Aras being a bit of a foodie surprised me but he explained a lot about local cuisine and how they achieved certain flavors without a lot of spices.

In very short sentences.

It had also been a bit of an adjustment period recently because Pitola actually had a thriving spice trade with the neighboring kingdom – a place ruled by a group of Merchant Kings called The Monetary Might – until whatever happened to create the null zone. But Velez wasn't wealthy so they adjusted quickly instead of paying significantly higher prices. Even a few local rifts changed and were found to be useful for a slightly earthy salt and something that mimicked spicy but didn't leave any lingering burn.

Five silvers lighter— loaned from Aras as no one could break a gold— and nearly stressing a groaning table with the amount of food and drink we had delivered, Aras sat across from me.

How do you get information from a laconic man?

Consultant survival tip #288: Sometimes those who say the least know the most. Figuring out how to extract it from them is crucial. They are the ones who watch and learn. Or sometimes they are just boring AF or dull. Often, they can be your greatest source of information if you can unlock it.

"So, how much do you know?" Aras took a sip of a bright orange drink in a tankard and then a big slurp out of a supposedly shared soup pot.

I think he can just have that one.

Having learned my lesson, I didn't respond with a joke. "On what topic? I assume this is about Dahlia?"

At a nod, I continued. "I know she tinkered with my bracelet. I know she had a device she pulled from a spatial storage device. I can guess at a few things too. The first is that some of what she did was non-standard. The look you gave her when she collected the bracelets before we left said that was odd. Same for the amount of time she spent on changing the bracelets. I think you looked oddly at the device she pulled from storage too. Let's go over those one by one?"

Don't question avalanche but also don't fact avalanche.

"Everything you said was correct. But what do you know about the man waiting for us when we exited?"

"Gabor? I—"

"No. Ratmir."

"The disheveled guy? Nothing. I have never seen him nor heard his name. You know about my situation, right?"

"You are new in town. And you have caused a minor political disturbance. Or three. Beyond that, no."

I figured since people like Tilda knew, it was going to get out anyway so I wagered that the risk of talking about it was low. "So, I am not just new in town, I am new to Putijama. Prior to two days ago, I was on my home planet and was summoned here. This body is essentially the same – a copy as far as I can tell – as someone who made a rather large and presumably political disturbance in Zalano at least. Essentially my existence is the disturbance, not anything I've done."

"Ah, so that explains some strange actions. And lack of knowledge. But that is not what I was asking about. I was asking about Ratmir and his research. His recent null essence research."

What strange actions? I am completely normal thank you very much.

"Again, I know nothing about it. I think someone – maybe Gabor or Risto – mentioned something about null essence purification or something? But it was about the same time they beat me senseless for a few hours so it's all a bit hazy. What can you tell me?"

"Not much." I literally laughed out loud and he smiled back, showing genuine mirth before the mask of indifference returned. "I don't know much beyond research is happening. And most of what I do know, I am not allowed to share. Nor would I. My understanding of it is currently low. I do not like speaking out of turn."

"Or at all." Whoops, that one was out loud.

He gave a small chuckle. "Yes, I know. In my youth, running my mouth landed me in trouble. Often. I have rectified that shortcoming. At least to the best of my ability. There are often repercussions to my words.

"Back to the research. Ratmir has been researching ways to remove null essence from the rifts. Probably not from the rift itself but the essence gained from the monsters. To sort out the null from the good. Sorry, I know null is good for you." I waved a hand to show I didn't care and started sampling a few dishes. They were pretty good, especially a sweet one with a spicy kick.

"He informed the Council last week he was close to human testing. But his solution was deemed very unsafe for some reason. They rejected human trials. That's all I know. But I suspect Dahlia may have tested it for him. Without your consent."

I nodded as it all made sense. Everything felt fine in the rift but if she screwed up my cultivation, I am going to be pissed. More pissed.

I was already very upset that I might have been an unwilling participant but she would pay for any damage. I wasn't going to take this lying down.

"So, how do I fight back? What do you recommend?" Wait, why is he helping me… "Before we get into that, don't you two work together?"

"Not if I can help it. I think the same goes for her. Dahlia is awful and is probably the nicest of her family. But most of all, I lost my son to unethical tests. My uncle assented without our knowledge. Slaying him did little to salve the pain. If it wasn't ready, it was a monstrous thing she did. Even if it was, not informing you… If my hunch is right, I would slay her today if I could." His anguished face slowly receded to his stoic, blank one.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you. I'm extremely grateful for your help though, so let's get to scheming. And eating."

