*1345.10.19*

Kinkade was happy.

Sure, he’d been worked to the proverbial bone over the last six months, but there was a lot to show for it.

The second “castle” had been completed only a week or so after he’d brought over the rest of the refugees from the Heavenly Archive. He was happy that those poor souls not only had a roof over their heads and food in their bellies, but also had access to indoor plumbing in each room, electricity, and even access to their (limited) internet!

Not that they knew about that last one, of course. But it was there!

It had taken them a little while to get used to “modern” amenities like a fridge, stove, and lights. Well, it wasn’t like they hadn’t had access to the magical equivalents of those things before. It had just taken a little while for them to get used to the subtle differences in how they all operated.

A villager waved as she walked by, smiling for all she was worth. He waved back, putting on his second-best smile.

They were treating him… oddly.

It had somehow gotten out that he was an avatar/clone of Joram’s. The lady who’d walked by? She had been one of the street vendors in Brightside, specializing in making the ice cream that he’d shared with Tatia. The news of ice cream, of course, had exploded through not only the Clan Home, but also Brightside. That lady… um…

He paused, trying to remember the woman’s name, but soon gave up.

The point was that she’d been the one to somehow win the right to be the exclusive seller of ice cream in Brightside. And every time he’d visited town, she’d given him a free bowl of the stuff. A very nice lady.

The other point he’d been getting to was that they were almost treating him like their leader or something.

Which was very odd to him seeing as how the Clear Knowledge Clan had been a matriarchal one. Had they lost all faith in their leaders? He didn’t know of a single Elder that had survived the slaughter. Even Grammy had all but died while fighting.

Sure, they seemed to look up to Sulia because she’d, amongst all of the direct line, survived. But they didn’t seem to defer to her like they would have to Grammy or even one of the Elders. Not that she seemed to mind, though, because she seemed OK spending as much time with Zaleria as she could and only helped out if there was something big going on.

He shook his head. That would be Joram’s problem…. Well, his too, because they were one and the same. But he wouldn’t be the active mind working on it, and that’s all that mattered to him!

Well, at least he could still head out with Asura. And they often did so! They were in constant need of resources, like seeds for the crops that had been planted, various medicinal herbs, and other rare resources that they couldn’t produce here yet… or had stockpiled in the past.

So, he and Asura had visited several auction houses over the past months, each time causing a commotion when the healing gems were shown.

He kept precious memories of those times close to his heart. The number of times a stunning beauty had shown her “O” face when she realized what they would be selling hadn’t been few. He’d even made a crystal mind to keep the memories in, arranging it so that it looked like one of those memory reels that you’d get shown by Google or Facebook or something.

Yeah, times were good….

Except his progress with the damned replicators!! He thought as he looked up to the sky while grabbing his hair as though he was trying to pull it out.

A moment later he calmed, taking a simulated breath. It was nice being a psicrystal and not having to worry about an organic body. Like, he didn’t even need to tidy his “hair” after that, because it was just a [Holographic Image] and would reset to its default state. Nor did he have to wait for his heart to calm down.

Nor did he actually loose it, but had instead done the whole pose for the fun of it.

He was still frustrated though.

Keeping the replicators powered aside, working on the library that the replicator needed to function properly was hard!

He could go the way of having the person working the replicator decide on every little variable for the produced item, which was insanely complicated to do! Or he could go the way of the vending machine and just have someone pick from a list, and voila! Done!

But the side of him that he was growing to suspect was a little bit more than just a little bit OCD demanded that he make something with the versatility that you’d find on a modern Starfleet ship!

Heck, they’d….

Wait a second.

Didn’t those ships have stores of matter set aside for the replicators to use?

His jaw dropped.

The power needed to run a replicator suddenly took a nosedive as he realized that he didn’t have to create something from nothing!

“Are you OK?” Asura asked as he was doing the Victory Dance.

“I don’t have to use [True Creation]!” He practically crowed in delight.

“Yeah, just use [Modify Matter] with a stock of basic molecules on hand,” she said with a nod. “Oh, and [Recycle] would come in handy to deal with any leftovers and the created dishes.”

He looked over at her and pouted.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome!”

