‘They aren’t Infected corpses waiting to resurrect as Possessed,’ Ihap reassured the avatars, mistakenly thinking that Pana was referring to the bodies. ‘They’re just dead people, shot in the head. From their appearances, they’re Nova Continenters, probably Cephalians, like most of the original Possessed. The MDEs say that they were sacrificed in order to create the Folded Connection, pivot and stabilize it properly, and maintain its existence; and also for any other number of Sorcerous reasons. Peculiarly many of them seemed to have been partially eaten.’

‘It’s not the corpses,’ Pana averred. ‘I can recall a battle in the Dark War when some Possessed suddenly attacked through an Insertion portal.’ She shrugged. ‘Anyway, you should be able to handle the Possessed.’

‘What are the MDEs arguing about?’ Lili inquired. ‘Their Seals are glowing and they look very nervous.’

‘A minute ago, the MDEs detected a Sorcerer’s Call directed toward the portal. That’s why I called you all up. What could they be calling?’

‘Probably Possessed Kindred,’ Pana replied speculatively.

Silent horned figures shot out of the portal, answering Ihap’s question and belying Pana’s speculation. The Dalokistani Black Berets began firing at them. The MDEs’ avatars began engaging them in close combat.

The hologram abruptly shifted to Ihap’s face. ‘It’s a trap! Sisters, help! We’re in trouble.’

Tahum was gasped. ‘Darklings! Dozens of them! Ihap can easily take out Vampires, but not these demons.’

Lili’s tabcom rang again, this time in the encrypted DATA comband channel. It was Walay.

‘Priority Event!’ Walay was practically shouting the DATA word for ‘Drop everything, take a look at this.’ A second hologram sprang on their tabcoms. The view showed the interior of a large hall in an ancient pagoda in the Daan Unitemple ruins from Walay’s position at an entrance. Darklings were entering from various doors and windows, sprinting across the floor, and disappearing into a translucent column near the middle of the hall.

‘A minute ago, Huna suddenly yelled, first time I’ve heard her do so, that another Folded Connection was being pivoted in this pagoda in order to lend it stability, and rushed in here. We followed. As we arrived, so did several darklings. As you can see, they’re ignoring us.’

Huna, who was beside Walay, spoke up. ‘Construction of this second Connection Tunnel was begun a few days ago, but was so unstable that it was barely detectable and couldn’t have been usable. My fellow monks and I determined then it has several ephemeral Insertions, mostly to various places in these ruins, a portal in the South Continent, and another one in the Eastern Antigua Trough region. A few minutes ago, we monks perceived it pivoting in this pagoda, stabilizing, and activating. Immediately after, darklings began appearing from it.’

‘Where is the Origin of the Connection?’ Lili asked.

‘A Dark Realm that’s attached to your Household Boat. Your ship bears in it multiple stable Folded Connections, and often serves as a hinge for various paths through the Tela.’

‘Oisa, Bodhi, Alwana, get to Floor 5,’ Lili yelled into her tabcom. ‘Intercept those darklings!’

In the Dalokistan cavern, the incoming darklings were ganging up on the outnumbered combat avatars, and at the same time methodically spreading themselves throughout the cavern. Their strategy against the avatars was simple and effective. Two of them would rush an avatar simultaneously. The combat avatar would flash into its lightly armored weaponized form, the weapon usually being a short sword. However, at best it would be able to defend against only one of the darklings. Even if the avatar managed to kill an attacker, the other one always got close enough to jab talons, horns, or tail tip into the former’s chest or head. The darklings’ weapons were always powerful and penetrating enough to perforate through a combat avatar’s armor and skin. In short order, every avatar had been terminated.

Ihap swiftly donned her iridescent blue scaled armor, gauntlets, and combat boots. Her hairpin disappeared from her coiffure and reappeared as a polearm tipped by a glittering violet blade in her hands. Two darkling Pawns attacked her simultaneously. It did not work. One darkling ran its head into her polearm; the other one was met by a stiffened gauntleted hand that penetrated deep into its eye, frontal lobe, and midbrain.

Meanwhile the rest of the darklings were ignoring the Dalokistani soldiers and Alogostani presidential Aides that were shooting at them. The bullets just kept on bouncing off their skins. The humans could not use their RPGs because the darklings had deliberately intermingled in close proximity to them. They did not attack the humans, and seemed to be waiting for something.

In the Shield Tower Command Room, Oisa, Bodhi, and Alwana flashed into their winged Aspects, and swiftly flew into the central staircase, down to Room 5.

A darkling Monarch appeared from the portal, a giant made of rippling muscles bound in diamond hard skin the color of midnight. Horns, fangs, talons, hooves, wings, and a twitching tail sporting a bladed tip completed the classic picture of a mind-numbingly terrifying demon. Several of the Dalokistani Black Berets instinctively took a step back. The Demon King looked around the cavern unhurriedly, its gaze stopping at Ihap. It spoke Esperanto in beautiful tenor, tinged with concern.

‘A Sun and Sky combat avatar? The Fifth One never mentioned we’ll be facing them. All officers, help me eliminate it first. The rest, you may start capturing the humans. Kill those who try to resist or escape.’

Three Adepts, two Masters, two Lords, two Princes, a Regent, and the Monarch itself encircled Ihap’s group in the center of the cavern, spacing themselves equidistantly around her. They moved with the grace and power of hungry black panthers.

The lower Dan Pawns began attacking the rest of the party.

Ihap shouted ‘Execute Disremember!’ Inihap leaped at General Kuot, sank her hands, fingers, and nails into his shoulders, and literally threw him into the entrance tunnel. He disappeared from view. A Pawn launched itself on Inihap.

‘Armor up Inihap!’ Elam yelled. She did not. The darkling chomped down on her head, tore it off, and swallowed it.

‘We’re beheading every single one of them as they appear out of the wall,’ Bodhi calmly informed them via her wrist tabcom. ‘Our doble espadas can strike across the narrow Tela curtain that separates the Tunnel from our reality. We can clearly see it now that the Connection is activated and we know what we’re looking for.’

‘I’m going through into their plane and follow them. Let a few of them pass, then interdict the Connection once again,’ Oisa told Bodhi and Alwana. She stepped into the Connection, disappearing from the video feed. To Bodhi and Alwana, Oisa half faded into a golden ghost as she entered the translucent Tunnel, and flew up and through the solid ceiling of Floor 5. To Oisa, the vertically directed Tunnel suddenly reoriented itself into a horizontal passageway. She was flying parallel to the Tunnel’s floor.

Ihap scanned the 11 darklings surrounding her. She assumed the fighting crouch of a cornered warrior determined to take down at least one of her attackers in her final stand. Her dark blue hair flowed down her shoulders like dusk into a starless night. Softly she spoke. ‘It’s the end for me. Til my next life, sisters.’

The Monarch nodded at an Adept. It leaped at Pana. Immediately after, the rest of the darklings jumped for her at the same time, completely ignoring the humans around them.

Oisa surged out of the portal that served as the Insertion of the Folded Connection just as the darklings were tearing up Ihap.

‘Arch Wing!’ the Monarch shouted. Every darkling in the cavern stopped what it was doing and turned to face Oisa.

Cold blue fury shone out of Oisa’s eyes. It grew to cover her head like a brilliant sapphire star. She split her doble espada into two bladed fighting sticks and, wings unfurled, began spinning several feet up the air. Twirling her mono espadas and wings like the propellers of a helicopter, she flew swirling around the cavern, mincing all darklings from Pawn to King alike. The last one alive was the Monarch. It was quick enough to fend off one of the whirring blades with both taloned claws. The impact drove its arms to its right leaving its left side undefended. Continuing her spin, Oisa promptly sliced of its braincase at the level of the brainstem with her stiffened right wing.

Oisa gazed at Ihap’s dissipating remains. ‘Oh, Ihap!’ she cried out. Her incandescent blue halo died down.

Oisa had struck down the darklings so fast that a few of the humans were still left alive, including General Kutkot. Some of the confused surviving soldiers began shooting at her. The slugs just bounced off her skin and wings.

‘Stand down, you fools,’ Kutkot yelled at them. ‘She’s an Arch Wing and she saved our lives.’ He turned to Oisa. ‘Which one are you?’

‘Wing 1 of the Sun and Sky, the Warrior.’ Oisa gave them her official WDF name. She was still looking at the place where Ihap’s bits and pieces used to lay. ‘If you excuse me, I have to do some feeding.’ She whizzed around the cavern once more, nearly too fast for the human eye to see, absorbing the slain darklings’ auras, but not Ihap’s and Inihap’s.

Afterward she went up to General Kutkot, giving him an asian bow. ‘I am an avatar. You will have to talk to Maestra Lili, the present holder of our Seal if you have more questions. I take my leave.’ Without waiting for an answer, she flew into the Insertion point on the ground of the cavern.

Oisa flew through the Connection. It appeared as a cylindrical tunnel. She could perceive that she was in a slightly off tangent plane to mundane Tera. It turned sharply. At the pivot point she could sense the Sayabi Polytemple in Tubo Island. She stepped in.

‘You gals OK?’ she greeted the surprised Walay, Talatala, Sayloha, Arangan, and Huna. To Sayloha and Arangan it appeared that she had stepped into their chamber from the empty air. To the Tamawo Hybrids Walay and Tala, Oisa came out of the translucent column in the pagoda’s center, which was what the Tunnel looked like to them.

‘Yes. Oisa I’m sorry about poor Ihap. Talatala, Sayloha, and Arangan don’t know her; I’ve been telling them about her and the Battle of the Shield. Captain Sugo has copied the entire video of it in my tabcom.’

‘Ihap was a combat avatar. Although not as keen on it as Salig Commandos, her main purpose in life is to die in combat, and she knew that. Let’s self-commiserate later. There’s work to do. Sri Huna what else do you know of this Folded Connection? Why didn’t you inform us that it passes through the Shield?’

