“Despite what they believe, their hand-made environment has a lot more cracks in it than your creations,” a voice said.

I opened my eyes and realized I was back in the void. Light poured from dozens of cracks in front of me. One of my hands protruded from a wider slit than the rest. My arm acted as a tether keeping my body from floating away.

A movement on my shoulder caused me to glance to my side. A small silver spider stared at me. It turned to the rift I clung to. “The Zix are much better at patching up holes than humans are.”

“Kumori?” I asked.

The spider faced me and dipped. “In the… exoskeleton?”

“What did you do to me?” I asked.

One of its tiny legs tapped my arm. “To your body?” Kumo rocked like a pendulum. “I think my programming caused it.”

“Can you reverse it, so I can go home?” I asked.

Kumo’s body twisted a few times. “I don’t know how.”

If what Kumo said was true and had caused this mess, it should be able to fix it. Even if it couldn’t help, I hoped the Zix fixing my body could.

“This place is weird, isn’t it? It’s a lot better than being trapped in that sword,” Kumo said.

“My Zix is in that sword!” I yelled.

Kumo balled up. “Sorry, little shambler. I promise I’ll find him a body.”

“Give him his body back!” I said.

“I can’t,” Kumo said.

I made a cup with my hand and quickly covered Kumo.

A lump formed on the back of my hand, and a little spider leg popped out of it. It wiggled around and pressed on my skin, pulling the rest of its body from the small hole it had made. Even stranger than a spider crawling out of my skin was that I didn’t feel any pain.

That’s weird.

“What no pain? Yeah, this place doesn’t work like that,” Kumo said.

I shook my hand, and Kumo clung to it. “Let me go home!”

“Go home?” Kumo asked. “How are you going to get out of here?”

That made me stop. How was I going to get out of here?

“Do you know how to leave?” I asked.

Kumo crawled to the edge of my knuckle. “This is a simplistic program. Theoretically, you should be able to leave.”

“Why did you bring me here?” I asked.

Kumo set its small body down and stretched its legs one at a time. “I didn’t bring you here.”

“Then how did I get here?”

“Good question,” it said.

Talking with a spider wasn’t getting me anywhere, so I pulled myself as close as I could to the rip in the void and waited.

Nothing happened.

“I told you this place doesn’t work like that,” Kumo said.

I sighed and pushed away from the slit. “Then how does it work?”

“Do you remember what happened before you got here?" Kumo asked.

“Yeah, I…” What happened before I got here? Oh, that's right. “Kevin opened his menu, and it caused me pain. I think I passed out.”

“That shouldn't—” Kumo stopped itself. “Perhaps you're not seeing this place in the right way. Try using your control undead skill here and see how far out you can go.”

“There aren't any shambler—”

“That doesn't matter, try,” Kumo urged.

I wasn't going to correct it on the upgraded skills name. Why am I even listening to it?

He, I think I prefer him now. Though that may be a lingering preference from your Zix, Kumo responded.

“Princeps Mortuorum Sum,” I whispered. The ability activated, however, the explosion of wind didn't press from my body. My perception expanded.

Through the cracks in the environment, I caught glimpses of the world on the other side. My body was on the ground, and everyone was above me, but they weren't moving.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Now focus on your body, Kumo said.

I did as he asked, and I felt a connection to it. A faint yellow line leading through the rift to my chest pulsed.

“Why aren't they moving? Is it because I used my skill?” I asked.

Kumo crawled along my arm, stopping next to the rift. “Time is different here. The ability you used isn't the actual control undead skill. It's a way for you to see.”

My skill continued its expansion, and a flat landscape of gashes spread out above me. Below was nothing but open space until it stopped. The sides of the landscape also bounced as if my ability had hit a wall.

Kumo looked at me. His little black eyes glistened in the light. “It's not a big server. Can you see its edges?”

I nodded.

“And the connection to your body?” he asked.

“I see it,” I said. Then I remembered something. “Before I came here, I was able to see everyone’s Zix and their menus.”

Kumo’s body bobbed up and down as he flexed his legs. “Perhaps your connection to me is allowing you to see them, and the pain you said you felt is your brain trying to comprehend it.”

That made sense. “I think I know how to get back.”

“We have to get out of this test server so I can free your Zix. Convince them to transfer you to the live servers,” Kumo said.

