"Goddamn it," Alex said. "That's bad news all right. What's the good news?"

"Well… the wall is almost done. I can pretty much finish it the moment I get the battery source I need," Mite said. "It's literally like five minutes from being finished. I just need that item."

Alex looked back to the pile of bone, sinew, scale, and seemingly random trash piled around Mirrorwane. It would have been a lot harder to believe the Bioengineer's words if Alex hadn't seen him summon up a teleporter from a bunch of bones. But if Mite said he was almost done, then he probably was.

"Lovely," Claire said. "And I don't suppose we've got any leads on what kind of battery would work for you? What about a Monster Core? We should have gotten one from the Gorgonaga, right?"

"We did," Mite said. "I'm holding that in my storage. But it's a bit different. I don't need a power source. I need something to store the power. The core is kind of the opposite. What I'm looking for is really closer in function to a Harvester."

"Would an actual Harvester work?" Alex asked.

Mite shook his head. "No. I'm not good enough to take it apart and extract the parts I need. Maybe if I had a hell of a lot more experience and a few more levels… but it doesn't matter."

"Have you spoken to Finley and Rhyss about it?" Claire asked. "Did neither of them have a potential solution?"

"They had solutions, but none worked for me," Mite said. "Finley suggested some options, but they were all way too many Credits. His family doesn't have very good access to a lot of resources from the sounds of things. The Great Tide were way more connected than he was. Rhyss said he would think on it."

"I see," Alex said. "Well, let's go link up with them and see what we can come up with. I've gotten the answer to how we can stabilize Mirrorwane, so we've got that to discuss as well."

The three of them headed through a small hole in the pile of trash surrounding the town. The inside of Mirrorwane looked largely as Alex remembered it, but with all the trash and damage from the fight cleared out.

"You have?" Mite asked. "What is it? A new building?"

"Surprisingly, no," Alex replied. "We just need to destabilize the area around the town and weaken the barrier between ourselves and the Mirrorlands."

"There's nothing just about that sentence." Mite threw a glance over his shoulder at Alex. "How are we going to do that?"

"I figure I'll just rip a giant portal open. Alternatively, we could make a shitty replica of a Disruptor. That would work too."

"What's a Disruptor?"

"Giant metal squid spaceship that the Great Families use to let their overpowered people show up on 274-50 without getting squished by the System for breaking the rules."

"Huh," Mite said. Then he paused as his eyes narrowed. "That's why Valley Ford was destroyed?"

"Yes," Claire said. "Fortunately, we aren't trying to cheat the System here. We just need to destabilize reality a little. I feel like we'd need a pretty damn big portal to pull that off, but if Alex thinks its possible, then that's that."

Mite grunted. "I see. Why didn't you strip the Disruptor in Valley Ford for more parts and bring them back here? I might be able to rebuild it."

"No." Disgust gripped Alex like a vice. "We're not replicating a disruptor. Never. Maybe its effects… but we aren't doing that." This chapter is from the collection at M-VL-EM-PYR.

Mite sent a surprised look over his shoulder at Alex. Then he shrugged. "Aite. Whatever you say. I suppose we should focus on finding a way to fix the wall up and making sure the Outworlders don't come smashing our doors down in a little while when our Enshrinement ends."

They followed Mite through the town and over to the Town Hall, where Finley sat on a small wooden stool before a rickety table. He was fiddling with his thumbs, staring at something that only he could see in the air before him.

The merchant jumped to his feet as he spotted them arriving, hurriedly brushing his hair back and beaming.

"You've returned!" Finley exclaimed. "And good timing. Have you managed to get your hands on more Credits?"

"We haven't found another merchant that quickly," Alex said with a chuckle. "Credits don't just materialize from the sky, do they? Can't you buy stuff from us yourself?"

"Er… yes," Finley said, adjusting the cuffs of his sleeves. "But I do rather prefer receiving Credits to spending them. I may still be in the slightest amount of debt."

"Right," Alex said dryly. "Where's Rhyss? We need to—"

"I am present," Rhyss' voice came from Alex's side as the Advisor materialized beside him before he could even finish speaking.

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"Ah," Alex said. "Perfect. We're all here. I think we might need a brainstorm session. We have to get Mite the battery he needs to finish the wall as quickly as possible. Should we use some of the Legendary Boons?"

"It is possible," Rhyss said after a moment of thought. "But a battery is not a particularly rare object. It would be a waste of a Boon. I would recommend against it unless you have no other option. Any merchant should be able to get you a suitably powerful battery for a reasonable number of credits."

Finley shrank in on himself.

That was pretty much what Alex had been expecting. The idea of wasting a boon when they were so hard to earn didn't sit well with him. Sure, it would be fine if they had no other choice, but they still had time. There had to be other options.

"Finley, is there really no way you can get what Mite needs?" Claire asked. "I mean, isn't that kind of your thing?"

