By the time they had gone through the fast-food line, the truck had pulled out and left the stop. Alex felt a flicker of frustration as they ran back to the Ochre Star base, but at least they had a better idea of the scope of what was going on.

They brought a handful of burgers back for Joanna and Clara. The other Surveyors appeared to be amused by the sight of them all hurriedly eating and disposing of the evidence; Clara didn't have to work very hard to ask them to keep it a secret from Laser and the others. Even the Greyhawk pilots were bribed to secrecy with burgers of their own.

By the time Laser and the C ranks returned, everything was exactly the way it should have been. They all loaded back into the Greyhawk and lifted off, headed back to the Royal Purple compound. Then all they would need to do would be to figure out how to kill multiple Anchor Points on Earth, all at the same time.

It was going to be a busy rest of the week.

"I'm still surprised that they gave you the day off." Eric smiled at Alex, passing her a plate full of burritos. "Not that I'm complaining, of course. They didn't need you to stay on-call?"

Alex shook her head. "No, the other team was still up for the next alert, and Warner decided to be 'generous'." She made the air quotes with one hand as she tried to maneuver the plate without getting her fingers burnt.

Eric frowned. "You think he is getting you out of the way?"

She shrugged. "Maybe. It does seem a little convenient."

He passed her another plate and then picked up another pair of them himself. "Well, at least you got the chance to come home for a bit. Your mother has been a bit concerned."

Alex rolled her eyes. Calling Muriel concerned was a bit of an understatement. She'd been helicoptering around Alex since the moment she'd walked through the door. "I know. I'm fine."

Muriel looked up as Alex walked into the dining room. "Fine? You aren't even a Surveyor anymore."

"You're just jealous that I figured something out that you didn't do first." Alex heard a couple of stifled chuckles from their other guests. Her teammates had decided to tag along in order to have an impromptu war conference before their training week started again. Joanna, at the very least, looked pleased to have the discussion over burritos and drinks rather than huffing away around the compound.

Muriel raised an eyebrow at her. "Well, just you wait. I'll find some portals to run between and smash one of Greylight's little toys. Then there'll be two Pioneers in the family."

"Easier said than done." Sam snagged one of the burritos from Alex's plate. "I think I've narrowed it down to three trailers, but I'm still having a hard time tracking them."

Clara looked up from where she was getting ready to dig into her own food. "Only three? I thought Steel Sky had like sixty of the things."

"They do, but only three of them were ordered in the past six months." Sam waggled a fork at her. "The first one of the three had the same license registered as the note. The last one was the one we saw outside of Ochre Star."

Eric frowned at Sam. "How'd you figure that out? Some kind of hacking?"

Alex laughed. "Nope. He lied." Sam looked a little embarrassed as she continued. "He called in to the local DMV and pretended to be a Regulation agent again. They coughed up the registration information pretty quickly."

Muriel studied him with a jaded look in her eye. "You know, that little game might catch up to you quickly."

Sam met her stare with one of his own. "If so, that's fine by me. Regulation can't dig into it without uncovering what Greylight is doing. For me, it's a win-win."

She tilted her head. "Except for the jail time."

He paused and then grimaced. "Then we'll just have to not get caught."

Eric burst out laughing. "A pretty good plan, young man. I like to follow that one too."

Muriel gave him a withering look and then sighed. She looked at Alex. "You know, I expected you to have better judgment when it came to your friends. Or at least learned to stay away from the ones who light fires when they aren't supposed to."

Despite the fondness in her mother's voice, Alex felt a flicker of offense. She picked a burrito of her own. "The ones I have stand by me pretty well. Jail or no jail."

"As fun as running up against Regulation might be, I think we should have a better plan of attack." Joanna took a sip of her drink before she continued. "Now that we know about the three trucks, do we know where they are going to be?"

Clara perked up. "Actually, yeah." She hit a few buttons on her phone and then turned it around to show the others. "Lisa got in touch with me because Sam was busy. I guess she managed to get all three of Warner's lackeys' schedules for the whole week."

"Busy, busy." Muriel's murmur summed up Alex's own feelings. "All three of them are going to be flying somewhere this week?"

Sam was already tapping searches into his own phone. "Looks like they are hitting Sunset Guard, Blue Mountain, and… Silver Lake?" He paused. "That doesn't make sense. The portals they're attacking aren't just D rank ones. Our response forces would be too weak to handle a horde there."

