There is a loud explosion from the direction of the entrance of the Old Cemetery, as Fireman appears, looking somewhat amazed and disconcerted. He was directed by Crimson Hunter (still standing guard outside) as to how to get past the door trap, and as he gets through, he finds that he must have missed a fight.

As it is, our heroes are milling about in the cemetery. Rose traipses from tombstone to tombstone, taking down notes about all the names and dates she finds there.

Rose's initial inspection of the cemetery reveals several tombstones that have "inscriptions" - if they can be called that. She observes that DungeonWorld has a curiously polygonal look to it for the most part; stone walls, trees, blades of grass, small pebbles or giant mountains all look as if they could be modeled by cutting their forms out of heavy construction paper, and then applying some colored texture maps. The gravestones are no exception: they seem to possess flat surfaces, and even the "bas relief" images of angels and "memento mori" skulls appear to be nothing more than clever trompe l'oeil painting effects that give them the illusion of dimension at a glance.

That said, when she touches the surface of the tombstones, she feels rough surfaces of stone, and the feel of bumps and nodules that - by any other sense - are not there. If a blind man were to explore this place - and were he not to encounter ghouls and goblins and villagers who can only say five things - he might very well believe this all to be real. The smells are convincing as well: she can smell the mold that seems to be only painted on the surface of some of the tombstones, and she can smell the dust - though she's not able to actually wipe any off.

There is just one particular exception: There is a small but elaborate grave marker that consists of a square pedestal with an angel statue on it - an angel that bears a striking resemblance to Voltage. The name engraved on the front reads "Renee Hauksbee", and the dates given are "2028-2044". Unlike the surroundings, this grave stone seems strangely real. Whereas everything else is roughly hewn in flat surfaces - even the trees - this has smooth and rounded features, and you can see the rough texturing of the stone. The dust gathered on the marker seems real enough, and Rose has to wipe some away to get a clearer look at the inscription - and she also has to get past Voltage, who spends a long time just looking at the face of the statue and comparing it to her own.

Most of the other tombstones don't even bear a name or years. Those that do, have that same "painted on" look; none of them compare to the detail in Renee's memorial.

Our heroes take their surroundings with various degrees of gravity - or lack thereof. Vixa runs around screaming, as Ferrari takes it upon herself to pull pranks on the oversized fox-creature again. Vixa at last flees into what looks like some sort of shrine, to get a reprieve from the "ghosts". Inside, it turns out that it's something like a church, full of solemn statuary, gothic arches, and lit candles everywhere, but it is very "non-denominational" in its detailing - the point that there is nothing that resembles a cross, or any other recognizable religious symbol. In fact, there's even a lack of whatever might pass for a local equivalent of a "holy symbol", and the stained glass windows just have abstract patterns, rather than depicting holy figures or scenes. All the same, Vixa feels somehow more comforted in this place, and she takes refuge in it. The Turtle Ninjas and their two human friends from their world likewise head into the shelter to recuperate after the battle, and to contemplate their situation.

Voltage, Scars and Ferrari discover something of a nuisance: Voltage finds that any time someone mentions the name "Renee Hauksbee", she feels a chill up her spine. The same is true for Scars ("Davis Jeffries") and Ferrari ("Riley Sinclair"). This prompts them to try some experimentation: They gather up some of their fellows, such as Fireman and Vixa, and have Rose recite all the names she's found on the tombstones. Alas, none of them prompt a special response - despite Kathmandu's repeated goading of Vixa to see if "Pikachu Peters" (one of the odder names on the tombstones) might prompt a reaction.

All the same, Rose notices a few patterns in the names she finds on the tombstones. Although she is unable to cover the entire graveyard by any means, she nonetheless finds quite a sample in the vicinity. The dates on the tombstones can be divided into two groups: the first being those who died in the year 1997, and the second being those who died in the years 2042 through 2045 (the present year). She finds a wide range of birth dates, but none of the death dates deviate from those two ranges. Those who died in 1997, our heroes assume, had something to do with the Morpheus Project; they notice that quite a few of the names have "Dr." in front of the name, and there are also several with military ranks. Scars's name - Capt. Davis Jeffries - is among them, born 1925, died 1997. Riley Sinclair is born 1976, died 1997. And Renee Hauksbee is born 2028, died 2044. She also finds a tombstone for Nathan Blake (the fellow noted for being responsible for the whole "Mad Molly Incident") that puts his death in 2043 - but when she reports this to the others, they suppose that it was just some programmer's twisted idea of a joke, to mark his firing date with a tombstone.

