My body suddenly felt heavy again. I was in the real world, and the demon brat was right in front of me.

"Drop the dome!" one of the girls screamed.

I did, and the sequence played out like the first time. The girls cut through the demon's body and killed him.

My eyes were on his as he disintegrated. There was no reaction or acknowledgment in them. Of course, there wasn't. We had turned his  'mind' into a 'fiction' in the mindscape. The body was just an empty shell waiting to be destroyed.

Kanae's flame roared over top of me and came crashing down, fully incinerating whatever was left of the demon brat.

"Did we win?" Svilran asked.

"I think so," Elma replied. "Fainn, are you okay? You took the hit."

I looked down. The sword that had pierced me was on the ground, and it didn't leave a mark. I turned to them and took stock of what I remembered. Fainntwo was right. I couldn't recall the scenes anymore, but I could remember facts like 'I saw my past,' and so on.

I could remember all of the last fight, of course, just like he said I would.

I nodded at the girls. "Yeah… I'm okay."

The girls all nodded at me, but Svilran looked on with concern. Down in the Inverse, Narlivs was already asking me about what had happened. She had noticed a disturbance herself… Her concern must have been reaching Svilran.

I let out a sigh and looked around. "So… we just repelled an invasion… You may not believe this, but I have no idea what we do next."

We all looked around. The handy thing about demons was that they faded away when killed. The handy thing about the Hub was that it was pretty good at self-repair and preservation in general.

Dehlia raised her hand. "I've repelled invasions before… usually, we would make sure everyone's accounted for."

I looked around. All the girls were here. "Check."

"Then we'd make sure no enemies were left."

"I don't sense any," Svilran replied.

"Not many places to hide here," Elma followed.

"Then I'd check to see if they left any traps or other kinds of magic."

"That's… a good idea," Svilran said. She clapped her hands. "Alright, Heroes. Let's pair up and search the grounds. I can't sense anything, but let's exercise caution!"

So we broke off into teams. Elma went with Kanae, Dorthaunzee went with Dehlia, and I went with Svilran.

We were checking the area around the Observatory. It didn't take long for Svilran to question me.

"Fainn, are you sure you're okay?"

I nodded. "I am… Sorry, Svilran, something did happen. And… it was pretty heavy. I don't really know where to start."

"That demon seemed very set on attacking you… did it have to do with that?"

"Yeah… it did. I…” My eyes narrowed as my mind just kind of went blank. "It's just a lot. A whole lot of things went down."

Then, I felt the door in my head creak open ever so slightly.

{"Fainn, let's not be dramatic and waste time. There's nothing wrong with letting them know."}

Suddenly, my blank mind seemed to become fuller as I synced up with Fainntwo slightly.

I could already feel his crankiness resonating with me.

{"I'm not cranky... Just got annoyed."}

My mind and his melded a bit, and I smiled at Svilran.

"Alright, Svilran, I've got a wild story for you, but… maybe we need a drink for this?"

Svilran looked at me, puzzled, but then chuckled. "Okay… we should probably finish this up first, though!"

I chuckled. "Yeah, okay. You kind of need to be sitting down for this anyway."

I said that, but I had already started telling Narlivs all about it in the Inverse. Existing in two places at once definitely had its perks.

***

In the Inverse—

I finished telling Narlivs everything I remembered.

"So you were linked to these demons from the start. Through this Marellia... I don't know her name, though."

"What you told me about karma—it applied way more than we could have imagined."

She furrowed her brow. We were sitting outside of the Home's shadow double, just talking while our waking doubles kept searching the area.

"Everything makes a little more sense now… That weapon is still here, by the way. The demon dropped it, but Kanae found it," Narlivs said.

"Given these guys and their tracking capabilities—"

"My power should be enough to seal the weapon and make it untraceable."

"Hold on. Just got something on the Menu—Oh, wow. That's fast. We got the option to build a Vault… It's for locking certain objects away... It showed up when we needed it..."

"That's good. We'll need that."

I thought back on the fight. "We'll need a lot of things…"

"Fainn, is that woman—your first Mother—still alive?"

"Yeah. She is. The one that was inside of me was just a fragment of her that somehow got severed from the original."

Narlivs sighed. "And so, we start to get a glimpse of just how long the tail of this karma will be."

"Yeah… But, you know what? I'm thankful."

"For what exactly?"

"Let's step away from my personal development and look at the Hub… I have a better idea of what we need to make this place amazing."

"What is that?" Narlivs asked, curious.

