Chapter 4: Parameters
I had an idea. I wasn’t sure exactly how it would work, but it was still an idea—better than no idea. Wasn’t it probably best to check with Orpheus first?
“Okay, Orpheus,” I began, “if I want to make a closed space that is topologically a cylinder, would it be easier to make a torus instead, which would appear to those inside that space to be cylind...
2025-10-01 21:30:16 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 3: Orientation (Topology)
INITIALIZING GENESIS ENGINE
Reality Points: 10000
A screen popped up out of nowhere, filling my vision. It wasn’t a physical screen—it was slightly translucent, and while it dominated my view, I could tell it was a projection. Sort of like augmented reality or a hologram.
“What the heck?” I exclaimed, blinking a ...
2025-09-30 22:15:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 2: Information Overload
I pointed at myself. "Wait, you mean me?"
I wasn't an idiot. Despite the tone of my voice indicating surprise, I could read the room and all of the hints that Orpheus gave were fairly clear that that's what she wanted. I just wasn’t sure that was what I wanted. In fact, I knew it wasn’t.
Orpheus chuckled and held up the glowing World Seed. 2025-09-29 22:15:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Chapter 1: A New Job
The first sensation I felt was a vague sense of falling.
I didn't feel panic. Curiosity, yes, because my vision still wasn't there. But that dread of falling, that feeling in the pit of your stomach? I didn't feel that.
Come to think of it, I didn't feel a stomach, either.
No panic arose from this realization. I had to think about that, but while I w...
2025-09-29 04:54:45 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 36: The Hero of Durocor
The entire room smelled of freshly brewed tea and some kind of herbal aroma that Nikandros had set out. Despite this, Turner could still detect the faint hint of an acrid, medicinal smell – unsurprising, since he had most of it on him.
His legs were still bandaged but had stopped bleeding, and just as he’d predicted, his chest and arms were covere...
2025-09-27 05:07:36 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 35: The Great Escape
Turner awoke to the smell of burning wood, along with aching pain all over his body and stinging wounds on his legs. The table that had hit him was on its side next to him. While it didn’t block his vision, it had probably saved him from whatever explosion had come from that strange box.
That same explosion had blasted out the bottom of the window, lea...
2025-09-26 01:02:16 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 34: Iron Fist
Turner was a very pragmatic man. As much as he hated Penelope, he was not so caught up in honor and the desire to take vengeance for his parents that he felt the need to destroy her personally. A large part of him really wished that, when the little construct ran out into the street to dash toward Blakely, Nora, and Nikandros, the mysterious watcher would be lured ou...
2025-09-23 22:55:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 33: Why?
The front of the store looked different, but Turner expected the inside to be about the same. He was mostly right, though some of the shelving had moved around. It was still recognizable, so he felt comfortable shutting the door behind him and turning the latch once more.
"Talk, huh? You sure do want to talk a lot for someone in the middle of a city-wide battle," Pe...
2025-09-19 02:50:54 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 32: Ancient Lore
His arm still stung, but after a thorough rinse and bandaging, Turner could use it again. The acid ate through some of his flesh, but it was just a few drops. That wasn't enough to get through all the muscle, just enough to cause incredible pain.
The flying construct was a complete loss. Turner didn't want to take a closer look anyway... Penelope, despite he...
2025-09-16 16:32:33 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 31: Water of Kings
The worry about traveling with Anne was real, but if Turner hadn't known what she was really like, he'd have called her one of his best clients.
Anne and Penelope moved efficiently and quietly, much like Nikandros did. None of them questioned Turner when he motioned to move, nor which direction he chose. It occurred to him that he could easily lead them to...
2025-09-11 04:17:26 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 30: Strange Bedfellows
"Blakely?!"
Turner blurted out the name in shock, staring right back into the sapphire gaze of the witch beneath him.
Beneath... him...
The words that she'd said finally registered, and Turner abruptly realized that he was tumbled atop the redhead in a very impolite manner. He didn’t blush, but he coughed politely and pushed himself up, h...
2025-09-08 04:15:09 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 29: The Sound That Wasn’t Steam
"This way!" Turner yelled, gesturing down one of the side streets. Running directly toward the chaos was a bad idea, he knew.
Nikandros followed right behind Nora, with no trouble keeping up. Turner suspected Byron had the butler handle more physical work now and then. The man was too fit to be a simple servant. But then, what did he know ab...
2025-09-05 05:07:21 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 28: Eruption
It continued to surprise Turner just how gracious Byron had been to them. He was starting to wonder if he'd misjudged the nobility, or if Byron was just a weird outlier in the whole group. It made him wonder if he should discreetly ask around if anyone knew what the man's game was, because the level of support he'd shown was unnaturally generous. It made Turner suspic...
2025-09-02 06:05:11 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 27: The Road Ahead
Turner settled into a chair and let out a heavy sigh.
"That doesn't sound good," Martin noted from the table.
With Milo down for a while, Martin had taken the time to do thorough maintenance on the Wellrights' rifle, and it was stripped down into multiple pieces over the table. The oily scent of grease now overpowered the vinegar smell that had linge...
2025-08-29 05:09:34 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 26: Last Will
"Turner?" Milo stared, alarm rising in the tone of his voice.
The book opened up as Turner slid it around on his lap. He gestured at the cover with his knife.
"I saw her writing in this several times," he explained. "It had a very durable, and very nice-looking, soft leather cover. There was no reason to rebind it into a cheaper-looking hardcover."
