After a fitful sleep, Vonn woke up with Mom knocking on the door. He was laying on a blanket in the little workshop that had been his bedroom until recently. A hairline crack on one of the wooden walls showed the result of a terrible mistake he supposedly made a year ago. Slate chalkboards bore sketches of machines and a bunny with fangs.

Mom looked exhausted. But she was up and making candles, not food. She ruffled his ears and said, "We got through the night, gods be praised. Your Aves friend captured Tazo and took her to lunch a little while ago."

"Thanks. I'll be at the shop today, if the Baron doesn't send for me."

His clothes from last night stank of fear and sweat. He'd scrubbed himself a little before bed and now put on one of his two other outfits. White linen tunic and green vest and sturdy tail-compatible pants. Pockets were one of his first inventions.

On the north side of town near the temple, he entered the Hammer and Feather. The scent of fresh honey pastries helped wake him up. His usual hangout was doing well today, maybe because the owner was a newcomer to town but had shown up for last night's drill. He was an Aves with orange and black feathers, suggesting an oriole. Vonn waved, ordered the usual, and joined his friend and sister at a side table next to the pinball machine. The primitive, non-electric device was also his own work. The pool table next to it was Selen's.

Selen was admiring both games when Vonn sat. "I was about to drag you out, too, but your mom said no."

Vonn leaned back, casually balancing in his chair. "Some night, huh? And now we've got some kind of aggressive dungeon on our doorstep."

Tazo waved a magicite crystal at him. "The Baron had somebody search the wreck site, he said. We've recovered most in total, and tallied all of the changed bits." She meant the golden pieces, which were currently irreplaceable. These could output any standard magic element but at a higher power rate than normal.

"Great! That's one less loose end."

Tazo added, "The Baron's man said that the dungeon had stretched toward the wreck. Changed the ground beneath it into bare stone."

Selen said, "Which means it might start copying airplane parts. Whirling propeller traps, maybe."

Vonn had seen a dungeon voraciously mimicking traps and furniture it had absorbed. "Remind me to crash a better airplane into it, so it'll at least make good quality parts. Are we really not going to rush in there to peek at the core while it's in this special new state?"

Selen shook her head. "The Baron's assembling a delver team. When I opened my beak to volunteer he said, quote, 'hell no'."

"Seconded," said Tazo. "I'd been meaning to ask you, Vonn; was the dungeon layout similar to what we saw when we were there, before it got repurposed?"

"The first level, yeah. Didn't see those flying enemies though." He described what he'd seen, making them all shudder. He thanked the shop owner as a bowl of vegetable stew and bread arrived, then stared into it.

The bird-girl put her yellow taloned hand on Vonn's arm. "Are you okay? It must've been awful."

"Glad I don't remember my dreams last night. But I'm still thinking about the people who died down there." He shut his eyes for a moment. "I did the right thing, focusing on getting out with evidence, but it still hurts."

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"Nobody blames you."

"I'll try not to, either. Where's everybody else?"

Tazo said, "At the new forge or working with the Baron. Everyone's schedule is messed up. If you're able, we should get started on another 'wind gun'."

Vonn decided it was time to review his abilities. He was a machine-maker by trade, in a world where engineering as a formal class was a brand-new concept. After living here for over a year he'd become good enough at it that he was starting to worry about drawing attention. He might start having noblemen talk him into or out of dangerous expeditions, or something. The System described him like so:

[

Vonn, Vulin Male

Engineer 4, Mage 2

Physical: Agility 2, Toughness 2

Mental: Learning 3, Wits 2, Sanity 1

Social: Will 1

Feats: Balance, Harmonious Join, Freezing Strike, Crystal Integration, Well of Energy

Skills:

STRENGTH: Woodcutting.

AGILITY: Candle-Making, Dodge, Flight, Smithing, Staff.

TOUGHNESS: Endure Heat, Endure Wounds 2, Hiking, Swimming.

LEARNING: Clockwork 2, Healing Magic, Literacy.

WITS: Caster Support, Dungeoneering, Traps.

SANITY: Consolation.

CHARM: Deception, Fashion, Storytelling 2.

WILL: Meditation.

Health (Toughness + Will): 55/55

Mana (Sanity + Will): 45/45

Stamina (Toughness + Sanity): 55/55

]

For his age, he was as mighty as the System allowed and even a little more, due to a bonus stat point. He'd earned it by getting the Flight skill without having wings. The only others to get that boon were his sister and, for her invention of the hot-air balloon, Selen.

Vonn ate and thought about his next steps. What was the village going to do for iron, now, with the biggest mine now haunted?

The restaurant door opened, and a Centaur staggered in, filthy and stinking. He found the counter and said to the owner, "I need a meal and a drink. Can I cut firewood or wash dishes or something for you?"

The Aves fluffed up in alarm and said, "Who are you? Did you come from the river?"

"If I'd been in the water would I smell this bad? I don't mean any harm and I'll be moving on. I just had a really bad time."

Vonn whistled at how beat-up and starved the horse-man looked. He called out, "Get him something, on me."

"Appreciate it. I'll, uh, go outside. Maybe try dunking myself in the river while I wait."

Tazo watched him go. "Another drifter."

The town of Shieldpoint stood along the huge, south-flowing Starry River where the Little Star joined it from the west. That meant a lot of travelers. The town made an effort to keep such folk in the wharf district where they could drink and gamble and do other things.

Vonn started talking with his friends about machinery, going over some of the long to-do list. There might be an immediate need for more air rifles and other weaponry. He wasn't an official Smith but he'd trained with one, and he could bang out a sword on the anvil if need be. He'd been wanting to do more peaceful things like a camera or a film projector. He hadn't even made electrical gadgets yet. His shop was starting to sell bicycles and pinball machines and other "low-hanging fruit" inventions.

And he had help. Selen had been a chemistry grad student on Earth, so she'd gained levels in the formal Alchemist class here. She was starting to produce things like a rubber substitute. Tazo didn't share their direct knowledge of otherworld technology, but Vonn had explained it enough that she'd started taking Engineer levels herself. Vonn expected he and his friends would catapult this kingdom's science forward in a single lifetime. He'd been given a new life and he meant to repay the gift.

The drifter came back somewhat less muddy and dirty, showing gold-tinted horse-hair with little white spots. He wore only a torn shirt. A heaping platter of bread and salad and stew was waiting for him at Vonn's table. He awkwardly scarfed it down while standing, also chugging a cup of cheap wine. "Thanks, mister. I'll be out of your fur in a bit."

Selen asked, "Any trouble on the Starry River? We've been dealing with a... situation all last evening in the west."

The Centaur paused mid-bite and laughed until he coughed. "A situation? Are you the town lawyer?"

Selen blinked. "Wait. Vonn?"

Vonn didn't know what she was getting at, but the owl woman had stopped eating too. "What?"

Selen stood up, faced the Centaur, and began to sing in the tongue of another world. "Yankee Doodle went to town..."

Their guest's dirty face went pale. "I... I don't..."

"Say it!" said Selen. "It's you, isn't it?"

He gulped and answered in English. "A ridin' on a pony. Stuck a feather in his cap..."

Vonn couldn't help but finish the line. "And called it Macaroni."

Tazo stood too, choking down a bite of bread as she stared at the newcomer. "You too?"

The other diners were watching. Vonn wasn't hungry anymore. "We need to talk."