Logan, Jeff, and I emerge from a Portal at the edge of a dense forest on Zeroth-9 that sprawls beneath an alien sky, its canopy thick with towering, iridescent foliage. The leave shimmer in a complex color combination from violet to toxic emerald. The air is heavy, saturated with humidity and my Perception picks up an underlying scent of decay mixed with vibrant life. Giant vines that snake between the ancient, gnarled trees pulse faintly as if they are fibrous veins carrying the heartbeat of the forest.

  We can already see that, like many places on Earth, the forest itself is a deathtrap for people with lower Levels who are unaware. Razorgrass similar to what I’ve seen before sways on the ground, obscured by moss. I know from experience it will reach up to grasp anyone moving past and even though it’s no longer able to harm me I’ve been caught in its piercing, cutting grip before. There’s even a telltale sparkle of paralytic sap on many of the branches, just waiting for someone to brush up against it; in some cases on Holgaad I encountered trees where the branches could move and track you. Carnivorous blossoms bloom vividly among the branches and some of them are clearly digesting their last insect-like meal.

  “This place doesn’t look too friendly,” comments Logan.

  “There are places like this on Earth, and yeah they are a pain in the ass,” Jeff tells him. He hasn’t been to as many places as I have with my ability to get around, but he’s seen plenty of shit with me and without me.

  I look across the edge of the forest to try to determine why it ends here rather than somewhere else. There’s an open, rolling plain behind us but nothing obvious pops up so I open my minimap and let it expand out, mapping the whole area. I project it on the ground so Logan and Jeff can see. Logan is fascinated, but Jeff has seen it before a lot of times and is staring off into the forest. A lot of life populates inside the forest, but nothing dangerous for me. I push with my will and increase the graduation of the colors and categorzations since we also want to know what’s going to be dangerous to Jeff and Logan, and more importantly to any humans we bring here. There’s a wide spectrum of life inside the forest and Jeff points at places where the features of my minimap don’t match what we see.

  “Illusion?” Jeff asks, and I nod. It’s likely.

  “Remember there are powerful chameleon-like creatures here. I wonder if it goes beyond that?” Logan suggests.

  My minimap populates with several high Level creatures that I’ve been able to see with my Perception and Skills, but I’ve been waiting to see if Jeff and Logan can spot them. They’re large creatures maybe the size of a pickup truck and a cross between a grasshopper and a salamander, with sharp edges and legs teamed with bodies that seem to flex and flow around their surroundings.

  Far behind us in the open plain my minimap shows a herd of large beasts, maybe Level 100, flowing like water across the land. Perhaps something like those creatures on Holgaad I rode on, impaled, to escape from a high Level monster that no doubt now would cause me no problem at all. How long ago was that? Not long and also an eternity.

  It hasn’t been long, but I think we have the feel of the place.

  “Those the chameleons?” Jeff asks, pointing to the high Level dots on my minimap that he should be able to see.

  “Probably,” I agree.

  I trigger Psychic Eruption and stun everything for a 50 meter radius in the forest, including the chameleons. I feel the connection to their crafty, warped minds and can sense they’re intelligent but feral. I zip into the forest and grab one then drag it out onto the plain so we can see what we’re dealing with. As I drop it onto the ground I’m fascinated to see that even though it’s stunned senseless the camouflage it has is still working. The grass I set it down on doesn’t even look flattened by its weight. Obviously something very advanced.

  “I still can’t see it, even though I know where it is,” Logan says.

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  “Infrared?” I ask. “Ultraviolet? Any spectrum? Any vibrations or other signs?”

  We’ve brought a wide variety of detection gear to see what might be possible. It’s impractical to think I will spend years going around to kill a bunch of Monsters that I won’t get any XP from.

  “Nothing so far,” says Jeff as he cycles through everything on his helmet and then starts to bring out equipment. Logan is standing with his eyes closed, trying to sense them.

  “I think there’s a faint resonance they give off,” he says.

  I pull the creature’s status.

  Verdrelith (Level 95)

  Health: 4850/4850

  Mana: 1410/1670

  Conditions: Flexform, Reactive Carapace, Predatory Focus, Bonding Grip, more…

  “Kid’s got talent. You picking that up with your Skills or with equipment, Logan?” asks Jeff.

  “Skills, but I think I could maybe replicate it so that we could tune some kind of detector?”

  “Is there a way you can reproduce that resonance at a Shop or specialty Merchant if there is some kind of technology that can do it?” I ask Logan. “We could give you Credits for some kind of testing or prototype.”

  “I think so,” says Logan and opens his eyes. He nods at me, not totally certain but with a positive vibe.

  I stretch out my Perceptions and try to figure out whether it’s one of my enhancements or the combination of all of them that lets me see the Verdrelith. After some experimentation dialing each of them up and down while Jeff cuts open the Verdrelith to see if their camouflage is still intact when they are wounded, I come to the conclusion that it’s a combination of everything including my Dimensional and my Mana Affinities that somehow my SMI and mind pull together to help me perceive them.

  Unfortunately, what Jeff finds is that the Verdrelith’s active camouflage stays in place right up until death. Even their wounds and blood are disguised. A crazy and powerful adaptation. Surely they have some way to find or recognize each other? No wonder this world has remained unsettled. I trigger Omnipresent to try to find the highest Level creatures on this planet and can see none of the Verdrelith are above Level 200. It would be interesting to know what’s limited them to that threshold. We need some people who specialize in this kind of thing here.

  “What’s the plan, Unc?” Logan asks while scanning the trees for danger. It’s good to see he’s not just relying on me for early warning.

  “We’ll need to pick a place to establish a MIS Hub, and make sure it’s defensible. We’ll need to see if we can find a way for everyone to detect the Verdrelith and any other creatures who might have a similar ability. We’ll need to find experts on alien ecology and biology, and some pioneers who want to establish and grow our presence here. We’ll need to engage with humanity somehow to let everyone know what we’re doing and that this option exists. Hopefully that mean people sign up and some of the other items on our list get ticked off.”

  I pause to let that sink in while we stand on an alien planet.

  “Anything else?” I ask.

  “Levels, baby. Always Levels!” exclaims Jeff with a big grin, raising his hands palm up. I laugh and so does Logan.

  “Yeah, always,” I agree. “Lots of opportunities are here for you guys. I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to get from Zeroth-9. Might have to spend some time off world to keep things ticking along. Sweep the solar system again.”

  “How about Logan tries to get us some kind of prototype for detecting these things, I go spread the word to the right people on Earth, and you explore the rest of this planet to make sure we know what we’re getting ourselves into?” Jeff suggests.

  “Sounds good,” I agree. “Let’s start with a week and I’ll come get you. Logan?”

  He looks surprised that I’ve consulted with him on the options, but nods in agreement too.

  I open up a Portal back to the Calgary MIS Hub for Logan and then to Jeff’s Settlement for him. Alone on Zeroth-9, I open up Omnipresent and try to plan out the best way to cover a whole world in a week. The continental geography is similar in some ways to Earth in that they’re broken up, in this case there are four main continents, a big one that dominates most of the equator and three smaller ones, the smallest of which is probably about the size of Australia and only a few hundred miles from the largest one. It has some dangerous creatures on it including ones that are higher Level than the Verdrelith, but most of the really high Level stuff seems to be on the main continent. I wonder if maybe trying to clear out the more manageable land area and then take it from there is the smart play.

  After peering around for a while at the creatures I can find I decide there’s no time like the present so I manifest the Portal and step through.