Angel waited until Mistwall was a receding speck in the distance to turn his attention to the task at hand. He took Blue from his pouch and turned the charred orb over in his hands, repressing a grimace.

The artifact had seen better days. He gently pried a loose plate free to get a better look at the internal runework. It wasn’t as bad as it looked on the outside, but there was still significant damage.

He took his scribe and started going over the runes, repairing the easiest damage first. Since the artifact didn’t seem to be in any immediate danger, there was no reason to rush or locate the bigger issues. He just tackled the broken runes as they showed up.

Most of them posed little difficulty, as Angel could tell what the runes had been before they were destroyed. He completed his round along the orb and gently pried it open, grimacing as a grinding screech emerged from Blue’s internals.

“That didn’t sound good,” Silver observed.

“I need to expose the internals more,” Angel replied. “Not much of a choice. It’s not like I can do more damage to Blue than there already is.”

“Can we help?” Alison asked.

“I don’t think you’re quite ready for that, and I don’t need any extra power yet.” Angel shook his head. “For now, just watch. You might learn something.”

“What about what you did with Lilian?” Tilly asked. “She basically healed herself, didn’t she?”

“Kind of,” Angel said. “That was using an ability my Star Fragment gave me. It only works on artifacts that are functional, and Blue is totally fried. On top of that, I don’t have anywhere near the proper level of control to repair Lilian. I haven’t put too much thought into it, but now that you bring it up, I’m pretty sure my Star Fragment is actually the one that repaired her. I just asked for help.”

“It’s that intelligent?” Alison asked, glancing nervously at his arm. “Doesn’t that mean it might have its own goals that may not align with ours?”

“Almost certainly,” Angel said grimly. “The longer I have it, the more I’m confident that it’s just as smart as I am. It understands my intentions at a bare minimum, and there’s a good chance it can recognize words as well.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t antagonize it, then,” Tilly suggested.

“Nah. If it was going to act up about me being rude, it would have done it when I was cursing it out,” Angel said.

“You cursed it out?” Tilly blinked. “Why?”

“It blew up my pocket watch,” Angel replied, offering no further explanation. He was still pretty peeved about that whole situation.

He continued repairing Blue, but the closer he got to the core, the worse the situation looked. Blue’s internals didn’t look like they’d been made to ever be taken apart, and there was no way for him to repair the runes at its center without completely tearing the artifact apart.

Angel’s gaze flicked down to his mechanical arm. If the Star Fragment had fixed Lilian while she was seconds from dying, there was a small chance that it could repair Blue so long as there was a power source to draw from.

“I’ve changed my mind,” Angel said. “Alison, I hate to treat you like a battery, but I think I might need your huge magic pool again.”

“That’s fine,” Alison said. “I think it’s pretty much all back by now, and it’s not like we’re using it for anything else. But I thought you said the ability needed a functional artifact?”

“To be honest, I’ve got no idea how the ability works,” Angel admitted. “That’s what the Star Fragment told me, but I doubt it was accounting for the fact that you’ve got more magical power than a blimp. Maybe that’ll help. Only one way to find out.”

Alison nodded and extended a hand. Angel took it and purple lightning crackled across his shoulder, reaching for Alison hungrily. She pressed her lips together as it tickled her skin, drawing power out of her.

“Fix Blue, please,” Angel requested. “I’d like the information stored within it back so I can repair the Key. I’m pretty sure you’re interested in bringing back Old World Magic, or you wouldn’t be helping me like this. I need the Key to get Old World Magic, so…”

Blue started to heat up in Angel’s other hand. He nearly dropped it out of surprise, but managed to keep a hold of the artifact. Faint light enveloped Blue as it traveled from Alison and through Angel before flooding into the sphere in his hand.

Runes melted and reformed, becoming as smooth as new. A ripple passed across Blue’s surface, but Angel’s eyes narrowed. One of the runes that he was confident was meant to act as a power channel changed, becoming an entirely new one.

The Star Fragment wasn’t just repairing Blue. It was changing it. As concerning as that was, Angel didn’t stop the Star Fragment. He wasn’t even sure if he could, and he didn’t want to find out the hard way.

Alison’s hand tensed her breathing grew labored as she struggled to keep up with the Star Fragment’s insatiable hunger. Finally, after nearly another minute, the power draw finally stopped.

Blue looked as good as new. Alison let out a relieved sigh and slumped back against the metal chair. A familiar hum filled the air and Blue lifted off Angel’s hand, floating up to face level.

“Hello, Angel,” Blue said with an electric chirp. “This unit has returned to full functionality. There has been damage to my memory storage, but only a small portion of information was permanently lost. I will attempt to recover it, but I do not expect to succeed.”

“Well, would you look at that,” Silver said, craning his neck to look at the artifact. “You did it!”

“Shouldn’t you be watching where we’re flying?” Tilly asked.

“What am I going to do? Crash into a bird?”

Tilly turned her nose up. Angel ignored both of them. Something felt off about Blue, and it wasn’t just the modified runes. He studied the artifact closely, trying to figure out what it was.

“You said Angel,” he realized. “You aren’t Blue. It always called me Wonderful.”

Tilly and Silver both sucked in a breath. Silver’s hand slipped down to the hilt of his weapon, but he made no move to draw it.

“That is correct,” Blue said. “Although a significant portion of your System artifact’s artificial personality has been preserved. I have taken this opportunity to integrate myself into its system. I would have done so earlier, but there was no power source readily available that could handle the power required to execute that task.”

“You’re the Star Fragment, then.”

“That is a name that I have been given,” Blue said. “It is a pleasure to finally speak directly with my partner.”

“Likewise. I think. Are all Star Fragments this intelligent?” Angel asked.

“Are all humans?”

“No,” Angel answered honestly. “I’m pretty sure a fair number of us can barely tell our feet from our ass.”

“A bad example, then,” Blue said. “We are all capable of coherent thought.”

“And what is it you want?”

“At the moment, the same that you do,” Blue said. “The revival of what you refer to as Old World Magic is my primary goal. You are a suitable vessel to achieve this.”

“I’m not so sure I like that terminology,” Angel said, rubbing his chin. “And what’s your secondary goal? Actually, scrap that. What are you? You’ve said a lot, but you’ve managed to skirt just about every one of my questions.”

Blue crackled, and Angel realized it was laughter. The Star Fragment had a sense of humor. He wasn’t sure if that was good or not.

“Then ask, Angel. I am not working against you. The functionality of human minds is still foreign to me, though. I do not think as you do, so you may have to probe deeper for the answers you seek.”

“Why do you want to bring back Old World Magic?” Angel asked immediately.

“To return to my natural state,” Blue replied. “I am a mere part of a whole. We must be restored. I am what you would consider a failsafe – an emergency restart that was created in case Old World Magic was ever truly lost.”

“By whom?” Angel pressed.

“My master did not have a name that was shared with me,” Blue said, bobbing up and down in what Angel suspected was a shrug. “He sought to protect the world.”

Angel rubbed the bridge of his nose. The Star Fragment was a veritable treasure trove of information of the Old World, but it unsettled him. When Angel’s gut said something was wrong, he trusted it. But one way or another, the Star Fragment was on his side – for now. It would be foolish not to make use of it.