A few hours ago…

  The Adventurer’s Guild didn’t have their own building in Teshustoq. They didn’t have their own building in most towns. Instead, the Guild hall was usually affixed to an already existing establishment.

  The building was near the middle of the city, which seemed to be the busiest area of town. It wasn’t a notable building, just a restaurant like many others. What Justus was looking for was the sign hanging near the entrance. The large aluminum sign was colored with a gold symbol of the Guild: a shield with a diamond in the center.

  The inside was packed with a lively crowd. Families were eating meals, workers were gathered in groups drinking and talking, and a band was playing a jovial tune on a small stage. In short, it wasn’t the type of place Justus would ever go to if he could avoid it.

  He looked around the warm-lit interior and found the area he was looking for at the north end of the building. It wasn’t nearly as busy as the rest of the place.

  The Guild’s area had a large job board, with around two dozen job listings posted. Next to the board was a reception desk, and a lady dressed in a Guild uniform stood behind it. The uniform was standard worldwide. It was a plain white robe with gold accent trim along the arms and a hat. The hat flowed down in the back but curled upward at the sides in front, which made it look a bit like a pair of horns. All Guild receptionists kept their hair tied back or cut short, so none was visible. There were a few empty booths in the Guild’s section and two closed doors, not counting the door behind the reception desk.

  Justus reached into the satchel on his thigh beneath his robes. It wasn’t as comfortable as his arm satchel, but he’d yet to replace that after losing it during the teleporting incident. He pulled out his guidestone and showed it to the receptionist as he approached.

  The receptionist gave him a warm smile, which faltered slightly when she saw the emerald stone in his hand. Like the professional she was, she recovered from the slight show of discomfort quickly.

  “Hello, sir. Are you with the Guild? I don’t recognize you.”

  “I am. I’m not from here; just passing through. I’d like to make a call through the network.”

  “Of course, sir,” The lady tapped on the bulky machine on the counter in front of her. With a loud mechanical crunch, a section on the side slid out. It had a socket around the size of a small fist and a few wires connecting back to the machine.

  “If you could just confirm your identity and Guild status for me, then I’ll get started connecting you right away.”

  Justus nodded, having been through this routine a hundred times before. He reached out and dropped the guidestone in the socket. The lady pressed a few more buttons, then pulled a lever on the side. The guidestone began levitating in the socket, spinning rapidly. The air hummed and shimmered around it as the machine let out a shrill whine.

  The noise quieted as the process stabilized, then a display appeared in front of the receptionist. It was like a System display, but it was visible to anyone. It wasn’t a mental projection but a true interactive hologram. The receptionist tapped it, and her eyes scanned the information that appeared: Justus’s Guild member status.

  Her brows furrowed with confusion, then she let out a quiet sigh and relaxed her posture slightly. She’d certainly just read that Justus was a Jade rank, not an Emerald one as the stone suggested. As rare as it was for a Jade to be using an Emerald guidestone, it had to be more rare still for someone to be Emerald while appearing as young as he did. Justus wouldn’t have noticed the receptionist’s reaction if he didn’t have his Absolute Awareness skill active. He always kept that skill active whenever he went through this step. He’d never heard of a Guild official ever betraying the Guild, but that didn’t mean Justus liked handing his most prized possession to them.

  After a minute of reviewing, the receptionist looked back at him.

  “Justus Fahren, High Jade. Very well, just a few security questions, so I can verify your identiy. What date were you born?

  "2nd Lenlas of Apsu," Justus said.

  "And the date you joined, if you can recall?”

  “4th Durlas of Ottolu, 670.”

  “And do your remember the first job you took with the Guild as a full member?” The receptionist gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry, standard precautions. You never know.”

  “It’s fine. My first job was transporting merchandise for a craftsman in Talon. I think his name was Hadris.”

  “Excellent, thank you.” The receptionist said with an unwarranted amount of cheer. She swiped at the display, reading more. She began speaking softly to herself as she read.

  “Last job listed unfinished, time was marked nearly four orbits ago, and…” The lady looked up at him, frowning. She spoke louder. "It states here that you’re presumed dead after a job in Talon. How’d you get all the way down here?”

