A Friend, a Favor, and a Fallen Façade

1

When John returned home, he was unsurprised to see Emma obsessing over Third Eye of Callysta. What he was surprised to see was the extensive progress she had made towards the twelve branches of the Cultivation. John took a moment to understand what he was looking at.

Each of the twelve aspects was written on its own paper, and the twelve papers were arranged in a circular diagram. Emma had the glyphs that represented the different branches roughly scribed next to each. And like before, dozens of arrows connected different branches of the Cultivation to each other.

Each of the connecting lines seemed to be a different color. Indeed, the largest box of colored pencils John had ever seen laid ruinously on the table, pencils spilling into the unused chairs and floor. As he took all of this in, his sister drew yet another line, this one a light orange color between the pages for Simulation and Culmination.

Then she took the same pencil and moved to her notebook. John could see from several feet away that the poor book was an absolute mess of text in all different colors. Emma turned the pages a few times before seeming to find what she was looking for and writing a note that was several lines long.

John came closer as she wrote and began reading what she was writing. His eyes were drawn first to the series of previous entries which all seemed to be notes based around Simulation. They were all similar in length to the one Emma was finishing as he watched, and none made much sense to John. When he inspected the newest entry, however, he did comprehend the words.

Simulation is the application of understanding gleaned from Analyzation. Culmination is the peak of that application. To reach the Culmination of a Simulation, there must be nothing left to Analyze.

John read the note and his unearned knowledge supplied an explanation for the words that simply seeing them wouldn’t have provided. He knew that despite mention of Analyzation, the important information was indeed based around Simulation and its connection to Culmination. Moreover, John understood more than just what was said.

Analyzation was the first and most basic branch of the Culmination. It was immediately followed by Simulation, which was then followed by Culmination. Though Emma had been relating the latter two concepts, John’s higher understanding finally began to read between the lines.

Through Analyzation, he would gain understanding of all things. With understanding, he would learn to Simulate. Simulation would grow and develop into Culmination. And after that, Neutralization. John felt his mind start to ache at the fourth aspect.

He still had no idea what the end goal was for his Cultivation. The grand scheme was undeniably something much more dangerous and complicated than he could hope to fathom. Still, it was nice to have some direction for his study. With Emma’s help, he had found that direction.

“This is really good. You’ve made so much more progress than I thought you could so soon. Can you do me a favor and give me every note you have detailing the relationships between these three branches. Keep working on the rest, but don’t kill your self over it. I’m going to need the scroll back soon to really understand what I’m dealing with.”

Emma grumbled but complied with his wishes. She flipped to the same section of the book he had watched her write in before and handed the whole book to him. At a glance, he could see the relevant information he had asked for, much more organized than he had expected. Then she picked up the large poster board she had pinned the diagram to and moved it carefully down the hall to the stairs.

John grabbed the scroll from the table before she came back for it. He opened it curiously, wondering how his sister could get so much information from it when he was constantly assaulted with impossible data until his mind was ready to burst. But when he looked at the symbols and calculations, his mind wasn’t overwhelmed.

Instead, the incessant strides his sister had made to understand the information had provided enough context that what he saw no longer reduced him to drooling. At least, not for the first several inches of cramped ink. When he moved beyond a certain point, however, the painful cacophony of voices returned once again.

The text he was trying to read was one about Culmination. A moment before, he had perfectly understood the text about the application of Simulation, so it seemed as if that was the limit of his understanding at the moment. He realized that he would need to dive headfirst into the study of Simulation to progress into understanding of Culmination.

That was the key. At least, he hoped it was. It was already going to take him months or years to reach even an amateur understanding of the Mind Cultivation. If he could even make it that far.

Emma returned from her room a moment later, holding out a hand hopefully for the scroll John was still reading. He looked up at her with a smile before returning his gaze to the ink. After just a few more seconds, he rolled the scroll up and offered it to her, albeit with a caveat this time.

“You have three days. Get what you can from it. After that I need to start studying it myself. The amount of knowledge you’ve gained from it is unreal. Study what you have as often as you can. Maybe you can develop your mental capabilities based on its teachings. And thank you for this,” John said, holding up the notebook.

“I hope it helps. It’s not finished, but if you stick to the first three like you said, I’ve made a lot more progress on those than the later branches. Things get a lot more abstract after Neutralization. I’ll keep working on it.”

“Just relax. I know you have nothing else to do, but you shouldn’t make it your only pastime either. You’ve done enough, really. I can’t thank you enough.”

“I know,” Emma smirked.

The two of them shared a few more minutes before John went to his room, tired from the day. It had been an extremely eventful day, and he was proud of what he had accomplished. He fell asleep easily while thinking of the branch known as Simulation.

2

John’s return to The Garden the following day provided him with an interesting opportunity. He left his room in Emerald Base to find Jules and give him the Advanced genes he collected the day before, but as soon as he left his room, he felt the strangest sensation creep up his spine.

John leapt to the side while throwing out a hand. His fingers closed effortlessly around a thin wrist. Clutched in the adjoining hand was a thin dagger.

John twisted the wrist reflexively, causing the blade to flick from the hand along with an involuntary cry of pain. When he heard it, John paused. The voice he heard was one he was familiar with. Since he hadn’t turned or even exerted himself to stop the attack, he hadn’t taken the time to identify who it was that was attacking him.

