One minute Rayna was sitting on uncomfortably warm obsidian, the next she was sitting on a wooden floor. She looked up at a strangely out of place chandelier complete with multi-colored mage lights. Comfortable chairs were organized around tables in one corner of the room, and in the other, a long L-shaped counter took up a considerable amount of space. Next to the counter, a door stood slightly ajar, leading to a staircase. Above the door was a sign that read, ‘System Hub’.

Rayna stood, wincing as the motion jostled the glass in her arm. Was this the front of the dungeon? She had expected to be transported outside.

Rayna took a step toward the door.

A snore sounded from behind the counter, startling Rayna. She jumped back, running into one of the chairs. The chair legs scraped across the floorboards, assaulting Rayna’s ears with a high-pitched screech.

A man sat upright, blinking as he looked around the lobby in confusion. He looked young, barely out of his teens, with long white hair falling past his shoulders and black skin that was surprisingly similar to Rayna’s.

That was where the similarities ended. The man’s ears were visibly longer than Rayna’s and a set of wings grew out of his back. On his head, two small horns jutted backwards, curling slightly downward at the tip.

The man smiled when he spotted Rayna. “A visitor! How can I help you?”

Rayna hesitated. “Umm… I was looking for the System Hub…”

“Then you’ve come to the right place!” the man said cheerfully. “I’m Amon, keeper of the Caverns and Cave Rats dungeon. It’s in a state of emergency right now so if you could—” He cut himself off, raising his eyebrows. “Oh. You cleared it already? How did you get in? Well, it doesn’t matter! Thank you, traveler, for your service to the System. Are you seeking information? Or a place to stay, perhaps?”

“Both?” Rayna said. “And maybe a pair of tweezers?”

The man shook his head slightly, looking confused. “Tweezers?”

“Something to get glass out of my arm,” Rayna clarified.

Amon walked around the counter, approaching Rayna to examine her arm.

He tsked. “I see you did the magma and sand in quick succession. Did you try throwing water on it to cool the magma afterwards?”

Rayna nodded, blushing.

“Well, let me just take care of this for you. It comes from my dungeon, so I can do more than if it was regular glass.”

He waved his hand over her arm and the injuries vanished. A moment later, the pain left as well.

Amon leaned in, whispering conspiratorially. “I’m not really supposed to heal it too, but you’re the first person to visit me in six thousand years, so I made an exception.”

“That’s why we’re here,” the System said aloud.

Amon looked over Rayna’s shoulder, a surprised smile lighting up his face. “Ronari? I thought you were gone for good! Where have you been hiding out all these years?”

Rayna turned around to find a woman standing behind her. She had the same coal black skin and white hair, as well as the wings and horns that Amon had. If there was a difference between them, it was that she was considerably taller, and Rayna thought she saw a tail peeking out from under her silver dress.

“I’ve been asleep,” she said, her expression resolute. “Now that Rayna has woken me, I’m trying to figure out what is going on with the System.”

“Hang on,” Rayna said, crossing her arms. “You could have properly introduced yourself this whole time? Why was I stuck with a disembodied voice?”

“I can only appear in System Hubs,” Ronari said. “It’s a bit complicated, but my reach is limited right now. Whatever happened to the System, it locked me out of everything. I should have more access than this.”

“Well, that’s because they made a new System,” Amon said. “You should be able to see it; the alternate one.”

“Well, yes, I can see it,” Ronari said testily. “But why is it so incompetent? From Rayna’s description of the situation on Ember, I assume it has to do with the Chosens’ inability to manipulate Essence, but that shouldn’t be a problem since the Administrator is still active.”

“The Administrator is the problem, actually,” Amon said. “He stopped letting us help. The man is trying to do everything himself with nothing but his Liaisons and a few clones. Even our System access has been limited.” Amon shook his head. “We’re not sure if he’s paranoid or stupid, but I’m not sure if it matters at this point.”

“We?” Ronari asked. “You can talk to the others?”

“Yes and no,” Amon said. “We had an easier time talking during the first couple outages, when the Administrator wasn’t around to block us, but after that, he destroyed the lines. I have a connection to the main hub, but I’m cut off from everything else.”

Ronari shook her head. “Something isn’t right. Even a paranoid Administrator wouldn’t go that far. He’s cut himself off from information that he would need to smoothly run the System. Why would he do that?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Amon said.

Ronari squared her shoulders. “This can’t go on. I’m initiating emergency override. Authorization code: ******.”

Ronari’s lips blurred in Rayna’s vision, keeping her from seeing or hearing the code, but it must have been correct because Amon took a step back.

“Are you insane?” he hissed. “You can’t stage a coup with the System as fragile as it is.”

“I’m doing it because of how fragile the System is. If we don’t do something soon, it won’t be salvageable. Now patch me in. I need to reconnect to the main server.”

“No,” Amon said.

Ronari raised her eyebrows. “No?”

“You can’t do this, Ronari. If there’s a problem in the System, it needs an Administrator to fix it. That’s how it is. You won’t be able to fulfill any of your duties. If you take over, everything will fall apart.”