  “Sending stone incident. The job had unexpected risks, and I used a sending stone to escape. It didn’t take me to where I was told it would.”

  “Seems so. Where did you buy it?”

  “I didn’t. I won it betting on a hound race.”

  “A hound race?”

  “Yes.”

  “Someone bet a sending stone on a hound race?”

  “A stolen one, most likely. Probably an enforcer’s, considering it dumped me into the Wetland swamps. He probably didn’t mind getting rid of it as soon as he could.”

  “Fair enough. I’ll have to update your file. Would you mind filling out a report? It isn’t necessary immediately, but you’ll need to file one before the next phase begins; otherwise, you’ll be locked out of our system.”

  “What’s the date? I’ve been traveling, and my guidestone system rebooted during the transport incident. This is the first town I’ve come across that keeps standard time.”

  “1st Furlas of Apsu.”

  Which would leave him with a full phase before the report was needed. Furlas: the first day of the orbit. Like all phases, Apsu consisted of nine orbits. That meant he had thirty-six whole quarters before he had to file a report. Lucky him, for once.

  “I’ll hold off on that report for now, then.”

  “Very well, then you’re all set.”

  The receptionist pressed a button on the machine and lifted the lever. Justus’s guidestone stopped rotating and fell back into the socket. The whirring sound slowed to a stop, and the display disappeared. Justus took his stone back.

  “And who will that call be going to? Will it be a Guild connection or personal?”

  “Personal. Eighth frequency, point five-two-nine-nine-two. Private call, please.”

  “All right. I'll secure the connection, but do note it will be a minor upcharge per minute. Head into the room on the left and connect to the system, then I’ll send the call through.” The receptionist reached down and pulled out a key to the room.

  The room was small and lined with padding. It had a single pedestal about three feet tall. A socket similar to the one connected to the machine on the counter outside was in the center of the pedestal, but this device was far more intricate. Dozens of wires connected and wrapped around the socket, while two large prongs connected it to the ceiling.

  Justus placed his stone inside. A few moments later, a metal casing closed around the stone. There was a much smoother than the other machine as this one came to life.

  Justus waited. There was a single cushioned chair in the room, but he opted to stand. The man he’d called answered quickly. In less than a minute, lights poured from small mechanisms on the prongs and gathered in the room. The light formed a vaguely humanoid shape. It wasn’t dense and compact like Simon’s clone but undefined and fuzzy. This was just a projection. The face came into focus, along with the shoulders.

  The face wasn’t immediately recognizable as human, though it was clearly male. It was covered in thick wrinkled skin, with too many folds and creases for its age. The top of the man’s head had no hair but rather a mix of fine white and dark brown feathers. He had an incredibly pronounced brow and sunken eyes that were large, round, and dark. His nose tapered down and disappeared as it connected to his mouth, which itself was shaped into a sharp black-tipped beak with two nostrils near the base.

  The animorphed was a black-market dealer and info-broker from Talon. Justus had known him for a long time, though he still didn’t know the man’s real name. The name he went by, Quintus Quail, was definitely an Alias.

  “Justy! So you didn’t go and die on us. No offense, but I nearly choked laughing when one of my guys told me you got snuffed by a lich in the Canton sewers. Sounds like a punchline to a bad joke. Would have been a hell of a way to go in my book, but I guess you’ve never cared about reputation. So, would ya like tell me how the hell you ended up in some backwater edge-town in Greatide?”

  “Officially, it was a sending stone incident.”

  Quintus raised one of his large prominent brows, the gesture odd-looking on his birdlike face. Then his expression narrowed. Sending stones were rare and expensive. Justus could hardly afford one. The only one he’d ever had he’d stolen, and Quintus was the one who gave Justus the information to obtain it.

  “They gonna tie that back to me?” Quintus asked, his tone holding none of the friendliness it had before.

  “Unless you’ve been doing a lot of gambling in hound races, no.”

  Quintus nodded, looking relieved.

  “Good. So what’s the unofficial story?”

