while Genitha begins laying out the specifics of Ivicka's Sanctum with the same virtual map Tipan uses so often. "But I totally didn't get it. You're going to have to explain later."

I nod, attempting to listen to Genitha's description of the literal mountain fortress that comprises Ivicka's Sanctum. Apparently, just because you're not allowed many people in a Sanctum, it doesn't stop you from claiming a spot beneath a kilometre of stone.

Granted, with my ability to reshape stone, that's not the same sort of defence as it would be on earth. But that takes time, and Genitha is certain that Ivicka would have detection wards in place to detect any such intrusions. She also notes we shouldn't rule it out either, because while we have teleportation, Ivicka would have defences against it. Especially now that Genitha's free.

Turns out teleportation is much easier to ward against than it is to perform.

Scrying or divination is warded against as well, but Genitha's been there before so she can recreate it from memory.

"However, my information is out of date. I haven't needed to enter Ivicka's Sanctum since the Vaus-blessed Dragon incident."

"Wait. Mum, are you saying this is Nowhere Fortress?" Rufka laughs out.

Genitha shrugs. "It sounded better than Ivicka's Sanctum. That's like beginning a story at Theria's house."

"Ha. We have lots of stories that start at Theria's house."

"Those are a different kind of story, kitten. Now, as I was saying..." Genitha continues, showing us the general layout, including all the standard stuff like kitchens and bedrooms. It's the storage warehouse where she pauses.

"Now. As you know, your personal storage is limited in size. However, once you have a Sanctum or Stronghold, you're able to transfer items directly into it from your storage space. It's not an extradimensional pocket, however. Everything in the warehouse is physically stored within the warehouse. It's also the most secure part of any Sanctum."

"We suspect it's where she's keeping all the equipment she stole. I also suspect there are a large number of users being prepared to be converted to Fallen. Forcefully."

Beth interjects at this point, "Unfortunately, we don't know how many Fallen we're going to encounter."

"Or who Ivicka's contact in the Aetherium is. I would have thought it was Folthka, but they seem to have fallen out," Genitha pauses, arching her eyebrow as she looks about the table. "No-user? Tough crowd. Anyway, clearly she's working with at least one of the other Ministers. There's no way she'd be able to get so many Fallen into Aethire without support."

Beth leans over the table, looking to each of us in turn. Except Rose. "Which means we don't know what kind of support she has at her Sanctum. I'd prefer better intel, but we can't afford to wait."

"Perhaps there's a way to use this facility," Roberts suggests, "We've only been exploring it's capabilities for a short time. Perhaps we should see if we can't change the view at least."

Beth glances over her shoulder, her hair shielding her expression as she responds, "Hmm. Agreed. Everyone spread out. Genitha, could you perhaps…"

I stop listening as Smoulder has thumped into me, driving my attention to where Rufka is playing with her, dangling a little ball on the end of a line for Smoulder to chase. I follow the line back to its wielder, getting lost in the smooth movements of her arms as she directs Smoulder skittering across the table, her brows furrowed in concentration. When she catches me ogling her, Rufka stretches languidly, exaggerating her curves.

I'm still admiring the view when Smoulder knocks her off balance, following the little ball that had returned to Rufka's hand while she was flaunting. This sends Rufka tumbling towards the floor. However, before I've had a chance to step forward, she's transitioned into a roll, popping up in front of me with a shrugged, "Oops," and a peck on the cheek before returning her attention to Smoulder.

Which reminds me, I should be investigating the room too. If anyone's going to have an extra way to tap in here, it's going to be me.

Or maybe Wyonna.

I guess I should ask her. But… I think I'll talk to Roberts about my worries concerning her untriggered commands first.

With that decision made, I make my way over to where Roberts is standing, inspecting the jumbotron-sized window-projector.

"Hey, uh, Wes," I nearly stumble over his name. If I hadn't heard Raz address him earlier, I would have referred to him as Roberts without a thought. It's the first time I've made the effort since he told me to refer to him as Wes. It just feels awkward.

"Yes, Lex... Lexi... Which do you prefer?" Roberts asks, seeming almost as uncomfortable with using a less formal name as I am. Which suddenly makes me feel more comfortable not using his formal name.

Weird, how that works.

"Either is fine. Papi always calls me Lex, but aunt Sharon's a major proponent for Lexi."

"Well, I think I'll go with Lexi then. No offence, but I'd rather not be perceived as your father."

"Yeah, fair enough. But Papi is my grandpa, not my dad. That's papa."

"I see. Still, I stand by my choice." Roberts turns away from me, tapping the edge of the screen experimentally. "Now, you wanted to ask me something, I presume?"

"Kind of?" I pause, trying to think how to phrase it. "Okay, so first things, first. You know Wyonna, right?"

"Right. Your System helper. Sent by the Forerunners."

