James waited patiently as the pods defrosted and expelled their frosty air. Minutes turned to an hour before the chill dissipated and the first pod cracked open. Uncrossing his arms, he prepared to greet whoever was inside, if they were still functional. What he wasn't ready for was the gasping breaths of the elven man as he suddenly started pushing on the glass cover.

"Help him," James ordered.

Luna rushed over and helped slide the lid off the man while he worked on the others. One by one, they opened the pods the rest of the way before moving to the other rooms to do the same.

Fifty people were released from their confinement before James returned to the first room. The elven man was sitting up, his eyes slightly glassy as he looked around. The pulsing red lights weren't helping.

"Greetings," James said, startling the man.

With a jolt, the elf turned toward him and blinked a few times. "A…a…"

"Take your time," James said gently. "You've been asleep for a very long time."

Lifting a shaky hand, the elf rubbed his eyes and it was only a second later that the man's stomach growled. Frowning, James summoned a cup and filled it with water. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

Taking a few swallows, the man's stomach settled and the Soul Water revitalized him enough for his breathing to even out. Taking the cup, James refilled it and had Luna go around to the others to help.

"What do you remember?" James asked.

Eyes squinting shut, the elf slowly shook his head. "I…ugh…"

"That's fine." Stepping forward, James patted the man's shoulder. "Maybe I can figure out how to fix the lights."

"Gen…erator."

Nodding, James shared a glance with Luna before she confirmed she would handle the demi-humans. With that, he left the room and started walking the halls. Signs were on the wall, directing him to different sections of the wing. Dining room, gym, medical, and finally after walking for ten minutes, he found engineering.

Thankful for the correct direction, he followed the arrows until he found a secure door that was locked tight. Frowning, he tried the palm scanner, only for it to flash red each time. He knew the others wouldn't be able to open it either, so that left breaking it down.

Slamming his fist into the metal, he broke the door loose and set it aside. The sheering of the metal echoed up the hall and he winced when he thought of what the others were likely thinking.

Since he couldn't take that back, he stepped inside and found an assortment of tools and devices. One of the machines was larger than all of the others and had some sort of glass container with two medal rods. Unsure if it was the generator or not, he found the control panel on the device itself. A small button was blinking a steady red.

Hesitantly, he pushed the button and watched the machine whirl to life. Some kind of reaction started between the two rods before a glowing ball of white plasma ignited behind the glass. A rumbling growl filled the air before the lights overhead stopped flashing red and settled to a dull white glow.

I think I found it.

Looking around the engineering room, he found several more machines that were flashing with red buttons. Moving to the next one, he found 'Irrigation Controls'. Pushing that next, he shrugged when he didn't hear anything.

Moving on, he pushed another for water purification and air purification. One by one, he enabled different systems and felt the facility come to life. That was until the air purification system cut out and started flashing a message across the screen.

"Filter Obstruction."

Tapping the message, a map of the complex appeared with a vent running to the surface. Over the top section was a flashing box that a building likely collapsed on top of. He would need to fix it if he wanted the air to flow properly.

Adding that to his list of problems, he figured he had enough done that he could return to the demi-humans. Picking up his pace to a fast walk, he hurried back to Luna and found her sitting people up and helping how she could. Which wasn't much considering he provided the rejuvenating water.

Refilling the water cup, he let her move around the groups again as he returned to the first room. The male elf was starting to look more coherent and was looking around, taking everything in.

"Are you with me?" James asked.

Nodding once, the man met his gaze with confusion. "Where are the doctors?"

James assumed that his feather and leather armor gave him away as not being part of the staff. With a nervous smile, James answered, "it's been a few centuries since you were put to sleep, Sir. You're in the wastelands now."

Gasps sounded throughout the room and James smoothed his soul over everyone to help calm them. Once they were breathing normal again, he continued. "My group and I have only just arrived and found you. We are clearing the city as we speak, making it safe once again, but there's not much left up there."

The elf slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Letting it out slowly, he asked, "are there more humans with you?"

"No, I'm the only one." He didn't feel bad for lying. Technically, he wasn't human. "The rest of my companions are demi-humans like all of you. They are cultivators."

"Demi-humans can become cultivators?" one of the women asked.

"They can." Glancing at the squirrel woman, he nodded. "A lot has changed. For now, you are safe and we can find you some food. I understand there is some kind of farm system down here."

"There is," the elf stated. "I don't know how to get there though." The man tried to get up, but his legs gave out and he collapsed to the floor before James could grab him.

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Helping the man back up, James braced him as his body shook from the strain. Worried that the others would be the same, he reached out and pulled on all of his allies. Amber was the first to break off and rush toward him. The others started heading towards him more casually until he sent urgency. Worry filled them before they started to run.

"My friends are coming to help," James stated. "They can fill you in on any questions you might have. For now, I need to find the farm and see what we are working with." Setting the man back on the table he woke up on, James rubbed his head.

Finding Luna only took a moment as he relayed what was going on. She would need to greet the others and get them up to speed with what was going on. As for him, James was going to search the complex and winding halls for the farm.

Leaving the scientific section again, he retraced his steps to the engineering room and started searching for signs that would help him. A few pointed to the dining room again and he headed that way. It wasn't until he was nearly there that he found the hall leading to the farms.

Doing his best to memorize the layout of the complex, he found the farm a minute later. The palm scanner worked this time and when the door slid open, he was blasted with the foul scent of death. As his eyes adjusted to the new lights that reminded him of the sun, he took in the large complex. Rows upon rows of growing plots were spread out in a few acres worth of land. Everything that had once grown in them was dead and would need to be pulled or used as fertilizer for new crops.

Drumming his fingers on the wall, James kept leaning as he overlooked everything. A steady mist was sprinkling down from pipes in the ceiling, watering the ground. They shut off after a few minutes and he assumed they were part of the irrigation system he activated.