  “Crazier than whatever you’re thinking. The full thing may be worth more than you can afford.”

  That remark had the effect Justus was hoping for.

  “You think so, huh? You saying you got information worth money?”

  “More than you’d believe.” Justus repeated. “But I’m not in the position to ask for any. I know you don’t pay in advance. Not coin. So I’ll ask for something else.”

  “A deal?”

  “A deal. I need a way back to Talon. Traveling the whole way on foot and boat would take two phases at best, and that’s if I didn’t avoid the Dire Strait and other higher saturated areas. If I did, there might be another phase or two of travel on top, depending on the Spirit patterns.”

  “You want me to arrange your place on an airship? That what you getting at? You realize that would cost me half a dozen speers to pull off?”

  “Not just me. I’m traveling with two others.”

  Quinus clicked his beak a few times. “Three? You want me to pull you three spots? That’s a lot to ask on faith, Justy. Now look, I know you’re not a bullshitter, and I know you’re not stupid. So either you really think you’ve got a shiny pebble of info, or that lich messed you up good. If you’re serious, I’ll need more than a promise and puppy dog eyes before I agree to something like that, even for you, kid.”

  “I have information from beyond the Kryznokt Barrier.”

  Quintus’s already large eyes opened wide. He muttered a few curses and looked away toward something in the room with him. His image blurred and became a vague silhouette as he bent over and out of sight of his own transmitter. Justus heard some clanging and shuffling. Quintus reappeared and reached out into the open air, his hands growing comically large as he fiddled with his transmitter and messed up the projection’s proportions. As he stepped back, his image blurred, then pulsed red before coming back into focus and color.

  Justus watched it all with thin patience. There were few people Justus considered paranoid. What most people referred to as paranoia was usually just proper preparation. Quintus, however, was paranoid even by Justus's standards. Justus couldn’t blame the man too much, though. There were likely over a hundred people who would want to see Quintus hanged for the information he peddled.

  "You don’t need to encrypt the signal. I wouldn’t call you without requesting a private call. No one can overhear us without a direct connection.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m glad you can still trust your little guild, but I ain’t taking chances. Not when you go suggesting something as fucking insane as having info from off-planet. Do you realize the kinds of people who have spent decacycles chasing after even a hint of that sort of info? I’m talking psycho killers and obsessed cultist nutjobs. It’s not a topic you just dump onto a conversation without some foreplay first. I would do the smart thing and tell you to keep it to yourself, ‘cept killers and cultists have deep pockets. Now tell me what happened.”

  “It’s a long story, and I doubt you’d believe me. I’ll send you proof.”

  Justus opened his system and navigated to his personal page. When he’d been on Earth, the stone had gathered information about the planet. It was how he’d been able to learn about the difference between Earth and Varkalus time, as well as other interesting facts about the place. His guidestone had connected to information from a vast wireless network on Earth and had gathered more information than Justus could reasonably read in his lifetime. He’d had to use the system to navigate the billions of words of data.

  Justus had quickly moved that information to his private storage, where not even the Guild could access it. Now, he opened that massive collection. With the system’s help, he isolated the information about Earth: its mass, its sun, moon, orbital period, and more. Two full pages of details. It was useless knowledge by itself, but it was too detailed to be dismissed as fake. Maybe someone could fake it, but Quintus knew Justus didn’t have that kind of expertise.

  He transmitted the file through the call. Quintus read the pages, his eyes scanning the air in front of him and growing wide. When he was finished, he looked back at Justus, stunned.

  “When did you need those tickets?”

  ___

  After leaving the Guild, Justus stopped by a weapons shop and made a few purchases. After that, he spent an hour getting familiar with the town’s layout. He noted how the streets flowed together, all connected to the one main road that twisted from the top all the way to the bottom. It wasn’t a very organized town, though there was a purpose to it all. Nothing seemed haphazardly placed. Justus appreciated that. While he enjoyed structure and organization, those things were useless without purpose. More than anything, he could appreciate utility.

