I walked through the sliding doors, and the four elementals looked at me, but Blaza seemed uneasy. I was sure he was curious about what was happening to Maelstrom, considering that It was more than likely to happen to him next.

“The three have been split apart, but they are being contained and monitored for now. Harold is going to come back up here soon to let us know what is going on. Still, I have the Dark energy quarantined for now,” I explained to them all, and Blaza’s edgy look seemed to disappear.

“What does that mean for me? Are there three of me?” Blaza asked, looking down at his hands where he stood beside Grogvel and Windorf.

“I don’t know yet; you will have to ask Harold when he gets out here. I am sure that we will figure something out, but what is going on outside right now?” I asked as I walked over to the table, but the map was no longer up.

“There were thousands of hanging pods and then some strange rings, but now there is a strange frequency blocking your senses. Now we have lost complete reading for our maps and all the things we normally have access to. Your hearing and sight had been severely limited because of the bugs,” Grogvel explained.

“Do we know how far away we are from where we are going, or what happens after we pass the next area?” I asked, and Windorf nodded from the other side of him.

“Yes, but there is some kind of gravitational anomaly in the center. It is creating something almost like a zero-g space, but the bugs there seem different. There were hanging pods that looked like living quarters, but the bugs almost seem like you, or like Jilly, but more bug,” Windorf told me, and I lifted my eyebrow.

“Are you trying to tell me that the bugs inside that area are more evolved than the ones that are swarming here?” I asked curiously.

“I only got a brief view of what was going on, but I think it has something to do with the area inside their swarming ring. I saw some bugs enter, and they changed when they did. Still, only certain bugs were able to get through the invisible wall,” Grogvel explained. I nodded, but then I turned to Fireden.

“What is your opinion about this?” I asked him, and I got a shrug.

“I suggest you suck it up and go out there and ask Dani some questions since we have no way to do so ourselves,” Fireden said, and I sighed, shaking my head.

I really didn’t want to go out there until I absolutely had to, but I guess this was important enough to warrant me going back out. Still, I was not excited about this, and I took in another deep breath before I closed my eyes and then cracked them slightly.

I closed them tight again but forced myself to stay in my body even though my skin was trying to crawl right off it.

“Can I ask you about where we are going?” I asked, trying to use a normal voice, but I still ended up almost shouting.

“I thought that you were going to stay quiet the entire time?” Dani asked me, and I shrugged, still keeping my eyes clamped.

“I want to know about the area that we are going into. I was trying to sense it, but I was suddenly blocked,” I said, trying to play my abilities off as normal.

“Smart of you to ask, but it is hard to explain. Grixaitalax is a strange brain-like insect that produces a strange field. Certain bugs are allowed into the Citipod Center. Inside there is another world, and you have to be careful how fast you move, or you will get drawn into the Gravity Well at the center,” Dani explained.

I listened to what I mostly knew, but the info about Grixaitalax was new.

I didn’t know what kind of bug he was, but Grixaitalax must be something more than a bug to do something like was being described. It all sounded like something out of a science fiction movie, but that wasn’t unusual.

This world and everywhere were just one head trip after another, so this really wasn’t that strange. This was just another crazy concoction of two warring minds, nothing to get excited about.

[I beg to disagree. If you had something like this, you could create a mini world to start your Ranch.]

‘You are done with the water elemental? How did things go?’

[They seem fine, but we will monitor them until we get off the island. I am not sure if the barrier is affecting them, so I want to keep them under observation for now.]

‘Good, but how am I supposed to use Grixaitalax? Not like he is just going to leave this cocoon, right?’

[I think that the girls are working on unique places for everyone on the ship. They are making lots of room for the people we have, but you are bound to collect more people that you will be able to hold in one spot. While I don’t think that you will be able to take Grixaitalax from the Citipod, you might be able to take the Citipod with you.]

That was an exciting idea, but it was too soon to count the chickens. We still had to wait and talk with Grixaitalax before any plans could hatch, and then we could deal with it.

Currently, the most important thing for me to do is to get to Grixaitalax at the bottom center of the map. However, the other elephant in the room has to be addressed first.

What was Dani going to change into when we entered this new place? And would it do more than just affect her appearance?

Suddenly, there were no bugs around me, and I was pulled into a jello-like wall before I could open my eyes to see.

<WARNING, Forced Evolution!> Activated!