(Y7, February 7th/May 24th Earthside)
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When Jasper Hill popped into the living room, he found Henry in one of the leather armchairs, loafers on foot, and CNN International droning on the television. The man straightened as Erika appeared, the Silvergate dropping. They both swept away their Gates carefully.
“Good. I wasn’t sure if I’d get you this time.”
“Already recessed?”
“Three days in, I go back in three. Got a lot to tell you. Want something?”
“I think we need a shower. We had to camp at Hilltop Samms… and I have a lot to tell as well,” Jasper said.
“Coffee?”
“It’s late back here. I’ll skip,” Erika said.
“Same. Thankfully, we’re nearly in synch with the local time this time. No more forcing you to sleep at 6 PM to avoid too much lag.”
“Okay, you first?” Erika said, still drying her hair.
“Met our neighbors,” Henry said with a wide smile. “Success. But it’s too bad it doesn’t work on Earth.”
“What doesn’t?”
“We all used our Panglossia Skill Stone. I now speak Portuguese, Korean, and something called Common Tongue. Or ‘Our Tongue’, it’s quite the same kind of word. And, well, I still have two free slots. I could have added Swedish when you popped up, except it doesn’t work here, of course.”
“Emeli would love that.”
Henry rolled his eyes.
“So you found them already?” Jasper asked.
“Thalokainy has the right Skills to find individuals. We crossed the no-mans-land, which has a lot of Umbra. Not too difficult with the team composition, as expected. The drakes, which are really around, were way worse. Then he spotted a group of highbies in their 400, and we beelined toward them.”
“That must have been a shock.”
“It helped that one of them had a Skill that identifies levels vs. ranks. So they knew we were people too, not weird Northworld fauna. And, of course, it was better once we started talking in Common Tongue. But they had no idea we existed.”
“So, they haven’t found a Pyramid of their own?”
“I know; we wondered if that group we found had been trying to get to our territory. But no, or those people we’ve found don’t know about it. You should have seen them when I told them there were five different species around.”
“Right, not everyone knows among the Gaters. Yet.”
“So, who are they?”
“Kolal°vas was the group leader. Level 440, and apparently a mage of sorts.”
“They have the same interface?”
“Something similar, at least. We’ve traded info, and it does look like it works like ours. They have nine stats and Skill tiers.”
“And you can speak alien. Say something.”
“ỻḽḯЩ ɵsěɃ CNN ɖƹʃʂịΠ.”
“I heard CNN. But the rest is…”
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
“That’s because I said, ‘CNN will be so pissed’ or almost something like that. Abbreviations don’t quite work in that language, so I can’t make up a shorthand for Cable News Network, and that’s a mouthful.”
“They have Cable?”
Henry took a distant look.
“That’s one of those weird things you get with Panglossia and a whole language at once. We haven’t progressed to the stage where we trade culture and how each other’s homeworlds look like… but they do have words for computers, mobile phones, rockets…”
“So they have advanced technology.”
“Like us, I guess. I don’t know if it’s more or less advanced than us. I suspect it may be a mix. Or maybe they’ve already got warp speed and colonies all over their galaxy, and those words are strictly for historical stuff. I get the meaning and vocabulary, but not the context.”
“So what now?”
“We moved to a staggered Recess schedule. Keep a few on-site all the time and AS cleared, but also make sure we’re not ambushed or something. I mean, they look friendly, but even if we speak their language and all, it pays to keep precautions.”
“Really?”
“We’ve got the Brethren website’s specific chat server. We Recess every three days and each of us confirms the Recess and where we stand regarding the locals. We’ll keep the Recess going on in case we have to move so that we will all have enough time left. Worst case, Berkleyyan, who has the longest timer to Adaptation Sickness, does a quick Recess, and we endure some AS. They understand how it works.”
“So they have the same mechanic.”
“We compared formulas, and they work out the same or pretty much. I uploaded a report first thing, but it’s still too early for anyone to twig on our early findings. You?”
The two looked at each other.
“Ohhh, boy, that’s one of a hell of a thing.”
“So Mister Wolfhead cost your boss two gold. That’s harsh.”
“Yes. That’s almost as much as Armangest had put on our heads last year. Vastragal stayed down an additional day to handle the final transaction, and she’ll have the Stone shipped back to Gamma headquarters by the Cotton Road. She can’t very well handle it personally while on the raid.”
“I wonder how it impacts you now that you’re no longer unique or essential.”
“That’s why she’ll be calling me on the Cartographer network to restructure the mapping project. I’m assuming… assuming, mind you… that two is better than one, especially since I’m busy in the raid. They’re probably going to get one of the Officers Skilled, I don’t know. Meanwhile, it’s unconfirmed, but we’re getting ahead with the build offer. Too many people are starting to talk.”
“Talk about timing. People are starting to talk about the Pyramid and the Five Gaters, and you try to launch an entire new Cartographer section?”
“That’s what we’re discussing, I think.”
Erika’s phone beeped, and she glanced quickly.
“Guess who’s asking if we’re ‘all’ there?”
Henry groaned.
“Everyone wants a piece of me. I found a message from Sammael saying people want to talk to me, so it looks like Malika’s convinced him. Well, they’re going to wait until we’ve formalized contact.”
“I agree that the timing could be better. But we can’t afford to let another cycle of Recess/Respawn overtake us.”
Vastragal was chatting with text only. Everyone was using their handles rather than names, even the person from marketing who, if Jasper “Vantegaard” understood correctly, had never stepped into Northworld.
“You’ve got someone to help on the base?”
“The Officer in charge of the Gamma HQ isn’t going to go hiking all around, but we have a Full Cartographer at 1300 who can be relied upon and like exploration a lot. He’s already a geomancer, even if that’s not necessary.”
“The Skill did not unlock the Power vital. I only got it after I used the Skill to pick one actual geomantic one. I think it’s not really part of the Power build, even if it’s related. Although, with the interference with a vital-wide Meditation…”
“Well, that’s moot in any case. He’s already got all the locations you’ve pinpointed over leylines to check first, but that brings us to the way we’re selling this.”
As if on cue, the marketing weenie started.
“No open databases on subscription, or we get another Honest John’s plagiarized book in a year. What we’re selling is customized advice based on level, build, and preferred location. The prospective customer provides his data, including previous Skills, and we build dedicated lists with purchase tiers. 3 Skills, 5 Skills, 10 Skills to Make Your Build Better.”
“Wait a minute…” Jasper started to type.
“That last tier will be locked at launch. I know, you only have Geomancy builds that could fit the bill, but you said you’d get more.”
“I checked a report. Vastragal, remember what I said before Recess. Necromancy appears to be confirmed; the Agent got Cold Grasp exactly as I hoped. I’d like to run an additional test, if possible, but I can add a potential of 13 Necromancer Skills locations and help, and that includes duplicate options for getting some Skills, just like the Groves.”
“Good,” both parties managed to type simultaneously.
“I’ve put notes on the project wiki. I’ll be finished updating the Skills themselves after we finish here.”
“We’ve got five more days to wrap all of this. Your alternate won’t be on Recess, but I expect you to have all organized for him to start running those things. Let's start with that Strength dungeon you spoke of. He’s got enough to do for a Northworld spawn cycle.”
“Will do,” Jasper confirmed.
“Then I’ll drop a briefing for Armangest next time he Recesses, and we’re good.”
“Maybe the Pyramid will have a map of Locational Interferences.”
“You think so?”
“No. But one can dream.”
“That’s what I really need. An entire raid of two-thousanders getting early access to full Interference data for free.”
Okay, maybe that wouldn’t be a good thing for the guild.