One day they found themselves crossing a huge plateau; there was little vegetation and many dry rocks everywhere they looked. Lunch time was approaching, their stomachs let them know it well. They were discussing what they could eat, when a sudden holographic message popped up on the side of the windshield: it was the image of a noni holding a frying pan, dressed only in an apron.

"Come eat with us: Konko'nera mobile restaurant, always in the most unexpected corners."

Arturo read it, curious. Then he activated the ship's tracker to show him the location of such a restaurant. Immediately the computer showed him it wasn't that far. Curious, the mage turned to the girls.

—Hey, something came up about: a traveling restaurant, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea if....

—Let's go there! I'm starving!— exclaimed Erica.

—Hehehe. Okay, okay. Let's go.

They went off to see what this traveling restaurant looked like. After a few minutes they saw it in the distance, next to a big cake-shaped rock. It was a big flying ship, with entire sections that could be opened to serve the public. There were chairs, tables and the occasional group of customers eating Nudo's extravagant dishes. The kitchen was inside.

The children parked next to the other bays and approached with varying degrees of confidence and anxiety. The nonis manning the store greeted them energetically and very kindly invited them to take a seat. There, the children ordered, had a very pleasant lunch and ate the best dishes they had tasted in weeks.

As they ate, they couldn't help but look around; there were few customers, although they might have been considered a large number for a restaurant in the middle of nowhere. Among these was a middle-aged married couple, with a very talkative lady and a quiet gentleman; a gang of young nonis, in shredded clothes and full of small metal protections, as if they served as armor. They talked and laughed uproariously, but more than that they caused no trouble to anyone; finally, on the other side of the restaurant there was a long table with a dozen people eating and celebrating contentedly. Erica noticed a small noni among them with a split horn.

—Is it someone I know?— she wondered.

Then she remembered Pol'kar, an orange noni with a split horn. But not at that distance she couldn't be sure if it was him. Even if it was him, she didn't want to go and engage a group of strangers in conversation. She decided it had to just be a coincidence and continued eating.

They were halfway through their plates, when suddenly a loud earthquake shook them and knocked them all off their seats. Then a roar deafened them, like hundreds of explosions at the same time. Those present turned towards the source of the noise, alert. Then they noticed that the huge cake-shaped rock began to move, and not only that, but to stand up. Before them rose a giant, stout figure, with two feet, four stone arms and a huge torso that was indistinguishable from its head. Finally, it stood upright and they could see it in all its splendor; a forty-meter creature of solid rock.

—What is that?— they heard the middle-aged woman shout.

—It's a golem! We woke it up! It's going to kill us!

Liliana and Arturo stood up, ready to flee. However, besides the middle—aged couple, no one else moved away.

The huge golem roared with the tremor of thousands of rocks hitting each other, threatening, and then headed towards them. At the same time the owner of the restaurant advanced among his customers and stood between them and the monster with his arms crossed and his back erect, without an ounce of fear. He was just a paunchy old man, but seeing him so determined made the others think he had something planned. Then the owner pointed a finger at the monster in a provocative position and announced at the top of his lungs.

—Attention— he said— That golem will wipe out my restaurant and all of us if we don't do something! There's no time to run away and I can't do anything to stop it! So if any of you defeat it, your food and all the food you order for today will be free! Who's up for it?

The children looked at each other with varying degrees of excitement. The strange way of asking for help certainly confused them, however Erica didn't let herself be stunned for long.

—A surprise contest!— she exclaimed, excited.

Liliana looked at her with her eyes wide open and her head bobbing from side to side.

—Erica, that thing is going to kill us— she demanded.

Arturo remained silent, while he examined the approaching monster and compared it in his mind with the free food the cook had promised. Liliana was right, it was dangerous, but on the other hand it was free food, all he could eat. Erica wanted to insist, but before she could convince Liliana, the noisy youths next to them stood up and started walking towards the golem. Who looked like the leader was in front, not in a hurry to face the monster.

—Hehe, what's a golem against the Scandalous Smashers, eh?— he remarked in an unsure tone.

There were eight of them, seven men and one woman, all large and massive, dressed in black clothes with metallic spines all over them. They were striding forward with long, careful steps.

—Clench your fists, young ones! Don't take it lightly!— the cook greeted them, as they passed him. Some of the boys replied with quick, simple gestures, but none of them said anything.

—Oh, no! Something might happen to them!— Liliana expressed.