With an overly exerted pull on the wrist he still held, John brought the owner to bear. He turned to face them and was unsurprised to see Liz looking back at him, bright eyes supporting the smirk on her face. She shook her hand free from his grasp before chucking him on the shoulder.

“One of these days,” she said with a smile.

“Not my favorite way to be greeted if I’m being honest. What if I wasn’t so paranoid?” John asked.

“Well then I guess you would have been stabbed,” she shrugged.

“Just like that huh?”

“Oh don’t be such a baby. I wasn’t even aiming for your kidney. You would have lived even if I did stab you.”

“Probably, but you might not have.”

John turned and started walking towards Jules’s room once more and Liz took up a position beside him without question. The two of them walked for a few minutes in silence before John addressed the woman.

“So, you have been making progress.”

It wasn’t a question, John could tell the woman was much more capable than the first time they had met. He was even estimating her Advanced Gene count might be higher than his own, though he still had her beat with Wizened genes. Liz took his statement as a compliment and responded accordingly.

“I have. That’s actually what I’ve come to talk to you about. The Soul you lent me. I have already gained the advanced souls you mentioned in the deal. I can give the Grizzly Soul back any time you want but…”

“You would rather keep it?” John guessed.

He had already assumed based on the name she had made for herself that she would have trouble returning the Soul when the time came. Luckily for her, he had already found armor more useful than the Soul, and that wasn’t even considering the Divine weapon he now wielded. In truth, he had never really liked the Grizzly Soul for his own use.

“I would. And I have a proposition for you that might make it worth your while,” Liz said.

John had been about to tell her to keep it outright, but he saw no need to pass the opportunity for a deal. So, he let her speak uninterrupted.

“I’ve been grinding my way through the valley south of the base. The land changes vastly every couple of miles. Field, swamp, forest, rocky slopes, dry cracked earth, sandy beaches, it’s like every type of terrain you can think of squashed together through the valley. Each area is home to ecosystems with Advanced and Wizened beasts at the apex. I’ve taken down a couple of the outliers, but there’s one I’ve had my eye on for a while.”

“I’m listening,” John said.

“A few days back, I was stalking a weird looking goat thing. It seemed like the boss of a rocky sloped area. It was the size of a big dog, like a mastiff. Had a beard like a Norse God, massive horns. It had to be Wizened.”

John listened with interest. He didn’t know where Liz was going with her story, but something about the emphasis she was putting on the past tense made him hold his interruption. As he had hoped, she gave him the answers he sought.

“It came out of nowhere. The goat had just finished a fight with three Advanced pig things, a fight that ended with all three pigs disfigured beyond recognition by the ram’s horns. Seriously, one of them was literally impaled on a branch twelve feet off the ground. Little bits of flesh and organs were everywhere. Another one was smashed so hard against a tree that only one of its legs was intact. I mean this goat was seriously sadistic with these pigs.”

“I feel like you were going somewhere with this,” John said with a smile.

“Oh, yeah.” Liz seemed to come back to herself then.

“This goat had just thoroughly trounced the three little pigs, wasn’t even close, but when it raised its head to bleat at the sky, that’s when it happened.”

“What happened?” John asked, though he was annoyed at being so invested because he knew that was what Liz wanted.

“The goat hit the ground, mid bleat. It happened so fast, I didn’t know what happened until it started wrapping itself around the goat.”

“Wait…” John said, a terrible feeling rising.

“Yeah, after the venom took effect, the poor fucker was paralyzed in an instant. Completely defenseless.”

“Liz…” John said, a definite warning in his voice.

“After that it took its time. There was no need to rush, and boy let me tell you, it did not,” Liz said, clipping the last three words with entirely too much emphasis.

“Stop,” John said, heat rising in his voice.

“It slithered out of the bushes. I swear to God it must have been forty feet long if it was an inch. Wide enough to swallow me like one of those little white mice with the pink eyes. Well, me, you, anyone really. I mean you should have seen what it did to that goat. It was-”

John put a hand on her mouth, finally cutting off the stream of nightmare inducing words the woman was no doubt intentionally aiming at him. He looked her in the eye with such intensity that her smirk actually broke for a moment beneath it. Then it returned albeit more subtly as John removed his hand.

“That was fucked up. You know that right?” He asked.

Liz broke into a laugh. John watched her cackle in glee for several seconds. The whole while, he berated himself repeatedly for ever giving her the tools she needed to take him apart like she had.

“Shame on me, playing on a man’s weakness like that,” she said, batting her long eyelashes like she was the fox in Saturday morning cartoons that made all the sleazy men’s eyes pop out.

“That’s the last time I share a deeply rooted phobia with a pretty lady. Give me my bear back,” John said, half playfully.

“Actually, all joking aside, I do have a proposition for you. No snakes involved; I promise.”

John was extremely loathe to give her another window to mess with him, but he didn’t see the point in fighting it. He still had a few minutes before they would reach Jules’s room. And if he knew anything about the chaotic woman, it was that dissent would only encourage her.

“Go on then,” he said resignedly.

“I really have been combing that valley pretty extensively. I know the big bad in most of the zones. The snake I mentioned rules over one of the farthest zones. The thing has to be Wizened easily the way it took out that goat. And it’s smug too. It was so sure of itself that it let one of its babies tag along with it, like there wasn’t a chance in the world that something would happen to it,” Liz said.

