"So why can't I join a squad again?" Chris asked David after everything was over. The rest of the ceremony had gone as planned, Beth and Derek both joining Nefred's squad since the man seemed convinced that if he couldn't have Chris, having his best friend and girlfriend would be close enough. Plus, he did have a good squad, which was why David had initially approached him. Afterwards everyone was milling about, congratulating the recruits, getting pictures, socializing, all that crap Chris would very much like to stay away from. Hence why he had approached David for a private talk. Or at least, as private a talk as he could manage with Beth, Jo, and Dichonius hanging around. He was just thankful Derek had gone off to find his parents, as well as Penny and Thad, or who knew how many other people would have joined them.

"Do you think my apprentice isn't capable enough?" Jo asked, glaring at David as Dichonius suppressed a groan.

David gave her a weird look. "It's the opposite, actually. Chris is too capable. In any squad he joined, he'd make the rest redundant. Chris alone could perform the duties of multiple squads all on his own. He'd make the rest of them feel useless, because anything that they could do, Chris could do just as well, if not better."

Beth's eyes suddenly widened. That was it! That's why she felt relieved! The more Chris grew, the more it felt like she didn't have a place beside him. Beth hesitated. Actually, that wasn't quite it… she knew she had a place beside Chris. She knew she was important to him. What she was missing was that she didn't feel important outside of him. It was the fact that she'd brought Chris into her world, and he'd slowly taken over, becoming more significant than she could ever be, until she felt like she no longer had a place in her own life… It suddenly made sense why Chris made her so happy, yet she felt so miserable at times. It wasn't that she wasn't happy with Chris, it was that she wasn't happy with anything other than Chris. She needed space to grow outside of him.

Chris cocked his head. "I suppose that makes sense… but isn't the point of me being on a squad not to really do anything, but to be there in case someone gets hurt? I mean, I'm a healer and a support, not a fighter."

David frowned at him. "Chris, you have gone well beyond healing and support. With your subordinates, you are a one man army, and you should be treated as such. To do anything else would be an insult to you and your comrades. Your presence would be a constant reminder that the only reason they get to do anything is because you are holding back."

Chris frowned and Beth put a hand on his arm. "Chris, this is a good idea. I know you don't do it on purpose, but the amount of power you have makes everyone else feel… irrelevant."

Chris turned to her, a hint of concern breaking through in his gaze. "You?" He asked simply. She hesitated before giving him a short nod. He took a second to take that in, before nodding. "Okay. I won't join a squad."

"That wasn't an option, but I'm glad you agree." David rolled his eyes. That was the other reason he wouldn't put Chris in a squad. He'd ruin the chain of command because no one had any way to reasonably sanction him. Keeping him outside the normal command structure would be for the best.

"Then what do you want me to do?" Chris asked. "I mean, letting people into my world is pretty simple… I can't imagine it'd take up too much of my time."

"Ideally you would remain in reserve in case of emergency." David explained. "Ready to heal if necessary, or to assist a squad in taking care of any particularly… troublesome task."

Chris frowned. "That still doesn't give me much to actually do…"

"An unfortunate consequence of becoming as powerful as you have." David sighed. "Having you available is too important to tie you up with busy work. You may still help, but officially I cannot require you to."

"But… I have multiple selves?" Chris replied.

"That doesn't matter." Dichonius interjected. "Under the Worker Protection Act, those with multiple selves cannot be required to do more than any other employee, to ensure that they aren't abused and that those without such abilities aren't pushed out of their positions."

"Right." David nodded. "If I want you available, then I can't require you to do anything else." Chris clicked his tongue. That was annoying, though he could see why that had to be the case. If employers could pay one person to fill ten positions instead of ten, they'd definitely do it. That didn't help him though. "However, your time is still your own, and what you choose to do during that time is up to you. If you wish to make ability tools, repair unused equipment, or whatever else you find yourself interested in, no one is going to stop you." David added with a wink.

"Watch it, buster." Jo raised a warning finger. "If you try to take advantage of my s- apprentice, there will be consequences."

"Jo, I am not going to be taking advantage of my future son-in-law." David snorted, rolling his eyes. "I'm just saying that if he's looking to occupy himself, there are more than enough opportunities for him to do so."

Jo narrowed her eyes at him, before grunting and turning back to Chris. "Just to let you know, the Worker's Protection Act doesn't prevent you from seeking employment elsewhere as well. If you feel the need to occupy yourself, I'm sure I could find you an engaging project."

"Nothing too engaging, I hope. He is still my future son-in-law." David commented with a smirk.

