“What does An need me for, anyway?” Kano asked, having joined Miusvon for a private meal at her fellow natural’s request. “She already has you. Isn’t that enough?”

Obviously having the both of them was better, but it didn’t seem necessary. There was no one left in Shorinstown to threaten them.

Swallowing a mouthful of gray-brown meat, Miusvon shrugged. “It doesn’t hurt to be sure. Besides, you never know what kind of opposition might appear. For example, I’m sure Gresitosis never expected what you did to him.”

“Yeah, but he was an idiot. Still, I guess you’re right.” Though Kano hadn’t the faintest idea what form such a threat might take. All the necromancers Kano knew of were dead, other than An, as were any naturals. It occurred to her that she had confirmation of all of their deaths, except for Karen. For her she had only the word of that blob that was supposed to be another Kano.

Did Karen even really exist? Kano had yet to see any definitive evidence to indicate that she did. Someone had created all this, but Kano had no proof of who it had been. It was probably about time she had another talk with the blob. Kano didn’t know much about what they were capable of, but from what little she knew of their capabilities, there was plenty of potential danger.

Taking a few more bites of her food, Kano set it aside and said, “I’m going to go check on something.”

Before Miusvon could say another word, she left the room. Rather than try to navigate her way through the citadel back to lab that supposedly belonged to Karen, Kano went around the back of the citadel and used the same secret entrance as before.

Being taken straight to her destination was rather convenient, and she wished they had more of these conveyances around here. Maybe it had been too much work to make more of them, or maybe the creators had just wanted to force people to walk around. Who created this place, anyway? Karen? Kano vaguely recalled the blob saying something about that. Not that it really mattered either way.

The pulsating blob of technicolored gunk was right where Kano had left it, in its small clear enclosure. Her reflection was nowhere to be seen, but as she approached, she saw the shape of it forming from the amorphous mass.

“Hey,” she said once the other her was fully formed.

Blob Kano opened its mouth in a wide smile. Even its teeth were brightly colored and soft. “Hi. It’s good to see you again.”

“What have you, uh, been doing while I was gone?” There was something awkward about talking to something so similar to herself, especially now that they were alone together.

“Waiting.”

Despite their cheery tone or perhaps because of it, Kano felt a chill. “Waiting for what?”

Their shoulders flowed together in an approximation of a shrug. “I’m not sure. Something interesting to happen, I guess? It’s kind of boring being stuck in here. Hoping is about all there is to do.”

“I can imagine. Have you just been sitting here the whole time, then?” It sounded a whole lot worse than just “kind of boring.”

“Nah, I’ve been asleep mostly. Not much worth staying awake for. Until you came back, that is. How have things been out there? Anything interesting happen?”

“A new necromancer moved in. Her name’s An or something.” Kano wasn’t even going to bother attempting to get her full name right.

“Wow, that’s exciting. What’s she like?”

Exciting was one word for it, though not the one Kano would have chosen. “Hard to say for sure, I haven’t spoken with her much. She seems friendly, I guess. You’d probably get along with her.”

“Oh, really? You should bring her here so we can talk. I’m sure it’d be interesting. Unfortunately”—Blob Kano tapped on the glass—“I can’t go see her.”

“Maybe later. I think she’s busy right now.” Kano didn’t think it was a good idea for them to meet, not until she knew more of An’s intentions. She didn’t know what a necromancer might be able to do with this blob, and she didn’t want to find out either. “Hey, um, Kano.” Kano didn’t think she’d ever get used to addressing someone else by her own name. “What do you think of necromancers? Like, in general.”

The other Kano slithered back and forth inside their tank. “That’s quite a broad question. I’m not sure I have much of an opinion of necromancers in general. I guess it really depends on the individual? Karen is the only one I knew, so I can hardly generalize based only on my experience with her.”

Kano felt silly for even asking her about something involving the outside world. Of course they wouldn’t know. But that didn’t mean their perspective was useless. She just needed to readjust her focus. “Fine, then what’s your opinion of Karen?”

Blob Kano sat down. “That’s one I should be able to answer, at least. Though even then it’s still kind of complicated. On one hand, I’m grateful to her for creating me as well as the time we spent together, but at the same time, I also recognize that her intentions were selfish. Maybe not entirely, but most of what she did was definitely for her own benefit.”

