It was morning when Tom woke up, bleary eyed, and changed himself. Once done, he went to the bathroom and used the window to check out the street discreetly. Seeing there were no suspicious cars around he relaxed a little. He'd gotten a message from Kaz last night telling him that the car might show up at their usual meeting spot. It was, after all, where they'd felt as if someone were watching them, but though he trusted his best friend, he decided it wouldn't hurt to be extra careful. Taking one last glance out the window, he pulled out his scanner. After everything that happened yesterday, he had resolved to go straight to Chaotic.

"I guess it's time to check up what's going on in the Overworld." Said Tom out loud, raising his finger to port in. Just as he was about to press the button his scanner notified him, he'd just received a message. Curious, he opened it and saw that it was from Codemaster Crellan.

Hello Tom. This is the first time I have ever sent a message in my existence on Earth, but I have received the authorization to do so. The government is currently monitoring you and with the exception of this message nothing is secure. I do not know how you feel about being observed by them, but there is something important I have to say.

I am sorry. We Codemasters failed to prevent the Creatures from reaching. Through our negligence we greatly disrupted you and your friends life with something that shouldn't affect you this way. It is unfair that you have to go through this. I cannot make it up to you, but I am willing to take a big risk. I'll answer you one question you have about this entire situation.

Tom stopped reading it. He couldn't believe he got a message like that out of the blue. Still, he searched for a question. It was an opportunity to understand why everything turned that way. He thought back about everything. Perim was a real place, not a virtual reality simulation. They could go to another world, while Chaotic was in between, according to Theb-Saar.

Still despite everything Tom just had a simple question, one he wanted to know. He hoped it was the one that would cause the less trouble for Crellan.

Why can we go to Perim?

After asking that, he sent his code to Chaotic. He didn't know when or if he would get that answer.


Chapter 33: An Inch From Success

Tom ported into Kiru City, smiling nervously as he took in his surroundings. He had to act like Kaz and figure out how the plan to reach Chaotic was advancing. He knew his friends wouldn't want him to go on his own, but it wasn't dangerous inside the city. He had no plan to go outside, just like Kaz when he investigated Chaor.

Tom walked toward the castle, desperately hoping that they didn't progress, "I never asked if they managed to advance." Realized Tom as he walked. That would have been a good Question to ask Codemaster Crellan. It wasn't the only question on his mind though. Another one was why Codemaster Crellan sent him a message on his scanner out of the blue. Not just that, but also, who were he and the other Codemasters? It was to late though. He had asked his question and all he could hope for was that Codemaster Crellan gave him an answer.

Shaking his head Tom reached the castle and pushed those questions aside. They wouldn't offer any answers about Chaotic. He had to focus on getting some answers out of Maxxor.

As he approached the doors Tom noticed that Attacat was waiting outside. He lifted his head as if looking and noticed Tom.

The creature was a humanoid panther-like Overworlder with gray fur, emerald eyes and a long tail wearing a green loincloth held by a bronze belt and a pair of bronze bracelets with a green orb inside of it.

"Tom." Attacat said with a serious tone in his voice.

Just hearing his tone Tom knew the creature was about to ask something he didn't like, "What is it?"

"Maxxor wants to see you. He has many things he wants to know." Attacat said as he pointed inside of the castle.

"Good." Said Tom awkwardly, adding nothing else to the exchange. He also wanted to do the same.

Without a word Attacat joined him as he entered the castle. They walked silently, neither bothering to say anything. Nervously Tom glanced quickly at his companion. Just by looking Tom could tell Attacat wasn't it the best of moods if his facial expression was anything to go by. Still Tom couldn't help but be annoyed. He didn't need an escort to find where Maxxor probably was, "Did he tell you why he wanted to see me?" Asked Tom cautiously.

"He will tell you himself. We are in a difficult predicament at the moment." The creature replied tersely.

The Chaotic Player sighed at that answer, but didn't push it. Looking at the creature once more Tom noted that the card really did look like Attacat's father, but it was obviously not a good time to ask.

The creature noticed the boy gazing at him, but ignored it. There were many things going on. At the moment Maxxor was greatly concerned by the presence of M'arrillians in the Overworld and their interest in Tom, "Part of it has to do with the M'arrillians."

"Like the one who tried to get me?"

"The one who got you." Attacat snapped, accelerating his pace, "The M'arrillians are interested in you for some reason and that is dangerous. You Chaotic Players are causing us so much trouble and-." He turned towards the boy and sighed, trying to calm himself down, "It's not your fault," he corrected himself, "You humans are just caught up with everything. You didn't try to destroy us." He slowed down, "You didn't try to get kidnapped and put our tribe in danger. I know you helped Maxxor a few times."

Tom looked at the creature, "It's okay. I know they want me because I am Maxxor's friend."

