Keya relaxed as she saw the updated projections on the boy. His path deviations were within acceptable thresholds. The probabilities of minor deviations from the core were dominant and the probabilities for major deviations were fractional.

She had panicked when the probabilities for major deviations had suddenly spiked. She was not following protocol in handling his case. When his path started deviating from its set course, she had less than an hour to fix the problem before the hourly consolidation and updating of the Map. His situation meant his deviations would have a cascading effect across the Map and bring her breach of protocol to light.

Thankfully, early termination of his fight had been easy and enough. Per her method, he couldn’t be allowed to have fights that pushed him really hard, made him discover his potential, made his life “interesting”. The metal cage technique he had used would not have been enough to defeat the alpha red armoured fennec fox, but for the slight change she made at the last instance to its energy circuits. More difficult had been hiding her intervention from the boy.

Keya had no delusions about being able to hide her actions from… Him. His presence had been unsettling. He was not known to be hostile to her kind, just the work they did. He didn’t seem to mind her actions. She was also there and had given Keya a nod of acknowledgement, but His indifference had been jarring.

Now it was fine. All was back on track. There was no indication that his entering the Ancient’s Complex would have any impact.

The team approached the sand shark slowly, careful but not afraid. Realising the shark was a Guardian had put them at ease. It would be a difficult obstacle, not impossible. The fact that all the fennec fox bodies were missing and they couldn’t collect any cores made them wary. No one had sensed a third force interfering. Knowing someone else was meddling, someone many stages above them… without knowing that person’s objectives was… unsettling.

Suvi looked at Rudra. He smiled at her.

At six feet, he was taller than her and most others her age. The average height for women was six feet and for men six and a half. His rapid growth had been startling, even though it was tapering off he was still growing. He had broad shoulders, muscled arms and legs and a sculpted chest, but he didn’t look or feel big, just right. In a world where bio-adjustments and shakti enhancements allowed everyone to look their best, he looked better than most. He looked no different from any other boy who’d come of age, taller even, a young man though he was just halfway there in years. He had deep brown hair with a red shine that contrasted well with his eyes. The green-yellow eyes were his most striking feature. When he was calm, they would be a cool green, otherwise they would take on a fiery yellow hue.

As they walked up to the Guardian, his eyes were green. His calm didn’t put her at ease, it pulled her more into unease. She knew he had secrets enough to fill an ocean. In the midst of this, that he could find a reason to smile… She sighed. She hated feeling like this about him. She’d known him for half her life, and he’d known her for the whole of his. He could be frustrating, but he was also a lot of fun, good at heart and a loyal friend. They had shared so much… and so much was kept hidden.

Satt was overwhelmed.

When her mother moved them to Hope Cottage she had never expected she would end up in the midst of something like this. She had hated moving to what was a backwater place.

Ever since she’d seen them, Satt had set her heart on achieving fame and fortune as a star of holoscreen plays. Her mother did everything she could to help her daughter realise her dream. Bio-adjustments and treatments to make her look perfect. Skill training aimed for the Actor class foundations and specialisations. Path diver consultations for the best attribute spread for her. And when she turned four, they moved to Hope Cottage, instead of moving to the oct’s capital planet or to Suryadham. Her mother specialised in custom made attire infused with shakti sutras and yantra. This often involved beast pelts and cores, but staying close to the source was not necessary.

The first surprise was when she accompanied her mother on a trading trip to a Galactics’ camp. She’d known that they used Col II as a training planet but never expected to meet them. Galactic’s preferred to keep contact with “locals” to a minimum. Her mother took her on one such trip at least once in six days. Not all entertained them, but the few that did were enough. Her mother was building contacts and a way for them to move to the Core sectors before she came of age. Her mother’s ambitions for her were frightening and exciting in scope.

The second was Rudra. She had been upset to see her friend selection in the entire town limited to Rana and Rudra. All others who were not yet adults were of age or would soon crossover. Rana was an ox. He was intelligent but too focused on Arena Tournaments to be smart about anything else. Rudra was… yummy. She could watch him exercise shirtless from the first sunrise to the second sunset. He was bigger than any ten year old she’d known in her home planet but was her age. She had dreamed of being his only option as they turned six. A short-lived dream as she soon learnt he had a Companion, then about Suvi, the baker, that archer in the town guard and the provers. The provers passing through town were drawn to him like flies to honey, some for Amita, but most for him. She was not threatened. Looking at Suvi and Amita, she knew she was his type, at least physically, and would only grow to fill out more.

