“Hey, I rescued Caduceus using you five as my agents! A true tour de force on everybody's part.” Quircy Rau praised them, and the workers piling up furniture, and the officers and crusaders eager to hear their next assignments, and especially herself. And why not? Her foresight in smuggling a massive hauler out of Dust and Highway just after Throne rediscovered Everyday Pin qualified her to be called Queen of the United Kingdom of Commandment of Hero and Holy Legend Army, though the gathered officers and crusaders refrained from embarrassing her by using such a dazzlingly appropriate title. Instead, they called her Quircy and allowed her to organize their migration.

Fountains and decorative items with similar exploitable properties lacked something as far as stackability, but laborers managed to cram dozens in the landship before they themselves climbed into baskets affixed to the hull by centaur glue. Quircy Rau inspected the arrangements and, satisfied, climbed up to the top where Vinnette Melban waited to begin the journey.

“How do you control it?” Quircy asked. “Yelling? I have a hard time imagining it, even though my teachers all said I have too much imagination.”

“I just . . . and it just . . .”

“Yeah, that makes sense. All right! On your mark! Get set! You can start any time you want. We aren't on a timetable here. Though that bold ornament up front makes you want to get going, doesn't it?”

Fusberta waved back at them. Vinnette Melban nodded, squeezed her caduceus, and sent the landship trundling off under Quircy's rauish orders. “Follow the pins to the left there. What do you call 'left' again? When you're steering?”

“Left.”

“Yeah, left. By the way. You don't have to slalom through the bowling pins, but I won't yell at you if you do.”

“Got it!” The titanic vehicle began by creeping up on the turns as though they were the prettiest girl in school, but gained unreasonable confidence and speed in tandem as it made progress. The hauler swerved and skidded between the bowling pins set down by Throne, and while a straight course would have been faster, every driver knows the screams of the passengers are the greatest reward.

The mistakes of the past! Who has time for those? Quircy set her rescued workers to building not a single large outpost as before, but rather a network of depots starting with two near Everyday Pin and Paradise the Enchant, each with a garage, fountain storage, and a whole mess of signs pointing every which way. The garages began to house Lunacy Bike vehicles again, as well as even cheaper motorcycles from Dust and Highway. The loot sheds had to wait, but not for too long.

The combined force welcomed its old friends and new allies. Arrarix, BigGuy30, and more came from Always Leveling Titan to see the world, as did Paradise the Enchant's own Clint and pals, not to mention mayors from Dust and Highway interested in managing some pre-apocalyptic assets for a change. Meanwhile, tearful reunions took place.

“Hey, it's Sindze! Guys, Sindze's back!”

“Be more specific,” Ulrik told Ipons Ulsrada.

“She's an archer wearing a green dress.”

“That's less specific.”

“Mmmgrrr,” Sindze said.

“Oh, you were talking about Rare Storm Harasser Sindze U. Radalo. Are they running those classes in effective communication now? You could be their biggest success.”

“I thought so too, and that's why I checked, but there aren't any yet, but maybe later. Hey Sindze, since you came back with Gabriel, does that mean you got sent to Radiant Illusion Country? I'm pretty sure he said that's where he was.”

“Mmhmmnrgh.”

“I believe Radiant Illusion Country is a fantasy game, much like our own,” Hyune Giling said. “I trust you were able to acclimate yourself to your mostly familiar circumstances.”

“Yeah! I bet you found some other archers to talk to! Maybe even elves, if that game has elves, which a bunch of fantasy games have but not ours, and I guess maybe that's why we're a 'new era fantasy' if that means anything outside of marketing. Which it doesn't, does it?” The question answered itself, but Ipons paused to allow anyone who wished to say something unconventional.

“Hrglmmnrglbrglkrg.”

“Sindze, do you need to take oratory lessons too? You always seemed well-spoken before, but travel is supposed to change you. I don't feel very changed. I went to Alloy Saga. They have mechs there and I got to pilot one! So I did change, in that before I hadn't piloted a mech but now I have, only I think people who talk about travel like that are thinking more, uh, spiritually I guess? Philosophically?”

