Anya awoke to wooden ceiling and more blue lights. She was in a cramped but relatively clean bed in the corner of a small room. As she came to her senses she suddenly grasped her thigh searching for her weapon.

  “Gun’s on the table, you can grab it if you don’t shoot me.”

  She sat up and turned in the direction of the voice. A young man of similar age to her was leaning against the wall, one hand in a pocket while the other fidgeted with some kind of floating metal contraption. Anya retrieved the gun from the side table and placed it back in the holster on her belt.

  “Who are you?” She asked.

  “I work for the Travellers Foundation, you can call me Kite.”

  “I suppose that’s not your real name.”

  “Ah, well at least the spear folk told you something.”

  “How did you know—”

  Kite tapped his thigh and gestured at Anya’s weapon. She looked down at the holster to see the insignia of a golden spear etched into its side.

  “I’ve got my own one stashed away. They’re good people, just have a tendency to be a bit cryptic.” He stood up from against the wall and pulled up a nearby seat next to the bed. “What else did they tell you?”

  “About what?”

  “The Tanglements.”

  “Not much. We were attacked by a Titan—”

  “A City Titan you mean,” Kite interrupted, “if it were a real Titan we’d have a big problem right now.”

  Anya gave a puzzled look yet continued anyway. “They told me about what happens to our eyes.” She examined the man’s eyes — he too had the thin gold streaks in his irises. “And they told me this is all called the Tanglements.” She paused. “Actually no, I knew that already.”

  Kite took a moment to think. “Yeah, it’s like our given names. We all just know we’re in ‘The Tanglements’, but no-one knows why or where that name comes from.” He held up the metal contraption he was previously fidgeting with and pressed a small button on its side. The device opened like a flower bulb, revealing a web of small crystals connected by twisting strings that weaved in and out of one another. “Alright, can you tell me where you’ve been so far.”

  “I remember the black desert — ‘Gateway’ right?”

  “That’s the one, we all start out there.”

  “Then I fell into a forest. It was night and the sky was full of red stars. I walked for a while until I found a group of campers.” She watched as Kite took a small needle and manipulated the device, poking at the crystals and altering them in some way she couldn’t understand.

  “Ignore me, continue please.”

  “They looked frightened to see me, they wouldn’t let me get too close to their camp. They tossed me a pouch with four pills — two yellow and two pink — and a canteen with a bit of water. Told me if I heard anything to take one of the yellow ones, and to take one of the pink ones if I started seeing or hearing things.”

  “The ‘Bleedwoods’ — there’s creatures there that can mimic people, I’m not surprised they were cautious. I’m guessing you heard something and took one the pills as they said?”

  “Yeah, it was like something crying for help, but it was loud and felt like it was coming from every direction. I took the pill and suddenly landed in one of the deserts here.”

  “And then you met the spear folks, and I guess they told you to come here?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Alright, come with me.”

  Kite led her out of the room and into what appeared to be a small store. Large windows lined the front wall, the glass smashed and boarded over.

  “Forgive us for the state of things, this is a new outpost.”

  Shelves lined the walls, strange objects strewn across them. Trinkets and what appeared to be weapons, equipment she had never seen before. In the middle of the room was a large table with a map laid out across its surface, along with empty cups and plates, and the lingering crumbs from meals past.

  Against the corner of the table was a long bulky rifle. It was a deep black and shimmered like obsidian. Kite retrieved the weapon and moved to place it on a rack attached to the wall.

  To the left of the entrance were two dispensers — one filled with pink pills, and the other with yellow. To the right was a wooden reception desk, behind which stood another man. He was tall and and casually dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, unlike Kite who wore what Anya could only describe as a blacked out soldier’s uniform.

  “Ah, she’s awake. How are you feeling?”

  “I’m okay, is this the Travellers Foundation?”

  “This is a Foundation outpost, yes. Kite tells me he found you being chased by a hoard of spiders.”

  “Wasn’t sure I could sink them all to be honest.” Kite noted.

  Anya suddenly remembered the image of the spiders falling through the ground. “That was you?”

  Kite finished racking the rifle. “Sure was.”

  “Thank you.”

  “No problem,” he turned to the man behind the counter, “say, boss, we’re going to need more charges for this thing — any sign of the doc?”

  “If nothing went awry she should be here later today.”

  “Great, I’ll ask her to take the order.”

  “Gamma or delta?”

  “Gamma, I don’t like the ones they nab from delta.”

  “She won’t be very happy about that.”

