The paths looked filled with gravel, and their new carriage was moving fast on the road. Unlike the previous two, this one was driven by a woman that had been waiting for them. She explained that the horseless wagons were always in high demand, and her company – not the Artefact Hunting Company in this case – drove people around here. She was a mere tier one as well, a level 18 Watcher, which surprised Jonas. He had not expected to see a low-level Professional here. There had been three months since the Gate had been shut down, so how could any Professional be that low?

True to her promise, the outline of the main Labyrinth’s city appeared mid-afternoon. A mix of wooden and stone buildings, with a few that looked almost like modern London houses. But what drew Jonas’ gaze was the hoop of metal rising above the buildings, far bigger than all the ones they’d crossed before. The Great Gate.

However as they were approaching, the disappointment came. He knew they would have heard the news when Douglas came back with their lair list, but he still had hoped that, somehow, the Gate would have reopened during that last week.

 

 

He wasn’t the only one to look at the Gate, however, and Jonathan slumped back on the wagon’s bench, disappointed. Cowen noticed their gazes and looked at the Gate in the distance.

“Yes. Didn’t expect it to reopen either.”

“Nobody’s found how to unlock it?” Laura asked.

“The best bets were the use of the largest Power Crystals we’ve found, but no,” Douglas said.

Cowen added, “I heard the integrity had been slowly climbing back on the London side. Maybe the Gate needs to be fully repaired before it can be reconnected.”

The wagon entered the first street of Gatepost. A block in, it turned into a cobbled one that wouldn’t have been out of place in a fancy London borough either. The team watched in unmasked curiosity their surroundings. Porches, large buildings, smaller houses. Few places had any floors above the ground. Their driver looked surprised at their curiosity.

“I thought everyone stayed in Gatepost for a while when they entered the Labyrinth? You’ve never been here?”

“It’s complicated,” Jonas replied, not elaborating. They were going to attract curiosity sooner or later, and he didn’t want more than strictly necessary right now.

As they crossed streets, Jonas spotted more Professionals walking around, singly and in small groups. Their attire varied, reflecting the variations of gear obtained in the Labyrinth. Nowhere in London would you see a man wearing full plate talking animatedly with a man in elaborate robes and a woman wearing bright orange leathers. Obviously, even in town, you tended to wear the gear you were used to. After all, it never seemed to get dirty or smelly, so you wouldn’t need to wash it.

Nor, he reflected, did they. Not really.

 

 

They stopped in front of one of the few two-story buildings. This one was slightly more elaborate than the mostly practical-looking ones they’d seen while driving past. It even sported columns and a mantle above the entrance.

“City Hall. You’re all good,” the Watcher announced.

They all jumped down from the carriage and went into the building as the vehicle was immediately driving away. As they entered, a man behind a desk looked up and stood immediately.

“Augusta! You’re there! I’ll notify her Highness at once.”

He ran upstairs and disappeared for a minute. He came back almost immediately.

“She’s finishing, she’ll want you in a few minutes,” he announced.

“So, Clyde. Manning the desks?” Cowen asked.

“For now. Most of the regular staff were in London. You’re just in time, the Grey Keep is reported to be regenerating, meaning the Keeper is coming back soon. And the Endless Ice shouldn’t be too far behind. Millard has set the time in… five days. Almost thought you wouldn’t make it.”

“As if,” she snorted.

Jonas listened, but the references were lost to him. Seeing this, Cowen gestured to the man.

“Clyde Allardice, Competing Mauler. Still, I assume?”

“Two Milestones and I’m good for tier six. Watch out, I’m catching up to you, Augusta,” the man smiled.

He offered his wrist, which Jonas clasped. A tier five with a few more Professions, around level 710. Surprisingly… or maybe not, Allardice didn’t comment on Jonas’ Adjustment.

“There are two Legendary creatures in Biskanta, next to where my team usually is. They’re coming back to their lairs soon,” he explained.

“Mrs Douglas mentioned something about it,” Jonas recalled.

“When that happens, a couple of dozen of tier-six and some upper five like Clyde here gather and we take them down. That’s once every four months or so. Still need three Biskanta completions for my team,” Cowen added.

At that moment, a woman started down the stairs. She waved at the assembled people in the lobby before getting out.