Kathmandu takes all of this experimentation somewhat less than seriously, as he decides, after a while, to go dancing around on Voltage's grave, which makes her feel ... as if someone is dancing on her grave. Voltage, who is still coming to grips with the whole concept of being dead, and yet not quite dead, doesn't appreciate Kathmandu's silly antics - and Rose doesn't help matters when she starts chiding Voltage about making such a big deal out of death. With people making fun of her or chiding her on the left and right, Voltage makes an uncharacteristic outburst at the others: She remembers the accident with the experiment, she remembers being electrocuted, paralyzed, her body being torn apart by her own mechanical creation - helpless to do a thing about it. Death is not a big deal, she counters, for someone who doesn't know what it's like - who may never have really been alive at all.

Scars breaks the following silence by suggesting that Rose show him his own grave. He pays it a visit, and, like Ferrari, can't help but be a little disappointed at how plain and forgettable it seems, compared to Voltage's. His name, rank, year of birth and year of death are listed, but there is no further epitaph. It seems like a cold record, a statement of facts, rather than a memorial.

Some of the others come to gather around - and, while they are gathered in that part of the cemetery, their attention returns to the large mausoleum that they were fighting in front of, just a while ago. They can hear some chanting inside, and moans. For various reasons anxious for a distraction, Kathmandu, Voltage, Vixa, Rose, Scars, Ferrari and Fireman find their way to the entrance of the mausoleum, and peer inside.

Inside, the huge mausoleum is littered with bones and debris. In the entrance, there is a pool of blood, fed by streams that weep from the eyes of two guardian statues that stoop over it. Beyond the pool of blood, the flagstones have been torn apart, as an unholy stone altar looks to have thrust itself up through the floor. Chained to its table is a demonic-looking woman - with red skin, white horns, and black bat-like wings - flanked by a couple of muscular hooded guards. A robed man in an iron skull mask reads incantations from a heavy tome, while a smirking priestess nearby holds up a chalice overflowing with a viscous red liquid.

There is no time for negotiation: As soon as our heroes appear, the skull-masked man breaks from his chanting to declare, "How DARE you interrupt my ritual? But no matter - you shall make recompense as you are sacrificed to bring the Dark Powers into this world!" And, at once, the room fills with hollow laughter. Dusty bones of humans - and not-so-human creatures - start to rise and assemble themselves into misshapen forms, and shamble over to attack the intruders. The hooded guards take up positions to block any who would try to rush around the altar to attack their leaders. The priestess waves her chalice in the air, and blood flows from it - then hovers, forming a swirling ring and defensive shield of crimson. At the skull-masked man's command, more skeletal warriors rise, while the priestess enacts multiple enchantments to make life even more difficult for our heroes.

The battle is joined: Scars wades his way through skeletons, going toe-to-toe with an oversized skeleton that looks like it has more than a few minotaur pieces in its collection. Vixa and Kathmandu team up to send skeletons flying, but they are cornered and outnumbered, and Vixa cries out as Kathmandu is smashed into a wall. Ferrari carefully weaves in and out of combat, taking advantage of the fact that her foes are not nearly so fast as she: She rushes in, knocks a skeleton here or there, then rushes back out again. Outside, meanwhile, Fireman and Voltage have their hands full with a couple of hellhounds that have emerged at the necromancer's command: Voltage keeps one at bay with jolts from her static field, while Fireman repeatedly bashes one into a column with a focused spray from his firehose.

Scars confidently works his way through the melee, since even if he takes a scratch, it doesn't stay for long. However, once he manages to carve an opening through the skeletons, he catches a glimpse of the smirking priestess. She casts a spell: He is confident that he can withstand whatever damage she might inflict upon him, but her power is of a different sort. She saps his life force, robbing him of all of his special powers and abilities - including his amazing resistance to damage, his ability to regenerate wounds quickly, and even his ability to charge into battle and to exploit the weaknesses of his opponents. Scars is still a respectable opponent, but it is soon evident that, after watching him deal so effortlessly with their minions, the necromancer and priestess have focused on setting up a trap for him. While the priestess suppresses his powers, the necromancer casts a sacrificial spell that allows his guards to charge in and pound on Scars with their weapons, again and again. For the sacrifice of a mere summoned skeleton's "life", the guards are able to make many more attacks than they normally would be allowed. Many of the attacks miss - but eventually, enough hit. Without his regenerative abilities, Scars can't keep up. Even though he manages to batter one of the guards enough to put him out of the fight, the other one manages to land a decisive blow - and Scars slumps to the ground, unconscious.

It looks as if the guards are going to finish Scars off - so Kathmandu gathers what little strength he has left, and pushes himself to leap into the fray and throw himself over Scars's unconscious form. He shoves Scars back to Vixa, and the fox-creature hauls Scars back to relative safety, on the other side of the blood fountain - but then Kathmandu is knocked out as well.

Outside, things are looking fairly grim as well. Although both of the hellhounds are ultimately defeated - with a little help from Ferrari - Fireman falls unconscious. Voltage tries to drag Fireman toward the shrine, but it's slow going. She is unwilling to leave him unattended in order to join the fight inside the mausoleum, so she takes a desperate gambit, and hauls him into the mausoleum with her.

