Loaded with every type of grenade she could imagine, Mayah, Grax, Vergie, Riker, Deanna, and a sulky defeated Margaret headed into Shadow’s sheer shine city.

That still sucks to say fast.

She made multiple full-powered Aegis (S) and Shield (F) ribbons for everyone even the sulking Margaret. Vergie carried the rotten in their sling on her chest where they squeaked and chittered almost constantly and vergie responded with chuffs and mews.

I'm going to need to make them a new sling if they get any bigger.

They walked through the now empty streets. The eerie feeling from before was completely gone but they stayed on their guard. Even Margaret was checking her six.

They came across the fence that Mayah had climbed though when she first visited this shack full of pipes. She located the loose board and pulled it off the fence entirely. Mayah pointed through the fence.

“Okay, we go in here.”

Vergie mewled in protest as she tried to fit through the gate.

“Looks like you get to stay out here and watch our backs, girl.” Mayah pouted unhappily

“Yeah, kitty. Stay!” Grax said forcefully while pointing a single claw at the ground

Vergie growled at Grax angrily the rumbles deepened into pure vibrato that Mayah could feel in her chest. Vergie reared up and lunged forward toward Grax. Her claws came down and landed on the top of the fence. She gripped it and began wrenching the wood back and forth. Grax jumped from beneath the fence's shadow as the wood wobbled and warped and boards loosened.

Under vergie’s display of power, the fence bowed and creaked finally breaking free from its attachment points in the stone walls. The fence fell with a whoosh and muted slap. Vergie gave the flattened boards a cursory nod and a chuff as if saying “Take that, stupid fence,” and whipped a vicious predatory glare towards Grax.

“...or not.” Grax shrugged

Vergie chuffed and patrolled around the building and stuck her head and shoulders inside and roared. Then pulled herself out of the doorway scraping up against the frame making the wooden walls shake. She found a spot, circled, and sat down. As she was lowering herself she let out a soft growl and the rotten jumped free so they wouldn’t be crushed. And then simply began to preen herself.

“Well, I guess that means it’s fairly safe in there,” Mayah informed her teammates. “Thanks, Vergie.”

Vergie nodded and kept licking her paws.

Mayah called Riker and Deanna and squatted down. “You two know the drill. You escort us down the tunnel and then I need you to take out all of the Skadurötten you can. Try and use your affinities. That means Riker you use your venom and Deanna you use your hair to poke them if you can.”

The rötten nodded their understanding and went into the building.

“Okay gang time to flip some switches.”

“So why are we doing this again?” Grax asked.

“I'm trying to make sure that if this is an easter egg it hatches.”

“I guess I can get behind that. Hey Mags, why so serious?”

“I can’t seem to do anything right,” Margaret pouted and kicked at the stone cobbles.

“What?” Mayah asked her face screwing up

“I'm supposed to be protecting you and helping you clear the dungeon and I can’t get you to listen to me at all.”

“Listen, grandma, we do listen. When you have something of value to say of course.”

Mayah tapped Grax on the shoulder and gave him the look that said, “ease back.”

“Mags what makes you think we don’t listen?” Mayah inquired.

“Well since I'm older I'm used to leading the younger and this video game world has turned all of that topsy turvy. It’s like learning to walk again. I play along with the banter you guys use and look where it got me. Chewed up and in time out.”

Mayah tried to hold in her laughter and only let it go when Grax broke out in laughter.

“Fluff, you wanna tell her or should I?”

Mayah waved him off.

“Mags that whole telling you off, that was all a joke. I mean your zombies do stink and I don’t want you to do that to me ever again it was a good comeback. So we doubled down. As my grandpa Ugo said, ‘play stupid games, win stupid prizes.’”

“As my Abuelita says—well she doesn’t say she just beats me with a chancleta. A time-honored tradition carried out by the women in my family.”

“We really just wanted to escalate the situation. Like, it’s a game Mags. Literally.”

“So you're telling me that I spent the last two hours sulking because I thought I'd hurt your feelings. And… and I was trying to find a way to make it up to you when you were just pulling my leg?”

“Pretty much,” Grax responded without pity or remorse. Mayah tried to get his attention by shaking her head no.

“You are so right cat, where we’re going we don’t need threats.” her eyes glowed an eldritch green and her voice began to rasp. Black lightning formed between her hands and bounced back and forth increasing in speed until it became a steady flow of energy.

“Mags…” Mayah began but when Margaret’s eyes locked on her she shrunk back making herself smaller. “Sorry,” she whimpered.

“Your light show isn’t scaring anyone grandma,” Grax continued upbraiding her.

Mayah instantly gave up on saving Grax. She slipped away from him positioning herself behind Vergie as the vergax lay on the ground ignoring everything that was happening. Margaret slammed a fist into the palm of her other hand and then pulled her hands apart. The lightning was blinding to look at. Mayah hid her face in Vergie’s fur while Grax covered his eyes.

When the light show ended Mayah and Grax beheld Margaret holding a sword made of pure shadow lightning. Coruscating tails of the black energy ran up her arms from the hilt. And her attention was focused solely on Grax.

“Now grandma, that is—”

A flash of lightning burst the air and blinded Mayah again. When she looked, Grax was crumpled against the wall twenty feet from where he was standing previous. Margaret was on a knee five feet in front of him breathing heavily.

She hisspered, “My name is Margaret!” and fell over like a sack of potatoes.

Grax coughed and took a deep wheezing inhale and fell to the side.

Mayah still hiding behind vergie scritched the kitty for a second and said, “Shaz!” Vergie just yawned and put her head on her paws and closed her eyes.

Mayah came out from her hiding place and slowly walked over to her teammates, observing the carnage. She checked the team interface and found Grax had a series of nasty debuffs on him. Stunned, Paralyzed, Blinded, and befuddled. The last actually affected your neurons and any commands you could actually get through to your body misfired.

Think you’re moving your hand? Nope, that’s your left butt cheek. That’s gotta suck.

Margaret, on the other hand, was just mana depleted and would have one heck of a headache when she woke up. Mayah, however, was happy that she had found other uses for her shadow lightning besides arrows.

But that execution was sloppy. Left her wide open after her attack. But the attack itself was amazing. I can’t wait to talk strategy for this move with her. Grab the victim with her dolls and then use it.

Margaret stirred with a groan. Her hands went to her head.

“You’re mana depleted. just rest.”

“Still mad at you,” she groaned breathily.

“Yeah I know but you finally shut the cat up. I'll show you the video when you recover. And I would love to see it from your viewpoint.”

