There's a sort of unspoken agreement that as soon as we're done with this stage and with Tarin and Naru, we're going to have to sit down and figure out what this means. He-Who-Guards seems a little put out, probably because he's now the only one in our little party that doesn't have an Interface of his own; there's not much we can do about that, but I point out how he's apparently able to copy what we can do.
That cheers him up a bit. We'll have to focus some of our efforts on specifically figuring out how Guard can interface with regular skill constructs, since they're distinct from the circuits that these Dungeon monsters are using, but Ahkelios and I are both more than willing to help.
Novi seems eager to help, too, actually. We don't have the heart to tell her that she's probably not going to be with us for that conversation.
"We'll have to tell her eventually," Ahkelios admits to me quietly, when we have a moment to ourselves. I glance at him, surprised.
"What do you mean?"
"I kind of told her kids by accident," he says.
"...How did you do that by accident?" I ask, now more confused than before. He laughs awkwardly—it's strange walking with him like this, now that he's essentially eye level with me. I don't have to crane my neck down or up to look at him anymore. The only reason he's taller is because of his carapace.
"It's a long story," he mutters. "Uh, it's mostly because of Zhir?"
"He told them?" I raise an eyebrow. I don't see how that would help his case.
"No, no." Ahkelios hurries to explain to me what happened—and I can't help but snort with amusement when he reaches the part where Juri and Yarun turned the tables on him.
"Novi's really proud of her kids," I say, glancing over at her. She's walking with Guard on the other side of the tunnel, chatting animatedly with him about something or the other; some kind of Archivist discovery, if I'm hearing them correctly. "I guess she's got good reason to be."
"You should've seen Zhir's face when Yarun told him to shut up so he could fix him," Ahkelios says with a little grin. "He's like a tiny version of you!"
I laugh. "When have I ever told anyone to shut up so I could fix them?"
"You don't say it, but you think it," Ahkelios tells me. "Very loudly. I can hear you even when you're not using the bond."
"You're imagining things."
"Am not." Ahkelios pretends to look affronted, but the look fades quickly; I can feel through our bond that there's a lot of excitement bubbling within the surface. He's happy. A little conflicted about Zhir, I think, but merging with that final Remnant restored to him a lot of memories he didn't have before, even corrected ones that he now suspects the Interface artificially filled out.
He feels complete in a way that he hasn't felt for a long, long while. Not as Zhir, not as Ahkelios... Whatever he is now, despite the differences in form, he finally feels like he's himself again. Finally feels like an equal.
"I'm going to need to catch up with you," he says, nudging me. "Think you could help me with that third layer? You've got more experience with it than I do."
"Hmm." I pretend to think about it for a moment. "I suppose I could."
"You suppose?" Ahkelios folds his arms in mock outrage.
"I will," I say, laughing. "Relax. We're just going to need somewhere with a lot of Firmament, and right now the best time for that is going to be when the dungeon is mid-transition. I don't think we want to mess around with that yet." ȓA
"Yeah, no." Ahkelios shudders a little at the thought. "Maybe the Fracture? It's got a lot of Firmament if you go deeper in."
"Could always use the Intermediary, too," I say. "Just have to get there again, see what the Firmament levels are like. We'll figure it out."
"Right." He seems happy with that. Ahkelios grins to himself as we walk. Regaining that connection with the Interface seems to be good for him—he's going through his windows, looking at his skills, just... exploring.
The Interface isn't good. Both of us know that, at this point. At best it's a neutral force, and at worst it's trying to achieve a goal we don't understand. One that might very well spell destruction for many, many species across the galaxy.
But Ahkelios's joy isn't about that. It's just the acknowledgement from the Interface that he's real and whole again. More than just a familiar, as it were.
"Do you still have access to all your old skills?" I ask curiously. Ahkelios makes a face, swiping to the skills tab and shaking his head.
"Doesn't look like it," he grumbles. "But I can roll for new ones, at least. I guess all those constructs got cleaned out of my core or something."
"Would've been cool to try out some of your skills," I mutter. Ahkelios grins.
"I'll roll for more once you're done with the whole Naru thing," he promises. "Oh! We can roll for skills together! We should figure out what skill sharing is like both ways, anyway. And if you're still the core of the time loop. Like, what if the reset conditions changed? And there's the whole party thing that's in the Interface now?"
Yep. That's a new one. A whole window that lists our names and nothing else. There's probably more functionality in there, but when I reach out with my senses it feels like the Interface is actively building the feature. Like it's something new it made just for us.
But it's probably best I listen to my own advice. The mind needs rest, even if the body doesn't. We'll take some time to talk things through, but after that, maybe a small break is in order. Nothing too big.
Guard did mention hot showers in Isthanok, and that sounds very attractive at the moment.
We watch as the Archivists begin to lower the Seed into Firmament-enriched dirt. "Are you guys ready?" I ask, my voice low. "Because we're going to have to get out fast. I've got the portal ready to open."
"Ready," Ahkelios agrees.
"Ready." Guard nods.
The Seed is planted—
[Seed planted. Congratulations, Heir. Ritual Stage 2 has been completed.]
[Bonus objective complete: Defeat the Concept-Bound in a single try! +200 Firmament credits.]
[Bonus objective complete: Fight a higher tier of enemy than intended! +200 Firmament credits.]
[Bonus objective complete: Thwart the intrusion. +200 Firmament credits.]
[Progressing Ritual: The Empty City to Stage 3. Be aware that the Firmament levels required for dungeon alteration are hostile to fifth-layer lifeforms and below. Evacuation is recommended.]
Both Ahkelios and I react to that fourth message. "Thwart the what?" Ahkelios demands.
I frown at it, but shake my head; I'm already pulling the Dungeon's key out. "No time," I say, inserting the key into the air. With a twist, a golden door blossoms into existence, and the three of us pour through.
For a moment, I entertain the idea of what might happen if we tried to pull Novi with us. I even look for her, try to catch her eye—but she's talking animatedly with one of the other Archivists. She doesn't seem to notice the rumbling in the dungeon, and she certainly doesn't see the door. I have no doubt that if any of them could there would be a whole host of questions to deal with.
So that might not be an option. But it's... something to keep in mind, now that we have an idea of what to expect for the next Stage.
The door seals shut behind us—
[The Empty City has been locked. Time remaining before full establishment of Ritual Stage 3: 4 days.]
Seems even the Interface is enforcing a kind of break. I'm not surprised the dungeon takes longer to reconstitute itself with every stage, although at this rate I worry for how long the final stage will take to render.
For now, though...
[Processing additional reward...]
[Congratulations! By completing two Ritual stages of the S-Rank Dungeon The Empty City, you have earned a Feat!]
"Hey, how come I don't get that?" Ahkelios complains.
"I'll share what I get," I say, shrugging. "We kind of have access to each other's skills anyway, don't we?"
"Good point." Ahkelios seems mollified by that. I look back to the Interface.
[Feat earned:
[The Abstract Crown]
Where an Anchoring solidifies a change in reality, an Abstraction unmakes it: it is an unmooring of a concept, a physical rendering of something that should remain outside reality. To destroy an Abstraction is to restore balance to the universe.
The Abstract Crown is a recognition of this feat. With it, you gain 50% additional affinity to Concepts and Threads.]
My heart quickens just slightly. It's a guess, but...
This is what I need. If I'm going to pluck out a shard of the Interface, if I'm going to do any sort of surgery with the soul—then Concepts and Threads, whatever they are, are going to form the core of what I need. Without the Dungeon and the Ritual, I wouldn't have known about either.
"Come on," I say. "Let's go find Tarin."