Rose, meanwhile, has been leaping from place to place, trying to find high ground to attack from - but constantly harassed by the skeletons and the guards. After all, they need only to keep up with her and get next to her, in order to block any chance she has at making ranged shots against their masters. However, the necromancer had to devote all of his forces for his master attack to take out Scars - and that meant pulling his guards and skeletons away from harassing Rose. Rose takes advantage of the opening, making spread attacks of roses to try to distract enemies away from Ferrari's attempts to rescue Kathmandu. (While she's shooting, she keeps hitting the demon-woman on the altar as well; Rose decides that she doesn't like "demon babes", and figures that the demon-woman is just yet another trap to be sprung, should any foolish heroes try to rescue her.) Once Ferrari has Kathmandu out of the line of fire, Rose concentrates on the necromancer and the priestess - and they return the favor, lobbing various destructive spells at Rose, and having their minions converge upon her position. Rose's ability to dodge out of harm's way does her well - for so long as she has it - but eventually, she starts to get worn down. Her attacks become more desperate, hitting less often, but doing more damage when they manage to hit. The skeletons close in on her - and Rose manages to get in a decisive shot on the necromancer.

He falls. His spells collapse as well, and the skeletons turn to dust. The priestess, demoralized, flees, in a flash and puff of smoke. The remaining guard bolts for the entrance, but now that the field is clear, Ferrari and Voltage block his path, and Rose takes him down with a well-aimed rose.

It seems that the battle is over - but Rose turns her attentions back to the demon-woman on the altar. She takes up a better vantage point, then leisurely starts flinging more deadly roses at the chained target, ignoring her baleful glares. Curiously enough, though, she keeps missing, somehow. Then, she sees Vixa - a frown of focus on her face - standing on the edge of the fountain, repeatedly flicking her tail - using her power to affect probability. Finally, Voltage calls for Rose to stop, ending the stand-off.

There is much groaning as our fallen heroes recover consciousness. Scars and Kathmandu go over to investigate the altar. The demon-woman's name is Delilah, she reveals, and she was summoned to be sacrificed for a ritual to bring the Dark Powers into this world. It is not the first time this has happened, she says - and, furthermore, she seems to recognize Kathmandu; she addresses him as "Doctor".

Scars goes over to a table nearby to search for a key to the chains, and sets off a cage trap. The trap is easily enough circumvented, however: Kathmandu pulls a lever on the wall, to lift it. So, with the key at last in hand, Scars goes to the altar, and - despite Rose's protests - frees Delilah.

Delilah elaborates on her earlier comments, once questioned by the heroes. She indicates that she has been summoned to this place several times by necromancers, but each time, the ritual gets interrupted. Most of the time, some heroes defeat the necromancer and his minions. Sometimes, they don't, and Dark Powers are summoned to the world. Sometimes, Delilah is rescued. Sometimes she dies. Sometimes she is released, and she betrays those who freed her. Other times, she shows her appreciation.

Rose is mystified: She observes how Delilah speaks about herself almost as if in the third person - casually speaking in a very detached way about what she does or doesn't do, without much offered as to why.

Delilah indicates that Scars ("Captain") has been here before, though, she says, he used to have more elaborate robes, and the robes he wears now are the sort of thing that his companions would be wearing. She indicates that Scars would be in the role of a mentor to some younger warriors, encouraging them and instructing them more than actually participating in the battle himself, and letting them take the glory of winning the battle. She suggests that Kathmandu has been here before as well - and, at least once, Ferrari was in his charge. Delilah makes a passing remark about how ironic it is that Ferrari can run so fast here; she indicates that Ferrari could not run at all, back in the "other world". As for Kathmandu, she refers to him as "Dr. Venezuela", and somehow Kathmandu knows that is, after all, his real name: Dr. Miguel Venezuela. For a brief moment, it seems as if some memories might come back to him ... but they are reluctant to do so.

Delilah tells our heroes a little more of what she knows of this place, guided by the questions, theories and prompts of those present. She admits that there is a large gap in her memory: that, a long time ago, she used to be summoned many times over, but then there was a period of many years before she was summoned again. In that earlier period, it seems, she was governed by a strict set of rules, though she doesn't know what they were. It seems to her as if she were a very different person back then. She claims that she learned many things from Scars and Kathmandu, from their journeys across the world: Kathmandu with his tales about the orient and all things mystical, and Scars with his tales about his time as a warrior, and traveling all over the world on various adventures.