Mayah put some fabric under Margaret’s head and lay her head back onto it.

“Just wanted to earn your respect.”

“You already had it Mags. And now the cat has to respect you. Besides, you know my parents and if word had gotten back to them, I'd be toast. In here, there is no respect based on age. It’s all based on experience and talent. You have one and you’re gaining the other.”

“Experience, Ha!” she groaned and held her head again.

“Just rest up. Sleep if you can.”

Margaret nodded and closed her eyes.

Mayah walked over to Grax who was spasming and drooling.

“Okay, Grax I have footage of you twitching like a paraplegic in a vegetative state. It’s time to stop calling her grandma or I leak it all over the web like your lip is leaking on your shoulder. Nod if you understand.”

His leg jerked

“I'll take that as a yes. See you when your debuffs are over. I wanna know how that felt. I bet it sucked major.”

Grax’s shoulder twitched and then his body started moving like a marionette with electric strings.

“You mad bro?” Mayah chuckled and stood to walk away. She turned back. “I tried to warn you.” she said with a shrug, her palms up.

Mayah’s notifications pinged and she got 1XP. “Okay, Riker and Deanna are already inside doing their thing. The only thing left to do is wait. What can I do with my time? More shield (F) ribbons because those things are flimsy and gonna break at any time.”

She crafted for about three minutes before Grax stirred. He scrambled back against the wall taking deep racing breaths. Mayah looked at him as his chest rose and fell rapidly. His hands clenched the earth like he was going to fly if he loosened his grip.

“You okay bro?”

“That you Fluff?”

“You still blind?”

“What in the seven levels of shaz was that?” Grax’s head and eyes moved but Mayah could tell he wasn’t seeing anything.

“You made her angry. You won’t like her when she’s angry.”

“Ha. Ha…. Seriously what happened?”

“Looks like she can form the Shadow lightning into shapes now. She went all ‘form blazing sword’ on ya. She’s passed out now, Mana depletion. By the way, saw some of those debuffs. Looked nasty.”

“You have no idea. full sensory deprivation mixed with the vertigo debuff with flashes of phantom pain.”

“Well, you made her mad. I tried to signal ya but yer mouth got in the way.”

“I saw you. I was just ready to teach her a lesson. I came humble this morning and she rejected it.”

“I saw, and was proud of you.” she placed a hand on Grax’s shoulder. Grax smiled. “And of her too for those sick burns she tossed.” Grax pushed her hand off of his shoulder as his face screwed up.

“She’s getting off of her high horse, finally. I wish we didn’t have to break her down to build her up. But first she was body stuck, then she thought she could pull rank as an adult. Next she’ll be thinking she can tank the boss solo.”

Grax blinked and rubbed his eyes as they focused on Mayah. He reached a paw out to her and she helped him stand up. He brushed off his fur and said, “Yeah it’s more about roles. What role do you fill in the team? Even if she didn’t fight we’d probably keep her around. She’s sweet, like a grandma, but one you can tease.”

Mayah inhaled through her teeth. “Yeah, about the grandma thing. I think she’s earned this one. Don’t you?”

“Fine as long as we have a truce.”

“I think I can broker that.”

“Great. Now, what are we working on?”

“Making more Shield (F) and Aegis (S) ribbons. The durability is trash. I'm going to engrave some bracelets when we get the proper materials. These make nice beginners trash though.”

“Wanna flood the market when we get out of here? We’ll spend a day just going and dumping as many as we can around the city.”

“And you get a gold star.” she punched him in the shoulder playfully.

“How long before she’s ready to go?”

“Depends on how intelligent she is.”

Grax chuckled “phrasing.”

“You know what I meant. Her intelligence directly impacts how fast her mana regenerates.”

“So, we can tell how smart she is by how long she stays unconscious?”

Mayah let out a deep breathy sigh and said, “yes.”

“I said I wouldn’t call her grandma. Never said I'd stop being me.”

“Even if I asked it would be impossible.”

“As long as you recognize. Now bring on the bracelets. We have money to make.”

Margaret woke up about five minutes later to Mayah and Grax stamping fabric strips like crazy.

“What is going on?” Margaret said as she rolled onto her side. Her hair was frazzled and she held a hand to her head.

“Hey Mags, pull out the tea and pass it around. Matter of fact, pass out a couple of those pots so we can each have one. That way we don’t have to wait for you all the time. I would’ve given you a glass to help you out already, but I didn’t have any.”

Margaret squinted at them as they didn’t even move to help her. With a grunt she pushed herself upright and pulled out three thermoses of Cloutus’s buff tea. She poured herself a glass and the fog in her head instantly started to clear and she was quickly back to eighty percent.

“So what happened? After the whole shadow lightning thing?”

“Well Grax woke up and we came up with an idea to make some money. And now we’re making it happen.”

‘Don’t you have enough money already?”

No, and neither do you. How much is property in Majesta? How much is it to travel in Majesta? How often will we need to travel in Majesta? What expenses are we unaware of in Majesta? What are taxes like in Majesta? How. Much. Is. Gear. in Majesta?”

“Okay point made. So, what’s the plan?”

“We make the Shield (F) and Aegis (S) Bracelets and dump them into the economy as soon as we arrive in Techros. We sell as much as we can and take orders for what we don’t have. If we do it the first day then no one will be the wiser. And we’ll be able to profit. It may make the vendors look at us weird the next time but if the product is good enough they’ll still buy it but try for exclusivity in order to control the market better.”

Margaret shrugged thoughtfully. “That could work.”

“Duh…”

“The best way to implement that though would be for Grax and myself to take orders on the first day and get an oath or a contract for payment upon delivery the next day. And for Fluff to get crafting and we’ll help stamp the bracelets. Then we tell them that there won’t be any more for a while. That’s because we have things to do and Fluff can take a break and do her own thing and we’re all the richer.” Margaret clapped her hands

“Then we introduce the bracelets either at our store or through a select group of vendors,” Grax added.

“Bracelets?” Margaret asked?

Honestly, I wouldn’t mind getting a group of enchanters to run a stall where they recharged any enchanted gear. If they don't have that yet.”

“A store where you sell enchanted gear that we can recharge for them if they can’t recharge it themselves.”

“But honestly we’re getting off track here. We need to complete the dungeon first.”

“Yes dear, you’re right again.”

“Now tell us how you made that lightning sword.”

“Well I was angry and was going to throw the lightning at him and then I thought how much more satisfying it would be to clobber him over the head with something and the lightning started to form into a club. Then I wanted to cut him.