Attacat nodded as they entered the library. Maxxor was present and looked busy, searching something in a heavy looking book. He wasn't alone. Najarin was also there. The High Muge was checking a tablet, stopping occasionally to write something on an empty book. He also had parchment that didn't look like the kind that was used by the Overworlders. As he looked at it, Tom recognized it as being of Mipedian origin. Around the creatures, there were a lot of papers on the ground, scrapped or turned into a ball. The library was a mess and looking at Najarin's face, it seemed like he hadn't slept for a day or two.

"This language is incredibly difficult to translate." Maxxor commented, rubbing his forehead.

"Until you understand the symbols," Najarin replied as he continued his translation.

Attacat let a cough, getting both Najarin and Maxxorrs attention. "I brought Tom as you asked." Attacat said politely.

"Thank you Attacat," the ruler of the Overworld replied.

"I'll take my leave then," said Attacat, turning around and exiting the room, leaving the three of them alone in the library.

"What are you doing?" Tom asked curiously, breaking the silence, pointing at the book and tablets. He noticed some letters on the tablet and recognized the human writing on them.

"I am translating a few tablets left behind by The Messenger of the Cothica." Najarin answered as he concentrated on it.

Tom knew he had been absent for a while, but that felt like it came out of nowhere, "Really? How?"

"Spies we have on Mipedian territory." Maxxor replied as he stood up, "We were suspecting a few things and we learned about their translator. We got some texts and the translations made by a Mipedian."

Najarin nodded, "So we are learning your writing to decode the rest."

That didn't feel like good news to Tom. It was clear that they had used some tricks to translate everything and seeing the amount of papers on the ground, they had been going at it for a long time. With everything that happened in Chaotic and everything else going on, he never thought that a creature would know English. Still, why would they need to learn that?

"Why would you do that?" Tom asked incredulously.

"To understand the Tablets of The Messenger of the Cothica." Najarin answered as he continued his work.

At that Tom grew a little nervous. He had a feeling that they might get closer to Chaotic somehow. He also felt like there was another reason for the translation, but the High Muge wouldn't tell him. He just had a feeling that Najarin wouldn't exhaust himself in translation like that for no reason. Pushing that thought aside Tom asked, "Maxxor. You wanted to meet me?"

"Yes. We learned about what happened in Chaotic recently." Maxxor stood up while the other Overworlder gazed at them, "We know that Theb-Saar managed to reach Chaotic thanks to the Telebracers. What we don't know is how he got them. We didn't give him anything." The ruler gazed at the boy, "Do you know anything about it?"

Tom shook his head, "I don't know about any of that. Why are you asking me?"

"You have had bad luck in the past and end up in trouble sometimes." Najarin replied blandly.

Tom nervously chuckled. It was kinda true, "I do." Replied Tom, grinning slightly. Najarin's comment actually made him remember the M'arrillian personally targeting him, "Anyway, I know Peyton doesn't know about it either."

"Maybe we have a traitor among our ranks." Maxxor grumbled as he thumbed through the pages of the book in front of him.

Tom thought about it and searched in his memories if something happened that might be suspicious. Nothing clicked right now. His mind wandered about the progress of the Overworlders to reach Chaotic.

"Or talented spies. Theb-Saar is a veteran leader who can exploit weaknesses and opportunities." the old creature said as he raised his finger. The book flew away as the next one came. The tablets also changed, with one a few times more as he tried to find the one that could be a translation with the scroll.

"Tom. I also want to know if anything happened in Chaotic. Did the Mipedians do anything bad to you? Are they still there? Are you in trouble? Can you even tell us?" Maxxor sounded genuine and it seemed that he was actually deeply worried for him.

Tom knew Maxxor was a leader and couldn't show his feelings too much, but that small show of concern still made him smile. He searched his mind for what to say and noticed he didn't feel that restricted about it. The few things he could say would be important for Maxxor to hear, "I can't tell you much but I'm not in any trouble from the Mipedian who's there. They can't harm us or they'll face consequences for doing so. They didn't do anything bad to us Maxxor."

That reassured the creature who let out a relieved smile, "That's good."

Tom decided to be direct and asked, "Maxxor. I also came to ask you something. With everything going on, I want to know something." He remembered the last time he'd met him. That he couldn't take risk with the Cothica, so he would try to come Chaotic to reach it before the others, "I wanted to know if you were still trying to reach Chaotic."

The two creatures gazed at each other before Maxxor replied, "Yes we are," he took a deep breath and said, "There is more to say. Come with me." He decided to tell him the truth. He fully trusted the boy.

"Are you certain?" Najarin asked.

"Theb-Saar figured that out and we know the Underworlders are getting closer too." Maxxor replied.

Tom felt anxious. What would Maxxor tell him?

