Luke put his hands on his hips and shouted up at the dwarf. “Are you telling me I can’t have the glory I have rightfully earned? Who do you think you are?”

  The dwarf didn’t expect him to talk back and sputtered for a bit before he said, “I am Remy of Challenges. My word is law. If you expect to ever run this gauntlet again, you will do as I say!”

  As he talked, the hovering platform turned and headed towards the trophy atop the pillar. Luke assumed that meant he was going to take the trophy before the nasty human could get to it.

  He was about to be very disappointed.

  Luke held out his hand and his artifact spear flew from across the arena to land in it. Then he threw it as hard as he could at the stone pillar, just below the trophy. The stone shattered and knocked the glory trophy off the top of the thin pillar. The dwarf cried out in dismay as it fell.

  As casual as he could, Luke took a few steps to the left and caught the trophy. There was a subtle movement of magic. He felt something that time. Luke’s glory sense was starting to develop now that he had gained and sacrificed so much of it recently. He dropped the trophy and looked up at the hopping mad dwarf.

  “It’s a good thing you didn’t accidentally touch that trophy and steal my glory, Remy of Challenges. That would have turned out poorly for you. Baroness Elo Ewaen is a friend and I suspect she would have convinced your boss to bust you down to Monster Culler for offending me.”

  The dwarf brought the hovering platform down until it was a few feet above the ground. “I can’t tell if you’re telling the truth or if you made up a name to confuse me.”

  “I swear on my glory I know Baroness Ewaen and I’ve even fought with her,” Luke said calmly. He watched the dwarf’s eyes widen when his glory didn’t fluctuate. “Anyway, let’s get going. I need you to pick up my mech parts from underneath the titan corpse and then we can pick up my cat. She’s a bit of a scaredy cat, but I love her anyway.”

  Remy’s shoulders dropped and he said, “Yes, Luke of Machines.”

  ???

  Luke woke up to the sound of knocking on his bedroom door. He slid out of bed, making sure not to wake Jinx. He opened the door and saw Kruro waiting for him.

  “Is it breakfast time already?” Luke asked.

  “No, not for another hour,” she said and slashed her hands down. “I wish to discuss something else. I recently returned from a meeting with my cell leader. Since your Phantom Shot skill isn’t a true king killer they have decided to cut ties with you. They rejected your other offer as well. The White Scale has no need for your spycraft connections. They already have multiple contacts with Earth based secret government organizations.”

  “Huh. That’s what I had hoped for, it makes everything simpler, but I’m still kind of offended they don’t want me,” Luke said. “But what about you? You said something about killing yourself if you failed. I hope this doesn’t count.”

  She slashed her hands down. “No. I will not die anytime soon. However, they have cut me out of the organization as well.” She sighed. “I represent a potential source of exposure now that I have talked to you. So they won’t trust me with any more secret missions. I won’t be called into service again unless there is open war.”

  “Hopefully something like that doesn’t happen anytime soon.” Luke said and then turned to the crushed remains of his Black Mamba mech. “Although, war seems more and more likely these days. I have a feeling that all the anti-human sentiment in the city is coming from the Triumvirate, to build support for the upcoming war against us.”

  “That may be true. In fact, I consider it likely. I recommend you leave the city today instead of waiting until after the Shuffle. You already have everything you want from the city, yes?”

  “Most of it, yes. But if war really is coming, then I owe it to my world to collect as much information as I can. A record of the political dealings at the Shuffle could be valuable to the people back home.”

  “Perhaps, but you are no spy and this is not your world. If you snoop around, you will get caught.”

  “That’s the beauty of my plan. I’m already invited into the belly of the beast. Momoh wants me to watch the Shuffle with him.” Luke said. His eyes slid to the pile of monster cores he had harvested from the gauntlet. “But you’re right. I don’t really trust everyone. That dwarf has something against me and knows I’ve got riches now. Why don’t you leave now, take my cores and my broken mech, and take the train today? We can meet up at that green city at the end of the line, Vedastine.”

  “That’s silly. There is no reason for us to travel separately.”

  Luke pointed to the tier ten core. “That right there is the most wealth I have ever had. It would be heartbreaking if it was stolen. Please.”