Jo shot him a scathing look, but before she could respond, Dichonius interjected, changing the subject. "So, Chris, how goes your progress through the Maze?"

"Decent." Chris shrugged. "The main difficulty at the moment is simply finding the paths to the higher levels, since my subordinates are strong enough to handle pretty much anything they'd encounter on the lower levels. Once we go a bit higher though…" Chris sighed. "I guess I'm just not sure what to actually do with my subordinates, besides just throwing them at the Maze and seeing what happens. They're going to hit a limit in that department, since they can only get so strong, and after that… What do I do with them? The only reason I made them my subordinates was to help me climb the Maze, you know? I don't really have a use for them outside that."

"Due to my own self-interest, I'm inclined to urge you to focus on climbing the Maze, rather than busying yourself with something like this." Dichonius replied. "However… why not let them take up trades?"

Chris blinked. "Trades?"

Dichonius nodded. "Cooking, crafting, art, research, anything they wish to do, really. Something that would allow them to build on what your world already has."

Chris nodded slowly. That seemed simple enough. Of course, he'd need to train them first… could he do that through the Scouts? Or one of the City Universities? The image of a group of goblins attending classes with random college kids flashed through his mind and Chris smirked. No, that probably wouldn't work. Then again, if he wanted his subordinates to really learn, he'd probably just have them play the game. The game was definitely the best place to learn how to do something. Plus, he could have them- have them… Chris blinked a few times. Why the fuck was he not using his subordinates to figure out what was happening in the game?!? Literally… just a fuckton of reasons that would be a good idea. The only problem would be finding someplace with a reliable internet connection for all of them… he didn't think Anthony's house would have the bandwidth to support that many people simultaneously playing the game. "Okay, yeah, I think I can work with that."

"Chris! There you are!" Chris turned to see, much to his surprise, Mrs. Richardson rushing towards him and pulling him into a hug. "We were so worried about you! Are you okay?"

Chris awkwardly returned the hug. "Why would you be worried?" He asked, as confused by the concern as he was by her presence. Though, she was Derek's aunt… probably made sense for her to be here in that case.

Mrs. Richardson pulled back, giving him a weird look. "Chris, you were shot! In the head! Why wouldn't I be worried?!?"

"Oh, that?" Chris asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "That was nothing. That's how I wake up in the morning."

"It is." Beth nodded. "He just sits up, takes out a knife, and bam!" She pantomimed stabbing herself in the side of the head.

"Better than coffee." Chris nodded.

"Still, the fact that someone would try to kill you, no matter how fruitless the effort, is concerning." Dichonius muttered. "Also confusing… who would know enough about you to consider you a threat, but not enough to know that simply shooting you would be pointless?"

"Maybe it wasn't about him, but about his position." David offered. "What if someone was simply attempting to kill the Scouts top recruit?"

"A possibility… but why? Of all the targets available, why focus on the top recruit? What message would they be trying to send by doing so?" Dichonius wondered.

"What if they were trying to prove that they could?" Jo interjected. "To show that they had the ability to kill whoever they wanted?"

David shook his head. "It's possible, but then why would they shoot Chris again? They were definitely trying to kill him in particular, and clearly frustrated by the fact that they couldn't."

"Wouldn't that speak against your theory that they were simply going after the top recruit, as well?" Dichonius pointed out.

David hesitated. "Possibly… but again, anyone specifically going after Chris should have known it would be pointless! That aspect of his ability is a matter of public record at this point."

"My question is what are you people going to do to make sure this doesn't happen again?" Mrs. Richardson asked, glaring at the three of them, focusing on David more than the other two. "Someone under your care was almost killed today due to your negligence!"

David blinked at her, before turning to Chris. "Chris, who is this?"

"This is Mrs. Richardson." Chris introduced her. "She's the woman who ran the orphanage where I grew up. She's also Derek's aunt."

"I'm the woman who took care of him when no one else would." Mrs. Richardson stated defiantly, raising her chin slightly. Beth glanced at Jo just in time to see her flinch. That had to have stung. She just hoped-

"Essentially." Chris shrugged.

*Damn it, Chris!* Beth cursed internally as she watched Jo's expression sink.

"Ah, well, then let me assure you, Ma'am, that the Scout base is one of the most secure areas in the City. I do not know how someone managed to infiltrate, let alone how they managed to do it with a weapon, but our top personnel are doing their utmost to figure it out and make sure it will never happen again. You have my word." David replied seriously.