“Enough about the snake. You said something would interest me. So far I’m considering changing my name and moving away.”

“Oh fine. You’re so fragile. There is a zone about halfway through the valley. It’s a really dry area. The ground is really hard packed, like it never rains there. The zones around it are both really lush and full of moisture. I did some research, and the only real life in the whole zone are these weird cactuses. They’re everywhere. I was only able to get one before they retaliated. Turns out they’re a lot more active than a normal cactus. I took a lot of needles to the hide, but luckily the Wizened tier saved me from the worst of the toxins. I managed to rip this flower off the cactus I cut down.”

She held up a gene that John recognized as Enhanced. He raised his eyebrows at the bloom. His expression must have spoken the words his mouth didn’t, because Liz continued.

“I was barely a dozen yards into the zone. I couldn’t get an accurate estimate, but cactuses like the one I killed were everywhere. More than a couple were substantially bigger. I figured that…” Liz trailed off.

“Gene farming.” John finished the thought for her.

“Yes,” she admitted.

“And there are no snakes?”

“As far as I know, no snakes.”

John didn’t say anything for several steps. He wanted to let the suspense build before saying anything. In truth, Liz might have actually proposed the greatest revision to a deal he had ever heard.

“You want to keep the Soul?”

“I do,” she said.

“And in exchange, you… show me a bunch of cactuses? I mean, I guess some Advanced genes might be useful in some way. I can probably find someone who can still make use of them.” John said, completely bluffing.

“You mean…?” Liz sounded dejected at his response.

“What?” John asked, looking confused at the surprise on her face.

“You filled your Advanced count already?”

“I don’t know, did you stab me a few minutes ago?” John asked by way of answering.

That seemed to stop Liz in her tracks for the first time. She seemed to reconsider every boundary and limit she had placed on him from the day she met him. He saw her mind trying to grasp the true scope of his ability and was supremely satisfied when she came to the realization that she couldn’t.

“Something wrong?” He asked with the subtlest of smiles.

“I… can’t guarantee it, but there’s still a chance you can get a Wizened gene. Don’t tell me you’re topped off there too?”

John laughed. As far as he knew, Liz was the only other person in all of Emerald base who had confirmed the existence of Wizened genes. He had specifically asked her not to divulge the information. Jules had been keeping an ear to the ground on his behalf, and so far, no one had even heard of the term Wizened yet.

There had been several reports of people killing Advanced beasts. Mostly they were tales of large groups of people facing down a single beast. In most cases, several died to secure the kill.

There were also some cases similar to John’s own tale. A single individual lucked into a situation that netted the death of an Advanced creature. These instances seemed to be a lot less common, however. What was even less common was the number of people who had received a Soul from the kill.

John had heard about only two so far. One was a double bladed axe that a man Jules had identified as Ron Bloom got from killing an animal John had never heard of before. The second was a shield that someone named Amber Feldman got from throwing a tire sized turtle into a literal cauldron of boiling oil. John had wanted to know so many more details about the latter kill, but unfortunately Jules had had nothing else to give.

In any case, of all the stories of success or failure he had heard about, there were no stories of beasts beyond that of Advanced. Best he could tell, no one had even considered the possibility. Every immensely powerful beast someone had come upon was still being thought of as an elite of the Advanced tier.

That was why the incredulous look on Liz’s face had been so sweet. He finished his laugh at her expense, happy to get a little back, before he waved her off. There was no way he would pass on the bone she was throwing, he just wanted to see her squirm.

“You can have the Soul. It’s not my style anyway. Thumbs are more my thing. I can meet you in about three days to check out the cactuses. If things are as good as you hope they are, I’ll consider it a fair trade. Besides. Jules told me you helped out with the business a lot while I was gone.”

“I did. And I exploited everyone I possibly could in the process,” she said, as if hoping John would take issue.

“I really appreciate the help,” John said as if she hadn’t spoken at all, “If you want a permanent position you’re always welcome. You would join the Advanced tier. One of only two members.”

“Just me and you huh?” Liz asked with a smile.

“What are you talking about?” John scoffed with derision.

“The second member of the Advanced tier. Isn’t it you?”

“I don’t know, did you stab me a few minutes ago?” John asked again.

3

John finally made it to Jules’s room a few minutes later with Liz still bugging him every step of the way. Just before he buzzed for the man though, Liz fell silent. She had suspiciously positioned herself against the wall of the building, where Jules could not immediately see her.

When the door opened, Jules smiled at John and stepped forward, grasping him by the wrist as John did the same. Unfortunately for him, he stepped just far enough to spring the trap Liz had apparently set. He jumped a foot in the air as the woman spoke, sweet and seductive.

“Hello Jules,” she said.

“Jesus!” He shouted as he whirled around on Liz.

“No, just me,” she said, any trace of seduction gone.

John moved past Jules and into his room. Liz slipped in behind him while the man was still staring at her in shock. After a few seconds, he seemed to snap out of it. He took a quick glance in each direction before stepping back inside and letting the door close.

John took a place leaning against the counter near the stove area. Liz had already thrown herself on his bed, shoes pressed flat against the clean sheet. Jules looked to Liz, then to John. He wisely chose to Join the latter.

“So… what’s up man?” He asked as his eyes continued to flick in the direction of the bed.

“Just came to drop off some supplies for the guild,” John said.

