WSP 053

  The Spirit of Suspicion

  In the North, in the city of Scarlet’s Knee, the Council of Shimvale met.

  It was the usual chambers, at the usual time, with a shockingly small amount of political drama occurring in the nation at large that week. No riots, no protests, no dramatic changes in law.

  The only major event was that it was the first meeting since Kaykayzee Ziggurat had returned from her mysterious outing, so the council members were expecting yet another report on whatever foreign activities her spies had found interesting. Possibly something to do with Kroan, but that was generally a safe bet considering how obsessed Kayz could get.

  In all honesty, most of them were annoyed she was back. They vastly preferred it when her angry attitude wasn’t plastered over everything they had to deal with.

  When she started her report, only Vi was really listening, and she always listened. Fr’ll was trying to figure out the best way to organize crop supply chains into the northern settlements. Noran was mentally working on the beginnings of a proposal to use Skyseeds from Kroan to deliver messages quickly, as they were regularly weeks behind current happenings. Crimkle was internally panicking, as always, wondering who suspected her of allegiance to Benefactor.

  All of these concerns slowly fell to the wayside as the weight of Kayz’ words sank in.

  The Rigid Plague was no more.

  The entity that made it was entirely nonmagical.

  There was a secret society that guided the fate of the world.

  Kroan had access to weapons of mass destruction sourced from the moon.

  Negotiations between Kroan and the society had fallen through.

  “...I understand that you may doubt what I say,” Kayz said in the end, hardly looking up from the ground. “You can confirm much of it with my secretary, who you know will have no hesitation in maligning my name should it come to it. The others with me can also corroborate parts of it. Princess Via will likely confirm most of it if you ask.” With a deep breath, Kayz looked up and gave all four of the other council members a long, hard look. “They could destroy us if they wanted. Kroan. Mikarol. Sandy’s society. We would not have been able to face the Rigid Plague. There would be nothing we could do if they set their minds to it.” With that, she hung her head and sat back down.

  There was silence in the council chambers.

  “...Confirmation will be sought,” Noran said. “But I believe I speak for everyone when I say your defeatist attitude… is confirmation enough.”

  “This can’t stand,” Fr’ll said, tentacles shivering violently. “Such a threat cannot be tolerated!”

  “Such a threat has always existed, we just didn’t know,” Noran said. “This… ‘Sandy’ has been manipulating things since before the founding of Shimvale. Before the founding of Kroan.”

  “She must be stopped!”

  “How? Kroan knows more than we do and has far more reason to retaliate, clearly, and they haven’t.”

  “It…” Fr’ll’s shaking increased in intensity. “We have to be able to do something!”

  “No…” Kayz said, shaking her head. “Sometimes you just can’t.”

  “You, of all people, admitting defeat?”

  “Yes,” Kayz said. “Yes, I am. I saw the destruction of the sunfire stone with my own eyes, Fr’ll. It would have killed everyone in the entire city without warning. It’s not magical, and by the time even a Crystalline One could notice it… it would already be too close.”

  “I can already think of ways to design a detonation mechanism as well,” Crimkle added. “Something to prevent interceptions.”

  Kayz nodded. “It wouldn’t even be hard.”

  “We… but…” Fr’ll started tangling and untangling his tentacles. “To do nothing is to invite destruction…”

  “Not so,” Vi said.

  “Not you too…”

  “I am merely stating a fact. To invite destruction would be to become something worthy of destroying. Compared to the pieces in play, we are insignificant, an afterthought.”

  “But we are Shimvale!”

  “And on the global stage, we are nothing.” Vi let out a long, chattering tone; her equivalent to a sigh. “Previously, the distant lands were just that, distant lands. All we had to concern ourselves with was Kroan and the Wild Kingdoms. Now, with the advent of space travel, the world can communicate at a much faster rate. When we chose not to pursue such a program, we did not consider that possibility. We are not seeing the consequences of our decision.”

  “...Should we invest now?” Crimkle suggested.

  “No doubt,” Vi said. “But we will be playing catch-up; the main players have already been decided. We are not among their number.”

  Fr’ll’s shaking decreased in intensity, and he lowered himself closer to the ground. “Are… we to be content with such a position?”

  “We do not have a choice.”

  “And would we really want to be up there with the rest of them?” Kayz asked. “The destruction that could reach them at any moment, just because they reach for the stars… I am of the mind that it is not worth it. To live on the edge of such a precipice…”

  Noran frowned. “Kaykayzee… more happened to you out there than you have described.”

  “Yes.” Kayz’ thoughts turned to Via. “You… are correct. I will not speak of such personal details, though. I do not believe they are… relevant.”

  “I do not ask for them. It is merely obvious that you would never have wished for a lower position in the past.”