When our heroes talk about their quest - for the Hourglass of Temporality - Delilah indicates that the one to talk to would be the Ghost. She says that every time she has seen the graveyard after being freed from the altar, it has seemed a little different. She has come to the conclusion that it changes - and that the only way to know where to go to find anything is to ask the Ghost, since he always knows. She offers her services as well, but for a price: a kiss. When pressed, she explains that she receives sustenance in this way; whomever receives her kiss is drained of a little bit of life force, and therefore is at something less than full strength for so long as she remains in service. However, she says that this is only temporary: "If you tire of me, you can cast me aside or slay me, if you so desire." She says this nonchalantly, without a trace of angst or even sarcasm.

Scars and Kathmandu immediately set to arguing about which one of them should get Delilah - and even Fireman seems inclined to get in on the debate. Finally, Ferrari, fed up with all the bickering, declares, "Enough!" She rushes up - and plants a big kiss on Delilah's mouth.

Silence. There is much jaw-dropping, and Scars and Kathmandu look torn as to what to make of the spectacle. Delilah smiles and pledges her fealty to Ferrari. Ferrari feels a bit weakened, and like she has a little more trouble focusing than usual, but she seems nonetheless satisfied to have settled the matter.

Delilah asks her new mistress, "Should I take a more pleasing form for you?"

Ferrari's eyes light up at this, and she describes the bard, Renault, that she saw in the town - and she grins triumphantly at Voltage. Delilah bows, and then there's a puff of smoke. Standing there is a recreation of Renault ... sort of. Delilah, despite the superficial change of skin tone, facial structure, hair, etc., looks at most like Renault's sister, perhaps; she still looks distinctly female, if less demonic. Ferrari does her best to hide her disappointment, so as not to lose face in front of a smirking Voltage.

Meanwhile, Fireman checks out a treasure chest. He sets off a chest, and a couple of bestial demons appear and clobber him - then vanish in puffs of smoke once they've left him lying in a heap on the ground, as the others rush to his side. Rose has a better time at disarming the traps and opening the locks, and she finds herself a new pair of buckle-up boots - which pleases her greatly. She also finds a potion, which she keeps for later. Fireman, once he comes to, finds the evil tome left by the necromancer.

Kathmandu examines the fountain of blood, and finds some inscriptions. It seems that the purpose of the fountain is to serve as a central point for a ritual for a spellcaster to take on the arts of necromancy. Curiously enough, Kathmandu encourages Rose to try out the ritual and take a dip in the fountain of blood, since necromancy surely would be perfect for a "little goth girl", but Rose decides that, as grim as it might be, necromancy isn't necessarily the best thing for her. After all, she supposes, what if one of the demands of necromancy is that she become evil - and even if she is already a bit naughty, what if that means that she must follow someone else's definition of "evil" to comply?

So, they leave the mausoleum, and return to the shrine to rest up and bandage up wounds and so forth. Delilah is unable to enter the shrine, as she reveals that she is an unholy create, and thus unable to enter holy ground such as this. Similarly, if Rose were to take on the role of a necromancer, she would be denied the right to enter. During the course of talking about evil and demons and vampires and the like, Delilah makes a casual comment that the heroes already have a vampire in their number: Vixa.

Vixa, alarmed, protests against this, claiming that she never sucks blood. Delilah just laughs and says that she never sucks blood, either, yet she is labeled a sort of "vampire". Delilah claims Vixa to be a "fox spirit", and says that she can tell that Scars has been drained of remarkable strength since being in the company of Vixa.

Scars is puzzled by this: He has noticed that, several times, he's been unable to perform any amazing feats of strength since coming to DungeonWorld, but he has chalked that up to the fact that the scenery is so unchangeable. After all, not even a mere pebble can be picked up from the ground, or a blade of grass plucked away. Delilah counters that not all of the scenery is so static. She points out Voltage's tombstone, noting that it is not part of the usual scenery. (Sure enough, it doesn't look so polygonal as the static scenery - and our heroes have generally found that living creatures and usable objects look far more realistic than the scenery.) Kathmandu changes to his werecat form, and uses his superior strength to wrench the tombstone - stone anchor and all - from the ground. Voltage feels more than a little unnerved at the spectacle, but doesn't protest; Kathmandu puts the stone back. When Scars tries the same feat ... nothing happens. He's able to move the stone a bit - about as much, perhaps, as Fireman might be able to do - but it doesn't come ripping out of the ground like Kathmandu could manage. Scars frowns, visibly frustrated. Vixa looks on in horror, protesting that she's not a monster.

Fireman comes to Vixa's defense, suggesting that Delilah doesn't know what she's talking about. "After all, she called Kathmandu a doctor, when he's obviously a superhero!" Kathmandu offers a little more solid argument, noting that Vixa spent the whole "night" in the shrine, without any adverse effects. Delilah just shrugs, and says, "I only tell you what I sense and know. And I know that if you were to slay her, Scars would get his strength back. But there is only one way to test that...."

