“Lunch,” Max said with a nod. “We might have a literal deadline to make money, but we gotta eat. Maybe we can come up with a new plan while we eat.”

James shrugged and they started walking anti-spinward. This neighborhood was too nice to find cheap food, so they had to search further afield. There weren’t any street carts in this city, so their search had them peeking into building after building. There weren’t as many restaurants as Max expected, but there were a few.

“Didn’t Ebba say we shouldn’t eat food from here?” James asked after they both rejected the weird nut restaurant.

“I don’t think it’ll be a problem. Mana rich foods are expensive here, as long as we get something cheap, we will be fine. Besides, we are getting in that tower today,” Max said with more conviction than he felt.

They continued anti-spinward, slowly walking through the small streets. Eventually they found a place that sold meat empanadas and fried plantains. Max paid with knuts, only four for a hearty meal that fed both of them. The food was delicious enough that he bought some for later.

While they ate, James said, “You don’t have to do that leaderly thing with me, you know.”

‘What leaderly thing?” Max said around a bite of empanadas. It was good, but he was trying hard not to think about what kind of meat was inside.

“That thing where you are endlessly positive,” James said. “It’s just me. You can be honest. Our chances of getting in aren’t good.”

Max sighed. “Sorry. You are right, our chances aren’t good. They have better tools and equipment than us here, so I don’t know what we could sell. It was honestly lucky that I brought so much food.”

“That wasn’t luck. That was planning. Are you sure there isn’t anything else squirreled away in your pack?”

“Nothing I am confident about. I have some precious metals, silver, gold, and platinum. But even if they do need that stuff here, I didn’t bring enough to make us rich.”

James shrugged and crunched on a fried plantain. “You never know. Maybe they don’t have enough aluminum and your pack frame is worth a fortune.”

“Alright. We’ll check in with the blacksmith or something. Still, I don’t think we can count on that working,” Max said as he stared out the window.

“Just so we are clear, I don’t want to go into the forest and hunt monsters for their cores,” James said seriously.

Max barked out a laugh. “Alright. Fine. That’s plan C.”

“Better make it plan N for never gonna happen.”

Max laughed and flicked a plantain at his friend’s face. James retaliated by flicking water from their drink right back at him. Max sputtered and leaned back, but he couldn’t hide his smile. He was glad he was here with James, no matter how this all turned out.

After lunch they decided to head back to the hotel and see if Zayda had some recommendations for where they could try and sell their precious metals. Before they got there, they were distracted by a hologram. Or maybe it was an illusion.

Every few blocks there was a ten foot tall platform. It was thin and didn’t have a ladder to climb it. Max had ignored it until now. A fuzzy glow appeared in the air that slowly resolved itself into a person. They were bald and a little chubby, wearing a forest green cloak and holding a piece of paper. When he started talking, he was loud enough to hear a half a block away.

“Gooooood Afternoon Spinworld. This is Ernie Pyle with another edition of Spinworld News. Coming to you live from an undisclosed location, delivering to every major city from the first layer down to the fourth. Yes, even you, Bespin. Tearing down the platforms doesn’t stop the transmission. I got a treasure rank card, baby. You can’t stop me.

First, financial news. The dungeon harvesting companies of Marrow, Ebbard’s Trunk, and Cadabra have all reported higher than average profits this quarter. They haven’t disclosed this but my confidential source says dungeons aren’t changing as often on the first layer. Their luck isn’t shared by Colossus though. The Igra company is reporting a 19% reduction in mana crystal harvesting.

Next in the weather, the cities of Coruscant, Mother's Lashes, and Wild Plum are all experiencing dungeon breaks nearby. Plan your travel accordingly and don’t get caught in a mandatory quest. Stay safe out there on the third layer.

In celebrity news, the Paj princess Mahlet has fled to the City of Wild Plums. Apparently she is hoping the dungeon break will keep her father away. Sources inside the Abyssinia government say King Yekuno is furious they are harboring her, and might send his army in to teach them a lesson.

