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[i][u]Alistair's Diary[/u][/i]

[i]24th of Feabhlem, Year 23 AF[/i]

[i]My brother came back today, with an AMAZING new thing to show us! It's an old weapon that the saviour himself, James Campbell used to free another tribe of people! How many people has he freed in his life?! The more James (my brother) tells me about James (the saviour) and about his son Oddclaw, the more awesome he sounds, like a real hero should be! I think my brother's a hero too, he told me that he helped free a person from being tried in a court, who was going to be killed for trying to protect his friends! I hope one day I get to travel realms like James does, I like my home but it's boring after you've seen everything.[/i]

[i]Mother says that those like James will soon want their lives to be boring rather than dangerous, but I don't think that's true! She's just happy being my mother, and that's okay, but I want to be something more! I want to be an adventurer, I want to draw every map in every realm out there and bring them back to James so he can put them up on the walls and we chart out every single realm there is! Maybe when I'm old enough. James promised he would help me try to learn the secrets of being a Scribe.[/i]

"TODAY, IS A MOMENTOUS DAY!" cried the village chief. "Our most wondrous scribe has returned with a piece of the saviour HIMSELF!"

The lemmings gasped as James stood on a podium and held aloft the gun, glinting in the light with its black metal surface gleaming in every eye upon it. A cloudy day but still a blue sky remained above them all as chief Arino smiled upon the crowd whilst leaning on his umbrella. Haytham Durai stood beside him with an arm wrapped round his dwarven shoulders as the people clamoured all over the artifact as they frantically asked questions.

"H-how did you find it?!"

"The son of the saviour himself gave it to me," said James proudly, "as a gift from his people he gave it to us."

"But, why?!"

"Because he is a very kind person, he understood how important James Campbell was to our people and so decided that it would do more good to hand us the relic rather than for him to keep it."

"And well he did," said Arino waving his brolly at him, "such strength of magnanimity is prevalent in the Campbell blood I see, we should be thankful for his son's humble grace."

"PRIASE THE SON OF JAMES CAMPBELL!"

"HEY STOP THAT! We're not a damned cult let us be civil here and respect our peer in a courteous manner."

"Indeed!" cried Haytham clutching his tome. "Sir Oddclaw need not such praise voluminous but he is worthy of it nonetheless, let us give reverence with humility."

"Thank you sir Haytham."

The people understood and calmed themselves down as they kept asking James as much as they could. But one voice piped up in the midst of green-haired villagers with a broken squeak.

"I GOT A QUESTION!"

"OH! ALISTAIR!" James smiled at the top-knotted youth who waved to him. "Yes, what would you like to ask?!"

"U-uhhhh!" His voice was creaking from the weight of puberty. "So, how did James Campbell free his tribe with that little thing?"

"Well, this is called a gun." He aimed it to the sky. "It contains small metallic stones that fire out of its end when you pull this little thing here, obviously I cannot use it now because Oddclaw had this weapon deactivated for the sake of safety."

"Ooooooh, so it's a slingshot!"

"Yes but with much more pwoer, powerful enough to send a stone RIGHT through your skull completely!"

A gasp of shock came from the Lemmings muttering anxiously between their blue-smocked selves.

"Sounds d-dangerous!"

"Must require a great warrior to wield such a thing-"

"How kind his son is to render it harmless for us!"

"To further answer the handsome youth's question," continued James patting the old beretta, "when Oddclaw's family were trapped by a cruel people that experimented on them, James Campbell broke free from his restraints and fought his way through the dark underground halls before picking up this weapon, one of several basic weapons that are used by the human tribes. James freed Oddclaw's tribe and led them to freedom by firing upon his tormentors, and they fired back at him in turn! But he dodged and pushed through with his tribe coming together to strike against their former captors BUT THEN!"

Pause for dramatic effect as the lemmings held their breath.

"There was a GIANT MONSTER, the height of SIX HOUSES that stared him down, a ferocious beast whose roars made the mountains shudder!"

"[i]OHHH![/i]"

"The beast was far too big for this weapon to harm, it was if a fly were trying to bite it! But James had a plan! He teamed up with the elder of Oddclaw's tribe who leapt upon the monster's face and gouged his eyes until he were blind, then James led the blinded beast towards a great fire pit by enraging it with petty shots! The monster fell into the flames and so they ran to their freedom! And so, that is how Oddclaw's tribe came to live in peace."

Cheers of adulaion came from the people as James bowed happily, hair tousling forwards as they seemed satisfied enough to start dispersing back to their homes. The scribe hopped off the speaker's platform and returned the weapon to his chieftain.

"From the son of our saviour, to you my leader."

"Thank you my boy." Chief Arino patted his head and took the gun. "This is precisely the sort of thing I entrust you to do, gathering knowledge and hidden lore to fascinate and learn from."

"Of course, n-nothing but sir!"

"Your tales have been quite astonishing. Normally I would not entreat you to keep returning to Oddclaw's realm but-"

"His home is rather flexuous," said Haytham leaning forwards, "many strange tumultuous events occur there every once a year that it would be derisible of us not to invoke the opportunity!"

"I see. But I do hope you try not to exhaust every potential of his realm, there are many other places still you can explore."

"Of course sir," James replied bowing, "between anomalous events of Oddclaw's realm we continue to explore new places as well you know from our writings."

"Yes, well I am glad to see you are keeping on that. Go with your family, I have things to discuss with sir Durai."

"Thank you sir. Master."

Bowing to both elders with a stiffer bow to Haytham, he left to join Alistair who was waiting eagerly behind him, grabbing his hand in a slightly-complicated handshake as they walked off home.

"How has James been?" said Arino walking to his house. "Our James that is."

"Marvellous," said Haytham stepping beside him with pride, "the lad's growing in his magic, in fact he has been learning to craft his magic into something more unique."

"Ohhh? He has learned to develop a signature?"

"Well due to recent events he has now taken to wielding his sabre more which has given him more freedom to channel his magic through."

"Mmmm I see."

"I know you do not approve of his weapon."

"Yeeees but I also know that it is dangerous to go alone without some means of protection." He let Haytham open the door to step through to his room. "Were he a warrior I would not argue, but as a Scribe-"

"James has proven himself in battle with remarkable spirit," Durai added as he closed behind him, "need I remind you of our first venture into Oddclaw's realm?"

"Hmmm."

The chieftain placed the gun on his desk and sat himself on his bed. The light dappling from the window cast shadows on his face to mask some of the haggard lines on his well-worn face, paling from a natural pink to a withered pale white, almost anaemic.