  “Things change.” Kayz allowed the smallest hint of a smile to crawl up her face. “...Sometimes for the better.”

  ~~~

  Before anyone knew it, it was time for the next moon mission. The Moonshot II was lined up on the launchpad, there were speeches, a big countdown… and then they were off on the way to the moon. It wasn’t yet routine, but it wasn’t as big of a deal to the people who had been to the moon before, which was to say, Jeh and Keller.

  Keller really wanted a smoke right about now. It’d barely been a few hours since they’d launched, and already he was feeling the need. The sensation was rarely this strong, but he knew exactly why.

  He was nervous.

  The other three had no clue about this. And they wouldn’t, he was a good Agent, he could be on the verge of breaking down into tears and no one would have any clue.

  He glanced over at the other passengers. Jeh was currently not in the pilot’s seat, but at the navigation station. She may not have been a mathematical genius, but Blue had left formulas for her, and she could follow those just fine. The Ikyu-Moon system was known well enough that as long as Jeh stuck to the path, the transfer could be done algorithmically. It didn’t even take Jeh that long to do the calculations, Keller had hardly glanced over before she set the pen down, satisfied with her results, and turned to cleaning the ship to keep the black dust from building up.

  The other two passengers were talking in Vraskalian. Keller briefly wondered if they knew he could understand them. Captain Auburn, probably not, but Envila had certainly figured it out and just didn’t think it pertinent to be concerned about such things.

  “I still can’t believe how small Ikyu is I mean just look at that little blue orb I could just reach out and grab it and stroke it like a cat and hey did you know Vraskalians keep not-cat cats as pets?”

  Envila chuckled. “I was aware, yes. You really do have a million thoughts in that head of yours, don’t you?”

  “Oh yes sorry sorry but not sorry but kinda oh I dunno I just I’m in space it’s so cool and…” Auburn clamped her jaw shut and took in a long breath, filling the ship with an unusual silence. “I can’t believe you guys can do this just wow this ship doesn’t have any propellers or gyroscopes or balancers or anything and you go to the moon with it that’s just utterly incredible and thank you thank you for taking me.”

  Envila shrugged. “To be fair, they’re giving you this ride as payment for your technology. It’s not exactly a gift, like it is for me—and I suppose even then, I do have to play translator for you until Jeh catches up.”

  Jeh stopped cleaning, responding in Karli. “Okay, I heard my name, what gossip are you two going on about?”

  Auburn giggled.

  “Nothing, Jeh, just commenting on my role as translator,” Envila informed her. “You’ll catch up soon, though.”

  “Just gotta hear enough of it,” Jeh admitted. “And with Auburn talking your ear off, that won’t take all that long…”

  Envila relayed the comment to Auburn, which turned her giggles into outright laughter. “She’s right I do talk like a deranged sea chipmunk dazzler with far too many mates and—oh you don’t have sea chipmunk dazzlers near here do you? Well, we don’t either, they’re just in the seas a short way from home and not the Wilds and actually there’s some cool things out in the ocean we once found part of the ocean that was red boy that Crimson Sea was quite the thing actually…” She ran to the window and gasped, pointing. “Look! Look! You can see it, the Crimson Sea! It’s that little red spot to the left…”

  Keller already knew about that Crimson Sea. They’d known about it for quite some time at this point; the more recent expeditions that left from the Tempest had found it. He imagined flying over it was far better than sailing through it, considering how reports said the liquid was thick and smelled of death. Not to mention the horrid sea monsters that made the things Pepper locked up look positively friendly. Some expeditions had witnessed dragon hunts taking place over the Crimson Sea; for those who wanted a challenge.

  Considering what he now knew, Keller couldn’t help but wonder if one of the cubes was involved with that sea. Someone deep beneath the sea creating monsters to defend herself, perhaps? Yet, the society’s notes hadn’t mentioned it as even a potential threat… hadn’t mentioned any of the actual “monsters” found about the world. The unique beings…

  Now that Keller was thinking about this, he was finding himself even more disturbed, which was the opposite of what was supposed to happen, considering what he was trying not to think about. What were the monsters? Unique beings of no known origin that acted a lot like animals, but usually wanted nothing more than to kill and destroy, often in bizarre, gruesome ways. They couldn’t use magic, but oftentimes they seemed like they themselves had magic to them…

  He shook his head. That was not his concern; that was Pepper’s domain. They had hunters for a reason. He was an Agent. His foes were other people.

  Which made it impossible not to return to his current predicament.

  “Keller, I… I can’t believe I have to say this,” Via told him.

  Keller straightened his back. “These are interestin’ times, Princess.”

  “We are not… unified, under the Crown. You… may find Agents working against the orders I have given you, trying to uncover the secrets that must not be uncovered. I give you my blessing to oppose them, should the situation call for it.”

  Opposing fellow Agents.

  Even more maddening than going to Wanderlust and telling her exactly what they did with the sunfire stones.

  Absolute madness.

  And yet, he was now in a situation where that might happen.

  This is the sign of a kingdom preparing to fall apart, he thought to himself as the other passengers laughed and talked about the wonders of space and discovery. If those at the top don’t trust each other, they can tear the entire thing down from within.

  We are becoming our own worst enemy.

  But it wasn’t his place to say that; not only would it not help, but those who could do something about it knew about it.

  His one regret was that he couldn’t tell Via that he was unable to follow that order. Tenrayce had beaten her to it, and her authority was closer to that of Wyett’s… and the King was the King.

  He hoped that the other half of Willow Hollow’s security could do what he could not.

  She probably didn’t even need to be told.

  ~~~

  Seskii poked her head out from behind a door in Vaughan’s cabin, grinning. “Hello! Who are you?”

  The female cat, who looked lost but was actually an Agent of the Crown who was really good at acting, shot into the air and screamed. An excellently fake scream that sounded legitimately terrified.

  Seskii patted her on the head patronizingly. “Oh, no need to be afraid. I’m a gari, and those aren’t threatening to you, I’m sure. But beyond that, I have no intention of hurting you, you adorable thing.”

  The cat didn’t drop the act. “Wh-wh-who are you?”

  “Seskii Potions, potion seller and secretary!” She gave an over-extravagant bow. “But you already knew that.”

  “H-how was I supposed to know that?”

  “Everyone in town knows me!” Seskii broke out into a big grin. “Anyway, you still haven’t answered my version of the question—really unfair, that—who are you?”

  “I—I’m Anne and I’m lost…”

  “Hmm, true, but not in the sense you mean it to be. But do not fret, little kitten, Seskii shall lead you out of this maze of a cabin by directing you to the front door!” Seskii grabbed the cat by the scruff and ran down the hallway, making a single left before coming to the main entry hall. “Wooooow, would you look at that, there’s the exit!”

  “Um… thanks…”

  “Glad to be of service!” She set “Anne” down on one of the reclining chairs. Seskii was suddenly on the other one, not bothering to go through the motions of sitting down, startling and confusing “Anne” considerably.

  Seskii took a sip of tea. “But why don’t you stay for a while? It is the middle of the night and the forest has all sorts of nasties at this time of night. You’ll probably be fine for a walk, but what if not? Plus, you have to be tired, can’t have you going out with an addled brain!”

  The cat was speechless.

  “Woah, you’re really addled already! Even more reason for you to stay the night! I’ll get some blankets.”

  “That’d be… nice,” the cat said, hoping this would give her an opportunity to get away.

  Of course it didn’t, Seskii suddenly had the blankets and draped them over the poor Agent. “There you go, snug as a bug!” Seskii sat back down—once again without bothering to do any of the motions required to do so—and took another sip of her tea. Which was somehow a different flavor, now.

  “So, tell me about yourself, Anne!” Seskii said.

  “Anne” pretended to have already fallen asleep.

  “Aww, guess I don’t get to have any more fun… at least of that kind.” Seskii pulled up the recliner’s leg rest and leaned back, letting out a contented sigh.

  That Agent thought she had something. She didn’t, at least, not anymore. The strange pieces of “catlike fur” she had obtained were currently secured in Seskii’s pocket. She would not be finding any traces of Sandy’s visit here, nosiree.

  To think Seskii had been doing her best to expose and dethrone that woman just months ago… her presence had turned from an extreme detriment to an extreme benefit almost overnight.

  For a rare moment, Seskii’s smile faltered.

  To be working alongside such a woman…

  Of course, who was she to judge? Considering…

  “Mmmmnah, not going there tonight,” Seskii said, standing up the normal way and closing the leg rest. “That’ll be dealt with when the time is right.” She stretched her arms and went back to the office where she would file more paperwork. She found, near the top, a sketch not of the space station, but one of Blue’s extremely preliminary designs for the interplanetary ship.

  Seskii held up the sketch to the window, letting the moonlight from the half-moon illuminate it.

  She smiled.

