Luna rolled into the neighborhood, guiding the cart around the two-story bulwarks that were part house and part dirt that had been reinforced to the strength of stone. There were wood gates on three sides, the fourth side bordered by the Bouchard compound. She navigated through the first opening, a pair stationed as guards closing it behind her, locking it down with massive crossbeams. Instead of being inside she was in a narrow alley between another bulwark, the double-wall system set up to allow a fighting retreat if creatures breached the first defenses.

She reached another door and was ushered through, finally appearing into the center. Her neighborhood had changed and now looked like something out of a medieval castle. The cul-de-sac was a central ground, left open as a gathering center and killbox. Turrets had been mounted along the outer wall, facing outward, but there were dozens mounted on the interior of the inside wall, facing the open area.

All the homes had been incorporated into the walls, although Luna could see lights inside many of them and people moving around through the windows. The faces of the homes all had that sheen she had come to associate with Jason's reinforcement power and she knew that it would have to be a tough creature indeed to break past those defenses.

Luna pulled the cart into her driveway and reached over to wake the sleeping Jaidyn.

"Hey," she gently rubbed the girl's shoulder. "We're here."

Jaidyn's eyes cracked open and she rubbed sleep from them before looking around, eyes going wide. "Is this where you live?"

"Yep!" Luna said proudly. "It's a little different than I left it, but this is it."

The girls climbed out of the cart and Jaidyn's eyes were wide as she looked over the neighborhood, hugging Teddy close to her chest. "It looks so… strong! Not a lot of room for my games though."

Luna ruffled the girl's hair then took her hand. "Come on, let's go find my mom." They walked into the house and Luna called out.

Tess stepped out of the bathroom, wiping toothpaste from her mouth. Her eyes went wide and she rushed to Luna, wrapping the girl in a tight hug.

"Oh Honey, I missed you!" The two stood in silence for a moment, arms tight around each other. Then Tess felt a tugging at her pant leg. She stepped back and looked down at the young girl looking at her with wide, hopeful eyes.

"Are you a mom?"

Tess just looked, trying to register what she was seeing. How was this girl level 13? How had she survived? She and Luna shared a look but she got no answers there.

"Fara, are you getting anything from this girl? How has she survived alone like this?"

"I'm sorry, Mother, I've been gathering all information I could but am getting nothing beyond her being a young girl. Her stuffed bear appears to be covered in blood, though, which implies that she has survived life and death scenarios."

"Yeah, I'm getting the same. My danger sense is tingling but not going crazy. There's something about her, but I can't put my finger on it. I just hope we're not making a mistake with trusting her."

"I understand that you're referring to me, Mother, and I can only say that trusting me in my form as a young girl developed into a situation that was mutually beneficial. I propose that we trust her. The best case scenario is that she is a boon, the worst case is that she is a threat and we have to eliminate her."

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Tess shuddered at the coldness of that rationale and chose not to respond. Instead she squatted down in front of the girl to meet her eyes. "I am. I'm Luna's mom - Cass's too. Who -"

Before she could finish her sentence the girl threw herself at Tess, wrapping her arms around her in a tight hug.

Eventually Tess was able to pry the girl's arms from around her and stand upright, although the girl refused to let go of her hand. Jaidyn had her hand in a vice-like grip as the three of them walked to the front door.

"Now that we're all here we need to gather everyone together. Luna, go push the button." Tess nodded towards the pedestal with the red button. The stage was next to it now and there was a massive observation tower that would give anyone a vantage point beyond the bulwarks.

Luna nodded, then jogged over and pressed the button. A deep alarm like a fog horn sounded and people began to file out of the homes and into the central area. Luna looked around hopefully, watching for…

Madison stepped out of the Bouchard compound, saw Luna, then sprinted to her, catching the girl in a tight hug. They kissed, hugged, kissed again, then Madison held Luna at arm's-length, looking her over. "Are you okay? You were gone for more than a week and I was convinced that…" she gulped, unable to finish the sentence.

"I'm fine!" Luna laughed. "And I had a breakthrough! It took some serious pushing through and I had to get a little reckless with the concentration potions, but it worked! I can't wait to tell you about it!"

Madison's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, 'reckless'? Did you use two in the same day?"

Luna smiled sheepishly and held up three fingers.

"Three? In the same day?"

"At once."

Madison just blinked over and over, jaw working silently as she tried to formulate words. "You used three vials - AT ONCE? ALL AT ONE TIME?"

Luna was still smiling and only nodded.

"That's not just reckless, that's wildly, beyond comprehension, dangerously irresponsible. You could have fried your brain. You could have died, or worse - become a vegetable! Your brain should have overheated and… and…" she was gasping, clutching at her stomach and shaking her head. "I can't believe you did that."

Luna felt the sting of her words and stepped back, hurt. "It turned out okay, though! It's what I needed to break through."

Madison's response was stern. "You could have died."

Luna's chuckle was wry. "I did - an infinite number of times."

Madison's eyes were orbs. "You what?"

Their moment was interrupted by Tess shouting to the gathered crowd. "Everyone over here, quickly."

Luna touched Madison's face. "Look, I'll explain later. Trust me, you'll think it's cool."

Madison hesitated, then took Luna's offered hand, gripping it far tighter than Luna thought was necessary.

Tess was standing on the stage, addressing the crowd of people. "First, I need all the newcomers up here. Also Madison, Jason, Ed, Luna, Cass, Jaidyn, and Leon."

As everyone climbed onto the stage Ed approached Tess and whispered something into her ear.

"He's not here? Where is he?"

"Not sure," Ed said. "He dropped off the new people and ran off again. I asked some of the new guys if he was getting more people but they said no, it was just them."

Tess gritted her teeth but couldn't do anything about her missing son, so she turned to face the group that had climbed on stage. She had never seen such an odd collection of people - especially the Misfit Toys, as they'd introduced themselves. She'd had only briefly met them this morning when Cass had deposited them in the middle of the town square, as people were calling it.

"What is up with those masks?"

"I can't be sure, but they appear to be System-enhanced tech that has been fused to their bodies."

"I'm getting a pretty strong danger sense from them, more than any of the others. Although those twins are giving me some pretty strong vibes too."

"I believe the twins' danger is being enhanced by their supreme confidence."

"Do you know anything about these classes?"

"I can't say that I do, although I could make some guesses based on the names of their affinities and combat abilities."

"No, there's no need. We're about to have them introduce themselves anyway. Just let me know if you pick up anything you feel would be useful."

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