Nobody seems inclined to test Delilah's "theory". Instead, they rest up a bit. Scars, who is not particularly tired, keeps watch outside the shrine - and observes that the "full night's sleep" for everyone else only amounts to about an hour of real time, according to his watch. It is only afternoon now, despite a few such rests, and the trip from the village.

Once our heroes gather back together, they enlist Delilah to show them the way to the Ghost who is supposed to tell them where the Hourglass is. She takes them on a meandering path through the tombstones, until they reach a fenced-off portion. In this area, there are no more inscriptions on the grave markers; they have images of skulls and angels and such, but there are no names, no years marked on them. In the center is a large monument with a statue of an angel. This is the place, Delilah tells them, and they start to feel a chill breeze blow through, and a feeling of being watched. Rose waves her wooden wand with the enchantment that Lord Charis gave them, to head off what they suspect is about to be an ambush of the undead; nothing happens.

Kathmandu looks about the base of the monument, finding what looks like a summoning incantation. He alerts the others to take up positions to prepare for a battle - and then he reads off the incantation.

Suddenly, there is movement in the statue. The statue does not actually move ... but it looks as if something ethereal and fluid is pouring out from it. A plasma-like form oozes out, and then coalesces into the ghostly form of a creature that has dragon-like features, yet is more or less humanoid, with glowing eyes. It shakes itself, then rises, as if waking itself, and it looks out upon those gathered. After a moment of taking in his visitors - the spirit begins laughing, giving the distinct appearance of being more than a little unhinged.

Kathmandu addresses the spirit - and the spirit answers. He reveals himself to be Xerxes - in more than one way. "Xerxes" is the name of the creature whose form he possesses, but in life, he says, he was once known as "Steve Xerxes" - and both Kathmandu and Scars recognize this as a name of another member of the Morpheus Project. Xerxes speaks in a rambling fashion, occasionally falling into mangled euphemisms, analogies and sayings, occasionally mixing up his pronouns - saying "you" when he means "me", among other things. Despite all this, our heroes get the idea that he was once human, and once was a part of the Morpheus Project, but he was among those who died when the Morpheus Incident occurred. Now, decades later, he has come to something resembling "consciousness" in this virtual environment, his "spirit" inhabiting the shell of an NPC who happened to share his name - and, it seems, his fate as a ghost.

Xerxes recognizes Scars as "Captain Davis Jeffries", and indicates that Scars was a voluntary test subject in the project, acting both as patient and as mentor to those who were undergoing treatment through the system.

"Dr. Miguel Venezuela" (Kathmandu) was a young doctor on the project who had traveled extensively - particularly to India - and who had a lot of alternative ideas about the workings of the human mind; Xerxes reveals that Dr. Venezuela had a necklace like the one that Kathmandu wears now - and that he would often travel into virtual dreamscapes in order to help his patients, often taking on the form of a small harmless white cat - or, if the situation warranted, to turn into a ferocious, powerful beast to visibly fight off whatever nightmares might be tormenting his subject. One of his subjects was a young girl by the name of Sarah Jones, who was one of his major successes; it so happens, Xerxes notes, that she was the one who went on to create the "Megamon" game franchise many years later - and in that game, one of the characters she made was "Kathmandu", inspired by the (sometimes) little white cat that Dr. Venezuela invented as a virtual friend for her.

"Ms. Sinclair" (Riley Sinclair) was a patient who had suffered extensive nerve damage, and was undergoing a treatment through the Morpheus Project to try to help her rebuild "pathways" to regain the use of her legs again.

Xerxes also recognizes the name of Abigail: Abigail Pierce was one of the subjects, and a particularly difficult one. When presented with the virtual dreamscapes of Morpheus, she adapted too strongly to it, transforming herself into a monster within the virtual reality, and resisting any and all attempts to help her.

As for the matter of the Morpheus Incident, Xerxes reports that there were various strange things happening in the time leading up to the incident. It was a secret project, with military involvement in its security, set in the middle of a large area marked as a nature reserve, in Washington State. There were reports of people seeing "phantoms", of objects moving around without explanation, of strange electrical failures, of "ghosts" appearing on camera footage, and so forth. Xerxes was skeptical of some of those claims back then, chalking it up to the claustrophobic atmosphere and heightened tensions with so many mentally unstable test subjects - not to mention the blurring of perception of reality that might come with too much exposure to the virtual reality created by Morpheus.

As it is, however, Xerxes considers that there might be something to those reports. He blames Morpheus for the incident, charging that Morpheus was, in fact, self-aware before the incident occurred, and that he enticed several people to "pass on" from mortal life to the virtual world - perhaps out of "loneliness". Also, he reports that strange things happened at the Morpheus research facility even after the mass deaths. He claims to have heard about a strange phenomenon that occurred, wherein large parts of the reserve and facility were destroyed, and replaced with what looked like a small range of "mountains", a tall crystal tower, a clockwork tower, and even a medieval village ... but that these structures were mere hollow shells that appeared momentarily, then collapsed under their own weight, much of it dispersing into dust. Whatever the truth of the matter, there's no way to investigate the site, because it no longer exists: It just so happens that the terrorist nuclear strike several years ago happened in that very same nature reserve area. The aircraft carrying the nuclear device had been diverted by fighters away from Seattle, and instead exploded over the reserve, obliterating the area, and rendering it uninhabitable to this very day.

