“Beautiful,” said Harlow as he admired the grand vista he could see stretching out towards the horizon.

  Harlow sat on a rock besides the Stonisse that he had affectionately named Shrugger. They had been defeating wind Databeasts all day, halfway up a mountain, and were taking a much needed break. Harlow still couldn’t move very quickly so it was lucky that the wind Databeasts were often flying and casing their territory for any signs of intruders. Once they’d identified one - or two in the case of Harlow and Shrugger - they would dive down to attack.

  That meant that with minimal effort on Harlow’s part, the Databeasts came to him. They had been gaining levels rapidly, and Harlow was feeling content for perhaps the first time ever.

  “This is the life, ain’t it Shrugger?” sighed Harlow happily. “Just us two defeating Databeasts. No one watching over us, demanding things from us. No one trying to cram our lives into somewhere it doesn’t fit.”

  Shrugger shrugged. The Databeast was still somewhat depressive, and had bouts of extreme sadness when it thought about the freedom it was taking from other Databeasts, but for the most part it was happier. The idea of gaining a Vanquisher stage that would allow it to soar in the clouds among them gave it a ray of hope. And Harlow was happy to see the Stonisse changing.

  “Of course, at some point I’ll have to go back to Cabletown. See my parents. Get revenge on Rizzo. That’s what freedom means to me,” Harlow told the Databeast. “But perhaps that’s a long way off. For now, I don’t want to do anything but this,” he said merrily as he watched the skies above them.

  Something broke his contemplative silence though. Something loud.

  A sonic boom from miles away broke his concentration and sent him scrambling beneath the rock they were on. The Stonisse stayed where it was, its temperament still lacking any sort of survival drive.

  “Shrugger! Get down here,” insisted Harlow, but the stone goblin didn’t move and just kept watching the skies. “You’ll get me killed too!” Harlow hissed and with a sigh the Stonisse joined him.

  They were watching overhead to see what made the noise and saw an enormous bee Databeast zooming past. Harlow could just about make out a passenger on its back.

  “Woah! Now that’s freedom!” Harlow yelled to the Stonisse over the sound of the flying Databeast. He needn’t have said anything though. Shrugger was watching with wide-eyed amazement. He’d never seen anything move so fast and so powerfully. “Well we’re definitely not defeating that one,” chuckled Harlow as they watched it become a speck in the distance.

  The Stonisse didn’t reply and Harlow saw that it was still enraptured, staring off into the distance. The boy smiled and sat there with the Databeast, watching the horizon.

  _______________

  “Woah!” said Bellamy outloud to his Gravener as the sonic boom went off and the enormous mechanized bee Databeast flew overhead. It had taken off from somewhere not far from him, of that he was sure, and he saw clearly the direction from the straight line it had travelled in. He watched it for a little before deciding to check out - cautiously - the area it had left. There was a curious flash of light in that direction, which he barely saw over the trees. That was certainly something unusual and likely Databeast related.

  “Thaddeus is going to be interested in this,” he told the Gravener, “now let's find out just how generous his pay will be.” And he made his way through the trees to the general direction of the Stasis and Flux research facility. Bellamy worked for Thaddeus on a fairly mercenary basis, doing odd jobs here and there that ranged from theft, intimidation, or just plain old scientific research. He knew that if he stumbled onto something big that Thaddeus would reward him handsomely.

  Still, he was wary of the area. Not because of the general level of Databeast around, although he still had to be careful facing those even if between his Gravener and his claymore they were mostly light work, but because he could plainly see that the Databeast that had flown away from the area he was heading to was powerful indeed. Far more powerful than him.

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  And Bellamy was brave but he wasn’t stupid.

  It was for that reason that the area was empty when he arrived - he had taken his time. All he found when he looked around was the fresh blood from Brand in the Flux room and the empty cache that the party had taken the Databeast eggs and the keys from.

  “Not much here old boy,” said Bellamy to the Gravener, “but it’s a very interesting find nonetheless. Someone was certainly here not so long ago, and turned the whole place on. We’ll do some more exploring, see what we can find.”

