As I look down at Torran's altered body and his terrified gaze meets mine, the only emotion I feel is regret. Why did I reveal my true nature to these strangers and save this man? We would have been able to destroy the animals without him and while the nature of the crew would change with his death. Could I for sure predict that the entire crew would fall apart without the Captain? It was surely too much of an assumption for a mind like mine to act on. If I am, to be honest with myself there was some strange emotional impulse prompting me more than anything else. Such a lowly impulse has jeopardized everything.

I feel a strange sensation touching my shoulder and my mind returns to the profane matters of the right now. Torran has put his mummified hand on my shoulder and smiles at me while saying with a hoarse voice. "Buddy, I think it is time that all of us have a talk." I blink as I look at the Captain and see that the fear which had marred his face has dissipated completely. My gaze wanders over from him to the others in the crew, from Mara in her spectral glory to Tlokbur, and what I see is that the hostility and fear from before have mostly left their faces. Namatha is looking at me with curiosity, Tlokbur with wonder, Mary with distrust, and Mara with some kind of emotion that I cannot recognize in her empty face.

"Yeaaaaaaaah Glyphie you have some stuff you need to tell us, and as it happens I think we have time and privacy to hear about it," Tlokbur says as she moves several of the carcasses on the ground away so that she can plop down. He almost instantly and without any obvious visible signs, manage to switch out his black bow of femininity with his pink bow of masculinity. Mary just stares at me and Namatha gives me the same encouraging smile that she wears during our therapy sessions.

So I tell them my story or at least a heavily revised version of it. I tell them of how I come not from another planet but an entirely different universe, my birth to be the slave of Trakaya the ArchFiend, my nature as half high-elf and half hobgoblin, my centuries of enslavement and torment, my ascension and descension, my pact with Mara, and the discovery about the Goblins. I, by all means, do not reveal all my secrets, there are things in my past that are only reserved for me after all. Telling them about myself here is mostly done out of convenience and because Namatha could potentially see through any overt attempts at deception.

When it is all over and I stop telling my tale to my audience, Tlokbur is the first one to speak up. "You Dick! I have wanted magic all this time and you kept it secret up until now...Like I get why and all, but we could have been talking about spells n shit instead of boring machine stuff!" Tlokbur waves several of his tentacles indignantly at me before harrumphing. Namatha pats his bulky frame while looking from Mara to myself. "You should be happy for one thing Tlokbur, Glyphnax managed to finalize your biggest project. Mara has become truly sapient now and what is more, she is a magical AI. That sounds like some of the fanfiction vebnovels that you were writing."

Tlokbur makes a loud pfffffting sound. "I know! It is frigging awesome, as for magical AI's in my art. Hah! Magical AI's are a stupid and badly thought out concept for any fantasy stories." Tlokbur waves her tentacles over at Mara who is still just floating serenely above us. "I took the liberty of transferring this conversation to Morgera, as for stupid or not Tlokbur. I think my kind might not be the best idea for fiction, but I do think your idea about Areian boys who go on adventures to become princesses is excellent." Mara responds calmly from where she floats at the same time as she conjures an image in the air of an Octopus in a water tank.

Morgera is staring at me with his bulbous eyes and flailing in the water. "MAGIC! OH, MY CREATORS! How fascinating, if it is not too much to ask Mr. Glyphnax, could you please demonstrate it's capabilities when you are back. I would normally not have believed the claims presented, had it not been for the unusual circumstances of this whole conversation."

Before, I could answer the rather trivial question, Torran chimes in. "So, not to distract from what you told us, but can we please address my whole situation." He clenches and unclenches his new hand while moving the arm around. "My NVR got an upgrade to the Outlaw Cultist edition, and I see there are new skills and changes for me to explore. So could you let me in on what being a cultist means Glyph?"

"In short Captain, it means your soul is partially bound to Mara while you are alive. She supplies you with a trickle of her mana that you can use to cast ritual magic and activate certain gifts that the transformation has caused." I say courtly as I look down at his new appendage. Internally I must say that Mara granting Torran a new appendage at all is surprising, most Eldritch beings would at least have demanded a favor for such a service. Yet she just gave it to him unbidden and that is strange enough that it is worth thinking about later.