"More functions. We need security features. We need unique structures. We need things that will make the Neo-Demons think 'we can't just walk in there.' Them just coming in and out—that was such a joke. I can't. I can't take it." I cracked a grin. "So, come on, Hero Hub. Stop being so obtuse and give me access to the Security Structures Development Tree. There must be one, right? The Hub and the girls need this."

"Oh, I do hope you'll get access, but maybe it won't be so easy—"

"I got it."

Narlivs' eyes went wide. "You did?!"

"Looks like I've got <Auto Turrets Array>. Hmm, so it still doesn't want to show me what I can build into."

"These turrets can be placed to fire on enemies within a certain… I'm a little shocked that such defensive features were readily available."

"Not enough," I said with my eyes on the menu. "I need more. I need so much more that defending this place can become a hobby."

"Fainn?"

"Hero Hub... I need defensive walls that the girls can hide behind. We can't just take advantage of the auto-barrier certain structures have. And I would love a dome that could surround the entirety of the Hub."

"Fainn, I don't know—"

I unlocked the <Barrier Tower>. It would erect a barrier that would keep intruders and enemy projectiles out, and it covered the squares neighboring the tower. That would be amazing for general defense.

"Nice, a full-on barrier. And it'll keep people from entering… Can it stop teleports? Or maybe that's an upgrade for later? Can I link towers together?"

"Amazing… This was just waiting to be unlocked? Hmm... There might be more features to it beyond the summary."

I scratched my chin. "I'm going to put on my Tower Defence hat… I need a mech."

"A mech?"

"I need a mobile suit I can fly around in and attack enemies with. My power is too finicky. Better yet, I need suits I can use like soldiers. Six versus an army? Yeah, no, we got lucky. I need battle suits that can hurt the enemy quickly."

I unlocked the <Sentry Development Lab>, the <Security Command Station>, and the <Sentry Hangar>.

"Wow… we'll be able to make Sentries now…"

"What else… Hmm. Maybe Fast Travel points? I could see teleporting being important."

I unlocked <Fast Travel Waypoints>.

"How is this happening so quickly—"

"It's because there's an incredible need for it. This is just an extension of everything we've seen before. When there is a need for it--or when I see the need for it--the structure becomes available in my menu. Just like how the <Training Grounds> appeared. Anyway, is there any kind of thing that we can do that gives the girls advantages based on their unique abilities? Hero Hub, check out this idea... I'm imagining the girls being able to go into weapon storage and pulling out equipment that would aid in defending the Hero Hub, then coming out and blasting foreign elements. What do you think?"

"Is it that simple?"

"It is," I said as I unlocked more features.

I got the <Hub Defense Workshop> and the <Hub Defense Armory>.

"Amazing," Narlivs said. "You will be able to design Hub-Only weapons and tools in the workshop, and you'll be able to procure them or store them in the Armory… I'm also receiving new information about what a Hub-Only weapon or tool is… It's an object that can only be used in the Hub, and it cannot harm residents."

"That's right. There is no friendly fire. This will open up crazy tactics for us…" I chuckled. "So this is what being able to think deeply feels like. Thanks, Fainntwo."

"Fainn?"

"Narlivs, I think we're figuring some stuff out. Why don't we have windmills?"

"Pardon me?"

I looked at the ground. "Hey, Hero Hub, you absorb aether through the soil, right? Is there any way for you to absorb aether from the air? Maybe through something like a windmill?"

"Fainn, I don't understand—"

"Got it. <Aether Sails> unlocked, though I don't know how these ones will help us exactly. Let's see, Hero Hub… What else can we come up with that will help you?"

"Fainn, how are you getting all these new functions? Like really? It looks like you're just making them up."

"In a way, I am... But it's collaborative. We're making things up together."

"Explain, please."

"We had a thought," I replied. "And now… I think I figured things out more… My questions are getting answered enough that I have a theory."

"Please, share. I still don't understand."

"Fainntwo and I are separate, and we have our distinct purposes. But when we connect, we resonate. The boundaries between us still exist, but we act as a bigger thing… We gain things from the other. Isn't that how we work with the Hero Hub too?"

"What?"

"Svilran and I represent the Hub. In some ways, we are the Hub. You even said she's like a central component, right? But see, this entire time, we've ignored the third piece to this Hero Hub." I touched the soul of the Inverse and lifted it into the air. "Narlivs, what matter is the Hero Hub made of? This isn't Earth's matter, right?"

"No… It's Imaginal Realm matter—"Narlivs' eyes went wide as she cut herself off.

