The apartment’s emptiness was a bit of a shock. Nothing had really changed in the ten days or so spent on Northworld, but there was a kind of missing atmosphere, compared to the wilds of Northworld and Fanduk.

Jasper Hill picked the Silvergate, careful not to reactivate it. He then chucked the backpack on the bed and started to empty it. He hadn’t picked too much. But since they were leaving, everything they wanted to bring over to Gamma was going to be stored on Earth for the trip. Everything except the Skill Stones, of course. Those would decay before he even spawned.

He checked the clock. Day length on Northworld was slightly longer than on Earth, about 24 hours and 19 minutes. Not a lot, but it shifted your daily rhythm. It had been mid-morning on Northworld, but it was dawn here. What was important now was the 36 hours – earth time – until he had to spawn back on Northworld.

And there were lots of things to do. First, power the phone back. Then, power the laptop.

“Alan, U there?”

“Sup Jasper. U back? Thought U be gone more.”

“I see Morden failed again.”

“No talk about Morden.”

“Anyway, see U at diner? Usual table?”

“Nightshift over 2H ago.”

“See U”

Alan Bismarck was nothing like a German general, despite the name. A fellow student – chemistry Ph.D. rather than geology – and drinking buddy of long. At the moment, he was doing small work. They both had the same potential employers – lots of chemistry and geology people ended up in oil and oil-related industries. Both had realized a bit late that a Ph.D. would probably mean either that sector or academia and none of them had any inclination to jump into the shark pool that was academia.

Jasper started by sliding a small brown bag over the diner’s table.

“Yours?”

“Nope. Yours. Brand new, conquered with sweat and tears back there by yours truly. Next time Morden jerks you around, you can flip him.”

“Where did you end up? I thought you found these in hard dungeons. How come you got one?”

“No, you find them anywhere. But I found myself in the middle of nowhere, and there were only newbies around like myself. So we muddled thru.”

“Is that why you’re back so soon? I thought you needed three weeks before you had to come back.”

“Before you have to, yes. You can come after 9 days if you want to. I have a schedule now because we’re moving toward civilization.”

“You mean, you’re really in nowhere?”

“Yes, but I did chance out.”

Jasper ended up describing how the Cartographers who had sponsored his original Silvergate had stumbled upon their town, and how he’d ended up being able to follow them to a more traveled area.

“And you’re giving up being the boss of your very own city? Are you mad?”

“Mayor, not boss. I’ve told them to do an election tomorrow, and I’ll hand the responsibilities to the new mayor. And that's an adventure for me. I mean, by next month, it would probably be town meetings this and council that half the time. It’s better if that’s someone who likes that.”

“So, how do we meet up there? Any idea?”

“Pack up quick, and try to get in. If you spawn in Fanduk, by chance… oh no. Fuck. The Russian says no more than us three. If you spawn, I’ll probably have to stay with you.”

“What are the odds?”

“Well, actually, it’s below one percent. Not everyone spawns in our area, of course.”

Jasper tipped his coffee cup toward Alan.

“It no longer fully matter where you spawn. Since the Cartographers know where everything is, that means you can plan trips and get together no matter what. It’s just time.”

“So maybe we’ll meet next month, maybe in three?”

“How do the Jews say it? Next Year in Jerusalem?”

Alan smiled.

“No Jerusalem there.”

“No. But it’s becoming a small world. Next month in Gamma.”

Erika opened the shutters, letting the late afternoon sun in. The Haglund farmhouse felt horribly empty every time she did that. Most days, she still expected Mom to do that simple gesture.

She had the biggest funk when her parents died in that stupid accident three years ago, and she suddenly found herself owning her childhood home, without anyone else in it. For almost a year, she found herself operating on automatic.

People kept telling her not to stay on the farm, sell it, and move on, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

She had finally found her balance joining the Valkyries. The group of fun, adventurous gals from the University had barely registered during most of her studies, but they’d seen her sliding toward major depression and took it upon themselves to raise a sister out of the hole.

A check on the phone told her that the last messages on the chat app were from three days ago. She left one telling them she was temporarily back, then shut the phone.

She buried herself in the home chores. Leaflets to sort. Check the rest of the home. Get some fresh air in.

The ping on the phone was a surprise. Or was it? At least two Valkyries were still gateless groupies like she’d been. Unless another Silvergate had been found.

Signe: “U back so soon?”