He took the bag from his back and presented it to Jules. Jules took it and stepped toward his bed before hesitating at the sight of Liz staring at him. Thinking better of it perhaps, he turned instead to the empty counter space before upending the bag.

His eyes became wide at the sight of all the genes John had brought. Even after returning his tally to 100, he had an absurd amount of leftover Primitive genes from the prepay agreement Jules had set up. John had no use for them himself, and he wasn’t sure Jules could make use of them either.

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What he could make use of were the numerous Awakened, and Enhanced genes he had gathered while hunting the previous day. The half dozen Advanced genes even had Liz sitting up with interest. John yawned as if the whole ordeal was boring him.

“I assume you have a payment system in place for the ranks?” He asked

“I do,” Jules said after a moment of contemplation.

“Get that going with what is here. Ideally we will be working towards a reward system beyond just gene payment. I have some plans for that, but it’s going to take some time to set up.”

“Uh… yeah okay. I can do that,” Jules said after another glance toward the bed.

“Are you sure?” Liz asked, sounding pouty and unconvinced.

“Good,” John said before Jules could respond to the woman.

He looked at John while blinking rapidly, as if extremely disoriented. He opened his mouth to speak, but seemed to struggle with the words. Then he looked down at the genes once more.

“I have something else for you. I’m not sure how helpful it’ll be in the short term, but you can never have too many advantages.”

Jules looked back at John once more as he pulled one of the communication orbs he got from Suné out of a pouch on his hip. He handed it to Jules, but the man just looked at it in confusion. He held it up to the light, clearly expecting some sort of explanation from John.

“Put it down,” John instructed.

Jules did as he was told, and the orb sprouted legs as it opened to scan them both. Jules swore in surprise at the development. But when the orb closed once more and nothing further happened, he looked back at John.

“Do you speak French?” John asked.

“What? No. What does that-”

“Je m'appelle John, mais tu peux m'appeler papa.”

“What? Are you-” Jules began but was cut off when the orb between them rippled in response to the words.

Then John heard his own voice project from the orb as if he had spoken in English.

“My name is John, but you may call me daddy,” he said.

“What the fu-”

“I want one,” Liz said suddenly, cutting Jules off mid exclamation.

They both looked at the woman, and for a split second, the façade she spent so much effort maintaining was gone. John saw longing and possibly even desperation in her eyes before she seemed to realize what she was doing. In a blink, her cool demeanor was back, and her teasing smile had returned to her face.

“Pretty please,” she said with a few well-placed blinks.

“Yeah… sure thing,” John said before turning back to Jules.

“Like I said, I’m not sure how useful they will be right now, but it was given to me by a fox.”

“A fox?” Jules asked.

“Yes. And that same fox used one of these to speak with me, so they aren’t limited to human translation.”

“Dude. How do you always have another surprise? Have you ever heard of second place? It’s like no one has a chance of catching up to you, no matter what we do.”

“We’ll definitely not you,” Liz chimed in.

Jules looked back at the smug woman. She had resumed her goal of whatever it was she had come for, which appeared to be nothing more than messing with the man. He looked at her, then to John, then back to her.

“I’m sorry, why is she here?” He finally asked, looking back to John once more.

John looked back and forth between the two in a very similar manner. Then he blinked a few times, as if trying to come up with an answer. Eventually, he looked back at Jules. With a slight shake of his head, lift of his eyebrows, and shrug of his shoulders, he answered the question.

“Because I thought it would be funny,” he said, as if it was obvious.

4

John left Jules soon after that, intending to return to his room. He assumed Liz would leave to go do whatever it was that she did. But when he was approaching his room and she showed no sign of departing, he raised an eyebrow to the woman.

“Do you need something?” He asked.

“Hm?” Liz asked as if she hadn’t been listening.

“Can I help you?” He tried again.

“Oh, do you want to help me with something?”

“What?” John reeled back, confused as ever.

“Great question. It’s nothing the two of us can’t handle, so don’t worry.”

“Liz,” John said.

His voice was calm, but serious. He wasn’t trying to be mean, but his tone let her know he wasn’t in the mood to play. More importantly, it told her that he wasn’t fooled by the act she put on.

“Cut the jokes. You’ve never asked me for anything. So, I know how hard it must be for you to do. I also know it’s something important, given the way you practically salivated over this,” John said, pulling another of the communication orbs from his pouch.

Liz looked at the ball in his hands and it was back. The longing in her eyes was so great that John knew he was right. Whatever she wanted had something to do with the sphere.

He dropped it back in the pouch, which seemed to break the spell it had on Liz. She blinked several times before looking back at him. He raised his eyebrows, waiting for an explanation.

“Inside,” she finally said, gesturing at his room.

John looked at her evenly for several seconds, trying to decide if he actually wanted to know. Finally, he opened the door and gestured for her to proceed. Liz moved past him and took a position on the bed as she had in Jules’s room.

This time though, she sat rigidly with both feet on the floor. She looked more nervous than John had ever seen her, including the terrible circumstances in which they met. The woman looked truly shaken about something.

“What’s going on?” John asked.

Liz was quiet for a span of time John wouldn’t have thought possible given what he knew of her. He let her have the time she needed, not seeing a way to get her out of his room sooner.

When she spoke, it was like the Liz he knew had never existed. Her voice was soft and unimposing. She had an air of sadness that gave John pause.

