Climbing out of the hole, Milo found the lump of silvery metal easily. He stayed a few feet away and tried to identify it. What he learned was interesting.

Duram Argenti nugget

Estimated size: 3 lbs.

Partially enchanted.

Hardness: Tier 5

He pulled out the small nuggets he had found before. The largest was still less than an once in weight, but there were other differences.

Duram Argenti chip

Estimated size: 0.75 ounces.

Fully enchanted.

Hardness: Tier 4

They were slightly warm to the touch but had been cool when he first picked them up. Had they drained mana from him without his knowing it? Only one way to find out. He searched through the rubble from his digging until he found another sliver of the ore. He identified it as a small chip, unenchanted, and Tier 5 in hardness. He drank a mana potion to restore a 300 points of mana before experimenting with the sliver. As soon as he touched it he lost 150 mana, and the chip changed to enchanted and Tier 4 in hardness.

More searching turned up another chip. This one he picked up with a pair of chopsticks. Nothing happened. He placed it into an ore bag with no effect and dumped it back out again. Only when he touched it did it drain mana his mana. That made handling the ore easier. If the mana drain had been at a distance, it would have been debilitating and possibly deadly to be near any of it. He rolled the larger chunk onto a bit of dirty laundry from his Scout Master Ring (Once again, vowing to clear it out.) Rolling it up, he dumped it into the ore bag as well.

He was out of mana again. There were too many unknowns in these caverns to explore them with mana exhaustion and no access to his spells. He retreated to the top of the tower and set up camp again. Georgie yawned and looked at him questioningly but got to work sniffing out any bugs or other threats to the camp. Milo took a break, logged out of the game, and opened his pod.

While he was exhausted in the game from lack of mana, he felt fine here. Checking with his surveillance systems, he saw that Victor hadn't moved from his apartment for several days but had been meeting with people each afternoon. Belinda had visited him once. He noted that she wasn't wearing her gloves when she did so. No major problems showed. His clog eaters were doing their job of keeping the major arteries clear and fixing small leaks. None of the air handlers was malfunctioning for a change. Power was flowing between Section E and Section H, fueled in part by the wind and solar generators taking up most of the roof. Even the food processors were running correctly, partly due to his systems delaying any updates from the supply company until he could check over the changes. He gave his approval to the latest updates and made a note to check in with Mama and make sure things worked on her end.

The only thing that bothered him was the continuous problems with the pneumatic delivery system. It was complex technology. Some cities had used similar systems since the 1950s. Families in the habitats could order goods from outside companies, and the products were delivered to a large warehouse on the ground floor of the habitat, already inside of the plastic transporters with their destination stored in the silicon chip on each transporter. Once loaded into the habitat's pneumatic system, the items should have arrived at distribution points on each level of every section. Yet items could be delayed for weeks or longer and, in some cases, never arrive at all. He put it down on his of things to investigate before putting on his 'normal' clothes and heading to see Butch and the family.

It had been several days since he'd been down. He tried to remember how many, got the number, and felt bad. But too much had hit at once that he wasn't expecting. He still didn't know where he stood with Belinda or where Belinda stood with Victor, but he'd taken care of a lot of other loose ends. Wally and Steven (and Ralph) were allies now. He could handle the chaos of his family and work on the Belinda problem.

One small detail bothered him, though. Ralph had been surprised he wasn't behind the downfall of a crypto-currency called Syllabary. They'd used the tools he had found in Victor's system, his old hacking programs. And it didn't make sense that Victor's people would crash a system that took all of Victor's money. Ralph had been bemused by the idea. Wally and Steven were worried. Milo didn't really care. If they took money from people like Victor, that was a good thing. But he did wonder about the possibility that there were more people out in the world that might be like him. Maybe from one of the other batches? He knew his own family was dead. It wasn't a problem he could solve and didn't concern him, so he tossed it to the back of his mind.