Erica and Arturo watched them leave in silence. The band of the Scandalous Smashers started to run towards the monster. The golem noticed them and rushed towards them. The young nonis tried to surround it, but three were hit by the first round and went flying. Next the other youths pulled out guns and batons to attack, but the lasers barely pierced a few centimeters of rock with each shot and the batons didn't even crack the monster's tough skin. Seeing themselves easily defeated, the nonis began to run in retreat, one by one. However, the golem saw them leaving and attacked them anyway, sending them all flying with the power of its blows.

Then Erica, Arturo and Liliana stood up.

—I guess it's up to us— grumbled the brika.

—I think we should run away. It looks too strong— Liliana insisted.

"You can cut rock with me, don't worry" Brontes told her.

—That's not what I'm worried about— said Liliana— but that I'll be crushed under tons of stone.

—We'll finish it easily— assured Arturo— And then, we'll eat as much as we want!

The girls looked at him, surprised. They wondered to what extent Arturo was hungry, Liliana did not remember him being so passionate about eating. Erica took advantage of their enthusiasm to start marching.

—Let's go!— she exclaimed, before launching herself at full speed at the monster.

She slid across the rocky floor, using so much force with her timitio that dirt flew from her heels. Behind her, Liliana held onto Arturo's back. He pulled a platform out of the ground and started walking.

Erica leapt toward the monster, drove her timitio into its rocky torso, and continued upward at full speed. The golem tried to swat her away, but it was too slow for the brika. The latter soon reached the lump on its chest, which she assumed was his face, and kicked it hard. This propelled him a couple of meters backwards, while she fell. However the golem recomposed itself sooner than she expected and intercepted her in mid-air with a low punch. Erica felt a train run over her. The impact sent her hurtling backwards. Her body fell as she spun through the air, hit the ground at a sharp angle and ferociously crawled tens of meters back to the restaurant.

—Erica!— her friends shouted.

Arturo found himself halfway there, just him, Liliana and the golem. He could float on his platform and defend himself, but Liliana lacked a fast way to move independently. Without that or a distraction like Erica, Liliana would be too exposed. Arturo thought of the best solution quickly.

He immediately lowered the platform to ground level.

—Go check on Erica, I'll distract the golem in the meantime— he snapped.

—All right.

Liliana headed towards the brika, while Arturo surrounded the golem from the front and threw some rocks from the ground to get its attention. The monster, annoyed by the small projectiles, began to chase him. Arturo kept his distance while keeping the monster busy.

That gave Liliana time to get close to Erica and pull her out of the hole where she had been put. Fortunately for her, she had managed to cover herself with her timitio to absorb the impact in the best way, she barely had a few scratches.

—Maybe it's too much for us— commented Liliana.

—No— said Erica— that golem is mine. I won't let him go so easily.

Then she looked at her.

—You don't have to come if you don't want to— Erica said— I didn't see you very enthusiastic about it.

But Liliana shook her head.

—I'm not going to let you two take that kind of risk. If you're going to fight, so am I.

Content, Erica nodded and offered her a ride with a gesture. Liliana climbed onto her back and with that Erica shot themselves back towards the golem. Arturo had it distracted by throwing rocks at it, so the monster didn't see them approaching. They quickly went to its legs, where Erica left Liliana on the ground to climb towards the head. Not wanting to wait, Liliana lifted Brontes and slashed one of the golem's feet, knocking it off balance. It noticed her and tried to step on her, but at that moment Erica pulled him up to the top and sent an axe kick like a sledgehammer over his head. The golem's hard rock was destroyed at that point, leaving a large hole at its top.

Liliana chopped off its other foot and the monster fell to its knees. Erica held to its torso for a moment before looking down to descend, but then a huge hand came dangerously close behind her back. The brika jumped, but part of the rock hand caught her leg and knocked her off balance in mid-air. Her fall was ruined. She tried to compose herself to land with her legs or arms, but failed to do so as she spun. She ended up collapsing to the ground.

Then she looked up and noticed the golem preparing to crush her with another punch. Liliana and Arturo rushed to her aid, she herself formed timitio on her back to slide out of the danger zone, but the golem had taken her by surprise, she would not manage to escape in time. The rock fist loomed imposingly over her. Papel appeared from one side and climbed on her chest, as if trying to protect her.

Suddenly something struck the rocky arm head-on, deflected the monster's blow and sent it tumbling to Erica's side, less than a meter away. Then the arm broke away from the golem and collapsed to the side, as if someone had cut it with a laser. The brika quickly slid back three meters before looking up. There, attached to the monster's rocky chest with only its feet and timitio, was a one-horned orange noni: Pol'kar.

