Fractal Mode

Chapter 21

And so Nona had become an anchor: one of the five people who defined the slice of reality that crossed an infinite number of other realities, enabling them to travel to completely strange worlds. She had sought the Megaplayers and inadvertently tuned in on a Virtual Mode. She was surely a special person, with one terrific surprise coming.

But could Nona"s access to the Virtual Mode help her solve the problem of her world? Perhaps only if the mystic folk she sought were on one of the realities this Mode crossed.

"What are we going to do?" Darius asked Provos in his own language. Colene picked up on it because Seqiro translated the thoughts to her mind.

"We visited the despots, where Queen Glomerula sought to seduce you and Knave Naylor sought to r**e Colene," Provos replied promptly in the same language. She did not know more than a few words of Colene"s language, but with Seqiro present it made no difference.

Colene jumped. She had not had a lot of experience with Provos, but understood that the woman remembered backwards: she knew her future but not her past. Suddenly Colene appreciated how useful an ability that could be.

"You seem very sure," Darius said wryly.

"I am. My memory is quick when we spend enough time in a single reality." Do they succeed? she thought to Provos.

"No," But the woman smiled obliquely, almost before the question.

Colene was relieved. "Then let"s go to the castle and get this over with," she said. "We"ll be moving on through the Virtual Mode soon, but Nona deserves to know her role in this."

Darius was more cautious. "Why do we spend much time in this reality?" he asked Provos.

"Because we were blocked from the Virtual Mode." She had evidently waited before answering, considering the question.

"What?" Colene had jumped again.

Provos spoke, and Seqiro brought the meaning to her mind. "There is a magic spell which prevents us from passing _ back through the anchor. We think it is because of the animus."

"The what?"

"It becomes complicated to explain. You have done a better job of it."