We dropped altitude and I glanced out through the window. When Cody had said a refuelling station, I’d expected a mid-sized military style encampment. What it actually consisted of was two landing pads, a pair of standard garage pumps, a narrow building, and a single track road leading out into the wilderness through the surrounding chain-link fence. A 4x4 of a make I couldn’t identify was rotting at the side of the single storey structure. A series of antennae sprouted from the roof itself, reminding me of Liza’s mobile lab. As we circled in for landing, I spied an enclosed generator behind the building.

“Is this place manned?” I asked, noting the absence of driveable vehicles.

“Only by snakes and spiders,” Cody replied. “There was a time when we had two staff on a rolling basis here at all times, but budgets get cut back and, well…”

“We have the same thing on my world, mate. The important stuff gets cut back while pointless shit gets all the money. It’s exhausting.”

“The people that hold the purse strings don’t see the repercussions, though,” Cody replied as we gently touched down. The pitch of the engines started to wind down. “The market for horn and other illegal body parts has exploded over the past few years. It was an uphill battle before, but now we might as well be hunting the poachers blindfolded.”

Cody climbed out from the cockpit and ushered us onto the landing pad. I turned to him as we hopped down. “I think the people in charge are going to have more than poachers to worry about in the days and weeks to come. If you’re willing to help us, I’ll make sure that the whole world knows you were part of the fight. You might end up in charge of the whole department. Section. Whatever you call it.”

“We’re only a small section under Homeland Defence. We’re the poorer cousin to transportation, borders, police, coastguard, and customs. I’ve heard whispers that they’re planning on doing away with us altogether. But if what you say is true, all that counts for shit really, doesn’t it?”

“I’m afraid so. Poachers will be getting eaten on equal terms now though.”

“I suppose that’s something at least.” Cody pointed me toward the back of the small building. “Would you mind flipping the genny switch. It’s a big handle on the side under a panel Just push it from red to green and I can get filling.”

“I think I should take your friend inside,” Liza suggested, and I could see why.

Sun was staring in shock at our craft, trying to make sense of the thing. A set of curtains, square walls, and a few cars on a paved road was bad enough. This thing looked futuristic, even to my eyes, so I couldn’t imagine what was going through Sun’s. In hindsight, the undead world or similar probably would’ve been better from an acclimatisation perspective. At least the time period was comparable, if not the lush landscape judging by the world description of spreading decay.

“I’ll help,” offered Cris, leading my tall friend by the other arm.

“Thanks,” I told them both, before turning back to Cody. “I’ll get that power on.”

“Good man,” he replied, wrestling a thick, snakelike tube from a covered reel. The steel clamps reminded me of the scorpion queen’s mandibles, and I quickly looked away.

I rounded the corner as Cody snapped the mechanisms into place on the crafts filling point. My mind was reeling again as I approached the generator. I flipped up the weather panel and found the lever beneath. Seeing no starter button or other way to turn it over, I flipped it up. The motor began humming immediately. “Idiot proof,” I said quietly to myself.

My quest wasn’t so well designed though, which is what had me in such a kerfuffle. Now that we were a party of sorts, I figured the going would become easier. As it was, I just stared off into the vast scrubland, totally lost. This was a worldwide conspiracy. How the hell was I supposed to compartmentalise it? My only lead was Liza’s potential research, but how did the confirmation of any genetic abnormalities guide me towards a resolution? In this instance, an open world was proving to be my undoing. Kherrash gave me a choice; head east toward the humans, or west into the hands of the orcs. It was a no brainer. In Osterland, I could go wherever I wanted. North, south, east, or west. My map was once again a sea of gold, with no obvious route laid out.

Bart, what the hell am I supposed to do?

He entered my mind like a burglar in the night. That is, by smashing a window and crawling through the opening. I can’t tell you.

Thanks.

No, you don’t understand, I literally can’t tell you. The world you’re on has so many moving parts, one course that might work for you might not work for the next volunteer.

