The following day, Eary awoke from a terrible night of nightmares. In one, Tiddle was chasing him. He was powerless and no matter how fast he ran, he kept gaining. The other saw him and Decan waiting for a bus, but when it arrived Ephraim was there too. The final one featured himself and his friends fighting an impossibly tall shadowy figure. Then, in a flash he was alone. The whole series of dreams left him uneasy in the morning. After discussing things with Mote, the little moteling had some insights.

"Sounds like it might be nightmares, but maybe more. Tell me, do you see yourself in these dreams? Or are they from your point of view?" Mote asked.

Eary replied." My point of view."

Mote nodded. "It could be your havin' visions of the future. It's not terribly uncommon for a Claris to experience. But don't go takin' 'em too seriously now. Visions are often misleading."

Eary nodded in agreement.

Mote waived his hand dismissively, He said, "Good! Now that that's all settled, I have a day trip planned!" As Mote made his announcement, there was a knock on his door. Alice, Mei, and Calvin were outside. Eary greeted them, and the four teens quickly congregated around Mote. He proudly announced, "Today, ya kids are comin' to work with me!" He smiled with a mischievous grin.

The four teens looked at each other in confusion.

Eary asked, "What do you mean, 'your work'?"

Mote smugly replied, "I mean my old 9-to-5. I told ya I work for Claris, didn't I? Don't ya think they could spring for an office?" Eary's brow raised in surprise as Mote rolled his eyes. He continued, "Guess I'll just have to show ya all then."

Mote lifted the long crystalline device he had acquired at the lab. With a mighty flash, a large circular portal floated next to Mote.

He said, "Alright then, everybody through the portal!"

As Mote zipped through, Eary and his friends hesitated, apprehensive about what lay on the other side. Until Mote, popping his little head back through commanded,

"Well, what ya waitin' for? Get to moseyin'!"

He once again disappeared into the portal. The four teens summoned their courage and followed him inside. Passing through the magical doorway, the group found themselves inside a large white room. Enormous pearly pillars stretched up for eternity. Ascending, the busy bustle of the floors above could be seen. A variety of colorful characters could be seen shuffling about A single set of elevators to the left was the only way to reach those levels. That was nothing to say of the large, four-story tall, reptilian humanoid with a mass of tentacles where its mouth should be.

The team followed Mote forward. Nervously, the teens cautiously approached the horrific creature, powers at the ready. Until Mote greeted it, "Hey, Tina! How's it goin' today?"

The enormous monstrosity gazed down at the five tiny beings, its eyes a glow in a dazzle of yellow light, it replied, "Mishu gungwa ra til'unda, Mote?"

Mote smirked mischievously and replied, "It sure is! How ya doin' toots? Did ya miss me?"

The colossal being put it's tentacled appendage to it's now gaping tentacled mouth. It let out a series of loud bellows that shook the reception hall. It appeared to be giggling as it replied, "Nubaba Mote. Gul-Ha-Ha-Ha!"

"None of us understand a thing! What the fuck?" Alice said as she scolded the moteling.

Mote shrugged, turning to the monstrosity; he asked, "Hey, Tina, could ya help me out? Got some whiny Earth kids here and they don't speak a lick of celestial."

The horror seemed to comply. As soon a strange screen appeared after a few waves of its hand. After pressing several buttons, the entity looked down, and in a high-pitched 1920 dialect, announced,

"There ya go cuties! Ya should be able to hear us all now! I'm Tina, the receptionist at The Interdimensional Offices of Karmic Debt. If ya dolls need anything, just give me a holler; I can hear ya anywhere in this joint!"

Eary and Alice looked at each other, unsure what to make of things. They replied, "Thank you!"

Tina replied, "No problem! Any friend of Mote is a friend of mine, really, haha."

Her laughter once again rumbled through walls once again. The four teens smiled and thanked Tina, then proceeded swiftly to the elevators.

Standing at the door to what undoubtedly was more surprises, Eary inquired, "Mote, what kind of place is this again?"

Mote, landing on Eary's shoulder, replied, "This is a place of business, of sorts. This is where I was stationed after They made your universe. I'm a Karmic tax collector. Or at least I used to be."

*ding*

The sound announced the arrival of the elevator. After boarding, the teens could only wonder at the menagerie of floors. Every square inch of the elevator had buttons, save the floors. One Eary read said 534. Mote pushed one that read 237. In a flash, they were off. The teens were pressed against the elevator floor, Mote; however, hovered unaffectedly. The ride seemed to rival the wildest amusement park ride he'd ever gone on. The intensity could barely have him shift his eyes to notice his friends. Each seemed to be in a similar position. He could barely stand it, when a sound that seemed like an eternity ago pinged in his ears.

*ding*

the doors opened again.

Mote looked down and scoffed, "Sheesh! Take a nap somewhere else! We got work to do!"