“It was hard to hold that way. It was like the lightning was talking to me. It wanted to be sharp. So, I let it flow into the shape it wanted to be in and that turned out to be a sword.

“I raised my hand and was going to slash at Grax. There was a bright flash and I was jerked off of my feet and pulled forward. Next thing I knew I could see Grax smashed into the wall and I was right in front of him. I fell over and had a few words with you and then woke up.

“That mana depletion really sucks,” Mayah agreed.

“If you’d have thought about it you should’ve used Flesh of the Magii.”

“Oh, yes, right.” Margaret hung her head.

“Silly noobs.”

“You just got your kitty kat can kicked by this noob.”

“Lucky shot. Won’t happen again.”

“Hey, hey, hey. What about working together for once? Margaret this morning Grax came to you humbly asking for a truce. You rebuffed him claiming you wanted to keep playing the cat terrorist. You can end a lot of the threats of violence between you two right here and now. Are you willing?”

Margaret scowled. And then growled, “sure.”

“Grax are you ready to chill out and stop being so catty?”

“Yes.”

“I now pronounce you cat and Mags. You may shake some hands. “Grax and Margaret shook hands and looked at each other.

“Welcome to the team.” Mayah clapped. “Just so you know Mags he’s agreed to stop calling you grandma if you stop with all of the physical harassment. We are all going to make jokes and yank chains because we are all friends, correct?”

“Yes,” they said in unison like defeated kindergarteners.

“Great, now let’s do what we came here for. By the way, six-three, Mags.”

“Yeah, that definitely burned.” Grax agreed.

They all chuckled while cleaning up the impromptu bracelet factory and went into the shed.

“Riker, Deanna,” Mayah called. The rötten appeared after climbing through the maze of pipes. They were covered in dust and debris.

“You guys having fun hunting?”

They chittered happily.

“Okay time to escort us through the tunnel then you can go back to hunting.” she pulled out a frozetto and motioned for her teammates to follow. She climbed into the hole and Margaret followed suit. They crawled along and made it to the end where a small room showed the three levers on each side of the room. The levers were just high enough that Grax would have to tiptoe to reach them.

“Okay who knows how to count in binary?”

“I do,” Grax said.

“Awesome. Any clue at all Mags?”

Margaret shrugged with a perplexed look on her face and shook her head in the negative.

“Okay class time. First things first. Notice you are all seeing in the dark. We passed the threshold and you didn’t even notice it. It just got a little dimmer. You need to pay attention. That’s how I wound up in trouble in here the first time I came in.

“Second, binary counting, same as decimal counting but with fewer digits. The only digits we have are going to be are 0 and 1. When the lever is horizontal then that means 0 when the lever is pointed up that means 1.

Let me label the pipes so we can make this easier on Mags.”

“First the direction we read it in. higher number columns are on the left and smaller columns are on the right the column all the way on the right is labeled u for unit. Because even though there 512 combinations we can only count up to 511 because we’re starting from zero. So, on the farthest right column, I'm going to mark this U because this will represent 0 or 1. That is as high as we can count on this column.

She moved to the next column and marked it 2.

“This is the two’s column. Whenever we put a one in this column it will equal 2. Following me so far?”

Mags nodded.

Mayah went back to the U column. “If I put the lever up in the U column how much is that?”

“1,” Mags said.

“Correct.” she set the U column back to 0 then set the 2’s column to 1. “Now how much is this?”

“2?”

“Correct again. And how would you write that in binary?”

“Um…”

It would be one-zero meaning it would look like a ten. So you have a 1 in the 2’s column and 0 in the U or 1’s column. So what happens if I add a 1 to the 1’s column? How much would it be?”

“3?”

“You’re a bit shaky but you’re getting there.”

“Now three is the highest I can count with these two columns. Do you know how I get to four?”

“I assume the next column?”

Right you are. The next column is the 4’s column then there's the 8’s column then 16’s, 32’s, 64’s, and 128’s, and 256’s.” she went along and labeled the remaining columns.

“Those are all squares of 2, right?”

“She’s catching on.” Grax snickered.

“Don’t distract her. So how would you make 4?”

Margaret configured the levers to read 100 or 000000100 if you included all of the levers.

Grax, pick a number between 0 and 511.”

“122”

“Okay Mags, think you can do it? If you need help, we’re right here.”

She set the column for 64s, 32s,16s,8’s and 2’s to 1’s and everything else to 0 and got 001111010

“Good job Mags. 64+32+16+8+2 = 122.”

“It’s not so hard once you get the hang of it.” Grax coached.

“He’s right. Besides, we are about to have a crash course in binary counting.”

“I also just sent you both link to what the binary codes are so we can all double check our work. If we’re going to do this, we best do it right. If we skip our code number and don’t know it, it will all be for naught.”

“I love it when he acts like a civilized human,” Magaret swooned

“I know it’s in there under all of the teenager stuff. That’s why I keep him around.”

“Haha…” Grax said sarcastically, “Are we gonna gossip circle all day ladies? Sip tea and press flowers? I would like to finish the dungeon this lifetime.”

“Don’t get snooty. We’re coming.”

“Like I was saying if he could lose the impatience and show a bit more empathy—”

“I'm RIGHT here!”

Mayah and Margaret giggled at his outburst and watched his face as he realized what just happened.

“Nice. I see what you did there.” He rolled his eyes and grumbled to himself.

“C'mon, we still need to search the temple and do the Lürkinmürk. The trio began counting up to 511 on the levers, Mags began to catch on as patterns started to emerge and repeat. They made it up to 313 when the pipes squealed with an odious noise that grated against their bones.

Nuuuuurrrrrreeek rrrra-tooooot - haaanunga Skrrrreeeeeeeeeee-luuuuugle

It repeated three times causing the pipes above their head to shake. there was a loud clang followed by an arm long pipe wrench falling to the floor from the ceiling with a crash. It bounced and clattered on the pipes and then quieted immediately.

Ding!!!

You have discovered

Kochanski wrench

“A Kochanski wrench? What’s that?”

“Lemme see,” Mayah said and Grax handed the heavy metal wrench over. It was painted red with heavy-duty and knobbly paint, except for the teeth, jaws, and the screw for adjusting the jaw. There was tiny writing on the side of the ordinary-looking but gigantic adjustable wrench. “Designed by Kryten industries Mfr. Red Dwarf Foundries. That’s all I got. Can’t see anything else”

“Well, you think we got it?”

“Yeah, maybe? But only because of the wrench. That and 313 is a palindromic prime number in decimal and binary.”

