Wit had to think this through and quickly, he was moving too fast to be able to afford a mistake, the problem was his options and timetable were limited.

If he lets go he’ll end up falling back down and if he doesn't he’ll collide with… wait, this elevator shaft goes all the way up to the top twentieth floor, there was no ceiling approaching any time soon.

As the thought crossed his mind he zoomed past a large opening that led to the completely morphed second floor.

It was truly an awe-inspiring glimpse of the outside coming in, the radiant light that's been slowly making its way through the dark interior of the shaft originated from a huge fissure running through the side of the tower wall; illuminating the whole area in rays of sunshine.

Before Wit could make heads or tails of anything else other than the fuzzy green plant life and the heavy glare from the crack, he had already passed it by, racing higher and higher up the elevator shaft.

One thing he did notice before passing the second floor was that his connection with wisp One led to this floor and through that connection, he could tell that it found a source of water.

With a landing spot somewhat secured, that being the ledge of the second-floor entryway, and water finally nearby, Wit didn't give it a second thought before he squeezed the nucleus hard enough to absorb it. Along with the stored plasma energy inside from his short encounter with Wisp Two— the energy ran through his system with ecstasy.

With nothing dragging him up anymore, Wit at first kept rising through the shaft like a projectile, burning up the momentum that he built before gravity reasserted itself and he began to fall back down. For a second he closed his eyes basking in the weightless free fall and the warm bliss from the energy he just absorbed. He wished both feelings lasted longer before reality set in again.

Snapping his eyes open he turned around eyeing the lip of the second-floor entrance approaching fast. He’s going to have to grab it but at this speed, he could very well snap his arms off. No, he had to trust in his [exoBark] and [physique], they’ve gotten him this far.

Reaching out his hands he slammed hard against the edge, rattling his bones and almost breaking his jaw on the rocky ledge but the bark that grew over his jawline took the brunt of the damage. Still, his head was spinning from the blunt impact and the muscles in his arms were at risk of tearing from stopping all of his momenta; he scrambled his way up groaning in pain while his claws dug desperate furrows in the earth.

He lay there panting heavily with his legs hanging off the ledge until he started laughing like a madman.

“Flux, it's never going to be simple is it,” Wit said after his bout of hysteria settled. He couldn’t imagine doing any of this as a human, he would have been dead at every corner. He closed his eyes and did some breathing exercises that he used to calm himself down while spreading his arms out as he lay in the carpet of electrically charged fuzzy vegetation.

A few seconds later a concerned Two came scuttling up the wall nudging Wits head to make sure he was alright.

“I'm good, buddy. I'm just gathering my bearings, I don't know if you saw but I just took a gnarly fall.” Wit said, patting the wisp's red helmet with affection.

“I, of course, have the whole ordeal archived. I also have the completed scans of the plant species if you're ready.” Poindexter’s analogous voice helpfully rang out.

“I expected nothing less from my right-hand man. But let's save it for later, my brains are scrambled and literally electrically fried. I need some rest.” Wit replied with a groan and shifted his way up.

“That is most recommended, status scans show signs of a concussion and torn muscle. All I will say is that the sample is closely related to a type of moss intertwined with an invasive fungus.”

Fungus moss huh? Wit thought as he stumbled, rubbing out the electric discharge running through his raised furr as he looked around taking in what used to be Babel’s nursery.

The place where every tower-born child incubated in their individual artificial womb before they were born. It's funny how things haven’t changed much in essence.

Instead of birthing human children, the second floor had been repurposed as a [plasmawisp’s] nest, surrounding a sparkling pool of crystal clear water. The linear moss was much more abundant up here compared to the first floor, going up the support beams, ceilings, and walls. And wherever they intersected they created thick mats of fuzzy carpets that hosted dozens and dozens of wisp eggs.

The adult wisps were casually flying and scuttling around their brood fussing over them in detail. All of the clearish eggs were raised off the ground on top of what used to be the incubators that birthed Wit and all of the other tower-born children all those years ago.

The Guides did say nature was good at recycling, Wit guessed this was proof.

He eventually spotted wisp One doing a little wiggle by the pool of water that slowly trickled down the wall from the large fissure exposing the inside of the tower.

Taking a deep breath of fresh, loamy, ozonish air, his muscles relaxed a little as his healing kicked in to repair any internal damage from the fall— he rolled his shoulders back and carefully made his way over with wisp Two close to his hip.

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Walking near any of the clutches of eggs in the damp chamber always resulted in a low-energy whine from nearby protective wisp parents warning him off with threats of face-melting, fortunately, none felt the need to chase him after a few clacks of mandibles and light signal pulses from Two.

Definitely glad he thought to bring an inner species translator with him, otherwise who knew how he would’ve traversed this death trap.

Wit wondered if he ever had a mother would she protect him with such ferocity as the wisps did for their eggs? It was a thought that stuck with him until he reached the pool's mossy edge. He sat down between One and Two, sending concepts of relaxation through both the links; finally feeling the weight of the day settle over his shoulders.

