The next few days were fairly boring as the recruits worked on their strategy for attacking the kobolds and Chris continued working on the game. Since they had a week, and the accommodations in the Immortal World were nicer than most of the recruits' own homes, the recruits were taking their sweet time preparing for the attack. As for the game, Chris was both making progress, and not. For levels, he was doing great. His Physique and Awareness were both at level twelve and his Intellect was at level thirteen. His Appeal was lagging behind at level seven, but that was an issue he'd known he'd run into, so it didn't bother him too much.

As for ingratiating himself with the Monteiths… Fernando sucked! His job was just to ship in potions and sell them to distributors from the City, then buy ability tools and ship them back out to the Elves for more potions. Chris wasn't going to say it wasn't a useful job, but the man acted like he was the linchpin of the entire economy! Everywhere he went, he expected people to treat him like a king, and if they didn't, he'd expect Chris to make them! Chris didn't have much patience for it, which meant Fernando didn't have much patience for him, which wasn't helping him get any closer to the Monteiths inner circle. He knew he needed to get closer with the man if he was going to get anywhere with this, but he just couldn't bring himself to suck up to someone so… vile.

However, Chris wasn't too concerned about that at the moment, as he had a different issue to focus on. It was Tuesday, and it was time for his next meeting with Jo. His first meeting with her since he learned she was his mother. What was he going to say? Should he say anything? It wasn't like they were suddenly going to turn into a family. It'd just be a thing they both knew and couldn't really do anything about… maybe it'd be better to focus on learning Coreforging and leave it at that. However… Dichonius had been pretty insistent that Jo would want to be a part of his life. Could he really deprive her of that opportunity just because he thought it'd be pointless? Even if they never did anything about it, she at least deserved to know that he knew, right? Which brought him right back to the question of what he was going to say.

Chris was still considering the question when he arrived. "Chris! Welcome back!" Jo greeted him excitedly as he walked in. "I hope you've been practicing. If you're ready, we can move on to multi-core tools, which is where the real fun begins!"

"I've made some progress." Chris nodded. His increase in Intellect in the game was mostly due to his consistent practice of Coreforging. He hadn't touched on anything too advanced yet, but since stronger cores were harder to work with, he'd kept getting achievements that way. He wouldn't say he was an expert, but his basics were solid by this point.

"Excellent!" Jo exclaimed. "Come on, let's get to the lab and you can show me what you've made!"

"Show you?" Chris paused. "That… might be difficult." He frowned. Everything he'd made so far was in the game.

Jo frowned. "Have you not made a successful tool yet?" She asked skeptically.

"I have, but… it's a little complicated. See, I found this other world and-" Chris began.

Jo's eyes widened, and she immediately leapt forward to cover his mouth. "Shush!" Once she was sure he wasn't going to keep talking, she grabbed his wrist and dragged him deeper into the building, down to her Coreforging studio, locking the door behind them before whirling on Chris with a fierce expression. "You can't just say things like that in the middle of a very public space! Who knows who might be listening!"

Chris cocked his head. "But… I don't care who's listening? It really isn't that big a deal."

"You said you discovered another world! Do you realize how big that is?!? Think of the resources! The new opportunities! People have destroyed entire civilizations over less!" Jo hissed back.

Chris paused, considering all the uses someone without their own world could have for a new world full of new resources, people, and technology. The game alone would be invaluable as a training simulator for the military, not to mention everything else. Matt wasn't lying when he said the technology could revolutionize education. "Okay, fair. I'll try to be more discreet in the future."

Jo breathed out a sigh of relief. "Good, now, how the fuck did you discover another world?!?"

"Oh, I split mine, and the split just kinda connected to it." Chris shrugged.

"You split your world?!? How!?!" Jo asked incredulously.

Chris blinked. "I… pushed? Like, mentally, but yeah, just-" He mimed a pushing motion. "and boop, split."