I sighed deeply. Butterfly effect?

Exactly. The ripples you’ve created have already altered the timeline. I’d suggest making the most of your new companions. They might have clues and ideas that I’m not privy to. But if not, just sit tight. The events are in motion, even if you can’t see them.

But if I can’t see them, how do I help?

I could feel his mental shrug. Sorry, Mark. That’s all I’ve got.

You’re gods, or as close as you can get. You see all. How can you have nothing?

You might be surprised to know that only the elders can see all. I suppose, to put in terms of your world, I’d be a lowly drone in one of those awful cubicles in the American shows I watched. My paygrade, as you would say, doesn’t stretch very far. And that was before the other faction wrested control of the narrative from us.

I fell into silence, and after a short while of my ignoring him Bart retreated. So they had their factions, and now an almost laughably human hierarchy. I suppose the same could be said for God and the angels, or Jesus and the apostles, so it wasn’t just mortal beings affected. Everyone reported to someone. Quite what the conversations would entail around the coffee machine was a mystery. Probably the last civilisation they wiped out of existence. Or Lom’Pab’s affair with Fleb’Gor from accounting.

God, I needed more than a one hour break.

“We’re full, buddy!” Cody called from the helicopter.

“Want me to switch it off?” I yelled back.

“Yeah! Unless you want a cup of coffee? It might be a bit stale, but I’m sure there was a foil sealed bag of grounds in there last time I passed through a few weeks ago.”

I wasn’t a coffee drinker, but at that point I really wanted to sit down, hold a hot mug, and just think of as little as possible for a short while. I left the generator running and moved back to the front of the building. Liza waved me inside while Cody returned the fuel hose.

“Will Cody be joining us?” I asked as he started to check over things on the helicopter.

“When he’s ready,” she said, motioning to a small sofa that doubled as a bed.

I sat down with a weary sigh. Sun was pacing, eyeing the equipment with mistrust. I hadn’t noticed before, but her own leather armour had undergone a transformation. The stitching was far more modern, with neat lines and a cleaner look. The whole set looked more like a snug bodysuit. Cris had been clothed in her real world garments when we had returned to Earth, but now that we were back in the worlds, she was clad in a flowing dress. Had we been in Kherrash, I knew that it would’ve closely resembled the robes worn by Ilfred and the other sorcerers. It positively screamed mage’s vestments.

I looked over her gear, and it was mostly tailored around boosting spell power and casting speed. I noticed her pet tab was empty when I checked it.

“Cris, did you not get any companion drops from the dungeon? Or Kherrash?”

“No, why?”

“Then we’ll keep an eye out for one. I had them thrown at me. Sun, introduce her to Fen. Don’t be shocked, but he’s a big boy.”

The unarmoured warg appeared, sat on his haunches, tongue lolling as he panted happily.

“Oh, I love him!” she gushed. “Is he friendly?”

“As long as you’re not an enemy,” said Sun.

Cris held out a hand. “May I?”

“Please do.”

“He loves a good fussing as much as Honey and Marco.”

Cris went to work, patting, stroking, and scratching the oversized pooch.

The narrow building was separated into two rooms by a plasterboard wall and single door. We were in a break room of sorts. A small sink and water heater. An empty fridge, humming pointlessly to cool down nothing. A tiny counter with a bubbling coffee machine, creating our drinks. Liza had apologised about the lack of cream and sugar. The sofa we were seated on was beside a table with two chairs and an unfinished book of sudoku puzzles. A small flatscreen TV hung on the wall opposite, and I nodded at it when Liza saw me checking out the room.

“Already tried it. It’s dead.”

“Damn.”

She carefully stepped around Sun and beckoned me to follow. The reason for all the antennae above became clear as I found myself facing a multitude of screens and banks of equipment.

