Day 72

  Saturday August 11th, 2018: 11:30 PM

  I woke up early from myd?????????r???????????????????e????????????a???????????????????????m???????????????? and started working almost immediately. I did my stretching and preparations for high level Arcane work, and checked into the various projects on the eighth floor. I cast three Tears to Wine spells to refill all of the hogsheads for more processing, and collected all of the outputs from the process, and cast a pair of Unseen Crafters to keep the process going for the weaving work, and animated a mess of tools for the process. I moved on to the secret alchemical lab and cast another two Unseen Crafters to keep the rooting compound working. I decided to put one of the C.O.R.V.I.D. Bind Rune each on the doors for the Alchemical Room and the Bio-Alcogel Room, using Minor Lasting Image twice, just so that I have observation for what is happening with them if I am away.

  I walked back upstairs to the Campaigner’s Tent, and saw Rex just getting up. I told Rex that he can have the day off, and he chose to go hunting for fish in the Elizabeth River. I walked out to the balcony, and cast Ears of the City to get a handle on any rumors or hints of problems. I came up with nothing today, which concerned me. I pulled out a blank journal and cast a Page-Bound Epiphany with a focus on Vanessa Tan, rather than Wendell Levi.

  What I got… was just terrible. Ten pages of Wendell’s notes of the “process” and how Vanessa was adapting to the changes. How her inner self was showing out and shining, darkly. He noted that it was a shame that there was no anesthesia, but the document explains that it literally cannot be used, because it would interfere with her reversion to her true mean. Wendell notes that the paralytic frequency that was provided by the document didn’t do anything to stop the pain, but it did stop any voluntary or reaction based movement. Autonomic functions retained, and the tears did come, but aside from her voice going hoarse and falling into just ragged screams of pain, the interesting auditory aspect of her change so far, is that the pattern that was made from her bones cracking and reshaping were instantly translatable into binary, which when put into an ascii generator, repeated a language that was not translatable, but had the cadence of repeated prayers to unspeakable entities.

  From there, the notes added that her skin seemed to slough off repeatedly as thicker, almost polished steel looking material, with luminous purple cracks forming where wrinkle lines and stretch marks were. Her natural hair all fell out and came back as blood red coppery strands. Of the other two interesting physical changes, one was that she started growing calcified lumps out of her forehead that formed, rapidly, over the three days, to be keratinous horns that curved back over her head and then curved up into jagged spikes. They are sharp enough to penetrate flesh, as was tested from another member of her gang, a raw material that was going to fail in their process of reversion. Also, she grew out a tail, whip thin and agile, almost seems to have a mind of its own, whipping back and forth, until I restrained it to focus on the process.

  The nerve clusters in the tail lend it to be a functional limb, not just a flailing appendage, and they certainly proved useful for training reinforcement. While her revision was occurring, and she was functionally paralyzed for anything other than autonomic maintenance, I maintained a generated loop of her family, friends, and fellow gang members all succumbing to Verdigris’s green flames, while he, and his little sky-whore Amber floated, looking down while laughing. The social media captures of them on their little dawn flight proved most useful for insertion here. Every time a scene where her connections were scorched, I stimulated the nerves all over her body with painful burns and shocks. I even managed to scavenge the scenes of Verdigris taking hits and getting hurt, and to these I removed the pain sensations.

  Over seventy-two hours of programming, there’s no wonder that she hates him even more. I wouldn’t be surprised if she breaks out of here and attacks him, or his loved one, before she can complete her revision. When her bodily revision was far enough along, many of her internal digestion organs were no longer needed, and I used the digital guide to excise the necrotic organs before they ruined this process. They were added to the trough where her sloughed off flesh was, and dissolved into a slurry that was fed back into her to fuel the process. Of course, while the removal was occurring, visions of Verdigris and Amber flashed, smiling and proud in front of her. The notes continued that her first reversion was complete, and there was little left of her original desires for family and gang.

