"Did we crash?" Noah screamed.

"No, we just went off the road. Hold on, we need to get out of here." I replied.

"What were those things? Do we need 911? Koko fell! Did the Jeep break?" Noah hit me with high-pitched, rapid-fire questions.

"Not now!" I answered, my voice loud.

"But, dad," Noah responded.

"Close your mouth and protect Koko," I commanded. Fortunately, Noah listened.

I didn't have time to regret my harsh tone. The monsters were regrouping and starting to surge this way. The arrows had already begun to rain down on us again. Further ahead, more little beasts were crawling out of the bushes. Soon the road would be smothered with them again. I cranked the wheel and pulled our Jeep back up onto the street.

I crunched over the occasional green monstrosity as I sped along. There were piles of the little beasties, but most seemed content to wait in the shrubbery and shoot at us. Then, as we entered a long sweeping bend, I saw it. A massive purple… thing shimmered in the distance. It almost looked like a set of oversized double doors that wobbled and blurred in a haze. The glow of it cast long purple shadows along the bushes and rocks. Then the doors swung open. Something was coming out of it. Held aloft by a palanquin, a pudgy green monster was carried into our world. It surveyed the surroundings and was not impressed.

Then we finished rounding the bend, and I lost sight of the doorway and caught sight of Marcy's glowing neon signs. The store was set up the hill a little from the crossroads. The lights still worked, which gave me hope, but that was dashed as I saw the sad state of the store. The old wooden door was ripped from the hinges, and parts of the aluminum siding were bashed in. There was ketchup spattered against the walkway and walls. At least, I hoped it was ketchup.

"Noah, stay in the truck and stay safe!" I said before the little boy could protest.

The Jeep was banged up and caked with slick dark blood and chunks of mystery meat. The Jeep's body was covered in dings and small punctures from where the arrows hit. Dents and scrapes, hidden by gore, had been pounded into the doors and side panels. The fenders hand it the worst, with one nearly being ripped off. I wanted to hug my poor girl. But, the monster goo.

I took a complimentary paper towel and wiped off the Jeep's gas door. These old-fashioned pumps at Marcy's were the kind you fueled first and paid later. It gave me that lovely small-town kind of feeling. I put the nozzle into the tank and held my breath. Luckily, the antique still worked, and fuel began to fill the Jeep. I sighed in relief and suddenly wondered if credit cards were working. Then I did something I shouldn't have. I left the pump running and headed into the store. Gingerly, I stepped over the shattered door and looked inside.

The store was wrecked, the aisles were pushed over, and coolers were smashed. Bags of chips had exploded and sat congealing in pools of ketchup. No, wait, it was blood. Definitely blood. That coppery tang was a dead giveaway. Not wanting to linger, I cautiously took a quick look around. The blood trailed off to the employees-only section. But I didn't see or hear anything, so I carefully slunk into the store. With every step, my boots stuck to the floor and pealed away with an awful noise. After grabbing some jerky and water, I scampered back to the truck just as the pump clicked off. At the base of the hill, just around the bend, a group of green faces peered my way.

My eyes narrowed as something evil came to mind. I took all four pumps, laid them on the ground, and turned them on full bore. Then I washed the goop off the window and watched as gallons of gasoline poured down the road. The environmental disaster collected at the cross street and trickled into the fields beyond. More and more of the little green bastards were showing up, waiting at the bottom of the hill. But suddenly, they parted. The giant creature held aloft on the palanquin was being carried to the front. It let out a piercing screech, and the mob roared in response. Then they formed into loose ranks and started marching toward us.

I got back into the truck with a smirk and casually drove up the hill. I stopped near the crest and honked my horn a few times. After I instructed Noah to stay put, I grabbed a few things from the back. I turned, watched the creatures march forward, and flipped them off with a friendly double bird. It had taken about five minutes, but now they were all at the crossroads. They appeared to be a little weary of the growing lake of gasoline. I did some mental math as I wrapped one of my shirts around Noah's skateboard. Four pumps, sending out three gallons per minute for roughly ten minutes, would be about 120 gallons of fuel. Having been soaked in gasoline earlier, the shirt caught fire on the first try. The flaming skateboard rolled down the hill towards the crossroad with a little shove.