“Decimal?”

“Sorry Mags, normal base 10 counting. What we normally use.”

“palindromes are the same backwards and forwards. And 313 is the same back to front in binary as well?”

“Look at the levers,” Grax said.

Margaret looked and saw they were arranged in a pattern that could be read the same both ways. On their list of binary numbers, it displayed as 100111001.

“Well, that’s interesting. But it doesn’t mean much at this point.”

“What if the game just wants to throw a wrench in our plans?” Margaret said playfully.

Mayah and Grax just shook their heads.

“We’ve talked about this Mags,” Grax whined. “Sometimes the thoughts should stay in your head. At least until they could be said in more delicate terms.”

“Maybe something along the lines of saying nothing and staying extra vigilant. Or this thing gives me the creeps. Never say it in a way that the game can latch onto and make the game harder.”

“You haven’t proven that to be true,” Margaret declared aggressively.

“If we wind up in some sewers will you believe me?”

“Sure. Yes. whatever.”

Grax held out his paw. “Deal?”

“Deal.” Margaret shook his paw.

“I shoulda put money on it,” Grax said belatedly

“Me too, but she’ll learn,” Mayah chuckled.

“Can we get out of here now?” Margaret asked.

“Yeah let’s go search the temple.”

“And the sewers…” Grax bemoaned sarcastically.

…..

“Hicks!” Auset called out from the makeshift desk in the makeshift office in their Make-do fallback operations center.

“Yes, Sir.”

“We may have a key into Attactus for Monday, but I don’t want to put all of our eggs in one basket. See if you can find any other plans with a low detection probability to put into play before then.”

Hicks flipped open his cryspad and swiped through a few pages and handed the pad to Auset.

“Maybe some of these options will fit the bill, sir?”

Auset looked over the basic types of plans that the team had put together. It ranged in everything from full-on tactical assault down to planting moles and gaining trust from the corporation. The first would make too much noise for right now and the second besides being too slow was already in place and still ongoing. He was looking for something below strike force but with a better payout.

As Auset browsed the list Hicks stood at ease and awaited orders. Finally gaining no insights into their current dilemma Auset closed the pad and sighed loudly. Hicks reached for the pad a millisecond before Auset moved to give it to him.

“Has our friend in the basement eaten?”

“He had trouble with his appetite and couldn’t get much down.”

“Understandable.” Auset grimaced. “Has he been put into a room yet or is he still taped up?”

“He Has been given a room with a cot and bucket.”

“Give him some more luxuries and assurances. Maybe a book or a magazine on one of the locked pads. Guest account and all of that.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Auset let out another loud sigh.

“Is there anything else I can help you with sir?”

“You know hicks, if I hadn’t been so insistent on going to that school we could go and get steak and drinks right now while we waited.”

“Yes, sir.”

“But that’s okay for now. Send someone out for amazing food. Gotta keep morale up. Ask our guest where we should go and get his order as well. I feel like playing good cop.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“I will be dining with our guest so get him a chance to clean up and get him some fresh clothes. Also, have his clothes laundered for when we go to his place tomorrow. Can’t have him smelling like urine.”

“Yes, Sir.” Hicks continued to stand there.

“You’ve already done all of those things haven’t you, Hicks?”

“Yes, sir. Everything except dinner as it’s only 1500 hours, sir.”

“Did you know I was going to say give him a shower?”

“No one likes the smell of urine, sir.”

“I guess you’re right. Keep me updated on any new intel from the drones. Or McGill’s gang, even though I don’t expect much from them.”

“Yes, Sir.”

…..

“We’re going to search the temple? Why?”

“Because you weren’t there when we did it yesterday. Fluff found some interesting things.”

“And she left them there? I'm not understanding. Did you search the temple or not. I mean if you searched it then we wouldn’t have to go back and if you partially searched it, Why? Why not finish searching?”

“Because I figured you’d want to see what was there with your own eyes? In the sense of fairness, silly cat. Maybe you’d see something that we wouldn’t. Maybe there’s a cat-based quest for you. I'm really starting to wonder why I even care about your feelings.”

“Calm down, I'm just joshin’ ya. I want to see the lines on the floor and how they work. Sounds pretty fun walking one direction and then suddenly finding yourself walking the other way.”

They passed the temple’s threshold and walked fully into the darkness.

“Okay follow me, gang,” Grax said.

“Why?” Mayah asked with a sneer.

“I'm gonna follow the line on the floor and see where it takes me.”

“Okay, you walk the shadows and I'll follow you with my eyes.”

“That’s no fun. I want to conga line into the shadows.”

“You’re on your own but I bet you’ll end up at the courtyard. Also, don’t touch anything. Found a nasty crystal in an alcove. Seemed like bad juju. Mags and I are going to follow the perimeter.”

“Remember, young man, don’t touch anything.”

“Yeah, yeah, Gra… I mean Mags.”

“Good catch cat. I'm gonna give him a point bonus for doing a good job. You okay with that Mags?”

“In this case it’s a win-win.”

“Okay then, six-four, Mags.”

“Tell me again why you’re not on the scoreboard?”

“Because I can’t keep score and play. That wouldn’t be fair.”

“Wait a minute—”

“So, like I was saying,” Mayah hushed the cat by talking over his dissention, “Mags and I are gonna walk the perimeter and you’re going to go play around. Holler if you find anything.”

“Aye aye cap’n.” Grax saluted her, his hand making an L on his forehead.”

Mayah just shook her head. “C’mon Mags.”

They turned to the right and Grax went to the left. Mayah went to the wall by the door and put her right hand on it.

That should keep us following the wall. You can grab my cloak if you want.”

“I think I'll be okay, dear.”

They followed the room to the first corner and found another crystal with the Gather (S) rune underneath it.

Same as the other corner?” Margaret asked.

“Looks like.”

Vergie growled and then looked surprised.

“Something wrong girl?”

Vergie chuffed and shook her head no.

“Well okay then let’s keep moving.”

They continued around the room and made it to the next corner where they found the same setup, an alcove with the rune and the floating crystal. But the wall didn’t turn at ninety degrees. It was more of an obtuse angle that pointed back into the darkness.

They followed and began to see the walls converge on an apse like structure that had a small island with a statue on it. A flat bridge led them over the dark waters surrounding the island and Mayah noticed that the waters filled the perambulatory around the island.

They approached the statue that was so black it lacked definition. This was beyond coated in shadow it seemed to pull light in. they circled it and Mayah pieced out the details of the figure. It sat on a simple chair reclining slightly. It had two left hands sticking out from beneath a cloak and between them both, they held cups attached to long sticks. Beneath his feet was a bucket.