Torran looks back to his hand for a moment and loudly sighs. Namatha chimes in with a smirk. "I am sure you hear the sound of thousands of men's voices cry out in terror just to be suddenly silenced. Your special handjob surprise will be not as well received with a mummy hand or a cyborg one." She elbows Torran playfully in the ribs and she pushes at her in return. "Ey I still have my mouth okay, miracles are still my purview. But I think I see one of the gifts you mentioned Glyphie, it's called The Touch of Decay." As he says that he stretches out his hand and closes his eyes while furrowing his brow in concentration. Suddenly his hand is slightly coated in dark green energy. Everyone looks over at this strange light in curiosity until it fades away.

Mary is the first one to speak up after Torran's initial experiment is over. "As much as I like sitting around and talking with y'all we need to address our situation here. Glyphie's membership, what the hell is going on out here in the jungle and on the planet, the whole status of this job in general. Like, let's just first talk about the job, who the hell gave you two the intel about this place?" Mary looks pointedly over at Namatha and Torran with that initial question.

Torran and Namatha glance at each other before they simultaneously say, "Dunno, the tips were anonymous. The only thing we managed to check was that it wasn't a trap meant for us. HAH! JINX!" The two mockingly glare at each other before Namatha returns to her normally more serious demeanor. "We got the tip through an outlaw board bot, it was a job specifically addressed for us. I did my due diligence in trying to track down the originator of the job, but it came anonymously through the underworld. My theory is that we have a mole on Brynhildr and or in the Shieldmaiden corporate offices."

Mary snorts at that at, "A bootlicker with a conscience ey? Well, that explains some of the weirdness of the job, as you guys would normally have told us more about the people giving it to us. The job seemed tailor-made for us, so I thought you might have found some larger organization to sponsor our work, but what you are saying is that these have come through anonymous tips." Mary's distrust of this is readily apparent on her face.

Torran quickly changes the subject while holding his hand up to Mary, I presume he tries to indicate that the subject has not been fully dropped. "Before we continue with that line of reasoning I just wanted to get something cleared. We all agree that we should let Glyphie fully join us?" Tlokbur just bops Torran with his tentacle in response to that, "Duh that was obvious. Pointless distraction is pointless, who would have thought that." Torran lifts his hands apologetically at that and then glances over to Namatha pleadingly.

"Well, the chance to strike at a titan like Shieldmaiden was just too tempting-" Mary interjects as Namatha begins explaining herself, "that is true, but I expected at least you to have more common sense than that Namatha. Like Torran I could see running off when the call of adventure comes in, but you should be more savvy than that." Namatha huffs for a second before lifting up a hand. "I concede the point there, but while we can argue about mistakes made in a safe environment. The fact of the matter is that we are in this situation. We need to look at what is going on and see if we can't find some answers."

"Perhaps, I can help you with that." A grouchy voice rings through the underground chamber and we collectively turn to look at the new arrival. The lone goblin guide who James had picked to help us stands in the entry to the ancient room. His entire body language seems changed compared to the subservient manner he and his collegues acted, a manner that is so typical for his kind. Morgera on his end in the projected image exclaims. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh of course, that explains everything." Mara seems to have disappeared from sight, so she at least did not reveal herself to this unknown group.

"I am Tribnak of the Free Peoples of Yrga." The goblin states and I recognize the word Yrga as the goblin term for blessed home. "We are the ones who orchestrated you coming here, and so far it seems you have passed our test for competency." Belatedly I realize what Morgera must have grasped immediately, the Goblins are the ones who are the architects behind all of this. "We will do this efficiently. You-" Tribnak points at me with a long green finger. "You will accompany me, the rest of you will form a party with him-" Tlokbur angrily mutters "Them." The Goblin nods in response to the correction, "They will transfer our conversation to you. Meanwhile you all return to the hover-cars and go back with the few survivors to the Shieldmaiden base. Your cover as well as my colleagues there are vital for the success of my people's plan."

I know my fellows well enough by now to predict their responses, so before any of them can speak up and ruin this I say. "We accept, Captain please form the party." Torran on his end seems to still want to argue the point, but my immediate acceptance of the terms must have taken the wind out of his sails. He complies and within a few seconds we are all in a party. I rise up and nod to Tribnak. "Lead the way Tribnak." I say courtly and with that me and the Goblin briskly walk into the darkness while my new...friends are left behind.