  “It won’t be long now…”

  ~~~

  Xanava couldn’t remember the last time the Emperor gave a Full Court Address. She hadn’t been in E’min the last time one had been given. If she recalled, it was when he bolstered the forces for the Southern Campaigns? The results had been mostly popular for the Empire, though a few were complaining that the Emperor had been too soft and didn’t conquer enough. Which was a sentiment that made perfect sense to Xanava some days and baffled her on others.

  Normally, Xanava wouldn’t care at all for such a speech, no matter how big it was. She never listened to any member of the Court give any speech for any reason, politics was simply pointless and boring. She wasn’t a noble, she wasn’t a soldier, she had no say. At least, that had been before she became the astronaut, after which she’d found that politics were utterly distasteful and she wanted nothing to do with them.

  Today, though, she had a sneaking suspicion she knew what this speech was going to be about. She’d been warned, after all… even if she didn’t have to be here, she probably would have come on her own.

  The palace courtyard was packed. Xanava herself had a place of honor, which wasn’t saying much; there were over a thousand such “places of honor” set out, and she was near the back of these seats. But there were thousands more people without seats packed into the courtyard, eager to hear whatever their Emperor had to say. It was a rather stark dividing line—the seats were filled with nobles, warriors, people in armor, people of proper standing. Behind them were the rabble, the common man. Many of them were in armor as well, but they weren’t standing at attention. There were thousands of conversations going on at once, some of them angry, some of them excited—all of them impossible for Xanava to understand from her position.

  She was just glad no one was trying to talk to her. The others seated next to her were engineers who worked on the Skyrippers. They were talking to each other in hushed tones about technical details she wasn’t meant to be a part of anyway.

  Xanava was in a crowd of people and completely alone.

  She had the urge to let out a biting remark. A sarcastic comment. Something a bit off-color, rude, that’d get a rise out of someone.

  She stuffed that urge into the back of her mind. Now was not the time. Uncertain times were about to come and she wanted to live through them.

  There was an extremely loud droning sound that filled the courtyard. One of the great horns had been blown, declaring the arrival of the Emperor. At the horn, numerous dragons flew in from the sky, perching on the ledges that surrounded the courtyard, specifically built for this purpose. The dragons took a moment to look down at the people below with mild interest before directing their attention to the Emperor.

  He was even more glorious than usual. The golden armor was polished to such a sheen that the glints strained the eyes of many. His robe was longer than usual, covered in gems, and blowing in an artificial breeze. He held in his hand not his normal weapons, but a ceremonial warhammer that appeared to be made of solid gold.

  To Xanava’s surprise, he had opted not to wear his helmet. Usually, on occasions such as this, he didn’t want people to think of him as an extremely old man, but here he was. Of course, his hair was done up, silky smooth, and had a brilliant crown in it, but nothing could hide his wrinkles and his sunken eyes.

  When he spoke, the sound boomed throughout the entire courtyard. Xanava still didn’t know what the engineers did to make the sound carry like that.

  “Citizens of the Great Mikarol Empire!” The Emperor shouted, lifting the warhammer high into the sky. “Today is a glorious day in our history! For today, at long last, we have attained the power to end the last of our ancient enemies!”

  Xanava blanked. Was he talking about the demons? They weren’t a huge problem here, and the only other ancient enemy that remained was… Vraskal, and there was no way they had the firepower to conquer Vraskal directly…

  “Yes, I speak of Vraskal!”

  There were gasps throughout the entire crowd. Xanava’s face shut off. There were numerous whispers. “Is he insane?” “Old age has taken his reason…” “There’s such a thing as too desperate for glory…”

  The Emperor slammed the warhammer into the ground. The sound of metal ripping to shreds beneath his feet rang throughout the courtyard, silencing everyone. “I had hoped for better from my people! Instead of shouts of strength and anticipation, I get whispers and doubts! Shame on all of you!” He lifted the hammer back up and placed the head into one of his hands. “Do you not think I know of Vraskal’s power? Of their dark arts? Of their legendary determination? I am fully aware of all these things! It is why we haven’t taken them on until now! So when I come to you, saying the time has come, you should know that I have determined that we will emerge victorious! I am your Emperor! When I say we are going to end the last of our ancient enemies, I mean it! Not only will we march to war with Vraskal, the war will be over within the month.”

  This stunned the crowd into absolute silence.

  “You may ask how I can be so certain? What has changed recently that allows me to make such a brazen claim!? To that, I say, I should have no need to defend myself; but I will anyway!” He lifted his warhammer into the air. “Behold!”

  Over a hundred Skyrippers emerged from behind the palace, flying in perfect formation. There were dozens of different sizes and configurations, but all of them were vaguely diamond-shaped craft, each with a single person in it. Xanava could already see how some would be used as rapid resuppliers, bombers, or scouts.

  “These machines are known as Skyrippers!” The Emperor declared. “They can fly higher than any dragon, balloon whale, or creature from far-off lands! They can strike from above without warning! Deliver new troops behind enemy lines! And far, far more that I will not reveal to you now, but when the warriors return, they will tell you much of the grand things the Mikarol Space Force can do!” He gestured at the Skyrippers above him. “With these, we shall wage the last Great War! Mikarol will emerge unopposed! Nothing will stand in our way as we turn our eyes to the stars themselves! Even they are now within our reach!”

  He lifted the warhammer into the air one more time.

  This time, there were cheers.

  So many cheers it was deafening.

  He had certainly won them over. Of course, Xanava was not surprised at this, the culture of Mikarol was easy to make excited for a glorious battle, especially against the neighbor nobody was particularly fond of; the last thorn in their side. The simple display of power and confidence would be enough to dispel the doubts in the common citizen and low-ranking warrior.

  But Xavana doubted, and that meant others were doubting as well. That there was no way he could fulfill his promise. The Skyrippers gave him an advantage, sure, and an excellent one at that. But there weren’t very many, Vraskal was very large, and the Vraskalians were unlikely to surrender in virtually any reasonable circumstance.

  Either the Emperor really had gone insane… or there was a lot more going on behind the scenes.

  The Emperor waited for the cheering to die down. He let some people run their throats dry before speaking again.

  “There are still some of you with doubts! I can feel it in my bones! That I am just seeking final glory for myself, one last thing before this aging, old man passes a mess onto the next Emperor! Well, if that’s what you think… then I shall defy you!” He dropped his warhammer down once again, the sound of ripping metal ringing throughout the courtyard. Those who could still gasp did. “I will not lead this campaign! The Thaumaturge shall lead it! The glory shall not fall upon me, but upon the Empire itself, and its Space Force!” He spread his arms wide. “The victory shall be so large that it will eclipse my own name! I make it known: this war is not Emperor Nathanial’s Vraskalian Campaign, it is the Last Great Mikarolian Conquest! What started in ancient history with Emperor Janus will end this year! Our honor will be fulfilled!”

  The Thaumaturge stepped up alongside the Emperor. She was in far more humble, spiked armor, but her rainbow hair surged like a halo around her head. “I take this duty readily and with zeal!” She placed her arm to her chest. “Let it be known that this is not my conquest either! This is Mikarol’s conquest! This is the Empire’s! Generations and generations of warriors have given their lives for this moment—their memory has carried us to this glorious day! For the Empire!”

  “For the Empire!” The Emperor roared.

  “FOR THE EMPIRE!” the crowd shouted.

  “For the Empire…” Xanava whispered under her breath, mind racing through hundreds of confused thoughts.

  What happened!? What’s changed!? Why are they so certain!? They have to be, even those who think they’re insane will stand aside now, and… the only way this makes any sense is if they are sure!

  But that’s impossible! You can’t be sure you can conquer one of the world’s strongest nations! It’s idiotic! The Thaumaturge even told me the Space Force was merely a political statement… what’s going on!?

  Xanava started looking around. Surely she wasn’t the only one confused. Surely she wasn’t the only one who thought the world had gone completely insane.

  To be clear, she was not the only one. There were hundreds in that crowd just as baffled as she was.

  But she didn’t see any of them.

  Instead, she locked eyes with a cloaked figure standing calmly among the common people’s section of the crowd. It was a dryad with… a cat tail?

  She held a finger to her mouth, indicating for Xanava to be quiet. She grinned.

  Then she was gone.

