The world shivered around Serenity again and he felt himself being pulled backwards. When the movement stopped, he found himself back in his treehouse, floating next to a wall that no longer had a Lord’s Door. Apparently he’d have to find it again to use any of the other features, or to use another Void Spark.

He didn’t think he’d be making another Void Spark any time soon. If it could heal a World Core, it was incredibly powerful, but no power was worth the chance of losing himself.

The only signs that he’d brought the door here at all were the missing Void Spark and the fact that he was in his Void Sovereign form.

As he shifted back to his chimera shape, Serenity realized that wasn’t the only evidence. He could feel the Settlement around him, its Settlement Core, and the Gardens. He could feel the ley lines around him, and how they were linked in the very far distance to Earth’s World Core.

And on the link he felt a hint of the something-from-nothing feeling of Void energy.

It was going to bother him until he figured out what it really was. Void was entirely the wrong word for it, but he was having trouble letting it go; it behaved so much like one of the famous Void Spaces, yet at the same time it was nothing like anything he’d describe as Void.

[Title Gained: Worlds’ Friend]

[Title Lost (Subsumed): Home]

Serenity could guess what that was about, but it was best to check.

Worlds’ Friend

Multiple worlds have declared you an ally. Others who are strongly tied to those worlds may sense a kinship with you. This may affect the reaction of other worlds or their servants.

The way it was worded made Serenity wonder if some worlds would consider him a threat instead of a possible friend. Perhaps it was simply that the Voice couldn’t predict how people would react?

Not that it mattered. Titles were simply a reflection of reality; they didn’t actually change anything, though they were possible to see if you had the right skills. That was why some of his explicitly stated they were hidden, after all; what the Voice hid truly couldn’t be seen. Not with a Path Skill, at least, and almost all of the Analysis-type Skills were Path skills.

Status Update: Abstract computing mode disabled. Communication link reestablished. Updates Available.

Serenity snorted to himself as the notice appeared in a corner of his mind. Aide seemed to be trying to let Serenity know without interrupting. He appreciated the attempt, but it hadn’t quite succeeded. Still, this was a good time to check anyway.

Required upgrades: Limited functionality available for abstract computing mode. Evaluating options.

Recommended upgrade: Signal booster obtained. No current recommendations.

Optional upgrades: Upgrade items arrived.

Request: ___________

Aide Status/Request: Attempting to map ‘ley line network’ to navigation system. Limited overlay available.

Query: Add known dungeons as points of interest?

Having ley lines and dungeons on a map would be useful; it was good to see Aide taking the initiative there.

Weren’t the items Aide was having shipped in not supposed to arrive until tomorrow?

Serenity checked the date. Oh. It was tomorrow. 3:23 PM, even. It had taken a lot longer than he’d realized. It was hard to say if that was the time in the Void or the time in the vision from the World Core; chances were good that both had taken longer than they seemed to.

The odd thing was that he wasn’t tired.

Do Void Sovereigns sleep?

He’d never stayed in the form for so long before.

Serenity shook his head and chuckled to himself. If he wanted to pick up anything from the city, it was probably time to get going. Hopefully Doyle had his cell on, now that there was a way to use them in the Settlement.

Call Doyle

“Already? I thought you said it would take weeks.” Serenity relaxed on the giant pile of pillows. Doyle had said he “had a few things to finish up but he’d be there soon,” so Serenity had called Rissa. He’d missed the usual call the night before while he was in the Void.

Rissa chuckled. “It kind of did. I should have him tell you the story.”

“Oh come on now, don’t tease me like that.” Serenity knew he had a stupid grin on his face. He was going to be able to see Rissa soon! Well, whenever one of them finished up where they were.

He hoped he’d figure out something about portals soon. He’d cleaned up the things Echo needed from him, so he could head somewhere he was needed more as soon as he dealt with the portal. Leaving it behind was an option if the scientists still wanted to study it, but he’d prefer to have it closed.

It sounded like he’d better get a move on or Rissa would finish with Jacob before he finished with the portal!

“Weeeelllll,” Rissa deliberately drew out the word, “Early in the Tutorial, Jacob had someone walk up to him and scold him for walking around with his mind wide open. Apparently she told him to keep his thoughts to himself or she’d make sure he didn’t have to worry about thinking.”

Serenity started laughing. “Honoria?” That absolutely sounded like something she’d say, and she was the only person in the Tutorial that Serenity knew had any Mind-related abilities.

“You know her? She sounds like quite a character. No offensive techniques, but I’m pretty sure I could learn some defenses from her. Traps, too; Jacob’s better at traps than I am already.”

