Though there were many things Kano would rather be doing than watching a bunch of stupid blobs, she still did her best to monitor them. Fortunately, none of them seemed inclined to do much more than slither around in circles or run into each other. If they weren’t wasting her time, Kano might even have found their antics amusing.

What were they going to do with them ultimately, anyway? Destroy them? Or perhaps just leave them to die? Even if they weren’t intelligent, it still struck her as somewhat cruel. Still, it might be their best option, and she wouldn’t lose sleep over the deaths of such inconsequential beings.

“Okay,” An said, walking over holding some sort of applicator. “Give me a few moments, and then we can move them.” She sprayed each of them with a liberal dose of something, and they quickly grew sluggish. “That should render them inert for a while.”

“Where are we going to take them?”

“Ideally I’d like to take them to the lab for further study.” Before Kano could protest, she added, “But that would be a lot of work, so I’m happy to just leave them in the closest room where they won’t be able to cause any harm.”

“I’ll go take a look, then,” Kano said, walking out. She found a suitable room a few doors down and came back. They then began dragging the blobs between the two of them to the other room. It was hard work, but at least they didn’t have to take them far.

“Why do these things seem so dumb, anyway?” Kano asked. “I thought you said they had souls.” They were even dumber than ghouls.

“I did, though I’m not certain as to what state their souls in. They may very well only possess fragments of a soul or something similarly flawed.”

“So they’re just going to stay like that?”

“Does that bother you?”

“A bit.” Though Kano wasn’t quite sure why. “It kind of seems like a waste, I guess? Can’t you do something with them or something?”

An made an amused sound. “Are you really asking me to do as I will with them? What happened to distrusting me?”

A good question. Kano hadn’t really thought about it. “I guess I’ve seen enough of what you do to know that you’re relatively harmless. At least compared to the other necromancers.” And that was probably about as much as Kano could hope for. An wasn’t perfect, but she was still the best hope they had for changing the world for the better.

“That means a lot, coming from you,” An said, though she didn’t sound all that impressed.

Once the blobs were all in the other room, they locked them in there for An to deal with later, and it occurred to Kano that she was much more trusting toward An if it meant she got to avoid work. Especially when she was exhausted.

Returning to the reactor room, Kano considered asking An if she needed any more help but decided against it on the off chance there was still more to be done. Better not to give her the option at all. Kano curled up on the cold steel floor not far from the others, and secure in the knowledge that Shorinstown and the people she cared about were safe, drifted off to sleep.

***

The next thing she knew, she was sitting on a swing set beneath the night sky. She wasn’t sure how she knew what a swing set was, given that she was sure she’d never encountered one, but it was familiar to her. Was this another memory? It wasn’t much like the others. Everything was more real here. She could clearly feel the plastic seat beneath her and the wind on her face.

Looking out across the flat wasteland that surrounded her, Kano could see only barren earth without a hint of color. How had she come to this place? Even though it felt real, there must be some sort of trickery at work, like the simulation she’d experienced with Thirty-Six and Yon. Hopefully her stay would be less traumatic than last time.

Kano was just wondering if she was trapped here when a shimmer appeared in the air before her. It vanished a moment later, leaving Kano staring at a woman who looked remarkably similar to her. Her face was deeply lined, and there was a terrible weariness in her eyes. It had to be Karen, but what was she doing here? Where was here?

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“I can see you’re surprised to see me,” Karen said. “I don’t blame you. I’m surprised to be here.”

“What’s happening? I thought you were dead.” Was it possible Karen was still alive? Hope blossomed within Kano. Would they actually get to meet?

“Sorry to disappoint you, but essentially I am. What you’re seeing now is one last flicker of life, brought about by the excess energy leaking from the reactor. You did well with that, by the way.”

“Thanks.” Then was this going to be their first and final meeting? She had to say something, but what? Karen might fade away very soon, so Kano had to say something meaningful. “What should I do now?” It seemed the most pertinent question, and who better to advise Kano than her creator?

“About what?”

“About my life, the world, the people around me, everything.”

She looked at Kano with a crooked half-smile on her lips. “You don’t want my advice, trust me. All I’ve done is make a terrible mess of things.”

