It was a matter of moments for Duchess Wynne and her people to prepare to return to Talahm. Spatial storage helped. But they hadn’t been carrying much, to begin with, when they had been forced into the Dungeon. What little they had had; they were forced to stretch or supplement with items and resources they could scavenge from CERN.

The Sithern had helped alleviate some of those concerns. It was capable of growing the food that would sustain them, still, they were still forced to forgo meat, the Sithern hadn’t come equipped with herd animals or livestock. Additionally, the Knockers had been instructed not to kill any of the Earthlings that inhabited the dungeon, nothing that might alarm or alert the dungeon’s denizens. Although CERN humans had no magic, they did have weapons of iron. And with Wi-Fi technology, the enclave that had access to the rest of the Planet could access a plethora of those iron weapons.

If battle began it would be a protracted messy affair, even without the Dungeon mechanics of respawn.

The Sidhe would be forced to use powerful spells that would all but destroy CERN if iron weapons were brought into play and deployed. It had been decided that the humans were far more useful as captives, slaves that could be transported through the portal, where their expertise could be used. Additionally, the few that had been killed early had only dropped jewelry and electronics, not much else, and nothing that couldn’t be scavenged without killing or alarming the CERN security forces.

The lack of meat was a problem. Although some of the Sidhe were not averse to eating sentient beings, the Knockers were not part of that group. But the vermin and wildlife that were trapped near the Sithern entrance were only able to provide the minimum requirements. That no real Hunter was among those Knockers stranded only confounded the problem.

Knockers were legendary tinkers, so most of Duchess Wynne’s people had been deployed as collectors and researchers. Spies that had accumulated electronics, mostly computers, laptops, and cell phones, and found unique ways to tinker with those devices. Experiments that had resulted in Wi-Fi adapted and able to be powered by magic.

But this was not their primary concern, they were meant to gather information. And CERN made the collection and transportation of knowledge straightforward. Entire libraries were downloaded and stored on flash drives. The sum total of man’s knowledge saved to CD and readily transported to Talahm.

There were less than fifty members of the Wynne House when she and her people transitioned. No adolescents, no one that had not ascended. Duchess Wynne’s daughter had been the youngest member of the group, and even she had reached her majority. It was one of the reasons they were searching for fresh lands.

They wanted to put down roots and build a thriving community. She had been chosen by the Knocker Monarchs and given permission to search out fresh opportunities for her and her people not long after Ranking up to Duchess. But finding unspoiled or unclaimed Land was formidable, even discounting Seelie and Unseelie factional disputes and squabbles.

She had begun to wonder if the Knocker Monarch had meant to reward her new Rank or punish her. One less Ranked to be concerned with while on a fruitless search for a place to claim. Whatever the reason, it had turned out to be a journey filled with dire repercussions. Most of their wealth was lost. Her daughter was taken hostage. And she was forced to deplete her magics to create a Sithern that was born crippled.

Magic that could never be replaced. Sidhe who gained the Rank of Duke were not capable of forming a fully functioning Sithern. By making the attempt, she had been forced to channel her entire House’s magic to ensure success, burning out those channels of creation that dealt with Sithern construction in the process. Her only attempt, a desperate bid for safety that had succeeded, even flawed as the Sithern had been, it had been enough to provide food and safety.

The Volar-Fey that remained were responding to the imminent closing of the Sithern in a most unusual fashion. They were spinning individual cocoons, entering hibernation, as they settled in, deciding to remain within the safety of the Sithern. A Seed would soon form and they would be part of that Seed. They would need to draw on some of the stored energy while waiting for the Sithern to regrow, although the endosperm that would be created was steeped in both magical and divine energies, that energy was finite.

There would be enough stored to nourish both the Sithern and the colony of Volar-Fey. I did wonder if they would metamorphose into new forms after their cocoons opened but thought it unlikely. They were already winged and beautifully colored. It would be hard to improve on the perfection that they had already achieved in form and function.

Perhaps they would be able to increase levels or Ranks as part of the transitional process they were being forced to endure. Something to worry about after we had returned to Talahm and I had found a place to locate and plant the Sithern seed.

“I would like to stay together,” I informed Duchess Wynne choosing to focus on the now and leave the future to care for itself. And the immediate concern was ferrying these people back home.

“I know we are all capable of opening an individual teleport to the Summerlands, but would we enter in the same general location?” I asked.

“Unlikely,” Wynne informed me, “Individual teleports are created based on the bio-feedback, level, and Rank of the individual. This would mean that they won’t transition into lava pools if they are not capable of withstanding the heat. And they also won’t find themselves transported into heavily trafficked areas by beings that can kill them easily.

