Corban kept his explanation brief and vague. He told them that Rayna was a rich benefactor that had acquired this hub and others in the hopes of improving human-emberian relations by giving the Chosen a safe place to stay outside of the cities.

After that, they spent some time on an informal meet and greet so the Tutorial Leaders could tell her about their groups and thank her for her generosity.

Rayna felt like a fraud, but the stability of the situation was more important than her personal feelings.

When the others finally left Corban stayed behind.

“So, do I get more details as your second-in-command or should I scram and let you have some more time to yourself?” Corban grinned, though Rayna could tell by the slight tension in his words that he really wanted to know more.

She sat down on the sofa. “Get comfortable. It’s a long story.”

Rayna told him everything. He already knew her secret about being the Administrator, so there was little point in keeping the rest from him. She even went back to talk about the tutorial and how she was indirectly responsible for the redesign.

Phira came out some time in the middle, so Rayna had the chance to not only introduce them but also to fill Phira in on the rest of the details of her situation.

Corban rubbed his chin. “Silka… how do you think she’s related to Lord Myre?”

Rayna lifted an eyebrow. “Where are you getting that connection?”

“Well, she told you to seek him out—assuming that his name tag is the real him and not the name he’s giving everyone else—and they share a last name if she’s the same Silka as the name in your classroom.”

Rayna shook her head. “I think that was just a dream. Everything felt surreal and jumbled until the—” Rayna cut off.

“Funeral?” Corban finished for her. “You’re not dead.”

“But I am, though,” Rayna said, shuddering at the thought. “I’m literally a ghost in a stolen body.”

“Borrowed or given,” Corban corrected. “Silka said they were waiting for you, whatever that means. If she knew you would come, she had to know you would be in her body, right?”

“That doesn’t automatically mean she allowed it,” Rayna countered. “I’m literally a body-snatcher!”

The situation had been far less concerning when Rayna assumed she had just been race-swapped. A genetic experiment or even a body grown in a lab would be less morally dubious.

And it wouldn’t make her feel so guilty.

“I agree with Corban,” Phira said. “Even if the permission was not explicitly given to you, by not even mentioning the situation while giving you instructions, Silka gives the impression that she is aware of the situation and doesn’t resent you for it.”

“And it’s not your fault,” Corban said. “You didn’t ask to be put in her body, you asked to be taken to Emma. It was that Administrator that forced you into this position.”

“It’s still messed up,” Rayna said.

“Be that as it may,” Phira said. “It’s not something any of us can rectify at the current time, therefore it’s not something worth devoting energy to.”

“I think the more important question is whether or not you’re going to approach Myre,” Corban said. “If he’s the only one who can teach you about your portals, it might be better to do so sooner rather than later.”

“I’m not approaching him at all,” Rayna said firmly. “All I did was mention his name and the man attacked Nali’s safe house. He’s hiding something huge, and I want nothing to do with it.”

“That is wise,” Phira said. “In a game of politics, it’s often best to hold your information in reserve, rather than to show your hand too early.”

“I still think you need to find a sensei or something,” Corban said. “This sounds like classic chosen-one-origin-story stuff. You literally just hit the call to action.”

“I’m more interested in Ascension,” Rayna said. “Is it open yet?”

“Unfortunately,” Corban grumbled. “Everyone else got a head start and now I’m playing catch-up. Jade even bagged a Rare Class.”

Rayna frowned. “How are you all leveling up? I cleared the dungeon less than a week ago.”

“The spawn rate is outrageous,” Corban said. “We can clear it in the morning and the monsters are all back by lunch. The only exception is the Dungeon Boss, the room is still only acting as a portal back to the hub.”

“Did Amon have any idea why that is?” Rayna asked.

Corban blinked. “You know, it hadn’t even occurred to us to ask him.”

Amon appeared in the room before Rayna could call him. “You had a question?”

Thanks to Phira’s tendency to pop in unannounced, Rayna wasn’t startled, but she was annoyed by the sudden intrusion. “All right, ground rules for my room. If you reply to a summons, do so by knocking on the door, not popping in suddenly, and don’t listen in on my conversations.”

Amon nodded. “My apologies, surveillance is one of my key duties, for the safety of the hub and dungeon.”

Corban’s lips formed a thin line.

“Added rule,” Rayna said. “Stay out of the bedrooms and the bathrooms. You can police common areas, leave the rest alone.”