Water ladles? Maybe?

“Hey Grax!” Mayah yelled into the darkness.

“Yeah?” Grax said from beside her.

Mayah and Margaret jumped. Vergie made her chuffing laughter.

“You trying to kill me, cat?”

“Nope just leveling shadow step. It works really good in here. Barely touches my mana. Just following you two around I got two levels.”

“Probably because we didn’t see you. But Vergie did.” Mayah put her hands on her hips and glared at the big cat.

Vergie Mewled an apology. Mayah just shook a finger at her.

“I thought the boon allowed us to see all shadows?” Margaret asked.

“I was hiding behind Vergie silly.”

Mayah sniffed and turned back to the statue. “Looks like there are three ladles up there and a ton of water. Want to try something out?”

“How likely are we to die?”

Mayah shrugged.

“Okay, you first.”

“Why her?” Margaret asked.

“Because I'm always the crash test dummy and today I say, nay! Let the honor fall upon another.”

Mayah laughed at his victorian speech.

“What about you Mags?”

“I'm with the cat on this one,” Mayah insisted.

“You are the only one who hasn’t died yet,” Grax added

“And I plan on keeping it that way,” Margaret spat.

“In a videogame? You’re deluded, lady.”

“Yeah, I'm with the cat on this one, again. It’s especially deluded to think you won’t die.”

“Well, I don’t want to die,” Margaret said sullenly.

“Neither did I.”

“Me neither.”

“But it’s a fact of game,” Grax bemoaned.

“Learning what can kill you early on in-game is better than finding out in the late game. More levels are at stake if my calculations are correct.”

“I say let’s vote on who gets to be the guinea pig today,” Grax suggested.

“I'm game, what about you Mags?”

“Fine even though I know you’re both going to pick me.”

“One vote apiece,” Grax ordered.

“Okay, who votes for me?” Mayah asked. No one raised a hand.

“Everyone for Grax?”

Margaret raised her hand and so did Mayah.

“E tu, Fluff-ay?”

“Sorry, it’s your mouth. It makes me want to let you be my guinea pig.”

Grax grumbled, “Fine, what's the plan?”

“Grab one of those ladles.”

“That’s it?”

“To start.”

Grax reached up and grabbed the lowest of the ladles. He pulled it free without any problems. It looked like he was holding a ladle shaped void in the fabric of reality.

“Cool.” He whispered.

Mayah reached out and grabbed a ladle as well.

“Okay Mags your turn.”

“This is where things usually get interesting, right?” Grax questioned.

“Usually.”

Margaret withdrew the ladle and held it while waiting for the temple to collapse. Nothing happened so she asked, “What next?’

“We wash feet. Or more precisely we pour this water over the feet.” she motioned to the water surrounding them.

“Weirdo, shadow gods.”

“You remember what we told Mags about keeping your mouth shut? You should try it.”

Grax eyed the statue. “Sorry Mr Umbrasom, sir. I forgot my place.”

“Better. Now don’t touch the water. Or let any get on you.” She knelt and filled her ladle with water and waited for them to copy her.

“Let’s go one right after the other.”

She stepped up to the statue and poured the water over the feet slowly trying to make sure the whole foot was wet. It was hard to do since the water didn’t reflect light and neither did the statue. When she was finished, she stepped aside and Margaret stepped forward and repeated her actions. Then finally Grax stepped up and splooshed his water over the feet unceremoniously.

“Grax!” Mayah hissed breaking the silence. Followed by a gong somewhere deep in the templed being rung. A purple light in the corner appeared in the deep shadows. Then the gong rang again. And another light appeared. This time they could see the light coming from the corner alcove.

This repeated two more times and the lights flew across the temple and slowly spun around the statue like the electrons in orbit around a nucleus. None of them shared the same path.

The statues hands reached out towards the paladins and made a gimme gesture. To which Mayah placed the ladle in its hand. Grax and Margaret quickly followed suit. A third arm appeared from underneath the cloak of darkness and held a large skinned tambourine by something on its back side. It was so large it looked like a large indigenous hand drum. It had tassels of midnight hanging from it and it rattled like it contained beads. The statue then began to shake the tambourine and beat the skin with the cups in a rhythmic pattern.

The glowing purple lights soared faster and faster. Mayah and her team watched eyes wide, as all at once, three of them launched directly into their chests and bowled them into the waters behind them.

Mayah struggled to reach the surface. She swam for all she was worth. When she felt a force pulling her up out of the water and dropping her on the ground again. She looked to the side and saw Grax and Margaret dripping wet and sputtering for breath.

The statue was still with the singular glowing crystal socketed into its forehead.

DING!!!

You have received a divine spark.

You have performed the libation of Umbrasom, granting you favor with the god of shadows. Your reputation with Umbrasom has risen to liked. The god will be keeping tabs on you and your reputation can rise or fall with your actions.

Ding

You have received a quest.

Unlocking your potential

All creatures have the ability to follow a deity. The deity can give blessings and help with difficult tasks. Search out the shamans on the plains of N’tha’a to receive the gift of a divine path. And truly become a paladin to fight for Majesta.

Time limit: none

Rewards: the blessing of a deity

Failure: no blessings from deities

Do you accept?

Y/N

Mayah swiped yes. And looked up at the statue.

Paladins? OMG, it’s been staring us in the face the whole time. I can’t believe this. They wanted us to become warriors for the gods of Majesta!!!

Mayah started laughing. “Paladins!” her laughter began to grow strained and guttural she coughed and sputtered as she laid on the ground.

“What’s so funny?”

“Paladins,” she wheezed. She clapped a hand on Grax’s shoulder. She made a pointing motion at the cat then to her own eyes while she tried to catch her breath through her laughter. As she cried and gasped she pointed at pretty much everything in the room. And then back to her chest.

Grax looked to Margaret. “We’re not going to get anything out of her until she calms down.”

Mayah held her stomach as she sat on the ground. “Paladins.”

Why does she keep saying paladins?”

“What class are you paladin?” Mayah mumbled crazily. And then she said “paladin!” and started to laugh again wiping her eyes.

She looked at Margaret. “I know you’re a paladin, but what’s your class paladin? Paladin!!!” she broke out in laughter again and rolled on the ground.

After a few moments, she stabilized enough to explain.

“So Majestans have been calling us paladins all this time because we have the power to communicate with their gods. And Grax you remember when we saw the class skill book for paladin?” Mayah held back her snickers. “Remember the whole paladin-paladin joke?”

