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He began walking down the street. There were no vehicles, and so the wide boulevards of black stone were paced out by thousands upon millions of people. The sheer vastness of the species variety still blew Greg’s mind. Most were humanoid with alterations that made them quite distinct from humans, but there were plenty of weird aliens that were decidedly not bipedal humanoids.

Greg knew that if you just focused on a location, within a minute of walking you would arrive there. Space would warp without you noticing it, and you would just arrive at your destination. Meet up with Quinn. He kept walking forward, counting down the seconds in his mind as he glanced at the other Aspirants spread throughout the Civilians. Some he gave curt nods of recognition to. Others, he avoided their gaze entirely.

Darrin was latched onto his shoulder, the spectral, starry spider an ever-present fixture. Common courtesy was to have the Wayfinder for each Ascendant or Aspirant stick to the physical form of their bound Aspirant while inside The Eternal City.

Greg felt the slight uneasy shift under his feet that signaled he had been walking long enough, and the world flashed before his eyes – warping reality as he was on another street with different shops and new buildings. The one he found himself in front of called The Star Archive, as denoted by the brass metalwork on the front doors. "Keep an eye on my back, would you?" he asked as he glanced down at Darrin.

"Roger," the spider flipped about on his shoulder. In Khrox, Aspirants and Ascendants could engage in combat with each other. It was uncommon, but not unheard of – and Greg had already barely avoided a fight with Pulsar Coalition Signers who wanted to ’convince’ him to join their faction.

Greg walked into the lobby of the building. There was a long, brass table that extended across a hallway entrance in front of him, and behind that table was a massive archive with thousands upon thousands of books, tomes, and data-screens. Seated at the table was a disheveled-looking humanoid figure. He was dressed in a very unkempt, ragged fashion. His skin was a bluish color, and his red eyes seemed sunken and hollow. A mop of ragged grey hair topped his head.

Seated at the table with him were two other individuals. "Hi there. Some person named Quinn here?" He had seen and accompanied her for a short time during his Aspirant Trial but didn’t recall much about her. That whole experience was a blur. This woman looked somewhat like her; but better safe to ask than assume.

"Good to meet you," the grey-skinned man replied. "This is Quinn Cipher, I’m Mizarion, and this is Shuck. He’s the Star Council’s archivist and historian."

Greg nodded and looked at Quinn. Just with a brief glance, Greg knew she was heavy into cybernetics. The way her hand jerked slightly, and the way her eyes focused led him to no other conclusion. Amateur installation job , he thought. She must’ve obtained them illicitly.

Quinn smiled and gestured to the seat next to her, "Please, I’m sure you’re interested in hearing about this opportunity."

Greg nodded and took the offered seat. The man named Shuck sighed and took a sip from a thermos, and the scent of something analogous to coffee smacked Greg’s nostrils. "Hey, you here to make fun of my writing, too?"

Mizarion looked at the disheveled archivist, "We would never make fun of your writing." He looked over to Greg, "We were actually just about to have a history lesson."

Quinn looked over at Greg and tapped a few buttons on her wrist-mounted interface. A golden screen popped up in the air, facing him. "This is a bodyguard contract. Your services contracted out to defend me. The wage is 100 Stardust a month, courtesy of the Star Council."

Greg looked over at Mizarion who he knew from Darrin’s System queries was a higher-up in the Star Council. "Why not have one of your members guard her?"

"We’re busy," The man replied as he stood up. "It’s a good deal. Just stick around her at The Star Market, and if she needs to go off-world. Of course, if you go off-world, you’ll get an additional stipend. It’s all in that contract."

"Darrin?" Greg asked as the spider wheeled around. "Mind looking this over? I was never good at legal stuff."

The spider nodded and began tapping the hovering screen. Whilst he read it, Greg looked at Quinn, "Why choose me? Hell, how’d you know I even did private security back on Earth?"

She smiled, "Broker Class Skill. I looked at new Aspirants from our batch who had a background in guard work. It was you, or some lady named Henriette. I went with you, because I met that lady already and she didn’t seem like she had time for my contract." Her eyes whirred in her skull, zooming in or out – Greg could not tell. "Plus, you have a significant other in Khrox. You’re already incentivized to live here. Why not work here, too?"

Greg chuckled as Darrin gave him the nod. He signed the contract which vanished in a glimmer of gold. "Well, I wouldn’t mind just holding down a shop for a bit."

Mizarion stood up, "With that, I take my leave. Quinn, pleasure collaborating with you for these few days. Shuck? Give them the history lesson, please."

Shuck sighed and nodded, "Alright kiddos, grab a book."

As Mizarion left, Greg grabbed one of the books on the table. It was a deep green cover with a simple, black-lettered title. The Cosmic System – Origins. "Really? We have to read?"

Shuck smirked and shook his head, "Ah, my Class is Historian, my Advanced Class is Archivist. Just by reading that book, you’ll get the information you need." He clicked his tongue, "But for some reason, all my work comes out as raunchy smut. Don’t get me wrong, it is historically accurate, but it comes off as…well, you’ll see for yourself."

