5.3

Lena

A ping came from the core watching the East Karth entrance, announcing the displacement of air into the dungeon about equivalent to a large creature entering. However, no intruder alert followed, so Lena focused her attention on the portal.

The displacement sensor was one of Candy's ideas, provoked by the stealthy way the parandrians had of slipping in, dumping bodies for the dungeon to cleanse, and then slipping out, begun once the Lotrot entrance link moved to the [Lotrot Training Floor]. It was far from fool proof, and gave a number of false positives, depending on how the wind was blowing. The fact the warning pinged at all with the East Karth entrance, which was located inside a building, raised Lena's suspicions.

She wrapped up her conversation with Brad and Candy, then diverted the whole of her attention to the [Priesley's Folly] level. It was strange to realize that she could tune in to the level to such a degree that she felt the six separate paw pads tapping along the surface of her dungeon's floor.

She debated for a moment whether to just observe the intruders or if she wanted to make an example of these trespassers. While she debated, a ghost of sound whispered from about two meters up from one of those paw pairs. "Well, it's certainly not the same dungeon we knew."

"Yeah," another voice whispered back. "The static in the air's more like a high mana zone outside than a dungeon."

"[Inspect]." This third voice did not whisper, but did speak quietly. "There's a Zone Arbiter. On to part two."

"Already noting the changes, Berg," the second voice said, foregoing whispering for a quiet murmur.

"[Activate]:[Locate First Sample]," the voice belonging to this Berg said. Nothing happened, though, and he growled and tried again. This time, Lena felt a stream of mana originate from about where Berg stood and attempt to interact with her mana. She could nearly hear the question in the mana of where to find dungeon crystals, like a void seeking to be filled.

Lena poked Dibbs over the G.C., looping him into what she was witnessing.

«Mana scrying,» Dibbs identified, and the sense of what that meant came with his words. Most divination magics were ways of tricking the Tapestry into disclosing information that people had no business knowing, relying heavily on advancing an individual's [Tapestry Synchronization]. Mana scrying, on the other hand, was more like echolocation and spectrum analysis all in one.

Too bad for the delvers that they were scrying *inside* her body, where the ambient mana all belonged to her. Her automatic reaction was to reject their attempt to hijack her mana.

«May I cast my own scry to see what they are looking for?» Dibbs asked.

Lena gave that a moment's thought before saying, «Sure.» It was a worthwhile way to determine just how much Dibbs could meet her dungeon enhanced senses, as well as a test of his honesty.

Within a minute, a glowing stick went sailing into the air. Sparks trailed after it, and Lena could feel three bodies drop to her floor and huddle just before the stick exploded with a very loud BOOM.

«Wow,» Dibbs said. «That was a very slip-slap scrying wand. And they were using it for items stronger than it was supposed to ever handle. If you catch the samples that were slotted into the handle, one of them should be mana crystal. I think there may have been some mythril as well.»

"What the blighted wastes was that!?" a wolf kin howled, sitting up and no longer invisible.

Another wolf kin shook off the last of his invisibility and rose off a third figure that appeared quite similar to them, but not the same. Lupine, her creature patterns core identified.

The lupine's eyes were rolled back in his head and his body shook like he was being tazzered.

"Kizmel! What the blight!?" Panic had raised every hair on the body of the wolf kin kneeling over the lupine, and he froze.

The first wolf kin scrambled over to the pair and wrapped her hands around the lupine's head. "Feedback. I will tear every second of this out of that chid-slurping Shasha as soon as we get back through the gate! Verification run, my tail! That blight spotted chid-slurper!"

«Yeah, feedback from the explosion sounds right,» Dibbs said. «Poor guy probably doesn't even have a master to apprentice to if he's using scry wands. Looks like he might have had some promise, too, with how long the feedback is lasting.»

«He'll die from this?» Lena asked, not sure how she felt about it.

Something complicated rolled over the G.C. from Dibbs before he said, «If he doesn't get help, he'll lose his mana senses and there aren't many mages who handle being crippled like that well.»

«Could you help him?» Lena asked.

«Do not ask what you won't offer,» Dibbs responded, and there was a stark pain filled fury behind his words.

«Could you help him?» Lena asked again.

«Yes.»

Lena decided that was a good time to manifest her toon. She also manifested a stretcher that they could buckle their friend onto. "You have two choices right now. Technically three, but you don't look suicidal. You can take your friend and go seek help outside of my dungeon or you can accompany your friend while I send him to the mages within my dungeon to render aid. Decide fast."