  She huffed. “Fine. I suppose you have no need of an entourage anymore, I don’t need to pretend to be your servant. I have friends in the green city, it would be good to visit them. Since it will make you happy, I will pack up and take your things to Vedastine.”

  “Leave the books. I want to have something to read on the train.”

  She slithered away to start her own packing. He got ready for breakfast with Momoh and helped move things around for her. The only thing he left behind was a bit of money, his books, and his slim power armor.

  And the wireless modem. The brick computer was one of the few things he actually wanted to get stolen. While he was waiting for breakfast, he decided to connect to the internet. A check of WikiRunes showed that they had made some progress on the magic railgun project. They had successfully test fired a prototype. Which immediately blew up afterwards. Still, it got everyone excited and reinvigorated interest in the project.

  A quick check of the rest of the forum showed progress on other projects, the mana clock apparently would work on either world flawlessly. The majority of the forum threads weren’t about crafting projects. There were several discussions about preparing for the possibility that the site would get shut down. People were already volunteering to host it, and discussing how to get the word out to everyone what the new site would be.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  WikiRunes was always in danger of being shut down from day one. This seemed more urgent than normal though. He switched over to his email account and impatiently waited for the site to load. He knew he was getting internet from literally across the galaxy, but still. It was so slow. When it finally loaded he scrolled down until he saw the email he had been dreading.

  Allen said they were getting sued over WikiRunes. Apparently their anonymity was gone. Atticus Adelson and five other corporations were bringing a suit against the Monster Jaegers Inc and Luke and Allen personally. Allen was kind of freaking out about it. There were threats of billions of dollars in damage. The demand letter from the lawyers threatened dire consequences if they didn’t shut the site down immediately.

  The fact that WikiRunes was still up meant that Allen hadn’t caved yet. Good for him. Unfortunately, their lawyers weren’t going to give up. They had arranged for an injunction hearing for six days from now. Luke tsked. Maybe he should leave with Kruro. If he hurried, he might be able to make it back to Earth in time.

  Then again, he wouldn’t be much help if he did attend the hearing. There was a reason they hired the high priced lawyer. This was her area of expertise, not Luke’s. His time would probably best be spent observing the political climate of the Shuffle, not trying to second guess the lawyer.

  His mind made up, he sent off an email to Allen. Reminded him this wasn’t the end of the world and he shouldn’t stress. Not that he expected that to work. He told him he would be home in seven to eight days and they could discuss next steps when he got there.

  At breakfast, Lord Momoh was very happy to see Luke. “You are a credit to your people, Luke of Machines. I had heard you lost your glory, but that clearly isn’t true. Stick with me during the lobbyist party. I have several people I wish to introduce you to. They’ve all visited Earth and would love to talk with a human with a Platinum class. A few of them said it wasn’t possible and I wanted to rub their faces in it.”

  Luke raised a single eyebrow. So he was going to be Momoh’s pet human to be paraded around? Fine by him, as long as he got something out of it. “What is the lobbyist party? I have a feeling that means something different to someone from Earth than it does here.”

  “Well, I can give you the specifics later. To summarize, it’s the event before the Shuffle where you gain your votes for your cause. Although, true nobles have already locked in their votes long before today. Anyway. It takes six votes for anyone to be elevated to a higher position, and everyone can only vote six times. It means that each vote is a precious resource that must be spent wisely. I’ll explain my position when I verify votes at the party, you’ll understand then,” Momoh said as he gestured with his eating stick.

  “Thank you for the insight into Kalibutan culture, Lord Momoh. I’m particularly interested in the position those politicians take in regards to Earth.”

  “None of us are politicians, we are rulers. We serve the empire, not the riff-raff.”

  “My mistake. Still, the question stands.”

  “We can discuss it later.”

  Luke agreed with geniality but frowned inside. Avoiding the subject wasn’t a good sign. They finished breakfast shortly after that. Luke saw Kruro off and dressed in his best metallic robes. Jinx was upset that she couldn’t come with him, but the city center had wards to keep animals out. She ordered him to be careful instead. She said he got in trouble a lot when she wasn’t there, which he had to admit was true. He was tempted to wear his slim power armor to the event, but he knew that wouldn’t be allowed. He did decide to bring along his phone.

