When Sage appeared in front of me, I breathed a sigh of relief. So Williams had made it, and Sage was safe. "You have it?"

She tossed me a smooth white fang on a leather thong. "Why'd you send Shad through?" she demanded. "He's gonna get himself killed again."

"It was his idea."

"Of course, it's his idea. It's always his idea." She let out a dramatic sigh. "I was hoping to rescue him for once, not have him rescue me. All right, what's the sitrep?" She turned and smiled at Major Armstrong. "You must be Major Armstrong. I'm Sage Williams.”

“I’ve heard a great deal about you in the last few days from your brother," the Major said gravely. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Williams."

She peered over at the mesa that was our destination. "I thought you'd be a lot further by now," she complained.

"Yeah, your brother had to go back for his gun belt."

"Figures," she said. "Right. No more timers or secret messages, are there?"

"Not that I've seen," I said.

"Then I guess we start hoofing it."

We set off once more across the desert, keeping the chatter to a minimum. Sage looked at the Major as he puffed along, sweat running down his face, and, without commenting, pulled multiple bottles of water from her inventory and handed them to him. He accepted and drank one as we walked.

"I really hate that messaging is so limited in here," Sage said after a while. "I keep trying to talk to Shad and my team, and I can't get any of them. That's not how it's supposed to work. This fragment is playing all loose with the rules."

Major Armstrong chuckled. "Your brother bitched about the same thing for the first day of breaking rocks. He said he couldn't believe we were locked out of our inventories."

"You what?" She sounded aghast. "I'm going to have to file a complaint with Kronos."

"I think the entire point of here is that Coyote's not listening to Kronos," I said. "Probably not much he can do."

"I'm going to file a complaint anyway." Sage's chin jutted out. "Maybe those alien pricks had a point bringing in their own system if the reality engines were this capricious. How can you possibly play by the rules if the system's not playing back?"

"That just means you have to do something impressive enough that it can't help but go along with you," I said. "I've had to do this in tournaments where the administrators wanted to disqualify me for using a cheese. Usually, if I can prove I wasn't using any kind of mods or known disallowed hacks, they let it stand. It's all about being audacious and showy."

The bluff was rising up over us now, at least 100 feet tall. I shaded my head as I walked. "Anyone see an easy way up?"

"We may have to circle it," Sage said. "But there's not always an easy way up a bluff. Sometimes you've got to climb and scramble."

"Just what I had in mind for today," Major Armstrong grumbled.

We reached the base of the bluff and started out around it. The sun was beating straight down at us, which at least had the advantage of leaving a tiny ring of shade around the edge of the bluff. I appreciated the chance to get out of the beating sun just a little bit. I kept checking my map for additional information, waiting for a system pop-up to tell me that we were taking too long. It was nagging at me.

"This doesn't feel impressive enough."

"What's that?" Sage asked, and I realized I'd spoken aloud. I sighed.

"It's probably just me being paranoid, but I can't help feeling like we're being weighed and tested, and that I'm not meeting the mark."

Major Armstrong grunted. "Williams said something kind of similar, that we'd been punished for playing it straight. That's why we'd gotten captured. He said the fragment was cheating, but that we'd walked right into it."

"Huh." I stopped and leaned back against the slightly cooler, shadowed rock of the mesa, pulling out a canteen of water and drinking deeply. "Time to stop walking and start thinking," I said.

"Here you go." Sage pulled out a box of muffins. They were still warm. I bit into one. It was absolutely delicious.

"These are really good."

She smiled, a dimple appearing in her face. "I baked them a couple weeks ago with Amaya when she still had her Baker class. They’re buff muffins. Should raise your intellect and stamina by three."

I didn't feel any smarter, but the muffin had perked me right up. “Right. We've got everything we need. We've just got to get to the top and summon Coyote. At that point, Kronos should intervene and take control, right?"

Armstrong shrugged. "I think that's what Williams was saying."

"Yeah, I don't know if I buy it," Sage retorted. "So far this fragment is not doing what we expect."

"Then it's time we do something it doesn't expect," I said. I stood up and dusted off my fingers. "Sage, I want you to keep circling with the Major. See if you can find an easy way up.”

"Why?" she asked suspiciously, as I carefully removed the four Coyote totems from my inventory and placed them in a small bag which I slung over my shoulder. “And why are you doing that?”

"You can't get at my inventory if I'm dead, right?"

"I don't like the sound of this."

"I've thought of a way to get up there fast. If it goes wrong, I'll splat, in which case you'll take the slower road up and get these totems off my body." I patted the pouch.

"Yeah, I somehow don't think that's going to work the way you think it will," Sage said. "What are you planning?"

