Fander Street, West Residential District, Meteo Town

"Hey, I have a question," Jupiter suddenly speaks up, breaking the silence, "How come there wasn't like, an announcement for all this?"

"What do you mean?" Grand questions.

"I dunno about you, but I'm pretty sure being the first player to gain a noble title, house and the first guild headquarters would be system announcement-worthy wouldn't they?" Jupiter hypothesised.

"No, you're right," I glance over my shoulder, "But you missed something."

"Huh?"

"All the paperwork and so forth on my end is done, sure, but it's not 'official' until it all gets back to the capital and approved by the relevant people," I yawn, scratching my nose, "I browbeat the mayor into giving me the keys to Voinete Mansion early, but it'll be a day or two until due process is done. Converting it into a Guild Headquarters will take a little longer than that, probably."

"Remarkably realistic," Morn comments, impressed, "How do they communicate?"

"Couriers, Messenger Birds, or in the case of high priority cases like this, it'll get passed to a mage capable of long-distance teleportation or communication and passed along the chain until it reaches the right people," I explain simply, "If it were in the capital itself, they have a kind of telegraph system set up, and any number of specialists."

"So, we're out in the boonies," Windy observes, "With no running water and electricity."

"It's not that bad," I gesture to the magic streetlamps, softly illuminating the streets, "As you can plainly see."

"What is it with you and puns?" she punches my arm, annoyed.

"Meteo does have a magically powered pump system connected to an underground reservoir that collects the regular heavy rains," Angelus provides helpfully, "But it only really works in the western residential district. Commonfolk and slumdwellers over in the East have to rely on wells and rain collecting barrels, then boil the shit out of the result."

"It also happily feeds the sewage system to keep the streets clean and the local toilets emptied," I add, "I've said before that Meteo was built cheaply and sturdily, so it could survive as an independent city-state. That doesn't mean they were completely incapable of urban planning or the like, just that they didn't bother with anything frivolous or excessively pricey. Dealing with the inclement weather conditions and using them to their advantage is a natural innovation. Not that they're perfect or in the best repair."

"I kinda just figured the streets were clean because nobody'd want to wade through shit," Jupiter muses, "Guess if the streets flood regularly that's something you want to deal with. Be a hotbed of pneumonia otherwise."

"Exactly," I nod, "There may be spells to deal with things like poison and illness, but their effectiveness varies, their existence is limited by capable personnel and the diseases are the same as in Reality in that they can adapt over time to become immune to older treatments. Plague is a rarity all the same, since people are more or less aware that poor hygiene tends to engender infections. They're not stupid, just poorly-educated and given to practical concerns."

Merrow is old. It can be easy to look at the far less technologically developed areas of the world and think the natives primitive or lacking in scientific knowledge, but the fact is, such knowledge does exist in some form or another, dependant primarily on proximity to The Enduring Empire, which keeps a tight lid on all advanced technology and does its damnedest to ensure that it's the only world superpower in control of it. The Empire of Stone, being neighbours with and descendants of them mean that The Enduring Empire turns a blind eye to much of it, on the understanding that the Empire of Stone keeps belligerents away from their eastern borders on the surface, trades vital resources and refrains from digging too deep underground, which is where the remains of older, highly advanced civilisations from Astral Eras past are excavated for their secrets and technologies.

To a certain extent, you could consider this country a vassal of The Enduring Empire, and The Enduring Empire the de facto ruler of Firmament, should they ever decide they want to leave their cosy hole in the ground. Which they never will, because they're allergic to interacting with other nations and peoples in the disgustingly unclean outside world full of madmen and mutants.

"Here we are," I stop in front of a metal-wrought gate with vines winding between the decorative steelwork, the garden beyond so overgrown the tallest clumps of grass reaches up to my shoulders. The large mansion beyond is perhaps the most impressive structure in the district, from what is still visible through the vegetation: Three-stories tall, it has roughly 820m² of floorspace in a rectangular shape, replete with decorative pillars and a covered porch with a headless Dire Wolf carved from stone that's so weathered to be nearly unrecognisable standing guard atop it. The windows on the ground floor are arched, and tall, easily 10ft, and most are unfortunately broken, while the upper floor windows have survived for the most part, save for the odd hole here and there. Overall it cuts a foreboding figure in the evening darkness, and is in sore need of a team of Architects to give it some TLC.

