Chapter 24: Surprising Friends
It was really difficult to tell the passage of time when you were locked in a room with no access to a timepiece or the sun. Sophia tried counting meals at first, but they seemed to arrive at irregular intervals if her level of hunger was any indication. She was also wondering what the point of all of this was. Her interrogators asked her questions, which she either answered or didn't based on how she felt about each. The odd part was that when she didn't answer to their satisfaction, they reacted in vastly different ways. Some appeared to be surprised. Some tried violence, which was often uncomfortable and painful, but it never seemed to escalate to the point where it was intolerable. Some just reacted with a blank stare and continued on as if she had given an answer. It felt like they were going through the motions more than actually interrogating her, which made her wonder what the point was. She had spent some time reviewing her memories (which were quite sharp thanks to Ianthe's enhancements) and trying to piece together what was happening. The best conclusion she had was that something was screwing with their operation in a way that kept them from focusing their attention on her. She only hoped the same was happening with Tom.
The worst part of the whole experience was the tedium. She had revisited the memories of her training sessions on board the ship. She had even revisited the memories she had of the much less interesting lessons she had attended at Winslow. Then she had amused herself by creating a bullet-pointed list in her mind of all of the things Winslow did wrong in terms of teaching, ignoring the differences in curriculum. Sophia thought it might be amusing to send it to her old principal if she could somehow get a camera into the woman's office in advance. After that, she tried some of the basic magic exercises that Tom had been teaching her brother, although she knew from past experience that she didn't really have either the talent or the temperament for it. The results of that experiment had been a complete lack of results, though she realized after the attempt that any prison that could hold Tom would probably be a magic null zone.
Another way to pass the time was to try and figure out who had kidnapped them. Unfortunately, she had yet to identify any truly useful information about her captors. They all spoke English, although a couple had noticeable accents. They were a mix of ethnicities. They had all been men. That last point may not be meaningful, as militaries that weren't skewed toward males were atypical across the multiverse. They generally all wore the same uniform without insignia. They gave ranks that seemed somewhat equivalent to those in the American military, but she had no idea if they were translating the actual rank names into something she could understand. None of them were higher than major, but that may just mean that senior officers didn't perform interrogations. Most irritatingly, they refused to answer all but the most simple of questions. If nothing else, they were all well-trained by somebody. The questions asked were mostly about the Family, or their allies, or the Smug Advocacy. Sometimes they were about her and her abilities, or about Tom. Whoever they were, they clearly saw the Family as a threat. That meant they weren't completely stupid.
Today...or at least the time since she last woke up...had been quiet. When the door to her cell opened yet again, the first person through was younger than most of her other interrogators. The second person was Tom, who quickly motioned her to silence. She hadn't even realized she was about to say something until he did so. Tom's companion quickly moved over and began undoing her restraints. Once she was free, she followed as the two of them left her cell and began moving off down the corridor. The corridor was every bit as boring as her cell had been and was luckily empty of anyone but the three of them. They took three turns at various points, passing a number of cross-passages and doors. Finally, they stopped in what was obviously a storage closet, given the random boxes of cleaning and office supplies.
Their escort turned to them. "All right, I can get you out of here to another world..."
"Can you get us to our gear?" interrupted Tom.
The man shook his head. "They've split it up and sent it to different, guarded locations on multiple worlds."
Tom frowned. "That's unfortunately competent."
"My superiors are quite competent. That's why I'm risking everything to get you two out of here," replied their rescuer.
"Who are you, and why are you doing this?" prompted Sophia. She was happy to be finally down from that damned table and out of her cell, but she wasn't going to take everything at face value.
He gave her an unreadable look, then said, "My name is Corporal Trevor Stannis. I come from a long line of soldiers for the Empire. For reasons we don't have time to get into, my father ended up joining those who were dissatisfied with our leadership. I joined him when I turned sixteen." He frowned. "So far, we've been able to keep our involvement secret."
"Aren't they going to know you helped us escape?" asked Tom.
Stannis's face became worried. "I sincerely hope not. The consequences of that would be...unpleasant. However, you two need to get back to the Family and let them know what's going on. Your reptilian friends are the only group that truly seems to worry my superiors."
Sophia rather impatiently asked, "What is going on? I don't know anything about this place, and you haven't given us much to bring back yet."
"Where I come from, the Imperial Family has an iron grip on power. They do what they wish, disregarding any sense of ethics or morality. They have been in power for centuries and they fear nobody. The sole exception appears to be the Family." The corporal shook his head. "We don't have the time to go through all of the details. I will send you somebody who can provide you enough data to explain the full situation." He paused for a moment. "Do you have some means of contacting the Family once you're free?"
