“Everything okay?” Seena asked when Hiral and Seeyela appeared back in front of the portal arch.

  Hiral chuckled. “We got a little carried away testing something out.”

  “Oh?”

  “Unfettered. I can’t stop it, but I can tag along with it,” Hiral said, focusing on a truth. Omitting information about Seeyela sure as hell felt like lying. Am I even doing the right thing? “It’s still OP, but not quite as much as we thought.”

  “Bamf’ing to find you in front of me every time was annoying,” Seeyela said. “Half the time it felt like you got there before me.”

  “Huh, now that you mention it…” Hiral started.

  “While I’m sure the testing was important,” Seena interrupted. “How’s the portal back to Genesis? And, how does it work since it’s not on the Fountain?”

  “It’s connected,” Hiral said. “Even though you can’t see it. Anything entering the portal will get transformed into pure energy, transferred along the connection the PIMP will make, and pop out on Genesis. Speaking of which…”

  “This unit is prepared to depart anytime,” the PIMP construct said. “My predictive algorithms have not come up with any scenarios where entering the Fountain would alert either the other AI or the Raze.”

  “Good,” Hiral said. “Once you’ve made the connection and tether it to this other unit…” He pointed at the second PIMP construct standing nearby, one with a series of runes inscribed directly onto the crystal. “It should be able to pass that direct route right on to the portal arch. Then, we’ll have our tunnel back to Genesis.”

  “If everything works out as planned,” Seeyela said. “And Nulokin gets his numbers right, the last Eidolon should step onto Genesis at the same time energy equilibrium is reached. At that point, once we’ve taken care of the Heart of the City, or whatever is holding the dungeon in place, it’ll be free.”

  “Wow,” Seena said. “You put a lot of thought into this.”

  “Not me,” Seeyela said, finger pointing at Hiral. “He’s been talking about it the whole time. I just couldn’t bear to hear it again, so I said it first.”

  “Did she get all the main points?” Seena asked Hiral.

  “The shorter, less technical version, yes,” Hiral said. “There’s a lot more nuance to it.”

  “I’m sure there is,” Seena said.

  “You’d thank me if you knew how much more nuance there was to it,” Seeyela said.

  “Now I’m oddly tempted to ask…”

  “Please don’t,” Seeyela groaned.

  “Don’t worry,” Seena said. “Looks like Nulokin is going to save you. Here he comes.”

  A smile at the two sisters, and Hiral turned to follow Seena’s line of sight to where the Eidolon approached from. At his side, four other Eidolons walked, along with Left and Sera.

  “You’ve got news?” Hiral asked the man.

  “The portal looked finished,” Nulokin said. “Figured that meant we were out of time.”

  “We have an answer,” Left said. “Like any new hypothesis, it could use a few more rounds of review, but we're all quite confident in the numbers we reached.”

  “Sera’s recent measurements from the Black Gates were instrumental,” Nulokin said. “There have been several changes since the last time my equipment took any readings, and had I based our numbers off those, we would have failed spectacularly.”

  “And now?” Hiral said.

  “There’s a less than two-in-ten chance the failure will be that spectacular.”

  “This comes with both good and bad news,” Sera said.

  “No surprises there,” Seena said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Let’s hear it.”

  “The good news first,” Sera said. “Because it’s necessary to understand the bad news. The energy transfer process is relatively quick, being measured in hours instead of days or weeks.”

  “Faster or slower than getting everybody through?” Hiral said.

  “That’s where the bad news begins,” Sera said. “We will need to increase our estimated throughput by approximately twenty percent.”

  “That puts us down to just about an hour to get everybody through,” Left said, having already done the math of it.

  “Why the rush?” Seena said.

  “Our modeling suggests something that hadn’t occurred to us before,” Left said. “Once energy from this world begins entering Genesis, it will create an instability. Similar to how the world reacts to foreign visitations by creating the grey energy, we believe a natural reaction will occur. This puts things on a bit of a timer.”

  “More than a bit,” Nulokin said. “Exposing Genesis to the energy from Terminus puts things on an absolute timer. You’re setting something in motion that can’t be undone. Once the first drip of energy goes through, you either succeed in getting the world out of the dungeon on time, or it never gets undone.

  “The energy from Terminus will make everything inside the dungeon real, for lack of a better way to describe it. Including the dungeon itself.”

  “What does that mean, exactly?” Seena said.

  “Probably one of two things,” Nulokin said. “Genesis permanently remains within the dungeon, here on Terminus. Nothing really changes for those within, until the dungeon inevitably fails, as it will still do.”

  “You just said it would be permanent,” Seeyela said.

