The Advancement of Mateo Matic: September 21, 2565

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Things were awkward and tense on Ramosus, though it was no one’s fault. It wasn’t even Romana’s, though she definitely felt like it was. They were in a holding pattern. Ramses believed he had successfully cleared all the corruption in her by flushing her system of all foreign bodies, but they still weren’t going on missions, even though they received two pings from the alert system. They were all saying it was because they were burnt out, but they just wanted to stay and support Romana. Yet that was exactly what she didn’t want. She didn’t want to be coddled or protected, because it just made her feel worse. She clearly had other things on her mind anyway.

Romana was brushing off their concern. She seemed to be more worried about Boyd at this point, which was fine. Mateo would be fine. Ramses had a lot of data on who he really was, and what separated him from any data corruption. Boyd, on the other hand, was a threat—to them, and to himself. She wasn’t even allowed to talk to him.

Mateo was in her room now to check on her. “Hey. I’m not gonna ask you how you’re doing.” He coolly sat down on her bed next to her. “Instead I’ll say...what’s up?”

“We have already talked,” Romana said. “We do not need to go over it all again.”

“That’s why I asked that question,” he pointed out. “You decide on the topic.”

“I wanna talk about those outstanding pings,” Romana decided. “You should go.”

“I’m not leaving you,” Mateo insisted. “Before you say anything, I know you don’t need to be cared for like a little baby, but I think you need to be distracted, and it’s easier to do that if the distraction is being created and controlled by someone else. If you spend all day dwelling on what happened—even unintentionally—it will eat away at you. You run the risk of it becoming part of your personality. You don’t want that, do you?”

“Guilt and regret are facts of life,” she responded. “They serve a necessary function. They prevent future potential mistakes. I don’t wanna dwell, but I don’t wanna forget either. I’m going to spend the appropriate amount of time reflecting on it.”

“I respect that,” Mateo admitted. “And if you really don’t want to do something with me, like play a boardgame, I won’t force it. But I still need to be here as an option, not off on some colony, helping aliens decide where to plant their grapes, or whatever.”

“Someone should respond to the pings,” Romana reasoned. “It might not be the problem of low-stakes garden design. It could be really serious.”

“No, that’s the actual problem,” Mateo explained. “It’s a grape conflict. They don’t know which side of the river is the best, and don’t have time to observe the seasons.”

“Why would the system flag that?” Romana questioned. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Because the computer calculated a high probability of it leading to what will initially appear to be a compromise by planting on both sides. But this grape species is high maintenance, so they will have to live in two separate communities. Years from now, the computer thinks it will start a war. It has apparently run a lot of simulations.”

Romana was annoyed. “So you should go. Why are we arguing about this?”

“That could take decades,” Mateo dismissed. “They will still be there a few days from now. I’m staying here. Again, we don’t have to do anything, but I’m not leaving.”

She sighed. “Yes, you are.” She reached up and slapped the back of his neck.

It stung. He tried to pull it out, but whatever it was burrowed into his skin.

“Boyd helped me build that. You won’t be able to return to Ramosus until you’ve completed whatever task you went there to do. This is my decision as navigator.”

He teleported into the on-base slingdrive, which powered up on its own, and sent him away, along with Ramses and Angela. A second trip took the other three.

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The Advancement of Mateo Matic: September 20, 2564

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Time was weird in Romana’s simulation. Ramses and Leona worked the problem for the better part of three days before they were able to get Mateo and Boyd out of there. And they did get Boyd out of there too. They didn’t have a physical body for him to inhabit, since they didn’t know his wishes, but they moved his IDCode to a new server, and isolated him from Romana’s original system. They then ran a bunch of diagnostics on him, and medical tests on Mateo, to determine whether there were any lingering risks associated with them having been trapped in there.

Romana was devastated, but otherwise all right. Beyond her artificial implants, she wasn’t presenting any other signs or symptoms. She appeared to be physically and neurologically healthy. Still, Ramses extracted the implants, and flushed her of any dangerous foreign bodies. It was a relatively simple procedure, because it was one of the first things immersive VR researchers came up with, under the concern that something like this could happen. The only reason they didn’t do that earlier was because of her visitors. She was not saying much, save for apologizing profusely. It wasn’t her fault.

Mateo was pissed. Someone did this to her. It could not have simply happened incidentally. Glitches did happen, of course, but there was too much intent from the monsters. They were far too organized and driven. Of course, Mateo still didn’t know what they would have done if they had caught up to the humans, because they didn’t give them the chance, but they certainly weren’t trying to say hello, and they weren’t random. When he found whoever was responsible, they were gonna wish they had targeted someone else.

“That may not be what happened,” Leona said. “It may not have been an attack.”

“You didn’t see them,” Mateo argued. “They were absolutely relentless. Boyd and I literally had to keep running. Thank God I was able to shut off some of my bio-responses, or I would have grown too tired to make it.” He shook his head.

“The blobs,” Leona began. “Why did they chase after you at all? If they were a part of the system, why not simply materialize right in front of you. You didn’t actually run anywhere. You were only ones and zeros, as were the blobs themselves.”

“Exactly,” Mateo reasoned. “They weren’t a part of it. That’s how I know someone put them in there. It couldn’t have been your average file corruption, or whatever.”

“I have another hypothesis,” Ramses jumped in. “I think it could have been natural and unintentional. I think they were a part of her, but not the simulation.”

“What, like her antibodies, or her stress hormones?” Mateo questioned.

“Something like that,” Ramses went on. “Do you remember when Romana was abducted by the original Boyd? He placed her in a dark particle stasis field.”

“Yeah, it changed her,” Mateo said. “It made her just like him. That’s over now.”

“Perhaps not,” Ramses suggested. “I’m still detecting periodic neutrino collisions inside of her body, and in yours. It would be nothing to be worried about, it means your bodies can handle it. But it looks like her mind is being negatively impacted.”