Now Tom frowned. "I would if I could access my magic. Something seems to be blocking it, though."
Stannis nodded. "That would be the nanites in your blood. Something in your bodies has been attacking them and breaking them down at an alarming rate. They've had to keep dosing you with them to keep your powers deactivated. I would estimate that once you're away, your powers should return in less than forty-eight hours."
"They haven't injected me with anything. How were they dosing us?" questioned Sophia.
The Corporal turned to look at her. "They dose you in your food. The first dose was given when you were having lunch at the World's Fair, though that one was completely inert until you returned to your hotel room and inhaled an activation chemical. It knocked you out and suppressed your powers." His face took on a puzzled look. "The nanites can self-replicate and should last indefinitely. Something about you is wiping them out -- even with your powers suppressed."
Sophia and Tom exchanged a glance. It was almost certainly Ianthe's symbiote at work. Sophia was actually surprised that their captors had something that could even temporarily work against them.
Their rescuer shook his head. "You both obviously know something about that, but it's better my curiosity remains unsatisfied in case I'm captured. Your interrogators have been going to a lot of trouble to try and figure out what's destroying the nanites and keeping you healthy, as well as immune to most of the drugs and torture they've attempted."
"It hasn't been that bad, at least for me," commented Sophia. "I was actually wondering if they were really trying or just going through the motions."
Stannis stared at her and let out a sharp bark of a laugh. "Emperor's Blood, that's funny. I work in the bioscience labs and I've overheard quite a lot about you two. You've been driving your interrogators to distraction and Major Kwan has been getting more and more worried. Between the two of you, they've tried electricity, neural path disruption, more than a dozen drugs and toxins, sleep deprivation, low-frequency sonics, pain induction..." He nodded toward Tom. "They even cut off one of his fingers and were stunned when it grew back in less than a day, despite the nanites blocking his magic."
Tom grimaced. "That wasn't especially pleasant."
He shrugged. "It will get much worse if you don't escape. They've been cautious with you so far, as capturing you was exceedingly difficult. The more they learn, however, the more likely they are to escalate things until they find your breaking point. You need to be gone before that happens," added the Corporal. "I can get you to a version of Earth where the local timeline is the 17th century. You'll be in an urban area and should be able to hide until your bodies fully flush out the bots." He glanced at Sophia. "You'll need to cover up, as you'll stand out too much, otherwise."
"We can deal with that," agreed Tom. "You said you would send us a contact with more information. How will we recognize him?"
Stannis pondered that for a moment. "I'll tell him to identify himself as Mercury. He'll also obviously be local to that world." He glanced at his watch. "All right, we need to get moving. I'm going to bring you to a portal room and set the equipment for your destination. You need to give me ten minutes to get back to my room and establish my alibi. Then, you'll activate the device and jump through immediately." He frowned. "Unfortunately, there won't be an easy way to obscure where you've gone, so you need to find cover immediately at your destination."
"Then how will Mecury find us?" asked Sophia.
The man just smirked. "Don't worry...he has his ways. Now come on. It's the night shift with a reduced staff, so we should be able to get you off before anybody can react. This would be impossible during the day."
The three of them were indeed able to creep silently into a room that contained several door frames inset into the wall with a control console equidistant between them. Corporal Stannis entered in what appeared to be a set of coordinates and tweaked a few other settings on the console. "All right," he said, "this is set. Give me at least ten minutes to return to my room, then hit this button...and confirm with this button." He pointed out the buttons in question. "Wait until the green LED lights up over the door, then go through it and make your escape."
"What happens if the green LED doesn't come on?" asked Sophia.
"Shouldn't happen," answered Stannis. "If it doesn't, you shouldn't have a portal form. On the one chance in a billion that you get a portal but the light isn't green, then don't go through it. It would be better for you to be captured again. All right, I had best leave. Good luck."
With that, the young man left them alone in the portal room. Tom and Sophia both kept quiet, not wanting to draw the attention of any late-night wanderers off to get a glass of warm milk or whatever their local equivalent was. After an appropriate length of time (made much easier to determine thanks to the clock display on the console), Tom reached over and hit the two buttons as directed. Sophia was expecting some kind of noise, but a grey, hazy pool seemed to fill the doorway silently. The LED over the door turned a cheery green, which was reassuring. They both headed for the portal with Tom going through first. As Sophia took her turn through, she heard what sounded like an alarm going off.
