HARRY

The square was small. Harry studied it from where he stood nonchalantly against the wall just inside the back door. He was breathing through clenched teeth trying very, very hard not to puke.

“She took it easy today,” Todd commented from where he was standing beside Harry, “because Muriel is only tier two.”

“She is a lot younger than me,” Harry responded.

“I am not certain that even counts here. Look at Grandmother, it is all about tier,” Todd responded.

“Oh it counts,” Harry countered. “My bones itch.”

“I think that is just Grandmother being enthusiastic,” Todd responded.

“No, that just tickled,” Harry responded. “This is worse.”

“Hmm, her belief that you can do it is affecting your nanobots,” Todd theorized. “They are fixing you so you can.”

“Do you feel this all the time?” Harry asked.

“Only since I hit tier four. Haven’t you felt it before?” Todd asked curiously. Harry hit tier four years before Todd.

“No,” Harry answered.

“I can feel it when she casts anything tier five or above. The emotion thing is new. She was really angry at Londontown. It wasn’t good,” Todd explained. “She might be getting stronger. I will have to mention it to her.”

“Where is Joe?” Harry asked. He could see Muriel walking around the courtyard at Grandmother’s side. When he arrived at the back door of the Home Square Muriel was standing to one side eavesdropping on the conversation between Todd and Grandmother. She seemed afraid to approach the old woman. As they waited for Joe to join them Todd and Grandmother started a detailed conversation about the type of plants and animals farmed in the eastern villages.

Soon Muriel was unable to stop herself from joining in. Joe arrived dressed in worn leathers and carrying a beautiful bow. Harry was shocked to discover that Grandmother planned to run the whole way. Todd would bring up the rear with Muriel directly behind Grandmother in the lead. Grandmother wanted the girl there since she was the lowest tier among them. Grandmother told her to slow down if she felt herself growing tired. The rest of them would match her speed. Harry took the middle position, where he could keep an eye on his daughter, with Joe behind him.

Grandmother cast a cloaking spell over them that Harry felt in his bones. This must be the high tier spell effect Todd mentioned. Grandmother took off, leaving the rest of them scrambling to catch up.

“He went to check out the sanitation facilities,” Todd said with a straight face. Harry was doubly glad he managed to keep his stomach down. His queasiness passed with the conversation along with the burning in his lungs. His bones still itched, but he was growing accustomed to it.

He turned his attention back to the square. There were no training yards. The section of wall that usually led to them was missing. The shops on either side were squeezed up tight with each other. This removal caused the diameter of the courtyard to be shorter, resulting in a smaller overall square.

Harry pushed away from the wall and with a sharp glance at Todd, daring him to say anything. He walked over to join Grandmother and Muriel. Todd trailed along behind him.

“How is Joe?” Grandmother asked as they approached.

“He is fine, just a little winded. I don’t think he gets out of the square much,” Todd replied.

“Hmm…” Grandmother said thoughtfully, “I should have thought of that. We’ll go back through the transportation system. That should make him happier.” Harry didn’t notice if there was a transportation room on the way in, he was too busy trying not to puke. Since Grandmother mentioned using it, he assumed it was there.

Joe came out of the common sanitation facilities located behind the market columns. His hair looked wet, like he dunked his head in one of the basins. Harry noticed that he kept scratching joints. Mostly he scratched his elbow and shoulder, but occasionally he leaned down to give his knee or hip a good rub. Harry looked over at Todd to see if he noticed. He received an answering nod from the younger man.

“Let's go up this set of stairs,” Grandmother suggested. “We can walk the upper hall to check the others. If we don’t find anything there, we can check each level for any unusual side corridors on the way down. Actually we should do that even if one of the stairs opens to above.”

Everyone agreed to this plan and they fell back into their travel order to climb the stairs. After the run the climb up twelve floors seemed easy. The second staircase they checked continued up from the top floor. They climbed an additional three stories before emerging in a short hallway that ended at a glass wall. A single glass door opened out into a grove of trees.