"Yikes. That right there is 100% haunted," Olrica whistles.

"Oh yeah, definitely," Jade concurs enthusiastically, "The most haunted thing I've ever seen. Probably infested with cobwebs and rats too."

"Probably a few birds nests," Windy adds.

"Don't forget the mould," Horizon joins in. They all share a sigh.

"That's if we can even make it to the front door, it's like a jungle in there," Grand rattles the gate, "I don't suppose this place has a lawnmower?"

"Not exactly," I pull out a large ring, with a couple dozen keys of varied sizes and shapes slotted onto it, "Move out the way would you?"

"Ah, sure."

Luckily, the gate opens by rolling apart into the high brick perimeter wall, but it's been shut for so long that it emits an ear-piercing shriek for want of some lubricant and a wire brush to get rid of literal decades of rust. Just as well it's not the middle of the night, or our new neighbours would be getting a rude awakening.

"Fuck sakes, that screamed like a fuckin' banshee!" Jade cusses, clutching her sensitive ears.

"Like nails on a hundred chalkboards," Horizon whines, assuming the same pose, "Shit."

"So haunted," Jupiter mutters, waggling a finger in his ear.

"Now that you've wakened the dead, how do we deal with the garden?" Angelus asks pointedly, rubbing at his left ear with an annoyed frown.

I draw my new sword, "Not exactly the most appropriate first target for this, but it'll be better than setting the entire district on fire trying to burn it out."

"Are there giant hydra-like creatures in this game?" Jupiter asks out of the blue.

"...I can think of one or two monsters that come close to that description," I answer, not sure of the relevance, "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," he grins. If anyone understands what he's talking about, it doesn't show on their faces.

"Anyway, I'm not going to clear out the entire garden, but I've enough stamina left in me to get us to the front door at least," I decide to chalk it up to Jupiter being Jupiter and forget about it, "I advise you all stand back and wait here until I'm done, because I'm not going to be very considerate about where I'm swinging this, and I don't want to accidentally cut someone's head off."

"I'd like to see you try," Windy smirks, taking it as a challenge.

"Well, the head off one of the others," I amend, "Though you'd probably be dead regardless if I got you in the neck."

"Maybe," she admits casually, "Wanna have a go, see what happens?"

"Another time," I shoo them all away, "Now scoot."

To begin with, I hold the sword out in one hand, testing the weight and balance, then grip the hilt with both hands, doing the same again. After a few practice swings, I take a deep breath and set to work, lopping off a swathe of the top layer with one clean swipe, stepping back, and taking out a lot of the lower layer. The stone path is barely visible, peaking through what remains, but it's enough that we can see where we're walking.

"Nice, I should hire you to do my back garden sometime," Angelus chuckles, "Lord knows I can't be bothered to do it."

"Who's employing who, again?" I smirk, taking another breath and continuing on. This reminds me of when I used to do chores for Lady Jannis. Even though they were completely pointless since she can modify her Realm as she pleases. She claimed it built character, but it was clear to me she was creating many of those problems for her own entertainment.

Clearing out a path doesn't take too long, though I still have to go a fair distance to reach the small staircase leading up to the large wooden doors. I count myself lucky that I didn't encounter any vermin or unpleasant surprises hidden in the brush. Since it's clear that my job is done, the others cautiously tread on the piles of mown grass on their way to join me while I try to figure out which key goes to the padlock on the door and which goes to the door itself.

"Should we, like, pick this up?" Windy asks.

"It's not inventory legal, so I recommend leaving it where it is until we get a wheelbarrow to cart it all off or something of that nature," I recommend, removing the padlock and tugging at the bundle of rusty chain.

"That's annoying," Angelus notes.

"Hahhh...you have no idea..." I shake my head, then just take the simplest approach to the stubborn chains and hit them with the pommel of my sword, shattering the brittle metal, "There we go, brute force comes through once again. Let's get you open. Jupiter, Grand, can I get some light?"

"Sure," Jupiter snaps his fingers, creating a mote of luminous magic, "Forgot I could do that."

Grand follows suit, "Likewise."

"Lanterns give off more light, but we're running low on oil," I shrug, "Best to save it for inside."

