Once the last of us stepped through Q’s portal, the old Admin quickly closed the hole in reality and shoved us into a smaller wormhole so we’d be as far away from our entrance point as possible. The theory was that even if we couldn’t mask the portal from the natives of this dimension, then at least we could hide who caused that disturbance.
“You think our entrance made a big impact?” Xalla asked, “I tried to stay as still as possible when I came through. That shouldn’t have disturbed anyone…”
She was still fiddling with the uncomfortable skin suit, and I could see some of her feelers poking out from underneath the disguise. It kind of looked like some horrible worm creature was eating the girl from the inside out, and I just hoped she got that contained soon. If not, then we’d need to get her some loose-fitting clothing to at least hide the strange visuals.
“It shouldn’t be that bad…” Q muttered, “I tried to minimize the damage done to this dimension, and our presence would have only been felt for a moment. I can’t imagine we’d done more than set off the automatic wards or what have you.”
Molly nodded, “We have all done what we can, there is no point dwelling on the fact any longer. This would have to be a truly undeveloped plane for such a small ripple to be noticed by all but the most perceptive of individuals. Given the isolated local, I doubt the local gods would have that ability.
Molly paused. “Wait….”
Molly stopped what she was saying and scrunched her brows. She sensed that something was off. She sniffed and opened her mouth, a horrible red facsimile of a tongue lashed out and tasted the atmosphere around us before frowning further.
“That’s… strange. There’s very low levels of mana and lifeforce here,” she added, “and the boundaries between spaces are also impossibly fragile. This feels like the properties of a dimension in its infancy, yet that is clearly not the case.”
She gestured at the thriving life around us and I had to agree. This was a well developed plane of existence.
Q raised an eyebrow and did his own tests before nodding, “You’re right… something’s not right here. I can’t even extend my senses out without fracturing the dimension.”
I focused my own senses and saw that Q was right. Whatever backward plane Xalla sent us to was fragile, oddly so even. The only explanation was if this was a newly created realm and a really young one at that. Life would have barely had enough time to develop here, and I can’t imagine there being anything but primal idiot gods ruling here. Was this weird anomaly the reason why Stanton chose to investigate this place?
Q’s second wormhole dropped us off at a remote countryside that overlooked a larger settlement in the distance. The environment wasn’t too different than the stuff we saw in the Main Stage, with lush grass and various species of small critters running around the abundant vegetation. Way off in this distance was what appeared to be an agricultural center, with clear signs of logging and farming taking place, and I could just about make out small red individuals laboring away on the fields.
The most important landmark was the city. It was heavily fortified, relatively speaking given the Renaissance level of development that this world seemed to possess, and a large, multistory castle loomed in the distance. Some other gothic-looking structures jutted out every now and then, but nothing else even approached the size or scale of the castle. A river cut through the heart of the settlement, and small fishing communities dotted the outskirts of the place, but more importantly, there was only one way in or out of the place.
Guards of various shapes and races guarded the entrance, and I saw a long queue of people and caravans waiting to be let in. In fact, there were even soldiers stationed on the walls, and each one looked to be nervous as if they were expecting a foreign invader at any moment. Every instinct I had told me that this was not normal; I just hoped that it was because of some outside influence or they were at war with another nation and not due to our arrival.
If there was one thing that I could say about the world we are in, it’s that it’s woefully primitive. Some civilizations could have basic levels of technology if they could make up for that with alchemy or magic, but a quick glance at the city and its surroundings told me that they didn’t even have that. Concentrating further, it seems that faith seemed to be the driving force here, which meant that the gods were meddling with the affairs of the mortals way more than they probably should.
“Are you sure you got the coordinates right?” I asked Xalla, “This doesn’t seem like the normal place that Stanton would visit.”
“It should be correct…” she answered, but as she peered around, her confidence seemed to diminish, “I got the location from Scarlet, and we double-checked them with Central’s databases. Even my mentor confirmed that the Master Recruiter was last seen leaving for this plane, and he verified them with Xollon contacts. There shouldn’t be any mistakes. But-”
“No, if you did all that then this must be the place, we can’t get more certain than that,” I muttered and focused my senses on the city below us, “If Stanton’s been here for a while, then it’s safe to bet that he’s already made contact with the local deities.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“So we just have to do the same,” Xalla reasoned, “We’ll find out who’s in charge, get an invitation, and ask where Stanton is; it shouldn’t be too hard to do.”
Molly nodded, “But we go peacefully. We are not here to cause trouble. I still can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t right with this plane though, so be careful.”
“Agreed,” I said, “I say we take stock of our current situation before we decide how to approach these gods. No use doing anything risky before we know more about this world and its people.”