“I don’t recognize the trees,” Muriel said suddenly. “They aren’t the same type that grow in the greenspace.” Harry was still in shock over that endless blue sky overhead, he couldn’t even focus on the trees.

“At the Speedwell exit, I consider the area outside the structure but within Control’s reach tier zero space. This space,” Grandmother said tapping her foot on the ground, “is tier two and I have never seen a two tier transition on a single divider. This makes me believe that out there is either tier one or tier three space. We will need to be careful.”

“Do you think this is an edge?” Todd asked.

“It could be,” Grandmother responded. “Which means magic may not work or may not work as well.” Harry blinked at this idea. He was born, raised and lived his entire life inside the structure. Even though Todd reported back that magic didn’t work at the Speedwell, he didn’t quite believe it.

“Muriel, Harry, Joe, you three wait here while Todd and I do a quick scout,” Grandmother ordered. It was an order. Harry recognized her tone, even though she rarely used it. She cast her cloaking spell and Harry felt it in his bones. It awakened the itch there he thought had passed.

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Grandmother went out the door backwards, immediately inspecting the field of view behind the door which the rest of them couldn’t see. She slid to the side and Todd stepped out beside her, surveying in the opposite direction. They were a well oiled team. They quickly went to the right, vanishing from Harry’s view.

“My joints ache,” Joe said suddenly.

“My bones itch,” Harry responded. “Todd said he thinks it is Grandmother's expectation that we can keep up regardless of our age. Control is upgrading us so we can.”

“That is scary,” Muriel said beside the two men. Harry was in his early forties, while Joe was only in his late thirties. Right now they were both feeling old.

“Grandmother is a powerful ally, but don’t ever consider making her your enemy,” Harry commented. “Even if she doesn’t act against you, Control may do so on her behalf.”

“I have never heard that before,” Joe responded.

“Grandmother calls it Narrative and hates it. She does everything in her power to counter it as much as she can,” Harry commented. “She told me once that most of Control’s stories seem to start well but end badly. It is better to switch storylines before you reach the conclusion. That way you get multiple bright futures for every noble but tragic ending. You still have to watch out for those narratives that start in disaster.”

Todd materialized out of thin air as he got close enough for them to see through the cloaking spell. They only saw him because Grandmother cast it on all of them before stepping out the door.

“Come on out and get a look,” Todd said to them when he opened the door. “It is safe enough for the moment. The trees are just in this area and the slope above us. If you go through that line just east, there is a long view of the grasslands beyond.”

Muriel led the way out. Her youthful enthusiasm forced the two men to follow. Todd brought up the rear. Harry tried to keep his eyes on the ground, but he kept getting glimpses of the wide sky overhead. He felt better when they stepped under the trees. Grandmother was waiting there. She was alert, scanning the area for danger.

On the other side of the trees a meadow opened up. Harry lifted his eyes and saw that it was much larger than a meadow. The short grass covered a wide shallow valley that stretched nearly to the horizon. A dark line of green marked where the trees rose up again on the far side. In the center of the valley a ribbon was water glistened under the sun.

Joe was studying the expanse with intent. Harry turned his gaze in the direction Joe was looking and could just make out a group of large animals moving slowly through the grass.

“What are those?” Joe asked. Todd looked over where Joe was pointing. Todd cast a spell and studied what he saw.

“They are a grazing animal,” Todd responded. “The flight crew called them buffalo, although they only have a passing similarity to the earth animal of the name. They have short horns and can be very dangerous even if they only eat grass. Think of them as upgraded boars.”

“Do they taste like boar too?” Joe queried.

“No,” Todd answered. “Their meat is rather mild. It takes more than one arrow to bring them down. Their hides yield an especially thick leather.”

Joe took a step or two out into the open, while Harry clung to the tree cover. Todd stood at Harry’s side, keeping watch. Muriel was on her hands and knees inspecting the individual plants that made up the meadow.