"That's it?!?" Jo exclaimed, her incredulity building. "You just-" She mimed a pushing motion. "and boop, another world?!?"

Chris nodded. "Yup, just-" He mimed the pushing motion again. "and boop, another world." He paused. "Do you want to see it? It's kinda neat. They don't have any abilities, so they just kinda live, out in the open, all sprawled around. I mean, the sun is kinda annoying, plus all the little bitey insects, but still, neat."

Jo shook her head. "No, that- that won't be necessary."

Chris frowned slightly, before nodding in understanding. "Ah, right, you already know what it's like to live on the surface."

"Yes, I-" Jo froze, her eyes widening as she stared at Chris in shock. "How do you know that?!?"

"Oh, Dichonius told me everything a few days ago." Chris shrugged. "The world I found kinda has this game which is a pretty close copy of our world, and that outed him as a Doppelganger. I didn't think much of it at the time, since just being a Doppelganger doesn't make someone a bad guy, but then Jello said he was my father, and… well, we got into it."

"So- so you know?" Jo asked nervously.

"That you're an Elf? Or that you're my mother?" Chris asked in return. "Either way, the answer is yes."

Jo glanced at Chris's uncaring face and her expression fell. "You must hate me." She muttered bitterly.

"No?" Chris cocked his head, frowning slightly. "Dichonius explained why you did what you did fairly well. I mean, obviously I'm not happy about it, but I can't blame you for doing what you felt needed to be done."

Jo glanced up hopefully, but Chris still maintained that bland, almost bored expression. "But… you don't want a relationship with us, do you?" She replied sadly.

"I wouldn't say I don't want a relationship with you…" Chris muttered, his frown deepening slightly. "I don't need a relationship with you, and I wouldn't let you come in and start telling me what to do like I was a child again, but if you wanted to get to know me, I wouldn't mind getting to know you. But I mean, that was the case even before I knew you were my mother."

"So… you just don't care that I'm your mother? That I abandoned you?" Jo asked.

Chris shrugged. "Not really. It is what it is, you know? It doesn't change who I am or what I'm about, it's just… something to know."

Jo clutched her chest as tears began to pool in the corners of her eyes. She almost wished he actually did hate her. She could handle hate. But the idea that her own son saw her as unimportant? That broke her heart. "I- I'm sorry- I'm- I'm so sorry!" She sobbed, falling to her knees and covering her face with her hands.

Chris began to panic as he watched his mother cry on the floor, with absolute zero clue as to what he should be doing. "Beth, quick, my mother is crying, what do I do!?!" His other self pulled Beth aside and asked in a panicked whisper.

Beth's eyes widened. "Your who is what now?!? Since when- just- try- take me to her!" Beth exclaimed. She was going to tell Chris to try comforting her, but then she remembered what had happened when she'd told him to be apologetic, and she didn't want his mother to have a heart attack. Chris nodded, quickly opening a portal and pulling Beth into the Coreforging studio. She immediately crouched down next to Jo, wrapping an arm around her. "What did you do?!?" She hissed at Chris.

"I don't know!" Chris threw up his hands helplessly.

"He- it isn't his fault, it's mine!" Jo choked out. "I'm a horrible mother!"

"No, you-" Beth began, before freezing as she finally recognized who she was comforting. "J-Jo!?! You're Chris's mother?!?"

Jo sniffed. "I don't deserve to be anyone's mother. My own son doesn't even care if I exist!"

Beth turned to glare at Chris. "What did you do?!?"

"Nothing! I was just trying to explain that I understand why they gave me up, so I don't hate them for it, but it still meant they weren't there, so I'm still not happy about it! Just because something bad happened for a good reason doesn't mean that it stops being bad." Chris explained, trying to figure out what he'd done wrong. "So I'm still willing to have a relationship with them, but I'm not going to act like the abandonment never happened. We can still be close, but we're never going to have that parent/child bond, because we missed it. It isn't like I want that to be the case, it just is. It's the natural consequence of what happened, and now we just have to deal with it."