"Haaaah...goodness my bed feels softer every day I sit back on it."

"Hahaha, the benefits of age yes?" said Haytham carefully rolling the gun in his hands. "Would you like some help with framing this?"

"I have no frame for it at the moment, I will need to ask the smiths to make one for me to put with the rest of the artifacts."

"I see. May I ask you something?"

"Depends on the question," said Arino pulling his leg up on the bed. "Nnnngh, ask away."

"Why the hesitance of James' peregrination? He is a good lad and his recent sojourn has only strengthened his calibre."

"I worry for all my people Haytham. I trust you to guide him straight, but I know that we are easily misled by our naivety."

"I understand, but is this not proof enough?" He offered the pistol. "Even if it were a gift, he managed to build a rapport with locals and prove himself a commendable ally."

"Ahhhh I know, I just...I worry, I have to, someone has to worry on behalf of the tribe, I know all too well the dangers of trusting too easily."

"And James does too, believe me."

"And then what happened?!" cried Alistair.

"Well I drew my blade and thrust it into the monster's back!" crowed James sweeping his brolly upwards.

"WOAH! D-did ya kill it?!"

"I wish, it was undead so it only became more mad and so it fought me blade against blade!" He gave a flourish briefly with his umbrella closed. "Twas a good thing that you and I had been practicing our swordplay!"

"Heheheyeah, but I'M better than you!" the boy poked his brother's belly. "I could've taken him down twice as fast as you!"

"Hahahaha oh really?" He swung his brolly in front of Alistair's path to block him. "Care to prove if your blade is still as sharp as your tongue, pencilhead?!"

"YEAH, anytime, anywhere!"

"HOIIII!"

The sound of a rumbling wagon alerted them to Harold pulling his wares behind him. Alistair ran to him immediately and thrust his face into his chest with an eager hug as James sighed strolling up to him.

"DAD DAD, GUESS WHAT JAMES DID!"

"Mmm?" the bearded father hugged his youngest and looked to the elder.

"He found one of the saviour's things, a WEAPON!"

"Ehh?! Son?"

"It is true," said James, "I brought back one of James Campbell's first weapons that he used to free a different tribe before he met our people."

"Huh...good!" He put Alistair down and parked his cart in the awning stable next to the house. "Word, move rope, word."

"Well, I made friends with Campbell's son, we have been friends for some time now and just recently he showed me this relic that his siblings had found."

Explaining the story once again with more technical detail, the lemming scribe unravelled ropes from his father's wares and brought those he pointed out to be taken into the house. Food made up most of it, cheese, breads and meat that they put into the kitchen cupboards.

"Mother?" hinted Harold.

"She went to get cloth from Meredith," said James, "I was looking after Alistair until she came back."

"I don't need looking after, I'm TWELVE!" cried the youth with crackling voice.

"Twelve pencils don't make a tree pencilhead."

"Sh-shut UP inkynose!"

"HOI!" The father warned them with a pointing finger at both. "No, bad word."

"Sorry father."

"Hmhmhm...ah, gift."

"Huh?!"

The bearded lemming brought out something from his pockets, handing over a small carving of a ferocious dragon that captured the boy's imagination. Slender and vicious like a serpent's strike, the model wrapped round a small hill where a tiny lemming balefully stood against the monstrous beast to show its terrifying size to scale.

"W-WOWWWWW issat the Lemton Wyrm!?"

"Mmhmm," said Harold rubbing the lad's head, "rare, good deal."

"It's AMAZING thank you dad! Aw it's got a little lemming even JAMES LOOK!"

"That is incredible," murmured his brother leaning down to look closer, "I have heard tales of the Lemton Wyrm but this is the first time I have seen it to scale."

"THANK YOU DAD!" The boy hugged him gleefully. "I'm going to put it with all my other figures!"

He hurried off to the bedroom as his brother and father continued to put food away.

"You?" Harold asked.

"Oh things have been good," said James. "Actually I made someone a mannequin in Oddclaw's realm."

"Mmm?!"

"I still remember what you taught me in carpentry, so I made someone a mannequin to put their armour onto and it worked out perfectly!"

"Ahhh!" He patted his son's shoulder with a chuckle. "Good, fingers, hard?"

"What do you mean?"

"Fingers, grit, rough."

"Oh, ohhh I see yes it was nice to work with my hands." James bowed politely and leaned against the dinner table. "I understand what you meant before about needing to have a manual skill, seeing something you create with your own hands and seeing the joy it brings to someone when you've managed to do it right."

"Aye," Harold nodded, "hands, sore, head good."

"Yes exactly! I admit, that is not something I can get from my Scribe work and while I am still working in my research to obtain and develop our studies further into the natures of the many realms out there, I would not mind learning something new from you. If you have time."

"Hmhmhmhm...aye." He rubbed James' hair to a tousled front. "Proud, boy."

"Wh-what?" gasped James.

"Proud." The father gave a deep sigh and wrapped his arm round James' shoulders. "Walk, out, dark clouds, deep mountains there. You, home again, again, taller new day. Want boy, trade, work, walk with me? Aye. But you, walk, learn, not self want, but, you make, you. Happy, to listen, hands not soft."

"Hahahaha...you took the words right out of my mouth."

The son smiled tenderly at the older lemming until a voice cooed from the front door.

"OHHHH there's my favourite boyyyyys!"

Winifred came bustling in to hug her husband tightly to her bosom, smooching his head before he drew her to his lips. Alistair came running out to greet her upon her arrival with the serpent figure in his hands.

"MUM, MUM, LOOK WHAT DAD GOT FOR ME!"

"OH!" She blinked at it for a moment slightly disturbed by its gruesome visage. "Goodness what a...thing!"

"Isn't it GREAT?! It's the Lemton Wyrm!"

"Ohhh Harold you spoil them you really do."

"Boys good," the father shrugged cracking a smile, "food hiding."

"Oh, thank you dear. I think it's a good time to make some lunch since you're back, why don't you two boys go outside for a bit?"

"Okay!"

The two brothers ran out, or at least one then the other when Alistair went to put his dragon figure back in the room. Heading outside onto the grassy fields just outside the village, the boys grabbed each other and started wrestling playfully, James using only half his strength as Alistair pushed with all his might and they rolled through the grass panting and heaving to exhaust each other, tousling hair and kicking robes as they cackled and tumbled. Once they had tired themselves enough they pulled off from each other and sat up next to each other, watching the sea's horizon to the southwest of their peninsula home.

"So uhhhh James?" The boy clutched his hands with a quavering voice. "You...w-we're still going to the caves right?!"