“The open sky bothered the flight crew,” Todd commented. “They were born between stars where there was no outside. There weren't even greenspaces. That feeling of security that a ceiling gives you is part of the reason so many moved into the structure.”

Harry looked up at endless open space over their heads. It still pulled up on him, but he could also see the beauty in it. Little puffs of white were drifting over from the west traveling east.

“What are those?” Harry asked Todd.

“Clouds,” Todd responded. “They are formed out of water vapor, a kind of cold steam. When they get thicker rain falls from them. The showers in the greenspaces are mimicking this.” Todd explained this to his uncle without surprise. It was something he learned after following Grandmother out of the structure.

“It’s like it's an entirely different world,” Muriel said from where she was digging through the grass. “All the plants are completely different.”

“It might be,” Grandmother said. She stepped up closer to the rest of them under the cover of her cloaking spell. “The builders of the structure may have come from another star and brought their own plants and animals with them, just as we did. Or maybe these plants are the imports. We planted our crops in this world's soil. Given enough time they may colonize this entire continent.”

Grandmother turned to Joe. “So what do you think? Do you want to claim the crystal?”

“I’ll do it with one condition. I want this square to be considered a suburb of Home Square,” Joe responded.

“Squares don’t have suburbs,” Grandmother responded. “I can agree to an alliance between equals.”

“Human settlements do,” Joe countered, “Redfalls was a square and it was a suburb of Chicago. If there is ever a conflict of ideologies between the squares, I want it defined that Home Square is the final authority. Without a clear definition of rank a workshop always falls apart,” the crafter explained.

“Joe, in the end an apprentice always outgrows their master,” Grandmother countered.

“True,” Joe conceded, “but in a well run workshop, with a wise master, they part on amicable terms. I believe that the longer our squares work together the better the results will be for our children.” Grandmother fell silent, thinking over this proposal. Joe nearly died in the last migration, protecting a group of children from badgers. Harry’s own children were in the group.

“How about this,” she counter offered, “as long as I hold Home Square this square will be considered a suburb, unless the holder of this square requests the relationship be severed in a time of peace. If I die or otherwise lose control of Home Square, this settlement is automatically independent. If you want to remain a suburb you will have to make new arrangements with the new leader of Home Square.”

“Yes,” Joe responded. “I agree.”

Harry noted that no one defined what being a suburb actually meant, beyond the ‘final authority’ statement. If this arrangement was made in Londontown or Chicago there would have been pages of what taxes would be paid and what services would be due. If Harry knew Grandmother at all she would leave the running of the square to Joe, but she would consider the effect on this square in all her future decisions.

“Alright,” Grandmother responded. “Let’s get going. We need to check each floor on the way down to claim the crystal.” They headed back in, although Muriel almost had to be pulled away.

They didn’t find any other entrances or exits from the square on their way down. In the courtyard they approached the crystal that floated above the stone flooring. It was about a foot in diameter and maybe sixteen inches tall. Joe reached forward to touch it. The crystal filled with a green color, slightly darker than the standard. The color density indicated that Joe was tier four. Joe's eyes widened slightly as he picked up the discovery bonus none of the rest of them could see.

With Joe’s permission Grandmother reached out next to touch the crystal. The crystal filled with Grandmother’s magic, turning a dark, dark violet color. As she took her hand away the crystal visibly grew, adding at least two inches to its height.

“How did you do that?” Joe asked.

“Companion recently told me that the crystals grow when the owner has completed a quest. So it wasn’t me, it was you,” Grandmother responded.

“Me?” Joe countered. “I just claimed it. I literally haven’t done anything.”

“You made the agreement with Home Square to be a suburb,” Harry observed. “Grandmother touching your crystal must have sealed the deal.” Grandmother looked startled.

“That would mean Control does understand our language,” Todd said to Grandmother.

“I am not certain I like the implications of that,” Grandmother replied.