“You’re good to go,” Allardice announced, waving them toward the upper floor.

 

 

“Safe and sound, your Highness,” Cowen announced.

The young woman seated behind the huge marquetry desk did not look like a Royal Princess. She wore practical-looking red-coloured leather, without a coif or any ornament. She looked like a normal Professional, like some they’d seen across town coming in.

Jonas and his team started to curtsy, but the woman had already risen and circled her desk, coming to greet them. She extended her wrist, the hand turned in the common Professional style. Jonas clasped it, offering his descriptor to her inquiry. She focused quickly on it, then moved to greet the rest of the team.

“Interesting,” was the single laconic comment. She turned toward Cowen.

“You’re always dependable. Safe and sound indeed,” she congratulated the Knight. “Want to stay for the chat?”

“As your Highness can guess, I got a few people waiting for me in the upper tiers. We should be going. I need to check a few things out at headquarters, then we’ll be Fast Travelling as soon as possible. But we’ll probably be back in about two weeks… if you have another mission for us.”

“Louisa and her team are managing the courier loop with the Colonies so far, but if you can help, I imagine she’ll be more than happy to share the load.”

“Then tell her we’ll be back as soon as we’ve finished our Legends.”

She saluted with her fist lightly hitting her breastplate, then turned, the rest of her team falling in behind her. Jonas felt a slight disturbance and noticed that her name had abruptly vanished from the team descriptor. It felt a bit weird, after so many weeks of seeing it so large in that view. For a few instants, he felt a void. He would probably miss the Imposing – in many senses of the term – Knight.

“Now, tell me all,” the Calculating Tactician said.

 

 

“I have to agree with you. There must be something more to Adjustment than just increasing your Potentials until you fit in. And that’s probably the cause of your painful experience when you got those Milestones. Because from the outside… it looks like a ‘normal’ Milestone. Added Potential, increase in some ability. But the rest that you describe… does not fit.”

Princess Charlotte leaned back on her high chair. The team had picked some chairs arrayed before the walls and seated themselves in front of her desk while telling their stories.

“We’ve got Babbage around, he’ll be happy to investigate that to the end,” she finally said.

“Who?” asked Jonas.

“Charles Babbage. One of the foremost scholars on Professions. He was in London when the attack occurred, but he’s arrived here… as fast as he could once he heard about you.”

“We’ll be happy to cooperate. As much as we can,” Jonas replied.

“Meanwhile, the Gate remains locked. The last report from London said it was now nearly 99% integrity, but still no sign of anything. The French obviously knew what they were doing.”

Jonathan hesitated, then asked, “Can we send messages to London?”

“Of course. It takes longer than it used to, usually two weeks since it has to cross the Atlantic, but your letters can be delivered. There’s a branch of the General Post Office not far… if you have funds. Do you?”

“Not much,” Jonas admitted. “I had a couple of tanners on me, but I didn’t have a lot of money. Although… maybe we could sell a few items from the Labyrinth? Cowen said she’d have what we got during the trip stashed at someplace…”

“The First Bank, probably. Selling your stuff might be hard. The trading is nearly moribund since it’s almost impossible to ship anything back to London. Low-tier items did only fetch minor prices in bulk before, and no wholesaler is buying at the moment. But ask at the Bank anyway.”

She rummaged into her desk and came out with a sheet of paper, which she pushed toward Jonas.

“Use that if necessary. It’s a 4T200, basically a promise of ‘your pick of loot for a 4-guardian lair at level 200’. Backed by me, which carries a lot of authority. You can probably get around 2 pounds of value in trade. That should carry you through for a while. With so many companies out of business for the moment, it’s used more and more around.”

Jonas accepted the promissory note, wondering about the novel idea. A pick of your choice from a lair run could be potentially useful to any Professional at that level. Of course, you probably needed a reputation to do that, but that was basically making your own banknotes. In any other circumstances, it would be insanity, but this was the Labyrinth.

“Now… I have to think about all this. I have no idea for the moment how we can use your presence here, and you’re low-level. I hope Babbage can have better ones. You should head to the Archives soon, he’s probably holed in there. Ask people in the lobby for directions, or even outside.”

She added, “Gatepost may be the biggest city of the Labyrinth, but it’s no London.”

Jonas hesitated, then asked, “What are we going to do?”