After several minutes of brisk walking I decide to test my new guide and say in his species tongue. "It always astounded me that your kind were probably the most staunch language preservationists out of all the known species. Even here separated from all your fellows, your kind's language have remained mostly unchanged over the centuries." Tribnak turns to look at me, but without losing his stride for a second. "I only got about half of that, Shieldmaiden born Goblins are often unlucky when it comes to learning the old tongue. That you understand it is probably one of the many reasons I was ordered to bring you back."

This does indeed surprise me as I would not have expected the Shieldmaiden humans to have cared about the inner workings of their Goblin slaves. "Do the shieldmaiden taskmasters even know the name of your kind?" I ask once again back to the commonly spoken tongue that Morgera had informed me is known as English. Tribnak on his end just gives me a dark chuckle at that. "I have actually no idea, but we doubt they have cared enough to check." We continue to wander in silence after that.

Our wanderings through the dark corridors eventually leads us to an exit point hidden behind a collapsed pillar. To my surprise the little Goblin manages to easily lift the pillar away. "Rubber pillar, it is good enough to fool stupid humans into not testing it." Tribnak says as an explanation before placing it back as we exit through the crack in the corridor and out into a natural cavern. The light of the sun can be seen glimting down at us from the opening in the cave. We walk through it and there another hover-car stands parked. I attempt to whistle and once again I fail miserably at it, as whistling like snapping my fingers seems to be skills forever beyond me.

"Impressive coordination, I presume this little failed initial expedition have been in the planning stages for some time." I say with an appreciative nod as we get settled in the vehicle. Tribnak snorts at that and gets the machine to fly, as we fly through the jungle. I absently note the feeling of several pressing system notifications in the back of my mind, and since we are outside of danger I let the notifications appear before me.

CONGRATULATIONS! You have finished the System Assignment: Feed Your Patron. You have gained 10 Achievement Points, 1 Patron Spell, 1 Ritual and 1 Basic Principle. You have completed your third System Assignment, when you have completed 1 more you will be promoted to Standing Level 2. Note: as This is a repeatable assignment subsequent completions of this Assignment will not count towards your Promotion Progression and it's rewards will be reduced.

NOTE: As you only spent one out of your three extra rewards from the assignment, they will now be randomly assigned for you.

CONGRATULATIONS! You have been granted the Patron Spell: Data Bomb. Data Bomb is a spell that lets you channel mana into digital files, to be later be detonated at the caster's leisure as long as no more time than a day has passed. Note this spell alters your Occult Eye Spell, to let you sense unencrypted files inside of computer systems.

CONGRATULATIONS! You have learned the Basic Principle: Hardening. This principle let's you alter the density and toughness of matter, increase the "hardness" of more metaphorical structures and substances. As well as letting you remove the hardness from certain things, but this only to a minor extent.

CONGRATULATIONS! You have finished the System Assignment: Become a Crew Member. You have gained 3 Achievement Points, and you have solidified your Warlock Edition of the NVR. You have finished your fourth System Assignment. You will be promoted to Standing Level 2 as quickly as possible. Stand by for the Promotion.

CONGRATULATIONS! You have invented a new spell through an unintended combination of Lesser Dominate and Jam Technology. Spell: Dominate CyberBeast learned...Error your standing level is insufficient, the spell will be learned upon your promotion.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! YOU HAVE BEEN PROMOTED TO STANDING LEVEL 2. STANDING LEVEL 2 GIVES YOU THESE ADDITIONAL BENEFITS:

Increased health: Energy from the system clusters are being diverted into your nanites to increase your health by 25 percent. This also carries with it a minor form of regeneration as those 25 points of health will naturally regenerate. This is for both mental and physical health.

Doubled Mana Capacity: As a Warlock you gain additional benefits, firstly your mana capacity is doubled from 100 points to 200.

Increased Magical Threshold: You may now learn level 2 magic(Spells, Rituals, Blueprints, and Recipies)

CONGRATULATIONS! You have learned the spell: Dominate Cyberbeast. This spell lets you dominate animals and plants heavily enhanced by cybernetic augments, that might normally be resistant to regular domination spells. This also spell works on Robots and other Automata to an extremely limited degree.