Beth blinked at him, before turning back to Jo, who had started sobbing again as Chris talked. "Oh, Jo, you can't take this personally! This is just- Chris is just like this! He honestly has no idea how he comes across, but I promise he isn't saying he doesn't care about you, he's just- he's explaining the situation as he sees it. He- it's like he has to get everyone on the same page before he can move forward. It takes some getting used to, but once you do, you realize he really is just the sweetest guy!"

"You think I'm sweet?" Chris asked, slightly surprised. He'd never been called sweet before.

Beth rolled her eyes. "In your own way, yes. In the 'comforting the sobbing woman' way? Obviously not."

"Hm, I've never been good at that one, no…" Chris agreed, nodding slightly.

"Chris!" Beth hissed, nodding her head towards Jo.

"What? Oh! Comfort. Right." Chris frowned, trying to figure out a way to calm Jo down. "Should I hug her?" He asked hesitantly.

"N-no! I'm- I'm fine!" Jo protested with a sniff, gently pushing Beth away and standing to her feet, brushing herself down. "I-I knew I'd have to deal with something like this when- when I gave you up. I can't expect to suddenly be loved when I was never there. It's just- harder than I thought." Beth gave Chris a significant look, mouthing the word hug and nodding. Chris nodded back, stepping forward and wrapping his arms around Jo. She froze for a moment, before holding him back, tears streaming down her face. "I'm- I'm so sorry I couldn't be there for you." She whispered hoarsely.

"It's not your fault." Chris assured her. "I know you would have been there if you could."

Jo's grip tightened. "Thank you." She whispered back, before releasing him and stepping away. "Ugh, I'm sorry. Look at me, bawling like a child! Completely undignified for a woman my age." She muttered in self mockery, before turning to Beth. "Beth, dear, it's good to see you! My, you've grown into quite the woman, now haven't you? My son is a lucky man!"

"Ah, yes, um… thank you?" Beth replied hesitantly. Now that she wasn't dealing with the immediate concern of a grown woman bawling on the floor, she had the time to process that Chris had a mother and it was freaking Jo Vuntulla! "I'm sorry, but… since when are you Chris's mother?!?"

Jo gave her a funny look, smirking slightly. "Well, since he was born, of course. Or conceived, depending on your view on the matter." She then sighed. "But that isn't what you really want to ask, now is it? You want to know why, if I am Chris's mother, you're only finding this out now. The answer is… complicated."

"The City has been infiltrated by two groups who hate each other, and my parents seem to be high level members of both groups. They eloped, had me, couldn't stay hidden, and had to ditch me to keep me safe. Ostensibly." Chris offered with a shrug.

Jo blinked at him, before turning back to Beth. "I guess it isn't that complicated."

Beth narrowed her eyes at Chris. "How long have you known this?" She asked in a dangerous tone.

"A few days." Chris replied. "But! I was going to tell you, but I was waiting until after we finished in the Maze! It wasn't an immediate issue and you need to focus on doing well in the practical exercises."

Beth scowled. "I'm a high-tier and my father runs the Scouts! I could sleep through the practical exercises and be fine!"

"Could you?" Chris asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Beth fidgeted a bit, before sighing. "No." She spat. Her dad would never let her skate through on status. If anything, he held her to a higher standard because he knew what she was capable of. Chris was right, she needed to focus on the practical exercises. "You were going to tell me though, right?" She asked hesitantly.

"I swear." Chris nodded. "I wouldn't hide something this big from you for no reason. And, when we are finished, I have more to tell you. Mostly details related to the whole infiltration thing, but you don't need to worry about that right now."

Beth scowled. "Well now I'm curious!"

Chris chuckled, shaking his head and pulling her in for a kiss. "You only have to wait a few days." He assured her, opening a portal and pushing her through. "Thanks for your help. Have fun with the raid." He added, before closing the portal and turning back to Jo. "So… Coreforging? Or… actually, would you have any idea why the Elves might invade the City? You know, more than you already have."