“It can’t have been that bad. You made me, after all.”

Karen chuckled. “Well, you’ve got me there. But that was just dumb luck. I don’t have any words of wisdom to give you. Besides, you seem to be doing fine on your own.”

“Really? It feels like I’ve just been going from one disaster to the next.”

“Sometimes that’s just how things are. You just have to do your best. Not that you need me to tell you that. Everything turned out fine, and you’re the reason for it. I have a fairly limited sense of what was happening in the outside world, but that was how it felt to me at least.”

Kano didn’t really agree, but she wished what Karen was saying was true, and it seemed silly to waste time arguing when Karen had clearly made up her mind. “Was there something you wanted to tell me? I’m assuming you brought us here for a reason.”

“I don’t know if you can really call it much of a reason. I just wanted you see you one last time. It’s probably rather egotistical of me, but I’ve never claimed to be humble. And it really does my heart good to see you flourishing.” She gently brushed fingers against Kano’s cheek. “It’s hard to believe I was ever that young. Thinking back, it feels like it happened to someone else. I guess that just speaks to how long it’s been.”

Kano knew how that felt, though in her case she’d quite literally experienced someone else’s memory. “Well, you’ve seen me. Is that all you wanted to do?”

“Pretty much. I mean, what else is there to do? It’s not like anything I do will make a difference, and I’ll be gone before long.”

“Well, I’d like to know more about you for a start.”

“I guess I can spare you a few moments before I venture into the great beyond. I don’t exactly have any other plans.”

Karen sat down beside her.

“Why did you make me?” Kano asked.

Karen blinked. “To replace myself, of course. That was my initial goal, at least. I think I strayed slightly from that in the end, just trying to make something that would survive.” She looked up at the sky, smiling contentedly. “Somehow I finally succeeded.”

“Partially, at least.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, genially confused.

“Er, I was dying up until quite recently. From pretty much the same thing you were, I think.” Seeing that Karen still seemed to have no idea what she was talking about, Kano added, “You said my soul was degrading like yours was. I saw it in one of your memories. You were talking to me while I was lying unconscious on a table.”

Karen’s mouth fell open, all trace of cheer wiped from her features. “Then, are you Kano?” She looked deep into Kano’s eyes. “You don’t look the way I remember you. And I thought you were dead.”

“Dead? Why would I be dead?”

“The last time I saw you, you were just a lifeless husk. You…” Karen took a deep breath. “You never woke up. You were a failure, just like the others.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense. Are you sure?”

“Completely. Don’t get me wrong, I’m overjoyed to see that you survived, but I’m also just as confused as you must be. If you’re here, then what happened to Karen?”

Though she seemed to be trying to explain things, all Karen had done so far was confuse Kano further. Was she still able to think clearly? She was dying, after all. “What do you mean? You’re Karen, aren’t you?”

“I am, but I’m talking about my successor. Where she is?”

“I don’t have the faintest idea what you’re talking about. I thought I was your successor.” A terrible idea occurred to Kano. “You don’t mean Shorin, do you?”

The way Karen’s lips immediately twisted into a sneer told Kano she was wrong before Karen even opened her mouth. “Now you’re just being insulting. No, I mean Karen.”

“Then I don’t know what to tell you. You’re the only Karen I’ve ever heard of.”

“Find her for me.”

“How?” Kano asked. “Why?”

“I have to know what she’s doing. She’s supposed to be here, continuing my legacy. And since I’ll be long gone before I can find that out, you’ll have to do it in my place. As for how, if there’re no clues here, then I think your only option is my old home. I don’t have a map to give you, so listen carefully.”

“It’s okay. I remember where it is. Or at least, I saw your memory of where it is. I can find it. Though I still don’t see the point. What am I supposed to do after I find her?”

“Find out what she’s doing and, if necessary, set her back on the right path.”

“How am I supposed to know what that is?”

“I haven’t the faintest idea, but I hope you can. Anyway, this is about as long as I can stay, and I’ve never been very good with goodbyes. So, goodbye.”

And with that, she was gone, the world she’d brought Kano to fading along with her.