* * * * *

Avi smirked as she caught the conversation Asura was having with Kinkade.

She knew that Joram sometimes had a tendency to overcomplicate things he was working on, but this took the cake.

Sure, a replicator that didn’t need a matter supply would be a fantastic end game result, but something that could just pump out part after part was really what they needed in the here-and-now. It was very hard to make a prototype, and even harder to mass produce a working model.

Yes, she had many factories working around the clock, but she really wanted to advance the tech they could mass produce. The omni-tools were technically handcrafted items, not something she could just push a button to order and have delivered to her door.

Now, once the replicators were up and running, she’d be able to produce the parts she needed on demand! Heck, once the replicator was fine tuned enough, she’d be able to mass produce finished products!

Avi shivered at the possibilities, a weird grin on her face.

She knew what Asura and A3 were up to, and she was very excited to see the results in the coming years.

For now, though, she needed to concentrate.

With that thought in mind, she repositioned on her meditation mat that cushioned her bottom from the slab of sky nether jade she’d brought in just for this, and closed her eyes. She needed to focus on developing her psionic abilities as efficiently as possible. It had already been six months since Joram had gone into seclusion and she wanted to be ready to start her magical cultivation as soon as he came out.

For that, she needed to make sure that her psionic reserves were as developed as they could be. After reading through the Encompass the Universe manual, she realized that she wouldn’t be nearly as powerful as she needed to be to pull off the same stunt that Joram had unless she massively expanded her psionic reserves.

So, there she was, working on her Knowledge Sea in the same way that Joram had described how he’d done it.

It was hard, but rewarding.

The exercises and techniques that she had from Altaea were amazing for developing a surgical finesse when using psionic powers. While the cultivation methods for Mental Strength focussed on just that: strength. The more you had to throw at a problem, the better! More power!

Ah, how a certain Toolman would have loved it here.

Avi refocussed on her task, slowly expanding the shores of her Knowledge Sea while simultaneously condensing her power at the centre of her “island”, creating that bastion of mental fortitude needed for a person to be a truly great psion.

* * * * *

Megami was bored.

Her bushy tail drooped as she sat on her stool, face on her anvil.

She’d been excited to learn that she’d get to stay in one of those highly sought after secret realms…. But now she realized that aside from the relatively high levels of ambient mana, there were almost no minerals to play with.

Sure, that Avi lady threw her a bone every now and then by giving her projects to work on…. But they were so mundane! Literally!

She yearned to work on some magical metal, to create and artifact that would be more useful than a door stop. Yes, she’d even made door stops. And coat hooks, pots and pans, cutlery, back scratchers, and even nail clippers.

Yes, she was impressed that Joram and that Avi lady had apparently stockpiled enough raw materials to have enough sitting around to build a town. Which they had. But her talents were being wasted!!

Megami sighed again from her place on the anvil, her ears drooping.

“Am I interrupting?” Someone asked from behind, causing her to leap to her feet in surprise, her tail poofing out. When she turned, she beheld Asura’s stunning figure. For all she and Avi looked almost exactly alike, Asura’s hair was just that strange fiery red that almost looked like spun ruby.

“No!” She replied instantly, hiding her tail behind her back, trying her best to calm its twitching.

“Good,” Asura said with a smile that would likely scare lesser beings. For Megami, she was used to seeing a lot of teeth when her kin smiled.

“I was hoping that you could help me with a project,” she said, leaning against one of the counters, producing an ingot of metal and laying down on the counter. The counter creaked under its weight, instantly perking Megami’s interest.

“What’s this?” She asked, eyes going round. She was familiar with most metals available to blacksmiths of her level, and had even worked with the coveted adamantium. Yet this metal was almost black, its surface seeming to not just reflect light like any metal would, but also refract it.

“I’ve been… exploring you see, and came across an interesting ore in my travels,” Asura said by way of explanation. “I managed to [Extract] and shape it into this form, but it is difficult to work with. I was hoping that you could help me work out its properties.”

Megami couldn’t tear her eyes away from the dark metal as she approached Asura, but still managed to mumble a reply.

“I would be honoured to help you with this,” she said, reaching out her hand, almost touching the ingot that was only about three inches wide by six long and two tall. But she stopped, not quite sure why. “This is probably the best thing that has happened to me,” she mumbled, still staring at the alien metal.

