The alarm cut out not long after Miusvon left, though Kano couldn’t tell if there was any connection between the two events. Her failure to change Miusvon’s mind was disheartening, but she wasn’t sure how much it mattered either way. Even if they did stop the necromancers, Miusvon was right—there was no real future beyond that.

Did that matter, though? It sounded bad and all, but Kano wasn’t sure how much of a problem it really was. Living out your own life as you wished was good enough, wasn’t it? What difference did it make if there was anyone left after you died? Maybe striving for a peaceful end was the best Kano could do. If so, her current situation wasn’t so bad.

Sure, she was trapped in her own body, but there wasn’t anything she particularly wanted to do. Seeing Nove and the children again would be nice, but she could live without it. It didn’t make much difference in the end. Besides, they’d probably be happier if they didn’t see how she’d ended up.

Now that she thought about it, her current condition wasn’t so different to Blob Kano’s. They were both extremely restricted, with no real freedom. The key difference, as far as Kano could tell, was that the other her was lonely and wanted to see the world for herself. Hopefully An would keep her word and free the other Kano from her prison. At least some good would come of the necromancer then, regardless of what else her work accomplished.

Kano made a mental note to bring it up next time she saw An. If she saw An again. It was hard to say what might be happening outside. For all Kano knew, they could all be dead already. That would be kind of funny, and an effective demonstration of what Kano had been trying to explain to Miusvon.

But that was probably nothing more than an idle fantasy. Kano doubted things could go wrong so easily. If it turned out they had, she’d have to revise her opinion of necromancers, because it would mean they were even more disaster-prone than she’d thought, hard as that concept was to fathom.

Regardless, Kano was glad she didn’t have to listen to the alarm any longer. It had been wearing on her now that there was no one to talk to. If they were going to force people to listen to something, they could at least have picked something more pleasant. What could warrant making such a ruckus over? The world had better be ending, or something close to it, otherwise they were being far too dramatic about it.

Now that Kano considered the potential magnitude of the event, she felt a little left out not getting to witness it. Not that there was anything she could do to change that. Maybe she should have asked Miusvon to take her along when she had the chance. That would’ve been more interesting than sitting around here. Miusvon would probably have taken her too.

Sighing, Kano wished she’d thought of that earlier. Now she had nothing else to do than wait until someone remembered she existed. Maybe it would be time for more tests soon; the necromancers seemed awfully fond of them. Except when it came time to actually do something important, they rushed in with nary a thought as to whether it was a good idea.

Kano was much the same when it came to forethought, but at least she wasn’t attempting anything as significant as the world-changing events necromancers were always trying to engineer. It really seemed to be their only hobby, much to the rest of the world’s loss. Kano wasn’t kept waiting for too long before An returned.

“What’s happening out there?” Kano asked.

“There’s been a slight problem with some of Werisah’s slime, apparently due to a mistake of some kind on Eomonsa’s part,” An said, checking several of the machines around the lab. “So there’s a little bit of an outbreak in the citadel at the moment, but we should have it in hand momentarily.”

“What if you can’t rein it in?”

An paused. “Hm, I’m not certain. But I doubt it will come to that.”

“Did Miusvon find you?” Kano was surprised she wasn’t with her if she had.

“Hm? Oh, yes. She’s helping Werisah sort things out. Quite convenient, really. Frees me up to get back to the real work. Speaking of which, are you feeling any different now? I realize I’m repeating myself, but it’s important that we keep on top of your condition.”

“No, I’m fine.” Kano remembered her previous thought about the other Kano in her tank. “Though I was wondering if you ever figured out how to free that blob from their tank.”

“What? Ah, that copy of you? I was working on a solution for a little while, but truth be told, I haven’t given it much thought recently. More pressing matters have been occupying my attention. But I’ll get around to it eventually. No need to worry about that.”

Kano wondered how true that really was. An seemed easily distracted. And who knew how long her current project would take. It might take years, or she might get herself killed later today. It was impossible to say for sure. Kano wasn’t even sure which result was more probable.

“Do you think you could help her sooner rather than later? It would really mean a lot to her if she could see the outside world for herself. She’s been stuck in there with no one to talk to for many years now.” Granted, she’d spent most of that time dormant, but An didn’t need to know that.

“I’d like to help. Really, I would, but I have other priorities right now. Besides, she’s waited all this time. Surely she can wait a while longer.”

Kano wasn’t satisfied with that, not in the slightest. There had to be something An could do. Compared to her other work, freeing Blob Kano should be relatively simple. “Then how about this. If you can make it so she can live outside of her tank, I’ll give you my full cooperation.” It wasn’t much, but it was the only bargaining chip she had to offer.

Pausing in her work, An stared up at the ceiling while she thought. “Very well. Though I can only accept on one condition. I can’t promise I’ll be able to help her, only that I’ll try. I don’t understand much of the underlying technology behind her creation, so I’ll be working under a lot of assumptions.”

“Deal.” Kano trusted that An would hold up her end of the agreement. Though she didn’t agree with what they were doing, she believed An was honest. Probably one of the most honest people she’d ever met.

“Just to check: Your full cooperation means you’ll make absolutely no effort to harm Werisah or I, nor will you disrupt our work. Is that right?”

“Yep. Also, if you could give me control of my own body back, that’d be great.”

“I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do about that, but I’ll talk about Werisah once he’s done cleaning up the mess outside.”

Kano wasn’t too keen on the whole cooperating part, but she was still happy with the deal she’d brokered. Freeing Blob Kano was a worthy cause, and she might actually get some autonomy back as well. Though from what An said, Kano’s freedom hinged on Werisah, and it was hard to say if he’d agree with his colleague’s decision. An seemed relatively sympathetic and understanding toward Kano, but she could hardly say the same about Werisah.

Not that she could really blame him, given that she had been planning on killing him. In addition to already killing him once. But as reasonable as his dislike may be, it didn’t make her hate him any less. An went to work, and Kano was mulling over what a pompous bastard Werisah was when the man in question came in. Despite Kano’s enmity, he didn’t pay her the slightest attention.

“I’m going to need you to come back out there,” Werisah said.

“What?” An replied, sounding irritated as she halted her work. “Why? Isn’t Miusvon enough help?”

“No, I’m afraid the problem is worse than we initially thought.”

An sighed. “Fine, though if we need more help you should just bring Kano along. She’s even agreed to work with us.”

He glanced at Kano before giving An a doubtful look. “Are you sure about that? Remember what happened last time she was free?”

“Yes, yes, I know. But I assure you, she’ll be on her best behavior.” She looked over to Kano. “Isn’t that right?”

“Of course,” Kano said, trying to sound as sincere as possible. If she was able to, she’d have given her most sincere and reassuring smile as well.

Werisah didn’t look too convinced, but nonetheless, he said, “Fine. I’d rather not waste time arguing about it.”

Without any warning, Kano regained control of her body. Closing her eyes, she stretched. It was wonderful to be her own person again. The necromancers ignored her and left the room, and after a few more stretches Kano followed them.