As Dr. Rahimi slotted the last pieces into place, the control panel filling with blinking lights and the crate of headsets began glowing from the inside. She reached in, pulled out the first of the headsets, now ringed with swirling lights, and handed it to Rick. "Here you go, one for each of you." He passed it on and took the next one from her until the entire group had a headset in hand.

Sam turned hers over in her hands, studying it closely . Nia held it like it explosive. Daniel looked at Rick for direction, but Gambit had already pulled his on. "Whoa.” Everyone turned to him. "What are you guys waiting for?" he asked.

"Should we sit down or something?" Daniel wondered.

Dr. Rahimi shook her head. "No, it's fine." Then her voice dropped into the system-controlled monotone. “The apparatus will stimulate your ocular, auditory and preceptory sensors with the chronoscopic resonance of someone who was there in the distant past. This is only a trial run as we calibrate the equipment. So please, put your headsets on so we can begin.”

Rick raised the frisbee-shaped device and set it on his head. It perched there like a boater hat with a neon rim, pulsing and swirling. Second by second, the world around him vanished. Swirls of light and color rose glowing around him. They were so disorienting that he worried for a minute he would fall over. But he felt no sensation of falling, nothing but a prickling, tingling sensation in his scalp.

"What's it like?" Daniel asked.

"It's a little weird," he said. "Just put yours on."

Sam gave hers one last look-over before putting it on. Nia was even more reluctant but finally everyone’s headgear was in place.

"That’s it. Attunement is complete.” Dr. Rahimi said as she looked at the control panel. She made an adjustment and the dials and lights started glowing. "I have the temporal coordinates locked in. We can start as soon as you're ready."

A notification popped up [Your dungeon is ready. Enter Fall of Skyrend? Yes / No]

"Wait a second," Rick told the others, and pulled up a chat with Slate. Slate, we're ready to start the dungeon. Is there anything else we should know?

Slate's reply came back quickly. Yes and no. There's a lot of rumors. No one's ever heard of anyone getting a spaceship from that dungeon. Every report agrees you go through the thing and in the end the city explodes and your team is returned home.

Explodes? Rick asked. He turned around and looked at the mesa-shaped city in the distance, looming over the area. It didn't look like it had crashed very hard if it had crashed, and nothing from here looked like it had exploded. The rest of his team was watching him. Nia and Sam kept eyeing him. Don't they mean it just crash-landed?

No, everyone agrees that it goes kaboom.

That's strange, Rick replied. Is that all you can tell us?

I haven't had much time to ask around. When I say “everyone”, I mean the eight game guides I managed to buy a drink last night at the bar. The only flying machines anyone knows of are the ones the offworlders have brought to the advanced zone, or else in the Barbary Canyons, where the Sky Pirates live.

Sky Pirates? Rick asked.

“Did you know your lips move when you do that?” Gambit asked. “It’s distracting, because I can’t quite follow what you’re saying. For instance, I would swear you just said something about sky pirates but I’m sure if we were going to be facing sky pirates you wouldn’t be keeping that a secret.

Rick ignored him as Gambit’s reply came back.

Yes, they dominate one of the two zones you could go to next. I tried to ask around if the pirates' flying machines are anything like what you saw in the ruins of the city, but everything is second-hand from NCPs and the stories they heard did not have detailed descriptions.

Rick sighed and nodded, even though Slate couldn't see him. Okay, so you think there's not really a way to get a ship in this dungeon? We’re just wasting time?

I didn't say that. Slate's reply came back quickly. And it's not true. I do think there's a way to get a ship. The things that hermit told you just don't add up any other way. I just think it's a secret.

A secret? Rick asked. You mean like a secret zone in the dungeon or a secret boss or…?

I have heard of such things in other places, so it's possible. Just keep your eyes out. The key to finding secret fights or rooms is to look for something that doesn’t quite fit with the narrative, something that sticks out if you’ve been paying attention.

Okay, thanks for telling us, Rick said.

Is there anything else?

Rick replied, No, we’re heading in now.

Slate replied, Good luck.

Rick closed the chat interface and looked at the others. “He didn't really have anything new for us. He thinks there might be something secret in there, like a secret boss, but no one he’s talked to has ever heard of such a thing.”

Gambit rubbed his hands together. “Interesting."

Nia just shrugged. “Whatever.”

"Well, if no one's ever heard of it, it's doubtful that it exists," Sam said.

Daniel looked back and forth between them. "But it's secret, right? So no one would have heard of it. Otherwise it wouldn’t be a secret."

