Why is this happening to me? Ojek thought as he rubbed his head, feeling the ache coming back.

"When she saw the wanted poster she seemed to know about this one," The guardsmen said pointing to Lilly's poster. "She might know where she is but..." The guardsman drifted off.

"She doesn't speak our language" Ojek finished for the guard. This woman definitely shares the same ethnicity as Lilly, which can only mean one thing. She is another otherworldly traveler.

"That is correct Mr. Ojek," The guardsman said.

The heaven's guard adventurer group had failed their first mission, much to their dismay but failure is a failure. Perhaps I should have entrusted Lilly to a C rank group, maybe all of this wouldn't have happened. Ojek thought, sighing.

"And she has a crystalized magic circle in that bag," the guardsman said.

The woman on the other hand glared at me and the guard, she doesn't look as naive as Lilly. Ojek pointed to himself telling her his name "Ojek" then He pointed to the woman.

After a moment of contemplation, she introduced herself. "Stem"

Stem, that name sounds familiar to Ojek. Upon realization Ojek facepalmed, remembering that Lilly had mentioned a person named 'Stem' was her assistant. Looks like he found her caretaker after all.

"Take the magic circle and have it encased., look for any more in the bag too" I order the guard.

Came from the north, the bag looks like it's made from prisoner rags. An unknown and complicated magic circle. If I am a betting man I'd say it's from Lilly but how did she make them, why abandon them too? Is it connected to Onyx?

There are too many questions left unanswered for now. Now Ojek just needs to establish proper communications with Stem to get answers.

The guard left, he didn't give a salute as Ojek was not part of the military.

Ojek started by calling for his assistant. This would be the most important part of establishing communications if this does not work it'd be the worse case scenario.

Once his assistant entered Ojek readied himself. Seeing Ojeks stern gaze the wolfkin straightened his back.

"James, this is very important." James nodded, understanding the dire situation "Get me a language teacher, have them teach our guest how to speak our language" Ojek said in a serious tone.

"It will be done!" James said with a nod and left to complete his mission. Ojek really hoped he doesn't have to deal with this nonsense. He was there dealing with the heroes during their first few missions. So many complaints... So many quests that should have failed... He was there when the strength of men failed and the heroes rampaged across the land sowing destruction.

Ojek wondered if Stem will let him use the scouter orb on her? He motioned for Stem to follow which she reluctantly did. Taking her to the inspection room I grab a blank adventurer card from the reception desk, He doesn't want to replace his again.

Ojek nervously showed Stem how to use the scouter orb his heartbeat quickening in anticipation and anxiousness, but instead of obediently doing what he needed her to do she just narrowed her eyes. Ojek wondered if his anxiety is a trained reflex from dealing with those awful heros.

Stem just stood there drilling holes into Ojek with her scrutinizing stare, making him even fidget with unease. Eventually, Stem shook her head.

I want Lilly back... He never thought he'd miss her but at least she was a lot more obedient and forthcoming.

This calls for his secret weapon. "Claela!" Ojek called. The receptionist came in. "Make our guest comfortable and take her to the waiting room. When a teacher arrives show them to Stem here and let them do their work" When in doubt delegate your work. Works every time! "I have a letter to write I'll be in my office"

Now, it was time to let the heroes know of this otherworldly traveler and then they can take her off his hands.

The next morning the moment Ojek walked into his office James and the justice freak hero, Masato was waiting for him. Ojek groaned inwardly upon seeing the infamous hero, bad memories once thought buried resurfaced. Ojek walked over to his desk and sat down. This is why he doesn't like dealing with otherworldly travelers. Get involved with one and more are going to start showing up.

"I hope this one hasn't disappeared last night," Masato said.

"Don't worry, she's still here, just..." Ojek replied, trailing off. There's something off about Stem. She doesn't tire, learns our language at lightning speed, and gives him a bad feeling.

"Just?" Masato asked. Raised an eyebrow.

"It's just that she didn't know our language," Ojek said with a sigh.

