After dropping off Helen at home, and after devouring all the sausages I could snatch from Gonzo's grill (since he was roasting enough to feed an army), I rushed over to Matt's place. He was finally back home, and the boys and I had planned to gather there to check up on him, and it was getting late. In order to save some time, I opted for the longer route through the slums to avoid the traffic jam. Along the way, I mulled over the story with Helen.

I did really endanger her with that infusion of black magic. Back then, I let my dark magic linger too long, I thought I wanted to be throughout, but now, I was seeing it in a new light. Magic touching is akin to physical touch in a different yet equally profound way. And it was very probably simply my attraction to what I was touching that caused me to linger longer, delving deeper into her body with my magic. Yes, at the time, I wasn't fully aware of the consequences, but that didn't change the underlying reason for my actions.

I hadn't really considered this aspect before, but as magic permeates everything, it's natural that it extends into that realm of our minds.

Why do we find a person beautiful? Why do we perceive a flower as beautiful? It's challenging to articulate, but we feel it.

There are numerous factors that influence our minds, and magic is one of them. I'll need to keep this damn thing in mind and not let it influence me too much.

Once you acknowledge the beast and corral it back into its cage, the rational mind can regain control.

I sighed. Was there no room for fun in this world? What kind of world do we live in where everything enjoyable is either forbidden, immoral, or makes you fat?

I focused on riding my bike. At least here, I could have my fun! To have such power between your legs and guide it as you wish is exhilarating. Almost as satisfying as making love.

Controlling a bike requires strength, and luckily, I had plenty. I didn't fear a crash; my only concern was avoiding hitting someone, which could easily be avoided with a little caution.

And so, the whole world seemed to move at a snail's pace while only my bike and I were truly in motion.

In the slums, there was nobody around to stop me for speeding.

The bike roared, my hair fluttered in the wind as I passed within inches of obstacles, even flying over or driving under them.

Driving on one wheel while accelerating and drifting in the curves became the rule.

I ducked under a long set of tubes hanging behind a truck, the red flag at the end brushing against my shoulder. I maneuvered myself and the bike alongside another truck to let a bus swerve past, in a place where I shouldn't have enough room to be, touching the truck with my shoulder. A few times, I hopped over the sidewalk to avoid stopping behind cars blocking the road, and I cleared an open manhole with ease.

My heart leaped for joy in my chest.

Once I reached the 'civilized' part of town, I sadly had to refrain from running red lights and thundering through intersections to prevent overreactions from other drivers, which dampened the thrill of the ride slightly. Nevertheless, I made good use of my time and arrived at Matt's home on time.

It felt too short, but I had an appointment with the boys, so that was that.

Hew was the one who opened the door, which surprised me. I had expected either Matt or his mother.

"Hi Lores! We knew you were coming!" Hew greeted me enthusiastically.

"Hi Hew!" I responded, a bit taken aback by his enthusiasm.

I wondered why he felt the need to tell me that. After all, they all knew I was coming; we had arranged to meet there. As I entered the room, everyone greeted me with grins, even Matt, which caught me off guard. I felt my eyebrows furrowing inquisitively.

"What's so funny?" I asked after exchanging greetings. "Do I have a dot on my nose or something?"

"Unfortunately, the livestream is over, but there is a saved copy you can watch!" Mike explained cryptically.

I couldn't help but notice the look in their eyes. All kind of suppositions raced through my mind as I approached Mike's laptop. Were there fake videos of me circulating online?

Only when he showed me the link did it become clear: It was a trending video titled “Crazy biker driving through the slums!”

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

As soon as I saw the title, I couldn't help but snort in annoyance. When Mike clicked on it, and the images started playing, I felt like crawling under the table. Some smart guy with a drone had captured a significant portion of my wild ride through the slums and was now racking up internet points on social media with his footage.

Damn it! Swift punishment for minor offenses, isn't it? It seems like there's no room for fun in this world anymore! And to think, just a couple of days ago, Mike's mother warned me to keep a low profile and not attract too much attention after the incident at Sunny's party. It's such a small world we live in.

