When earlier I briefly scanned through the rooms, I thought all of the scattered smaller square areas were storage. Well, I was wrong.

  One of them looked more like a workshop or a study.

  It had a metal table affixed to one of the walls and while walls were still stacked up to the ceiling with shelves, it didn’t have anything spilled or broken.

  What caught my attention was pinned above the desk.

  A map.

  It was fully plastic again, thanks to that it survived. It also had some notes on it, which was doubly interesting.

  But, first thing first. Where are we…?

  I learned the same thing I did from the IDs.

  But what I was more interested in was the area surrounding us. Was this really some completely deserted place? No cities, nothing?

  Well, according to the map, not at all. At least not back when this map was up to date.

  On the map there were plenty of names that, while I couldn’t recognize, or read for that matter, definitely looked like cities. I mean, even without knowing the local alphabet I can read a map, you know?

  What I could read, however, were the numbers next to the cities. Or more like dates.

  The fact that the places were also crossed out didn’t bode well. Was it the date of destruction maybe?

  I mean, I know, I am getting a bit ahead of myself, but what else? A date of attack? Ha, we weren’t in a military outpost. I think.

  Hell, there was a chance that this map wasn’t even of this area! Sure it was here, but so what? It’s not like we could really compare, the forest had overtaken the… Well, everything.

  It didn’t matter either way.

  My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden surge of magic.

  Oho. Mike is doing something.

  -I probably should check that out…

  I did hesitate.

  He told me to not interrupt, right? That he’s going to be fine by himself?

  I mean, I didn’t doubt him, but I feel like leaving him to his own devices was…

  -Mor.

  Ah. Speak of the devil.

  -I felt that. You done? - I immediately asked.

  -Er, not really. I need some assistance.

  Hah. Well, there goes that.

  -Sure. Just a moment.

  -You found anything downstairs?

  -I learned a little bit about our time and place.

  -And?

  -I’d say… mostly what we predicted.

  -Mostly?

  -Date isn’t… Well, let’s leave that for later.

  -Understood.

  When I stepped outside, he was waiting for me.

  At first glance, it didn’t seem like he’s changed. He was fully focused, though, sitting right next to the ball of mana he’s been gathering all that time

  -So. What do you want? - I simply asked. - I thought you were fine by yourself.

  -I should. But you did this once before, right? I figured out it would be safer if you…

  I shot him a look.

  I didn’t really mind, but him suddenly changing his mind? Seemed suspicious.

  -Alright… I guess I did. But I moved the whole… eh, “spirits”, so to say, did not try to grow someone’s crystal.

  -No difference. You grew yourself, right?

  -It was more of a “last ditch resort”.

  And more an accident guided by something, or rather someone else that was sharing the body with me.

  -...

  -Look, I can assist, but don’t blame me for shit going south.

  -Fine. Together then?

  -Ah… Okay…?

  He was so adamant on me taking part in this it made me worried even more.

  -So, how do we go about this?

  He proceeded to explain how I would assist his own “ritual” to pour mana into the crystal pieces in his body, but I honestly wasn’t paying much attention to detail. Mostly because he was explaining stuff I was very aware of and coincidentally avoiding the ones I was most curious and uncertain about.

  Most likely because he didn’t know how to proceed with those either.

  The more he explained, the more I felt like I wasn’t needed to even be present. Just to guide some mana? It’s not like it was going to escape anywhere. Hell, if he was to start the process it would almost work by itself. Since the Crystal is eager to absorb energy, it would suck the mana for as long as there was something there, unless contained. And he was the only one controlling it, being a part of his body.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  He, of course, knew that.

  But soon, I realized the reason why he wanted me here. And it wasn’t some secondary goal of his or something.

  No. He has already started the process.

  I realized that when I asked him when we should start.

  -I already did. Just help me now and soon I will be done.

  Hearing that I was dumbstruck.

  He started? Again, what was I here for, then?

  -Just contain me if I don’t end up holding myself back.

  -What?

  And then, he fainted.

  -Of fucking course.

  It was not mana deficiency or just tiredness that hit him. It was the return of the symptoms of radiation sickness.

  Let’s just say, his body wasn’t looking so good.

  He had to be using mana to keep himself together, or at least to heal the immediate injuries. At least that way he got a headstart in infusing his own flesh. Or Crystal.

  Without much of a thought, or really a choice, I started directing mana from the orb he gathered towards the crystals in his body.

  I was not going to leave him like that, after all.

  Just like I predicted, it didn’t really need much of a guide. I only needed to slightly control the volume of mana and prevent it from leaking outside too much.

  Nothing much, really.

  The process was slow. But consistent.