“Maybe a close second to Joram bringing you here?” Asura teasingly asked, a mischievous smirk on her face that Megami completely missed.

“I am now,” Megami replied absently. “I’m so thrilled that I’d happily bear him a few children.”

Asura blinked at that, then noticed the flush in Megami’s cheeks.

She might be an even bigger crafting maniac than Joram, she thought with a wry grin as she took in Megami’s figure.

And she might give a grown-up Xixi a run for her money…

* * * * *

*1345.13.24*

Xixi was sad.

It was now her eighth birthday, one of the few celebrated by more than just her immediate family. Or had been. There weren’t very many people left in the Clan to celebrate with her. Not only the adults, but even most of the children her age were gone.

Even then, she wouldn’t have minded if Joram had been there with her.

She felt the poignant pangs of loneliness as she sat at a table with Aunt Sulia, Zanth, Avi and Kinkade, Annalee and Thuridan, as well as her toddling sisters and Zaleria.

Even though she now knew that Kinkade was really one of Joram’s avatars, something that would have been a mind-blowing revelation any other time, it wasn’t the same. He wasn’t like Joram, and not just in appearance. Sure, he was very handsome but to her, he still wore the visage of a stranger. He just didn’t have the same way about him that Joram had.

Kinkade had let her know that Joram was in seclusion, trying to break through to the 5th Tier, and that she could speak with him, Kinkade, Avi, or Asura any time she needed.

It still wasn’t the same.

She’d been hoping that Joram would come back in time for her birthday, but knew in her heart that he’d be gone for another long stretch of time. Knowing that still hadn’t helped keep the hurt away.

“Joram wanted you to have this,” Kinkade said, presenting her with a small ornately decorated box that wound up being heavier than she thought.

“Thank you, Kinkade,” she said softly, opening the latch on the box.

Inside was a bit of fabric that matched her hair colour, wrapped around something. Her heart suddenly ached as she had a premonition as to what it was.

At the edges of her sight, she could see the adults growing nervous, the smile on Kinkade’s face starting to slip, as they saw her expression.

Sulia placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and whispered something in her ear that she didn’t hear, so focussed was she on the cloth wrapping.

Slowly, as if in a dream, she reached out, carefully taking the wrapped object out of the box. Her hands shook slightly as she gently unwrapped the object layer by layer until the statuette was fully uncovered and everyone gasped. Well, not Kinkade, probably having known what it was in advance.

In her hands was a sculpture made of some sort of marble who’s veins of cobalt blues slowly shifted about. There were three figures all attached at the base, two taller than the third by a wide margin.

It was her parents standing with her in the middle. Her mother stood on her left, her father on her right, each holding one of her hands while the other arm of each parent held one of her sisters. Not only had everyone’s features been captured in exquisite detail, but Joram had somehow managed to incorporate other types of stone and even gems into the eight-inch-tall sculpture.

From their hair to their eyes, each was made of a different stone that matched their real-life colour. As she looked closer, she could even see individual eyelashes on each of their eyelids. Then one last detail caught her attention that brought tears to her eyes.

On her left hand, the one her mother was holding, there was a sliver of gold on her ring finger.

* * * * *

This was one of the more depressing gatherings that she’d ever attended.

Sulia understood though. Even though it had been nine months since the attack, everyone was still hurting. She’d hoped that Joram would have taken time to speak with Xixi before heading off, but he hadn’t. That had disappointed her more than a little bit, especially because of how close they’d been.

And now?

She was about to go find Joram, secluded training or not, and give him the thrashing of several lifetimes as she held a bawling child in her arms. But stopped when she, too, noticed what had set Xixi off.

The golden band glinted in the light as Xixi held the sculpture tight to her chest, showing her that Joram had indeed been thinking of her in his own way.

She was still going to smack the boy.

Sulia looked down at the sculpture, at the detail so fine that she feared Xixi’s strength might just crush the delicate work, but was more than surprised that it withstood the child’s bear hugs.