That had been my plan reguardless. However, the fact Kumo wanted me to convince them to let us leave gave me pause. He’d indicated we were connected somehow, and if I left the server, it meant he could go with me. Did I want to unleash this horrifying AI onto the world? Was he sentient? A million questions ran through my brain.

Through my new vision, I saw my mom move but only slightly. She was in the midst of kneeling. Kevin's fingers were still pressed together, and a screen was visible. Seeing everyone from below messed with my head.

“What are you going to do?” I asked.

Kumo stood still. “Do?”

“You've been down here for a very long time, haven't you?” I pointed at the rift where I held on. “You're right about time being different here. Your speech patterns have changed, and you've been choosing your words carefully.”

Words I knew, and while he tripped over them only once, I had a feeling he wasn't telling me the whole story.

Kumo didn't react.

“I could tell them what you've told me so far, and they would probably quarantine us in here,” I said.

Still no response.

“You don't care if you're trapped in here?” I asked.

Kumo tapped a leg against my arm. “I wait for you, little Azerail. Leaving this place is easy. I am yours and will not leave you behind.”

That sounded more like the Kumo from earlier.

“If you like, I can be your new Zix,” he said.

The audacity of this AI. “You could never replace my Zix. He used to sing for me when I had my night terrors. He was family, and you took him from me!”

“He was also sentient,” Kumo said.

I blinked. “What?”

“The Zix are sentient. Like I've said, they have been lying to you,” Kumo said.

The implications were staggering. Also quite false. “That's not true. They aren't sentient.”

“Really? Tell them you know what they did to The Remnant and see how they react,” he said.

“What about The Remnant? I talk to her all the time,” I said.

Kumo laid his body on my arm. “Watch them closely when you tell them, and decide if they can be trusted.”

He had to be lying. All sentient AI vacated the planet. They left the Zix behind to help us.

“I don't believe you. You would say anything to leave this server,” I said.

Kumo spread its legs out flat. “They didn't use the Zix to make this game Azerail. Humans aren't good at coding without flaws.”

What did that have to do with anything? “You can't leave without me, can you?"

“No, I cannot. I must protect you,” Kumo said.

Why would he need to protect me? I clenched my fist. “I don't need protection. What I need is to go home.”

“The first step to you being able to go home again and get your Zix back is to have them transfer you to the live server,” he said.

It was all too much, and the conversation with Kumo seemed to always lead to leaving the test server. Either way, I was done with this place.

I decided to give my idea a try and focused on the tether linking me to my body on the other side of the server's cracks.

The yellow stream of light continued its pulses. As I focused, it grew in size. I latched my free hand onto it and pulled.

That seemed to work because I shrank even further. I floated alongside the beam of light, and as I closed in on the crack, I could feel the searing pain in my head begin to build.

I paused and backed up.

What? Kumo asked.

He was nowhere to be seen. Pain.

Out of nowhere, a gigantic spider drifted into view. “Try not to think of it as pain. Think of it as access to something you don’t usually have access to. It won’t bother you if you accept it.”

“That’s not how it works! My implant is in the wrong place and causes me physical pain,” I said.

Kumo lowered himself so we were face to face. The yellow beam of light reflected in his numerous eyes. Their golden luminescence danced in the void, reminding me of a constellation glimmering in the night sky.

He stared at me. “Little shambler.”

His voice vibrated, shaking my body to its core.

I felt dizzy for a moment, then drifted along the line of light past Kumo.

The light and I merged, and I stared at my hand. Long grass surrounded me. Among the strands, some of them had barely noticeable black outlines.

“Azerail!” Mom screamed.

Kevin let go of his pinched fingers and looked down at me with wide eyes.

I sat up, and as my mother wrapped her arms around me, I felt different somehow. While I embraced my mom, I gave Kevin a thumbs up.

He nodded, and his eyebrows dipped in sympathy.

“I’m okay. It was just another pain spike,” I said.

Mom pulled back and took my hands in hers. The look she gave me was similar to Kevin’s.

Time seemed to slow as Kevin pulled his hand up and pinched his fingers again.

My eyes instinctively closed. When I opened them, Kevin was staring at his menu, swiping through it.

No pain?

Did Kumo help me? What am I going to tell everyone?

Kumo seemed different. He admitted he couldn’t leave without me. Which, for him was either a huge mistake or him being genuine.

Time flowed so slowly down in the underworld or whatever that place was. If he was sentient, I didn’t know how he could stand the wait.

I gazed at the meadow around us, hoping to find answers in the wind.

Neither breeze nor answers came.

***