Домагой Курмаич - Mother of Learning

"Can you even do that at this point?" Zach asked. "We lost most of the notebooks and research notes when the physical exit strategy failed."

"I saved the most crucial work in my head, and the rest can be reconstructed with some effort," Zorian said. "It may take years but I’m sure I can do it."

He was deliberately being a little more optimistic about things than he really felt. So many things had been lost at the end of the time loop… it pained Zorian to even think of it. Zorian had used memory packets to preserve their most important information, designs, and notebooks before the group had made their exit attempt… just in case… but this was still just a small part of the whole. It couldn’t substitute for the vast body of knowledge and invention that the group had managed to gather in the end.

Rebuilding that massive library and then handing down portions of it to various people without causing a massive stir that led straight back to him would be a difficult problem.

"Does that mean you’ve already given Kael his notes?" Zach asked curiously.

"No, not yet," said Zorian, shaking his head. He actually had fairly complete version of Kael’s notes. He prioritized preserving his research, mostly due to them being old friends, so he didn’t have to reconstruct much in that regard. "The situation is very weird right now. I don’t want to involve him in this mess until I have to, and I can’t just hand him those research notes and leave him to his own devices."

"Do you even want to tell him about the time loop?" Zach asked.

"Ideally, I’d like to keep everyone except Xvim, Alanic, and the Cyorian web in the dark about the time loop," Zorian said. "I’m not sure how possible that is, though. We are already planning to evacuate everyone we know to Koth at some point. We’re going to need an explanation of some sort for that. At the very least, informing Daimen about things may be necessary to get his cooperation."

"Daimen would also be useful for his magical prowess and possibly his connections," Zach pointed out. "Speaking of Koth, how are the negotiations with the Silent Doorway Adepts going?"

"Reasonably well," Zorian said. "We haven’t reached an agreement, but that’s normal. I don’t think we need to tell them anything about time travel. Gate keys for another continent are tempting enough on their own. We should have a way to Koth in a few of days."

"Good. I’ll feel a lot better with Princess by my side," Zach said. "With her support, not even Quatach-Ichl can force us to withdraw. I’d put my hand in the fire that Red Robe is trying to broker some kind of alliance with Quatach-Ichl as quickly as he can."

"Probably," Zorian agreed.

"I really don’t like this," Zach said. "You at least are in constant contact with your simulacrums, but I don’t have that luxury. I have no idea what’s happening out there until my simulacrums deign to send me a report, so all I can do is wait. I feel useless and stupid."

"The simulacrums are doing fine," Zorian assured him. "I’m concerned that we can’t find any solid clues as to what Red Robe is really doing, but us being active along with our simulacrums would not have helped with that anyway."

"You may be right, but I’m sick of waiting," Zach told him. "It just isn’t my style, you know? Once we get our hands on the imperial orb and have Princess on our side we’ll be able to really go on the offensive. It doesn’t matter what Red Robe’s is planning then – we’ll just come straight at him and crush him in battle. If we demolish the Ibasan base beneath Cyoria and shut down the gate they use to transport their troops, the invasion is over. We’ll see if he’ll still hide behind simulacrums when that happens."

"Hey! Zorian! Hey! Over here!"

They had barely stepped foot inside the cafeteria when a familiar voice started calling for him. It was Benisek – the chubby, cheerful, girl-obsessed boy that Zorian used to regularly interact with. Sadly, the time loop had not been kind to their friendship. Benisek could be really annoying and shallow, and the time loop had only made that worse. Eventually, Zorian stopped interacting with him at all.

He kind of felt bad about that. Benisek had his faults, but so did his old self. He couldn’t really ignore the boy’s invitation without looking like a colossal jerk, so he reluctantly walked over. Zach followed after him, inviting himself along.

"Hello, Ben," Zorian said, as he fetched a nearby chair and sat down next to him. Zach gave Ben a friendly wave and a smile before copying his action. "You sound happy. Eager to start a new school year?"

"You bet!" Benisek said, grinning wildly. "We’re upperclassmen now! Our dating prospects have entered a whole new level!"

"Hell yeah!" Zach agreed, fist pumping in the air. "For girls!"

"For girls!" Benisek agreed, returning the fist pump with one of his own.

"For gods' sake, you two… we’re in a public setting," Zorian complained, trying to ignore the way people around them were staring at them.

"So. You two are hanging out together, now?" Benisek asked curiously. "When did that happen?"

"In the last couple of days," Zorian told him. "Don’t ask. It’s a long story involving a series of misunderstandings, me getting punched in the face at the train station, and Zach getting attacked by my little sister in retaliation."

"That sounds super interesting, though," he protested. "You can’t tell me something like that and then just leave me hanging, man."

He suddenly frowned a little, giving Zorian a weird look.

"Wait… are you saying you brought your annoying little sister along to Cyoria?" he asked.

"Yup," Zorian confirmed with a decisive nod.

"Ouch," Benisek said with an exaggerated wince. "My condolences. See, I told you that being so serious and responsible would eventually bite you in the ass… my family would never even think of letting me take care of my younger sisters! You should be more like me, Zorian!"

"The mere idea is horrifying," Zorian told him bluntly.

"Bah, you don’t know what’s good for you," Benisek said. He gave Zach a speculative look. "Though, if you keep hanging out with our dear friend Zach, that may change after a while. I hear your recent life has been somewhat… exciting."

"Oh yeah, downright explosive," agreed Zach.

"So that attack I was hearing about…?" Benisek asked.

"It’s all true, but I was out drinking and dancing that night so it ended up missing me," Zach said with a careless shrug.

"Ha ha, now that’s the proper way to evade death!" Benisek said, leaning forward to punch Zach in the shoulder. Zach blocked it, which Benisek took in stride. He leaned back in his chair, his expression becoming more solemn all of a sudden. "But man, I got to say, this is one messed up week. First the attack on Noveda Mansion, and now that thing with the villages in Holakor… what is the world coming to? I really, really hope this isn’t a prelude to war, you know? It’s kind of selfish, but I want my academy days to be peaceful and fun."

Zach and Zorian shared a confused look with each other.

"What do you mean villages in Holakor ?" Zorian asked him. "We don’t know anything about that."

"Ah? No?" Benisek said, surprised. "You two need to pay more attention to recent events, then. I know Eldemarian newspapers haven’t reported much on it, but you two should keep an eye on continental news. One of you is the heir of a Noble House and the other… well, I know Zorian doesn’t like hearing about his brother, but–"

"Just tell us already," Zorian told his with a heavy sigh.

"Fine, but you have to tell me that long story you teased me with earlier," Benisek blackmailed.

"Deal," Zorian immediately agreed. He would make something up later.