  Over the process she had stopped using her original name, possibly due to me goading her to speak even though her throat was raw from screams, until all she could pronounce was “Vanta”. She responds to it now, and is getting ready for her next revision, Vanta 1.01. Of all of the things that she lost to get this “upgrade”, her lost memories were mainly focal points of the people she lost to different events, the Decimation, Gang Violence, Disease, Age, and were all reformatted to have Verdigris as the primary reason they are gone, because, Fuck you, Verdigris. I know you are reading this. I don’t know how, but I’ve gathered that you can read written materials. I know this and I still let you read this.

  The pages ended there, and I let them disappear into nothingness. This was… beyond disturbing. I determined that I needed to talk directly with Wong about this. I used my Earring to Send a message to Wong that there was something disturbing that I had just learned and that I was going to have to have his opinion on it, when he had the chance. I continued about my day while I waited for his response.

  I shook off the funk and gathered up my Mini-Avengers and headed down to the two floors above the classrooms. I was about to start on this project, when I got the response from Wong. He was busy, but as long as it wasn’t life and limb, he would be here today. I sent back that it wasn’t and that I would hope to hear from him after a few hours. I then started up on the project for the day. Teachers would need actual accommodations, not just ten foot by ten foot cells attached to their classrooms. Maybe we can even expand the classrooms a bit more, or store extra supplies in those rooms.

  After an hour, the Dedicated Wrights were all working away, and the little trick for each of them, just to make things a bit more… magical. Each “apartment” would not only have the “standard” thirty foot by thirty foot footprint, redesignable as needed, but they would each have an Arch in their main room, that is linked to a different closet in the center of the hallway between the banks of classrooms, so that they don’t have to walk up and down the stairs, AND both doors are locked by an arcane effect that only the bearer of the room’s key can activate. It would take the Mini-Avengers ALL day to work on this, so I stepped out after the hour of direction, to go work on other things. It was then that I realized that Pepper and Agent Smith were both right, that we would need a way to send things down from the upper level to the Storage and Disbursement Room, and from there up to the workshop floor. I started work on it myself, having an Arch that can allow two way travel for materials, but not people.

  It took about two and a half hours, but when I was done, I smiled, activating it and casting an Unseen Servant, and ordered it to start moving items down from the different workshop’s completed works, to this Arch. I quickly went down to the Storage and Disbursement Room to get another Unseen Servant, to have it start to move material recovered from in front of the Arch, to the proper shelves and storage areas. There was a LOT of Honey Spud Bars, Summer Sunrise Italian Ice, and other products that were being moved down. I cast a Wall of Stone and a Stone Shape to generate four large segmented cooler blocks, and then cast four of the Constant Energy spells to get four Gelid Hearts. A good start for the storage, but we will eventually need a way to process it out, or to decrease our larger sized items and maximize our more condensed items.

  I walked out of the S&DR and over to the Mess Hall, it being close to lunch. I had not even felt a little parched or hungry, but I figured that I needed to have some connection to the rest of the people. When I got there, the crew was all there, with Cal and Sera talking together animatedly. Donald was having a conversation with Agents Vance and Peterson, and Agent Smith was discussing things with Bobbi Morse and Agent Cross. Gefjon, Master Grem, and Dr. Faouy were all having an in-depth discussion when I walked in.

  Everyone seemed to stop and turn to look at me as I opened the door and walked in. No one said anything for a minute, but then Agent Smith perked up and asked if everything was okay. I must have looked confused, because he clarified that I had not been at many meals recently. I nodded, knowingly, and pointed out the ring that I was wearing, and indicated that this item is reducing my need to sleep, eat, and drink, but that it takes a full week for the effects to kick in fully. I told them that there was nothing wrong with me, and that I can eat, but that I just haven’t been feeling like I needed to, so I didn’t want to take up space while I could be helping things out elsewhere.

  Then I smiled and told them that I would have a surprise for the teachers later in the day, and that I had an upgrade that the Agents could check out, but that it can wait a bit. They all seemed to take that as the opportunity to continue their conversations, and Cal was the one who came up to me first, dragging Sera along after him. He asked me if I had time to watch Sera’s progress. I smiled and told him that I would be glad to witness Sera taking her steps into controlling her powers. Cal led me and Sera down to the Combat Simulation Room.

