“Moste tymes he seeth, the more haste the lesse spede.”

~John Heywood's 1546 glossary - A Dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the Prouerbes in the Englishe tongue:

POV TAD

And I slept. And as I slept I dreamed.

I [Dreamed].

Finally I had triggered my Skill. And I was dreaming a true [Dream]. And like all true dreams it was somewhat surreal.

I stood on a riverbank. And out of the river came six fat [Clams]. Full of goodness. Succulent and tasty. Each a supermarket of [Steaks]. My mouth was watering. I wanted to wake up. For this was the good part. And I was hungry. But even as I tried, my [Dream] seized me. It was the [Dream] and I was the [Observer]. And the [Observer] observes or so help me, went the [Dream]. It was turning nasty this [Dream] of mine.

The sky darkened. Thick clouds buffeted me. Thunder crashed and lightning stuttered. I was in thick darkness, lit up in freeze frames of energy that flashed between the clouds. And out of the river came one [Clam], six times the size of the first six, full of thunder. It was a monstrous [Clam] and it monstered those first six [Clams] and they fled.

And I awoke. And I slept.

And I [Dreamed] another [Dream].

Again I stood on a riverbank. And out of the river came Sixty Sleek Ottos. Strong and powerful. Mighty [Warriors] and [Hunters] all. And they stood in ranks of five. And behind each five came and stood ten more, five times. And finally there came six more. Stronger and sleeker than the first sixty and they stood in front. They were proud. They were strong. And there they stood.

And the [Dream] turned its turn and the sky darkened black as night and the rain rained. In big fat drops of wet foreboding. And out of the river came that great [Clam]. And it scattered those Ottos in their ranks so that not one stood behind another. And there was weeping and gnashing of teeth. And much humiliation. For that great [Clam] had owned those Ottos. And they wept for the owning was full of hurt and sadness.

And I awoke.

And I struggled, tossing and turning on my bedroll. This was not the type of [Dream] I wanted to [Dream]. I wanted to [Dream] a happy [Dream]. Full of happiness and joys. A [Dream] to enjoy, to laugh and to bounce. Yes to [Bounce]. A [Dream] of carefree [Weightlessness]. One that defies reality. That breaks free of [Gravity]. Yes, that was my favorit…

And I slept.

And I [Dreamed].

And I saw my [Mother] ploughing through a wasteland, gleaming with [Power] and [Authority]. And I saw my [Father], embedded in [Intricacy] and [Invention] unlocking potentials and opening up horizons. And I saw my [Sister]. Ascending through the heavens, defying and challenging beings that dwarfed her, laughing laughs of joy as she did so.

And I awoke. I rolled over. That was a much better [Dream].

And I slept.

And I [Dreamed]. A deep [Dream]. A [Dream] of jumping and falling and jumping again. And I dreamed this [Dream] with purpose and authority. I was a [Law] to myself. I floated and flew. Gravity was mutable. And I held the throttle. I was the pilot in my Plane of a body. I stepped. I soared. I stepsoared some more. I was free. I was exhilarated. This was more like it. I never wanted this to end.

And I awoke.

There were no dings.

Botheration.

Or parps either.

And I needed to go weewee.

Hmmm. This was a mite embarrassing.

Sage of Hope Level ????

The Sage paused. Her deliberations were deep and heavy with meaning. Some things could not be rushed. Other times actions were demanded for in a most hasty way. But wisdom would steer the course.

She had already acted with more haste than she had in aeons, tweaking that Wasteland [Portal]. No doubt in a few thousand years she would get a [Please Explain] request from the System. It was frowned upon, interfering with the Lower Essence Planes.

But sometimes things needed a bit of a [Steer]. A nudge here and there. Nothing overt.

But maybe, just maybe, this had changed.

For another [Dreamer] had joined the [Stage].

Things had stepped up a gear.

She would awaken the Sages of Despair, Rage and Serenity. They would all need to be consulted before she acted.

But she knew, more haste less speed.

Yet it was time.

It was a strange thought for a being who had transcended the demands of time.

And the press of time was refreshing.

Reinvigorating.

Hope does indeed spring eternal.

Nige. Humanese Pylon

Finally he was on his way back.

It had taken simply forever to go through all the reviews, post event dissections and trauma assessments. Well, actually that was incorrect. No, not incorrect. Inexact. It had felt like it was taking forever. But it was the waiting that actually took all that time. Once everyone had assembled, the [Review Panel], the zorb behavioural psychologists, specialists and experts galore, the actual [Review] had been over and done exceedingly fast. A few minutes at most.

Nige’s Tier up had been confirmed. He was in the clear. He was now an official Green ranked Zorb. Fully mature. It still didn’t seem completely real.

The [Panel] had been slightly concerned that he had adopted and insisted on using his [Charge]’s designated moniker instead of reverting to his Zorb identifier. But Nige was adamant. While he was Tad’s [Minion] he would be called Nige. It was somewhat distressing that once he had ascended five levels he no longer received any notifications. And those last two [Identifies] were a bit of an anomaly. It was most strange that any double digit [Participants] would be in Level 1. Bronze Tier was predominantly in Levels 15 - 60. There was no logical reason for them to descend. There would be simply too much danger of losing an exorbitant amount of SAP. An injudicious action could easily cripple their growth.