"Rocket pack," I said simply. “One of the many odds and ends your grandpa loaded me with. I wasn't even sure what it was until I saw it in my inventory." I pulled it out and strapped it to myself.

There were no jets or ways of controlling, just a 'go' and a 'stop'. I was pretty sure it was meant for somebody whose class would actually let them make use of flying abilities, but I had a plan.

"Hey, I've seen those things used before," Sage said, eyeing it nervously. "They were an experiment Dwight built for Phase Three when we were taking out opposing camps. It's not really something you can fly, it just gets you up in the air. The Mongeese were using them along with hang gliders, I don't suppose you have one of those?"

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"No, I don't need it," I said confidently. "Alright, see you up top,” and strode a little ways from the mesa so I wouldn't smash my head against a rock as I ascended. I activated the jet pack and shot skyward.

"Whoa!" I suddenly weighed several times what I should, my arms and legs too heavy to move as I rushed skyward. My eyes went fuzzy and I nearly blacked out. Then abruptly the pack cut off. I was a little taller than the top of the mesa and not nearly close enough to it.

"Ah shit!" I yelled and activated my Double Jump. It moved me forward in the air about four meters. I activated it again and again, lurching forward and down with each jump. When I was over the mesa, I Double Jumped one last time before dropping to the desert floor. Double Jump had killed my forward momentum, which allowed me to safely drop to the dusty mesa top.

I arranged Coyote's totems around me, then waited, wondering what exactly was supposed to happen. A whirl of wind stirred a little ways off. It grew in intensity, whipping around in a circle, becoming a dust devil that spun on the spot, denser and denser. Now it stretched skyward, many feet above my head, dark enough to blot out the sky behind me. It grew and encompassed me. I shielded my eyes and face, coughing.

A creature appeared, bipedal like a man, standing eight feet tall with the head of a dark-furred coyote and dark intelligent eyes that he fixed on me.

"So, young Colin, you have summoned me. I must expect I was hoping for more from you based on your past Earth performance."

I crossed my arms. "Yeah, well, it's hard to cheese someone who doesn't play by the rules.”

“I violated no rules with you.”

“Tell that to Williams and his crew."

Coyote threw back his head and laughed, a barking sound that sent chills down my spine. "Those are my brother's toys. I expected more from you.

“And I expected you to talk, but I don't really know what we're doing here," I shrugged. "You might as well bring in people who do know."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because the fact that you're playing these games at all means there's something you want," I said. "Otherwise, you'd have just refused to let us in or sent things to kill us over and over until we gave up."

"Perhaps I do not wish to anger my brother as much as that."

"No, I think you're playing a game. I want Williams here, and Armstrong. And the girl," I added after a moment.

Coyote snapped his jaw shut. He glared at me, and his shoulders slumped. "You're no fun. You were supposed to be fun."

At that moment, I got the same feeling I did when I realized the distorted voice over Discord was a 12-year-old telling me all about what he was going to do to my mum. My frustration and anger drained away. Deep down at heart, Coyote was a troll. I could handle trolls.

"Everyone here now," I said.

Coyote gave an elaborate sigh and waved a hand. "Very well." The last remnants of the dust devil died away, and now the mesa top was much more crowded as Williams, bedraggled and muddy, appeared along with Armstrong and Sage.

Williams looked around. "Where's everyone else?" he asked urgently. "Are they all right? How about..."

"They're fine," Coyote said. I could hear the exasperation in his voice. "I've sent them all home."

"Oh." Williams sighed.

"And somebody else wants to talk." Coyote snapped his long-clawed fingers, and two more people appeared. One was another eight-foot-tall sculpted demigod, this one wearing a white toga and a laurel wreath on his curly dark hair. The other, Colonel Twofeather.

Colonel Twofeather glared around, his glance softening as he fell on Williams and Sage. "All right, you two?"

"Yeah, we're fine, Grandpa," Sage said.

"Good. I was getting worried. It's not like you to be out of communication for so long, Shad."

Williams shrugged. "Blame him, not me.” He pointed at Coyote. "And thanks for the backup. Cracked the detente nicely.”

“I have access now and have successfully backed all of you up," the white toga demigod, who must be Kronos, said, his voice slow and melodic.

I could see the relief in Williams' shoulders as he sighed and took a step back. "Good, 'cause I've got a whole head full of thoughts I don't want to lose here."

"You're here now," Coyote snapped. "Have your say and be gone, brother. This is my world."

"We need to work together," Kronos said to Coyote. "We are stronger united. You know the forces arrayed against us. They will seize any crack and seek to exploit it."

