“This is Genesis,” Seeyela said. “But not. At least, not the Genesis we know.”

  “It’s the future of the first cycle of Genesis, before it got put into a dungeon,” Hiral said. “Before it started resetting over and over?”

  “How would that even work?” Yanily said. “And, just so I’m sure I’m getting this straight, you’re saying the Raze went back in time and plucked an entire world out of space—or whatever Tomorrow called it—and threw it into a dungeon?

  “And, in doing all that, didn’t mess up their future?”

  “Not just that,” Hiral said. “They also tied that dungeon to their Genesis—let’s just call this world Terminus so we don’t get confused—to feed it purified runic energy. For some reason.”

  “Is all this something you could do, boy?” Laseen asked, her face completely straight at the question.

  Hiral gave her the flattest look he possibly could. “No.”

  “Have you tried? Are you sure?”

  “I… haven’t tried,” Hiral admitted. “And, let’s say—just for a second—that I could, it would be by using runes or Edicts. That’s…”

  “Stop,” Nivian interrupted over the raid chat. “It sounds like you know something the rest of us don’t. Genesis is in a dungeon? Before you go any further, could you catch the rest of us up?”

  Seena gestured at Hiral to explain. He pointed at Left, who sighed, but explained to the other two raid groups everything that had happened since they’d emerged from the Black Gate. He also let them know that abilities still worked as normal, as did the restoration of solar energy.

  “… and you’re sure we’re not NPCs?” Wule asked into the silence after the explanation.

  “I’m sure,” Hiral said. “More than that, I was thinking while Left was talking. I don’t think this really changes anything we’ve done or experienced. It does help clarify how some of it happened, though.”

  “Like what?” Seena said.

  “Like how the Progenitors got to Genesis,” Hiral said. “Or the stories that became legends, like those things Tomorrow showed us. The people with the Wings of Anella or the Path of Butterflies.”

  “Those visions?” Yanily said. “What about the guy at the picnic?”

  “I’m… not one-hundred percent sure how he is connected, but he must be important?” Hiral said. “And I’m sure he saw us just as much as we saw him. I don’t think that was just a dungeon construction. We really brushed up against his world.”

  “And this dungeon thing explains that how?” Nivian said. “How does it change things?”

  “That’s just it, it doesn’t change anything,” Hiral said, still trying to wrap his own head around his train of thought. “Look, dungeons exist somewhere… different. When I accidently, kind of broke The Rise of Fallen Reach, I saw something on the other side. More Black Gates, I think? What I didn’t see was the Grower islands. Even though that’s where the dungeon entrance was, it’s not what was outside.”

  “The boy isn’t wrong,” Laseen said. “Dungeons aren’t part of the same reality we are. They’re kept where the PIMP is.”

  “And where’s that?” Seena said, looking down at the little construct.

  It… didn’t respond.

  The party looked at each other, before Yanily walked over and knocked on the top of the construct’s crystal head.

  At the touch, the construct turned up to look at the spearman.

  “Apologies,” the PIMP construct said. “Designation: Laseen, formerly known as Gran, is correct. The Seeker describes my location as within the folds between reality, and it is apt. Others have called the space the In-Between, but the name is hardly relevant for this discussion.

  “Dungeons—and myself—touch on reality all around them, but do not directly interact. The Black Gates, passageways through both time and space, act as tunnels through the same territory. While normal dungeons are very short-lived, four hours for most, the Genesis dungeon is not the same. Over time, it would almost become part of this between-space, weakening the boundary in the process.

  “It is therefore feasible that those passing through the Black Gate tunnels could occasionally fall out and into Genesis, were such tunnels to brush up against the outer-dungeon layer.”

  “Is this how you were able to use dungeons to move us?” Seeyela said. “Like The Buried City?”

  “Correct,” the construct said. “The dungeons, much like the Black Gates, can touch on multiple points of reality at the same time, acting like a tunnel.”

  “Can you close the dungeon and boot Genesis back out to where it should be?” Yanily said. “Uh, wherever that is?”

  “Negative,” the PIMP construct said. “The dungeon is not under my control.”

  “What about after you connect to Terminus?” Hiral suggested.

  “Also negative,” the construct said. “I am unable to interface with Terminus. There appears to be an artificial intelligence already in control of the planet. I can neither supersede nor partner with it.”

  “Another intelligence?” Laseen said. “If it’s as old as this world is, just how advanced is it?”

  “The opposite seems to be true,” the construct said. “The AI seems to have reverted to basic, almost primitive levels of control. Its responses are more instinctually territorial than logical. It blocks my every attempt at communication.”

  “How bad is that?” Romin asked.

  “Not the end of the…” Hiral started, then looked around and changed what he was going to say. “It’s not the worst. Our plan to use the runic energy as a poison is already useless. Pumping more in isn’t going to solve our problem.”

  “Why would this world even have a… what did you call it?” Seena said to the construct.

  “An AI,” it replied. “There is a fifty-seven percent match between its responses and how my own code would react. Taking the current theory into account, the best way to describe this AI would be to call it my ancestor.”

