“The PIMP?” Seena said. “As in the Dr. PIMP you saw in the Lost Refuge of the Lost dungeon?”

  Hiral shook his head. “No, that was while I was dreaming. Sort of. And this thing doesn’t look like Dr. Benza. Like I said, small construct.”

  “How can you be sure it’s the PIMP then?” Yanily said.

  “I can’t be sure,” Hiral emphasized that last word. “But it’s got the same feeling. The energy of it, like it’s connected to something deeper. If it’s not the PIMP itself, it’s at least being controlled by it.”

  “Should we stab it?” Seeyela said. “Can we stab it?”

  “Preferably not,” Seena said. “Until we know what it wants. Depending on what it says, all bets are off.”

  “Don’t we still want its assistance?” Romin said.

  “We have our own plan to poison the Raze,” Seeyela said.

  “It might have a better idea,” Laseen said. “It is why we built it.”

  “Let’s just go ask it,” Hiral said. “It’s standing in front of a door we have to go through—I think—so ignoring it isn’t really an option.”

  “It knew we were coming?” Seena said, looking at the PIMP’s appearance in a different light.

  “The quest did say to close the three gates,” Hiral said. “More than it waiting for us, we had to come here.”

  “True enough,” Seena said. “No other constructs or anything you can sense?”

  “Nothing. Straight path to the door and the PIMP in front of it.” Vibration expanded from his feet, along the floor, walls, and ceiling ahead of him. “Don’t feel any secret doors either. It’s just us and the PIMP.”

  “Still, stay on your toes, people,” Seena said. Then she looked at Seeyela. “And no accidental stabbings.”

  “Don’t worry,” Seeyela said with a wave of her hand. “If I am going to stab that artificial bastard, there won’t be anything accidental about it.”

  “No planned stabbings then either.”

  Seeyela tsk’d, but nodded.

  “Lead the way,” Seena said to Romin, a tap on his shoulder getting him moving.

  It didn’t take long for the party to cover the distance to where the small construct stood in front of the large door, a quick message to Nivian and Ilrolik to let them know what they’d found. As Hiral’s globes of floating Energy spread ahead of them, illuminating the brass hallway, they all got their first look at what he’d been sensing the whole way.

  Like he’d said, the construct wasn’t even two feet tall, with all his appendages looking almost comically short. His body and head were each two-fifths of its height—with its legs only amounting to that last fifth—and were almost plain blocks of crystal. There weren’t even joints in them, same with the arms. Where the torso part of the construct was rectangular, the head was more square, making it the largest part of the thing as a whole, and had some kind of display screen for a face. One very much like P3W P3W’s, complete with a (o_o) waiting for them.

  Before Hiral had more than a second to wonder if they’d be communicating through trying to interpret the facial expressions of the construct, the thing spoke.

  “Welcome, Designation: Seeker,” the emotionless voice said from the construct, no visible mouth moving. “Congratulations on your ascension to S-Rank. You and your allies have overcome substantial obstacles to stand here now. One last task remains before us.”

  “Us?” Seeyela interrupted immediately. “You make it sound like you’re actually going to do something.”

  “Designation: Seeyela,” the construct said, its head turning to ‘look’ at the woman. “You harbor distrust of my motives.”

  “Damn straight I do,” Seeyela said. “You killed my friends.”

  “Incorrect,” the construct said. “I merely orchestrated situations to promote your growth, so that you could become strong enough to arrive here. Now.”

  “Oh?” Seeyela said, voice surprisingly—dangerously—calm. “You admit you set us up to die?”

  “Incorrect. You were provided opportunities. Some of those were taken advantage of. Others were not completed successfully.”

  “Not completed successfully?” Seeyela hissed. “You call people dying not completed successfully?”

  “People die every day,” the construct said with that same emotionless voice. “More would have died had you not grown powerful enough to save Fallen Reach. Even more than that will perish if we are not successful beyond the Black Gates.

  “The situations you found yourselves in had mostly favorable odds of survival, where applicable. They are also events of the past, and we must look to the future.”

  “Are you really the PIMP?” Hiral said, cutting off Seeyela before she could continue along the same line of argument. It wasn’t going to get them anywhere anyway.

  “This construct is one vessel of the PIMP,” the construct said. “Of me. Two others wait in similar locations, before the Black Gates.”

  “If you’re here, now, why didn’t you show up sooner?” Hiral said. “Why make it such a wild-goose chase to find this place?”

  “If you were unable to locate the Black Gates—or defeat the guardians—you would also not possess the requisite skills to succeed in the realm of the Raze.”

  “Do you know what’s on the other side?” Laseen asked.

  “Designation: Laseen,” the construct said, turning its head to the woman. “One of my prime creators. My predictive algorithms indicated a less than zero-point-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-one percent chance you would be one of those to stand before me at this point in Project Emperor.”

  Hiral actually hissed at the words.

  “Project Emperor?” Seena said, before Hiral could voice the same question. “You were trying to turn Hiral into the next Emperor, weren’t you? Why?”

  “Subject number-one-seven-three was an Emperor Candidate, yes,” the construct said. “However, Project Emperor is a failure. The Seeker cannot be the Emperor.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Hiral said. “And why do you need me at all?”