Mrs. Richardson blinked in surprise before nodding. "Well, that's good then." She then turned back to Chris. "I'm glad you're alright. Once you're ready, everyone would love to see you. We're all very proud of how far you've come."

Chris hesitated, but Beth quickly stepped in. "We're all done here, so we can go see them now!"

"Perfect!" Mrs. Richardson smiled. "They should be this way…" She added, beginning to lead them off into the crowd.

"They're over there, actually." Chris sighed. It looked like he wouldn't be able to avoid socializing after all.

"Jo, you should come too!" Beth added, turning towards her.

Jo jumped slightly. "Me? N-no, I'm- I'm just his teacher…"

"Right, you're his teacher! Everyone's going to want to know what it's like having Chris as a student." Beth insisted.

Mrs. Richardson nodded. "We would! We tried talking to that Sergeant Callista woman, but the moment we asked about Chris, she just scowled and walked off, muttering under her breath…"

"Yeah, she doesn't really like me." Chris nodded. "Not sure why."

Beth rolled her eyes. "It's a mystery." She commented blandly. "Now come on, you can tell everyone how you've managed to teach Chris without wanting to throttle him!" She grabbed Jo's arm and began pulling her along.

Chris obviously knew exactly where the others were, since they were still in his world, so he led them directly there. "There you are!" Penny exclaimed, stomping up to him as he pushed out of the crowd. "We've been looking for you everywhere!"

"I was talking with the Scout General about my new position." Chris explained. "I wanted to clear some things up… I was just as surprised as anyone else by the announcement."

"That's right, you're going to be the Scouts new training grounds?" Thad asked. "How does that work?"

"Basically I'm just going to be letting them use my world while remaining on hand for emergency situations." Chris explained with a shrug. He paused for a moment. "Basically, I'm side-lined until they need me."

"Oof, that's rough." Thad shook his head.

"Tell me about it!" Derek complained. "I signed up so I could be in the Scouts with this guy, and now he's being classified as a training asset?!? It's bullshit!"

Chris shook his head. "It's not so bad. I already had other projects I needed to focus on, so I guess it's nice to not have to bum around in the Maze doing busy work instead. It does kinda suck that I won't get to hang out with Beth and Derek all the time, but… it's probably for the best."

"Oh yeah, cause it's good for us not to have a walking bullshit factory with us in the Maze." Derek snorted.

"Exactly." Chris nodded.

Derek sighed. "Chris, I was being sarcastic."

"I know, but you were still right." Chris replied with a smirk.

Penny rolled her eyes, before turning to Beth. "Beth, congratulations to you too! I can't believe you were worried about not doing well. You got third!" She exclaimed, giving her a hug.

Beth flushed. "I just didn't think it was guaranteed." She muttered, somewhat embarrassed.

Thad narrowed his eyes at her. "Please tell me you aren't one of those people who always thinks they've failed a test, only to get the highest grade in the class."

Beth's flush deepened. "I never get the highest grade…"

Thad clicked his tongue. "Damn it! I was worried for you!"

"Thad, language." Mrs. Richardson chastised lightly.

Thad ducked his head. "Sorry, Ma'am."

Chris frowned. "Is damn a swear word?"

"If she says it is." Thad muttered back.

"A swear is not a word, it is a concept." Mrs. Richardson replied. "Using crap instead of shit doesn't change the emotion you are expressing, or make it any more constructive. You should not let yourself indulge in petty outbursts of emotion. Instead you should maintain a dignified bearing and make your points clearly and succinctly."

Chris cocked his head. "But swears are clear and succinct? I mean, if someone calmly explains that I'm pissing them off, I'll believe them, but I don't think it'd have any real impact. However, if someone tells me to fuck off, I'll know I've crossed a line and should immediately leave them alone. Well… unless they swear all the time. In which case, I'd treat it more like the first scenario." He paused to consider it for a moment. "I think swearing can be used as a powerful tool for emphasis, as long as you don't overapply it. Getting into the habit of swearing all the time will mean that when you are trying to emphasize a point, you'll have to say something worse, or your point won't be clear… and sometimes there isn't anywhere worse to go, and you're pretty much screwed."

"Ah, but letting yourself get to the point where you need to go to such lengths to make it clear how angry you are is a problem in itself." Mrs. Richardson retorted. "You should explain your position before it gets to the point where emphasis is needed."

"Sure, in a perfect world, but people are idiots and sometimes things go too far." Chris countered. "Like, for example, I found a tribe of kobolds who traditionally sacrifice one of their members alive once a year, and any time they're about to face a dangerous situation. I believe I am well within my rights to call that fucking evil and make sure they'll never do that shit again."

