“Sid Marshall! Why hurt so? Khanna worried! Sid Marshall, please, tell Khanna what’s wrong.”


    For a second, I wasn’t sure who was talking, and then I realized that Khanna was referring to herself in the third person. The pain was slowly ebbing away, but that didn’t change the fact that I was lying on my back, naked as the day I was born.


    Khanna had a concerned look on her face.


    I went to talk, but then it was hard to say anything as the static covered my eyes and the message took shape:


    <<<>>>


    This unit charged to 6% of full. Please charge to 10% for minimal functionality.


    HOST optimized to 54%


    Arkadian dialect detected. Knowledge of rudimentary Arkadian added.


    <<<>>>


    I’d been enhanced again, and I was sitting pretty at 54% optimized. I had to wonder what 100% optimization would give me.


    “Khanna,” I said. I went to say something in English, but I was thinking the words in Arkadian. What? Suddenly, I knew Arkadian, though I wasn’t sure if Khanna could understand me. “Khanna, can you understand me?”


    “Yes,” she said, a look of wonder on her face. “What is this sorcery, Sid Marshall?”


    “Why are you calling me by my full name?”


    “Khanna hear that name from you, from the old slut, and from the yellow-haired bitch. Khanna show respect. Sid Marshall not answer Khanna’s question. Has sorcery poisoned your mind?”


    I showed her my ring. “It’s not magic, though there is magic here in K’Shaul. It’s technology, a fancy way of saying machine. Do you know what a machine is?”


    She frowned. “A contraption…various moving parts…a cog, a wheel, and a mechanism. Yes, Sid Marshall, Khanna know. Khanna also think that ring not have any such mechanisms.”


    I laughed. “You’ll just have to trust me, but let’s change the subject. Are you Arkadian?”


    “Khanna is of the Fabrikata Enclave and the women of the Fabrikata Enclave.” She titled her head. “Can Sid Marshall understand?”


    “I don’t know what the Fabrikata are,” I admitted. “I’m from a planet called Earth. Do you understand what planets are?”


    “Worlds,” she said slowly. “Realms. The evil storm came to cut Khanna away. However, Khanna was already alone, living in the Shade Forest. Khanna thought it was…Khanna frightened…”


    She stopped talking and started to get dressed. “Khanna hate sorcery. Maybe Sid Marshall cast spell and seduce her. Maybe he steal Khanna’s soul if she not careful. Maybe Sid Marshall and his bitches are from the Inferness. This was a mistake.”


    I got up. I didn’t care I was naked. “Look, Khanna, I’m not from the Inferness. I’m from a normal world, and we were sent here by the storms, like you were. You’ve seen our home under the cypress tree on the ridge. You could join us. My bitches…uh, the women I’m with, we’re not, you know, romantic with each other.”


    Khanna had already dressed, scooped up her bow, quiver, and spear, and was hurrying away.


    I grabbed my survival suit and ran after her, naked.


    She did her mountain-goat maneuver, easily finding footholds in the cliff face and scurrying to the top of the overhang. I had to stop and put on my suit, gather my stuff, and climb after her.


    Getting to the top of the overhang, I saw she was heading south, so I sped after her, the muscles in my legs glowing.Stolen story; please report.


    She turned on me. “More sorcery! Sid Marshall run too fast to be a man. How? Sid Marshall explain!”


    I raised the ring again. “This is Arkadian technology. I’m able to understand you because you speak a dialect of Arkadian.”


    “Liar!” she spat. “Khanna of the Fabrikata Enclave! Khanna ran away and was punished by the storms. Sid Marshall come and tempt Khanna, and Khanna give into her lust. Sid Marshall take Khanna’s soul!”


    “How?” I asked.


    She stood there, brow furrowed. We were in the misty forest, underneath several huge ferns, and while I hadn’t seen it before, I noticed there was a definite trail stretching off into the forest. That had to lead to her home. I was too focused on her to look for power crystals.


    “Khanna not know how Sid Marshall take her soul. Khanna not demon from the Inferness.” Her eyes darted to my face, and then to the forest, and then back to my face. It was clear she wanted to flee. She had not woken up that morning thinking that she and I would be talking.


    “I’m not a demon from the Inferness. I’m just a normal guy.”