  As we made our way down to the room, Cal was talking about how he was certain that Sera was going to be full on ready to start her work patrolling soon. I told him that Sera would control if and when she decided to patrol, and that she should not feel any pressure or duty to do so. I added that while I expected that any student of the Chrysalis works to help humanity, that doesn’t mean that they have to fight criminals. Cal seemed to look a little chastized, but I put my hand on his shoulder, and told him that his decision to pursue this was a bold and valid choice. Sera looked up at me hopeful, and said that she didn’t exactly mind the thought of patrolling, but that she wasn’t ready yet.

  I smiled and told her that of course she wasn’t ready yet, she had not even gotten set up with any armor yet. Cal must have remembered his own bespoke Cinnebar armor, because he touched the sleeve of his uniform, his glamoured armor, and smiled to himself. Sera took a breath, and stood back, and summoned up some elemental power. Faint breezes started to wisp around her, and move her hair and her uniform. I watched as the winds followed her basic control, then died down.

  I congratulated Sera on her advancement, and told her that she was well on her way. Sera smiled and then spoke up that Cal had gotten stronger too. I smiled and looked over at Cal. Cal told me that when he woke up this morning, he could tell that his grasp of powers was even stronger today than yesterday, and he cast a spell that I recognized well, creating five Mirror Images of himself. I congratulated him again, and told him that he was likely almost as strong as I was, when I first arrived here. Cal beamed and I told him that he will eventually be able to learn about the crafting of magical items, and then I will teach him the process myself.

  Cal nodded and said that Sera and he were going to continue practicing, to which I told him that he can probably slow down on the conflict testing, unless he works with the Agents to help them learn more about what they can do to fight the monsters that will be coming. Cal nodded and said that he would go talk to them to see if they want to help. Sera smiled and followed after him. I waited until they were gone, and summoned up a Dretch. It showed up at the opposite side of the room, and started rushing me.

  I pulled out my Rifle, got into my Stance of Piercing Rays/Solar Wind Style, and fired a single round at it. It powered through the shot, which took it high in the chest, and kept running at me, taking a swipe at me, its claw glancing off of my disguised armor. I stepped back five feet, and dropped it with my shot this round. The ephemeral form dissipated into nothingness as the others rushed their way into the room. Agent Smith asked me why I had fired, and I told him that I was realizing that even I wouldn’t be ready right now for this fight, and that I was going to have to change.

  Agent Smith nodded and asked if I had any advice to give them, and I shrugged, saying that sonic might be their best bet out of the energy types, as it was the main thing that didn’t suffer any weakening from what I used. I added that enough of an element or force MIGHT be enough to get past the inherent resistances, but that there were things that could stand in a volcano all day and see no ill effects. I walked out and headed back upstairs, when I got the ping from Wong that he would be arriving shortly. I responded back that I would be heading up to the Campaigner’s Tent, that I had nine flights of stairs to bound. I shifted my stance to Running Hunter’s Stance, to eke out every bit of speed I could.

  It took me less than half a minute, but I had ascended to the ninth floor, and opened up the door going into my Campaigner’s Tent, just to see Wong sitting on one of the floating pillows, with Bright-Eyes sitting on one opposite him. Kittens were starting to jump up on the table, and one of them was starting to look a little… wispy. Their fur was floating up and there were bits of static at the tips of some of the strands. Wong lifted an eyebrow at that one and asked me if that was the issue. I shook my head, calmed my breathing, and said that I had an idea about what was up with that one, but that I would confirm it later.

  I looked at Bright-Eyes and asked her if she could escort her younglings on a mock hunt. Bright-Eyes nodded and made some chirping and chuttering noises, and all of the kittens followed her out of the tent. I asked Wong if he had any spells that could prevent observation into this dimension temporarily. Wong nodded thoughtfully, and started casting wards about the place. When he was satisfied, he asked me what the nature of the information was, and I told him that it dealt with the dangerous book and the bad place. He then cast quite a few more.

