"You've been practicing your sleight of hand!" Zac said, beaming at his niece. "Have you been using that palming ball I gave you for Christmas?" He had half a mind just to let her win, but she'd know and likely be pissed. Well, it was time to up the ante then. "A request? That's a bit old fashioned, isn't it?" Buzzster said, deliberately taunting her, "How about something cooler. Like three wishes?"

He followed her over to the kiosk. Buzzster had been playing UNOVR for months now, and had seen Chryssa three times. And he was beginning to suspect that at least one of those times had been a body double. Untethered by steel and physics, 'Morgana' was never in the same place for long, and he felt like a bloodhound chasing down a leprechaun. But every time seeing her had been worth the chase. He'd fly across the country to chaperone her to a nerd convention. He'd spend all his hard grifted savings just to give her an escape from her home life. Time was money, and he'd spend both on his niece to see her have fun.

It wasn't pity that compelled him. Nor was it purely familial bonds. It was more that Zac saw himself in Chryssa. He saw a young rapscallion born into a world that didn't quite align with them. And that's great! If you're always straight-on with the world then all you'll ever see are bars and walls. But if you're a bit crooked then you can slip through all the cracks. And that's where all the secrets are.

"2452," he said, way too fast. "A bit far down if I'm being honest, but I'm hoping that I can nail a few gigs when I get back and get bumped into the top 1500. I know some magicians think it's 'lame' to keep track of their Sorcerer Succession Number, but I like having clear goals! And the complaints of it being a popularity contest are bullshit. It's a perfect meritocracy. If you're a better magician you get bumped up the list, right? You can never rest on your laurels in this business Chryssa, remember that."

Zac patted himself down, trying to find the device. Instead he found a small package. "Oh! And this is for you," he said, handing her a shockingly well-wrapped present. It was thin, and about hand-length, and covered in way too many ribbons. Hopefully she needed a new pass holder, or else he'd just blown $45.

"Big heads run in the family," Buzzster said, shifting the luggage easily to one shoulder and bending down to smother his niece in a welcoming hug, "Connie was in labor for almost seventeen hours pushing out your huge melon! Not to mention your great aunt. Did you know they used to have to order in special hats for her down at the ranch? It took two and a half hides just to craft her a Stetson that didn't look like a damn party hat! I say it's all the brains, but if you ask me being double-jointed would be more of a boon."

"Nothing wrong with singing for you dinner," Buzzster said as they made for the exit. "It's when they ask you to dance that you've gotta be careful. That's a slippery slope."

He met Chryssa's gleaming eyes, his own sparkling like counterfeit rubies. "A wager? What's on the line then? Dinner? Dessert? Another one of those fancy game machines? Let me make sure I'm all limbered up." He cracked his neck loud enough that a nearby woman jumped. Then he unzipped Chryssa's bag and pulled out a white dove. He handed it to her, and then reached under its wing to pull out a Queen of Hearts with the words 'That big head of yours certainly stands out' written on it in pink sharpie. "Yep! Seems like I've still got it. Fire away!"

Zac took to flight like a newborn Ducklett to water, which is to say not very well, at risk of death, and very, very thankful for the life-saving assistance of his teammates @kallisto and Morpheus. With their shouted advice he managed soar clear through the ring and, following the sounds of cheering and explosions, pedaled his bike into a slow turn that took him out past the training field boundaries and then back towards the flight zone.

"We did it guys!" Buzzster called, disregarding the fact that they had completed 1/3 of the assigned work. "I'm coming back!"

Again, his flight was spotty, and with no way of telling where the green light was shining the next test would be completely impossible for him to complete on his own. "This calls for teamwork!" he said, angling the nose of his bike down in a startling trajectory.

"I'll swing straight through and pick you up and then we can all ride to the green beam together!" he called to his team, aiming at where he assumed they would be standing. "You two just scream my name so I know where you are!"

As CLAW took Zac's seeing-eye Chikorita, a trickle of cold sweat raced down his spine. He knew his team, sure, but there was a definite fear in his mind now that his 'eyes' were gone. "Well guys, I'll go first, ay?" he said, swinging one leg over the bike.