Sam elaborated. "Secrets in games like this usually have a way of getting out. Gamers are really really good at winkling out the clues to find the secret cow level or whatever. Once a few people know, word gets around and everyone does the secret boss."

Daniel frowned at this. “But this isn't a video game back on Earth, and there's not a wiki telling you everything in it.” He looked between the others, his expression hopeful. "There could be something secret, right?"

Rick nodded. He wasn't sure, but there were too many pieces of evidence that didn't add up. The things that the hermit had been hinting at,the fact that the city wasn't actually exploded, but crash landed intact. It just didn't fit.

"I guess we'll just have to see," he said, as he pulled up the dungeon dialog and hit accept.

"OK, now we can begin." Rahimi moved to the control panel and started poking at it. As she did, she chattered merrily. None of it made any sense to Rick. "I spent ages looking for the chronographic waveform for individuals of that era. I zeroed in on this site as an entry point for connecting with those waveforms. We will do a series of synchronizations to dial you into the correct era. You may experience some disorientation as you could arrive before or after the time I am most interested in. Once the synchronization is complete, I will be able to send you to precisely the location and time I desire."

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

"I guess that makes sense--" Rick was cut off as his senses were assaulted with a barrage of inputs. Lights flickered and flared. He had a sense of motion, and then suddenly it was all gone.

He stood on a ridge above a massive quarry. It had to be miles across. Down in the center rose a gleaming structure. At first it looked like someone had built an entire city into the quarry, but then Rick realized it was the flying city, hovering just above the surface of Mars.

It looked different. It was shiny, practically brand new, with gleaming walls and structures.

Crowds of people lined the edge of the quarry, if that's what it was. It had the size and shape of a mine from back on Earth. Scaffolding was situated around the edges, but none of it stretched out to the city. It looked like it had recently been pulled back.

The crowds of people stretched out into the distance, all along the rim of the quarry. There were thousands of them, all four-armed Rorks, but dressed in brighter colors and different materials than the ones he had seen. Some had flowing robes of shimmering gossamer that swirled in various jewel-tone colors, while other wore sashes and tunics in vibrant shades.

The Rork next to him turned. “Master Lazuli, would you like to do the honors? This is, after all, as much your doing as anyone's."

The Rork apparently saw him as someone else. Rick glanced down at himself. He had four arms. He moved the lower set slightly and felt them work as naturally as his arms ever had. He felt an unaccountable sense of pride swell up inside him. It had nothing to do with his arms or anything else he could pinpoint. He spoke without meaning to. “Yes, I think I will. Thank you."

He stepped forward. In front of him there was a control panel built into the railing around the edge of the quarry. A large green button sat prominently in the center.

"As you know, just press the button," the other Rork said.

Now Rick felt an unexpected flash of anger. How dare this bureaucrat tell him how his own mechanisms operated? Why, he had designed all the important systems of the city and knew exactly how the activation button worked. Just because the officious little lizard was assigned to be the political head, he thought it gave him the right to control this ceremony. What was politics to controlling the power of the city itself?

The anger faded, and Rick felt his face smile. “Of course, Marcasite” the voice from his mouth said. It was gravelly and had an accent that reminded him of Slate, though higher-pitched.

He reached out for the button. Another Rork stuck a device in his face and Rick's voice echoed around the quarry. "It is my great honor, to declare the city of Skyrend fully operational."

He slammed one of his lower arms down on the button. The panel started to hum. The Rork with a microphone took it away and the mayor leaned close. "You were supposed to wait and let me say my prepared remarks," the officious toad said.

Rick just flashed him a smile that he hoped was condescending. Why did he hope that? The emotions confused him. He was clearly riding in the body of another Rork, that was no doubt. This was synchronization Rahimi had been talking about. What he hadn't expected was the emotions of that host to come through so strongly.

The face of the mayor started to blur and Rick glanced sharply around. The city was rising up out of the hole in the ground as the entire crowd cheered. All around Rick, the world blurred and swirled away, until he was back in Rahimi's camp.

The others were there, looking around in surprise and disorientation. Nia reached for her helmet and Rahimi yelled, "Stop! No! Don't remove them! That will break the synchronization! Hang on while I recharge the equipment for the second phase!”

Rick turned to Gambit, who was standing closest to him. "What did you see?"

"I was in a room filled with giant machinery. A voice came over an intercom and said the city was operational, and then the machinery all roared to life."