"Fair."

"Just open the door already, Silver," Olrica rolls her eyes, "I can feel the grass regrowing beneath my shoes."

I feel my eye twitch, recalling something unpleasant, but comply, ramming my shoulder into the doors to dislodge them from one another when it becomes clear they've warped and fused together. A draping of dust falls over my head from the overhang above, and the smell of an old cavern wafts through the unblocked entryway.

The hall beyond is quite large, but barren of any decoration or furnishings. The dust on the floor is at least an inch thick, save for where the scraping of the doors reveals an old ceramic tile floor in a lattice pattern with the crest of House Fander carved into every odd tile rather tastelessly. The staircase is dead ahead, leading up to an open balcony-style landing for the first floor, but making out much from this angle in the low lighting is hard. At the very least, there is a corridor at the very top of the staircase leading further into the building.

To the left and right are a pair of double doors, and a single door in the wall on either side of the staircase, one of which is hanging off the hinges, snapped in half. A faint set of footprint-like indentations lead from it back here to the entrance, but judging by how they've partially filled in with further dust, it was a visitor that has long since departed. Perhaps an official of some kind, seeing how thoroughly the door was secured.

"Yep. This is a shithole," Olrica strolls in, apathetic to the dust, "Reckon we should take a look around first. Get our bearings."

"Shall we split up to cover more ground then?" Morn suggests.

"Sounds good," Horizon readily agrees, "I'll take the top floor."

"I'll go with you," Grand declares immediately.

"First floor," Jupiter calls out.

"Likewise," Morn nods.

"I'll check the left wing," Angelus offers.

"I'll take the right," Windy agrees.

"Ditto," Jade sidles up to her.

"I guess I'll go further in on the ground floor, check what's back there?" Olrica shrugs.

"See if you can find the stairs going down, there should be a pretty large basement area. Two floors, if I'm remembering correctly," I order her, "If that's all decided, I'll see about getting some cleaning supplies and meet you back here."

"Got it."

---

 

"So, all this is yours now?" Henna marvels, having followed me back after graciously lending some of her own supplies for the task.

"That's right," I confirm, "Or as good as."

"Oh, Hey Henna," Olrica - the only one present in the hall - waves, smiling, "What brings you here?"

"Curiosity," she replies bluntly.

"You thinking about moving in?" Olrica wonders.

Taken aback, Henna looks away, biting her lip, "That's..."

"I wouldn't object," I support the idea, "Once we get this place fit for habitation. As an Officer of Truthseekers, you have as much right to a room as any one of us."

"I don't think I should," she chews her lip, "It's a long walk, for one thing."

"True," I admit, "Well, think it over. It's an open offer. Anyway, where is everyone else Olrica?"

"This place is bigger than it looks," Olrica huffs, "It's not like, 'bigger on the inside' big, just regular strength large. Found the basement too, and uhh, yeah that's a lot of space down there too. Way more."

"Did you find the Training Hall?" I ask expectantly, hoping that it's already here and we don't have to commission that as well.

"I have no idea man," Olrica shrugs, "You'd know better than I would, just saw a lot of empty rooms. This place was completely gutted."

"Ok," I smile wryly, "Henna, would you mind passing the stuff over to Windy? She should be off in the south wing, mumbling to herself about a bath unless I'm mistaken."

"Alright," Henna agrees easily, taking it all in her arms, "I'll leave afterwards. It's gettin' late, and I think I'd rather have the tour when this place ain't caked in dust."

"Thanks," I bow my head slightly in gratitude, sending her off and turning to Olrica, "I'd like a word with you since we're alone."

"Uhhh..." Olrica eyes me suspiciously in the dark, "I'm sorry, I think we'd be better off staying friends."

I stare blankly at her until she coughs, embarrassed.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist," she laughs nervously, "...Unless that actually is what you were going to talk about, in which case I'm sorry."

"It most definitely is not," I deadpan, "I'm not interested in dating at this moment in time, and I don't presently consider you a candidate even if I were."

"Ouch," Olrica feigns offence, "But, nah, it's cool. Figured it was something serious, you got that look in your eye."

"Quite serious," I concur, leaning against the doorframe, "I'm thinking of coming clean as to my circumstances to some of the officers. I was wondering if you'd be comfortable backing me up on it."

