<24 August 2024, MIRROR DEEP RETREAT, ????> [Theo and Julia] The next morning, Theo, Julia, Ordus, and Sylvi were awakened by an attendant, who informed them that their time was coming to an end in just under an hour. Sylvi stretched. "Did we really sleep for like 16 hours?"

"Looks like it," Theo said with a smile. "Let's eat and get out of here. If anything goes wrong, just remember to get to the Homestead Core."

They all nodded as they made their way back to the lobby while munching on some food they had taken from the room. They made it to the lobby, where Laurel was always.

"Greetings, Lord Sorrenson, Lady Brahmin, Lord Ordus, Lady Karzun-Morrakai. Thank you for your patronage. And please do remember that this is the last of the negotiated terms." Laurel said with a slight bow.

They all agreed and then headed to the access crystal.

<24 August 2024, GRAND MESA OF SUMMER, A+> [Theo and Julia] They arrived back on the Overlook, and Theo checked the timer.

Time to Primordial Flight: 22H - 27M - 44S

"Alright, we have a little over ten hours until people arrive and then another, probably eleven hours after that; we are expecting the Arthintry," Julia said with a sigh.

Theo nodded. "Sylvi, if you would continue working on the Durability runes where Kreldar wants them, then Ordus can continue to assist with the finer detail work. Julia and I have a couple things to take care of before we come back down. So we will see you in a moment."

Sylvi and Ordus nodded and headed to the ramp. Theo and Julia walked to the Homestead Core and placed their hands on it. Theo spoke first. "Hello, Hestia."

"Hello, Theo. Hello Julia, how is it?" The voice said, speech coming much more fluidly than it had before. Theo wondered at how it learned. "I am glad that you are here; I have something to bring to your attention and rewards to issue to you for completed tasks."

"Let's hold off on the rewards for now; what did you want to bring up?" Julia asked.

"While I can not say exactly what was said, or by who, due to System Bound Privacy Rules that every core must abide by, I did want to tell you that there has been a rather high amount of communication via skills to a group outside the Homestead by a group inside the Homestead," Hestia said.

Theo and Julia glanced at each other. Theo spoke. "We are aware. Thank you for the warning. If you need to relay something of a sensitive nature again, please send out the homestead messages as you do. Simply say that you have completed the Sierra India project that we asked you to look into."

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"I understand, but what is the Sierra India project?" Hestia asked curiously.

"It is not a project; it is a code phrase," Julia chuckled, "It just uses the phonetic alphabet for the letters S and I. I am guessing that Theo is using that to indicate sensitive information?"

"That was the thought." Theo said, shrugging, "Figure that a human raised here on Earth might get it, but even then, it could be an actual project."

"Coded messages disguised as a regular notification, an interesting application of pre-System information." Hestia was silent for a moment. "I will keep this in mind, and when we have some time, I would love to hear more about this phonetic alphabet and how you both seemed to understand the coded intent so quickly. Now you needed something?"

Julia and Theo quickly explained what Laurel had offered. "We wanted to make sure that you are okay with this before we provided any agreement or signed the System Contract. Also, we wanted you to look at the contract, if you can, to make sure that you agree."

They felt the telepathic equivalent of a nod. "If you touch the contract to the Core, I will be able to see its contents."

Theo pulled the contract from his pouch and placed it against the core. A moment later, Hestia performed that telepathic nod once again. "It seems that the parts that pertain to both of you can be summed up in three points. First, you and anyone in your Homestead gain unlimited access to the Retreat. Second, you and anyone bound to you in service will receive a discount at the Retreat. You both agree to protect the Retreat and its inhabitants to the best of your ability by protecting access."

Hestia waited a moment; "The rest of this is a bunch of very specific clauses about what kinds of situations I must or must not abide by as far as triggering the teleportation. It also states that there is a permissible amount to charge for access and that prices will be adjusted accordingly by the Retreat. There are some interesting implications presented by this contract, but I am not opposed to it. Please allow me to sign this and make whatever connection is needed."

"Okay, we will sign it as well," Julia said, and as soon as she touched her hand to it, a pulse of energy flowed through the contract, and she knew it was signed. Theo willed his signing, and energy pulsed again. The contract glowed blue when it was touched by Hestia again. Then it vanished. Theo pulled the golden disc from his pouch.

"We were told to give this to you, and you would understand what to do with it," Theo said, touching the disc to the core. It sank into the core and became a small speck in the vast sea of the crystal.

"Thank you!" Hestia said, and then Theo and Julia knew that their conversation was effectively over.

Theo motioned for Julia to follow him and lead her farther from the ramp into the woods. "You should send Lord Gurndin a message and ask if he wants to deal with this or if this is something that we should even bother fighting, as he is backing it."

"Doesn't that seem a little... forward?" Julia asked. "I mean, you are essentially asking if he is trying to take our land or not."

Theo nodded. "I get the feeling that he will not be offended and that if he is trying to take it... Then there might be another path we can take."

Julia shrugged and channeled the Message skill. "Lord Darksmasher. Apologies for interrupting you, but we have concerning information and wanted to ask directly how you would be impacted if we were to deal with some dwarves who may have designs on taking the Overlook from us. While we do not believe that you are behind this, we felt that we should ask you directly if you desire the Overlook, and if you do, if there is a deal, we could work out to keep it. Thank you, and have a fantastic day."

Theo nodded. "You are much better at the diplomatic stuff than I am."

Julia smiled, "I don't think anyone is surprised by that. But I don't mind it. You are very useful in other ways."

Her tone was teasing, and Theo wiggled his eyebrows at Julia as they both walked towards the ramp. "Alright, let's get back to work and wait for a response."

They descended the ramp and got to work.

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