“Josaiah spent a lot of time with her.” Serenity wondered how Josaiah was doing. It’d only been a few days, so he was probably fine.

“Josaiah?” Rissa sounded confused.

“Right, you weren’t there - Josaiah’s the guy we found in the parking lot.”

“Aaaah, parking lot dude. Yeah, you did say something about a witch, didn’t you. Jacob says he spent a lot of time with her, and he completely disagrees with the way she teaches but it works. Pretty sure that’s high praise from him.”

Rissa barely paused for Serenity to make an understanding noise before she continued. “Anyway, Jacob’s picking it up faster than I expected; he just needs a bit more practice and he’ll need more than I can teach. I’ve started trying to feel him out about getting some training from Dad; he hasn’t wanted to talk about our parents in years.”

“How is Russ? I haven’t talked to him since the drive up here.” Serenity heard the door open and looked up to see Doyle standing in the doorway.

“The trap hasn’t sprung yet; that’s all he’ll tell me. I think he’s getting a little frustrated, but he says he doesn’t want to worry me.” Rissa sounded grumpy as she said that.

Serenity could understand wanting to shelter her. He certainly wanted to. Unfortunately, it seemed like a great way to tick her off.

Serenity picked himself up off the pillows. “Doyle’s here; we’re going to head out, I need to pick up that tech I mentioned. It’s - I keep thinking I’m missing something obvious about the portal, but I don’t know what it is.” He shook his head. “Love you, Riss.”

“Love you too, Thomas.”

Rissa hung up her phone before he could ask why she’d used his old name. He’d used his old pet name for her; maybe that was why?

They were almost to the storage locker when Serenity realized he was going to have a hard time showing off the pickup information, since his phone was in his head instead of his hand. “Can we stop by a store on the way? I need a new phone.” He probably needed a new plan for his new phone, too. That would be annoying.

Serenity flipped over to Aide’s tab. Maybe he could help?

Request: If I get a new phone, can you make it work with my current cell plan? I need a display I can show other people.

“Sure. What happened to your phone?” Doyle sounded confused.

That was reasonable; he’d called Doyle not long before they left, after all. Serenity didn’t really want to admit it, but there wasn’t any other good way to say it. He’d just have to jump in with both feet. “I accidentally absorbed it. I can still use it, but it’s a little hard to show someone since there isn’t a screen anymore.”

Aide Status/Request: Yes. Order phone or pickup at physical location?

Definitely at a physical location; Serenity would need it to pick up the stuff from the storage locker.

On second thought, he could probably just send the information to Doyle, but it was still better to have a physical phone that he could work with.

Request received. Compatible phone selected. Phone is available at multiple locations. Select closest location to current route?

“Absorbed? Do I even want to know?” Doyle’s voice had an edge to it.

Serenity shook his head and smiled. “Probably not, but I really should explain. It’s also what I’m going to do with the stuff we’re picking up; it’s to help figure out how to sense the portal. I need a way to let other people find them. Heck, I need a way to find them.”

The phone was more of an adventure than Serenity expected; instead of simply adding it to the plan, Aide somehow turned its appearance into an exact copy of the phone Serenity had had before and linked its display to whatever Serenity wanted to show.

Having it display what the phone in his head showed was easy, but a momentary thought resulted in an odd funhouse-like moment when the phone suddenly replicated Serenity’s vision while he was looking at it.

The packages this time were all small, but there were a lot of them. Serenity took the time on the drive back to absorb them all; he didn’t want to forget one and find out later that it was exactly what he’d needed.

Doyle didn’t seem to want to talk until Serenity was nearly done. “That looks painful.”

“Painful? Not particularly. Why do you say that?” Serenity didn’t feel any pain at all while it happened. It did seem to be hard on his healing pool, though.

“Your hand turns black, the chip or whatever sinks into it, then black lines run from your hand to your head. Seems like that should hurt.”

Serenity was glad he’d decided to take care of it before reaching the portal; all he’d considered was that he didn’t want people interrupting him while he was in the trance, but if it was that obvious, he’d almost certainly have been interrupted if anyone saw. He was glad Doyle hadn’t.

When had Doyle had the time to watch it happen?

A glance out the window told Serenity that it must have been moments before; they were stopped in a small pull-off.

Serenity turned back to Doyle and shrugged. “It doesn’t. It does cost some healing, but it doesn’t hurt.”

“That explains all the beef you had me pick up, then.” Doyle sounded amused. “Or are you just tired of goat?”

“If Missy would quit trying to cook it, I probably wouldn’t be so tired of it. I think beef’s all she knows how to cook.”