Noble flew out of Emer's chamber full of indignation.
'How dare he speak of what he does not know!' The professor felt like screaming. "That nosey Seer!"
Emer had not only peeked into her future but also had taken a look into her past. In her opinion, that was the far worse sin. Nevermind that it had been an accident. He should have kept his thoughts to himself.
'He meant well, probably…' Noble tried to calm herself. There was a lot of emotion in the word loss that could not be described, only felt. That was not Emer's fault. 'I don't think he meant to upset me.'
By the time she had climbed back down the ladder and was ready to exit Ender's Deep, Noble's eyes had fully regained their azure tinge.
"Awakened Noble!" a friendly voice called. "Are you heading to the waking world?"
The professor's mood was lightened as she turned and saw a familiar figure waving at her.
"It is very good to see you, Venster. Yes, my time is up, and I am heading home just now." Noble slowed her pace slightly so the kind young man could catch up.
"Ladies should have the privilege of walking on the inside of the path," Venster offered as he came alongside her.
Noble could feel the anxiety coming off of him at his words.
"I rather like walking along the edge, if it is all the same to you." The professor sensed relief emanating from the other Awakened.
"Ah, well, if you insist, who am I to deny?" Venster really was an amiable sort. He would have willingly sacrificed his comfort for the woman, but the young man was just as content to not have to risk tumbling off the edge. "May I accompany you to the exit?"
"Only if you are leaving as well. I do not want to make you go out of your way on my account." The professor was grateful for his company, but only if it was convenient for him as well.
Venster chuckled softly. "Then you are in luck! I have to be at the office soon. The boss values punctuality, you know."
"I do know," the professor laughed.
Venster's superior had worked with her father for years before his death. The gentleman had gained his appreciation of time from Noble's dear old dad. Venster, of course, had no way to know such a thing.
He continued in his own line of thought. "Yes, well, on time I shall be. May I tell your husband anything when I see him today?"
"Does Fort not find it weird when you do that?" Noble gave a pale smile.
Like a few others in Ender's Deep, Venster and Noble's husband worked in the same government complex in the NQSC. The professor noticed that the affable Awakened seemed to enjoy passing messages between the married couple in a game of dual-world telephone.
"I don't think so," Venster pulled his mouth to one side. "I can stop if it bothers you."
The sadness which the young man expressed brought about a pang of guilt in Noble. She silently sent him a warm feeling of appreciation along with her words. "It does not bother me. In fact, I think it is very thoughtful. Tell Fort I love him, as usual."
Satisfied, Venster nodded. "I'll pass along the words, though I am sure you tell him enough yourself."
"I hope that is true." Noble's wish was genuine. It was very important to tell people what she thought of them while she could. On that note, she added. "I do hope you have a lovely day yourself. You have been a very pleasant walking companion."
"It is always a pleasure to walk with you." Venster dipped his head in response.
Having already passed Noble's dwelling, the pair turned up into a large tunnel which looked like a gaping maw. The natural stalactites and stalagmites of the passage resembled teeth ready to swallow the visitor whole.
But it was merely an illusion. This was the gateway. This was the Awakeneds' passage home.
A moment later, Noble took a gasp of air. It was no longer the crisp air of the Dream Realm, but the filtered oxygen which her pod pumped into the fabric of the ceiling so she would not suffocate.
Pushing back the pod's lid. Noble groped around for her communicator to check the time. As she hoped, it was still rather early. The kids and Fort would be up in a few minutes.
'I cut it a little close, but I made it.'
Noble dismissed her armor and donned her regular clothing before heading to the kitchen to make breakfast. After setting her pot to cook, the professor found she still had a few moments of quiet on her hands.
She pulled out her communicator.
After Frey's two back-to-back articles about her a couple of weeks prior, Noble had become slightly addicted to reading his portrayal of the news.
The man did not just cover the Dreamscape. He did a little bit of everything.
How did he have enough hours in the day to explore such varying topics with ease? Noble didn't know. But the 'nonsense-free' reporter certainly made it look effortless.
'What have you been writing while I've been away?' she wondered idly.
Although Noble did not know what to expect, nothing could have prepared her for what she saw.
"Gate Opens with Virtually No Warning." The title was like a punch in Noble's gut.
The article went on to describe an experience eerily similar to the one at her children's school over a month prior. If not for the date and location being different, Noble would have thought it was a reprint of an older article.
In this case, the alert had sounded with less than thirty seconds and there had been no Mongrel to hold the breach. The results were heart-wrenching.
"Those poor people," The professor muttered to herself as she covered her mouth.
Flashbacks from Noble's childhood flooded her senses. She could feel the color of her eyes shifting endlessly as her emotions went wild. Those were memories she did not like to relive on any day, but especially not today.
But now that they were here, Noble refused to let them go. The feeling deep in her soul that something was very wrong sat like a rock in her stomach. The two gates were part of a pattern. The professor needed to know what exactly was going on.
'Surely I am not the only one seeing this. These events are far too noteworthy to be ignored. Wait…notes!' Noble's eyes flew open wide.
Leaving behind the simmering rice, the eager Awakened snuck into her closet and moved to examine the top shelf.
When her mother had been cleaning out her parents' house a few years prior, she had asked Noble if there was anything she wanted to keep. The professor saw the copious amount of notes that her mother was about to throw out.
"You want to get rid of all that Father wrote about what happened in North America? These are the only copies!" Noble could not fathom the loss of the information. When her mother could not be persuaded to hold on to the papers, Noble rescued them from destruction by bringing them back to her own home.
Rather than try to explain a possible hoarding habit to Fort, Noble had placed the boxes full of papers on the top shelf behind her abandoned shoe boxes and promptly forgot about them. Until now.
Perhaps the answer to what was happening now lay in the records of the past. At least that was what Noble believed. Noble floated up toward the ceiling to move the shoes aside. She could take one of the boxes to work and look at it in her free time. Or maybe Bee Two could analyze the pages for her?
Just as she touched the cardboard, a voice broke the silence.
"What are you doing in there?"