Even in a massive, futuristic fortress there’s admin to take care of, though the vast majority of it looks automated.

  “The gates here and in most of the places Tenebris sets up are mostly symbolic. They’re a place visitors can find help to access what they need to based on their business,” Lirathel explains as she struts along beside me. “There are a hundred ways to get into Fyrnath depending on the activity. Those who belong to the Scorchbound Legion have differing levels of access to properties, resources, and benefits.”

  “Scorchbound Legion?” I ask. I know it’s one of her associations, but nothing else. I pull Lirathel’s Status up again for clues.

  Lirathel Khaltheris, Infernal Ascendant, Ember Sovereign, Dread Empress, Breaker of Chains, Warden of Ash and Shadow, Slayer of Ash Hydra, Nether Stalkers, Charred Revenants, more… (Level 19 Dreadflame Inquisitor) (Ascended)

  [Ashwalkers] [Infernal Concord] [Scorchbound Legion] [Mark of Tenebris]

  Health: 10690/10690

  Mana: 12420/12420

  Conditions: Hellfire Manipulation, Crimson Pact, Erupting Shadows, Souflame, Internal Resilience, Demonic Dominion, Cindervale Cloak, Hellborn, more…

  Lirathel stops and turns to stare at me, so I stop also. I note the flow of people around us continues to give us a wide berth that increases, even to the point it holds up some of the free flow and people have to wait. Anyone delayed simply eyes us patiently and waits. Lirathel pays none of this any attention. My Perception is taking everything in from the barely discernible background hum of machinery to the conversations all around and the varying sound patterns that Galactics with different numbers of limbs and propulsion methods make. Strong smells of food, Galactics, materials, and a faint scent of chemicals swirl around to be catalogued in the back of my mind. Nothing alarming, just life. Busy life.

  “You really don’t know anything, do you?” she asks. I could take it as a derogatory criticism, especially coming from the arrogant and confident Ashwalker, but my interpretation of her question based on the look on her face is that she’s surprised and confused.

  “From your perspective, possibly not,” I agree.

  “How could you possibly be Ascended with the Mark of Tenebris without even knowing the name of the Organizations he founded?” she mutters, but it’s more to herself than me.

  “I’ve been a bit busy since a Mana Influx hit my world, and things with Tenebris have been a bit… ad hoc,” I offer.

  Lirathel’s orange eyes flare in that way I’m starting to realize ebbs and flows with the amount of emotion she’s feeling. In this case I hope for curiosity about my past, but I end up pretty confident when I land on irritation as the main source of her feelings.

  “I bet Tenebris knew all this when he asked me,” she muses to herself, still standing uncaring in the broad, busy entryway. “Bastard.”

  She returns her attention to me.

  “We should be discussing your significant plans, major Galactic and Universal dynamics, and what it means to be Ascended. But I can see now we have to start at practically the beginning. What a waste of my time. I should have realized you’re not tagged as part of the Scorchbound Legion. I was too busy looking at all your… Titles,” she says, and now a hint of the sultry Lirathel returns.

  “Why don’t we give it a miss for now? I’m not even sure if I want to join the Scorchbound Legion.”

  That definitely breaks Lirathel’s chain of thought and flawless beauty. She stares at me, stunned. It’s only for a split second while a myriad of expressions flash across her face, but the Dreadflame Inquisitor disappears then quickly returns to contemplate me with statuesque calm. She doesn’t say anything for a few seconds while I continue to look around, then resumes our stroll toward a towering ziggurat-like part of the building that’s one of the main entrances to the huge building that takes us from outside to inside. The walls are lined with translucent crystalline material that displays ever changing information about maps of the Fortress, ranks, assignments, achievements, bids and offers for materials and services, and innumerable other things. It’s impressive, at least the size of an indoor football stadium, and I expand my Perception to try to take in as much of it as I can while still keeping up with Lirathel.

  Stolen story; please report.

  “I’m not sure what to do with you, Bronwic,” she says as she glances over at me. “You’re not what I expected, except for the combat part.”

  That reminds me, it’s been a long time since I’ve properly cleaned out all my stuff at the Shop and took stock of my Credits. I’d be keen to send some of my higher Level Monster components to some of our top Crafters on Earth to see what they can make out of them, and wonder how armor or weapons made from those materials might compare to what I can create now with Dimensional Forge, and what I can buy in the Shop. And what the price difference might be.

  “There a Shop here?” I grunt absently, and Lirathel points out a Shop Orb not far away. There’s quite a long line that I’m sure I could push into without too much in the way of protests, but I’m not in a super rush and something catches my eye.