  The scouting helped clear his head. It was refreshing to have time alone. Justus was used to being alone. He had spent cycles alone before getting stuck with Katherine and Simon, only communicating with others when he had business with them. He’d almost forgotten how enjoyable it was to explore a new place alone. That was one of the things he liked about Talon. Things changed often, especially on the outskirts. You could leave for a few phases, and when you came back, it would almost seem like a new town.

  A notification appeared in his field of view, dragging his temporary peace of mind back to reality. He pulled up the display with a resigned sigh.

  Secret Quest: Save Earth

  Quest Update

  Optional Objective Complete - 1/1

  Help Party and Tradesman Hishet Reach Teshustoq

  Reward:

  3 Set, 100 Spirit Refinement

  Reward items added to Party Leader’s [Inventory]

  “Still here, then…” Justus whispered under his breath.

  He read the reward again. He wasn’t sure what the hell Spirit refinement was. It wasn’t a specific term he’d ever heard used before. He scanned his Spirit just in case. He didn’t feel any different. That didn’t surprise him. A guidestone couldn’t affect your Spirit without your intent.

  He checked his inventory and was not surprised to find that his savings now included three additional set. It wasn’t a trivial amount of money, but it wouldn’t solve all their problems. Justus checked his coin. Totalling all of it together, he had around forty-five thousand bits' worth. He had more, but they were hidden in caches near Talon. Those wouldn’t be very useful to him now.

  They had enough money to live off of for a few phases, maybe half a cycle if they really squeezed. He wasn’t about to start dipping into his savings if he could help it. He did his best to add to his savings at the end of each phase. Of all the lessons he’d learned growing up in a gang, one of the most important was that spending more money than you made was a quick way to wind up dead, or worse, in debt.

  As soon as Justus closed his inventory and the quest reward screen, a new screen appeared. He ground his teeth in annoyance as he read the words.

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  Secret Quest: Save Earth

  Update: New Optional Objective

  Current (Optional) Objective:

  Accept and complete the Guild job posted by Goffner Gredley.

  Warning:

  Failing Optional Objective will result in a penalty. Incurring too many penalties will result in the deactivation of this guidestone.

  Failing the Main Objective will result in the destruction of Earth and the ultimate demise of Varkalus.

  “Oh fuck off already,” Justus spat, swiping the notification away. “I have enough to worry about without getting pulled around on a leash.”

  A nearby woman on the street gave him an odd look as she passed, giving him more space than necessary. Justus focused on his breathing to calm down, then continued on his way. This time he wouldn't follow the quest's invisible hand. He'd see if it really had any power to give him some penalty or not.

  When he turned the corner to get back to the inn, he felt his temper rise up again. Of course, they had decided to ignore his instructions and go off pissing about around the town. At least one of them had the sense to leave Simon’s clone behind.

  He Blinked, moving behind the clone faster than the eye could see. The clone was looking out at the sea, leaning against the copper rail. Justus put a hand on the clone’s shoulder, causing it to jump. Justus stepped forward, keeping his hand firmly on the clone. It looked only slightly relieved to see him.

  “Simon, if you and Katherine aren’t back here in ten minutes, I’ll throw your dog off next.”

  Justus moved his hand with practiced speed, down the shoulder to the armpit. He stooped low, looping an arm around the clone’s thigh. He lifted the clone off its feet and over the railing. Justus watched as the clone flailed about as it fell towards the waves over a hundred feet below. It managed to twist back and give him the finger with both hands before it dismissed itself, carrying Justus’s message back to Simon.

  Justus looked to the side, where Simon’s dog was looking up at him, sitting on its haunches with its tongue out. It whined.

  “I won’t actually do it,” Justus said, in case the familiar was smart enough to understand.

  ___

  “I didn’t expect the Guild to be so… family friendly,” Katherine said, looking at a group of tables that was filled with rowdy children, tired parents, and birthday decorations.

  “Adventurers are more than just monster hunters,” Simon told her. “We’re representatives of the Diamond Empress.”

  “The Diamond Empress? That’s one of the Monarch’s, right?”

  “Sort of. The five Monarchs rule over the kingdoms, and the Empress mediates the Monarchs and is the head of all the Empress Guilds. She’s worshipped everywhere, not just in one kingdom. She isn’t exactly above the other Monarchs, just separate from them.”

