"A magical bomb?" Agent Samtol asked.

"What?" Nathan gave him a confused look.

"I do not like the idea of a bomb powerful enough to destroy an ancient dragon even being worked on," the agent said. "And you don't even-you just went into the game, didn't you?"

Agent Samtol realized as he spoke that Nathan's sudden confusion likely came from having spent several months in the game, putting a lot of time between the two parts of their conversation. To the teen, it had been almost eight months since he told the agent about the bomb, not a few seconds.

"In reality?" Nathan asked. "Yes. Though for us, we just returned from it. Isn't that obvious by how pregnant Samantha is?"

The agent looked at Samantha, who looked close to the end of her pregnancy. Another one of the many mysteries of the game, where the students don't age, yet cycles continue, such as periods and pregnancies, and they affected even the players' real bodies.

"Now if you don't mind," Nathan said. "I feel disgusting after being in the game, so I'm going to take a shower."

Nathan shed his backpack and guns, then left, and the agent looked at Keith.

"He's not actually making a bomb," Keith told Agent Samtol. "I promise. I think he wants to form a contract with the dragon once he's got more power and strength under his belt, and killing it would complicate that just a tad."

The agent sighed, then looked at Samantha.

"Let's get you to the medical wing so we can check your progress," he told her, then led her away, leaving the other five students alone.

"Nathan has a weird choice in books," Michael commented. "And I can say that with confidence knowing he's not nearby to hear it, since I'm pretty sure he did actually run off to take a shower."

They all thought back to Nathan reading to his unborn baby, then agreed that Nathan's choice of books weren't the typical ones for reading to the belly.

"Did you see Samantha's face when he pulled out the first book?" Keith snorted. "I think she about fainted just seeing that."

"It's Nathan, let's just assume he thought it was a normal thing," William shook his head. "I'm hitting the showers, too."

"Same," Keith and Mitchell said.

"Elise and I," Michael said. "Are going to go have some fun before a shower."

The other boys rolled their eyes, then made their way to the showers, where Nathan was finishing up. Nathan dried off and dressed as the other boys began their showers, then he made his way to the medical wing, where an ultrasound was being performed on Samantha.

"He's pretty healthy," the doctor commented as he looked at the ultrasound. "Everything checks for him, and he's early in some areas. I'd expect him to be born in the next week or two, just a little ahead of schedule."

The doctor wrapped up the appointment, then Samantha and Nathan left, the agent following.

"Agent Samtol," Samantha looked at the agent. "Requesting permission for Nathan and I to take a trip back home?"

"You're eight months pregnant," Nathan told her. "You're not going on a four-hour drive nor a flight on a plane."

"I'll be fine," she said. "Let's just go back home for a few days, okay?"

"That's not a good idea," the agent told them. "If-"

"We'll be fine," Nathan said, then sighed as he realized why she wanted to return home and decided to allow her. "If we're going for a few days, Keith's coming, too."

"To work on your project?" The agent asked. "I think your girlfriend might be wanting-"

"We'll be fine," Nathan told him. "We're heading home for a few days. I was going to ask permission, anyway. Go pack your stuff, Samantha. I'll tell Keith so he can pack."

"I didn't give permission," the agent said.

"Are you denying us permission?" Nathan stared at him. "You don't have any legal grounds for stopping us, Samtol. Don't forget that. We're here by choice. You're helping us, not owning us. The agreement we signed was that we'd allow you to help us train so we could have a better chance at surviving these Challenges. You'd provide us a facility to live and train in, resources, and combat and magic instructors. In exchange, we'd allow you to run non-invasive tests to try to learn what you can about the System and the games. With our permission, you would also perform invasive tests. However, nothing that could put us in danger. It's a simple, basic deal that gives no attached strings. A good idea, when even the weakest of those who exit the game are on the level of creatures just below the Grand Set and likely not fully stable in the sense that pissing them off could be disastrous. We'll be back."

Nathan turned and hunted down Keith, who was in the cafeteria, eating.

"Keith," Nathan said. "Samantha and I are heading back home. Be packed in an hour to come with us. We'll be there a few days."