"The caves?" his brother looked to him squinting.

"YEAH, you said wh-when I was six, th-that in seven years you would take me to the Caves of Thunder!"

"Wha-what?! Did I?!"

"Yeeeeeeah!?" His voice became almost accusing as his lip became sour. "You weren't LYING were you?!"

"O-of course not!" he gasped taken aback. "I would never lie to you-"

"Cuz, I asked you when you went to the caves with mister Durai if I could come, a-and you said no cuz I was too small and I said 'are you gonna take me there when I'm big' and you said 'yes' and i asked 'when' and you said 'seven years from now' that's what you said!"

"Ohhhhh saviour you are right," the older brother slapped a hand over his eyes, "I do remember saying that...so, when you turn thirteen that means-"

"Youuuuu take me to the Caves of Thunder yeah!" the youth poked him in the gut demanding. "We're gonna explore it!"

"Alistair there's nothing to explore, it's just an old cave."

"So why didn't you take me down there when I was little?!"

"Because I was busy training with master Durai I did not have the time to babysit you!"

"Well I'm not a kid anymore right?!" The youngster stood up indignant with a hand sweeping across the view. "I wanna know what's out there, I want to go to other realms with you and see amazing things like you tell me!"

"I know Ali," said James sighing, "I just did not want to get in trouble with mother and father, you know they do not like you going off into these places."

"Why?!"

"Because you'll always be the baby in the family."

"I-I'm not a baby!" he squeaked popping his voice.

"No no what I mean is, because you are the youngest they are going to be much more cautious about you."

"Wh-what about when YOU were little, didn't you go on adventures too?!"

"No I...I stayed at home." His voice became stulted as his eyes went to his knees. "I never really...had any place to go until master Durai came to us."

"So, y-you know what it feels like then?" Alistair went to his knees beside him in the grass. "I don't get to go on adventures or go exploring, but you've done lots of things a-and fought BIG monsters so why can't I go with you to one cave?"

"I...I just-"

"Pleaaaase big brother?"

He suddenly became bashful, hands clasped together in needful prayer as James smirked at his tender pink face. He couldn't stop himself snickering as he pulled Alistair into a headlock and noogied him.

"You silly sausage, you think I would keep you cooped up in your room forever?!"

"A-AAAIE, H-HEY HEHEHEEHAHA!"

"You really want to go to some mangy old cave with your inkynosed brother?!"

"Y-YEAH, COME ON PLEAAASE?!"

"Alright then." He relented and let him free from his grip. "We shall call it your birthday gift."

"DEAL!"

They raised a fist to each other to have them meet together, then opened them into a high-five before squeezing each other's snouts.

"Beep!"

"BEEP!"

"Hahahaha, alright then," James nodded, "a promise is a promise, come next year you and I are going to the Thunder Caves."

"YES!" the boy squeaked pumping his fists. "What are you gonna tell mum an' dad?!"

"Well it will be during daytime, we are not going at night it is much too dangerous. I think we can just tell them we are collecting seashells so we will have to remember to bring some back with us."

"Yeah, good, okay that sounds good YEAH I'm excited!"

"I am too, I always wanted to go adventuring with my favourite artist!"

"Hehehe, yeah, an' me with my favourite writer!"

The brothers hugged together and watched the sweeping grass of the hills shake and twist with the wind to create rippling patterns like the sea at rest. They raced home soon as they heard their mother calling to enjoy a full lunch beneath a cloudy peaceful day as the wind picked up slightly enough to send a draught through the door before they closed it, surrounded by warmth from the fire that Harold was tending to from its hole in the wall made of stone. Everyone laughed, everyone smiled and the food tasted better because of it. It was good to be home, thought James. He almost didn't want to leave this time.

[i][u]Theoretical Research - Lunar Investigation[/u][/i]

[i]18-06-2041[/i]

[i]Recorded by Dr. Andrea Dixon[/i]

[i]In our research with third energy, the moon has been a constant mystery to us for how it strangely reacts in creating a schedule of sorts for our gate to connect to other worlds. With assistance from Prof. Haytham Durai, I am determined to craft an interstellar vessel capable of reaching the moon and trying to find out what makes our gate "tick" in such a way. Major-General Brightman has always been against the idea, not wanting to waste resources on what may well be a fruitless venture. But I aim to prove him wrong.[/i]

[i]If we can scrounge together enough supplies so that it doesn't cut into our essentials, then perhaps we can convince him to send a few of our badniks to collect or analyse the moon's surface for anything odd. The island from which Subject Eleven a.k.a Chanoch arrived on would make a good foundation for a launch base separate from the main base.[/i]

"Normally it takes about three days for our space vessels," explained Andrea standing at the whiteboard, "so we have to consider that."

"Should we send the shuttle up before or during the anomaly?" Haytham asked beside her.

"During of course, that way we can see what's reacting to the whole thing."

"And you know all the minerals of the moon to know what does not belong?"

"Yes," she wrote down the list of ingredients the moon contained in black marker pen, "all of these are what the moon normally has, so I suggest we send up some of the robots-"

"Cutting down on essential resources such as food," Haytham agreed.

"Of course we'd need some actual volunteers so I've had a run round of the base and asked them. Of the twenty-nine robots currently on this base, twelve of them said they would go into space."

"A good pocket crew," noted Haytham drawing trajectories from earth to moon, "how much would we need?"

"Largest crew we've had on a shuttle is eight," said Dixon, "we build the shuttles to be easily-managed by a small crew due to how much resource-intensive it can be to provide a human being with food and comfort. Taking that out of the equation I say we can do good with maybe five robots."

"Now considering they are sentient we must treat them as if they are human."

"Of course, obviously, I'll have Jane give them her usual patter and mark out which of them have the best aptitude."

"Then I believe all we need is the shuttle itself." Haytham ended with a final point of his marker. "We have the calculations, we have the crew, we just need to build the ship."

"This is gonna be fun as hell," she said smiling and grasping his shoulders, "aren't you excited?!"

"I am! I have never had the opportunity to devise a starship, not any ship even!"

"You said you had planes back home right?"

"Airships yes, but they are powered by magicite so whatever machinations they supposit are irrelevant to this."

"They sound awesome though, I mean we never managed to build any planes that you can just stand outside on cuz they're either too high or move too fast."

"I admit I am loathe to want to fly in a steel cage but technology has its limits."

"Mmhmm." She shrugged and clicked her pen closed. "How come no one in your world decided to go to space?"

"I cannot say truthfully," he twirled the end of his beard, "but I surmise it be the work of the church preventing any such auspicious developments that would profane the temple of the gods."

