The trip back was going to be long. The psionic hospital was located in something called an 'outer sanctum dimension', which was just on the edge of Akmadouric's most secured territory. He boarded a Likiper transport for a trip through multiple dimensions.

At first he thought he was going to sleep through the whole flight but then Looking out the transparent walls of the Likiper he saw a fleet of space ships. Unlike the bulky heavily armored infantry carriers, these ships were needle shaped and left long blue emission trails behind them. Zack made a mental note to inquire about their design later.

They passed through a portal and came out in just above another blue green planet. Then on second glance he saw that it had a megastructure wrapping around it like the rings of Saturn. They crisscrossed and intersected all along the planet's upper atmosphere. Zack watched it go by in with wide eyes and wondered how part of it didn't fall down, then he saw that the megastructure had support columns jutting out from the surface. Creating several layers of infrastructure. Upon closer inspection he could see greenery within it.

Zack said aloud "That thing has gotta support an ridiculously high population."

Right on cue, a screen popped up.

Telm Haym, home to over 100,000 sentient species Population: 5.8 trillion

"That many for a planet roughly the same size as Earth..."

The Likiper transport passed through another portal and came out in place much too bright for Zack's eyes. The transparent walls dimmed and Zack saw a bright yellow cloud beneath that seemed to have a thin green layer on it's exterior. His breath caught in his throat as he realized that he was the first human ever to get this close to a nebula. But then something appeared amiss. The surface of the luminescent cloud seemed to have waves but they were chaotic, moving in random directions. Then some kind of orange line of fire flew out of it. Sparks arced off it into spheres of white light as it erratically changed direction several times before diving back down into the nebula.

A screen popped up to appraise it.

??? Elemental

"That's a sentient being? But it has no name."

"It's name is in a language that is comprised of a series of different types of energy discharges. This elemental has no name in any language that uses sound."

"The Okwargs use Hyrdokinesis to make shapes in the water that have meaning. Computer code uses ones and zeroes. I should see this kind of thing coming by now."

"Then I guess there's hope for you yet."

The next dimension was filled with spires. Each carved with intricate symbols and designs. Depicting histories, events, ideologies and ideas. Images of chemical formulae were written in gold and framed in silver.

Akma said "Monuments to all that is."

After several junctions and changing Likiper transports once, Zack walked through the twenty third portal to find himself back home on Earth. A station had been built around the gateway to other dimensions. Security guards patrolled in mechsuits and scanners swept over everyone from the ceiling.

In the crowd waiting for him was a familiar gray skinned woman standing out in the crowd near the concourse.

"Bayei? What are you doing here?"

The violet haired almost human woman said "Obviously I'm here to see you."

Zack had to smile "I suppose this is my reward for saving the damsel in distress from the dungeons of the bad guy's castle."

"It was a hundred miles beneath the surface of a mechanical planet. Not a dungeon or a castle."

"Sorry. What I said was just an Earth culture reference."

Bayei shook her head and changed the subject "While you were away, the news came out that Akmadouric had made a settlement for Dirske refugees in a neighboring solar system. My people have their own planet now! No giant monsters attacking either! There's even more violet hairs like me! I'm not the last. The colony of violet hairs actually drilled their way out of the sealed up mountain and survived in the lowlands."

"Whao. The EDF must have had a shit fit about that."

Bayei said "Ya I heard something about that too. They complained to Akmadouric about 'limiting the potential growth of humanity'. Then Akmadouric got all high and mighty and said 'This dimension is under my dominion while you are currently allowed control of Earth. If you wish for the status quo to change, your only option is to rebel against me.' So the EDF immediately backed down."

"About time someone put them in their place. They can't really do shit when a deity decides to throw his weight around."

Stepping out of the portal station he looked out at the skyscrapers of New York City. But after seeing so many incredible sights it just seemed lackluster. The buildings were just panes of glass and bland boring lines of steel. Nothing creative or artistic about them at all.

But there was something off about it. It had been six months since Akmadouric first made his appearence yet even a city as central to the world as New York city had failed to change. Nothing new was being constructed. No new types of transport or technologies were apparent. The lives that people continued to lead remained stagnant. The only new additions to the city that he could see were several black cylinders attached to the powerline poles.

"Hey Akma. Can I see the favor finances for the EDF?"

Several screens popped up. Balance lines steadily rose and sharply fell.

Zack said without any surprise whatsoever "952 million favor currently. 700 million spent. The trade money for favor program seems to be working out just fine for the EDF."

"Can I see the details on what they have purchased?"

Akma said "That is set to...drum roll please...classified."

Zack thought for a moment "But I can see the specific numbers of what they purchased." He zoomed in to analyze the data a bit more closely, then said in disgust "I'm seeing a lot of five hundred thousand favor purchases."

Bayei asked "Does that mean anything?"

"That's how much immortality costs. Pfft, just what this world needs...immortal fatcats. Now what other purchases have they made?" He looked through the balance sheet and found a great many multi million favor purchases. Some for as much as 90 million.

"All these new capabilities and still this is what they've chosen to turn Earth's civilizations into? Where is the ambition of the people who rule this world? This is the path for the future that they have chosen for humanity? Just what kind of insanity is going on here?"

Bayei grabbed him by the shoulder "People are not being publicly executed over nothing, they're not being lied to about a sadistic bloodsport and most importantly they're not being held in a constant state of fear."

"But it's not great. It doesn't hold a candle to what I've seen and it's nothing compared to what I've envisioned. You know what? I think I'm done settling for a mild dystopia, and I know that the dissatisfied masses feel the same."

"I've seen Grand Lord Ilvan Vakardrea attempt to annihilate an entire colony and ethnicity over one minor leader's decision to go against the status quo. I've learned not to go up against people who have so much power that they can do anything they want."

"Doesn't the fact that they can do anything make you want to challenge their power? Nobody should have such control over a society as to wipe out an entire ethnicity."

Bayei had a sad look in her eye as she scowled "What you want doesn't matter. It's impossible to change the lives of millions...let alone billions of people. Their owners have too many methods to control them."

Zack shook his head "I refuse to believe that."

Bayei pouted, her lips puffed out slightly as she said "Why must all men be stubborn and mule headed?"

They left the station and when they got far enough away Zack asked Bayei "Do you want to go flying again?"

With a light chuckle, Bayei said "Heh, sure." then leaped on his back as he shifted into his Poiraud form. Zack repelled himself away from the ground, rising to three hundred feet in moments. A flock of geese flew behind them. The cool wind numbed the outer layer of their skin but the rush was worth it.

Then after just a few minutes, flashing red and blue lights appeared behind him, a booming authoritive said "Descend and plant your feet on the ground."

Zack called back to Bayei "Do whatever this guy says and maybe he won't torture us. Some of these cops have been made insane by the information they've been fed."

They landed and Zack put on his best smile while he politely said "Hello officer. What can I do for you today?"

The man in the military grade blue mechsuit and a gold badge on his chest said "You have been caught illegally using a skill in public. Here is your ticket. The fine is 10,000 dollars or 1,000 favor."

"Well, I didn't know that such a thing would be illegal. I took part in the Xarkris campaign and before that I've been off on Talula Island training to be better warrior. So I've been away for awhile." ignorance was a viable plea during legal matters.

The cop tapped a few times on an invisible screen in front of him, then said "Bloody hell young man. Out of all the people who I've charged with this, you can afford it the most. Your defense is denied. You have thirty days to pay."

As the cop walked away, Bayei said "I've had much worse experiences when dealing with enforcers."

"Ya, he's likely a decent guy, but I don't even see a reason why they made such a law."