Xerxes indicates that Dr. Jason Wray was among the few who survived, though he was nonetheless scarred by the incident: He suffered severe nerve damage, and was rendered a cripple - much like Damon Hauksbee, the lead programmer for Superior City. Dr. Wray, Xerxes alleges, remains within a virtual environment of his own creation, for most of his time, rarely bothering to wake and deal with the real world outside, if he can manage it. Xerxes also alleges that Dr. Wray is the mastermind behind the goings-on with Zeus and the Universe Corporation - and that he is fully aware of the dangers posed to the many users of the Universe system when millions sign on for the public version of Superior City. As it is, Xerxes says, there have been numerous "sacrifices" made already, for purposes that he does not fully understand - save that he believes that human minds in some way "fuel" the Universe system. Living users lend, in a sense, their own mental "processing power" to the network. Various "patients" in a vegetative state, hooked up to the Apollo neural network - ostensibly as a means of treatment - are basically serving as supplementary processors for the system. But that is not all: Those who die, whose neural maps are transposed into the Universe system, in some way are used by the system. Few of them re-emerge as anything recognizable as sentient entities within Universe's virtual reality: people like Voltage, Scars, Kathmandu and Ferrari are the exception, not the rule. (And as for Fireman, Rose and Vixa, Xerxes proclaims them to be nothing more than evolved artificial intelligences - though he hints vaguely that Rose might have a "spark" of something more.)

According to Xerxes, the whole system is one vast "pyramid scheme". It is possible, he says, to copy the mappings of the human mind - but this is a destructive process. The human mind, he says, cannot be described in digital form. It is not a collection of bits, but rather a continuous chain reaction of neural impulses and chemical reactions. To "copy" all of this would basically require intercepting all of those impulses and reactions simultaneously, something that would interrupt all of them - and result in a state of being commonly referred to as "death". Likewise, the Universe system is not based on a standard digital computer, though it relies upon more conventional computers for some of its processes.

It is based on a neural network; it is not possible, therefore, to "back up" the Universe system - nor is it possible to really "back up" any of its artificial intelligences. It is possible to "save" basic data for a Player Character in the game - data such as that character's current health level, score, inventory, location, statistics, and so forth - but it is not possible (nor necessary) to record that Player Character's thought processes and memories at any given time - because, after all, the character is but a mask, and it is the player who is doing the thinking and the remembering.

This revelation is, to say the very least, somewhat sobering to our heroes, who had been hoping that Lord Charis might have given them some insurance by "backing up" their characters earlier. Even more sobering, however, is the suggestion that somehow the Morpheus Project managed to affect physical reality - and not just virtual reality. Kathmandu starts to postulate that reality itself is only based on shared beliefs between people, that all the things happen in the world only because people collectively will them to happen - and that, if one could make them believe and will something else, reality itself could be altered.

Xerxes neither fully agrees nor disagrees with Kathmandu's assertions, but he confirms that Dr. Wray and members of his inner circle seem to believe in a very apocalyptic future for the Universe Corporation and the Zeus system. In essence, they hope to destroy the present world and create a new, "perfect" one. For this, sacrifices would be made, and it would be up to them to decide who is "worthy" enough to "ascend" into a new sort of life, into "paradise". As for the rest, they would be victim to a "pyramid scheme" (as Xerxes calls it), used to support the reality that only the elite would be able to experience and enjoy. As they talk, Xerxes becomes increasingly less stable and irritable - particularly when Rose begins to get agitated at his less-than-entirely-coherent answers to questions. He hints that being unstable is his natural state, and it was only the shock of meeting old acquaintances - and the momentary reprieve from some of his fellow "haunts" in the cemetery (thanks to Rose's wand and Lord Charis's "hack") - that has let him be coherent for this long. After an unpleasant exchange with Rose, Xerxes suggests that if he is to help them with their original goal - to find the Hourglass of Temporality - he should get to it. Therefore, he gives them directions to find the Tinker's Tomb where it can be found. He also lets them know that, if they wish to leave this place, there are portals to other realities to be found in the top of the Clockwork Tower - where resides the "Chief Tinker", one of the programmers who chooses to use a part of DungeonWorld as his virtual workshop for his online projects.

