Frederica didn't want them to talk alone.

Penelope took a deep breath as she looked over at the older woman, who was eying her with a look of disapproval.

"I'll be fine." Penelope motioned at the Centaur. "Besides, you need to go with Grandal to get our people released." She nodded at Circe. "And you need Circe more than I will."

Jeru coughed into his hand. "Father."

Ugh. Penelope groaned inwardly. How am I supposed to talk to him and be there for Circe when she realizes her father is down here?

"You can't." Jeru shrugged. "And you can't take her with you."

Why? Do you think she's going to tattle to the Demons? Penelope closed her eyes so she wouldn't glare at the space where the Elf was floating.

"Honestly, I don't know who to trust." A hint of worry crept into his voice. "I'm honestly surprised that I haven't been given to an agent of Kinwel yet."

Do you have a contingency for that? Penelope opened her eyes and looked over at Frederica.

"Doesn't matter unless you decide you want to hand over the card." Jeru sighed. "But yeah, I've got things in place if I look into the next looper's mind and see that they're working for the other side."

"Can't you take Aly or Fae with you?' Frederica glanced at the orange Elf. "I don't like the idea of you being alone with him."

"Fae?" Cirdor looked around. "You have a Fae with you?"

"He thinks you mean one of the Fae. It's a race that's been absent for over a millenium." Jeru sighed. "There's a prophecy about them coming back when the Demon invade again, which is what he thinks you're talking about."

"It's her name." Penelope shook her head. "She's human just like me." She turned from Cirdor to Frederica. "If I take one of them, We won't have anyone running the cleanup down here and then Pat is going to come down here and hurt himself." She gestured at the Elf. "I can handle myself."

Cirdor bristled. "The insinuation that I would taint my honor—"

"Look orangy." Frederica jabbed her finger in his direction. "I don't know you and I don't trust you." She pointed at the ceiling. "You arrested a bunch of people because they were weaker than you and you tried to bully us until you realized that we could whoop you." Her eyes narrowed. "So yeah, I trust you to try to overpower us the moment we have our backs turned."

The orange Elf froze as he mulled over her words. "I assure you—"

"Words are cheap." Frederica interrupted. "And your actions say you're dangerous and not to be trusted."

'I'll be fine." Penelope took a deep breath. "He just wants me to show him what we've learned about this place so far."

"If he does something weird, fry him." Crice glared at him. "Because if you don't, I will."

"Let's keep the threats to a minimum." Penelope sighed. "You two go get the rest of the people who were brought here with us and I'll show Cirdor what we've learned so far."

"As long as you're not leaving the floor." Frederica grumbled as she threw one last glare at the Elf, then she pointed at the Centaur. "You better not get any funny ideas when we get to the surface." She gestured at Penelope. "I'm just as deadly as she is."

Grandal snorted, his massive armored horse body turning in place as he trotted back towards the portal.

Penelope watched the four of them leave, then turned to Cirdor. "What are you wanting to know?"

The orange Elf sighed. "I'd hoped to take you to the administration building to show you what we know so far, but your friend seemed very passionate about you staying down here." Contempt filled his voice. "It's the only building the rabble on the surface hadn't defaced."

Warning bells went off in her mind, which drew a laugh out of Jeru.

"Cirdor is about as dangerous as a newborn! His specialty lies in his understanding of magictech and he's a decent teacher, but I've never seen him grow in terms of combat." The parasite in her mind reassured her. "He's proud but too afraid of those who are stronger than him to risk retribution."

Still doesn't make me feel any safer around him. Penelope took a deep breath. "How about you tell me what you know about system worlds?"

The Elf winced. "Um, it's not a subject that we usually cover at the University since the system is considered to be a crutch for those who can wield magic and a cheat for those who can't."

So he thinks I cheated to beat him. Penelope sighed. How does this mean he's not going to try to prove he's actually better than me later?

"Because he believes that you cheating will always beat him in a straight-up fight and his honor won't allow him to play dirty." Jeru shook his head. "Which is why he's a teacher in a backwater colony instead of a soldier or an instructor at the main campus. His style of fighting only works in a controlled environment where there are rules and referees." The blue Elf sighed. "He knows it and refuses to change, so you're safe from him." He stroked his chin. "But he's a rarity, so don't drop your guard around most of the others because they're willing to play dirty."

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Penelope looked at the portal Frederica had walked through. Are they going to be okay?

"Rarely does the militia that he brought with him try to overpower whoever goes up there." Jeru waffled his head. "I'd say the odds are low that they're going to run into trouble."

Cirdor held up his hands, his voice taking on a frantic edge as he interrupted her thoughts. "I wasn't saying that you cheated! Please don't misunderstand; that's just the textbook definition."