Everyone naturally looked toward the city on the horizon and the strange behavior of the people that resided in it. I think everyone had their own ideas about why people were so on edge, but no one here wanted to say the obvious first. We were all hoping that maybe it was just the political landscape already present and not because of some unknown interdimensional invaders…
“I know what's on everyone’s minds,” Molly said with a sigh, “But we won’t know what’s really going on until we survey this land first. Maybe it’s not what we’re all thinking. Perhaps they’re on guard because of this Recruiter’s presence here.”
I shook my head, “It wouldn’t be because of Stanton. He’s responsible for recruitment precisely because he can do what no one else can.”
Molly raised a cracked porcelain eyebrow, “And that is?”
“He can enter these undeveloped places undetected,” I explained, “I still have no idea how he does it, but it’s a key ability to scout out a new dimension to first see if they’re “worthy” of Central’s attention.”
“An interesting fellow,” Molly thought, “Although it also means that we’re not sure if he has made contact with the local pantheon here at all.”
I frowned, but there was no denying the fact that Molly could be right.
“He’s still here,” Xalla added, “That much we can be sure of. Every file I could find says the same thing, so finding the local pantheon is still our best bet.” Xalla looked around again, “Um, even if he hasn’t made direct contact with them, he should be close by to observe them at least; no matter what, he’ll notice our presence if we manage to meet the gods.”
“It’s a safe enough bet,” Q nodded.
“And if things really don’t go our way,” I added, “Then we can take more drastic measures later.”
Not wanting to waste any more time, the rest of us agreed with Q and made our way toward the city. I had explained my ability to manipulate the emotions of the lesser races, so it was decided to allow me to be the face of our little party. The others would give backup if needed, but they should prioritize on securing information and making sure that we were not being watched. We needed to make our introductions to the native gods on our own terms, it’d be a disaster if we were forced to defend ourselves because some deity or another attacked after getting the wrong idea about our visit.
We should be safe for the time being as long as I was subtle with what I did because although the individuals that I affected would be none the wiser about what I was doing, someone would be bound to notice I took the manipulations too far. After all, it’d be awfully strange for an entire cohort of people to treat four newcomers as royalty or something.
When we approached the city’s sole gate, it became increasingly clear that we’d have to find an alternative entrance. The city seemed to be in full lockdown mode as only a very select amount of traders and select individuals were allowed through. Everything suggested that the place was getting ready for war.
A huge lineup of caravans, free-lance soldiers, and mercenaries slowly made their way inside, each group having their credentials checked and double-checked by the gatekeepers. That left the normal civilians and other non-combatants out to dry, and I could hear shouts and voices of concern and annoyance growing louder the closer we got.
“I don’t think we’re getting in through the front door,” Q remarked, “Should I make another portal going inside?”
I thought for a moment, weighing our options and Q’s idea, but ultimately shook my head. “No, that’s too risky. I don’t want to make any more disturbances before we know more.”
Molly agreed, “Do not use any abilities before we get a better sense of this location. Remember that we are in unknown territories.”
Xalla winced as she recalled just how delicate the world around us was, “Good point… um, can we not scale the walls then?”
“Are any of us good with stealth?” I asked and pointed to all the soldiers and personnel stationed along every corner of the wall, not to mention the huge watch towers that overlooked most of the hidden crevices of the city.
Molly shook her head and sighed, “No, it’s never been a concern of mine before, especially in this form. I am not exactly subtle.”
I remembered how Molly made her entrance with that whole eating space and time thing back by Big Bob’s headquarters, and I agreed with her assessment. Even as a doll, she wasn’t exactly inconspicuous.
“Same here…” Xalla muttered, “This is harder than I thought it would be.”
“They’re taking in fighters and mercenaries,” I said, “We’ll go in as a small group of hired muscle, it should be easy enough for me to convince them of that. And plus, going in as hired help should allow us to gather info on what’s going on within the city.”
“Lead the way then,” Q smiled, “I’ve forgotten how much fun it can be to leave the lab and office for a spell. Thank you for snapping me out of it, Walter.”
“We’re just glad you got some of your old spirit back,” I said, returning the smile, “You can pay me and Xalla back when you get your old position back. Pandora and the rest of Humanity need you at the helm.”
“Enough small talk,” Molly interrupted, “We’re near the natives. Let Walter do his work now.”
The others stood back and allowed me to assume the lead. I only had to make slight adjustments to the emotions of the others waiting in line for us to skip to the very front. A little bit of awe tended to do a lot in situations such as these.
Now the most important part was to come. I had to sell our rag-tag group of men and women as a fierce party of four. I’ll have to keep things simple for the sake of the other three, but we’d need to operate with enough authority to do everything we needed here. I can’t expect to get the interests of the gods if we didn’t even impress the mortals here.
I had to assume that we’d have to use these identities for a while, so I better make this good. It made me nostalgic about the start of the Hospital Trial now that I thought about it, but instead of fixing one fake persona, I was responsible for a whole group of them.
I stepped up and addressed the pair of gatekeepers.