* * * EARTH – BET YOUR LIFE * * *

Frank watched nervously as Pettigrew and the four strangers entered the lift and started down.

« Help. System help. Help scr... »

« how may I help »

« Why am I so nervous. What’s wrong with me. Why do I feel as if something is missing? »

« you lack a companion »

And Frank just knew he was alone again. He could feel Gonzales getting closer. He fumed to himself, what good was a Voice doing him when it took his voice over half an hour to arrive. He’d have to chase up the builders to see about getting those flats ready.

He watched as the freight lift’s doors opened and his lawyer and the group of strangers emerged from it. Nervously, he opened the steel door that protected his heart chamber. Mr Pettigrew ushered the other four into the room that contained his core. He could see he had no choice, his Voice was still over twenty minutes away.

« Good day ladies and gentlemen. I am Frank Goodyear. Yesterday in the presence of my lawyer, Mr Pettigrew, his assistant and my former nurse, now my PA or Voice I chose to change my race to dungeon core at the time of my assimilation into the System. »

Jeremiah Walker examined the flickering, dark green onyx sphere carefully. He heard the resonant voice in his mind. It was very similar to the couple of clips he had watched on his overnight flight. It was sobering. He had researched dungeons in the System and checked the reports from the people dealing with Winter Wolf and Dinosaur Caves. His favourite go to source had remarkably little if anything to say about dungeons, and now he was wondering why. Especially considering how close her home was to Dinosaur Caves.

“I’m Jeremiah Walker of the Paranormal Division,” Jerry introduced himself while showing his ID in the direction of the core. “I’m surprised you can already speak with people in your domain Mr Goodyear. Surprised and pleased as it will make things easier.”

* * *

When his visitors finally left Frank started to search for information on companions. The more he delved into the subject the more apprehensive he became.

* * * EARTH – MARY * * *

Mary rested in the middle of her domain. She relaxed even as she looked back on recent events. Somehow she suspected she was going to have to do something about the whole school situation. It left her too exposed. Summer gave her a breathing space but now Bluey had thrown her another curve ball.

She poked at the unwelcome update screen that Jerica had brought to her attention. Some bands of purplish red light flowed across her core, if she’d been in her human avatar she’d have been grimacing. She read it again as if hopeful that something would have changed.

« congratulations! Your status as a sea goddess has been recognised, the seas are recognised as linked to your domain, your avatars are limited to your domain or to within twenty-five kilometres of a sufficiently large body of water. »

‘This is goin’ to complicate things. How am I goin’ to visit papa? Is his place close enough to the sea? I’m not – well I wasn’t ready to throw over everythin’ yet. An’ now I don’t dare set foot in a plane. Mars is goin’ to be fun, not. Mmm, just how large are we talkin’ about. Got the dome all ready an’ then this. But the Florida visit is goin’ to be beep awkward.’

« Hey Bluey, how ’bout the Drow? They don’t live close to the sea. »

« you don’t visit them using your avatar. You visit them as a manifestation of the goddess known to them as Little Fish, the Balancer. »

« An’ when I manifest? »

« you use one of your followers as a focus, or you can manifest freely in one of your temples or shrines or a temple but not a shrine of a god who grants you that right. »

« Huh! »

The core quieted for a while as Mary searched through her memories and checked her new abilities and connections. It was looking more and more like the time of hiding was over. She was becoming far more visible than she ever wanted.

« Why you pushin’ me Bluey? »

« necessity. »

« ... »

After a further period of reflexion Mary reached out for the most comfortable presence of her inner council, she invited, or maybe that should be dragged, Jerica into a – gestalt. Then she collected Mycroft and Moriarty.

After making sure they were as comfortable as they were likely to get, she reached out and incorporated Lissa and Tessa.

Once they were all comfortable, and after ensuring they all retained their individuality, their self, she added Hawai’iloa, Lane Loisdottir and Kent Clarkson.

The sea around the cores, all of her the cores, started to boil as they heated and grew.

Almost inevitably her other self, the other Mary arrived in a rush, the two Marys merged. And following her other self came Trisha and Drina. The gestalt grew and stabilized.

Then the planning and brainstorming started, mostly they planned for their future on Earth, possible fallback positions and lines of retreat.

Microseconds later, but after what seemed to the participants like hours the various personalities separated out into their individual – expanded selves.

* * *

Mary contemplated her domain and gathered her courage. For once she actually felt apprehensive, this was something she hadn’t wanted to do on Earth. She readied herself and checked her lines of retreat.

She reached for Kent, « Do you grant me permission Kent? »

« Be welcome Mother, don’t worry, this is going to be fun. However it turns out. »

* * *

Jinny and Wiz led the way out of their local Wendy’s and led the way towards the parking area. Jinny stopped when Wiz looked round and stopped abruptly. She turned to see what had caught his attention.

Kent the catman had stopped near the curb and had a weird smile on his face. Fidget and Swiftfall had detoured round him but they too had turned to stare at Kent.

Kent looked up at her and winked, then everything seemed to blur and a glowing six meter tall young woman was standing in his place looking at them with a weird smile on her face. Swiftfall dropped to one knee and bowed his head. Fidget just bowed her head.

“Good,” said the apparition. “Got news for you all, there’s a new dungeon in Oregon, calls himself ‘Bet Your Life’, and he’s going public. Getting registered with the fed. There have been spontaneous dungeon creations in Venezuela an’ Cambodia. The latter is a absolute blank far as I’m concerned, so, suspect it to be undead based. Also, from the manna fluctuations I’m seein’, I suspect that at least three other protos will be settin’ down roots in the next few days.”

“Um, where?” asked Jinny.

“Possibly two in Europe, one in South America an’ one, rather foolishly, near or in Bismark.”