"Don't you have anything better to do than search the internet for videos about me?" I protested.

"Well, we do care about you, but it wasn't exactly videos about you that we were searching for," Tom explained with a chuckle. "It was about that demonstration; they are asking for answers! A lot of strange things have been happening in the area, documented on videos. Something similar to what we saw after we sang with the girls at Stavros, and so we were searching for 'interesting videos from the area' and yours popped up as the first."

Ah, the demo. So, what was it about?

"Can you show me some?" I wondered.

Hew made a couple of clicks, and I saw drone videos that showed something like positional warfare. There were some hapless troops spread in a zigzagging trench and were attacked by what looked like... giant ants or spiders? Okay, not really giant, but what would you call an ant as big as a foot?

"Those must be some drones," Tom exclaimed, "but who would make walking drones when you could have much faster flying drones? What are they trying to do... Ah, that drone exploded!"

Exploding giant ants? Oh, damn, there are such in Mephisto! Should I tell them?

The footage was unclear, so I wanted to see more, and Hew showed us some more. It was footage from a drone flying high. The video was blurred from time to time, with interruptions, and then suddenly, something hit the drone. Was that a falcon? The feed was suddenly cut.

Another footage showed a low-flying drone that was intercepted by other drones that looked like wasps.

"Can these be real? These videos are a bit different from last time," Mike remarked.

"Those are not drones!" Tom exclaimed suddenly. "And these look like a mixture of videos from the Niterian civil war, spiced with footage from Mephisto's beasts, not drones! Those ants and wasps are from Mephisto!"

"No way!" Hew protested.

I nodded. That would make sense. A druid could take control of an ant queen or wasp and thus control the swarm.

"Where did you get these videos from?" I turned towards Hew.

"These were saved on a Niterian server," he answered.

"There, you have it!" Tom exclaimed. "I told you, Niterian civil war from last year!"

"They say these are fakes, but the army had lost their positions and had to retreat," Mike said.

"Did they?" Hew wondered, and Mike nodded.

"Not much, just a couple of kilometers, but still," he explained. "What do you think, Lores? Which ones are real, these or the previous ones we saw several weeks ago?"

I shrugged and asked.

"You mean the ones that Emanuella found after our performance at Stavros?"

He nodded.

"I think both could be real," I said.

Mike raised a brow. "Even if they are so different?"

I nodded and sighed. "Well, both can be explained by the magic we know from Mephisto's world. The first as a direct magic action, the second through beast control, so yeah, they could be."

Tom scratched his scalp and exhaled exasperatedly.

"Nonsense. How would you explain the existence of those ants? Those were beasts from Mephisto! How did they get here? You cannot convince me that our Mephisto characters and beasts came out of the digital dimension to kill us. There must be something else behind all this! It simply does not make sense like this!"

I sighed. I had no explanation, even though I felt that this was how things were.

"Let's see what we learn Saturday from our visit to Dreamland's headquarters," Hew said.

Tom snorted.

"What can that bring us? You hope that visiting those offices, talking to the programmers, and speaking with Thorwal's old bag will enlighten us? No way."

"Thorwal's widow is a pretty nice person, don't talk like this about her!" Mike protested.

Hew shrugged while Tom raised a brow, looking at Mike.

"I'm really sorry I can't come with you!" Matt exclaimed

"Would it be alright if I invite my cousin? He'd be glad to come, and I sort of promised to take him if possible," I mused.

"There, you can let the boy take my ticket," Tom exclaimed, happy to find a solution.

"You won't escape your duties so easily, Tom!" Hew exclaimed with a laugh, then turned towards me. "I do have an option for another ticket, but can your cousin afford the bill? These aren't exactly cheap!"

"Sure," I nodded.

"So, just one additional ticket? I'll do it right now!"

"My duties!" Tom snorted disdainfully.

At that moment, Matt's mother came in with some refreshments, and I met her gaze. When I greeted her, she gave me an acid glance. It seemed like she had even less sympathy for me than before.

Her judgmental look at my clothes made me wonder if I should dress like a nun the next time I came to visit him.