‘I apologize. My behavior has limits, Sri Oisa. To obtain the correct answers if it is within the memories of my original self, you must ask me the right questions. No one asked me before how this Folded Connection relates to the Shield.’

‘OK. To my avatar senses, there are two active Folded Connections that travel through this here and now, what we see as the Daan Polytemple ruins, and use it as a hinge or pivot or fulcrum. Connection 1, the older one, Originates from the Trench ruins in Ghetto City in Cephalia, does not pass the Shield, pivots here in the Daan Polytemple, and then proceeds to the Iladistan Trough Region. It’s the one used by the Unitemplists to transfer Possessed from Cephalia to Antigua Continent.’

‘Connection 2, the new one, Originates from the Dark Realm Connected to Floor 5, goes up through the Shield’s Tower and out of the staircase on top of Elam’s flight deck quarters, then pivots here in the Daan Polytemple and splits at the same time into multiple Insertion Branches. We didn’t sense it before because it was inactive and we weren’t looking for it. It’s the one where the present darklings are coming from. It’s been tweaked with pretty powerful Sorcery. Most of the Insertions are constantly disappearing and reappearing elsewhere.’

‘Another stable Branch Inserts somewhere in the South Continent, not surprising as the Tela is thin in that area. The others Insert into various thin Tela points within the grounds of this Polytemple complex; and these are the ephemeral ones. The darklings that followed these ended up in these ruins, but then reentered the Folded Connection in the same way I did, stepping off tangent to our reality, and subsequently proceeded to the stable portal in Alogostan, attracted by the Sorcerer’s Call. Those were the darklings Walay and company fought. Sri Huna do you and your fellow ghosts detect any darkling anywhere around this Temple complex? There may be a few left here.’

‘None, Sri Oisa. If there were, you would have sensed them too.’

‘Any news on darkling attacks in South Continent?’ Tukib queried in their tabcoms.

‘None.’ It was Captain Sugo in the Shield Tower Command Room. ‘The computers here are programmed to monitor the internet for any news of darkling attacks anywhere in Tera. No news yet.’

‘Nothing else much to do here in this temple,’ Oisa announced. ‘I’m going back to the Shield.’ She stepped into the Tunnel in the pagoda and seconds later showed up in Room 5. She began helping Bodhi and Alwana interdict the darklings.

Lili suddenly spoke up. ‘The north bound train is about to take off in a few minutes. I’m getting in. I’m dropping off at the Trench ruins. A trained MDE can close a Folded Connection by closing either an Insertion or an Origin; the other end automatically shuts down too. Although opening one is very difficult, closing a Connection is simpler, requiring a closure spell, similar to the ones MDEs use in ending a darkquake. After we close the relatively simple Connection 1, all we have to worry about is Connection 2, and it’s going to be a problem.’

‘Why is that?’ Elam queried.

‘Because Connection 2 Originates in a Dark Realm, and possesses multiple ephemeral reoccurring Insertions. In order to close it, MDEs have to find and shut down all of the Insertions at the same time, including the one that must be somewhere in the jungles of the South Continent. The other alternative is going into the Dark Realm where the Origin is, and risk meeting thousands of friendly neighborhood Demons.’

‘Why not just inform the WDF about this? They can always send in other MDEs to close Connection 1,’ Elam suggested.

Lili turned to him. ‘It turns out that this is the DATA mission I was assigned with, to figure out how the Alogostani terrorists were recruiting Possessed and to stop it. We will be able to score political points with President Tagas, which is good for the legal existence of the Sun and Sky.’

No one objected to that.

‘The Unitemplist Cooperative must be fully alerted by now. We might meet some kind guard unit at the Trench ruins. I’m going with you,’ Pana declared. She eyed the others clinically. ‘As avatars with superior strength and reflexes, Tahum, Tukib, Lupad could act as back-up in case we encounter hostiles. So can Abtic as a Werewolf, who will have the added advantage of being able to neutralize human enemies. You four ought to come with us. Lingaw as a Succubus would not be of much use in a combat situation; Elam and Aya in her Locked human form would be quite vulnerable to getting injured or killed. You three better stay here.’

Minutes later the train left, with Lili, Pana, Tahum, Tukib, Lupad, and Abtic on it. Aya, Elam, and Lingaw remained in the eatery, drinking coffee.

‘Lupad, Pana you go ahead,’ Lili ordered. Lupad sprouted his stubby blue wings and flew down. Pana transformed into her armored form and simply jumped down nearly a hundred feet after him. ‘Clear!’ Lupad called out from the bottom. The others made their way down the narrow winding path like slithering lizards in the rapid manner of avatars.

Once the avatars were in the bottom of the trench, Pana scampered into the cave, with Lupad hovering above and Abtic covering the cave’s entrance. The remaining avatars stationed themselves up and down the trench.

Their caution proved unnecessary. The trench and the cave were empty.

Even moving as rapidly as a Tamawo could, it took Lili a few minutes more to catch up with them. She entered the cave and didn’t waste any time. ‘I’m starting the Closure spell. I’ve trained in it with Guru Duro, but I haven’t done it myself before. It could take me half an hour or more.’ She began to chant softly in front of the glyph-covered pillar that used to mark the entrance to the Origin.

‘Why is the Origin Portal now in the middle of the cave?’ Tukib asked. ‘The marker, the stone column Lili is talking to, is still beside the left wall.’ All their tabcoms’ lantern lights were turned on at maximum, helping to illuminate the cave’s interior.

Lingaw in the café overheard him in her tabcom. ‘Kindred lore dating back to the Dark War speculates that Folded Connections respond to sentient beings that perceive them. You avatars in the Trench cave probably subconsciously wish to see it in a convenient place, like in the middle of the cave. So that’s where it is. I’m not sure why Maestra Lili is acting as though it were still beside the pillar. Maybe that’s where she senses it. Maybe it’s in both places at the same time. It does not matter since for her Closure spell to work, all that’s required is that she be at a place a few meters from the Connection’s Portal where she can sense it with her Seals.’

‘But that’s so weird,’ Elam began. He got interrupted.

A van zoomed in front of the eatery where Aya, Elam, and Lingaw sat. A dozen masked and armed men burst out and entered. Customers screamed and took cover. The men went up to their table. The huskily built leader aimed his pistol at Aya. The rest aimed theirs at Lingaw. No one bothered with Elam.

‘Oh s__t,’ Tahum softly said in the cave of ruins, looking at her tabcom. ‘They’ve been trailing the Ghetto City team. What do we do now Lili?’

Lili did not respond. She kept on her chanting.

‘That’s her. Grab her,’ the leader ordered, looking at his tabcom. ‘Control says that the avatars have left her and are in the Trench. Now’s the time.’

One of the men went up behind the hapless Aya and pistol whipped her on the head. She slumped over unconscious on the table.

‘No!’ Elam yelped. Lingaw looked on frustrated. There were a dozen pistols aimed at her head. The kidnappers clearly knew she was Parahuman.

The largest kidnapper grabbed Aya, slung her over his shoulders, and carried her out into the van.

‘What about these two?’ One of the men was pointing at Lingaw and Elam.

‘We don’t need them. Leave them.’ He hesitated. ‘Wait. This bitch is an undead demonic foreigner. No one will miss her, not even her Cephalian ilk.’ The leader shot Lingaw point blank in the groin. The Succubus doubled over on her chair in pain. The leader then shot her through the head. Lingaw collapsed onto the floor.

Elam watched them, pale and shivering. The leader eyed him. ‘You’re just a kid.’ He and the rest of the men rushed into the van, which then took off at high speed. Lingaw lay on the floor crumbling into dust.

‘Yudiputa, son of a bitch. He murdered Lingaw! He kidnapped Aya!’ Pana swore loudly, looking at her tabcom. Similar curses could be heard from the other avatars.

It was Captain Sugo in the Shield’s Tower Command Room who responded. ‘She’s in a trance. Once Maestras begin a deep spell, they stop sensing their immediate environment and interrupting them can kill them. OK first we will stay calm and go about this in an objective manner. Elam, get out of there before they change their mind and decide to kidnap you too. There’s an internet shop around the corner. Rent a computer table and call me; I’ll patch you up to the Shield’s Broadcom Encrypted channel. The tabcoms of Aya, Elam, and Lingaw have managed to transmit us a recording of some of their voices, although Aya’s is not working anymore. They must have destroyed it in the van. I will run them into our computers; they could be significant leads.’

‘What about informing the WDF? We may not have the resources to track down Aya. She herself said that an abducted Arch Wing who is about to be Possessed is a danger to Teran security,’ Elam pointed out in, voice trembling.

‘No.’ it was Lupad who responded without hesitation. ‘The WDF may move to implement a search and destroy mission against Aya. Chances are that it won’t work without Oisa, Bodhi, and Alwana. The only beings that can neutralize a rogue Arch Wing are other Arch Wings. In the end it will still be our House that will have to contain Aya. We could end up being ordered to destroy her.’

No one tried to contradict Lupad. Sugo began search protocols in the Shield’s computers and the internet. There was nothing else to do in the next several minutes.

In the Daan Polytemple complex, Walay suggested ‘Let’s go see what’s happening to Connection 1, which Lili is closing right now. Isn’t it just over in the next pagoda?’

‘Yes,’ Huna replied. She led them through a half buried path; and into the rubble-filled pagoda with the ancient engraved stone column.

The translucent cylindrical passageway that was Folded Connection 1 had relocated itself to the center of the pagoda’s ground floor chamber. Walay pointed to it. ‘There it is.’

‘It looks like a column of water trying to twerk,’ Tala observed.

To Sayloha the pagoda was empty.

‘Why can’t we see these Tunnels?’ Sayloha complained.

