Queen Marisara: “Did I not make it clear time is of the essence in this mission? Have you captured the human?”

  For a moment, I thought it had to be a joke and looked around, as if I might see Tomas or Steve chuckling as they peeked around a corner, but that was stupid. They couldn’t have sent this. As impossible as it seemed, I’d just gotten a message from Queen Marisara.

  It wasn’t to me, though.

  It took a second, but when I figured it out, I couldn’t help laughing out loud. She was messaging Tydrion.

  Except, I’d defeated Tydrion and he’d offered up that Seal that gave me my new title and the chance to snatch his stuff. I was now the Count. Did that mean their messaging was based on titles instead of names? That seemed weird, but what else could it be?

  I glanced up at the shadowed ceiling of the water-filled tunnel I was flying through. "So I really took his place as Count?"

  "Absolutely,” Cyrus chuckled. “When Count Tydrion offered the Seal, he was grandstanding. He never imagined he might lose, and honestly, he'd never activated the Seal. It's beyond forbidden in his world. He most likely didn't understand the potential ramifications of what he'd done. Now you're technically a member of Queen Marisara's court, so that message, sent to the count, was routed to you. You’ll also receive court-wide messages like all the other nobles."

  What? My mind raced with the implications and possibilities.

  “When I respond, she’ll know it’s me, though.”

  “Not exactly. As a member of the court in good standing, you can definitely respond. You can also send direct messages to other lord and ladies of the court. It’s a very convenient feature.”

  That was awesome, but as soon as I started messaging, the game would be up. "She’ll just ban me from the chat."

  "She cannot ban you from court-wide messages, but she could circumvent that by messaging specific individuals."

  I considered the situation for a moment, then got a flash of insight.

  "How will my name show up if I respond to her now, or if I message other nobles?"

  "Now that's a question worthy of your stats," Cyrus said, and I could imagine him rubbing his hands together, planning a bit of chaos. "Tydrion usually used his first name, which is quite common, but not the only way to do it. Nobles can also use their surnames or titles in communications. It is less common outside of formal communications, but it is not unheard of."

  "What was his full name?"

  "Count Tydrion Blacktide, the Wave Tyrant."

  House Blacktide? It fit.

  I focused on the message from Queen Marisara and my intent, and a new prompt appeared. "What name would you like to use when messaging members of the court?"

  I selected "Count Blacktide". I considered just going with "The Wave Tyrant" but that might be too much. After a moment’s consideration, I sent a reply.

  Count Blacktide: “I’ve encountered some difficulties, but I will pursue this mission as long as it takes.”

  I held my breath. Had I phrased it close enough to how Tydrion might have spoken? Would she figure it out?

  Queen Marisara: “Do not fail me in this. Your dedication is noted.”

  “Yes!” I laughed. I’d just bought some time. How else could I leverage this unexpected breach of their communications? Eavesdropping on any court-wide messages would be great, but could I do something more proactive?

  "Can I get a list of other members of the court?"

  “Not directly, but if Queen Marisara sends out a court-wide message, you can see everyone else who receives the message.”

  “Does she send a lot of court-wide messages?”

  “Thalorian sends more of them. Queen Marisara does not like to sully her time with mundane activities unless absolutely necessary. She prefers having underlings summoned to her presence to speak.”

  Not surprising. If I could keep up the ruse long enough for Thalorian to include me in a group message, that would be an intelligence windfall. Knowing the list of all the nobles in her court would give me a better hint of her forces. I might be able to overhear some important messages before Marisara realized the truth.

  I could then direct-message some of the other court members. What could I do with that unexpected access? Could I sow some discord somehow? Ideas and possibilities raced through my mind as I slowed before the vertical tunnel that the rest of the team took.

  Before I shot up after them, I extracted my Tidal Nexus cube and willed a spectral clone to drop there in the powerful current. I’d lost the 2 clones I’d dropped down on stage 2. This seemed the perfect place to start rebuilding the charge of raw elemental water power. Then I leaped up into the vertical shaft.

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  A moment later, it turned horizontal again as the fast-moving current boiled out into the open air of a canal. I shot into the air, my Water Flight spell still working as I soared into the heavy downpour.

  The rest of the team were waiting nearby, hovering about 40 feet above the soaked ruins. Their Shingle Pins couldn’t keep them dry while totally submerged, but did block the rain.

  With an effort of will, I swapped my Overlord Chitin armor for my Colossus Mantel, then created a full-body mana shield to protect myself from the rain. We’d emerged on the southwest side of Ruin in the early morning hours. Not that it was possible to tell the time through the dark, heavy clouds and constant downpour.

  The walls of Port Royale glowed about half a mile northeast of our position, a beacon of temporary shelter and possible safety in the never-ending storm.

  “What took you so long?” Tomas asked as I slowed to a hover nearby.

  “Got sidetracked by a couple things.”

  I transferred the mysterious chains to Tomas to see what he could do with them, then explained what I’d learned from Tony about their expedition. I didn’t tell them about my message from Queen Marisara yet. I wasn’t sure how much it would pay off yet. Besides, she’d proven she had spies watching the area and one careless word might alert her of the deception.

  “Sounds like it could be a trap,” Jane said.

  “Hopefully not, but let’s head back to Port Royale in case they call for help.”

  As we flew toward town in a close-packed group, Steve said, “While we were gone, 3 more people disappeared from town.”

