I stared at the etchings on the wall. The cement was otherwise pristine. The off-white color that permeated every surface I had encountered so far.

Cortana was there, as I reached the wall. Her form twinkled as her powerful mind was hard at work. I didn’t disturb her yet as I knelt and touched at the grit and rolled a chunk around my fingers.

[They are based on hieroglyphic English. 76% match with my database. I need more samples to understand the remaining 24%] she explained as I dropped the sample and slapped my hands together to shake off the dust.

This wasn’t recent. My vision filled with answers to my half thought questions. 4,119 grams of the missing wall, but there were less than 600 grams of cement left.

I looked up and stared at the ceiling. The off white of the cement was uniform with everything else on this floor.

[Felix, this is directions to something. The highest probability is a settlement] Cortana said in her soft voice. I loved hearing it, and I have had moments where I listened to her for hours.

“Guide me,” I commanded as I touched at my belt. My multi-gun was present and fully functional. My combat armor was in top-notch shape and everything was good.

Cortana smiled as she shrank, she went form her usual 2-meter form until she was exactly 20 centimeters tall. She floated and the ground lit up as a thick, guiding line showed me the way.

My girl hovered over it and moved as I moved. The fact that it was all in my vision still impressed me. Back in my day, I had to use an external device to do any navigation.

Cortana chuckled at my thoughts. She was ever-present in my mind. She was both my support, and my jailor.

[Don’t forget true love, darling] she whispered to me.

I smiled as I continued on. The fact that there were instructions meant that there people. If there were people, they couldn’t have been that far off.

I half wondered how long it been since I saw another person.

[51,883 hours since last physical contact. Or 8 years, 41 days, and 19 hours.]

I gawked at the reply. 8 years!??! It has ONLY been 8 years!?

I stopped and lashed out to punch the wall. My fist met the hard surface before it made a satisfying crunch.

The hardened centi-dyne cement instantly shattered. The wall caved in on itself and broke apart from the sheer power of the impact.

What was once considered atmospheric grade material, was easily shattered by modern advancement of technology.

I opened my fist and only bent my fingertips to release relieving clacks and cricks of cracking my joints.

The sound of my punch echoed around the empty landscape. The bad was that anyone would be alerted to our presence. The good was that Cortana was mapping the area through the resonance.

I calmed myself as I once again moved forward.

I had to walk around oddly placed doors, randomly placed windows and even backtrack as I made my way through an apartment complex.

The problem was that half of everything was an apartment complex. The autonomous builders were glitched on this floor.

Or, something had caused them to build in non-protocol ways.

Of course, I would never know unless I saw a damned builder. They were huge, multi-story machines that moved in packs. He had yet to see one on nearly 400 floors and those were working fine.

I was about to start smashing around walls when I hit another dead end. It was only the fact that I Cortana was silently pointing at something that stopped me.

I turned around and lo and behold. More carvings.

I frowned as I made my way up, and they were similar in style, but there were new shapes and sizes.

Cortana lit up the guide and I followed. Some days I felt nothing more than a glorified fleshy transport unit for the AI.

I didn’t miss her smirk, however.

I stared at the eight carvings. It had taken a week between the first one and this one. Cortana was supersampling the carving as she had arrayed all previous 7 around it.

She did it for my sake as the mental stimulation was always good. This carving was older, however. No residue of the displaced cement.

[I estimate 92% chance success of understanding the missing 24%] Cortana declared and with a snap of her digital fingers, the carvings were overlaid with the modern English I was taught.

{Viscous -->>} {Solids

I stared at the last markings. House. Which probably meant home. There were no directions, however.

I frowned. There was only one reason I could think of to never state the location of one’s home. There were known dangers.

I looked to the right, viscous was most likely water. Unless there were issues, water was the most important thing. You could grow food if you had the proper setup.

I walked and walked and walked.

Barely an hour later, I hit the next carving. Which said the same thing. The first duplicated I had encountered yet.

I smiled as I had finally found a lead and started up my anti-gravity systems. I floated up beside Cortana and she took over, tugging me along as we briskly moved forward.

Finally. A lead towards the origin gate. Then, beyond those gates was the path to truth and power. The origins of humanity. The akashic records.

For the first time since in nearly a century, my pulse raced. This could be the key I needed to go home.