“Please take a seat,” Q said to the envoy, “We’ve prepared some snacks and drinks as well. As a gesture of our goodwill, I would like to officially thank you for coming on such short notice. I am sure that your gods have a lot of questions for us, and we would like to take that opportunity to answer them.”

The envoy politely accepted his offered seat and even took a sip of the drink. I was certain that he thought he’d die just then, but he didn’t allow his nerves to show on his features too much. This was a professional; it was good to see someone competent here.

“Thank you,” he said, “I am known as the Conduit, I am not worthy of a true name. However, for this meeting, I speak on behalf of my masters. What may I call your esteemed selves?”

We introduced ourselves. There was no need for pseudonyms this time. The four of us had already decided to allow, and Q to do most of the talking since we knew more about diplomacy and the overall situation

“Thank you for gracing us with your presence,” he got out to bow to each of us. “And for reaching out to my god’s faction first. On behalf of the whole pantheon, I would like to offer you our warmest welcome.”

I nodded, “Thank you. Your questions?”

“Of course,” he continued, “The first and most important question that we would like to know is your purpose here.”

“We are here because one of our…” I paused, looking for the right term, “Colleagues was last seen in this plane. We’re simply here to see if he’s around.”

The Conduit laughed nervously. “I assure you, Esteemed Guests, that if someone of similar caliber to yourselves were here, we would have taken notice. I believe that your colleague might be somewhere else.”

I shook my head. “This person is more subtle than we are. He can be quite difficult to locate if needs be.”

“I see…” the man replied, “Then can I assume that you wish to speak to my masters about finding your comrade?”

“You assume correctly.”

“I will relay that wish and have the masters prepare a suitable place to host your esteemed selves.”

Q nodded. “Thank you. Please stress that we do not wish to cause harm and wish to meet peacefully. There would be disastrous consequences for your reality should things go awry.”

The Conduit smiled awkwardly. “I’ll make sure to stress the importance of that.”

“Are there any other questions?” I continued.

“Yes…” he said, this time there was no hiding the nerves. “I mean absolutely no offense, but I was tasked to ask…”

He glanced nervously at our expressions. We tried to keep things neutral, even if my friends and I could guess what he would inevitably say.

“Go on.”

He took a deep breath. “It’s about the rift formed in the Mortal World and the prophecies.”

There was another pause, once again meant for him to ascertain how we responded to this first prompt, but we remained neutral and gestured for him to continue.

“What my masters want to know is the… validity of the prophecies and the nature of the rift,” he continued, “They want to know your intentions for the Mortal World.”

I chose to answer this question. “We have no grand designs for the mortals here. The rift was due to our presence, although it can be stabilized with the help of your gods. As we said, we are simply passing through looking for our colleague, the rift, as you call it, was because this plane was more fragile than we anticipated.”

“So it was an… accident? That’s it?” he questioned, losing some of his earlier calm, “But there has to be more. What about the prophecies? We are no friends of the God of Fate, but His prophecies have never been wrong. They foretell the coming apocalypse heralded by your arrival. Surely you must have some grand design for our world. To assimilate it to your end, perhaps? Use it for the resources or the like?”

Q chose to respond this time, “No, there really is no grand conspiracy going on. And your prophecies only foretell of our presence here and the consequences of that, but I can only assume it doesn't go into why we are here.”

The Conduit thought for a moment before nodding. “That is correct… So we can liken it to a natural disaster then.”

“That’s a good way to put it,” I said.

The Conduit sighed. “Are we… are we that insignificant? We have known about a larger world just outside our reality, some of the Order Gods can even access, in a small part, that outside realm, but are the gods and the people here nothing but an afterthought to your people?”

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Probably so, I wanted to say. I’ve rarely seen such an underdeveloped dimension even in my infancy, and the multiverse as a whole is a lot more developed since then. I’m honestly surprised that there were still places like this left that weren’t just primordial sludge.

“No,” I lied, in part at least, “If it were truly as insignificant as you assumed, then our colleague wouldn’t be here. There is potential in this realm, but that potential needs to be further developed.”

“I see…” he answered, although I wasn’t sure if he completely bought into the lie, “Then there are no further questions on my part, although I am sure that my masters will ask of your origins and the outer void when you see them.”

“And we’d be glad to answer those questions,” I said, “But let’s establish communications first. When will they be ready for us?”

The Conduit fidgeted again. “That is the crux of the problem, unfortunately. With how unstable the mortal world is at the moment, the normal way of receiving divine guests would be impossible. Would you be able to enter the divine realm if the gods gave you the directions?”

Q thought for a moment. “Show me. I’ll decide then.”