"Are you serious?!" She gasped throwing her arms up. "Fucking church politics what is this the fucking middle ages?!"

"The Light of Kiltia are a most powerful organisation in Ivalice, they hold a great volume of clout to the point that if they so choose they could shut down entire operations that would offend venturing to the gods."

"That is such bullshit, I thought this only happened in my world goddammit."

"Truth be told it is for the best. One cannot know what the will of Faram is and I surmise he would not find it sporting to have his peons disturb the realm in which he sleeps."

"I'm still having a hard time wrapping round the idea that gods are real in your world."

"Even after demons have encroached upon this land?"

"No that's helped definitely, also fucking Dracula, I STILL cannot get over that."

"Hmhmhahaha."

He slid an arm round her waist and pulled her close to give a smooch. She smirked before she countered with a harder smooch that dipped her tongue into his throat, sighing warmly as they closed their eyes and gripped each other tighter, hands riding up their backs and squeezing rumps before they pulled back a little surprised at each other's desires. Both of them pulled away blushing as Andrea spoke.

"S-sorry, I uh, lost myself a bit-"

"No no twas my fault, I engaged first."

"Hahah...when was the last time we did it?"

"Did...it?"

"Sex." She looked to him pursing her lips. "Just saying if you want, I'm not against doing it again."

"I would not think you were," said Haytham with a sniggering nod, "let us finalise these results, then we shall celebrate with an impromptu tryst."

"How is that impromptu if we know we're gonna do it?"

"We do not know WHEN we are about to do it, just that we will."

"Hmhahahaha."

They worked on recording all of their calculations by writing them down into notebooks in a clear and concise format following their stream of logic. Over the next hour they debated in margins, crossed out equations to recheck them for certain and lastly detailed all the parts that they would need for a robot-manned space craft along with the names of willing participants. Once they were done they headed straight to Andrea's room where James was coming up along the corridor to intercept him.

"AH, master Durai I wanted to-"

"SORRY LAD, business first!"

"B-but I-"

"Callmeinafewhours!"

The door slammed in James' face, shocking him to say the least as he heard the sounds of giggling moans from within. He blustered and tightened his fists somewhat stunned as he took a deep sigh and walked away. Wandering like a lost child he became somewhat listless as he clutched his book tightly to his chest. Passing by Jane's room he heard the deep voice of Chanoch clumsily struggling through a sentence.

"Thet...khat in theh hhhat, yuu do NOHT want to play. He shood noht bee heah. He shood noht bee aboot-"

"About," corrected Jane.

"What? But, this word you pronounce as 'shood'."

"I know, what can I tell you the English language is a bloody hypocrite. Just remember this, if there is an L after O and U, then it's 'ooo'. If not, then it's 'ow'."

"Hmph. Alright. He shood noht...bee heah, when your mothurr izz...out?"

"Yes! Yes, very good keep at it!"

Leaning through the doorframe James watched the lizardman hunched over a children's book mouthing the words of Dr. Seuss beneath the lovingly-framed picture of his brother's map hanging proudly upon Jane's wall. It was a strange experience to hear him speaking it perfectly from translation whilst actively watching him parse the written word with sudden halting steps. Slowly but surely he overcame the first few pitfalls of modern English towards the end of his lesson twenty minutes later as Jane checked her phone's clock.

"Alright this'll do for today! You're coming along quite well mister Jarogniew!"

"I try," he muttered bowing, "thank you doctor, I will see you tomorrow?"

"Absolutely!"

Taking his leave he saw James duck just out of sight from the doorway and rolled his eyes as he wrapped his hand round the corner and gripped a tug of hair.

"A-AAAAGH!"

"It is rude to stare," he said darkly.

"S-SORRY, FORGIVE ME I WAS JUST-u-uhm!"

Jarogniew released him before stepping out the room fully with arms crossed towards the lemming, a golem of two feet above James' head.

"I see you are studying the language here, how is that going?!"

"Good. It is strange, contradicts itself."

"Yeeees I admit haha...actually the English language is almost exactly like my people's language so you will also understand my writings too!"

"Really?" He rubbed his chin in pondering this as his eyes roved downwards. "What is that?"

"Oh, this?!" James hugged the book tighter. "I-it is my Linking Book, I was um...doing research."

"Linking book?"

"Yes...actually, would you like to help me with something?"

"With what?"

"I just need an extra pair of hands to assist me and...well, frankly you are the most capable hands I know on the base."

"I do not like flattery."

"I am serious!" He stomped his foot indignant. "That was but a fact not a facetious compliment but if you do not wish to help then just say it!"

The lemming marched himself off in a tizzle as his hair shook with frustration. Chanoch sighed and walked after him wordlessly until they reached the student's room where James had made it more his own workspace than the previous occupant he had shared with. Scrolls, pencils and loose pages covered every table around them, but some remnants of Durai could still be found in scraps of theoretical equations and zodiac constellations that corroborated with stars in the current world's night. James however had consumed his space with lines upon lines of writing as Chanoch could barely understand most of its wording.

"What do you need help with?" he asked.

"I need someone to witness this," said James putting his book away to pull out a smaller volume, "I have been working on an experiment concerning what I call a Feedback Book, something that can return an object through the same portal."

"Portal? You mean the one in the lab?"

"No but you have the right idea, that was my inspiration actually!"

He put down his book upon a podium next to the wall and opened its pages towards a blank section.

"So, the way that portal works, the third energy gate the humans have here, it pulls an anomaly through when the moon is at its perigee such as when it brought you and that island from your realm into this one."

"Ah," the lizard seated himself on a chair politely.

"However," continued James with fingerpoint, "the gate can ALSO reverse its sequence by storing its data output and then...I...I-i think they surely reverse some sort of algorithm but essentially they can send the anomaly back to whence it came before the next cycle by storing up the power from its arrival and then shunting it back out."

"A boulder between two hills."

"Pardon?!"

"A boulder," the lizard picked up a pencil and rolled it between his open palms, "rolling back and forth with momentum."

"OH, yes exactly!" cried the lemming clapping. "That is, actually a wonderful metaphor I would love to use if I may!"

The lizardman shrugged putting his hands on his knees as James scribbled down a few notes before adding:

"So, basically what I am planning is something like that, to create a portal in this book that can essentially store its energy and pull BACK whatever is sent through it!"

"Why?" asked the lizard.

"Because as a Scribe it is my imperative to learn more of such techniques for the betterment of my people. The Linking Book was what began our journey into darkness but also led us out into the light of peace that we now live in and normally I WOULD have master Durai learning this with me but he has been rather occupied of late in other pursuits despite this revelation I am about to, but anyway-"

"What is a linking book?"