Arriving in the courtyard near Butch's house, he paused. There were several men sitting by the glowy tree playing cards. One was a medical technician. Two were beefy-looking guys that screamed 'bodyguard,' and the fourth wore the patched and worn coveralls of a low-level maintenance worker. It was common to see them in the hab, answering complaints they barely knew how to fix, nodding and saying 'We'll get right on that", knowing they don't have the tools or support to actually do real repairs. He assumed Belinda was visiting again; the wheelchair the MedTech was sitting next to was all the proof needed of that. He watched for a few minutes, then casually walked up to the door and knocked. Butch pulled it open.

"Hey, newest little bro! Come on in, the gangs here, and you can gaze in wonder at the expanded glory Casa Butch." Butch wasn't exaggerating; everyone was here, including Butch's parents and all of the children, including the two cousins Mama was trying to adopt. The house should have been packed, but wasn't, for the simple reason that the house was bigger. From the floor plan, walls had been removed, and two other units were added to the first to make a much more comfortable living space. Milo didn't mind things cramped, but then, he had the option of leaving when things got crazy. The living room was twice as big, and now had another gaming console and screen set up. Belinda waved to him, then grumbled as her distraction let Kenji have an opportunity to blow her up.

Big Butch was home. He and Mama were sitting at a second table, looking relaxed. Butch steered him over to them, whispering in his ear. "Shit happens, crazy stuff, we got a bigger house. You owe me a story later on, got it?" Milo nodded; that only seemed fair. He'd mentioned to Wally that part of his plan was to help out his new family. He had to keep in mind that Wally was also task oriented.

Mama came and gave him a quick hug. "Have a seat. You look hungry. And don't tell me you aren't; your ribs are showing again. I can feel them. What have you been up to?"

He shrugged. "Oh, you know." He would forever be in Butch's debt for teaching him that phrase. Big Butch laughed. "Yep, he'll fit in fine."

Mama glared at him. "I never forgave you for little Butch learning that from you, and now Milo is doing it too." She pulled food out of the cooler and heated it up for Milo, and poured him a glass of vita-milk, the pink kind. He liked that the best. Then she shooed any children nearby off to the other parts of the house, and it was just the three of them.

"I've got some good news for you, Milo. Things are working out for us to adopt you. I'm sure you're surprised by that." Her eyes said. "I doubt you're surprised at all, and we both know you're up to something."

Stuffing his face with a lot of food gave him time to think, but he eventually ran out of food and had to answer. "I asked a friend for a favor. He said he could call some people, maybe work things out." His new parents nodded to each other, suspicions confirmed.

"We had an unexpected visit from a nice man named Agent Smith who works for DHDIP..."

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Agent Smith had explained to Big Butch that he was needed for a meeting about the adoption proceedings. He gave him directions to the his new office a few floors higher up in Section E. Big Butch went home to collect Mama and get more info on what was going on, and then the two of them climbed the stairs and walked up to their meeting

The office was in Section E, five floors above where Mama's family lived. Furniture was being moved into it from somewhere else. DHDIP had more empty offices in the habitats than ones filled with workers. As the money to keep the habitats running, cuts had been made in staffing until only a skeleton crew was on hand in each habitat, generally with a hundred times the workload they could accomplish. Burnout and turnover were high.

Agent Smith smiled and waved them to take seats in two plastic chairs that had seen better days. His desk was three small tables pushed together and an old filing cabinet. "My apologies for the state of my office. We're having to make do until our new furniture arrives. But I wanted to get working on your case immediately. To make sure I have the correct information, I'd like to double check everything.

Firstly, I have the two of you listed as Henry Banner Sr. and Sarah Banner. You have three natural children, Hank Jr., Minerva, and Thaddeus. You have also adopted one child, Liza who is related to Sarah, and you have adoptions pending on two children Robert and Sinclair. Lastly, you have applied to adopt an orphan minor named Milo Babbage, who is unrelated to you. Is all of that correct?" Both of them nodded. This was going better than expected. Usually you showed up at a DHDIP office and had to start from scratch each time, filling out electronic forms each time.

