February 5, 2019, 3:55 pm. A few minutes before a little light scanning.

"Dad!" Rose immediately protests as he stands up from the bench they were sitting on in front of Tipan's home, his younger brother hanging on his side. His father ignores him, standing straight, his hands clasped behind his back as he meets my gaze. Rose's sister, Celthi, ruins his stoic stance by clutching his side and waving at us.

"Hi Bem. Didn't expect to see you today," I reply, which I think shows how much I've grown. I didn't even drop into Pause to think about how to respond. I'm not shocked he knows about the quest to scan them either. I did let Rose know about it weeks ago. Though I can't help but wonder... "What changed your mind? Rose said you declined."

The pu'shaha looks up to me, managing to scoop Celthi up without breaking eye contact before saying, "I know that when Kalim first told me about it, I was a little skeptical."

"You threatened to light Aethire on fire, dad. I'd say that's a more than a little skeptical," Rose notes while bouncing

"Fine. I was very skeptical. But I was grieving your mother. And I thought I'd lost you too. You can forgive an old pu'shaha for not thinking clearly," Bem says, frowning at Rose. Then he turns back to me, hefting Celthi up against his side. "So, will you do it outlander? Will you scan us?"

"Of course," I answer, starting to Focus on Bem while directing my tendrils of Facet to scan him. Time to change Akilo.

A complete breakdown of his body fills my mind, adding to the codex that was started with Rose. Then I shift my attention to Qern. Once more, my tendrils reach out, encompassing the young pu'shaha as I tease out everything about him.

"Quest completed: A New Normal? Requirements: Perform a thorough scan of pu'shaha Bem and Qern. Requirements: 1/1 Bem scanned. 1/1 Qern Scanned. Reward: 5 iron rank integration points."

I blink at the notice in my vision, a little underwhelmed. That's it, huh. I guess I built that up in my-

"Vaus's palace of playtoys," Tipan mutters which is soon followed by both of our K'tharn companions with their own interesting curses.

Then Bem turns, grabbing his sons and pulling them into a hug.

"Okay. So, I'm guessing that did more than just give me a few integration points."

"Integration points?" Tipan asks, her eyes not even focusing on me. "I... this..."

"I'd say you are correct, Alexis. Perhaps we should give our friends a moment," Roberts says, clasping my shoulder.

"It's fine," Rufka says a second later. "But this is big. Like, bigger than mum sinking a city big."

"I'm sorry, your mum did what?" I ask.

Rufka doesn't answer, waving her hand as she adds, "Here, you should see."

"Congratulations! Due to recent scans by user Pandora, your species has been proven to have more than one sapient gender! In accordance with System Statute 4.10032.2, Akilo's population limit has been increased from 1,048,576 to 4,194,304. Please note, this will not increase your personal limit. Additional Subclasses will receive child limit increases as possible rewards. As always, unused child limits after your first will not be counted against this limit. Non-resident users child limit remains separate and capped at 1,024 per species."

Oh. Okay then. Guess it did do something. That's a pretty massive increase too. Literally four times as many people. But at the same time...

"Well then," Roberts says, rubbing his chin. "That's not very many people."

"Yeah, I was just thinking that. Do you think that's a hard limit?" I ask, biting my lip before pointing a finger at Rufka. "Also, don't think I forgot about that sinking a city thing."

Ignoring my aside, Roberts steeples his fingers against his nose. "Impossible to say. From what we've heard, most people in the Aetherium didn't know there was a limit."

"Well, they know now," Josh says, looking over his shoulder at where some of Tipan's neighbours have gathered across the plaza from us. Several are glancing in our direction. Correction, they're not glancing at everyone. Their gazes are locked onto me.

"Uhm. Why are they all looking at me?"

"Oh. There's a picture attached," Rufka mumbles, displaying the image on the screen. It doesn't just show my original face. It shows my carefully constructed K'tharn avatar as well.

"Uhm. Well, we should probably go," I say as the K'tharn from across the courtyard start striding towards us.

Tipan barely responds as I push her towards her house, still staring off into space until I try to step past the entrance foyer. At which point, some sort of instinct kicks in and she guides us to the same room I met her mother in. But she remains distant, tapping her chin as she stares blankly ahead. Right until there's a knock on the door.