  When he was done the second time, he told me that he felt that we were mostly secure, and I used a MUCH higher echelon arcana vacancy to cast Page-Bound Epiphany again with the subject of Vanessa Tan. The same documents repeated themselves exactly, right down to the last line, from Wendell, and his personal attack towards me. I quickly used Amaneunsis to transfer them to a second set of blank pages, before they would disappear. I handed the loose stack to Wong and waited for him to read it. I cast the spell a second time, just to get a primer on what I already knew about Tieflings, and other fiend-blooded creatures, and used Amanuensis again.

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  I watched as Wong read through all of the documents, and asked him if he had committed them to memory, before I took them back, and sealed them in a box with a Phoenix Core plate on the bottom, and a Galvanic Spark Ring around the air pipe going out. The papers burned to ash, with the smoke falling out of the exhaust, back to be burned further. Wong looked at my disposal method and nodded slightly. I told him, before he could say anything, that I was certain that Wendell was using a version of a book that he knew about, and that I didn’t know how he got it. I added that the only thing I knew was that he had used it as a template for the weapons that he had made before, and he was using the information from it for wherever process he initiated with Ms. Tan.

  Wong nodded and said that it was smart that I had disposed of the notes like I did, that even knowledge of the process might be enough for someone to follow in Levi’s footsteps. I told him that I had worries about finding him quickly, because he can’t be scried upon, but for now, at least she can, as long as I am okay with the possibility of him stopping the Scrying by stepping in front of the sensor. Wong nodded and I added that I would likely try to make something to Detect Fiendish Presences, possibly enmasse, to try to create a warning system. Wong asked if I worried about Levi performing more of these “revisions to mean” processes on others. I told him that I wasn’t certain that he had the right people for it, but that I knew that he was trying it, if the indication that another of her gang members was a failure at the process.

  Wong nodded and said that he was worried about that. I told him that I didn’t have any clues about any other successful attempts, but that it might be that he can’t do more than focus on a single person. Wong asked me why I thought that, and I told him that NOTHING has even gotten out about my Dedicated Wrights, and I am more likely to work with others to get things done. Wendell Levi seems like the kind of person to not trust others to do things other than what he deliberately directs, and as such, if he is purposefully altering people, he is doing it all himself, and when he can’t focus on another at the same time, they end up failures, or “a raw material that was going to fail in their process of reversion.”. I added that Wendell had no scope of balance or power, so he is making the items, rather than making things for others to use to make items. Wong’s eyebrow lifted again, and smiled, likely recognizing my pattern of making the “Tony’s” line of boxes for not just Tony Stark, but for The Masters of the Mystic Arts as well.

  Wong asked me what I thought the best move here was. I told him that I needed to get this place up and going, so that I can have more people becoming forces for good in the area, and beyond. I added that Wendell Levi is a danger, no doubt about it, but that I was pretty certain that changes like what are happening with Ms. Tan likely needs to be at least voluntary to some degree. If we make the city, and world, better, then it makes it harder for him to get more accomplices. I finished by saying that there would always be those who slip through the cracks, and those whose ambition is stronger than their morals, and that we will need to stop them before they slip further down, but at least, with him focused on Vanessa, he is focused on a known individual, and not expanding his roster.

  Wong nodded and said that he would have to visit Kamar-Taj and review the scrolls on this matter. I nodded and thanked him. Wong asked me if there was anything else, and I told him that I would like him to look into making some portals between here and the three places we had discussed, a Kamar-Taj designated location, the Avengers Compound, and New Asgard. Obviously, it will need to wait on the last one until it is ready, but I would prefer to be able to help any of the three groups as quickly as possible, should it be needed, and I cannot master the Masters of the Mystic Arts form of magic, so I can’t use Sling Rings. Wong looked at me incredulously, and I admitted that I might be able to one day, but that it would stall out my progress with my current magical path.