She was slightly dazed by the sudden shift to sunlight, even if it was mostly blocked by the brick walls of the alley they were in. Apart from the dazzling light, her nose was afflicted by a very unpleasant smell. It made it quite obvious that their location was frequently used as a latrine. She felt Tom's hand on her arm as he steadied her. "Let's get away from here," he suggested, and the two of them began running deeper into a maze of alleys that all seemed to be connected. At one point, they passed an entrance that had a view of what appeared to be a river with a very familiar towered bridge.
"We're in London!" said Tom with a smile. Looking around, he added, "He said the 17th century, so this has to be after the Great Fire. Too much stone and brick to be otherwise! Too bad we've missed seeing the old St. Paul's, then." At the strange look Sophia was giving him, he said in a slightly defensive tone, "What? My parents are archaeologists, and I'm English. What would you expect?" After another thoughtful pause, he added, "We definitely need to find something to cover up. Apart from it not being common to run around in your underclothes, there aren't a lot of Africans in the city in this era, though probably more than anywhere else in England."
Being a densely-populated city, it wasn't too terribly difficult for people with their skills to abscond with some clothes that had been hung out to dry in the sun, which was fairly bright today in spite of the smoke from hundreds of chimneys filling the sky. Sophia was able to turn a bedsheet into a kind of saree and cover it up with a tunic and a hooded cloak. Her hands were still visible, but it wasn't bad if she kept the cloak wrapped around her. Tom had found trousers and a shirt that left his arms bare, which was fine as he was much less likely to draw attention. He was technically a native, after all. Once they were suitably attired, they began to move out into the more crowded, narrow streets of the city. There were quite a lot of people moving about, many of them obvious laborers in various professions. A lot of them looked hungry, and there were more than a few urchins in the streets. She would call it Dickensian, except that author wouldn't even be born for a couple hundred more years. Surprisingly, she found she could understand what people were saying. The accents were thick but comprehensible. Some of the phrasing was completely baffling, of course, but she could understand what the words were. Fortunately, few people seemed to pay them any attention in the general bustle, and they had yet to see any signs of active pursuit.
They were resting in an unnamed (or at least unlabeled -- Tom might have had an idea where they were) square when a man wearing a hooded robe came up to them. He looked to be dressed slightly more finely than average, though not enough to truly stand out. He walked up to Tom and asked, "Would you be waiting for Mercury?"
Tom stared for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, a mutual friend told us he would be looking for us."
Beneath his hood, the man smiled slightly. "Very good. Follow me. We can talk more when we get indoors."
He led them on a twenty-minute walk that ended in a reasonably upscale stone home off of a side street. "A good friend of mine is letting me use his home while he travels," commented Mercury. "Please take care to not abuse his hospitality." Unlocking the front door, he led them inside. Once there, he pulled down his hood, revealing an older man with long hair, a long nose, and piercingly intelligent eyes. "Now, then...we should introduce ourselves. My name is Isaac."
"Bloody hell!" exclaimed a slack-jawed Tom.
Sophia looked curiously at him, surprised by his reaction. "What?"
Tom pointed at the man. "This is Isaac Newton!"
The man looked pleased. "Ah, you've heard of me? Are you a student of the sciences? Or perhaps alchemy?"
"A little of both, actually," said Tom, obviously trying to recover his equilibrium.
"Ah, well, if we have time, perhaps you can help proof some of the manuscripts I'm working on right now," said the man with a grin. "Might be a bit tedious, though."
Tom made a funny kind of noise but didn't otherwise respond. Sophia turned her head away to hide her amused smile. Of course, she knew who Isaac Newton was and was slightly shocked herself, but Tom's reaction was quite extra.
"Well, you know who I am. What would be your names?" prompted Isaac after a slightly awkward moment.
"I'm Sophia, and this is Thomas," she replied. "He's quite fond of your work, so I think he is slightly overwhelmed."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," replied Newton. "Now, I have something for you." He made a show of searching the pockets of his robes before pulling out a small package wrapped in paper and twine. "Our mutual friend gave it to me to give to you. He said it was important information, though I can't imagine what of much importance could be stored in such a small package. Perhaps a codeword or letter? Ah, well, never mind. It isn't really my business."
Tom, slightly embarrassed now at Sophia's earlier comment, reached out and took the parcel. "Thank you. Now we just need to find someplace to hide for the next couple of days."
Newton looked around. "You can stay here if you like. There is plenty of room. If I might ask, what happens in two days?"