* * *

An indignant stout middle-aged man emerged from Wendy’s and struck a pose while holding up a cross. “Be gone to the depths of hell from whence you came o temptress.”

“Hey! I’m no temptress pastor. Aint ever seen hell either. I have no designs on your sheep. Your lord and master is welcome to ’em.”

The man sputtered impotently as he became choleric. Mary ignored him and returned her attention to the members of the adventurer’s guild.

“Anyway, as I was sayin’ before bein’ so rudely interrupted, the shipment from Parthia for your guild has arrived. It can be delivered the day after tomorrow, coordinate with Kent. You have my blessings Swiftfall.”

Then she was gone and there was just a grinning Kent Clarkson on the street.

* * * EARTH – DUNGEON EXCHANGE * * *

Blue Lagoon: Hey Blackrock, feelin’ the disturbances that suggest you’re close to settin’ down roots. Advise you to avoid Bismark.

Blackrock (PrD): What do you mean put down roots? Are you threatning me?

Blue Lagoon: I could swat you like a fly, I don’t have to threaten you. Just warnin’ you that you’ll be settlin’ down to dungeonhood soon. And Winter Wolf has made Bismark dicey for dungeons.

Alligator Haven: Haw haw haw! Welcome to the brotherhood bro.

Blackrock (PrD): I don’t believe you!

Blue Lagoon: No skin of my nose if you don’t.

Weasel-hame (PrD): Hey! I’m in Sydney, you got bad news for me?

Blue Lagoon: Hey Markus, you on here? Take care I suspect you’ll be rooting very soon too. Your sister’s really cute, take care. And no nothin’ new from Oz yet.

Weasel-hame (PrD): Phew, thanks.

Blue Lagoon: Gettin’ indications near Belém an’ Brussels, careful with your transitions. Good luck.

Arena of Blood: Angel sends her love Mother. It’s starting then?

Dinosaur Caves: I suspect things will snowball now. Just another few months.

Blackrock (PrD): WTF! How can she be your Mom?

Arena of Blood (cmp): Sigh!

Bet Your Life: It’s her title, I might be new but I can read. You should try.

Winter Wolf: Snigger. That’s right Blackie, just keep hanging around.

Blue Lagoon: Luck Linny. Back door ready? And Yeah, figure ’nother six months or so an’ no more proto-dungeons. Some might hang on a few months longer but doubt it.

Winter Wolf:

Bet Your Life: Hum, can one of you help me? I think I need a companion. How does one get one.

Blue Lagoon (cmp): Hum! I’ll see what I can do for you.

* * * EARTH / PARTHIA – JERICA / TRISHA / MARIGOLD * * *

Jerica signed off from the Dungeon Exchange blog and sighed in resignation. It looked like dungeons were going to start popping up like hotcakes. Pity she couldn’t just co-opt one of those girl scouts that had come round selling cookies. Some of them would have done well.

« Auntie Trish, you got a minute? »

« For you Jerica, always. »

« Auntie, it looks like I’m being lumbered with the post of head companion for Earth. And it sucks. With Mary... Well you know auntie. »

« Sigh... Yes we end up with a lot more to do than the majority of companions. I do wonder sometimes if it would hurt to ignore many of the alerts. »

« Yes. I need companions. We have three new dungeons and another four opening soon. Then in the next six months or so another twenty or more will be established. And only two so far are normal creations. »

Trisha snorted, then she laughed. « That’s so ironic. What do you think I could do to help you dear. »

« Put me in touch with Marigold. She is the head of Parthia’s Dungeon Companions League, isn’t she? I think I could use her help. »

Trisha giggled uncontrollably for several minutes while her niece waited impatiently.

« It is not that amusing auntie Trish. »

« Yes it is dear. I’ll see about getting in touch with Parthia’s head companion – oh dear! I’ve got to stop laughing. It hurts! »

« Fine. I’ll have a word with Alice, see if she’ll help too. »

* * *

Marigold answered Trisha’s call a trifle warily. It didn’t do to ignore a call from a godlike ranked dungeon’s companion.

« Good morning Trisha, what can I do for you? »

« My niece asked me to contact you on her behalf. She wants to ask for your help. Bluey, err... The System has decided to treat her as her world’s head companion and she has several dungeons needing companions on a world devoid of established companions. »

Marigold winced in sympathy; then she narrowed her eyes in suspicion. « How did your niece become the head companion on another world? »

« Mary’s soul was split by Azurea. She became a dungeon on Earth, her homeworld. A world that didn’t have the System or much magic, Jerica became her other self’s companion. The first dungeon companion on that world, and she is the companion of a godlike dungeon. »

« Very well, can you link Jerica to this conversation. »

« Oh thank you Marigold, aunty Trish. Marigold I really need advice and help. There are going to be between twenty to thirty new dungeons on Earth in the next six months or so. Only two are not previous humans. I only have two dungeon pixies on Earth, and they seem uninterested in the current crop. »

« I thought Trisha said your world didn’t have any... »

« Oh, » interrupted Jerica. « Mary rescued them from Tarifax. Another world Mary has access to, and one that is being poisoned. »

* * *

Later Marigold checked her records and checked with some of her members. Jerica had been able to give her a surprising amount of information about most of the existing dungeons and some of the emerging ones. She liked Alice. That had been a surprise; she hadn’t expected Alice to be so nice. She only hoped the girl wasn’t too nice.

« Alice dear, I have some candidates for you and Jerica. Where do you want them to go? »

« Why, to any one of the Mock Turtle entrances. We’ll provide a guide and safe passage to a spot as close as possible to the dungeons that need companions. And thank you for help Marigold. »

« Do you have somewhere for the eager beavers to wait while the new dungeons establish themselves? »

« Jerica passed on your suggestions to Miss Silvestre. Their quarters are ready. »