135 Phase 117: At The Airport

{So… it works both ways. When I die, she respawns with me at my Home Base. When she dies, I respawn with her. Where ARE we anyway? Alicia's Home Base. Some sort of airport…}

One look outside told Colin exactly where they were.

Big mountain on one side, lots and lots of white all over the other. The cold he only now began to feel confirmed it.

They were back on the Continent of Eternal Winter. This was just outside Soft Snows Town, and they could see the Comrade Home being rebuilt in the distance.

{Hey… if we're HERE, then…!} Colin stretched out his mind, searching and calling for Shiro.

There. Shiro was far to the south. Colin called, but a wave of overwhelming exhaustion was his only reply. Colin gulped. {Better leave him alone.}

A broadcast announcement sounded over the speakers. "Dear Travelers, Soft Snows Airport will be descending shortly. Kindly exit within two minutes, or use the underground tunnels to Soft Snows Town once Burrow-Mode is complete."

"Burrow…?" Colin blinked.

"Colin…" Alicia coughed weakly. She sniffed at her half of the special leaf that he'd given her in appreciation for the rescue last night.

"Hmm?" Colin blinked at her.

"You… stink." Alicia grimaced.

"And whose fault is that?" Colin protested, looking at her puke on his lap. He'd been sneezed on by a Bubblesaur before, and that time, he'd really felt grossed out, but this was worse. Far worse.

"Go… wash…" Alicia made a face.

Colin looked about at all the corridors and the snow outside. "I don't think there's a lake or anything nearby."

"Shower stall. Washroom." Alicia pointed weakly.

Colin saw it; there hanging overhead nearby was the sign for a washroom. He ran for it, following sign after sign until at last he found the place.

{I hope there really is a shower here… otherwise, I'd have to either use the tap or…}

He wasn't disappointed. One thing about airport washrooms; they actually had facilities to wash. Not just showers; they had laundry machines too. Colin left his clothes in the auto-cleaner and hit the shower, paying full usage price for both the High Performance Sterilization Laundry Service and the Extended Hot-Water Deluxe set complete with anti-bacterial soaps, hair-conditioning shampoo, disposable razor and a wad of deodorant.

{Ah… this feels great…} Colin felt a wisp of regret that all this was only in his Dreams, rather than in real-life. {Then again, in real-life, I wouldn't pay a hundred Clira for a bath. I understand that hot water is expensive in a snow-land, but if not for the puke, I wouldn't ever pay this much for a shower.}

As if in protest, the floor began to shake.

"Hey, it's true." Colin pointed out.

The walls began to shake.

"Look, you shouldn't be offended." Colin told them. "I can't have been the first person to remark on the prices."

There was a deep rumbling sound and then the entire washroom started vibrating. Colin stumbled, slipped on soapy water and nearly fell over. He caught himself against the wall just in time, and then had to grab the shower head to keep from slipping again as the rumbling and shaking got worse.

"Earthquake?!" Colin gulped. "Sorry, shower. I didn't mean to falsely accuse you or grab your neck."

The shower sprayed water at him in jerks and splutters as if to tell him he was holding on to it too tightly.

{Not good… not good…} Colin gulped. {If there's an earthquake and I die here, I'm going to respawn at my Home Base with Alicia… and I'm not wearing any clothes!}

There came a huge, bone-jarring jerk, causing him to slip again. There was Colin hanging on to the shower for dear life when the shower head broke and deposited him onto the soapy water with a splat.

"Oof!" Colin gulped, waited for the ceiling to fall and wondered what he was going to say to Alicia.

But the ceiling didn't fall. Just a bit of cracked plaster from where the shower head broke off. There was jagged plastic where it used to be and a single stream of water coming from it now.

"Burrowing complete." The announcement sounded throughout the airport. "Thank you for your patience, and have a pleasant stay."

{Burrowing…?} Colin thought about what that meant. The image of rabbits burrows came to mind, and of various animals digging holes in the ground to hide in. {No way… does this mean what I think it means?! The whole airport?!}

Another notification popped up, this one from Airport Maintenance. The little red box informed him that they were 'kindly' charging him 200cr to pay for damages to the shower stall.

"Wow… that's expensive." Colin winced.

