Most creatures in the shallowest levels of the Depths are fairly nonthreatening. They rarely have any degree of intelligence[1], they are weaker than an Awakened of the same level. Even those that are stronger tend to be minimal threats, they might be larger but be solitary. The weaker threats tend to come in packs, or groups, or infestations, each individual might be weak but can easily overwhelm the unprepared.

  There is one important rule to remember before assuming everything is safe. Beware of Variants, creatures that look slightly different, that have features the common variety lack. Variants may be slightly more dangerous, or deadly even to those who would normally Dive deeper levels.

  The further you dive the more complex the Depths become. Coordination and tactics start to appear, true threats appear in groups, and simple caverns become the exception.

  [1] There are tales of Depths Creatures who can speak or reason, who could almost be described as Awakened themselves. Supposedly found by those who venture far off the beaten path into the unexplored edges of a given density, they are often considered little more than drunken fables.

  ~ * ~

  Phelann banished her research feed and pulled back up the proposal for her new office. She knew they'd agreed to a dedicated space but had not expected this. A tiny room, barely big enough for all three of them to fit in? Something little more than a closet, and if she was lucky an EDN terminal so she could pull up information? She'd thought she would be offered something of the sort and have to argue to get enough space for it to be usable.

  Instead she was looking at plans for an office nearly as large as her current lab, a space she shared with 3 other researchers, when they even bothered to show up that is. Empty shelving for whatever purpose she might want along with a dedicated coffee making area. And desk with multiple feed displays, both on her side and on the visitor side, she'd be able to get more work done there than she could in the Headquarters. They couldn't be serious with this offer, this had to be some kind of joke.

  And yet she was staring at the plans, she had a confirmation note from that old Engineer, Yshe. This was the proposed space and that she was free to suggest any changes, or request anything she felt was missing. How could she complain about anything missing when it was more than she had expected?

  She sighed as she sent a reply stating the plans were satisfactory. She wasn't going to let the Engineers know that she was overwhelmed by the options already provided, she definitely wasn't going to let the Holders know that the offer was too much. She was barely a Senior Seer, she didn't need anything this fancy. She didn't have other Holdings she was working with that needed regular visits. She didn't need her own space where she could be alone and not bothered by people judging her. She didn't need any of it.

  Her own projects could wait. It wasn't as though anyone else in the WidePond cared about why Weregild were calculated based on a six month period. Or was curious about how and why there were such cultural similarities between established Awakened Ponds and the Unawakened throughout the various SmallPonds. She was sure there were some old records out there, or even a few ancient Awakened who had been around back then, who could answer both questions, but even trying to find that much information was nearly impossible, people either wouldn't talk, or couldn't share details.

  It took her a few minutes to search through her personal records before she found the fragments she had collected on Bladesong. It hadn't been an actual research project, less than half the information she stored came from real projects, the rest was tangential to one thing or another. Looking it over she made a few notes on possible leads, details she had never actually dug into, locations and individuals that either sounded familiar or were clearly important to whoever had stored the information in the first place.

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  She set off a few searches then shut down her feed, locking her terminal reflexively. Deep down she knew that no one cared what she was working on, that they wouldn't be interested in her research. She wasn't even sure that Valene was interested in her research as long as she didn't slow down her progression or cause any issues for him. She knew someone looked over her research and approved publication, likely just a rubber stamp that confirmed she'd done her due diligence and hadn't simply lifted information wholesale from somewhere.

  She was sure she'd be under greater scrutiny for her work with Holding Syl. Researchers almost never got assigned as Holding Liaisons, especially for brand new Holdings that happened to be founded on a Seed. She was sure Valene already regretted his choice, trust her or not she wasn't the right person to be dealing with the sort of attention they would be getting in the future, especially once they formally announced themselves. Just because their announcement would likely be to their local Pond, Earth in this case, didn't mean privacy. Formal announcement of a Holding was enough to spark marriage offers, alliance proposals, demands of vassalage, and that was for a Core. She had no idea what would happen once their Seed went from bound to recognized.

  Maybe if she was lucky they'd reassign her before that happened. She'd miss the coffee and interacting with them- She'd miss interacting with them? When had that happened? She kept to herself and did her own thing, she didn't miss others. She certainly didn't miss people she'd only really met twice and was now expected to interact with on a regular basis in perpetuity. So why did she think she would miss them? Because Sebastian, no, she reminded herself, Seb, had some idea what Kaf was and managed to pronounce her name properly? That couldn't be it.

  She knew she'd relaxed more around them than was proper, she'd complained about another Seer to them. Told them she had an issue with how Sean had acted, how he had seen her as a child despite the fact she'd likely already advanced further than he ever would. Everyone saw how young she looked and assumed she hadn't proven herself. If she'd been a combat Awakened they'd be praising her as a genius and bragging that they knew her, but she was a Seer and Seer's weren't expected to advance quickly, even compared to other non-combat Paths. Engineers? They were allowed to if they worked on the right project. Healers? Find the right combat Awakened or Dive and no one would blink when they stayed ahead of the curve. But a Seer? A researcher? No one would believe the work she put in, the time she spent digging into every detail that caught her attention.

  Taking a deep breath she banished the thoughts and glanced around the lab once more, making sure everything was appropriately tidy. It might not be her responsibility to clean up but somehow she always found herself making sure everything was in the proper place. Satisfied with what she saw she hurried on her way, if she was lucky she'd be able to get back to her room before most of the other Seers flooded the common areas. She might even have time to stop for some food that wasn't from a Food Creator.

  In the end she didn't stop for food, the thought that she might manage to get to her room without having to avoid attention was more enticing. Of course it didn't matter, she got pulled into a nearly hour long argument about whether the new or old EDN Feeds were more efficient for researchers by one of her lab-mates. They'd been complaining for the last year, longer for all she knew, about how much better the old Feed interface was when it came to looking up obscure information. It didn't matter that she'd told him at least a dozen times that she had never used the old interface, that she hadn't Awakened until after it had changed. It didn't matter, she was still a researcher and he still wanted to convince her that he had a point.

  When she finally found a way to escape the conversation, claiming she'd promised to finish a report before the end of the night, the common room was busier than ever. She got to her room without any other interruptions and created herself a meal of nutritional paste, a far cry from what she might have gotten had she been a bit more willing to deal with potential inconvenience.

  Pulling up her feed on her private terminal she looked through the information that had come back on Bladesong, hoping it would distract her from how miserable she felt, and give her something she could share with Seb and Lysanya.

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