Reed was exhausted, more than just physically and mentally, he was exhausted on a spiritual level, and he was more than well aware of this fact.
And the others had noticed as well.
There had been no change in his speech or actions, but there was a subtle feeling of exhaustion emanating from him, which was more than a bit worrying for them, because they had no idea why it was happening.
So they decided to confront him about it.
"Are you feeling alright?" Ghran asked.
"Not quite, but it'll blow over soon enough." Reed did not look up from his writing as he answered, putting a stop to any further questions.
"If you say so..." Ghran looked glanced at the book that Reed was scribbling in, then turned and walked away, ignoring the looks he was getting from the other four. "Let me know if I can help." He said as he turned a corner and disappeared.
Bell crept to Lyn and leaned her head to her ear.
"What do we do now?" She asked, and Lyn responded with a shrug.
"Nothing, except wait." Lyn sighed, then made to leave as Reed started muttering something about time.
The other three quickly hurried after Lyn and left Reed alone with his book. He continued to write nonstop for three more minutes, before he stood up, grumbling and made his way out of the room.
After he woke from sleep after his broadcast, a realization struck him, and it made him change his plans for the broadcast.
He had realized that time may not be the same across the many, many worlds involved in the game.
Not in the faster or slower sense, since that would give quite a big advantage or disadvantage to players respectively, but in the sense of time zones. Much like how time is different across different countries on a single planet, but in this case, different worlds.
So he made the decision to broadcast thrice every time he decided to send a message, with eight-hour gaps in between the broadcasts, just in case those he wanted the message to reach might be asleep, or otherwise occupied.
Reed entered a room that was mostly empty, except for one part.
Embedded in the wall, and surrounded by various screens, was a black ball with a white ring in the middle of it.
It was Reed's assistant, the one he had named 'Recorder of the Reed of Relevance.', or 'Record' for short.
As it turned out, Record had the ability to embed himself into any computer-like object and control it, so Reed promptly made one and gave him the job of controlling anything that Reed did not want to spend time on constantly supervising, or any machine that could be controlled remotely.
At the moment, Record was connected to a little over three hundred drones that were currently flying all over the continent, mapping out the terrain and continuously sending information about the weather, the surroundings, and any creature that entered their scanning range.
Alongside that, Record was also monitoring a few dozen people who had monitors surgically implanted in them by Reed.
These people were the worst kind of people, unrepentant criminals, so Reed did not show them any mercy. He forcefully connected with their minds and implanted bombs inside them, then gave them an ultimatum, listen to his orders, or die, very, very painfully.
Unsurprisingly, all of them chose to obey, so Reed gave them a ring filled with supplies, and told them to spread out, ordering them to inform him of anything that he might take an interest in by means of the mental connection. He also warned them that he could read their memories, and if anyone of them decided to disobey, he could end their life the next instant, so none of them even tried that.
So at the moment, Reed had a few hundred drones and a few dozen people supplying him with information, and Record was filtering out the information from the drones, and Reed was very grateful for that.
"Good evening sir." Record's deep voice echoed in the room as he greeted Reed.
"How have you been?" Reed asked the unmoving ball. "Did you miss me?"
"I am always with you sir, so no." Record's way of speaking had become much more life-like as time went on, a development that Reed quite liked.
Reed chuckled and held up the book. "A small change in plans." He announced, holding out the book.
"How may I be of assistance?" A mechanical arm emerged from the ceiling and took the book before retracting.
"107 minutes later, transmit the content on pages 11 through 14, then the message I sent after that, then do it again after eight hours. do the same for the planned transmission, send it thrice, with eight hours gaps in between." Reed spoke his instructions calmly, with no hurry present in his voice. "Any questions?"
"None at all. Is there anything else?" Record processed the instructions and spoke.
"Yes actually, would you like for your core to be housed in a mobile body?" Reed asked, scratching his chin.
"Sir?"
"Would you or not?"
"I am afraid I cannot answer that question, I have no likes or wants."
Reed's eyes gained a look of deep thought for a few moments.
"I see..." He murmured. "Ignore that question then, I will make you a body sooner or later." He turned and left.
"As you wish sir." He heard Record's voice as he left, and he hummed in response.