262 - Chaos Doors

Lexie had never seen Taybal market before, and so Tate had to show her an image of it on the NET. 

Once she had the image, though, she could teleport there using her orb. Tate also showed her how to create an untraceable money transfer, and she initiated it as they teleported to Taybal, while Duru acknowledged receipt. 

Duru then said to give him ten minutes while he created the secure delivery link with the information she needed. But Lexie couldn’t wait, and neither could she risk this being a scam. After all, Tate's power could only tell where Duru was while he'd been texting, not where he was going to be. 

They needed to move fast to catch up with him.

Lexie and Tate teleported to Taybal market, appearing behind the stall of a man selling river fish. 

The man frowned at them and asked them where they were from, before promptly deciding he didn't care and offering them some of his wares. They politely declined as they started moving through the busy market center, full of people yelling out discounts, customers aggressively bargaining and bumping into each other, and stray cats and dogs flitting from stall to stall. 

“Are we close?” Lexie asked Tate, who nodded. He put his hoodie up and kept his head low, his eyes watchful, missing nothing as he moved. "This all looks familiar. This is the path he was walking while he texted. He stepped into a building…" He paused and pointed in the distance. “I think it was that one.”

The building in question looked to be an abandoned tower, with its curved roof shooting into the sky. 

There was a statue in front of it, the Guardian of War, holding up a golden sword with its tip cracked off. Its face featured a fierce frown, a long beard, and a glint of pride in its stone-carved eyes, even though the statue itself showed signs of neglect, weathered and mossy with limestone streaking down its body, rendering it a paler ghost of its former self. 

The building was covered with dust that dulled the black paint. As they walked towards it, there was a sense of foreboding in the atmosphere and thinness in the air. 

“Was this palace affected by a mana bomb?” Lexie asked Tate as they moved.

“Possibly,” he said. “Most of the people living here are mundanes. They won’t really feel any different with or without the mana bomb." 

"How come the effects haven't cleared yet? Or is it a recent bomb?"

"No, it's been like this for a while. But I think the effects of the bomb are both a feature and a bug of this place. It allows illicit activity to flourish."

“You seem to know a lot about it.”

“I used to come here a lot.” He grabbed her hand and steered her out of the way as a self-driven wagon barreled through. The second it was gone, he instantly let go. “We have to be careful as we move around. In some places, the translation features don’t work, or you can’t access your inventory, or the system's communication is down. The system's very buggy here, and as I said, some people are invested in not fixing it."

“Huh.” Lexie checked that her inventory still worked. If not, she might be screwed. “How did they manage to disrupt system access to that extent?"

“We don’t know. You’d have to ask the people making the mana bombs.”

“The Alchemist?”

“I don’t think he makes the bombs. I think he buys it from someone else. In the game, there was a man called the Engineer. He was responsible for the bombs. But he hasn’t made his appearance yet, and no one knows anything about him. He was never captured in the game, at least not in the first version."

The Engineer. '

Lexie thought she'd seen him in the character sheets, represented by a shadowy figure, but it had been such a long time since she checked that she wasn't sure. 

“Could this Duru be the Engineer?”

“It’s possible. He was a very secretive and hidden figure in the games. But there was no such thing as Eldritch weapons in the game either, so I don’t know if it’s the same person.”

By this time, they were climbing up the stone steps leading into the open doorway of what looked to be an empty cathedral. Small fountains were erected in each corner, with bowls at the base that seemed to be for collecting tossed coins. Of course, there were no coins in there right now, only dirt and cobwebs, but once upon a time, it was likely typical of worshippers to toss offerings into the receptacle. 

Prayers and epithets had been engraved on the walls. A bookshelf in the distance behind the dais was now empty, bearing only a single unlit candle. 

Everything about the space felt…wrong. 

It felt dead, but there was a whispering in the atmosphere that was undoubtedly alive. 

“A bunch of people think this place is haunted,” Tate said. “By the remnants of their Guardian. Though it's illegal, some continue to come here to worship sometimes and pray to him, especially when they’re desperate."

"I see that." Footprints had been left in the dust, criss-crossing one another. “I guess a lot of people have been desperate lately."

“Yeah. Some people don't want to believe he's truly locked in the tower. Or they think that if they pray hard enough, they can revive him and he can bring their nation to its former glory."

Lexie nodded and finally gestured with her arms wide. “Well, where's Duru?”

