The floating bits of metal were noted first by Johann Hausseger. He pointed out the location to the team who set out to examine the place. It was exactly as reported by the other scouts. A handful of metallic shards, floating above the ground, suggesting the mere beginning of an arc.

Transit: Domesbor – Earth 139

Integrity: 4%

Inactive

(49 years)

Stability: 0%

Nicolas Gide joined the Pathcarver. The German-born higher-tier Professional stood in front of the Gate. Or rather, as Nicolas reflected, the Gate’s future location.

“So, that’s the fourth for the sheaf,” his wife Anne noted.

“And all for the future. It won’t open for a few decades,” replied Hausseger.

“Only one left to find. Just in case,” she said.

“Sometimes I wonder if you’re not more map-obsessed than I am,” the former German said. Of course, it wasn’t said that exact way. The words translated to “one who wants all paths” in the Chinese-influenced Sabir of the Adjusted, which they all used, as neither of their companions knew French. But Anne Gide understood well the true meaning of that remark, bringing in a grin. After all, it had a glimmer of truth. She wanted to know every zone of the Labyrinth. A quixotic goal, maybe, but one she had since she and her husband started understanding the ways of the Labyrinth.

At least as much as the tier nine they both had let her pursue. She was far from the true powerhouses of the High Tiers, but she got her fun where she wanted. And she always found someone, like Hausseger or the Babylonian, who came along to help.

“Not our original divergence, though,” Nicolas added.

“Do not worry. At one point, someone – if not us – will find your original sheaf. You saw the number when the Gate formed in Versailles before stranding you,” the German added helpfully.

“It’s not as if it helps. According to the Nexus Library, the numbers are even less regular than zone names,” she replied.

“But it can confirm the right one. Earth-113, divergence in the year 1800,” her husband insisted.

“Now, if you’re not too excited about a bunch of metal anchors, we do have a meeting to attend in two days,” the fourth member of the team, Ahati-waqrat reminded them.

“More special operations,” Hausseger surmised.

The Babylonian spellcaster shrugged, hints of sandstorms sent swirling through her robes.

“The boss will be angry if we miss the briefing. You know how an angry man the Icelander can be,” she replied.

“Spoilsport,” he replied before the swirling of light of Recall surged.

They all activated their own Recall and appeared in the Plaza reserved for incoming citizens.

Location

Zone: Panomekon (tier 11 nexus)

Locale: Panomekon Plaza

Recall: Panomekon Plaza

Recall: 29 hours

On their own, the former gardener and his wife would have never made it to Panomekon. The zone required careful navigation in high tiers along the right trunks paths of the Labyrinth, but other Lords of the Labyrinth had opened the zones to there for the Gide couple, once they were found.

The Nexus of Panomekon was a weird place, in a place where the universe was already weird everywhere. It was an enclosed zone. Four triangular planes, joining at angles, making a four-sided pyramid, where each plane was its own bottom, and a strange pulsating sun-like ball in the centre. Three triangular planes, each with a Gate at its centre, save for the one with the zone’s Plaza instead. A tier 11 zone, with Gates, but a place where no lair existed. As a result, Professionals could arrive from any Gate… but never qualify for exit except by their original entrance. The Nexus was a place where endless divergences of True History could meet, trade, exchange... but not visit each other.

Tales of the major sheaves, the many centuries of the True History meshed into the Labyrinth all over, were all Anne could have. For her, it was a constant itch, one she could not scratch. Two entire sections of the Labyrinth she could not hope to visit. And more hinted, from distant tales of the other Nexus zones.

As usual, she swore again she would find a shortcut across. Even if she couldn’t find their original home, there were other homes to be visited. Maybe one that opened near 1800.

What would she say to herself, if they ever met?