It took a few minutes before he was dried, dressed and out of the washroom. Now very much curious, Colin went to investigate his suspicions on what 'burrowing' meant.

He found out the truth soon enough. The whole airport had sunk. It was like the entire complex had been on a gigantic elevator. Colin stared in amazement as he looked out the window to see only the walls of a huge underground cavern and a solid concrete roof overhead. "Wow."

He went looking for Alicia. At first, he checked the waiting area where they'd respawned, but she was nowhere in sight. He scratched his head for a bit, remembering that comms were off-line, and then realized he had other ways to find her. He tapped his badge. "Foxie."

Foxie appeared in a puffy white cloud, then looked up at him with a grin. The mischievous Whitestreak Fox that had practically tricked him into bonding her looked happy to see him again, and quite interested to find out what this summons was all about. Colin tapped her on the nose, and she swished her tail at him.

"I need to find Alicia." He told her. "Can you sniff her out? We were here together not long ago."

He showed her the waiting area. She sniffed about. [There are several scents here, but only two are recent. Yours, and a female's.]

"That'll be her." Colin said.

Foxie sneezed and wrinkled her nose in disgust. [I also smell a lot of vomit.]

"That was her too, although I think I got most of it." Colin sighed. "Don't worry. I washed it off already."

Foxie shook her head, then took up Alicia's scent. Colin followed her all the way to Courteous Café, where he found Alicia sitting at a table waiting for her food to arrive. Colin took one look at the menu in front of the café and gulped.

{I should have expected this. Fifty Clira for a set meal at the airport. Even in Blossoming Gardens Mall, a set lunch at a 'restaurant' wouldn't cost more than twenty to thirty Clira.}

The clothes at the mall last night had been expensive too, Colin remembered, but now at least he understood why. {When we bought those clothes, we weren't buying them just for Dreamworlds. They actually sent them to us in real life.}

But that was Gardens World. This was Nakama World and stuff he bought here, as far as he knew, didn't get sent to him in the waking world. In short, this is just plain expensive.

Alicia didn't complain about the prices though. Being up twenty thousand due to recently killing him, she appeared to have less concerns about spending than she had about facing the winter cold out there without a warm meal.

"Found you." Colin said by way of greeting as he and Foxie joined her at the table.

"Mm." Alicia said. "I'm just getting started. What are you ordering?"

"What are you getting?"

"Pasta set."

"I'll have the same." Colin said and made his order.

"That's a cute fox." Alicia mentioned. "From Lamico, right?"

"Whitestreak Fox. Foxie's a real joker." Colin introduced. He told her the story of how she joined him as they waited for the food.

The service here brought both their orders at the same time. Two plates of pasta and meatballs arrived along with local Bruth, mushroom soup and garlic bread. One thing about the meals here; they might be pricey, but the portions were generous, downright huge. They even threw in some Kipper for Foxie, complimentary.

"What time is it?" she asked, as they were starting on the food.

"Ten thirty-one." Colin munched.

"Huh. This still counts as dinner, then." Alicia mused.

Colin froze. He could almost hear Gracie screaming it already. {Colin's having dinner with Alicia!}

"Feels odd, doesn't it?" Alicia went on, oblivious to his sudden tension. "A warm bath and a warm meal in a Dream. We're paying actual Clira for this, you know. Think of what the money we spend here could buy in Gardens Dreamworld, for example. Those things we buy there actually came to us in the waking world."

It was true. Colin tossed concerns about Gracie out the window and focused on the topic at hand. "I guess that's one reason why Gardens World is popular."

"Actually, it's the other way around." Alicia shook her head. "It's Dreamworlds like this which are unpopular."

Colin stared. "What are you talking about? This is the most popular Dreamworld for kids…"

"This Dreamworld is a money sink. It's like a theme park." Alicia countered. "People come here to spend money on entertainment and fun experiences. But the things they buy here… they're only used {here}. Comrades, for example. Did you try to warp yours in to Gardens Dreamworld last night?"

"I tried." Colin admitted. "Didn't work."

"Comrades can't leave Nakama World. The food we eat here isn't going to be delivered to your door tomorrow. The showers we bought cleaned us up nice and good, but you'd still wake up tomorrow morning in the same state you went to sleep in. It's the {experience} people pay for here."

