Luckily, Crisis was around the same size as Rose, so replacement of clothes wasn’t that bad. Once he was de-thawed, it was pretty clear he must have been ex-military of some sort. Not only was he nearly always at attention, his muscles was probably one of the few things that survived his long trek. He wasn’t also very decayed… outside his left eye clearly having been clawed out, and some of the flesh with it, the only indicator of his undead status was the dark grey-green of his skin.

Wonder said, “Agent Crisis. I know I said protecting my family was your mission, but you don’t have to be at attention 24/7 while doing so. In fact, it’s probably best to be at ease and rest during the day so you can take the night shift.”

Crisis thought on this, then saluted. “Yes sir! Um…”

“Wonder. You are always welcome to call me Wonder, Crisis.”

Crisis nodded, going at ease. He said, “Thank you, Wonder. And thank you for recruiting me, sir.”

Wonder said, “No prob. Now if you don’t mind… what are you doing all the way up here?”

Crisis sat down, allowing a curious Sakura to climb onto his lap. “I do not fully remember. But I think I was an experiment of some sort.”

He rubbed his neck. “I was an Agent for the Malcoi Industries Security Corp. The last thing I remember is infiltrating a Hacker Rogue Base… then I was wandering out in the cold. I faced off a polar bear, and I’m guessing…”

He tapped the damaged side of his face. “Then it’s all choppy. I remember being on a lab table and being told there was interference. I’m guessing it’s due to the implants.”

Wonder said, “Implants?”

Crisis nodded and rolled up his sleeve. Suddenly a series of lights and metal surfaced among the muscle fibers, then went down. Wonder said, “Explains why your STR stat is boosted to the max…”

Crisis nodded. Sakura said, “Shiny…”

Crisis smiled gently, but then returned to normal. “It was common on my world. But unlike your spells, permanent.”

Wonder nodded. “So you’re more cyberpunk… you have a good amount of knowledge about Hoseki already.”

Crisis nodded. “After my dim memory of waking on a lab table, I remember waking up in the snow. The information was implanted, but I had other concerns. Even in my home-world, being without a master is… not advised.”

He looked carefully at Sakura, making it clear what he was dodging saying. Crisis continued, “So my priority was to find a new master. There was a smokestack not far off, so I went over.”

Crisis sighed. “However, let’s put it like this, my new master did not care for my intelligence.Apparently it’s not usual for reconstructed soldiers like me to be dumb.”

Wonder nodded. “Crisis, I’ll be simple. The cold saved your soul. Normally zombies/antibodies/reconstructed are decayed by the time they get revived.”

Crisis nodded, understanding clear in his face. “So I am anomaly. That makes sense.”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Rose said, “I hate to interrupt, but I do have to wonder if Crisis is a Max-Antibody.”

Wonder said, “A what?”

Hiso signed. Miss Elf translated, “Many eons ago, there was a Mage named Maximillion who was fascinated by the undead. He thought it had a key to eternal life. He did experiments in the north, thinking the cold could freeze a body perfectly until revival.”

Wonder said, “Well… it’s a legit theory, anyway. And Crisis proves that at least lives can be saved.”

He sighed. “I’m guessing any antibodies created by Maximillion got dubbed Max-Antibodies?”

Miso nodded. Rose said, “True, but they are legendary.”

Wonder looked miserably in the window towards the north. “…and any survivors are going to be in the icy depths.”

He suddenly remembered something. “Wait… wasn’t the whole point of the Taming Trip to check out an active Antibody?”

Crisis said, “That term is what’s knocking me off. Bizarre…”

Wonder said, “Trust me, it’s still weird on my tongue.”

Rose said, “What are you thinking, Wonder?”

Wonder said, “Warp point. Crisis… on your journeys, did you find a tower on the beach? Hidden cove?”

Crisis stopped to think. He shrugged. “Not that comes to mind. But my last master did mention that he found ruins on the beach, and that was how he got here.”

Wonder said, “Teleportation spells. Built directly into some portal, I bet.”

Rose said, “Wonder… no one can use teleportation but the Forest Spirits.”

Wonder said, “Malchon.”

Rose paled. Miso stiffened. Crisis said, “Who are we speaking of?”

Wonder said, “A rogue Forest Spirit Mage.”

Crisis said, “Oh… frag.”

Wonder nodded. “That may have been part of Malchon’s plan all along. A portal system. We don’t know how operational that thing is, and how far it goes. But Malchon has been studying multiple worlds for eons, and with his own natural magic…”

Wonder snapped, then groaned. “I’m gonna be trying to save the world, aren’t I?”

Rose smiled. “We will be trying to save the world.”

Crisis said, “Should we? Sir, you… have young children.”

Wonder said, “I hate the idea. But the only high level people I know are either mourning loved ones, or… whatever Kat does now in the Afterlife.”

He sighed. “Well, we can at least go mozy up north a ways. We have a good excuse: undead to Tame.”

Wonder chuckled, “Or, as my luck is going, Recruit. I’ll have a full staff for the Ranch soon… and I still need the Ranch itself!”

Crisis said, “You could get a construction crew.”

The Myzune appeared, all dressed in safety gear and with tools and wood. “MY-ZUNE!!!”

Crisis jumped. “You exist?!?”

Wonder said, “Dare I ask?”

Crisis laughed miserably. “The intelligence company at home has some… weird urban legends in its databanks. Including a CEO’s god friend and his… chibis.”

Wonder sighed, “Yeah, let’s put that aside for now. It’s a long story.”

Wonder looked at Miso and her translator (he really needed a name). “You two coming with?”

Miso and her translator shared some signing for a few minutes. Miso then shook her head. The elf said, “I’m afraid not. We are here on the way to visit family for an event. We wouldn’t have enough time.”

Wonder nodded. “Understandable. I wish you both a good time.”

Rose started tuning her guitar (lute?). “Then we run into another problem.”

Wonder said, “The one that has us stuck here anyway. Transportation. Luckily our new Magical Beasts rip-off should be done soon, so we at least have a comfortable place to spend breaks. But I’m not sure if I or Sakura can survive the cold.”

Rose nodded. “Agreed. The good news is that I don’t think there’s gonna be a rush.”

There is an Undead Tamer right next to us, and there’s “no rush”?!? Even if the family event thing is legit, they’ll probably go right out!

The cashier walked up. “Mister Wonder… I apologize, I am done. Also, the Guild Master has a Quest for you.”

Wonder said, “Ho boy. Last time that happened, I ended up in a political scrapyard. I’m comin’, though.”