Muriel tapped a finger on the table. "Silver Lake and Blue Mountain are both rivals of Greylight in certain areas. They could be starting to use these Anchor Points to sabotage their competitors instead of just intimidating the smaller companies into joining them."

Clara shuddered. "Can you picture what one of those things would do to a C rank portal? Or worse, a B or an A rank one?" She shook her head. "There could be a lot more casualties before this is over."

Alex nodded. "Then we'll need to stop them before they get started." She looked at Sam. "When are the goons supposed to make their appearance?"

He looked over at Clara's phone. "Looks like the ones against Sunset Guard and Silver Lake will probably happen on Wednesday. I'd bet the one against Silver Lake happens Thursday."

"And we know which truck stops they'll use?" He nodded, and Alex smiled. "Then let's make sure they don't get the chance."

Muriel laughed. "Does this mean I get a shot at one of them after all?"

Alex shook her head. "No, I think it might be better to have you here." When the Crimson Blade looked at her, Alex shrugged. "You might be… recognizable. We can take care of the Anchor Points in other ways."

Joanna swallowed a bit of burrito. "You remember it took a whole group of E ranks to take out the first one, right? And we got pretty lucky there too?"

"Yeah, but these ones aren't going to be fully activated. In fact, I don't think any of them will be running at all." Alex smiled. "Keep in mind, they have to be in motion, and they aren't heavily guarded. I'd bet one, maybe two drivers, both D rank or lower."

Sam tilted his head to watch her. "So?"

She grinned. "So, how hard do you think it would be to… arrange a car accident?" He blinked, and she looked at her father. "And maybe a car fire? Maybe with a bomb threat on the third one?"

Silence reigned for a few moments. Joanna was staring at her with a bite halfway to her mouth. Then Eric started to laugh. "I knew I raised you right. That's my girl."

Clara looked stunned. "We can't… I mean… a car accident?"

"I don't know if that will work." Sam was already typing on his phone. "I think I can arrange for someone to take it for a joyride, though. That would at least end with it getting wrecked at the end."

Joanna gave him a sharp look. "Seriously? How?"

He shrugged. "It pays to know people."

Eric raised a meaty hand, even as Muriel covered her eye. "I still claim the firebomb. I don't trust any of you to do it right."

Alex rolled her eyes. "You can have that one, Dad."

"Don't encourage your father, Alex." Muriel dropped her hand and shook her head. "Aside from that, the bomb threat won't work. If Regulation is afraid to deal with Greylight, some podunk police force isn't going to touch one of their trucks."

Joanna got a calculating look on her face. "What about a tow truck company? They can be pretty malicious, and they could grab it before the drivers realize what's happening. From there, all they would need to do would be to abandon it somewhere or rattle it around enough to break things. Maybe they could even have an 'accident' while they drag it away."

Clara gave the Adept a shocked look. "That's evil."

In return, Joanna just sniffed. "I call it effective. We're trying to stop Greylight, right? It pays to use what we have."

Alex nodded. "Yeah. Especially since, if we do this right, we can stop them without even having our fingerprints on it. Greylight won't even know we've done it."

Muriel sighed. "As long as your father doesn't get himself caught."

Eric gave her an offended look. "I would never!"

Sam looked up from his phone. "How much damage do you think they need to do? Like running it into a tree? Or something more like ditching it off an overpass?"

Amused at the firestorm she'd just unleashed, Alex just sat back. By the time Wednesday rolled around, Warner's plans were going to go up in smoke. All she would need to do at that point would be to get her and her team ready. She just hoped they would be just as enthusiastic about that part of the plan.

When she walked into the training room on the next day, Alex found the other teams already gathered in bunches around the portal. None of the D ranks looked entirely enthusiastic about their chances; from what Clara had said, none of the other teams had managed anything close to a full clear since Abbott had been fired. Most of them had barely managed to complete a Hidden Quest or two before being chased out of the other world by Shifters or packs of other Grue. Obviously, the concept of going through yet another day of similar opportunities was not something they were excited about.

The teams were the ones led by Grumps, Trips, and a former Page turned Adept nicknamed Hopps. The ones on-call were led by Bonk and Fetch, neither of whom were present, and both of whom were bracing themselves for casualties if they hit an anomaly.

Hopefully, none of them would see one ever again.