“Plus, you know how the Summerlands can mess with time. If we all entered separately it is possible, we would be translocated across time as well as space. Each of us arriving at a different when as well as where.

“Ranked Lord and above are able to open Portals that allow saved locations to be shared. These areas are usually pretty benign. Temperate weather, not many native life-forms, and an environment that is endurable for a wide cross-section of Sidhe.”

“Has your research into Wi-Fi technology altered those conditions in any way?” I wondered.

“The variables have all remained constant. The only effect we have been able to identify Wi-Fi has on Summerlands concerns permission protocols. Anyone in possession of one of those devices can ignore the prohibitions for passage,” she answered.

“We haven’t been able to study if the environmental and bio-feedback protocols are tested before passage. That was being studied elsewhere. I would hazard to guess that the restrictions and safeguards are still in place. I am sure if the Portals opened using Wi-Fi meant travelers were dropped into pools of lava, I would have been informed if only to find a solution.

“There was too much excitement, too many demands that we scavenge and collect Wi-Fi-capable devices, for there to be any real danger, at least nothing that wasn’t easily resolved.”

“There are going to be some very surprised individuals soon,” I said thoughtfully.

I was certain System has already plugged that work-around. I wonder if any non-Sidhe individuals that are in the Summerlands when that fix is hard-coded will remain stranded there or if they would be ejected as a waste product. I admit that the picture of Olympian and Asgardian shit piles being ejected from the Summerlands was personally satisfying. OK, I gloated and shared a meme of what I was picturing with Caraid. The image I projected of a few Olympians and Asgardians being shot out of the Summerlands as piles of excrement surprised a laugh out of Caraid.

“To be safe, we probably should exit the Sithern before you claim and encapsulate it,” the Duchess suggested. “I think we would be safe, simply moved to the surface entrance, but I’m not positive. Sithern’s are fiercely protective and might decide it’s better to store us in limbo until it can be re-seeded.”

“There are no other native people? The Volar-Fey and your House are all that were residing here?” I asked realizing it was something I should have worried about earlier.

“Yes, no one else. If you had come earlier, you would have run into the Seelie and Kelpie team that visited periodically, those tasked with collecting items and information. We had started to become concerned when they missed their last scheduled rendezvous. We weren’t certain what had happened,” she said.

“It was probably scheduled about the time that Lord Kel and Lady Patricia were discovered to be Olympian stooges and removed. Lord Haygan had to have had some warning that things were amiss. They were not surprised at Blayney’s reappearance. And Lord Haygan remained inside the Elder Lodge, instead of confronting or welcoming Kelpie that had intruded on his lands.

“You should claim the Sithern after we exit though,” Duchess Wynne suggested. “I placed the core as close to on top of a ley-line as I could, I knew it would need the energies, but I wasn’t sure that was enough, and I didn’t have the resources of Divine energy to fully actualize a mature being.

“You may find connecting and claiming the Sithern takes more energy and attention than you would expect. Especially if you are going to have to supply the additional ‘nourishment’ required to finalize the matured construct. The Sithern must be fully adapted before you can have any hopes of moving its location.”

Her suggestion made sense. I decided to accept her advice, as well as monitoring the Volar-Fey in relation to time. Only once the last of them had entered hibernation and would be protected and enfolded within the depths of the Sithern Seed would I consider it safe to proceed.

In the meantime, I had the Duchess move her people to the entrance. We still weren’t sure what was going on between System and Earth. The System announcements had been informative, the elderly, and children, how advanced the rebuild and zone configuration had progressed didn’t give information on the zone level we would find outside the Sithern.

I thought it possible that CERN would be transformed as a cautionary tale for Earth’s inhabitants and become a local dungeon. The seed for that design was already in place, easily repurposed by System while re-ordering an entire World. Seeding beasts, resources, and expanding land-masses. Sometimes the path of least resistance was beneficial. Why bother creating a different dungeon when one already existed?

Finally, the last of the Volar-Fey entered sleep, and I was ready. Opening my System messages, I scrolled to the one the I needed.

CERN Sithern has adapted and wishes to bond with you, do you wish to claim the CERN Sithern?

Warning - Failure to claim Sithern may result in Sithern destruction.

[Yes/No]

Selecting Yes, I’d barely made my choice when new information exploded, information directly downloaded into my head. As I tried to process the new information energies began transferring between the Sithern and I. Moving back and forth creating a loop, the bond working towards establishing an equilibrium that was equitable for both.

I wasn’t so much claiming the Sithern as I was becoming the Sithern. No. That wasn’t exactly right. I wasn’t becoming the Sithern, more I was giving a part of my essence, joining with the Sithern to finalize the creation of a new and stable life-form. My identity, my desires, merging with the Sithern’s imperative to provide shelter and safety.

Creating something new.