Rick nodded, feeling the funny weight of his headgear shifting as he did. Not wanting to dislodge it, he stopped nodding and held his head still. "That was me! I was the one talking in the PA. I was on the edge of a great quarry, and the city was there. I pressed a button to launch it. I think it had just been finished."

“I was in the crowd watching.” Daniel said, "I felt such a sense of pride. I think I'd helped build the thing."

Nia looked confused, maybe angry. "I was near you in the crowd. I think I knew you." She blushed and looked away.

They all looked at Sam. Her face was clouded, and she looked back and forth between the others, but mostly at Nia and Rick.

“I was there too.” She closed her mouth and didn't say any more.

She seemed oddly evasive, but she had been very close-mouthed since coming back to camp, so Rick didn't worry too much about it.

"I'm ready for the next synchronization," Ramini said. The machine she was working on hummed loudly, rising in a crescendo. "Prepare yourselves!" She threw another switch on the panel.

How long was this going to take and when did the actual dungeon start? He had expected there to be more fighting.

The world swirled away.

As his vision cleared, an irate Rork roared into his face. "How dare you go behind my back!"

Rick felt an urge to jerk away from the snarling visage, but he didn't. He wasn't afraid of this officious little toad. The other part of his mind recognized the other Rork. It was the politician from the launching ceremony.

“The Navy needs those power crystals! We cannot allow the, wastes bandits to rise against us. We must put them in their place now and for that we need the crystals. How dare you redirect them? You don't have the authorization.”

Rick shoved the mayor back with one of his strong upper arms. He felt a pang of disappointment at how little the man was moved. He had spent much too long in his laboratory and his muscles were not what they had once been. “I have complete authority over the power systems of this city and if I say we needed the power crystals, then we needed them. Your little empire of the skies would be irrelevant if our city comes crashing down.”

The mayor ground his teeth. “There's no danger of that. I've read every one of your reports and I know that the city is working in fine condition.”

Rick felt a pang of fear. Had he really read the reports? Had he understood them? Would he see that Rick had been redirecting power? His tampering was subtle and he did not expect the mayor to notice. He couldn't get caught now, not while he was so close. He needed just a little longer to make the destabilization in the Levistones permanent. If he was caught now, even a lieutenant of the maintenance corps would be able to fix it before the city was brought down.

His creation had been perverted for too long and used as a tool of oppression. He had to destroy it and he couldn't let this man get in his way. He had to destroy it.

The mayor's sneer turned vicious and Rick's second heart sank. He did know!

And then the world swirled away again.

Rahimi was glued to her control panel.

“Just one more!”

The machine started to beep again but Rick quickly turned to Sam, opening his mouth to speak. Daniel and Gambit both made a sound of surprise and the world washed away for one final time.

He stood again on a cliff overlooking the city. It was drifting down a canyon of colossal dimensions, maybe 2,000 feet below them and a mile distant. He felt like himself again. A faint stirring of emotion told him the person he was synchronized was still there underneath him.

There was a distant buzzing in his head.

“Synchronization is at maximum. You should have more control now and be able to complete your quest. When you're not sure what to do next, let the host take over. Keep in mind the events that you will experience do not exactly match historical records. So please take as many observations as you can.” The voice was washed out in static.

Four Rorks stood with him, two males and two females. A tall Rork holding a glowing weapon the size of a baseball bat in his right hands stood nearby. "We're all ready, sir." The other orc male stepped up, holding a backpack that had tight wings folded along the side. “The gliders are ready, sir.” Neither voice was familiar, but somehow their body language reminded Rick of something.

Rick glanced at the two Rork women. They were studiously not looking at each other. When he ran his eyes over one, he felt a strong sense of familiarity and an uncurrent of annoyance. When he looked at the second, he felt a sharp stab of lust that disoriented him. They were studiously not looking at each other.

The static buzzed in his head again. "I've adjusted the synchronization to give you maximum agency now. Good luck, adventurer!" the voice said as it faded away.

The figures around him blurred. His own body felt strange. And then it felt familiar again. He was not a Rork, he was himself. Gambit stood beside him, holding up a hand and flexing his fingers. “Oh, much better. I thought I was going to have to fight that dungeon in someone else's body. I don't care what his stats were, figuring out four arms on the fly wasn't going to be good.”

"Oh," Nia sounded relieved. “This is so bizarre.”

Sam was just staring at him. "What the hell kind of egomaniac takes his wife and his mistress on a commando raid?"

Rick’s jaw dropped open.