Alex shook off those thoughts and approached the other team leaders. They looked over at her with a combination of resignation and unhappiness on their faces. Trips was the first to speak up. "Valkyrie. We heard you went through a couple of bad ones last week. Are you still good to go in?"

She nodded. "Yeah, we're good." Alex glanced back at her friends, who gave her reluctant nods. "In fact, we'd actually like to help you guys out today."

Grumps grumbled something under his breath, but Hopps ignored him. "Help us? How so? You're already going first, right?"

Alex nodded again. "We will, but we'd also like to come along on your Surveys as well."

Trips blinked. She tilted her head to study Alex. "You think we need the extra support?"

There was an edge of dislike in Trips' voice, which made sense. Alex would have felt a bit of resentment if a fellow D rank decided that she was weak enough to need backup on a simple Survey. She tried to keep her own voice light. "My team has… been through a lot. We've fought through a ton of tough scenarios."

Grumps folded his arms. "So you're just that much better than us."

Alex met his eyes steadily. "This past on-call, we had to kill hundreds of Grue, right out of the portal. We did it because we're good. Are you ready to do something similar next week?" The Surveyor grimaced and looked away. She turned her gaze on the others. "It's a C rank portal. It's supposed to be tough for all of us, and the only way you're going to see progress is if you take the support you can get."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Trips nodded slowly. "Are you sure you can keep that up? You'd be going in an extra three times today."

"If we get overwhelmed, we'll just sit one out." Alex shrugged. "Either way, we'll be trying to keep the Shifters off you and clearing out some of the patrols. It'll give you a shot at completing all of your Quests. You'll get stronger, and you'll start getting ready to take things on by yourselves."

Hopps grinned. "And you guys will be getting stronger as well. It's going to make it even harder to catch up."

Alex shrugged. "I'm not going to lie, that's part of it, too. With everything that's going on, we all need to be at the top of our game." It wasn't exactly the truth, but it was close enough for her purposes.

Grumps was looking from her to the portal and back. Then he sighed. "All right. If you're offering, we'll accept. It'll probably all end poorly, anyway."

Trips rolled her eyes. "Well, if Grumps' in, my team's not going to want to fall behind." Hopps nodded as well, and Alex let out a quiet breath of relief.

"All right. We'll head in now. See you when we get back." She walked back to her friends, who were preparing themselves with grim determination.

Clara looked up as Alex approached. "They agreed?"

"Yeah. We're good to go." Alex glanced at the portal. It didn't look any worse than usual, which felt a little weird after so many portals crackling with lightning. "You ready?"

They nodded, though Joanna spoke in a low voice. "You're sure we need this?"

Alex grimaced and nodded. "Yeah. The tougher we are before Wednesday, the better we can deal with whoever Warner has in reserve."

The Adept grimaced. "If we end up going up against C ranks, then something will have gone very, very wrong, Alex."

"I know." Alex sighed. "That's why Mom's going to hang around nearby—but it would still be a good idea to be able to stand up to them until she gets here. Better safe than sorry."

Joanna sighed, but Sam just chuckled to himself. "Let's all be honest here. Valkyrie just missed crunch enough that she's trying to make it a thing again."

Alex gave him a glare, but it didn't seem to have any effect. He wasn't serious, probably; Sam had been the first one to agree to the plan, after all. She just hoped that she wasn't setting them up for failure.

The portal was waiting.

[D Rank Pioneer Alex]

[Ascension Level: 8]

[Role: Porter (Role Skills: None)]

[Role Level: 3]

[Experience: 4020/4500]

[Attributes: Strength -> 8, Speed -> 10, Life -> 6, Devotion -> 0, Control -> 0]

[Current Skills: Combat Balance(0), Motion Trance(19), Combined Arms–Axe/Shield(0),

Holy–Storm(0)]

[Permanent Skills: Battle Maneuvers*(27)]

[Current Titles: Empress of War (Increases Skill grade of Melee, Combined Arms, Weapon Mastery, and Battle Maneuvers by five.),

Aggression (Increases Skill grade of Melee, Weapon Mastery, Combined Arms, and Combat Balance Skills by five.),

Fated Hero (Increases Skill grade of Dodging, Anticipate, Battle Maneuvers, and Inspect by five),

Eternal Motion (Increases Skill grade of Recovery, Running, Marathoning, and Motion Trance by five.),

