“That the last one?” Elisa asks.

  “Yes.”

  “Tired?”

  “Takes a lot more to tire me out.”

  “Such a dummy.” She pauses her show, turning her gaze to the planet. I join her on the out-of-place couch. “Don’t look so concerned,” she says. “This many will easily cover the increased demand.”

  “I know.”

  “Support was unanimous.”

  “No it wasn’t.”

  “Those fuckers don’t count. ...Sorry. But they are.” I lean against the elf. She swiftly wraps her arms around me. “Let’s go home. I’m cooking this time.”

  “Mmm.”

  ***

  A warp brings in Khi. A teleport brings in Erysis and Nexen. The three greet Elisa and me, starting to take their seats around the game table.

  “Why are you making that face?” Erysis asks.

  “No reason,” I reply, definitely not making a face.

  Her gaze moves over to my hands, which are touching at the fingertips, forming a rough pyramid shape. She chooses to ignore my body language for now. “What’s for lunch?”

  Elisa answers, “Pastries.” The elf interrupts her apprentice’s unformed question, “Yes, half are with cheese and meat.” Said apprentice smiles happily.

  Khi’s tail swishes nervously, hanging off her open back chair. “Do you have the time today? With everything that’s happened.”

  “If you ask me one more time,” I say, “I’m taking out the Erysis die.” Cold eyes pierce into my soul but soon thaw out.

  Meanwhile, Erysis protests, “Why is it called the ‘me’ die! That’s... discrimination!”

  “The word you are looking for is victimization.”

  Erysis makes offended sounds, tugging at Nexen’s clothing and gesturing at me.

  I hunch in my seat, hiding my face behind the pyramid my hands have formed, and twisting my features to appear even more sinister.

  I receive a soft kick under the table.

  “Ahem. Where were we...” A projection springs to life, showing the Hothouse traversing space. “You managed to rescue the colonists, freeing them from the evil clasp of a Shepherd at the last moment, before they would be... used. An unlikely ally you found, one Master of Psi Thadius, who is also an ex-Shepherd, is still unconscious. But thankfully, his life is not in danger. Unless you want it to be.”

  “What do we do about him?” Khi asks. “It could all be a trap. Gain our trust, lower our guard, and kill us.”

  “Could be,” Elisa replies. “But I think we should trust him.”

  Khi counters, “Sorry, couldn’t hear you from under the extra passengers. Could I get an opinion from someone with less bias?”

  Nexen offers one, “Hardly seems like these Shepherds care about underhanded tricks and tactics. What it said... There is a purpose in the madness. Our main objective should be to find what it is.”

  “I agree,” Erysis says. “Thadius will have answers. We’ll listen and then decide.”

  Khi nods. “Very well. All in agreement?” The other three affirm. The beastfolk regards Elisa. “How strong was he?”

  The augmented elf begins to think, maybe deciding how much to share. After a moment, she says, “Are you aware who my master is?”

  The ex-marine chuckles. “Who isn’t?” Erysis hesitantly raises her hand. Khi sighs. “What backwater world did you grow up on?”

  “None of your business,” the demolitions snaps back. Nexen tenses up but relaxes again when she continues. “Some bigshot. Obvious enough.”

  “More or less,” Khi confirms, choosing to leave her ally’s outburst behind them. For now.

  Elisa continues, “By presence, I could tell they were equal. Were. If I were to make an assumption, whatever caused Master Thadius to leave the Shepherds, or whatever happened when he left, has taken a toll on his abilities.”

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Add it to the list of questions,” Khi says. “Okay. What do we do about the traitor on the station?”

  Erysis chimes in, “Who knew about our mission? The governor... What was his name?”

  “Glomki,” I supply.

  “Stupid name. I’m calling him ‘the governor’. So, governor. Who else?”

  “His assistant,” Nexen adds. “That tall rock alien.”

  “Station security,” Elisa says. “At least everyone that has high-level access. Unless the system was breached and logs were altered...”

  “Forget that for now,” Khi says. “We start with the obvious and go from there.”

  ***

  Governor Glomki—an eight-fingered blue alien—Assistant Governor Will—a silica-based life form—and Station Security Commander Bradiv-Mathifisors, or Brad—a plant alien utilizing power armor to move—are all gathered in a room with the players. The three suspects are sitting on one side of a table, while the just-as-many players are milling about, trying to rattle my NPCs, I guess.

  Erysis’ character pulls out a desk lamp she previously pilfered from somewhere and places it on the table. She aims it at the governor first and clicks the switch on. Nothing happens.

  “I think your game is broken,” Erysis says with a bit too much vindictiveness in her voice. I point at a dangling cord. “...Can we, like...” She twirls both pointer fingers around one another. “Rewind?”

  “No.”