***

Over one bell later, I left and said my goodbye to Aras. After we talked about Dahlia I asked about the kids and their numbers when it came to Innate Capabilities. In Velez, each number was specific to green essence affinity falling into three brackets for sub-affinity: control of/using plants as weapons, life and revitalization, and growth of plants. The kid who was so upset was going to be an excellent farmer but that just wasn't very exciting.

In addition to the extremely useful information on Dahlia and Cap, he taught me how to change my AAI to automatically broadcast out my translation requests to anyone with an AAI in range. It was not exactly illegal, at least in Velez, but it was generally considered poor form. I needed to download a few hacks to get it to work correctly but now, anyone with an AAI would get a request for temporary connection when they came into range.

Six random people connected as I walked through the halls.

Aras sent me his contact details via AAI and told me how to get in touch with him, including logging on to the Planet Web to send a message. I was so used to Earth technology passively sending me information, I hadn't thought to actually connect and wasn't logged in at all times. Each minute cost me some of my prepaid access after all.

Upon connecting, I had four messages, three very recent and increasingly worried and/or angry ones from Gabor and what looked like a drunk email from Ivan.

The last one from Gabor read: [Terry, I need to speak with you urgently! Meet me at the Hall of the Council. We need your testimony. If Aras is in on it and holding you captive, I need to know. Reply immediately!]

I swerved back to the town hall and sat on a bench, figuring out how to send a message.

Universal survival tip #17: Don't walk and text. London literally needed to put pads on poles because people kept walking into them and breaking their noses.

[Sorry, didn't think to check for messages. Was speaking with Aras, he's not in on it. At least I would wager on that. Will make my way to Hall of the Council immediately. See you soon.]

I pulled up a map of the city and began navigating, staying connected in case of Gabor's reply. Helpfully, that meant I could use the AAI real-time navigation feature which gave me arrows of where to go as I walked. Even if it was only seven blocks away.

Still, pretty useful. And cool.

Gabor was standing outside, looking anxious and talking to Ratmir who looked as pleased as punch.

"Terry, what the hell? I sent for you over a bell ago! The tribunal is already over and Dahlia was acquitted!" His anger slowly drained and was replaced with concern. I was touched. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I have my theories… Ratmir, are you available to speak further? Maybe in a more secure location?" I didn't want to reveal too much about Aras and what he'd said, certainly not in the open and probably not to Ratmir.

His beady, slightly wild red eyes swung to me, taking me in. It was a full minute before he spoke. "What'd you say?" he asked, digging a disgusting pinky into his ear.

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I sent him a specific AAI translation request and asked the same question.

"Sure," he said in a chipper and far higher-pitched voice than I'd expected. "My tower?"

Great, another laconic one. I guess better than draconic? Eh, 3/10 on that joke Terry.

I looked to Gabor. "Uh Ratmir, can Gabor and I speak alone for a little bit and then either follow you there or meet you, assuming Gabor knows where you mean?"

"Heh, should have done that before the translation request." He gave a little wink. "I'll see you there. Be there <four minutes> or less after I arrive or I shall start work on something else." He walked off at a leisurely pace.

"Ratmir, it's that direction," Gabor said, quickly putting a hand on his shoulder and pointing 90 degrees from where he was going. Without a word, Ratmir pivoted and started walking.

Whispering, I said, "Okay, Aras thinks Dahlia did some kind of experiment on me relative to essence purification. What is our play here? Ratmir is the lead researcher, is he in bed with Dahlia?"

At a horrified look, I clarified. "It just means working together, not literally sleeping together."

"I still need a rundown of what actually happened and what we know. Because I didn't have a witness." His anger flared again. "Sorry… without a witness, I was unable to even get Dahlia to produce the contents of her spatial storage necklace. She did flop out a dead reptilian fast stalker for emphasis which the Council blamed me for. They even charged me a cleaning fee!"

They really are awful at naming things here.

"Focus," I said calmly. "Is time of the essence? How do we deal with Ratmir? What should and shouldn't we say?"

"He doesn't care about much other than his research. His ethics are terrible which is why the Council keeps him on a generally tight leash. Let him examine you – yes even the invasive scan – with no resistance and he'll essentially tell you anything you want to know. But that means don't tell him anything you don't want others to know as it's exactly the same for them."

"Okay but what is this intensive scan? And what shouldn't I tell him?" I asked.