"Didn't? Are you suggesting that she does now? How long have you been teaching her?" Masato gave Ojek an accusing look

"Less than a day, she learned the language in just a few hours." Ojek sighed again, He knew it's hard to believe.

"That's impossible! There's no way anyone could do that!" The look Masato gave him was one of disbelief, yet there was a slight acceptance hidden behind that look.

"When Lilly came to me she already knew how to speak the language fluently, besides that's not the worst. She knows Lilly and is very insistent on asking where she is" Ojek said with a shrug. "Lilly said something about her being an assistant but it seems that is not the case, it's more like she is Lilly's caretaker"

"Have you use a scouter orb on her?" Masato asked, crossing his arms.

"I tried, but she is far less trusting and wouldn't let us get any information on her," Ojek said looking defeated.

"No matter, Take me to her."

The woman standing before Masato was perfectly beautiful. It was like someone had studied what makes something beautiful and then designed a face that would perfectly match that. She was very feminine and had a mature look like that of a mother. A 'caretaker' indeed.

Going by any dystopic story this 'assistant' is meant to keep watch on Lilly, and if Lilly's stats were true that Ojek had recorded then Lilly is very important to the dystopic government, no wonder they wanted to keep watch on her.

After giving Masato a long stare Stem suddenly spoke.

"Who are you?" It wasn't in the Thymian language but instead, she spoke in Japanese.

"I am Masato. I was summoned to this world from Earth to help these people" Masato didn't quite expect her to speak Japanese as she didn't look like a Japanese person but he didn't let that faze him.

"You are not Meta-Human are you? You are from before the Great Stagnation, before even the uplifting of humanity" Stem said.

"How do you know? Also, what is the Great Stagnation?" Masato asked. he could guess what the 'uplifting of humanity' is, it's self-explanatory.

"Your skeletal structure gave you away. The great stagnation is a thousand years where technological growth effectively stopped. The next stage of technology is so far advanced the human mind cannot comprehend it." Stem gave a short explanation with a simple shrug. Such information is probably common knowledge from where she's from.

"So you made a new race of people? That's what Lily is, isn't she? And that's why she is so important. Only she can understand such things and advance humanity further, right?" Masato gave Stem a knowing look.

"Where is she!?" Stem demanded, glaring at the hero. There was something about her eyes, they look almost too glassy.

"We are looking for her. As far as we know she was kidnapped by a criminal" I said, truthfully.

"Kidnapped by a what?" Stem looked confused, did she really not know what a criminal was? She knows what kidnapping is.

"Someone who breaks government laws." Stem had a horrified look as if the very thought of breaking government laws was incomprehensible.

"Then we must find her as soon as we can! So long as she is being held by such a villain she won't be safe!" Stem seems genuinely agitated "She must be very scared" Stem muttered like she really does care about Lilly.

Is Stem actually bad? Or maybe she is just an equally brainwashed pawn? It's hard to tell but now Masato is leaning toward her just being another pawn.

How would we even begin to undo the mental grasp the dystopia government has on them? Masato thought. Then there's the problem Lilly brings. That government would not let someone as important as Lilly go. Being the only one able to further advance technology they will undoubtedly seek to come here and retrieve her.

Even then Masato decided to not Show Stem any secrets. She is still considered a potential enemy so long as she is on the side of that dystopic government.

"You should come back with me until we find out where Lilly is," The hero said. If Lilly is anything to go by then Stem should have incredibly high stats as well. She may be what we need to rescue Lilly but she can also be a powerful enemy, He needs to know what she is capable of and if she is not willing then he had someone in mind who can tell him, truly a useful unique ability.

"No, I need to find Lilly as soon as possible, I can't let Lilly be influenced by a villain!" Stem adamantly refused, shaking her head.

"We have more resources to locate her, or do you plan on just asking every person you see about her?" Masato argued.

Stem remained silent for a long time the deafening silence gave them both much time to think. "Very well, but I must be informed of everything you know about where Lilly is"

Masato only gave a silent nod before gently grabbing stem's shoulder and activating his teleportation amulet.