Maxxor gestured at the exit and the two of them left the library and climbed a nearby set of stairs. Tom wondered where they could be going and what he would find up there. His heart raced as he thought about the possibilities. He had a bad feeling about whatever secret Maxxor showed him. As they reached the next floor Maxxor lead him to the main room and opened the door, revealing a bunch of scrolls piled on a table. It felt a little like an office where the workers would usually be.

"It isn't something I should tell you Tom. Najarin wasn't certain either, but I don't want to hide this from you," Maxxor said as he walked towards a wall.

"Maxxor," Tom decided to reiterate his last question, "What do you think now? Do you think we come from the Cothica or not?"

Maxxor pressed on a stone on the wall and a secret door opened. The boy couldn't see which one it was, "I don't know. I just know for certain that there is a possibility. There's more of a chance of finding the Cothica now than before you actually came there." Maxxor turned around, "If we find the mugic we sent through the Eye of the Maelstrom, we'll know for sure."

Tom remembered that adventure. It was a possibility. However, he never heard of any artifact looking like Mugic found anywhere on Earth. With everything going on in his own world though, it wouldn't surprise him if one appeared one day.

They stepped into the secret room and the door closed behind them. Tom stopped when he saw the Telebracers, "It's…"

"The Telebracers," Maxxor grabbed them and showed them to him, "No one told any humans how it was made. Even Bodal managed to keep quiet about it."

Tom had serious trouble believing that.

Maxxor opened the belt and showed a strange item set within it, "The Telebracers function by this object. Its origin is what will surprise you," he closed it and said, "It came from scanners."

"S-scanners," Tom whispered, stunned.

He nodded, "Scanners from Chaotic Players who have been coded, but their scanners remained."

"You got your hand on scanners and-." He was quiet as the next question came in his mind, "Did Theb-Saar also-?"

"Yes. He also managed to port to Chaotic because of this." Maxxor answered honestly.

Tom rested against the wall, putting his hand on his forehead as he took the news in.

"And this is why we're learning your writing. Because inside this, there are coordinates leading to Chaotic. I cannot let any other tribes reach the Cothica first, if it is real." Maxxor said.

That put a lot of horror in Tom's mind, but also appreciation for Maxxors honesty, "So you are going to show up soon?"

"Once we can test it."

"Oh my god." he put both hands on his forehead once again, trying to wrap his mind around it. He could already see the mess when the two tribes would cross, even if the security robots were battle ready. Would nothing really happen? Could he explain what happened a little in Chaotic. He tried to explain it, checking if he'd be blocked, "Theirs rules…" Nothing made him hesitate, "for when you come to Chaotic." he took a deep breath and continued, "Theb-Saar made a deal with the Codemasters," he briefly explained the rules and insisted, "Its forbidden to fight against the other tribes. You really can't."

Maxxor commented, "You can say much more now."

"Yeah. Maybe it's because its more helpful if I can explain it." Tom replied.

Maxxor approached the boy and put his hand on his shoulder, "I'll make sure we won't cause you trouble when we come to Chaotic. Since Theb-Saar made a deal in…" he grunted, "in our name."

"Yeah." Tom commented.

They continued talking together as they walked back. It took a while but Maxxor managed to calm down some of the fear and nervousness out of his friend a little.

Tom was a little reassured that it wouldn't all end up in a fight. Still, it was something that he still dreaded. Nevertheless, he would have to accept that everything would change one day. Eventually, after a while, Tom had to port out because he had a match.

"Maybe I'll see one of those matches come one day," Maxxor said as he was about to port out.

"Yeah." Tom gazed sideways and after saying goodbye he ported out.


Back on Earth, Tom was waiting for his code to port back. He had to know what would happen. As he tapped his foot on the ground waiting his scanner made a sound and grabbed it. He sighed when he saw it wasn't his code coming back.

However, he paled slightly when he saw who sent the message. It was a reply from Codemaster Crellan.

He opened it.

From Codemaster Crellan:

What I will tell you must stay between you and me only for now. Once you are certain it won't cause your friends trouble, you can tell them.

You can still turn back Tom. I sent it as a file. I made sure no one knows I sent it to you, but it's not a 100% guarantee that the government will not know you received it. It is a great risk to read it.

If you want to be safe, erase it. If you are uncertain, you can wait. If you are ready, press the file and use the code: 7C78O13IU.

Tom hesitated for a few seconds. He asked himself if he should take the risk. It was clear that it was a huge one. He read the file: Project Harmony.

"What is that project?" Tom wondered out loud as he looked at the screen intensely.

After a few moments of deliberation Tom made his decision and pressed the file. He wrote the code and confirmed it two times. He read the project. He slowed down when he read the real stuff. His face paled and commented, "It was always… inevitable ?"


AC: This is the end of this chapter.

Next Chapter: Tell Me Sarah.

Wamma is getting worried for Sarah. She didn't come for an abnormal long time, unaware of everything that happened. When she came, she was distant to the Danians, including himself.