It didn’t take us long to make sure that we really did not miss a thing.

  The place was, really, just an empty room. Besides the skeleton, that is.

  -I was wondering… What’s happened to this guy? - said Mike. - I mean, they had to die here… But how?

  -Not like there are any clues - I shook my head. - I mean, I didn’t really think about it… but there’s no furniture or anything…

  -Maybe someone locked them in here?

  -Maybe… Hard to tell, but the hatch could’ve been locked from the outside, I guess…

  -And this bare room…

  -Yeah, you said a bunker…

  -But looks more like a cell now, right?

  He wasn’t incorrect.

  -So they left this poor guy here? Did he do something or what?

  -Ha. Don’t ask me. But that’s a pretty fucked way to go. Wouldn’t want to be in their place.

  -Not like it would work on us. Or at least on me - I shrugged. - But I agree.

  -Wouldn’t work…?

  -What, you still need to eat and drink? Come on, we run on mana. The Crystal makes that work. And look at this place. It has plenty of mana. As long as the outside is not a barren wasteland, you could just sit here and wait. Even then, with just it being empty, you probably would be able to survive.

  -Pretty fucked up existance, don’t you think?

  -What, sitting alone in the room? It’s not that bad. You’d have plenty of things to do.

  -What do you mean…?

  -You forgot? - I asked, raising my brow. - You said it yourself that you had to fight with other people you absorbed. With this solitude you’d have time for that. Not like you couldn’t just break a wall…

  -Ah. Yeah, I’d rather not.

  I shrugged.

  I guess his experiences with that were a bit different than mine.

  I mean, I didn’t really fight with personalities hidden within me. Nor were they really trying to go against me…

  I wonder if I ever get a chance to try that again…

  I shook myself off.

  -Well, you were right. Nothing’s here. Let’s scram.

  -Good. This place creeps me out.

  We left the poor skeleton alone, but left the hatch open. That way life would get inside and take care of them in time.

  -So, another drone, huh? - I asked, already outside.

  -Yeah, it would be for the best. Unless you feel like trudging through this mess.

  -No thanks. I had plenty of that.

  -Same.

  -Oh right. I forget, you also landed in… well, there.

  -Yep. Was under a much different circumstances back then, so wasn’t that hard, but still.

  -Thanks, by the way.

  -Hm?

  -You did make the path for me. Probably not really for me, but…

  -Oh. Right. I forgot about that. Well, back then it was… well, a way to keep sane.

  -Hm.

  -Anyway, the scout. You really need my fingers…?

  -Ah! Ha, no, just messing with you. Give me a moment…

  Since it wasn’t the first time doing this, it went a lot faster and a lot smoother.

  Also, having a tree on hand that you didn’t have to grow from a literal rock was a great boon. I still didn’t waste my efforts on decorations though, but this time I did try to at least not just use a literal pyramid. I wasn’t sure what to make it to be, so it essentially ended up being a very basic version of a plane.

  -Pff. Maybe add a propeller too?

  That was Mike’s reaction to what I made.

  -Come on, it barely even looks like one. It’s just a stick with wings.

  -Aha. And where’s the crystal gonna be? This thing is so thin I don’t think it’s even going to fit anywhere inside, or…

  -Oh, it’s already done.

  -What?

  -The core. I first took some crystal then added the wood later, letting it grow around it. Should be more structurally sound. And, speaking of…

  I placed my hand on another tree and absorbed some of mana from it, essentially regaining everything I just spent to make the plane and to regrow my finger.

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  I was expecting for the tree to wither, but I think my proficiency got a lot better, because instead I only left a handprint in the bark that promptly had turned to dust.

  -Hah. Well, I am ready.

  -And the anchor?

  -It’s the tree behind us - I pointed behind me. - Feel free to break a branch or something, It’s not like we are moving or anything.

  -True. But still…

  -Right. Let me just…

  I stepped back and broke off the piece that was still sticking out from where I was growing stuff not a moment ago.

  -Done. Here.

  -Don’t want to keep it? - he asked. - What if I am too hasty again?

  -As much as I’d like to, I don’t really have WHERE to put it. You’re the only one that still has pockets. Or anything reminding those.

  -Oh. Fuck, right…

  -Okay then. Sit your ass down and let’s go.

  I reeled back and with as much force as I could muster without breaking the little plane I tossed it up into the air, above the canopy.

  Even without magic, it was shapely enough for it to zoom past the leaves and leave my sight.

  -And go.

  I closed my eyes and sat down near a tree, seeing if everything worked as it was supposed to.