  ~~~

  The Moonshot II sat neatly in the center of Wanderlust’s body. Auburn and Envila were currently wandering around, looking at all the samples Wanderlust had set out on various pedestals, though most of the time they were enjoying jumping around in lunar gravity.

  Jeh and Keller, however, had more important things to do.

  Which was to say, primarily Jeh had more important things to do.

  Which she was currently delaying.

  “...and isn’t the space station idea cool?” Jeh said in Standard.

  “Absolutely fascinating!” Wanderlust agreed. “Incredible that it’s almost ready to start construction! I’ll try to look for it every day, it might be big enough for me to see easily!”

  “We’ll be sure to send flashes of light your way; Benefactor will let you know when it’s up.”

  “Thank you, thank you! I hope you’ll continue to share what you learn on that little space station! And… I’m most curious about this telescope section! My ‘sight’ is limited by the sensitivity of my facets; you’ll be able to see even more than me! Simply incredible! I’ve lived so long and you’d think I’d be patient at this point, but I can’t wait!”

  “I can’t wait either!” Jeh laughed. “I actually want the ship even more, though. With those magic generators, we could actually go to places. You’re… probably too big, though. Sorry.”

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  “I know… but one day, maybe, in the future, you’ll have a magic generator of sufficient size. It may take generations, but… I will wait generations if I must.”

  “Yeah… generations. But I’ll still be around!”

  “You may change. After all… Er…”

  Jeh nodded. “I know, I know, I’m not Jenny. I… can talk about that now, it’s not as hard.” Jeh shuffled her feet. “That… I guess that leads into what we need to talk about next.” She glanced nervously back at Keller.

  Keller coughed. “I dunno what ya’ve been sayin’ as ya’ve not been translatin’, but ya know what I think.”

  Jeh answered in Karli. “Yeah. But I’m going to be honest.” She turned away from Keller toward… well, every floor, ceiling, and wall was Wanderlust, so it wasn’t exactly easy to look at her. “Here goes…” she switched back to Standard. “Wanderlust, some… awkward? Difficult? Things happened on the surface, and I think you should know about it.”

  “Oh? Do tell, it sounds like it’ll be an incredible story.”

  “You’ve got that right…” Jeh muttered.

  And so she told the story of how she and Princess Via were kidnapped, about the Rigid Plague, about how they were saved, about Sandy, about the secret society, about the cubes, and about the use of the sunfire stone.

  Jeh finished up and took a deep breath. “So. Um… y-yeah we uh… used one of your presents as a big weapon… to stop an evil Rigid Plague! Yes! But! Um… apparently when the twins asked, they knew what it was going to be used for and I’m sorry…”

  Wanderlust was silent for several moments.

  “W-wanderlust? Are you…”

  “You don’t need to be afraid. I’m just mentally fragmenting to process it all.”

  “That’s…” Jeh shuffled her feet awkwardly. “Okay, I’ll just…”

  “Processing done. I can’t believe I didn’t see it, you were all so excited about it and nervous at the same time and then there was Keller being all super careful with it and the Twins—conniving little gari—just… agh. And I’ve given you two of them! You’ve only used one! What are you going to do with the other one?”

  “Um… dunno?” Jeh said, tilting her head to the side. “I hope… nothing?”

  “Then it gets to be used as a deterrent and this is just too similar to why I left Ikyu in the first place!”

  Jeh hung her head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t… want any of this either.”

  “Oh no no Jeh, you’re fine, you’ve done nothing wrong, you’ve been great, don’t worry about a thing.”

  “I…” Jeh shook her head. “No, you’re right, I’m not responsible for this. But… I would have just liked if it was still fly-into-space-and-explore-for-fun times. Not… fate-of-the-world times.”

  “...You have the option to leave.”

  “Huh?”

  “You’ve figured out magic generators. You have a ship. You’re immortal. You’re not like me… you could go further out. Set up shop on Zhevanthe. Get away from it all.”

  Jeh blinked. Then she shook her head. “No… no I don’t… I’m not just going to leave them to deal with this.”

  “I did, though. It got me away from it for thousands of years.”

  “But it’s caught up with you… and you can’t go any further.”

  “True… true.” Wanderlust paused for a moment. “You can let Keller know I won’t be giving out any more sunfire stones.”

  “He already figured you’d say that.”

  “Of course he did. He can’t even hear my half of the conversation or understand what you’re saying and I bet he’s already figured out the jist of it.”

  “He’s not that good. I will have to give him all of it later. Or, well… most of it.” Jeh paused. “This part he doesn’t know. I know how to adjust the black cubes now.”

  “That’s… I am so sorry.”

  “Yeah. Um. Almost no one knows. We’re trying to keep it that way. But… I know how. And I… I dunno but I feel like you should know. Maybe… maybe you have some help? If… if you still want to give it…”

  “...Last time you were here, I said I would compile what I knew of world history and give it to you when you returned. I have done just that.” Wanderlust opened up a hole in the floor and levitated out one of the notebooks they’d given her on their last trip, completely filled with writing. “This is what I remember of the history of Ikyu. I was not a scholar, but it should help.”

  Jeh took the book. “Thank you.”

  “Though as for your current predicament… I only met Jenny a few times. I heard of her a lot more often. And… I also heard of Sandy, now that you mention her.”

  “You… did?”

  “Yes. I did. I… was one of the ‘great ones’ or ‘heroes’ as they liked to call those of us with great power that weren’t an enemy. Given a lot of special rights. Also made aware of… things as they happened. Dark things.”

  “You don’t have to remember those times if you don’t want to.”

  “I already did, writing in that book. Unfortunately, I don’t think I have any advice for you regarding your secret in particular. Jenny used that power to essentially rule the world. There were… so many loud, angry arguments about whether what she did was justified or not. They just kept getting angrier and angrier and people argued about what was just and what wasn’t and how strong of a retaliation against evil was warranted… the constant discussion of the fate of entire countries sickened me, so I left. And apparently, even after another Cataclysm, Sandy has kept up the legacy. She’s just tried to keep it secret.” After a moment, Wanderlust continued. “She seemed so soft and meek, too… the few times I saw the cat dryad she seemed… so afraid.”