  “Even with the upgraded defenses?”

  He nodded. “Word is already out. People are paying attention and Crystal set up a check-in system. When people don’t check in regularly, someone is dispatched to search for them.”

  “That’s clever,” Jane said. “But I didn’t know about it, so I haven’t been checking in.”

  “I took care of updating her on our status,” Steve said.

  Those clones of his were proving more and more useful. Even while we were down in the merfolk lair, his clones could keep tabs on events up in Port Royale.

  Steve’s expression darkened. “Be aware, tensions are growing and some of the groups people have started fracturing into are blaming each other and claiming other groups are assassinating people.”

  “Are they?” Ruby asked.

  Steve shrugged. “No one seems to have any evidence, but that doesn’t stop the accusers. One of the recent disappearances was one of the leaders of the Muslim contingent. They’re blaming Gabriel Ortiz, since he argued with her just a couple hours ago.”

  “Gabriel wouldn’t murder anyone,” I said, thinking of the stocky monk and his friendly demeanor.

  Steve shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Both religious groups are ratcheting up the rhetoric, and they’re not unique. The US and Russia camps are rattling their sabers at each other, while the Teamsters and the Actors Guild are both trying to win control over parts of the commercial sector of town. The Free Love group, now going by the name of Drama Club is getting into increasingly heated arguments with both the Muslims and the Christians.”

  “How do you know all of this?” Andy asked.

  “Clones,” Lana guessed. “Hombre, I never guessed you would be such a good spy.”

  Steve shrugged. “Someone has to pay attention.”

  Ruby said, “I don’t even know all of the groups in town.”

  Steve said, “I mentioned most of them. There are a couple I don’t know enough about. The Independent Women Alliance and the World Peace Initiative.”

  “I know about the World Peace Initiative,” Tomas said. “It’s pretty new, but growing fast, led by Miranda Ramos.”

  “The healer on Ed’s team?”

  Jane said, “She’s so sweet.”

  Tomas nodded. “She also has set the goal to leverage all our new powers in positive ways when we return to Earth.”

  “Assuming we win,” Andy said.

  “And that we keep our powers,” Jane added.

  Tomas nodded again. “If we do both, her point is that we’ll bring unprecedented power back to Earth. We could scatter to our previous home countries or factions, which might just trigger new conflicts, or if enough of us unite, we can lead the world into a new era of peace.”

  “Not a bad goal,” I said, although I doubted anything could be that easy. Still, it was worth thinking about.

  “The Independent Women Alliance was started by Elayne Dubois to unite newly-empowered women to plan for ways we can throw off the shackles of male-dominated societies when we return to Earth,” Lana said.

  “We?” Andy asked.

  She shrugged. “I listened to one of her speeches.”

  Lana didn’t say what she thought of the speech. I had no idea our town had fractured so much. I was so laser focused on fighting and leveling and ultimately defeating Queen Marisara, I hadn’t dared think too much about what might come next.

  Apparently, I was in the minority. Of course, the folks already starting to plot and plan for our return were assuming me and the other elites would do the heavy lifting and win the game. Still, it was a good reminder to keep my eyes open. If people were starting to plot and jockey for position after the game, there was no reason they couldn’t start fighting early.

  “We’ll have to discuss it with Elizabeth,” I said as we drew close to town. “We can’t afford to fracture apart before even reaching stage 4. There’s too much hanging on every single one of us to get distracted.”

  “Assuming Elizabeth is even interested in keeping peace,” Steve said.

  “What do you mean by that?” Ruby asked.

  He shrugged. “She’s pushing her Drama Club to get wild to attract viewers and hopefully some VIP points. A little extra drama between groups in town seems like a flame she’d prefer fanning to see where it goes rather than snuffing it out.”

  “I hope you’re wrong,” Tomas said.

  Me too, but Steve might just be right. Where would that leave me? I’d warned her not to allow the town’s progress to falter. If she didn’t find ways to maintain the peace, would I have to step in?

  How far was I willing to go? Was it my right to impose my view of the world onto everyone else?

  If I didn’t do it, who else would? Was the end goal of winning the game justification enough to employ means I wouldn’t usually consider?

  I pondered the difficult questions as we flew over the wall and crossed the shimmering barrier into the dry town. We identified ourselves to the guards stationed on the wall and settled to the ground not far from the Expanse.

  The club was glowing like a beacon. It had expanded in every direction, including adding a third story since I last saw it.

  “She didn’t waste time,” Ruby commented. “She really hated the idea of ceding that much percentage ownership, along with all the related experience, but she eventually accepted it.”

  “Have you confirmed my friend Matthew is inside?”

  She nodded. “He said he’ll share a report once he explores the new space.”

  Steve added, “It’ll take a bit. The interior is huge now, with at least a 10-to-1 space expansion. The party will probably go non-stop all day long.”

  Hopefully the plan to have Steve’s clone, Matthew, hook up with Susan and create some drama worked.

  “What now?” Lana asked as we walked toward the central castle.

  It was still early morning. The intense fights had taken surprisingly little time. Part of me was tempted to head right out to hunt, or to catch up with Tony and Burns and their crews, but I resisted the urge. They’d call if they needed help, and they would not appreciate me swooping in and maybe stealing some of their experience.

  So I pointed toward the slender spires of the System Store and the Training Guild. “Time for a bit of training.”