"This."

James pulled out one of the books from his shelf and handed it to him. The book was entirely blank except for one page it opened to as it showed a perfect televisual image of a panning shot of houses, a small village of thatched roofs and stony walls where other lemmings talked, worked and played.

"What...IS this?" Chanoch muttered reeling back from the picture.

"That is my home," said James smiling, "it is how I return back to my realm from this place. However, only I can use that book so fear not it shall not suck you in."

"This...can this go to any world?"

"No, only mine. See, Linking a book requires a great focus, a monumental dedication to writing an Age, or realm rather and one must be able to write it properly. If one were to write it poorly, then the Age would fall apart and cause a catastrophic result."

"Write poorly?" Chanoch closed the book carefully and handed it back to him. "You...you made this book?"

"No, not that one. I DID however create the book that links to THIS world, the one we are currently in."

"What?" The lizardman gasped quietly with a hard blink. "You...created THIS world?"

"NO, no no no no no!" stammered James waving his hands. "I did not create this realm, it already existed and I just simply feel out the road by which I can travel to this realm by my book. Imagine you are in a dark cave, with only your hands to feel out the walls and reach the exit from. I am essentially doing that except the cave is the great expanse between dimensions and my mind is my hands feeling through the darkness."

"I...see."

"However I CAN theoretically alter the course of things," continued the lemming putting the book on its shelf, "but only to a certain extent. I cannot decide the fates of people, or wage wars but I can essentially alter the landscape to some extent if I wanted to, but I will not do so as a Scribe for it is my duty to explore and learn new things, not to bend a world to my will."

"That...that is still power that only Elohim could have." He stepped from his seat and knelt himself before James. "Are you...a god?"

"N-NO!" gasped James reeling back. "No absolutely not that is a gross overestimation, I am simply a Scribe who can connect to other realms such as this one!"

"I know no scribe that can do the things you say."

"Well then I am the first scribe you know who can! So, would you like to help me with this experiment?"

"Yes." He nodded standing up fully. "What do I do?"

"I need you to write down what I tell you," James handed him a notebook and pencil, "my hands will be rather busy and whilst I am conducting my experiment my mind will be rather displaced to the point my short-term memory will be fractured briefly."

"Ah. Alright. But, I cannot write in your language."

"That is fine, you can just tell me what is written down after. Alright, are you ready?"

"Yes."

Chanoch sat himself on the bed as it creaked beneath his weight, propping the notebook against his knee as James turned towards his podium and picked up a quill from an inkpot beside him. Whispering something to himself, he placed one hand upon the book as his fingers began to glow with a pale gold string whittling between them before he started scribbling. Words flowed from ink to become green on one page whilst the other side of the book began to whorl into a miniature vortex.

"Pagistic Temperament, twelve."

"Mmhmm."

The paper began to tremble, the book rumbling through its spine with the shudderings of energy between dimensions as James began to drift into a state of zen-like epiphany. His fingers kept moving, writing from left to right and mediating over the portal as his eyes became blank staring dead into the wall as his hair crept its curls upwards briefly.

"Lexicographal Index, seventy-two."

"Yes."

"Age discrepancy, nineteen-hundred...remnant...seas of black, a lone decrepit house on the edge of a cliff. See...a mansion, wrapped in snow-blind grief and madness. Blood, tainted from the moon, never-ending...s-so cold. So...c-cold."

The reptile said nothing, writing down all that James spoke in his Yiddish script as the portal widened enough to consume the whole page that made the book almost levitate from its podium. The stand shook with energy, the lemming's cloak billowing around him as the strangest sound burned through the room and snarled from the roaring abyss until it almost overwhelmed them. Then something came.

"HAH!" The lemming grabbed a rock tightly in his fist. "Alright...now to reverse it..."

He scribbled another sentence, but this time much to Chanoch's surprise he wrote in the opposite direction from right to left, twisting the portal backwards into a coriolis effect as the stone he held in his hand suddenly zipped back to whence it came.

"YES, Y-YES, ALRIGHT NOW, reverse temperament sixty!"

"Alright."

"Inverse lexicographal index, twenty-seven, age discrepancy, seventeen-hundred!"

Four minutes later James finished writing the other half of the page as the portal shrunk back into the blank page, the paper refitting itself until not a trace of its dimensional aberration existed. With a sigh of relief he stepped back and slipped onto the bed beside Chanoch who looked at him.

"Are you alright?"

"Y-yes, my uhm...my mind is always rather woozy after scribing a new technique, I will be fine."

"Ah." He looked towards the now-closed book on the stand. "Did it work?"

"Yes it did, and thanks to you I have a set of numbers I can refer to for a future experiment!"

"What is the point of this, if it is going back to where it came from?"

"To better understand HOW this works. The Art is a strange power from which my people cannot fully comprehend, yes I am able to wield it well, but I want to know HOW I wield it, and if I utilise a feedback loop I can view the process from outside whilst looking in."

"Ahh."

"Now I just need you to transcribe your notes to Lemglish and we will be done!"

"Yes."

He pointed out each line and number and what they were to James before he stood up to leave. Left on his own the lemming looked around his room feeling less and less of his master's presence with a deeper sigh as he slumped his chin against his hand.

[i][u]Military Preparation - Subject Twelve Arrival[/u][/i]

[i]31-03-2042[/i]

[i]Recorded by Maj-Gen Thomas Brightman[/i]

[i]Preparations have been made for the arrival of Subject Twelve as per usual for the past few years. Due to the assault from last year, we have taken the extra precaution to fortify our defences and make a standing guard of soldiers to double shifts in the week of the anomaly's arrival. Haytham Durai and his student James have become regulars to help assist us due to the possibility of magical interference that our technology is unable to decipher.[/i]

[i]Our newest recruit Chanoch has proven himself to be a commendable fighter, once we customised a few weapons to let him get a good feel for each and get some proper training in them. His impressive size and strength make him a natural fit for heavy-duty weapons, but his sword however remains his first and foremost weapon, and so we have given him a special scabbard that magnetises to his suit of armour for ease of movement. Normally we wouldn't allow such non-standard weapons but his exceptional skill with it is more of a boon than a hindrance.[/i]

"Alright now pull the thread through."

"Yes."

"Move the needle across to the other side at the exact same place."

"Ahh."

"Now pull the thread through...aaaand repeat."

