“Sorry to interrupt,” Miusvon said, eyeing Kano and the children crowded around her with amusement, “but An was wondering if you could help her out.”

Kano brushed past the children and walked over to Miusvon. “With what?” Hopefully it wouldn’t involve her being a test subject again.

“Well, it seems she’s hit a bit of a brick wall in her research. And after I told her about what we did in the reactor, she thought you might be able to help.”

She was reluctant to help a necromancer, but she did still owe An for helping Ren, and they were more or less on the same side. “Fine.” Frowning, she looked over the children assembled around her. “Do you mind if I bring them with me?” After what had just happened to them while she was gone, she didn’t want to let them out of her sight.

Miusvon shrugged. “Sure, that shouldn’t be a problem. So long as they don’t get in the way.”

Normally that might have been a bit of a concern, particularly if there was delicate work involved, but the children’s transformation had rendered them relatively docile. “They won’t cause any trouble. Probably.”

“Then that’s good enough for me.”

“She wants your help?” Nove asked, once they were walking.

She made it sound like Kano had nothing to offer a necromancer. “I’ll have you know I’m very useful now that I can control the necromantic energy here.”

“Oh.” Nove plodded along silently for a few seconds before adding, “What does that mean?”

That gave Kano pause. What even was this energy? “I think it’s what necromancers use to make things, or something. Anyway, it’s important.” There was more to it than that, but she didn’t expect Nove to understand the nuances of it.

“Necromancers use it? How did you end up being able to control it?”

“I found some kind of leftover soul thing in Karen’s old room, which I accidentally absorbed.”

“Was it Karen’s soul?”

“Maybe.” Kano hadn’t really thought about it, but it made sense.

“Then does that mean you’re a necromancer?”

“Of course not.” Had seeing the children absorbed by the slime been so traumatic that it had damaged Nove’s mind? It would explain how she’d come up with such a ridiculous idea.

“How do you know?”

“I just do. If I were a necromancer, don’t you think I’d be the first to know?” For a start, her clothes weren’t black, and she wasn’t wearing robes.

“I guess.”

“And I don’t want to hear any more of this nonsense. Just focus on watching the children.”

“Speaking of which.” Nove glanced at them. “Aren’t you worried about this whole ‘One’ thing they’re doing?”

“It’s definitely weird, but it doesn’t seem harmful or anything.”

“Then you think it’s fine to leave it like this?” She sounded shocked.

“I didn’t say that. There’re just more important things to worry about right now. Once the reactor is dealt with, we can worry about the children.”

When they reached the lab, Kano was surprised to see An waiting for them outside. Had her work truly reached the point where there was nothing more she could do to progress on her own?

“I see you’ve brought quite a lot of people with you,” the necromancer said, looking past Kano.

“Yep.”

“Did Miusvon clearly convey that you were the only one whose assistance I required?”

“Yep.”

“Then may I ask why you’ve come with such a retinue? I’m guessing this isn’t some sort of takeover. There’ve been more than enough of those lately.” Despite her irritation, there was a trace of a smile at her own joke.

“I just want to keep an eye of them. You never seem to know what might be lurking in the citadel these days. They won’t get in the way.”

“Very well,” An said, nodding. “If you’re willing to vouch for them, I’ll allow them to accompany you, but I will hold you to your word that they won’t cause any problems.”

For someone asking for a favor, An was being rather high-handed. She probably couldn’t help it, what with being a necromancer and all. “Sure. Can we get this started already? I thought you were in a hurry.”

“Oh, of course. Follow me.”

She led Kano, and by extension everyone else, into the lab, where a small glass container was attached to a vast array of instruments and machinery. “Here it is,” An said, spreading her hands in a grand gesture. “My crowning achievement. At least, it would be if I could get it to work.”

Sheltered behind the glass was a yellow flower, planted in a little patch of soil. Kano took a little while to inspect it to make sure she wasn’t missing anything, but it appeared her initial impression had been correct. “It’s just a flower. Is this all you’ve been working on?”

Eye twitching, An’s expression immediately darkened. “I realize it might seem simple to the unenlightened, but this little flower is the result of an incredible amount of proprietary research and, to be frank, pure artistry. And more importantly, it represents something far greater: the ability to create true, self-sustaining life.”

“And you decided to test it by making a flower.”

“The initial form doesn’t matter. The same principle applies to all complex life-forms.” Crossing her arms, she averted her gaze. “Besides, I like flowers.”

“All right, so you’re making a flower, great. What am I supposed to do to help? Just so you know, I barely know anything about flowers at all.”

An’s eye twitched again. “I assure you, that will not be an issue, as what I require of you has nothing to do with that. The core of the problem is that no matter what I do, I can’t seem to create a perfect vessel for souls; they’re always flawed in some manner. All I need you to do is patch up the one within this vessel, and my work will finally be complete.”

“Um, okay. And how do I do that?”

“I don’t know. You’re the one who can control necromantic energy. Am I supposed to explain to you how to use your own ability?”

“It wouldn’t hurt. No one else has explained it to me so far.”

An took a deep breath. “Apparently I wasn’t being clear enough: I don’t know how your ability works. But I can perhaps provide more insight into what it is I want you to do. Miusvon said you were able to cut Werisah off from the reactor, is that correct?”

“Yeah, though I don’t see what that has to do with this.”

“My flower requires the same sort of delicate manipulation, though in this case, all I need you to do is examine its internal structure and patch up any flaws you can find.”