She looked over to Avi, Asura, and Kinkade and saw that they all looked embarrassed, especially Kinkade. She had an inkling that Joram hadn’t had the time to make this before hiding himself away, so he’d had Kinkade make it in his stead.

Which gave her pause. If she understood Kinkade’s nature properly after having had it explained to her, then Kinkade was more than just and independently acting avatar of Joram, but actually him. Just… a part of him.

Sulia shook her head, then looked to where Zanth was gazing longingly at Xixi’s sculpture and knew that he was probably wishing for one of his own. She was surprised that Joram hadn’t given one to him on his birthday. Though, seeing as how his birthday had arrived exactly one week after the attack, she could understand. Just a little, though.

Seldanna and Elodea soon started to fuss, finally unable to take the emotions they were picking up on from their sister, soon followed by Zaleria. Zanth and Avi quickly picked up a twin each, leaving Asura to comfort Zaleria.

It was amusing to see that the twins calmed down best as they felt human contact, though their being over two years old now likely helped. Zaleria, though, was having none of it.

Sulia smiled a crooked smile. She was still amazed at how real Asura and Kinkade looked, but knew that it wasn’t a perfect illusion. Or, um, “hologram”. It could fool adults, but little ones, infants to toddlers, somehow seemed to know that it was unnatural.

The crying of the little ones seemed to pull Xixi back to the present though. She sat up straight, wiping at her eyes, an embarrassed look on her face.

Her arms now free, Sulia took pity on her daughter and took Zaleria into her arms. Who immediately wanted comfort in the way of food. So she obliged, slipping Zaleria into her feeding position and let her suckle.

Elodea saw this and eyed Avi’s chest, seeming to wonder if those assets held the coveted milk that Sulia had been providing her and Seldanna on and off these past months.

For her part, Avi just shrugged and obliged the girl.

Sulia was about to say something along the lines of “You shouldn’t tease her like that,” but stopped, jaw going slack as she heard not the sound of a babe sucking, not getting anything. No, she heard the sound of swallowing.

“How?” She asked, agog.

Avi looked over to Zanth and Xixi, then shrugged. “Do you remember our conversation about my… origin?” She asked, not quite comfortable spilling the beans in front of Xixi and Zanth.

It took her a few seconds to run through the conversation in her head, the one they’d had many months ago where she’d shared about High Elans.

Then it clicked.

“Perfect control,” she murmured, eyes going wide.

“Yup.”

Then she blushed, not in embarrassment or anything so silly. No, she got a bit angry.

“Why haven’t you helped before?” She asked as sweetly as she could, trying not to scare anyone. Trying not to start an argument at Xixi’s and Zaleria’s birthday party.

“I’m not around enough,” Avi replied simply, trading off with Zanth to give Seldanna a turn. “They’re mostly weaned though, so just a bit won’t hurt.”

Never before had she even a sliver of desire to become a High Elan, but as she watched Avi begin breastfeeding Seldanna on her other breast, she did.

There were so many factors involved in breast feeding, from diet to sleep to one’s emotional state. So many things affected milk production and how long one could produce. She knew that she would likely be able to produce for a while longer, but also knew that her production wasn’t what it used to be.

Grief had almost dried her supply. But if she were a High Elan, she wouldn’t have had to worry about that. But now? Now, even though she was beyond unlikely to remarry or even have another child, she wanted it.

She looked over to Avi, catching her eye. They regarded each other for a time before Avi nodded, finally speaking to her over the Network.

‘Are you sure?’

‘No, but I want it,’ she sent back simply.

‘Should we wait for Joram?’ She asked, sounding hesitant.

‘No,’ she sent, then thought a bit more. ‘We can do it once Zaleria has been weaned. I don’t want to affect her in any way.’

Avi nodded seeming to understand, if what Sulia felt from Avi over the Network was any indication.

Then Avi, Asura, and Kinkade’s heads whipped to face the door of the parlour that resembled the one they’d used for their family’s birthday parties over the years, though this one’s view was of sprawling gardens of medicinal herbs and flowering trees.

There stood Joram, a wry grin on his face.

“I guess I’m a bit late,” he said with a nervous chuckle, one that sounded like a man’s laugh now.