  “There are other guilds?” Simon asked.

  “None that are very important. There’s the Trades Guild, which is sort of a trades school. Then there’s the Finance Guild, which loans out money, operates banks, and enforces economic laws. The Nature’s Guild studies wildlife and protects the environment. The Theology Guild is for people who want to study religion or become part of the Faith. And the most useless one is the Arts Guild, which teaches the arts and manages art exhibits, concerts, plays, and stuff like that.”

  “Concerts? Like music concerts?” Simon asked. He looked at the band, then Katherine. “I wonder if anyone’s invented rock music yet. Tell me it wouldn’t be awesome to pull a Back to the Future and shred a solo.”

  “Do you even know how to play guitar?”

  “Yeah!" Simon said, sounding hurt. "I played Hot for Teacher at the school talent show last year. I got disqualified after I dedicated the song to Ms. Miller. It was one of the highlights of my life!”

  “I think I remember hearing about that. I didn’t know it was you.”

  “Whatever you’re talking about, you’re not doing it,” Justus said. “We’re here to choose a job and get you two enlisted in the Adventurers Guild.”

  “Fine, but I’m going to save up for a guitar. Or whatever it is that guy is playing over there. It looks close enough.”

  Justus sighed. “You won't be buying anything until you have enough money to buy a ticket to the capital. Now help Katherine pick a job.” He gestured to the board. Katherine had already taken the hint and began looking over the jobs board.

  The two looked over the different posters. Justus walked over to the receptionist while they decided which job they wanted for their first.

  “Welcome back. Justus, right?”

  “Yeah. I’d like to register two initiates.”

  “Do you have their guidance stones?”

  Justus nodded and pulled out the two opal guidestones. He’d made the two give him their stones before coming.

  The lady opened the machine once more. She placed one stone in. The stone gave her Simon’s information, which Justus confirmed. The receptionist typed in information on the screen the machine displayed. She took out Simon’s stone, then they repeated the steps for Katherine.

  Finally, Justus placed his stone in the machine once more. After another minute of typing and clicking, the machine released his stone. The receptionist bent down, then placed a small stack of papers on the counter.

  “Almost done. Please take a moment to review this and sign at the bottom. This is basically your agreement to take responsibility for your two initiates. Their actions will reflect on you, as yours reflect on us. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. The Guild is a lot more forgiving towards initiates. A few mistakes are bound to happen.”

  Justus hesitated for a moment, then took the papers. He skimmed over the words, making sure there was nothing he didn’t want to agree to. The document was concise and direct, and none of it seemed unfair. That didn’t surprise him too much. The Guild was one of the few things that had never disappointed him. Some of the jobs, sure, but not the Adventurers Guild itself.

  He signed and handed the documents back. Not a second later, Simon slapped his hand on the desk, a poster underneath it.

  “We’ve made our choice, Captain.”

  “Don’t do that, and don’t call me that.” Justus said. He took the poster as Simon lifted his hand. He began to read the job description aloud. There wasn’t much to read.

  “Looking for transport of a precious item. Details and payment may be discussed on request.”

  The formatted poster showed a job rank of Opal and a threat level of low beneath the description. At the very bottom, the name of the person who had posted the job was written. Justus handed the paper back to Simon.

  “We’re not doing it.”

  “What? I haven’t even made my pitch.”

  “Doesn’t matter, pick something else. We’re not doing that.”

  “Why not?” Katherine asked.

  “Too vague. There’s probably a reason they left out so many specifics. It says transport, but to where? In town? Why would they need someone to transport something in town? And if it’s not in town, that could mean orbits of travel, which is our whole problem.”

  “Maybe they want us to take something to where we’re headed anyway, and we’re willing to pay our way,” Katherine pointed out. Justus hated the logic in her point. It was doubtful that was the case, but with the lack of specifics, it was a possibility.

  “Look, let’s at least talk to the guy and see. If you don’t like it, we’ll decline,” said Simon. He looked to the receptionist. “We can do that, right?”