...
2025-08-25 05:28:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 25: Options
It was heading toward evening by the time Turner and Nora returned to the inn.
The room was almost a suite, consisting of two actual rooms linked together. This was convenient, as it allowed Milo to have some privacy to heal while the others were busy with their own matters, but upon returning everyone had gathered into the larger of the two rooms.
Turner s...
2025-08-22 04:01:32 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 24: What Was Never Said
Brigette quickly and efficiently lit the stove, then set the kettle atop it to get some water going for tea. While she did that, she gestured for Turner and Nora to sit. The pleasant scent of woodsmoke tickled at Turner's nose, mingling with the bitter odor of the tea set aside.
"Now... what is it that brought you to me? I never kept up with what my s...
2025-08-17 14:04:43 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 23: Old Town Roads
Visitors were often surprised at how advanced and developed Durocor was, for a frontier town, especially compared to the more 'civilized' Edsenburg.
Turner was no exception, no matter how many times he went to either city.
The stones of the main streets were ancient, worn down by centuries of foot traffic. Yet age hadn't diminished them. The layered ...
2025-08-12 21:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 22: Patronage
They didn't quite make it in time.
The drizzle abruptly turned into a downpour moments before Turner and the others reached their chosen inn, The Ivory Horne. It began pouring down when they were within sight of the double door entrance, but even that brief exposure left the group sodden and dripping, forcing them to stay near the entrance while they s...
2025-08-08 14:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 21: Quite the Sight
It was just an hour shy of sunset by the time Turner and the others arrived at Durocor, after they'd disembarked and gone through customs. Although smaller than Edsenburg, the ancient city somehow felt grander and more impressive to Turner.
The train had passed through the outer city, then under the outer walls to come to rest near the Nesting Gate on the...
2025-08-05 21:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 20: Responsibility
Turner hadn't been surprised at the younger Byron's anger. They'd led Anne directly to his home, however unintentionally, where she'd humiliated him effortlessly. The younger Byron certainly seemed more uptight than his genial, older uncle.
What had surprised Turner was the quick reversal upon the exchange of a few messages by wire. Wired messages weren't ...
2025-08-04 06:02:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 19: What Once Was Lost
Anne’s words still hung in the air, horrifying in their calm curiosity. I wonder what sort of construct you would make?
Turner wasn't sure if he heard the woman right, at first. Anne had said it so casually, as if musing to herself, that he almost thought he'd misheard.
The way Nora's face paled again confirmed his thoughts. He'd heard...
2025-08-04 02:33:43 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 18: Armistice
Silence and utter stillness dominated the room. The air felt heavy, as if the simple act of drawing a breath took effort and premeditated thought.
It was only a moment, but to Turner it stretched for hours.
"Who are you, and why are you in my house?"
Byron broke the silence. Once the initial shock had worn off, the young noble's ego reasserted itsel...
2025-08-04 02:32:33 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 17: Confrontation
"Are you okay, Turner?"
The question startled Turner from his thoughts, abruptly bringing him back to the task at hand. He kind of regretted it, as he was immediately assaulted with that humid stench of the sweating horse drawing the cart. The slow sway of the ride had lulled him into a daze, something he wasn't used to when riding the normally bumpy carts....
2025-08-04 02:31:43 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 16: The Shop
For a long moment, Turner simply stared at the shop.
His head throbbed, but he now knew that this shop had never been there before. Perhaps knowing that it had some sort of strange effect helped, or perhaps his sheer familiarity and attachment to the street aided him. Or, he reflected, perhaps Nora had put some kind of protection on him.
Whatever the reaso...
2025-08-04 02:30:46 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 15: The Devil You Know
The first day of hunting for information turned out to be more successful than Turner had hoped. Only one day in, and they had managed to find out some important details. Now, he just had to share them with the rest of the team.
"That was the worst experience we've ever had," Milo opened up, slumping in the chair with a defeated, heavy sigh. "We found ...
2025-08-04 02:16:44 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 14: Roots
"That... can't be the same woman we're chasing."
Turner stared. Both the date and the notation paired with it made no sense. Was this woman a descendant of the student here? And that name... it couldn't be the same Middleton from the stories, could it?
"Middleton was famous in his era," Nora said, echoing Turner's own thoughts. "If he pulled someone out of sc...
2025-08-04 02:07:29 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 13: Admission of Guilt
Turner had no choice but to follow the cackling doll.
Reginald was none the worse for wear, from what Turner could see, despite missing one arm at the elbow. The glow from his eyes cast an eerie blue shade to the corridor, yet despite the dim lighting, Turner had no trouble following nor making out the details of the wooden hallway.
Neither could...
2025-08-04 01:58:39 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 12: Farewell to the Frontier
"So you are telling me that you failed to find out where this murderous boy was going next, failed to find out where this enigmatic woman was headed, and also have no idea if they were responsible for the assassination, because you managed to get the Watch after you?"
Turner winced, but he answered calmly, "That's about right."
Turner kept ...
2025-08-04 01:48:23 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 11: Reginald
For the second time in as many weeks, Turner was unable to trust his own eyes.
He'd danced around the subject with Milo and Martin, but Turner knew real magic existed. It was subtle, gentle. It guided and eased things, most of the time. Fantasy stories talked of wizards blasting fire at dragons, but that just wasn't how things worked.
Now, Turner stared at...
2025-08-04 01:33:05 +0000 UTC View Post