“Song?”

  “You would be intrigued. I still have to get used to it. The amount of information is enormous; I struggle to grasp what’s important and how to control it. You would be intrigued by that because it is a challenge. To bring order here—a challenge.”

  “I figured out how to send messages, but I am not ready yet to talk to them. I need to organize myself here better. Today, though, I wanted to test if I could project the same way as I could from my Crystal.”

  “Look, Song? I even can do it.”

  “I think I will walk around to see how it works. Come with me…”

  Taj appeared at the Gate on Planet Three.

  “This Gate here is exceptional, one of the last so close to Lan’s original design. So many changes Unio people had added to Gates. It is unbelievable how the data is distorted. Though, the Gate here is almost the same as the ones I tested back then. It was two years after our deaths? Plus, minus. I was the best choice to assess if it worked. I was dead already. My projection was useful; that was something to be happy about.”

  “I am not ironical.”

  “Song, walk with me in silence; let’s look at this planet. I haven’t been here before. It is the third one. We are not the best at naming, no? Planet One. Moon Two. And here, Planet Three. I know why it is like this; I understand. To avoid ideas of affiliation or community—a number, as everything is part of one union. So, no specific names. But it sounds funny, like as if we couldn’t find better names.”

  Taj’s projection was fully charged. He looked around, then followed a trodden path leading into the forest; he bypassed the one that was the official route to the cities.

  He wanted to watch nature.

  What was more, Taj sensed water. Was there a lake?

  “Song, look—”

  He was amazed yet uneasy.

  Terraforming looked like it was not finished. It meant that people on this planet were surely dependent on other planets for food. And technology—no factories here, he checked.

  What was more interesting, and also very specific, was about energy.

  There was only one Gate on Planet Three, powered by two Crystals. At first, Taj assumed he didn’t understand the data correctly and misunderstood Lukai too. But no.

  The Gates connected all the artificial energy devices. If not on purpose disconnected, he could reach everywhere. It was both amazing and disturbing. Being in Gates, Taj could know too much, see too much, and hear too much. He was connected to everything.

  Planet Three, though. It had no artificial energy Crystals except those two near the Gate. It was very specific.

  Terraforming, Taj now confirmed, was done poorly, but it was natural energy terraforming. The spaceship had indeed malfunctioned back then. Luckily, the connection to other Gates was finished; otherwise, it would be detached and unreachable. But that was known; it was an issue, but it could be fixed with artificial energy.

  … There was, though, no artificial energy here. This was why Taj took a closer look, focusing on Planet Three first. It was atypical.

  “Song? Come with me…”

  Taj walked for a few minutes, not wanting to go too far from the Gate, until he had reached a lake.

  He stopped to look at it.

  The treetops reflected nicely, and the light shimmered in small waves on the surface. But what a cliff! It shouldn’t be there. Was it such harsh terraforming—to create this?

  What a beauty.

  “Amazing,” he said aloud.

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  “What?” someone asked, surprising him.

  Taj almost jumped.

  That was another problem with this place.

  There were no other Gates, no artificial or natural energy devices connected to the one Gate that was there, and he couldn’t look around. Taj needed to project himself fully, making sure nobody would detect he wasn’t a real person.

  He could check the surroundings using his energy and skills, but then he might be detected. They could have detectors that were not connected to the net.

  What an issue it was; it needed to be checked more closely. The reason for it was that it looked like something or someone was hidden there.

  Taj turned around but saw no one. He looked down and spotted a boy, around eight or nine years old. He sensed no killing intentions, looked around, and decided to grab the opportunity. Who could be better to honestly say how it was here? Surely, no politics yet in this little head.

  “The lake, the cliff, amazing, no?” Taj asked.

  “Really? Maybe? When you mentioned it, yes, it’s nice!” The boy laughed and added, “I’m Tian, you? Why are you here? Why not working?”

  “O? I am not from around here, kid,” Taj said.

  He didn’t say his name, and by this, he felt caught unprepared. Something to think about later: what kind of name to use in a situation like this.

  “Ooooo really? Nice! Only leaders travel; I didn’t see new people for ages! Ooooo, more than a year, maybe? From where you are and why here?”

