They hadn't returned from the interspace conduit. Scout shifted from one foot to another and thought about heading back to Othala to ask for instructions. She was supposed to meet them here and lead them back to Othala.

Only they weren't here, even though this was far longer than any of their previous trips into the interspace conduit. That meant she couldn't fulfill Othala's request. It made her anxious.

Surely they'd come soon. No one was supposed to stay in the conduit for this long. Scout wanted to go in after them and find them, but she couldn't. Othala had ordered her not to even try to enter the conduit.

Scout shook her head. If they weren't here by now, they probably weren't coming. That meant she could take the proper route instead of one of the visitor routes and ask for directions.

Scout moved down the hallway to the correct panel, then pulsed her authentication at it. The wall panel seemed to melt into nothingness. It was cool as she stepped through and she knew it would be solid again behind her. Unlike most of the facility, the concealed doors still worked.

A second concealed door took Scout to just outside Othala's chamber, on the far side from the door the newcomers knew about. This door was merely locked and not obvious, because it had to be operated by Othala, but it wasn't concealed the way the others were. It slid out of the way smoothly in front of Scout.

"They are not with you," Othala observed as Scout entered. "They opened the connection almost half an hour ago, and that is plenty of time to traverse the conduit."

Scout shook her head, even though Othala couldn't see. Maybe Othala had a point about practicing the motions; she hadn't even had to think about that one. "They didn't return. I don't know where they went."

"Go to the conduit. Wait for anyone to come through it. If anyone arrives, bring them to be by the visitors' path," Othala told one of the two guards.

"Understood," the guard stated with no unnecessary motion. Scout was pretty sure that Othala would have wanted her to nod at the same time, but the guards weren't getting that level of instruction. Scout wasn't certain why that was, but she didn't feel any need to ask. Othala would tell her if it was important.

It was good that a guard was being sent to watch the conduit. That was better in any case. They were suited to the task, while Scout was designed to go and find things out. That was why she was a scout. She could wait and watch for long time periods, but that wasn't the same as watching a door that was never going to open. A guard could do that for weeks and still be as ready to react as when he started.

Scout could not. It simply wasn't part of her design. Othala obviously knew that, the same way she knew that Scout could act as Othala's hands.

Othala didn't say anything for several minutes. That wasn't unusual, so Scout simply waited. It meant there was nothing to say. Scout was happy to not be sent out to wait for the return of people who were probably not coming back. It was best when she could fulfill Othala's requests, but not having any requests was almost as good. Not being able to do what she was supposed to do was simply awful.

When Othala did finally speak, it didn't seem related to the conduit. "There is a disturbance in the mana on the third level. It is at the edge of detectability, but it matches the signature for the dispersal of at least two ruins apparitions. Go find out who it is and lead them here if they are willing to come. They may already be headed here."

Scout bobbed her head as she'd been taught. "I will."

It was not fast to climb to the third floor, especially not with only one guard. Fortunately, she didn't actually have to reach the third floor; instead, she met several humans on the fourth floor. They were probably the ones Othala meant, since they greeted her and asked to be led to the interspace conduit. Scout refused and led them to Othala instead. Othala could make that choice; Scout was going to follow Othala's instructions.

The humans were easy to convince. They didn't argue at all. Scout was glad for that; it made things easier. From some of what Othala taught her, she'd half expected that "No, only Othala can decide who goes to the conduit" would make them angry and recalcitrant, even though she was leading them to Othala to make the choice.

The trip back to Othala was quick and easy. They'd already cleared the way and no ruin apparitions had reappeared as they climbed.

The human who stepped forward to talk to Othala wasn't the one who normally spoke to her. That man, Volat, was with the group, but it was one of the ones with furry ears on top of their heads that stepped forward. "Othala?"

"Your companions have not returned," Othala stated bluntly. "I believe they are still alive, as they did succeed at their task. I do not know why they haven't returned."

"I know they're alive!" The woman looked up, then forced her gaze back at Othala and deliberately unclenched the hand she'd tightened. "They're fine, they're just on the other side and have to wait for Xin'ri to recover from something that happened in the whatchamacallit. So Taika and I are going to join them and explore the other side a bit. I just need to get to the entrance." She paused, then tentatively added, "And maybe a map of the other side if you have one?"

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"Speaking of maps," the man with furry ears that looked a lot like the woman's spoke up.

Scout was pretty sure he was the man Volat kept reporting back to and translating for. Scout was pretty sure she'd heard his name before. It sounded like the woman-maker's, sort of. Lan'ti, maybe? Yeah, she was pretty sure his name was Lan'ti.

