We exit the Dungeon with Logan two Levels higher and with the respect of Carter and I. I’m far from comfortable leaving him to his own devices and worried that he’ll be overconfident in his newfound power, but so far he’s had a surprisingly balanced about it. No doubt Carter will be lecturing him for ages afterward, hopefully not enough to turn him away from his family.
My Perception has already identified two powerful people waiting outside the Dungeon, both not hostile. My Danger Sense and Foresight are both silent but my enhanced sense of smell picks out Taiwo’s distinctive scent amongst all the stink of the Dungeon.
I leap up to the ground above the Dungeon and land a short distance from the pair, Carter and Logan following shortly behind and they sensibly stay back, just in case. With Taiwo is Dhromea which is a bit of a surprise.
“Nice to see you, Dhromea,” I say to the tall Uxelon teleporter before turning my attention to Taiwo. I only spent a day with her, but she made a big impression and taught me a lot. At the moment my Affinity is quiet but I feel something around her that I didn’t when we last met. Perhaps my Affinity is a lot more sensitive now that I’ve developed it further, or perhaps something about her has changed. I’d be keen to spend some time with her to find out.
“What are you doing here?” I ask Taiwo with interest and a smile. “I’m not complaining, but I thought it was just going to be the Legendary Strike Force teams coming from Tenebris?”
“We dropped them off at Uluru. Dhromea volunteered to do our transport and then come see you,” Taiwo replies, then peering past me he smoothly addresses my nephew, having seen the armor of Arvodis.
“Ah, Logan! Pleased to see you’re adjusting well to your new armor.”
Logan steps forward beside me and Inventories his helmet out of politeness, with Carter not far behind. Technically it’s a safety violation since we’re standing outside a Dungeon, but it’s a good decision considering the situation so I let it pass. I’m sure Logan recognizes Taiwo from what I’ve told him about the Merman, he’s hard to mistake. Dhromea, though, will definitely be a mystery. Taiwo gives Carter a nod of recognition that’s perfectly neutral without a hint of judgment or warmth, just simply acknowledging his presence. Considering their past interaction I think that’s actually pretty charitable.
“Thank you for helping Uncle Bronwic get this armor for me,” says Logan, surprising me. Perhaps he’s more appreciative than I thought; thirteen year old boys are not renowned for their social awareness.
“I’ve no doubt you’ll make good use of it,” says Taiwo, then he turns toward me. “Now, to answer your original question, I’ve come out of retirement.”
“Wait, what? And why Uluru for the Strike Force? There’s hardly anyone left in Australia.”
“Should we perhaps find somewhere to sit and talk?” asks Taiwo as he glances around. I’m sure none of us are uncomfortable standing around outside a Dungeon because that’s just part of life now, but Taiwo always does manage to sneak in some comfort and luxury no matter what the situation is.
“Yeah, sounds good,” I agree. “There’s a Brewsters Brew Pub not far from here that’s got good food and drink, and a decent atmosphere. You can try some human specialty drinks?” I ask.
“Since Dhromea is with us, I was thinking of somewhere a bit different,” says Taiwo, and Dhromea activates one of her Skills that causes my Affinity to flare up. I probe what she’s doing at the speed of thought and get a couple small insights as to how the Portal she opens is created. It’s much different than what I do but also has similarities, almost like different languages have different words for things but in the end there are still verbs and nouns.
Unlike when I trigger Omnipresent, I can’t see through her Portal and I don’t know where it goes, only that it’s nowhere close to Earth. In the back of my mind I still feel that constant pressure to be out hunting for powerful Monsters, but this is an important relationship and when I glance over at Logan’s curious and excited face I make up my mind since I can always bring us back here quickly if needed.
“Feel like a trip off world?” I ask Logan with a grin.
“Hey,” interrupts Carter, and I do feel instantly bad. Nowadays, I’m not used to asking for permission or even forgiveness. I glance over at him and see the conflict written on his face, but by the time Logan registers Carter might object the conflict is gone. “It’s a bit further afield than we told your Mom we’d be going, but as long as Bronwic doesn’t get his stupid ass killed we’ll be able to get back when we said we would.”