  Wong nodded and asked if there was anything else. I told him that currently, there was not, but that I would keep him informed about what we find, and what I come up with for anything else. I added that as soon as I am done building up the tower, I will be working on some different things to help get S.P.E.A.R. ready, and that he and the Masters of the Mystic Arts are welcome to practice with the Combat Simulation Room, assuming that they check for the schedule. I added that I might make a smaller room for studies with the good aligned extraplanar entities, if there is any real calling for it. Wong nodded and said that he would get back to me, before leaving via a Sling Ring. I noticed that he took the notes I had left about Tieflings and Fiendish entities with him.

  I sighed and checked the time. It was still a while until the Mini-Avengers would be done with the improved teacher suites, so I decided to take a ride around the city, to try to clear my head. I made my way down to the Storage and Disbursement center, seeing the shelves start to fill up, and filled almost all of my storage, and my E-Bike’s Enchanted Saddlebags, with Honey Spud bars. I didn’t grab any of the Summer Sunrise Italian Ice, because that would be a large amount of space for little return. I changed what my gear looks like, to my armored appearance, and used one of my two remaining expendable arcane abilities to disappear for a short period of time.

  I made my way to an alley and then activated my E-Bike’s Iron Phoenix Emblem, to increase the speed and capability of movement. I noted to myself that I could probably redo all of the E-Bike’s batteries with Galvanic Sparks, and then S.P.E.A.R. would be even more viable. Especially Cal. That got added to my tasks. I started driving around to the different firefighter stations, and handing out batches of the Honey Spud Bars.

  After a few hesitant tests, they mostly seemed to appreciate them. Some hoped for some different flavors, and I told them that they could probably add whatever condiments that they liked on them, but flavors might be difficult. I added that I would look into it anyway, though. After getting through the Fire Departments, I stopped by the Rescue Squad where I used to work with Sarah and David Williams, no relation. I changed back into the appearance of my old clothes, and brought a box of the Honey Spuds for the pair.

  It was David’s day on, and he greeted me with a handshake and a slap on the back. He pulled his hand back, exclaiming that it felt like I was wearing armor. I told him that I was, and he nodded. I told him that I had a bunch of meal bars for them to try and see how they like it, and presented the large box of Honey Spuds. We took them inside, and the people on staff today all came up to shake my hand.

  There was some asking about what I was working on now, and I told them that it was hush-hush, but that by the end of the week they should see something new in the city’s fire responders gear. David asked for a hint, and I told him to keep an eye out for the firefighters turnout equipment. David nodded and asked when I was going to work on more stuff for them, the paramedics, a little coyly. I smiled and said that I could make clothing easily, but stuff that did things, that took time. I noted that I didn’t have a lot of time, as I needed to get the rest of these bars out to others, and thanked them all for the help that they are providing to the city.

  I left and got back into my Verdigris ensemble, before heading to poorer areas to hand out the Honey Spuds bars. I specifically avoided areas that had been claimed by the Grape Street Crips, as I didn’t want conflict at the moment. The people were more than happy to get free food, and I was more than happy for them to get help. After the sum of the bars were handed out, I left to head back to the tower. I got close enough and went invisible again, using my last remaining arcana to get back inside the Chrysalis without being seen.

  I set my E-Bike back in the recharging spot, and removed the battery pack from it. I put it in my extradimensional pocket and started back into the building. I checked into the Storage and Disbursement Room, and found that since the Bio-Alcogel lab had sufficient Mead to keep the process going, we were getting continuous production out of it, leading to a possible seventy-five turnout suits a day. That will make the process faster and help support the firefighters not just here, but everywhere. I might have to retool the outputs as well, because unless we can get the ship out process set up, we are going to run afoul of having too much of the Summer Sunrise Italian Ice.

  I made my way to the Mess Hall, and saw a sign over the top of the door, labeling it, “Amber’s Hearth”. That was new. I went inside, and the whole population was there, again broken up into smaller groups. I saw them all and smiled. This was all coming together.

  I told them that I had a surprise for the teachers, and Agents, now that this was ready to show them. I had the Agents follow me, and I showed them the Storage and Disbursement Center. I told them that the room was now large enough to hold everything, and it was linked to the floor where production happened, but only raw materials and finished goods could be moved via the transportation arches. I told them that they can come in to get whatever they need, and then distribute it out as needed. Agent Smith nodded and asked if I would mind them getting someone to staff this to keep track of it.

