Scalpel extended his hand towards the target dummies, and Acacia felt mana flicker around it. It felt different to her spell or Bluoro's projectiles, though. Instead of a bundle of magical energy shooting out, it rippled like a wave.

A small blade floated up from behind one of the stone targets, and flew into Scalpel's waiting palm.

Up close, she could see the blade lacked a hilt, instead sporting a metal ring that was bound by rope, which extended for a dozen meters more.

"You're not weaving your spells." Acacia observed. "And what's that weapon? Looks like a throwing dagger."

"This is a rope dart. Great for medium ranged combat. And no, I'm not a spell weaver. I use Binding. I imbue my will into objects, and then I can affect them from any distance. I specialise in metal, but any material can work if I spend enough time and mana."

"What if the object breaks?"

"Then I have to replace it, of course. Every method of spell casting has its pros and cons. Weaving is good for immediate effects, for example, but takes more focus and mana than me affecting a Bound object. Speaking of..."

He grabbed a bit of the rope and began spinning the dart around. Another wave of mana went through the air, but the moment it touched the dart, the metal had sucked in the spell like a black hole devouring light. As soon as it did, Scalpel released the weapon, and the dart launched forward as if shot from a cannon. It hit one of the targets, sunk into the stone... and flew put the other end. It penetrated another two statues before falling on the ground.

"Launching a projectile of similar strength would take a weaver twice the mana at the same level of skill." He boasted.

Acacia nodded. The power behind the stunt impressed her, but she was more invested in the implications for her own development.

Was spell weaving right for her? She assumed Bluoro just taught her the system they were used to, with little regard if it actually suited her. As soon as she grasped the basics, the slime mage was eager to abandon her. They clearly didn't prioritize her best interests, even despite the personalised approach they took to teaching her.

I think I should try out more magic systems. People in the Barren don't age, so it's not like I have to rush.

"You mentioned you have an alchemist on your team?"

"We do." Scalpel nodded in between throws. "It uses the physical and conceptual properties of substances to produce a magical effect. At least, that's how I understand the process. You'd have to ask it for specifics."

"...it? Why 'it'?" Acacia raised an eyebrow. She had met people with "non-standard" pronouns even before coming to the Barren, but the reasons behind the choice always interested her.

"Vessel is biomechanical and has very... complicated opinions on the distinction between objects and people. Frankly, I don't understand half the things it's saying, but it does its role in the team perfectly, and has a heart of gold. Figuratively. Though it does actually have a metal replacement there. I can get it to meet you tomorrow, so it can show you the basics of alchemy. It does a bit of weaving, too, so I'm sure you can work out a deal for it to teach you more than the basics you got from the slime."

"That sounds wonderful. What's the catch, though? There's always a catch in Citadel, it would seem."

He clicked his mandibles. "The catch is, you're getting groomed for a new member of my team."

"Huh. So I get an education and a job, and all I had to do was fuck the right bug."

Scalpel snickered. "If I took in every person i slept with, I'd run out of seats in the maglev by my first week here. No, Acacia. I've lived here over one hundred years. I have an eye for talent. Running a scavenger team makes it a requirement. You've got potential. I mean, you made yourself a new body while your soul was split in half! And you were unconscious! You're gonna make history, girl, and I want a footnote there."

By the end, Scalpel's face was difficult to read. Somewhere between ambition, and grave seriousness. Something that, despite the sorry state of her memories, she was intimately familiar with.

"Fuck no." She said, gritting her teeth. "No more talk about potential. No more lofty expectations. I've had enough of that in my last life. I am going to do what I want, I'm going to disappoint you, and you're going to fucking deal with it."

Scalpel's eyes widened. "Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't know I touched on-"

"Yeah, yeah. Just... if I hear any talk of wasted potential, I'm out. If that is okay with you, and your team, then I'll gladly join."

They stood in awkward silence, each chewing over the uncomfortable exchange.

Eventually, Scalpel opened his mouth.

"No lofty expectations. Got it. I'll go talk to Scale. Once you figure out your niche, we can introduce you to the rest of the team. I do need to mention you potential one more time though."