  “I’ll pay her extra.” he turned back to Anya. “Alright, sorry for the delay lets get you acquainted with things.”

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  Kite cleared the table and once more produced the metal contraption from earlier. He threw it over the map where it rested in the air and expanded, unravelling into the same web as before yet this time filling the space between the table and the ceiling.

  “The Tanglements is a collection of alternate dimensions. Each dimension can hold its own laws — you cannot trust your normal intuitions of reality and physical space.” He reached in to the web and plucked out a string of connected crystals. “We call the dimensions ‘instances’, and they are connected along ‘branches’. These branches have been named alpha, beta, gamma, and so on — with each instance in that branch numbered. Following this system we are currently in the first instance on the alpha branch, otherwise known as alpha-one.” He let go of the branch and it sprung back into the web, sending reverberations throughout the structure which settled over time.

  He reached into one of his pockets and produced a yellow and a pink pill. “The yellow ones are called ‘Hop Pills’. You take one and you’ll be transported to a random instance along the same branch. If I took this now I could be taken to alpha-two or alpha-three.” He placed the yellow pill back in his pocket and held up the pink one. “This one is a little more complicated. They’re called ‘Perception Pills’, and they’re used to mitigate ‘Perception Sickness’.”

  He reached into the web and grabbed a large crystal at its centre. The contraption immediately retracted back into a small metal ball. “Listen carefully. In the Tanglements there is an effect known as ‘Perception Transfer’. At any time without warning, any of your senses can suddenly be split between instances. You might be in alpha-one and start hearing things from alpha-two, or your eyes might start seeing things from alpha-three while your body is still here in alpha-one. The moment you start feeling any of these effects — take a pink pill. They might make you feel a bit dizzy but Perception Sickness is much worse.”

  The boss interjected, “you can stock up on pills from the dispensers. The Travellers Foundation is here to help you get on your feet in the Tanglements.”

  Anya looked down at the pill. She was trying to process everything Kite had just told her. This was her reality now. Her memories of home faded with every passing moment.

  “It’s a lot, take a seat.” Kite said.

  A small bell chimed as the front door opened and another person walked in. It was one of the doctors Anya had seen in the walking down into the bunker during the titan attack. They wore a long black robe, which once removed revealed the metal exoskeleton wrapped around their body. The doctor hung up their coat and feathered hat, and moved to take off their gas mask.

  Underneath was a woman with long silvery hair and eyes that were nearly completely golden. A scar ran along her cheek. She removed her gloves and hung them up as well, unveiling metal streaks that ran down her fingers and appeared to be imprinted into her skin. Anya felt as if she could hear the doctor’s hands hum lightly as they moved.

  “How’s it looking over there?” the boss asked.

  “They will live, but I do not know how many more will fit in that city. We should consider aid to help them set up a supply line between two patches.”

  “We’ll need to get the equipment ourselves first. Speaking of, Kite’s got a request to make.”

  “What now?”

  “Hey I’m paying, its not like I’ve got empty pockets” Kite exclaimed. “I need Conduit Charges, gamma.”

  “And what will you pay me to venture into the bowels of St. Moros so you can keep flinging spiders across instances?”

  “How’s five coins sound?” He reached into another one of his pockets and produced five green stones, each of them etched with a small symbol resembling the stereotypical cartoon diagram of an atom. “—Morosian of course.”

  “Make it ten.”

  The boss chuckled.

  “Now doc, come on that’s a little steep.”

  The doctor gave a smile. “Do not worry yourself, I am only joking. Give me three, I have business in that place anyway.”

  “Take four — sign of good faith. Or a lucky charm, you choose.” Kite insisted and held out four of the stones. The doctor took them.

  “You have business in St. Moros?” the boss asked the doctor.

  “Yes, I am afraid it is quite important as well. You will have to find another courier for your requests to the Foundation.”

  “And where are we going to find a courier?”

  “How about her.” The doctor pointed to Anya, who looked up with a puzzled expression.

  “She just got here.” Kite objected.

  “Exactly. We are at the tail of the Cartographers Era but it has hardly come to an end. Neither the Foundation or Association can hold claim to civilisation within the Tanglements yet. It is still trail by fire through which travellers are born.”

  The boss turned to Anya. “Well, I can’t say the doc is wrong. How would you like to become courier, newcomer?”

  Anya thought back to the web of the instances and its sprawling branches. She imagined herself walking each them like a tightrope — balancing herself between realities. She lifted herself from the chair, and as she began to speak, a thin streak of gold formed in her iris.