Gabor shrugged then smirked. "He always has some scan he wants to run and it's different every time. You have to make the call on what's good to keep to yourself. I didn't have any juicy knowledge for him so I kept him talking about his research, trying to figure out how close they were to some solution to the null issues. If they hurt your cultivation…" He ground his teeth so hard it was audible.

"Thanks Gabor, I appreciate your concern."

"Look kid, you really do represent a potential boon – or at least a reprieve from awful – for this city. Just look at Risto's reaction. I personally want you to be able to thrive – that freedom is important to me. But it was also incredibly stupid and arrogant, not just awful, for them to experiment on you without better safeguards in place. And permission. I don't think Ratmir was truly involved but we'll need to get that from him."

Five minutes later, we caught up to Ratmir just as he was entering his 'tower'. It was pretty much what someone from Earth would draw if the prompt was 'terrible and physics-defying tower on top of a large, squat shack'.

The S-curve in the tower portion must make it hard to use.

"Wait, why are you here?" Ratmir asked as I kept the door from closing behind him. Then he burst out into a laugh and gestured us in.

The interior was a junk collector's dream with devices strewn about on shelves and in barrels and baskets throughout the space. Some looked rather normal like a propellor or a shield but a lot looked either esoteric or like just plain scraps of destroyed devices.

It was surprisingly nice smelling, the scent of baking bread and a nice tea wafting through the air to contrast with the visual.

"So, did it work?" he said as we sat on his floral-print loveseat.

"Can you be more specific?" I asked.

"Well, I assume that girl did… huh, how do I talk about this with my AAI-backed guarantee to not…? How about you say what you think happened and we'll go from there?" He gave a smile and bit down on his teacup instead of the dry biscuit in his other hand.

After seven different misstarts to the conversation, we found our track.

"So, the research you are doing, it isn't about purifying at all, is it?" I asked. "It's about concentrating which essence goes to which bracelet. So instead of a filter, it's separating based on the affinity. So you alter the bracelet to increase the attraction to a certain kind of affinity?"

"Yes, yes, horrible but interesting work. Was a real awful business getting enough null essence into someone to extract it for this." Holding up a hand at Gabor, he continued, "They were informed and consented. And were well compensated. Some man crippled in a dungeon near the peak of Tier 2 so it didn't cost him much. Was a pity, he concentrated his essence better than I've seen in years. He really could have been something. Maybe now he can afford the healing… Sorry, where was I? Oh yes, you were going to let me run a few scans on you to understand your affinity better. That was the trade, no take backs!"

He moved surprisingly fast, jumping from seated to behind his chair, picking up multiple objects that looked like medieval torture devices before finding a simple looking amulet. He sniffed it then licked it. "Yup, this should be the one."

"Should be?" I asked.

"Oh don't be a baby, at most it would cost you a pinky if it was the deatomizer. So, this goes over your neck and this," he pulled a needle as long as my arm, "goes into your stomach where your metaphysical core is."

I went to shout as he looked to be turning something on.

"Wait, no, I changed it, you just need to wear the amulet. Yes, yes."

Looking to Gabor who only gave me a shrug, I took the device. "You have run this by the Council and they approved?"

He took a minute to think then snatched it from my hand and threw it around his own neck. Pressing the glowing blue gem on the center, a white light emerged and layer by layer, we could see his internals.

It's like some kind of medical imaging from Earth. I wonder if it is more like an MRI, a CT scan, or something entirely different. I'd bet on CT. X-rays seem easier to pull off and nothing is flying towards him. Then again, magic.

He let out a giggle as the light reached his groin and Gabor and I both looked away, though probably a second too late for both of us from Gabor's horrified visage.

"See, perfectly safe. Your turn. Or no more information. I don't deal with people who go back on information trade agreements. Or with people wearing hats."

Once I used the device, Ratmir took it from me and started examining it and muttering to himself. He shuffled over to another device and smushed the amulet into it, rather haphazardly.

"Interesting!" he called excitedly, coming back to sit in his rocking chair. "Your null affinity was done on purpose somehow. Almost like your body was built to work with null essence. Ha, you weren't built in a lab were you?" He held his stomach laughing with mirth.

Gabor gave me a shrug and I considered. My origin isn't really a secret so I'll just tell him not to give the information away without a trade that will also help me.

"Okay, proposal. I will tell you about my origin and you will not tell anyone else about it unless the information they trade will help me. And that you will promptly send me that information. You will not take an AAI-backed guarantee to not share that information from this agreement. Deal?"

