I launched to my feet, staggered backwards, then crashed onto unforgiving stone, the impact jolting through my bones. The floating book grew more tangible before my eyes, the face within that oval window becoming solid. Her skin was unnaturally white, her hair lustrous silver. An opal gleamed at the center of her high collar, and as she blinked, I realized her eyes were no longer twinkling lights but smooth translucent stones.

  She smiled softly.

  I gaped wordlessly.

  "I have to admit," she said, her voice seeming to come from everywhere, yet deep within my mind, all at once. "I expected your kind's souls to feel…different. More alien, perhaps?"

  I snapped my jaw shut, not wanting to look like an idiot as I stared the woman in the eye… A woman, whose face floated in a window on a book. The same one I'd seen in the shrine. "Wait," I managed. “Wait, wait, wait—you're from the spire?”

  "I am." Her pleasant smile made this seem like an ordinary conversation between old friends.

  “Uh…” A strange buzzing sensation crawled up my throught, then questions burst from my mouth. "Wait, what are you? And why is everything still intact?" I gestured wildly at the surrounding stones, then the sky. "You were there! I mean, not outside, but the stars were falling, and the city—"

  My throat tightened as the screams of the dying echoed in my mind. The memory of the earth's trembling made my body shake uncontrollably, now that I'd given voice to the insanity whirling inside me.

  The woman's smile remained oddly paternal. "I was there," her omnipresent voice whispered. "I was…and under different circumstances, you would have gotten your wish."

  I sat up straight, warmth tingling up my neck. "You know what I want?"

  "What else would an Offworlder come to me for?"

  Offworlder. I'd never heard the term, but it fit. And, wait…that meant she knew I was from—

  "Earth," she finished, making my arm hair stand on end. In all my weeks here, no one had mentioned my home planet. Hearing it from this ghostly woman in a book was perhaps the sweetest thing I'd heard in what felt like forever.

  Distant voices made me look over my shoulder, up the slope of gray-blue porous rocks, and toward the cliff's edge. I saw no one, but I was worried. I’d caused quite a stir in the town square. Between my behavior and current state of undress, they probably thought me insane… No, they did think me insane. I wouldn’t be surprised if soldiers were on my tail, eager to lock me up.

  "Come on," I said to the book, shakily rising to my feet. I'd avoided caves since witnessing that murder, but I needed shelter and a place to hide.

  As I skipped from stone to stone, the book followed beside me. A pleasant burning sensation expanded in my chest This…being knew what I wanted, knew where I was from—I needed to hurry. I needed answers. I hopped from stone to stone with greater speed, spotting a cave just ahead..

  I ducked through the cavity. It was roomy, but scattered bones and carapace pieces made Gripjaw hiss, coiling around my shoulders like a living scarf.

  "We won't stay long," I whispered, scratching under his chin, grateful for his anchoring presence. Without him, I literally wouldn't be here right now.

  Cronia's face reappeared within that oval window.

  "So," I said, squeezing my waist to stop my hands from trembling, "you just assume because I'm an Offworlder, I want out?"

  "That," she said, "and I sensed your intention the moment you touched my cover."

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  "Then you can grant my wish? Send me back home!"

  Her melodious laugh was gentle. "If only it were that easy. Those who've come to me in the past were from this world…but you? An Offworlder, wanting escape from the cyberverse? Ha! It would be easier to teleport an entire world to a neighboring solar system."

  I ran fingers through my hair. Of course it wouldn't be easy. When had anything in my life been easy?

  "But…there is a way," she continued, making my heart skip. "You can get what you want…and I can get what I want."

  "What's that?"

  "The preservation of my shrine. It's one of the few connections Elendria has to the cyberverse, a final defense against threats beyond this world.”

  I nodded, jaw chattering. My interface hovered in my peripheral vision:

  [Day 1 - Noon of the First Day]

  [9 Days and 14 Hours until the Triple Solstice]

  [Restarts Remaining: 10.]