"What are you saying?" Colin frowned. "That you don't like it here?"

"I'm a kid. This is a kid's playland. Of course I like it here." Alicia pointed out. "But think about what's been happening to us. To the Eight of us being chased by the Cult of Gaia. Think of what it's {costing} them. The resources they spend in Dreamworlds can be translated to resources in {real life}. But they're spending it on chasing kids in a play-land."

This conversation, Colin realized, had suddenly turned deadly serious. "If they're serious enough to spend real money on hunting us here… You're saying they might come after us in the real world."

Alicia looked slightly surprised. "You catch on quick."

Colin fell silent for a long minute as Alicia chomped down spaghetti. Then, he said, "Do you think they traced our clothes? The ones we bought last night?"

"We're talking about the cult, Colin, not some spy network." Alicia pointed out. "They probably don't hack shopping networks or anything. But your dad and mine… they're not that hard to track down."

"And that's why they're leaving you guys at our place while the three of them go off together?" Colin guessed, turning grim. "Because they're headed into danger?"

"Yep. So if {my} dad gets hurt on this 'trip', it'll be your fault." Alicia threw it in his face. "Because it's {you} they're after."

"That's not fair!" Colin flared. "I never asked for any of this! I don't know why they're after me! Or even IF they're after me in the first place!"

Alicia barked a laugh. "Colin, I've only been around you one night, and already I've been into somebody's Inner World and a Dreamworld-in-a-Dreamworld. Even I can tell there's a lot going on with you whether you remember any of it or not!"

"That never happened when I was here!" Colin protested. "It only happened because I went to Gardens Dreamworld. It never happened while I was on Nakama World."

"No, you and the Green Men just went around destroying continents." Alicia said with an innocent look.

Colin scowled. "But it's still not fair to pin everything on me. I didn't even do anything wrong that I can remember!"

"Then shouldn't you be {trying} to remember?" Alicia shot back. "Shouldn't you be searching for the answers rather than running around playing in this World?"

Colin bit into a meatball a lot harder than he had to. "Let me put it this way. So long as I was playing around here, everyone was fine, and the most we lost were Comrades. The one time I tried to find answers, really, really go out there and hunt for them, was last night. You know very well how {that} turned out."

Alicia thought about that as she sipped her Bruth. "You know, you actually have a point there. You're too clumsy to trust with important stuff. Better leave you playing around with things that we don't mind losing. At least that way, you'd stay out of trouble rather than make things worse."

Colin didn't feel like arguing any more. All he said was, "At least here, I have friends and Comrades. I can fight, or run, or hide much more easily than in a serious Dreamworld. And even here, it seems, I'm slowly beginning to remember."

The words were out before Colin could consider them. He froze, hoping she wasn't really listening and looked up only to see Alicia suddenly paying rapt attention to whatever he might say next. "And?!"

"Um… I'm just starting to remember bits and pieces." Colin winced. He really hadn't intended to let that slip out, especially not to her, but it was too late.

"{And}?!" Alicia pressed.

"Not telling." Colin stuck out his tongue at her.

She stuck out her tongue in return.

"You've got spaghetti sauce on your tongue." He told her.

"You've got bits of meatball on yours." She shot right back. "And some stuck in your teeth."

Colin went for the toothpicks. "What makes you so sure that our dads are running into danger for my sake? They could just as easily be busy DayDreaming some sort of a business trip, or some vacation, or they could even be {chasing} the Gaians to find out what's going on. What makes you so sure?"

"I'm not." Alicia pointed out. "That was your guess, not mine. I'm just saying. But now that you mention it, you make a good point. Best to keep you out of the way where you won't cause even more trouble."

Colin scowled. "It's nice to feel appreciated."

"Oh yeah, especially by your Forest Princess." Alicia pointed out daintily. "How's {that} working out for you?"

Colin found that he'd lost most of his appetite. He ate woodenly, not really enjoying the food as he had a minute ago. "I should get on the quest. At least there's something here that I {can} do. But first, I need to call Dad."

"Me too." Alicia agreed.

Colin waited, but that's all she said. At length, he asked, "Aren't you also going to contact Jonah and Larry?"