‘It’s because you and Arangan are human, or Tawo. Tala and I are Dark enhanced Hybrids, not quite fully human, or in other words Tamawo. In many Nations we are considered as Parahuman, just like vampires and werewolves. It’s not a rigid rule though. From what I know a trained human should be able to see these Folds in the Tela.’

‘When I look at it sideways, I can sometimes see it as a shimmering fog in the air,’ Arangan unexpectedly stated, ‘and I’m untrained.’

‘Oh I forget. You could be considered a Hybrid, Arangan. You must still have a lot of darkling blood from your Vampire mom, although not as much as us Tamawo who are nearly 90% darkling,’ Walay speculated.

Quite unexpectedly, vague insubstantial figures began marching through the Tunnel toward the Origin where Lili was.

‘Priority Event! Possessed incoming to your position in the Trench cave!’ Walay shouted into her tabcom, in Offshore Alogostan.

‘By the Tela’s pretty ass, there must be hundreds of them fanged apes and dogs,’ Tala noted. ‘They’re parading in the nude too.’

In Cephalia an ocean away, the avatars listened in surprise to their tabcoms. The ones outside, except Lupad, rushed into the Cave of ruins in order to interdict the Possessed. They spaced themselves apart in order to cover the exit Portal. Abtic morphed into his Werewolf Form. Pana was in her armored Arrowed Aspect. They stationed themselves five meters in front of the Portal. Abtic to Pana’s left looked like a dangerous giant dire wolf; Pana on his right looked like an enchanting teenage girl in tube top and micro mini.

‘Not good,’ Tukib said in a worried voice. ‘The change in Connection 1’s state triggered by Lili’s spell must have been detected by monitoring spells in the Insertion somewhere in the Iladistani Trough Region, which we have never seen yet. It could well be a major armed camp of the Unitemple Cooperative. They’re probably newly raised fledglings if they’re naked like many of the other sacrificed or Maranhig corpses we’ve seen. The Unitemplists seem to routinely confiscate their original clothes and belongings before refitting them in more appropriate clothing, which they haven’t had the time to do.’

‘You mean the Unitemple Cooperative raised an impromptu undead army just to neutralize us? I’m flattered.’ Abtic grinned jovially, showing a mouthful of teeth like steak knives.

‘Watch out!’ Tukib suddenly shouted.

A Dozen Possessed from Antigua burst forth from the Tunnel’s portal, in twos or threes. Pana shot them down as fast as they got out. At a distance of 5 meters from the portal, she had no trouble piercing their heads with her arrow.

There was a pause. Then they came in a rush, died in droves, and kept on coming; vampires, werewolves, trolls, goblins, ghouls, gnomes, gargoyles, and various other unidentifiable monsters - all sorts of creatures nightmares were made of. Scores of them, then hundreds poured out like ants spurting out of a high pressure hose.

Pana remained as calm and concentrated as a bookworm reading her favorite novel. She was acquiring moving targets in a millisecond, reloading at mach one, and shooting at nearly light speed.

In Ghetto City in an internet shop private cubicle, Elam was at a computer table patched up to the Household channel. He was looking at the moving hologram on top of the table in disbelief at Pana’s speed and accuracy, even if he had seen it before. Every time Pana fired a Kindred died. It was a slaughter a magnitude greater than the one in the Buhi City warehouse.

In the cave by the trench, Tahum was looking in disbelief at the idiocy of the Possessed. ‘What morons. They must be acting unthinkingly under a Binding Compulsion. They’re presenting themselves as pretty targets along a narrow corridor. A Salig Commando can easily keep on shooting them down the whole day.’

After the first couple of hundred, some of the Possessed came in wearing tabcoms. ‘Be careful,’ Tahum yelled as a dozen tabcoms fell off disintegrating Kindred carcasses. ‘Whoever is directing them from the far end of the Tunnel knows they have a problem in getting through and is now watching the action through those tabcoms.’

After another hundred fell to Pana’s arrow, the Kindred’s strategy abruptly changed. They came in threes at all times, the maximum the Tunnel could reasonably accommodate. From the avatars’ perspective, the first always went right, the second jumped straight up, and the third turned left the moment they exited the Portal. Pana was fast, but she could not hit all three targets at the same time.

‘Abtic, Lupad cover my left; Tahum, Tukib to my right. Get your pocketknives out. I’ll be able to get most of those threesomes, but a few are bound to escape at the sides. I’ll make sure to always get the jumping jacks in the middle.’

It happened soon. Pana shot up and right, but a third vampire managed to veer off to the avatars’ left just as the next Kindred trio behind her showed up. Pana had to begin shooting the succeeding three, leaving the vampire free. The vampire ran straight into the waiting Abtic, who closed his massive maw on her arm, immobilizing her. The werewolf then slashed at her neck with long talons that nearly decapitated her.

Seconds later, a scampering gnome-like kama-kama darted out on their right. Tahum tackled him down. She grabbed the gnome’s neck, and with a twist snapped it. A minute later, a goblin likewise got out on the right. Tukib punched him on the face. As he stopped dazed, Tukib gave him a viciously lethal karate chop on the neck.

A winged harpy that managed to get free tried a different tactic. She had twisted to their left, but instead of continuing in that direction and into Abtic’s jaws, she abruptly sprang up into the air. Lupad flew after her, arms extended. He struck her abdomen hard in midair with his left fist. They crashed on the floor. Before the harpy could regain her bearings Lupad stuck the longest blade of the pocketknife in his right hand into her temple. It penetrated through the thin squamous temporal bone, and into the temporal lobe and part of the midbrain.

‘Careful!’ Elam exclaimed into his tabcom.

Lupad softly murmured, ‘Don’t worry, Elam. We’re no combat avatars, but we are still avatars, darklings in essence. One on one, we are stronger than any Possessed human.’

For the next quarter hour, Pana shot, Abtic bit; and Tahum, Tukib, and Lupad crushed skulls, snapped necks, and stabbed with pocketknives. After several hundreds more of the Possessed had been slain, the attack momentarily stopped.

Abtic whistled in surprise. ‘They must have fed those Possessed ogres tons of corpses for them to have grown that big. Maybe they’re the ones all those half eaten bodies in the Alogostan cavern were being fed to. The Kindred still have to follow the law of conservation of mass.’

Three pretty young teenage girls, surprisingly attired like Pana in tube top and micro mini, stepped out of the Portal, hands raised in surrender.

‘We wish to talk. Don’t shoot,’ the one on the avatars’ left requested in the plaintive high voice of pubertal adolescents.

Pana paused. ‘Hmm, you’re dressed up. Well, talk.’

The one in the middle opened her mouth. A blast of superheated air blew out of her lungs. It combusted mucus, saliva, and other organic secretions from her respiratory tract and oral cavity, and carbon particles from the slain Possessed drifting in the air, creating a spouting spear of fire. It hit Pana on her face. A transparent helmet and visor resembling that of a race driver’s flashed red around the latter’s head.

‘Santermo!’ Abtic exclaimed.

The girl on their left likewise opened her mouth, and a 3 liter bolt of water, gastric juice and saliva shot forth. The liquid column moved with such rapidity that it struck Pana on her chest with the force of a thrown javelin. The one on their right emitted an intense ultrasonic cone of soundwaves that hit Pana’s abdomen. Her blue armor glowed like cinnabar where she was struck.

‘Naiad, banshee,’ Tukib identified them.

‘Liars,’ Pana declared, unfazed and unmoved behind her helmet and armor. She shot an arrow through their open mouths and into their brainstems in three and a half milliseconds.

‘Idiots,’ Tahum pronounced. ‘The weapon systems of the Enhanced Kindred can’t get through the armor of combat avatars.’

‘We did not know that they had Enhanced Kindred,’ Abtic said in a concerned voice. ‘It takes a great deal of dark energy and powerful Sorcerers to modify a waking fledgling Possessed into one, according to our Ancients’ lore. Many of those dead partially eaten Cephalians we saw in Ihap’s cavern may have been sacrificed in order to make them and feed the Kindred army. This is worrisome.’

The attack commenced anew. This time, human-like figures and a few strange-looking creatures appeared instead of the usual morphed vampires, werewolves, dwarfs, and giants. Pana shot them down as fast as she could, before they could display any enhanced abilities. The few that did get away immediately bumped into the waiting avatars and Abtic at the sides of the Portal, and were terminated in short order.

Only once did an Enhanced evade the cordon. A woman with the head of a lizard self-amputated the arm that Abtic had grabbed, and spit out a spray of saliva at Lupad. The latter quickly jumped sideways, but a few droplets got on his arm. The fluid immediately began to burn through Lupad’s sleeve. He tore off his shirt and collapsed on the ground in agony as the poison activated pain-sensitive nerve fibers in his skin. With an avatar’s control of his body’s physiology, Lupad blocked off the pain pathway from his affected arm. Fortunately, there wasn’t much of the toxic substance that penetrated his epidermis, and he immediately began to heal himself.

‘Basilisk!’ Lupad yelled out in warning.

The lizard-like Kindred tried to escape from the surprised Abtic, who was still holding on to her shed arm, by sprinting toward the center of the cave. She crashed into Pana, who ignored her temporarily as she shot down more incoming enemy. The basilisk vomited a huge glob of poison on Pana’s head. It harmlessly dribbled down the Gisaligan’s transparent helmet. For a centisecond Pana stopped shooting and jabbed gauntleted fingers into the basilisk’s forehead, crushing through bone, and squashing frontal lobe and midbrain. Pana then coolly shot down the middle one of the next trio as it jumped up immediately after exiting the Portal.