Lan'ti grinned at Othala. "Do you have any maps of this place, especially once that show tunnels to the surface or anything else we can use? We're pretty well set for the winter by now, which is good since it's about to really hit, but that means we have time for other things. I'd like to sweep through more of this complex and maybe start reactivating it if that's possible."

"I can give maps to those who are helping restore the facility," Othala agreed. "They will be partial; I am not permitted to provide a complete map with all features clearly identified at your access level. I can only provide redacted versions that include what is necessary for the work you are completing."

Scout frowned. That sounded like an awful lot of words to say what Othala was saying. It reminded Scout of some of Othala's lessons about dealing with humans, how you could tell someone something without saying it. Scout wasn't sure what Othala was trying to tell them. It wasn't something Scout was good at.

Lan'ti smiled and nodded. "Of course, I wouldn't expect anything else. We'll be happy to take the maps that are needed for each section of repair and cleanup as we get there. I'm certain there's a lot that we can do as we restore the facility to working order. Is there anything we should get first, anything either helpful to us or to repairing the place? Other than the communication interspace?" He stopped there and turned to look at the woman with similar ears.

She grinned at the man, then turned back to Othala and picked up where he stopped. "Especially anything on the other side of the conduit? You needed it repaired, is there anything we should check?"

Othala laughed. "Not good maps, not to the central facility. Those are not available to me. I can do something even better. If you agree to find out why I can't communicate with Tiwaz or any of my other siblings. I can designate you and the three who already went over and Taika as emergency authorized maintenance personnel. You will need to bring Taika here so that I can gather his or her mana signature to link to the authorization. With the communication interspace functional again, that will give you the ability to open many of the doors in the facility; if Tiwaz is aware, it will likely bring you to itself. I would."

"All you want is for us to find out what's happening there and see if we can wake up another, uh, being like you?" The furry-eared woman grinned. "I'm in. As for Taika, come on out."

A white, pink, and yellow rodent's head peeked out of the woman's backpack, followed by the rest of a colorful body. It climbed up the pack until its head and forepaws sat on her shoulder.

No, not its. Othala said that mattered to others. With all those colors, this was probably a male. Scout knew that males were generally more colorful, after all, even if that applied more to birds than to … was that a rodent? Which gender was usually more flamboyant among rodents?

Was it talking?

Scout was so surprised she missed what the rodent said and even the first part of Othala's reply.

"...you too, Taika. I have your mana signature as well as Ci'an's. I have the five of you authorized as emergency maintenance staff. Are you ready to leave?" Othala was polite but Scout could tell it was impatient. That was not something Scout usually associated with Othala, but it was obviously true now.

"I am!" Taika squeaked before he disappeared back into the backpack.

Ci'an shifted her weight under the moving pack but didn't seem particularly bothered by it. "Is there anything else you can tell us that might help? Who is Tiwaz? How many siblings do you have?"

"I do not know how many siblings I had," Othala admitted. "There were four that I dealt with regularly; if there were others, I knew of them only through requests from Tiwaz. Even for the siblings I did know, we often spoke through Tiwaz. It understood things more deeply and knew what the larger picture was to achieve our objectives. We had plans for many different contingencies; Tiwaz made certain of it."

Othala's glow dimmed slightly. "We did not plan for what actually happened. The Empire gone, betrayed by the Emperor, hundreds of years lost while minimal repairs were made and all connections broken? I do not think we could have planned for that. But if anyone did, it was Tiwaz. And yet Tiwaz does not speak to me. I hear the echo of a presence but no words. I need more; Tiwaz will know what our way forward is. I want to fulfill my duties, but how can I with the people I was to serve long gone?"

Those words hurt Scout, too. All she wanted was to complete her duties. The thought that Othala could not was painful.

Ci'an snorted. She didn't seem moved by Othala's clear pain. "You choose to help those you can. Lan, I think Uncle Los'en needs to talk to Othala. They'll have a lot to talk about."

For some reason, the furry-eared man seemed to find Ci'an's suggestion humorous. Scout didn't know what was funny about it; why would having things to talk about be funny?

"I should get going before they get too far in their exploration without me," Ci'an continued impatiently. "Now that we have this straight, can you get someone to lead me to the doorway?"

Othala was silent for a long moment. It was the usual sort of silence while Othala thought. It seemed to glow a little more brightly before it spoke. "Yes. Conversation with an elder would be appreciated."

For some reason, that made Lan'ti laugh again.

"Scout, take Ci'an and Taike to the interspace conduit using the best route they are authorized for. On the way, show them how to open the passages."

Scout smiled at Othala's directions. They were clear and easy to follow, something she could complete and feel good about. The best route she could take the duo through wouldn't be as fast as the one that brought her back to Othala, but it would use several of the hidden doors. That would be a good time to show them how to open the passages using their recorded mana signatures.

Today was a good day.

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