"Why?" Keith asked.

"I know you told her."

"Alright," Keith said. "Is Katie coming, too?"

Nathan thought about that for a few moments. He and Samantha came to a deal that she, Elise, and Katie would go into an extended Survival Challenge without him after their son was born. He wasn't comfortable with that idea, but she promised to take several cards of resources and use the Beginner Difficulty for it.

For them. The three of them were going to max out their Challenge slots in that run into the game.

In exchange, Samantha would deal with not being able to do anything with Nathan until after she gave birth and a month had passed, which was the timeframe Nathan gave her to be 'safe' due to what's common for a woman's body after pregnancy.

He knew Samantha wanted him to just go and do it with Katie already, but he didn't know if he was comfortable with that yet. Everyone else he had slept with, he had known for years, then there was that other matter.

Shaking his head, Nathan told Keith that they were going for a few days at Samantha's request and weren't bringing Katie along.

That idea changed, however, when Keith and Nathan met with Samantha at the front of the school with their bags. Katie was with her, along with a bag.

"Katie's coming, too," Samantha told Nathan, who glared at her. "Nathan, you just spent eight months away from a girl you're supposed to be dating, and I know you plan on going back into the game while we're gone – that's why Keith's coming with us. Especially since we'll be gone about a week."

"If you want me to bring Katie into the game," Nathan said. "Then it'd only be fair to bring William into the game, too. Keith and I are going into it to research-"

"How to make an orb so you can view our baby," Samantha said. "I know. But see, Nathan, we have electricity in there. You could just bring a video and some pictures, you know."

"It's not the same," Nathan told her. "And we'll be researching other stuff."

"What's does William have to do with Katie coming into the game?" Keith answered. "It's you Samantha wants Katie in there for, and I know you aren't into William."

"Nathan's comments about you two fucking Michael," Samantha told Keith. "Are because he's trying to get you two to hook up in his own way. He thinks the two of you would work well together."

"Me and William?" Keith asked, and Samantha nodded. He looked at Nathan. "You want William and me to hook up?"

"Samantha said that, not me."

"Uh-huh," Keith said. "You do, don't you?"

"I disagree to Katie coming," Nathan looked at Samantha.

"We'll be gone for a week," Samantha said. "And you're going into the game for what is probably a few years. It'll give you two time to get to know each other. It'll also give Katie and me time to bond."

"She's not coming in the first trip," Nathan muttered. "Just Keith and me, so we can focus on our research."

"Excellent," Samantha said. "Katie and I will ride in my car-"

"No, no, and no," Nathan protested. "You are in my car. You come, you come we with me. Let's go."

Nathan exited the building and walked to his car, loading his bags into the trunk. He then loaded the others' bags into the trunk as well, everything fitting in snugly, before he slammed it shut and helped Samantha into the front passenger seat while Keith and Katie took the back seats.

Nathan took his spot in the driver's seat, then pulled out. Most of the ride was silent, apart from when Samantha asked for a restroom break. Other than the stops for those, they made the trip unhindered, arriving at the house where Nathan lived.

"This is a damn big house," Katie commented. "It's yours?"

"Yes," Nathan pressed his hand against the reader by the gate. A moment later, the gates opened and he pulled through. "We have guest rooms, don't worry."

"I wasn't worried about that," Katie told him.

When they pulled up to the garage, Nathan noted a couple of extra cars in the driveway. He parked in the garage as Katie asked if all the cars were theirs.

"No," Samantha answered. "Just the four here in the garage. One of the two outside belong to his aunt and uncle, and I don't recognize the other."

"Blake's."

"He got a new car?" Samantha asked.

"In March," Nathan nodded.

"Who's Blake?" Katie asked.

"One of Nathan's cousins," Samantha answered. "He's in college. Is he still a prick?"

"Not since I put him in the hospital," Nathan climbed out of the car, helped Samantha out, then pulled Keith to help him with their bags and Samantha's.

When they entered the house, Nathan's family was chatting in the living room, and his parents looked at him in surprise.