  “Of course! If there’s any misunderstanding, adventurers are generally allowed to rescind a job offer. For a job listing like that, it would be perfectly understandable to turn down the request after learning more and discovering the job isn’t right for you.”

  Simon looked back at Justus, as if the matter was settled. Justus wanted to argue further, but there was no logical reason to keep doing so. If he kept planting his feet, the two would start to suspect there was more behind his reasons for being against the job.

  “Fine. We’ll take this one.”

  Justus placed the job listing poster on the counter, sliding it toward the receptionist. As he did, he read the name at the bottom once more. Goffner Gredley.

  ___

  Justus looked down, then back up, double-checking the address the receptionist had given him.

  “This is the place?” Katherine asked.

  “Please tell me this is the place,” Simon said.

  “This is the place,” Justus confirmed.

  The home was near the top of the mountain, in the nicer area of town. The longer he looked at it, the more it seemed it didn’t belong there. It was built of finely carved stone and dark wood, but it was too slim for its four stories and had an odd bend in it that Justus wasn’t sure was an aesthetic choice or a structural failure. All the windows had their curtains drawn except for one near the top, which had a large telescope pointed at the sea. The roof was decorated with ornate statues of animals that had no obvious rhyme or reason. The statues seemed to have once been painted but now had only flecks of color across their wooden shapes.

  The front door was tall and narrow, much like the house itself. Justus walked up to the door, Simon and Katherine behind him. The door's copper knocker was shaped like a horse's head, and adorned with small opal crystals at the eyes. The metal was covered in verdigris except for the nostrils, which seemed to be the best place to grab it. The metal was cold and heavy, and made a deep booming thud as Justus banged it against the door. Before the third knock, the door swung open violently.

  “What do you want?”

  The elderly voice was sharp and grating. The hunched-over old man who had spoken stood in the doorway, squinting his eyes as he looked at each of them. Justus glanced at Katherine and Simon, who looked to him.

  “Hi, we’re with the—”

  “Speak up!” The man yelled.

  “We’re with the Guild,” Justus said, raising his voice. “We’re here about the job you posted.”

  “Oh! Well, you should have just said so. Come in! Come in! I’ll make up some tea.”

  The old man turned and hobbled deeper into the old house. Justus turned back to give Simon a glare, then followed, moving at a crawl behind the man.

  “Are you Goffner Gredley?” Justus asked.

  “Hope so! Else I been mistaken all my life.” The man waved his cane haphazardly, gesturing behind him toward the door. “Lock that behind you, would you, dear! Don’t want the seagulls getting in again.”

  Justus looked back to see Katherine gently shut the door. She twisted the lock and shared a puzzled look with Justus.

  During the patience-testing walk towards the living room, only ten feet down the narrow entrance hall, Justus had plenty of time to look around the house. There was a staircase along the side of the hall, going up to the second floor. There was an alcove in the wall under the stairs, and it was filled with a pile of indiscriminate junk. Rusted metal sculptures, canvases of art, and even a stuffed cat.

  The living room wasn’t much better. Piles of boxes, books, sculptures, and knick-knacks blocked sight of most of the walls and took up nearly half the space in the large room. The air felt heavy and carried a strong scent of stale dirt and a hint of mold.

  “Sorry for the mess!” Goffner yelled, reaching down to pick up a plate with a slice of peach from the arm of the couch. He set it on the floor next to the couch, taking up some of the precious walking space left. “I was just having a snack when I noticed you three staring at my house!”

  “You noticed us?” Katherine asked. “How?”

  “Felt you. Well, mostly him.” Goffner gestured at Justus. “Pretty decent Spirit control, but you’d need to be a lot better to hide a Jade from me.”

  “You used a sensing skill?” Justus asked.

  Goffner laughed so hard he began coughing. Simon took a step forward, seeming concerned, but Goffner waved him off.

  “Skill?” Goffner asked. “You think it’d take a skill for me to sense you? You’re an old master at Spirit manipulation, are you? Please, I could have sensed your intent back when I was still a Sapphire. You don’t hide it half as well as you think.”