  Jeh blinked. “Afraid…? That doesn’t… sound like her.”

  “She probably changed over time. I do know she was one of Jenny’s closest friends, the two were rarely apart, and before Jenny started dictating the course of the world they were in the original party of wandering heroes.”

  “I take it their story is in the book?”

  “It is. If you think you can handle it.”

  “I think I can. Thank you.” Jeh turned back to Keller, switching into Karli. “Yeah, she’s not giving you any sunfire stones, but she’s not out for blood. Even gave us the book on history she promised.” Seeing Keller reach out for it, she snorted. “What, do you think you can read it? I’ll let you know what’s in it.”

  “...Of course.”

  “He clearly knows you aren’t relaying everything,” Wanderlust said.

  “Sucks to be him, then,” Jeh said with a shrug.

  ~~~

  High above the skies of Descent, the blimps had their usual detached discussions.

  “The existence of the secret society is greatly concerning.”

  “They have infiltrated the lower ranks.”

  “Some say even the higher ranks.”

  “Perhaps. We may need to examine our pets closely. It is certainly an easy avenue into our operations.”

  “We must find a way to manage the stars ourselves.”

  “In time.”

  “Too much time.”

  “Knowledge favors the patient.”

  “Knowledge may favor those who have it first. This society knows more than we do, simply due to age and secrecy.”

  “The grounded cannot rise above us.”

  “But they can cause damage. The Rigid Plague would have been difficult for us to deal with. And yet…”

  “This only goes to show that knowledge is power. The Orange One on the moon sits above us all, where her toys can change the course of history.”

  “You dare suggest she is above us?”

  “Has she not been up there since before Descent itself was even founded?”

  “We are the highest beings! Crystalline Ones…”

  There was a pause amongst the blimps as they all took a moment to process what had been said.

  “If we wish to take the throne from her, we must rise beyond the Gronge field.”

  “This much is clear.”

  “Research is underway. But it is being stalled. There was a rebellion in the lower city. Quickly taken care of, but it is of great concern. Remarkably organized.”

  “The secret society, perhaps?”

  “It is possible. Though we could not identify what their motive would be for causing such a rebellion.”

  “The grounded have not told us much about them.”

  “Shall we push for more information?”

  “No. It will make us indebted to them, and we are already far too close to their level. We shall handle this on our own.”

  There was a chorus of “agreed” among the blimps.

  “Now, onto the business of the station. It is imperative that our section be completed first. We cannot let them have any more victories over us…”

  ~~~

  While Jeh read a book and talked to Wanderlust with Keller, Auburn and Envila walked among the Orange pedestals filled with samples of the distant worlds of the Solar System.

  “Why is it orange I want to know why it’s orange.” Auburn poked a jar containing a condensed atmosphere sample from Hexi’s moon, Fuzzy. The smog within was, in fact, slightly orange.

  “I’m afraid I’m a terrible guide,” Envila said. “And while I could bother Wanderlust, from the questions we’ve already asked, I suspect she doesn’t know either.”

  “So… many… mysteries,” Auburn said, folding her arms. “You know I see a lot of mysteries when I travel around in the Seeker like oh my gosh there are so many and to think there are entire other worlds of mysteries out there that’s just so amazingly fascinating I can’t even begin like I’ve been to each continent and all of them have mysteries I couldn’t solve just by exploring! The metal lands, the great tree, the icy cliffs, the haunted ruins, the scorched lands, the shadowy curse, the demon lands…” She shook her head. “No, bad, thinking about the demon lands is baaaaaad we don’t think about that terrible people the lot of them AHEM there’s even mysteries where I came from in the Wilds and you know what it’s still mysterious but now there’s all these weird things on the moon.” She ran over to one of the ‘robots’ that Wanderlust had on display. “I mean look at it, don’t you think it could just pop alive at any moment!?”

  Envila glanced down at the wheeled not-rigid, frowning. “I am not sure what to make of these… things.” She glanced at the human-sized seat, indicating that it was a vehicle. “They are not… alive, and they were designed… rigids do not have seats for humans to ride on. Their bodies serve their purposes for survival and reproduction. This… there is no sign of a reproductive system, or anything for a purpose besides function. If there were crystals, I would say this was an arcane device.”

  “But this comes from before magic, don’t you see?” Auburn gestured wildly. “There can’t be any crystals so they had to use other things without magic to make their things and I bet if we knew enough, we could just make one of these and ride along the moon’s surface! Do you think they raced in these things?”

  “Racing comes when there is plenty…” Envila kneeled down, examining the wheeled construct. “There are very few of these things on the moon. Whatever came before the world as we know it now… they didn’t get come here very often.”

  “Well it is kind of a boring gray rock maybe they spent most of their resources somewhere else?”

  “Something about that doesn’t sit right with me…”

  “A lot of it doesn’t sit right with you I can see the more you think about it the more serious your expression gets come on lighten up and enjoy the fact that there’s a mystery!”

  “The mystery isn’t the part that bothers me.” Envila folded her arms. “Dia has shown me much, so I trust Her words. And yet… there appears to have been a world before what She has told us. Before the Great Crystalline Ones, before the act of Creation as we know it… there was something. And what I want to know is why we were told something that seems to suggest… otherwise, if not outright state it.”

  “Oh, psh, that’s because you’re thinking too literally do you really think Dia would bother lining out the finer details for you—of course not the scriptures were given to people who had no concept of technology not to mention no real concept of big time or even Ikyu! Creation might mean something else than what you’ve all thought it meant for thousands of years.”

  “...Perhaps. But if we were wrong about that interpretation… it is one of the simpler ones.” Envila shook her head and smiled. “And here I am, once again being shown that I have much to learn. As I have doubts encroaching upon the edges of my mind, Dia provides to me a person who has the answer right there, and I do not want to hear.” Envila turned to Auburn with a slight bow. “You may be right. Creation may mean… something else. The institution of the Great Crystalline Ones. Or, simply, that Creation took many, many years, and it was not considered complete for whatever reason until the declared time. That said…” Envila frowned, looking back over her shoulder at the ancient vehicle. “...What does that mean for the spirits of those who came before?”

  “Isn’t Dia supposed to be all nice and altruistic and stuff? Doesn’t that mean she’d have her reasons and you’re supposed to trust her?”

  “Yes. You are correct. But I still wonder… what happened to them? And… where did the rest of us nonhumans come from?”

  Auburn grinned. “More mysteries! Sounds like things to look into, not to be scared of!”

  Envila chuckled. “Ah, perhaps I need a bit more of your youthful optimism. Do tell me, you have spoken much of Dia, but the way you have said things indicates you are not of the Aware. What do you believe?”

  Auburn proudly pointed at her chest. “Legitimate follower of the so-called Unknown Goddess!”

  “Legitimate?”

