“Um, is that an orc?” Laura asked as we entered the kitchen. To her credit, she didn’t freak out; she just sounded a little bit unnerved, and considering the last month, I didn’t blame her in the slightest.

  “Ma’am, I am Rabyn, and I have pledged my servitude to Dave. By your looks, I assume you are Laura Imogen, his former wife. I have also taken your son under my tutelage to pay Dave back for sparing my life,” Rabyn answered before I had a chance to speak.

  “Thank you, I think. John, is this a good thing?” Laura asked, looking at her son intently. Considering how happy he had been, I already knew his answer.

  “Yeah, it is. This is actually amazing. Rabyn’s class specializes in cooking. While it’s half-focused on combat, that doesn’t mean it isn’t full of its own amazing benefits. Mom, once it’s possible for you to form a core, you have to do it. Your whole body feels so much better. Hell, just look at Dad. I’ve never seen him look so young,” John said, rambling slightly but smiling through the whole answer.

  “Okay, keep in mind I barely know anything about how this works. Classes are basically another way to gain magical abilities, correct?” Laura asked. I wasn’t entirely sure they counted as magic, but then again, I also wasn’t sure what skills counted as here either. For now, it was probably the most correct answer.

  “I’m not entirely sure it’s magic, but close enough that the difference isn’t important yet,” I said.

  “Ah, well, is some of this food magical then?” She asked, picking a small sandwich off a plate and taking a bite.

  “Yes, that right there is enhanced for flavor, and energy, you should feel just a little more refreshed after eating it,” John answered, looking proud of his work, and rightfully so.

  “Okay, so that’s the feeling then. I was wondering about that. Impressive. And how about you, Alex? How have you been since our last chat?” Laura asked, turning to her daughter.

  “Not much has changed. Pregnancy is still going well. Still coping with the possible threat of doom hanging over us,” Alex answered.

  “So, without theatrics, how bad is that really? Are you going to be able to handle whatever comes next?” she asked, now turning to me. That was another question I didn’t have a real answer to, but as her eyes bored into me, I wished that I had.

  “I think we have a good chance, but no, nothing is set in stone there yet. It’s going to be a very hard fight,” I answered.

  Laura sighed loudly before speaking again. “Well, that isn’t the good news I was hoping for.”

  “We’re doing the best we can. How about you? How are things out in the world?” I asked, hoping for some inside information before we went back to the table.

  “Poorly. Lots of groups worldwide are using this opportunity to seize their own power and further destabilize any governments left. Since so many of the attacks were focused on population centers, that means all the various separatist groups, militias, and whatnot weathered this attack a lot better than most by just keeping their heads down. Now that the orcs are mostly gone, they are making power plays,” she explained. I had no idea what to say to that. I didn’t really have any time at the moment to help, and how could I even if I did? We didn’t have the manpower to figure out the good guys from the bad guys at the moment.

  “I’m sorry. Once we get everything squared away here, I will do what I can to help, but that may not be for a while still,” I answered.

  “I know, and I appreciate it. The good news is that these are human-level problems, and we should still be able to handle them, but time isn’t on our side. The logistics nightmare of food alone is still an ongoing problem. But that is a conversation for another day. As much as I want to stay back here and catch up even more with you two, we have to get back out there and make sure nothing is exploding,” Laura said, as she reached out to hug John. He returned it, the smile still on his face. Alex was a little less friendly with her hug. Was she upset with her mom?

  “John, you’re welcome to join us. We can introduce the chef. No offense intended, Rabyn, but probably best we skip you for now,” I said, looking back at him.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “Entirely understood. I can make do without John for now,” He replied with a slight nod of his head. With that permission, I led everyone back into the meeting room, finding, to my surprise, the delegation having broken up and talking to almost everyone present. Timon was the only one without a conversation partner. Had it started that way, or had his usual chatter scared someone off?

  Pryte spotted me and signaled for me to join him and the president. “So, if I understand what you’re saying about the Spiral, it is essentially a series of independent federations loosely tied together through some of the strongest of them and whatever governing body they allow to exist in the Spire,” the president said as I approached.