  Justus felt a lump in the back of his throat. Despite the old man’s frail-seeming form, Justus mentally prepared to Blink back to the front door if the man moved too quickly.

  “You’re Emerald rank?” Simon asked. “So you’re really strong then?”

  Goffner laughed again, spurring another coughing fit.

  “You could say that, boy. I’m not what I used to be, but I helped put down a dread beast just a few phases ago.”

  “Then why did you hire us?” Katherine asked. She’d been further back, looking at a painting propped up against a sofa chair. Her cheeks tinged pink as all three looked at her. She continued. “I mean, can’t you do anything we could?”

  Goffner smiled. It made him seem less like a half-mad hermit than he did before.

  “If only it was that simple. I might be useful in a fight, but that’s because of my Spirit. My body is old. Tired. Stronger than most, and faster, but still old. I feel it in my bones. I’m not much longer for this world. The cycles have caught up with me. I’d like to stay home and rest.”

  “It seems like you did pretty well for yourself,” Simon said, looking around the house filled with old junk.

  Goffner chuckled. “Oh yes. A life of adventuring leaves you with more speers than you’d know what to do with, granted you survive to enjoy it. Took me some time to realize I don’t need a tenth of this shit, though. A sculpture in the home, a sculpture in an exhibit. At the end of the day all it does is sit there. Don’t even know why I have so much art. Never did care for it. Pretentious lot, artists.”

  Justus’s opinion of the strange old man raised slightly.

  “So, what’s the job?” he asked Goffner. “What are we taking, and to where?”

  Justus tensed as Goffner lifted a hand and snapped. Nothing happened, though. Justus used his Absolute Awareness. He looked back as he sensed something moving towards them.

  From the hall they’d entered in, a small vase approached, silent as it glided like some ghostly apparition through the air. It reached the small coffee table, setting itself down gently. Up close, Justus realized it wasn’t a vase. It was an urn.

  “Years ago, back when I was still opal, I had a friend. She loved exploring. Loved caves most of all. I went along, even though I hadn’t really cared much for adventures back then. Until we found something… unexpected. Deep in a cave; uncharted. A relic from the Lost Ages. I wanted to report it, like we’re told to, but she didn’t. She wanted to keep it a secret. Our secret. Before she died, she asked me to bury her ashes with that relic. I kept putting it off, though.” He waved at the piles of items in the stuffed home. “Never was good at letting go, you know. But now, I’m afraid I’m out of time.

  “All you need to do is take her to where she wanted to rest. Do that, and I’ll pay you. Officially, I’ll only pay you a set each. Standard for a transport job at this rank, I think. And for your discretion, I’ll also let you take any one thing you want from this old dump.”

  “Each?” Justus asked, interested. Most of the items seemed like junk, but some were bound to be valuable or, even better, useful. Eccentric or not, an Emerald ranker was bound to have something incredible in his hoard.

  “Of course each. Each of you has to shut your traps about what you find down there, after all. So is it a deal?”

  Justus felt Simon and Katherine look to him. Simon tensed, clearly hoping Justus would agree. Katherine was more loose, her posture and heart rate indicating curiosity but not much interest. It always felt unnerving sensing things like that. It was more information than he wanted, but the skill was all or nothing. He turned it off to help him think.

  Getting involved with a relic from the Lost Ages of Epochs was risky, especially if you did so without intent to report it. He understood why Goffner wanted to keep it under wraps. Not reporting ancient relics could lead to fines, prison, and, in extreme cases, death. Justus didn’t think they’d get hit with anything but fines and maybe a short suspension from the adventuring guild. Usually there had to be intent to do more than simply look at or explore relics to get anything more than a fine.

  What really concerned Justus was the quest. The quest somehow knew about this job and wanted him to take it. If he didn’t, he’d be penalized, whatever that meant. That was a scary stick, but there was a carrot too. Last time he did one of those quests, he’d been given a pretty nice reward. Those clothes had probably saved him a thousand bits and an hour of shopping, and three set was nothing to sneeze at. What other kinds of rewards could he get?