Her expression stiffens, "Wow, you really gonna open the can o' crazy on them? Still not entirely convinced, myself. Could just be the game messing with my head, for all I know."

"Something that would only be plausible if it weren't for the fact that I was sent back the day before launch, and had never touched a VR capsule in my life before then. It's too much for a prank, just accept it for the reality it is."

"...Fine," she mumbles reluctantly, shoulders sagging, "They're not going to believe you though."

"Probably not," I agree, "But at this point, my 'serendipitous' knowledge will only serve to strain my developing relationship with them. Having said that, I won't be telling everyone, just yet. Grand and Horizon I still need to get confirmation that they'll be staying, and in addition to Morn they're...too new. I'll tell them in the future should they earn enough of my trust."

"So? What's with the sudden need for honesty?" Olrica tilts her head in askance, "No offence, but it's pretty out of character from what I've seen."

I bark a derisive laugh, more meant for myself than her, "On the contrary, I'm not one for secrets usually. Circumstances being what they are, makes caution a vital necessity. I'll be blunt, it's messing with my head more and more as time goes by, and it needs an outlet before I turn completely paranoid."

"Huh," she blinks, surprised, "I don't really know what to say to that?"

"Introspection isn't really my preference," I laugh self-deprecatingly, "I prefer having clear-cut goals to focus on in the present. The kind I can swing a sword at if possible. Part of the reason I'm going out of my way to gain allies is to share the burden so I can focus on the things I can do by myself. I'm not a businessman, an administrator or a people person, so it's best to hand those kinds of jobs off to those who can handle it, which means we need a good rapport, and keeping this kind of secret won't help in the long-term even if they're letting it slide for now."

"Makes sense to me, I guess?" Olrica shrugs, "Long-term shit ain't my strong point either, honestly, so I guess we're the same in finding more sense at the end of a blade."

"Poetic," I smirk, "Well, I need to go find Grand and Horizon to get their final decision, so I'll see if I can gather everyone else upstairs while I'm at it if you get the people down here?"

"Sure thing."

---

 

After bumping into Jupiter at the top of the first flight of stairs, I entrust him with locating Morn and get directions to the second set of stairs to the next floor up. The floor plan for this place isn't what I'd call the most straight-forward, and strikes me as highly amateurish. Even so, it carries it's own sense of dignity perhaps owing to its age. You'd be hard-pressed to find many buildings this old still intact in Reality, let alone Merrow, so there's something to be said for the strength of its foundations I'd say.

As for an exact number to its age, I couldn't really say. Easily a thousand years old at its core, dating back to before the Panoplast Accord at least, but no doubt it's been subject to numerous refurbishments and modifications over the centuries it was still in use if just to keep up with the fashions of the time, which might go a long way to explaining why the layout is so slapdash and labyrinthine.

If we could afford it, I'd definitely want to hollow this place out and correct it, or just tear the entire thing down once and for all to make something fit-to-purpose for our Headquarters on this plot of land, which I will soon have full ownership of. Such plans will have to be included in the remodelling of Meteo once we gain control of it though, and start to expand past the sturdy, if constrictive, walls.

Not that I'd really know where to start with that, since I'm not an architect or city planner, but Meteo will be straining at the seams to accommodate all the Newborn set to come in, not to mention Truthseekers and so on. By the time ten years have passed, I expect most of Fander Field will have been urbanised, with or without us, just as it did back in my day once Rambling Rose and Hammer Holdin were excised and the Empire finally got off it's ass.

Though to be fair, The War of Faulted Ideals is still ongoing in the far northeast right now - and by the time they took an interest in the region the Cavhatirrius Chapter, Stonefall, had already resolved, so they had space and resources free to develop the South further. As much as they could anyway, as players had already solidified their influence over the area in their neglect, and forcefully evicting Hammer Holdin a few years prior to Stonefall didn't change that.

I peer up a ladder leading into an attic space and hear the faint sound of Grand's voice. There they are. With how thoroughly the rest of the mansion has been emptied, I somewhat doubt that there will be much if anything still stored away up there, but I confess that I am curious myself. Attics in noble houses often have other secrets, though I'd consider it a third place to the Master Bedroom and the Cellar. If people were merely concerned with emptying out anything halfway valuable without looking too deeply into the rooms themselves, an attic's hidden reliquary would be the most likely to have stayed unplundered.