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"Yes, that's all right. Liza was my cousins child. She ran off with someone and left her with us a few years ago and we've raised her since. The boys are Henry's nephews. Their parents were killed in an industrial accident and had no one else to take them. But it's been two years work trying to adopt them and get the credits to help us raise them."

A young woman walked over to Agent Smith's desk with three cups of coffee on a tray and handed them out. Big Butch and Mama drank theirs down in a few sips. Coffee from the food processor was bearable when hot, but gained an oily after taste as it cooled. Agent Smith sipped his coffee, looked at the cup as if it was a snake, and set it down on his desk. "Oh my, that's horrible! I'm so sorry, let me send for a fresh batch. Our food processor up here must be defective."

Agent Smith and sat back down. Big Butch had crossed his arms and Mama was glaring at him. The change in attitude threw him off. "Is something wrong? Is it the coffee?"

She stood up, a scowl on her face, tapping one foot. "You lie worse than a damned three-year-old sitting in the middle of a pile of cookie dough from an overflowing food processor. What sort of scam are you pulling? You've got thirty seconds to fess up or Butch is going tie you up and we're hauling you to a real DHDIP office. And I'm going to make you finish your coffee, you damned rich bastard."

Agent Smith took a step backward, surprised by her ire.

Mama glared at Smith. "Fifteen seconds until we tie you up with your pants and pour that delicious hab coffee down your throat! Start talking."

Smith raised his hands in surrender. "Fine. I give up. Give me a moment and I'll explain."

"I don't quite work for DHDIP, it's a little more complicated than that, but I do have the authority to make recommendations to DHDIP that they are required to act upon. Can you give me a few minutes to explain without feeding me that sludge? It really is horrible."

Big Butch laughed. "And it's all we get out of the food processors. Gets a little worse each year as they find cheaper ways to make the stuff. I've used it to loosen rust on bolts."

Smith stared at the cup, unbelieving, then rallied his thoughts. "This is about the boy you know as Milo Babbage. He is a victim of, and witness to, an old criminal case of human trafficking. We suspect he might have been taken from a habitat or bought from his family when only a few days old. It's also possible his mother might have herself been a victim of the same people. But no matter what we eventually find out, he's in danger and needs to be protected. If the people he got away from find him, his life is in jeopardy."

Mama sat down and took a deep breath. "Who did it?! And I don't just mean the taking. They did something to him."

Smith tried to relax. He suspected he had been only seconds away from an unpleasant and embarrassing experience. "They did indeed. Milo was experimented on, which has affected his rate of growth. He is older than he appears, but we can't pinpoint his age. Even he doesn't know. As to who did it, I can't tell you, because I don't know myself. I only know enough about the case to help you help Milo. Catching these people is something my superiors are working on."

Mama took a deep breath and let it go. "I should apologize for my earlier words. I'm a little over-protective."

Agent Smith actually smiled at her. "No, please, don't apologize. Over-protective is good! If anything, it assures me that you're an ideal family for Milo. He needs protection, but more, he needs strong parental figures in his life. If something happens, we want him to trust you enough to go to you for protection, and then my agency can help all of you." By habit, he started to reach for his cup of coffee, thought better and set it down. He made a note to look into who supplied the artificial instant coffee to this habitat. It was truly horrible.

Big Butch scratched his head. He'd known there was more to Milo the few times he'd talked to him. Kids that young didn't know how to fix and reprogram food processors. Nor did they understand complicated work contracts. "Even knowing he's a few years older doesn't explain everything. He'd too smart and knows too much. A damned sight smarter than I am."

Smith nodded seriously, "Oh, I agree. From the little I've been told, he probably has an IQ higher than all three of us combined. That's part of what they did to him. He has an advanced mind, but stunted physical growth and hasn't developed emotionally. We are hoping that by giving him a permanent place in your family you can help him with that."

Mama was unconvinced. "So how did you find out about him? I'm guessing you work for that Claw Master place he got the gloves from?"