On the fourth layer, Hunter Thib has called for a council between all city leaders. They will meet in Ushuaia to discuss the growing concerns of the harvesting community. I’ll keep you updated as the conference progresses.

Lastly, I’ll end with the most important news. Dana, please come back. I love you, I’ll always love you.” When he finished speaking, the image fuzzed again and disappeared entirely.

“What. The hell. Was that?” James said, staring at the empty platform.

Max shrugged. “Spinworld News. Come on, James, keep up.”

“Hey!”

Max chuckled as he kept walking towards the hotel. He hadn’t cared about most of the news, but one tidbit had his heart racing. The cities named Bespin and Coruscant. A love of Star Wars was on of the things that united Max and his brother. He wouldn’t be surprised if Michael moved to one of those cities just because of the name. As soon as Max was adjusted to the mana on the first layer, he would have to find out where they were. It was as good a place to start as any to look for his brother.

He was in a great mood until he heard Ashley yelling. She was standing at the front desk and they could hear her shouting from the street. Max was starting to think Fern was right. It was always something with Ashley.

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“...can tell you didn’t steal it. But you gotta help me find who did. It’s my life on the line here!” Ashley shouted.

Max briefly considered not stepping in to calm her down. He was getting sick of breaking up fights she started. Still, he couldn’t let Hammurabi deal with her on his own.

Max said, “Ashley! What’s going on?”

“Someone stole my titan core and this guy won’t help me find it. It’s his hotel, he’s gotta know who took it.”

“When did you see it last?”

“I locked it in my room before I went out for lunch and it was broken into when I came back. My stuff was ransacked and my core was missing,” Ashley said, as if she was talking to a child.

Max turned to Hammurabi, “Are there magic police or something we can turn to? The guard said something about the governor magically protecting the city, right?”

Hammurabi shook his head, “No, she gets quests to keep the city as a whole safe and happy, but no magical help on the individual level to track down thieves.”

“I’m not talking to the governor, I’m talking to you!” Ashley yelled. “Someone stole my stuff from your hotel and you need to make it right.”

“Was it only your stuff?” James asked.

She rounded on him and said, “What?”

James shrunk back but continued on anyway, “I mean, was it only your stuff or did they steal Fern’s stuff too?”

“I don’t know, I guess. My pack was ripped apart, but her’s was gone,” Ashley said flippantly. Then a realization slowly dawned on her face, “Wait. Fern’s stuff was in there before and I have the only key. She must have broken into the room and stole my CORE!”

Hammurabi cleared his throat and said, “If Fern is the other blond girl, I saw her head out with the Chinese boy. They both had packs on.”

“She’s trying to use my core to buy her way in!” Ashley yelled and sprinted out of the hotel.

Max gave Hammurabi a look and said, “Sorry about her.”

He headed out after Ashley with James right behind him. They quickly lost sight of her, but didn't speed up. They jogged at a steady pace, knowing right where she was headed. The shiny tower in the center of the city held the low mana floors. She obviously thought that Fern had stolen her core and was going to use it to get in. Max couldn’t quite believe that she would do that, but then again, he didn’t know Fern well.

They soon arrived at the shiny metal tower. A Lunuk guard stood in front of the tower with his arms folded. He looked down at Ashley as she gestured and pointed to the door behind him. The door was the same kind as the one in the stone building they had arrived in.

In fact, there was stone all around the door before the metal started. It looked like the building was exactly the same as the other one, just with a magical metal wrapped around it. It even had the same arrow slit windows on all three floors.

“Are you done?” the Lunuk said after Ashley ran out of steam. When she didn’t respond, he said, “Like I told you before, there was only room for two more people. Those other humans paid and I let them in. They paid two cards and a full titan core, twice what you were willing to pay. The governor herself instructed me to keep the door locked for the next two and a half months. It doesn’t matter how much you want to pay, it isn’t opening up again until everyone is ready to come out and serve the city.”