The ladder doesn't look like it'll hold much weight, but if two people already made it up, it must still be usable. Carefully, I climb the steps into deeper darkness, leaving my lantern at the base. The smell of moisture fattened wood is strong up here, and the mustiness of the house even stronger. Peering over the edge of the hatch, I see a faint light at one of the far ends of the attic, then pull myself up and start heading towards it, walking across raised beams instead of the floorboard sections which will probably give way immediately after stepping on them.

"Who-Oh, hey Silver," Grand practically jumps out of his skin when I arrive, though Horizon noticed me the moment I entered most likely.

"Find something interesting?" I ask, flicking my chin toward the section of wall that's partially opened up.

"Found a hidden door," Horizon explains with a hint of pride, "But it's got a few traps attached to the inside and I'm not sure what to do to disarm them."

I guess it's still early days for her after all, "Let me take a look. Could you bring the light closer, Grand?"

"Sure," I kneel down next to the gap in the door, "I suppose you noticed something was off when you tried to force it open?"

"Mhm."

I take my new boot knife out and cut a piece of string near the base of the door. With a snap, something heavy thuds into the door from the other side. Grand curses and falls backwards, I see the flash of light on metal jutting through the wood. Crossbow bolt. Fairly rudimentary trap - probably set to go off even if you opened the door the intended way.

"You goof, come on, get. Up!" Horizon pulls her boyfriend back to his feet and dusts him off, "Are you alright? No splinters?"

"I'm fine, just startled," he laughs nervously, "Um, sorry Silver."

"It's fine, looks like that was the only trap they installed," I grunt, pushing myself to my feet, then stick my fingers through the crack to open the door. It squeaks against the flooring, shuddering vibrations going through it. Beyond is a small room, barely 2x6ft across. Perched up against the wall is the brittle, mostly disintegrated remains of a child's skeleton. A few old toys litter the room, as well as some empty sacks and a cot.

"Oh," Grand's mood dips considerably when he realises what we're looking at.

"This is probably supposed to be a saferoom of some kind," I hypothesise, "Must have run out of food."

"Couldn't they leave?" Horizon frowns.

"It's impossible to know the circumstances behind this," I shake my head slowly, "Leave it alone for now."

"Poor thing," she laments, "So, to what do we owe the pleasure, Silver? I thought we were all meeting downstairs."

"To remind you, for one thing," I clear my throat, "The other is to get an answer to a question."

"Do tell," Grand folds his arms, expectant.

"What will you do now? You said you'd have a better idea of whether you'd continue to play and stick with us after today," I oblige him.

The pair share a long, protracted look, a lot being communicated silently between them, demonstrating the strength of their bond.

"We'll keep playing," Grand breaks the silence, "I don't mind staying with Truthseekers either with this kind of foundation."

"I'll be leaving soon, all the same," Horizon follows-up, "I've had my fill of the area. So it's probably best I leave the guild since I won't be contributing much."

As expected. Still, even though I feel I shouldn't, I don't want this to be the end of my and Truthseekers' association with her. Granted, so long as her lover and friends are a part of the Guild, chances are that she'll appear to assist us from time to time, but the two of us can do better than that for each other. Closing my eyes, I resolve myself to a decision.

"I'd like to correct you on that," I lean against the wall, "There's still a lot that we can do for each other. From what I'm told, you have a strong wanderlust and a love of sightseeing, yes?"

"Yes?" Horizon's curiosity is piqued, "If you're just going to tell me where to go, though, I'll ask you not to. I want to discover it all for myself."

"Not exactly. Rather, some advice and an offer," I clarify, laying out some bait, "To start with, avoid going south to the shore. It's a region more than 30 levels higher than us and you will absolutely not survive the journey there."

She frowns, but takes the warning seriously, "When I said not to tell me where to go, that included the reverse, but fine. I'll keep it in mind."