  “No dungeon is meant to be forever,” Nulokin said. “Even what Genesis is in now will break down eventually. This doesn’t change that; it just makes Genesis a permanent part of it. In other words, it’ll always be at the Raze’s mercy.”

  “Not ideal,” Hiral said.

  “The second scenario is both more likely and more serious,” Left said.

  “What’s the second scenario?” Seena said.

  “The dungeon implodes almost immediately,” Nulokin said. “It’s not real, and the instability of introducing the universe directly to it will cause it to violently break down.”

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “That’s even less ideal,” Hiral said. “How much of a time buffer do we have?”

  “One hour, at most,” Nulokin said. “Once the process starts, you have no choice but to succeed, quickly, or it all goes to hell.”

  “The complications don’t end there,” Left said. “Our modelling suggests things will need to happen in a specific order to give it the best chance to succeed.”

  “What’s the order?” Hiral asked now that it was his turn to start rubbing the bridge of his nose.

  “The energy transfer process comes first,” Sera said. “Which begins balancing the two worlds. After that, you need to destroy the Heart of the City—the mechanism keeping the Black Gates, and the dungeon in place. After that, and only after, the process of the energy transfer can safely finish.”

  “Why do we need to destroy the heart first?” Hiral said. “I thought doing that would risk either imploding Genesis anyway, or sending it back to its own time before we get all the Eidolons on board?”

  “It is what we believed as well,” Left said. “However, the simulations we ran based off the data Sera’s Medium collected suggested the Black Gates will need time to awaken—or perhaps it would be better to call it gathering their strength—before they are able to flee.”

  “Like a prisoner who has been starved, beaten, and chained for years,” Nulokin said. “Even if you take off the chains, that doesn’t mean he’ll immediately be able to run away to safety. The Gates will need some time to ready their escape.”

  “How long do they need?” Seena said.

  Left, Nulokin, Sera, and the other Eidolons all shared looks with each other. “We estimate about an hour.”

  “Meaning we need to start the transfer process almost at the same time we break the Heart of the City,” Seena said.

  “Huh,” Seeyela said, her head tilting back to look straight up. “Seems GG can hear us talking. It says it can help the Gates recover more quickly, but there’s a risk to it. It’d be like them using our old Eloquently Enraged, making them a lot stronger for a short time. If we’re ready to go in that time, then no problem. If we’re not… the Gates will still be freed, but Genesis might not make it out of the dungeon.”

  “There’s another problem with all this,” Seena said. “Won’t destroying the Heart of the City restart time here? Meaning the last second will tick by, and everything will end. We won’t have an hour to wait.”

  “Not as long as Genesis is inside the dungeon,” Left said. “According to Sera’s measurements, and Nulokins calculations, that balancing act is what is holding back the last second from passing. Only once the dungeon ceases to exist will time restart.”

  “I don’t think we should change any of our plans,” Seena said.

  “If we mess up too badly, the world ends,” Seeyela said.

  “Our world will end anyway, soon,” Hiral said. “The Raze will reset it, which will kill everybody we know. Seena is right. It doesn’t even really change the stakes. We succeed or we lose everything we care about. Nothing new there.”

  “Unless we find a way to just kill the Raze,” Seeyela suggested, but she was already shaking her head. “Nah, that won’t work. Not if it’s also the Heart of the City making them unkillable. This really is the best way, isn’t it?”

  “We could go back to Genesis and try to find another option,” Hiral admitted. “The Raze will come when they’re ready, and not before, based on how they reacted even when we were right in front of them.”

  “Then we risk having our memories wiped,” Seena said with a grimace.

  “I might be able to do something about that,” Hiral said. “What I’m getting at is, it’s another choice. Same with looking for another way here on Terminus to stop things. Maybe the PIMP could do things from the background once it takes over the old AI here.”

  “I calculate less than a seventeen percent chance of that succeeding,” the PIMP construct said. “And it would still leave Genesis trapped within a dungeon.”

  “There is one other thing we need to consider,” Left said. “We don’t know what will happen if the runic energy of Genesis caps out without the Raze coming to release the pressure.”

  “The way you said that,” Hiral said. “It sounds like there is a theory.”

  “Pop,” Nulokin said, his fingers making a little exploding motion. “Followed immediately by an implosion, because that’s what dungeons do.”

  “Why is everything an implosion?” Seena asked nobody in particular.

  “Doing nothing means Genesis dies,” Hiral said. “Doing something means it might die. I know which I’d prefer.”