“Yeah. But it didn’t think it was funny then either.”

“Do you know what this means?” Mayah asked with her arms spread wide. “God-like powers beyond compare,” Mayah said in a dramatic voice. “So many factions and layers to explore. Are their evil gods and good gods? What god has which alignment? How does this all work?”

Grax turned her back to them from her reverie. “Slow down Fluff. What did your message say?”

“It says my reputation with the god of shadow is liked, I've received a divine spark and I got a quest to receive the blessings of a deity.”

“That’s what I got?” Margaret said.

“liked? My reputation with Umbrasom is polite.”

Margaret stifled her laughter and Mayah tried to do the same.

“No. You think that he heard me?”

“I tried to tell you.”

Grax went silent. Then he grabbed for the ladle which didn’t come free. So, he knelt down and said, “Lord Umbrasom, I apologize for my earlier actions. I was unaware of the power that you held and was ignorant to a fault.” He then touched his head to the ground three times stayed there for a respectful moment.

As he stood one of the arms cracked him across his head with a ladle. And he yowled in pain. Instead of cursing he rubbed his head and said, “I probably deserved that.”

With that, the hand offered him the ladle and Grax made the libations again. This time much more respectfully.

“Does he like you yet?”

“Hush it Fluff. We’re in a house of worship,” he said grimly.

“So, we're finished here?” Margaret inquired.

“I would say so,” Grax offered.

“Good because Vergie’s timer only has—totally recharged?”

“What?”

“Her countdown to go back to the shadows has been recharged.”

“How’d that happen?”

“Not sure.” Mayah looked at Vergie “Hey girl did you drink any water?”

Vergie shook her head no.

“Did just being in here refill your timer?”

Vergie shook her head yes.

“Awesome. I know what I need to do. Gimme a second, will you?”

Mayah ignored any answer they gave and spun and sat down in the shadows pulling out her rune book. She turned to the page for gather (S) and read it one last time to be sure.

Gather (S)

Gather the shadow energy that is free floating around you and turn it into shadow mana. Shadow is one of eight facets of wild mana. Shadow mana can be used to power anything that uses shadow mana. Anything that this rune is applied to will take on characteristics of shadow.

At Level 1 Gather (S) will collect 3 Mana points of Shadow mana per minute from wild mana and will accept shadow mana diverted to it freely. Gather (S) will gather shadow faster in dark and shadowy places. Will gather up to 1 xMana cost shadow mana

Gather (S)

Level:

1

Duration:

N/A

Mana cost:

300

Cooldown:

2 minutes

She pulled out a strip of fabric about three feet long and a sheet of paper. She drew the Summon (S) rune on the paper and drew the Gather (S) rune so it’s hollow was surrounding the Summon (S) rune and cast enchantment to arm it. She ID’d what she’d made.

You have created

Name:

Writ of summoned shadows

Type:

Shadow summon time extender

Enchantment #1:

Gather (S) Gathers Minimum of 3 Shadow mana points per minute from the moment created.

Enchantment #2:

Summon (S)

Grade:

Material:

Paper and ink

Weight:

.16 Ozs.

Durability:

7/7

Attributes:

This page will add length to the duration of the shadow summons ability to remain in this world. Once the summons timer is up the summon will begin to draw from the writ of summoned shadows and expended at a rate of summons HP over Mana cost for summoning. (summons HP/Summon cost) per minute. Must be in contact with summon to function.

Duration:

23 minutes

Mana:

3/300

So each of these rune formations would give vergie another 23 minutes maybe more if we’re someplace dark. Without my stamina I can do two formations safely. But wait my mana control bonus gives me a 10% discount on mana usage which means that the 435 mana I would normally use is 391.5 mana. Multiplied by 3 is 1174.5 MP. I'll still have Mana left over. WOOOT!!!

Mayah quickly drew the rune formation on the ribbon three times near the center of the fabric. She made sure that each rune was formed perfectly before moving on to the next. She blew on the ink to aid it in drying.

She doubled checked her rune work and found it to be satisfactory and began her enchantment. She could feel the layers of the runes as they glowed on the fabric. She sought to tie them together and kept missing the final connection that would make it perfect. Like trying to button jeans that were too small for you.

She felt a dark presence guide her hands. And the enchantment felt whole in a way she had never experienced it before. She armed the enchantments and felt them settle onto the fabric.

She relaxed and prepared to let go of the enchantment, but the same dark hand reached out and brushed her mana again. This time it lifted the enchantment off of the ribbon and split it in half flatwise. The two identical enchantments then laid side by side making six rune formations on the ribbon. They began to pulse with dark power and deepened. Their energy radiating through the thread of the ribbon giving it shadow essence. When the essence reached the corners of the ribbon the feeling of the dark hands began to recede and Mayah ended the enchantment.

Ding!!!

Summon level 5

Ding!!!

Gather (S) level 2

Ding!!!

Gather (S) level 3

340 mana containment

Ding!!!

Runes level 7

Ding!!!

You have received

the boon of Umbrasom

My creatures helper

A one-time boon to help your shadow summon stay by your side and aid you in your journeys.

Ding!!!

You have created

Name:

Banderole of summoned shadows

Type:

Shadow summon time extender

Enchantment #1:

Gather (S) Gathers Minimum of 30 Shadow mana points per minute from the moment created.

Enchantment #2:

Summon (S) – Shadow Vergax

Grade:

S (uncommon)

Material:

Divine shadow Silk and The blood of Umbrasom

Weight:

3 Ozs.

Durability:

769/769

Attributes:

This Banderole will add length to the duration of the shadow summons ability to remain in this world. Once the summons timer is up the summon will begin to draw from the banderole of summoned shadows and expended at a rate of summons HP over Mana cost Gather (S). (2168/300) per minute (7.22 MP per minute.)

Duration:

4 hours 59 minutes

Mana:

2160/2160

Mayah smiled and knowing that Umbrasom worked in the dark and appreciated her bringing his creatures to this realm. Mayah Bowed her head and silently promised not to misuse these gifts. She felt an affectionate wave of dark energy press against the top of her head and she smiled.

Suddenly she was smashed sideways into the bosoms of a certain necro-ranger, one side of her face smashed to the other side of Margaret’s face.

“Fluff! What happened?” Margaret pushed Mayah off of her and checked her out “Are you okay?” Then she smashed Mayah back into her chest smashing her face all over again.

“What do you mean what happened?” she said, even though it sounded a lot more muffly with her mouth distorted by Margaret's hug.