"As for the offer, I want the information you gather," I continue regardless of her irritation, "Specifically, maps and interesting leads. There's a crafting subclass called Cartographer which will allow you to create detailed maps of areas you travel to and study. In a game where access to the internet is heavily restricted from within it, and no minimap exists - good maps are precious to players. In exchange, Truthseekers will be ready to act on that information, letting you benefit from the dungeons you discover and so on with assurance of your own safety and a share in the rewards, just as an example."

"So you want me to hunt down dungeons for you?" she summarises.

"Amongst the other things I mentioned, yes," I nod, "We can't really send too many people out to find all this information and the secret areas of the world, but if you're going to be doing that anyway, why not cooperate? Moreover, as the Guild develops, just being a member will give a lot of influence in the world as you go about your business, even far away from Meteo Town. We are, after all, an Official Guild in the Empire of Stone, and a rapidly rising one at that."

"I see," she places her thumb to her lips, and chews thoughtfully.

"You don't really have anything to lose," Grand points out to her, for which I am inwardly grateful that he's supportive of the idea.

"Shush, I'm thinking," Horizon bats his arm with her free hand. Seconds pass.

Her shoulders sag, and her arm flops back to her side, "I'm not really fond of being tied down...but alright. However, if it turns out to be a waste of time, I'll part ways with Truthseekers, even if Henry and Win are part of the Guild. Alright?"

Grand stiffens over, a little shocked by that declaration, his face saddened.

"That's fine," I smile softly, "Give and take."

"Give and take," she smiles back, then rubs Grand's arm, "Sorry, love, just calling a cat a cat."

"Yeah, I know," he takes her hand and threads his fingers through hers, "I'm not going to ask you to change on my account. I know you well enough to say you wouldn't, and that I respect your decision should you ever leave for good."

Horizon avoids his gaze, guilt written all over her face, "Don't talk like that..."

I clear my throat, "Not to intrude on your moment, but I don't think this is a good time to be talking about your relationship. At least, not in front of a relative stranger like me."

"No, you're right," Grand lets go of Horizon's hand, "Should we go join the others?"

"Yes," she agrees, still a little bothered by how casual he's acting.

---

 

Entry Hall, Voinete Mansion

"We're all gathered I see," I observe, alighting at the bottom of the stairs, noting the haze of dust in the moderately well-lit hall, a few of the lamps on the walls now lit, as Jupiter fiddles with another and Olrica brushes thick piles of dust out the door with one of the two brooms Henna lent to us.

"Yep," Windy greets me, "And it turns out, the bathroom on the first floor was just...words can't describe how horrible it was."

"The only one with an en suite was the Master Bedroom," Angelus adds, "And it wasn't much better. At the very least the plumbing still works."

"Well, we can get started on that in a minute," I rub the back of my head, no more enthusiastic about it than they are, "Why don't we catch everyone up to speed?"

"Skeleton in a secret room in the attic," Grand sighs, walking by.

"Found a safe in one of the studies," Jade grins, "Looked empty, but it had a false bottom with a Blueprint in it."

I whistle, impressed, "That's lucky. What is it for?"

"Hell if I know," she shrugs, "Apparently it needs a Scholar to decode it."

"I'll take a look," Angelus offers.

"Knock yourself out man," she removes the thick roll of parchments from her inventory and hands it over.

"Basement is massive," Olrica supplies.

"I didn't find anything noteworthy," Morn yawns, "Except for a bed, which I'd like to use."

"Mm. Well, if you, Grand and Horizon don't have anything else to do, you might as well go find a guest room you want to take over," I suggest, "I've got something to talk to the others about. Windy should have some cleaning supplies we borrowed from Henna over at Stone Arsenal. We can get whatever else we need from the market in the morning when I fetch some supplies for my trip."

"Alright," Morn nods drowsily, "But, what's this about a trip? Are you going somewhere far?"

"I've been sitting on a Quest from my Guide for a while now that's in need of turning in," I reveal for her benefit since most of the others already know by now, "The problem is that the place I need to go is about a week's travel away from here, if I make good time and hitch a ride on a carriage for most of it. Now that things have reached a point where they don't need my direct input as much, I'm finally free to get it done."

"I see," Morn looks worried all the same.

"Do you think I can come along?" Horizon requests suddenly, "I was going to be leaving anyway."

"If you want," I shrug, "But everyone else will be staying here. No objections."