Mrs. Richardson paused to take that in, before nodding. "Touché. However, I believe that such instances are rare. Therefore, in general, cursing is wrong."

Chris shrugged. "That depends on what you view as unacceptable, which is different for everyone. Some people think it's morally reprehensible to not tip a waiter, no matter how good their service was, while others think it's wrong to tip someone for bad service. I think everyone has to draw their own line on what they're willing to tolerate. For some it's sacrificing people, for others it's cutting in line."

"Oh, I hate people who cut in line." Penny grumbled.

"Penny, not the point." Chris frowned at her, getting a tongue stuck out at him in return.

"Anyway…" Beth interjected. "...disregarding the morality of cursing, I would like to introduce you all to Chris's Coreforging teacher, Jo Vuntulla."

Penny whirled around, her tongue still sticking out slightly. "You're Jo Vuntulla?!? Of- of the Ascension Foundation?!?"

Jo nodded, smiling at her. "That's me! I take it you're a fan?"

"I- yes- you-" Penny stammered, flushing deeply, before letting out high-pitched noise and diving behind Thad.

"I think you broke her…" Thad muttered, trying to awkwardly pat her back as she buried her face into his, yelping as she kicked his ankle.

Penny made a quick waving motion towards Chris from behind Thad's back, getting him to come over before grabbing his collar and yanking him closer. "Why didn't you warn me!?!" She hissed.

Chris blinked at her. "Why is it such a big deal?"

"She's Jo Vuntulla! She pioneered the path for women in science! The amount she's accomplished… gah!" Penny squealed again, burying her face back in Thad's back.

"Okay… but so?" Chris asked, frowning slightly. He'd admit Jo was impressive, but why freak out about it? Or was this a him problem… he had to admit, he couldn't really see him freaking out over anything, especially not just because someone was famous. Besides, hadn't he warned her? He'd told her about his parents. Though… shit, he hadn't used names. How was she going to react when she figured that one out?

"Ugh, you just don't get it!" Penny grumbled.

"True." Chris nodded. "Now, come and say hi. You're being awkward."

"You-!" Penny began. Like he was one to talk! But… he did have a point. She gulped nervously, peeking out from behind Thad. Jo was making some small talk with Derek's parents, but she glanced over and gave Penny a small wave and a smile. Penny's stomach did a flip. *Come on, come on! You're better than this!* She chastised herself, before taking a deep breath and quickly stepping up to Jo. "HiMissVuntullamynameisPennyI'mabigfanofyourwork!" She spat out at lightning speed.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Penny!" Jo replied with a smile, obviously used to dealing with fans. "I'm always glad to meet future colleagues." She added with a wink.

Penny flushed. "I-I'm not- I mean I want to be a scientist, but- I'm not a genius or anything…" She trailed off sadly.

"I'm going to be honest with you." Jo leaned in conspiratorially. "Genius is overrated. Discoveries are rarely made because someone was simply smarter than everyone else. No, discoveries are made through hard work, perseverance, the willingness to try anything, and sheer dumb luck. The light bulb was invented because someone noticed certain metals would glow in certain conditions, and then tried literally every combination of factors to find the one that created the brightest glow. The truths of reality are all around us, but it doesn't take a brilliant mind to unearth them, it takes a dedicated mind."

"I think there's still a bit of brilliance in noticing that something is possible." Chris commented. "Or, I suppose, a bit of madness to look at something and think 'hey, I wonder what would happen if I did this?' I think I can agree that pure intelligence is kind of eh, but you at least need to be able to look at the world differently. To not just accept that things are the way they are and to ask yourself how they could be different. And then the intelligence comes in as you make sure that different is actually functional. Though, as you said, hard work, perseverance, and all that probably play a bigger role."

"For innovation, sure, but innovation isn't all there is to science." Jo countered. "For example, gravity. The question there isn't how it could be different, but why it isn't different. Why does this happen, instead of something else? Then you start making theories, which lead to experiments, which lead to more experiments until you reach the truth. No brilliant deductions, just hard work and perseverance."

"And then you find out you're still wrong because apparently relativity is a thing." Chris chuckled.

Jo blinked at him. "Relawhat now?"