  On the far side of the room are hundreds of doorless exits or entryways that Galactics of all shapes and sizes disappear into and emerge from. It looks like some of them are normal doorways and some of them are Portals. It’s a bit far for my Affinity to really get a lot of detail, but most of them look like they take people elsewhere in the Fortress. A few seem like maybe they point to other places on this planet or even offworld.

  Near each door is a hovering orb of fiery plasma maybe the size of a beachball, encased in a gyroscopic structure of rotating metal gold rings that are a few inches thick. Every so often a passing Galactic steps up to one of the orbs and onto a circular platform a meter or so across that corresponds to each orb. When an individual steps into the circle for a few seconds, they’re engulfed in a flash of light and then move on, some after a few seconds and some longer. While they are standing in the circle they all look preoccupied by something.

  “What are those?” I ask, pointing to the orbs, and then I head that direction. As we approach them, Lirathel explains.

  “Each orb is called a Scorchbound Nexus. A very powerful AI runs them and you will find an orb at every active location owned by Tenebris, even if it’s part of a different Organization he owns. Of course, Tenebris sometimes wishes to keep his involvement more discreet so you can’t take that as absolute.” She glances at me when she says it, but offers no explanation.

  We continue to walk straight toward one of the Nexus orbs, ignoring the flow of people around us that adjusts to what we’re doing. Every individual and group from excited Adventurers to chittering insect-like school swarms avoids our path.

  “The circular platforms near the orbs read your Mana signature and biosignature. Perhaps they can read other things as well if you choose to become a Cyborg or heavily augment yourself, though that’s beyond my knowledge. Each time you approach the Nexus it refreshes your Scorchbound Avatar, and each Avatar is unique to a person. It represents their last updated Level and grades both current power and potential, based on a large number of factors. The Scorchbound Avatar also shows you open tasks and bounties available to you, your current level of access to facilities, and your Scorchbound Token balance. Your Scorchbound Avatar helps you understand your rank in the organisation and people use it all the time. A lot of places Tenebris owns and operates accept Scorchbound Tokens as an alternative currency, alongside Credits.”

  Another way Tenebris is getting a ‘slice of the meat’, I’m guessing.

  “Seems… accepted? Loved? Tolerated?” I ask.

  “Most people feel it equal parts a meaningful ritual and cold, objective assessment. The rankings mean something - people are given benefits and income based on the attributes of their Avatar and their rank. Some dispute the AI’s predictions of their potential or current power, but it is generally accepted the AI has an unfathomable number of data points and has been around since before Tenebris acquired it. Tens of thousands of years, at least. Perhaps hundreds or more. There are rumors it was created around the same time as the first Mana Interfaces and has the ability to read from them directly.”

  We approach the Scorchbound Nexus orbs and Lirathel gestures to me to step on to one of the platforms. Since she started describing this I’ve been thinking about my Dark Mana Knight Class and what happened with MIRI. I smile at her and politely shake my head.

  “You must establish your avatar, Bronwic. Everyone in the Scorchbound Legion does and I am curious for us to compare your power and potential rankings with mine,” she declares. Lirathel is someone who is very used to getting what she wants.

  “I’m sure you haven’t forgotten that I’m not part of the Scorchbound Legion,” I reply, holding her gaze. Her orange eyes haven’t changed their brightness this time and I wonder if she doesn’t care about this task, or if her eye color is actually something she can control at will, but uses it to mislead.

  Of course I’m curious to see how I would stack up against her as well. Where the weird path I’ve taken puts me compared to her more traditional pathway and much higher Level. But… I’m not curious enough to put aspects of my Class on display for all to see and to purposefully give something the ability to dive into my SMI and start rooting around. I step back from the orbs and look beyond them to the doorways that lead from the cavernous room. Now that we’re closer I can tell with my Affinity the colors near the doors relate to how far the Portals present here might take people.

  I don’t miss Lirathel’s narrowed eyes and posture of frustration out of the corner of my eye. In fact, I pay a significant amount of attention to it, so I’m ready when she clearly makes a decision and a move.

  “You must be measured and weighed,” she commands to me in a very different voice from her normal one. I can tell immediately she’s using a Skill on me and it’s a strong one, probably Ascended. It feels a bit like the one Tenebris used on me, but not nearly as powerful. As she speaks, the wisps of living flame that are her hair flow out and her eyes turn a deep orange that blazes with power. Even though I’m not caught unaware, I take half a step forward involuntarily before I realize properly what I’m doing, then stop.

  Mental influence resisted.

  Now I’m pissed.