“Well, she’s been dark particle-free for weeks, and nothing. What’s changed?”

Ramses frowned at Mateo sadly, but didn’t say anything. He looked nervous.

“Me,” Mateo surmised. “I visited her simulation. I have lingering dark particle-ness too.” He had to sit down. “I did this to her.”

“It’s not your fault either. It’s just nature,” Leona said comfortingly. “It could also be this star system. Different stars, different solar flux.”

“Fix this,” Mateo demanded. “Do whatever you have to do, even if it hurts.”

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The Advancement of Mateo Matic: September 19, 2563

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Monster might not have been the right word to use for them. They were amorphous blobs that shifted their shapes as they moved in unpredictable ways. They were mostly a navy blue, though hints of other colors randomly appear like twinkling stars. They had no faces and no limbs, but they were heading right for the trio. Mateo didn’t know if Romana and Boyd were as worried as he was, so he took his eyes off of the apparent attack to study their faces. They both looked just as surprised as they stood up from the picnic blanket, and tried to back away. This was evidently not normal.

There were more monsters behind them, coming from up the ridge, in the tree branches, and even from burrows in the ground. The landscape and foreground objects, like the picnic supplies, started flickering. The waterfall moved backwards, and then forwards at superspeed. It wasn’t just that there were monsters in this world. It was that the world itself was unstable. The simulation was clearly corrupted. They would have to take it out of Romana’s head. But first, they had to find a way out of it. Any amount of time could have passed in the real world for them. She was not in control anymore. Perhaps she never was.

“We have to get out of here,” Mateo pointed out as they were running through the one gap they found between the monsters. “You leave first, Romy. I’ll follow.”

“She can’t leave,” Boyd argued.

“I don’t know if you’re real or not,” Mateo said to him, “but if you love her like you’re supposed to, you’ll let her save herself. I don’t know where you could go, but—”

“No, it’s not that,” Boyd argued. “The nanites are in her brain and body. She can’t simply log out. Whatever is happening will still be happening, and could still be damaging her. But at least here, she can see what’s going on from the inside.”

“Our friends don’t necessarily know that something has gone wrong,” Mateo reasoned. “We have to leave so we can tell them, so they can solve it from their end.”

“You go,” Romana urged. “Tell Ram and mother. I will stay and maintain the link.”

Mateo stopped, and stopped her by the shoulder. They had covered some ground. “That doesn’t make sense. You need to be able to talk to them about what you’re feeling, and what you’re thinking. They need to be able to ask you questions. I will stay here.”

“Time is different when she’s not here,” Boyd explained. “I don’t have to wait a full year for her to come back, but I do spend some time alone, so I live more like a normal person, instead of a program that she just turns on and off. Whatever these things are...”

“They could be messing with that.” Mateo turned back to his daughter. “That’s why you need to go. Please. We’ll take care of each other. If he were the original Boyd, or if he’s not; it doesn’t matter. I don’t know how to test for that. I have to assume that he’s a conscious being, so I will fight for him like I would anyone else.” He waited. “Now go!”

Romana gave Boyd a hug and a kiss, and Mateo only a hug. Then she disappeared.

“Do you have any idea what these things are?” Mateo asked. “Can we fight them?”

“I wouldn’t know, but I wouldn’t try. They might kill you. Just by touch, they might genuinely destroy your IDCode, leaving your body an empty husk in base reality.”

The monsters were closing in on them again, so they started running off again. “Can we simply shift to a different environment?” Mateo asked. “Anywhere but here.”

Boyd extended his hand, then transported them away when Mateo took it, but no matter where they jumped, the blobs were always in the exact same place, relative to their positions. The blobs could pass through solid objects, so the only way to stay ahead of them was to run. The humans had to keep running for a week before rescue came.

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The Advancement of Mateo Matic: September 18, 2562

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They were kind of surprised to come back to the timestream in 2562 to find that there were no more hits on Ramses’ warning system. Well, there were few in the meantime, but they closed out by the time they returned. He specifically designed it to maintain some privacy. An invisible probe would spy on the colonists, and log what was happening to them, categorizing what might be an issue, then if necessary, send an alert back to homebase. It would not reveal what happened, or what they would be getting themselves into. If something changed about the situation, the probe would amend the status with a new report, which in many cases, would render the team moot. They knew there would be things they missed due to their patterns. That didn’t mean they wanted to gather exabytes of data on the lives of strangers. They were only here to help, and if there was nothing they could do, they didn’t need to know about it.

In his spare time, Ramses had figured out what went wrong with Romana’s sojourn in her private virtual environment before. She had set it up incorrectly, not reaching out for help when she needed it, because she wanted to keep it a secret. He assured them that it would not happen again. She was going to go back there when her father stopped her. “What? You don’t want me to see him? You think it’s unhealthy?”

“I’m not here to judge you,” Mateo promised. “We would like to meet him. For real, this time. Preferably when he’s fully clothed, but...again, I don’t wanna judge.”

“We’re not naturists,” Romana explained. “What do you want, a dinner?”

Mateo checked his watch. “Whatever meal you would have at whatever time it is in there. We’re flexible. I just want you to know that I love and I support you. I saw how Linwood Meyers’ eyes lit up when his companion bot walked into the room. I come from a different time, when that kind of relationship wasn’t possible. That doesn’t mean I should be closed off to the idea. Quite the opposite. I need to recognize my ignorance.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that,” Romana said. She looked over at Leona and Olimpia, who were planning to go in too, but hadn’t spoken up yet. “Maybe just one at a time, though. I don’t know if Boyd is conscious, but he is sensitive.”

“That’s okay,” Leona said with a smile. “You two go in alone. I have some work to do on our habitats anyway. Enjoy your dinner. Eat whatever you want. You can’t get fat.”