An emotion he couldn’t describe flitted through Wits heart as he stared out at the idyllic scenery of sun rays rippling through the crystal blue water. The green and white fungus moss continued to grow under the water waving slowly in a calming dance due to an almost unnoticeable current coming down from the wall.

Looking closely even revealed some of the [ambersnails] hiding amongst the vegetation, Pretty brave of them to hide right under their predators’ noise. Wit thought.

There was also plenty of pollen floating in the sunlight and throughout the room, creating a very unique atmosphere with the subtle flutter of wisp wings in the background pushing them about.

He felt like he was truly outside for the first time, all from a single crack in the wall bridging the out with the in, he couldn’t even begin to imagine what else lies outside [Yggdrasil]. Wit paused at that thought, it was a worn beat-up thought that has been gnawing on his bones since he was born, I wonder what’s out there?

His head shot up to the large opening with the sudden urge to climb the wall to find out that very second. But before his body could move, Wit dug his fingers desperately in the electric moss in the hopes of centering himself, having gotten somewhat used to the plant's low voltage; which oddly enough started to feel comforting—something he was in sore need of at the moment.

He couldn't let his curiosity get him almost killed again, if it was dangerous in here his gut told him it was far worse outside. He’s already decided once he's ready to leave, he'll leave— so shaking his head he rid himself of the urge and looked back down at what he really came here for. The most important substance for all of life, water.

The problem was the electrical current from the moss, it could possibly make the water a far worse electrifying experience than what the moss has so far produced. He considered just going for it because the water looked pretty harmless but his newly developing sense of caution had him looking over at Wisp One with a hint of mischief. Better you than me buddy.

Implanting the idea of thirst through their threaded link which wasn't all that difficult because he was in major need of hydration himself, he watched the small wisp practically lunge itself into the pond lapping up the liquid in the shallow bank.

Easing off the induced feeling of thirst before he blew up like a balloon, he examined the wisp for any signs of being electrocuted— the cat-sized bug just floated back to the bank's edge and shook the water off its shell; getting all his leg hair wet and looked up to him as if nothing happened.

“Seems the test was a success, good job wisp One. Super glad I didn't eat— actually let's not talk about our unsavory past. We’re friends now after all, and you’ve been very useful.

But here’s the thing, we’re not done yet, I need you to go find us a place to rest, preferably on this floor; you got it bug brain?” Wit said essentially to himself because the wisp had no clue what his words meant, but it did understand the concepts of sleep, shelter, and nearby that he sent through their link and scuttled away in search of such a place.

The more he used [hive] the more intuitive it became like it's always been something he could do. As if he didn't just learn it a few hours ago, these instincts he's been constantly receiving from his organix made Wit wonder what else he knew subconsciously but didn't know consciously.

He figured it would all come with time as most things did for him, after all, he only just left the nest earlier today, and look how much he's already gained.

All stray thoughts were promptly washed away by the cold water cupped in his hands, Wit gulped in anticipation of the crisp liquid racing down his parched throat.

Taking his first sip of the phenomenally tasting liquid life had him sighing in blissful relief and dunking his head in the brisk shallow bank to swallow as much as he could. He giggled thinking he looked a lot like wisp One when he was guzzling water just a moment ago.

He could feel it hydrating and being absorbed by his entire body like never before, most likely due to his new Druid biology. Or maybe because it was his first actual drink since being reborn. Who knows and who cares, the water was so pure it could’ve been that in itself.

“Woooh! Man did that taste great.” Wit exclaimed— picking his head up with a splash of hair, he shook the moisture out of his green curly dripping locs and laid down to relax in the bed of moss with the sunlight blanketing his body.

As he lay there in comfortable silence with wisp Two cuddling up to his side, he thought about all the recent misadventures he's been through since he left the nest.

Everything was such a new experience to Wit’s innocent eyes. Be it learning more about his organix or seeing the amazing sights, interacting with the interesting creatures, the unique fauna, and what was beginning to be his favorite, the adrenaline-inducing danger that seemed to come along with all of them.

He even had company now kind of, so that small bit of loneliness that's been creeping up on him began to shrivel away as he felt the large wisps' companionable warmth.

Honestly, he could just fall asleep right there, the sun felt so good and nourishing, but the main reason was that he was so tired that he just didn’t want to move. He curled up on his side, tucking in his tails, and closed his eyes while mentally recalling wisp One from his task with a twitch of his [exo] tail.

The young Omni waited until wisp One got back to him so that he could grab the small bug in a cuddle and rest easy with two of the local creatures by his side, hopefully warding off any conflict while he dozed off.

His last thoughts before fading off into slumber were of the ozonish-loamy smell of the electric fungus moss he was currently breathing in and of the protective wisp mothers taking care of their brood right behind him. For some reason he couldn’t explain; he found himself somewhat jealous.