Jo blinked, before frowning. "What do you mean? We would never invade the City. It wouldn't be worth it!"

Chris clicked his tongue. "Yeah, that's what Dichonius said too. But according to the game, it's going to happen. I suppose that doesn't make it certain, but it seems to have our current situation down, so I'm not going to just dismiss it."

Jo raised an eyebrow, giving Chris a skeptical look. "You're basing this on a game?!?"

"Well… it's a good game?" Chris offered tentatively.

"Chris…" Jo sighed, shaking her head.

"Okay, yes, I know it sounds crazy, but if you'd played the game, you'd see what I mean! It's like an exact copy of our world! I've literally been using it to practice my Coreforging!" Chris explained.

Jo's eyes narrowed. "You've been using a game to practice Coreforging?"

"Well, it has this skill system which makes things easier to learn…" Chris explained.

"Oh really?" Jo replied. "Well, then how about you show me what you can do?" She pulled out an ability core and tossed it to him.

Chris caught the core, frowning at her slightly, before shrugging and getting to work. He opened a portal, sticking his hand in and dissolving the core, analyzing it before reforming it and bringing it back, beginning to prepare it in the ideal solution. Once it hardened, he coated it in a thin layer of metal before beginning to test its properties. It was a classic fire ability, so Chris decided to make a sword with it, giving it a heated edge, along with some jets for added power. He began picking out the right materials, making sure the ability energy would flow right, that the structure of the blade would be sturdy enough to handle the ability when it activated, compensating for the effect of the material heating up, etc. He filled a few pieces of scratch paper with calculations and sketches before getting to work.

After he had the design, the rest was fairly straight forward. The hard part was getting the design right, making sure all the materials would work together as well as possible. The rest was just putting it all together, and Coreforgers had developed plenty of machines to make that process as easy as possible. There was a machine for laying down the energy pathways, a machine for creating a mold, a machine for mixing the metals, and a machine for layering it all together and fusing it. Technology was a wonderful thing. Still, the machines took time, so there was a lot of standing around and waiting while a machine ran, which Chris usually filled by working on a different ability tool in the game. However, that wasn't an option, so he ended up just kinda staring at Jo.

Jo fidgeted uncomfortably, not sure what to say. How was she supposed to talk with Chris? As a mentor? As a parent? She hesitated before looking over Chris's calculations, hoping to find something to talk about there. "Well, your theory is good at least." She commented grudgingly.

Chris chuckled, shaking his head. "I'm telling you, the game is very realistic."

"No matter how realistic a game is, it's still a game!" Jo insisted.

"That… doesn't make any sense!" Chris protested. "If a game is completely realistic, then it's realistic! You don't need to qualify it! Gaia simulates reality down to atomic interactions! How much more realism would you want!?!"

"Gaia?" Jo asked.

"Oh, she's the AI who runs the game. Nice girl. Kinda weird, but what sentient computer program wouldn't be?" Chris shrugged.

Jo blinked. "You've been talking about this game, and you haven't mentioned the sentient AI!?!" She paused. "This world has a sentient AI and they use it for a game?!?"

Chris cocked his head. "That is kinda weird, isn't it? Though… I'm pretty sure Matt created Gaia himself, so he gets to do what he wants with her."

"Matt?" Jo asked in an exasperated tone.

"The guy who made the game. Or, more accurately, made Gaia and told her to make the game." Chris explained. "Also a weird dude, but I don't have an explanation for that."

"You've already met the creator of this game?!?" Jo asked incredulously. "How long have you even been there!?!"

"A few days? But Matt found me pretty much as soon as I entered the game. I managed to activate some tricks he'd thought no one would ever find, and he wanted to see what was up with me." Chris replied.

"How did you manage to do that?" Jo asked skeptically.

"They involved not caring… it's kinda my shtick." Chris sighed.

Jo frowned, giving him a concerned look. "That doesn't sound healthy."