"It's just like riding a bike," he said to himself as he hunched over the flying bike-copter. "Nothing crazy, right? Just pedals and body weight for steering and speed." It was a good guess, and one that hopefully was enough to carry him through the finishing...ring.

"Am I lined up right?" he asked Morpheus and, once he got the all clear, he started to pedal. "Too fast or too slow?" he called to @kallisto. "Should I give it more steak sauce?"

It probably wasn't the best time to be using slang, but if not now then when?

Zac staggered into the field, and was only stopped from bumping into the grouped players by the little voice on his shoulder: Chikorita.

He was 100% blind, and had been wandering out on the Steppes for days at this point, unable to find his way back to the settlement or even to open his menu (that's not so much a blind thing as it is a 'Zac' problem). He'd been drawn here by the sound of Cygnus' voice, and as he listened to the man's speech he became more and more certain he'd finally reached safety!

"Yeah! Stupid birds! Give me back my wings!" Buzzster said, missing the point of the speech but managing to capture the spirit. He was pushed forwards to the table and grabbed the first thing his hands landed on: a bicycle.

With Chikorita's help he wheeled it over to a group of other players and did his best not to let on that he was completely blind. "How's it going gents and gentlewomen," he said to the two men. He reached out a hand to shake, deftly spearing the air between Morpheus and @kallisto. "The name is Buzzster Hooperham, and I'm just keen as heck to get up into the sky and fight some bloody birds, amirite?"

Teammates: Morpheus and @kallisto

"Huh. Must be for someone else," Buzzster said, shrugging off the complaints about his otherwise perfect prophecy.

They searched the room a second time, and Zac tripped over a rock that was half-buried in the packed, sandy ground. "Gah! Careful everyone, someone's put this bloody rock here!" Zac rubbed his bruised shin, and his words tumbled through his head like dropped marbles. "Put it here..." How did he know that? Was it his latent psychic abilities finally awakening? His immense geographical knowledge? Or was it the fact that the rock has made a hollow, plastic sound when he'd kicked it.

The group excavated the rock, and Zac turned it over. Something clattered around inside. "You hear that?" Could it be the secret to all of this? The mercury ceiling, the metal balls, the door of stone?

Zac punched a hole in the plastic rock, and out fell a key. It was longer than any key he'd seen before. Even larger than the novelty 'key to the city' that he'd stolen from the Mayor's office on his trip to Alberta. He handed it to Verai. "And where there's a key, there's bound to be a lock." He grinned. This mystery was as good as solved.

The door was as inscrutable as before. A plate of cold stone without mark, handle, or even keyhole. "There's gotta be a hole here somewhere," Buzzster complained, brushing down the dusty surface with his huge hands. "Or a crack, or something!"

He leaned against the door as he picked off a chunk of flaky stone, and the simple weight of his body made the slab swing open.

Blessed fresh air and blinding sunlight filled the darkened room, and Zac covered his eyes. "Ah! Bloody hell! It's like a flashbang at a nightclub!" he shouted, pawing his way forward to freedom.

They were OUT. The trap had been simpler than they'd imagined. but there was much left unknown. What was the purpose of the metallic ceiling? What did the balls mean? What about that cryptic plaque that had told them the stars would offer them guidance?

And what door fit that giant key?

Three trainers versus a swarm of Beedrill had been an uphill battle, but just as the picnic had seemed completely ruined a horde of snack-loving trainers had wriggled out of the woodwork to fight off the winged menace.

Gouts of flame from Wolf, @nephilim, and Lucille scorched the air, and blasts of mental energy from Yuze shook the swarm, as a secondary group of trainers sprinted into (or away from) from Beedrill, intent on grabbing eggs by any means necessary. Buzzster could respect anyone why put their body on the line for breakfast.

"That's the way! Give 'em hell!" Buzzster said, sliding closer to an ovoid protrusion he'd spotted at the bottom of a tree. A Beedrill flew in close and he pulled an armful of azalea blossoms from thin air and hurled them at the flying creature. He made a mad dash for the egg.