Thanks to the basilisk’s distraction, two more Enhanced got away at the sides, but the squad was ready for them. Abtic, learning his lesson, grabbed one on the head with his huge jaws and not on the arm, and chomped down hard. On the opposite side Tukib drove his pocketknife into an Enhanced’s eye. The blade penetrated only the frontal lobe but the blow was enough to knock it unconscious. It collapsed onto the ground, and Tahum quickly stomped it to death with her foot.

After a dozen more incoming, the attack abruptly ceased.

A platoon of thirteen militiamen in cargo pants and multi pocketed loose blouses exited out of the Tunnel’s portal. They had the facial features of Antiguans, not Novans. As Walay had warned, they were humans this time, not darklings. They wore bulletproof vests under their shirts, carried magazines and grenades in their pockets, and were armed with automatic weapons. Pana gawked, mouth open, arrow aimed at them, but was unable to shoot.

As though they were in a play scene that had gone fubar, behind them eight men simultaneously entered the cave, pistols out and ready to fire. One of them was slinging an unconscious Aya on his shoulders.

The leader of the Cephalian kidnappers gestured at Aya, speaking in Esperanto. ‘This is the Arch Wing. We came in as fast as we could by helicopter.’

‘Get her in the Portal now before anything else happens,’ the Antiguan militia leader ordered, likewise speaking in Esperanto. ‘The Amos are waiting in Tubo Island.’ The man carrying Aya ran to the fading Portal, past Pana who was still in her position five meters in front of it.

‘Aya!’ Pana cried out, reaching out. She managed to touch Aya’s arm, but her programming prevented her from stopping the kidnapper. He disappeared into the Portal along with the comatose Aya.

The Antiguan commander eyed his Cephalian brethren. ‘You have better get out of our line of fire. We don’t want friendly fire casualties.’ The Cephalians glanced at the Antiguans’ sub machine guns, assault rifles, and light machineguns, aimed in general toward them and the avatars, and nervously began sidling down the cave’s right wall.

‘We expended our entire Parahuman Army just to secure this cave prior to transporting the Arch Wing. No ordinary combat avatar could have terminated all that we sent in,’ the Antiguan commander continued in an irritated voice. ‘No matter, we can always make a thousand more from the human scum of the cities. We have also secured our primary objective, the Arch Wing, and the secondary objective, the demonic Maestra, is ours for the taking.’ He waved a hand at Lili, who was still chanting oblivious to the world.

‘Is that what killed them?’ The Cephalian leader was pointing to Pana with his pistol, while walking toward the cave’s right side.

‘It looks like a harmless nymphet good only for pleasing men. It would make a fine child bride of the highest price,’ the Antiguan commander noted. ‘However, our tabcoms clearly showed that it’s the culprit, with a little help from its friends.’

Said harmless nymphet lowered her bow and tried glowering the Antiguan commander to death. All Pana succeeded in doing was to look fiercely cute.

The Cephalians completed relocating to more appropriate and safer positions.

‘It’s obviously an Enhanced type, but they’re just avatars; their programming prevents them from hurting or even stopping humans,’ the Cephalian leader stated. ‘All they can do is to try to avoid our bullets if we shoot at them. Not like that undead Werewolf that can fight back.’ He aimed his pistol at Abtic.

‘I killed your bitch of a Succubus lover in the eatery, demon dog. I shot her between her sinful legs first, before splattering her brains out all over the floor, with this very same gun I’m going to shoot you with.’

Abtic snarled in anger at the mention of Lingaw’s murder, baring a mouthful of razor fangs. Pana whirled about aiming her arrow at one intruder after another, but could not shoot.

Half of the men began firing on Pana. The other half shot at Abtic. The rest of the avatars dropped to the ground, avoiding the crossfire. Everyone ignored Lili-in-a-trance chanting her mumbo jumbos on the left side of the cave before an old pillar of stone.

Abtic sprang to his right fast, avoiding the area were Lili was, taking cover behind Pana, but bullets were pouring in all around them saturating their positions. In front of them, the Antiguans were firing their submachine guns, assault rifles, and two light machineguns on full automatic, but Abtic remained shielded behind Pana. In contrast, the pistol wielding Cephalians at the cave’s side to his right had a direct line of sight to him, and in spite of his rapid movements hit him several times. He fell, a dozen bullet holes in his torso and limbs. None of the metal slugs managed to hit his brain, heart, cervical spinal cord, or aorta. Lying prone on the floor he tried healing himself; his wounds stopped bleeding and began to knit.

The Antiguan leader shouted in Iladistani to his men. ‘Not her, shoot that Sorceress!’ He aimed his assault rifle at Lili.

The avatars could recognize but not understand Iladistani. However his intention was pretty comprehensible. Pana, Lupad, Tahum, and Tukib jumped in front of Lili, trying to shield the Maestra who held their Seal.

The leader’s gun clicked on an empty magazine. All of the Unitemplists had used up their ammo on the fallen Abtic and the still standing Pana.

Lili woke up and looked around, confused.

The entrance of the Tunnel shimmered for one last time. Walay and Talatala stepped forth from it. Then, it winked out forever. The two agents had their DATA issued 9 mm pistols in firing position.

‘S__t, reload!’ the Iladistani commander shouted. The armed men desperately began jamming up cartridges into their assault rifles and submachine guns.

With the proficiency of long time partners, the two newcomers silently divided the twenty hostiles into two equal groups. Walay mentally assigned the ten on her side to herself as targets, including the seven Cephalians and three Iladistanis. Tala on her right targeted the remaining ten Iladistanis. The two DATA agents commenced shooting each of the hostiles through the head with the preternatural quickness and accuracy of the Tamawo, prioritizing those who had actually managed to load and aim, and ending with the slowpokes who were still fumbling for magazines in their pockets. Twenty shots rang in staccato succession. Twenty bodies fell.

Lili’s gaze focused on Walay. She moved as if to embrace her; then she saw that Talatala was around.

‘Well done Captain Walay, Major Talatala!’

Tahum, Tukib, Lupad, and Pana swiftly began to feed on the attenuating auras of the slain Possessed. It did not take long as they were nearly all gone thanks to the several minutes that had already passed after their expiration, except for that of their slain companion, the Werewolf Abtic. His attenuating afterimage was still vaguely visible. They gathered around it.

‘Poor Abtic. May you and Lingaw, to whom I owe my life, find a better place in the Tela if you reoccur,’ Pana whispered to the pile of powder beneath the fading aura.

Lili tiredly lowered herself into a lotus position on the floor. The effort of enacting an unfamiliar spell had clearly drained her. Pana went up to her.

‘Are you OK, Lili?’

‘Yes. I could feel that some Demon Sorcerer was counteracting my spell from the other end the Connection. It’s way more powerful than me. With me a first timer at closing Connections, I couldn’t have succeeded, except that it’s far easier to close than to maintain a Tunnel that’s being closed. Could you give me an update on what just happened?

Pana gave Lili a full report. She ended her narration vowing vengeance in a totally frustrated voice.

‘I swear I shall slay whoever is behind Ihap’s murder and Aya’s abduction. I should have told Ihap to get out of that cavern the moment I saw the portal. Aya was within my grasp, but I couldn’t save her. I’m as useless as a dumb arrow fired backward.’

For a fraction of Planck time, a ghost arrow as hot as a crushed star appeared in Pana’s clenched fist. Lili and the avatars turned to her in surprise, Walay and Tala in bewilderment. Their darkling nature sensed its virtual non-existence. The arrow disappeared before it could flash into reality, just a thought of what could be but never was.

‘Fire!’ Tukib gasped.

‘Fire, what?’ Pana asked, frowning, clearly unaware of what Tukib was talking about.

Lupad was looking at Pana thoughtfully. ‘I recall that Fire was an avatar that the Demon Emperors feared would ambush them,’ he softly said.

‘Quit talking in riddles, Lupad. The higher Dan darklings would eat me for brunch. It’s the Arch Wings that struck terror into the hearts of the High Kings and Emperors. We’ve lost one of them.’

Lili slowly got up. For several seconds she stood stock still. Then she began issuing pronouncements and orders in the curt manner of a commanding officer.

‘I had reported to Manggad Aya’s true identity after she got Infected. She must have informed the whole Cephalian National Kindred leadership immediately. Balosa, the supra Possessed Councilor that tried to assassinate us, must have leaked the info to the Unitemple Cooperative. They must have concocted a plan to spy on us and kidnap Aya.’

‘I will report this particular mission as a success to Minister Kusgan, in that we managed to discover and close the Folded Connection which the terrorists have been using to obtain a steady supply of the Possessed from Cephalia.’

‘One of the Wings will have to fly Walay and Talatala secretly back to the Shield. As of now they can be classified as illegal migrants to Cephalia if caught without the proper passports, IDs, or residence certificates.’

‘At least one Wing must always be in Room 5, in order to interdict incoming darklings, until we can close off all the Insertions of Folded Connection 2. I won’t report it for the meanwhile to the WDF, as our House Boat might get declared a Battlefield, and then the WDF will order a whole slew of MDEs in there.’

‘Elam, Tahum, Tukib, Lupad, and Pana will go back to the Shield via the National Capital Port, their point of entry in Cephalia.’

‘I’ll be taking the pictures, fingerprints, and retinal scans of all these dead Cephalian and Iladistani Unitemplists. Later our Household dragons, Blu and Yel, and one of the Wings will fly their bodies out of here and drop them into the ocean. The Trench station CCTVs must have recorded us getting off the train there, and if the police discover these bodies and the empty helicopter parked above the Trench, we might fall under investigation.’

‘After we are onboard, the Shield shall cross the Great Eastern Ocean and dock at Dakobalud town in Tubo Island. The Iladistani commander mentioned Tubo Island as the place where their Amos are waiting for Aya. The World Council of Nations will also meet there. I suspect that the place will pretty soon become a nexus point.’

Lili stopped, running out of words.

The rest of the day passed relatively uneventfully.