  “Can you overcome its defenses with enough time?” Laseen said.

  “Possibly,” the PIMP said. “It is being worked on.”

  “While it works on that,” Seena said into the raid chat. “We need a plan. As I see it, we now have two main objectives. Stop the Raze and get Genesis out of the dungeon its stuck in.”

  “Can we do the second?” Sera asked. “Do we need to? If we are on the Genesis of the present—this Terminus—what would happen to the Genesis we released from the dungeon? Would it be destroyed? Would it replace this one, wherever we are?”

  “Not wherever,” Seeyela corrected. “Whenever. From the flavor text of my new advanced class, we’re at the end of time.”

  Everybody looked at the little PIMP construct at that.

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  “I don’t know who is teaching my advanced-class subroutine to say those things,” the construct said evenly. “I do believe they have a ninety-eight-percent chance to be accurate, however.”

  “Then my question stands,” Sera said. “Would freeing Genesis now be better or worse for the world than the current situation?”

  “Dungeons aren’t meant to be eternal,” Laseen said. “Maybe the Raze found some way around it, but if they didn’t, it’ll break down eventually. Might already be starting. That could be part of how we’re out here.”

  “What will happen when it breaks down?” Ilrolik asked. “Will it just pop out to where it should normally be?”

  Laseen laughed at the question, though it wasn’t her usual cackle. No, it was a mirthless kind of hopeless laugh. “No. Not at all. Dungeons don’t pop, they implode. Everything within would be destroyed.”

  “Means waiting is out of the question,” Seena said.

  “Assuming—like I said—the Raze didn’t figure something out.”

  “Which is what we need to start addressing,” Hiral said. “Let’s go ahead with the fact Terminus is Genesis. That the PIMP is running into a much older version of itself. That Genesis is within a dungeon. If all of those are true, then it’s likely the dungeon technology—or something like it—we’ve seen is the basis for what was done to Genesis.

  “We need to learn who the Raze are, and how they put Genesis into a dungeon. Knowing those two things might help us plan how to undo all this.”

  “And just where are we going to find all these answers?” Yully asked. “You think the Raze left a biography or how-to manual lying around?”

  “They may not have,” Hiral said. “But, this is a big world. We don’t know when they rose, or when the rest of the world fell. Hells, we don’t even know how many people make up the Raze. That could be a name for an entire nation of people. The only hint we have is the giant, crystal foot we saw in Tomorrow’s play.”

  “The things we faced in battle,” Li’l Ur said. “Were crystal giants. And, before you ask, like the Enemy, we can’t be sure they were the brains behind everything. They may have been soldiers—exceptionally powerful ones—in the same way the Enemy are.”

  “Wonderful,” Wule said over the raid chat.

  “Meaning the ‘brains’ could be Builders,” Seena said. “The dungeon-thing could be related to runes. And, they used crystal.”

  “It could be true,” Hiral said. “And we’ll need to explore that option. More importantly, for the moment, I’m hoping some other factors from our Genesis hold true.”

  “Such as?”

  “If the same cycle is playing out over and over again, and the same general events are happening, such as the PIMP getting created, we have to assume those events are important to the Raze. And, somewhere in that sequence of events, we can find the answers we’re looking for.”

  “Those events happened a long time ago, didn’t they?” Loan said.

  “A very, very long time ago,” Hiral admitted. “And there could be nothing left on Terminus from that time. On the other hand, if there is a data storage system like what Pallidis used…”

  “You’re suggesting…” Seena said.

  “Trevellan,” Left said. “In our version, it was a city of learning, and Pallidis—along with the rest of the Fallen—had left a research building. If the systems are somehow still active, there might be information there about what happened to bring the world to this point.”

  “Exactly,” Hiral said, pointing at his double. “That’s one of two leads we should explore, with the other being the runic energy I’m feeling. What’s coming out of the portal near us is going somewhere. Somewhere specific. I want to know where that is.”

  “That’s only two groups,” Nivian said. “What about the third?”

  “I may not be an Academic,” Sera said. “But my Mediums possess a wide suite of sensory abilities. I would like to stay and study the black dungeon portal for the time being. I may be able to learn something from it. If there are no answers here, then perhaps we should search out Fallen Reach?”

  “That was my next thought too,” Hiral said. “If the PIMP’s great-great-a-bunch-of-greats-grand-daddy is present, that means Fallen Reach must be as well, since it was built to power the whole system. Without the soft resets we were getting every few hundred years, it might’ve built up quite a library itself.”

  “Hopefully not the paper kind,” Laseen said. “Don’t know about you, but I can’t read dust.”

  “Laseen,” Seena said, crossing her arms at the woman.

  “Sorry, girlie,” Laseen said. “My sarcasm comes out when I’m a little overwhelmed. All this,” she waved a hand around the building, “this is a lot to take in.”

  “Which is why we’re breaking it down into smaller, digestible parts. First step, learn what we can about Terminus, the Raze, and how Genesis is stuck in a dungeon.”