"Yeah, sure. Eventually." Alicia said evasively.

Colin blinked when he saw her face redden. "No way… you're {avoiding} them? Or just… him?"

"Shut up, Colin." Alicia said, and would say no more.

***

"All right, Colin. Talk."

They were in a private comms room, another expensive luxury courtesy of the Soft Snows Airport. On screen was Dad. Seated next to Colin was Alicia, waiting her turn to speak to her dad too. Where their Traveler Watch comms were down, this inter-Dreamworld communications center still functioned… though at a steep price.

"What do you want me to say?" Colin asked, completely blur. "We're safe, for now, back on Nakama World."

"That's a good start." Dad agreed. "Since when were you two Traveling together?"

"She sort of rescued me from the Green Men at Gardens Dreamworld…" Colin began.

" 'Sort of'?!" Alicia protested.

"Okay fine, she totally rescued me." Colin admitted. "And we've been running from the Green Men the whole of last night."

"And tonight?"

"Tonight..." Alicia hesitated. "I… I want to stay away from Jonah for a while."

"I see." Dad said. "Well, take care of Colin, will you? He can get into all sorts of trouble on his own."

Colin choked.

"I know." Alicia said simply. "I'll try. At least for tonight."

"So tell me what happened last night." Dad said.

Colin told him, with Alicia interjecting a few times when he tried to downplay the danger. They told him all of it; from the coffin-like box to giant robots and flying cats, leaving out only Cody's Inner World. {We owe him that much, at least...} Colin felt. Alicia gave him a short glance when he skipped that part, but she said nothing on it either.

"I still have no idea what happened there at the end." Colin admitted as they finished with the Green Gate. "And I don't know what happened after we went through."

Dad hesitated, considered them for a long minute, and finally said, "I do."

"You do?!" Colin stared.

Again, a hesitation. Colin could see Dad choosing his words very, very carefully. "That place you went to… what you called a Dream-within-a-Dream… it has an official name. It's called the Lower Plane."

"Lower Plane?" Colin stared.

"Yes, well… there are at least four Planes in Dreamworlds. Realms of existence that are connected, yet distinct. It's like a layer of space underneath the layer that we normally go around on in Dreamworlds. For example, Nakama World, Gardens World, and all the common Dreamworlds are on what we call the Middle Plane. That's where Dreamers normally Dream."

Colin exchanged curious glances with Alicia. All this seemed new to her as well, but she said nothing, and they let Dad continue.

"While most of us go from Dreamworld to Dreamworld using the blue Gates, there are other ways to travel between them." Dad went on. "For example, spaceships."

"Like the Gaian saucers." Colin nodded.

"Exactly. It's like flying through space in Dreamworlds, except space here isn't a Dreamworld in itself. It's an entire Plane altogether. That's what we call the Higher Plane. All the space stations in Dreamworlds, all the spaceships and such… all of these are in the Higher Plane. Dreamworlds Space, basically."

"Okay. Fly up high enough and you end up in space. That's the Higher Plane. Simple enough." Colin nodded.

"Not so simple. The rules there are different." Dad paused, scratching his head. "Also, rules differ from sector to sector the way they differ from Dreamworld to Dreamworld, but in general… time passes more slowly in the Higher Plane than in the Middle Plane."

"What?" Colin blinked.

"It's half the rate." Dad tried to explain. "For every hour that passes in the Middle Plane, two hours pass in the Higher Plane. So you see, most people who work in Dreamworlds for real money work in the Higher Plane. They literally have more time every night there."

"Really?!" Colin gasped.

"But it has its costs." Dad went on. "When you're in the Middle Plane, your body sleeps normally. You're dreaming in a relaxed state. But when you're in the Higher Plane, you really don't get much rest. Your mind is in constant activity. So in short… you're not sleeping properly. Some people I know usually spend a few hours working in the Higher Plane, then going to the Middle Plane for a full eight hours before Waking Up."

"So… the Lower Plane…" Colin gulped.