  The kid—Tian—was excited.

  Interesting. No outsiders? Later, Taj needed to check who traveled, what IDs were passing the Gate, and if it was a regular occurrence. If there were no IDs, he could watch the Gate, project himself, and see who was traveling through.

  “I am from Shadows,” he answered.

  It could be somehow easier to pretend to be Shadow than anybody else. He could disappear and pretend it was his swirl. Though, could he? There were not many Gates. To be checked…

  “I am here because I wanted to see the place, and to tell the truth, I didn’t ask for any consent,” Taj added.

  “Ooooo, really!” Little Tian looked so happy.

  As if breaking rules were something he liked. Welcome to the club, somehow, Taj thought.

  “Shadows! Ooooo I am not sure if I ever met one; we have only Ability,” the boy added.

  “Only?” Taj was surprised by the term. “Truly? Please tell me. Are you aware—why?”

  “Only! I try to cultivate, but I am not yet good. Leader Yura is great, but also not the best; Fenix, my sister, is already better than him, even if she is younger, so we are here, you know, we’re sent to practice without Crystals and with nobody to see us. That’s great; we have all the time, except when we need to work, you see, building the camps and arenas and everything; that’s a lot of work. I am sorry leader Lukai is not here; he is great! Ooooo Leader Lukai has Ability I want to have in the future. Do you know leader Lukai? Or Yura? Or Dennis? You know, they are great, better than Crystalers! Did you hear about them? Did you…?”

  It had been a long time since Taj had talked to a young person, and that was refreshing. He didn’t need to ask a lot, and he already knew what was going on.

  Amazing.

  “Leader Lukai? O, I met him, and he is powerful; you are right,” Taj said, seeing that this kid was happier. “I wanted to meet leader Yura or Dennis. I do not know them; I’ve heard a bit. Kid, Shadows know Ability is important; we also thought about separated camps for Shadows,” he added and thought that he just lied to a kid—not amazing.

  “Ooooo? Nice, nice, I have to tell you, camps without Crystals are tough, and Fenix is complaining all the time. The food is so bad, the arenas are not funny, we have not much Ability still… ooooo, she is complaining, and the more she complains, the more work she gets, hahaha! As if complaining were showing she should work more, this is why I do not complain at all and am happy, have less work, and could come here. That’s so fun to meet you!!” Tian exclaimed.

  Why so excited? And the name—Fenix, to be checked.

  What this boy had said, though.

  “Shouldn’t you attend school, no?” Taj had to ask.

  “Nooo, yes, but nooo, don’t say it to leaders when you see them. I already know a lot. Why do more? It’s boring… ooooo not today; they are out somewhere; only leader Yura is here, but he closed himself off to read old stuff. Nooo, you won’t meet him either, not today. Come back tomorrow or later, but hey, want to swim? You want, you want, one, two, three!”

  Tian, this kid. He didn’t wait for a reply—he ran directly to the lake.

  Taj observed for a second, thinking how much he missed swimming. Then, he needed to go into the water quickly, as he noticed that this kid—

  “Song, look, he can’t swim!”

  He ran.

  … Later, he could confirm two things for certain after visiting Planet Three.

  He needed to send information about it to the group and then meet with them.

  Alternatively, he or someone else had to return to Planet Three to observe who was crossing the Gate, the next day, or the day after. Check the official data and IDs, if everything matched. Then, they needed to discuss the suspicious situation.

  Yura was here—Lukai could travel, find him, and ask questions. It was necessary, urgent even.

  The second thing he also knew for sure was that this kid, Tian, truly shouldn’t swim alone. He was a terrible swimmer. Taj had to drag him out of the water twice, as the boy almost drowned trying to impress him. He should be taught properly.

  Taj needed to ask him to practice more, as that was embarrassing.

  What was intriguing and quite funny was that this kid knew a lot about the Sect. He told stories about Commander—a wonderful warrior.

  From where did the kid get the information?

  Taj was first touched and later he laughed when heard the boy making up some events.

  “Song? I’ve heard many nice stories about you today. It was amazing. I encouraged this kid to learn the Sect language. Why not? Visibly is talented. Before we parted, he called me his water guardian. It was amazing to hear.”