  Erysis’ character slowly and painfully slides the lamp off the table. The innocent office supply makes a pitiable cracking sound when it hits the floor.

  “Tap in, Nex.”

  He clears his throat. “You are probably wondering why we gathered you all here? It’s because you are the only ones that knew about our mission.”

  Governor Glomki speaks through me, “That’s right, Slayers.”

  “Have you told anyone else?” Nexen asks. All three shake their heads. “Okay. Then one of you betrayed us.”

  All three start blurting out protests, the voices coming out of my lips mixing into a barely decipherable mess.

  Khi slams her hands on the table. “Silence.” My mouth clamps shut. “Nexen, proceed with the questioning.”

  ***

  “Oh, wow,” Elisa says, her voice sickly sweet. “You are so good at cybersecurity.”

  I smile ear to ear and squirm in embarrassment. “No. This is normal.”

  The augmented elf scoffs. “You should see the disaster our systems are. People keep their passwords on sticky notes. Can you believe that?”

  I nod my head enthusiastically. “They used to do this here, too. But I send the interns on regular patrols. If they find a written password, you get mandatory training. Solved that one real quick.”

  “Amazing. Our bureaucracy is so bloated, our interns are probably on another planet.”

  “Unacceptable!” I fire out, my tone outraged. Then I continue, outrage turning to zeal, “What kind of IT department doesn’t have constant physical access. Begging for breaches.”

  Elisa tries to reply but first coughs a few times in her hand. “Sorry. My throat’s a little dry.”

  “Environmental controls in this section must be on the fritz again. Wait just a moment, I’ll grab you a drink.”

  “Really? Thank you so much.”

  “My pleasure.”

  As my NPC scurries off, the Ghost sticks a nail in a port.

  ***

  All four players are once again in the same room. The three suspects are metaphorically sweating in their seats. As the hushed discussion comes to an end, Erysis separates from the group and approaches the suspects. She smirks, blowing some air out of her nose. Her arm is raised high, finger pointing to the ceiling. A decisive flick directs the accusing finger at Governor Glomki, causing him to flinch.

  “It was... not you,” Erysis says. He releases a relieved breath. The other two stiffen in anticipation. “Nor you. Or you.” All three look at each other in confusion. A blue glow snakes around Khi’s limbs. Nexen pulls out his handgun, finger safely resting near the trigger. Elisa’s eyes narrow. Erysis continues, “It was all of you. You are all working with the Shepherds.”

  Governor Glomki starts to laugh, steepling his many fingers, mirroring mine. “Congratulations... Slayers, you found out the truth. But once you find the truth, you can no longer leave.”

  The door to the room opens, revealing a large number of station security. “What do you do?” I ask.

  Erysis smirks again. “We surrender.”

  As the players are escorted somewhere, I ask, “Should we take a break for lunch?” Erysis has already left a dust cloud in her wake.

  The rest of us make our way to the kitchen without bending the laws of physics. Better get to the sausage rolls before—

  Alert. Multiple high-strength individuals engaged in combat.

  Time stops. I am in front of a demon. Her crimson eyes have not yet seen mine. Time starts ticking forward. The spatial lock previously holding down the Rangers concentrates on me, making it hard to even move my body. A reflection of the demon’s red eyes starts slowly forming in the sky, two moons disapprovingly glaring down at her through a cracked veil. Frost begins covering a vibrant forest, the conjured trees aiming to twist their branches around the three adventurers. A black flower has budded from the sternum of the demonic caster.

  Miv, Pemik, and Sini warp out of range. An arrow is streaking for the demon woman’s neck. The flower gently starts to open. The entire weight of her life crashes on top of her mind. She sees what will be lost. What will remain after she is gone. What she will leave behind. I let in a trickle of my own emotions. My hand grabs the arrow, stopping it in its flight. Tears are swelling in the corners of her eyes. The flower blooms. She squeezes her eyes shut.

  My hand extends, a cold touch brushing against her mind.

  We are underwater, but still entirely dry. Any spells are washed away by the flow of an unmoving current, with one already gone.

  A shell is now somewhere else, the demon woman cradled close. An enchantment is pressing around me, sealing my way out.

  I take the unconscious demon into my arms and start walking. Each footfall loudly echoing inside the empty corridors, twisting and turning, not at all how they should be. After the fifth left turn, I am brought before a heavy set of doors. They silently open inward, reacting to my presence as I approach them.

  The room within is consumed by shadows, only showing the outlines of four figures but staying away from a fifth between them.

  My steps hit the bottomless darkness without making a sound, each one bringing me closer to the one in the light.

  When I am right in front of him, I stop and wait. When Xyll does not move, I say, “Take her.” His eyes leave my own to briefly glance at the woman in my arms. “Feel the real weight.”

  The demon king takes his loyal subject from me.

  My remotely controlled shell is erased from existence by means I cannot detect.