  "You sent me back.” I finally accepted that fact. "Back to the start of the week…”

  "I did. But I can only do so ten more times. And if you don’t stop the meteor shower from happening, none of us will survive."

  I shivered. "And I'm never going home."

  She gave a solemn nod. “But there’s more. Because of your special circumstances, it will take several Bonds to push your soul up and out of the cyberverse, and back to Earth."

  The book snapped open to reveal:

  [BONDS]

  [Bond Points: 1]

  [#1] [Gripjaw] [BONDED]

  [#2] [N/A]

  [#3] [N/A]

  [#4] [N/A]

  [#5] [N/A]

  "How did I bond with him?" I asked.

  The pages flipped to section titled:

  [PROFILES]

  [Description: Below, you will find a list of persons struggling physically, spiritually, emotionally and/or mentally.]

  There was an entire list of people, some with portraits and others displaying large question marks. At the top was Gripjaw, marked [Bond Quest Complete.] Below was that rose-scaled Tidewalker girl from the gardens, her profile marked [Open Bond Quest.] Others followed: Rosamae with her bright green eyes and brilliant smile, that pale-faced Beachstrider, the murdered councilman, and even passing strangers.

  "Everyone is secretly hurting," Cronia whispered, "not just you."

  Warmth flooded my chest as I stared at the open book with large eyes. She knew, then? Knew my past? Knew the pain? The book snapped shut, revealing the woman’s face. Her expression was calm, knowing, compassionate. Despite how strange this was—a face in a book promising salvation—I felt…I felt like she genuinely cared. Something I definitely wasn’t used to.

  "Every person you help—every Bond Quest you complete—gives you a point. Five is a good number—that should give me enough power to send you back, but only under the light of the Triple Solstice."

  "So I need to focus on two things." A blank window appeared, words forming as I spoke: “Number one: stop that meteor shower from annihilating Wavehaven, and number two: complete Bond Quests for five people—basically help them with whatever they need."

  Cronia nodded as the interface arranged itself:

  [New Campaign Quest]

  [The Errand of a Goddess]

  [Cronia, the Goddess of Time, needs your help. In exchange, she will send you back to Earth. To return home, you must fulfill her requests.]

  [Objective 1: Prevent the Cataclysm of the Triple Solstice]

  [Objective 2: Bond with Five People]

  [Reward: A surge of infinite Emenance for 10 seconds]

  “Emenance?"

  “Power that flows through the gods themselves," she said, her voice dropping to a reverant whisper. "The force that breathes life into all things—every thought, every word, every action. My shrine channels this very power, and when the celestial bodies align, I can use their combined energy to send you home.Though…I cannot promise your body will stay intact.”

  My stomach dropped, but before I could say anything, she continued: “You'll likely slip into another body—someone close to your current age."

  I nodded, relieved I wouldn't end up in some old dude. "Will it be a person, though? A male person?” The last thing I wanted was to wake up in some chick’s body.

  "The nature of our spirits is eternal, gender is eternal. Don't worry, the body will be male. And it will be human.”

  I let out a laugh, clapping my hands together. “Then it’s settled!” With ten restarts giving me one hundred days to stop that masked cultist and bond with five people, I would have more than enough time. At least, I hoped.

  Taking a deep breath, I hurried toward the cave entrance and looked out across the sparkling sea, and toward the horizon. Toward my destiny, just out of sight. Just out of reach. Glancing back, I found both Cronia and Gripjaw watching expectantly.

  "Where do we begin?"

  The goddess smiled broadly. "That, dear Zale, is up to you."

  The book flipped open, pages flapping until it reached the Main Quests page. I read the objectives again.

  [Objective 1: Prevent the Cataclysm of the Triple Solstice]

  [Objective 2: Bond with Five People]

  [Reward: A surge of infinite Emenance for 10 seconds]

  I stared at the first one as an idea formed—a wonderfully dangerous idea. I gave a sharp nod, and hopped out of the cave.

  I knew where to start—but I needed a weapon…

  Pausing, I glanced down at my mostly-naked body.

  And, some clothes.