The teens got to their feet and followed Mote down a long white corridor. As they passed office after office, Mote stopped in front of one with the name 'Scott Thompson' on it.

Mote announced, "Scott! I wonder if he's in today. Ya kids should follow me. I wanna introduce ya to one of my best friends."

As Mote zipped off, the four kids followed him inside. A large orange and red bird was at a desk, wearing a headset. A white button-up, and a red tie graced his plumed breasts. He had a large black beak, like that of an eagle. Large, colorful crested plumage cascaded down its head. Sipping coffee and puffing out a cigarette, the large bird did not notice as Mote approached.

"Hey, Scott! How the hell ya been?"

The bird turned its head all the way around and replied, "Holy shit, Mote? Been a hot minute, motha-fucka."

Mote, smirking, replied, "About 13,000, give or take."

"Sure has. So what brings the big blue ballar in today," Scott inquired.

"Yeah, I'm here on business today. Got somethin' in my office. My kid needs to save the world I'm stationed on." Mote gestured to Eary.

Scott looked over at him. He said, "Hey there, Name's Scott. I'm a Phoenix, in case you were wondering. Mote and I go way back-to the beginning of existence-a long time."

Mote let out a belly laugh as he said, "Sure do. Hey, can I get one of those off ya?" Mote said, gesturing towards Scott's cigarettes.

Eary stepped in. "Oh no you don't! You were a nightmare to get to quit smoking last time and you stunk! And my parents thought it was me."

Mote scoffed, "Bitch, Bitch, Bitch! Fine. Sorry, as you can see, I'm off to see the wizard with the scarecrow, who's got a stick up his ass."

As Eary and Mote began to bicker when suddenly a great flame ignited Scott. In shock, Eary cried out,

"Oh my God!"

As the fire died, a much younger Scott reached for a new cigarette. Lighting it off his burning remains, he looked at the kids and said,

"Sorry about that; it happens all the time. So,Mote, do you have time later? Was thinkin' about hitting up this dive bar on the edge of the Andromeda galaxy."

Mote sighed. "No, still workin' on my mission from the Boss. I tell ya."

As Mote and his friend parted ways, the team moved forward down the hall. The name 'Mote' could be read on one of the doors. When the group entered the small office, they were stunned. What appeared to be an ordinary office with a desk and filling cabinets, was infact, made just for Mote, as all the furniture was tiny. Mote took his seat at his small desk. He stuck the crystalline key in the lock of his lower desk drawer. A blaze of glowing blue light erupted as Mote pulled out a large white gem.

Calvin exclaimed, "A super gem!"

Mote tossed the jewel to Calvin; he said, "Here, Cal, why don't ya hold onto this for me."

Calvin caught the stone and looked down into his hands. It looked like a large quartz, but it was different. Swirling rainbows radiating inside were visible among radiant clouds.

Mote said, "That can be a tricky stone. I'm gonna have to show Eary personally. But that'll be once we go back to Bright Hope. Right now, I'm gonna check my messages."

The moteling pressed play. "You have 1.6 billion messages; First message, 'Mote, we need your help! We're dyin' ou...' Deleted. Next message: 'Mote, this is Claris; I was wondering why all the call-ins are linked to your....' Deleted. Next message: 'It's Tina. I need you now, Mote! No one has ever touched me the way ya do. I'm waiting in the supply closet... Saved."

Eary's face grimaced with disgust as Alice scolded, "I'm not sitting through all those messages, Mote! We got shit to do, let's go!"

Mote glanced back. "Hold your horses, miss thang! I got one more thing I gotta grab." Zipping over to one of the tiny filing cabinets, he quickly pulled out a strange, gun-like device.

Eary asked, "What's that?"

Mote proudly wielded the high-tech gun like object. He said, "This is my karma checker. I can get a full read on someone with this puppy."

Mei examined the object in the moteling's hand. It was silver with a floating display screen and a small button trigger.

Mote looked at the karma checker fondly, his blue light flickering with nostalgia. "Ah, the karma checker, my trusty companion as a tax collector. It reveals the darkest secrets hidden within a person's soul, their karmic balance laid bare."

Eary and his friends exchanged curious glances, intrigued by the mysterious device.

Holding the super gem, Calvin couldn't help but ask, "So, what will we do with that thing, Mote?"

Mote's tiny shoulders shrugged as he replied, "Well, ya never know when it might come in handy. I've been itching to use it again, too; it might help us find that traitor," he said as he flashed a mischievous grin.

Alice asked in amazement, "Shit, that'll be helpful. But we should get back. Time is of the essence."

The group agreed and left Mote's tiny office and returned to the elevator, their minds buzzing with questions and uncertainties. As they traveled back to their own universe, Eary couldn't shake the feeling of urgency. The whole world's fate rested on his shoulders.