We had barely made it to the other side of the hill when the shockwaves hit the Jeep. I looked back, and a fresh column of black smoke rose into the sky. Deep purple light surged through the smoke and then blinked out. I laughed like a lunatic despite the white squiggles blurring my eyes again. I drove on for a few more minutes, but the eye floaters were getting increasingly intense. Finally, I pulled off to the side for a chance to rest.

"Is this a good time to talk?" a soft female voice asked.

"What? Who said that? Was that you, Noah?" I replied.

"Who said what?" Noah questioned.

"I can tell this will be a bit of a problem," the voice replied after a short pause. "Do you mind if I use a bit of your mana to make an external projection?"

"Um, sure?" I hesitated.

"Is this any better?" the voice asked from the passenger seat.

It felt like the bones in my neck were grinding as I turned to look. "Ahhh! Kill it, kill it!" I screamed and started trying to smack it away. But my hand met without resistance and smashed into the black leather seats.

"Now that's just rude," the creature replied. It looked like a cute little chibi with oversized eyes wearing a maid's outfit. She was only a foot tall and had bright pink hair adorned with a bow. Her face, however, was a scowl of disappointment. Despite the toadent and everything else, this was the strangest thing I've seen today. Seen? The eye floaties were gone!

"Who is that?" Noah asked.

"Hi! I am Eveline," the chibi replied with a little curtsey. "But you can call me Eve!"

"I'm Noah, and I'm 6!" replied Noah.

"What are you? What do you want, how did you get here, and what the hel… heck is happening?" I questioned while pointing an accusing finger at it.

"I'm your advanced A.I.," Eve replied, "a reward for being the first human to reach ERL 35 and destroy a colonist’s portal. Since you are currently the strongest indigenous being on Earth, I have been created to assist you in ensuring the survival of your species. Congratulations! May the people flourish you're your leadership!"

"Whaaa…" Noah and I said in unison.

"For your other questions," Even continued, "I am here as a projection. I am using a bit of your mana to alter the light in this area and manipulate the air to produce sound. I thought it would be easier for you and your companions to hear this information simultaneously."

"What has happened? The Harmony System has been implemented in this sector to prevent its collapse into dark matter. A search of your mind shows that most of these concepts are unknown to you. So let me clarify, mkay? Matter is made up of atoms, and atoms are made up of other things. At the smallest known levels are the strings and the weave. When the weave collapses, the strings lose their resonance and cannot support the energy for matter to exist. If that happens, a tear will occur, and the surrounding areas will be transformed into dark matter. Your entire sector was so out of harmony that it was on the verge of collapse.

"Luckily for you, the council intervened and inserted the Harmony System to repair your sector. Of course, the expenditures for these kinds of operations are immense. So they auction off colonization rights. Over the next three years, local time, one new clan per year will gain access to your planet and the chance to dominate it or establish a foothold. If you completely kill off or subjugate the foreign clans, your planet gets the designation of 'home world' and several vital upgrades.

"So those little green buggers?" I answered.

"Yep, those were the gobkin," Eve answered with a bob of her head. "They are one of the most populous species in the system. Incredibly proliferate breeders. They start birthing colonies on any world they invade and then overwhelm it, just so they can mine the planet dry. It's bad luck that they were the first ones to show up.

"And the Harmony System?" I mumbled.

"Oh, that, I guess you never read the help menus, did you?" Eve continued. Her tone was almost accusatory. "It is an overlay that goes In between the weave and string energies. Its purpose is to provide increased stability and function to the dimensional bubble. It does this by measuring, equalizing, and creating ideals that further enhance the complementary aspects of the weave. As it gathers information from your thoughts and actions, it makes the weave stronger. But, it is a very symbiotic relationship. As you gain influence with the system, you grow stronger too.

"Dad! I don't know what she is saying." Complained Noah.

"I don't really get it either, son," I murmured back.