"Nathan?" His father said. "Aaaaaaand Samantha was not that pregnant when I saw her a couple of weeks ago."

"Pregnancies advance in the game," Nathan said. "Even if we don't. We're taking guest rooms. You've met Keith. This is Katie."

"In the game?" Blake, a twenty-year-old with the same brown hair and green eyes as Nathan's aunt and father, asked. He was relaxing on a chair, dressed in slacks and a polo. "What game?"

"They aren't actually authorized to know this," Samantha told Nathan.

"My parents know," Nathan said. "And the world's finding out soon enough, anyway. Come on."

Nathan led his guests upstairs and got them situated in three separate guest rooms.

"How many rooms does this house have?" Katie asked.

"Ten," Nathan answered. "Mine's directly across the hall."

"I hear someone up here," Samantha commented. "Little Luke?"

"He hates being called 'little'," Nathan said. "And yeah, it's probably him, since he wasn't downstairs."

"Who's Luke?"

"Nathan's ten-year-old cousin," Samantha answered as Nathan left the room. "The twin babysitters who he slept with watch him from time to time. His aunt and uncle live not too far from here. If Nathan's still the same way with Luke as he was when we were younger, they're probably going to be awhile."

"Doing what?" Keith asked. "I mean, I can hear them chatting, but have tuned them out because it kind of feels like eavesdropping. I didn't realize how potent the wards they had at the school were until now."

Samantha agreed, though they couldn't fully understand Nathan and Luke anyway – the pair might have only been two rooms over, but that was enough that their enhanced senses weren't enough to make out their words. The only reason they could be heard was because Nathan's volume had risen to match Luke's excited volume.

"Video games, probably," Samantha answered. "The only time I ever saw Nathan playing them was when he was with Luke. Come on, I'll introduce you to his family."

Samantha led the other two downstairs and introduced them to Nathan's parents, aunt and uncle, and cousin. Nathan's father and aunt both had brown hair and green eyes and similar, tall builds. Nathan's mother was tall and possessed brown eyes, and his uncle was a little on the short side, with brown hair and brown eyes.

Just like Blake, the four of them were dressed in a formal-casual manner, and the lack of suits surprised Katie.

"Wealthy doesn't mean suit-wearing all the time," Samantha snorted when Katie said that.

"You can call me Alan," Nathan's father introduced himself.

"I prefer Judy," Nathan's mother added.

"Carmen," his aunt introduced herself. "And my husband, Franklin."

"What's this game?" Blake asked Samantha. "And Nathan's parents were trying to convince us magic is real and has something to do with the 'attacks'."

"Show them Splashy," Samantha told Keith, who sighed. "Or just a spell."

Keith debated on which spell to demonstrate, as most of his spells were offensive or simple manipulations of air. Then he remembered that he had some of Nathan's enchanted cards in his pocket, and Nathan had mentioned to him that it was okay to show his parents the products of the research so far.

He pulled one of the cards out of his pocket and held it up.

"Simple playing card, right?" Keith handed it to Blake.

"Magic tricks?" Blake examined the card. "And while this is a card, it's got artwork and 'stun' on it."

"Yeah," Keith took the card, pushed some mana into it, then threw it at Blake, whose body slacked as he lost control over it. "That's a stun card, an invention of your cousin's. The effect will wear off in probably half an hour, since you aren't a magician. The stun card causes you to lose control of your body, while the shock card locks you up. Most of his enchanted cards are offensive, but… I do have this one."

Keith pulled out another card and pushed mana into it, then crushed the card in his hand. A bundle of rope formed in the air, but before he could catch it, Samantha had grabbed it.

"Do you have one with duct tape?" She asked as she began tying Blake up.

"I have to protest to you tying my son up," Franklin told Samantha. "But only out of parental obligation. I know how he was to you last time you two met."

"Plus," Judy said. "You're pregnant. No one's going to get in your way."

"Nathan does," Keith told her.

"All the time," Katie added.

"He's paranoid about risk to the baby," Samantha informed them. "If he knew I was tying Blake up, he'd probably make me sit down, then finish the job himself."