  “Well she doesn’t want to be worshipped so we don’t do that we just follow her philosophy! Have fun, be kind to everyone, stand up for the weak, be curious, be eccentric, be enigmatic, and only be as serious as the situation calls for and no more!” She winked. “We figure the other Gonal gods exist too but—no offense—Dia’s so boring and restrictive, Eyda’s just evil, and Cora doesn’t really care about anything, so like, psh, naw, we’ll go for the humble ‘so-called Goddess’ who didn’t even want to be known.”

  “I have met Gonal of your order before… usually they say they must worship her in spite of her desires, or claim that her desire not to be worshipped was just a test, or a blasphemy.”

  “Oh yeah I met those people on my travels it was real weird to see my people were kind of different but you know what I think it’s cool how everyone looks at things so differently it makes me think that we’re all wrong in some way and that the real truth is something else but we can’t figure it out so we just gotta keep on moving on and seeing what we can do with our lives!” She held her hands wide. “One nasty guy even tried to throw me into the Blasphemy Pit! It was fun!”

  Envila chuckled. “You know what I think? I think more of your order could stand to be like you.”

  “Aww, shucks! Thanks! And… okay I don’t know what I was going to say but I do know that the Solar System model looks real cool when it’s turning in the sunlight like that and oh hey they’re all about to line up this is such an important moment!” Like a little child playing in a flower field, she pranced over to the Solar System model, covering great distances with every bound due to the moon gravity. She skidded to a stop and placed her head right where she expected the planets to align.

  The alignment wasn’t exact, but she let out a delighted cheer anyway.

  Envila watched her with a delighted smile, but there was a doubt in the back of her mind. Not about the past, but about the real soul present in front of her.

  If you do not truly believe the Unknown Goddess to be divine… how can you look at the world and be so optimistic? If she does not have the power to make it all work out in the end… where does that leave you?

  “I wonder what’s so interesting in that book they’re reading,” Auburn said, putting her hands on her hips. “I wish I knew Karli…”

  “It’s probably written in Standard.”

  “I wish I knew Standard and Karli and Desc and…”

  ~~~

  History before the First Cataclysm was murky, even to the Alliance. No one knew what caused it as far as I know. Magic as we know it today did not exist in that era, but the Great Crystalline Ones did. Then they were no more, and there were Colored crystals in the ground, black cubes in various places, and… Jenny. Jenny Zero.

  No one knows her origins, not even her. She didn’t write down her memories. As far as she knew, she was always a wandering adventurer doing whatever she felt like wherever she went. Some cultures had legends of the “butcher with the bloodied hands” and others had tales of the “savior of crimson righteousness.” She already had mythical status when the world started connecting together on a large scale. This process took thousands of years; monsters abounded, demons ran rampant, and people routinely died from experimenting with magic.

  When things stabilized, the reality of Jenny could not be ignored, and she became somewhat of a celebrity wherever she went—loved and hated in equal measure. It is often said that she took pride in her inconsistency and never denied that she may have been both the great hero and the great slaughterer. But when reliable records of her began, she was a wanderer simply looking for excitement and adventure in the world. No longer did simple plights satisfy her; she wanted to find the legends of the world.

  And find them she did. Those she approved of, she made friends with. I was one such being, exploring the land much like she was, though I cared far more for natural wonder than she did. She tended to be drawn toward leaders of kingdoms and beasts of great power, while I sought out big canyons and extreme environments.

  There were four in her group: Jenny of the Red Gloves, the leader, the legend. Sandy the free leaf cat dryad, who was convinced to leave her home and give up her roots for Jenny. Syne the dread dragon, whose origin is as shrouded in mystery as Jenny’s is. And lastly, Mynis, the orphan boy they took in after saving him from his family. Others came and went, but these four remained together.

  The great beings of power Jenny met with were all either befriended by her… or defeated by her. Many songs are sung of her defeat of cruel kings. Many are also sung of the great parties thrown with her friends. To most people, she probably sounded like the world’s savior. To those of us who were old enough to see, though… well… it was clear that there were many who were only her “friends” out of fear. For any who did not meet her approval would soon find themselves at the end of her fists.

  But this fear united the world. The strongest of those allied under her formed the Alliance. Every nation part of this Alliance prospered, for trade was open and they all had the same hero: Jenny of the Red Gloves. Slayer of Despots, Bringer of Peace, and Thrower of Parties.

  She never called herself Queen. Never even claimed to be in charge. But everyone knew if they ticked her off, she would come knocking, and down they would fall. None were outside her reach.

  Those of us called “heroes” were often seen as extensions of her and her control over the world, even if we had little to do with her, and we could also be targeted by her if we stepped out of the unspoken “line.” I never did, I was rather non-interactive with most of the situations, simply exploring the world, finding less and less of it to be unexplored over time.

  Once there were no more major opponents to the Alliance—all the other nations who refused to join were no longer hostile, they knew better—then Jenny turned her attention to facing more… abstract problems. The one I recall being the biggest deal was using the collective power of everyone to create biomes for rigids to live in naturally, as they were struggling to survive. This was apparently extremely controversial and spurned a few rebellions for reasons I don’t fully understand.

  From my perspective, it seems that Jenny had no idea of what it meant to stop. She just kept going. Make a home for the rigids. Carve up this entire landscape into something new. Bring legendary creatures back from extinction. No doubt she would have tried to conquer space itself in time if she didn’t eventually find herself another fascination: magic itself.

  The large-scale experiments the Alliance constructed in order to understand magic were… awe-inspiring. Entire mountains of artificial constructs all created just to figure out its nature. The work got so complicated so quickly that it went beyond me, but apparently, Jenny herself kept up with it all and was deeply involved. And, simultaneously, popular and unpopular.

  I left at this point. I had grown tired of there continually being arguments both for and against the research and for and against Jenny and for and against the Alliance… it was like everyone you encountered took one side or the other and had to be deeply invested in it. I was done.

  And, apparently, it wasn’t much longer after that that the Second Cataclysm occurred.

  ~~~

  A Skyripper flew over the landscape and landed in the city of Axiom. Within was a single messenger with a single letter addressed to Queen Riikaz, noted to be for the eyes of her and her immediate family only.

  The letter changed hands many times. The original courier. Then an inter-palace messenger. Then it made it to the chief palace guard, who was one of the only individuals who knew how to get to the secret chamber. He knew not what was down there, merely that the highest members of the Crown went there to discuss policy. He walked up to the sealed door and placed the letter in a golden box inserted into the wall.

  He rang a large bell to let them know important information had arrived.

  It was a few minutes before he got a response.

  “Thank you,” Hyrii Kroan said from the other side. “Return to your post.”

  Without another word, he walked off. Hyrii walked down the stairs, coming to the Memory’s room. Today, everyone was there: King Wyett, Princesses Tenrayce and Via, Queen Riikaz, Old Queen Ursulii, and, of course, the Memory herself.

  “And here I was thinking this meeting was about wrapped up.”

  “Timing is curious at times,” Riikaz said, taking the letter. “From Nathanial… my, he really wanted us to know this was important.” She frowned. “It may not be good…” She opened the letter.

