***Tirnanog, Mount Aerie***

***Magnus***

Today Gaia served Astra potato pancakes with smoked salmon, caviar and dill cream. Meanwhile, my wife swooned over the exotic food which was presented to her like a piece of delicate art.

In the background, the Alps set the mood with an idyllic panorama of forest-covered mountains. There was nothing to see of the high mountain meadows so well known from historic pictures. Global warming had raised the forest limit above the mountain peaks long before my birth.

It was yet another scene from one of my memories, this time located in an expensive mountain hotel in Switzerland.

By now I was almost certain that the avatar was somehow choosing the dream's scenery because every time she visited us we found ourselves either in a hotel, cafe, or restaurant.

“You are the bestest chef ever, Gaia. Say the word and I will create a new religion in your name.”

The avatar seemed lost for words. “… I kind of have one already. Took me a century to set it up. It’s easier to influence people when they believe their dreams are divine messages.”

“Oh, right. Then let’s spread the cult of Gaia to the other clans!” Astra wasn’t deterred. “More importantly, can you make me more of those potato pancakes?”

Gaia sighed and snapped her fingers, materializing more five-star food as an offering to the new gourmet.

A certain image of a fertility goddess sprang to my mind – if not entirely accurate.

The avatar turned to me and grinned smugly.

On a deeper level, I knew Gaia had just read my thoughts and wasn't above spilling the beans.

I shook my head and mouthed the word, ‘Don’t!’, while I beseeched Astra to see reason and to refuse the snake's apple.

If Astra ever learned I had just mentally compared her with the Venus of Willendorf, only broken hearts and bones would follow.

“What’s your recommendation for dessert?” Astra asked, completely ignorant of my inner lamentations.

Gaia frowned, seemingly giving the matter some honest consideration.

“Astra, why do you keep pulling the Tiger’s tail?” I asked, no longer caring whether I would incite the avatar's ire.

I was somewhat frustrated at this point. “I told you, nothing good comes from making a deal with 'her'. I don’t even understand her motivation in dealing with us. She gets nothing from pampering you. It has to be some ploy to lull us into a false sense of security!”

“Oh, shush!” Astra ignored me and instead bit into a potato pancake which crunched deliciously between her luscious lips.

I slapped myself.

Deliciously? Luscious?

Why was I coming up with such things? Was Gaia doing something? Then again, the food indeed looked divine.

Astra shook her head. “You are paranoid, Magnus. Take it cool. For as long as we don’t have any real way to influence the situation, there is no point in fretting.”

The avatar tilted her head questioningly at my antics. “There are studies which confirm that happy mothers have fewer pregnancy complications than stressed ones. I am just doing my best to secure your cooperation and well being. I am a freezing traveller in the dark, desperately shielding a match with her bare hands from the storm around her – hoping it might kindle a fire.”

Astra shrugged. “At least you are honest about us being your fire-starters. Do you have news about the Patels?”

Gaia nodded. “I’ve visited their dreams several nights in a row and I am almost a hundred per cent certain they are not conspiring with the enemy – apart from their unfortunate ideology and dislike for the two of you. It doesn't look like they intend to take it further than political opposition – which is bad enough as far as I understand it.”

“You haven't noticed anyone switching sides?” I asked. “How are our chances after yesterday?”

“Apologies, but this isn't how interpreting someone's dreams works. People dream about things they have strong feelings about. Almost all of the elders who oppose the idea of war do so because of a deep conviction. Their dreams aren't an accurate representation of what they are thinking. You should have first-hand experience with how mad and insane some dreams can become.”

The avatar gestured wildly with her hands to emphasize the problem with my question. “And while they might dream of one thing, they could follow a more logical path of reasoning while they are awake. You two are huge exceptions when it comes to lucid dreaming. You have no idea how frustrating it is to ride along with someone's dream who is barely, if at all, aware of you. You don't want to know how much of my time trying to influence people is wasted.”

“What if you are just a figment of our imagination, Gaia?” Astra asked. “One that comes with a partly prophetic dream ability?”

I winced. “Please, don't trigger her.”

The avatar took the suggestion in stride and chuckled. “Oh, I am quite real, my dear.”

“Yeah,” I grumbled. “Which is why I am still sitting in this dream in my old-man form, while Astra already graduated to her real body.” I looked around the diner. “It would be funny to visit Earth as we are now. The people would freak out.”

“I told you, you appear in the dream as you imagine yourself,” Gaia explained patiently.

“Hmhm,” I nodded. “That's why our dreams are always located in a place with food. That's why you can materialize stuff as you wish. I don't buy it.”

Gaia clicked her tongue in displeasure.

“Stop being mean, Gaia,” Astra chided. “I also happen to like Magnus's new form better than his old self.”