The Conduit nodded and, as his name suggested, started to form an almost physical link between his body and the divine realm. Even my body’s mana insensitivity could feel the buzz in the air around us charged with power. Q followed the movement of divinity and frowned.

“It’s possible,” he muttered, “but only as an option of last resort. It’s not far, but there’s a greater than even chance that this entire dimension will collapse if I make the jump alone, and add to that the presence of the other three…”

“That’s not a risk anyone here is willing to make,” I finished for him, “Which means that we need a different approach. I assume that you have one, Conduit?”

The envoy nodded. “I do, although it will take time even if we allocate all of our resources into it.”

“Well, it’s not like we have any other choice,” I sighed, “How long and what’s the process?”

The Conduit frowned. “It will require a ritual with all of the mortal devotees present to participate. Think of it as a reverse summoning circle, where we will send your esteemed selves to a designated location. It is a mortal ritual, so it should not strain this world further, so it should work.”

“And the time?” I asked again.

“Five, maybe six days.”

I furrowed my brows. The time limit that I’d given myself was fast approaching, and even now I could feel an unpleasant pressure build-up within my skull. The passage of time was wonky with jumping between so many dimensions, but it’d been close to a week since my awakening already, and I don’t think I could afford to wait another five to six days. I’d had to go back to sleep. The others noticed my mood and gave me comforting looks.

“Do you mind if we discussed something alone for a moment?” Q said, “In private.”

“Of course not!” the envoy replied, “I’ll see myself out; please take as much time as you need. You only need to call for me once you are done.”

Q nodded and the Conduit left the room. True to his words, I extended my senses and saw that he didn’t even try to overhear what we had to say, but Q still erected a small barrier just in case.

“Your body’s not going to make it for another five days, will it, Walter?” Xalla said first.

“No,” I answered honestly, “I’m already feeling the strain.”

“I told you to be careful,” Molly added with one of her familiar sighs, “But you never do listen. Just go back to sleep, take the next little while to figure out what parts of your mind you wish to keep, and we will ensure that you are taken care of once all is said and done.”

“But will he be okay back in the Main Stage?” Xalla asked, “We can be sure that he’ll be safe here, outside of Central’s influence, but not after. The Overseer will be livid once he finds out what we’ve done, even if he can’t prove that we did it.”

I chuckled. “I’ll be fine. I’ve survived the first three Trials without a hitch, and it wasn’t like the Overseer wasn’t already pissed off at me. Plus, I’ll be better prepared this time around. I’ll make sure to leave enough information for sleepy me to thrive, but I do need a favor from you, Xalla.”

“Anything.”

I smiled at her, it really was good to have an ally that I could always depend on, especially a talented Xollon. “Once I’m hibernating, the amount of information I’ll have will be extremely limited, and I’m not sure when I’ll be awakened again.”

Xalla nodded.

“So do you mind if I transfer some information over to you?”

“In case you’ll need to know it in the future?” she asked.

I shook my head, I had Noe to do that, but I couldn’t reveal her yet. “No, I have ways to store my memories. But I think it’d be best if someone else I can trust fully knows about what’s going on behind Central’s shiny exterior. I’ve learned a lot about this organization as an Arbiter. You can fill in Q, Molly, and the others when you have time, but don’t share it with anyone you don’t personally trust.”

“Not a problem, Walter,” she smiled back, “I’d be glad to help.”

I took some time to sort out the most relevant information, choosing to omit almost nothing aside from Noe’s existence, and sent it over to Xalla. It took almost no time at all, and she didn’t even flinch from receiving eons of lived emotions and experiences, an insignificant fraction of which would cripple a lesser mind. It reminded me again of just how formidable this species was; they really did represent the apex of existence.

“Oh…” Xalla said as she sorted out the new information, “That’s… I’m so sorry…”

That got the other two’s attention, but they had the tact to not interfere at the moment.

“Don’t worry about it,” I muttered, and I could already feel the mounting pressure becoming almost unbearable after that stunt, “We can talk about all of that later. Make sure to fill everyone once you have time. I need to rest soon. Give me a moment to sort things out.”

They nodded.

Noe, make sure you store all the information with you. Give me access to as many relevant Central Regulations as my mind can handle, and I’ll trust you to pick whatever else to keep.

“I will do as you command, my Creator,” she replied, “I will ensure that you have the needed information as more of your mind expands and evolves. Please rest assured that I will not fail you.”

Thank you. I guess I’ll be seeing you soon enough. Good night, Noe.

“Good night, dear Walter.”

I gave my friends one final wave and closed my eyes. I just hope I did enough to ensure my future success.