Kano scratched her head. That really didn’t sound anything like what she’d done with Werisah. “I’ll try, I guess.” Blocking out the rest of the world, Kano looked within the flower. Though she didn’t comprehend its nature or what it was for, she could definitely sense some sort of internal structure that was invisible to conventional means.

Was this what An was talking about? It seemed nearly perfect, marred only by a few slightly misshapen parts, which she quickly corrected. Was that all she needed to do? It had taken barely any time at all, but it seemed her task was already complete. She returned to the real world and said, “Okay, I think I’m done.”

“Already?” Though An looked skeptical, she moved forward to check her instruments. Pouring through the data, she grew more and more excited until she shouted, “I’ve done it!” She rounded on Kano and seized her by the head. The confused natural just watched as the necromancer pressed her lips against her forehead.

Kano was surprised. She’d expected the necromancer to yell at her after her creation still failed to work. It looked like Kano’s contribution, minimal as it was, had managed to save it after all. “So can we deal with the reactor now?”

“Soon, soon,” An said, sitting down on the ground. “Just let me get some rest first. Oh, thank god that’s finally over.” And with that, she lay her head on the floor and closed her eyes.

“Can’t you do that later? The reactor is kind of important.” But the necromancer was already asleep.

Kano was considering waking her up forcibly when Miusvon said, “Just let her sleep for now. She hasn’t had any rest in weeks. The reactor can wait a while.”

Kano dearly wished the necromancer had chosen her moment better, but it didn’t seem like she had much choice in the matter. Maybe things would be fine for a while. The necromantic energy wasn’t spreading that fast. Though regardless of what Miusvon said, if the rate increased significantly, she was going to wake An up no matter what.

Speaking of which, was there any way she could judge the energy’s progress without going out there and leaving the children behind? Try as she might, she couldn’t sense it from here. Was there some way to increase her sensory range? She moved over to the discs where the energy was more concentrated and tried to extend her senses through the energy itself.

Her perception shifted against the flow of energy, and she felt increasingly disembodied, until it was like she’d left her body altogether. Disorientating as being inside the energy was, she got a vague sense of how far it had spread. As far as she could tell, it was moving slower than before. It made her wonder if something was draining the energy, but maybe it was just that there was more ground to cover as it moved outward.

After making sure that the children were fine and there was no sign of slime or other encroaching threats, Kano went to check on Ren. She hadn’t seen the blob in a while now and figured she must be getting pretty bored by now. The door to Ren’s room opened, and Kano was surprised to find Urick there. Then again, he’d slipped her mind so completely she would’ve been surprised to find him anywhere.

“What’re you two up to?” she asked, interrupting whatever conversation they’d been having.

Ren swiveled in her tank toward Kano. “Urick was just telling me about your past together. Did he really try to kill you?”

“Pretty much.”

“That’s just what I was ordered to do,” Urick said. “I didn’t actually try to kill you. You might actually be dead if I had.”

“Is that a threat?” Kano asked, grinning.

“Of course not, but you were passed out. I could’ve killed you if I wanted to. Unless you’re dramatically harder to kill when you’re defenseless than I think.”

“I guess you’re right.” Then she was pretty lucky he’d chosen not to obey orders, especially since he was usually so obedient. In fact, wasn’t he perfectly obedient? Since when could he disobey orders? “Why didn’t you kill me then? I thought you had to do what you were ordered to.”

“That’s a good question,” Urick said, looking perplexed himself by the notion. “I’m not really sure myself. I guess something went wrong in my brain.”

Kano shook her head. “Don’t you remember what happened?” Ghouls were so useless when it came to thinking or remembering. It was a pity she hadn’t been conscious to remember whatever had occurred during their first meeting.

“Sort of. I seem to remember thinking you were kind of familiar, but that doesn’t really make sense. It especially doesn’t explain why I wouldn’t kill you.”

Obviously. She felt foolish for even asking Urick to explain himself. “Forget it. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Do people often try to kill you?” Ren asked.

Kano thought over the recent encounters she could remember. “It seems to happen pretty often. Now that I think about it, I wonder if most of the people I’ve met have tried to kill me at one point or another. At least if you exclude the children.” Even Nove had wanted to eat her when they first met, according to the abomination. Now that she thought about it, she should probably watch out for Ren and An. Neither of them had tried to kill her yet, so it was probably just a matter of time.

“Gee,” Ren said, her voice full of false cheer, “that sounds like a great life. You’re so lucky that you get to experience the outside world and have people try to kill you in all sorts of different ways.”

“It beats being stuck in a tank.” She rapped her knuckles against the glass for emphasis. “I’d rather meet new people, even if they will try to kill me.”

“Then that’s where you and I differ. I’d much rather avoid someone if they’re likely to want to kill me. That’s just common sense, isn’t it?” She looked to Urick.

“I’d say so.”

Kano glared at the impetuous ghoul. “You’re my minion. You’re supposed to agree with me.”

“Yeah, but I don’t. Also, I’m not your minion.”

Well, that was easily solved. “I order you to agree with me. Also to be my minion.”

“Fine, it’s totally not common sense to avoid people trying to kill you.”

“And?”

“And I’m your minion.”

Kano nodded, satisfied. So long as he followed her orders, that was good enough for her. She turned to Ren. “Isn’t that convenient? You should really get some minions of your own.”

Her squishy mirror image raised her hands. “I’m good.”

“Your loss, then. Come on, Urick. We’ve got more important things to do.” She didn’t have any particular use for Urick in mind, but it amused her to deny Ren his company. Maybe then she’d understand the value of having her own minions.