Chanoch nodded and carefully threaded the needle through the cloth, his larger fingers making it difficult as he occasionally pricked his hard scaled skin which was thankfully too thick to actually pierce. He wore his armour however being still on duty which made gentle clinking shivers with each cautious movement of his wrists. Andrea sat next to him on the floor working her way through what would become a basic pillowcase as they slowly but surely stitched up two ends of the same cloth in quiet patience, threads becoming like rungs up a ladder.

"Alright now, pull the tail," she said, "that'll tighten it up to hide the stitch."

"Yes."

"Aaaaand that's it, you now know how to make a ladder stitch!"

"Thank you," the reptile nodded, "is it good?"

"Yeah that's pretty good!" she nodded looking over his work. "Your fingers took a beating though hmhaha."

"It is fine. I will learn."

"I'm surprised you wanted to learn how to sew."

"I like doing something with my hands," said Chanoch flexing his claws, "Ravinder taught me once, but I have forgotten plenty."

"Ravinder, she a friend of yours?" asked Dixon putting the cloth on a table.

"Yes, she made costumes for theatre."

"OH no way, that's how I learned to sew too!"

"Really?" he leaned back with legs crossed. "I thought you were a scientist."

"Well yeah but my family are from the theatre, my dad was a make-up artist but he knew some sewing tricks and I picked up on that before I went to study physics."

"Ah."

"Okay so you ready for the next kinda stitch?"

"Yes." He offered his hands to let her drape a new cloth onto them.

"So this one is called a blanket stitch," she said sitting back down opposite of him, "this one you DO want to have seen cuz it looks pretty. So pick your thread colour and we'll get started."

"Alright."

They worked quietly as Chanoch picked green whilst Dixon chose blue, carefully working through another dual-layer of cloth as she taught him to thread the needle again and tie a knot to the end of the thread. His claws were steady but huge compared to the needlehead so he took six tries before managing this time and then made the first loop on the edge of the cloth. The needle went through the thread's loop like a shoelace as he went along the cloth to repeat the same motion. It was surprisingly easier for him than the ladder stitch was and they were soon finished in half the time.

"Wow you're getting pretty good!" said Andrea smiling. "Keep that up and you can make your own suits in no time!"

"Thank you. The suit you made fits me well."

"I'm glad, it was nice to make something with my actual hands for once, I mean all I do nowadays is just weaving atoms and turning calculations into commands."

"Why did you become a scientist?" he asked gliding his fingers across the cloth to smooth it out.

"Well," she began folding her own cloth, "you know how people watch the stage and they're all amazed by how they manage to make the set pieces work?"

"Yes."

"Well, I was the sort of person that loved seeing what's BEHIND the stage, like what makes all the production work. When I used to watch movies, I loved watching the Making Of documentaries that show you how the movie's made, like all the effects and stuff, and so I started thinking 'wait, how does the WORLD get made, like the air we breathe and the earth that's made in all these shapes'?"

"Elohim," the lizard shrugged, "He made all of this."

"Well actually..." she pressed her hands together against her lips to stop herself, "okay, yes I get that part but what I'm saying is HOW things keep going, like does the director of the theatre keep running everything in a play by himself?"

"No."

"Exactly, he has people do it for him, so what I'M asking with my research is, who keeps making the air we breathe and the space out there what it is, like it has to be a constant process to keep going and slowly I worked my way up to working on the laws of the universe."

"Ahhh. You study His creations and their process."

"Yes." She smiled politely as he nodded back. "I mean I dunno how much science you know but-"

"I learned science back at the castle."

"Really?!"

"Yes. Alchemy mostly."

"Ahhhh you're more of a chemist," she gave him a little fingergun, "you should talk to Kevin then that's his specialty."

"Yes." He nodded.

"Soooo you wanna keep going? I got time for like ten more minutes."

"Yes. I would like to do the blanket stitch again."

"Sure!"

They worked again on redoing the stitch four more times until it was time for Chanoch to leave, thanking Andrea once again before heading to his room and picking up his designated weapon. The large TV had now been covered up by a thick cloth that almost matched the wall colour to look slightly out-of-place, but it was just enough for Chanoch to feel more homely without that accursed black space staring his own reflection back at him. Hidden safely in a clothes drawer was a large assault rifle coloured beige and black that to a normal human would be rather heavy, and somewhat bulky for a trained soldier. But for Chanoch it weighed just right in his hands with a sturdy base and customised grip that fit his three-fingered hands, including a larger trigger guard to fit them in. Heading towards the firing range he met Thomas Brightman standing outside it.

"Ahhh there you are, how are you?"

"I am good thank you sir," the reptilian bowed.

"Shall we get started?"

"Yes."

They walked inside and he was given his targets with a set of earphones to muffle. Holding his rifle squarely against his shoulder he looked through the scope and popped off small bursts keeping watch on the armed targets, headshotting enemies with guns and shoulder-winging enemies with bladed weapons whilst avoiding those who had neither. Mostly.

"Not bad," said Brightman once he was done, "you DID shoot one civilian however."

"Forgive me," said Chanoch, "I thought that one's hand was a knife."

"It's fine, if you're not sure then it's better to make a warning shot then anything. Now let's see how well you know your gun, put it down on this table, disassemble then reassemble it fast as you can."

"Yes sir."

He put down his gun as requested, taking the magazine out first before he waited for Thomas with his stopwatch prepared.

"Alright, ready? GO!"

Chanoch quickly untwisted the barrel shroud first, before taking the scope off with a snap-and-click followed by the rear stock in a similar fashion. The grip was the last of the outer shell before he began taking the individual pieces of the assault rifle's mechanisms. Once every piece was laid out on the table, he cracked his knuckles and reassessed briefly the gun's structure before working his way backwards, fitting bit after bit of the rifle back into the main body then the grip then the stocks then the scope and the barrel he twisted back into place.

"TIME!" Brightman clicked his stopwatch. "Forty-five seconds."

"Forgive me," said Jarogniew bowing, "I will do faster."

"Faster, what do you mean that's incredible! I mean, considering you're from seven-hundred years in the past and you've only been learning to use guns for more than a year, that's exceptional."

"I can do faster."

"You can but this is very impressive, if you can do that under a minute then you're golden no matter what."

"Yes." He patted the weapon warmly. "I like this gun."

"It's a pretty good model, customised L85A3." The general picked up the rifle and carefully spun it between his hands. "We were planning to use the M4 Carbine, but we decided to pick something that had better terminal performance and muzzle velocity in case we faced off, long story short it's heavier but more powerful, and also more reliable in arid, cold or wet climates with an average reliability of thirty-one thousand mean rounds between failure."

"Good, that is why I like it."