Alwana climbed up the Dragon’s roost, the cavernous hangar-like floor between Aya’s Clinic- PT Room- Gym floors and the Tower Command Room. She announced in Sinayabi: ‘Pagmata na kamo. You all wake up.’

The frozen forms of the blue and yellow dragons began to move. Alwana spoke to her tabcom. ‘OK Sugo, we’re ready; open the hangar.’

A wall of the chamber ramped down. ‘Follow me,’ Alwana told Blu and Yel. She sprouted her wings and flew out of the room, followed closely by the two Household dragons. They skimmed at nearly Mach one across the sea just a few meters above the water, so as to avoid detection by any Cephalian military radar. In 10 minutes they had arrived at the Trench. They retracted their wings as they entered the Cave of Ruins.

The avatars, Lili, and Walay greeted Alwana and the dragons enthusiastically. Tala gawped at the dragons in amazement.

‘Hi, you must be Talatala. We haven’t met. I’m Alwana, and those are Blu and Yel. Dragons, please greet Tala.’

The two dragons wagged their tails like friendly overgrown dogs. Tala chortled in glee. ‘They’re just like my two puppies! Do they eat dogfood? Please, can I feed them sometime?’ She fearlessly approached Blu and patted him on his head. The big dragon responded by licking Tala, nearly knocking her down to the ground.

‘Unfortunately, they don’t eat dogfood,’ Lupad replied. ‘They can be fed dark energy we take from darklings and Kindred.’ He went up to Blu and laid a palm on his side, transferring some of the energy that he had taken from the slain Kindred. Tukib did the same for Yel.

‘OK, business first,’ Lili interrupted. ‘Blu prep your saddle.

There was a metallic saddle covered by soft cloth on Blu’s back. A seat belt, backrest, armrests, control panel, joystick sprang from the sides of the saddle, turning it into a pilot’s seat. A plastic-like transparent material billowed out of the backrest and hardened on the sides. The saddle had transformed into an open cockpit.

The avatars immediately began heaving up all dead bodies, guns, ammo, and assorted paraphernalia scattered around the cave on the cockpit. They didn’t quite fit in.

‘Alwana will have to carry Walay and Talatala. Yel, prep your saddle,’ Lili ordered. Yel’s saddle underwent the same transformation as Blu’s. The avatars loaded the remaining bodies on the second dragon. Once all loaded up, transparent roofs sprang up from the posterior part of the cockpits and closed down, squeezing all the bodies in.

Alwana approached Tala and Walay. ‘Tala you ride on my back just in front of my wings piggyback. Walay, I shall carry you in my arms.’

Pana held up the three micro miniskirts and tube tops from the santermo, naiad, and banshee she had slain. ‘Walay, carry these for me back to the Shield, palihog, please. I like them; and I’m confiscating them. Let’s meet in my house in the Shield.’

Tala gingerly climbed up Alwana’s back piggyback style and held on to her neck. As soon as she was settled, Alwana promptly grabbed Walay, who was holding on to the three skirts and shirts that Pana had given her. Without another word, she sprouted wings below Tala on her back and flew out of the cave, followed by Blu and Yel. Alwana did not appear to be bothered by the cumulative masses of Walay and Pana.

Elam was looking on through the table computer in the internet shop in Ghetto City. ‘You avatars don’t waste any time, do you? Once you are assigned a job you do it like programmed machines.’

‘Ah, but no mere machine would plunder miniskirts and tube tops from her slain victims just because she thinks they would suit her in fashion attempts at being flirty,’ Tahum opined.

Pana scowled at her.

Alwana and the dragons flew low and fast straight into the sea. About 10 kilometers out, she issued a command to Blu and Yel. The dragons opened their cockpits and turned upside down in midair, dropping their loads into the sea. Then they righted themselves and continued on south.

Tala was on Alwana’s back. Her hair, dyed from her last mission, streamed a flowing scarlet behind her. She raised an open palm in the air and ecstatically shouted. ‘Whew, what a ride!’

Walay, in Alwana’s arms, silently hung on to skirts and shirts while contemplating the passing waves on the azure sea.

In a few minutes, the Shield became visible. Alwana flew to Café Pahuway on the starboard stern tower of the ship with her charges, landing on a balcony outside the tower’s top. ‘You can relax here. Later I believe Pana wants you to hand over those clothes in her house. I’m going back to Room 5 in order to help interdict the darklings. Walay, you already know the way around our House Boat.’ Alwana promptly flew off for the central Tower. Walay and Tala entered the café.

‘Mackerel, rice, and vegetable soup, please,’ Walay replied. ‘Nice to see you again Luto.’

Luto turned to Tala. ‘How about you, Tala?’

‘Uh, just water. I’m on a diet right now.’ She was peering over the café’s windows, examining the Shield’s top deck full of 5-star hotel facilities and the central Tower.

Luto studied Tala’s figure curiously. ‘You certainly look lean and mean, iha,’ the Chef remarked. Tala just shrugged, abstaining from ordering anything.

Meanwhile, Lili and the avatars exited the cave and trench, walked back to the Trench train station, took a bullet train back to Ghetto City proper, and met with Elam. They took another train back to National Capital Port. This time, they did not pass by the Alogostani Embassy, with Lili merely informing the Ambassador by tabcom that she had completed her mission. At the Port, Lili informed Cephalian Immigration that they were leaving back for Alogostan. There was no security check this time, as the Cephalians seemed to be more worried about terrorists among incoming passengers, not outgoing visitors. They boarded the Household’s Tulingan ferry, piloted by Tenloa, and docked at one of the Shield’s outriggers. They were met by Walay, still holding on to Pana’s confiscated skirts and shirts, and Tala. Pana’s house was already parked in the outrigger tunnel.

Lili took another eletrain to the Tower Command Room. The others entered Pana’s.

‘I didn’t know you also lived in a deluxe eletrain,’ Elam told Pana. ‘I though only Manong Duro and Captain Sugo did.’

‘Bantay too,’ Pana added. ‘Remember Bantay is the Shield’s chief of security, and I his second, and we are always inspecting our Balanghay’s peripheries. It’s more convenient for us to live in eletrains. I can do my rounds even when reading a novel. Grab some drinks and snacks from my ref over that corner. That’s my bathroom on the other side. Let’s see if I managed to take good videos of the battle.’

Pana’s eletrain moved along the outrigger arm, the Shield’s main hallway, and up the Hanging Gardens. All around them were gardened platforms suspended by steel cables and connected by walkways and transparent hollow tubes. Small houses were set on top of the gardens.

Tahum, Tukib, Lupad, Walay, Talatala, and Elam, began to watch the holographic video that Pana had recorded in her tabcom of the Battle of the Trench. She had transferred it to a computer table in the middle of her eletrain, which projected a bigger sharper 3D view.

‘Where do we stay? In one of those hanging houses?’ Tala asked.

Walay answered. ‘Most of the avatars live there. The empty ones are unfurnished. Last time, I stayed in one of the rooms on the side of the main hallway. Many of them have had their furniture sold in order to complement the Household’s income, but there are still more than a hundred completely functioning furnished 5 star hotel rooms. Tenloa, Henloa, and Limpyoha and their Cleaner avatars always keep them spic and span. You can choose the suite of your pick.’

The video had commenced. It showed mostly the back of Pana’s bow and Kindred’s heads getting pierced by her arrow.

‘If these were darklings, we would be dead, just like Ihap,’ Pana informed them. ‘We were lucky.’

‘Poor Ihap,’ Tukib commented. ‘She was so hopeful of the future just before the darkling attack. She was talking about our Household becoming not only legitimate, but also part owners of the Eastern Antigua Trough mines.’

‘Speaking of benefits, what does the Unitemple Cooperative get out of neutralizing avatars?’ Elam inquired. ‘They sent their entire newly made Parahuman army against you!’

Pana answered, ‘You heard the Iladistani commander. They wanted to secure Aya, and were after Lili too. Kidnap her, maybe, or failing in that, terminate her. For all her conniving and murdering ways and faults for which I would have shot her if I could, Lili is quite unique among the MDEs. She is an exceedingly rare 17/19 Hybrid just on the verge of becoming darkling had she any more dark quanta in her, which would make her of the highest Dan possible among the Tamawo. Yet not only do we avatars still sense her as a human being, she actually functions well in human society and somehow has avoided becoming an outright Abomination. She is the only protégé of Father who was the last Anachronista Maestro from the Great Dark War, which makes her training in the Dark Arts and Sciences unique in all of Tera. If Father had any Maestro’s secrets and techniques, it would be Lili that would know about them. Because of her vagrant childhood years, she has accumulated enough experience in various cultures to arguably become the best intelligence field officer in Tera. And she holds the Seal of the Sun and Sky, the only known Order in Tera that possesses a platoon of Veteran avatars and Arch Wings.’

‘For all your childish ways and faults, no offense intended, you are also the only Salig Commando left in Tera that we know of,’ Lupad stated. ‘Because of you, their plan to take Lili failed.’

Pana straightened up with pride. ‘I’m glad I’ve programmed my tabcom to automatically take videos whenever I shoot my arrow. I can show you definitely that I don’t miss.’

They watched Pana shoot down the lumbering ogres.

‘Battles during the Dark War must have been awfully, uh, lethal,’ Elam commented.

Pana laughed. ‘The Battle of the Trench was actually quite easy for me. During the Dark War, combat avatars were usually matched up against demonic darklings, not wimpy undead. Battles were usually more, uh, even. And if Demon Kings appeared, but our Winged avatars failed to, they would slaughter us just as I massacred those Kindred in the Trench Cave, without much of a fighting chance.’

‘It’s amazing,’ Elam noted. ‘You never seem to miss.’

‘It’s expected. She’s not supposed to miss,’ Tukib asserted.

