The First Meeting

She looked around at all of the people and checked her view number. It was only 500 she nodded at the slightly. She knew that most people were here and most of the people who still had her stream open were busy watching on the hundreds of other covering the event. She spelled her personal broadcaster so he would not try to find her for the next 30 minutes and headed to the now empty dungeon.

She had visited almost all the empty dungeons on Karth while searching for answers. The people of Karth had accepted the one and done style the dungeons had always been but Jessica had discovered things over the cycles that lead her to believe that was not supposed to be the case. In each of them she had placed hidden rooms to go into and study the objects she had found that had been overlooked by the people who had cleared the dungeon. The entrance to this dungeon was quite jarring if you don't know how dungeon work on Karth. Surrounded by forest, there is a large square flat platform made of red stone with pictures depiction the kind of monsters that had been found inside. Jessica stepped on it and walked to the middle of it.

"I accept the challenge," Jessica called out in a monotone voice.

This being an underground dungeon the stone reshaped itself into a staircase leading down to a tunnel. Jessica had been standing in the center of the platform so she was about halfway down the steps. The dungeon having been emptied of all its monsters and treasures long ago. It no longer had any magic of it own left inside of it. Jessica waved her hand and the torches on the walls ignited with green fire. She sighed, why does it always manage to return to this stupid setting. White light you fucking things she thought waving her hand again. The defaults on some of the dungeon seemed to be to set a mood or something instead of actually serving a functional purpose. This dungeon was quite large and Jessica had found some evidence of what she thought were stones meant to repopulate the dungeon once it was defeated. She walked halfway down the tunnel and stopped waiting. She looked down to her left. With a nod of her head she indicated a direction and walked through the wall behind her. She changed the time variance spell on the hidden room so that for every minute of outside time she could get 3 hours here. She waved her hand and created a round bench made of the stone ground. She sat down and said, "We have 3 hours."

10 people appeared before her the youngest she knew and hugged him.

"It is good to see you Jimmy," Jessica said.

"We have a lot to catch up on but now isn't the time," He replied in his own tongue only speaking two words. Jessica nodded her agreement. She looked around the room.

"Tell me what you know," she commanded. They all responded at the same time in the languages in theirs minds. Jessica understood them and numbers appeared above their heads. Only Jimmy had figured out that their was a problem with Karth before the Blackout. Two others had been on their way but they all knew that Karth was dying. They had all figured out the pattern of diagnosis, cure from the beginning. So now when they needed a cure the most and nothing appearing anywhere on Karth they felt it. Jessica sighed deeply and verified their worst fears. She explained in detail everything she knew and suspected. None of them were very surprised.

"Why have you the most honest person on Karth not told anyone your suspicions?," Jimmy asked her.

"I did, just once, the panicked responses from the people was overwhelming. I released the game to spell everyone into forgetting what I told them. Although it is still true on Karth that a person is smart it is also still true that frightend people are stupid," Jessica covered her eyes with her hand and whipped away the metiforic wool over their eyes. The memories of what happened when she had told the world that something was hurting Karth very likely killing it. She had stood in the Eternal Chappel and explained the patterns she had seen when in history class. She had told them the only way she could fix it was to get her hands on administrative privileges. She had begged the people to allow her to restore the historical record of the events leading to the disappearance/death of the 7th Fae. They had panicked that a 6 cycle old girl was asking for such dangerous information. Those who had at least partly understood what she wanted had voted to let her, with in minutes there was talk of being willing to go to war to stop her or help her. Jessica had simply withdrawn her request. From all the data she had on the people of Karth she had never imagined hearing talk of war. Those with blood lust had plenty of powerful monsters to fight. There was no need to fight among themselves.

They remembered the game she had developed that she had only ever before allowed her friends and family play in small doses so they could understand how and why her magic worked better. Someone in her circle had leaked it to the public by leaving it accessible and playing on the table of a restaurant. A child nearby at peeked at the goggles with in a week everyone on Karth was playing it non stop. Jessica then used her rule of maintaining the rights to destroy anything she created that she deemed dangerous and everyone had forgotten about the meeting at the Eternal Chapel. She destroyed all evidence it had ever taken place. They attributed the missing time to the game addiction. She was in fact the one who leaked the game and spelled it to making everyone forget. She had begun to worry that the system or unknown overseer might hear them talking and do something about it.

"I always wondered why you waited until everyone on Karth had played it at least once before you destroyed it," the man with the number 10 over his head said.

"That was out of character for you but remembering now, I have a new understanding," the young woman with the number 2 floating above her head said.

