I schooled my face casually as Dee Yu Kay Three showed me around the facility I found myself in; it was a strangely beautiful place, and it reminded me a little of the Blacksand Citadel, but I was still angry. There was little doubt in my mind that Lucas had brought me here with every intention of stranding me long enough to run their tests. But even I was not fool enough to openly display the feeling to the Paragon, despite knowing he likely knew already, given the additional senses those at his level possessed.

The sudden popping of Xiournal’s tablet into my vision, and the new job it gave me, were not helping:

Assignment Received... Difficulty C+… Time Limit: Now, if possible.

For the second time, get back to your own world! You have no idea the headache the local gods give me over these little visits of yours. If this happens again, we may need to revisit the terms your employment.

Bonus Reward: Not this time!

‘Revisit the terms of my employment’? I absolutely wanted to do that, but I had the feeling she meant it in a far more lethal way, which sucked given that I had absolutely no way back to my world on my own. I had taken out Walker’s dagger and it was by then stuck through my belt, but it appeared that my dark mentor was not currently looking for me.

Doing my best to calm down, given that no amount of anger would be particularly helpful, I paid attention as I was shown around, and particularly to where I would be, ‘spending my down-cycles'.

The tour ended in a medium-ish room with a comfortable looking chair, with a terrifying metal spider-octopus-thing suspended above it. The arms of the many-limbed things ended in various crystals, needles and blades, and I am afraid I somewhat forgot my politeness, staring up at it.

“That better be not what you’re using for your experiments, because fuck that.”

“That is incorrect, Hunter. This device is used to modify the body, and is what I intend to use for the part of the bargain to be fulfilled by me. I have observed that you are missing an appendage, which coincides with my planned fulfilment.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Your side of the bargain? Lucas said he would teach me a Sigil, but said you’d give me something, ‘more solid’? What exactly is your... energy system?”

“We manufacture components which use Experience at a higher level of efficiency, and build mechanisms within them to make use of it. We than replace our systems, with those.”

I looked at the robot-man for a moment before it clicked; this was not a robot at all, but a person who had apparently replaced their entire body with some variety of magical machines. But more importantly, it sounded like they were talking about replacing my arm, and I was very much on board with that.

“So, if I understand you, your... honoured Construct-”

“Dee Yu Kay Three, Hunter.”

“-Dee Yu Kay Three, you’re offering to replace my arm with something more efficient, with a built in... something?”

“That is predominantly correct, Hunter.”

“Well, thank you. That’s actually really great news. Believe it or not, I’ve actually been missing my arm a lot!” I said it with a smile, but the Construct in front of my merely tilted their head to the side, and after an awkward moment – for me at least – spoke,

“It is impossible for me to determine the length of time your limb has been absent, Hunter. This however should not pose and issue to the procedure.”

“Right. That’s, uh, good. So, are we doing it now?”

I was pretty eager to get an arm, though it had occurred to me that I would not be able to feel anything through it. But I did not think a people based around replacing bits of themselves would necessarily opt to give up on an entire sense, or multiple ones.

“It is required to gain a baseline of your internal structure, to ensure the prosthetic is compatible with your energy systems. Please sit in the chair, and I will commence scanning, Hunter.”

“It... doesn’t involve those knives, does it?” I said, pointing up at the spider-thing with a grimace.

“I am unaware why a scan of your energy systems should require the use of incisions, Hunter. Perhaps your species is somehow resistant to our systems? That would be problematic, and would necessitate the use of knives, Hunter.”

“Uh, no! Not that I’m aware of. Just curious.”

I sat in the chair before the Construct could wonder any more about the necessity of knives; the seat was just as comfortable as it seemed, and I had even started to relax a little until a bright red light burst into radiance above me. Looking up, I saw a large sphere in the centre of the spider that I had failed to notice; the orb was the course of the intense crimson glow, but as I watched it flickered to a deep violet and back, and then again and again in two second intervals. The pattern would have almost been hypnotic if it had not been quite so bright and jarring. As it was, it gave me something of a headache.

After about ten minutes, the flashing ceased and I sat blinking the afterimages out of my eyes.

“Fascinating, your energy circuits are significantly more extensive than others I have seen, Hunter. This allows for a greater degree of output, and potentially control?”

“Uh, yeah, actually.”

“I believe we will be able to construct quite an interesting replacement, Hunter. Please return tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow! Wow, that’s pretty fast. I thought, I dunno, that making magic machine arms would take longer.”

“We would take significantly longer to construct the limb, however I am somewhat eager to begin testing, and it is my understanding that when trading, payment should be received prior to service?”

I was not at all sure that was a hard and fast rule, but if it meant I was going to have an arm by the next day, I was all for it.

“I have heard people say that, yes.”

Of course, he was still an Apex level being, so lying directly was out of the question. Luckily, I had some recent practice in speaking around the truth.

“Then it is decided. Follow me back to your quarters, where Lucas awaits you. I will begin construction immediately.”

I waited for a few moments for the strange robot-person to show me the way back, but he merely turned to talk across the room to begin fiddling with a console.

I stood awkwardly for a couple of minutes more, before deciding it was probably better not to bother the Construct and I turned to try to find my own away back, only to find myself face to face with the very same being I had just turned away from. The burning yellow eyes bore into me as I turned back and forth to confirm that they did in indeed seem to be in two places at once.