Chris shrugged. "It's pretty nice, personally. Everyone else seems to get all worked up over things that mean absolutely nothing, and it causes them so much stress. That seems unhealthy to me. Stress kills."

Jo blinked. "That's… a different perspective, I suppose."

"Yeah, I'm full of different perspectives." Chris chuckled, before pausing. "Almost literally…" The conversation paused as Chris had to continue working on the ability tool, switching to the next machine and getting everything set up, before turning back to Jo. "I have a question. What's it like on the surface? Like, people talk like it's this super dangerous, 'every step will risk your life' kinda place, but if there are all these cultures living up there, then it can't be that bad, right?"

Jo let out a breath. "Well… it isn't that bad, but it is a dangerous place. Unlike the Maze, the surface isn't split into levels, so any creature you see could be harmless or terrifying, and you won't know until you're actually facing it, or lucky enough to be in the company of someone who can sense energy. The biggest difference is the levels of power… on the surface, everything is physically a high-tier. Abilities still fluctuate, but high-tiers are common, and most settlements have an Omega-tier or two. And then there are cultivators to watch out for."

"Wait, what's a cultivator?" Chris interjected before she could continue. He'd seen that on the game box as well, but he hadn't found any explanation yet.

Jo hesitated slightly, before letting out a sigh. "A cultivator is someone who has reached the peak both physically and ability wise, unlocking the ability field and allowing them to gather ability energy in a special way to strengthen themselves even further. Normally this is a matter of luck, certain people being born in just the right conditions to achieve this state, but… the Elves have managed to develop potions that allow someone to develop to that point after birth. They are rare and the resources required are immense, but it's a part of what has strengthened our people to the state they are now."

Chris blinked. "Huh… wait, so what are the physical and ability peaks?" If he could figure out how to actually use the energy in his world, maybe he could make his own cultivators.

"The physical peak is what you would call the peak of high-tier. The ability peak is the peak of Omega-tier." Jo explained.

Chris paused. "Wait, so high-tier is the limit on physical power?" He asked skeptically.

Jo frowned "I wouldn't say it's the limit, since base physique is just a starting point, but it is the highest starting point. From there you can only train. Or be born larger…" Jo leveled a serious look at Chris. "Never antagonize a Dragon. No matter their ability, they will tear you apart physically."

"See, that's sounding a lot more like how we think of the surface." Chris pointed out.

Jo rolled her eyes. "Okay, yes, the surface is dangerous, but it isn't some kind of chaotic mess! Powerful creatures aren't interested in random destruction. As long as you don't disturb them or invade their territory, you're fairly safe. And even when they do want to hurt people, we have Omega-tiers and cultivators to defend us. There is still destruction, of course, but it isn't as if we live at the whims of these terrible creatures. Overall… people live, people die, just like they do here."

"That makes sense, I guess… people will find a way to live no matter what, right?" Chris nodded.

"Unless someone is making a concerted effort to eradicate them." Jo sighed. "Many people exist solely because those with power do not care enough to destroy them. Unfortunately, the City has the misfortune to be in this position… if anyone does take a serious interest in you… I fear the consequences."

Chris frowned. "Well… that doesn't bode well for us, now does it? Particularly since I'm pretty sure the Elves are about to take a clear interest in us."

Jo shook her head. "I'm telling you, that's never going to happen! There is nothing down here they would care about! That's why I'm here, instead of someone important." Her expression twisted slightly, a hint of bitterness creeping into her tone. "This assignment is essentially a form of exile. A place to send those who haven't committed any crime, but are inconvenient to keep around."

"You say that, but things change. Maybe at some point in the next few months, someone will invent something groundbreaking and the Elves will have to have it or something." Chris retorted.

Jo frowned. "But then we could get it without invading! We're already here! We could negotiate, or even steal whatever we need!"