  “We found our own little PIMP,” Wule’s voice came over the raid chat.

  “Us too,” Ilrolik said.

  “It’s looking at me funny,” Loan said.

  “Project Emperor…” the construct started.

  “And it’s talking!” Loan added. “Project Emperor?”

  “It said the same thing here,” Nivian said.

  The construct looked around at Seena’s party, as if it was aware of the conversation in the raid chat. Then again, since it was responsible for the ability, there was a good chance it could hear them.

  “Project Emperor,” it started a second time. “Was the name given to the plan to save Genesis. To prevent the Raze from returning, and to make this world inhospitable to their kind. As you have determined, the evidence suggests the natural energy of Genesis—a byproduct of the runes that exist only here—acts as a poison to them.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “However, simply opening the Black Gates as far as they will go, for as long as they can be held, does not guarantee our success. Instead, we must construct a permanent method for energy delivery to their world. One that does not rely on the presence of the Black Gates. One that instead takes advantage of certain workings already in place. Only then can we be sure the toxin will reach the critical value.”

  “And this is why you need Hiral,” Sera said, her voice coming over the raid chat.

  “Yes,” the construct answered all three parties at the same time. “Prior to my construction, the working necessary for this plan to succeed was begun. The Progenitor, Designation: Amin Thett, Sub-Designation: Emperor, utilized runic energy, and the runes themselves, to lay pathways of energy transfer across Genesis. These pathways do far more than simply move energy; they are the foundation of my entire existence, as well as my ability to view and influence events across the globe, which are also heavily reliant on them.

  “It was on these paths Designation: Dr. Benza and his team created my system. Through them, I transcend space across Genesis. I am everywhere on this world, and yet nowhere.”

  “Ah,” Hiral said. “Which means you’re just as trapped here as the runes are. You can’t go through the Black Gates any more than the runes themselves can.”

  “Partially correct,” the construct said. “In a body such as this,” the crystal construct lifted its solid arms at the shoulders, “I possess the ability to leave Genesis. However, once I pass through the Gates, I will be cut off from myself. I will be an individual. Correction, three individuals.”

  “And that’s why you need me,” Hiral said. “Or, at least somebody who succeeded at your Emperor project.”

  “Again, partially correct,” the construct said. “Project Emperor has failed. No candidates remain.”

  “Uh,” Yanily said. “That’s not very nice. He’s right here.”

  “Designation: Hiral’s candidacy for Emperor has been rescinded with his ascent to Seeker. Despite the failure of the original project, this result is sufficient for the plan to move forward.”

  “Doesn’t answer what you need Hiral for,” Ilrolik said.

  “It needs me to continue Amin Thett’s work,” Hiral said. “It wants me to expand those runic pathways it talked about through the Black Gates.”

  “Correct,” the construct said.

  “Can you do that?” Seena asked Hiral.

  “Designation: Seeker,” the construct said before Hiral could respond. “Has surpassed all parameters and required levels of proficiency estimated to be necessary for probable success of the task. By a significant margin.” The construct’s head turned to look in Hiral’s direction for a second, its face unchanging, though something about its body language altered ever-so-slightly. Like it was nervous about his attention directly on it in that moment.

  “Hiral?” Seena prompted, mostly ignoring the PIMP’s explanation. “Can you really do it?”

  “Yes,” Hiral said. “I think so. Ever since I got to S-Rank, I’ve been feeling around for what Tomorrow suggested Amin Thett did. Like the PIMP said, it’s everywhere. That fold in reality where the PIMP hides itself.”

  At the words, the barest shiver ran through the construct, invisible to everybody except for Hiral’s sensory domain.

  “In the original plan,” the construct said, like it was trying to turn attention away from its hiding place. “Models suggested the successful Emperor candidate would need to construct a physical extension—a bridge—through the Black Gates, to the other side.”

  “How would that be any better than us keeping the Gates open?” Romin said. “Wouldn’t closing the Black Gates break the bridges?”

  “Correct,” the construct said. “However, the bridge would only be the first, very important step. After that…”

  Laseen’s cackle cut the PIMP off. “So that’s what you’re doing. You grew up sneaky. We never expected you come up with something so crazy.”

  “Laseen?” Seena said. “Want to fill the rest of us in.”

  “Oh happily, girlie,” Laseen said. “Though, this little guy here has already told us, basically. It wants the boy here to build that bridge so it can go through the Black Gate and stay connected to itself here. Once it does that, I’m guessing it will do something to set up a permanent anchor over there. Three anchors?

  “With that done, remember what it said earlier: it transcends space. It’s everywhere, but nowhere. It won’t matter if the physical path is cut off or not, because that runic pathway will still exist between the folds in reality. It’ll be able to pull runic energy over those pathways to keep flooding the Raze’s world even if they slam the front door shut.

  “It’s installing a back door.”

  “Analogy is sufficient,” the construct said. “Upon successful integration of myself on the Raze’s world, I will be able to initiate a symbiotic relationship with their planet, such as the one I have here. I estimate the process will take approximately ten hours. Once that is complete, physical distance will be irrelevant. This crystal body will be irrelevant. I will have spread my reach to include that world, just as I have expanded on Genesis to touch all corners of it.”

