Adam listened intently to Lucy's answer to his question. The implications of what she said were staggering, with a great many questions appearing in Adam's head, but the main thought he had was [i]"is this Source Code programmable, and if so, how good would Eric be at that?"[/i] He missed his brother. This wasn't the time to talk about that though, so he nodded to Lucy instead, thanking her for the information. Zell and James seemed to realize the implications of this also, but the man doubted either of them had computer nerd siblings. If they did, that would be an incredible coincidence. Still, this wasn't the time for that sort of discussion.


The Druid noted Joji's suggestion; it was certainly better than any of Zell's ideas. However, the one he liked best though was "Second Chance." It didn't hurt that it was MacKensie's idea, but like the swordsman said, they all had a second chance being there. He was also happy with the consensus around James as leader as well; even if the red-eyed man was kicked off the team, it felt nice knowing everyone else was in good hands.


After James accepted his new job, he proceeded to start sharing the story of how they all got to the Guild in the first place. Adam was a little surprised the Cleric was sharing so much so quickly, but he also supported it. Calculated risks were necessary in times like these. When the group leader looked at Adam for confirmation about the direction of Hommas, he shook his head, but didn't say anything more. The town was actually south of them, but that wasn't a big deal. What James was swearing about, though; that was the big deal here.


Of course, Lucy responded to the Cleric as best she could. [i]Yes, it was a miracle they were all alive,[/i] Adam thought. Despite his attention being on the elven woman, he couldn't help but be a little startled by her sudden change in volume.


[quote=Lucinda Bottrill, Guildmaster, Adventurer Guild's Valhiem Chapter]"By the Quinity, am I reading this right!?" she exclaimed.  "You did kill Aurok."  She looked at Adam, who was the one who hinted to it earlier.  Then peered around the rest of them.  Early, unascended adventurers, all of them.  "Aurok the Maneater... How!?"[/quote]


Adam didn't have anything against this lady, but he did feel there were more important things to discuss, so he only answered her briefly, looking at the anchor on James' back as he did so. "A friend bravely sacrificed himself." It wasn't the whole story, but he felt it was the most important part of it.


Following this, Lucy spoke about the reward; Adam was surprised, but wasn't even sure what they would use the money for. They already had the money from their previous quest and that hadn't even been touched, really. Better to think about that more later. She spoke more; the Source Comm and these contracts were certainly important, but Adam thought there was something more important to discuss first.


"I'm good with whatever you all decide to do next," Adam told the team, thinking [i]that sounded better than 'I don't know if you all want me around so I don't want to influence your decisions.'[/i] With his attention back to the Guild Master, the Druid spoke with certainty. "But there is something else that needs to be addressed. That cube is the reason that water ninja attacked us on orders from the Witch Queen. So before we accept any contracts, we need to be sure that thing is somewhere safe. Lucy, is there somewhere it can go so it won't fall into the wrong hands? And maybe someone from that Academy you mentioned could figure out what exactly it does?" The man knew from experience what the team had gone through to defend that death cube once; with any luck, they wouldn't have to do that again.