She sighs, before squeezing my shoulder and walking past us to deal with her neighbours.

The second she leaves the room, her mother walks in. Tithan stops, her upper eyes closed and her lower eyes focused on me as her lips crack into a small smile.

I'd just taken a seat, but I immediately rise to greet her, giving her a shallow bow. She returns it before passing her gaze over everyone else. "My. This is quite the gathering. When Tipan said she'd be having friends over, I only expected the two. It seems she really is becoming more social."

"She's good people," Josh replies with a big grin and two thumbs up.

"Indeed. Two big surprises in one day. I'm glad my Health is full, else I might've died of shock," Tithan states as her eyes come to rest on Roberts, who's disguised not as a K'tharn, but as a Melkog. After I described them to him, he insisted that his disguise be one of the big fluffy puppies. Honestly didn't see it coming. Probably should've.

"Alright. I've convinced the neighbours that you just look similar to user Pandora. Though I'm not sure Kevama believed me," Tipan says while rubbing at her head as she returns.

"She has a nose for gossip. I suspect we will have all sorts attempting to sneak into the compound in less than an hour," Tithan says. "Best we discuss what you originally came for, before you turned the Aetherium upside down."

"You know, mum had an idea on how to do that," Rufka says while taking a seat on the edge of my seat. We all turn to look at her and she shrugs. "What? It's a floating city. And mum gets all kinds of stupid ideas."

"Is this related to her sinking a city?"

"No. That was a… a different kind of floating city. And no one lived in it. At the time. Because they'd evacuated. Look, mum's not perfect. And it wasn't all her fault."

I can't hold in my chuckle, and I'm not the only one.

Before I get carried away, I clear my throat and return to business. The tiniest expenditure of Focus, and I display the list of parts we still need to Tithan. There's only three things we weren't able to find during our earlier shopping spree, and unsurprisingly, one of them was the mana de-condenser. "Hmm. These two are no problem, I have a friend who deals in them, on occasion," she says, pointing to the other two items on the list. "And this can be built, though the process takes nearly a month."

"Really?" I can't help but ask, "we can just get someone to make it for us?"

"That is what Enchanters do, young lady. Not that anyone is likely to have one lying around. The only regular use they have outside some very specialized engines is to break apart Essence, and the System does that well enough on its own."

"That... is unfortunate," Roberts notes while steepling his fingers. "Are you able to inquire about the prices for the others?"

"Tomorrow. I'm afraid that few of my contacts will want to discuss business today. I'm thankful the System allows us to build up stores in case of emergency. I suspect we will be dealing with the disruptions of this change for years."

"I... uhm... sorry," I mutter, frowning at the back of Rufka's hand.

"Don't apologize!" Tipan practically jumps in my face, she's moving so fast. "The Aetherium is going to be growing again! A little disruption to the supply chains is a small price to pay for us to thrive again!"

"My daughter is correct. This is good news. I have simply learned to temper good news with the reality that change is seldom simple. And never as easy as we would like. Isn't that right, my dear?" Tithan asks, extending her hand up to Tipan.

Tipan nods, taking her mother's hand and squeezing it as she moves next to Tithan. Despite Tithan's tiger-striped fur, in that moment, I can see the resemblance between them. It's more about the way they hold themselves, than their appearance. A shared stance, even with one sitting and the other standing. I wonder if my mom and I are like that?

Vaus damn, I hope not.

"Now, I've not been a good host, though I'm sure you can forgive me, what with the unexpected miracle that has been dropped on our door. But I feel it would only be proper to invite you all for dinner," Tithan says, inclining her head towards Tipan. "If that would be acceptable, Tipan."

"I... of course, mother."

"Good. I should get started then. Perhaps you can show the children to the courtyard. It has been far too long since it has seen proper use," Tithan suggests with an arched eyebrow.

"Excellent idea mother. Celthi, Qern, would you like to see the courtyard where I first learned magic?" Tipan asks, while taking a step towards the door. "You're welcome to come too, Bem."

Before Bem can respond, Celthi and Qern are pulling him across the room. And Rose too, I note, his hand still clutched tightly in his little brother's. The next hour is spent in pleasant conversation, though Tipan's mother refuses to share embarrassing stories from Tipan's childhood. I swear that's against the mom code.