_____________________________

Lilly POV

"Here should be a good spot," Onyx said, sitting down for a brief break.

We had arrived at the three-quarter point of the cave tunnel. It's my first time seeing it so i couldn't help but take in the sight of the glowing crystals and large pillars.

After I got used to the cave I begin to work on my second dark-forcefield prototype. The problem is that the forcefield creates a null zone so nothing can enter, usually, this means that not even energy can, but my magic is not doing that so energy can enter. Now that I think about it, it has to work that way. Magic is a form of energy and probably tachyon fields so it can't be a true null zone otherwise there wouldn't even be magic.

I got it! I don't even need dark magic, all I need to do is neutralize the energy waves by creating equal but opposite waves so they cancel out! It is honestly a very basic solution.

There was just one problem, I don't know the required runes to make it happen. Hmmm. If I know Violet's anti-entropy magic, assuming she has it, then I could make this work... guess I'll just have to settle with casting two magic barriers instead of one. Still, the thought of dual magic intrigued me. Maybe I could make a freezing laser?

So I start working on that. Once I had the spell sphere constructed in mind I shot the laser at a target. The laser melted through the stalagmite but no ice built up. I examined the damage and found that the melted area was cold to the touch. Not quite what I had in mind but a useful spell at least I won't have to worry about accidentally starting fires or having to wait for the lasered thing to cool down.

I wanted a cooling laser, one that doesn't melt through anything.

"Scary, scary!" A high-pitched voice sounded behind me. I turned to see two tiny people with large bee-like transparent wings. They were the size of my hand, maybe a little bigger, and had pointy elf-like ears. Their eyes were completely black and they had tiny claws on their fingers.

"Scary one melts a hole in the cave wall!" the second creature flew over to the cave wall where a large hole was dug in. I could not see the back of it.

"Oh my! Scary one is powerful!" The first said. Flying around me in a circle.

"Am I the scary one?" I asked, pointing to myself. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you"

"Ohh! Scary one is nice!" The second gave a strange smile. "Since you are so nice why don't we show you someplace with treasure!"

"Treasure? What's that?" I blinked in confusion. I am starting to get a bad feeling about these two.

"Treasure, treasure!... wait what?" the first seemed confused, stopping in its tracks "You don't know what treasure is?"

"First I've ever heard that word" There is something unsettling about their smile, it doesn't seem like one of kindness

"Ohh! Well, it's really cool! You'll love it" The second said. "Come this way!" She flew further into the cave. They can't do something bad, right? They are very small after all. Maybe I'm stressed from being away from civilization for so long?

The creature led me further into the caves, through twisting and cramped tunnels. One of the streams from the large cave room ran through these tunnels gaining more and more in size. The stream had carved this tunnel down almost twenty feet but it isn't very wide.

While squeezing through a cramped part I heard the sound of falling water. Suddenly the path opened up to a pit with black crystals in a pool of water. The pit was almost sixty feet down to the waterline. Several other openings dotted the walls at various heights each pouring water into the pit.

The bad feeling flared up suddenly, almost making me jump. Before I could register what that meant I suddenly felt something small run into me from behind shoving me off the opening and into the water.

"Kyaaaa!" With a splash, I hit the cold water. The water stung my body and burned as I flail my arms around not knowing how to keep my head above the water.

"Kyahaha! She doesn't know how to swim!" One of the winged creatures taunted.

My arms found something hard and I desperately climbed onto the jutting black crystal. The crystal stood diagonally out of the water and was big enough for me to hoise my upper body onto it. To keep my legs out of the acidic water I pulled them close to my body in a sitting position.

"Why did you do that!?" I shouted at the creatures.

"Ooh! Foolish one's mad" The first taunted.

"What's she going to do, try to attack us with magic? Pfft! I'd like to see her try now!" The second Laughed and spun in a tight circle.

"How can you be so horrible? Where's your compassion?!" I chastised the creatures but they just laughed even harder.