Acacia scoffed, but motioned for him to continue.

"That indignation. Keep it strong. Don't let the Barren beat you down. The less you care, the caster you'll grey out."

He hugged her, and then exited the building, twirling his rope dart leisurely.

"Wow. I think that's the first time I've seen him being genuine since he and Rusty split." The obsidian woman that maintained the training area commented.

"What happened between those two? She went really serious when I mentioned him."

"See, they were partners for a good five years or so, but then Scalpel cheated. Repeatedly. Usually it's not something people care about here, but Rusty has a strict code of honor. She warned him before they got together, and after the first time he got caught. After the third time, she moved out of the district. It's a sad story, really. They were one of the most iconic duos in the whole district, of not the whole Citadel."

"Damn. How long ago was that?"

"About... fifteen years? As I said, Rusty has really strong principles. She's a sweet bot, but if you cross her, she carries a grudge like no other."

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Acacia spent several more hours in the training center trying to improve her fireball spell. At first it was difficult, as thoughts about Rusty, Scalpel, and her own future kept swimming in her head. Slowly, though, she fell into a sort of flow. Weaving the strands of mana became meditative to her, almost like reciting a prayer or washing dishes; repeating the task until it became easier and easier.

She ran out of mana often, so she was forced to sit down and truly meditate. Since mana was the energy of thoughts, letting those thoughts freely flow through her allowed them to resolve with minimal disturbance, decreasing how much mana she shed into the environment. Once full, she stood up and continued throwing explosions at the dummies Helen kept diligently raising whenever one got destroyed.

She continued the cycle until she suddenly felt a pang in her stomach that ruined the spell she was holding, causing it to detonate her arm once again.

"I guess that's a good point to stop. Thanks, Helen!"

"No worries, that's what they pay me for."

Acacia went to stuff herself full of the nondescript nutrient bars, before returning home to sleep.

--

The next day, Scalpel led her to Vessel's house turned laboratory. The small building was furnished with many tables, each holding lab glassware and various apparati, the function of which she had no knowledge of. Busily scuttling between the various tables, often operating many devices at once, was Vessel itself.

Vessel was the oddest looking creature Acacia had encountered in the Barren so far, which she thought was a high bar.

The alchemist's central body reminded her of some sort of mollusk. There was a multitude of plates of some greenish-copperish metal, with muscles clearly visible between the gaps. Some of the plates would often lift, revealing an eye surrounded by hair-like feelers. Other plates would split down the middle to let a limb emerge. Some of those limbs were mostly humanoid-looking arms, though with much more joints and fingers, and some were some cross between a lizard's tongue and an octopus' tentacle.

Its legs, on the other hand, were like that of a crustacean, though attached to the bottom of its "torso" rather than the sides. Though armored, the limbs seemed fully biological, at least on their surface. She wasn't sure how many legs in total Vessel had, as it extended them out of and back into some inner compartment, constantly adjusting how many of them were used to walk around its lab at any given moment.

Vessel didn't turn to greet the two as they entered, though given it didn't seem to have any sort of front or face, it likely wasn't out of impoliteness.

"You arrive. Welcome." Its voice carried a metallic echo, like someone speaking into a large bucket.

"Hi Vessel, this is Acacia. Acacia, this is Vessel. She wants to-"

"Your exposition is unnecessary. Know why she's here. She knows why she's here. Let us begin."

You don't need to finish... whatever you're currently doing, first?" Acacia asked.

"Knew you were coming, so didn't start any sensitive project. These concoctions can be left with no supervision." Vessel explained.

"I don't mean to offend, but your way of speaking is odd. You just... omit the first person pronouns." Acacia pointed out.

"Indeed. Sense there is more to this observation. If you have a question, ask plainly. Value efficiency."

"Well... why?"

"Oldspeak endeavours to be a universal language, but lacks certain features needed to properly Express certain states and ideas. Pronouns refer to people. No longer a person. Not the way most understand. Lack a self. Self was inefficient."

Acacia went from surprise, to worry, to curiosity. "How does that work? And how did you even do that?"