He took the rifle back and slipped its strap over his head to sling it upon his chest. The sight of an armoured knight with military weapon made Thomas smirk.

"Never gonna get used to that look on you, you sure you don't want us to try and make you a special suit?"

"No, thank you. Unless you force me to, general."

"Honestly, if you have your own armour I'd rather you keep it than us making you one. Normally I would enforce the rules but Kevin's made you his guinea pi-"

The look Chanoch gave him could kill a bird in mid-flight.

"Guinea...subject, for this new chemical proofcoating so if you consent to it then I've got no reason to say no."

"Yes. What do I do now?"

"Well you're dismissed, so you can just go exercise, take a nap, whatever you wanna do."

"Thank you sir."

The soldier stood up and bowed courteously before leaving the two-chair-and-table interrogation room they were using for solitude. Feeling somewhat energetic the lizard decided to take a jog around the base's exterior with a hefty spring in his step, thumping his hard bare feet against the sands as soldiers and robots waved him with greetings for the day. Circling the length of the storage yard he found a quiet spot alone where few could see him before he started doing push-ups in full armour to give him extra weight for his muscles to force against, snarling with gritted teeth as he pushed his triceps to the limit of a single session until they burned inside his suit with tail whipping frantically behind him. Once he had exhausted himself he went back inside planning to shower all the sweat from his body and wait for morning service, but it was while returning to his room that he saw a rather strange scene of robots dancing in a larger room to some odd conflagration of noise that assaulted his ears. Lights flickered on and off in pockmarks of red, blue and green that blinded and bedazzled all who witnessed it, including Chanoch from outside the door.

"YEAAAH WORK THAT ABDOMEN, WORK IT!"

The voice of Jane Addison could be heard amidst the throng of steel chassis and creaking joints bumping and grinding against each other. The lizardman walked in with unflinching pace, beebots and moletanks moving out of his path as he saw Jane upon a raised stage dancing wildly with severe gyrations in her rump.

"OH, CHANOCH HELLO!"

"What is this?" he asked barely raising his voice.

"JUST SOME DANCING TO FREE UP THE JOINTS, I THOUGHT THE ROBOTS NEEDED A LITTLE FUN!"

"THIS is dancing?"

"YEAH COME ON JUST SHAKE YOUR ARSE LET THE MUSIC GUIDE YOU!"

"This is not music."

"OH DON'T BE A SODDING PRUDE COME ON!"

She grabbed his hands and started to gyrate his arms for him, the lizardman slightly resisting but not wanting to tear himself from a woman's hand out of gentlemanly respect despite how tired he already was. The music dropped its bass, her eyes widened with glee as a thunderous bellow began to rumble through his feet before Jane pulled him into a spin and she almost started to waltz with him. Chanoch followed her lead, spinning her round with his hand on her head before she pulled right in close and started ducking her head to move her arms in twitchy movements. The lizardman was confused and largely just stood there like a monolith surrounded by apes, as the former badniks screeched their treads with hard spins on the floor, buzzing wasps made aerial acrobatics and monkey-bots did, what else, the monkey almost pathetically. Trapped in an awkward politeness, Jarogniew was thankful that he had caught the tail-end of the mix-fest when the lights wound down and machines began shuffling out with thanks to Jane.

"Hey that was great, we do it next month Jane?!"

"TOTALLY!" she gave a thumbs up and smirked. "KEEP ON JAMMIN'!"

"HAH, you talkin' about Walter right?!"

"I HAVE IRRITABLE DOWELS YOU JERK!" cried a rhinoceros-bot.

"Hhhahahaha...hooooo...that was fun."

Jane walked over to a large set of speakers before picking up a small rectangular piece of metal to pocket it.

"Sorry but you did walk into all this."

"It is fine," said Chanoch once the regular lights came back on, "this is how your culture dances?"

"Well, humans in my world have many dances and many kinds of music, this is just one of them we call dubstep."

"Dubstep...I do not like this dubstep."

"Awwww sorry, what music do you like then?"

"I like...actual music."

"Hahahaha, ohhhh." She patted his back with a teasing smirk. "Well let's go through the styles, you're from 15th century so I assume something baroque?"

"I do not know how to call it," he shrugged as he walked with her out the room, "music is music."

"Well like I said there are many kinds of music," said Jane heading towards her room, "you know in the past few centuries music has changed quite a lot why don't I show you some?!"

"Mmmm."

"Aw come on you've already started, you don't like dubstep we can confirm that but there are plenty other different styles for you to hear!"

"...alright."

They soon reached her room as she put the MP3 player into a small speaker dock as she shuffled through various songs involving rock, metal, jazz, electronic and pop music which he drifted through various moods in. But it was one style in particular that he was most positive to.

"I like that," he said sitting up from a sudden guitar riff.

"Oh? The rock music?"

"Yes, it is powerful. Without hurting my ears."

"Great, marvellous that's one thing solved then! If you'd like I can give you an MP3 player, actually have a spare I can load up with rock music and you can play in your room if you give me a few minutes."

"No, it is fine."

"Awww are you sure?" She pulled out from her drawer another small rectangle and hooked it by a cable to her PC. "I'll make one ready for you so you can pick it up anytime, I was going to give it to Oddclaw but he doesn't really like the headphones."

"Oddclaw?" the lizardman asked.

"He's our ambassador, he's from this world originally but you haven't met him."

"Ahhh. This is not your world?"

"It IS but," she rubbed her neck nervously, "it's more like we're in the past of our own world by a few million years so it feels like a completely different world."

"Few million years?" Jarogniew leaned back with a confused sneer. "What is even out there then?"

"Not humans I can tell you that, just ancient creatures called dinosaurs and Oddie's one of them."

"Dynoh-sores?"

He scratched his head as Jane showed him pictures on her computer. Various monsters of bizarre shapes greeted him with horned heads and frilled backs, wild creatures that were surprisingly tame from the pictures Jane took. One regular character however was a strange-looking lizard of human appearance, naked with brown scales and external genitalia that surprised him.

"I have not seen demons like this before."

"They're not demons," said Jane shaking her head, "they are a naturally-occurring species that have evolved and existed for millions of years."

"And what is that?" he pointed at the anthropomorph.

"THAT is Oddclaw, our ambassador. Before you ask, no we do not know why he looks like this, and I'd rather he tell you about himself than I gossiping it to you."

"Ah. Does he come here?"

"Nooo not since he had children and well, family's always going to take up your time but next time I go out to see him I can bring you along, might as well introduce you."

"Yes. I must pray before I eat, I will come back for the music."