Amon tilted his head. “Then how will I know if I’m needed?”

“I’ll come to the door,” Rayna said. “It’s better than being spied on.”

“Understood,” Amon said. “Now about your question?”

“Right. I was just wondering why the dungeon respawn rate is so high. Is it in danger of overflowing?”

Amon shook his head. “This is perfectly natural. Due to the extended period of time in which the dungeon was ignored, large amounts of Miasma are still present within the dungeon and in the surrounding area. The dungeon is filtering this Miasma by combining it with Essence to create monsters.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“When a monster is killed, the Essence is released back into the air and the Miasma dissolves with the monster’s corpse. It’s not a perfect system, as some Miasma is usually left over, but with repetition, the malignant energy can be completely cleansed.”

“How do we know how much Miasma is left?” Corban asked.

“Miasma can be detected with various high-level spells,” Amon said. “But a more reliable way to be sure is to watch the spawn rate of the monsters within dungeons. A healthy dungeon should only spawn about a hundred monsters per day.”

Corban shook his head. “We’re killing at least ten times that much.”

Amon nodded. “Precisely. The dungeon is working at maximum efficiency to clear the Miasma. This is why they were such an important part of Ember’s ecosystem.”

“I don’t suppose there’s a manual with all this stuff in it, is there?” Rayna asked. If she could learn more about the System, that might give her a better idea of where to start fixing it.

The statement had mostly been a joke, but a small tablet appeared on the bed next to her.

It was a low-budget e-reader.

“Where did you get this?” Rayna asked, turning the tablet over in her hands.

“It was in the Inventory of one of the fallen Chosen,” Amon said. “The technology wasn’t too hard to access, though I admit, I spent more time inspecting it than was likely necessary. I have uploaded the Administrator’s manuals for you, but the previously owned reading material is largely unavailable due to it not being actually present on the device. There were two accessible items: Werewolf Prom and A Zombie Stole My Heart, both fascinating reads.”

Rayna wasn’t sure what was stranger: the fact that she was holding a fully charged e-reader right now or the fact that Amon was into paranormal fantasy romance.

“Wouldn’t it be easier just to put the books in my System?” Rayna asked. “Then I wouldn’t have to carry this around.”

“You have restricted access to your System,” Amon reminded her. “Without permission I cannot send or receive information from your profile.”

“Ah,” Rayna hadn’t thought about that. “What about a paper copy?”

“They were not preserved well enough to last six thousand years,” Amon said, his tone regretful. “I’m afraid the tablet is the only option I can offer you.”

“Hold on,” Corban said. “You can make electronics work?”

“To a point,” Amon said. “The principles are not too different from the System. I’m sure you must have noticed the similarities by now.”

Corban’s answer was to hand Amon his phone. “Can you make this work?”

Unable to lift the phone himself, Amon used some sort of telekinesis skill to take it from Corban. “I can, but any function that relies on Internet will be unavailable.”

“Where are you getting all of this information?” Phira asked curiously.

“I have been talking to the Chosen,” Amon said. “I have already restored three phones and two laptops as well as several digital watches.”

He handed the phone back to Corban. “You will have to fuel it with Mana if you wish it to keep running. The amount of Mana required will depend on the size and usage of the device.”

The screen lit up and Corban tapped it impatiently.

“Just what Ember needs: screens,” Rayna said sarcastically.

“Communication,” Corban countered.

Rayna sat up straighter. “Communication?”

“The System is a large network, isn’t it?” Corban asked Amon. “Similar to the Internet. All of the players are connected.”

Amon shook his head. “The System isn’t designed like that. there is a series of hubs and each player is connected directly to the System through those hubs. Players are not connected to each other.”

“Right,” Corban said. “The hubs are kind of like servers. When a message is sent, information bounces from that player to the hub and then to the player they were sending the message to.”

“Yes, but the message function is offline,” Amon said. “When a feature is deactivated, it requires a number of keepers as well as the Administrator to reactivate it.” He nodded in Rayna’s direction. “She would have to tell Ronari the truth.”

“Not happening,” Rayna said.

“No, but what if we could build a new communication system instead?” Corban asked. “One that is based on our technology instead of yours.”

“Even if we could,” Amon said. “The System doesn’t have the energy to support that many devices. It would be like trying to power the sun.”