No food. This isn't good. We only have so many supplies available for them. At least we have crops to plant with us. And Linda can help things grow quicker. We might be able to make this work.

Leaving the room behind, he retraced his steps and smiled when he felt the others' souls present. They had joined quickly and had taken a room each.

Amber broke away from her group and approached him before he arrived. "What's going on, James?"

Shaking his head, he kept his voice low. "I don't know. I found a few messages to one of the scientists and learned they were experimenting on demi-humans. Then I found those subjects. They've been frozen since the fall of the city or slightly before. There's much I don't understand."

Resting her hand against his chest, she blew out a slow breath. "What are we supposed to do with fifty people? They can't survive on the surface and the dragons will scare them to death."

"I agree." Glancing at her hand, he raised his brow, making her pull away. "We can introduce them slowly to the dragons. There has to be more ways out of this complex that we haven't found. But first, we need to clear a few blockages."

"The air isn't right," she murmured.

"That's the first problem." Explaining the vent and the blockage, he led her to the engineering room and showed her the map. "I have to get up there and clear it. Then we can restart the system."

Resting her hands against the console, she continued to stare at the screen. "You better get up there. It seems that the vent is a bit away from the dragons, so you won't disturb them."

"Be ready to restart the system." Leaving her to it, he returned to the rooms and let Luna know what was going on. She confirmed she heard him, but continued to help those in her room, rather than spending time talk to him.

He could tell that she was perturbed by the turn of events and he didn't want to force her to talk, so he hurried away and back up the ladder. The climb was long and he knew the newly awakened demi-humans wouldn't be able to get out any time soon.

"Find anything interesting?" Mother asked with a chuckle as he appeared near her nest.

"You know damn well that I did," he snapped. "You could have warned me what was down there."

"I could have, but there wasn't any real need. You would have freed them either way."

Grumbling, he started walking away. He wanted to say a few more choice words to the dragon, but didn't need her laughing at him even more.

Doing his best to follow the mental image of the map, he searched the nearby streets and blocks for some sort of vent. With sections of the city collapsed, it was increasingly hard to find what he needed.

"Help?"

Glancing over his shoulder, he found Everest walking over to him. "Yeah, I could use some help. I'm looking for a vent to the bunker under the city."

Sniffing the ground a few times, Everest started walking down the street. Every few feet she would stop and sniff the air before continuing.

Following after her, he let her take charge as he was having no luck with finding anything. After nearly ten minutes of wandering the streets, Everest stopped on a street that had part of a building collapsed onto it.

"Here."

Rubbing her head, he thanked her before looking over what he would need to do. The simple answer was using Soul Pulse to destroy the rubble and push it out of the way, but he didn't know if it would damage the vent underground or clog it more.

Cracking his knuckles, he went with the old fashion way of moving piece by piece. Everest sat and watched as he began to sweat. An hour passed despite his increased strength making the work look easy. Metal beams and wires needed to be pulled out and slabs of concrete broke and moved before the street was clear. It was only after the last piece was removed that Everest joined him and started sniffing the ground again.

Leading him over to manhole of sorts, she nudged it with her nose several times. "Here."

Grabbing the handles that were conveniently on it, he hoisted the metal lid off and blinked in surprise as he found a filter unit directly inside. Glancing at the lid, he found that the holes that were supposed to be letting air in were clogged. With small Soul Pulses, he cleared the blockages and freed the lid to be able to pull on air again.

Returning the lid, he sent a small push to Amber and let her know he was done. It was seconds later that he could feel a shift in the air as clean air was pulled in and another second before the lone street light started emitting dust air that was being pulled from the station.

"That's done at least," he murmured.

"Yes."

"Thank you, Everest." Kneeling by the dragon, he rubbed her head. "We should play later."

"I'd like that."

Chuckling, he started walking back to the nest. He wasn't the least bit surprised that Mother was waiting for him with a toothy smile.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Don't be like that, James. Are you not excited to have more followers? Or is it the mystery of the station that has you confuddled?"

Narrowing his eyes, he shot her a venomous glare.

"Maybe a combination of both," she teased.

"What the hell am I supposed to do with fifty demi-humans? I have to feed them somehow and they can hardly move. The farm is a mess that I don't want to touch, and I still have an entire wing of the station to search!"

"You sound angry," Mother said, a note or surprise in her voice.

James closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm just tired, Mother. What started as a simple desire to learn more about my cultivation has snowballed into me learning I'm from a godlike race and I need to save the world. I now have an army of dragons and animals that will likely grow, and somehow I'm suppose to integrate another fifty demi-humans into the mix."

"Overwhelmed?"

"Yeah," he admitted. "Just a little."

"Have Amber help you."

Sighing, he shook his head. "Amber and I have some unresolved issues to solve before I start giving her jobs again. You know what the problem is, so I'm not going to voice it. The person I need is Mender."

"Would it help if I told you he is on his way to find you?"

Tension left his body. "Actually, yes. For now, I'll handle what I can and figure things out. I just need to yell at you a little."

Chuckling, Mother blinked at him a few times. "This is the gentlest way I've ever been yelled at."

"I haven't even begun to yell." Calling on all of the frustrations he was feeling, he let Mother have it. Starting from the very beginning, he unleashed his frustrations over everything from the last six months. He was surprised by most of it as the words kept tumbling from his mouth. When he finally finished, Mother stared at him unblinkingly.

"You need to talk to your friends more," Mother said at last.

"Yeah…"

"Luna is waiting for you. I'd suggest you start with her. Tell her everything you just told me."

Nodding, he moved to the bunker entrance. "I have work to do. I doubt I'll be back up any time soon."

"I'll handle things up here, James."

"Thanks, Mother."

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