"Don't try to discern the Commissioner's motives," said Nickwell, his black eyes like steel and expression stone cold.

"Whoa," said Traxler, slowly moving away from the shotgun. "I... apologize."

"Hey! Watch the road!" yelled Boss. Nickwell finally removed his gaze from Traxler and the car swerved as he moved its trajectory away from a ditch. What is wrong with these people? At least the other explorers were semi-normal.

"He was just joking," said Boss, sounding more like he was suggesting a sensical explanation rather than making a statement.

Nickwell looked at him, brows furrowed. "No, I don't think I was."

Boss whispered something in his ear, and Nickwell slapped his knee. "Oh, ha! Yes, of course I was joking. I'd just forgotten what the word meant. A lapse of vocabulary. That's normal, right?" There was an awkward silence. Traxler eventually decided he couldn't stand it anymore, so he asked another question.

"Well, can we try to figure out what's inside?" Nickwell looked at Boss, who was consulting some sort of manual.

"Er, yes, there appears to be no rule against it," said Boss, who was thankfully speaking in quieter tones now that they were no longer outside.

"Then what do you think, Boss?" asked Nickwell.

"I think... it's empty!" cried Boss.

"That's impossible," said Rolt.

"You're right, maybe there's some sawdust," said Boss with a chuckle. "Well, whatever is in there, I'm sure it's not that valuable." This thoroughly confused the explorers.

"Anyways, where are you guys from?"

"All of us are from Silod," said Anda. "Oh, except for Traxler." She looked at Traxler as if it should have been a great embarrassment for him.

"Silod, huh?! The capital city. I'm a guy from the outskirts, as you can tell." Boss let out a loud belch, possibly to further solidify his statement that he was from the outkirts. "How's life there? How's the food? Oh, how's the king? Have you ever seen him?"

Chad chose to answer the last question. "He doesn't make appearances very often. You know what kind of man he is. They game of politics is beneath the rulers of Qrooq."

"But making what could be most of the planet off-limits isn't, apparently." said Anda.

"Hey, it's dangerous out there!" squeaked Reuce, which earned her a glare.

"It's dangerous? What kind of explorer are you? You know, the Daphinde doesn't recruit people who are scared of plants." asked Anda.

"It's more dangerous than you think..." said Traxler quietly.

"Yes, indeed. I've heard there are flesh-eating mushrooms," said Boss, speaking with an air of wisdom.

Rolt laughed. "Where'd you get that from? Have you ever been in the Unexplored, old man?"

"I'm not that old," said Boss defensively. "Anyways, Nickwell told me that." He patted his right hand man on the back.

"He's an explorer?!" asked Anda incredulously.

"No, of course not. Well, not an officially recognized one, that is," said Nickwell, sounding proud but also on edge. "Anyways, drop it. I think we should talk about something else." He rubbed his shotgun, not very subtly.

"You still haven't told us where you're from, Traxler," said Boss.

"I'm from Donkeybad. It's pretty close by. It's a pretty humble place. There's farms, one school, and some unused oversized sporting event arenas. Oh, we also have a prison that's basically unused."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that, it sounds incredibly boring," said Boss, drinking beer out of a can.

"You're not wrong. That's why I'm an explorer."

"Well, what do explorers even do? You guys don't seem to be 'exploring' anything at the moment."

Rolt sighed. "Explorers are basically tasked do anything that requires knowledge about the Unexplored. Actual exploration is only done by more experienced and skilled explorers. The government puts a limit on the number of people allowed in the Unexplored at a time, so the Daphinde has to be selective about who they send." Rolt sounded mildly resentful. "Explorers that good usually come from Daphinde's academy."

"Hmm. Any of you guys have children?" Boss seemed a lot more friendly now than he first did. Perhaps he didn't realize that his yelling made people take him less seriously rather than more.

The unanimous response was "no".

"Well, that's good. You're too immature. Er, not physically, but mentally." He coughed. "I have a wee boy. His name's Gurn. He's determined to be an explorer as well. He'll end up being one of those expert guys out there doing dangerous things among the flesh-eating mushrooms as well, mind you. My wife tells me not to encourage him, though."

"Oh, I didn't expect you to be married," said Anda, which Traxler thought was kind of rude. But he didn't expect him to be married either, of course.

"Don't worry, at least I'm still available," said Nickwell, maneuvering the van away from a passing merchant at the last second. "However, you should know first that I'm a strong believer in polygamy."

"I wasn't implying that I—"

"Sure," interrupted Nickwell. "Anyways guys, this is it. We're here."

Traxler was surprised that he hadn't noticed earlier; it was probably the fog that had started amassing as they drove farther into Alve. The first Gate of Qrooq. It made the entrance to Alve seem childish in comparison. A hundred foot tall steel gate stretched in either direction as far as the eye could see, and even farther. The security here was basically military. Dozens of guards were rolling out of a steel building, probably to greet them. They all had guns and wore some kind of tactical visual aid that covered most of their face and made them look inhuman. Thick fog loomed over the steel gate, blocking any vision into what was beyond the gate. Some said the always present fog was actually artificially created, to make you feel as unwelcome as possible. It did. You really got the feeling that this was no place to be.

And the well-equipped soldiers were paid just to stay there every hour of every day until someone else took their place, despite how little they actually ever did. That really demonstrated how much this task mattered to the government.

"Wow..." Boss breathed in deeply. "Damn, they really don't seem to want visitors!" He chuckled nervously.

But Traxler wasn't feeling queasy at all; only excited, though he knew the mission wouldn't take him very far in. For some reason, Hassenpiron, the same man who continued to fund the overkill effort to guard the border, had also been the most valuable supporter of the Daphinde. He must know that there was something to discovered out there. Traxler felt the same too. In fact, anyone would have the same instinct, if only they weren't faced with this very intimidating impassable barrier.

"Alright! Let's go sign some stuff and get in there!" yelled Boss. The other vans had already arrived, and the mercenaries were piling out. Traxler and the other explorers stepped out of the van.

"I've seen it twice before, but it never ceases to impress me." Chad was standing next to Traxler.

"Yeah," said Traxler, grinning broadly. I can't wait!