Tireless (Increases Skill grade of Recovery Skills by three.),

True Sentinel (Increases Skill grade of Deflect, Dodging, Blocking, Resist, Zeal, and Combat Balance by five.),

Still Flow (Increases Skill grade of Meditation, Focus, Recovery, Arcane, Sense, and Motion Trance by five.),

Elite (Increases Skill grade of Combat Balance, Battle Maneuvers, Battle Mastery, and Battle Dance by five.),

Lethality (Increases Skill grade of Melee, Weapon Mastery, and Combined Arms Skills by five.),

Consecrated (Increases Skill grade of Holy by five.),

War Prowess (Increases Skill grade of Battle Maneuvers, Rush Assault, and Heavy Assault by five.),

War Momentum (Increases Skill grade of Combat Balance, Riposte, and Battle Dance by five.),

Blitz Master (Increases Skill grade of Combined Arms, Lunge, and Charge by five),

Deliberate (Increases Skill grade of Battle Maneuvers, Anticipate, and Combined Arms by five.)],

Quick (Increases Skill grade of Motion Trance, Evasion, and Charge Assault by two.)]

It wasn't exactly encouraging to see so many of her Skills at zero, but at the same time, it meant that every single battle was going to improve her for the next fight. Besides, Battle Maneuvers was still close to maximum, and seemed more powerful than it had ever been before. It should keep her from being useless during their first Survey, at least.

[Current Portal Status: Stable, Magic Level Steady]

[Current Portal Level: C3]

[Warning: Portal Level Higher Than Current Potential]

[Scouting Oriented Objectives Recommended]

[Local Area Population: None]

Alex shrugged aside the warning. Part of why they were going to be fighting so hard would be to bring their combat Skills up. That meant she'd be fighting, regardless of the Screen's concerns.

[Current Objective Budget: 400]

[Select Priority Objective]

There was no one to rescue this time, at least. Instead, she pictured herself fighting patrol after patrol filled with Grue.

[Priority Objective: Destroy twelve Grue patrols. Possible rewards: 120 Experience. Accept?]

Given the number of patrols they were likely to encounter, it seemed straightforward enough. She accepted.

[Select Additional Objectives]

Alex pictured the number of locations her friends were likely to need to visit. There'd be at least three, maybe four, all packed with Grue. They probably didn't want to fight those, at least, just visit them.

[Additional Objective: Scout at least three new locations within the local area. Possible rewards: 120 Experience. Accept?]

She nodded and then moved on. Running into a Shifter or two was almost a guarantee at this point. Could killing one be an Objective?

[Additional Objective: Eliminate at least one Grue Shifter. Possible rewards: 40 Experience. Accept?]

She accepted and then found herself with a good chunk of Experience still available. Usually it would have been filled in just by killing whatever types of Grue she came across. Was that type of Objective no longer available?

There was a pause before the orange text appeared again, and she grimaced.

[Remaining Objective left as Open for Automatic Assignment. Remaining Budget: 120 Experience. Accept?]

Apparently not, unless those types of Quests were in the Open category. For all she knew, she'd get assigned extra Shifters to kill instead. She'd almost much rather figure out what the Item mechanics were…

[Additional Objective: Utilize six new Items. Possible rewards: 120 Experience. Accept?]

Alex blinked. There could be at least six different things she could grab, given the available Grue types. She accepted.

Interested despite herself, she stepped forward into the light…

"I'm just saying, we'd get stronger a lot faster if we were all Pioneers."

Alex rolled her eyes and sighed. "I know, Sam. I know."

They were on their way to the Harvester, which was a location that both Clara and Joanna shared on their list. After that, they planned on swooping south, to where the Water Tower apparently was, before heading back east towards the town to pick up the General Store for Sam. Two patrols had already tried to stop them and had been wiped out for their troubles. It was a good start to the Survey, at least.

Joanna spoke up from where she was jogging along. "It isn't all fun and games, Sam. Have you figured out how to use those Grue bits, Alex?"

Alex grunted and shook her head. She'd picked up the materials left behind by parts of the patrols. The slabs left by Knights were apparently called Oath Fragments and Brutes left chunks of metal called Shattered Rage. Killers were leaving grey crystals the Screen named Deadly Intent, and Mages left behind shining crystals called Concentrated Impurities.