"I'll be able to send a message to some friends who can come and retrieve us," answered Tom.
The other man settled himself down on a wooden stool. "If it is just sending a message, I may have a spell that can help."
Tom's mouth again dropped open. "A spell? Are you a wizard?"
"I prefer to think of myself as a scientist," replied Newton. "Here, look at this." He reached over to the table and dragged a pile of papers out of a stack, then showed Tom the cover. It was obviously a manuscript, the title of which was, Philosophiae Magicae Principia Mathematica.
For once, Tom was rendered speechless. Sophia just said, "Huh."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Major Kwan kept a blank expression on his face, but inside he was extremely nervous. The man staring at him from the monitor was his superior and he did not look happy.
"I am getting very tired of running damage control for you, Kwan," said Colonel Andrews, the slight twang of the American South getting more pronounced in his irritation. "You used to be one of my best men until you decided to start running active ops against the lizards without authorization."
"I felt the opportunity was worth the risk," he replied, his voice kept even by force of will. He suspected Andrews wasn't fooled by his demeanor. The man was too skilled at reading people.
Andrews pursed his lips in disapproval. "The reptiles had no idea we even existed until you started authorizing raids against their allies. You had approval to raid the Goa'uld and a few more sites and continue passive data collection. You did not have the approval to start raiding all over the multiverse, attacking sites that would inevitably draw their attention. I was willing to overlook all that after you successfully captured two of their operatives, especially given the failure of our supposed allies. You have now managed to wipe away that success by losing them."
"My men our scouring London on that Earth. The suppression nanites should still be functional for at least twenty-four hours," replied Kwan.
Andrews looked skeptical. "Have your researchers at least determined how the two of them manage to keep destroying the nanite loads?"
The major frowned. "They have determined that something appears to be actively attacking the individual nanites and breaking them down. The exact mechanism is still proving elusive."
"So," said Andrews with narrowed eyes, "all you have right now is two missing prisoners, a long list of enhanced interrogation tactics that are ineffective against Family-boosted agents, and a likely traitor somewhere on your staff?"
Technically, they didn't know how the two had escaped. Kwan, unfortunately, didn't have proof that it wasn't an inside job, which meant he had to act as if it was. That meant producing said traitor, which was a difficult task on top of reacquiring the prisoners. Grudgingly, he nodded to Andrews, acknowledging the man's point.
"At this point, I have no choice in the matter. I'm going to have to inform Lady Aroa of what's going on," said Andrews. He actually seemed to slightly regret the necessity, but it wasn't clear if it was because of sympathy for Kwan or his dislike of the woman in question. "I would strongly suggest you resolve this situation in the Empire's favor prior to her getting personally involved."
Kwan swallowed nervously. "Yes, sir. I understand."
Andrews nodded and disconnected the call. Kwan stood from his chair in order to return to work. There was a tremendous amount of work to do and the consequences for failure were not to be contemplated.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
This version of Earth was not as magical as Tom's home universe, but it was far more so than Sophia's. Magic wasn't common, but it was a known phenomenon that was considered a legitimate topic for research. Of course, even on Sophia's version of Earth, Isaac Newton had studied alchemy. The difference was that here, it wasn't pseudoscience. It had reproducible results and practical application, and this version of Newton was quite capable of helping Tom with a ritual sufficiently powerful to serve their needs. It had taken a few hours for Isaac to gather the various materials necessary for the ritual that Tom described. Luckily, none of the ingredients were especially rare, although some of them would be rather uncommon in the home of anybody not a practicing magic-user (or a taxidermist, possibly). The three of them were soon arrayed around a circle drawn in chalk on the floor. Sophia had protested slightly at her inclusion at first, but apparently, she didn't need to have any actual skill in the arts for this. Having three casters was largely symbolic, and even she knew from listening in to her brother's lessons that symbolism was important when casting spells. The spell sent a message to a specific recipient rather than opening a two-way channel of communication. It did have the advantage that a skilled practitioner would be able to mystically trace the point of origin and locate the original sender. Once the ritual was complete, Tom said, "Well, now we wait." He and Sophia helped Isaac clean up the ritual space so that there wouldn't be a mess left in the borrowed house.
"I am curious," ventured Isaac. "You both speak the King's English, but your accents are unusual." He looked directly at Sophia. "Yours, in particular, is very different from that of the commoner outside. From where do you two come?"
Tom and Sophia exchanged a look, and then she replied, "I'm from New England." Tom added, "And I'm English, but I've been living out of the country for quite some time." The answers were technically correct.
