Chapter 42 - Traveler Con (Part Three).

Søren scrambled to his feet and backed further away from the angry Torza, only stopping when he ran into a dust covered crate.

"What did you do?!" Torza shouted again, pointing with her walking stick at all the kids behind her. She then gestured and a ball of flame appeared within her hand. "Everyone that touches the Waystone unlocks their interface."

"It wasn't me Torza," Søren protested. "I've no idea what has happened."

Søren's gaze was drawn towards the flying hatchling as it swooped down and picked up another one of the hatchlings, much to the consternation of the adults in the area. Sehro pushed past Torza in the doorway and dove towards the flying hatchling just as they lost their grip on the other hatchling. Sehro lunged through the Fuerven gathered in front of the storage building. He reached out and caught the falling hatchling and cradled it into one arm. The former hunter turned his lunge into a roll, tucking the hatchling into his chest with both arms. He rolled to a sudden stop against rock nearby, eliciting a loud groan from himself and an explosion of muffled giggles from the hatchling.

A slim Fuervan dashed over to the hatching and scooped it up into her arms. She unleashed a blistering stream of angry words at the hatchling. The little Fuerven in her arms giggled again and encased itself in a sphere of slightly glowing hexagons of light. Its surprised mother dropped the shielded hatchling and stood there stupefied as her child bounced off the ground a few times and then promptly rolled away from her, deeper into the village.

"Umm.... I'll just uh, go and check the Waystone. See if there are any administrative controls available," Søren said, his eyes flicking back and forth towards the rapidly vanishing Fuerven toddler and Torza. The elderly Fuerven narrowed her eyes at Søren and clenched her claws into a fist The small fireball that had been hovering over her hand sputtered out with a few sparks and a lingering scent of sulphur and guano.

"Fine. Lead the way," Torza said, lowering the point of her walking stick to the ground with a weighty thump. Søren exited the building and circled around Torza, keeping at least arm's length away from her, in case she decided to thump him on the head for being the catalyst of all this chaos and change.

Back at the Waystone, Søren found a crowd of agitated Fuerven being held back by a small ring of hunters. He looked at Torza and then back at the crowd. A tall, scarred Fuerven near the front of the crowd shouted at the hunters, demanding to be let through.

"There are some, heedless of the risks, who wish to unlock their interface," Torza explained. "I have asked the hunters to keep the peace until this can all be sorted out."

"Well, I do think everyone should unlock their interface," Søren said as he turned back towards Torza. "Especially if it allows them to bind to the Waystone, get stronger, and respawn, like Sehro. You'll be able to defend your people against threats like the Scrappers and the Collective. There has to be some controls in the Waystone though. I don't believe they would have created something like this, without also including a way to mitigate chaos like this."

"Grand-daughter, you cannot prevent people from this. It will divide them. Those that have and those that have not," Neeka interjected.

Torza lifted her eyes to the Devourer and clenched her fists beneath her jaw.

"Life was much simpler before you returned grandmother," Torza said "But you are right. Even without the interface, there have been problems with those that can hunt and support their families and those that can't. We have fallen far from our past."

Søren settled down onto the ground next to the Waystone and buried himself into the interface after touching the Waystone and bringing up the controls menu. The Atlantean runes embedded in the whitestone platform and inside the blue crystalline Waystone itself glimmered with golden energy. He flicked through the menus before finally finding one labeled Administrative Controls. I knew they'd be logical about this, he thought to himself. Although, if they left it up to the people to decide, to either work together or force them to fight for access, it would add "content" to the game world. Ugh. He returned to searching through the menus and discovered the options for customizing who had access to the Waystone was extensive, up to transferring ownership of the Waystone, but that option was greyed out for him. Unselectable.