The avatar waved a hand and when I looked down at myself I was me! I mean... my new me.

Dreams were so confusing.

“Did you find anything else noteworthy?” Astra asked.

The avatar nodded and launched into a lengthy explanation of what she thought to be relevant to our cause. Which meant it was mostly irrelevant stuff.

Listening to Gaia’s observations was like meeting one of those high profile narks who were absolutely secretive about their information. Going so far that any form of documentation was an absolute no-go.

It was so frustrating that we couldn't take any notes to make sense of everything she told us and take them back to the waking world. The only relief was that our Parallel Mind still worked within the dream and allowed us to memorize most of the bullet points.

“You are getting better at this,” Astra commented once Gaia had finished.

“Better at what?” the avatar asked.

“Understanding people,” Astra clarified. “And talking to us. Once we got a little deeper into topics it became clear that you don't understand humans – even if you know a lot about us. It was too funny when you thought we would be able to just move the entire clan according to our whims.”

“I do want to point out that I am not human, nor did I have much chance for direct interaction like this,” Gaia clarified. “I am a lot like your Parallel Mind ability with sub-identities. Only, in this case, I am the Gestalt's sub-identity, tasked with communication. The Gestalt is likely not even aware of my actions while I execute its will.”

I frowned. “Do you have any idea what the Gestalt is thinking – or what it wants?” I had asked this question many times in different variations and I intended to continue doing so. In my experience, the best way to learn about another party’s goals was to repeat the same question over and over again. Stretched out over a long time without making it obvious you were searching for inconsistencies.

“You realize you are asking me to explain something that's above either of us?” Gaia shook her head in frustration.

“Fine,” I huffed. “Let's go with what the Gestalt is doing right now? Can you elaborate on that at least?”

The avatar blinked and tilted her head as if she was listening to something. “I... would say it is singing a song while it is waiting. It's the closest human analogy I can come up with.”

“What's the song about?” Astra asked.

“Life, death, love, hate, and duty.” Gaia looked frustrated at her inability to explain the Gestalt.

“I am a part of what was once... everything. A part of the darkness which birthed the light, when Order and Chaos formed existence and the world began. Now I stand watch, ever vigilant, as I search the starry sky with a billion, trillion eyes. Forever, I guard, to find the ancient enemy in the emptiness. As I was made to.”

I sat up straighter. “The Gestalt is guarding against something? Who is this enemy? The other energy beings you mentioned?”

Gaia rolled her eyes. “Look, you asked and I delivered as best as I could. From my point of view, the Gestalt’s ruminations are the mindless chatter of a senile, old person. I am a part of it, but I cannot fathom the whole. The one thing I do know is that the Gestalt is doing a myriad of things at once. And that it is old.”

I tried to get more out of the avatar till we woke up, but the more of the Gestalt’s thoughts Gaia recited for us, the more nonsensical the matter became. The only conclusion left to me was that an entity like the Gestalt truly couldn’t be understood in its whole.

***Tirnanog, Mount Aerie***

***Magnus***

The next day at the Hall of Law revolved once more solely around the supercomputer and the spy program it was running.

“It doesn’t look like it’s possible to switch off individual functionalities as we please,” Skye Rumen commented after we had gathered a list of options we wanted to try before shutting down the program.

I also had a few presents from the tech-geeks which I wanted to give back to Earth's researchers. Personally, I wasn't much of a hacker, but the organisation had seen the need to leave some useful tools and tripwires on the datastick. Before I left, I had been instructed on their use. Just in case I found myself in a position to take advantage.

“I am still not sold that messing with this program is the sensible thing to do,” Leo Brien complained. He was among a small but very vocal group of elders who didn’t want to touch the program.

“This is a chance to rid ourselves of Earth’s yoke!” Judy Walsh shot back. “Maybe it will be the only chance we ever get! Our population has seen a few bad years and the Thich are becoming a threat. Worse, they are likely somehow connected to Earth. Do you want to tell us we have the choice of ignoring this program and risk Earth’s interference when we get into conflict with Clan Thich?”

Leo grumbled to himself, but couldn't come up with a sensible counter argument.

“Besides, we’ve already ordered a temporary lock-down for everyone. We will take our chances,” Juliana spoke up. “We elders are old enough to know that if nothing changes, Clan Aerie will never rise from the confines of this mountain. Many regard it as a haven in a hostile world, but let's be honest. It is a prison.”

I returned my attention to the list of options we had identified as noteworthy.

‘Unlock Personal User Interface’ would hopefully give everyone some level of control over the nanites inside their bodies.

‘Remote Maintenance Mode’ sounded like a way to switch off remote access to the nanites, or at the very least to the control software.

‘Forced Mate Adaptation’ sounded like it controlled what the locals referred to as partnering.

