Shoving her way through the crowd, the General stopped John’s side, hauling him to his feet. “It is a surprise to see that you survived, I thought you had fallen in battle!”

The knight spoke. “What? Jane? Is tha-”

He was interrupted. “Come, let us discuss your mission in private.”

Leading him through the crowd, Jane pulled him into the smaller room, shutting the door behind her.

“Jane? Why are you here? It’s been years! Mother said you’d abandoned the family!”

“I didn’t abandon the family, John! I broke free from the Queen’s control, but never-mind that, how are you even here, John? You just came out of the floor! I don’t understand! How?”

John scratched his head. “Well… I touched a, uh, ball? And then I… changed?”

Jane blinked. “What?”

“A ba - , sorry, sorry, an installer… merged? What does that mean? Oh, okay. An installer merged with me and now I have a… connection with the system!”

“What? Who are you talking to? That doesn’t make any sense!”

“I’m talking to Hud; he is the installer and I can hear his voice whenever he speaks! And it really doesn’t does it? No sense, at all!” John sighed. “I can prove it, however.”

“I gained something called and that’s how I pulled myself out of the floor! It’s difficult to describe, but it lets me do this.”

John stretched his hand to the wall and it passed through.

The General blinked again. “Huh.”

Pulling his hand back, the knight gave her a strange look. “Just ‘huh’? That is your reaction to this impossible display?”

Shaking her head, Jane spoke. “John, of all the so-called impossible things I have seen, being able to move through solid objects is the least unbelievable. Try cloud-crawlers! They’re blue ants that literally crawl through the Drift’s clouds like they’re dirt! That’s impossible!”

“What? These ants don’t sound so ter – ”

“They’re bigger than most houses.”

John coughed. “They do sound quite… impossible, yes. But we’ve gotten distracted, Jane! What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to kill the Queen.”

He paused. “Really?”

Nodding, Jane elaborated. “With Patrick’s help – ”

“The sweeper?” John interrupted.

“Yes, the sweeper.” Annoyed, Jane continued. “We managed to slowly sneak in a small group of my most trusted fighters. Patrick has found a servant’s tunnel that leads straight to her throne-room and he’s convinced the staff to stay clear for a few hours so that – damnit!”

Jane raced out of the room, leaving a very confused John behind.

“Everyone, we don’t have any time to waste! Move, move, move! Get into the tunnel!”

Shocked into action, the crowd charged into through the doorway.

Behind them, Jane called to the knight. “Come on, John! We go to kill the Queen!”

As group disappeared into the tunnel, John was still dazed. “I still don’t know what’s going on!” When his sister didn’t even turn acknowledge his words, the knight cursed, before realising what was happening.

“Wait! Don’t you dare kill that monster without me!”

*****

Grease dripping from her face, the Queen tossed the plate to the floor. “That was delicious! Someone, go find the cook that prepared that meal and have him make more! More and more and more! If he complains, give him a couple lashes!”

One of her guards nodded, and walked to the servant’s entrance. As he reached for the handle, the door burst open, knocking him to the floor. A flood of people rushed out, weapons held high as the charged towards the Queen.

While she was frozen in shock, her guards reacted quickly.

“Protect her highness! Don’t let the peasants through!”

Somehow reacting quickly, the guards charged towards their attackers, but they were slowly being pushed back.

Jane’s voice shouted to be heard over the din of battle. “We’re almost there! We can save Delruse, right now!”

The Queen was snapped out of her stupor. “Attack them! Kill them! Protect me!” She screamed.

As the General’s followers roared in response to their commander’s words, they surged forwards with renewed vigour, breaking through the protective line of guards.

Shrieking, the Queen started speaking. “You damn peasants! I’m the Queen! I command you to stop!”

Jane rushed out of the mob, her rapier dripping crimson pointed straight at the obese beast. “Die!” She shouted.

“I will remember you, peasant! Emergency log-out!” The Queen yelled, fury lacing her voice and she vanished.