We walked away from the mansion on the hill even more confused than we had gone in.

Do you think I should help her?

Kalli, who had been quiet since we got there, gave me a worried look. I don’t like her. She tried to kill you. However, Shara was always nice to us. If she needs help, we should at least think about it.

I had thought about it and that was the problem.

Don’t you think she might want revenge for her mom’s death?

Kalli shrugged. Maybe. We should definitely be careful if we meet her.

Lavender and Big Yak walked a few paces behind us, speaking quietly. I slowed to catch part of the conversation. “Listen, Mr. Huge. While I cannot intervene in your medical situation at the moment, I can put you in touch with your family.”

“You can?” Big Yak asked, his eyes widening in shock. “I’d really like to contact them. I’m told I’ve been in a coma for five years. They need me. I need them.”

Lavender nodded. “Yes, I can. You need to be prepared for the worst though. It won't be easy to explain how you can communicate even though you are comatose. Remember, they know nothing about the program.”

“Oh, right,” Huge replied. “How am I going to do that?”

Lavender smiled. It was a sympathetic smile I didn’t know she was capable of. “You’ll find a way. Love finds a way. Just be yourself and explain it to her.”

I thought we were headed back to the battlefield but Lavender seemed to have thought we had enough for one day. She herded us all into Phylis’s diner and summoned an old rotary phone for Big Yak. She set it up in a corner for him and asked, “Do you know how to use one of these?”

Big Yak picked up the receiver, holding it to his ear. His eyes widened when he heard a dial tone. “How does this work without being plugged in? Oh, um, yes. I know how to use it.”

“Did you just remember you were in a simulation?” Lavender asked with a chuckle. “You’ll be muted to this world while you communicate with the outside one. That way you can have privacy.”

Lavender motioned to Phylis to bring out some food and turned her attention to us. “The two of you did well today. However, you need to have faith in each other. I want you to work on that. You are far stronger as a team than you are by yourselves. That makes you special, even more so than you both already are.”

While I did like the things she was saying about us, my attention was focused on the mouth-watering food coming out of the kitchen. “Um, Lavender, why is the food so good here and at your house? I’ve never tasted anything like it.”

Kalli elbowed me hard in the ribs. Melvin! Focus. Lavender is trying to talk to us.

I frowned, trying to replay what Lavender just said. It didn’t matter, she was laughing along with half the restaurant. “Of course, the food here is better. It’s S-ranked. Let’s just call it a system hack. Only chefs with the most experience and training can achieve high-ranked signature dishes in the outside world. Using the system both in Homestead and at my house, I can easily designate the S rank to meals, giving them the highest possible flavor.”

“Tell us more about teamwork,” Kalli said, mentally urging me to put my fork down. “We are paying attention. At least I am.”

Lavender smiled. “It’s fine. No more lectures for today. The two of you have choices to make. Three paths lay before you. The dearly departed vampire requested help with her wayward daughter. A not-so-young lady lies in wait back home, plotting her empire on Gaia. Last, the ever-looming shadow of corruption threatens to alter your future. I have placed new doors in your room to assist with the journey.”

Kalli and I looked at one another in confusion as Lavender strode from the room.

Why does she keep doing that?

Kalli giggled, taking another bite of food. She is a prophet type. Maybe it’s her job to be mysterious like that.

We finished up and returned to Lavender’s house. Back in our room, we noticed three new doors.

V. World

TGB HQ

Solitair

“Are you planning to leave me here?” An annoyed voice asked from behind me.

I turned to find Zofia, still dressed in the ruffled dress scowling at me. “Do you want to be taken back to your camp? Or perhaps wherever you come from on Earth.”

She shook her head. “No. I demand you return my clothes and take me with you when you leave. My mission is to observe you and negotiate for the company. I can’t do that if you leave me behind. Besides, I am not comfortable wearing this, this, thing.”

While I knew Kalli loved her dresses, nobody liked to be forced to wear something. She gave Zofia a sympathetic look. “Didn’t Lavender say you brought weapons in that other outfit of yours? How can we be sure you won’t attack us if we return them to you?”

“Isn’t it true that you can kill me with a thought?” Zofia countered. “It’s only prudent that I protect myself. None of the gadgets in my arsenal are designed for preemptive attacks. They are, how should I word this, for self-defense.”

Kalli returned her attention to the doors. We could drop her off at home. I assume that’s where the second door leads. We can also get a look at where she comes from.

Lavender had highlighted our choices, implying how they had an impact on the future. Then she conveniently laid the paths out like a choose your own adventure novel.

On the one hand, Zofia was right there and needed to be dealt with. Then there was the corruption. We were well on the path to dealing with that and there was no reason to return to Solitair just yet. That could wait.

The last option was also the riskiest. Shara had every reason to hate me and want me dead for what I did to her mother. Of course, there was the fact that she seemed to be at odds with her mother. I couldn’t decide.

Which door should we take?

Kalli gave the doors some real consideration. She heard my thoughts through our bond and hers were fairly similar. The difference came down to her wanting to handle Zofia before sparing any mental energy on Shara.