“Yeah, and I’m gonna...go eat something that might make me fat,” Olimpia added.

“I’ll still love you,” Mateo said. “All of you.” He kissed his wife, then his other wife.

Father and daughter entered the simulation. It didn’t look like Topeka anymore. It was just a peaceful jungle or forest, or whatever. A huge waterfall fell into the little pond before them, but the volume was turned down low, so it wasn’t a sensory overload. They were wearing casual summer clothes, and it was the ideal temperature here. They heard someone call Romana from behind. They turned around, and she smiled brightly.

“Boyd!” Romana cried back, waving. She ran up to him so they could kiss.

Boyd was noticeably uncomfortable with the PDA. “Is it okay?”

Romana looked back over at Mateo too. “It’s okay. He won’t bite.”

Mateo walked up to them. “I really won’t.” He offered his hand. “It’s nice to officially meet you,” Boyd Maestri. “I thought maybe we could share a meal.”

“I would very much like that, sir,” Boyd replied. “I had a picnic planned, but we can do something else. There is plenty of food either way.”

“A picnic sounds lovely,” Mateo said. “Lead the way.”

They went off to eat. It was awkward, but became less so over time. Then the monsters came.

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Microstory 2717: Not Living Safely

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Isavet’s trial is coming along swimmingly. Her parents try to fight for her, but the state adherent, Jericho Hagen is relentless. He argues that Isavet grew up in a simulated environment, where she was raised to believe that death was a matter of fact, and not a temporary setback. In fact, as she was born in there, she was never one of these transhumanists they talk about. Since she never consented to having her mind made immortal, she will die one day too. Since Isavet thought that destroying Mayumi and Talus the Elder’s bodies would result in permanent death, they categorize the crime as attempted murder. It’s all about intent; not outcome. The only question now is what to do with her, and this is where the delicate dance comes to a satisfying conclusion.

Isavet spent years formulating this plan. She knew what she wanted; she just didn’t always know how to achieve it. The way she has been acting is carefully designed to set her on the right path. They want her to be sad and remorseful, but she can’t do that. When she was with Caleb, she would periodically ask him questions about the justice system. She knows what happens if she asks to repent. They won’t send her where she needs to go. So she leans into the horror. She talks about how much she enjoyed it, and she warns the court that, if released, she will find a way to kill her victims permanently. She pretends that she didn’t know they would come back.

The two of them look terrified of her, even though they’re safe in their magical god bodies. It wasn’t entirely necessary for them to feel that way, but it’s a nice bonus. She does blame them at least partially for everything that happened to her family. According to Caleb’s teachings, there are two major lifestyles that sprung out of the medical advancements that created virtual immortality. Some people embrace it. Like him, they go on adventures just for the thrill of it. They want it to hurt. They want it to be scary. They want to feel alive. Isavet has respect for such people. They’re more like her, even though death is just as impermanent as it is for the second group. Others, like Mayumi and Talus the Elder, try to live safely. They focus on the abundance of life-giving resources, which the true Norsemen didn’t have. They don’t let themselves die, or even be scared. Their goal is continuity. Isavet doesn’t disrespect these people completely. She knows it’s a valid choice. But these two took it too far, and innocent people got hurt.

Caleb is actually here, having taken a sabbatical from his Viking life to support Isavet, and even argue on her behalf. Everyone argued on her behalf. Even Mayumi and Talus the Elder seemed sympathetic. But Caleb’s testimony was interesting, because he spoke more about her strength and spirit than about her kind heart. Her family said that he was hurting her case, but what they didn’t know is that he helped her more than anyone.

“Thank you, Caleb,” she tells him. “You are a good friend, and a great leader.” She steps over to face Vith. “Thank you, big brother. You are a strong fighter. But you’re more independent than you would like to admit. Stay in touch with the family, but you should find your own way. Perhaps leave this planet.” She steps over. “Take care of yourself kid.” She rubs Leif’s hair, mussing it up. “Don’t let anyone tell you who you are. Advocate for yourself and what you want to do with your life.” She steps over and sighs at her crying mother. “Mother. I’m sorry you lost two of your children. One day, you will have your revenge. I promise.”

“I don’t want revenge,” Gia argues.

“You will have it anyway.” Isavet steps over. “Thank you for everything you taught me, Father.”

Ronan opens his mouth, but can’t seem to bring himself to speak. That’s okay. He has already said everything he must. He will get his revenge on Isavet too, whether he wants it or not. She broke up the family just as much as Talus the Younger did, and she will pay for that. When she’s done.

Isavet turns around and walks back to the big chair in the center of the room. She stands in front of it calmly, and faces the adjudicator, flanked by the two arbitration panels. She was tried as an adult, so she got the full complement, unlike her brother before. She waits patiently for the adjudicator to go through the whole legal spiel.

Finally, it’s time for the sentencing. “For two counts of attempted murder, Isavet Truett, you are hereby sentenced to indefinite virtual quarantine, to be carried out on the Core World of Varkas Reflex.”

Isavet smiles. Her plan worked.

Microstory 2715: Leaning Forward and Ready to Leave

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It’s over. Well, the first part of Isavet’s plan is anyway. She has learned what she needed to, and she had a plausible reason to learn it. She was born under the Nordome Network, or whatever it is. It was her home. She was just following what the gamemakers set up for her. Had she left, started a life on the outside, and then tried to commit to this training, it would have looked suspicious. Or rather, it could have. She doesn’t actually know that, because she doesn’t know what life is like away from the Nordic nations. She is going to leave soon, but she has to find her family first.