Yet he was sure Tad would be doing fine, grinding out a few levels or so. Perhaps he would have already levelled up enough to unlock his [Mana] and gone to the Mage Guild to choose a [Mage Path]. Nige had wanted to be there for that. It was a major decision. Choosing between the major paths of [Wizard], [Sorcerer] or [Mage]. There were aspects to each of them which would need explaining.

In fact he would probably pretty close to being able to [Ascend] a Level. There was only so much one could achieve in Level 1.

In a flash of light Nigel left Level 6 and reappeared on the [Landing Pad] of Level 5.

He didn’t notice the two Tier E and Tier F [Participants] pass him on their own way to the teleporter. He was reeling under a deluge of catastrophic notifications. He wobbled drunkenly.

The [Teleporter Assistant Manager’s Assistant] hurried out to assist him off the [Pad]. He needed to clear it to open it up for the next arrival. Nige let himself be guided off to one side. He let the concerned babble of enquiry slide off him. Tad was no longer in the Pylon. He had been expelled with the [Waste]. This was a disaster.

And yet. Nige straightened out his wobble. And yet there had been no notification of dissolution of the [Minionship]. This would have occurred if Tad had died no matter the distance. He pulled up his Status Screen. Yes, the Minion perks were still all there. They were just inactive. That would be from the distance that separated them. But there was one perk still ungreyed out. It was the one which indicated direction. And it was… pointing that way… and at an extremely distant distance. Well that was inexact too. But it would be if Tad was in another Pylon. This was unheard of.

Who could he turn to?

He cast his [Retrieval] subStat back into the recesses of his [Archives]. There had been a previous enquiry to resolve the glitching [Orientation]. And a high Tier zorb administrator had had some interest in Tad. Nige dug out the [Transcript]. Ahhh, [SysSectorMod Zorb.17]. Perhaps he would be able to help.

Now how to word this request.?

Nige bit his lip as he concentrated.

Well he would have if he could have.

But seeing he didn’t have teeth, or a lip, or even a mouth for that matter, it was all a bit difficult.

In fact it all felt like a bad dream.

He would have pinched himself if he could as well.

Stupid idioms.

Now.

He ruminated.

Dear SysSectorMod Zorb 17.

How are you? I hope you are keeping well charged and…

Bother.

That was wrong. And this was hard. Writing to such as august and senior Zorb was hard. Very hard.

Start over.

An Unnamed Underling, Sarnaki Pylon

The [Underling] scuttled carefully down the corridor. His Radiance was in another extremely disgruntled mood. In fact ever since his [System Accolade] had been stripped from him Akash was almost unbearable. Unfortunately it was the [Underling]’s role to serve said Radiance, bringing messages and passing on the variously unpleasant instructions.

It was an extremely fraught job. An often a very short term one as well as Akash had a rather unfortunate habit of shooting the messenger. Except it generally wasn’t anything as pleasant as shooting. His favourite goto was debrachiation, closely followed by crucifixion and impalement. And sometimes all three. Of course, all also came with a side order of blinding, tongue extraction and cautery with hot coals as well.

But the [Underling] had been [Lucky]. In fact he had unlocked a number of highly specialised Skills. Akash had, for some strange reason, taken a liking to him. Several times [His Radiance] had forcibly turned himself away from his normal [Rage] and vented it on some inoffensive classical statuary or unsuspecting tapestry or other valuable and rare artefact that graced the [Palace].

Of course the [Underling] was also levelling like crazy. In less than a season he might even hit [Gold Tier]. If he lived that long that was.

He carefully closed the door behind him.

He was in a closet.

With the mops and buckets and scrubbing brushes. They saw a lot of use, generally every day in fact. But they had already been used today. And the executions, oh pardon, he corrected himself, the audiences were complete for today. There was unlikely to be a fresh call to use them today at least.

“The way is steep.”

“The moon is bright”

Yes, correct sign and counter sign.

“What news brother?”

“He continues as he has. All must keep their heads down, battle arms sheathed and production up. Any excuse will be dealt with most egregiously.” The Underling paused not even trying to ascertain who he spoke with. The less he knew the less he could spill. But he still needed to know something. Some sign that there was progress. That there was hope. That this constant danger and almost debilitating peril was worth it. “Any news from the outside?”

There was a pause, as the other decided that was an acceptable titbit to offer up. They also knew the need to provide that encouragement and motivation in the face of such oppression and tyranny was crucial.

“Funds grow apace. The System has been paying out an arm and a leg for [Blue Lipped Clams]. Well, we have been paid out in EXP. Not actual limbs.” He hastened to clarify. “It has been a most providential and auspicious event. And it is only growing. We are having to step up our foraging.”

“As long as you keep it out of sight.” The [Underling] was nervous. “If His Radiance hears of this, he will no doubt pillage and claim all.”

“Agreed. We are selling only very small quantities at a time. Generally a maximum of thirteen. These can be concealed easily within our satchels and transferred while other more regular business is being conducted.”

That was good.

The underling gathered his mop and left. He would practice his forms in the privacy of his room.

The time was coming.

Revolution was inevitable.

And hopefully he would have no dreams tonight.