“So, uh, sorry if this is rude, but are you two... Dee Yu Kay Three, or are you,” I gestured to the figure closes to me, “somebody else?”

“I am Dee Yu Kay Three, Designation: ‘Swarm’”

That was when it occurred to me that I might be seeing an Apex-level application of an ability much like Riffa’s own, the autonomous creation and control of a multitude of bodies. It would make sense, given the designation, ‘Swarm’.

“Sure. Uh, lead the way?”

*

***

*

Back in the room that had been provided me, I found Lucas waiting, one large book locked in place in the air before him as he sat languidly on the naked air.

“You’re finished with the tour.”

“I am. This place is nice, though I didn’t see any windows. We’re not in space, are we?”

Lucas rolled his eyes to where I sat on the bed before placing the book... in the air. Turning fully with one raised eyebrow, the seemingly young man spoke again.

“I have been to space; the benefits of creating such a home are outweighed by the logistical problems.”

“You’ve been to space? Wow, that’s really cool. Uh, how?”

I tried to picture one of the flying wooden ships I had seen on Lucas’s home world leaving the atmosphere but that obviously did not work; it was possible that they had some kind of shielding Sigil, and one for air, and one for... radiation? Was stellar radiation even a thing on this plane?

“I found it quite warm, in fact, which is what drove me to return. Locking a sphere of air in place and leaving the atmosphere was relatively simply, but the heat from my body – and from the suns – rapidly heated the bubble.”

It had actually never occurred to me that dispersing body heat might be an issue in space, but it made sense. The human body did not radiate much, but in an enclosed environment we had no way to convey it, so most dissipation would come from conduction, which would just end up trapping the heat in the air.

“Maybe you could take somebody who can cool it? Is there, I don’t know, a cooling Sigil?”

“There are cooling Sigils, but energy cannot be destroyed, only changed or moved. There was nothing to note of in the environment that would made the effort worthwhile.”

“But... it’s space. The Final Frontier!”

“And why would I wish to push such a frontier, when there are unlimited worlds I can visit already, not even counting other planes.”

That took the wind out of my sails; back on Earth, space really was the final frontier, the one place people could expand to and explore, but I had to admit, that when a person could wormhole – or whatever Apexes did – between worlds, actual space, the void between worlds and stars, probably was a waste of time.

“Oh. I guess that makes sense.” The realization that my oldest dream – of visiting the stars – was made somewhat defunct by my new existence had dampened my lingering anger at the Paragon, and I sat on my borrowed bed trying to cheer myself up with the thought that I had at least visited three actual, liveable worlds beyond Earth. I was, to my knowledge, the greatest explorer in the planet’s history.

With a small smile, sat up straight, only to remember where the question of space had come from in the first place.

“Wait, if we’re not in space, why are there no windows?”

“This facility lies at the bottom of an ocean, as this planet’s surface is plagued by vast hypercanes, and horizontal diamond rain. Even to one such as I, it can be quite damaging.”

“What? How did a species even evolve on a planet like that in the first place?”

“Evolve? Nothing evolved here, Dee Yu Kay Three simply searched for an uninhabited world which we could use for experimenting. It would seem the gods of this world had no interest in life, though of course now they are unable to express any displeasure at our presence directly.”

I thought about the message from Xiournal, and winced imagining how angry the local gods must be, if they had intentionally created a lifeless world, only for it to be invaded by... life. I hoped they did not contract the dragon-lady to get the life here removed, as I was pretty sure trying to get the Paragon and Construct to move would be... difficult.

“This metal the walls are made of must be pretty tough to withstand all the water. There’s nothing like this where I’m from, how do you make it?”

“I did not make this metal, as it is not made. Metal – like everything else, is capable of absorbing Experience, though inanimate objects that do so at a substantially slower pace than living creatures.”

“How does a rock, or metal, Experience something?”

“All matter is conscious to some degree, even if it is not aware. In many ways, the gods who create a world are part of it, and that seems to be enough, slow though the process is.”

“So, why isn’t everything super-strong, after billions of years?”

“Billions of years? Most worlds are not that old, boy. After such a period, even a world would Ascend.”

“Wait a minute, what do you mean a world would ascend? How is that a thing?”

“I do not question the fundamental laws of creation. Once a being – or object – is suffused with sufficient energy, this Plane rejects them and they are forced to the Plane above. This is simply the way it is.”

“I get it; it’s like that, and that’s the way it is.”

“I just said that.”

“Right. Anyway, are you here to teach me a Sigil? Dee Key Yu Three said it was payment upfront?”

Lucas smirked at me, the lines on his skin pulsing lightly as he spoke.

“I believe half upfront is sufficient. Besides, Sigils are easier – at first – with two hands.”

“Well, that’s fair enough, I guess. Though, it’s not like I can just leave without letting you study me.”

“On the contrary, it’s possible your Apex friend could open a gate at any moment.”

He had a point, and while I was a little offended that he did not think I would keep my end of the bargain, I had to admit, the chance to leave without being probed was appealing.

“So, we start the... studying... after I get my arm?”

“That is correct. I simply wished to ensure you were... comfortable.”

“I mean, the bed is pretty nice, I guess. I was sleeping on the ground for a couple of months, so it’s a nice change.”

“Excellent. In that case, I will see you after your... implantation.”

With that the Paragon stood up from his... air... picked up his book and strode away without another word, leaving to my own thoughts, and the very soft bed.