Liar. Penelope sighed. "Fine, so the only way that you can tell me anything about the system is if you take me to the administration building?" She took a deep breath. "So you don't know anything about the classes, abilities, jobs, or gear?"

"I'm sure it's all there." Cirdor bobbed his head. "But I don't know anything off the top of my head."

Penelope swallowed. How much information is in there?

"Almost nothing." Jeru winced. "Part of isolating this colony to keep the Demons from reaching out for reinforcements was cutting off all connection to the outside. There is no information there that wasn't stored on site and since the campus hasn't been used in decades, most of the records have been deleted." He gestured at the other Elf. "Though he doesn't know that yet."

Isn't he the one who was supposed to be in charge of this campus? Penelope eyed her brain buddy.

"He got moved to the local school." Jeru waffled his head. "He checks on things to make sure the security system is still working and that no one has broken in, but he rarely comes out here and most of the inventory has been moved to other colonies that could use the resources."

So what can he actually help me with? Penelope eyed the orange Elf.

"If you don't want to go, I could go get the information and bring it back to you." Cirdor offered.

"He can introduce you to anyone in town." Jeru pulled up her menu and pointed at the jobs section. "Which will put you on the fast track to getting these fleshed out."

So follow him around because he'll help me get set up and know who to talk to? Penelope eyed the blue Elf. Can't you do that?

"I can't make introductions; besides, you still have to convince him that you're an agent of the Elders." Jeru groaned. "And that's not going to be easy."

And I suppose you're not going to help me convince him? Penelope grumbled.

"I never said I wasn't going to help, just that it was going to be difficult." Jeru took a deep breath. "The card can access my security clearance on site, but that won't prove that I gave it to you."

And you can't tell me something that only you would know that would convince him? Penelope swallowed as she realized the other Elf was waiting for her response. "That's fine. Since we're going to have to go to the surface, I can let Frederica know where I'm going."

"The others have done various things and it really depends on the person." Jeru mused. "Since you're a Caster, he's going to both resonate and feel intimidated by you." He shrugged. "Tom was the last Caster looper and he showed Cirdor one of dad's signature spells to prove that the Elders had sent him, but you're not electric, so I didn't show you how to change that."

"Splended!" Cirdor motioned at the portal. "I'm assuming you can project like you did earlier so we don't have to walk?"

"Sure." Penelope glanced over at Jeru. So I can't show him a fancy spell that no one else can do. What else is there?

"I'm thinking. Not everyone used him as a go-between. Nate couldn't stand him." Jeru shrugged. "Just follow him while I think about this some more."

You've had how many weeks to think about this? Penelope <Blinked> as the other Caster vanished.

"Just because I've known about the problem doesn't mean that I also know a solution." Jeru shrugged. "Good news is that we get to try until we get it right."

Penelope groaned as she followed the Elf through the portal. Once they were on the surface, Cirdor took off through the courtyard towards the building directly across from where they'd walked out. All the signs of her battle with the Cabbit Demon had been wiped away. Since most of the people that had been brought here had either taken up residence in one of the dorms or the second floor, there wasn't anyone around. The windows of the other buildings were bare, which was probably because the people who had been living in those rooms had all been detained.

They didn't see Frederica or Circe as the two of them walked down the alley on the eastern side of the administration building. Cirdor barely stopped at the pad at the door as he entered the code to unlock the building, then held the door open for her.

"After you." He motioned for her to go inside.

Penelope hesitated for a moment, but the nod from Jeru helped to calm some of the unease she was feeling. She walked through the door into the large building.

The inside was dark, which wasn't surprising considering the blinds were all closed. There was just enough light coming in for her to be able to tell that there was a staircase five feet in front of her that went up to the second floor. A little more than halfway towards the back of the building, there was a door on either side of the stairs, with a hallway going to her left and right down the middle of the building.

Cirdor clapped his hands and the lights came on. The orange Elf jogged up a few stairs and pointed up to his right. "My office is up there. That's where we can access everything."

"Okay…" Penelope touched the wooden railing and the moment her foot touched the first step bars shot up out of the floor, blocking up to the third step and barring her access to the closed door behind her.

"What are you doing?" Penelope attempted to cast <Light Torrent>, but nothing happened.

"It's an Elder-made cage." Cirdor tapped on the metal bars. "You can't use magic while you're inside it, even with the system."

"This isn't honorable." Penelope seethed. "You promised I'd be okay!"

Cirdor flinched. "I haven't harmed you." He took a deep breath. "But I do want to talk to you and this is to ensure that you don't try to run or kill me."

"Kill you?" Penelope fumed. "Why would you think that I'm going to—"

"Because you said system worlds." Cirdor smirked as the rage on her face died. "The average citizen doesn't know that term." He tilted his head. "The few public ones are called game worlds. Only instructors know about the system worlds, so…" His yellow eyes narrowed. "Just who are you?"

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