Chapter 418: Cartography

After enduring the terrors of Mama's kitchen and learning to cook a full meal from scratch (If you count lumpy potatoes, which he was!) Milo needed a break. Mama gave him a quick hug and a pat on the head.

"You did good for your first time. Don't worry about the potatoes, I'll show you the secret next time."

"Next time?"

"Of course, dear. You can't learn to cook just one meal. I thought we could do creamy macaroni and cheese casserole. We can have a nice, long discussion about what types of cheese make the best sauce. How does that sound to you?"

"Can we try out each of the different combinations?"

"Of course we can. Cooking is as much of an art as a science. Now, go relax and get some rest in your pod, and send Bork to me. He's going to help me do the dishes. Nothing like hot water and turning a dirty kitchen into a spotless one to help relieve a little tension."

Bork was easy to find, he was waiting for Milo outside the door of the kitchen. He held up a hand. "I have one question: Was that you watching me hack into Wally today?"

Milo wondered at the question, but it was easy to answer. "No."

Bork's shoulders slumped in relief, but then his brow furrowed. "Briefly, because I know Mama is waiting for me, I encountered someone attempting to infiltrate Wally. They were good. Good enough to make me think it was you or Onyx. I got past a level and blocked them, and in retaliation, they triggered the security around Wally. If it wasn't you or one of the others, that means someone is getting very, very good at what we do. Be careful out there, and if you pick up a shadow, try to track it. I'm going to spend the next week working on our security systems, and then see if anyone can break them." He left for his appointment with dishes and Mama.

If they stayed sane. Nina and Mama were both of the opinion that he was storing too much stress and putting a strain on his biological and mental systems. Mama's way of helping was nutrition and teaching him new things to occupy his mind. He was trying not to like cooking, but he'd had fun, and it had reminded him of making puffcakes in the Hollow. He really did need more ways to turn ingredients into food. He was already thinking about how to combine different cheeses and which combinations to suggest. Smiley might have some suggestions. He was already shedding stress as he thought about returning to Genesis.

Talking with Lars had been interesting and given him insight into the relationship between the Engine, the System, and the Gods. Hecate, Hades, and the others who still held powerful roles in the world had little control over the Engine. They could directly affect the world and utilize the tools they had to offer, thereby creating quests and manipulating events, but they couldn't override the Engine. They could make suggestions, but wisely chose not to, most of the time. Proposing something to the Engine was opening Pandora's Box, with no way of knowing what would come out, or when.

Wally and Stephen had discovered this the hard way when they were running the charade that Genesis was just a game. The team of human developers working on quests and content for 'The Game' was still around and creating content. But that content was passed to Stephen for oversight, then to Wally for final approval before it was sent to the Engine. Most of their work dealt with giving players the adventures they wanted while not causing problems for the inhabitants of the world. Grand Quests and World Bosses were out. Quests to kill 50 swamp rats or fetch a loaf of bread were in. The world didn't need more grand quests; the Engine was creating those from player actions and didn't need the help of humans, especially humans like Brian.

The System had even less control than the Gods. Lars was the herald of the Engine, doing its bidding, making announcements, handing out rewards, and creating quests to push the storylines that the Engine initiated. He had to interpret some of what it wanted, which meant he had some leeway in how he did things. But, by and large, if the Engine said "Jump", the System leaped into the air, probably with a snarky comment or two, but he leaped.

Milo was happy to find out he was being ignored by the Gods and the System. That the Engine had noticed him was interesting, but it didn't talk to him or interact, so he felt safe ignoring it and hoping it ignored him. He resolved to stay out of trouble in the future and stick to exploring caves. The pile of old maps he'd been given hinted at some interesting places to go. He wanted to spend some time trying to piece all the information together and travel deeper into the earth.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

As luck would have it, other people wanted him to do just that, as well. "Momma! Tallsqueak is back! Can we go exploring now?" The girls grabbed him by his arms, picked him up, and carried him to their Mother.

"Careful, girls, we just put Tallsqueak back together, don't tear his arms off."

"Don't worry, Mama, he put on his armor as soon as we grabbed him."