“It wouldn’t have to,” Rayna said, catching on to Corban’s plan. “You said it yourself; Corban can charge his phone with Mana. The System only has to send the messages, it wouldn’t have to display them.”

“And once communication is restored, we can get Janet and people like her involved. Organization is the first step to solving any problem.” Corban waved his phone for emphasis. “The only reason her plan didn’t work was the complete lack of communication. Ronari hasn’t even provided proper instructions since kicking us out of the tutorial.”

“She’s busy—” Amon began.

“Running the System,” Corban finished for him. “So, why not take a few things off her plate? We don’t need her to tell us where to go or what to do if we can coordinate ourselves.”

Amon took a moment to mull it over. “You know, the idea has merit… but the service area would be limited.”

“What’s the issue?” Corban asked.

“The hubs,” Amon said. “Rayna has only opened two so far. As it stands, the System is expending an enormous amount of energy to keep every individual player connected directly to the main hub. The more hubs that become active, the less energy it will take to send messages. Connections can be relayed through multiple hubs making them more efficient and the involvement of the keepers will reduce the mental strain on Ronari and Rayna.”

“Mental strain?” Rayna asked.

Amon nodded. “Surely, you’ve felt the effects by now. Headaches? Exhaustion? Trouble focusing?”

Rayna shook her head. “None of the above. I had some hallucinations and irritability, but that all passed after I evolved.”

Amon frowned thoughtfully. “Odd…”

“Is this a bad thing?” Rayna asked.

“No, no,” Amon rushed to assure her. “Just odd. It’s possible that Ronari is taking on more of the strain than I thought. Either way, it would still be better to involve more Keepers to help with System Management.”

“I was going to ask you about that, actually,” Rayna said. “I don’t know how to find more hubs. Can Ronari do a scan or something? She should be willing, considering she’s the one who’s so desperate for me to open them in the first place.”

So desperate that she hid Emma and started this whole charade…

Rayna banished the thought for now. Anger was a wasted emotion at the moment. She needed to focus on finding Emma, not how much she wanted to wring Ronari’s neck.

“Unfortunately, a long range scan is impossible without the hubs,” Amon said. “But you should be able to perform a short range scan yourself. You would find that information in the third manual on page 272.”

Rayna was suddenly very glad that Amon didn’t have a physical copy of the manual.

“How many manuals are there?” Rayna asked, grabbing the e-reader despite the sour taste in her mouth.

Whoever owned this tablet before me, may you rest in peace.

She turned it on and navigated to the library. “Fifteen?!”

“That I have access to,” Amon said. “The manuals were split between the ten central hubs on the current continent. I received these manuals from Aila, who keeps the central hub for the country of Helia, which used to be called Ellis.”

“So, there are a hundred and fifty?” Rayna asked, pressing her lips together.

“Give or take,” Amon confirmed. “These will likely be the most useful for basic System upkeep, while the manuals located further from the main hub will be more nuanced and situational information. The Main System Hub would have a copy of the entire set, but we are having difficulty receiving any of the files from its storage. Ronari believes that the previous Administrator set traps in case of sabotage.”

Corban grimaced. “That’s going to be a pain. Need any help getting in? It might take me a bit to figure out the System’s programming setup, but if it really is similar to the tech back home, then I have experience breaking into things.”

“We’ll hold that idea in reserve for now,” Rayna said. “We don’t want to do anything that could cause major outages. Amon, can you work on the phone system with Corban and try to get communications back up and running? In the meantime, Phira and I will work on finding more hubs. Do you have a rough estimate of how many we’re looking at here?”

“Ellis was a small country to begin with,” Amon said. “But it grew even smaller when it became Helia. I believe there are four hubs within its borders. My mountain, Ellis’ capital and two others on the Western and Eastern borders. Reinitializing the remaining two hubs should reveal most of the country on your map.

“As for the communications system, I will look into it, but it may take some time to develop. Should I keep this a secret from Ronari or ask for her assistance?”

Rayna thought about it. “You know Ronari better than I do. Will she try to sabotage communications to keep me from getting to Emma?”

The room was silent for a long moment.

“Yes,” Amon said. “I believe she might. We will work on it in secret until it is too widespread for her to block.”

“Thank you,” Rayna said. “I’ll leave in a few days, there are some preparations I need to make first.”