"My supply chain is rather… poor," Finley said. He looked down at the ground as if hoping it would swallow him. "The Starlight family — my family — is not in a good position. I brought as much as I could with me, but my focus was starter equipment. Things that would be useful on a newly Initialized world. And they are! But my damned luck had to go and make sure I ended up on a bloody Tier 1 world and run into the one Nativeworlder that somehow managed to start a town with absolutely ridiculous needs."

"So I take it you don't have the battery," Alex said dryly.

"No," Finley said, shame pulling at his features. "I don't. If I had more time… if I could pay off more of my debts, perhaps I could establish supply lines to a third party. It would be a little more expensive, but I could eat that cost myself."

"A third party?" Alex tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, most families don't literally have everything," Finley said. "You focus. That's how you get really good at something. It's true for fighting, and it's true for selling. A good merchant usually specializes in a specific family of goods. Weapons. Armor. Potions. You name it, there's a family that focuses on it. But you obviously want to expand your reach, so you partner with other merchants that don't compete with your market. That expands your offerings. In turn, you pay them a cut when you sell any of their goods. It helps everyone."

"That makes sense. So what would you need to establish that kind of connection?" Claire asked. "Surely it's easier for merchants than it is for us."

"It is," Rhyss said.

"You don't have to tell me that," Finley grumbled. "I know it is. But I would need to actually meet them first. Forming the contract needs physical contact. Generally, the connections you're talking about are established off-world. It's more optimal."

"I see the problem," Alex said with a frown. "We just need to find another merchant, right? That's the best way to get the battery? That doesn't seem too hard."

Finley's features paled a shade.

"Not too hard at all," Mite said with false cheer. "It's a good thing there's another town just about two days away from us! They might be a little flat, but maybe a merchant or two is still hanging around."

"Not helping," Claire said. "Rhyss, do we know if there are any other towns in the area near us?"

"I am unaware. Mirrorwane would need to send scouts out to search for them," Rhyss said. "But considering a Great Family had their town so nearby… the chances of another town being present are somewhat unlikely. Valley Ford was a Hub City."

"Crud," Alex said. He chewed his lower lip in thought. The idea of having to waste a Boon on something like this really didn't sit well with him.

"Please don't replace me," Finley said weakly. "I need this. My family needs this. Please. I promise I'll get you better deals than any other merchant will. I can figure out a way to get around my limitations. I'm resourceful. I… I just need more time."

"Time is the one thing we really don't have," Claire said. "There won't be much of a town left here if we can't get our defenses up before the Enshrinement period ends."

Alex's eyes drifted over to the teleporter that Mite had made for them. The bone dome sat in wait near the center of town. His head tilted to the side as a thought prickled at the back of his mind.

"If we were to find another merchant, they'd probably have access to what we need, right?" Alex asked. "Like this isn't a very rare item or anything."

"They probably would," Finley said, his shoulders slumping. "Batteries are common building components. Any major family would have access to them."

"Then I think I might have an idea." A grin split Alex's lips. "Rhyss, do you know if it's possible to de-activate the teleporter?"

"All buildings' functions can be suspended," the Advisor said.

"Perfect. Valley Ford might not be around anymore, but that doesn't mean there aren't other towns connected to the Astral Map. Would it be possible to try to connect with one of them? We could turn the portal off right after we go through it, then keep it that way so they can't follow us back. That would let us get in contact with another merchant without exposing ourselves," Alex said.

Mite's eyes lit up. "And I think I could upgrade the teleporter so that we can limit inbound requests! Valley Ford had that feature. It shouldn't be too hard to replicate. That way we wouldn't have to permanently keep the building offline."

"Connecting with another open node on the Astral Map should be doable," Rhyss said with a nod.

"We could have Mite immediately turn the building off after we use it, then turn it back on after exactly thirty minutes," Claire mused. "That would give us a way back so long as we're on schedule. Repeat the process on set times we decide on to make sure we have a way to return without a pattern that can be read."

Everyone other than Finley and Rhyss exchanged excited looks. Rhyss, of course, had the same placid expression he always wore.

The merchant, on the other hand, looked like he was about to melt into a puddle.

"I suppose that seems wise," Finley said, his words weak. "It's only the smart move."

"Come on, then," Alex said. "I trust you can still use the teleporter, right? Or are we going to have to kidnap some other town's merchant and bring them back here?"

Finley blinked. "What?"

"You said you need contact," Alex said. "So you're coming. That's how you establish the contract, right?"

"You mean you're not replacing me?" Finley's eyes widened.

"Why would we do that?" Claire asked. "If we did, we'd have to constantly travel over to the other town just to trade."

"Not to mention we'd lose all the discounts you promised us," Alex said. "So, are you coming or not?"

Finley jerked upright as if a string on his head had gone taut. "Of course! I am prepared. Trust me, you won't regret this. Nobody haggles better than a man with a blade to his neck. Leave the contract to me."

Alex grinned. "Then let's go establish some trade relations, shall we?"

"Just don't destroy yet another town while you're at it," Mite said with a snicker. "Twice can still be coincidence… but three times is a habit."