Chris paused, considering that. "What if it isn't about us then? What if it's about you? You said the Elves send people they don't like here, right? What if someone decides they don't like someone they sent here enough that exile isn't enough? It isn't like they're just going to ask them to come back so they can kill them, and if you guys won't kill them, they kinda have to come down here and do it themselves, right?"

Jo hesitated. "That's possible, but I wouldn't say it's likely. The odds are better that they'll send assassins instead."

Chris raised an eyebrow at her. "Don't you and the Doppelgangers go back and forth trying to kill each other all the time? I can't imagine you having too much trouble with assassins."

Jo pursed her lips. "That's true…" She murmured, before shaking her head. "Look, okay, I'll accept that it's possible, but I still wouldn't base anything on what you've learned from a game! Games are naturally eventful because the players need something to experience! Life is rarely eventful, which is why we love games. In life, things rarely change, and even when they do, it's usually a slow, gradual process, not some exciting event."

Chris cocked his head. "That's fair, I guess. Still, I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand, you know? As much as events are rare, they do happen, and it's good to be prepared."

Jo shook her head. "If the Elves decide to come for you, anything you prepare will crumble before them. All of them are physically strong as your high-tiers, without even accounting for their abilities! You might be able to hold them off for a while with hit and run tactics, using your knowledge of the terrain and your use of teleportation, but for how long? And once they begin to destroy your teleportation beacons, you won't even have that! You'll be stuck in the City, trapped like rats, waiting for death to come!"

"Well, not stuck." Chris replied. "Worse case scenario, everyone can hide in my world. Or I can take them to the other world… eh, the point is, there are options. Plus, you know, I can send a horde of immortal subordinates at them… not sure how effective it'll be if they're all high-tier or better, but it has to be at least somewhat helpful, right?"

Jo blinked. "Immortal subordinates?"

"Yeah, one of the features of my world is that I can connect others to it, which means they get returned to the world and healed just like me. They also kinda have to do whatever I say, so sending them repeatedly to their deaths is perfectly acceptable." Chris explained with a shrug.

Jo blinked again. "That- that could be helpful, yes."

Chris nodded. "It usually is." He then had to refocus on the ability tool again, setting up the next step.

Jo hesitated, before letting out a frustrated sigh. "Look, Chris, I know- I'm not exactly in a position to lecture you on… well, anything. But… I want you to be careful. I don't know how it happened, but your ability is special. The kind of ability that only appears once. The kind of ability that will allow you to do great, or terrible things. It isn't something you can be so cavalier about. Even if these subordinates of yours have to obey you, treating them so… dismissively doesn't seem healthy."

Chris paused, frowning slightly. "I wouldn't say I treat my subordinates dismissively…" He muttered. Admittedly, he also couldn't say he was very considerate of them either. He wasn't very considerate of anyone though, except maybe Beth, and even then he wouldn't say he was all that good at it. He'd always looked after himself and he expected others to do the same. However, with his subordinates… he wouldn't say they were completely dependent on him, but their lives did sort of revolve around him. He could probably do more to take care of them, rather than simply giving them some vague direction and leaving them to it. "Okay, yeah, I could probably treat them better." He sighed.

Jo smiled slightly. "The eternal failing of power is forgetting those who support that power. The more power you have, the easier it is to dismiss those who don't. I know I don't have the right to say this but… I wouldn't want to see you fall into that pit."

"You know, it's funny, I actually had this conversation a few days ago." Chris shook his head. "I know it's easy to dismiss people when you have power. My problem isn't that, it's that- well, I'm not used to anyone being dependent on me. I've always just existed, and people can do with that what they will. The idea that people actually need me is… new. I hadn't quite processed the implications."

"Chris, I-" Jo's expression twisted, the idea that Chris was used to seeing himself as someone who simply existed tearing her up inside. All she wanted to do was hug him and tell him she loved him, but… she did have the right. "I- If you need any help, I'm always here…" She sighed sadly, before her expression hardened in determination. "I know I wasn't… but from now on, I will be."