“I need your help. I thought I could take care of things myself, but…” she stopped talking before seeming to try again, “you make it all look so easy, you know? The hunting, the surviving, the progression. I mean, I’ve been going out almost every day to hunt. I work my ass off. I maxed on everything below Advanced in less than a month, and you still made it look easy to stop me. You just dropped enough Advanced genes on that guy’s table to get me over the halfway mark, and you didn’t even blink. I knew the day we met that you were different, but it’s starting to feel like you’re outright cheating.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand. You said you needed my help,” John said.

“Yeah. Sorry, I’m just trying to create some perspective. I have… a sort of complicated family life. You’re familiar with the system the Kumani use to determine their “quotas” or whatever, right?”

John nodded. He could hardly be unaware of the dynamic. It was the reason he spent so much time in The Garden at all. At least, it had been at first.

“Well like I said, my house is a bit… unconventional. I have three brothers. Two are younger than me, twins actually. Caleb and Jason. The other one, Darren is older. Only…”

“Yeah?”

“He’s not… normal. His mind is different. He’s almost two years older than me, but he never developed mentally. He’s like a big kid. But-”

“But the Kumani don’t see it that way. They only make judgement based on the age of occupants,” John said, understanding what she meant.

“It’s worse than that too. See, my… father is what you might call a frequent roommate. Unemployed, alcoholic, never around if a bar is open. He doesn’t spend a lot of time at home, just a place to pass out when the gutter gets too cold. Haven’t even seen him since the takeover. But again, the Kumani don’t care how often he’s there. Whatever data they gathered told them he lives there, so he’s included.”

John could already see where she was going with this. It was like a much more depressing version of his own story. He let her continue without interruption.

“And then there’s mom. The only parent I have that’s worth the name. She’s the backbone of the family. Without her, we’d all be on the street. But she has to sacrifice a lot to keep the bills paid. She’s out of town on business all the time. I think that’s the only reason she didn’t kick dad to the curb years ago; no one to look after us while she’s away. Anyway, when the takeover happened and we were given our quota, she was obviously the one to come into The Garden.”

John felt sympathy for Liz. He knew or could guess where she was going with the story. He wondered just how many families had been similarly affected by everything.

“Things were fine for the first couple months. But we had a really high household quota, four adults including my brother and I. So, my mom had to spend a lot of time here in The Garden. She was going on small excursions to meet the return requirements, and for those first days everything was going well.

“But one day, this group of guys came to the house. They sounded like they were from somewhere in Europe, but I’m not sure. I didn’t think anything of it, mom has a lot of business connections so I figured they were acquaintances from before the collapse. She didn’t seem surprised or upset to see them, so I didn’t pay them any mind. I heard them talking though. Did you know that you can choose which base you transition to at the stations?”

“I hadn’t really considered it, but I guess the aliens do ask which base before you transition,” John responded.

“You have to know the base by name to request it, but yeah. Apparently their connection to The Garden is extremely adjustable. You can also choose to randomize your transition.”

That was all interesting news to John. It gave him options for his future plans he hadn’t considered. Liz continued her story before he could speculate on the information further.

“So, these guys. They came to ask my mom to default to a new base. She was hesitant to agree, and I could tell that she was uncomfortable at the idea. But they kept asking, giving her all kinds of reasons why it was a better place to be. She eventually agreed just to get them to go away.”

“But it was a trap,” John said.

“I don’t really know to be honest. She left for The Garden the next day and hasn’t been back since. I waited for a week, but our quota started to get out of hand. I had no choice but to come myself. I was just lucky enough to meet you that first day.”

“I see. I assume you heard the name of the base they asked her to go to. Do you have a plan in mind? How do you want to approach this?” John asked.

“It’s called Teal Base. I haven’t come up with a plan yet, but I need to do something as soon as possible. My brothers are turning sixteen in a week.”

“You don’t want them to have to come here,” John provided.

“It’s not that simple. When they turn sixteen, there won’t be any children in the home. Apparently that’s an important distinction. If there aren’t kids in the home, the quota changes. The aliens said at least four of us will have to make at least one trip per week. And they aren’t exchangeable.”

“Four of you once per week? So it sounds like more than half the household has to be working to keep them happy. But if four of you have to go…”

“Yeah. My brother. Honestly I think Caleb and Jason would have a blast in The Garden. Give them some direction and turn them loose, they’d be fine. But Darren can’t be alone. He’s okay most of the time, but he has moments of struggle. He’s got issues with separation. Mom is always gone, so if someone doesn’t stay with him… it could be bad.”

“But you need four people to reach the new quota.”

John felt as if he was finally up to speed on the situation. And what a situation it was. He knew that the new normal for the world had caused countless families to fracture. His own family was torn by the events, but he had to admit, Liz had it much more difficult than he did.

For the first time, John was able to understand the person he was looking at. Never before had she been so open, candid, or serious. Looking back, he could tell just how hard she had been trying to hide her stress. It was a masterful façade. She had only let it slip when she learned of the communication orbs John showed to Jules. And about that…

“You asked me for one of these,” he said, producing one and handing it to her, “why?”

“You said they can translate any type of communication, right? You said a fox spoke to you.”

“Yes, but how does that help you?”

“I don’t know if it does. But I get the feeling that wherever my mom is, she’s not a captive to guys named Jeff, Steve, and Larry. The ones that came to the house were all from other countries based on their different accents. I don’t know for sure, but it seemed like being able to understand them if they aren’t speaking English might come in handy. Like I said, I don’t know. But I’d rather have the option than not.”