‘Forced Nutrition Adaptation’ was in the same category and most likely food-related.

“If it had been my choice, I would have gotten rid of everything for good,” I grumbled while the elders bickered over the details. “Just shut down the entire system!”

Astra linked arms with me and interlaced her fingers with mine. “We have explained how completely getting rid of the partnering system would cause social waves nobody wants to deal with right now. Tirnanog’s people have been forced into monogamous relationships for centuries. If we unlock the option completely overnight some of the traditionalists might react badly. It should be enough if everyone can control the process to a degree by confirming their willingness.”

“If you say so, dear,” I replied.

I disliked any form of control or interference from the outside, my socializing with the third’s population had shown me that these people had developed certain values which were different from Earth.

As in any society, there were degrees of relationships. It allowed for something like a brothel to exist among the lower-ranked members of society, but with added small print and unsaid social rules.

I had later learned that the ‘brothel’ I had seen during my sightseeing tour was a place which had more in common with the services a Japanese Geisha of old would provide. It was by no means comparable to what I had in mind at the time. There was a lot more dignity involved with less focus on carnal pleasures.

It made my guide’s reaction seem even more exaggerated, even if a courtesan would relieve customers via oral means.

I had to admit that Astra had a point. The concept of ‘partnering’ was by now ingrained in Aerie society and sacrosanct. Anything even remotely touching the topic or changing the current status quo would have to be considered very carefully.

For the time being, I had to tell myself I would find a way to change things once all of our other problems were settled. Besides, switching off the partnering system wouldn’t magically solve the clan’s population issue – as partnering provided a crucial power boost.

Without it, there would be nobody powerful enough to fight the stronger monsters.

Not to mention that we had yet to confirm that this program could do anything.

“I will begin with the Personal User Interface,” I forewarned the elders who stopped bickering among each other and turned their full attention towards me.

Before anyone could start another argument, I pressed my finger onto the touch screen and felt the vibration feedback which confirmed the new setting.

U.I. Activated!

The screen popped up seemingly in front of me and faded out of view, only to be replaced by a set of options in the left upper corner of my field of vision. When I concentrated and looked up, the settings flowed towards the centre of my vision.

“It’s consistent with what I heard about the technology back on Earth,” I explained while the others did the same. I was never wealthy enough to get an interface of this type, but I had read up on the technology. Thankfully, I had taken the time to give everyone a crash course of what to expect.

The U.I. presented me with a few options, but not as many as I had anticipated. It looked like we had gotten the bare-bone installation.

“Personal Status,” I gave the voice command and was rewarded with an information sheet extremely similar to the data we had already found in the surveillance software. It strangely reminded me of Gurney’s documentation now that I thought about it.

Once I ignored the biological ‘mumbo jumbo’ on my D&D spreadsheet, it took me only a moment to find what I was looking for. “Deactivate all external connections! Permission only!”

Denied!

A setback, but it was to be expected. There was still one option in the surveillance program which should unlock this functionality for the user.

“There is an inbuilt communication system!” Astra reported one of her findings. “Add Magnuson Elrod to the friendslist.”

Jana Stine wants to invite you to her friends list. Yes/No?

I confirmed Astra's Earth name and something very similar to a chat program popped open. “Looks like it uses the names we were known with on Earth. It has some of the original functionality, but not everything. This chat function seems useful, but it will likely be limited to the mountain without satellite access or a relay network. Short range only.”

We explored the U.I. for a few more minutes while reports from the whole clan came in, confirming that everyone was affected.

Sadly, there was nothing which would have allowed us to guide our growth. I had already expected some level system when I saw the D&D spreadsheet, but it was just a programmer’s antics. The evolutions and their effects would still be solely managed by the nanites and the virus in our bodies.

Once everyone had acclimated themselves to the U.I., I quickly went through the remaining three options we had identified to be of relevance.

Thankfully, they did exactly what logic implied.

“Deactivate all external connections! Permission only!” I repeated the command from earlier once the Forced Maintenance Mode was off.

Accepted!

I let out a deep breath while everyone in the room copied my actions.

“Please, proceed,” Juliana bade me to continue.

I nodded and used the surveillance program to upload a few files to its main servers - wherever those were located. They contained a computer virus and a few messages for the organisation which should bring them up to date with what I had found out during my time on Tirnanog.

Once that was done, I killed the surveillance program with the task manager and removed it from the autostart options. To be safe, I also deactivated the computer’s wireless network for good.

“I believe we should be on the safe side now,” I informed the elders after double-checking whether my changes had stuck. It wouldn’t have been the first time for some program to re-install itself via some obscure backdoor option. “Remains to be seen what our changes wrought. I will nonetheless run some of the cleaning programs to ensure there are no hidden backdoors, but that will take some time.”