‘It’s boring,’ Tahum commented. ‘Just heads getting shot by an arrow again and again and again.’

Pana glared at her.

‘Why don’t we join the other avatars at the gym?’ Lupad diplomatically suggested, averting another argument. The others quickly agreed, with Pana grumbling and muttering underneath her breath.

The eletrain directly brought them up the Tower and on to the Clinic- PT Room- Gym. Tahum, Tukib, and Lupad joined the other avatars in their 6 to 7 morning exercises. Elam, Walay, and Tala watched from the sidelines. Bantay, the Engineers Koryen and Boylo grinned at them and flexed their biceps. The majordomos Henloa, Tenloa, and Limpyoha pantomimed models doing catwalks and poses, ending up gracefully pirouetting and pronouncing ‘Welcome back,’ in choral unison.

‘It’s not yet 6 am,’ Elam noted.

‘It is in Offshore Alogostan, where we will be several minutes from now,’ Walay explained. ‘Bugsay has already started the engines.’

‘This, after everything that has happened?’ Elam wondered, watching the avatars pushing, pulling, bending, and jumping in the Tower’s PT facility turned gym.

‘Doing exercises at 6 to 7 am was a directive Sri Duro, their Maker. I guess that barring an emergency, they would just keep on doing it indefinitely,’ Walay mused. ‘Just another friendly reminder to us that they’re not human.’

‘Damn. I wish I had their bodies,’ Tala wistfully remarked beside them. ‘They’re so, uhm, yummy and stimulating.’

Elam nearly chortled. ‘I must say you could pass off as Miss Universe easily in my Null World, Tala. So would every female Tamawo, avatar combat and non-combat, and the Wings too.’

The three of them went down the Tower’s central staircase. In Floor 5, Bodhi and Alwana greeted Walay and Elam a warm ‘Welcome back’! Talatala hugged Alwana. ‘Sorry for forgetting to thank you before. Riding on your back across the sea was f__cking awesome. I am slayed!’

Alwana giggled. ‘Waay sapayan. It’s nothing. This is Bodhi by the way. You haven’t met her yet. She stayed behind on guard duty here against incoming darklings while I picked you up. Oisa is off exploring the Folded Connection’s Insertions. So far, her messages confirm what Huna says, that most of the ephemeral ones end in the Daan Polytemple ruins.’

Bodhi’s tabcom beeped. It was Oisa. ‘Your tabcom is open. I overheard that. Actually I’m near the western coast of equatorial Southern Continent right now. I’m chasing the darklings that ended up here through the second of the stable Insertions, and the Defective Kindred they made. Just slew one of them.’

Their tabcoms opened in the Shield’s Broadcom channel. There was a video of Oisa’s doble espada skewering a darkling Pawn through the head. They were on top of a forested mountain. Below it was a grassy plain. Further beyond was the open sea.

‘I like the scene here,’ Oisa declared. ‘See those?’

Her tabcom’s videocam view shifted to the plains below and zoomed in. There were immense mixed herds of elephant, rhinoceros, equine, camel, giraffe, deer, bovine, xenarthra, and marsupial species. ‘No mammalian megafauna like them in Antigua and Nova, except in the Parks. Magnificent aren’t they?’

For several minutes they watched in fascination, excitedly trying to identify the various species.

‘I recognize several of them as extinct in my world. And aren’t those giant sloths, glyptodonts, and kangaroos?’ Elam was pointing to some of the animals.

‘Yes,’ Bodhi replied.

‘I thought they occurred in separate continents.’

Bodhi exhibited a curious expression on her face. ‘Fascinating your Null World must be. Not in Tera; here nearly all orders and families of mammalian megafauna are represented in every large land mass, at least post Dark Shift.’

‘Here check this out,’ Oisa told them excitedly. Her video zoomed in further to a feline stalking a giant pig. The predator was sporting saber teeth.

‘I don’t believe it. A saber tooth cat!’ Elam exclaimed.

‘Oops, there goes a bunch of them,’ Oisa abruptly announced. ‘I mean this time Defective Kindred.’

The scene on their tabcoms shifted to a stream a hundred meters below Oisa’s position. There was a settlement made of modular houses on its bank. Southern Continenters armed with assault rifles were facing a hundred figures that were approaching their dwellings from downstream.

Oisa smirked. ‘Stupid settlers; WDF discourages citizens from migrating south of the Continent’s Gray Barrier, where the increasingly frequent darkquakes often bring in darklings, and loose darklings kill or Infect humans. So WDF law illegalizes farming, mining, and hunting hereabouts. However, offenders are punished leniently with mere fines. WDF reasons out that the trespassers would get theirs from darklings and rogue Kindred sooner or later, and so doesn’t stop them from crossing south via land, rivers, sea, and air. Those assess below me probably are illegals that poach on those herds you saw. Elephant tusks, rhinoceros horns, and exotic meat and hides bring in good prices in the market.’

‘What’s the Gray Barrier?’ Elam inquired.

Bodhi beside him replied. ‘During the end of the Dark War, it used to be a series of interconnected walls, barricades, bridges, trenches, tunnels, and fortresses north of the equator, bristling with high tech detectors, and manned by soldiers, technicians, support personnel, and Maestros. Its primary aim was to keep darklings away from the more populated northern part of the Continent. Now it’s mostly old ruins, and so exists mainly as an imaginary trespassers-keep-out boundary. There are Gray Barriers all over Tera, some encircling old habitations, others cutting across continents. They fell into disuse after the War.’

A thought occurred to Elam. ‘Do Gray Barriers extend to the oceans?’

‘No. Darkquakes occurred only in areas with sentient humanoid beings. They never occurred in oceans or for that matter other planets in the solar system. Although most of the southern portions of Southern Continent are now uninhabited, the past presence of humans there acts as an echo on which Tela cracks can still burst out invading darklings.’

Oisa’s video showed the ambling attackers beginning to rush the humans.

Elam gasped, horrified. ‘Zombies! Oisa do something!’

‘They’re illegals, but yeah, I don’t want them to rise up and double the Defective army. I think the darklings that got here were instructed to Make Defectives, and turn them loose on these illegal mining and poaching communities that nobody cares about anyway. It must be some kind of experiment by the Unitemple Cooperative.’

Oisa sprouted her wings, flew down, and began slashing with her doble espadas and stiffened wings. Swirling around like a tornado with blades, in a less than a minute she had bashed the brains out of the heads of every Defective Kindred in sight. The bodies fell to the ground and kept on flopping around randomly. She also skewered the heads of every dead human that the Defective had bitten and killed, in order to ensure that they would not rise as Maranhig.

‘You use the human term Zombie for the Defective,’ Bodhi noted. ‘However, even if they have the intelligence of retardates, they’re still Kindred, Elam. They’re just Defective.’

The few remaining human survivors were firing at Oisa, who was grimacing in disgust. Their bullets were bouncing off her skin and wings. ‘Morons; they think I’m Maranhig too. I should have let the Defectives finish them off so they can become more Defective morons.’

Oisa ignored the gunfire and went around the zombies’ bodies. Even while they were still moving, she drew out their auras. The bodies, bereft of auras, promptly disintegrated into dirt.

‘I’m going on to the next illegal settlement 10 kilometers from here. I think these Defectives came from there. The darkling that Made them might still be there,’ Oisa announced. ‘There’s no telling what craziness the Unitemple Cooperative had in mind in sending darklings over here; and so I’ll be trying to terminate them and whatever Kindred they Made in the next several hours.’

Oisa gave the finger to the humans that she had saved, a few of whom were still shooting at her. Her tabcom’s view blacked out as she flew off.

‘How do darklings make specific Kindred?’ Elam inquired.

‘An awakening fledging always has a telepathic link to its Maker. The darkling Maker projects the kind of Kindred it wants its fledging to be, and the fledging’s dark quanta shapes it so. Without any telepathic instructions from their Makers, the fledglings by default become the popular images of monsters. In today’s culture that’s almost always vampires, followed by werewolves. If the desired monster is more massive than the host, the fledgling feeds and incorporates nutrients in order to increase its mass. If it’s lighter, then the fledgling simply sloughs off the extra weight as molted skin, H2O, CO2, and ash.’

‘Why is that?’

‘Because with much less brains, zombies don’t give a s__t about anything except eating, and they aren’t conscious of pain. The poachers were riddling them with bullets, yet they kept on coming. They also don’t get killed if their hearts and carotids get destroyed, because their reduced brain mass doesn’t need to get the normal amount of blood other Kindred’s brains’ need. Even chopping off their heads doesn’t result in immediate death as their dark quanta make their spinal cord and peripheral nervous system more autonomous. If you notice, the headless bodies of Oisa’s victims were still jerking about. Like headless chickens and cockroaches, it will take minutes, sometimes days, for the bodies to stop moving about and die. Intact heads can also survive for hours and can still bite and infect just like the heads of decapitated serpents. Notice that Oisa did not just behead them; she brained them. When attacking rogue Kindred, she’s programmed to act in a manner that deprives them of the capacity to harm more humans, even if the humans in question are assh__e poachers.’

‘Aren’t they also more dangerous to avatars?’

Bodhi laughed. ‘No. We love the Defectives. Rather we love to eat them. Notice that Oisa was absorbing their dark energy auras even while their bodies were still moving. We can’t do that to a sentient Kindred or darkling because the aura tends to cling like a leech to a fully self-aware being. Moreover, it takes willpower to absorb auras, and the sentient Kindred would oppose our will. We can actually feed on a barely self-aware zombie’s aura even when it’s still animated and sporting an intact head. Oisa popped their heads because it’s easier to feed on bodies that are not wandering about. Their lack of brains and intelligence that makes them so dangerous to humans turns them into ambulatory food carts for us. Put your hands on a zombie and out comes delicious aural goodies.’