  He knew he would make a fair amount of BITs from the information alone, but Bellamy was diligent and thorough. He’d decided to properly excavate and dismantle everything he could to determine the secrets that this facility was hiding, at least as much as he could on his own and in a short time frame. And he figured that this building wouldn’t be the only one of its kind around…

  _______________

  “Guard Captain Rizzo. It’s good to see that you’ve returned,” said a voice that lacked any of the usual warmth that would accompany such a greeting. It came from a short woman with short hair wearing a green suit. She had a fairly round figure, but the suit was cut in such a way to try and make her seem imposing, rather than anything else. Rizzo looked down at her, but his face betrayed nothing but respect and submission. After all, she was the top of the totem pole in Cabletown. She was flanked by two members of the military police, who carried swords and shields. Rizzo was captain of the guard, but any random member of the military police could likely beat him into submission. He was strong against the general public, weak against them. At least, that was how it had been before he gained his Databeast…

  “Mayor Campbell. I couldn’t leave my post any longer,” said Rizzo. His voice sounded halfway between an admission of guilt and an excuse.

  “And the two miscreants? What of them? How did your mission outside the walls go?” asked the Mayor.

  “The two traitors escaped. I had them in my hands, but was fought off by an adventurer, a resident of Quartz Creek. I recommend we sanction them immediately,” said Rizzo.

  “I see. They shall be seen to. And what of your charge? The boy with the broken leg?” asked the Mayor noncommittally.

  “He fell in the line of duty, giving his all for Cabletown,” replied Rizzo.

  “I know his parents. They shall be proud. Good work Rizzo. I shall have you file a proper report and then we shall decide what to do with you,” said the Mayor and she turned to leave.

  “Mayor Campbell?” asked Rizzo sheepishly.

  She turned back and her eyes narrowed. “Go on.”

  “During the battle at Quartz Creek I managed to obtain a Databeast egg and used it. This is Watchdog,” he said and summoned the Databeast. The two members of the military police immediately stepped forward and placed themselves between the Anugent and the Mayor. She waved a hand to signal them to step down and they did. The Mayor took a second to admire the newly summoned Databeast and it cocked its head to the side to look at her.

  “Your strength is Cabletown’s strength. This is a boon to us. Perhaps your position in Cabletown needs re-evaluating. I shall see that you are not punished too severely for your failures. The dead boy’s parents shall be in here soon. Please explain to them what happened to their son,” said Mayor Campbell and she turned and walked off, flanked by her two cronies.

  Guard Captain Rizzo counted himself lucky that she had been in a good mood today.

  _______________

  “There’s something moving quickly. Way in the distance. East by South East,” said a man’s voice. The man was scruffy and scraggly and lanky, and he had a shady sort of look about him. He was sitting by the entrance of a cave with solid iron bars across the opening, looking out of the bars through a strange contraption.

  “You and that telescope. I don’t know what you expect to see,” replied a short female with cascading purple hair. Despite the dank surroundings of the cave and her muddy clothes she somehow seemed to look well put together. She sat with her eyes closed, legs crossed and palms facing upwards to the sky, but one looking at her would have got the distinct impression that, if she hadn’t been sat so peacefully, she’d look quite angry and fierce.

  “Well right now I expect I’m seeing a Databeast. Not a wyvern and I don’t think it’s a bird. A bug Databeast of some kind. And a mighty powerful one if I had to guess, to move at that speed. What do you make of that, Ember?” asked the young man.

  “Not trying to make much of it right now, Kelvin,” replied the young lady.

  “You and that meditation. I don’t know what you expect to feel,” said Kelvin in a falsetto impression of Ember's voice.

  “I figure if I focus my fire energy enough, I can erupt like a volcano and take us both out,” Ember replied without opening an eye.

  “Well I’d rather search for false hope with my telescope so as to prolong our suffering,” replied Kelvin as he continued to look around. “Though I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to cultivate my fire energy at the same time. Say, do you think if I focussed enough I could set fire to wherever I’m viewing? That could make for some interesting watching.” Kelvin mulled over the thought, building up the fire energy within him.

  “I wish I could say something mean, but it’s got about as much a chance of working as my plan,” muttered Ember in return.

  Soon they went back to silence, with Ember meditating and Kelvin staring through the telescope.