“A big ball of shadow surrounded you and you disappeared, is what happened.”

“I didn’t do it. It must’ve been our good friend Umbrasom.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“We got to work on a project together.” She held out the banderole.

“What is that?”

“A little something that will help keep Vergie around for a bit after her timer is up.”

“For how long?”

“Four hours and fifty-nine minutes in full sunlight plus recoup of shadow mana.”

Wait a minute if this thing draws in 30 points of shadow mana every minute and Vergie only uses 7.2MP per minute. She can stay forever until her HP reaches over 9,000.

It’s Over 9,000!!! Gah! That’s corny even for me. But my little Vergita is gonna be spending a lot more time with us. And by the time she’s got 9,000HP she probably won’t need it and I'll have to see if I can get another pet.

“Fluff!” Grax snapped his fingers in her face.

“Hmm?”

“Stop spacing out. You were talking and then just stopped and started mumbling.”

“Sorry, Math. I got distracted.”

“And what did the calculations tell you?”

“That Vergie may not need to go back to the shadows for a while if she doesn’t want to.”

“Well, that sounds nice, dear.”

“It does, doesn’t it? It’s all thanks to Umbrasom.” she gave the statue a small smile. Vergie come say thank you to Umbrasom.”

Vergie padded over from where she had lain through this whole ordeal and bowed her head and swept her right paw outward in a feline flourish.

“So Kawaii!” She scritched her summon and looped the banderole around her neck. Vergie’s eyes went wide and she lifted her chin urging Mayah to tie it on.

“That’s from Umbrasom. So, let’s make him proud yeah?”

Vergie stood with her chest puffed out and proudly nodded towards the statue.

“Okay let’s go merc the Lürkinmürk!”

Mayah walked to the bridge and turned to face the statue. She gave the statue one last look and then gave a low respectful curtsy pulling her dress out to the side. Margaret gave a little bow and Grax almost touched his nose to his knees as he bowed from the waist. Then they walked to the courtyard and down the steps to the Lürkinmürk.

…..

Mo, Ziggs, and Mephi stood at the end of a line they had been waiting in forever. The woman who had given them the information happily walked away from the trio and up to an open window. A row of eight windows with people standing behind the bars stood facing them. The words wage prisoners came to mind. With the bars and light globes casting yellow light It looked like a victorian bank. The prisoners or workers wore their sleeves banded up above their elbows and had visible ink smudges on their hands.

“I'm guessing they’re scribes,” Mo whispered.

“Ya don’t say. What gave it away, bud?” Mephi clowned Mo.

“Hey, Booms we’re next. You ready?” Ziggs

“I got all the charm that god and the game gave me ready to go.” Mo jested cockily.

“Guess I'll add some prayers to that,” Mephi murmured.

“You promise?” Mo asked.

Mephi crossed his heart. “Would I lie to you?”

“Remember, start with the silver.” Ziggs reminded him

“Got it.”

“Next!!” a voice called from the window.

Mo walked down the row followed by his teammates. They reached a window where they found themselves face to face with a gnome who was obviously standing on a box behind the counter.

“Name?” the gnome asked without even looking up.

“Hello sir, my name is Mojo Boomstar and my friends—”

“Reason for your visit?”

“Well, that is what I would like to talk to you about, kind sir.”

The gnome sighed deeply and looked up at the trio.

“You waited in line all of this time and don’t know what you need?”

“That is not the case at all sir. It’s just that the breadth of information we seek to acquire is a bit extensive and we seek someone who could help us wade through the paperwork quickly. We would gladly pay for the time spent in our company.”

Mo slid a silver across the small desk.

“If you lot don’t know what you want there are others who do.”

Mo made to grab for the silver but using his speed instead left 4 more.

The scribe’s eyebrow rose at the addition of silver

“I apologize, sir, for we are in dire straits and I do not wish to anger you. May I know your name?”

“Tarbeck, and what makes you think I am angry?”

“Let me apologize again friend Tarbeck. I want to make doubly sure that you know I meant no slander to your personage.” Mo activated speed and replaced the silver coins with one made of gold. “I do hope you can at least point us to someone who could see their way around to helping us. We are but three meager paladins searching for answers in your wondrous world.”

“At the sight of the gold Tarbeck’s hand seemed as if it would reach out and snatch the money. Then his brain clicked as he heard the word paladins.

“Paladins, you say? Whatever would bring you here?” his demeanor was more relaxed.

“We would like to know what kind of operational setups one may register to become an official entity with the city of techros?”

“A guild?”

“Maybe. We would also like to know what types of fiscal, non-profit, charity, and or mercantile slash businesses one could register and what paperwork would be involved. In short the whole gamut.”

“Well,” Tarbeck reached finger out to place it on the gold coin. Mo placed his finger on the coin right before Tarbeck could seize it. Fingers touching, the two shared a glance and Mo's eyes were expectant and awaiting information. He neither pushed nor pulled the coin and they sat there momentarily, Mo's finger pressed to the gold, Tarbeck’s finger pressed to Mo's fingernail.

Tarbeck cleared his throat. “Well, you would want to speak to someone in the department of organizational ordinances and ministries.”

“Organizational ordinances and ministries?”

“Yes, those would be the faith-based applicants.”

“I see, and how would I be able to see them?”

Tarbeck tapped Mo's finger. Mo lifted his finger

Mo chuckled. “Ah, I see.” how soon do you think I could see them?”

“In three months.”

Mo added another gold coin. “How about now?”

“Thirty days if you’re lucky.”

Mo added another gold. “And now?”

“Maybe three weeks.”

Mo added two more. “Would this get me an appointment in the next few days?”

“Let me check the register.” Tarbeck thumbed through his calendar book and shook his head. Nothing for another week.

Mo added two more coins bringing the total up to seven gold. A full tenth of the money they had between them.

“Ah look there’s an opening tomorrow at eight am.”

“Why thank you Tarbeck. I knew we could be friends.” He winked at the gnome who nodded back.

“Let me get your appointment slip ready Master Boomstar.” Tarbeck said as he scooped the gold coins off of the counter and slid them into a vest pocket. “Here you go.”

He handed Mo a slip of paper with details on how to enter the building and to arrive thirty minutes early so that they didn’t miss their appointed time.

The trio turned to leave. When Mo put another coin down and said, “Please let them know we come to make friends.”

“I will most certainly do that, Master Boomstar.” he nodded his head goodbye. And hollered “NEXT!!!”

The trio walked out of the building. And Mephi said, what’s the deal with the eighth gold coin?”