"Why does she get a pass?" Jade questions, confused.

"Horizon has agreed to do some scouting for information in her travels," I explain, "That way, we have a better idea of where to go and what to do. Such as where to find dungeons and unclaimed resource points, etcetera."

"Aha. Fair enough," she nods sagely, "Hey, if you find any good bars, hit me up, 'k?"

Horizon winks back by way of response.

"Your job will be to learn smithing from Henna, by the way," I inform Jade, "The higher you can get your proficiency while I'm gone, the better. And I'm not just talking about the way we do it. You know why."

"Uggghhh...fine," Jade grouses.

"Angelus can keep doing what he's already doing on the Scholar and Alchemy fronts," I continue, "The rest of you will be doing what Windy tells you to do, since she's in charge while I'm gone. Understood?"

"Yeah." "Uh-huh." "Sure."

"Ok, well, off you three go then," I remind them, "The rest of you, follow me."

I lead them into an adjacent hallway in the North Wing, and beckon Olrica forward.

"Before we start," I say solemnly, "Please read this System Contract. It should look reasonably familiar to Windy and Angelus, since it's adapted from the Oath of Sincerity we used during Morn's interview."

"What the shit is this?" Jade squints, "Wait-what?!"

"Once it is signed by all of us, the information Olrica and I reveal will be guaranteed to be truthful, and you will be prohibited from spreading it without my explicit permission until such a time as I decide to release you from it," I state seriously, "I realise that this will only apply in-game, but I trust you enough to talk about it in the first place, so consider it a precaution against accidental slip-ups more than anything else."

"....What is this about, Silver?" Angelus stares at me.

"Also, why did you look at me when you said that?" Jupiter complains, oblivious.

"Because you're a serious motormouth," Olrica rolls her eyes, having gotten an earful of his ramblings during our outing earlier and more or less understanding why.

"I take offence to that remark," he scowls, "Even if it might kinda sorta be true. I can keep a secret. I-no wait, I was about to spill one, never mind. Point taken."

"If you do not sign, then I will have to ask you to leave at once," I ignore him, "As it concerns extremely sensitive information that lies at the core of Truthseekers."

"I don't get it," Windy rubs her eye, "But sure, I guess. Signed."

They all sign in turn, waiting for me to explain what's going on that's so serious I'd resort to this sort of measure. As with Morn's interview, I go through the demonstration portion and answer a couple of simple, inoffensive questions to prove that the contract is in effect and that I cannot lie.

"My name is Alexandr Ivanovic. I am 49 years old, and the day before Astral Reckoning launched, I woke up in the body of my 19 year old self," I lead with the biggest reveal.

"What?!" Windy is gobsmacked.

"Are you...serious?" Angelus questions.

"Huh. Neat," Jupiter takes it at face value.

Jade, having heard this before barely reacts, though the knowledge that I am telling the truth does seem to bother her, and Olrica merely looks amused by their reactions.

"I am not delusional, nor mistaken in this regard. It is because of this fact that I am perhaps the most knowledgable person alive about Astral Reckoning, as I've been living it for most of my life," I continue, "This is because in 2039 it is the most successful and popular VRMMORPG in history. Before I was sent back, I was part of a last-ditch effort to defeat the game's final boss, and failure to do so would have seen Merrow - this world - destroyed.

As for how and why I am here, I cannot claim to understand or have any inkling towards. However, I am not the only person to have gained memories of that time. Olrica?"

"Erm. Yeah, during that whole jailbreak episode, I got some flashes of what happened to the 'me' from that timeline or whatever," Olrica admits sheepishly, "It wasn't like a whole lot, but our memories matched up more or less."

"And there's a third person in DDA with even more vague memories of that time," I add, "One Irikis Falk. Who I'll have to deal with again at some point."

"I hope you understand how insane this sounds," Angelus folds his arms, eyebrows knitted together with a frown.

"No kidding," Windy exhales through pursed lips, staring off at the ceiling, "You find some real nice old mushrooms around here while I wasn't looking or something?"

"The contract is still in effect," I remind her, "And no. I am completely sober and sane, if under an enormous amount of stress."

"Well, I for one believe you completely and think that this is awesome," Jupiter grins, "Holy shit, time travel is real! Hahaaa! Suck it, Einstein! Oh! Does this mean that the game is real? Huh? Does it? Ahhhh this is so coooool!"