  “Not quite how I put it, but I think you’ve gotten the idea. I would stress not saying the lack of control of the Spire part out loud in any future meeting with Spiral officials. They aren’t big on admitting just how much power the top factions really have, but informed people have a pretty good idea of that,” Pryte replied.

  “Gentlemen, have things gone okay without me and Laura?” I asked. I wasn’t overly interested in their previous conversation, as Pryte had hammered that into my head enough already.

  “Yes, your representative here is surprisingly adept at government affairs. Honestly, Mr. Imogen, these aliens are a lot less alien than I ever would have expected. Even Mel, for all he looks different, still feels like someone I could meet on a street,” he responded.

  “This won’t be universal. There are many species out there that will feel completely alien. Some still do to me, despite how long I’ve been around. Right now, this group is mostly built around being able to enjoy Dave’s company. Once your world’s influence grows, that will change,” Pryte explained. I spotted Laura introducing John and Alex to her colleagues. She looked proud of them.

  “Mr. Imogen… No, Dave, I’m going to be straight with you. I came here prepared to attempt to take control of all this if possible, and I’m very quickly realizing that just isn’t the case. So let me propose something: what if I left Colonel Grant here as our representative? You two already get along, and I assume you like him?” the president said.

  “I do, but I assume there is more to this,” I replied. He wanted something and was trying to butter me up.

  “I’m not ready to accept you as the ruler of Earth. I’ll be frank there, and I can’t imagine you think there are many people on the planet ready for that either. So, what I’m proposing, at least for now, is that we work together on this. As we get more countries functional again, we can bring in more leaders and work together for the easiest path for integrating this planet. You’ve both convinced me there’s no way around that, so I’m trying to find the only way forward that we can all agree on,” he explained.

  “Correct me if I’m wrong, but it sounds like you want something like an advisory council of Earth. You aren’t expecting to actually keep this all secret somehow, are you?” I asked. I had a feeling this was always his goal, unless he really thought steamrolling over me was possible. Honestly, though, it wasn’t the worst idea. I didn’t want to rule the planet, and this might just be the next best option.

  “No, the cat’s out of the bag on any secrecy, as for the rest. Pretty much yes, that and leaving Grant here so he can keep us up to speed on what’s going on. Look at it this way: from what Laura has told me of you and what I can put together myself, you’re going to want access to experts in basically every field, research scientists, engineers, those types of people, and I entirely agree. I don’t want us to be at the mercy of the rest of the Spiral for any longer than we have to, and if that means ceding some real power to you in the short term, I am willing to do that. So do you think?” He asked, looking me directly in the eyes.

  I didn’t answer. I instead looked over to Pryte to see what input he had here. He just shrugged at my look. So either he thought this was a good idea or that it just didn’t matter in the long run. Which meant it was also a good idea to placate the man.

  I turned back to the president. “Alright, yeah, I think we can make that work.”

  “Great, then let’s formalize this a bit,” he said before walking back to the table and speaking much louder. “Could I have everyone back to their seats, please? Dave and I have had an enlightening talk, and I want to share our news.” The room went silent at his start, and they slowly began to find their seats again. Glorp, the brothers, and John made their escape back to the kitchen. I wished I could join them.

  “Dave is willing to form a council with us and other world leaders in order to better work together for the future of the planet. So far, the only real details we’ve worked out are that Grant will stay here to keep us all apprised of anything important. Beyond that, the floor is open for questions, concerns, and debates,” the President said.

  As questions started, I knew I was in for a very long day. At least Pryte was stuck next to me. Someone needed to share my pain.

  The place of intersection, and yes, when I say place, I do mean it. Just because most places that are the focal intersection point with the Spiral are planets does not mean they all are. Even if we expand our definition of planets to include any solid physical body in space, it would still not capture all the intersection points. Now, normally, the System works to ensure an intersection point is both stable and non-lethal to Spiral residents, but this isn’t foolproof. This is the primary reason for the Time Dilation force that exists within the Spire. It only takes one connection to a black hole to realize the potential disaster that can spawn.

  The Spiral & the Universes by Bim Bim Jim

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