—It can't be!— exclaimed Erica.

—Believe it, girl— replied the noni.

The golem tried to squash him with its other arm as if he were a bug. Pol'kar quickly slid upwards and jumped several meters straight into the sky. The golem looked up, the noni formed a huge timitio hammer in the air, fell straight down and hit its torso with the full weight of his fall. The impact broke the golem in half. Its limbs shattered into dozens of pieces. It finally died.

The orange noni landed on the ground, returned the timitio hammer to the inside of his body and looked around. Erica stared at him from where she stood, dumbfounded, as her friends gathered around her. Both fortemes looked at each other.

—Pol'kar?— the girl called out to him.

—Erica Sanz! Nice job holding that golem back.

—No shit!— exclaimed Erica, grinning from ear to ear.

She quickly grabbed him in a tight embrace. Then she separated from him and turned to her friends.

—Remember I told you about Pol'kar?

Liliana and Arturo approached.

—Hello— greeted Arturo.

—Nice to meet you, Pol'kar— said Liliana.

—The noni greeted them both with a pat on the shoulders.

—They are my friends, Liliana and Arturo, we are all from the same world. We are looking for our families.

—And the mages— Arturo reminded him.

—And the ghosts— Liliana added.

—And the Heart of Chains— said Erica.

—Well, you guys are looking for many things.

—That doesn't matter now! How've you been, you bastard?— said Erica— I saw your wanted poster! You didn't tell me you were a terrorist!

—Ah, that's not a big deal— he downplayed it with a wave of his hand— They look for any excuse to criminalize strong nonis who don't do what they want.

Erica sighed to calm herself.

—Thank you for saving me... I thought I was going to die.

Pol'kar winked at her.

That's what comrades-in-arms are for.

Erica smiled, pleased. She never thought she would see Pol'kar again.

As they returned to the restaurant, the crowd erupted in cheers and applause.

—Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!— declared the cook, who was more excited than anyone else.

Everyone saluted and congratulated the noni who had saved them. The owner of the restaurant offered him whatever he wanted from the menu, even from his personal liquor stock, but the forteme refused it all and suggested that instead he should prepare something for the others to pass the scare. As there were not many people, the cook accepted and quickly prepared a banquet.

Erica's wounds were healed with a Rapid Healing Device, also known as a RHD. It was nothing impressive, they had one on their ship as well. Her friends had the same thing done to them, though they had fared much better. As they did so, the brika looked next to her, at Papel, who was waiting patiently for her in another chair. She wondered why he would have gone to her at the worst of times, just as she was about to be crushed by the rock monster. She reached out a hand and stroked his head.

—That was dangerous, you could have died with me.

Papel replied with a deeper, quieter wail than his usual shrieks, like a sad growl. Erica wondered how much Papel understood the situation.

After their quick treatment, the children returned to their table, but on the way Pol'kar called them from a distance and showed them with signs that he had reserved seats for them at his. They went to sit with him.

—May I present my troop— said Pol'kar, as he showed them all his companions at the table.

The children and Pol'kar's companions greeted each other with gestures. The vast majority were nonis, although there were also a couple of humans, a sirivi and a naga.

—What are you doing here?— asked Erica.

—I'm just passing through, like everyone else. This restaurant is not something you plan to find— answered the noni— I was on my way to talk to some friends, to recruit them for a mission. You have progressed and your friends look strong; a brika, a mage and an anchor, that's something you don't see every day.

—Nah, it looks like we're still a little short of your level— said Erica— I'd have liked to have torn that golem apart by myself!

But Pol'kar dismissed it with a wave of his hand.

—Only because I know where to hit. You'll learn too, after you fight more golems— said the noni.

—And what is this mission you're talking about?— asked Erica.

For a moment, Pol'kar's smile faded. His companions fell silent and turned to them.

—It's an important mission— he said— You mentioned it yourself, didn't you? My wanted poster.

—Oh, that's right!— Erica exclaimed.

Pol'kar nodded.

—I'm a terrorist, or at least that's what the government calls me. I don't like the system in place at the moment, I don't think the force of the nonis is being applied in an appropriate manner. Right now, countless young nonis are dying in wars of conquest in other worlds, all to satiate the pockets of the superiors.

—Superiors?— Erica repeated.