Seeing Jupiter geek out, all seriousness drains out of the conversation, and my face inevitably meets my palm, "Not the reaction I was expecting."

"Well, excuse me for not blindly accepting what scientists claim to be true about reality when their job is hypocritically built on disproving each other's assumptions about reality," Jupiter huffs, still excited, "There's lots we don't know and more we're still learning about, man. The only things we can be certain of are death and taxes, my dude - oh, and that Jillian MacAffery was never funny and never will be no matter how hard she tries to be anything more than a C-list straight to home video romcom star."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, I suppose," I sigh, "But in any case, this is why I've been rather tight-lipped about how much I know and how I know what I do. As well as why I will continue to act this way for the near-future in order to avoid throwing off my knowledge of future events too much. I wanted to get this off my chest now, so that it doesn't cause any problems between us going forward."

"So, if I'm to understand you right," Windy mutters, "You're trying to profit off this 'future knowledge' of yours?"

"Not quite," I shake my head, "As I said before. We failed to overcome the trial set to us at the end and Merrow was presumably destroyed, along with millions of jobs worldwide which had grown to depend on it. It promised to be a second coming of The Crash. But, for me, I'm far more interested in finding out the reason for my existence than any incidental profit I make along the way, and ensuring that history doesn't repeat itself. I understand that, even with me being unable to lie about any of this, you might still not believe me, but I won't hold it against you if you don't. I only ask that you continue as you have been."

"...Did he put you up to this at all?" Angelus addresses Olrica.

"He asked me if I would be willing to back him up earlier," she wobbles her hand in equivocation, "So, kind of? But he's still telling the truth. I'm not trying to bullshit you either, never even knew he existed before I started playing. But the feelings I inherited...they definitely feel real. More real than I'm really comfortable with. They don't belong to me, and yet do at the same time. It's weird."

"Unless you have any questions, that's all I have to say," I conclude. At first, there's no takers, but after Jupiter babbles a sequence of nonsensical questions about things I don't know how to answer or can't, they start to interrogate the both of us in earnest until everyone is as satisfied as they can be under the circumstances.

"This is pretty surreal," Windy groans, "Fuck it. I don't wanna think anymore, I just wanna go to sleep. I'm seriously about to pass the fuck out."

"Same," Jade concurs, bleary eyed but still managing a sharp glare at me, "I still think you're full of shit."

"I could care less so long as you cooperate with sincerity," I reply unphased, still under the effects of the contract, "And don't cause any more trouble. Such as but not limited to starting a feud with another guild."

"Ugh, it was gonna happen no matter fuckin' what, man, would you drop it already?" she scowls, disgusted.

"No," I deny flatly, "You were out of line and you know it."

"Whatever," she rolls her eyes.

"I'm going to need to sleep on it as well," Angelus murmurs, deep in thought after asking the most questions out of everyone, even cutting in over Jade and Jupiter.

"I'm just disappointed I'm not like, a world-famous mega-star," Jupiter sulks, "That's a blow to the ol' ego."

"Probably the most believable thing he said," Jade smirks.

"I'll be sure to try harder in this life, don't you worry!" Jupiter's mood flips instantly, beaming with optimism and arrogance in equal measure, "Fuck you Alternate-Me! I'm gonna one-up your bitch-ass failure of an existence! You see if I don't!"

"Ach, volume," Windy winces.

"With that said: Eternat. The truth-serum portion of the contract is now concluded. Get yourselves off to a guest room," I clasp my hands together, "It's been a long and fruitful day."

"Dibs on the master bedroom," Olrica calls out.

"Denied," I shut her down.

"Too bad, called dibs," she grins childishly.

"This is my house," I quirk an eyebrow, "So, no. It's mine, and I'm not sharing it with you."

"Not ev-"

"If you try to act seductive, I am locking you in the attic like a spinster," I cut her off before she can do something embarrassing.

"Fine," she pouts, "You have, like, no sense of humour."

"He does, it's just limited to terrible puns," Windy snickers slyly.

"Just go find yourselves a room already," I pinch the bridge of my nose in consternation, "You've all got a lot of cleaning up to do tomorrow."