Nurgle and Isengar on a diplomatic mission to Soth in the style of Ren Xun, as interpreted by DALL-E in February 2025.

  Chapter 45: Magic doors

  Moho refuge, Lower crust, Confluence dimension

  Year 42 of the Confluence Republic (local time)

  After going public on Shadows and Secrets, Isengar and Nurgle were drowning in invitations for other media shows and for parties. They declined all the former and accepted some of the latter, spending their evenings at some very curvaceous and voluptuous gatherings that guaranteed their privacy and peace of mind. It was very stimulating after all those years in exile.

  Inevitably, some of the people they talked with suggested sharing a Transmission space. Both Isengar and Nurgle were initially skeptical, if not for entirely the same reason, but both were also curious. Eventually the curiosity overwhelmed the skepticism.

  It was like having mind sex. Not infrequently, it also tended to lead to the other kind of sex, although that movement was basically just an afterthought. Isengar and Nurgle started spending a lot of time in shared Transmission spaces.

  One challenge was that Nurgle sometimes found it hard not to think about things that should maybe not be shared with just anyone, such as his mission from the SC board. He did his best to think about other things when he took part in shared mind spaces.

  Now that it was confirmed that the unknown person Nurgle was conversing with was Scelera Ignosce of the Diankoran Ruling Council – currently attempting some sort of invasion – Nurgle had no compunctions about deceiving them. Scelera replied to Nurgle’s query about the energy thief by claiming no knowledge and asking for a description of the thief, camouflaging the message in a particularly gruesome wartime episode in a village called My Lai. Consulting the SC board, Nurgle responded with a general description of a Diankoran insect-reptile hidden in the discovery of the laser; Scelera, using another gruesome episode of people abusing one another in the city of Cape Town as their cover, declared their interest in this creature and asked what had happened to it.

  In the meantime, the SC board suggested another mission for Isengar and Nurgle – a diplomatic mission to Soth. The idea was to turn off the temporal manipulation of Soth’s pocket and then send Isengar and Nurgle to talk with him and maybe get him back to the Confluence. They agreed to do it; in any case they needed a break from all the parties and Transmission spaces.

  As the SC board had correctly intuited, Isengar and Nurgle had ways to notify Soth of their arrival, so he would not freak out and activate escape contingencies. They sent him a message, then SC turned off the temporal manipulation, and then they jumped in. Soth was still at his campfire, now sitting down.

  Soth: Well, that’s an unexpected visit. Please sit down. There’s some fish left if you’re interested.

  Nurgle: Thanks, but we ate earlier. You look good.

  Soth: Yeah, new body. I’m doing fine, have been working on this and that. What was the important thing you wanted to talk about?

  Nurgle: It’s kind of a long story. Are you aware that someone is trying to invade the Confluence, or possibly one of their simulations?

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Soth: What? Who?

  Isengar: We think it’s the same people who attacked us back in the Demonic Wars.

  Soth: Really? Is the Confluence in trouble?

  Nurgle: Our impression is that they’re doing fine. They are very powerful these days.

  Soth: Mm. What was that about their simulation?

  Nurgle: Apparently, the enemy is attempting to use a simulation as a staging ground for the attack.

  Soth: How is that supposed to work?

  Nurgle: Perhaps just in the sense that the demons or whatever we should call them will absorb their energy and use this to power the attack.

  Soth: Huh. Do you know which simulation?

  Isengar: It’s one of our old ones. Erd.

  Soth: Is that so.

  Nurgle: We think the situation is under control.

  Soth: Ok. So, what is the important thing here?

  Nurgle: Well, because of the attack, some things have been changing.

  Isengar: We returned to the Confluence, Soth. We’re working for them.

  Soth: What?

  Nurgle: There’s no threat to you.

  Soth: You’re working for them?

  Nurgle: Yes.

  Soth: Didn’t they want to put you in prison or something?

  Nurgle: Maybe because of, um, the special circumstances they find themselves in, they weren’t really that concerned with us.

  Isengar: Basically, they decided to just forgive us.

  Soth: Just like that?

  Nurgle: So it seems. Although we’re also doing a few small tasks for them.

  Soth: Such as?

  Nurgle: Don’t freak out now, but they are onto you. They know you are here.

  Soth: Is that so.

  Isengar: Actually, they did something to neutralize you. They manipulated the temporal aspect of your magic, slowing you down by a factor of, I don’t know, millions.

  Nurgle: You were dancing just now, and they’ve been watching you. From the outside, it looked like you were frozen in time.

  Soth: For how long…?

  Nurgle: Just a few weeks, basically. In the meantime, they took care of the shadows in Erd.

  Isengar: The emerging dimension. The shadows are all destroyed. Your partners are probably these demon guys, actually.

  Soth: Hm. How do you know about this?

  Nurgle: It’s really a long story. The important thing is that they sent us on a diplomatic mission, to you. See if some arrangement can be found.

  Isengar: They didn’t have to do this, you know. They had you trapped in time. Turned it off so we could come here and talk with you.

  Nurgle: Right. They could have just left you in the trap. I think they wanted to give you a chance to come home, you know.

  Isengar: Big things are happening to the Confluence. Maybe you want to be part of that.

  Nurgle: But you’re a bit like us, I guess. Not really that important to them anymore. If you don’t want to come, I’m not sure they really care one way or the other.

  [silence]

  Soth: It’s a bit much to take in. They don’t want to punish me?

  Nurgle: I don’t think it’s on their minds right now, at least. They told us we could say that your security is guaranteed as long as diplomacy is ongoing. And if you want to run away and hide somewhere, I don’t think they will chase you.

  Isengar: Maybe try to not get in their way again, though.

  Soth: So, what do you suggest I do?

  Nurgle: If you want, you can come with us when we go back. Talk to the Special Circumstances people.

  Isengar: It’s the ladies from the Revolution. They’re alright.

  Soth: The game is up, then?

  Nurgle: Afraid so, old chum. You haven’t been a part of this story for twenty-some chapters now. None of us were ever more than minor characters anyway.

  Soth: What are you talking about?

  Isengar: It’s a long story. We’ll tell you if you come along.

  Nurgle: What say you? For better or worse, we’re not really that important anymore. It does not matter very much what we do, except to ourselves. You’ll get used to it.

  Nurgle and Isengar on a diplomatic mission to Soth in the style of Dadaism, as interpreted by DALL-E in February 2025.

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  Nurgle and Isengar on a diplomatic mission to Soth in the style of Punk Art, as interpreted by DALL-E in February 2025.

  Nurgle and Isengar on a diplomatic mission to Soth in the style of Utagawa Hiroshige, as interpreted by DALL-E in February 2025.