Unfortunately, beyond the names, the Screen seemed unwilling to provide any more information about them. Alex was already getting a sinking feeling that she wasn't going to get a full clear this time.

Sam continued to grouse, however. "She might just be keeping a secret, you know. It's not like we would know."

Alex sighed. "I promise I'm not keeping it a secret, Sam."

Clara spoke up from the rear. "What do those things even do in the real world? I know the bits from Soldiers get used as power sources."

Joanna answered, her voice taking on a lecturing tone. "The ones from Mages get used the same way, but on a bigger scale. I guess they produce a lot more energy than the others, and for a lot longer."

Alex looked back at the Adept in surprise. "Same with the Killer ones?"

The Adept shook her head. "No. From what I've heard, those tend to get used in specialized optics and sensors. The stuff from the Knights gets used in conductors and transmitters a lot, and the metal from the Brutes gets used in a ton of advanced alloys for tanks and other materials."

"A tank would be nice for stuff like this." Sam grinned. "Are you gonna build a tank for us to ride, Valkyrie?"

She stuck her tongue out at him. "If I do, you're getting dragged behind the back."

He chuckled, and Alex turned her attention back to the terrain ahead. "I'll figure it out, and I'll let you know when I do."

"Too bad you can't use those things like fuel, right?" Clara shrugged. "I mean, it would make sense that they're related. Give it a try."

Alex frowned and turned her attention back to the gathered materials. She slipped her axe into a loop in her belt and then picked up one of the Concentrated Impurities. "So, what, I just channel my magic through—"

The Storm filled her, and she felt it start to swirl around the crystal. Purple light flared within it, as if struggling against her. Then it sparked, and a cascade of orange flared across its surface, wiping away the purple light as if it were oil burned from the face of a lake.

Abruptly, Alex felt a surge of magical power. It wasn't stable in the least, and she had no way to contain it. In panicked reflex, she threw it up and away from her, hoping it wouldn't branch out and back into her and her friends.

A fat tendril of lightning, thicker than her leg, speared out and into the ground, completely out of her control. It flared orange against Alex's reflexively closed eyelids, and a blast of heated air smacked into her. She threw up her hand, trying to shield herself as a roar filled the air. As it all faded, Alex opened her eyes to see the crystal crumble away to dust that vanished. Even those small specks vanished as she watched.

She looked around and saw her friends all staring at the spot where the lightning had hit. The portion of the road now bubbled and steamed, with a spiderweb of charred pathways spreading from the impact point. Then her friends looked back at her, their expressions saying volumes.

[Additional Objective Progress: 1 of 6 materials used.]

"Okay." Joanna sounded mildly stunned. "I think I agree with Sam now."

Further experimentation proved one thing conclusively: Alex had no idea how to control anything that she did with the Grue materials.

Lightning she produced with Concentrated Impurities stabbed wildly in random directions; she just barely missed electrocuting Sam at least once. When she took to more… destructive… experiments with some of the other materials, she got similar results. Smashing a Deadly Intent sent a burst of pure fear in all directions, scattering any nearby patrols—but the wave hit her and her allies as well, freezing them in place. Smashing two Oathstones together seemed to produce a kind of dome that sheltered them, but also trapped them inside the shimmering perimeter.

The only promising outcome was still unpleasant. Crushing a Shattered Rage gave her next attack a truly terrifying burst of power. When she swung her axe, it was like she had attached a rocket to the back of her weapon. It was wild and nearly impossible to aim accurately—but it also left a rent in the pavement nearly as deep as the axe blade itself, and cracks extended for at least a few yards.

"It must be related to your Attributes." Joanna was in full stride now, her eyes alight with possibilities. "If you had better Control, you might be able to channel that lightning better. Same with the fear burst. If Clara used her Devotion for it…"

The Acolyte broke in excitedly. "Then we could shape it however we wanted!"

Sam grinned. "That's probably why that monster attack goes a bit better. It must rely more on Strength, and you've got a bit of that at least."

Alex nodded slowly. It did make a bit of sense, even if it wasn't encouraging. "That must mean that some materials relate to Speed and Life as well, right?"

Joanna nodded. "We'll try those when we run across them. Maybe something from Archers?"

Sam laughed. "Forget Archers. We're going to have to see what she does with the Shifter's stuff. We do still have to finish the Survey, right?"

They all nodded, and then they continued on the road west. The Grue were waiting ahead.