“It’s complicated. One of the problems is that, right now, you are illegals. Nobody is supposed to enter the Labyrinth unless gainfully employed by a registered company. And I strongly suggest not getting recruited into any for now. I’d rather have you around and unencumbered just in case. So don’t leave. Outside of that… well, I’ll find something.”

Jonas winced internally. Royalty ‘strongly suggesting’ amounted to a Royal command.

 

 

Charlotte watched that team walk out of her office, and pondered her options. When she ordered the rescue, Cowen’s acolyte had spoken of a puzzle, and she still had no idea if they were a piece… or of what. Right now, there were only uncertainties piling up upon more uncertainties, and problems starting to become critical. While it was becoming obvious from the missives that the French would start an offensive soon, hoping to grind away the British advantage without resupplies, things remained quiet on her side. She did not expect the French to assault the British in the Labyrinth unless they had secured victory and defeated the Empire Earth-side. But she was going to start asking people to swap out their Recall away from Gatepost since it would be the obvious target.

The last letters from the St. James Palace had also started to suggest her place should be back in London. She was the heir after all, and she had to be in place to take the crown, should both her grandfather and father die, they said.

But if she went back, what would be left of Britain in the Labyrinth?

 

 

Luther and Ada were waiting in the hall’s entrance lobby when they came down from upstairs.

“How did it go?” asked Luther.

“Well, all things considered,” replied Guss. “We’re supposed to stick around. But right now… there’s a lot of things to do.”

“Which makes me think,” interrupted Jonas. “We’re still locked on that Zilbarn Recall Stone. Is there…?”

“Of course. Recall Stone near the Gate, so you can recall and fast travel if needed. We’ll get you there,” replied Ada.

They exited the Town Hall and followed the two Fullmores, who started chatting and pointing stuff.

“Bank that way, at the end of that street.”

“General Post? Behind us, the other way from the Townhall.”

“No, the Archives are next to the Gate clearing. Can’t miss them, someone sponsored a large stone sculpture showing a stack of opened books in front.”

When asked about lodging, they immediately offered help.

“We’ll get you some at the company’s HQ. There are rooms for teams, you should be able to stay there!”

 

They finally entered a large clearing, with multiple roads coming in. In the middle, the large hoop of the Gate loomed, but to the side, Jonas spotted a large sculpture that looked like a yellow stone globe encased in a blue marble-like spiral. They moved and activated the Recall stone before turning back.

Your Recall location is now set to Grailburg’s Gate to Earth

“Everyone sets either their Recall here or picks the Gate from London as a Fast Travel. Of course, you can’t do the latter, since you can’t get in from London. But congratulations, you are now full British Professionals.”

“Yay,” Jonathan commented, contemplating the Gate. It looked normal, filled with the usual reflective disc that all Gates sported.

“Are you sure that…”

Luther crossed to the Gate ramp and went in. No sooner had his foot left the Gate platform and vanished in the disc than he emerged from the mirrored surface.

“See. You bounce back. You don’t even get the usual descriptor saying you need some stuff to qualify. You just come out as if you went to London, except you didn’t.”

Jonathan’s shoulders slumped visibly.

“It’s almost repaired on the London side, I heard. Maybe it will reopen then.”

 

“What’s next?” asked Guss.

Jonas considered their options, “Maybe that bank. I had only pennies on me when we were thrown in the Labyrinth, Ira’s not better.”

He looked around for the team. The rest of them shrugged. The only one with any money on him was Guss with two shillings and a handful of pennies.

“Her Highness suggested we use something she called a 4T200 to get some coin.”

“She gave you a T-note? From her?” Luther whistled.

His wife added, “Yes, that will give you coins. The bank might not be the best place to use it, but if you want cash to spend, that’s the place to get it.”

They turned into another street, following the lead of the Fullmore couple. The two kept telling about Gatepost.

“It started being built a month or two after the Gate opened. It was more of an outpost rather than a real town. Of course, I wasn’t there, I wasn’t even breeched yet.”

“It’s very different from London, as you see. I think it’s probably closer to a Colonial town back during the last century.”

“The hardest thing is the workers. Everyone has to be a Professional, so you can’t ship in any work gang. Seeing women building houses was a shock the first time.”

“We’ll get you a real Gatepost meal tonight; our treat. I know the place.”