“I see,” John said, offering the orb to her.

“How does it work?”

“It will take care of things itself, all you have to do is put it between you and who you want to talk to. It won’t be active at all if you take it back to earth, but when you come back, the connection to The Garden will revitalize it.”

“So, it only works here?”

“Basically,” he said.

“Thank you,” she said.

“There is no need. I’ll do anything I can to help your family.”

John was expecting a span of silence, or perhaps more questions about the ball. What he didn’t expect was for Liz to stand and grab him. Her arms were around his body before he knew what was happening.

Her head leaned heavily on his shoulder as she gripped him more tightly than John would have thought possible. He was dumbfounded, just standing there with the woman firmly attached to him. And then he felt his shoulder start to become wet. Liz was crying.

Still unable to find the words to react, John hesitantly put a hand on her back. She seemed to soften slightly at his touch, and he took that as a sign to proceed. His other hand joined the first, and soon he was holding Liz in a firm embrace while she cried onto his shoulder.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

It was barely audible, but his ear was close enough to catch it. He didn’t respond, he just let her feel whatever she was going to feel while he held her in place. He had never been so close to a girl for so long, so his instruction manual for how to progress beyond the moment was entirely missing.

“I… I’m sorry, Liz. I had no idea that you carried so much for your family.”

That seemed to break the spell. Liz lifted her head and pulled back from him. Her eyes were red and still full of tears. But her voice was as solid as ever.

“It’s the same for you, isn’t it?” She asked.

“Not exactly.”

“You don’t have to play it off, John.”

“Play what?”

“Jules told me you have a mom and a sister at home. He said your mom comes looking for you every time you don’t come home. So, you’re here for the same reason I am, aren’t you?”

John didn’t answer immediately. He was considering how best to answer, or if he should at all. Eventually, he shook his head.

“We have similar circumstances. Not similar goals.”

“What do you mean? Jules wouldn’t say much, but from what he did say, isn’t someone missing from your family too?”

“My dad,” John said after a moment of indecision.

“And your goal is to get him back, right?”

John waved the question away. Of course he was going to save his father. But that was no longer the goal he worked towards.

“It isn’t the same. You are handling the explorative responsibility of six adults. And without you, the entire pyramid would collapse. If you never came home, what would your family do? There is at least one capable adult in my house to take my place. What about yours? You know what the Kumani threaten when quotas aren’t met.”

John’s words hung in the air for several seconds. Liz looked back at him with newfound tears growing in her eyes. Before she could summon a response, he continued.

“I know how much pressure is on my own shoulders. I also know how much more is on your shoulders. More importantly, there’s a difference between us that you’re not seeing. My family is divided because of the takeover. Your mom is missing because of her fellow man. That’s a whole other level of despicable.”

“How does that change anything?”

“It changes things because now, I’m mad.”

John spoke the words as calmly as he could. Even that was a difficult task. It was true, what he said. The level of despicable it took to manipulate a mother of four children into a captive situation or worse, well, it was a mentality that John couldn’t comprehend. What he could do, however, was seethe.

He clenched his fists until his nails dug into his palms. He felt his breathing unsteady itself as his mind turned over and over, replaying the story Liz had shared with him. Even Liz seemed to shrink a bit beneath his ire.

“We’re leaving tonight. Midnight,” he said.

“What are you going to do?” She asked.

“I’m going to burn the whole base to the ground.”

5

John and Liz spent the rest of the morning going over the details that he was less clear about. When he had all he needed to proceed, John asked Liz to wait in his room while he popped over to Thunder Fox Sanctuary. Once there, he flew to the immense palace for an audience with Suné.

He had several questions for the fox, all of which were answered in acceptable terms. Having the permission he needed, he returned to Liz. She was waiting on his bed as he had left her, and he quickly explained what he needed her to do.

Liz listened and agreed before doing something John hadn’t thought possible. She stepped on his transition pad and used it to return to earth. He didn’t know why it surprised him, but he had thought for some reason that it would only work for him. In any case, he walked to the pad himself and returned to Thunder Fox Sanctuary.

He left his house and used his wings to fly straight to the place he was needed. He landed a moment later near the main entrance to the base. He released his wings to melt into nothingness behind him just as the large community transport pad began to light up.

A few seconds later, Liz was standing there. She caught John’s eye, but he was unable to approach her. The reason was because the second she materialized, the voice of The Garden spoke.

“Thunder Fox Sanctuary has extended a challenge.”

John looked steadily back at her as he nodded. There was no other way to get her access to the base. John had known she would have to fight to be admitted, but he hadn’t known the extent of the fight.

That was why he had come to confirm with Suné. The fox had told him that each challenge is based on the progression of the individual and that The Garden itself chose the opponents. According to her, each test was supposed to be more difficult than the last, with the final fight being against a foe roughly 60% stronger than the challenger.

John had been okay with those terms, and when he explained them to Liz, she was too. John also asked where the lines would be drawn. Suné had responded that so long as she didn’t have more than ten genes of a specific level, she wouldn’t be classified as that tier.

That made John wonder how exactly he had been classified, having fought Advanced and Wizened foes in equal measure for his own challenge. He supposed his uneven and incomplete numbers had contributed to the distinction. But that did clear things up for Liz.