“You can’t do this to me! That core was mine!” Ashley said as she grabbed at him.

The guard casually threw out a stiff arm and knocked her on her ass. Max watched the whole exchange with a sort of detached wonder. Fern and Feng had actually done it. They had used the stolen goods to buy their way in.

Clues fell into place in Max’s mind. Those two were always off together, whispering. There were fewer cards and orbs than there should be after every fight. Kezhi had two cards when he died, but they only recovered one. They were always thieves, but Max only figured it out today.

Now no one else could get in. They were all screwed.

James started laughing. Max turned to his friend with a look of disbelief. What was he thinking? This was a disaster. The journey up to the first layer would be deadly. They had just missed their only chance to avoid that terrible fate. The urge to cry was overwhelmed by the ridiculous need to laugh. James was right. This whole thing was ridiculous. It wasn’t the end of the world, they would just have to go back to their original plan and walk all the way north.

Max joined his friend in laughing, earning themselves a nasty look from Ashley, who hadn’t gotten up yet. Max tried to stop laughing. It took him a while. Eventually, he said, “Sorry, sorry. I’m not laughing, we’re not laughing at you, just the ridiculousness of the situation. I mean, we all tried so hard but...” He had to stop and laugh again.

The two of them slowly got a hold of themselves. Max considered helping Ashley up but decided to leave her there. Moments later, Gus snuck close to the tower.

He had come from a nearby alleyway and was keeping to the shadows. He had his pack on and was furtively looking around. When he saw Max and James standing there, he froze. He stood there with a guilty look on his face.

Max lost it. He guffawed and fell to the street chuckling. James joined in laughing, stumbling around and using Max’s shoulder to stay standing.

Gus’ look changed to one of fury. He stomped forward, “Hey! You don’t have any right to my cards. Just cus it’s hard for y’all to get in, doesn’t mean I have to sacrifice the cards I fought for.”

The aggressiveness wasn’t enough to knock Max out of it, so he kept laughing. James quickly sobered up and said, “None of us can get in. Not even Ashley. Look.”

Gus looked to where Ashley was just barely standing up. She looked like she wanted to take a run at the door, but her sense of self preservation was holding her back.

“What happened?’

Max climbed to his feet and said, “The lovebirds, Fern and Feng, stole Ashley’s titan core and bought their way into the tower. There were only ever two beds free, so they won’t open the doors again. Doesn’t matter how much we pay, the tower's full now. Ashley knew and lied about how much it cost. She was trying to get one of us to pay her way in so she could keep all her cards.”

Gus stared at Max and then back at Ashley. He put his hands on his hips and yelled at her, “What the hell?”

“Does it matter? We aren’t getting in now,” Ashley said and folded her arms.

Gus yelled back at her, but Max quit paying attention. His attention was drawn to the flying machines zipping around the city. This world was an interesting contrast between deadly wilderness and technology well beyond their own. Humans were varied as well. Some stole from the heartless to get ahead, and others like Hammurabi were happy to help strangers, even when it hurt their business. The divide between the rich and poor couldn't be wider. The rich literally didn't walk on the same streets as the rest of them.

When he stopped his musing he noticed Gus and Ashley had stopped arguing with each other and were staring each other down. He cleared his throat.

“Ashley, you are free to get your stuff from your room, but then I want you out. You too, Gus. I paid for all the rooms at Hammurabi’s hotel for a week and I don’t want you to stay with us,” Max said.

He turned and walked away, ignoring what they were shouting after him. James kept up with him, not talking until the other two were out of eyesight.

“Are you really kicking them out of the group? How will they get to the first layer?” James asked.

Max shrugged, “Eh. I’ve only decided that they won’t stay at the hotel. We’ll talk with Yang and Lily about what happened and decide all together if we want them traveling with us tomorrow. I don't really care about them right now. I have more important things on my mind.”

"Such as?”

“Shopping.”