We both looked back at the kid and, finally, Kalli spoke. “Will you show us the gadgets if we return them to you? We want to trust you but it would be reassuring to know what we’re dealing with.”

“Will you show me your magic?” Zofia shot back with a smirk.

“Uh oh,” was all I managed before Kalli jumped into action.

A sinister smile that I thought was reserved only for me appeared on Kalli’s face as she replied. “Certainly. It would be my pleasure.”

“Pvruzth”

Fire erupted from Kalli’s outstretched hands and quickly engulfed Zofia. She shrieked and tried to back out of the door but it was no use. Kalli’s fire was relentless. The ruffled dress billowed as the flame caressed it as a summer breeze would. Her teal hair fanned out behind her as the fire flowed through it, smoothing out any knots and tangles.

Zofia stopped screaming by the time Kalli was finished. She closed her fists and the flame retracted into her hands. It felt like an out-of-body experience watching Kalli do it to someone else.

Sounds of running footsteps echoed through the hall before Eddie and Sylvia burst into the room. Sylvia blew Kalli and I quick kisses before asking, “What’s wrong? We heard a scream. Is everyone okay?”

Zofia’s face burned crimson as she collected herself and smoothed the ruffled dress before climbing to her feet. “No! Everything is not okay. Can I have my stuff back now? I’ll show you my defenses. Just don’t do that again.”

After changing in the bathroom, Zofia emerged looking much more comfortable. She pulled a button on her lab coat and a blue barrier shimmered around her. Then she held out what looked like a smartwatch and pressed a button. A bright red laser beam flashed out and burned a hole in the wall. She turned a tiny dial on the watch and the beam turned blue. The hole in the wall began to freeze.

Zofia shrugged and explained. “It’s a matter of acceleration versus deceleration. Make particles move faster and they burn. Make them slow down and they freeze. The shield around me destabilizes matter. We haven’t performed sufficient tests against magic, so I’m not one hundred percent sure what would happen if someone cast a spell at me.”

It felt like she was leaving a lot out but I decided to let it go. After having confronted her, I made an executive decision to get the meeting with Shara out of the way. “We’re going to make a pitstop before taking you home. Just wait here with the other kids and we will be back shortly.”

“I. Am. Not. A. Child.” Zofia said, enunciating every word. “I’d appreciate it if you stop treating me like one and take me with you.”

“But it’s going to be dangerous,” Kalli said, realizing where I intended to go.

Zofia twisted a knob on her watch and a small metallic device that looked like some kind of drone rose from the back of her lab coat. A red marker appeared on my chest for a moment before the drone returned to its pocket. She winked at Kalli and said, “I can be dangerous too. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you children safe.”

“Fine,” I muttered, not happy at being called a child by an unawakened who looked like she was twelve. “It’s your funeral.”

Then I walked over to the door marked V. World and stepped through. The first thing I noticed was the red sky. It was evening on another planet and a blood moon flooded the world with crimson light.

Kalli gasped as she stepped through the door behind me. Behind her, Zofia stepped through the door, commenting, “Another world, eh?”

Directly in front of us stood a dark mansion. It looked like something out of a horror movie, or at least a haunted house. Either way, it stopped just short of having a sign out front that said, “A Vampire Lives Here.”

SLAM

Before we could take another step, we heard the sound of the door slamming shut behind us. I spun around just in time to see it fade and disappear. Eddie scowled at Sylvia. “Why did you do that? Now we’re stuck here.”

Sylvia shrugged and gave the boy a reassuring hug. “Don’t worry. It’ll be fine. I had a vision.”

“Why are the two of you here?” Kalli asked. “It’s dangerous.”

Eddie peeled Sylvia off of him and scowled at her for good measure. “It’s her fault. She wanted to see what was behind the door. I didn’t know she was going to close it.”

Sylvia ran over to me and clung to my shirt. “It’ll be fine. Right, Mel? Tell them.”

“Um, I don’t know.” I hesitated, looking to Kalli for advice. “I don’t think you should have come. We don’t know what we’re walking into.”

“I do.” Sylvia chirped. “Shara missed you both. She will be more happy than mad. Trust me. I had a vision.”

“When did you start having visions?” I asked, kneeling so I was face to face with her.

“Since you awakened me,” she confessed. “Part of my training with Lavender is learning how to translate the future.”

Kalli knelt beside us. “What do you mean translate?”

Sylvia giggled. “That’s what Lavender calls making sense of what we see. When I have a vision, that’s only one possible future. Anything I say or do can have drastic consequences.”

“Dummy!” Eddie barked at the girl. “Telling us about the vision changes the future. That means telling us it’s safe makes it unsafe.”

“Nuh-uh!” She whined. “I told you all that it’s safe in my vision. If I saw myself saying it then I can say it in real life and it won’t change anything. That’s how it works?”

“That’s just silly-“ Eddie began.

He was cut off by a head pat from Kalli. “Shh. It’s already done. Let’s just get this over with.”

Sylvia beamed at Kalli. “Right, she knows we’re here. Let’s not keep her waiting. It’s rude.”