Newton regarded them for a moment, clearly sensing there was a lot that wasn't being said. "Interesting. Ah, well, so how long will we be waiting for your friends to come to get you?"
"Not long at all," said a deep yet feminine voice from the corner of the room. The three whipped their heads around to see a giant lizard sitting in the corner of the room. Sophia was surprised to see that it was a member of the Family that she hadn't met, yet. The unfamiliar lizard seemed to be part of Metis's branch of the family with the same eye color and only four limbs, but this one was a bright, glimmering teal with almost glowing white highlights on the edges of her scales.
Sophia turned to look at Isaac when she heard him gasp and fall out of his chair. His eyes were wide and he was breathing heavily. "Wh-what kind of b-being are you?" he asked, his voice stuttering in shock.
Tom grabbed his shoulder to get his attention. "Don't worry, Isaac. She's a friend...although I have to admit that I've never met her before?"
The reptile looked slightly sheepish. "Hi, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. I'm Ariadne. Kastor got your message and asked me to come to pick you up."
From where he sat on the floor, Isaac asked, "Are you an angel...or a demon?"
Ariadne tilted her head as if considering the question. "Depends upon who you ask, I guess, but really neither."
"Isaac, Ariadne and her kind are the reason we were being held captive and tortured. They were looking for information about them," said Tom in a serious tone. "It's very important that you not tell anyone about what you've seen."
That actually distracted Newton from his slowly subsiding panic. He frowned, and said, "That is a very hard thing for a scientist to hear, Thomas."
"It's for the best," added Sophia. "I'm sure you have some other knowledge that you don't publish, either for your own safety or that of the reader?"
Newton appeared to consider it, then grudgingly nodded in agreement. "Very well. I will keep quiet about this whole incident." He sighed. "I suppose you'll be off, then." He looked over at the reptile. "How are you planning on getting through the city without being seen?"
"Oh, we're only seen if we want to be. There could be a whole crowd of us standing around and you wouldn't know it if we didn't let you see," she said in a cheery voice. Isaac seemed slightly disquieted by that information rather than reassured. "All right, let's get going," prompted Ariadne.
Sophia and Tom followed Ariadne outside. None of the passers-by seemed to notice the giant lizard are her two companions. They quickly turned into another alley, out of sight of the masses, and they were soon transported up to a Family skimmer.
"Just to give you fair warning, your disappearance kicked over a bit of a hornet's nest back on the ship," said the reptile as she moved toward the controls of the ship.
Sophia winced as she thought of the reaction her parents would have to her going missing, especially after the attempted kidnapping incident back in New York. It hadn't even been a year since that happened.
"It may have been worth it, however," said Tom. He held up the wrapped bundle given to them by Newton. "We may have some useful information on the people who have been raiding our friends for information."
The ship transitioned through a wormhole directly into its home docking bay and quickly settled down. "Best get that to Metis, then. I'll let Kastor know you two are back safe and sound." Ariadne began moving toward the exit. "Oh, and do me a favor? Can you let Metis know I'll be by to pick up Newell this evening?"
"Who's Newell?" asked Sophia.
The lizard smirked. "Just a distant relation that she was watching for me while I was off on another mission."
The three parted ways outside the docking bay, with Sophia and Tom heading toward Metis's office while Ariadne left on her own business. As they walked, Tom asked, "Are you all right?"
Sophia nodded. "Yeah, don't worry about it. I wasn't kidding when I said I thought they weren't really trying. Ianthe does really good work. Mostly I was just bored and worried about what was happening to you." She looked down at his hands. "They didn't cut anything off me, at least."
He grimaced. "Just as well that we escaped when we did. Hopefully, our benefactor was able to hide his involvement."
She simply nodded in agreement, but the two were quiet until they reached the office. As they approached the door, it opened and a figure stepped out. It was dressed in a black cloak and seemed to be hovering a few inches off the floor. The head turned to stare directly at Sophia and she was taken aback to see that the hood of the cloak appeared to be completely empty. After a very uncomfortable few seconds, the cloak turned away and headed off down the corridor without a sound.
"That was weird, even for this place," muttered Sophia as she entered the office.
Metis looked up from her computer. "Ah, you're back! I'm very happy to see both of you. A lot of people were worried about you."
"We're happy to be back," answered Tom. The two of them then sat and relayed what had happened to the two of them in detail.
When they got to the nanites, Metis interrupted and said, "Both of you should head to the medical bay after this. They can flush out any remnants. You should have done that first thing."
