After some waiting everyone had gathered around the table in the lounge. A group of wingless demons wearing formal suits were in the process of serving them breakfast.

One of them asked with its scratchy and slightly resonating voice: "What would you like to drink? Water? Milk? Tea? Or maybe something different?"

Most of them just ordered water but Shadow, knowing the range of drinks, ordered a beverage called "tearfruit juice". Fire ordered his drink in the demonic language so it was impossible to understand what Fire ordered exactly but it seemed to amuse the demon. After having taken all the orders, the demon waiters left.

Ambigious asked: "Did you tell them to wear those suits?"

Shadow replied: "No, it was their idea. They seem to like something about that part of human culture."

The conversation came to a halt as the demon waiter walked into the room again with a tablet full of glasses, it handed everyone their drinks. The tearfruit juice that Shadow had ordered was blue, to nobody's surprise. Fire's drink on the other hand was hard to categorize, it was perfectly clear, it could have been mistaken for water but it was even clearer than that.

TehLulz asked: "Fire, what is that?"

Fire laughed and said: "This? This is drandinian Heavybrew. It is made from mushrooms that grow near bedrock. Chemically reacts with just about anything that isn't glass, obsidian or something similar. In combination with water it turns into a strong alcoholic drink. If someone happens to drink it in its pure form, it'll kill them. If it's a human that is. Mencur-Besh use it as the core substance in their metabolism, I'm drinking this because I need to get back into peak form after one year of malnourishment."

freeZe asked: "You two keep dropping that word. Mencur-Besh here, Mencur-Besh there… Shadow already told me that that is your species, Fire. What is it all about?"

Fire took a deep breath and explained: "About ninety percent of the current population of the server is NPCs. They are controlled by the combined calculation power of the brains of everyone logged into the server, so they are not very different from regular humans. The Mencur-Besh were an idea the admins had early on. They thought that they could implement an NPC species that worked differently from humans, one that wasn't dependent on the people on the server. It took them quite some time to figure out a way of making truly intelligent NPCs without utilizing a human brain."

Fire paused to drink from his glass.

"They figured out that it was impossible for a computer of our time to simulate multiple complex individuals at the same time. The admins succeeded in simulating a simple personality, it could make rational choices and operate on its own, the only thing that was missing was complex emotions. This could not be regarded as a full personality but it was simple enough to allow multiple individuals to exist at the same time. Every Mencur-Besh has a distinct personality but only limited emotions. Knowledge and skills are shared across all individuals, memories are not."

TehLulz commented: "Interesting."

Fire continued: "Mencur-Besh come in seven different variations, one for each magical element, this is also what determines the color of their eyes. The element also influences which of the strengths of the Mencur-Besh are especially pronounced. Fire Mencur-Besh like myself have red eyes and are strong. Air ones have yellow eyes and are fast. Earth ones have green eyes, they are larger and extremely durable. Water ones have blue eyes and exceptionally sharp senses. Life ones have white eyes and are powerful mages. Wither ones have black eyes and are immune to magic. Ender ones have purple eyes, they are physically weaker but can teleport at will and have access to telepathy."

Ambigious, chewing on some bread, said with half-full mouth: "Wow, Fire. That's a lot of information for breakfast."

Fire chuckled: "You are right. Just let me finish this and then you can eat in peace."

Ambigious nodded: "Acceptable."

Fire explained: "There are about two thousand Mencur-Besh on the server, so an extreme minority compared to humans. And as you know, humans, this includes the NPCs, turned out to be quite mistrusting towards non-human intelligent beings. So the Mencur-Besh keep their numbers down to appear less threatening, we only reproduce when our population is low. In addition to that we try to get into positions of power in human society and, failing that, try to gain the favor of those in said positions."

freeZe asked: "Basically a conspiracy of scaled superhumans trying to take over the server?"

Fire nodded slowly: "Yes, that is what it looks like. In reality that is just our way of making sure we don't get wiped out. The influence we exert is just a means to an end. If an all-out war were to happen between the Mencur-Besh and humans, the Mencur-Besh wouldn't stand a chance. So we try to keep any and all information about us hidden and if someone finds out, we try to recruit them. They get to benefit from the massive network of connections that we have all over this world and in turn they keep quiet and do us some favors from time to time."

Unchosen remarked: "So, I guess we are part of this too, now that we have heard the story."

"Exactly." Fire replied. "Every ally of the Mencur-Besh receives a magical mark on their body, comparable to a tattoo. They will then be able to identify allies on contact. A handshake is all it takes to know if someone is trustworthy or not. We rarely have defectors… and if so, not for long."

freeZe shuddered at the implication Fire made: "From what you just told us, I don't want to get on the wrong side of the Mencur-Besh."

Ambigious said: "But that mark-tattoo thing sounds interesting, does that mean we get one?"

Fire nodded.

Shadow said: "But I think that can wait a few minutes. Like Ambigious said, we are still having breakfast."

After those words she emptied her glass of tearfruit juice. Only a few seconds later the demon waiter appeared again to bring her another one. She gave the demon a smile and the next moment it had left the room again.

The next minutes were quiet, nobody except for Ambigious had been eating while they had been listening to Fire's monologue. They hungrily put food on their plates and started eating. After the breakfast was over Fire told them that he had preparations to make and they should meet him in the hub an hour later.

Unchosen was the first one to arrive at the hub, Fire and Shadow were already standing in the hub's center, waiting. It didn't take long for the others to arrive.

Fire said: "The first thing we have to do is give you your mark. Besides being recognized as an ally of the Mencur-Besh the mark has the added benefit of serving as a key to most of the magical doors in my base. Who wants to be first?"

Ambigious stepped up before anybody else had the chance, he walked up to Fire and then didn't quite know what to do. He looked at Fire questioningly.

Fire just said: "Hold still."

With those words Fire reached forward and grabbed Ambigious' right arm by the wrist and lifted it up. He pointed his index finger at the back of Ambigious' hand, a slight glow surrounding it. As Fire's finger touched Ambigious' hand, a surge of pain went through Ambigious but before he had any chance to react, the pain was gone again, Fire let go of his hand. Ambigious looked at his skin and found that there now was something printed onto it. A plain red eye without visible iris and pupil, it looked much like Fire's own eyes. Below the eye were two sets of stylized black scratch marks. As Ambigious stared at the eye, the eye stared back and suddenly blinked, making Ambigious recoil in surprise. A few seconds later, the eye started to fade and blended in with his skin perfectly.

"Freaky." He said.

Shadow said: "If everyone allied with us would have a giant eye on their skin, it would be quite silly. That's why it fades."

Ambigious just nodded and stared at his hand for a few more seconds. Unchosen was the next one to receive the Eye-and-Claws mark, after him was freeZe and then TehLulz.

Fire said: "Alright, shake hands with someone now."

As Ambigious shook his sister's hand, he felt a subliminal feeling that he had never experienced before, he assumed that this was the sign by which he could tell other bearers of the Eye-and-Claws mark.

Unchosen asked: "So, how many marked allies do you have out there?"

Fire thought for a moment and then said: "It should be around nine thousand, not everyone friendly to us gets the Eye-and-Claws, only those who prove to be reliable and trustworthy."

Shadow smiled and announced: "Alright, today we will begin the training. For today everyone goes with both of us. In the future you will attend only the lessons that you have chosen. Today will be a bit of an introduction to the base."

Fire walked into a tunnel and made an inviting motion with his hand: "Come on, let's go."