"Deal!"

After the brief explanation that I was a consciousness from another world and put into this body, Ratmir exploded in anger, pointing at Gabor and then the door. "You kurac-wads let this Barry character do really cool human experiments but I have to get permission every time! This is utter <redacted>! I swear, this town doesn't deserve my genius! I should just go wherever he is!"

"Ratmir, please calm down. He wasn't allowed to do this, he simply did it. And then he had to move to a different kingdom lest he face the consequences," Gabor said placatingly.

Pretty sure that's a lie but it has elements of truth. And that sarange is close in meaning to bullshit.

He crossed his arms and huffed. Then made a gesture for me to go on.

I tried to put us back on track. "It seems like you had the concentration filter or attraction working to a degree. Why were they not willing to go to human trials?"

"Null essence hurts. I had to absorb some to show the test subjects I understand but mostly purified null essence feels like someone is scraping the life out of every single one of your physical veins while also doing it to your metaphysical veins. It was one of the most profoundly uncomfortable experiences of my life and I'm Tier 5 and this was Tier 1 essence. We theorized that pure null essence, in significant enough quantities, might just kill a Tier 1 cultivator. At the very least, those without a null essence affinity – or maybe a year or more of tolerance build-up from living close to the heart of the null essence zone – would probably sustain damage to their cultivation."

"THAT <redacted>! I am going to kill her! She easily could have killed him. And for what, a few weeks advancement in research? You knew she was going to do this?!" Gabor was literally hopping mad, pacing back and forth and jumping around.

"Well, I'm not sure how much time she might – nope, can't get too much into that. I have no explicit understanding of what she did and I can't talk about much. She did take… something… from my lab this morning but that's about all the detail I can get into. I had no idea she might consider using it as that would potentially put my research at risk and that would be extremely stupid on my end.

"I don't want the Council taking away my toys and also. I WASN'T THERE! I didn't get to see, to live test, to interview, to know. What kind of monster does that to someone? To take away their ability to learn something so fascinating…"

Ratmir took a second to compose himself. "Now, boy, tell me everything about what happened and what you felt. It looked like it was actually good for you and that you got far more essence than most come back with from the ceremony."

I spent a few minutes describing how the small amount of taint – presumably the green essence for me – felt but that overwhelmingly, absorbing the essence felt great. Even better in some ways, just far less impactful, than my own Core Ignition in Zalano. Like the essence was just right. Soon Ratmir was flitting around with his giant needle like it was his dance partner in his arhythmic shuffling.

"But that means it worked! We'll have to try it further but it might be what we're waiting for! You are going to have your dance card full. Just don't get any idea, I'm taken by Brunhilda here," he said letting out a cackle and picking up his dancing pace.

I could have done without the hip gyrations.

Looking to Gabor, my friend explained, "If you can handle the essence, we might be able to prevent the overflows. An unattended Tier 1 rift will usually break after six to nine months. Some that weren't that well delved before the null essence zone formed already have broken. But if they all start breaking, constant attacks on the walls will drain our resources and any traveling merchants won't want to come this way. The rampaging beasts will probably decimate the farms too and/or people will be too afraid to work. And that's just the Tier 1 rifts…

"Basically, if we can't get an effective strategy to combat this, things are going to get FAR worse soon." He looked more sad and resigned than scared and I guessed that was because he'd probably be relatively safe with being at least a Tier 4.

This is what I've been waiting for. It's a strong potential point of leverage. I need to plan out a strategy around this but we need far more information. It would be really bad to proclaim I am the solution to the problem when it was a single test. Still, I think we roll the dice.

It's also easy to see this putting me in chains, whether golden or not. Just sticking me in every delve and advancing me too fast, ruining my foundations? If I am simply higher Tier but without the ability to do anything, to fight, how does that help me?

Not trying to challenge the heavens but building something I can actually protect is crucial here. And something I want to protect.

"Let's talk more about the Dahlia situation later?" I said quietly to him and at a nod, I turned back to Ratmir. "I have another trade to propose: I will participate further in your research if you give me information. Everyone keeps telling me to not worry about spells and skills until I am at least Tier 1.5. Tell me why and how I can reduce the cost of spells and we are onto deal number two."

Gabor gave me a disapproving look but I just gave him my best 'butter won't melt in my mouth' smile I could. I was finally going to figure out what was preventing me from shooting fireballs and flying dammit!

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