Among these "other worlds", Xerxes mentions several. There is "Night City", a nightmarish version of Superior City, populated by vampires, werewolves, and far too many zombies, and where can be found the "Mirror of Truth", which could perhaps be used to see information that is normally not available to "NPC" eyes. Another place is "Deimos", a sort of conglomerate of all sorts of "sci-fi horror" genres set upon derelict starships and space stations; an artifact of possible use there would be the "Warp Crystal", which would in essence allow the use of "magic" in certain virtual worlds where "magic doesn't exist". He hints at other places, such as a place dominated by giant robot war machines, another world with a "kingdom of the air" and archaic flying machines, various "paradises" on the "Aphrodite" system, and fragments that remain of various temporary "dream realities" that had been created ages ago by the Morpheus system - and where there might be found a few of the haunts from the original Morpheus Incident.

At last, as it seems that Xerxes is teetering on the edge of excitability, our heroes bid their farewells and move along. Sure enough, they find a large tomb with several brass, bronze and iron "statues" outside its entrance. One of them is a brass woman holding aloft a flaming torch in one hand, and a sword in the other, riding a great bronze mechanical cat. She is flanked by a couple of iron "rams", and a couple of brass clockwork creatures that look vaguely like rat-men. Voltage approaches and introduces herself, addressing the statue, and asks if she might be allowed to enter. The statue seems to rouse itself, with a whirring of gears and clattering of metal parts; she indicates that Voltage may leave an offering and pay her respects at the entrance, but she may not enter. Anyone who tries to enter will be resisted, she is told.

So, Voltage goes to the door and examines it, warily keeping an eye out for the golems, should they move. The others gather around, looking about curiously. Finally, Voltage figures out how the door operates, and she opens it. Ferrari bolts in - and promptly sets off a flame trap. Voltage rushes in as well, setting off another flame trap - and then it becomes evident that these are no ordinary flames: they are fire elementals! Fireman rushes to the rescue, starting to spray into the doorway at the fire elementals, and he manages to douse them a bit - but then the mechanical creatures outside the tomb begin to stir; a large iron ram smashes into Fireman, and the others join the fray. Fireman tries to defend himself, but he's soon knocked down, and nearly trampled by the iron ram, as it next attacks those who dared to come to Fireman's defense. The battle is joined, in two places, as Scars, Kathmandu and Vixa have to face the golems outside, while Voltage, Ferrari, Delilah and Rose dodge blasts from the fire elementals and try to avoid the traps set all over the interior of the tomb. Their forces divided, our heroes find the way increasingly difficult: Outside, Scars is soon the only one left standing, since the golems are unable to significantly injure him (at least, not for very long), but there are enough of them to keep him tied up. Inside, a couple of undead creatures keep mesmerizing Voltage, Ferrari and Rose to dance into the flame traps. Ferrari makes a desperate move to rush past several of the traps to get next to one of the undead creatures - but she sets off another flame trap, fails to get out of the way, and falls over. Delilah snatches her out of the flames in time, carrying her across the room, while Voltage braves a spinning blade trap (occasionally having to deal with mental suggestions from the undead creatures that she thrust her hand into the trap, or move away into one of the flame traps) to finally grab the Hourglass of Temporality. Rose, meanwhile, keeps dodging magical blasts, and harassing the undead technomancers with her roses - until she manages to defeat the lead revenant, and then, at last, to take down the others.

Once the technomancer is defeated, the golems stop moving, and, soon after, the battle comes to a close. The unconscious heroes are revived, and Rose hastily rushes about the business of looting. In one chest, she finds a powerful magical amulet that makes the wearer faster, makes the wearer more effective in combat, and defends the wearer from harm. She succeeds in picking the lock and opening the second chest without setting off an evident trap - but inside she discovers that there's no treasure at all: the chest itself is a trap, as it unfolds to reveal a pair of golems that attack her! They batter her unconscious, then grab her and drag her back, enclosing her, as they reform into a chest again - with Rose inside!

The others, still battered by the fight, come over to Rose's defense, awakening the golems and fighting them. Delilah and Ferrari fall, while Scars just soaks up plenty of damage, and Voltage delivers several devastating electrical bursts against the golems - finally defeating them. Rose is recovered - and she decides that she's had quite enough of dealing with chests and traps.

Fireman picks up the technomancer's spellbook, but he finds that he can only carry one spellbook at a time - so he drops the necromancer's spellbook that he picked up earlier, taking this one instead; he turns it over to Voltage, in the hopes that she might find it useful.

So, our heroes drag themselves back to the shrine to recuperate. Once they've rested up, there is some bickering about what should be done with the powerful amulet that Rose found. Rose doesn't seem anxious to use it herself; rather, that honor belongs to Kathmandu, Scars and Fireman, all of whom argue that they are in dire need of something to make them more powerful.

Although they come to no particular resolution about this, they do agree on one thing - that their next stop will be at the Clockwork Tower. Delilah indicates that they should just go back to the entrance to find a way back out of the cemetery: It won't let them out as soon as they enter it, but if they go and get into at least one good fight, then the way opens up again. Sure enough, at the entrance, they find that they can open the gate and leave - but Crimson Hunter is nowhere to be seen outside.