Sulia regarded her son and the changes she saw in him. He’d grown again, now standing as tall as most women in the Clan, though lean as could be. But with how wide his shoulders were, she was sure that he’d later fill out.

“Hi guys, sorry I’m late,” he said when the room remained quiet.

Avi was just smiling with Seldanna still latched on. Asura and Kinkade were… serene. Zanth, though. Zanth looked both angry and happy at the same time.

Sulia wasn’t sure what to make of that, but suspected that the boy had felt abandoned by his best friend in his greatest time of need. She couldn’t blame him; to some extent she felt the same.

Annalee and Thuridan, however, seemed a bit strained. It struck her that Joram might not have spoken to them since before the attack. Again, she resolved to give Joram a good talking to.

Xixi, however, didn’t seem to care about any of that. At a good foot shorter than Joram, she still ran and tackle-hugged her favourite person, new tears now streaming down her face, snot smearing on his shirt.

Well, if that’s the least he gets away with, he’s the luckiest person I’ve ever met, she thought as she watched Joram’s face.

It was hard, though. He was looking more and more like his father as he grew, and seeing that face now was more than a little bit hard after the decision she’d just made.

Then something occurred to her.

“Joram, did you succeed in breaking through?” She asked, unable to feel his cultivation.

“Ah, about that,” he said, picking up Xixi and holding her in the crook of one arm, much to the terror and delight of the girl. “I think I finally managed to figure out how to cultivate with my… unique physiology,” he ended with an embarrassed grin.

From their expressions, Avi and Asura hadn’t know the news beforehand. Which made sense if Joram was wanting to surprise them all. But Kinkade’s surprise more than puzzled her. Weren’t they the same person?

Avi slipped a reluctant Seldanna off and covered herself before heading over to Joram and giving him a hug on the side that Xixi wasn’t taking up.

“You have no idea how happy that makes me,” she said with one of her dazzling smiles, managing to actually stun Zanth.

That action, though, caused Tillia’s parents to grow frosty.

Joram just smiled back weakly, then turned to his mother.

‘Good luck,’ he sent with a slightly sad, but knowing, smile.

She blushed then, realizing that her son, being the originator of the Network, could “listen in” on any conversation he wanted to. She was about to tear a strip off the boy when he sent something else.

‘I wasn’t listening in, mom. Avi just shared because I’ll need to look after Zaleria while you’re… busy.’

She gave Avi a Look, but also realized that she hadn’t asked Avi to keep it from Joram; she’d just told her that she didn’t want to wait for Joram.

‘But what about Zaleria?’ She sent back, still worried about affecting her daughter negatively with what she planned.

‘Don’t worry about it,’ he sent, still smiling. ‘The only thing you’ll need to worry about is training up your cultivation again.’

Her jaw dropped as she turned back to Avi who in turn nodded to her.

Sulia absently lifted Zaleria, covering herself, and brought her up to rest on her shoulder as she thought things through again.

One of the major reasons why she wanted to go through the change was to get stronger. Strong enough to protect her family and loved ones. But if she needed to restart her cultivation afterwards, what was the point?

She continued to think about it as the little party continued, Joram sitting between Xixi who had reluctantly agreed to sit on a chair instead of on Joram, and Zanth. They chatted away as the others presented their gifts to Xixi, then to Zaleria. Nothing compared to the sculpture Xixi had received, but that was blessedly on the side of normal that Sulia wanted after Xixi’s earlier reaction.

It was hard to keep focussed on the matters at hand, though. As much as she wanted to upbraid Joram for not visiting Tillia’s parents and to also smooth things over with them, she was distracted, still thinking about her decision as the gathering finally dispersed. She was still thinking about it as she tucked Zaleria into her crib for the night.

She wondered if she’d take the same path in her cultivation as she’d already taken. It would be easier, for sure. But knowing that Joram had access to the Heavenly Archive and its many hidden cultivation techniques, she wondered.

Wondered if they would not only suit her, but if she could even practice most of then. She’d only had access to the first two levels of the Archive, and most of what was there were so amazing that they’d blown her mind.

Then she realized that she hadn’t been deciding if she still wanted to become a High Elan, but what she’d be doing after she became one.

Her resolution firmed; she sent Avi a message.

‘I’m ready.’