    She narrowed her eyes. “Sid Marshall say what a demon would say.”


    I held up my hands. “If I ‘m a demon, I’m kind of a stupid one. I’m fucking clueless about most of what is going on around here in the good ol’ Repository.”


    “Why do you call it that?” she asked. “It is K’Shaul, spoken of by Khanna’s ancestors, and sometimes called the cradle of all life. Somewhere, in these lands, is the Chieftain’s Pavilion, and yet, one must be careful. There are wonders in the Pavillion, but there is also the doorway to the Inferness. Surely, Sid Marshall knows of the legends.”


    “No!” I said loudly. “I don’t. Because I come from another fucking world!”


    “A world of fucking?” Khanna looked interested. Then her eyes narrowed. “See? Sid Marshall would steal Khanna’s soul and take her to this world of fucking, and Khanna would be forever corrupted.”


    I sighed. “If only I could go back to Earth. I can’t. I’m trapped. Like you’re trapped.”


    She searched my face. “Khanna cannot trust Sid Marshall, or the old slut, or the yellow-haired bitch.”


    “But you can fuck me? How does that work?”


    She blushed and looked very ashamed. Then I noticed something. A bit of sunlight broke through the mist to shine on her. I watched as freckles gathered on the bridge of her nose as we talked. She was having a reaction to the sunshine. It was fascinating.


    I wasn’t the only one to notice something odd.


    HOST COMPANION: Khanna the Huntress. Optimizations detected. Further study needed. Enhanced Arkadian biotechnology is anomalous. Language differences are anomalous. This unit is in an error state. Current error state is 92% of normal functionality. Unacceptable parameters. Find Sector X to charge this unit to 100% of full charge.


    Okay, even Opal was also confused. That made me feel better.


    “Khanna sorry,” the huntress whispered. “Khanna was tempted. Sid Marshall is so handsome. Khanna see old slut and yellow-haired bitch touching their puchas. Khanna know they feel lust, and Sid Marshall feel lust, and Khanna help him.”


    I felt myself soften. “You did help me, and I think I helped you. Is that why you brought us the gifts?”


    “To thank Sid Marshall and his bitches,” she said. “And to perhaps make Sid Marshall feel…charitable…nay!” She shoved me. “It is impossible. Khanna not trust you! Khanna weak, but Khanna must be strong. But this place! This place make Khanna feel like a shameless slut!”


    She tried to shove me again, but this time, I caught her arm. “You’re going to be stronger with us. We could work together to survive. You don’t need to be alone. Or are you alone? Do you live with those drummers in the swamp?”


    I saw the fear in her eyes. “Nay. Not the drums. Sid Marshall stay away from drums. Khanna stay away from drums. Please. Please!”


    Without another word, she tore herself away from me to run off through the forest, to the south.


    I took three steps toward her. It was clear she didn’t want me to go after her, but I couldn’t simply leave the conversation hanging like that. What about the drummer scared her so much?


    The whole encounter with Khanna left me frustrated to no end. No, I was going to go after her, at least to see where she lived and to explore the sector to the south of Rainforest World.


    Part of me wanted to race after her and leave Holly and Billie behind. They’d be fine. But then I remembered this one night with Aunt Kathy. Me and Uncle Marty had worked late, and after leaving the jobsite, we’d gone to a bar to get a couple of beers. My uncle hadn’t called, and when we got home, my aunt was pissed.


    I’ll never forget her saying that most women did better with more information than less.


    So I hurried back to Privacy Rock, skirted the pool, and found the professor and Billie near our lumberyard on the way to the Beachcliff World.


    I ran up to them. “Hey, Opal figured out the huntress’s language and we had our first real conversation. But then she ran off. I’m going after her. I’ll let you know what I find out.”


    Both women looked shocked.


    “Wait, Sid…” the professor started to say, but I was already running back through the ferns. I didn’t want to deal with the committee. That reminded me of something else my uncle always said. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission.


    I’d deal with the fallout later.


    I ran past the familiar redwoods, pines, and slimy aspens, and then pushed through ferns to see a whole new Sector, or at least a partial one, that cut through both the rainforest and the beach cliffs that ran side by side.


    I now knew why the huntress lived to the south. She’d found a slice of heaven.