"Yeah. Anyway, she says she still has some commands that she's bound to run. Orders she received before we came here. Now, before we met Folthka, I'd have thought nothing of it. But now…"

"Now you're worried the Forerunners who sent us here aren't as benign as we'd hoped."

"Well, I mean, yeah. Why'd they even send us here? What's in it for them?"

"Good questions Lexi. Unfortunately, I'm no expert in Forerunners, AIs or even computer code. I'm not sure how I can help."

"Oh, well that's fine. I wasn't asking about that. I was just thinking that Wyonna could help us figure all this out," I wave my hands across my chest swinging them out to the sides to indicate the whole room, "but I'm kind of worried about giving her access to the System if she's not in control of herself."

"Ah."

"But then, she's done nothing but help me since she's been unlocked. And I can't see her turning around to use all this against us. Besides, I want to keep her informed."

"Of course."

"Anyway, I guess I should let her know. It's the right thing to do."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. And Wes."

"Yes, Lexi?"

"Thanks for being a wall. Didn't expect to just bounce stuff off you."

Roberts chuckles, covering his mouth with one hand to keep the volume down. "Anytime."

Taking a couple of steps back, I send a message to Wyonna.

Then I remember the time dilation. Is she even going to be able to…

Oh, yep.

(W) "Hey, Alexis. What's up?"

(A) "New System reward that I thought I'd get your input on. Hold on, I'll put together a description.

Half a minute later, I've given her the general idea of where we are and how the place seems to work.

(W) "Wait, you're in a time dilation field? Huh. The System must not have disconnected us like I thought. I'm probably still stored in your interface. Quick question, is your cooking skill still zero?"

…

(A) "Are you saying you're the reason the System thinks I can't cook?"

(W) "Is that a yes?"

(A) "Yes, my cooking is still at zero. But seriously, why cooking?"

(W) "Would you have preferred a magical skill locked at zero?"

(A) "Did you have to lock one of my skills?"

(W) "Yep. Like I said, that's where I'm stored. There's a chance you could bust me out of here. But then again, not sure I want to be run through a full-fledged anti-corruption filter. There might not be much me left after that, even if I were 'System Approved'."

(A) "Okay. Don't break you out. Yet. That's good since I wouldn't even know where to start. Any ideas about the CMCC?"

(W) "Yes. Okay, so we're going to start by…"

Wyonna guides me through opening the System menu on one of the workstations. I bring up a similar menu to the one that normally appears in Raz's, but with a couple of new options. One of which allows me to choose the source for the giant screensaver serving as our window to outside.

Without waiting for confirmation, I start flicking through the different feeds, looking for anything familiar to use as a reference.

Which of course gets everyone's attention when the vast forest is replaced by an underwater reef which is immediately followed by a flowing lava field.

The presets are definitely memorable.

"Kid, you figured it out?"

"Kind of. Wyonna showed me. It was actually pretty simple. It's just like in the bullet."

"Interesting. I've never seen the System constrain itself like this before," Raz comments, watching me tap through the options on the workstation.

As everyone gathers, Genitha and Tipan help build a map of where each camera is likely located. Since each camera is labelled with grid coordinates, eventually we're able to work out several cameras that should show us Ivicka's Sanctum.

"It's weird," I mumble as we're about to bring up the first feed. Except for Rufka, the others are at the table, prepared to take notes when the screen changes.

"What's weird Lexi?" Rufka asks from where she's leaned up against my back, still petting Smoulder.

"I'm on another planet. Wielding the elements and time itself, easy as walking. But here I am, sitting at a computer, looking through video feeds while my girlfriend pets my bunny."

"Pets your bunny? Is that what you call it on Earth? I like it. I can't wait till tonight. I'm going to pet your bunny all night."

I choke, before clarifying, "Smoulder. I meant you're petting Smoulder."

"Oh. I know. I just wanted to feel you squirm," she replies while pressing her back more firmly against me for a moment.

"Well, mission accomplished," I chuckle nervously while bringing up the first camera.

It doesn't show much, just empty rolling hills with what might be the base of the mountain to the side. The next couple of feeds aren't much better, each showing more rolling hills covered in trees.

I've just flicked to our last reasonable option when Tipan cries out.

"Wait, go back."

Obliging her, I bring up the previous image. It's another scene of rolling hills, trees partially obscuring the camera.

Except as we watch the screen, one of the trees moves, shuffling to the side. Which is when I realize they're not trees at all. They're giant creatures with skin so rough it looks like bark. And poofy, leafy green hair.

Okay, time to call a spade a spade and a tree a treant.

As one of the treant's shuffles out of the way, the familiar form of Cristha is revealed, directing them in their labour. And behind her, nestled in a valley outside the mountain, is a large stone fortress full of what I'm assuming are Fallen.

We all spend a moment staring at the screen before Roberts chimes in, "Well, that's better than I expected."

Not that I'd voice it out loud, but I feel the same way.

….

So, what are we missing?