Milo had indeed armored up. Any game played with Rosie and Buttercup had the potential to pummel him. His bones might be nearly unbreakable, but that didn't stop them from trying when they got excited. A game of 'Tag' was more dangerous than fighting a Gneiss lurker. "We're going exploring?"

Buttercup yelled, "YES!"

Gendifur said, "No."

Rosie crossed her arms and pouted. "We want to go exploring in the mysterious crack, but Dad said no, and when we asked why, he said, 'Because Tallsqueak is Master of Scouts and he hasn't given you the job.'

Gendifur sighed. The girls had become more curious lately, and with that had come a lot of questions. 'Why?' and 'Why not?' were heard often now. Brutus sometimes gave answers that came back to haunt him later."Yes, Brutus did say that. I don't think he expected you to show up two minutes later."

Milo looked around for the big guard, not seeing him. "Where is Brutus?"

Gendifur also wanted to know. "For someone so big, he can be awfully quiet at times when he needs to make a quick getaway."

"Daddy says that's a secret guard skill..."

"...for stealing muffins from Smiley."

"We tried to do that, but he heard us coming."

"And just gave us the muffins and said, 'Nice try.' Smiley has good ears."

Gendifur looked at Mio, "So now it's up to you, as the official Master of Scouts, to say why they can't go exploring."

Milo hadn't seen the crack yet and was lacking data. But he knew the girls were expert climbers.

"Is there a reason they shouldn't go exploring?"

Gendifur stared at him, and he could feel the temperature in the cavern dropping to Ice Age levels. He quickly followed up with another statement.

"Well, except for the need for expert cartography and the time conflict with the expedition to Limburgher Hollow."

Rosie tried out the new word. "Carto-graphy? What's that?"

Milo squirmed loose from them and pulled out paper and pencils from his pack. He'd been meaning to start basic number theory with them, but cartography would be more fun.

"Map making. Very important for scouts, heroes, and explorers. You saw my book of old maps? Those may tell me where to find secret paths to new places. Some are well done, and others aren't. If you plan on exploring, you have to know how to make good maps."

Buttercup looked at the paper and pencils suspiciously. "Is this more schoolwork?"

Milo leaned in closer and whispered. "It looks like it, and it should fool your mama, but it's really fun. You get to draw things and play games. But don't tell her that."

They both giggled and looked at Gendifur, then giggled again.

"Ok, the first game we're going to play is called 'Directions'. This is home base. One of you stays here, and one has to find a spot in the city and draw an X on the ground. Then write directions that tell your sister how she can find it by describing the route to get there. If you give good directions, then she'll find your mark and you win."

"What do we win?"

Milo didn't know and looked at Gendifur. She said, "Cookies. One cookie if you find the X, and another if you give good directions."

Rosie was already thinking of a spot and slowly writing out her directions. Buttercup asked, "What comes after this?"

"Practice, lots of practice. And then you can be the cartographers and map out the routes between here and Limburgher Hollow, and from here to the Engineering Station. Your Dad is putting together an expedition. He'll need your help. You can make maps and keep him safe. It's part of Hero training, too." That settled things for both girls. Hero training was very important. They wrote out their directions, swapped papers, and disappeared into the city. Milo hoped it would keep them busy for a while.

Gendifur had a slight smile on her face. Then she grinned. "I can't wait to tell Brutus about the expert help he'll have for his expedition."

Milo had a question about one thing. "Why did they want to go exploring in the crack?"

"Oh, they overheard the Engineers talking about it. Some of them want to seal it up, but they don't know what's below the throne room. They could be sealing off a route to valuable ores, coal seams, or gem-bearing rock. They want to start a geological survey."

Milo didn't want to miss that. "When are they starting?"

"Just as soon as you show up, they have a bucket and a long rope to send you down, ready to go. They were laughing and claiming you were the expert bucket-delver."

"It's one of my many skills. And I fit in the bucket better than the dwarves do."

She handed him a bag, "Take your lunch and get going, then. I packed you a few snacks to give you energy. Not that you look like you'll need it. You're more anxious than the girls were."

"Well, who doesn't want to explore a mysterious hole in the ground where a CHIMERA came from?" He took the sack and scampered off, making sure to avoid the hardworking cartographers who were roaming back and forth across the city, creating treasure hunts for each other.