Caleb takes her back, but she doesn’t let him follow her this time. Helping with her revenge efforts was noble and very nice of him. She appreciated it. But she is in no physical danger here. It is deeply personal. He respects her decision to end the simulation here. He gave her his contact information, so they can reconnect on the outside. He and his men are going to go back down south, and continue on with their ancient Norse ways. He doesn’t know when he’s going to leave, but it probably won’t be too long. You’re evidently supposed to stay for a lifetime, but you don’t have to, and it kind of feels like he’s grown bored of it. And he probably wants to connect with Isavet, though in other ways, and he can’t do that unless he’s on the outside too.

“Father,” Isavet says. She has finally found them. She has found Ronan at last. She doesn’t see anyone else here. “Where are mother, Vith, and Leif?”

“They’ve gone, my child,” her father says. He takes her into a big hug. “This is no place for a boy like Leif. I am here to invite you to come with us. Now, I’m sure you’re nervous, and you have every right to see this world as—”

“I want to leave,” she interrupts. “I completed my work, and I want to see what else is out there. I may be okay with the violence here, in a way that Leif never was, but it’s still not real. It was only catharsis. I needed to see it through, because that is how you raised me. But now I’m ready to see how you live. Take me out of here, father.”

He smiles proudly. “Okay,” Ronan says. “Let us head for the nearest exit.”

Isavet nods, and follows him as he walks off, not bothering to break down camp. “How did you know that I was back? Can you watch me on your cameras?”

“No, I’ve been here. That is why I told you where we would be.”

“What?” Isavet questions. He shouldn’t have stayed here, all this time. He had no idea how long she was going to take. It could have been years. That might not mean much to immortals like him, but she would have felt really, really bad about it, instead of just really bad. “I can’t believe you did that. Do you not miss your son?”

“I do, but you’re important to me too. What you said, needing to see this through? I respect that immensely. I do not have access to security cameras. I had to stay.”

Isavet frowns. Her guilt will remain at least another several months, she’s sure.

Ronan stops and bends down over a patch of grass. “I wish to officially declare my intention to leave the simulation. Please raise the lift for egress.” The ground parts for him. A block of it ascends from the ground. A door opens leading to a small room. “It’s okay, Isavet. This will take us to our new home. Our family awaits.”

She trusts him. Isavet steps in first, followed by Ronan. The doors close on their own. The chirpings of a bird she is not familiar with soothe her as the walls and floor shake. She’s not scared, though. This is what is meant to happen. After a few minutes, this lift object stops. The doors reopen. The first thing she sees is a computer.

Microstory 2710: She Will Learn

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Isavet has left her home. She lived there for over half her life, but it was constantly under attack, and it never felt safe. It has had consequences for her mind and soul. She is angry, and she knows this about herself. In this world, might makes right. If you own something, and you can keep it away from anyone else, it belongs to you rightly. Everyone else feels the same way, and likes to test those principles. Instead of making a life for themselves, they take from others. Isavet isn’t angry at the world for working that way. She knows that she could even leave if she wants to. But that doesn’t mean she’s going to let it go. Okay, so they were more mighty today. But what about tomorrow? She has gone away from her family in the pursuit of revenge for the clan that burned her home down. She told her father that she would return to them some day, but she could not have genuinely promised that. In all likelihood, she is marching towards her death. She is fully prepared for that, but she’s gonna take those men down with her.

In this culture, women typically do not fight. They do not go a-viking. But it is not entirely prohibited. If Isavet proves her mettle, others will accept her. She will have to train five times as hard, and she will always be looked down upon, but she is not going to let that stop her. In fact, she is going to use her status, and their perception of her, to her advantage. Everyone will probably underestimate her, and that is totally fine with her, because once their blood meets her blade, it will taste just as sweet upon her tongue. She knows that none of them is actually a real person. She doesn’t wholly understand it, but she doesn’t need to. These are the circumstances under which she was born. She will fight as they fight against her. That is their way.

Her father, Ronan wanted her to go to the city, find a particular blacksmith, and ask him to train her. He says that she can trust no one else, but he is not right about that. The truth is that she can trust no one at all. She can’t trust the stranger, or even her family, because they wouldn’t understand. They let her go. They gave her their blessings, but they would never do something like this. That is the lesson that she is trying to teach herself as she walks down the road. Her mother and father gave her everything she needed up until this point. But now she needs to figure out her own future. She can’t do that around them. She can’t do it around him. He was a great father to her, and she loves him dearly, but he’s too soft. He still sees this as nothing more than a game. It’s not his fault. He’s only spent a fraction of his life here. Isavet has known nothing else. It is all very real to her. One day, she will leave this so-called dome, but that day is not today.

She walked in the general direction of the town, but once she was sure that no one was following her, Isavet veered off. It would be just like her older brother, Vith, to track her in an attempt to protect her, be it at their parents’ direction, or on his own. She has grown accustomed to knowing when he’s around, however, so she is confident that they respected her wishes to do this alone. She is going to miss her little brother, Leif, most of all. She feels like a second mother to him. He needed it, on these dangerous lands. He doesn’t need her anymore, though. He’s growing up, and they’re headed for a safer region of Danmörk. He was not built for this kind of life. That is exactly why she is risking everything. She wants to make it safer, should they choose to stay, which they probably won’t. She thinks she is where she needs to be now. There’s an encampment of mercenaries up ahead. They won’t be very nice, but she will make them help her. She just needs to hurt one of them first.

Microstory 2709: A Map and a Name

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This place turned out to be a dangerous one. It was perfectly fine in the beginning, but it seemed that the Custodians wanted to take this time to remind the family that there is no such thing as safety. The first few years were peaceful, which lulled them into a false sense of security. For the last seven years after that, however, they faced raid after raid from rival Danes who wanted what they had. Ronan couldn’t leave. He had to stay and protect their land. They considered picking up their door, and moving everyone again, but that wasn’t what a true Norseman would do. He would stay and fight. He always thought he would eventually go off a-viking and seek out the battle, but he clearly didn’t have to. It always found them. He didn’t usually know if he and Vith were fighting other players, or NPCs, but it didn’t matter. Their responsibility remained the same: defend the home, protect the girls and the child.