The rest of the Survey passed almost in a blur. They ran into three more patrols on the way to the Harvester, neither of which lasted for more than a minute. Between Alex's steadily increasing Skills and the abilities of her friends, the Grue seemed to just melt in front of them. A quick scan of the Harvester achieved that part of the Survey, and then they veered off to head back towards the town.

Three more patrols went down as they made their way south, where they found the Water Tower standing tall over yet more fields of what looked like barley. It was a massive structure, with an equally impressive water tank up above. The Grue had built an Outpost beneath it, but even if Alex's hands were itching for more combat, they bypassed the place to head back towards the town, killing another two patrols on the way.

There was yet another Shifter patrolling the streets of the place, this one a scorpion-tailed version that let itself be lured into a trap. The ensuing fight was short enough that barely any of them had more than a scrape from it, and Clara's healing quickly erased what there was of that. Sam was the only exception, having taken a claw to the leg, which they quickly bandaged.

Alex experimented with the materials from the downed Shifter as they made their way back to the portal. The first remnant was an orb that the Screen labeled a Shifting Memory. When Alex drew from it, for a moment, the world around them seemed somehow less… neglected. It was as if, for those few heartbeats, the ruin that surrounded them retreated. It left her feeling somewhat disturbed by the experience, and she quickly resolved never to do it again.

Her second attempt was more encouraging. The Shifter had left behind a small, glowing rod that the Screen labeled Congealed Impermanence. When she snapped it, there was a moment of discontinuity, and when she looked around afterwards, Sam's wound had disappeared. He was happy enough, but it also made her wonder if the thing would have other effects if she wasn't careful.

In any case, they ran into another three patrols before they reached the portal, more than enough to resolve her Objectives. She dove through the vortex with the others, wondering what the rest of the day would hold…

[Mission Report]

[Completed an Objective. +20 Experience]

[Priority Objective Completed. +120 Experience]

[Additional Objectives Completed +280 Experience]

[All Objectives Complete +80 Experience]

She sighed in satisfaction at the report. The full clear had been risky this time, but it was definitely a welcome sight.

[Current Portal Status: Stable, Magic Level Steady]

[Current Portal Level: C3]

[Local Area Population: None]

With another nod of acceptance, she moved on to the next part of the report.

[Battle Maneuvers* increased from 27 to 30!]

[Motion Trance increased from 18 to 20!]

[Combat Balance increased from 0 to 32!]

[Combined Arms—Axe/Shield increased from 0 to 33!]

[Holy—Storm increased from 0 to 33!]

The sudden increases were more than welcome, but she knew from previous experience just how difficult it was going to be in order to bring her Skills to their actual maximum amounts. At least the following Surveys would help her chances by quite a bit.

[You have reached level 4 as a Porter!]

[+2 Life gained. +1 Free Attribute awarded.]

Alex grinned in triumph. Just one more level, and she'd be ready to reach C rank. She assigned the free Attribute to Strength, and continued on.

[Battle Maneuvers* has reached level 30! Skill is at Max Level and can no longer increase.]

[Battle Maneuvers* has reached capacity for Titles. No more are available.]

[Reset Battle Maneuvers* to ascend Permanent Skill?]

Confident in her other, now restored Skills, she accepted.

[Battle Maneuvers* becomes Battle Maneuvers**. Skill quality quadruples. Skill will require eight times more effort to increase.]

Alex felt a flicker of horror at what she'd just done to herself, but at least the Skill would be a powerhouse once she was done with it. It probably would be a good idea to keep it at maximum the next time she reached it, though.

[Additional equipment awarded! Select new equipment.]

She selected an upgrade for her shield immediately. There were plenty of other choices, but she had Rabbit's attacks in mind. Alex had no idea what the B rank's arrows would feel like, but she didn't want to find out if she didn't have to. A much more solid defense between her and her enemy would make that much better.

Choices made, she allowed the light to carry her back home…

Laser and her team were waiting for her. They were eying her friends as they stepped away from the portal, still relaxed. The higher ranked team took their reports and then marched up and into the portal.

Trips caught up to her as she walked away. The Surveyor's eyes were worried. "How was it? Are you going back in with us?"

Alex smiled at her. "We'll be there. Just give us enough time to rest." Trips nodded and stepped back as Alex led the way toward the cafeteria. One down, three to go.

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