Well, I am curious about this whole Cosmic System. Glancing over at Quinn, he saw her already a few pages in. If we’re going to be here for a bit, I’d rather do something instead of just sitting around.

Greg opened the book cover and began reading the first page. The descriptions of The Architects, the species that designed The Cosmic System, were very elaborate. Every detail was meticulously laid out, but it was not described in an anatomical, textbook way. It was far more sensual than that. Greg looked over at Quinn and the two shared a look. I don’t read much, but this guy is a freak.

After reading for about an hour, Greg had finished the book and had a solid understanding of the origins of The Cosmic System. A species created it as the ultimate way to control and harness all possible power sources in the universe – magic, technology, magitech – everything that could generate energy. They used that to ’punch’ a hole to a ’blank’ reality that they could shape to their desires. All of them left, except for one system technician who stayed behind.

No one knew who they were, but it was rumored to possibly be one of the older Ascendants. Quinn let out a sigh as she finished the book and closed it. "Well…that’s a lot of information."

Shuck had a look of eager anticipation on his face, "So? Did you like it?"

Greg chuckled, "It was something. Can I take a copy home for my girlfriend?"

The Archivist frowned, "I assume for the sensual aspects?" Greg nodded, and Shuck groaned, "Damnit! I always try to write boring, historical texts. But they always come out salacious."

"This is good information, but what I wanted to know about was this hidden faction. The Dark Between Stars," Quinn stated.

Shuck’s face paled, "Oh shit. Those guys? Okay, hold on." He stood up and walked into the colossal archive, vanishing into glimmering, white dust. A second passed, and he reappeared in the chair before the two, causing Quinn to jump. "Let’s see…ah! The Dark Between Stars. Want me to just get to the juicy bits?"

"Yes, please," Quinn replied.

Shuck cleared his throat, "Ahem. The Cosmic System experienced an outbreak of conflicts between a faction once known as Twisted Apocrypha and the still existing but young Star Council. The Star Council was assisted by an unknown entity, wielding Cosmic Power that could not be quantified or identified. The individual designated themselves as a representative of the Dark Between Stars and fought against Twisted Apocrypha alongside the Star Council. The person destroyed the faction, and then vanished once more." He put the book down, "I removed the saucy bits from my summary."

Why is she looking into this secret faction? Greg thought as he looked at Quinn. She had a contemplative look on her face as her eyes continued to telescope inside her skull. What could she possibly want with some hidden, powerful group?

After a few seconds, she spoke, "Thank you." She looked over at Greg, "I’m expecting one of these Dark Between Stars people to make a move on Earth."

"Why?" Greg and Shuck asked at the same time.

"The Star Council and Nebula Alliance both want it to join their list of controlled worlds."

Greg shrugged, "Okay, and?"

She sighed and stood up, "I think this Dark Between Stars will get involved. I don’t know which side, but their members – historically, at least – show up during faction conflict on a large scale." She looked over to Shuck and dipped her head, "Thank you for your time."

He nodded, "Feel free to take copies of any book you want! They’re free to the public."

Quinn led Greg out of the building, "Let’s head back to my shop." She began walking down the street, and Greg was a step behind her.

Protector’s Vow, Greg thought as he targeted her. He saw the faint, brown symbol hovering above her head that denoted he was now going to get any damage aimed at her redirected.

Jace woke up in a wonderfully soft bed – albeit a dusty one. Sitting up slowly, he felt intense, pulsing pain in his left hand. Right. Broken fingers. He sighed and rolled out of the bed. Digging through his satchel, he got his messenger bag and took several sips of the still-chilled water. That was followed up with two of the ration pouches.

As he was finishing up his meal, the pop of Ollie manifested sounded off behind him. "Hey. How’d you sleep?"

"Well, all things considered," Jace replied as he popped a few of the painkillers from the med kit. "Ready to check out that hypercycle downstairs."

Ollie stopped moving and his eyes went black. His mouth opened, and Xera’s voice came through. "Hey, just giving you a quick update. First off – good job at dealing with that other Aspirant."

Jace vividly recalled the gushing blood, and glancing down at his foot claws, saw the dried blood on them. For a moment, he felt a pang of remorse. But that was quickly pushed aside by the knowledge that the woman had attacked him from behind with an ice or cold Skill, and fully intended to get that package. Whether he was dead or not. "I’m okay," he mumbled as he choked down another one of the painkillers.

"Well, I just wanted to remind you that you shouldn’t leave Velenar Prime until you’ve hit level 25. Stay there until the diminishing returns for Stardust accumulation kicks in."

Jace nodded, "Thanks for the Quests by the way."

"I have to keep my Signers well equipped," she replied.

"Any suggestions on where to go next?"

"Accessing the planetary reports, it looks like the Black Hole Conclave has some type of mining operation set up a few hundred miles away from you." She went silent for several moments, and Jace sat in rapt attention waiting for her voice to return. "Shit. They’re drilling a borehole to the core."

"That’s bad why?"

"They want to install an engine that uses the planet’s core as its energy source. One that would propel the planet to the black hole at the center of the universe. ’Feeding oblivion’, as they would put it."