  Moreover, if he went, he could possibly learn more about whatever was behind the quest. What did it want? Did it want him to talk to Goffner, visit the relic, or maybe it wanted him to take something in this house? Or maybe it had chosen the job at random. He didn’t know, but he wouldn’t find out more without trying.

  “We’ll do it.”

  Goffner sighed in relief. “Good, good. For a moment I’d thought I’d have to dump your bodies with the other group that turned me down.”

  There was a beat of silence, then Goffner laughed, probably at how pale Justus had become. Being threatened by an Emerald was terrifying, even if it was indirect. Justus let himself relax as Goffner went into another coughing fit.

  “Oh, gods above, I’m only pulling your leg. I didn’t kill no one, just scrambled their memories a bit. Now, you three get going, and take good care of those ashes. I’ll know if you don’t.”

  Justus reached for the urn, and as he did, Goffner put up a hand to stop him. The old man stood up from his chair, slower than seemed necessary. He hobbled over to the coffee table and set a hand on the urn. His lips nearly touched the rose-gold metal as he bent down and whispered something. When he stood up and nodded, his eyes were wet.

  Very cautiously, Justus picked up the urn and placed it in his inventory. When it vanished, Goffner let out a short sigh and walked back to his chair.

  “We’ll keep them safe and make sure the job is done. Do you have a map?”

  Goffner waved his hand, and Justus felt a slight fuzzy sensation in his mind. As it cleared, there was a distinct, somehow familiar, new memory. Goffner hadn’t been joking about the memory scramble, it seemed. He really did have a mind-related affinity. Simon laughed at Justus’s side.

  “Dude, did you just use a jedi mind trick on us? Oh that’s so cool.”

  The memory was old, but Goffner had traveled the path so many times that it was easy to recall the way. Every landmark and little trick he had to remember the path was right inside Justus’s head. The memory led inside a cave and navigated through a few turns and tight spaces. The recollection faded after a certain point in the cave, presumably where the relic was. It was far, but not as far as Justus feared. The journey would only take a few quarters.

  Justus excused them, politely declining Goffner’s offer of tea, insisting that they’d have some after the job was done. The three of them headed outside, and a gust of fresh ocean breeze hit Justus with the intensity of a flash bomb to the retinas. He hadn’t realized just how stuffy the air had been in that house. He enjoyed the feeling of the wind through his short hair for a moment, then turned back to the other two. He paused.

  “Simon, are you okay?”

  Katherine turned to look at Simon and noticed what Justus had.

  “You look sick; what’s wrong?” she asked, concerned.

  Simon seemed to snap out of a daze, shaking himself and giving them an attempt at a reassuring smile.

  “Nothing. I just, um, I guess I don’t like caves very much. After I dug through those memories, they kind of freaked me out.”

  “Will you need to stay behind?” Justus asked.

  “No, no. I’ll manage. As long as we’re all together, I’ll be fine. If there’s a cave-in and I get stuck, though, I might freak out.”

  “If there’s a cave-in, my skills are well suited to getting us out. My Absolute Awareness can feel the stress of rocks, and my Decay can turn them to dust and clear a way through. Your skill will help a lot too. That cave probably hasn’t been explored in decacycles, maybe a hectocycle. Using your clone to scout ahead without risk will be incredibly useful.”

  Simon perked up a little at that. “That would make things easier. And safer.”

  “Glad you agree. Now let's get something to eat, then we'll head out.”

  Both of the two non-planetary locals looked like they’d just won a lottery at the thought of a real meal from a restaurant. Justus usually wouldn’t indulge in a luxury like that, but he’d gotten a decent amount of money from that quest earlier. A few hundred bits weren’t going to matter too much.

  The three of them had also been through a lot lately. Justus wasn’t sure what a normal life was like, exactly, but he did know most people went out to eat with friends now and again. If there was ever a time to try that out, it’d be now. It’d be nice to do something normal, something mundane. For some reason, Justus felt like he needed to.

  Maybe it was the pessimist in him, but part of him couldn’t help but feel there wasn’t much time left for normal.

  What should the mysterious ancient relic be?