“Aaaaaaagh!” Sindze's hands gripped Ipons Ulsrada's neck while her eyes watered the ground with a ceaseless stream of tears. “They made! Me do! An elf dance! Because! They thought! I was an elf! Who had my ears rounded in an accident! Or as part of a fad!”

Ipons Ulsrada cried too when he heard that, although not because he heard that. Hyune pushed up his glasses and said, “What an intriguing phenomenon. I have never before heard it was possible to squeeze tears out of an officer with raw strength, even granted that Ipons is a Flood. Might this discovery have industrial applications?”

No. Elsewhere, a team found Convergence/Divergence and Asmodeus, Divine Providence where Manyana, Nimue, and Amoret had been admiring the workmanship and sneezing, and, inevitably, Holy Legend Army. From there, scouts soon found Commandment of Hero even with their old paint removed, at which confirmation Luau Lua circulated a petition to repaint the paths in festive colors. It garnered a lot of signatures, but no official action.

“There's only one reason you petition hasn't been accepted. I'm talking to Lua here, but really I'm talking to everyone. Are we all clear on that?” Quircy waited for someone to cheer her on, but settled for a few nods. “The reason is that there's no recognized authority capable of doing so. It's chaos down here! We have too many bikes, not enough statuary, and we aren't even sure who's still missing. We have to straighten up and rule right. First, we need a clear leader who can sign off on decisions. Zims, could you nominate me?”

“Sure thing, Quirce. I nominate Quircy Rau.”

“Oh yeah? Then I'm nominating Master Eten,” Skaya yelled, which instigated a fury of nominations, few of them as selfless as hers and Zimley Boe's. Cloton Zvolo considered Cloton Zvolo to be the clear choice for the position, while a wandering Knight-Master pointed to Gralles Alianura's sterling qualities. Inorrea looked to swap her Vacationer title for Leader, Beryllia promised always to be True, and Sindze U. Radalo campaigned on a platform of genre realignment toward the underserved science fiction market. Smidgen tried to nominate itself twice, but each head nominated the other by accident. One Inferno Reaper suggested a different Inferno Reaper, Havamal. When alerted to the circumstance that Havamal had never joined the expedition, the nominator declared an absent leader was the best kind of leader because he would boss them around less.

The crusaders joined in as well, with several self-nominations accompanied by more uses of “wherefore” and “eftsoons” than most days saw. The only surprise came when Eten also nominated a different officer, in his case Skaya. That left almost every officer and crusader in the audience with one vote except Zimley Boe, Ulrik, and Luau Lua with zero each.

“I vote for myself, so I win with two votes,” Quircy Rau announced, but she backed down when the outrage became too intense.

“You can't win an election by voting for yourself. That's no fun at all,” Heartful Azalea said, and that sentiment won over the crowd despite Sindze's objection that you totally could win that way in M***** o* O**** , a genre-defining classic.

“A question for the candidate!” Society Page Lasva shouted. “The public wants to know if you'll implement the popular suggestion everyone loves about painting the floor if elected!”

“Is 'the public' what Lua DeMereanch called herself when you two were whispering?” Gintus Pelluina asked. “I admit to not hearing the entire conversation. Only something about asking specific questions in exchange for an exclusive first look at the debut elementercise facility in Holy Legend Army.”

“Lua! Luau Lua! Your response?”

“Hmph.”

“And there you have it. No more stonewalling, Quircy Rau! Answer the question!”

“I don't think it's good policy to enter office bound by previous agreements. I promise that I'll consider the matter carefully at an appropriate time.”

“I'll vote for you if you say yes.”

“Yes.”

“I vote for Quircy Rau. She wins! Everyone, dance with me!” Luau Lua started stepping, clapping, and getting the party started. Soon a chain of characters linked hand to waist slunk in a circle around Serdon Miloz and the band while Quircy stood atop Vinnette Melban's landship and laughed. Oh, how she laughed.