"That doesn’t sound good," Jace stated. "But wouldn’t that take…millions of years?"

"Magic exists – though it’s a pain in the ass to wrangle into the constraints of a mechanical device. The engine they have can bypass the rules of physics. Faster than light, effectively. It’s mostly running on magic – however, that works."

"Why not just propel stars into the black hole instead? That would be more matter than a planet, right?"

Xera let out an exasperated sigh, "I don’t know why the Black Hole Conclave is only snagging worlds to propel to the center of the universe. There’s plenty I don’t understand about the more esoteric parts of The Cosmic System. My brother dealt with the magic and magitech stuff – I primarily focused on the actual science and technology."

Jace nodded, "Sorry for being nosy." It doesn’t make much sense though, from the little I know. Stars are way bigger than planets. If they wanted to make this black hole bigger, they’d want to feed it the biggest things possible, right?

But, as she had said, magic and magitech also existed. It might not make sense to me, but I’m sure it has some logic behind it. I just can’t comprehend it. "Alright. Destroy the engine. Seems simple enough."

"I’m going to set up a Quest. Give me a moment here-"

<<<<<>>>>>

[Quest: Stop the Black Hole Conclave’s activities on Velenar Prime.]

[Time Limit: 12 days.]

[Reward: Stardust.]

[Sender: Dark Between Stars.]

<<<<<>>>>>

"You can give Stardust as a reward?" Jace asked. "Couldn’t you just give me all of the Stardust I needed to max out my levels?"

Xera let out a disappointed sigh, "I wish. But that is one of the safeguards in place when we first made The Cosmic System. The Stardust reward I’ll be giving you is from my personal stores. And, that’ll tap my funds for a good few days. I figured since the Black Hole Conclave Signers themselves won’t be worth much, this would be the best way to ensure your progression."

"Makes sense," Jace replied. "But… I don’t even have to kill anyone. Just stop their activity."

"Correct. But they are fanatical devotees, every one of them. Hellbent on destroying the whole universe by feeding that supermassive black hole all matter in existence. Killing them isn’t reprehensible. You’d be making our reality a better place."

He nodded and began to pack up, "Any ideas on how to stop them permanently?"

"On that world, destroying the engine they plan to install would set them back months. There’s no way to permanently stop them from trying to take this planet and send it to the universe’s center."

No way to permanently stop them. So, I’ll be coming back here to disrupt over and over again…unless… an idea popped into his head. "Doesn’t the Pulsar Coalition hate them? Can’t we bring them in also?"

"Already on it. But they won’t get there before the engine is installed. Once that’s done, then the Black Hole Conclave will start to bulk up defenses around the engine. You need to strike while they’re vulnerable."

"Okay," Jace replied as he removed the barricades at the door. "We’ll give it our best shot."

"Talk to you soon," Xera said.

Ollie’s eyes returned to normal, and he shook his head. "Exciting stuff, getting involved in faction conflicts."

Jace began walking down the hallway, to the stairs, and descended to the ground floor lobby. "Yeah. Why do they want all the universe to be fed to this singularity?"

Ollie’s voice became dour and gruff, "Troxanir, the Endless Hunger. The only Tier 9 Ascendant, and it claims to be a physical manifestation of that black hole. It started up the faction and promises a ’paradise’ on the other side of the singularity."

"Why don’t the members of that faction just jump onto spaceships and fly to the center of the universe? Why take everyone with them?"

"It is sort of like a crusade. They want to ’save’ everyone by forcing them through the singularity. The only way to do that is to grow the black hole by feeding it enough matter."

Jace went through the smashed-open doors and paused ten feet from the hypercycle. "Can you pop over there and look for any traps?"

Ollie flew forward, around and inside the machine. "Nope. Looks like you are clear."

"I’ve never driven a vehicle," Jace stated as he walked over and began opening the various compartments. He truly found little save for rations, water, a med kit, and fuel. "How does a person even turn it on?"

Ollie’s eyes went black, and a few seconds passed. A screen appeared in front of Jace – a simplified user’s manual. "Here you go."

Jace looked through the start-up section of the guide as he took a seat on the vehicle. Following the instructions was easy enough, and he winced as he had to use his broken, splinted fingers to manipulate one of the hidden switches to power it on. It thrummed with power and vibrated under him, causing his teeth to rattle.

Okay. You’ve got good balance. Just take it slow. He steadily applied a soft touch to the accelerator, and felt the vehicle move forward. Lifting his legs and setting them on the pegs, he went in a straight line as he got used to the balance portion.

"Now you turn by leaning," Ollie said as he settled on Jace’s shoulder. Well, hovered above the shoulder.

Jace leaned slightly as instructed, and almost fell off the bike. He planted his leg down on the concrete instinctively, and to his surprise, the hypercycle swung around in a fast, hairpin turn. As he steadied his posture, he pulled his leg away and found himself traveling in the opposite direction. You’ve got this. Now just a little more acceleration…

The vehicle began to speed up, and Jace had to lean down towards the body of the rumbling hypercycle as it pulsed under him, vibrating even harder as he sped off down the cracked road.

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