  I shrugged, saying that having more people here, as long as they are vetted and understanding what they are dealing with, can’t hurt. Agent Cross asked what the production rate was for the turnout suits. I told him that as long as we can keep the process moving, with shipments of the raw materials, and I can keep the process going for the mead, then we can put out up to seventy-five suits a day. Agent Vance asked about the deal with Stark Industries. I told her that I had long learned not to put all of my eggs in one basket.

  I added that I would set up that factory, when it was ready, but that I wouldn’t stop production just because we had something in progress. I added that it might take a week to set everything up, or it might take a month. This ensures that we can get the equipment to those who need it without delay. The Agents nodded and Agent Smith noted that the stocks of Honey Spud bars were low. I told him that this is where having someone in here would help a lot.

  By having someone maintain running tallies and feeding that information back, we can change the ratios of the items produced as offset products. Agent Smith smiled and he saw that I had caught what he was thinking. I asked if the four of them could figure out a better organization strategy and we could rearrange everything to work better. They nodded and I told Agent Peterson that I was working on something special for her that would be ready tomorrow morning. Agent Peterson smiled and thanked me.

  I smiled and said that it was just what she needed for the danger that she was in. I added that I would work on some panic button items for each of them, given time. They all thanked me, and I smiled, heading back to “Amber’s Hearth”, to get the teachers next. I found them there, and asked them to follow me. I led them up to the fifth floor, and gave the keys to the rooms to Master Grem, Donald Gill, and Dr. Abdallah El Faouy.

  I told them that each one had a function where they could go back and forth to the closet on their classroom floor. Donald Gill smiled and immediately went to try it. Master Grem offered to show Dr. Faouy. I led Gefjon and Bobbi Morse up to the sixth floor and their rooms. Bobbi Morse quipped by asking if the layers were gender segregated.

  I shrugged and said no, that the prospective Dr. Cho was on the lower floor, it just turned out that their rooms were the floor above, because their classrooms were on the floor of the initial classrooms, and it was cheaper to limit the dimensional hops to under thirty feet. Gefjon nodded with a smile. I showed them their rooms, and they asked if there would be a possibility of getting different floors added, and I said that I would consider adding the possibilities of different floors in a communal lift, but that I thought that the lack of exercise would be an issue. Bobbi nodded and said that we can’t make things too easy, there might have been sarcasm in her voice? Gefjon asked what would be the plan for the central areas, pointing to the middle of the floor.

  I smiled and told her that this is where it would be best for her assistance, because I think that having internal gardens on each of these two levels, just to give some degree of pleasantness. Gefjon said that she would think about it, and let me know what she needs. I nodded. I left them to get accommodated in their new larger areas, and retreated to my floor. I ran the numbers, and found that, except for my highest levels of arcana, I could refresh everything with a nap in my enchanted bed. I went into the floating bed and took my one hour nap.

  After the nap, I felt refreshed enough to go through and recover most of my arcana reserves. After I regained everything, I went to the labs on the floor below mine, and refilled the mead hogsheads, and restarted the Animated Tools and added some more Unseen Crafters, to make sure that there was a continuity of operation. I went to the Electronics lab, and plopped down the E-Bike battery on the table. I gathered up all of the cell phone replacement batteries, and the extra cellphones for enchanting. I cast ten Constant Heat (Electricity) spells, and another Unseen Crafter to make the ten “batteries” that would be needed for the E-bikes.

  I had exhausted my Arcana almost completely, so I decided to spend an hour checking in on Phil Coulson. When the scrying mirror cleared, I saw that Phil was chilling in the Rusty Dragon Tavern, and I would see that his equipment was much more magical than it had been. Then there was a face that I recognized from years ago. It was David Drake, and his wife Savah, sitting there at the table with him. David IMMEDIATELY looked at me DIRECTLY, and made a motion that I recognized as an advanced form of the Scrying spell, taking only six seconds to cast!

