"Is that a rocket launcher?" Alex asked, dropping her spoon in mid-soup scoop, her voice sounding intrigued. I couldn't say I blamed her either, she was my daughter after all, and had inherited a lot of my technology interests. I hadn't seen any tech like it used yet, so where the hell had Mel gotten it?

"I believe so. Though Mel has special ammunition for it," Grant replied.

"Sure as hell do. Wait, did anyone tell ya about yer System storage?" Mel asked, eyeing Grant.

"My what?" Grant replied, looking confused.

"Yeah, well, guess we forgot some things in this rapid approach, almost worse than what we all did ta Dave. Just think about a place in yer head, a closet, or something like it, and then try thinking about the launcher being it," Mel explained. Moments later, the weapon vanished, signaling Grant's success. It seemed we officially had a fourth person from Earth with a core. Or was it a fifth? Sanquar's quest would suggest that possibility,

"How exactly is this going to help us? Correct me if I'm wrong here, but he's pretty under-leveled to be any real help," Yorela said.

"Wait, is that Lightning Cannon? You didn't have that class hidden away in the Archives this whole time, did you?" Quarilyn followed up with two of her own questions, not sounding happy with them.

"Thought ya might recognize one. Ya weren't half bad as an Arena fighter yerself," Mel said with a devious smile.

"Okay, not that this isn't a common occurrence, but I feel lost again. I'm glad to add Grant to our ranks, but Yorela has a point. How is this going to help?" I asked. I was sure Mel had a good answer, but I wanted to hear it.

"His level ain't as important here as ya'd think. Normally yeah, there's be a big issue trying some shit like this. But I just happen ta have a stockpile of ammo made by some people much more skilled than him. Now we're gonna want ta be careful not ta use it all, as it might be all that still exists, and Dave is gonna have ta learn to make more, but it should get us home combined with some other fighting," Mel said, still smiling.

"Why do you think I'll be able, no, ignore that. We can deal with that later. Okay, what else are we going to need to do to get out of here? We are running out of time, and we still have a city to pack up," I said. I had no idea how he expected me to just start building new ordinance for Grant, but that really was a problem for a different day. Right now, we needed to get things loaded and prepared for our fight out of here.

"It's already started. That's part of why I wanted you all here for this dinner. You've done more for us than we can possibly ever repay, and yet you still plan to do even more. I need you to understand that once we are on your planet, we are truly in your debt," the mayor said with complete sincerity in his words.

"We're likely still going to need to help. I've never seen any sort of mass evacuation go well. Tomorrow I want to start a full door-to-door search. We need to make sure no one is accidentally getting left behind. While that's going on, a lot of people are likely going to be displaced. Especially since every time we clear a building, it will be important that we seal it off. John, I want you to work with Glunderlin to make sure we have communal food stations set up," Pryte said.

"I know you were working on getting a list of everyone who lives here. How far did that go?" I asked, looking at the mayor.

"Reasonably well, at the very least, we have two thousand and seven names. There may be more than that, but it's a starting point," he replied.

"Good, we start there. I'll work with Alex here tomorrow. I want Gamma's manifested form here as well, so we can easily keep in contact. Alpha, Maud, and Dave are to be in separate groups as we work on this. Glunderlin, I assume, based on what I've seen, none of your people are communication specialists, so when we get back to Earth, we are going to need to raise up a few. I'm tired of having to rely on Dave's connection," Pryte said.

"No, this city was only just starting to get any specialists at all, and we focused first on guards, construction, and crops," he replied. Those words were magic to my ears, even if they were currently a problem here. Those were the kind of people we needed back home.

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"Well, that's good news for later, but not so good right now. Everyone who has any sort of driving experience is to go with Timon tomorrow. I don't want to try to repeat how we got the fleet here, and we need them up to speed for the return trip. Does anyone have any other questions?" Pryte asked, looking around the table.

No one answered, which I was sure wasn't exactly honest, but the reality was the questions could be held until the task at hand was done. It was better to take this in steps first anyway. Tomorrow we'd work through getting everyone checked off the lists and add anyone we found missing. I took a few last bites of my food, quickly polishing off the rest. I was going to need to try more of their dishes in the future. The last one had been amazing.