He was the town’s lovable rascal who enjoyed goofing about, teasing people, mischievous, getting into trouble and then getting out. Hanging out with him had made her stay fun. He had more surprises. He had shown her she should aim for a Rogue Class with Actor as a sub-class. The resourcefulness, versatility, skill and precision would help not just with acting but navigating the world around it. For someone who appeared unconcerned about advancement, his knowledge and thoughts on paths, skills and attributes were amazing. He could discuss Arena Tournament stats with Rana on equal footing, and Rana was the biggest fan of the Tournaments she’d ever met.

And then there was the last hour. She didn’t like combat. She had not liked the destruction from the foxes battle with the shark or amongst them. The alpha had left her scared to her core. Then he’d acted and peace had descended on them within a minute. And the pixies. She wondered if she could get him to call them when she collected her sixth-year prize from him.

Rana was scared. He was also excited.

He was constantly shifting between abject despair and body shaking thrill. From imagining the stage 6 monster that had collected all the fox bodies leaving no trace, definitely stage 6 could be stage 5 but no definitely stage 6. From imagining the wonders they were going to encounter when they got past the Guardian. A Guardian’s levels were set a stage above the party that challenged it, at the beginning of the fight. It was not meant to stop them, just test if they were worthy of passing. So they would face a shark at stage 1 or at worst stage 2. And Rudra’s boon would match the shark after the challenge began. Yeah, they were going to get in.

There were no reported ruins in the Shining Desert, so they’d be the first party to get in. First. He’d been excited when Suvi and Amita let him tag along into the trials. And that now meant he’d be in a First Party. Best decision he ever made was in making a friend in Rudra.

He’d been amazed to find someone with as much knowledge of the Tournaments as him. They may differ on who the best fighter was, the best techniques, the best combat, but he argued from knowledge of the Tournament, not from crazy belief or fan service. He was also happy at not being the largest member of a party. He’d always been bigger than kids his age, It had motivated him to aim for a Tank Class. He now was one of the two largest in the party. He’d never thought it would feel this good.

Amita was worried. But it was for all the wrong reasons. She didn’t feel any fear of the unknown superpower operating here. Worrying about overwhelming power was useless. Rudra’s fight had revealed nothing new, yet she couldn’t scratch the itch that hinted at deeper secrets having being revealed.

“It is fine if you wish to be a Companion. It is a good play to meet your goals quickly. As a Courtesan, you’d get more over the long term, but you don’t have the time.”. She’d been surprised at these words from her recruiter at the Jasmine Court, who had become a friend and a mentor, even.

“So you think it's a good idea?”, she had asked.

“All ideas are good till they are not. Time makes a mockery of all decisions. Your past shapes your future. But tomorrow follows today, not yesterday.”

It had taken her some time to understand this, and even now she wasn’t sure she’d understood it properly. What had really confounded her was what followed.

“Every step you take offers an opportunity. Families that can afford Companions for their children are rich in many ways, wealth, power, secrets. Foolish Companions focus on the first two. The bigger fools try to sell the last. The smart know to earn and learn, to their benefit. Don’t be a fool, be smart.”

Secrets. Somehow today these words were making sense. She now had an inkling of how to move forward, though she was worried about losing herself by trying.

Rudra smiled.

It wasn’t to mask his disappointment at the fight. It had been going well when he noticed the interference. The energy circuit of his technique was modified at the last moment. He would never have noticed, except he had been working on improving his control and efficiency over techniques. That required keeping a close eye on the energy circuits and actively correct for emerging deviations, till that level of control came automatically. The change was subtle and clearly by someone at multiple stages above him. He had already sensed the disappearance of the bodies of the foxes. Whoever it was didn’t attack him or his friends, so he didn’t bother about it. He couldn’t fight someone like that, not till they attacked him.

He was smiling in anticipation. There had been something he’d wanted to try since his time on earth. Something kept aside till the opportunity rose for it. Something to do with a shark. This was a sand shark, but it was still a shark. It would do. As they reached close to the boundary of the shark’s domain, he walked right up to it and went,

“Here fishy, fishy, fishy! Come hither fishy! Yo! Jaws stop hiding, come out, come out wherever you are.”