Luke's fears of always arriving in places covered in sweat weren't improving as he ran from bojutsu training toward the portal. It was quite far, so after a good twenty minutes of running, a long line of e-scooters looked enticing. Rushing down the street with the wind in his hair without having to exert himself was a marked improvement, even if it meant not getting closer to the +1 Endurance from running that Boon of Potential would eventually grant him. A little cheating was fine sometimes, as a treat.

  Arriving at the portal about a half hour after Ray made contact, it was evident something wasn't going well inside. Many Integrated lay or sat on the ground, nursing different injuries, while staff from five, no six, ambulances tended to them. The general area around the portal was sectioned off with police tape, and there was no shortage of cops around to hold the crowd back. There was a sense of defeat in the air.

  Having parked the scooter in a bicycle rack, Luke approached the portal, pressing himself through the crowd to get to the front, where a cop held out a palm toward him.

  "Stay back! This area is off limits!"

  "I'm Integrated," Luke said, raising his voice to be heard over the jostling crowd.

  The cop just pointed to his ear and shook his head, as if to indicate he couldn't hear.

  "INTEGRATED!" Luke shouted.

  "Stay back!"

  Weavestep brought Luke past the cops, and by the time they noticed something, he knelt by an injured woman who was bleeding internally. After glancing his way, they decided it wasn't worth escalating the situation.

  "I'll heal you," Luke said, starting off by easing her pain.

  Some color returned to her face right away, and by the time Luke stood back up, her face was looking a little more serene. Expanding the reach of Weaver's Eye, Luke gave a quick diagnosis to each of the injured at the scene. Four of them needed immediate medical attention, with one about to crash right then and there.

  A trio of EMTs were attempting to staunch the flow of blood from a hole in a middle-aged man's gut as he bled out. Luke didn't bother explaining to them what he was about before he reached in with Threads of Mana and Needle of Life. Up close, it was much more dire than what had been apparent at first. Weaver's Mercy gave him a moment to work, and it didn't take long to restore the stomach lining, perforated intestines, and a host of major arteries. Glad he didn't have to waste The Healer's Moment, Luke stepped away as the EMTs stood up, confused at finding the hole in their patient's stomach gone.

  The other three injured all suffered puncture wounds as well, but nothing as severe as the first man's. Helping the last of them, Luke asked, "These wounds? Are they from the boss in there?"

  Blood flecked the woman's pale face, but she still managed a smile and a nod of thanks as she replied, "Didn't even make it that far. There are weird beetle-looking things that walk upright, like people. Their arms, or hands, whatever, are spears. Nasty things."

  "Thanks," Luke said, rising.

  The woman grabbed his wrist and looked up at him. "No, thank you."

  After she'd released him, Weaver's Eye reported that all other Integrated would live through their injuries. That was well, because Luke felt the clock ticking.

  Luke: "I'm heading into the portal now. How do I find you?"

  Ray: "Just follow the dead bugs."

  Curtis: "We have a light beacon in the air. You can't miss it. Just watch your step."

  Luke: "See you soon."

  Luke stood in front of the portal, the motes of swirling blue lights dancing around him. This one was pale blue, which should mean it was an easy dungeon, if the prevailing theories were correct. Until the DIA gathered enough funds to buy that measuring device thing they mentioned, all they could go on were uneducated guesses. Standing there with trembling fingers, his breath caught in his throat as he looked into the portal, Luke didn't notice a man walking up to him.

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  "Luke."

  Startled, Luke spun, then calmed down.

  "Johanson. What brings you here?"

  Johanson gave a nod of greeting, then looked up into the portal. "We've heard reports of issues inside. Unfortunately, our team is still recuperating. I was assigned as the DIA liaison for this particular dungeon."

  "Ray contacted me," Luke said. "They are at the boss but are having trouble killing it."

  "I see."

  Luke turned back to the portal and took a step closer. "I'm going in."

  "Please hold for one moment."

  "What?"

  "We have secured the funds necessary for a second team of Integrated and will be building that up along with the new team from the police department. Would you lead the second team?"

  "No."

  "You may take a few days to consider the offer," Johanson said. "The compensation package, along with the health insurance, is quite favorable. Ask your sister."

  Luke shook his head. "I don't need a paycheck, at least not right now, and with everything that's changing, I'm not looking for someone to tell me what to do."