After a post dinner tea, we return to Glimmering Sands, arriving in the side of the coral area and immediately having the transit fee issued as a prompt.

Paying the handful of emgee, we exit the room just in time for a ship to enter the harbor below. It catches my eye not just because of its size, though it is easily ten times any other ship in the harbor, but because of its unique design. It floats on a pair of skis, its hull mostly suspended above the water as it cruises past. Unlike most of the ships I've seen on Akilo, it has a mast and furled sails. There are only three K'tharn atop its deck as it glides into its berth, and I can't help but Focus on the unusual ship.

"Elkon Class Frigate. Name: Twice Scuttled.”

“Used for transporting people to the most dangerous corners of the world, the Twice Scuttled is a bunker ship. Bunker ships are designed to withstand even the harshest of mana-storms, without being turned into pure mana. Despite the captain's choice of a name, the Twice Scuttled hasn't been scuttled once since she was rechristened.”

[Wyonna]: "Remember when you went to see whales with Seb and her dad? And the waves were taller than the boat? Well this beauty would sail right over those waves. We should get one."

"That is one fine vessel," Roberts says as the K'tharn on board start shouting at one of the guards that greet them. "Excellent lines."

"Kinda reminds me of the Enterprise. If you flipped it upside down. But mixed with Adventure Planet," Josh adds before the ship's berth's curtain closes, blocking them from view.

We make our way back to our camp, with the crowd having thinned out around the tower it's surprisingly easy. When I look towards the beach, it's easy to see where everyone went. There are thousands of K'tharn in and above the water, with colourful flags and rings floating out for over a kilometre. Some of them are playing Desh'mersa, or at least a version of it, using flags like we used to when the teacher made us play touch football. Which was always a lot more physical than it was supposed to be. Like to see Brie try that crap now.

Shaking my head, I look out to where others are racing, and even more seem to just be relaxing at the water's edge. As I'm taking in the scene, I see a wave rise up in the distance, tall enough it blots out the evening sun. But instead of crashing down on the K'tharn playing over the water, it splits, rolling to the sides along an invisible boundary.

And as I focus on it, I see K'tharn inside the wave, riding objects that are suspiciously similar to surfboards.

Back on earth, I never once considered surfing. But now, watching the K'tharn here. I want to try. Something nice and intense should be an excellent distraction from the world shaking changes I made today.

Which is why, while the others (including Smoulder) join a game of Desh'mersa, Rufka and I move to a stand selling surfboards. Or Tidal boards, as the shop attendant informs us they're called here, when I ask about them. They're not just a sport, they're part of a tradition observed during the Great Tides. An M'tari tradition, adapted for their K'tharn subjects. The last bit doesn't come from our attendant, but from the codex when I analyze one of the boards.

The helpful K'tharn from the stand is showing us several styles of boards we can purchase when a Fallen enters the shop. It's one of the Awakened from the camp, and I hardly would've noticed them if not for the other K'tharn around the open-air stand going quiet.

The Fallen stops just inside the entrance, and clears their throat. "I'd... like to participate. If that's allowed?"

And just like that, the tension seems to snap. Our attendant apologizes for the interruption, and informs the Fallen they'll be with them soon. Then they finish our sale and we're back on the beach.

Just in time to see Smoulder turn a section of sand into glass.

...TPWM...

February 5, 2019, 5:49 pm.

I walk towards where Smoulder is sitting on the edge of a now broken Desh'mersa stage. She's glaring at Josh, and Josh is glaring right back even as he turns glass back to sand.

Before I can interfere, Roberts and Tipan are there and I can feel Smoulder calming down through our bond. Then Josh huffs, turning towards us. And I notice his eyebrow is missing. A quick conversation reveals that Smoulder was remarkably good at the game. Without lighting anything on fire. But then Josh broke the rules, which he claims was an accident, and Smoulder, as Roberts puts it, overreacted.

I can't help but chuckle, which earns me a half-hearted glare from Josh.

Pulling Smoulder away from Tipan, I hold her up in front of me. "You know, if you get kicked out of the match, you can't win the game. And destroying the arena is a pretty good way to get kicked out of most games."