Twenty minutes later we’re sitting in a comfortable curved booth looking out through a transparent material I can’t identify, watching the operation of a huge space station. It’s a first for me just as much as it is for Carter and Logan. Even though I’ve been away from Earth for decent chunks of time and even on spacecraft, I’ve never had the opportunity to just sit and watch massive vehicles and warships docking and taking off in an endless stream in a truly enormous space port.
Taiwo and Dhromea sit back patiently in the purple seats with orange streaks that look like rippling underwater vegetation as we watch the action and speculate what different spacecraft might be and express our amazement at what’s going on. I appreciate them letting us have this time to share without interruption since no doubt they know a lot more about what’s going on here than we do. The limitation of my Omnipresent Skill means I’m not able to get to places like this, though I can always return back to Earth. It’s a unique opportunity that I appreciate.
A short time later some food arrives on the black shaped table in front of us. Multi-colored plates with hot and cold food are set down by mechanical arms attached to wide, flat purpose-built robots that hover between tables and deliver food and drink ranging from what looks like pasta to sashimi all the way to things I’ve never seen before. You get used to the kinds of colors and shapes of food on Earth but I know from experience with Taiwo and on Holgaad those same patterns are not the same universally.
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As fascinated as he is by what’s going on outside, it’s been a while since we’ve eaten and Logan’s gaze is drawn to all the food. I’m not surprised when his attention returns to the outside scene with reluctance clear on his face.
“Don’t worry Logan and Carter, I’ve spent enough time around Bronwic to know what kinds of foods humans like. If your tastes are similar to his, this will be a bit different than you’re used to, but hopefully in a good way.”
“Logan, I can’t imagine we’ll have another opportunity like this soon,” Carter says and he joins me in taking a selection of things for his plate. He also grabs a drink that looks a lot like Fanta, which was one of his favorites as a kid. Vivid memories rise up of Carter puking more than once without our parents knowing at our Grandma and Grandad’s house after tapping into the unlimited, unsupervised blue crates of specialty sodas that our Grandad used to leave behind the basement bar. I wonder if Carter even remembers that and I try to catch his eye, but he’s lost in his own thoughts. Logan watches all of us pick things and then eventually joins in, though I note he leaves it on his plate and returns his attention to what’s going on outside.
We enjoy a fantastic meal while taking in the overwhelming scale of what happens on the space station and Logan asks Taiwo good questions about how this compares to other places. We get a very high level overview of some of the main Galactic players near us and who controls spacefaring. There’s a pretty clean split between groups that mostly specialize in smaller scale operations who lean on teleportation or the Shop, and groups who are involved in physical, faster than light mass transport of people or goods within ships. It sounds like everything science fiction conjured up before the Influx is a reality in the wider Galaxy and Universe.
I’m sitting beside Dhromea, who takes the opportunity to ask me about how well I’ve been able to progress my Edges and Affinity, so I share what I have learned without holding anything back. If anyone deserves to know and can help me to progress even further, it’s her. To my surprise, she’s been trying to replicate what I came up with and she’s had some success so I’m keen to spend some time working with her on progress if we get that opportunity. Being right next to her for an extended period of time is also giving me ample opportunity to appreciate her attractiveness, and she seems fully comfortable being in each other’s personal space.
After maybe an hour we’re finished eating and the conversation is winding down. I feel restless to get back and almost trigger Omnipresent to check on how things are going, but hold myself back for the few minutes it should take to wrap up. Instead I look across Dhromea at Taiwo.
“Thanks to both of you for bringing us here, it’s a pretty unique opportunity and great to spend some time together. Can we pay for lunch?” I ask him.
Taiwo’s version of a laugh flows out from him lifting everyone’s spirits. His Charisma is just that high.