  "I see."

  "That's all?" Luke asked.

  "How about being our active representative in this specific dungeon?"

  "Huh?"

  Johanson fidgeted a little, then sighed and waved at the portal like he embodied the defeat Luke felt in the air. "The DIA is already facing a lot of scrutiny. Perhaps you have read about or even seen the live hearings?"

  "No."

  "Well, the president is considering dismantling this branch of the government and allowing private interests to fill the void of managing portals and Integrated."

  "That sounds like a living nightmare," Luke said. "What does that have to do with me?"

  "To be frank, we could use a win. Having a representative in there," he pointed at the portal, "who tips the scales in favor of the Integrated after a defeat, would give us a lot of good press, which we are sorely in need of."

  "The healing office," Luke said.

  "What's that?"

  "I'll do it if you make sure I get that place where I can heal people, and a lot of people to heal. That'd give you good press too, wouldn't it?"

  Johanson gave a slow nod, thinking it over, then held out his hand. "Deal."

  "Deal." Luke took it and squeezed. "So what do I have to do in there?"

  "Save them."

  "That's all?"

  "Also, the DIA gets half of any monster cores you might find."

  "...Fine."

  "Great, here." Johanson slapped the front of Luke's chest, and when he removed his hand, now damp with sweat, a cloth patch stuck to the shirt with some sort of adhesive. It was the American flag with the letters DIA under it. Johanson cleared his throat. "We are still waiting for the final design of our emblem."

  "Isn't that something?" Luke said, shaking his head. "Is this like being knighted?"

  "No."

  Johanson was not one for joking.

  With that, Luke stepped through the portal and entered the dungeon, almost having forgotten any nervousness he'd felt standing on the cusp of joining the Integrated inside. He hadn't been afraid per se, just a little hesitant. The last dungeon took its toll, especially with losing Nate in the battle against the dragon, and the events after with Relian.

  New Quest: Slay the Beebler Patriarch.

  Reward: ?

  The inside of this dungeon was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. Standing there, struggling to take it all in, the best way to describe it was like floating in space on a meteor. The ground was rock, like the cave system in the previous dungeon, except far more jagged and uneven, but above, rather than a rock ceiling, was the vast nothingness of space. Stars lit the sky in unrecognizable constellations. This was a sky, but not the one visible from Earth. Meteor might not be the right word, since that painted an idea of something much smaller than a planet spinning around in space. Wherever this was, it was big.

  With the emptiness of the landscape, Luke was able to see far despite it being night. Strange, with no light sources anywhere, and he wasn't wearing the night vision bracelet, either. Well, almost no light sources. In the far distance, he saw what looked like a signal flare up in the sky, burning bright orange. Ray and the others.

  Quite a few mountains in the distance, but no forests, no lakes, and no life as far as the eye could see, except for a few Integrated slowly making their way toward Luke and the portal, two of them supporting a third between them. They were wounded, but nothing serious, he sensed.

  Integrated Tandro. Charmer. Level 9.

  Integrated Viev. Berserker. Level 10.

  Integrated Thimmie. Flourist. Level 9.

  Movement flickered somewhere behind them, and Luke blinked, unsure if his eyes were playing tricks on him. When they got closer, he heard their panting and saw the way their eyes were wide open in fear. One of them kept looking over his shoulder while the other kept a laser focus on the portal.

  "Was that a...?" Luke asked, pointing over their shoulders.

  Just as his hand fell, something ripped through Viev's shoulder and cut through part of the strap to her tank top. She cried out in pain but, to her credit, didn't fall. Shrugging the blow off, she kept running. A second blow through her thigh was too much, and she dropped, the other two falling with her.

  Behind them, a creature appeared.

  Beebler Soldier. Level 12.

  It looked much like the woman on the other side of the portal described. Upright, with two thin, sinewy legs covered in thick hairs, like a fly’s, hanging down. The main body was about the size of a small dog's, and sort of sectioned in an armor-like, dark green and gray, carapace, and the head looked like a turtle's shell from the side, with two large bulbous, smooth pools of darkness as eyes. Its arms were much like its legs, except the forearms were formed into sharp tips, which turned them into short lances.

  Before he had a chance to react, the Beebler Soldier buzzed, flew forward on thin, insect-like wings, and thrust straight for Luke's heart.