Leif is ten years old now, which is older than Talus was when he started showing signs of an antisocial disorder. Leif is a completely different kid, just as Gia promised. He is gentle and thoughtful. He eats meat, because he has to, but he doesn’t go on hunts. Ronan found him with a rabbit once, which gave him a powerful flashback to that day with Talus, but Leif wasn’t hurting it. He was holding it on its back like a baby, and petting its neck and chest. It made Ronan wonder whether this was the right world for him. Was he simply not built for it? Did he deserve to try something more his speed, like Raindome? Or maybe something else with a lot of animals, like Canopydome? It doesn’t have to be on Castlebourne either. They could take him to Earth, or one of the other colonies. They just didn’t know. It has been hard to explain to him that none of this is real. They no longer have the flexible display to illustrate the technology that they’re missing here. He might have to see it for himself so he can make a decision.

Isavet is not like Talus or Leif. She grew up to be a fierce girl, who looks just like her mother, but acts just like Ronan, specifically when he’s fighting the raiders. Over the years, she has talked about seeking revenge against their attackers. Ronan and Gia wouldn’t let her go; not because she was a girl, but because she was too young. They always said, though, when she came of age, if she wanted to go a-viking, they would let her. Has that day finally arrived? Was this the last straw? Even Ronan is feeling legitimately angry about it, and he better understands just how contrived this world is. That’s a funny word to use for it, though, when you’re standing before your own house as it’s burning down, including the door that you fought to protect for so many years.

Everyone is angry, except for young Leif. He never got attached to the house. He prefers unsettled nature anyway. But Isavet is on a whole other level. She stands with the flames to her back as the wood crackles and crumbles to the ground. She tenses up and screams her head off. She knows this is a simulation. She knows that no one genuinely holds anything against her. But she’s fully engaged. She holds nothing back. Life is really black and white for her, and motivation doesn’t matter. She had a house, she had a door, and now she has neither. She’s going to get revenge now, whether her parents help or not. This is happening. So Ronan and Gia better get on board.

The next day, after the fires have died down, and the ruins are now only smoldering, Ronan hands Isavet a pack of supplies. “You’re an adult now, girl. I don’t want you running off, looking for trouble. You are not ready. Your anger alone will not get you through this. You will train first. You will seek help. I can no longer leave. I must stay with your brothers and mother. If you want this, you need to do it right. In there is a map to the nearest city, and a name. Stay away from the mercenary camps. They will not help you. They will take more than they give. We have a blacksmith friend in Hedeby who will teach you what you need to know. I had intended to go to him myself, but never got the chance. If you give him my name, he will give you a room and lessons.”

“Thank you, father,” Isavet says. “I will find you when I can. Unless I die, but it will be a noble death. I promise you that.”

“We’re headed farther north,” Ronan explains, “to the tip of Danmörk. The seas are rougher. It will be a tougher daily life, but it’s remote, and raiders will have little reason to attack. We will rebuild.” He looks around, in case anyone is watching, which is ridiculous, because they’re pretty remote already. The raiders won’t return to claim their spoils until later. “It’s near the wall. You always wanted to see it. You can there. That is incentive to return to us.”

“Okay, father. Goodbye.”

Extremus: Year 130

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As angry as Audrey is at Silveon for forcing her through the Nexus, she lets go of it pretty quickly when she meets her daughter. Silvia Husk is 28 years old now, and she feels so grateful for this incredible opportunity. Her alternate self has done a great job of raising a productive and well-rounded individual. One thing that Extremus!Audrey—as they have decided to call her to distinguish her from Green!Audrey—was worried about, was how Silvia would handle this situation. Audrey herself would be a little freaked out in her shoes. It would be weird for her to suddenly have two mothers, but Silvia hasn’t been struggling at all. It sounds like she had quite the happy childhood, and has grown up into a beautiful, confident young woman. Extremus!Audrey is sad that she missed it all. But at least they have this time now.

Today, Silvia wants to show Extremus!Audrey something. Green!Audrey isn’t coming. It’s unclear if that’s because she’s already seen it, or if it’s something that will only be between the two of them. “This is only between us,” Silvia says, answering the question right away. She unlocks a safe under her bed and pulls out a teleporter band. “This is off the grid. It’s scary to use, because it relies on line-of-sight, and where we’re going, we can’t see it from here. We’re gonna have to jump to the sky a few times before landing where we wanna be, but I promise, it will be worth it.”

Audrey smiles at her precious daughter. “I trust you.” She’s never been in the sky before. She’s hardly spent any time outside her whole life. She sleeps under the stars nearly every night, even if that means teleporting to the other side of Verdemus for the right weather conditions. The immersion holograms really don’t do it justice. Nothing beats true nature. And that must be where they’re going now, because if it’s off the grid, it’s not going to be a clone factory, or a space elevator station. Plus, she said to wear her swimsuit underneath her clothes. She lets Audrey bound their wrists with a tether so if they die, they die together, and then they jump away.

They immediately start to fall. Audrey doesn’t know where to look, but that’s not her job. She smiles over at her girl, who is enjoying herself a little too much. Before they get anywhere close to Splat City, though, she looks over and jumps them back up to a higher altitude, but at a different longitude. They do that a couple more times before reaching their real target, and man is it a close call. They’re standing at the very edge of an island cliff. If Audrey were to take one step back, she would pull them over. And they could really get hurt before Silvia managed to jump them to safety again. She steps forward a few meters, then undoes the tether herself. “This is beautiful.”

“It’s an island. Pretty small, comparatively speaking. It’s basically just a tall-ass rock in the middle of the ocean. The satellites have mapped it, of course, but it’s entirely untouched. As far as I know, I’m the only person who has ever been here. I actually love to freefall. It’s one of my favorite things to do. That’s how I ended up finding this place, just from flying all over the world.