"There weren't just Two Gods of the Hero Hub. There were three. Svilran, me, and this land itself. We three are distinct segments that, when we come together, we gain something from the other, and we work as something greater than the three. We're a union of a human, a deity, and…" I cracked a smile. "One of the Imaginal Will."

"What?! The soil itself is an Imaginal Will?!

"I'm pretty sure it is. It sucks in energy like it's breathing, it has the Inverse, an analog of subconscious space, and it interfaces with us, allowing us awareness of its space while doing things like using Svilran to generate unique energy. This isn't just a rock or tool. It has a unique existence. And with that in mind, the secret messages make more sense. In the macro, the Hero Hub is a unification of Imaginal and Earthbound. I'm sure the individualized messages come from something that your Superior designed. But the system evolved after interacting with the Imaginal-based Hub… The secret unlocks I received—I always wondered what their purpose was. Why keep them a secret? Why be so roundabout about it? No, it makes more sense when I think about from the perspective of a force that doesn't think the way I do, but is learning to. It probably kept it secret because it followed your Superior's lead. The Inverse is supposed to be secret from Svilran because the girls don't need to know about the subconscious space ahead of time. Them knowing a part of them is interacting with me without their knowledge could also cause problems. The Hub itself saw that directive and applied it to the unlocks that it made up."

"But why take that trait? Why not copy how the normal unlocking works and just send the info to both you and Svilran?"

"This is a guess, but it's just because this is how the Hub communicates with me. The I.C.S is a channel only I have available, right?"

"Yes."

"Then that's it. That's the only reason why. It's just how things worked out. The Hub is co-opting the channels it can. I can see the skepticism on your face. I know it's conjecture, but I have one more factor."

"What is it?"

"I lied a little when I said we're three parts. There's actually one more component."

"What is it?"

I chuckled. "It's the Heroes. Or just the concept of an Imaginal Hero. I'm linked to Svilran, and we call me a god, but I'm a human. We two have a parallel on the other side. The Hub and the Heroes. That's all it comes down to. It just has to be balanced. Svilran and I are active forces, bringing about change, the Hub and the Heroes are what we affect. Without them, we are no Hero Hub. And that brings me to the final conclusion. The Hub wants to grow as much as we want to grow it. It understands its nature as a place that saves and nurtures heroes. That's why I was able to get how to improve it. Its language is based on what helps it and the Heroes. When I think about 'a turret will be able to help the girls because x,y, and z, it is able to understand that and able to work with me to figure out what it can do. As long as I'm able to frame my thoughts in a way that the Hero Hub can understand, it'll help me out. There are certain things it can't understand, but I'm sure that's where the system and order, and all the things your Superior allowed for, will come in. The Hero Hub will look at the functions your Superior designed and copy their methodologies. The more of the pre-designed options we unlock, the more the Hub will be able to copy and adapt."

I looked at the stupefied Narlivs.

"The Hero Hub is alive, Narlivs. It's not just an effort between a human, a god, and Heroes, but the fabric of the Imaginal Realm too. We all come together to make the Hero Hub, and we all have distinct interactions with the others."

"How… How were you able to glean all this?"

"Funnily enough, my terrible Mother. It's thanks to her that I'm getting a sense for how boundaries between beings work. I now know what it's like to resonate with something that has boundaries that distinguish it from me, even though we're part of a whole. That's why I could feel it a little better now. I could feel the other distinct part…" I looked over to Narlivs. "It also helps that I can actually think deeply on matters too."

Narlivs covered her mouth, her eyes expressing shock.

"Narlivs?"

"No, sorry, I'm just so impressed at how much you've figured out. I was blind to it. I never considered the Hub as having a Will itself. I just thought of it as the place we worked…Ahh… In retrospect, how foolish of me…"

"Doesn't matter; we know now. And now I know how to better unlock the things we'll need."

"Yes… Communing with the land itself. I like that avenue for development. It's romantic." Narlivs giggled. "I want to learn how to talk to it more directly too."

I grinned. "I agree." And then I let out a giant sigh. "But now, I don't know what else to ask for. These are a lot of the basics. Chances are, the Hub's following the lead of your Superior and is hiding other unlocks behind the initial few."

"So… the Hub was like a blank slate that had an impression left on it, and now all its growth has been biased by the impression…"

"It's like a kid following an example."

"A child… do you think it will grow a personality of its own?"

"Do the Imaginal Will have personalities of their own?"

Narlivs chuckled. "Fair enough."

"Don't worry, Narlivs. I'm going to make this place a real fortress. We aren't going to live in fear of incursions for long."

"I believe you, Fainn."