It meant that her classification would probably be Advanced. In turn, that meant her challenges would likely be mostly Advanced with a potential Wizened foe as the last. When he explained that to Liz, she was confident that she could handle it.

And so, there she stood. Still and clearly nervous, she just waited for something to happen. After a moment, something did happen, but it wasn’t what anyone was expecting.

A brilliant bolt of lightning blasted into the massive and still growing tide of creatures that were gathering around the transition pad. Those who were unfortunate enough to be within a dozen feet of the impact were thrown impossibly in every direction like a land mine had just gone off. And in the empty space left behind was Suné.

The remainder of the crowd parted as a unit until a massive clearing was made. Suné walked confidently to Liz and raised her head to the woman. Liz responded with wide eyes, dipping her head at the Fox in return.

The. Suné turned to walk from the transition station and Liz trailed behind her with a stunned look on her face. It was clear that when John had said “it’s a lot bigger than Emerald Base” she had not fully grasped the truth of the words. At the sight of thousands upon thousands of clearly elite beasts, all watching her walk behind their boss like she was the guest of honor, she was clearly rattled.

It made John smile to see the chronically devious girl reduced to the presence of a mouse. He felt her struggle, as he had been quite the same during his trial. But he would be sure to remind her of this side of her as often as he could from then on.

After only a moment of walking, Liz was brought to the center of a massive clearing just inside the base. The crowd closed around them until she was standing in a makeshift ring. Without further ado, a toad looking creature hopped forward until it was across from her. And then the fight was on.

The toad’s throat bulged as it took a massive breath. When it released the breath, it came with a great croak. A giant ball of air clearly visible somehow rocketed from the toad’s mouth, blasting at Liz like a transparent boulder.

John expected the woman to turn into a bear. Failing that, he thought she would at least move out of the way. Instead, something John hadn’t expected to see appeared in her hand. It was a freaking fan.

I small, hand sized fan that he had only ever seen rich people use to pretend to cool themselves popped into her hand. It was as wide as maybe a basketball when extended, and John watched in horrified fascination as Liz raised it to the ball of air. Only, she didn’t just lift her arm, she actually flicked her wrist diagonally upward. It was almost dismissive, like she was trying to use it to swat away a fly or something.

But when she had finished, the ball of air flying towards her had been blown off course. It came up and to the left of her until it flew harmlessly past over her shoulder. She didn’t even flinch at the attack passing her.

John’s eyebrows climbed into his hairline as he watched. Liz hadn’t even considered the action. It was as natural as taking a breath. His surprise only grew as the first fight wore on.

The toad blasted ball after ball of air at Liz, but none were more effective than the first. She effortlessly sent each attack in a different direction with consecutive waves of her fan. John wondered if the foe had anything else to try just before he got his answer.

A great and powerful tongue suddenly shot from its mouth and wrapped around Liz’s wrist. It was the arm holding the fan, and it happened so fast that John didn’t think he could have avoided it himself. He was reminded of his own encounter with a giant frog.

But Liz proved herself even more capable than he had given her credit for. As soon as the tongue grabbed her and attempted to return, she had yet another weapon in her hand. It appeared in her grip already halfway through the stabbing motion she made.

As her body was yanked forward, the long, thin blade in her hand sunk through the tongue and continued to pin the appendage to the ground. Its grip on her wrist was nullified in an instant, and Liz was back on her feet almost before she had lost her balance. The fluent nature of the act made John sure that she had been waiting for exactly that to happen.

She let go of the blade, but readjusted her grip on the fan. The toad struggled and croaked past its extended tongue, but Liz ignored it as she readied her attack. It was unable to gather another air attack with its tongue in the way.

John wasn’t sure what he was expecting at all, but what he wasn’t expecting was for Liz to suddenly roll her entire shoulder in a rough proximation of a soft ball pitch. It happened so fast that John almost missed what happened at all.

With the completion of the rotation of her arm, John saw the slightest of disturbances in the air between Liz and the toad. It was barely even a ripple, but it moved so fast that John knew it could only be a deadly attack. And in the next second, the toad fell into two pieces.

Blood sprayed in every direction, but mostly straight up as the two halves of the frog separated and fell apart. John was absolutely flabbergasted. Liz on the other hand, she looked almost bored.

Before the mass of beasts and creatures could even finish exclaiming at the kill, the second foe was already standing across from Liz. John looked on in fascination as the Advanced doglike creature began to growl. At a glance, both he and Liz could tell that this would be a very different kind of fight.

The beast launched itself at Liz while she was still inspecting it. To her credit, she seemed ready for the possibility, and easily evaded the pounce. It pressed the attack, however. Soon, Liz was back tracking with every step she took, pressed to keep her feet under her.

But John knew that she was far from her limit. She hadn’t used her Wizened Grizzly Soul yet, so he assumed she had a plan in mind. Realizing that he knew less about the tools and capabilities she had at her disposal, John could only wait to see what she would do.

He didn’t have to wait long, as it turned out. Liz continued to back away from the large dog as it leapt at her again and again, but John started to see the method behind her madness. She wasn’t just back away, she was also leading it where she wanted to be.

John was intrigued at the forethought she seemed to be exerting. She looked more and more confident in herself as the seconds ticked by. He wasn’t sure what her plan was, but it was clear that she had one. And then it happened.