"Time passes faster, usually twice as fast." Dad nodded. "An hour in the Middle Plane means two hours in the Higher Plane… and only half an hour in the Lower Plane on average. But the Lower Plane is worse than that. It's far more chaotic; the rules are far less reliable. Sometimes, that half-hour might shorten to a mere ten minutes, or lengthen to the same hour as the Middle Plane. And it doesn't keep rules according to location. The rules there just keep shifting. The whole Lower Plane is more like a level of subconscious than anything else. It's really hard to control anything there except what you bring from the Middle or Higher Planes."

Colin remembered. "The land itself changed from a sandy beach island to a rocky canyon."

"Exactly." Dad nodded. "It's that messed up. But that terrain change might have been deliberate."

"You're saying someone might have caused it to happen?!" Colin stared. "We can {change} the Lower Plane?"

"Essentially, yes." Dad agreed. "If you're really, really good at it. Most people can't, but if there are enough people wanting the same thing, it might happen. Or it might turn into the exact opposite of what everybody wants. Like I said… it's chaotic, and doesn't follow rules very well."

Alicia shivered. "I can't imagine why anyone would want to mess around with it."

"Oh, there are things that can only be done there." Dad said, waving vaguely. "I'm not going to tell you too much and tempt you, just in case you try anything stupid, but there are organizations who specialize in providing services only relevant to the Lower Plane. Raiders, for example, who salvage all sorts of things and bring them back to the Higher Planes to sell. It seems to be popular with teenagers who treat it like a sport. Those guys on airskates sound like Raiders. But even they know well enough to work in groups."

"Dreamworlds is like the sea, isn't it?" Colin guessed. "The Middle Plane is like the surface, with Dreamworlds for islands. The Higher Plane is like the sky. And the Lower Plane would be like underwater. Everything down there even feels different."

"You can say that." Dad shrugged. "Just stay away from the green Gates."

"Planar Gates. Gates from Plane to Plane." Colin fell silent. "What if we wanted to go to the Higher Plane? Like an Orbital Space Station or something?"

"Just be sure the Gate's archway is pointed up, not down." Dad advised. "But you shouldn't be going to the Higher Plane anytime soon. The Cult is most active there."

"Flying saucers. Right." Colin sighed. "And I thought I found a way to finish up all my homework in a single night."

"Just do it normally in the Middle Planes and take two nights." Dad advised. "With the Cult there, the Higher Plane is dangerous around Nakama and Gardens Dreamworlds."

A thought occurred to Colin. "Hey, Dad… are there things that can only be done in the Higher Plane? Repairing a piece of equipment, for example?"

"Of course." Dad said, outright. "Most of the Middle Plane is given over to leisure and entertainment. It's for people to rest, remember? The real work in Dreamworlds is usually done in the Higher Plane."

Colin frowned, thinking of how he needed to get his bracer repaired in the Higher Plane. But then another thought occurred. "Then all the industry on Nakama World and Lamico…"

"Are nothing compared to the industries in the Higher Plane." Dad told him. "A single space factory has more manufacturing capability than the entire Lamico Continent put together. In other words… the stuff you've got on Nakama World is just play-industry."

Colin shivered. "Can it still be translated to real-world resources, though? Sold for Clira?"

"Of course. Everything in Dreamworlds can be sold for Clira, and there are plenty of businesses that sell their real-world goods through shops in Dreamworlds. Just imagine how much easier it is to try and test out goods before buying them. Like those clothes you yourself bought last night. Did you know that company doesn't have any shops in the real world at all? But they're selling tons of clothes straight from their factories without needing to spend a Clira on real-world rentals or shipping inventory to outlets."

"It makes sense." Colin admitted. "But I have the feeling there's a lot more to it than that."

"Of course there is, but that's not important right now." Dad said. "What's important is that you stay safe. Also, you're going to have to make up with your friends."

{They're not my friends!} Colin wanted to shout it at Dad, but the memory of Larry's face that day gave him pause.

Larry had looked… hurt.

On top of that, Alicia was sitting right here, with her sword at hand, within striking distance. Colin didn't want to die his way back to the Forest of Legends again so soon.

"I don't think it's a good idea to see Jonah just yet." Colin said finally. "And I just apologized to Alicia an hour ago." He turned to her. "Anything else I need to apologize for?"

Alicia straightened, and smirked. "Let me draw up a list."