“Bronwic, I’ll always take you up on an offer of Credits. But also I’d like to propose something…”
A part of me has been wondering if this was coming. Taiwo and I certainly enjoy each other’s company, but our relationship is founded on multiple exchanges of value that’s started to move into a more legitimate friendship. I think. With all his Charisma it’s hard to tell.
“You’ve inspired me to come out of retirement,” Taiwo leads in with.
“What do you mean, me? You don’t exactly seem retired to me.”
“Oh… I’m staying busy. But that’s not the same as diving back into Adventuring. Watching you grow through Levels so quickly, seeing what’s happened on Earth with Oblivion Shroud, observing all the action and occasionally dipping in. I’m also insatiably curious about what opportunities and doors your Level 7 SSA Clearance and SSA Homeworld access will open up.”
We never really did pick up the conversation about my Level 7 Clearance, granted to me when I gained the Title of High Enforcer. With everything going on I haven’t even looked into it, all I know is that Taiwo had a strong reaction when I revealed it. Part of me is curious too, but I have enough on my plate. I make a mental note to at least find out if there are aspects of it that could help us to make it through this Influx.
Taiwo pauses for a few heartbeats. I’m not sure if it’s for dramatic effect or to give me a chance to soak in what he’s saying. Either way, he has my full attention and the attention of the table when he resumes.
“What I propose is that we form a small group and travel to a few SSA Homeworlds, and take on some High Enforcer assignments together. As a High Enforcer you are permitted to form a small team of your own, although I don’t know the specific rules around having Level 7 Clearance; the highest Clearance I’ve gained knowledge of or met someone having is Level 4.”
I don’t say anything for a few seconds, trying to take this in. It’s not the direction I thought it was heading.
“I’ve agreed to come to ensure we can travel wherever we need to go, as long as we can also continue to work together on novel ways to use Dimensional Manipulation,” adds Dhromea, her vibrant green eyes giving me a searching gaze.
That's definitely a tick in the ‘pros’ column, but I shake my head.
“It’s not for me, Taiwo. At least, not for now. People change, I’ve changed a hell of a lot. But after everything we went through with Oblivion Shroud and the choice I made to take the Sentinel Class, it doesn’t feel right to leave Earth for Galactic adventures. Maybe one day if humanity’s future is secured, but not now.”
“You’d be free to return to Earth whenever you like, your Skills ensure that. I’d divert a substantial portion of my resources to assist you and join in personally in the battle for Earth as long as we spend at least half the time off world.”
I consider what he’s saying, not rejecting it out of hand because it’s Taiwo and I’m fully aware he knows a lot more about what goes on in the Universe than I do. The resources he can bring to bear and his personal help could be extremely helpful to me, and possibly even move the needle a bit for humanity. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Carter is worried about this and Logan is part curious and part distracted, not unexpected from a 13 year old. No doubt this is not the kind of conversation he’s usually involved in.
“Does Tenebris know?” I ask.
“No, and although I can’t speak for him I feel confident he would view this as a net positive for his investments both in you, and in Earth. I do always try to ensure my activities don’t conflict with his best interests.”
I lean back in my seat next to Dhromea’s warm presence and glance over at Carter, who gives me a small shrug. He’s my big brother, but we don’t have that kind of advisor or mentor relationship dynamic that other siblings might have.
The silence at our table doesn’t bother me. I don’t feel compelled to give an answer right away or fill the space while I consider. Logan looks up at me in interest as if he’s trying to guess what’s going through my head and then turns back to the view outside.
What is going through my head?
“I’m not saying ‘no’ Taiwo and Dhromea, but I am saying ‘not yet’,” I say firmly as I glance back and forth between them. “Maybe if we can stabilize Earth’s high Level Zones or there’s an advantage in doing this that would give humanity an edge I’d do it. But for now, I just don’t think I could do anything that would make more difference than taking on Monsters who rampage through cities, Dungeons spilling out death sentences to humans, and protecting Settlements are being overrun. Even being here I constantly feel the call, the pull to go back and see if I can make a difference. In the end, I am the Human Sentinel and Earth is where I belong.”