  “Do you think Sera will be enough to figure it out on her own?” Right said without speaking into the raid chat. “She’s a smart woman, but she’s no Guato.”

  “Or you,” Left said to Hiral.

  “And Seeyela might be the best one to figure out the Black Gates,” Seena said. “Since she can talk to them and everything.”

  “I need to go up above the clouds,” Seeyela said. “I think I’ll get more from the Black Gate in the last sun. The ones leading to Genesis, it’s like they’re muted. Muzzled. It’s why I couldn’t really understand what they were saying before we came through.”

  “How high above the clouds do you need to go?” Yanily said. “I think the sun is kind of far.”

  “As long as I can see it, and it can see me, it should be enough,” Seeyela said. “Especially after I take this advanced class.”

  “You haven’t taken it yet?” Romin said.

  “Figured I should do it somewhere with more space,” Seeyela said.

  “Before that,” Hiral said, then directed his voice into the raid chat. “Sera, I’m going to do something to the PIMP constructs to help you analyze the Black Gates. Or, at least the way the runes are affecting them, okay?”

  “Understood,” Sera said at the same time the nearby PIMP construct turned sharply in Hiral’s direction.

  “What are you going to do?” the construct asked, taking a step back from Hiral.

  “Nothing invasive,” Hiral said. “You needed me because you can’t control or really see the runes, right?”

  “Correct.”

  “Neither can Sera,” Hiral continued. “If we’re going to figure out what’s going on, I want to know if the runic energy is part of it. I’m just going to add some features to let you—temporarily—conduct some direct measurements. It’s not really any different than if I needed to inscribe runes on you to pull runic energy through the Black Gate.”

  “If I refused, would you still conduct these modifications?”

  Hiral crossed his arms. “No,” he said slowly. “Why would you refuse? You think I’m going to hurt you or something?”

  “You have been outspoken against my methods in the past.”

  A glance at Seeyela—luckily, she was back to staring at the roof like she was trying to contact the Black Gate within the last sun—then back to the construct. “I’m not the only one,” Hiral finally said. “You don’t have a great record of having our best interests at heart.”

  “And I should believe you have my best interest at heart?”

  “Not at all,” Hiral said. “I’m definitely doing this for the greater good. The difference is, what I’m doing isn’t going to hurt or risk you. And, if you do refuse, I’ll honor those wishes. I can always send a few clones with similar equations to where Sera is. It’ll just take longer.”

  “How will using me make things faster. This unit is not with Designation: Sera.”

  “No, but the two units are connected,” Hiral said. “Like P3W P3W was back in the dungeon. I can use that.”

  The PIMP didn’t immediately respond, it’s static face staring up at Hiral. “I accept your proposal,” it finally said.

  “Good, thank you,” Hiral said, standing at the same time Hundred Handed burst from his back. No sooner had they appeared, than the eight spectral limbs were already working. Energy glowing at the tips of the fingertips scarred the air as he wrote. Within seconds, a dome forged of light and complex runic equations surrounded the little construct. The different rings making up the dome gently rotated in opposite directions, letting Hiral review—and in some cases correct—his work, before he nodded.

  “And there we… go!” he finished, tapping the air, which condensed the entire script down to envelop the construct’s body. With the lines glowing like Hiral had just given the crystal a PIM of its own, the instructions of his work instantly bridged out across the strand of Connection and invested all three PIMP units with the same measurement abilities.

  “Energy, Attraction, Absorption, and Dreaming will help you detect and measure the runic energy,” Hiral explained. “A little bit of Connection is in there if you find anything specific you want to measure, while Piercing should help you investigate the space within the Black Gate without actually entering yourself. Sera, I’ve also set up some other lines of Connection to seek out your Mediums, linking up that sensory suite you mentioned.

  “I trust your sensors,” he looked down at the somewhat-glowing PIMP construct, “can do the rest?”

  “Correct,” the PIMP said. “With the additions to allow me to directly measure runic energy, my own equipment can do the calculations and record the results for review.”

  “Then it sounds like we’re all ready to go,” Nivian said.

  “Before that,” Wule said. “This place feels… strange. It’s been like an itch I can’t quite reach, but two of my lanterns aren’t normal. Seeyela said the Black Gates feel muted, well, my lanterns feel the same.”

  “Which two lanterns?” Yanily said.

  “The life and death lanterns,” Wule said. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say something is blocking them. Both of them. I didn’t think that was possible, and it makes me nervous.”

  “Any idea what it means?” Seena said.

  “None. So, be careful.”

  “It was already on the list,” Loan said.

  “It was,” Nivian agreed. “Let’s go.”

  “Everybody,” Hiral said. “The Raze—whatever they are—are bound to figure out we’re here eventually. Keep communicating, and let everybody know what you find. Once we have more information, we’ll decide our next steps.”

  “Understood,” Nivian and Ilrolik both said.

  “Now then,” Hiral said once the raid chat went quiet. “I’ll take us up above the clouds so Seeyela can get her advanced class, then we can use our mounts to follow the runic energy.”

  “Perfect,” Seena said, looking over at her sister. “Time for advanced class number two.”

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