‘What would happen if a human zombie, or you an avatar for that matter, bit one of those elephants we saw?’

Bodhi kept on explaining patiently. ‘You’d get a zombie elephant. However, it doesn’t usually happen because the Defectives don’t have a taste for non-humans. Even if they did, they don’t know how to hunt animals; they just walk straight to them waving their arms stupidly. During the Dark War the darkling army did experiment with animals. Since most animals have barely rudimentary self-awareness, the resulting undead often turned out to have none at all. They just stood around like braindead vegetables, without the will to even eat.’

Although Elam was gawking in amazement at having just seen real zombies, Bodhi did not seem much interested in her Defective Kindred. Immediately after Elam ran out of questions, she turned toward Tala, giving her an Asian bow.

‘I guess I’ll be touring you around our House, Tala. Alwana will stay here on guard duty for a change. Elam and Walay already know their way around. Follow me please.’ She led Talatala further down the central staircase.

As soon as they had disappeared from view, Alwana turned toward Walay. ‘She doesn’t know?’

‘I thought you would assassinate Tala. If I were human I would, and then make it look like an accident,’ Alwana opined straightforwardly. ‘You must know ways how to do it, being a trained intelligence officer and all.’

‘How could I? When we went on groceries in Daan town during a noon break from our meditations in the Polytemple ruins, she emptied out her bank account except for the minimum balance, converted it to thousand peso Bugu coins, placed them in a duffle bag, and left it with Tuman’s sister in the hacienda. When the sister asked who she was, she ran away, with me trailing along, back to the ruins which is located right next to the hacienda. She’s flat broke. That evening, when we went back to town to buy supplies for the night, she had to borrow money from me. She’ll pay me back upon receiving her salary next month.’

‘Huh? That’s a surprise,’ was Alwana’s reaction.

‘She’s a cold blooded Tamawo killer, yet also an unreconstructed Polytemplist. Maybe her religion is the only thing that prevents her from turning into a crazy Abomination. She says she wants to train under Huna in order to become a Polytemplist monk when she retires, and she can’t do that with the karmic burden of unjust but necessary killings on her part. The only way to lift such karma is to do good deeds for the families and causes of her victims. Huna of course wholeheartedly approved of her anonymous donation, but told her she wasn’t relieved of her karmic burden. Tala then decided to go on a fast and hasn’t eaten anything since then, except for bushels of vitamin and mineral pills; and loads of water. I don’t need to assassinate her. She’ll starve herself to death in a few more weeks if Huna doesn’t tell her otherwise.’

Elam had seen a great many mind boggling things since his reoccurrence, but this left his mouth open in surprise.

‘That’s ridiculous. No one would starve herself to death deliberately.’

Alwana smirked. ‘Yeah, but she’s a Hybrid, and Tamawo to boot. They sometimes behave like avatars. Once they make up their minds, it’s like they’re executing a computer program. Begin a job and they’ll finish it to the last splash of paint. Hate and they’ll serve vengeance on iced margarita hundreds of years later. Love and they’ll love forever. Fast and they’ll happily starve to death.’

‘You mean she’ll starve because a ghost told her it will give her good karma. And since when did ghosts begin training live persons to become monks?’ Elam pointed out.

Walay began speaking in a lecture voice.

‘Well, one of the most famous and influential Polytemplist sages of old was trained by the spirit of a still more ancient sage; so it’s officially acceptable in our theology. Not that I know of anyone that actually got trained by a ghost into becoming a monk. One thing I do know is that Tala is learning Sinayabi fast thanks to constantly talking with Huna. Although it’s an archaic dialect like the one the Sun and Sky avatars speak, it’s still mutually intelligible with the modern ones; and we should be careful of what we say in front of Tala because she may be able to understand us by now. Remember, she is a DATA senior officer and unlike Manang Lili and I, she is not in any way affiliated with the Order of the Sun and Sky. She is still Hybrid Tamawo with preternatural strength and reflexes relative to pure humans, and is the most proficient field assassin of DATA apart from Manang Lili herself. By the way, I can feel a change in the Tela. We must have arrived in Tubo Island.’

Alwana abruptly sprang up, and began striking into the air with her doble espada. Elam gaped at her. ‘What the hell is happening?’ Alwana silently gave him a thumb up and continued shadow fighting invisible opponents, her hair twirling like beautiful yellow ribbons around a rhythmic gymnast.

‘You can’t see? Oh well, I think I can because I’m Tamawo,’ Walay guessed. ‘Alwana is beheading scores of darklings inside the Folded Connection. Damn! There’s so many of them.’

‘Isn’t Alwana in danger of being overwhelmed?’ Elam questioned, worry on his face.

‘I don’t think so. It seems that the darklings can only fit in two or three at a time. Alwana is in the position of a soldier armed with a machinegun above a narrow path where the enemy can pass only in twos or threes. As far as I can see, she’s having no trouble at all. Damn! There goes a Monarch’s thick horned head.’

‘Is she or another Wing going to be stuck here in Room 5 forever?’

‘Yeah, I guess so until they close all the Insertions, or the Origin.’

After a minute of action, Alwana stopped slashing around. ‘How about Sayloha and Arangan, are they as religious as Tala?’ She asked as though nothing had happened.

‘Did she succeed?’

Walay shrugged. ‘Yes to the first. It was weird; they were so clueless. Sayloha doesn’t know that the assassin who murdered the founder of Kaluwasan is Tala. Tala doesn’t know Tuman was my fiancée. Tala and Sayloha do not know that the ghost who convinced Tuman to found Kaluwasan is Huna. Sayloha convinced Tala of the righteousness of her cause. Not me because I am already convinced, but they did not know that. In any case, Tala and I sent membership applications to a Kaluwasan blog by tabcom, endorsed by Sayloha. Once Acting President Sukola accepts them, we’ll become official members of Kaluwasan, which Minister Kusgan would love because it places us in a position to do more spying on potential secessionists.’

‘And no, Sayloha failed to convert Huna to Unitemplism. Heck, Huna is a Tela ghost!'

‘In spite of everything, Sayloha is still proselytizing for the Unitemple?’ Elam sounded surprised.

‘Yes. She says those individuals who dabble in dark sorcery have ceased becoming true Unitemplists, and that we should not blame the rest of the Unitemple for the actions of a few bad eggs.’

‘What does Huna have to say about that?’

‘Huna says that it’s the exact same argument the Unitemplists of her time more than 400 years ago were using. It did not prevent a small minority of them from trying to summon demons anyway. She says that Unitemplists must acknowledge that there are aspects of their scripture based beliefs that intrinsically lead to the very demons they want to avoid and correct those beliefs, instead of classifying those believers that go down that path as unbelievers without discussing the scriptural basis for their actions. She says that they must treat the so-called demonic passages as metaphorical and not literally enact them, or take them in the context of the Dark War. They must do the appropriate exegesis and hermeneutics. All the National Chapters must issue an authoritative statement that the One Tome’s demonic passages cannot be applied in the here and now and in the future, and all individuals and orgs that do carry them out to the letter are henceforth excommunicated, and belong to another religion. In other words, they should be officially declared as inapplicable to today’s modern world. Without these passages, the One Tome is perfectly fine; and its true believers would be the epitome of honesty and charity.’

Elam grimaced with confusion. ‘Is Huna saying the Unitemplists should redefine their present religion? How about you, what can you say about it?’

Walay sighed. ‘Very well. Unlike Polytemplism and Pantheonism which have multiple holy books and recommended literature, Unitemplism only has one. DATA requires all its officers to read the Unitemple’s One Tome, unlike many of the more technologically sophisticated intelligence agencies in other non-theocratic Nations that believe comprehending sacred scriptures is a job only for clerics. Perhaps one problem is that the Mainline National Chapters require that its laypersons read the Tome only under the supervision of a cleric. The cleric inevitably only emphasizes the passages on charity and honesty; and honey-coats or hides the demonic ones because many of them appear to be schizophrenically nonsensical or psychotically violent in the context of today’s modern culture. Unbelieving DATA officers are actually more familiar with the Tome than most of its believers who have only read or heard parts of it under the censorship of a cleric.’

‘Unitemplism, unlike Polytemplism and Pantheonism, is powerfully attractive to basic human yearnings; and at the same time is intolerably missionary.’

‘First, its major ethics of honesty and charity is inherently beloved of every human culture in history. The phrase [Be unvaryingly honest in your mind and in your dealings, and be constantly charitable to those who lack; and you have touched the pillars to the Path to Paradise] is repeated in half of the chapters. Even a dishonest and selfish human tends to admire an honest or charitable act when she sees one; and that’s true for any culture in the world. Who would not want to join a religious movement that advocates these values on the exterior face of it? That’s the sweet mango it offers to believers and would-be converts.’

‘Now for the bladed stick. If you don’t go there, you get into a fiery hell, another real place somewhere in the Tela, where demons torture you forever. [All must go forward and those who miss the Path are fated to fall to the fiery trenches of hell and into the torturing talons of demons forever.] [Force as much of humanity into the Path; for they that are left outside shall drag the world into the demons’ fire and darkness.] It’s an either-or proposition.’

‘Now for its terrorist tendencies; and how they get cloaked.’

First, the Unitemple’s One Tome recommends honesty and charity, but the one sure way to get into paradise is and I quote: [Slay the darklings by any mean and you shall certainly attain Paradise. Fight fire with fire, demon with demon. From the darkness draw them and into the fire cast them.] This theologically allows demon summoning. The Tome also bluntly claims that: [Refuting the Tome’s messages is the same as joining the demons in hell.] This makes it theologically impossible to reason with those that believe in the one sure way to get into paradise.’