  I watched as David cast a second spell that seemed to isolate the table that they were at. The other two of them looked at a mirror that David had levitated up, just behind where my Scrying sensor was located, and Phil told them that I was the guy who had saved his life. I tried to clarify that I had just prolonged it, and that he had taken the opportunity to get healed. Phil smiled and said that he had not actually been healed, and unbuttoned his shirt to show a stronger version of the Pearly White Spindle that I had implanted by myself. It was right over the scar of the wound, the wound had been almost completely closed up, and it looked like the wound was being held closed by the Ioun Stone’s regenerative power.

  I told him that I was glad that a solution was found, even if only temporarily. Phil smiled and asked if I could give him an update on the situation there, and I explained as best I could, for about ten minutes. After those ten minutes, Phil nodded and said that the S.H.I.E.L.D. he knew would not be able to deal with what I had foreseen coming, so it was good to start to break something off to specifically learn how to deal with them. David asked me directly what events had happened, and I told him exactly what had happened and what date it was. He nodded and said that some things that were important that we would have to discuss later, about the schooling that he had given me, but that he was leaving the floor open for Phil to give any messages that he wanted to pass on, to Agent May and the others.

  I stopped them both and told them about the C.O.R.V.I.D. System and the Arcano Telepathic and Transmission Network that I had started developing here. David laughed and asked what it would take to get a phone or two, as he was certain that Agent May and Director Mackenzie would love to talk to Phil from time to time. I told him that I could enchant the things here, and even had new batteries set up that would not ever run out of juice, but that I didn’t know about sending an item between realms like this. David smiled and told me to just make a pair of the phones, and whatever else I wanted to send over, and to alert him by casting Sending. I told him that I did not know that spell yet, sheepishly, and David smiled, saying that I would just have to scry on him then, but that I should avoid doing so anytime after five PM, my time.

  I nodded and Savah spoke up and said that when this is all done, the six of us should all get together on a safe demiplane and have lunch or something. I smiled and told them that it wasn’t a demiplane, but my Tower had a mess hall that was extraplanar, and it was starting to become very well regarded among the heroes here, and that the first students and teachers had called it, “Amber’s Hearth”. David smiled and said that he might bring another group of people with him, if that is the case. We said our goodbyes and my scrying window blinked out. I could tell that the scrying window that David had on me had closed at the same time. I had to make at least eight more phones now, four for my remaining teachers, one for the Cavalry, one for Director Mackenzie, one for Agent Coulson, and one for David Drake.

  For the second time in as many days, I set back to enjoy a long mental conversation with Amber about all that had happened. She sent me replies about how well her training had been going, and how they were going to be stopping by Norfolk in a few days, to check back in before they head on to other training aspects. I told her that I would be glad to see her, and that I would even have a surprise for Agent May when they get here. She told me that she would pass that on and we continued our long discussion. She cautioned me that she might want to take her familiar with her, and I told her that I would talk to Bright-Eyes about it in the morning, when I recovered my magic.

  We finished our conversation and I set up a list of things that I needed to get done, which seemed to just get longer and longer, no matter how much I got done. I got settled in and couldn’t sleep. I rested and started going over plans. The ring wasn’t fully functional but it was certainly starting to throw some of the aspects of what it will be giving me. It seems like I only might only need five hours tonight.

  So, this is a hint of what I am giving the (Digital) Darkhold the ability to do in this story. The hints that I got that there is indeed a digital Darkhold still in existence, is that at the end of the Framework arc of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., there is a mention of a rather large download occurring at a military base in Eastern Virginia as the Framework is destroyed. I don't recall anything being picked up with that arc, but it would be just like the Darkhold to find a means to escape, even when it wasn't thought that it could. I tried to portray Wendell Levi as an irredeemably evil villain, hopefully it came through without being too graphic.

  Phil makes a (brief) return! He was on Golarion, leading an adventuring party, as would be right up his alley. I figure it would have been the one right after Return of the Runelords, or Tyrant's Grasp.