  Queen Riikaz,

  It is my pleasure to inform you of a glorious campaign that has just begun! I hope you can forgive me for keeping it under wraps, but the Empire needed the element of surprise! As you read this, we are launching the greatest campaign in the Empire’s history—the conquest of Vraskal! With that, the last of our great foes will be defeated! And, key to this victory, is the wondrous spacecraft technology you have brought into the world and worked on with us!

  I hope to see you at the inevitable victory banquet!

  By the way, how was that Pornif Wine I gave you?

  -Emperor Nathanial Horatio Vibrovsky.

  Riikaz finished reading the letter and frowned.

  “What is he thinking…?” Wyett gawked. “That…”

  Riikaz held out a hand. “Tenrayce, give me a Red crystal.”

  “What for?” Hyrii asked as Tenrayce provided the crystal without looking up from her book.

  “Nathanial never gave me Pornif Wine. It’s a hint.” Riikaz used the Red to prompt a small, gentle flame to appear beneath the parchment. Sure enough, the heat prompted hidden letters to appear on the page.

  I am sorry. She gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

  Riikaz nodded slowly to herself and then proceeded to carefully burn the letter. She folded her arms together and closed her eyes, looking contemplative.

  “Mom…?” Via said.

  Riikaz slammed her fist into the table and let out a shout. “That madwoman offered him all of Vraskal!? Who trades countries like… like goods!?”

  “This…” Tenryace closed her book and groaned. “That… of course she’d do that, it just didn’t even occur to me that such a thing could be possible.”

  “Mikarol would trade colonies from time to time…” Wyett observed.

  “But Vraskal isn’t a colony, it’s one of the strongest nations in the world.” Tenrayce shook her head. “And she traded it… all so she could get an inroad with Mikarol since we turned her down.”

  “Does… does this mean Mikarol is no longer our ally?” Hyrii asked.

  “No,” Via said. “No, it doesn’t. He did say he was sorry.”

  “Mikarol is not our enemy as long as Nathanial is on the throne,” Riikaz agreed. “Even though he took this offer, he will not turn on our alliance. However, he is old. And I do not know his successor. And she… will have that duplicitous dryad whispering right into her ear.”

  “I thought you said she was chosen because she could well serve a world at peace…?” Via said. “Surely she wouldn’t do anything…”

  “Sandy herself is an idealist,” Riikaz said. “If the next Emperor is of a certain sort who can be convinced the fate of the world rests on horrid decisions…”

  “Surely the Emperor knows this,” Wyett said.

  “Yes. He does. He is no doubt preparing for it. But… will he succeed?”

  There was silence in the room.

  “If I may say something…” the Memory said.

  “Always welcome,” Via said.

  “This may be an opportunity. If he took a deal similar to what Sandy offered you, he will gain access to some of their ancient technology. He will no doubt share this with us as a matter of principle, even if Sandy would disapprove. We will gain some of the benefits of an alliance with her without actually entering into one.”

  Tenrayce nodded. “That… you are correct, this may be a boon for us.”

  “And we will put what we gain to good use. I, for one, have hopes that devices from before the Second Cataclysm may be exactly what we need to unlock the secrets of my memory.”

  ~~~

  The Moonshot II came in for a landing in Willow Hollow to much fanfare and applause. Auburn came out first and gave everyone a huge grin, prompting some extremely loud cheers and stomps from her crew. She said something in her native tongue that made all of them cheer and then laugh.

  After this, everyone started unloading the ship. The haul wasn’t as impressive as last time. Naturally, no new sunfire stones, but there was the book of history. And, while this was very tantalizing, it wasn’t what Blue rushed to examine first.

  No, what she was most interested in were the plants Wanderlust had grown on the moon. They were stored in little pots made out of shaped lunar rock, each filled with a different kind of soil, including a “soil” made out of moon dust.

  Blue was shocked by how… normal most of the plants looked. She levitated one pot at a time into the air and examined them closely. The flowers may have been slightly taller than they normal? It was hard for her to tell; she would have to measure them. Also, the roots, she needed to examine those.

  The plants grown in the moon dust were small and sickly, but they were alive.

  “Hey! Mary!” Blue called. “Can you come have a look at this?”

  “Oh, all right!” Mary stopped talking with Envila and ran over. “Those… are not in good shape.”

  “No, they aren’t, but they are growing. What’s wrong with them? I don’t know enough about growing… things.”

  Mary poked her finger at the yellowed leaves and stems. “This kind of thing happens if you’re trying to grow in dead or overused soil. Plants gotta eat just like we do, they just eat from the ground instead of… well, from plants.” She poked her finger into the lunar soil sample. “Egh, that feels… wrong. But… no, there have to be some nutrients in here, the plants have grown more than they could from just devouring their own seeds.” She pulled out her finger. “This dust really does stick to things…”

  “Yeah, it’s a bit of a pain.”

  “What of the plasts and fungi?”

  Blue looked at another set of pots that had just been unloaded. Fungi and plasts had been far less successful in being grown, though fungi were known to be more temperamental in the first place. Blue noted that not a single plast had successfully grown in the lunar dust.

  Mary nodded. “Plasts do need different kinds of soil to grow the best, whatever they need it’s not on the moon.”

  “Right…”

  Jeh walked by. “Wanderlust has some bigger plants too, she’s working on some bushes and some trees.”

  “Really!?” Blue perked up. “How’d it go?”

  “None of the ones she planted in moon dust survived getting very large. But with the dirt we provided, it does look like she’ll have a full tree.”

  “We need to figure out if it grows taller in lower gravity…”

  Jeh shrugged. “I think we still don’t know that one. Anyway… you sure you don’t want to look at the big history book?”

  “I… will. Later, though.” Blue turned back to the plants. “Mary, you and I have some measuring to do. Or, well, I have some measuring to do; you need to tell me what it means.”

  Mary nodded. “Of course! Glad to feel useful, honestly.”

  “You’ve always been us—”

  There was a loud, stressed shout from Auburn. Everyone turned to stare at her, completely unable to understand whatever rant she was going on. Envila was trying to talk to her, clearly confused by her current state of mind.

  “What’s wrong?” Lila asked, walking forward. “Envila?”

  “I don’t know, I was translating some news, I got to the news about Mikarol…”

  Auburn let out a howl and pointed a finger at Envila and said something in Vraskalian.

  Envila’s eyes widened. “Oh.”

  “What?” Lila asked.

  “If… Mikarol successfully conquers Vraskal, there’s essentially nothing distracting the Empire from taking over Auburn’s home.”

  ~~~

  Jenny of the Red Gloves took off her glasses and sat back in her chair, looking back at the whiteboard absolutely covered in mathematical equations in all seven colors.

  They were all hers. Every last little piece on that board, it was hers.

  It was almost all that was in her head at this point.

  She’d never had any natural talent for math or physics. In fact, she was outright bad at it. But time and time again, it had been shown to her that the only person she could trust to actually get things done was herself, and so she’d done it.