“It’s already falling apart!” Ronari snapped. “He’s leaving them to fend for themselves for decades on end. The people of Ember are barely surviving. Something needs to be done.”

“You can’t move Essence without an Administrator,” Amon insisted. “Unless you bring me one, my hands are tied.”

Ronari threw her hands in the air, starting to pace. “Something needs to be done Amon. Even if it’s just talking to that useless Administrator disgracing the name Cremble.”

Ronari paused her pacing. “Wait. What if I had an Administrator?”

Amon narrowed his eyes. “Do you?”

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“What if?” Ronari asked again.

Amon took a deep breath. “If you bring me an Administrator, then I’ll go along with your plan. You can’t find someone much worse than the brain-dead lunatic we have now.”

“Excellent,” Ronari said. “Rayna can be the Administrator.”

“What?!” Rayna took a step back. “Are you insane? I’m not even from here!”

Amon shook his head. “She has to be Lerian, you know that.”

Rayna blinked. The Administrators were Lerians? Then why—?

Before she could follow the train of thought, Ronari spoke again.

“She is,” Ronari said. “Her soul is originally human, but that doesn’t matter. She has already proven that she can manipulate Essence. That’s all we need.”

“Excuse me, but what the hell is wrong with you people?” Rayna snapped, taking another step back.

“It isn’t a difficult position,” Ronari said. “The Administrator is a conduit; a way to transform Essence into Experience and abilities. There are no decisions involved, and you won’t even notice when I use your ability. Everything happens outside of you.” Ronari thought for a moment. “Think of it like the Sprite! When an Elemental forms a bond with another species, that species can freely use their abilities, but the abilities are not transferred unless the Sprite allows it.”

Amon’s frown deepened, which didn’t make Rayna more confident in Ronari’s plan.

She smoothed her hair back, looking back and forth between the two crazy people who were trying to drag her into this mess. “And if I refuse?”

“Then Ember falls,” Ronari said dramatically.

Rayna raised an eyebrow.

“She’s not wrong,” Amon said. “The System can’t go on like this forever. We need to reconnect the Keepers, or everything will fall apart.”

“In other words,” Ronari said. “You’re our only hope.”

Rayna walked over to one of the chairs and sat down hard. She didn’t want to do this, but did she have a choice? There were millions of people—maybe billions—on this planet. Could she just leave them to their fate?

“What would I need to do if I became the Administrator?” Rayna asked cautiously.

“Nothing,” Amon said.

“No, not nothing,” Ronari corrected. “I can’t do anything on my own; not with the System lines down. I need you to travel to other dungeons and help me piece the System back together.”

“And I assume I have to clear these dungeons?” Rayna asked.

“Ideally, yes” Ronari said. “But you don’t have to clear all of them. The more we clear, the smoother the System will run. The same goes for the teleporters and city hubs, but we can take it one step at a time. The most important thing is locking down the System so no one unauthorized can access it. Until we figure out who or what is causing the Dark Ages, we need to limit outside access.”

“Like when you change your passwords and log out of all devices,” Rayna said.

“Exactly.”

Rayna ran her fingers through her hair. “What will this do to the players currently in the System?”

“Absolutely nothing,” Ronari assured her. “I will take over and maintain System functions for the time being, until we can get more help.”

“Help like Amon over there?” Rayna asked.

Amon nodded. “The System has always taken a team effort to maintain. Whatever reason the Administrator cut us off, it’s probably doing more harm than good. Each hub holds a memory core. It was designed that way so if one core was lost, others would be able to pick up the slack until it was replaced.”

“But the failsafe didn’t work because the Administrator decided to go solo?” Rayna guessed.

“More than likely,” Ronari agreed.

How did Rayna’s life just keep getting more complicated?”

“Once the System is back up and running smoothly, I can hand off the Administrator role?” she asked.

“When we find a suitable replacement,” Ronari said. “Will you do it?”

Rayna drew in a deep breath. “Well, the world’s going to hell in a handbasket, it’s not like life will be any easier if I refuse. But I have one condition.”

Amon frowned. “What is it?”

“Keep me anonymous. I don’t want anyone knowing I’m a part of this. If things go south, I’m not planning on becoming a scapegoat for whatever the hell this is.”

Ronari nodded. “That was already in the plan. Things are safer if the Administrator’s identity isn’t known.”

“All right, how do we do this?”

“I’ll patch Ronari into the System and she will appoint you as the Administrator,” Amon said. “You’ll have to be quick, Ronari, if the Administrator realizes I’m using my link, he might try to freeze me out.”

“Understood,” Ronari said. “Rayna, stay seated. You might pass out briefly.”

“Great, sounds really safe,” Rayna said sarcastically. She scooted backwards in the chair, trying to find a comfortable position.

“Here we go,” Amon said. “Three… Two… One!”

Rayna’s mind caught fire. She screamed, gripping the arms of her chair as information forced its way into her brain. Numbers, faces, monsters; images flashed through her mind too quickly for Rayna to comprehend. She saw centuries of life on the mountain pass before her eyes in seconds.