Erika: “Spawned in nowhereland. Nice but nowhere”

“Oh? Evry1 spawns near Mt Talbor”

“Unlucky me. FML”

“So? What now? U back for long?”

“No, 1day. Got veterans that are going to escort me and 2 guys”

“Gottem wrapped on U finger?”

Erika had to snort, even if Signe Östlund couldn’t hear her.

“Not that much. But leaving soon. And the right direction. Gamma.”

“So U’ll be when?”

“At least a month and half. Hilltop Samms where we go, in a month. Then it’s Talbor, 2weeks.”

“Time for meet?”

“Yup. Need to prep n pack, and spawn back at 7 in 2Day. Am clear today.”

She put down the phone. Signe would probably pickup Anette, the last of the Valkyries on Earth. And they’d raise hell on the bars of Arvidsjaur.

Which reminded her. She needed to pick a guide to alchemy and see what kind of recreational alchemy she could whip up while on the road to Gamma. Brännvin was nice, but her self-made drinks would be better.

Hopefully, none of the veterans would laugh at her 8 skill in brewing “potions”.

Henry looked around the small office and frowned. Then he realized what was bothering him. The checklist with dates and names on the whiteboard. Did they… have everyone respawn here? In the center of the same office? Who had that stupid idea…

He poked his head out of the office, shouting “Back. Anyone?”

Twenty seconds later, Marc ran to him.

“Henry? You’re back? Nobody expected anyone for weeks. I mean, we were told you had to stay three weeks in that other world.”

Henry shook his head derisively.

“Nope. That’s the maximum you can stay in that Northworld. Everyone gets the option to come back after nine days.”

“I’ll grab the chief. We’ll find you an office for debriefing.”

“I’ll be in the coffee room. I missed that shit. Nobody thought to put coffee in my bag.”

“Is that… an aikido staff?”

“Kind of. Of course, it’s not aikido back there, it’s whatever works if you’re good at it. It’s mine, though. And look at that one.”

Henry almost expected the Interface to show him the sword’s descriptor. But no. Right here, it was just a sword.

“Wicked. Are those runes on it?”

“No, just decorative engraving. The local expert said so, at least.”

“What are you going to do with those?”

“I’m supposed to sell the sword to cover my earth-side expenses because I shouldn’t be working while on Northworld. The staff is for me, though. That’s what I use there as a weapon.”

At that moment, operation chief Sammael Rosenby arrived, interrupting the coffee chitchat.

“Didn’t expect you back so fast, Hank. Anything wrong?”

“Complications, but nothing wrong. I was showing off my goods to the guys.”

“That’s contraband and evidence.”

“I’ll keep the staff, boss. I’m supposed to use it.”

“And you’ve got rings? Since when? You haven’t worn a ring since you broke off with that woman four weeks after proposing.”

“Magic rings. What did you expect?”

“Ok, let’s debrief in my office. I think Vernon is around, he’ll take notes to add to the ‘expert’ notebook.”

“So, in essence, you’re in nowhere land” concluded Sammael.

“More or less, yes. I had a quick choice to make. Stay there and cultivate the locals. They would trust me more since I would be an old-timer and a fixture of the place. There’s at least three Americans already, plus a lot of foreigners.”

He reflected “Which is odd to say since we’re all locals or foreigners there. Depending on your philosophical bent.”

“But you decided to move.”

“Those veterans are probably a bigger fish than the bunch of newbies I was with. Even if that ‘Vantegaard’ character probably has good contacts on Earth, it’s still supposed to be online only. The old-timers have probably met a lot more people and trust each other more.”

He grinned “And a little adventure and weeks in the wilds, and we’ll end up best buddies.”

Vernon Balder, who was the Gater expert, asked further questions on the coming and going. Henry seized the opportunity.

“One thing we did wrong is to have everyone start in the same office.”

“Why? I mean, you’re on Northworld, so…”

“Because you can’t coordinate how you’re coming. It’s a very low probability, but if two people decide to respawn at the same moment… it could be messy.”

“It seems obvious, but…”

“But we didn’t think about it. We think about Earthside behavior, but the whole thing goes against our instincts. Nobody else has reported yet, I suppose.”

“No. You’re the first. And… you look good.”

Sammael threw a sideways glance at the silver-shod staff.

“Although this stuff about staff combat. And you’re what they call… a necromancer?”

“Master of Death, Manipulator of Mana, Grand Ritualist… and Staff expert. Well, not really, but I’m supposed to be one. I have to admit the moves do come naturally.”