  It had stayed inside magnetic shielding all trip so that he could use it now. He joined Momoh on the roof and then started recording. He took a video of the city from above as they flew towards the city center on a floating hexagon. They were far from alone, it seemed like every flying transport in the city was heading the same way. He kept the recording going to get a view of the stately capital castle and those that were heading inside. He put it back into the mana proof case after he got to the party proper.

  It was much like a grand ball, with richly appointed people mingling and talking with tea and crackers. Their meeting room was perhaps the biggest one in the castle, a ballroom bigger than anything he had seen on Earth. The walls staggered out, like stadium seating. Instead of seats, there were hovering transports, small hexagons that could fit only one or two people. They were color coded with about a hundred of them blue, dozens of red, several violet, and a handful of green.

  Luke’s internal Star Wars nerd was giddy as could be. It looked so much like the Galactic Senate Chamber, he almost couldn’t stand it. It was the worst part of the prequel movies and the site of the second best speech from Andor. So cool.

  He didn’t get to really enjoy it though because Momoh pulled him along to meet people as soon as they got inside.

  “... and I know they have Weather Witches in the capital, why don’t they employ them here?” one of the elves said as Momoh pulled Luke over to the group.

  “Baron Idahosa, what is your son complaining about now?” Momoh asked in a booming voice.

  The baron turned and smiled. “He’s complaining about the Mana Storm heading this way. It’ll be here this afternoon and it’ll ground all flying transportation. He’ll have to take a zipstring back to the family complex after the Shuffle.”

  Momoh smiled. “You should stay after and party with the rest of us. I doubt most of us will even see the sun when we leave.”

  The son stood up straighter. “I shouldn’t have to stay here, is my point. This is the Shuffle! If we don’t have a comfortable day today, why do we even have Weather Witches?”

  “For the crops, my boy. They ensure the farmers get their due,” Idahosa said. “I promise you won’t melt in the mana storm. That was just a story your older brothers made up to scare you.”

  “I know that Lord Idahosa,” the son grumbled. “Anyway, who is this you have brought to meet us, Lord Momoh?”

  A different lord that hadn’t spoken yet interrupted and said, “Oh we can get to that later, first, Lord Iyore, it is so good to see you. It’s been too long. Tell me all about what you have been up to lately.”

  What followed was a tedious half hour of meaningless blather. The elegant elves in their resplendent metal robes were posturing and jockeying for the favor of the Baron, or whoever was highest ranked that happened to walk by. Momoh got to introduce Luke, but by then his thunder had been stolen so the assembled elves weren’t terribly impressed.

  Luke was grateful when a page appeared at his side and said, “Luke of Machines, a member of the upper nobility wishes to speak with you. Please follow me.”

  That would be Baroness Ewean, the only member of upper nobility he could think of that would want to speak with him. He happily followed the young woman out of the ballroom and up two flights of stairs. They could see the entire lobbyist party from a nearby balcony. It was much quieter up here.

  There were two burly men waiting for him there. Luke didn’t recognize either of the elves, and they didn’t seem to fit the aesthetic. Not fancy enough for the nobility, and not wearing the government uniforms of the servants. Luke took a step back as they turned towards him.

  “Yes, that’s him,” a voice said from behind.

  That voice he did recognize. It was Viscount Osifo, the elf that had tried to torpedo Luke during the Doubles Tournament. He had hired away Bosa mid-competition and tried to make sure he didn’t get all the glory he deserved. A real human-hating asshole.

  Osifo looked down his nose at him and said, “Luke of Machines. You need to answer some questions. Follow me.”

  Luke considered it for a moment. He took a step towards the balcony and said, “No.” The viscount sputtered as he continued, “I’m not going to a second location with you. This whole setup is suspicious as hell. If you have questions, ask me right here.”

  Osifo’s face fell flat. “I thought you might say that.”

  One of the burley men lunged forward from behind. Luke's Acuity let him turn and dodge backwards out of range. He was almost fast enough. Almost. As soon as the elf’s outstretched finger touched him, the world went black.