“That’s really cool, Silvy,” Audrey says sincerely. “I’m so thankful for our time together. I wish I had been able to raise you.”

Silvia begins to tear up. “There’s something else I never told my mother. And I wouldn’t tell you, but I think you have the right to know.”

“You can tell me anything,” Audrey promises. “And you can tell her too.”

Silvia fights through the tears. “I’m more like my father than I would like to admit. I’m not a tyrant, or anything, but I inherited something from him.”

“You’re psychic.”

“Only in one very weird sort of way,” Silvia goes on. “I can’t...read people’s thoughts like grandma, or feel their emotions like dad. It’s more like I see the timeline of their thoughts. I can see where their consciousness began, and...” She trails off.

“You can see where it is.”

“Yes. I know when people are going to die.”

Audrey nods somberly. “I was gonna potentially live forever. There’s this thing we have on the Extremus—”

“The Question, I know it. Mother has trusted me with a lot of secret information. She said she never considered not telling me the truth. It must have been hard for you, having to stay with my father for so long. Mother thought he might get worse over time.”

“He did, but I still hold out hope. I think maybe this was the best thing for him, and the ship. I think maybe my presence was just getting in the way, or really, that it was no longer helping. My chapter there is over, and from the way you’re sobbing, I’m guessing that this isn’t the start of a new chapter, but more of an epilogue.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry you won’t get to see the Extremus planet.”

Audrey looks back out at the grandeur. “I did. This is what the mission was for. It doesn’t matter how far from the Core Worlds we traveled. That was never what we were truly looking for. I have no regrets, not even your father. He gave me you, if only for a year.”

“If it helps, I’m not sure if this truly spells the end. There’s something weird about the consciousness stream. It does end, but then... Then there’s something else. Like, a locked door that I can’t see past. Maybe there’s an afterlife. A true one, beyond the buffer.”

“Maybe,” Audrey agrees.

“Well.” Silvia wipes the tears from her face. “The good news is, you’re not in any danger. You literally can’t die today. If you want, I can tell you exactly when—”

“No, I’m fine with a little bit of mystery. I don’t need to know everything, but it’s nice to know we at least have the day.”

“Yeah. So. How about it?”

“How about what?” Audrey asks.

Silvia shakes her eyes towards the edge of the cliff. “Let’s go. I’ve done it many times myself. I assure you, it’s perfectly safe, as long as you clear about a meter from the edge.”

“Oh, is that it?” What a ridiculous suggestion.

“I told you, you can’t die.”

“And what about you? Can you see the end of your own stream?”

“No, but I don’t want to live my life cowering in the corner.”

Audrey considers the proposition. She definitely believes Silvia when she says that she won’t die, but that won’t make it any easier. It won’t make it any less scary. But she doesn’t want to be fearful either. She frowns, trying to make it seem like she’s gonna say no, but then she turns it upside down and pulls her shirt off. “Well, come on! If we’re gonna do it, let’s not waste time!”

Mother and daughter hold each other by the waist, and stand on the very edge again, but this time overlooking the water, smiling at each other. Without counting down or speaking, they turn towards the unknown, and jump off.

Audrey dies about a year later, just in time to make it to the big afterlife simulation in the sky before it apparently collapses.

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Extremus: Year 129

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Audrey Husk is sitting in hock. Yes, that’s right, that’s what she’s calling it. That’s what everyone calls it. No one uses the new terminology that Waldemar instituted, except to his face. It’s a new problem in this timeline. He didn’t do that before, because he didn’t have anyone trying to steer him in a different direction. The language policing was a way to exert his control when more destructive ways were off limits to him. Those barriers are breaking down, though. Audrey and Silveon’s hold over him has been slowly eroding, and his true nature is coming out. They didn’t want to believe it. They wanted to believe that anyone could be a positively contributing member of society, no matter their brain chemistry. But she is beginning to doubt that. She has to, because if she maintains her philosophy of seeing the good in everyone then it means the reason their plan didn’t work was either because they had a bad plan, or they didn’t execute it well.

Either way, it’s over now. She’s done fighting. Or rather, she’s done not fighting, because this subtle psychic driving bullshit is not working. Out of all the contingencies they came up with, none of them involved being an outspoken detractor or enemy. They thought he needed to be finessed. But that just encourages him. Everything they’ve done has encouraged him. She’s glad she’s in here now. It has given her multiple chances to give him a piece of her mind without fear of repercussions. She’s already at the lowest point in her life. The only place to go from here, other than up, is death. She doesn’t welcome it, but at least she won’t actually die. She’ll spend some time in the buffer, then she’ll answer yes to the question, and wait on ice for ninety to a hundred years. When she gets back, Waldemar’s reign will be over. He may have revived too by then, but he will have gone down in history as a terrible captain, so she won’t be alone anymore. That’s the future she wants to see. She might prefer it. She may go that route anyway.

 Silveon walks casually into her cell like he’s just come home from work.

“What are you doing here?” Audrey questions. “You are going to get caught.”

“Master codes, remember?” Silveon reminds her. “I didn’t only unlock the doors. I also took care of the security system.” He holds his hand out towards her.

“What are you doing? What is that? You want me to go with you? Where would we go? We’re on a ship, there is no escape. That’s why I didn’t use the master codes to break out last year. You think I didn’t memorize what I needed just in case?”

“I think you told me you had a plan, and I’ve been waiting for you to fulfill it, but you’ve not done a single thing, so now we’re doing it my way. Let’s go,” he insists.

Audrey shakes her head, and turns her body away from his offering hand. “No. I have been moving forward with my plan. I’ve been arguing with Waldemar. I don’t mean I’ve been trying to get him to see the light. I’ve been calling him an asshole, and a tyrant, and really letting him have it. Don’t worry, I didn’t tell him about you, or say anything about the future. I just acted like a bitter ex-wife, which is basically what I am.”