“There are a couple of things I can’t quite put my finger on, but…”

“I got stat gains. We do know that kind of thing happens. I’m slightly stronger, I’ve got faster reflexes… I’m probably more calm and composed, according to the experts. And more resistant to boredom, which will help in my line of work once this is finished. All that kind of stuff.”

“In nine days?”

“It’s fast at the beginning. But yes. And if the Olympic Committee doesn’t bring a Gater to check, next year’s Olympics will be the worst ones in the history of sports cheating. I mean, I played along. If I just wanted to get strong and fast, I could probably qualify for the Olympics myself now, despite being a basic guy.”

“So, when do you need to go back?”

Henry checked the clock on the wall.

“At around 1 AM tomorrow. Which means going from home rather than the office. I would suggest we all go to Northworld from home rather than here. Less risk of crossing the wires or something, and we can safely respawn in the middle of the night. I might have triggered the office alarm if I had respawned at the wrong time rather than noon.”

Sammael took down a quick note.

“Get some rest Hank, and good luck on your next trip.”

“Thanks, boss.”

When Vasiliy Andropov popped into the secret Discord, he found Armangest online. It seemed that the boss was Earthside, which didn’t happen that often.

“Boss.”

“Back already, Vasiliy? Problems?”

“Not really, more of a surprise factor.”

Vasiliy started to explain the unexpected presence of Fanduk.

“Fanduk, eh. Like the name.”

“The guy’s prescient, I think. But not cut for town mayor.”

“Most of us hate politics once we see how you do them. Like right now. High-level world politics, which means Skype meetings on Earth. Which I hate.”

“You always miss your computer back on Northworld.”

“Truth. But now, I am commuting between here and Bastard’s Folly every 10 days. Once we’ll have routes open and Com Globes everywhere, fuck Recess every reset.”

“You say that, but you barely level. You should adventure a bit,” said Vasiliy.

“That’s not how I got here,” countered Armangest.

“Yea, I know. You were the only one that didn’t care about leveling and exploration and more about maps and experiment, so we all stuck that job on you.”

“Who else would have managed to make the world map, eh?”

“Anyway, we’re starting back for the last leg tomorrow, with three lowbies,” added Vasiliy.

“Your call. How are they?”

“There’s stuff that’s funny about them. So far everyone in the area spawns with a Meditation skill. Ever heard about something like that?”

“Nope… although, that reminds me of something.”

“Something?”

“The Doriath.”

Vasiliy could have slapped himself in the face.

“Of course. Absolutely everyone there spawns with a least two if not more archery skills straight from Setup. Fuckin’ elvish role-players.”

He added, “Got one in the expedition, Zaccali. Good girl in a fight, but she’s in cosplay to the tenth power. Practical cosplay, but cosplay. She hasn’t said, but I’m betting she’s from there.”

“So, Fanduk is going to be the magical kingdom, I bet. Full of big-time sorcerers.”

“There are times where I think this is all designed.”

“Or just operated by a well-oiled random generator.”

“They even have a wizard tower with a world boss inside.”

Armangest paused in chat…

“A world boss? Dafuq?”

“There’s a Fabrico Vividus in that tower. I peg it around rank 290. Greater Elite.”

“Shit, I remember when the Turk got downed early this year. Six dead and the treasure room was full of Artefact-level items. Zarakan is still grinding Perception because he’s 11 short to equip the Staff. Merely getting the description made him mad in frustration.”

Vasiliy commented, “And the Turk was only rank 255.”

“How did they survive?”

“Vantegaard – our local contact – thinks this is an unfinished dungeon. The construct I’ve seen does seem to operate on idle. The chest room was empty when they opened it, he says. I’m not sure, but they don’t seem to sport loads of Artefacts. Or they hid those very well.”

“We find more and more of these broken dungeons. I sometimes wonder if we didn’t open up the first Silvergate way too early.”

“Anyway, I’ve decided to promote that Vantegaard guy to Probationary. He won’t thank me when he starts getting the reminders to write the wiki entries for his area. Well, his former area now.”

“You have a good eye for talent, Vasiliy. That’s why you’re in the tier 1 officer group, anyway.”

“My, I thought that was because I sent you the best products of Marbrew.”

“You joined at the same time as I did, Vasiliy. But thanks for that Northworld’s finest.”

“And once I’m in Beta, I can finally drag you to an inn and get that drinking contest running.”

“You’re on, you damn Russkoff.”