  I could tell that the pieces of crystal were getting larger, and while he was bleeding from the start thanks to his sickness, now with the crystals growing it was only getting worse.

  It was not like the flesh was getting converted to the Crystal - it first had to be destroyed to rebuild itself.

  Sure, the radiation did its job, but that wasn’t really a “clean” process.

  I considered helping out with destruction a bit, but decided to let the process work itself out.

  I mean, it seemed to work by itself, so why try to fix something that isn’t broken?

  Sure, it didn’t seem very nice to watch. And definitely wasn’t pleasant to the subject. But not like the subject was awake.

  Was he even alive?

  I mean, I could feel his magic, but it was barely anything. I mean, in his flesh that is, not in the crystal. The crystal was overwhelming everything else with its presence and growing ever stronger.

  Sure, that was the point, but…

  Well, no point in dwelling on it. It’s either going to work or not, and if I was to stop it it would only be problematic.

  So I just stood there, channeling the magic towards his unmoving body, watching how the crystal was slowly growing and covering the remains of the flesh with its weird carapace.

  It, in all honesty, went down pretty fast.

  The whole process was done in about ten minutes. Or at least that’s when the mana he gathered had run out.

  I did consider adding some of mine or just gathering more, but judging by the look of his body, it was more than enough. He looked just like me now, fully crystal.

  When I cut myself off, I realized that he was still draining a little bit of mana from the environment, but it was expected. He was sustaining himself, even while not awake.

  Good. It meant that he had control over himself, even while not awake.

  Better than me when I started.

  Now, a better question.

  How do I wake him up?

  I approached him slowly, making sure that he wasn’t draining my magic, but it was pointless. My crystal was still strong enough and was genuinely immune to his attempts, as it should be.

  I could feel his body trying to, though.

  -Mike…? - I said, poking him in the arm.

  He didn’t move.

  Of course, if only it was that simple.

  -Mike? You good?

  I switched to mental communication, expecting a bit better result.

  I did manage to get the message to him, but still, no reaction.

  I probably could think of something to get him to respond, but we had plenty of time.

  I mean, why should we even hurry?

  I just sat next to him and patiently waited for his consciousness to return.

  I figured that if he wasn’t going to snap out of it in an hour or so I’d start thinking of something, but for now I could just relax for a bit.

  But, despite my efforts to relax, I had no time.

  It didn’t take even half an hour for him to suddenly jolt and his body to finally start moving.

  Which was a bit strange, since I didn’t feel any change in his mana. I thought that if he was to start waking up I’d first notice something, but nope.

  -Finally, I was getting…

  I didn’t even get to finish the sentence, he was already up and standing.

  -...concerned?

  He was standing next to me, towering above.

  Was he always this tall? I mean, I was sitting down, but still…

  He wasn’t saying anything, just staring at me.

  -Everything… alright? Hello?

  -Yes… I think so.

  His voice was a bit different, but that to be expected after your whole throat got changed into crystal.

  Now when I think about it, how does that even work? I swear, without magic it shouldn’t work at all… Never mind that.

  -You think so? So there’s something feeling off? You fucked up somewhere?

  -I… I don’t know. I never was… this much…

  -Uh…

  -You didn’t feel weird when you first transformed?

  -I didn’t feel much of a difference, to be honest - I shrugged. - But I always was more… well, flexible.

  -Riiight…

  -Maybe be a bit specific? What’s weird?

  -If I could tell, we wouldn’t be having that conversation, you know that.

  -Eh.

  -But it doesn’t seem to be affecting at least my mana, so we should be fine.

  -If you are fine with it, then whatever.

  -So, what’s next?

  -Next?

  -Well, we took a bit of a detour with my problems, but what now? What did you find?

  -Ah, that. Well, not much.

  I explained what I discovered underground.

  He nodded and didn’t seem too surprised when I finished my brief description of the situation.

  -So we still don’t know shit.

  -A little bit more than nothing, but yep - I confirmed.

  -Ehh… Fucking damn it.

  -Right? I wish we still had access to our database.

  -Ha, database? Just regular internet would be enough.

  I couldn’t help but chuckle.

  -True. That would be first page news for sure.

  -It’s not a hard bar to clear, you know.

  -Right. Assistant, find the newest info about nuclear disasters near me - I said.

  I meant it as a joke. Obviously.

  But just as I said that, a sudden spike of information pierced my head.

  -OH. FUCK.

  -What? - Mike flinched with my sudden outburst. - What’s going on?

  -I… I know.

  -You know? Know what?

  -A city turned to ashes by a retaliatory nuclear strike after the second batch of terrorism during the collapse of the global government.

  He stared directly at me.

  -What.