"Alright, let's give everyone access to the Waystone right away, but limit unlocking their interface until they're older," Søren muttered to himself as Neeka and Torza chatted behind him. "A coming of age ceremony maybe? Maybe a limited awakening of their skills and Path when they are no longer kids. Reaching adolescence. Give them time to train and skill up some before gaining full access to their Path. Neeka, what do you --"

Søren turned around to discover both Neeka and Torza had stopped talking and were instead crouched next to him and listening to him talk to himself. Both were watching over his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"We can see the interface on the Waystone," Neeka explained. "Interesting choices. They make sense." Torza nodded next to her.

"I thought of them like training wheels," Søren explained. The blank look from both Neeka and Torza left him confused for a moment. "Ah, Earth stuff. Umm, like giving kids wooden swords to play with. Teaches them without being too dangerous. Anyway, it's all set and ready to go. Just give me the ok and I'll apply the changes."

Neeka and Torza glanced at each other and then nodded without saying a word.

"Make the changes, Dirt," Neeka said and opened her mouth in that strange Fuerven way of smiling and laughing. "You did a good job coming up with this set up."

"Thank you Neeka," Søren replied and turned to tap a few buttons on the interface. "I can't give Torza ownership of the Waystone, but I can assign her as an administrator or Speaker, if you prefer. There are options you can set for determining who can change some of these options, Torza, but I would be careful. You don't want someone to gain control and lock people out."

Søren flipped through the menus and brought up a Settlement Management window and brought it to Torza's attention.

"This one is very important. It allows you to create missions or quests for people to do in order to earn credits, TEK, and/or reputation. Like the quest Neeka and I completed to bring back deer to restock provisions," he explained. "There are limits to how often and how much you can reward people for these missions though, but I think they'll be vital for getting Home back up and running quickly. There's also a selection of basic items you can purchase through the Waystone to help speed up arming your people. I imagine they're useful for players, I mean Travelers, that respawned without any gear and needed something to start with. Anyway...

"As I explained before, I queued up a number of upgrades to the settlement. Improved walls, posts for sentries, improvements to the gates. I've left the town itself for you and the other Fuerven to sort out, but there a lot of options available. You could also ignore them and just do as you've always done. It's up to you and your people. I'm an outsider, and don't feel comfortable making these decisions for you all."

"Søren, you are a good person. You helped up us at our lowest, kept us from succumbing to rot and indifference," Torza said, resting her hand lightly on Søren's shoulder. "We are in your debt. You will always have a place here, a home. And a voice among the elders. You are right though in some ways. We do need to stand up for ourselves and work to better ourselves, our home. We will rise to meet the challenge you have given us."

Søren reached up and across his chest and rested his hand on Torza's.

"Thank you. It means a lot to me. Neeka, Sehro, and I will return with news once we're able," he explained. "We will also swing by the Scrappers area to scout out what's going on and send word back. Based on what I've gathered from others, we're going to have to travel through their territory to get to Haven." Søren stood up and looked northward and frowned. "I have a bad feeling about leaving, but I also feel like I need t o get there as soon as possible."

Next to him, Neeka nodded as well.

"I feel it too Søren. There is something happening and we need to be there."

"You two should hurry up and get ready then," Torza said. "We'll take over here and you won't recognize Home when you get back." Torza patted Neeka on the arm and walked towards the crowd, a spring in her step that had been missing before her Awakening. Neeka grinned and leaned into Søren's side.

"I'm sad I was not here to watch her grow up, to help teach her," Neeka said, "but I wouldn't change anything to risk what's happening now. The Chorus and their Hordeling minions are going to feel our wrath. My people will grow strong and be a thorn in the side of the Collective."

Søren wrapped his arm around Neeka and nodded just as a small explosion sounded from where the kids had been gathered earlier.

"We uh, should probably give them a few pointers before we leave," he suggested.

"No, they'll learn from their mistakes and missteps. And they will be better for it. We shouldn't tell them where to look. It'll just hold them back."

Søren and Neeka rejoined Sehro behind the warehouse and recovered their supplies. Sehro had snuck out through the partially collapsed wall to avoid the irate parents still trying to corral their kids. Together, the three headed northward out of Caisleán after sharing a last meal with Hari and Ihza.

~ End Book 1 ~

Sorry it took so long. ~ Cedrych