“I’ve already tried all frequencies, and there’s nothing on comms either,” she explained, twisting dials and pressing buttons that had me baffled as to their purpose. The speakers just fizzed, the white noise a ghostly echo of the dead voices that were now silent. Or silenced, as was more likely.

I heard the glass pot clink in the rest area as the first of the coffee was poured. Cody appeared in the doorway, mug in hand. “Anything?”

“Nothing,” Liza replied.

Our rescuer slipped into one of the chairs, popped his cup on a coaster, and started to tap away at one of the keyboards. “Shit. UGS is offline too. What the hell is going on?”

“Excuse me?” I asked, unaware of what it meant.

“Unattended ground sensors. The chips in the animals ping the towers which allows us to track their migratory patterns. It also picks up unchipped movements, allowing us to follow incursions by the poachers.” Cody pointed to a grid pattern of green dots on one of the screens. “Each of those is a sensor. A lot of them were broken, but even the ones that aren’t are offline.” He tapped away on another console, then wiggled a control stick that looked like it belonged on one of my arcade machines. “The drone’s down too. Or at least the video feed isn’t getting through”

I noticed the look on his face. “Is that bad?”

He nodded. “It’s a solar powered, high altitude machine. It’s designed to stay in the air for weeks, even months at a time. It has to have been taken offline by someone.”

“I thought you said this place had been decommissioned. Wouldn’t it make sense for it to be taken down and put away?”

“No. Only this outpost is unmanned. The equipment is still linked in to the central mainframe back at base, which means it should still be functional and available to access. We still need to watch over the reserve, even if we’re not as close to the action as we used to be.”

It was all going over my head, so I stayed quiet.

Liza could sense I was struggling with the new world. “This whole area, including the jungle and the village that was attacked, is one of the last unspoiled areas on the planet. Sixty thousand square miles of nature left to do its thing without humans wrecking their habitat. There was a time when the powers-that-be were interested in keeping it that way.”

Cody grunted. “Then they realised they could mine it and build on it. This is a lot of prime land, if only the preservation orders were done away with.”

“Greed is a way of life on my world too, but it sounds like we’re both in for a rude awakening,” I replied. “Us from the aliens, you folk from the dinosaurs. I’d say a lot more of your world will be given over to nature once this is done.”

“Any clue where to start looking?” asked Cody. “We’re deaf and blind here, so I can’t be much help.”

“Honestly? Not yet. I’m hoping when we get back to civilisation, things might start to become clearer. How long until we lift off?”

“I’ll give everyone enough time to get a drink and use the bathroom, then we’ll head back to base.”

“Bathroom?” I asked.

He led me round the back of the machines, and there was a final door. Inside was a toilet and basin. The stink as he pulled it open had me gagging.

“Sorry. The water dries out if it’s not used for a while, and the stench of the tank comes back up.” He flushed and opened the small window. “Let’s let it air out a bit first, eh?”

“I think that’s a good idea.”

Cris appeared at our backs, wrinkling her nose. “I’m surprised it still flushes if the place has been shut down all this time.”

“The cisterns had a top up just before it was mothballed,” Cody explained. “Same as the fuel tanks.”

“Wouldn’t the water evaporate though?” I asked.

“Nah, it’s sealed to keep the dust and bugs out. Airtight. With the heat we have here, if it was open, the whole thing would steam dry in days.”

We closed the door to allow the smell to disperse.

Liza shook her head in resignation. Shutting down the useless equipment with a huff, she followed us back to the coffee maker. Cris had helped herself to two cups, offering one to Sun. My barbarian friend sniffed suspiciously at the dark brew, before taking a small sip. I could tell by the look on her face it was love at first taste. I’d spawned another monster, this time one that thrived on caffeine instead of mayhem. Actually, in Sun’s case, she was a healthy mix of the two. She grinned, forgetting where we were, and settled into one of the hardback chairs, cradling the drink between sips.

I was about to delve more deeply into the Fisk family when Cody’s head sprang up. “What is it?”

“Someone’s coming,” he replied.