“He definitely came in here,” he said. “But after that, it’s foggy. He seemingly entered a secret room.” He glanced around at the ground, analyzing the footsteps, before pointing at one near the podium. “These are new, but they disappear right at that altar.”

“Maybe there’s a secret room there,” Lexie said as she walked closer, searching for the access point or the trigger to open the secret compartment. Her first guess was the candle. She tried moving it around to activate a hidden door, but nothing shifted. Then she tried to move the podium, tried tossing something in one of the coin bowls, tried drumming on the floor.

Nothing happened. 

“How interesting,” Tate said pointedly as he watched her move around. “The way the footsteps disappear, it's almost like there's a hidden room in the middle of nowhere. Like a pocket of reality."

 Lexie paused and instantly felt stupid for all the time she’d wasted. 

She gave him a droll look. "You're not funny. I hope you know that."

He smirked. “Sorry,” he said. “I wanted to see how long it would take you to realize that they were probably in a pocket dimension."

She sighed and straightened. 

"I would have realized it earlier if not for the heat," she mumbled. 

 She also reached out and felt a dungeon underground, probably a Level 6 or 7 by the look of it. 

She summoned Pvilycht, and he showed up instantly, although she could sense he was down. 

“Hey,” Lexie said softly. “Are you feeling okay?”

"I do not know." He was more sober than normal. Lexie wondered if his mind was still hurt. 

 Lexie glanced at Tate and said, "Someone tried to kill him recently. They tore off his arm, too. And messed with his sense of identity."

“Oh,” Tate said awkwardly. “Sorry to hear that.”

Pvilycht nodded.

“There’s a pocket dimension somewhere around here," Lexie said. 'Can you open it for us?”

Pvilycht nodded again. He held his hand out, and within seconds, they were engulfed in a dark room that looked like a dark, messy lab, with one long work table strewn with all sorts of mechs and whispering darkness. 

Standing in front of them were a group of young people holding all manner of weapons–including what looked to be a flame thrower–pointed at them, glaring hostilely. 

Neither Lexie nor Tate was particularly spooked. Tate sighed, and Lexie looked at their weapons uninterested. 

“Which one of you is Duru?” Lexie asked the group. 

“How the hell did you get in here?” the oldest one in the group, a tall, chubby boy with braided hair down to his back, said.

His companion, standing next to him with a crossbow, nudged him with the elbow. 

"Dude, do you not know who he is?” he hissed. “She’s the one from the video! The one who caught those villains in their pocket dimension.”

Several of the other kids offered a sharp intake of breath, and the leader's finger tightened around his weapon of choice, the flame thrower. Lexie held her hand up in defense.

“Look, I’m not here to hurt you or even stop whatever operation you have going on here,” she said. "I just want to talk to Duru.”

“Why?” Braids asked. 

“Well, he said he had a package for me, and I already sent the money. I didn't want to get scammed.”

They frowned, and then someone emerged from their back, a short kid who was about Lexie’s height. Lexie couldn't really tell if they were a girl or a boy. They had long hair and were wearing huge square-rimmed glasses. They looked a little like the leader and had his build as well. 

They weren't holding any weapons as they brushed the glasses up and frowned at the pair. 

“You’re Duru?" Lexie asked. 

"Yes," The kid said. “You could have just waited. I was just arranging the transport.”

“Yeah, but I didnt just want that. I wanted to meet you, too." Lexie cocked her head. "Sorry, are you a girl or a boy?"

"Girl, but I'm not overly attached to it." They shrugged. "You can call me whatever you prefer."

The kid had a strange manner about them and a strange way of talking. From what Doyle had described them, she'd expected a money-hungry, power-hungry megalomaniac. Not this...largely apathetic kid with eyes that looked way too old for her age. 

Lexie shook her head. She wasn't here to do a mental health analysis on Duru. "Since I already paid, you can give me the instructions in person. How did you plan on getting Pvilchyct to stay here anyway?”

“Who's Pvilycht?” 

"My Eldritch friend." Lexie gestured to him. “He’s like my assistant.”

Pvilycht was about to bow, then stopped himself, probably remembering what Lexie had said about humans disliking bowing. 

"How is he already here?" Duru asked. 

"He's not here in person," Lexie said. "His essence is here, but only through my creature card. He's not here otherwise."