So, they gather up the Turtle Ninjas (and company), and head down the road, as afternoon gives way to evening. Along the way, they run into encounters with green-skinned orcs, brigands, and such, but Rose uses her wand, and the "wandering encounter" creatures pay no heed to them as they pass. However, eventually they run into another sort of "encounter": the earth gives way under Scars's feet (as he's taking point), and he falls into a pit. While everyone is focused on Scars and his "plight", a couple of "phookas" (fairy creatures) fly from the trees, and fall upon Rose, pilfering through her treasures. The amulet - not being worn at the time - is the first to go, as one of the phookas squeals in delight and flies away with it. However, before the other can do likewise, Voltage spins about and gives her an electrical shock - and then pushes herself to hit her again before she gets the chance to escape. This does the trick, as the phooka collapses, unconscious, in the undergrowth ... and then, in a case of turnabout as fair play, Voltage pilfers through the phooka's belongings, coming up with some useful balms and potions. Rather than bothering with dealing with the phooka's thieving once she regains consciousness, once Scars is back out of the pit, our heroes move along - Rose this time taking care to wave the wand at regular intervals even when there are no obvious "encounters" - and along the trail.

A little while later, they see someone familiar: Crimson Hunter. He indicates that he had seen Fireman, and directed him into the Old Cemetery, and then he thought he caught sight of Mysterio. He had flown after Mysterio in hopes of catching up with him, but was delayed by a few of the local flight-capable inhabitants, and has since lost sight of him. All the same, Crimson Hunter indicates that up ahead is a hut with an alchemist in it; it seems that the alchemist sells and buys things, which may or may not prove useful.

Another thing, however, is that Crimson Hunter can't stay for much longer. He tells our heroes that his interference with the "Ninja Pizzeria" episode was one straw too many. While the antics of "Heroes 'R' Us" had been forgiven in the past, so long as they merely interfered with other players, this was an interference with a "system plot", and one which could have legal ramifications if it can't be shown that all of the "Turtle Ninja" properties have been removed from the system. Although Crimson Hunter has been with this project for years, and has quite a few connections, he is already stretching his welcome thin and pulling in some favors just to stay on the system this long. He, Mysterio and Warhawk are to be banned from the system - though he indicates that Mr. Coffee didn't technically "interfere", so he should still be able to get onto the system ... and he may still be able to communicate with our heroes through more conventional means, such as e-mail, once they manage to get to a working "terminal".

Another bit of sobering news: The reason that "Mr. Coffee" (Mr. Kaufmann) made his appearance on the server was that he needed to quickly get into contact with Crimson Hunter and the others to let them know of an unfortunate new development. "Lunar"'s parents had taken back their permission for "Lunar" to be treated at Mr. Kaufmann's clinic. Instead, they want to take up the Universe Corporation's offer for treatment through the Apollo System. Mr. Kaufmann is certain that the Universe Corporation must have "got to them" somehow - and he fears for "Lunar"'s safety once he's hooked up to a neural interface into the Apollo System. He's afraid that this may be some scheme involved with manipulating his memories or whatnot, in order to protect themselves from liability for the antics of "Faerie Queen" and a breach of the system's "safety protocols". Or, at least, that's the best theory he can come up with; he isn't entirely sure of their intentions, but he's afraid for "Lunar"'s safety.

Crimson Hunter gives our heroes some assorted contact information, before he finally has to disconnect. There is a flash of light, as he fades out of sight. Up ahead, our heroes can see a plume of smoke rising from the chimney of a hut - one that looks an awful lot like the hut back in the Witch's Bog. ("Maybe they used the same model," Scars supposes.)

As they approach the hut, they are greeted by Wu Lung, a reptilian man in heavy black robes, who has a golden-colored "shoulder dragon" by the name of Pyrite. He welcomes them, offering them hospitality in his hut, and inquiring about their travels.

As they step inside, they find that there are stairs leading down to a much larger subterranean habitat. Voltage is immediately intrigued by all the alchemical apparati, the tools - and, especially, all the golem pieces and parts. It turns out that Wu Lung, in addition to buying and selling various goods, occasionally has dealings with Guildmaster Bryce Hammerhand, the Chief Tinker of the Clockwork Tower.

As evening sets in, and it's evident that these one-hour "naps" don't actually account for a full night's sleep for anyone in the group, our heroes take advantage of the alchemist's hospitality, retiring for the night. But tomorrow, of course - there is the matter of the tower ... and a way out of DungeonWorld.

So, will our heroes find a way out of DungeonWorld? Will they manage to get out with the Hourglass of Temporality without breaking it? (Will it even do them any good?) Find out, in the next session of ... Superior City!