“Aud. You’re going to die in here. You’re going to die in hock, and there was another way. Let me send you to Verdemus. He will never find out. You can even—”

“Don’t say it.” Audrey closes her eyes and breathes. “Don’t...don’t even say her name. She is being cared for, and I can’t leave. Please respect my wishes.”

Silveon agrees and leaves, but then he comes back when she’s sleeping, knocks her out with a drug, and drags her to the mini-Nexus in Admiral Hall. She will never forgive him for this violation.

She wakes up on the green grass outside. Green!Audrey is the one who helps her wake up. “Welcome home. Would you like to meet your daughter, Silvia?”

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The Advancement of Mateo Matic: September 4, 2548

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Echo Cloudbearer explained his mysterious origins to the team, giving a brief overview of his life. When Olimpia screamed to create the Sixth Key parallel reality, she also created him as a conscious component. The theory was that the DNA in the saliva that came out during her scream somehow rearranged itself, and gave birth to a new living being. Exactly why this being wasn’t a perfect clone of Olimpia herself was the least insane unanswered question about this whole thing. As a lone entity in the center of reality, Echo had to raise himself, absorbing random psychic energy from everywhere in the galaxy to even grasp the concept of survival. His mind conjured memories that were not his own, or maybe not even real at all, to explain to himself where he had come from. Years later, members of the Rock peace talks spontaneously sprouted from a magical tree, headed by an antagonistic godlike woman named Clavia.

Clavia wanted to use Echo’s powers for nefarious purposes, so he regressed her to a childlike state, with no memory of her past. To protect the future, he had to do the same to himself. The two of them were raised as siblings by the Sixth Key leadership, and eventually ascended to power themselves. They used their reality-warping abilities to create another universe called The Eighth Choice. The Reality Wars had been subverted, hopefully forever. There was now more than enough room, and enough resources, for everyone.

After the rundown, Olimpia and Echo stepped away alone with each other to have a more private conversation, though they could still be seen. They were all kind of watching the two of them, but Ramses was paying especially close attention. Mateo walked over to him. “Are you worried for her? Do you think this Echo guy is lying?”

“If he’s gonna try to hurt her, we’ll be here to stop him,” Ramses said. “That’s not what is on my mind, though.”

“What are you thinking about then?” Mateo asked.

“He looks Sri Lankan, right?” Ramses asked.

Mateo nodded. “I would say he does. I don’t understand how he was...created, but he looks like he could be her son.”

Ramses nodded. “Do you think he perhaps...could also be something else?”

“Something else, like...a vampire?” Mateo had no idea what he was driving at.

“No. I mean...” He shook his head. “God, maybe I shouldn’t say it. It’s nuts. But then again...I was there. I wasn’t there when she created the Sixth Key with her scream, but I was there just before she did it.”

“Wait. Are you saying you think he looks Egyptian?”

“I....maybe.”

Mateo tilted his head as he was looking at the mother and son. His resemblance to his supposed mother was undeniable. Echo was definitely Sri Lankan, even if that meant he bioprinted a fake body just to sell a con. But he could be half Egyptian. That was harder to see, but absolutely not impossible. “Well, you have a DNA testing kit in your lab, don’t you?” he figured.

“Yeah, but he would have to consent to it.”

“Why don’t you ask him?” Mateo encouraged. “We don’t have to do the thing where we give him a cup of water, and then steal the cup, or pull a hair out from his head. He might not be trying to hide the truth about you from us. He may not know. Like you said, if you left before she made the Sixth Key—and him—Echo might not have any reason to suspect a connection. If your hypothesis is true, we would have to figure out how your DNA ended up there.”

“Well, I did give her a hug while she was trapped in the proto-Sixth Key,” Ramses explained. “We couldn’t actually touch each other at the time, but I guess if you can make a baby without having sex, it turning out that the dimensional barrier separating the mother from the father was semi-permeable—allowing a second sample of DNA to pass through—isn’t any harder to believe.”

“Why don’t you go get that kit, and then let’s have an open conversation?”

Ramses knew that there was no point in wasting time. He jumped into his pocket dimension lab, found what he was looking for, and returned. Only Mateo went with him up to the mother and son. The rest didn’t know what was going on, though they might have spotted the scanner, and guessed. Or guessed part of it.

Echo’s eyes darted down to the scanner as Ramses approached. “You want proof.”

“I don’t think it’s too much to ask. It will barely hurt.”

Echo chuckled. “Pain isn’t a problem. But my origins are bizarre, as you heard. I’m not sure what that test will say. I’m not a Boltzmann brain, but I’m not a normal person either.”

Ramses shook the scanner gently. “I designed this myself. It accounts for temporal anomalies, and looks for signatures of cloning or bioprinting. It will tell us if this body is her genetic son. Even if you’re an evil psychopathic killer who stole her DNA to infiltrate our team, it will know if it’s even worth trusting you in the short-term.”

“I understand why you need this. I have no problem with it.” Echo made a fist, and presented his arm. He didn’t flinch when Ramses placed the top of the scanner against his skin, and pierced it with a tiny little needle.

Ramses then did the same for Olimpia, but against the side of the scanner. He made a fist and lifted his own arm up. “I have a hypothesis. I don’t know if you know the answer to this question, or if you had even considered it, but this machine is designed to capture both parents, and a child. That’s why there are three needles.” He placed it against his arm, but didn’t prick himself yet. “Do you see why I feel like I should be doing this?”

Echo narrowed his eyes and studied Ramses’ face. He looked over at the woman he was certain was his mother, then back to Ramses. “I see it. If it’s true, I want you to know that I didn’t consider it. I never thought much about whether or not I had a father, and it did not occur to me that it might be you. But you should also know that if that comes back positive, I’ll be twice as happy as I was when Olimpia finally showed up.”

