They climbed aboard the chopper and Silver brought it into the air, leaving Churning Sands before anyone could cause them any more trouble.

“So?” Silver asked once the city started to fade into a dot on the horizon. “Did you get what you needed? You got back faster than I expected.”

“Yeah,” Angel said. “We got one answer and about a dozen new questions.”

“Typical,” Silver said with a snort. “Where to now, then?”

“I’m not sure yet,” Angel replied. “I need to build the Key. With any luck, it’ll give me some indication of where it needs to be used. Worst case scenario, we go to Bronze City or Molten Ridges to find a library and go through a bunch of information tablets until we figure something out.

“That is the worst case scenario,” Silver agreed. “Sounds horribly boring.”

“I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you don’t find yourself with nothing to do for long,” Angel said. “I’m going to need some silence now.”

He took Blue out of his travel pack and examined the spherical artifact. None of the runes that he could see appeared to be damaged from its stint with the System. He carefully powered it up and spoke the activation word.

“Hello, Wonderful,” Blue chimed.

“Hello,” Angel replied. “How are you doing after the shock from interacting with the System? Is anything damaged?”

“No,” Blue reported. “I preserved all core information as well as the answer to your query of the System. The update required to speak with the System was unfortunately lost, and will need to be repeated for future attempts to communicate with the System.”

“That’s quite alright,” Angel said. “We won’t be doing any more of that too soon. I’d like to get started on the Key. Can you fill in the runes that we were missing?”

“Yes,” Blue said. “It would be easier if you form the rough shape of the artifact before we begin. There are a few internal layers, but we can begin if you have metal to work with.”

Angel pulled out the bag of scraps and set it in his lap. He removed a piece of metal and took his scribe out. With Blue’s assistance, he started to trace runes across the metal.

Hours passed by while he worked. After fully covering the first piece of metal with runes, he used the scribe to connect it with another piece and continue working. Lilian and Silver swapped off manning the chopper, letting him draw without interruption.

When Angel finished a component of the Key, Blue directed him as he used Liquid Metal to shape it so that it would fit the Key. It wasn’t quick, but they made good progress. When the heavy blanket of weariness started to settle over him, Angel set the parts aside and fell asleep in the seat.

The following morning, when rays of orange sunlight broke through the chopper’s windows, he was back to work within minutes. Everything other than the Key faded into the back of his mind as every bit of his focus entered the artifact.

Part by part, the ring started to come together. Angel removed the fake gems from the jewelry and added them into the ring, surrounding them in runes. The rough edges smoothed as he carved off excess parts and tweaked his work, making sure that there wasn’t even the slightest mistake.

He didn’t know where Silver and Lilian were taking the chopper, and he didn’t care. In his mind, there was nothing left but the Key.

After the third day of working, he fitted the last part of the artifact together and connected it with his scribe. It was shaped like a donut, with several grooves full of runework running through it. The gems didn’t look the most convincing, but it still resembled the Key on the mural.

Angel double checked his power supply one last time. The last thing he wanted was to blow the Key up after spending so long working on it. He held it out for Blue to examine and received an approving chime in response.

“The Key appears to be made according to the specifications,” Blue reported. “So long as the System’s prediction for the runes was accurate, it should function.”

“Is there a high chance that the System’s prediction wasn’t accurate?” Angel asked. His voice came out scratchy and dry from lack of use over the past few days. “This feels like something I should have asked before spending so much time working.”

“The System’s accuracy level was saved as ninety nine point seven eight.”

“Ah,” Angel said. “I think I’ll take my chances. I don’t suppose the System told you what this thing actually does? As far as I can tell, the runes are almost completely nonsensical. I find it hard to believe they’re even meant to be connected to each other.”

“This is what the System said it was meant to be,” Blue said. “I do not understand the patterns either. However, not all of the runes are out of place. The runes at the inner ring seem to be a simple locator and illusion construct.”

“That’s true,” Angel admitted. “Although I don’t know if I’d call that pattern simple. It took me nearly ten hours to carve.”

“I can propose a solution in order to simplify it in the future,” Blue said.

“Oh?”

“Work faster.”

“Shut up.” Angel glared at the orb, half expecting it to give him a smug cackle, but the artifact simply hovered in the air wordlessly. Silver let out a snort of laughter.

“We don’t have to be quiet any more, do we?” Silver asked. “I’m losing my mind over here.”

“I did what I needed to,” Angel replied. “The Key is done. Probably. Where have you been taking us?”

“Towards the center of the Barren,” Silver replied. “I figured that anything to do with Old World Magic would probably end up leading there anyways.”

“As good a guess as any,” Angel admitted. “I think the Key comes with a built in tracker. With any luck, the amount of time it takes us to arrive won’t matter. The Reawakening have no way to get their hands on the Key, so all the cards are in our hands.”

Blue let out a staticky crackle. Angel slowly turned his head to stare at the artifact. “I do not like that noise.”

“You told me to stop speaking.”

“It was a – oh, forget it. Why did you make that noise, Blue?”

“You stated that the Reawakening has no way to access the runes that form the Key,” Blue said. “That is not accurate.”

“I destroyed the mural,” Angel said. “Was there another one? And if there was, why didn’t you say anything?”

“I am unaware if another mural existed,” Blue said. “But you sent a query to the System about the Key. All queries are recorded and are accessible by other users of the System. Unless it was blocked data, it would not be hidden from the Reawakening if they possess an artifact with capabilities that match mine.”

Angel’s blood ran cold and goosebumps raced across his skin. “Shit. Shit, shit, shit.”

“Very eloquent,” Silver observed. “Are we all dead? If so, I want to visit a brothel first.”

“Don’t worry,” Lilian said, putting a hand on Angel’s shoulder. “They don’t have a Tinkerer, remember? And if they do, their Tinkerer isn’t nearly as good as you are. It’ll take them a while to get the Key built.”

“You’re right,” Angel said, letting out a slow breath. “Most Tinkerers wouldn’t have the skill to do what Blue and I did. That was one of the most complicated artifacts I’ve ever worked on. As much as I hate Soul, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without all the extra practice he made me do to hone my talents.”

“It’s a good thing he didn’t have any other students,” Silver said. “The Reawakening would probably have gone after them in your place.”

The chopper went silent.

“Buried Gods,” Angel swore, clenching his one good hand so tightly that his knuckles went white. “Turn us around, Silver. We need to get back to Molten Ridges, and we need to get there yesterday.”