"Alright then, see you later!"

She waved him off as he went back to his room to put away his gun, take off his armour, shower his body clean of sweat and put on his cloth suit and skullcap before making his way to the sanctum. Sitting in the pews amongst four humans and at least one badnik, he stood out exceptionally head and shoulders above the rest even when seated, practically shadowing over the others before their sermons were done and he headed off with the group to lunch.

"So what are you doing later?" asked one short-haired lady.

"Ohh I dunno," muttered Linnaeus, "probably rewatch the Rambo series again, I keep forgetting how good the first one is."

"I never seen that, is it really that good?"

"Well the first one is incredible, it does not go the way you think compared to the usual schlock the later ones are, I mean I'm not saying they're BAD but you know what you're getting into with those."

The rabbi turned to his newest member in mid-step.

"You like movies Chanoch?"

"No."

"Aww."

"I like theatre."

"Hahaha really?!" cried the lady. "Wow I didn't expect a big guy like you to be into that fancy stuff."

"Fancy?"

"I mean normally people into theatre are quite, yanno, rich-boy types that keep buying african art for their huge-ass studios and shit-"

"Annie please," Linnaeus patted her, "this isn't the nineties, let's not do that."

"Haha alright sorry just surprised is all."

"What's your favourite production then?"

"Atsumori," said the lizardman immediately, "it is very good."

"Ohhh what's it about?" the rabbi asked as they passed into the lunchroom.

"Two samurai. One is a boy who plays the flute, one is a seasoned warrior. The boy dies because he is naive, his ghost cannot find peace, so monks try to help him."

"Oh wow that sounds really tragic."

"It is. My superior showed it to me, he loved stories from Japan."

He sat with Linnaeus as they enjoyed a good mixed lunch of faux-meat and specially-grown vegetables. The room filled up with more and more people that turned into a babbling congregation as people and robots laughed and pestered each other with various things. Chanoch spotted a familiar green-haired imp fidgeting around the outer reach of the tables looking for an empty seat.

"[b]HEY![/b]"

His voice boomed like a cannon in the fog, surprising the first six tables near him with such force in his strength that there was a marked drop in volume across the lunch room. He gentlyy raised his hand towards the lemming beckoning him over when the voices rose up again.

"UM, h-hello there!"

"We have a seat," he offered one next to him and the rabbi.

"Thank you," James sat himself with a trayful of food and a cup of steaming velvet-brown liquid. "Sorry I am normally not this late to lunch but I was in the midst of an experiment and I was...alone."

"Last in the queue always sucks," said the man in black robes offering his hand, "I'm Rabbi Linnaeus, are you Chanoch's friend?"

"Oh, J-james nice to meet you and well I uh...I am-"

"Yes," said Jarogniew, "James defended me in court."

"Ahhhh that was you?" said Linnaeus. "Well thank you for bringing me my best janitor."

"Hahaha, n-not at all the pleasure is mine," said James starting to eat, "so this week the anomaly is supposed to happen yes?"

"Apparently, if Andrea's calculations are right."

"I wonder what strange fantastic thing will come to us next, hopefully something more friendly than a demon invasion."

"I don't know we have a pretty good friend here that 'invaded' us."

"Hm." Chanoch rolled his eyes and looked at the mug of steaming brew. "What is that?"

"Oh, this is coffee," said James.

"Coffee?"

"It's a beverage made from beans that have been specially brewed, normally I would not drink something bitter but today has been one of those days when I require a good pick-me-up."

"Bitter? Hmm."

"You...you want to try it?"

He offered Chanoch the drink as he took a gentle sip. The hot bitter taste was surprising to him as he felt a burst of energy from one gulp, warming his stomach and shooting caffeine through his mind as he felt himself blink rapidly.

"Woah you alright?!" Linnaeus asked. "You looked like you were about to go 'Requiem for a Dream' there."

"Th-this...this is...GOOD." Chanoch smiled with a strange glint in his eyes and a husky voice. "I love this...[b][i]coffee.[/i][/b]"

"Hhhahaha, goodness!" snickered James. "I do not think I have ever seen you smile like that to me!"

"May I have...more?"

"Of course, actually let me get some for myself, you can have my coffee."

"Really? I do not-"

"No no it is fine, you have it I will get a fresh pot."

"Oh. Thank you."

James went to grab himself another cup as Chanoch tried not to gulp down the whole thing with tender sips, licking his lips and becoming increasingly excited with newfound reverie. It was a strangely glorious taste, nectar of foreign lands that made his fingers shake with a new level of caffeine he had never known as his large body did its best to balance him out. The three talked amongst themselves over empty plates but the peace would not last long as the alarm screamed above their heads.

"[b]ALERT! ALERT![/b]"

"O-OH, TALISMAN'S SAKE!"

"[b]ANOMALY INCOMING, TAKE YOUR POSITIONS AND AWAIT ORDERS![/b]"

"HAS IT, OH, SAVIOUR I-W-WAIT CHANOCH!"

The soldier rushed out of the room with James hot on his heels whilst Linnaeus went to where the rest of the civilians would be heading to, down into the sheltered rooms beneath the base. Soldiers began pouring in through the halls as they ran en masse to outside, with no chances taken as the T.E.A.R. military stood upon the sands of the courtyard with rifles aimed and positions taken up. Chanoch had made a brief detour only once to put on his armour and equip both rifle and sword with James accompanying him. Outside Andrea stood with Haytham and Thomas on the roof next to the repaired communication tower, seeing something in the sky sparking and twitching from a great distance beyond.

"What's your reading on this?" asked Thomas.

"About a hundred-and-eighty," she said, "bigger than that island you fought the demons on."

"And yet it is manifesting itself in the sky?" murmured Haytham. "What could it possibly be?"

"Floating landmass like with Aarbron?"

"Mayhaps...it seems awfully far away however."

"I'm reading it to be seventy-six miles above us so whatever that is it's actually in space."

"What?!" Thomas flinched in astonishment. "You telling me this anomaly's some kinda fucking MOON?!"

"That is no moon," said Durai darkly, "twould be much too small to class as that."

They watched and waited as the crackling star began to expand greater than before, twisting the fabrics of space until something shot through like an interstellar catapult. Crackling booms echoed throughout the stratosphere like a sonic jet shrieking through the sound barrier, flattening trees and deafening everyone briefly as they cowered beneath the force majeure of its presence. Andrea smiled in shock at the anomaly's fullest form hovering above the earth.

"Well you were right, that's no moon!" She turned towards Haytham struggling not to laugh. "THAT'S a fucking space station."