  The source of evil and the source of all magic were connected. And she was going to find it. And punch it.

  Because that was what she did.

  She put her glasses back on. The arcane devices within them whirred to life, displaying dozens of equations in front of her left eye, leaving her right eye free to see the world. A notification popped up. Apparently, there was another riot.

  Jenny dismissed it. The political drama was someone else’s problem. The others could handle it. She had science to do.

  She walked out of the room into a long, metal hallway brimming with all seven colors of Colored Crystal within the walls. Her lab coat trailed behind her, her boots clacking against the shiny floor.

  She’d always liked metal. Trees and nature were nice and all, but vast expanses of metal… that was more her thing. And it was all hers. Which made it even better.

  She turned a corner in a hallway, expecting it to be empty—there were few people in the facility besides herself—but instead, there was a familiar stand selling potions.

  “Ah, Seskii!” Jenny said, grinning. “It’s been a while!”

  Seskii smiled back. “Still as chipper as ever, I see!”

  Jenny clicked her tongue and grinned, giving Seskii a finger guns gesture. “You betcha!” Jenny threw her credit repository on the kiosk and grabbed a random potion.

  Seskii picked up the credit repository—a small blue cube with light flickering in it. “Throwing money away now, are we?”

  “Money is kind of pointless to me, and you know it.”

  “Fair, fair.” Seskii folded her arms. “But, then again, so are my potions.”

  “Not entirely true.”

  “Any potions that I’d actually give you.”

  Jenny chuckled. “Ah, I was wondering if you knew.”

  “No, you weren’t,” Seskii said, smile unfaltering.

  Jenny raised an eyebrow. “But, clearly, you don’t know everything.”

  “Yes. Considering how I expected you to be better than this.”

  Jenny’s smile faltered. “Excuse me?”

  “You were supposed to be the hero, Jenny.”

  “I am! The world is united! People live better lives than they ever have!”

  “And you rule the world with an iron fist, ignoring their complaints.”

  “They’re complaining about nothing.”

  “Is it really nothing?”

  Jenny stamped her foot on the ground. “Seskii, I don’t have to listen to this…”

  “Actually, you do, I’m the only person on this forsaken planet who can criticize you without feeling afraid of getting their face punched in!” Seskii stood up tall, fire in her eyes. “Everyone else has to walk around you like you’re a ticking time bomb!”

  “What’s the worst I’m going to do to them, fire them?” Jenny held her hands wide. “I haven’t actually fought anyone in ten years, Seskii!”

  Seskii was suddenly in Jenny’s face, finger pointed right into her chest. “You only keep people around you who either agree with you, won’t question you to your face, or are too scared to do anything!”

  “What’s wrong with that? Makes things simpler! I’m trying to save people, you know! You should know better than anyone else, considering how closely you’ve been watching!”

  “...The one who saves everyone… should be one worthy of that title. You are not. Not… anymore.”

  Jenny’s confident demeanor dropped. “A-are you going to stop me?”

  “No. You’re going to do that yourself. I…” Seskii’s hard exterior softened. “Jenny, this is my last chance to get through to you. Maybe… maybe you can come back. Please, just… go out there and listen to them. I’ll help you. Put all this research aside for a moment, there… there isn’t a rush. It could take thousands of years. Let it rest and contend with your people.”

  Jenny took off her glasses and looked down at her red-gloved hands. “Seskii… that…” Jenny clenched her fist. “If you think it’s such a problem, you deal with it. You certainly can.”

  “No… no I can’t.” Seskii shook her head, deflating.

  “And there it is again! You have so many secrets that you just can’t tell, things you can’t do! How many of them are really necessary, how many of them do you just not want to say?” Jenny threw her hands into the air. “I can’t trust you, you know!”

  “You don’t trust anyone.”

  “That’s not true. I trust Mynis, Syne, and Sandy.”

  “The irony…”

  “Are you implying I shouldn’t!? Make up your freaking mind, you cryptic potion selling vulture!”

  Seskii sighed. “It’s just… I… I already know this is going to go downhill. I just… wanted to try, to see if… I could steer fate back where I thought it was going.”

  Jenny clenched her fists… then relaxed. “What am I worried about?”

  Seskii blinked, legitimately shocked. “What?”

  “I already have plans in case everything goes up in flames.” She waved a hand dismissively. “Someone could blow up the entire world tomorrow, the research would still survive… and I would still survive. I am Jenny of the Red Gloves.” She smirked. “I could be thrown into deep space for a million years. Eventually, I would come back. No matter what. You talk of fate and Dia’s hand a lot, Seskii. Well, maybe you should have some actual faith in it.” Jenny spread her hands wide. “I remember that, once, you said you could only guarantee everything works out in the fullness of time. Well, I’m Jenny. I’ll live to see it!”

  “...Dia loves to strike down those with such hubris…” Seskii said, shaking her head. “Though, I will admit… for the life of me I can’t imagine how She’s going to do that to you.”

  Seskii shook her head, banishing the memory. She looked down from her perch in a tree at Scurfpea playing around Ashen’s legs.

  A sad smile crept up Seskii’s face.

  “...Please, let this be the time it works,” Seskii said. “Please. I… I am growing tired.” She looked to the horizon, where the sun was setting. “Distrust and the apathy of the powerful are rearing their ugly heads once again. I knew they couldn’t be shielded from it forever, but please… some innocence must be maintained. Or…” She shook her head. “Or it will all happen again…”

  ~~~

  SCIENCE SEGMENT!

  So. As it turns out, we’ve reached what appears to be a bit of a gap in our knowledge, or at least a gap in my knowledge that isn’t resolvable with some internet searches.

  How would plants grow on the moon?

  We’ve tried to grow some things before. Plants in simulated lunar regolith don’t grow that well, but they do grow. But we’ve only tried to sprout actual plants in lunar gravity once, and that experiment merely proved the plants could sprout; they didn’t last very long at all. We have grown many, many plants in orbit in zero-gravity situations, and they certainly grow in weird ways with weird root situations, but there’s a large difference between no gravity and lunar gravity.

  I thought it was obvious that, without extra force keeping them down, plants would grow to larger heights. This is apparently not obvious at all. Maybe they do, maybe they don’t, maybe it changes based on species. The Wizard Space Program has undertaken an experiment we don’t know the results of. I left it inconclusive in the chapter above, but I’m going to have to address it at some point! How… fascinating!

  Regardless, one thing we can assume about plants growing in lunar gravity is that they have no trouble at all figuring out which way is up, unlike plants on the space station. Surprisingly, plants that grow in the ISS are still able to make roots just fine (though in different arrangements), despite it being previously thought that they needed to detect gravity to grow their roots in their various patterns. A shocking twist, showing that what we expect things to do in different gravities does not necessarily match with what they’ll do.

  We’re entering the great unknown here, folks. I’ll no doubt have to just make up more experiment results in the future… what a tantalizing and somewhat ominous concept. For all I know, next month a paper could be released and prove me wrong!