"Is there somewhere that we can sleep? I want to be ready to start early tomorrow," I said as I pushed my plate and bowl toward the center of the table.

"There are rooms set up on the second floor. I figured it would be easiest if you all stayed here," the mayor answered, his own food bowl sitting emptied as well.

"Perfect, I'm exhausted," I said as I stood up, followed by a few others. I apparently wasn't the only one. Not everyone followed, though, as I heard small talk resume around the table. One of the Glunderlin's people showed me to a smaller room with a bed, and soon I was fast asleep.

***

"Dave, wake up." Corey's voice cut through my sleep-fogged mind, and I snapped awake. I was lying on a cold stone floor, and as I sat up, I spotted everyone who shared the soul chat with me. Why were the dreams still happening if we had rescued Karlinovo?

"Everyone, wake up now!" I yelled, glad for Corey's voice in my own head.

"Where are we? Has the empire been invaded?" Beta's voice cut in, questioning from somewhere nearby.

"Interesting," a distant new voice said. There was an odd warmth to it.

"Yes, and just what exactly do you find so interesting?" Karlinovo yelled back.

A small, frail-looking ancient man appeared. He adjusted his glasses slightly and then began to answer. "Even collectively, I don't see how you all had the power to form a soul realm. And to make this all the stranger, if I'm reading these mana signatures correctly, and I'm sure that I am, it would seem that you were the originator of this realm, and somehow much weaker than you are now when you did this." He pointed to me as he said this.

It sounded like he was complimenting us, but despite that, I didn't like this at all. I hated being forced into these situations against my will, and no matter how many times they happened, that hadn't remotely changed. This was just like the two who had stolen Corey and me for a conversation. I wanted answers.

"Who are you, and why are you here?" I asked, trying to put a threatening edge to my voice. I wasn't sure I succeeded.

"Oh, apologies. I don't mean any harm. I was just traveling the various soul nexuses, and spotted this new realm as it moved through universes. I'm guessing from your question, then, that this was an accidental creation, yes?" they replied.

"Yes, and you didn't really answer either of my questions," I said, my annoyance growing with every word. Maud and Karlinovo had moved closer to me. They looked to be just as unnerved as I was. The fact that Karlinovo was as well, added to my own worry.

"Ah, yes, quite fair. Apologies again, I so rarely interact with people on this level anymore. My name is Otis, and I am a chronicler. Currently, I am exploring the soul pathways, and yours caught my attention. I would recommend you work on strengthening this place somewhat if you want to avoid further intrusion. Not that there are many that will be interested. Soul realms aren't exactly a common area of study," he replied.

"Otis? I've read that name before. Interesting. But more to the point, I think I speak for Dave and everyone here when I say we have no idea how to do what you've suggested. I am an incredibly learned man, and even I have never heard of soul realms," Karlinovo replied. He took a step closer to the man as he spoke.

"Yes, I am starting to realize I may have accidentally caused a bit of a stir by my appearance. Once again, I do apologize, and as much as it may seem like I don't mean it, I do. It's just as I said, this type of communication isn't something I regularly do anymore. Hmm, to be clear, I've never gotten to witness a soul realm in this new of a state before, so perhaps I can offer you some help," he replied, his voice growing gentler.

"What kind of help?" I asked.

"Building up this realm, sealing it from intruders, that kind of thing. You're likely pretty safe right now, but as it grows, you will gain attention from others, and few are just interested in chronicling as I am," he replied.

"What would you want in return?" I asked. I doubted he was entirely willing to do this for free, and even if he had been, I had zero trust for someone yet again invading my dreams.

"I want to see how it grows, the paths it makes, all the fun little things no one else has ever cared to record," he replied.

I started to answer before Karlinovo cut me off. "We accept. And Dave, before you yell at me, I just remembered who he was. Trust me, we accept. I'll explain later."

"Good, good, I'll circle back when I have some more free time then. See you all soon," Otis said before vanishing.

Why do so many of the charged mana nebulas seem to be uninhabited? Why has no one ever managed to fully chart one? What strangeness lies within their core? Chaotic space is full of so many mysteries and so many oddities that we may never learn the true depth of it all. But I will continue to try.

Otis, a Chronicler of the Odd

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