‘Second, the Tome condemns murder but not in an absolute manner. I quote: [Do not kill humans, or you will stray off the Path.] This passage is often cited by Unitemplists as proof that they condemn murder. However, as an act of deception to outsiders, and we’ll get into that later, they often fail to quote the next sentence. [However, irredeemable humans who are sure to go to hell are exceptions; slay them in any way possible, lest they convince more people to join them in their slide to damnation.]’

In brief under certain circumstances, Unitemplism justifies demon summoning and human murder. The circumstances are subject to individual interpretation.’

‘Third, the Tome goes: [Do not assign any outside meaning to the Tome’s passages, other than the truth they state directly; if you do, you have strayed off the Path and shall lead others to the demons’ realms.] Apart from making the Tome more resistant to exegesis and hermeneutics, passages such as this create conflicts even within the Unitemple. Since [the truth they state directly] is often not well defined, different interpretations may occur. A direct consequence is that if you don’t like the interpretation of another Unitemplist, you can simply label her as having [strayed off the Path and shall lead others to the demons’ realms]. She can therefore be legitimately killed.’

‘Fourth, although honesty is emphasized all throughout the Tome as a pillar to the Path, there is a prominent exception. The Tome allows theological deception and lying. There are passages such as: [Smile and show whatever face the unbelievers wish to see, speak what they wish to hear, but hold true to the Path to Paradise when they leave your presence.] Another one goes: [Read to those astray only the words of the Tome that satisfy them, revealing the rest only when they are firmly on the Path.] There are many such passages.’

Elam was raising his eyebrows. ‘What does the WDF have to say about it?’

‘Nothing. As Sri Duro has probably already told you, the WDF has never bothered itself with religions, only with the security of Tera and darkling invaders. Oh there goes Alwana again.’

‘The One Tome mandates [A man should marry as many wives as he can and divorce those whom he can’t support and beat those who don’t please him; a woman is forbidden thoughts of divorce and unfaithfulness, and must always please her husband over her life, but once divorced may marry again.] As a result, women can’t legally initiate divorce proceedings. In strict Theocracies, it gets to be more gory. If a man has sadistic tendencies and manages to beat a wife to death, it’s actually regarded as legal, because by dying, the wife pleases her husband. Fortunately, that does not occur very often in today’s more humanized Tera. The WDF strongly frowns on it, and on their part many Theocracies further discourage this behavior by enacting civil laws that direct the husband to compensate the deceased wife’s original family handsomely, and to transfer ownership of his properties to them; even though the murder of his wife is regarded as a civil contractual affair and not a crime.’

‘What the hell!’ Elam exclaimed. ‘Does that mean if you want to kill somebody, you just marry her, kill her, and then pay her family? You buy murder with cash?’

Walay continued. ‘Yes, you could. However, there’s more deterrence from the WDF. This theological doctrine was abused sometime in the Dark War. Many early Unitemplist sects sprang up that believed that men should kill their wives while the latter are still young and fertile. The men would buy or kidnap girls from other Religious groups in order to replace these executed wives. Then repeat the process. It nearly caused a civil war among humans, and during the Dark War too. When this practice began disrupting the war effort, the WDF took exception. With its typical political ingenuity, the Veiled Commission, while maintaining the legality of the Unitemple doctrine of wife-killing, ruled that a husband whose actions have already caused a wife to die may be assassinated by his other wives and their relatives. This WDF law quickly repressed wife killing, as men whose actions caused a wife to die found out that for the rest of their lives, they could be legally killed by all other present and future wives and their relatives. So Lili actually committed no crime when she murdered her husband. He had already caused the deaths of several wives beforehand when he assigned them to lethally dangerous assassination missions.’

Elam found himself smiling. ‘Sounds like a law that enables the saying reap what you sow.’

‘Another example are Nations that allow a degree of representative democracy. If you notice, all of them, including Alogostan and Cephalia, are predominantly Polytemplist or Pantheonist. Their theologies recommend that leaders of religious organizations are voted in by conclaves of representative monks and clerics. People tend to extend that practice to society as whole. On the other hand, since Unitemplist theology insists that the political leaders of society must be clerics, and I quote the One Tome [Human communities must be led by the Temple’s Amos.] they always end up being theocracies.’

‘Then there’s the matter of abortion. Polytemplist theology states that the essential soul enters the human being when she first takes her first breath at birth. So Nations where Polytemplists predominate allow legal abortion. Pantheonists believe that the essential soul enters the zygote; hence in Nations where they are prevalent, laws usually illegalize any kind of abortion, but allow contraception. Unitemplist doctrines direct their believers to have as many babies as possible in order to more effectively convert all of humanity to Unitemplism. I quote the One Tome. [Make as many children as you can and raise them to be faithful, so that the faithful can conquer the world.] So both contraception and abortion are illegal in their Theocracies. Unwanted children traditionally have been given to orphanages anonymously, and raised by the State to become clerics or soldiers or whatever professionals it needs the most.’

‘The Commissioners worship political power,’ Alwana unexpectedly said. She moved with the incomparable grace and quickness of a warrior angel. Swish! Her blue mono espada decapitated a Darkling Pawn.

‘And believe that political power comes from the edge of the sword.’ Swoosh! A Darkling Adept’s head flew off its shoulders.

‘You don’t get the compartmentalized thinking of Unitemplism wherein you hear platitudes of about honesty and charity from some believers while others go about summoning demons and murdering unbelievers and their wives.’ Jab! Her yellow mono espada skewered a Darkling Master’s heart.

‘WDF and specifically the Veiled Commission have always retained the absolute political leadership of Tera because they have always been ruthless enough to wield the sword during the times that they needed to.’

Because of the time zones’ differentials, the Shield arrived in Dakobalud Port at dawn. The Household members were finishing breakfast in Café Pahuway.

‘That’s one colossal ship!’ Elam pointed at an aircraft carrier docked a kilometer away from the Shield.

‘The Floating Palace,’ Lili answered. ‘It’s the Houseboat of the Veiled Commission. It runs on Bugu powered conventional Reactor Plants, so our Balanghay is actually much faster than it. On the other hand it’s fully equipped with the latest missiles, torpedoes, and aircraft. From that distance, it could sink the Shield or any other ship in the world a thousand times over in a shootout.’ Her tabcom rang. It was minister Kusgan.

‘Sir!’ Lili answered.

‘You’re attending the WCN Assembly? It’s going to be closed to the public, but as usual open to all MDEs of Tera. Deputy Minister Duso is already in the area setting up security. Technically you aren’t part of Duso’s team, but you can just walk in as a Maestra anytime. The DATA agents there will recognize you and you could provide backup in case of any terrorist attack. Our sources have been unusually nervous recently.’

‘Yes, sir,’ Lili affirmed.

‘I know you’re probably also up to something related to the Sun and Sky that’s not part of DATA business, but as a Maestro myself I do comprehend the pressure you’re in as the remaining living Holder of that Order’s Seal. A Commissioner has communicated to me their wish to keep the Order alive as long as possible as insurance to any darkling attack that modern combat avatars can’t handle. As we’ve agreed, I’ll be staying out of Sun and Sky matters as long as you do your job as a DATA field officer well. Submit an official report about the Cephalia incident, and congratulations for it. I have to talk to Duso.’ Kusgan signed off.

Lili shrugged. ‘Minister Kusgan does not entirely trust me anymore. I have been left out of the field. It’s Duso and his toughies that are handling the WCN’s security.’

‘If I may say so, shouldn’t you be worried, Colonel?’ Tala asked. ‘Frankly, I’m crazy enough to admit I’m with you. You’ve always been my idol as a field officer; but we all know that no one in DATA is immune to being purged.’

‘Notice Kusgan was quite honest, even if diplomatic, with his words. It’s when he becomes all flowers and rainbows that I have to start worrying of getting assassinated myself. However, the DATA Deputy Ministers might now find it opportune to try to discredit me. They’ve always been jealous because Kusgan has tended to bypass them in giving me the most important field assignments, including our recent affair in Sanag River. Also, even though I know you’ve always been partial to me, I would like you to keep your opinion to yourself, Tala. If they move against me, they might snare you as well if they know you sympathize with me.’

‘In any case, I have to type in an official report. You’ll be joining me later in the World Council of Nations Assembly in that large Convention Center over there by the shore. You might as well observe, Elam. You and any interested avatar can go ahead and tour around the Resort. Tala, Walay stay with me and help out with the report.’

‘Yehey! Shore leave,’ Pana enthusiastically announced.

The whole entourage of Veteran avatars except for Captain Sugo and Bantay, left to guard the Shield, and the Wings left to interdict the darklings in the Boat’s Tower, came down with Elam - Pana the Salig Commando, Chef Luto the combat avatar, Majordomos Henloa, Tenloa, and Limpyoha, Engineers Bugsay, Boylo, Husay, and Koryen, the Succubus Tahum, the Incubus Tukib, and the Pilot Lupad.

The first unusual thing they noticed were a dozen people in front of the Dakobalud Resort Convention Center. Placards were upheld in their hands - A Little Bit of Freedom Please, Devolvement for Alogostan, Provinces Will be More Productive if Autonomous, More Autonomy Equals Less Capital Flight and More Prosperity, We Don’t Want to be Milking Cows of Central Taxation and National Corporations, Harmony in Diversity, Preserve Our Ethno-linguistic Identities, The Smaller the Society the More Participatory the Democracy, More Centralism Means Less Check and Balance and More Red Tape and Corruption, Centralized Power Invites Coups, Blueprint Solutions from Central Don’t Work, Central Decision Overload is Disastrous, Direct Participation Means Innovativeness and Rapid Decision and Action. They were also carrying bottled drinks, sandwiches, chicken barbecue on sticks, and puso- rice wrapped in banana leaves. Facing them were two dozen uniformed DATA agents that were milling about confusedly. The leader of the demonstrators was offering a fruit juice bottle and sandwich to one of the DATA agents with one hand while carrying a drooping placard with the other.