Liz took a seemingly unimportant step to her right, closely followed by three more. It looked like she was about to turn and run. Her opponent certainly seemed to think so, as the beast quickly lunged ahead of her path to cut off her escape.

But that was exactly what Liz had been counting on. Her feet dug into the ground, halting her progress instantly as the wolf snapped its jaws closed on empty air. Liz had taken another very deliberate step as this happened, this one a large step back.

The beast rounded on her quick as a whip. It’s red eyes stared up at her own face with menace in them as it prepared to leap at her once more. But before it could, Liz tilted her head to the side. The beast flinched and closed its eyes as the beam of sunlight Liz had been blocking with her head pierced directly into them.

And that was it. That was all it took. By the time the great dog could recover, Liz had her thin blade back in hand. Blood erupted from the beast as her attack skewered it straight through the chest. It let out a strangled cry of pain, but in truth the beast was dead before her blade came free.

Even more raucous eruptions of excitement peppered the clearing as Liz waited for her third foe. When it came forward, John almost rolled his eyes. The almost became a certainty when Liz looked over at him with the smuggest look he had ever seen on her face. Then she turned back to her opponent, a giant snake.

“Better you than me,” John shuddered.

Liz didn’t falter in the slightest at the reptile in front of her. And while John would have been pumping arrow after arrow into it from as far away as possible, Liz took the opposite route. She sprinted forward like she was going to jump on top of the damn thing.

John’s eyes widened in alarm as he watched. The snake, easily bigger than the scariest of snakes on earth, just watched Liz approach with its cold eyes. It’s unfathomable length began coiling beneath it as she came closer. John knew that was how snakes prepared to strike. The more coiled they were, the further they could extend their attack.

But before he could even think to warn Liz of the danger, she was already in range. John watched in terror as the slightest of motions on the part of the snake told him it was about to strike. Liz swung her hand to the side in a gesture John couldn’t rationalize just as the snake’s head darted forward faster than the eye could see.

Then it hit the ground hard as Liz dove to the side. John couldn’t comprehend what had happened, and he wanted to scream at the girl to retreat before it struck again. But his words and thoughts both died in his throat as his mind caught up to what he was seeing.

The immense length of the snake was writhing around in great loops on the ground. It occasionally obscured Liz with its bulk. But that wasn’t the confusing part. What confused him more was that the snake’s head was entirely still. He didn’t understand what was happening until his eyes caught the immense pool of blood spreading beneath the snake.

He looked once more to the head and his jaw almost fell from his face when he noticed that the snake had been cleanly decapitated. The immense body only writhed around due to the insane number of nerves reptiles had. The snake was already dead.

John’s wide eyes met Liz’s. Her smug smile was as big as ever, and when she stuck her tongue out at him, he knew that she had killed the snake that way just to see the look on his face. Her deadly wind fan was back in her hand, and she used it to cool her face like she was a shy little girl.

Before he could marvel at just how far the girl had come, her final challenge was in the ring. John inspected the beast and rolled his eyes again. How did she get such an easy time of things when he had been beaten bloody in his own test? He shook his head at the injustice as Liz actually laughed from the ring.

Coming to stand across from her was a beast most closely resembling a ground hog. It was big though, like most sufficiently advanced creatures. It was closer to the size of a small pig than a ground hog. Giant mandibles protruded from its mouth, and John knew that if they clamped on to flesh, the flesh was coming with them when they left.

Despite that though, John knew Liz would have no trouble. The rodent might have been able to damage her, but with the body of a bear, Liz would have little to fear of death. Sure enough, she let the Soul morph around her until she stood taller, heavier, and much, much, more ferocious.

She released an Ursine wail before barreling at the ground hog. The beast was fast though, and it scurried beneath her to bite at her legs as it passed through them. Grunts of pain followed as the sharp teeth of the rodent dug into her fatty bear leg.

Liz was unperturbed though. She just scuffled her legs to shoo the beast away before trying again. But on her next attempt, she missed again. The oversized ground hog was too agile to be caught. It continued to take bites at her while she tried to get the thing in reach.

But no matter what she tried, the critter was untouchable. John realized that The Garden had probably chosen this last fight based on Liz and the soul help she had. That made him wonder if this might not be the exact counter to her strategy needed to neutralize her.

Indeed, Liz sounded more and more like an actual bear as her frustration rose. Her inability to even land a scratch on the thing was obviously more than she had expected to deal with. John thought she would abandon the form altogether, which would have opened her up for attack by the thing.

That was certainly the point of this specific selection. And John thought that she might have been on the verge of taking the bait. But then, in typical Liz fashion, she completely derailed all his expectations.

As she lunged at the ground hog once more, it darted between her legs as it had every other time. This time though, that seemed to be exactly what Liz wanted. Just as the critter came close enough, she abandoned her strike and did something that John never would have even considered.

All of the thousand pounds of bear crashed to the ground in an instant as she dropped her legs out from under herself. The ground hog was as surprised as John was, and when it disappeared beneath Liz, John knew the fight was over. Half a ton of bear on one side and the hard stone of the clearing on the other, the ground hog only took a minute to succumb to the sandwich.

As Liz sat motionless on top of the oversized rodent, a hush fell over the clearing. Her eyes seemed to pass over each spectating beast individually, missing none. Then she let out a bestial roar loud enough to rattle John’s teeth. After another brief silence, the base erupted in a cacophony of answering screams.

“Show off,” John muttered.