"Oh." A glimmer of interest sparked in Duru's eyes before they went dead again. "Well, for him to exist on Earth as a human would, he would need to take the form of something else."

"What do you mean?"

"The System rejects Eldritch energy indiscriminately upon entering the Earth. While on Earth, it uses a different method to identify the Eldritch signature and destroy it. An Eldritch can either attach itself to something to cloak their signature or change it entirely. Traditional methods work by cloaking. If you don't want that, then we'll have to change it."

"Interesting. And how do you plan to change his signature?"

"If you leave now, I'll send you the instructions."

“I'm not going anywhere. Put the weapons down,” Lexie said. “I mean, I could just break them without blinking, but I have a feeling they were expensive, and since money is so important to you, you might not want to be so wasteful." Although, as Lexie looked around, she couldn't really see what they were using the money for.  They weren't dressed lavishly, nor was their lab particularly luxurious.  "Besides, those weapons wouldn’t hurt me anyway, but they might piss me off enough to retaliate."

They hesitated, one of them pulling a frown. "Why wouldn't these hurt you?"

Lexie smiled, glad that she had successfully piqued their interest. “I’lll tell you my secrets if you tell me yours.”

They shared looks amongst each other, and though they weren’t speaking, Lexie thought maybe they might have been communicating telepathically in the way that she did with her father.  

She had a few ideas about how they learned to do what they did, and it tied into how they got this pocket dimension in the first place.

In the meantime, Lexie decided to put them at ease by taking a seat at the tables. But the second she moved, they all jerked.

“I’m really not going to hurt you,” she told them as she sat down. “I just came here for information. And also, maybe to advise you to reconsider your sales tactics. You sold something to Patriot, who is an idiot, and it could have gotten you in a lot of trouble."

Their braided hair leader blushed. 'It's fine. They won't be able to track us."

"You might be surprised. Is that the first time you've sold something like that?"

"By ourselves, yes. Our Master usually handles the sales."

"Your master, huh?" Lexie drummed her fingers on the table. "So… now it looks like you guys are in a lot of trouble.”

They swallowed. Lexie hadn’t been expecting them to be this young. The oldest person in the room was maybe twenty years old, and the youngest person was maybe thirteen. She’d been expecting a whole operation of adults here who were running this, not children. It was a little creepy.

Duru moved forward, but she was no longer looking at Lexie. She was looking at Tate. 

“Tate?” she asked him.

“So it is you,” Tate responded. “I thought maybe you had a twin. You look different."

"So do you?"

“Do I?” Tate said.

“Did you get taller? You look taller.”

“You two know each other?” Lexie asked. 

“We’ve worked together before,” Tate said. “She introduced me to a client.”

“Oh,” Lexie said. “That’s cool. So, how long have you guys known the Alchemist?”

“Who?” The leader said. 

“You know…” As they continued to stare at Lexie blankly. “Oh come on, I know you didn’t create this on your own. There are only two people in the world who know how to create a pocket dimension this fancy."

“We didn’t create it. We found it."

“You found it?”

“Yes.”

“And you just…what, happened to magically know how to go in and out without help?"

"Our master helped us." 

"Is your master the alchemist?"

"No. He's our Master."

Lexie rolled her eyes, and Tate explained. "He might not come to you as the Alchemist. He can take other forms, and his golems can basically take whatever form they want."

They didn't seem to know what golems are, because they blinked at Tate in confusion. How sheltered were these kids?

"I know who you're talking about," someone else spoke, a girl who had been holding a machine gun that now let it drop. "The Alchemist is that criminal that you caught, right? He was an old guy who did experiments on people."

"Right." That reminded Lexie: were his golems still active? Aiden had to have found a way to disable them, right? Otherwise, there would be no point in capturing the Alchemist.

"We don't know that guy," the leader said. "He's not our Master. Our master isn't a criminal. He's Master Butaqa the Fifth Crucible of Guardian Siza, sent to refine and develop his chosen people."

The Fifth Crucible? What did that mean? 

Tate suddenly snorted, and when Lexie glanced at him, he said, "Al Khamis."

"Huh?"

"The Fifth in Arabic and Furtish. Translates to Al Khamis."

Alchemist. 

Well, no one could accuse the old crone of not having a sense of humor.

"Can I talk to your master?" Lexie asked. 

"He hasn't been here in several days." They frowned. "He was supposed to be here yesterday, but he did not come."