“Okay.” Ramses pierced his own skin, and captured the final blood sample. The results came in within seconds. After interpreting the data alone, he showed them both the screen. “Mother, father, and offspring. It’s struggling with your sex, but leaning masculine. If you didn’t know before, you are intersex in a way that does not exist in the natural world. Your sex appears to be rather fluid, in fact.”

Echo nodded. “That is not surprising.” He took a deep breath, then let his body transform. In only moments, he had fully transitioned into a more feminine form. “My pronouns are whatever you feel like. I spent most of my childhood masculine, but I have taken this form from time to time.” She pulled her shirt collar away from her body, and looked down, widening her eyes at the sight. “It’s been a long time, though.”

“You get those from me,” Olimpia told her daughter.

Ramses looked at his scanner again. “Hm. Fascinating.”

“What is it?” Mateo asked him.

Ramses looked back up at his daughter. “The sample you gave me, it’s leaning more genetically female now. You didn’t simply transition yourself. You changed blood that wasn’t even in your body anymore.”

Echo shrugged. “It’s still a part of me.”

Ramses sighed, and dropped his arms.

“Wait, what just happened?” Mateo questioned. “That sounds cool, why are you upset now?”

“Oh, shit,” Echo began. “That means I could be lying entirely. I could be some untrustworthy shapeshifter.”

“I don’t believe that,” Olimpia promised, entangling her daughter’s arm in hers. She looked over at Ramses. “We still don’t understand how this is possible, but I’m choosing to believe that it’s real. Rambo, you can think what you want, but we have met more good people in this universe than bad ones. The odds are in our favor.”

Ramses exhaled before wrapping his arm around Echo’s shoulders to bring her into a hug. “I choose to believe as well.”

Echo went back to his masculine form as the four of them were returning to the rest of the team to explain the most recent news. Then all eight of them walked back up to the reality portal, and slipped back over to the main sequence version of this planet. Echo didn’t know what he was going to do at the end of the team’s day in the timestream, but he was going to stick around at least until then. Romana knew of a perfect spot for a picnic, having spotted it during her surveys. While they were eating, Echo gave them some more details about his life. They were less factual, and more personal. The team talked about the things they had been up to as well, but he had kept up with their dealings, so there was little that he didn’t already know about.

While they were in the middle of dessert, a woman walked up to them. None of them had seen her appear, but Echo’s face fell when he noticed her. He tried to cover up his emotions. “Sister,” he said, standing up. He wrapped his arm around her waist. “Everyone, this is Clavia...what’s left of her, anyway. I told you, it was complicated.”

They all stood up respectfully. “It’s nice to meet you,” Olimpia said, trying to shake Clavia’s hand.

Clavia didn’t accept right away. “You didn’t tell them?” she asked Echo.

“I was trying to have a nice time with my family,” Echo argued.

“Nice to meet you too,” Clavia finally said, taking Olimpia’s hand.

Ramses pushed himself forward. “What is this?” He pulled Olimpia back a little in case he needed to protect her. “You really are evil, aren’t you? This was some kind of terrible plan?”

“It’s not a terrible plan,” Echo defended. “I’m not evil. But I was sent here. I really am your son. I have not changed my DNA in any way, but the person I work for needs something, and realized my connection, so we decided to use it to our advantage.”

Off with the sundresses and casual picnic clothes. The team armored up, and prepared to fight.

“That is not necessary,” Clavia contended. “You are friends with this person. One of you has already promised to help them. It has just taken this long from your perspective for them to collect. We are cognizant of present and future events in this universe. We are taking you out of this brane at this particular juncture because we know that doing so will not cause problems. The rest of the team will remain here to build a home. Once you’re done, you’ll reunite.”

“You’re being so vague,” Mateo argued. “Who are you talking about? Who made the promise, and who did they make it to?”

“Leona?” Echo said simply.

“Me?” Leona questioned. “I don’t remember making any sort of promise.”

“Senona Riggur,” Clavia clarified, “at Origin. You said you would help them fulfill other people’s wishes.”

“Oh, right,” Leona recalled. “I did say that, and it was a very long time ago for me.” She looked amongst her friends. “They’re right, I have to go.”

“I’m going with you,” Mateo insisted.

“So am I,” Olimpia added.

“Mother, you can, and I was hoping you would say that,” Echo began. “Uncle Mateo, you can’t.”

“That’s not true,” Clavia said to him.

“I really wanna spend more time with both,” Echo snapped back in a whisper.

“Share with the class,” Mateo urged.

Echo sighed. “Only two of you besides Aunt Leona can come. If it’s Mateo then it either can’t be Olimpia or Ramses. I have a personal stake in which two it is.”

“How long will they be gone?” Angela questioned.

“Interversal travel is complicated,” Clavia said. “Based on your patterns, it would be a matter of days. Whoever goes will experience years of service, but we will not be able to return them to a few minutes from now.”

“I have to stay here,” Ramses said sadly. “The two smart people can’t separate themselves from everyone else. We realized that a long time ago.”

“I’ll take care of the dummies,” Clavia revealed. “Your tech isn’t that hard. I’m smarter than all of you combined, including Echo.”

“Debatable,” Echo said.

They continued to discuss the plan, running through a few contradictory scenarios, but only one made sense. In the end, Ramses and Olimpia chose to aid Leona in her duties, along with Echo. The ladies said their goodbyes to their husband, and everyone else. Then they returned to the Sixth Key, where a Nexus would evidently be waiting for them.

“That’s a good idea,” Marie determined. “Are there schematics for a Nexus in Ramses’ forge core? That should be the first thing we build.”

“All in favor, say aye,” Mateo prompted.

“Aye.”

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