The wolf kin jumped in fright at her appearance, then seemed to hear what she said. They exchanged a glance, the larger one nodding to the one kneeling over the lupine. He moved and the larger wolf kin said, "We'll come with him."

*~*~*

Feltz

Feltz watched as the dungeon master deposited more captives into their prison. These were wolf kin and a lupine. Dibbs poked Feltz as he hurried past his mentor to reach the lupine, who had been brought in upon a stretcher. "Come on, old man, I could use your help."

"What with?" Feltz snorted, even as he took in the shivery spasms racking the lupine's body.

"Kid without proper training got handed a shoddy mana scry wand with over powered samples, and had to fuel it with his own mana." While Dibbs spoke he intercepted the stretcher and positioned it at a comfortable working height. Crystals popped into existence and floated where he could easily grasp them.

Feltz was by the stretcher when that happened, and the wonder of what he was seeing, of *his apprentice* performing the kind of casual feats of creation that only the High Archmages of the Arcane Asylum pulled off, sucked out the last bitterness of his trouncing by the dungeon's master.

He did not dawdle, working in sync with Dibbs to stabilize the mana tearing itself apart in the lupine's body. "That from your contract?" he asked, his tone respectful for once.

"Yes. Two or three S? 400 cap?"

"The more the better. Feedback isn't so bad that we can't act the throttle. Tricky point is when we need to switch the draw off. Boy's got a lot of potential. Sand for shields."

Even as Feltz spoke, three of the crystals merged, refined, and glided into Feltz's reach. Veins of mythril broke the surface of the mana crystal. "[Analyze]."

*** *** ***

Mana Storage Gem

Composition: Diamond (94%) / Mythril (6%)

Mana Capacity: 40/1200

Mana Channel: 20S

*** *** ***

Feltz very nearly whistled, catching himself just in time. He quickly took hold of the gem and the lupine's near shoulder, using his own body as a siphon for the chaotic mana, trusting his shields to protect him from the fate of the mage he aided.

Dibbs took hold of a similar gem and worked from the lupine's far ankle.

The Design Lead sent in her light projection and got the wolf kin to back up enough to give Dibbs and him room to work. Feltz divided his attention enough to at least recall what was being said.

"You're lucky that Dibbs was willing to render aid. It looks like your friend will live, and may even keep his mana senses," the Design Lead stated. "Now, mind explaining what the 'blight spotted chid-slurping Shasha' who hired you wanted from your verification run?"

The two wolf kin had one of those quiet conversations made up of body language and familiarity. The larger of the two, a female, said, "His name is Sha'mekial. He's the Sun Emperor's merchant ambassador to Priesley's Folly. He wanted verification that the dungeon had a Tapestry recognized owner and our report of what materials were still being produced. He gave Bergma a scrying wand with samples he was most interested in embedded in it, and promised to take it out of our pay if any of the samples went missing."

"I see. Well, I'm not inclined to let you provide him any of that information, which puts us in a bit of an impasse. I'll give you some time to think of ways around that and send my liaison to discuss your ideas."

*~*~*

Jason

He wasn't proud of the string of cuss words coming out of his mouth. No, Jason was too angry to do anything but find some vent for the rage. The way Lena's toon looked on, her expression so *mild* as he cussed and held himself back from slamming his fists into something, *anything*, only made it worse.

"God dammit, Lena! Why didn't you tell us what was going on!" he yelled when he started to lose steam.

Rob looked on, but stayed silent. Aaron had a deer-in-headlights look on his face as he tried to blend in with the walls of Rob's house.

Lena spoke with the kind of calm that made him feel like he was on the verge of berserking. "I am telling you. There was no need to involve you in capturing the adventurers. Do not treat me like an incompetent moron."

"I know you're not a moron! We live here, too! Why the hell did you go to the mages — the people who enslaved our friend!! — when we're right here!?" Jason yelled.

Lena's toon got a mulish look to her face, narrowed eyes and stubborn jaw stuck out. "You seem to be under the impression that you're in charge of what goes on inside my body. I am not your property. You don't like that? You don't have to stay."

Rob sucked in an audible breath. "Damn, girl! This ain't a feminist fight! No need to be kicking people out!"

Lena's toon looked to Rob. "You can stuff your labels up a fruit tree. I will not be dismissed because you don't want to listen to what I'm saying. You are the sovereign of your body. I am the sovereign of mine. It's that simple."

"And if we pulled the same kind of shit, you'd have every right to be pissed off with us!" Jason yelled, cutting into Lena's last sentence.