"Good." Dad said. "Keep at it. Stay out of trouble."

"I'm just going to do a quest for the Forest Princess." Colin said, throwing up his hands. "And Professor Jijin. And I think I missed my J-Knight Trials last night."

"Trials?" Dad blinked. "Some sort of exam?"

{No, not that kind of Trials, the kind where they sentence you to a punishment!} Colin thought, but didn't say it out loud. He just shrugged.

Alicia didn't say anything about the Trials either. All she said was, "Is my dad there?"

"Sure. I'll go call him." Dad said, and went off-screen.

Uncle Nelson came on screen after a short wait. "Hello, Alicia. Hello, Colin. How are you?"

What happened next shocked Colin to the core.

"We're safe for now…" Alicia began.

"Aww. Big bad monsters to fight in Nakama World?" Uncle Nelson cooed. "Don't be scared. Daddy's right here."

"Dad, we…"

"Tell you what. I'll bring back a present when I come back, okay? Be good now."

"Dad, you're not listening…"

"Be nice to each other and play fair, all right? Ask your mom if you need any money… you know, for candy or something…"

"Dad, we're in serious…"

"Of course, of course. Lots of cute and cuddly animals there, right? You want more? Or one in particular? How much does it cost?"

"Aargh!" Alicia threw up her hands. "Five Clira!"

"FIVE?!" Uncle Nelson looked shocked. "Surely you can find a smaller pet to play with! I'll give you three, okay? Make them count! That should be enough allowance for a good little girl…"

Alicia put on a sweet smile and said, "Thanks, daddy."

"Aww. You're welcome, honey." He wheedled, and cut the link. The screen went black.

Alicia grabbed the cushion off her seat and hurled it into the comms screen. She glared at Colin. "What?!"

Colin shook his head. He didn't say a word. Not one word.

***

Now Colin understood why Alicia hadn't called her dad for help when they were in danger. {He treats her like… like… well… like a kid.}

That she really was a kid didn't help matters any. But Alicia wasn't like that. She was… she was…

{Smart. Cunning. Ruthless.} Colin thought. {Mean. Tough. Bitter. But brave. Last night proved that.}

She glared at Colin now. "Does he always talk to you like that?"

"Who?" Colin asked, startled.

"Your dad! Does he always…" she choked.

Colin gulped and nodded slowly. "Always."

He could see it all over her face. Jealousy. {Her dad never talks to her like that. Never takes her seriously. Never listens.}

"Hey, um…" Colin paused.

"WHAT?!" Alicia demanded.

"If you like…" Colin took a deep breath. "You can talk to {my} dad."

Alicia stood like a statue. For a moment there, he wondered if she was even breathing, she was so still.

But at last, she said, "Be grateful for your father, Colin. Be very grateful."

Colin gave her a slow nod.

"Let's go." Alicia spun and stalked out stiffly.

"Go where?" Colin blinked.

"You were Traveling with the outlaws, right?" Alicia pointed out. "Scarlet and the Gardener? They're probably worried about you by now. At the very least you should let them know you're okay and busy with Lynn's quest."

{'Lynn'? Just 'Lynn'? Isn't that rude of Alicia?!} Colin felt a little perturbed about her referring to the Forest Princess so casually, but then reflected, {I do that myself. She must have picked it up from me.}

"But Alicia…" Colin objected. "If I bring you to our secret hideout, how do I know you won't expose us to the J-Knights?"

Alicia stared. "Colin. I {know} about that sudden Gate out of nowhere. I was there with you in somebody else's {Inner World}. And I didn't say a word about it to anybody, not even your dad. Yet you're worried about me keeping a secret about a playland {hideout}?!"

Colin frowned. "Why did you? Keep it all secret?"

"Because it's {your} secret, isn't it? It's not mine to tell." Alicia pointed out.

Colin had to give her grudging admiration and appreciation for that. "Thanks. But that hideout isn't mine to tell either. I'll have to ask Scarlet if it's okay."

He called her.

Scarlet, quite predictably, wasn't comfortable with the idea. "Look, Colin, {you} are an outlaw like us. But she's just joined the J-Knights. It's not the same."