The Bank turned out to be a huge building, occupying almost an entire city block. Despite that, Jonas was surprised to see the lobby being small, nearly cramped, with only three teller counters, only two of which were open. There were only a handful of Professionals waiting as well, so they were quickly at the front of the small queue.

“Jonas Sims. I’m just checking… we should have a team’s storage, which I want to confirm. The designation should be… Adapted Team.”

The teller brought out his fist, and Jonas grasped it, realizing that checking one’s status would be the best identity proof there was. The teller’s eyebrows rose slightly as he read his descriptor. No doubt the Adjustment Milestone tickling his curiosity. But he kept his demeanour professional and did not mention anything, turning instead to the ledgers behind him.

“Yes. Account opened five weeks ago… six names. Guss Fullmore, Jonathan Gilbert, Laura Harvey,  Ira Heard, Alton Raby, Jonas Sims. Small gear storage, half full, 6 shillings a month, pre-paid for 3.”

“That’s correct,” Jonas confirmed, slightly relieved.

“Any movement?” the Calculating Guardian asked.

Jonas gestured to the team. Ira, Guss and Laura had been carrying some potentially useful additional gear from the three last zones whose levels still exceed theirs. He also dropped a pair of sandals that would require level 93 to wear.

The bank teller, unfazed, pulled out a box and placed the five items in it, before scribbling something on a small board affixed.

“Five deposits. They’ll be in your vault in an hour. Anything to pick?”

“No, we’re fine. But I’d like to change a… T-note?”

Jonas dropped the note in the teller’s hand. His eyebrows rose again when he saw the name on it, but again, he did not comment.

“We can give you 2 guineas for it.”

“Can we get change?”

“Sure.”

The teller stacked a few crowns, half-crows and shillings, which Jonas promptly picked. He immediately started to split the coins with the rest of the team.

“Thanks.”

“Have a good day, Aetherseer,” the teller replied.

 

As they came out of the Bank, Jonas noticed Ada checking a wooden box next to the entrance. It sported a paper notice, which, when he looked closer was a printed masthead and titles.

“That’s the Gatepost Weekly. All news from the Labyrinth and Britain. That’s the only news we have around. Of course, the ones from Earth are old, it’s like news from the Indies. Or the Colonies, since they’ve got to go through there.”

Ada dropped two pennies in a smaller box attached, then pulled open the box and picked two of the folded copies of the broadsheet. She pushed one to Guss.

“News for your team to read.”

“Next should be the General Post office,” Jonas said.

 

The Post office was an unassuming building but sported a large engraving of the Royal Coat of Arms over a stylized horse-driven coach on a hanging wood sign in front. The actual lobby was even larger than the bank had been. A woman welcomed them and pointed out the Scriptorium rooms to the side, where people could write their missives before sending them. She inquired if any of them needed help writing, but they all had enough letters to do it by themselves.

Jonas, Ira and Alton found themselves at a loss. Both Jonathan and Laura had rushed into rooms to write letters back to London, and even Guss had said he needed to write some, as his cousin had yet to notify the family back in London of his unexpected arrival.

But for Ira and him, there were no real family ties. Their parents, and in Jonas’ case a sister were still alive in London, but they rarely saw them. Alton had even less, having lived on his own for nearly a third of his entire life. So, they waited, slightly embarrassed at being adrift, while their friends were writing reassurances home. Luther and his wife were engrossed over the broadsheet. Jonas peered at the copy left for his team. It was an eclectic mix of news from India, rumours about the French, and some more Professional-oriented news like "tier-six achievements" listing names and Professions – presumably ones that people had recently picked. There was even an advertising section listing services, including “individual high tier runs, A-team from the Stockwell company, any western zone”.

“Luther? What's a western zone?”

“Zone closer to the American sector. It's not really ‘west’. Not only are the Gates placed in any which way, but you get loops and stuff. But people call it west, and the French east.”

“So we came from the west?”

“Exactly.”

 

 

“What next?” Guss again asked, once everyone had finished writing the letters and paid the postage.

“Next, we get you settled at headquarters,” said Ada. “We have team rooms aplenty since almost everyone is levelling out there. Then, as I said, we’ll treat you with a feast to properly welcome you in the best city of the Labyrinth!”