Then she saw a tower, its black exterior covered in sharp spikes that jutted out at odd angles. Monsters roamed its base, searching for a way in. Somehow, Rayna knew this wasn’t a memory. It was happening right now. The world calmed as she entered the tower.

Rayna, hold on, I’m almost there.

Ronari’s voice was distant as Rayna roamed the tower. Most of the scene was blurred, like there was a secret that Rayna wasn’t allowed to know. She walked through endless rooms until she found something she recognized.

Eldar Cremble sat in a corner, muttering to himself as he scribbled things on a giant blackboard. Only instead of the short curly haired man she first saw at the initiation, this man was tall, with horns, wings and a long thin tail. His hair, still white and curly, grew past his dark shoulders, falling to the small of his back.

Rayna approached him, trying to see what he was writing, but it too was blurred.

The Administrator whirled around, alerted to Rayna’s presence by some unknown sense.

He threw his chalk at her and Rayna ducked as the projectile flew over her head.

Eldar blinked golden eyes that glowed in the dim lighting. “R-Rayna? You’re… that volunteer, right? How did you get here?”

Rayna shook her head. “I—” she tried to say, but no sound came out of her mouth. She tried again, but again, she was silent.

“Oh,” Eldar said. “You’re not really here…” He glanced around the room nervously. “You must leave. He can’t find you.”

Rayna frowned. Who? She mouthed.

Eldar shook his head. “I—I don’t know. But you have to go.”

He tried to push Rayna out the door, but his hands went right through her.

Why did you cut off the Keepers? Rayna tried to ask.

“The who?” Eldar asked, his brow furrowing.

The Keepers.

Eldar shook his head. “Oh, the Keepers. Right, I’d forgotten about the Keepers. Such helpful lot, they are.” He looked sad. “I couldn’t let him have them.”

Rayna felt a monster approach from behind and she whirled around, only to find nothing in the doorway.

Something is here, she whispered.

Eldar moved between Rayna and the feeling. “I told you to go!” he snapped, his voice panicked. He made a shield around himself and Rayna. “I can’t hold him off forever. Get out of my tower or I’ll expel you myself.”

I don’t know how to leave, Rayna said.

I got it, Ronari’s voice echoed through the tower.

Eldar looked up and grinned. “Oh, I should have known the little runt was up to something.” He turned to Rayna. “I don’t know how long I can hold him off. Find Prince Enathar. He will know what to do.”

Initiating lockdown, Ronari said.

Rayna’s vision went white as information burned through her mind. An angry scream echoed in her ears as she was dragged out of the black tower.

* * *

Amon used a levitation spell to move the girl to a bed. The process had not been easy for her, but she would pull through. Just in case, he placed a long term healing spell on her that would keep her comfortable until morning.

He returned to the lobby, his expression cold.

He found Ronari looking guilty.

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Amon snapped.

“She survived,” Ronari said, though her voice held none of her usual surety.

“She is a child! I thought that was a disguise. What level is she? Has she even reached the first plateau?” He smoothed his hair back, careful to avoid his horns. “She cleared my dungeon alone—in overflow state, at that— so what, Level 30? 40?”

“Level 25,” Ronari said. “After the boss, that is.”

Amon’s eyes widened. “You brought an Initial into an overflowing dungeon?!”

“She wandered in herself,” Ronari said defensively. “It’s… complicated. I’m not even sure what happened. Anyway, she cleared it just fine, so what’s the problem?”

“The problem is that you could have killed her!” Amon snapped. “She wasn’t ready for that sort of information load. What would you have done if the Administrator died during integration without a suitable backup? Everything would have fallen apart; The dungeons, the wards!”

“Well, she didn’t,” Ronari snapped back. “I didn’t have a lot of time to consider this. You should see the state of things, Amon, it’s just…” Ronari shook her head. “I’m starting with the tutorial. It’s not teaching them anything. There are no instructions, no explanations; it’s a glorified hunting ground. If we’re going to get through this, we need more people to understand the System and all its advantages. The humans are my best bet.”

Amon glared at Ronari. “Since when do the ends justify the means?”

“Since the whole world hangs in the balance,” Ronari hissed. “It’s failing; not just the wards, but the System itself. I couldn’t even find the Administrator. He’s holed up in some corner of his tower, locking everything else out. There are bugs in the code, misplaced resources; everything is coming apart at the seams and he is hiding.”

“She won’t be able to retain it, you know,” Amon said. “I’m not sure Rayna will even remember coming here.”

“Perfect,” Ronari said. “Then she won’t be able to tell anyone her secret. She doesn’t need to know that she’s the Administrator to fulfill the role.”

Amon pursed his lips. This was not what he agreed to, but what was done was done. All he could do was stay involved and try to make sure that Ronari didn’t get the girl killed.

“Patch me in,” he said. “I’ll see what I can do to help.”

“You’re a gem, Amon,” Ronari said, making a link for him.

“No, I’m a Keeper, and this is what we do.”