Sophia flushed slightly, and Tom said, "You're right, of course, but we wanted to give you this." He handed Metis the package given to them. "It should have information on our captors."
Metis used a talon to slice through the thread sealing the package, then unwrapped the paper to reveal what appeared to be an optical disc. "Sammy, can you read this?"
"Yes," came the voice of the ship's AI from the air. "The format is not something we have in our records, but it's close enough to known formats to easily adjust for the differences. Here is a directory of the contents."
A listing of information appeared on the wall of the office. Metis's eyes narrowed as she read what was there. "I think we need to get the Family together for this. Sammy, send a notification to the others. Include Dragon and her extended family, and send messages to the EDF, the Justice League, and Dresden Security."
"Wait...what's going on?" asked Sophia. "What does all this," she waved at the information displayed on the wall, "actually mean?"
Metis regarded the young woman. "The Family protects their friends. Your kidnapping means that somebody needs to be taught a lesson. Now, I suggest you two get to medical, and then Sophia should check in with her parents."
Sophia was tempted to ask for more information, but the urge to see her family again took priority. As they got up to leave, she remembered the favor asked of them. "Oh, Ariadne said to tell you that she would be by to pick up Newell this evening. Is Newell a member of the family?"
Metis actually chuckled at the question. "Only an honorary member. Newell is Ariadne's iguana. I was feeding him for her while she was away from the ship."
Sophia simply nodded and exited the office, slightly embarrassed that she had inadvertently asked if a pet lizard was related to Metis. As they headed off to the ship's medical offices, she asked Tom, "What do you think is going to happen now?"
Tom glanced at her. "You mean with the information we gave Metis?" At her nod, he paused to consider his answer, then said, "I think the Family is going to war. I'm not entirely certain what that means, but I am concerned."
"Do you think it's going to be worse than what happened when they came to my home reality?" she asked. She had avoided being involved in any actual fighting, but she knew that quite a lot had happened.
At that question from her, he actually stopped walking. He put his hand on her shoulder to stop her for a moment as well and turned to face her. "Sophia, what happened in your reality wasn't a war. It was an...intervention? Most of the actual work was done either by the Angels or by your own people. I honestly don't know what an actual war mobilization by the Family would look like, but I'm guessing it will be...memorable, and possibly quite horrifying."
Sophia had some very troubling thoughts as they continued on toward the medical center.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Back in Sophia's home universe, Greg Veder logged into his online roleplaying session. He had been playing with his current group for a couple of months now, and it was now one of his favorite pass times. Their gamemaster was a bit strange, but he was amazingly good at weaving a compelling story.
Void_Cowboy: Hey, Levi, are we ready to start?
Levi: Still waiting for the others. You're the first one on, as is typical.
Void_Cowboy: Is your sister going to join us today?
Levi: Unfortunately, she has other matters to attend to today. Her cleric is going to be meeting with the leadership of her church for the duration of today's session.
TamiFlew: Hey guys, your favorite half-elf ranger is here!
Void_Cowboy: Hi, Tami!
Levi: Welcome. Still waiting for everybody.
TamiFlew: How are you feeling today, Levi?
Levi: I'm fine, as usual.
Greg winced. Their gamemaster had explained that he had a medical condition that kept him immobilized. Most of the rest of them made an effort not to bring it up, but Tami always pushed things a bit. Levi didn't seem to mind, but Greg still worried. He knew that he tended to be hypersensitive to causing offense, though, so he refrained from calling her out on it. He changed the subject instead.
Void_Cowboy: Bad news for today's session. WingedOne can't make it, so we won't have a cleric. We'll have to rely on Dom's bard for healing.
TamiFlew: That shouldn't be a problem, Void. We stocked up on healing potions back at that village with the weird statue in the square, remember?
Void_Cowboy: Oh, right, duh. Sorry, I forgot.
GreenGables: The great and powerful sorcerer Dmitri has arrived!
TamiFlew: Hi Gabe!
Void_Cowboy: Gabe!
GreenGables: What's our adventure for today?
Levi: We're waiting for DomiMatrix to log in. Then I'll give you the backstory.
In a box made of impervious metal under the sea, a former Endbringer was eagerly preparing to run a group of players through the Dungeon of the Necromancer of Gex. Their chatter back and forth was amusing, and he couldn't help but think of them as friends, or at least friendly acquaintances. He couldn't wait to see their reaction when they encountered the dragon in the deepest cavern. He had managed to convince his brother to play the dragon, and Behemoth was far less accustomed to dealing with humans than his sister, which should make for a convincing performance as a non-human.