“What do you think of her cause? Of her spending all that effort to prolong her own life?”

“I think it’s only natural. It doesn’t matter if you’re a ghoul or a necromancer, or whatever. No one wants to die.”

Kano wasn’t so sure about that. A lot of the people she’d killed had seemed pretty suicidal to her. “So you don’t think there’s anything wrong with what she did?” She had little idea of what Karen’s pursuits had cost her and the world, but she doubted they’d been cheap. Then again, maybe Kano herself wasn’t much better; she’d caused quite a bit of destruction in order to prolong her own life.

“I didn’t say that, just that I can understand why she did it. As for if it was actually the right thing to do…” Her eyes closed as she trailed off, deep in thought. “I don’t think I’m in any position to judge.”

How could another version of herself be so indecisive and noncommittal? They didn’t seem much like her at all. “Of course you can judge it. How else are you ever supposed to make a decision about it? If she were here right now and wanted you to help her extend her life, would you do it? Even if, for example, it meant killing some random person?”

The blob person hesitated before answering. “I’m not really sure. I guess I might. Whoever they were, they were going to die eventually anyway. Maybe if Karen was still alive, she’d have been able to accomplish something positive. That would probably outweigh the value of a single ghoul’s life, no?”

Their logic felt awfully similar to what Miusvon and An had been saying to justify what they were doing. Kano wasn’t even sure she necessarily disagreed, which made it all the more unsettling. Were they right? And if not, then what was the right course? Her head was already aching from thinking about it. Why did this all have to be so complicated? Killing the necromancer would have been so much simpler.

She still hadn’t given up on that option, though it felt increasingly unconscionable. Even though the blob’s answer to the hypothetical situation with Karen had been unhelpful, maybe asking her opinion on what was actually happening with An would be more productive. Kano explained what she knew of the necromancer’s plans. How they were going to create a new type of being to repopulate the dying world.

The other her blinked, confused. “It sounds fine to me. What’s your problem with the idea?”

“It’s—” She stopped, confused. Her objection was strong, she had no doubt about that, but it was also ill-defined. Was it solely because An was a necromancer? No, though that was a large part of it. Kano realized she was sick of all these hopes and dreams being bandied about. None of them had led to anything the slightest bit positive, just death or worse. Like what had happened to Thirty-Six.

Regardless of their intentions, at best they’d unknowingly continued the senseless cycle of destruction. At worst… Kano wasn’t even sure which was the worst outcome she’d seen. Perhaps the humans and their network, where they’d trapped themselves in a hellish prison of their own making.

“I still think she’s likely to make things worse, no matter what she says she’s trying to do.” Action and professed intent didn’t often line up in Kano’s experience.

“I think you’re being a bit too cynical about her. Besides, how much worse could things even get?” A ripple passed across the fleshy mimic’s body. “Maybe you see things differently, given that you actually live out in the world, but from my tank it seems like things are pretty awful out there as it is.”

“No, you’re right. I don’t think things could get that much worse.”

“There you go, then. Why not take a chance and trust this necromancer? Maybe things will turn out for the best.”

Kano still couldn’t bring herself to believe that, even for a second. And if she didn’t believe in what she was doing, how was she supposed to trust her? “I can’t do that.”

“Well, maybe not trusting them is for the best. That way you can keep watch over what they’re doing with an open mind.”

Kano nodded. She wasn’t sure about the open mind part, but at least they both agreed the necromancer needed to be watched. “What’re you going to do now, anyway? Just stay in this tank forever?”

The image of her own lips twisted into a sad smile. “I’d prefer not to, but I don’t really have any other options.”

It occurred to Kano that maybe introducing her to An wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Despite her previous fears, there probably wasn’t much An could do with Blob Kano. The blob was clearly a failure, so it probably wouldn’t have much value in furthering An’s research.

She didn’t trust Blob Kano either, but they did seem like they wouldn’t easily fall for whatever had duped Miusvon. And maybe An could do something about them being trapped here. Kano didn’t like the thought of her or anyone else being trapped like this. And if An really did help, then maybe that would go some ways toward proving her good intentions were more than just words.

“There might be more options than we realize. I’ll ask An to take a look. Maybe she can help you.”