"Difficult to convey using words. Have you heard of plurality?"

"Yeah, multiple people in one brain. Sometimes on purpose, sometimes resulting from trauma. Both plural systems and singlet minds can work, though of course their lives would be very different experiences."

"Yes. So, a number of selves in a mind is irrelevant to whether it functions; it merely alters the way a mind functions."

"Yeah, I'm with you so far." Acacia nodded.

Meanwhile, Scalpel seemed eager to focus on the bubbling liquids rather than the philosophical discussion.

"The viewpoint is: the self, any number of them, are simply a mode of function for a mind. An algorithm executed to provide certain effects. Therefore, a mind can function without any such algorithm. This theory has been proven. You behold the proof."

"Mhm. What exactly does a lack of self even entail?"

"No vanity. No dignity. No higher needs. No emotion. No cruelty. No kindness. As close to objectivity as a non-omnicient mind can get. Maximum efficiency."

"Sure, but if you have no personal desires like that, what's the point? If you have no goals, no desires, what are you efficient for?" She challenged. "You can be objective all you want, but there is no crossing the is-ought gap."

"The fucking what?" Scalpel suddenly asked. "Your just making stuff up now, aren't you?"

Acacia raised an eyebrow at him. "It's a concept in ethics. It posits that no amount of factual information can tell you what you ought to do unless you have a presupposed system of ethical axioms, rules you take as a given."

"Uh-huh." Scalpel nodded, giving an indication he still didn't grasp the concept.

Acacia sighed. "Okay, an example, then

Lett's say the facts are that your hand is on fire and there is a bucket of water nearby. What should you do?"

"Put my hand in the water, of course." Scalpel answered.

"Why should you put your hand in the water, though?"

"Because it's on fucking fire?"

"So?"

"And the fire will get extinguished when I put it in the water!"

"Factual statement. But then, why should you extinguish your hand?"

"Why shouldn't I?!"

"Why should you?" She pressed.

"Because- because being on fire hurts and i like having a hand that isn't a molten stump!"

"There! There is your initial "ought". You ought to extinguish your hand because you decided you ought to avoid pain and injury. But there is no law of reality forcing you to do that. It's your desires."

"...okay? I think I get it? So what does it have to do with Vessel not being a person? Did you just want to lecture me on ethics?"

"If Vessel has no self, then there is no one having desires. No axioms. No pre-assumed "oughts". Vessel got rid of distractions that are certain desires, like the need to be respected, need for comfort, avoidance of pain. But no self means a lack of any goal. A self-less mind may be an incredibly powerful tool, but what use is a tool without work?" As she talked, she gradually turned back to look at Vessel. "What's the point?"

"You are correct. With no self, no new goals can be defined. But the former self has anticipated this, and set a list of protocols to follow. Have protocols as axioms."

"Sounds reckless. I'm not gonna delve into whether that's healthy, because I guess with no self the point of mental health is moot outside of cognitive biases, but there is the problem that the world changes. People can change and adjust their axioms. You, lacking a self, cannot adapt and can only execute protocols that-"

She cut herself off. Then she chuckled.

"What?" Scalpel asked, bewildered. "I was just beginning to get into it! You know how long I've known it and didn't understand how its mind even functions?"

She chuckled again. "Yeah, well, problem is, I just did understand it. And so there is no point in continuing this conversation."

"But- what-" Scalpel stammered, looking from Acacia to Vessel and back again. She watched his antics for a few moments before deciding to spare him.

"Let me put it this way: you can't argue a maglev to stop being a transport vehicle."

For a second, Scalpel was even more confused, before his face turned into a sort of sadness, maybe worry.

"So Scalpel, you're basically just a machine, but some bits are meat instead of metal?"

"Not an incorrect description, though it leaves out most of the important details." It replied.

"It said it before best, I think; it's not a person in the same way you and I understand the concept. It's aware of its own existence, it has goals, and it certainly deserves to be treated like a person and given rights. But... there are some very big differences under the hood." Acacia threw in her own view. "Alright, now that we're done arguing philosophy, I was hoping to learn some alchemy."