—Bah, I forget you are new to the net of worlds. In the empire there are several classes, the superiors being the richest and most profitable. The council of the 12 best is made up only of superior nonis. Technically any noni strong enough can aspire to be one of the top 12, but the superiors make sure that in practice this is not the case. For that reason, the rulers will always be part of the upper class. All the laws, the population and the structure of society is in their hands to exploit as they see fit and no one can tell them anything. That's why I plan to end this system and set up another one.

—Don't fuck with me?!— exclaimed Erica— You're going to stage a coup d'état?! You?!

Pol'kar smiled.

—Surprised?

Erica put a hand to her head. Her friend, the nice Pol'kar, was a real terrorist.

—So you plan to kill Tur?— the brika asked.

—Tur'non, the 12 best, his corrupt lackeys and anyone else who gets in my way— Pol'kar assured her.

Erica remembered the time she tried to fight Tur. Then she looked at Pol'kar. She had no way of comparing their strengths, but it had seemed to her that Tur was a much more formidable opponent, and that was if he had no one to protect him. Pol'kar intended to assassinate the head of an empire that spanned several worlds. She wanted to ask him if he was sure, but then realized that Pol'kar had to have his own doubts. It would not be empathetic of her to badger him with more than he already had.

—What do you say, would you like to join?— the noni snapped— a trio like yourselves would be a tremendous addition to our team.

Erica looked up not knowing what to say. Tur had treated her well, she didn't want to kill him. On top of that was Fir, she didn't want to leave her without her father.

—I'm sorry, but I couldn't participate— said Liliana.

The others turned to her. Despite the fact that she was talking about a coup d'état with a terrorist capable of killing a golem in two blows, she was very calm.

—I'm not opposed to changing the noni system, I certainly don't like it at all. Besides, all those responsible for the atrocities of the invasion of our world should be punished, but I can't sign up to kill someone. It is a heinous crime that should be avoided at any cost.

Although she knew he was not accusing her of anything, Erica could not help but feel that she was pointing a finger at her and labeling her a criminal.

—I agree, so don't count on my magic either— added Arturo— consider us neutral.

—Erica, remember that we need Tur alive to interrogate him about the whereabouts of the Core— Liliana told him.

—Oh, that's right— exclaimed the brika.

—Ah, right, you were looking for the Core the last time we met— Pol'kar recalled.

—We think Tur might have some information about it— Erica snapped.

—Really? And how did you come to that?

—Tur is a friend of the Chainer— said the brika.

—What?!— exclaimed Pol'kar— The Chainer is real?!

—He is. We don't yet have concrete proof that the two are allies, but we have good reason to believe it— explained Arturo.

—Ah, I see. Since they're friends, maybe Tur knows how to get to the Core. That's good, Erica! That's a good development!

—Hehe, thank you.

—All right. While I'm killing him, I'll ask him what he knows about the Core— Pol'kar assured— but in exchange for the information, you'll owe me a favor. What do you say, girl?

—Really?!— exclaimed Erica— That would be great!

—Wait! What kind of favor?!— Liliana pleaded.

Erica turned red, but her embarrassment did not diminish her excitement.

—Well, in a coup there are a lot of people to kill— explained Pol'kar— I'm sure we'll need an extra pair of hands at some point.

Erica ducked her head in disappointment. Liliana sighed with relief, Arturo held back a laugh. Pol'kar simply didn't understand what had happened to the three humans, but he guessed it was nothing important.

—All right, I accept— Erica said a bit apologetically— but I reserve the right to refuse the favor you ask if I don't like it. I don't kill children or parents with their children, for example.

—Sure, don't worry, I won't ask you to do anything too stressful. I was thinking of something like helping me in a battle or besieging a fort.

—That'd be great!— Erica jumped.

—It's a deal!

They both gave a small thump on each other's chest. Then Pol'kar turned to Liliana and Arturo.

—I won't force you to do anything, but if you change your mind, you are always welcome to join my team— he said.

—Thank you— they both replied.

They didn't talk any more about work, they just enjoyed, drank and ate their fill. Liliana and Arturo asked Pol'kar and his group if they knew anything about the ghosts or the mages, but although they knew about the mages, they had no more information than the common people in Nudo.

After an hour Erica began to feel uncomfortable among strangers. Arturo could still hold out for a little while, but Liliana knew it wouldn't be for long, so she decided it was time to leave. The three of them got up with the excuse that they needed to get to the next town soon, said goodbye and flew away.