  “Terminus needs to die,” Nulokin said. “And the Raze along with it. All of us Eidolons wished for nothing more than death for an eternity, and though we’d rather not die at this point, we’ll still go through that portal when it opens. Anything is better than being here.”

  “Should we confirm one last time with Nivian and Ilrolik?” Hiral said. “Lay out what the possibilities and consequences could be?”

  “You’re the raid leader,” Seena reminded him. “You can make the choice.”

  “Then we stay the course,” Hiral said. “We came here to save Genesis, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

  “And preferably kill the Raze at the same time,” Seeyela said.

  “Also part of the plan,” Hiral said. “Just, there’s one more catch to things.”

  “What’s that?” Seeyela said.

  “The Raze themselves,” Hiral said. “As soon as we destroy the Heart, they’ll probably know.”

  “So?” Seena said. “If they come after us, we can either teleport away again, or kick their asses without their reset trick.”

  “That’s the thing,” Hiral said. “If I was them, I wouldn’t come after us.”

  “Uh oh,” Seena said. “What would you do?”

  “I’d go to Genesis,” Hiral said. “If there’s a chance that world will survive, it’s the raft in the middle of the ocean. Not to mention the source of their drug of choice.”

  “We have to protect the Black Gates,” Seeyela said.

  Hiral shook his head. “We shouldn’t let them anywhere near the Gates,” Hiral said. “If they have any other tricks up their crystal sleeves, and one—or more of them—slips through, then we have to fight them back on Genesis. Ideally, that doesn’t happen.”

  “We have to keep them busy for the full hour it will take to get the Eidolons through the portal, and send Genesis home,” Seena said. “Then, just before Terminus goes boom, Seeyela, you need to get us back here to get through this portal ourselves.”

  “They almost killed us after only a few minutes,” Seeyela said. “And we’ve got to fight them for over an hour? Yan is going to love this.”

  “Doesn’t mean we can’t kill them faster,” Hiral said.

  “They won’t be so tough without their reset trick,” Seena said. “What about their Endless? Should we worry about them going through the Black Gates?”

  “Negative,” the PIMP said. “There is a ninety-one-percent chance the Endless are not sentient. They follow commands, and nothing more. They will have no drive to enter the Black Gates unless commanded to.”

  “And the Raze won’t do that if they’re busy getting their asses kicked,” Hiral said. “We keep all their attention on us, back at Visionary. That’ll pull any Endless to us.”

  “That’s a lot of things to deal with,” Seeyela said. Her fist clenched at her side. “No holding back, huh?”

  “None,” Hiral said. “Everything we’ve learned and fought for is leading to these sixty minutes. If we hold the Raze back that long, we win. That’s all there is to it.”

  “Glad it’s not me under all this pressure,” Nulokin said.

  “We’ve got our goal,” Seena said. “What’s the plan to get us there?”

  “We’ll sneak into Visionary the same way we did before,” Hiral said. “Through the tunnels Bell showed us. I remember the route, and even if I didn’t, I’m sure I can follow the runic energy right to it. As soon as we get there, we’ll start people moving through the portal here, then destroy it. After that, we’ll make an entrance into Visionary the Raze won’t soon forget.”

  “How will we know when it’s time to start moving people through the portal?” Nulokin asked.

  “I’ll leave a solar energy clone here,” Hiral said. “When it vanishes, that’s your cue.” To show the man what he was talking about, a simple clone peeled off Hiral, then went to stand in front of the portal, arms extended like it was trying to block anybody who wanted to pass through. After a few seconds of that, the clone vanished in a puff of solar smoke.

  “Easy enough,” Nulokin said.

  “I thought so,” Hiral said, then looked over at one of the PIMP constructs. “It’s time for you to start your part of things. Get into the Fountain and find us our path home. As long as you hold that open, this portal will work.”

  “Understood,” the PIMP said, waddling over to the spurting purple flame of the Fountain. Without another word—or goodbye—the construct stepped into the portal and vanished.

  “It needs to hold the connection open?” Seena asked Hiral quietly, a glance at the rune-covered PIMP to make sure it didn’t hear.

  “The only way we could make the tunnel work,” Hiral said. “If the connection is lost, there’s a good chance the tunnel will break down, and the portal will cease functioning. The unit that just went into the demon realm shouldn’t matter, though. As long as this one that stayed here holds the connection open, the portal will work.”

  “You can count on me,” the PIMP construct said, clearly having heard them talking after all. “The protection of Genesis is my primary objective. I will hold the portal open until its safety is secured.”

  “What if one of the Raze show up here?” Seeyela said.

  “I will close the portal,” the PIMP said, and looked at Hiral for some reason. “I will not allow any threats to pass through.”

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