  “Are you sure that will work?” Yanily asked. “The Raze are supposed to be super strong, aren’t they? They can’t destroy you?”

  “They cannot,” the construct said. “In exchange for my limited ability to directly interfere with events, I am very difficult to directly battle. Even if the Raze should destroy one of my crystal bodies, it will already be too late. My predictive algorithms estimate an eighty-two percent chance of success of this plan, should we be able to connect the worlds through the Black Gates.”

  “Those are good odds,” Loan said. “Too good, if you ask me.”

  “Shouldn’t we have three Hirals then?” Yully said. “Er, not counting Left and Right.”

  “Not necessary,” the construct said. “Once the bridge is built, as soon as any of my three current bodies steps through, the integration process will begin.”

  “Transcends space,” Laseen reminded them with a cackle.

  “That’s… it?” Wule said. “I mean, I know our plan was just to hold the door open and let the poison through, but this isn’t that much more complicated. And the PIMP’s had how many thousands of years to plan this. I guess I just expected more.”

  “It is a little more complicated than what’s been said,” Hiral said. “Even I have to admit there has been a significant amount of planning put into our growth.”

  “How so?” Nivian said.

  “Well,” Hiral said with a deep breath. “Amin Thett’s pathways aren’t in any way simple. Not only would I need to be a Builder to be able to use runes, but I’d also very specifically need to be able to use Connection, Energy, Expansion, Attraction, Absorption, and—I think—Dreaming and Sound.”

  “Most of those I can kind of get,” Seena said. “But, Sound?”

  “That’s the next part of things,” Hiral said. “Amin Thett built those pathways the PIMP is talking about using the Primal Chords. When I reach out to them, I can hear the Lost Chord of the Primal Echo—among others—whistling along them. If I had to guess, the Chords might even be older than the runes, and their melodies got used like guideposts for the paths he built.

  “If we never did the Forge of Ur’Thul, I may never have connected with the Chord. If we didn’t do the Rise of Fallen Reach, I may never have gotten the Rune of Connection. That’s not even considering that first construct we met that tore me in three. That was you, wasn’t it?” Hiral said to the construct.

  “Yes,” the little PIMP construct answered without hesitation.

  Hiral nodded. He wasn’t surprised by the admission, but it was nice to finally know for sure. “There’s also the whole Regalia of Amin Thett, as well as my first advanced class, the Runic Artificer. Without them, I wouldn’t have the necessary skills to build this bridge the PIMP is talking about.”

  “It’s been guiding you this whole time,” Ilrolik said.

  “More like controlling,” Hiral said, a little of that old fire back in his voice at being treated like a puppet. The construct again shivered, but Hiral let out a breath—and his annoyance with it. “That doesn’t matter now. We’re here, and we have what we need to succeed. I just have one very important question. If we do all this—and protect you for ten hours, like you’re suggesting, then close the Black Gates, how do we get back to Genesis?”

  “I transcend space,” the construct said.

  “You do,” Seena said. “We don’t. Do you have a way to get us home?”

  “If I did not, would you forsake your world and allow the Raze to come?”

  The question didn’t get an immediate reaction from the party, the implication surprising enough nobody moved. Not until Seeyela took a step forward, a dagger in her hand.

  Unperturbed, the construct didn’t move. It didn’t fear anything she could do to it. When Hiral caught the woman’s arm, though, and stepped in front of her, the little construct took a step backward, its large head clinking against the brass door immediately behind it.

  “You didn’t answer the question,” Hiral said.

  “I… will create three lost dungeons,” the construct said, an almost imperceptible hesitation in its voice only Hiral’s high Atn would’ve been able to pick out. “Much like The Buried City, I will make the entrance in a different place than the exit.”

  “You’re sure you can get us back with that?” Seeyela pressed.

  “Ninety-two percent probability,” the construct said. “I will transcend space.”

  “But not one-hundred percent?”

  “Nothing is guaranteed,” the construct said. “This mission is a risk.”

  “To everybody other than you,” Seena said.

  “So?” Loan said over the raid chat. “We all knew this was a risk going through the Black Gates. Doesn’t change we’re going to do it.”

  “It does not,” Sera said. “We all have too many people to protect to stop now.”

  “Seeyela,” Seena said. “Maybe you should stay and…”

  “No,” Seeyela interrupted. “No. You know you need me with you. Besides,” she turned to look at Hiral. “Somebody promised they’d get me back to my little girl.”

  “And I will,” Hiral said.

  “Good,” Seeyela said, her attention going from Hiral to her sister, then back to the construct. “So, what now? The Gate is beyond this door?”

  “It is,” the construct said. “It is already growing more alert with the guardians dead. Once we open the door, it will begin to feed on each of your life-forces, as is its way. At your strength, it shall be barely noticeable in the short term.”

  “How long will it take you to build that bridge, Hiral?” Seena said.

  “Shouldn’t be too long,” Hiral said. “Amin Thett did all the heavy lifting. I’m just extending it a bit. Less than an hour, I think.”

  “Then, let’s get to work.”

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