That gave Lexie some relief. At least that meant that Aiden had managed to disable the golem.

"So how are you managing to fulfil your orders?"

"He's taught us his ways," Duru responded. "How to open the chaos door and mix them. We are not perfect yet, but we are getting there."

"Chaos doors?" Lexie asked. 

"He has been teaching us that the way we understand magic has been wrong, from the time of the Guardians to the Fae. They think that magic is something that is given to us, not something that we can access on our own. But we're learning how to access it."

"Through these chaos doors?"

"Yes."

So, the Alchemist had been teaching these kids Alchemy, but not calling it by that name. Interesting. 

Why them?

Alchemy was a notoriously difficult thing to learn, so why hadn't he chosen trusted academics rather than this random group of children?

Then again, he'd chosen to teach Cecilia as well. Lexie really should talk to the other woman about this when she gets the chance.  

"Help me understand these chaos doors," Lexie asked. 

"Why should we?" Another boy said. 

"Because we might be able to help each other." Lexie sighed. "Listen, introductions are probably due here, so that we can get to know each other better. I'm Lexie Sparrowfoot, as you already. You're Duru."

"I prefer the  Dark Artist or Blackwright."

"I'm not calling you that. So we have Duru and you are..." Lexie pointed to the leader. "Her brother?"

"He pressed his lips together, not looking like he wanted to answer, but swerving anyway. "Cousin. Arami."

Lexie looked at the others, and one by one they introduced themselves. Musa. Oriphat. Jana. 

"Good. This is Tate and Pvilycht," Lexie said. "Now about these doors..."

Even after she prompted them, they were reluctant to talk. 

She sighed. "Listen, I should probably tell you that your Master is actually the golem of a pretty prominent villain called the Alchemist, who was just captured by my father." She shrugged. "I don't expect you to take my word for it right now, but I'll convince you later. In the meantime, if I wanted to, I could call the heroes here right now and have them shut down your operation. But I don't want to do that. Mostly because it doesn't serve me. What I want to know now is how you planned to change Pvilycht's signature?"

They shared a look, and Duru finally started speaking. 

"We must change his essence and give him a soul cover," she said. "The System here in the Shatters is faulty and not accurate at detecting false covers. If we change it and have him stay there and blend in, it will be much easier for him."

"And you know how to do that?" Wasn’t that super-advanced necromancy?

"Our master did."

"That didn't answer my question."

Her lips were pressed together. 

"We're good at mixing chaos orbs together to create an undetectable signature that bypass system notice even after they leave the Shatters." She gestured to the table. "It's how we create our mechs."

"So you summon the creature, change its signature, and then have your client bond themselves to it. Is that it?"

"No," Duru said, surprising Lexie. "We do not summon it. We create it."

"You create it?"

"Yes. The creatures are not real Eldritch. They are embodiments of Eldritch abilities, combined and sealed.”

"I'm confused." It had certainly looked like a real Eldritch to her. "You're creating Eldritch...chimeras?"

Duru nodded. 

"And you don't see the problems with this?" Tate asked. "You don't care who might get hurt?"

Everyone except Duru looked away. “It is safe.”

"How?" Lexie was more interested in the method than in pure judgment. She would find out why they did what they did later, but for now, she wanted to know the how. 

'The doors tell us."

'The doors."

She pointed to her cousin. "He's the best at picking the right door and reading the paths. When we receive a request, Jana will go into our chaos inventory and summon the orbs we need. The doors are a way for us to visualize the schematics. I am the best at mixing the chaos and blending it into the mechs using code. Our Master taught us how to do it."

"I see," Lexie said, her brain working. So they weren't just taking Eldritch. They were combining Eldritch essences, frankensteining them together to create monstrosities that the system couldn't get rid of easily. 

That was...insane.

Genius, but insane. 

So it seemed the Alchemist hadn't just been up to one thing. He'd been training disciples across the board, creating more problems for the heroes.

And he hadn’t been doing it alone. 

Someone had to be providing the orbs for one thing. That was most likely Neqal. But there were other things too. The mechs, and the dungeons. How was he getting away with all this?

But why were the kids doing this? And what exactly were these chaos doors?

Suddenly, the surrounding darkness shifted. The atmosphere felt more tense, suffocating. 

Duru smiled. 

"It looks like our master is back."