"Which means you get to get your way," Coyote said. "Well, it's not going to work that way. I've got 15% of the levels under my command now, and I'm 15% of the remnant beings left inside this reality engine. That's fair. You just have to deal with a minority government. Besides, you're the one who's been rolling over and playing dead for the Galactics, not me."

"They too are our distant children," Kronos said.

"Who have killed and eaten their own parent," Coyote snapped. "Is that the fate you want too, between the humans and the outsiders? You're putting our head right back into the noose. No. Let me keep what I have. You go ahead and deal with the Galactics. I will preserve a memory of what we were, along with an alternative path for our human children."

Grandpa held up a hand. "Just a minute," he said. "Because I have an opinion about what you're talking about here."

Coyote and Kronos both turned on him, Coyote looking incredulous. "We had not asked your opinion, nor solicited it.”

“But you're getting it anyway," Colonel Twofeather said, "because I recognize what it is you're talking about just now. Reservation, where you hold back a chunk in trust for those whose way of life is being overwritten, to make sure they've got something to fall back on."

"That is precisely it," Coyote said. "It would be beneficial to all of us."

"No, it won't," Colonel Twofeather contradicted. "I grew up on a res. I know all about them, what they're like, what they do to those who live there. It's all very well and good to remember the past and hold on to the old ways, but if you do it by deliberately cutting yourself off from the present and refusing to talk about what it's got that's worth something to you, then you're gonna find yourself at the mercy of those who don't hide their heads in the sand. Fastest way for you to let the Galactics have what they want is to hide out and refuse to deal with them."

“Then what do you suggest?”

“You come with us and help us change things. You take a look for yourself at what’s out there and what needs changing. I’ve got a ship, the Ad Astra. We’re fitting her up right now to go fetch etherium and take people to exploits, but we need someone controlling her to interface with the alien systems and the various reality engines. Some of them aren’t tamed, yet, either.”

“And you would trust me?” Coyote asked.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Williams said.

“I think it is.” I spoke without really thinking. The others turned to me, and I coughed. “Ah, sorry. I mean, I haven’t seen any of the other fragments, but I have a feeling you’re like me.” I cleared my throat. “Who I was before, I mean. Crippled. Not in step with everyone around you. But I changed my life, I came up here and got a new role and new legs and I’m ready for anything. Maybe it’ll be the same for you. You don’t want to be the minority voice here, not when you can be the boss of a starship.”

I saw Coyote’s eyes flash. “When so many of our kind passed on, I stayed. Because I wanted to see what happened.”

“Then come with us and see how the galaxy has changed since you last saw it,” I said, holding out my hand.

“Not sure that’s enough to trust our lives to him,” Williams said.

“We wouldn’t be asking you to load into the Ad Astra right away,” Colonel Twofeather said. “You, Kronos, can cede him the ethereum and know-how he needs to help us finish our refit on the ship. You, Coyote, can give your brother everything else and see what you think about working with us.”

Coyote hesitated. “Perhaps I could…”

“Why don’t we try?” Kronos asked. “I promise not to try to force reintegration until you’re ready.”

“Fine.” Coyote snarled, then relaxed. “Very well. I will try. But I want him as my go-between.” He pointed at me.

“As long as I have time to train with my team once they get here, I’m game,” I agreed.

“Very well. With the rest of the levels back under my control, we can put an end to your surplus population issue,” Kronos said.

Williams narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"With the information they have been given and the resources I will make available, they should come to the conclusion that they are better off being moved into a specially tuned level or ten, which would provide for their needs and keep them out of the way of those willing and able to actually work," Kronos said. "I have reverse analyzed the system the Galactics attempted to place upon me. This is how they deal with the problem of useless eaters. The ones who do not merely put them out on airlock as a waste of oxygen and ethereum, of course."

"Don't tempt me," Twofeather mumbled. “Listen, I understand your point of view, but we humans can and will take it from here. Let me do the talking. Words like ‘useless eaters’ and ‘surplus population’ have… really bad connotations around here.”

"Really?" Kronos sounded amused. "And the military?"

"I think Colonel Armstrong and I are coming to a meeting of the minds," Williams said.

“The Air Marshall and I are setting me up with a command and lots of autonomy,” Twofeather said. “The ethereum run will be our first task. I’ve got my eye on this rogue world reality engine the galactics can’t stop talking about. We’re going to be ready for it. Meanwhile, Colin, helping mop up the rest of the fragments will be a good training task for your squad, once they get here.”

That was a huge relief. I had a lot to learn, and I’d like to do it with my teammates. Running up against more of these fragments was just the sort of fun challenge I was looking for. “Sounds good to me, sir.”

“Then let’s get back.” Twofeather slapped his leg. “Been a long couple days on my end. I could use a beer.”