"See you around foolish one!" The first waved and turned to leave.

"Or not! Hope it doesn't rain soon!" The second follows the first as their laughter faded.

Frustration and anger gripped me. I remember the word criminal. They were locked in cages why? Were they kidnapped? Or maybe they did something and have to be kept away from society for the safety of others. If anyone needs to be locked up for the safety of others then it'd be those creatures.

'I'm a dangerous and condemned man miss' That was something Onyx had said when I first met him

Did I make a mistake in freeing those people? I wondered. But Onyx has been very nice to me, surely he can't be that bad. As much as I'd like to deny that Onyx is a criminal, another thought came to me. What happened to Durril? I never asked, I'd just assumed he went his own separate way

I shook my head. I shouldn't be thinking about such things right now, I need to find a way out of this cave

I focused on Nymphaya's clearing and conjured a portal but when I opened my eyes there was nothing.

"Why?" I questioned out loud. I tryed to conjure a portal again. The magic sphere flickered before disappearing. The mana flowed out but not to the magic sphere, it moved to the black crystal I am sitting on!

I can't use magic! I was stuck here with no way out. If I can't get out magically then I need to find another way out. Looking up I can see the black crystals growing on the walls. Perhaps I could try climbing up? Not back to where I fell from but can reach the bottom-most entrance. I don't know where it'll take me but it's better than being in here.

There is just one problem, In order to climb up I'll have to somehow get to the wall of this pit and I can't swim. I am still close enough to the wall to maybe jump to the wall but the opening is on the other side. It'll be difficult and I'll have to climb horizontally for a while but it's possible.

Set on my plan of action I focus on my first crystal foothold, and with my heart beating a mile a minute I leap. I splash in the water but managed to grab a hold of the crystal! I quickly reach for the next crystal and pull myself out of the burning water. Thankfully it wasn't some sort of magic acid water that melts things within seconds, just some ordinary acid. Still, the burning of the liquid still clinging onto me isn't pleasant and makes it all the harder to focus.

I climbed diagonally up. But as I am about halfway up when one of the crystals I reached for broke, splashing into the water below I managed to hold on but going any further will be risky. Looking up I find the path with the largest crystals. It helps that whatever is in the water helps grow the crystals. The largest crystals feeding on the waterfall originating from the entrances, but the slipperiness doesn't make it any easier. I managed to climb further my target now just six feet away. I hoist myself up further, four feet away. Again I pull myself up two feet away.

This last stretch is difficult in order to grab the ledge I'll have to kick off. I kick off the crystal and pull myself up with my other feet and arm. Crack. With the sound of breaking glass, the crystal under my other foot broke instantly sending me plummeting down.

"Kyaaa!" With a scream, I splashed into the water flailing around trying to get my head above the water that is burning my skin. Unfortunately, there is no crystal within reach. Unable to struggle for long I began sinking in the water. I kept my eyes closed to prevent the acid from damaging them.

Is this it? I am really going to die here? There's nothing I can do after all. There's a sort of calmness that came with giving up. All the worry and frustration seemed to just disappear, what did those even matter anyway? NO! I won't give up. I want to live. I want to go home!

My feet found purchase on the floor of the pit and I pushed off with all I have swing my arms down at the same time like flapping wings. I continued moving my arms, stabbing upward and swinging outward and down to push myself further. I kicked as hard as I could and soon my head broke the surface of the water.

{Congratulations! For going through a sink or swim trial you gain the swim skill and two levels in it!}

I clumsily swim back over to the large crystal and climb back out of the water, coughing up some water. My skin is reddened due to the top layer of my skin dissolving away. Tears threaten to overwhelm my eyes to the ever-growing pain.

I'll heal in a day or two so I am not worried. Back to square one, I begin to think.

There has to be another way out. My eyes drift up to the entrance I almost reached. That way is no longer viable as the needed crystals to reach it are broken. Oddly enough the one that I did kick off from never broke. Somehow when I fell I must have broken the other crystal I was using as a foothold.