  -And we are good and flying.

  -That was… smooth.

  -Well, it’s not the first time.

  -I guess.

  He sat next to me, planting his hand on my shoulder.

  -Now, let’s see… Where are we going…

  -Further, towards the mountains?

  -Well, at least we’ll not get lost. Fair enough.

  We’ve not even been flying for ten minutes until he was again starting to get restless.

  Sure, okay, I get it, those are a bit strange circumstances, but it’s not like he wasn’t in a similar situation before…

  Well, maybe not. He did have a bit more knowledge than me when I woke up to… nothingness.

  Or it was maybe that I was just more numb to something like that from the get go…

  -I know you are not trying to do this on purpose - I said out loud - but you need to stop shaking so much. It’s like a small earthquake.

  -Oh. Sorry.

  I don’t think he even realized that he was shaking before I told him.

  -Can’t you go faster or something…?

  -I can. But then it would be easier for us to miss any potential buildings or any other signs of civilization.

  -Buildings aren’t that hard to miss.

  -Right. And ruined ones reduced to a singular wall.

  -Mgh…

  -I know it’s weird, but…

  -If not faster - he interrupted me - maybe go further up?

  -Up?

  -You know, to see more. We surely will be able to see some signs from above, right? There are plenty of landmarks that are visible from space even, so…

  -Sure, right. But I can’t go to space - I pointed out. - This thing needs air, or at least some kind of gas to use as a propulsion. And it’s not like there’s mana in space.

  -We don’t know that.

  -Well, okay, sure. I guess research never went that far.

  -At least when we were in the know.

  -Yeah, yeah. But mana is a life energy, right? There’s not much life in space, you know? So it most likely is dead.

  -Fair point. What about dark matter, though? It’s not like we know much about it and it might be…

  -Ok, I’ll stop you right there - I interrupted. - I know we don’t have much to do, but discussion about space is inherently a pointless one. It’s not like we are going to space. We are not getting into discussion about dark matter and its mana properties.

  -Fair…

  -But, I do agree with your idea about going up.

  -Hm?

  -I mean, we don’t need to go that high. I can go a lot more up, to the upper atmosphere I guess. But then we wouldn’t be able to sense a thing. And if we don’t see anything…

  -But, we could at least get a good look at the landmasses. To pinpoint where we are, right? It’s clear that we landed somewhere different than we thought, and it’s not like we have a GPS system…

  -I guess. Okay. We can try.

  -Shame you made this thing into a plane - he said when I was prepared to push us into a different direction.

  -Hm? And that makes a difference, how?

  -I mean… Thematically at least.

  -You care about a “theme”? What the fuck, man? What, you want me to reshape this tiny thing that might just burn up in the ascent into a rocket or something.

  -Oh come on, it’s not like you can go that fast.

  I was not commenting on that.

  I wasn’t so sure.

  If I was to put my mind to it, there was a good chance that it could. But he was right, I was not going to let it.

  -Uh-uh. Well, up we go.

  -You have enough magic?

  -Yeah, this thing is fully charged. Flying above a forest seems to be a great way to keep the batteries full.

  -What about up there? Will there be enough mana?

  -I don’t know - I said truthfully. - But it shouldn’t matter. We just need enough to go up, right?

  -And to keep in contact.

  -Right. If we fall, it’s just going to recharge on the way down.

  -If it doesn’t just burn up.

  -And if it does, then so what? It’s not like we are losing much. Just some wood.

  -What about yourself, though?

  -Myself?

  -A part of you, the Crystal?

  -Ah. You know… That might be a problem. But I’ll probably be able to find myself.

  -That sounds so weird.

  -I know. Let’s just hope it won’t come to that.

  I don’t know why, but the idea of losing more of my parts filled me with… unease.

  It was strange. It’s not like I had a problem with that before. I mean, on multiple occasions I had either fragmented myself for one reason or another. Some of those weren't exactly on purpose.

  But, the more I was doing that, the more I felt like I shouldn’t. Like I was annoying myself.

  -In any case - I said, discarding my recent thoughts - I can go whenever. You?

  -Go. The sooner the better.

  -Still as impatient as ever. Okay.

  -Mghr…

  -Yeah, yeah. Up.

  While the little plane that I created to scout was not exactly designed to go straight up, if I was to put enough energy into it… it should go where we wanted.

  And it did.

  It was only a matter of how much mana I wanted to dump into the flight. Of course, Mike wanted to go as quick as I could, but wasn’t going to complain much if I forced some delays.

  But, it’s not like I wanted to.