Derin Edala

4.62: Leap of Faith

“He’s drunk and his familiar magic is playing up,” di Fiore told Malas.

“Nothing is ‘playing up’, it’s completely fine, and I had one cider,” I clarified. “Di Fiore’s just being a fusspot.”

“Well, let’s have a look.” Malas held out a small electronic device with a plastic straw attached. “Breathe into this until it beeps, please.”

“Is that a breathalyser? Why do you have a breathalyser?”

“I run a hospital for teenagers wit...

4.61: Reaction

“Talk about wha – hey!” I flinched back in surprise as di Fiore shoved his way past me into the room and shut the door. “What? Get out!”

“No,” he said. He set his backpack on the floor. Bottles clinked inside. “You’re sulking.”

“I… what?”

“You’re grieving. I get that. But you’re way more sociable than this. Someone like you shouldn’t be grieving alone this much. You keep pushing everyone away, refusing to see or talk to anyone, and honestly?...

027: PAST

“I want to talk about what happens after we have enough doctors,” I say to the Friend once we’re alone.

“Yes, captain?”

I hesitate. There’s not really any delicate way to broach the topic, but it needs to be broached. “Back when we were breaching the Chronostasis Ring 1 airlocks, you volunteered, claiming that your life was less valuable and you’d need to die to free up a space for another colonist when we reached capacity. As I hope I’ve made clear, I don’t wa...

4.60: Marked

“So let me ask you again, Kayden: how are you able to find the Lake of Inquisition?”

“I don’t know.”

“I see. Well – ”

“But I could probably guess. It all comes down to what’s different about me, right?”

“I suppose. This was before the familiarity rite, but perhaps your spell – ?”

“Oh no, that thing doesn’t do anything.” I tapped the cup of tea in front of me thoughtfully. “I’m guessing you don’t know how they make high-rank...

Patreon bonus snippet -- Soul Offering

I’m surprised it took so long to learn that it would come to this.

I was arrogant, I suppose, to assume a happy ending. I’d been excited to know that I’d give my soul for this, that I’d be able to rid myself of the thing I’d allowed into my arm in an act of foolishness that I’d mistaken for bravery. A price that is no price at all, a spell to find the library.

I had miscalculated.

Could this have ended any other way? Of course. I could have refused to come to the...

4.59: Family Matters

“Um,” I said.

Kylie and Talbot both jumped and stopped what they were doing, blushing deeply. Silence stretched for several long, awkward seconds.

“I thought you had an appointment,” Kylie said finally.

“I cancelled it,” I said.

More silence.

“I should go,” Talbot said, scooping up his cane. He made for the door; I got out of his way.

“So,” I said when Kylie and I were alone. “Talbot?”

“What about it?”

“How long has...

026: PURIFY

Repairing the coolant lines takes longer than I’d expect, but finally Denish calls down, “Lines are sealed, now computer can purge!”

“You’re sure you’re alright?” I ask him as he hops off the side of the elevating platform, apparently not willing to wait for its slow descent.

“Fine! No worry!” he says brusquely. “Very small damage, all fixed. Anyway, no time to lie about in hospital; we have five tho – four thousand colonists to save! Ship must be in good con...

4.58: A Theory

I had a theory.

It wasn’t an important theory, in any practical sense. It wouldn’t save the world. But it was bugging me. I’d skipped potion class thinking about it (I didn’t really feel like seeing Saina at the moment), and found myself struggling to focus on Instruktanto Ahuja as he explained our latest Ido assignment.

Ahuja didn’t like Ido, or at least, didn’t think it was a good candidate for a universal mage language. He’d made this clear way back during my init...

November's ttou bonus vote

As a new perk, $15+ patrons now get the opportunity to vote on what ttou bonus material will be available each month! Anything that loses the vote will roll over into next month's poll -- voting for one thing doesn't mean another thing is gone forever.

Please not that there may be rare months where bonus material is related directly to the ongoing story and the timing of the release is crucial, so in these specific months, voting will not be available. However, this should be a very rar...

New Patreon tier opened up!

We've opened up the Wizard tier and introduced a new perk for Craftspeople! If you're a $15 or higher patron, you now get to vote on what bonus material will be released each month! The ability to name a Time to Orbit: Unknown character is now a Wizard perk, if you're already a Craftsperson, don't worry -- you'll still get your character. This move is strictly for new Craftspeople.

Next month's Ask Me Anything character is: Talbot Ericson

$10 and up patrons: If you have anything to ask Curse Words' dry-humoured, blind conspiracy theorist with the Hand of Purity, be sure to message your questions to me here on Patreon by the end of the month! The answers will be published on Nov 8th

Behind the Keyboard -- Max

4.57: Goodbye

The funeral was the very next day. I suppose that when you’re rich and have access to magical portals, there’s no reason to waste any time.

On the advice of our legacy mage friends, Kylie and I wore well-fitted black robes, meaning I had to wear the stupid binder again. The funeral was held at Refujeyo, although not on the school campus, I think. The tunnels we went through were unfamiliar, and dotted with offices and halls rather than classrooms.

The… hall? church? where th...

025: FOX

“I’ll get the doctor,” Tinera says.

“It’s probably a bit busy now, reviving patients.”

“I’ll find out. But it’s probably the best one to figure out anything from this, right? I mean, we don’t have a proper coroner, but…”

“Yeah. Good point.”

A couple of minutes later, the entire crew is gathered in Engine Ring 1. Well, me and the five others I know, anyway.

“Did you find a new doctor?” I ask the Friend.

“Yes. Her name’s Li...

4.56: It Wasn't Supposed To Go This Way

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Things didn’t go this way. We went through dangerous stuff all the time, charging into certain death, doing dangerous magical experiments, we were trying to save the world, and Max had… what? Drowned in a well? No, that wasn’t right. That wasn’t how our lives worked.

“We were bound to run out of luck sometime,” Kylie said, staring at the cup of tea in her hands. We were back in our room, having been ushered out of the hospital by… s...

4.55: The Waiting Game

Less than two minutes later, several professional-looking, pink-clothed safety personnel were gaining Kylie’s leave to enter Duniyasar and filing out onto the sands. Malas, not one to shirk his duties, got to diagnosing and treating our various minor injuries (he wasn’t happy at all with how much more sensitive I’d become to his magic, but that was hardly a high priority at the moment), and Alania was pacing back and forth across the hospital floor.

“This is my fault,” she sai...

Patreon bonus -- Denish's javelin ID card

ID chips were implanted into colonists shortly before stasis for recognition aboard the ship and new colony, but during the training, accommodation and boarding process, it was more convenient to use these paper ID cards.

024: ACCESS

“Okay,” I say. “Now that we have full access to the ship, we – ”

“We don’t,” Tinera says.

“We… don’t?”

“Nope. Tal. Hey, Tal!”

“Hmm?”

“Tell the captain about the airlocks.”

“Okay. I can’t open the airlocks.”

I wait a few seconds, but no further explanation seems to be forthcoming. “Yes you can. You opened them to let us get to Denish.”

“Oh yeah, I got those ones open. I just took out that whole part...

4.54: The Way Out

“Max?” Kylie’s voice had a hysterical tinge to it. “Did you pick up a new spell?”

“No, I didn’t pick up – why are you two staring at me?”

I pulled up the camera on my tablet and handed it to him to use as a mirror. He frowned at his own reflection for a few seconds, then calmly handed it back. He stared back at the wall, closing his left eye for a few seconds, then his right. “That… explains some things,” he said, confused. “But this isn’t right. I don�...