Smoulder just looks at me, before sending a feeling of frustration over the bond. I'm able to pick out bits of her watching the professional teams play, and now she's trying to understand why it's different.

Which makes me realize something more important. Smoulder's getting smarter. She still doesn't understand language, but she understands rules. And something as complicated as a game.

I try to reassure her over our bond. And explain the difference between playing for fun and professionally. I... think I get the general idea across, since Smoulder hops over to Josh and headbutts him gently a few times. But it's hard to tell. And the others play another game of Desh'mersa, but this time Smoulder just sits down to watch.

After ensuring Smoulder doesn't want to join us, Rufka and I hit the waves. We're taken out to our launch pod by a smaller Lord of the Deep. Or M'tari, as they explain, as only the city masters are actually Lords.

Rufka and I surf until after the sun has set, still riding the waves in as Ukila rises in the night sky. For a moment, as I'm cruising down the inside of the wave, I swear I see the glitter of distant light. And then it's gone.

Dismissing it, Rufka and I go out twice more, until the M'tari who was ferrying us out informs us they'll be taking a break until tomorrow. Deciding not to paddle out ourselves, since flying and most uses of magic are still prohibited, we return to shore in one final wave.

We find Kellica and Tipan playing a game of Astra's Stride when we come to shore, two other familiar forms sitting at a nearby campfire. Looks like Beth and Genitha are finally back.

With a nod, Rufka moves to join the game while I head towards the campfire.

"What, you didn't want us knowing you were back?" I ask as I sit down next to Beth. Wetly. There's something satisfying about the feel of ocean water. I don't think I could've enjoyed it so much if I didn't know I could clean it away in an instant.

"Didn't want to interrupt your fun, kid. Why are you so wet?" Beth asks, leaning away from me.

"Good night for it," I answer, leaning back to stare up at the sky, watching the thin wisps of clouds roll by. Faint flashes of colour are visible within, the tiniest bits of mana adding to the beauty of the night.

"We're gonna hit a Builder city tomorrow," Beth states, drawing me out of my sky-gazing. "Apparently the captain of our ship decided to get in a fight with a guard. It's not too serious, but they've delayed our departure for a day. And it'll probably be best if you're not out in public too much, given the recent announcement."

I'd almost successfully forgotten about the announcement. None of the K'tharn in Glimmering Sands even seem to notice me. When I look up, I see Genitha smiling in my direction. "Seems I owe you thanks. The council no longer has an excuse to pressure me to have more kittens."

"I... uhh, no problem," I reply while digging my toes into the sand.

"It's amazing how many of my friends have informed me of changes in their plans for the next couple decades," Genitha adds, her gaze looking down the beach. "I suspect the next couple years will be much busier than I've become accustomed to."

"Changes..." Beth grunts. "Nothing compared to what's gonna happen to Earth."

"Ah... yes. That is true. But that is part of your efforts tomorrow, is it not?"

"It is. And you're sure about... you know, the gift?"

"Yes. We'll give it to Tipan before you leave."

"Right. Guess that means I just need to..." Beth trails off, her gaze moving to where Josh, Rose and Roberts are building a tower using small bricks lifted into the air with nothing but wind. A sanctioned use of magic for the game in question. Not sure they could've played it at all without knocking the whole thing over a week ago.

Beth gets up, her quick strides carrying her to them quickly. After a short exchange, Roberts comes towards the campfire while Beth, Josh and Rose walk north.

Roberts sits down right where Beth was sitting, stretching his hands towards the fire. "I suspect that's a conversation that's long overdue," Roberts says without turning in the direction of the others.

"Probably," I agree as I finally choose to cleanse myself of the water, my eyes following them until they move over a small rise and disappear.

Before I can comment further, Smoulder lands on my lap, shortly followed by Rufka, Tipan and Kellica close behind, though luckily not choosing to lounge in my lap. Rufka complains about not getting a chance to play even as she snuggles into my side. Which prompts Genitha to tease her kitten.

I settle down, and once more, drift off to the soft sound of ocean waves and gently crackling flame, the thought of world changing announcements and Fallen refugees, blissfully far from my mind.