The water splashed tauntingly from the entrances filling up the pit. Wait, this pit isn't filling up so there must be somewhere the water is leaving.

I look around and see a hole just large enough for me to slide down. It was a gentle winding slope.

It can't get any worse. With this thought I swim toward it and crawl in headfirst.

______________________________

Earth, Year 3661, United Terra Arcology G

Councilman David Johnson overlooked the child facility of Entertainment. This facility trains children for the sole purpose of making either music, art, novels, games, and any other form of arts or entertainment.

David wore a black suit and white tie. His brown hair kept short and keen amber eyes darted around studying the students through a window.

David watches a hundred eight-year-old students each focused on their holo pads with pens all drawing something. Not a single student slacked, not a single talked or disrupted the others, a perfect cog in this incredible machine United Terra has built, that he helped build over these hundreds of years.

"Sir" Davids Android assistant spoke. "I've just received a message that Orchid Meadow has been terminated"

David nodded. If only Dandelion Meadow hadn't planted that timed bomb we wouldn't have any need to terminate the Meadows, a threat to this perfect machine. Worse we have no idea where in the genetic code Dandelion planted his little sabotage. We could get one of the flower children to find it for us but the council is sure he had planned for that. So now the flower children are forbidden to research genetics and AI we wouldn't want another timed bomb planted.

David took the elevator to the "Special" child facility, the bottom-most basement of this arcology. Here the Flower Children are born and trained. Spotting the supervisor overseeing the indoctrination of the children David walked over to him.

"Sir" The supervisor nodded to David and offered a handshake.

David accepted the hand. "We'll be needing one more"

"Yes sir" The supervisor acknowledged. "Subject Alyssum Meadow is ready for her cognitive inhibition chip, would you like to oversee it?" David nodded in affirmation and they moved to a remote room with an operating table. The table had restraints on it and an unconscious girl is being strapped to it.

David cursed Dandelion's name. If he hadn't pulled that stupid stunt they wouldn't have to waste resources with the stems and these preventative measures. But maybe it was a blessing in disguise, by keeping these children from mentally maturing they can be sure these second-generation flower children wouldn't do the same thing Dandelion had done, or worse.

David watched as the operation is done. Mechanic arms attached to the walls did the deed and within a few minutes, the implantation is done. All evidence of the procedure will be gone within a few days of the body's natural healing process.

David turned away and headed toward the elevator. His meeting with the council is in an hour.

"Why do you come here when you hate the meadows?" David's assistant spoke.

"This world is a perfect machine we've been building. Everyone has their role and everyone has a place in it except the meadows." David grimaced "They are wild cards that roam around and change things. They do not fit perfectly like a jigsaw puzzle's edge piece, except the edge isn't smooth but has another connecting side"

"But they are important for progress," The assistant pointed out.

"Yes, they are very necessary for the improvement and upgrading of this world which is why we must keep a careful watch on them." David turned toward his assistant "I must keep watch to make sure they fit just enough in our puzzle and make sure they don't break things"

"You can't make a perfect machine if it still needs to be upgraded so why not make more flower children?" The android tilted her head slightly as she asked the question.

"They are psychically linked. It's safe if there are fewer than a hundred but once there are more then the link forms a network that exponentially grows their powers. Their powers also fully manifest once they reach a hundred years old" David explained. He had neglected the fact that his new assistant still doesn't know everything. If only the resistance groups hadn't attempted to assassinate him he would still have his old assistant.

David had requested an android assistant because even if the body dies as long as the black box is safe the android still lives. Their data and personality can be backed up but the emergent consciousness dies, hence the need for a black box.

In the past meta-humanity had feared artificial intelligence but during the great stagnation, they had sought to bring about the technological singularity, even if the cost of biological life-forms. David remembers the day they had cast the vote to bring life into machines. However, for all their fears A.I. did not seek to destroy, maybe because they saw themselves the same? By that time this great society had already been fully implemented and everyone had a role like a machine.

Regardless, the technological singularity never happened and the great stagnation persisted.