"I understand." Colin said, and he really did understand. "I'll come join you guys again after we figure out what's going on with our respawning points. By the way, have you any idea why this is happening to us? I mean, if either of us die, we {both} respawn at the dead one's Home Base."

"I don't know, but look at the bright side of it; you've got a surefire, free-of-charge method to practically teleport from your Home Base to hers."

"But a painful one." Colin grimaced. "I {hate} dying."

Yet they found themselves using it soon enough. Alicia pointed it out. "We don't really have any business left here, do we? You don't need to meet your friends, and I don't need to meet Jonah. I'm fine wherever, and your princess needs help, which means you need to get back to the Forest of Legends. Florence and Fanny would be wondering what happened to us too. Let's just go back."

Colin grimaced. "I get the feeling you'd welcome another twenty thousand Clira."

Alicia grinned. "Why pay for travel when you can {get} paid for it?"

Moments later, they were back in the Forest of Legends.

***

"Let's get organized." Alicia said, and got busy while Colin sat there sniffing his half of the leaf. Even with the leaf, recovering from respawn sickness took a long time.

"First," Alicia began, "We need to avoid the Gaians and Jonah. That means staying away from populated areas and the Continent of Eternal Winter. Especially my Home Base, because it's Jonah's and Larry's too."

"Just set a new Home Base." Colin waved vaguely, weakly.

"And where would I be able to do that?" Alicia asked. "Forest Village? That place is about to get wiped out by the Cult, I suspect."

"Set it here." Colin coughed. "We don't really need to teleport back to the airport every time you die, right?"

"We don't know how safe this place is, or how long it will be safe." Alicia said quietly. "We need a second place to respawn in case this one gets overrun."

"What choice do we have?" Colin groaned.

Alicia called up a map. "Anything on this continent is bad news. Lamico is a possibility; I don't think the Green Men would be looking for you there any time soon, although the J-Knights probably have it staked out. There, and every other populated island or continent. If you want to avoid the Green Men {and} the J-Knights {and} Jonah, then…" she tapped a spot on the map. "There's only one place left to go."

"The Uber Marshes." Colin grimaced. "The land overrun by Frenzieds. The Drama Queen is there."

"I can't believe the Destroyer of Lamico is afraid of a little girl." Alicia shook her head.

Colin took a moment before he realized she was referring to him. "{I'm} the Destroyer of Lamico?! Since when?"

"It's what they call you on the J-Knight Wanted List." Alicia shrugged. "Anyway, it's either that, or we have to risk a village or town somewhere. But no matter how small a settlement, there's bound to be someone there willing to sell information to the Knights in exchange for a little Clira."

Colin groaned. "I missed my Trials too."

"Yep. They automatically declared you guilty already." Alicia said, examining the J-Knights notice on him. "They're not raising the bounty, though. Pity. I thought my income was about to skyrocket."

"Fine!" Colin threw up his hands. "Let's go fight the Frenzieds and clear out an Outpost Base for you in the Uber Marshes."

"We should buy some Redirect Beacons too." Alicia decided. "I think I should go shopping."

"Shopping again?" Colin sighed.

"Swamp gear." Alicia pointed out. "Going into the Uber Marshes in winter-wear or casual clothes is just asking for trouble. There are bogs and sinkholes and goodness knows what else in there. I'm going to look for a good scout Comrade, something suitable to help us find our way in the Marshes. But all that is just groundwork for my new investment. What about you? You need to do those quests right? Save the Princess and hand in your assignment to the Professor?"

"You sound like you've given up on solving this Respawn-Together thing." Colin grumbled. "I still think someone around here should know how to separate our Respawning. Professor Jijin, perhaps."

"And you want to see him without finishing your homework?" Alicia snorted. "Sorry. I mean, your {quest}?"

"Fine. I'll do the 100 Tames quest and go see Jijin." Colin threw up his hands. "But don't pretend this trip to the Uber Marshes is for my sake. You obviously just want to get a nice private hideout of your own. You're just using me while we're stuck together."

"Why, of course." Alicia grinned. "But before that, I need your help for something else."

"Which is…?"

"I need you to help me {out} of this Forest without getting killed by the Wilds here. Unless you want to die our way back to Soft Snows Airport and back again? I could always use another twenty thousand Clira."