"Would I?" Lena asked that question in a dangerous tone while folding the arms of her toon across her chest. "I don't think so. I think you'd hide behind the lie that you're better able to handle my business than I am. I gave you the liaison contract because I trusted you to be the best among us to handle the *diplomacy* side of things. I did not —"

"Then why aren't you giving me a chance—"

Lena's voice boomed, cutting him off. "DO NOT INTERRUPT ME!" The sheer volume stunned Jason for a moment. "I did not give you that job to be a primary decision maker over *my body*. You don't seem to be getting that. The Studio is. My. Body. If you cannot handle that truth, I have a walk-about contract ready for you to convert over to so you can go explore this world without it killing you."

The rejection hit Jason center mass, crumpling the last of his rage. She wanted him gone. He wasn't good enough. She didn't want him. He wasn't good enough.

Jason turned on his heel and left. What was the point of arguing anymore?

He didn't pay attention to the flood of information that accompanied her new contract offer, simply accepting it to be done with it as fast as possible. The pressure in his chest surged for a moment, but he managed to choke the tears down for now. He wasn't going to cry where anyone could see him. He had more pride than that.

*~*~*

Rob

"That was cruel, girl. That was straight up cruel." Rob's gaze followed Jason's stiff back. He was torn between going after his friend and staying to look after his brother.

Lena's toon morphed into a wisp, and she said, "[Offer Contract]:[Walk-About]."

The details of the contract she had just given Jason filled Rob's mind, and three things stood out. First, he could return at anytime just by activating the [Recall] guardian ability. It was not an exile. Second, he remained in the G.C. pretty much the way he already was. Third, by carrying a soul gem, he had access to dungeon healing outside the dungeon. He would lose his role as a Territory Manager, but if he wasn't going to be here anyway that meant little to nothing.

Rob accepted and two packs that looked a lot like good old Army issue dropped in front of him. A weird not-quite pain pressure in his chest signaled where the soul gem had stashed itself.

"One is for you, the other is the one Jason ignored," Lena said. "Make Jason wait long enough for the rest of your backup to catch up, please."

"How's that?" Rob asked even as got to work putting on one of the packs.

Lena's voice came through subdued, tired. "I'm sending you off with a pair of kitteagle scouts, one of the more adventurous Shadow Wolves, and a pair of horses. You'll have to come up with tack for the horses since I haven't had a chance to work on that, but they're all subordinate to you and Jason. The Shadow Wolf will respect you as a higher ranked guardian, but he takes most of his orders from Jason. There's a spatial bag in each of the packs with Candy's latest stable toys. You may think I'm being cruel. Maybe I am. I think it's also what he needs, and I'm glad you're going with him. Keep in touch, okay? Even if it's just with Aaron."

His pack settled, Rob and Aaron said hurried goodbyes, and Rob picked up the other bag, sparing a nod to Lena's wisp. He caught up to Jason in the [Hall of Portals]. One of the (relatively) smaller Shadow Wolves was sitting on Jason while he yelled at the creature.

Rob dropped the pack next to Jason's head and looked at the wolf. "You coming with us?" he asked.

The wolf nodded. It lacked words, but the wagging tail and canine grin were more than enough to convey its eagerness.

"What the fuck!" Jason growled at Rob.

Rob said, "We're going with you. Along with some more backup. They're on their way. This is your pack."

The pair of kitteagles glided in from the [Aviary], soon followed by a pair of horses from [Priesley's Folly]. The horses wore simple head harnesses, blankets over their backs, and a rudimentary type of stirrups attached to a belly band holding the blankets in place. A pair of baskets held together with leather straps sat nearer the back end of the horses. Rob glanced into one of the baskets and realized they held grains, probably for the horses.

"Okay, I think we're good to go," Rob said, at which point the Shadow Wolf stood up and began sniffing the horses. For their part, the horses sniffed back, calm even when the kitteagles decided to roost on their backs, wings stretched out and claws kneading into the blankets.

"Do you even know how to ride?" Jason asked.

Rob laughed. "Dude, we were in the Army! Did you not even look at the stables?"

"What the hell you talkin' about?" Jason asked, his Alabama accent getting thick.

Rob shook his head. "Man, how do you not know that every Army base has a stable? They offset the cost of maintaining the Cavalry tradition by hiring out riding lessons. I took a few, mostly to see what it was like."

"So you know how to ride?" Jason asked.