"About that, since none of you are over 225 you could still have learning capacities that are being unused," Jessica said pulling something from her everbag that wasn't visible yet. She released the time lock on the box and held out a half circle tiara scepter and a holo-pad the was shaped like a circle rather than a rectangle.

"Number 10 come forward," He complied and she placed the tiara on his head, "Give me your non dominant hand," He reached out with his right hand she handed him the scepter. She then handed him the holopad and said, "Ok this isn't an attack so just relax and accept the magic as it flows through your mind."

She murmured a spell to start the device.

How far can your mind reach, what unused potential lies within

The pad hovered in the air and his eyes went blank. He hit symbols on the screen in rapid sequences. 10 minutes later he was done. Jessica looked him in the eye as he handed her back the device.

"It gave me a list of things to study and said to come see you when I finished," he looked a little drained.

"It tested all of your knowledge and your brain chemistry. I want you to study the materials it said to how much time did it estimate it would take you to absorb it?," She asked setting things up on number 9.

"Three months," the man grimaced, knowing that was not good with the company his was currently keeping. The number above his head changed to the word Advisor.

"Well, most people on Karth would probably take at least 3 full cycles," Jessica said trying to reassure him, "I spoke my mind language out loud and only got replies from these few people here."

When the processes was completed Jessica looked at the pad satisfied with the results.

"So how far behind you am I exactly," Jimmy asked his need for data overwhelming him.

"You are about 1000 cycles behind me but if you study the materials you were told to in the order it told you to do it you can close the gap by at least 100 cycles, soon," Jessica said with a smile. The man who had been number 10 seemed to want to ask the same question. She replied so they would all know, " Those numbers that I put above your heads before was thousand cycles of study behind me. Given that the next smartest person behind advisor over there is 50 thousand cycles of study behind me in terms of how long it would take you to study enough to be my equal. I am very pleased to have met you all. The device gave you an order and time frame for what you should be learning next this will accelerate the learning process and increase your learning potential. I used a simpler version on my students when helping them for study for the K.N.E.A.D."

"That is quite an interesting device when did you create it?," number 2 asked.

"Oh, I honestly don't remember some time before the Blackout but after the Teacher of Fae. I had already studied everything available and wanted to see if there was anything I had missed. I had to just go find new data for myself. Also if you guys are on the Earth internet data base NEVER access something called the dark web. I had to spell that shit out of my own head to stop crying," Jessica said putting the device back into a time lock and back into her everbag.

"You have one of these hidden areas in your room?," Number 7 asked. It was his first encounter with a working time varrence spell. Jessica glanced at her who had already read and understood where each of them stood nodded.

"Study up and next week you will too," She replied sticking her tongue out and crossing her eyes.

"You do know what our next step is don't you?," number 3 asked in number advisor's langued.

"Committee lottery is next week. We can't volunteer but how do we get on it?," 10 said thoughtfully.

Jessica's eyes widened with surprise she was expecting to have to propose other idea's first.

"Don't look so surprised they can fill committee seats and I can take on the internship," Jimmy said, "It will be the easiest way for us to meet without drawing attention. I can nudge the lottery."

"I can mess with the lottery myself, Jimmy," Jessica said, "You are quite capable but if I hadn't covered your tracks earlier today when you tried to hack M.U.G. the system would already be aware of your involvement."

"I thought that went a little too smoothly for a first attempt," Jimmy said kicking at the dirt by his feet.

Jessica didn't want them to have to lie about how they came to sit on counsel so she formed a modified plan. She would nominate them. They were all near the tops of their respective fields and had entered her contest. She would tell the people that the most boring job on Karth had become one with new significance following the wake of the former Chairman. She would tell them she had come to respect these people for how they had answered her challenge and she believed they were the most capable of cleaning up the mess.

They chatted for awhile about inventions they had stored in their own hidden rooms. Jessica found she had versions of most of them in her own but they each had a few she had never had cause to consider.

Then time was up. They cloaked themselves and left.

Jessica put the device back in its timelock and back in her bag. She left setting the room so that for 100 cycles a second would pass inside.

She went back out in the dungeon and looked around for a bit. She had not appeared to have been gone at all to the system keeping a watchful eye on all things. To the system it looked like she had stopped for less than a second to check a lamp. Doing things this way always hurt her but she didn't know who the admin was or how close of an eye they kept on the system. She suspected not a very close one but she wasn't willing to take any chances. Her home was on the line and she knew it.

I have gathered an army now I just need a break through for the fight to begin, she thought frowning.