Smith smiled. "An excellent guess. Yes, I'm employed by the Claw Master organization, but I've also been appointed as the lead agent in this case. I'm sure you've seen his interest in video games. He's one of many people testing those gloves for us. He even suggested the sponsoring of the recent event. In dealing with him, we became aware of his situation. He didn't exist legally and was hiding from someone. Recently, he told us more, and expressed the hopes of being adopted after you made him that offer. Upon finding out what had been done to him, we notified the authorities. They are of the opinion that for his psychological health, we need to leave him in his current environment. But he needs emotional stability, proper food, people he can talk to and confide in, and a place to safely live."

"Which is where your family come in. By permanently placing him with you, we accomplish much of what we need. In return, we can help you with raising the rest of your family as well. I've looked over the paperwork for the other children's adoptions and can recommend those be approved immediately with credits applied to your account retroactively and going forward. You shouldn't become financially destitute for doing good deeds."

"Milo is a different case. He will be fostered with you under the assumption that he is a minor, and full adoption approved soon. But he needs more than part time care. We show that you are employed by Manpower, sir? Would you be willing to stay at home, care for your family, and help with Milo's special needs if we matched or exceeded your salary?"

Mama interrupted. "The answer is yes, and I think that matching my current salary would be a good compromise. After all, he's going to be doing much the same work."

Big Butch frowned. "Sarah, that's three times what I make now, working 24 hours a day and 6 days a week."

She looked at him. "If I'm worth 3k a month, so are you. And it goes to support your family, which is getting bigger and more complicated all of the time."

Smith frowned, went through his paperwork looking for details, and then smiled. "Ah, yes. I see that listed here. Yes, that is quite acceptable."

"Well, then, yes. I think I can ride herd on some children for that much money a month. It will come in handy. I'm going to need to apply for a second living unit, and that always takes a little extra to get pushed through."

Smith made a note on his paper. "Please, let me take care of that. You shouldn't have to pay for it. There is ample space in this section, even empty units adjacent to you. I'm going to authorize a work crew and engineer to remove walls and increase your living space. Frankly, DHDIP should be consolidating living quarters in this habitat and doing repairs section by section. I'm going to recommend that hiring an additional work crew and having them set up their living quarters in this section, and work on the empty units and open spaces." He looked around. "Right after they get me a proper desk and coffee maker. Can I offer you one as well? Even an antique drip machine can make quite acceptable beverages with the right grounds." He added a coffee maker and ten pounds of ground beans to his list.

"I'm not opposed to a decent cup of coffee. Thank you." Putting up with hab coffee wasn't the same as liking it. Mama felt the same way, but had a condition. "Only if you get a lock for the cabinet you keep it in. I'm scared to think what would happen if we introduced Milo to coffee."

Agent Smith paled. "A very good point, madam. I'll add a new locking cabinet to your list." He pushed forward an electron tablet with a contract on it. "This spells out your salary, money to be paid for Milo's upkeep, additional credits for the other children. We will also take care of all medical expenses for the family, along with costs of education. Please look it over and let me know if you need any changes."

Mama passed it to her husband. "Talk to me about education. I'm not sure I can teach anything to Milo."

Agent Smith shook his head. "From what I understand, ma'am, none of us could. He learns at an accelerated pace. It will be enough if you nudge him in the right directions and give him the emotional support that he needs. But for your other children, I would like to offer an education system that is being used now in some parts of the world. It's based on the use of the new Mk VII pods and a virtual classroom. Something you are already familiar with."

That was a surprise to Butch, "You use pods to teach the kids? Wouldn't they just use them to play games?"

"Well, yes, there is some time allotted for recreation. But the current programming includes a virtual classroom that gives anyone the tools needed for teaching a basic education. Lectures done in a virtual environment can greatly enhance learning. And as part of the program, we incentivize the children getting their work done by allowing them time for playing games, including limited access to the new virtual world, Genesis.

Butch was smiling widely now. Mama rolled her eyes. "Oh god, I just got you out of a pod. I can see it now. You're going to take little Butch and Min on some orc hunt with you."

She turned to Agent Smith. "Milo is going to want to play that game. Is that allowed?"

Smith paused, not knowing what to say. Finally he told the truth. "Ma'am, I think it would be impossible to keep him out."