“Hey, we want to grease the wheels right? Let’s give them the impression that we can grease the wheels.”

“Well, where is all this money coming from?”

Where is all of this money coming from?

Mo slapped his head. “Why are we making such a fuss. I paid my buy-in. Just have to go to the bank to set up my account.”

“Heh, me too. For a second there I forget about the buy in. haven’t had much use for money with the knockers feeding us.”

“We should all take a trip to the bank, right now,” Ziggs added.

“Message Davemarth first.” Mo reminded them.

“Did it as soon as we walked out. He said he’ll be here in about fifteen minutes. So, what now?” Meph

“It’s about three oclock and I'm hungry.” Mo rubbed his stomach and look around the market place.

“Yeah, I could go for a bite.” Ziggs’ robotic arm popped out of her body and rubbed approximately where her Gunny-num-nums’ stomach would be.

“A bite is all you’d need Ziggs.” Mephi kicked the bot and Mo just shook his head.

“But I also need lubricants and minerals for gunny.” Z

“Okay fine, we eat. But where?” Mo questioned his team.

“Let’s just walk until our noses say, stop.”

“In that case, you walk behind us, Mephi, or we’ll never get anywhere.” Ziggs delivered the tactical strike flawlessly. As Mephi’s jaw worked to get an answer, Mo dogpiled on.

“She’s got a point, Meph.”

“I hate you guys.” Mephi growled.

“C’mon the meats wait for no one.” Ziggs spun and floated towards the stalls.

They walked the few yards to the row of stands and started following their noses. Mephi found a meat sandwich he wanted. Ziggs was beset by small children and found a candy stand to bribe them and then got a meat pie. Mo found a soup vendor and purchased a bowl, a spoon and the soup to fill it.

“Thank you kind sir, this looks delicious,” Mo thanked the vendor who smiled at him.

Mo spun to walk away, slamming into a passerby who felt like a brick wall. The bowl of soup upended splashing its contents all over both of them and causing Mo to be forced to the side.

“Hey watch it man.” Mo yelled.

“Watch it?” the man said as he attempted to squeegee the soup off of his leather armor. He studied his cloak and noticed the wet stains trailing down the front and around the hem and got in Mo's face. “Were I you, I would kneel before me and beg my forgiveness!”

“Like that’s gonna happen, freak. You owe me a bowl of soup!” Mo picked bits of beef and vegetables off of his clothing and looked for his bowl.

“My Cloak costs gold. Your piddling bowl of soup pales to the amount you owe me for my cloak.”

“Then you should’ve watched where you were walking, turd strider”

“You owe me a new cloak.” He spit with a growl. The look of rage on his face intensified and his volume rose. This made the crowd start to pay attention.

People stopped and turned, tapping their friends and in a matter of seconds, there were many eyes watching the scene unfold.

Mo finally spied the soup sodden cloak. “That pack of rags? Looks like something my little sister made.”

“Well, she didn’t! Now, pay me for my cloak!” A shadowy glow appeared on the cloak wearer’s hand. Mo noticed but said nothing. His response was to electrify his hand and the energy arced and snapped across his fist.

The man took a step towards Mo when his Manservant snagged his arm and whispered to the man. The shadows on his hand disappeared.

“You are lucky I have made an oath, or you would be dead where you stand.” He hissed

“Even if you were lucky enough to pull that off, I'd just come back and kick that ugly off of your face.”

Captain cloak raged and got right into Mo's face. “I will find you and end you!” He stabbed his finger into Mo's chest.

“Back off flarf-nugget!” He shoved the crazy away from him. “And as a favor to everyone learn to brush your teeth, maybe?”

“Booms you okay?” Mephi yelled pushing through the crowd.

“Nothing I can’t handle with one hand tied behind my back.”

Ziggs pushed through after Mephi and they rushed to his side.

“This isn’t over.” Cloaky pointed a finger at Mo's chest.

Mo brushed his hand aside. “Eat grass, loser!”

“Lord Coad, we must go! Now!” the cloaks friend said in a hissper

“Fine!” He spun and walked away from Mo and his trio and the crowd began to break up.

“You okay Booms?”

“Yeah, nothing the laundry can’t sort out.”

“What happened?”

“That fool bumped into me and spilled my soup. I really wanted that soup.” Mo turned back to the vendor who handed him a towel. “May I have another?”

“Where’s my bowl?” Mo muttered searching for his food receptacle. He spotted it trampled on the ground and his heart sank a little. “And a new bowl as well please.”

“At a discount for ya. I saw what happened.”

“Thank you but it’s not necessary. I'll pay for it.”

The vendor nodded graciously.

“Davemarth will be here in a few. So chug your soup and let’s get a move on.”

“You know what?” Mo took his bowl of soup and put it into his bag. He reached in again to pull it out and only a tiny bit spilled.

“A gold coin's worth of soup in bowls, please. And leave a little space below the rim.”

“Yes, sir,” the vendor smiled happily.

…..

Malcipher walked away quickly with Halsh leading him by the elbow.

“Stop pulling me. I'm able to walk on my own.”

“The guards were coming. And we do not want to be on their list.”

“I thought you said they’d be no problem?”

“Not when something is as out in the open as this.” Halsh commented grimly. “Back alleyway dealings, getting them to turn a blind eye for a bit, or even giving some information. Those are all possible. Escaping charges in Assemblage square not so much.” Halsh ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath.

“Those assemblage guards are like rocks in the river. They’ll capsize ya and watch you drown. And by drown, I mean go to the clink. They’re highly loyal to the money that is the law and order around here.”

“Fine!” Malcipher acquiesced and began wiping at the soup covering his gear. Malcipher hadn’t seen Halsh so cowed since they first met. “I'm going to smell like beef and vegetables forever.”

“We’ll get your gear cleaned when we get back to the web.”

“The web?”

“That’s what Zhīzhū’s men call their base.”

“Ah…” Malcipher said understanding

“So Keyes, we’ve procured new armor and weapons. Healing potions and mana potions and I have my outfits to match my now stained cloak. What say you? Shall we return before I'm forced to break my vow to Zhīzhū?”

“I think that would be for the best Lord Coad.”

“Well, lead the way Keyes. Lead the way. I want to remove my soupy attire as soon as possible.”

“As you wish my lord.” Halsh bowed his head and Malcipher followed him down the street.

Malcipher found himself liking the man. He was his first bit of code that hadn’t made him rage in quite some time.

Malcipher smiled a tooth filled malicious grin. And he doesn’t mind the killing either.