"Is that really such a bad thing?" The assistant naively asked. "How strong do their powers get? Surely it'll help the progress of United Terra"

"It surely can, but it'll most likely result in its destruction, we didn't figure out Dandelion's objective until it was too late, all at once the flower children joined in the network. They were, however peaceful and only sought to form a new government, one that would in time threaten and destroy ours." David retold the abbreviated story. "Venus is said to have been terraformed by our technology, this is a lie. It was the powers of the joined minds of the flower children, in an instant, they turned a hellish planet into one fit for life"

"They are like gods, how did you get rid of them if they are that powerful?" The android asked.

"Yes, gods, we have no need for them as they would bring chaos to this perfect deterministic world. As to how we defeated them, one of the flower children had previously developed a psy inhibitor, after we deployed it all over venus we killed every last flower child"

Project Ragnarok had been a huge success, save for one problem one that even his assistant wasn't allowed to know.

They arrived at the council room, David checking his watch nodded in approval, and entered the room at the exact moment the hour turned over.

 

The other council members were already there, many of them don't share David's desire for perfect machine workings. David sat there for hours as the others gave their reports, all is as it should be, normal that is until the last two members gave their reports.

"The resistance has raided a military arcology and stolen many combat android bodies that had yet to receive black boxes, two dozen Class one mechs, five Class two Mech, and three Class three Annihilators" Councilman Jake reported. That damnable resistance! If there was one thing David hated more than the flower children it's the resistance, and not just that they killed his last assistant. The resistance threatens to actively tear down all that he had built, his perfect machine.

"There are ongoing efforts to figure out their next objective but at this point we can only assume that with their acquired firepower they mean to cause some massive destruction. Efforts are being made to protect sensitive areas"

"How the hell did they manage to get their hands on Annihilators?!" Councilman Evens shouted. "Where are they hiding those gargantuan things anyway?!"

"Amaryllis Meadow, the one who went missing. She was working on perfecting teleportation, we now assume that the resistance had kidnapped her and probably convinced her to join their cause, she is to be terminated on sight." Jake replied

"What of Rose Meadow, she went missing last month" Even asked.

"We assume she has been kidnapped, they probably want her to perfect combat armor in order to get an edge over us with their limited resources. She is to be rescued and if need be terminated"

"Is there anything else to report? Councilman John asked?"

"No that will be all" Jake said and sat down.

"Next is Alyssa with the reports of the Meadows' progress," John said. Folding his hands together.

"There have been two breakthroughs this month, one being an atomic assembler, meaning we can turn any element into any other element. The other is the completion of the wormhole facility, however, during their first test, there was an accident resulting in the deaths of dozens of personal. The three meadows and their androids in addition to numerous other staff members have not been found in the rubble. They are presumed to be transported to the other end of the wormhole"

"Was the wormhole destination not at the designated facility?" David asked.

"No, it was the first test and we had not even expected it to work as intended. Once a micro wormhole was established we had planned to stop after we confirmed that we could widen the singularity however it began to grow out of control, the forcefield meant to stop such an occurrence reacted with the anti-entropy fields resulting in the explosion. Security footage show the wormhole engulfing most of the facility before collapsing"

"So we have three meadows that could be anywhere, not to mention they are the ones who would have finally discovered a form of FTL" Evens said. "We should make effort to find out where they went, even if to confirm their deaths, who knows maybe we might even find a new frontier"

"I agree," Councilwoman Karen said. "We need to know if they are dead or not, we can't risk even one of them to reach full maturity if that happens they may have to power to come back and threaten our great society"

"I second Karen's opinion," David said. "The threat of matured Meadows is too great, even if the possibility is low"

"Anyone else?" John asked, looking at each councilman in turn. The vote was unanimous. "Then we will rebuild the facility, we can spare one or two other meadows to find out how to stabilize the wormhole."

This is why David hates the flower children, they are more trouble than they are worth if only the other councilman had listened to him, who cares about the stagnation, back then this great society worked so beautifully, so perfectly, like a clockwork machine.