Rob shrugged. "It's not that hard. I wouldn't try fighting on horseback, though. And I hope Lena put in some helmets for us."

"We need helmets to ride horses?"

Rob grinned, figuring he had successfully distracted Jason, and kept up the conversation as they walked through to the [Lotrot Training Floor].

Corporal Ignemrot greeted them before they left the administration building. "What's going on?" he asked, looking at the horses with more fear than he displayed around the Shadow wolves.

"We're going for a ride, Corporal," Rob answered, continuing on in a way that made Ignemrot fall into step beside them. He kept a healthy distance from the horses, even as that put him closer to the wolf.

"On nightmares?" the corporal asked.

"Horses," Rob answered.

"What's a horse?" the corporal asked.

Rob pointed with his thumb at the bay mare following him. "That's a horse."

"[Analyze]?" the corporal invoked his skill. He stopped while he went through the results, but then hurried to get out of their way. "Well, hide my scales! May I see its teeth?"

At this point, they were just entering the open space in front of the buildings. Rob glanced to Jason, who shrugged. Rob stopped and took hold of the horse's nose whispering a few soothing words before sticking his thumb into the corner of the horse's mouth, in the small gap between its front, clipping teeth and back molars. That forced the horse's jaw open, which showed off the herbivore's dental set.

"That's … definitely not a nightmare, then," Ignemrot said, as though that were a profound truth.

"Nope," Rob said, leading the way to the exit.

"Are you requesting an escort?" the corporal asked, seeming more settled.

Rob was ready to say, "Nope," but Jason sighed and spoke first.

"Corporal Ignemrot, Lena's decided we would better serve the Studio as fact checkers about the outside world. We're going to be, I guess you could call it exploring, Rhofhir."

The corporal frowned and shook his head. "Just the two of you?"

"Seven of us," Rob corrected, including the non sapients in his count.

"Wait a moment. I'll get you an escort into Lotrot and you can hire on guards there. At least a guide. You do not want to be wandering the steppes without someone familiar with them."

Jason said, "Thank you, Corporal."

*~*~*

Candy

"I sent Jason and Rob away," Lena said. "They're going to be exploring Rhofhir, but …"

Candy searched for Lena on the G.C., ignoring the wisp-ball her cousin projected. She assessed the complicated emotions that Lena couldn't hide from her, not from her [Tapestry Synchronization] skill, and then spoke. "You're not God."

Lena's wisp shivered through several colors. "What?" she asked.

"You are not God," Candy restated. "You are not omniscient. You are not omnipotent. You cannot fix everyone's problems for them, especially when you have your own issues to deal with. You sent them off on a mission we dearly need fulfilled and with support, and of the lot of us, Aaron's probably the only one of us remaining that would have done as good of a job as they can do."

"How did you become Miss Insightful all of a sudden?" Lena asked.

Candy shrugged. "I know you." She glanced at Brad, then said, "And, knowing you, you need a hug about now, right?"

A bitter, choked sound imitated laughter.

"Well, try to move your senses into the empty core inside this golem," Candy said.

Utter silence. Candy began counting the seconds.

At eleven, she felt Lena's presence in the G.C. shift.

At thirty-four, the Tapestry notified her that she had lost control of the empty core.

At sixty-eight, the golem moved.

Candy had worked with Brad to give the golem as human-like an appearance and mannerisms as they could. It was still made of stone, but Lena had eyelids to blink, a mouth that could open and close, articulated arms, torso, legs, fingers and toes. And a dress, because Candy was not ready to consider her cousin having naughty-bits, so even the sex-less doll version of Lena's golem needed clothes.

"How are your perceptions?" Candy asked.

"It's … weird. I'm still aware of the dungeon like I've been since we got here, but now I also have this one spot that's—. It's in me and foreign to me, and still me, you know?" Lena's voice came from the golem's mouth, slurred by the lack of articulation in the tongue and lips of the stone golem.

"Okay, that's a good sign. Now, I'm going to hug you. Do not hug me back, just tell me if it feels like what you're missing, okay?" Candy said.

Lena nodded the golem's head. Candy wrapped her arms around the golem and Lena curled up in that golem body, hugging herself to keep from hugging Candy. "Yes! Yes! Oh, gods above and below, yes! This is exactly what I've needed!" Lena said.

Candy could feel through the G.C. that that wasn't true, but it was true enough for now.

"We'll work on getting you a better avatar, one that you can cry with, and give hugs with without worrying about cracking the person you're hugging," Candy told her cousin, noting the damage Lena's self-hug was doing to the prototype body.