"Relativity." Chris repeated. "It's basically the theory that everything is relative, which obviously, but it takes it to the next level of saying that actual events are relative. Like if you're moving and two things happen that would be simultaneous for a stationary person, but they appear not to be simultaneous to you, they actually aren't simultaneous. Or something like that. Like, that's why we can be on a planet flying millions of kilometers per hour through space, spinning at some ridiculous speed, and still feel like nothing is moving, and when we do experiments, we don't have to take into account the ridiculous speeds we're actually moving at. It's more important for things like space travel, since once you're off the planet, your frame of reference changes and now you suddenly have to take all that crap into account."

Jo just stared at him for a moment. "That is… interesting."

"Eh, kinda." Chris shrugged. "Not really that big a deal for us though, cause… well, we can't even get out of this damn hole, let alone get to space."

"Where did you learn something like that?" Mr. Veach asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"From Earth." Chris shrugged, before pausing as Jo's eyes widened. "Oh, right, that's supposed to be a secret… don't tell anyone about that, okay?"

Mr. Veach blinked at him for a moment, before letting out a short chuckle. "Ah, still the same Chris. And here I was worrying you might have gone and changed on us."

Mrs. Veach snickered as well. "Remember the time he spilled the beans that Derek was dating that Courtney girl?"

"I think he said the same thing then, too." Mr. Veach nodded with a smile.

"Wait, you're the one who told them that?!?" Derek exclaimed.

"I didn't mean to, it just slipped out." Chris defended himself.

"We'd gone out on one date!" Derek protested. "They insisted on meeting her!"

"To be fair, you two were hanging out all the time for like a month by that point." Chris retorted. "One official date, sure, but you were definitely more serious than that."

"We were taking things slow!" Derek countered.

"Were you taking things slow or were you too scared to commit?" Mrs. Veach raised an eyebrow at him. "No one is interested in someone who is too scared to truly pursue them. Or someone who doesn't consider them worth pursuing."

"It wasn't that, it was just- we were friends and we didn't want to risk that by trying to push for something we weren't ready for yet." Derek explained.

"Every relationship has an inherent risk to it. Trying to avoid it will only make the fallout worse." Mr. Veach sighed, shaking his head.

"I know that now, but we were in high school!" Derek complained. "We were young and dumb and we thought we were being smart…"

The conversation trailed off a bit, Mr. Veach reaching over to give his son a commiserating pat on the shoulder, until Penny turned to Jo and asked the question that had been bothering her for a while now. "How- how did you- why did you decide to teach Chris?" She asked.

Jo paused, considering the question. The obvious answer was why would she not teach her own son? But it wasn't like she could say that. "Well… to start, it was as a favor to David, giving Chris a simple introduction to the craft and showing him the path forward. However, it became apparent that Chris is… gifted. He learns quickly and he has both the skills and the ability necessary to reach the top of the field. I would be remiss if I didn't take the opportunity to nurture his talent."

Penny nodded. She knew Chris was smart, so that didn't surprise her. "I'm just surprised you would take the time. You must be so busy! How do you have the time to teach in addition to everything else you do?"

"My job is mostly to provide oversight, rather than to actually do anything. I am also lucky enough to employ some very competent people, which means I can comfortably leave them to their own devices while I see to my own projects, such as taking on a student." Jo explained.

"Or politics." Chris added.

"Or politics." Jo agreed with a smile.

"I guess that leads to the question everyone wants to know." Beth interjected. "What's it like having Chris as a student?"

Jo let out a breath. "It's- it's both a very satisfying experience, and a very frustrating one as well. It's satisfying in that he simply absorbs information. I never have to repeat myself and I can practically speed through the material. However, because he's just absorbing it, it's sometimes hard to tell if he's getting it. There's a level of feedback you expect from a student that Chris just doesn't give, and that can be very frustrating in the midst of a lesson because it feels like he's not actually paying attention."

Mrs. Richardson nodded, glancing at Chris. "Chris has always been a… muted individual. Sometimes it's hard to see what's really going on in there."

"That's why you just have to ask him." Beth commented, grabbing his hand and shooting him a smile. "He may not show a lot, but he'll tell you exactly how he feels."

Chris frowned. "Why wouldn't I?"

"See?" Beth grinned.

"Well, if it works for you…" Mrs. Veach murmured with a slight smile. It was still strange to see Chris… well, to see Chris. That he was not only still around, but succeeding in life. Before, he was like a child with a terminal disease. Someone to focus on spoiling and giving the best life they could while they were still around, because you knew it wouldn't be long. It was a good thing the boy didn't have a habit of getting in trouble, because she didn't think anyone would have had the heart to truly punish him. He was such a good boy, and it was nice to see him finding his path in life. In his own Chris way, of course.