The sky should have been gray, not the bright fluorescent color of artificial lighting. The lights, crafted with impossible precision to mimic the sun’s rays, did their best to cheer Tsukiko up despite her dour mood. In fairness, she had a lot to be upset about.

A month ago, her lover James had apparently attempted a coup with his master Nadia Archimedes. They tried to assassinate the leader of the Blue Mountain Sect in his office on the highest floor, but the sect leader had been stronger than both anticipated. Both master and disciple had fled, now branded demonic cultivators by the righteous sects.

Tsukiko believed none of it, and neither did anyone in the Archimedes branch buildings in SeeSee. It was likely many other so-called righteous cultivators had doubts as well. However, that didn’t stop the other great families from tearing into their rivals like starving dogs ripping into butcher scraps.

That had been a sight to see in the lower floors. Actual animals running around, the discarded pets of many rich merchants and cultivators. Surprisingly, it made her miss her life back in Tower Ten.

Not that she regretted following James to the megacity. It was either that or never see him again, and she knew that the both of them weren’t about to let that happen. Of course, now the idiot had gotten himself kicked out of the city completely, leaving them right back where they’d started. Still, any day now he and Nadia would arrive back in the city and send a message to her.

She again cursed the paranoia of the megacities and their refusal to build infrastructure for intranet connection between them. James would have sent word by now if that were the case. At least she felt confidence in both James’s and Nadia’s survival. There hadn’t been word of their capture or death in the news.

Two months went by. Tsukiko worked with Garret, learning the ins and outs of machinery and using her knowledge from working at the branch house to expand the business.

Four months went by. Tsukiko started to have some doubts. James should have been back by now. Of course, many still seemed to be looking for James, so perhaps her lover was being cautious.

Eight months went by. Tsukiko threw herself into work, using her studies to ignore the scratching thoughts creeping at the edges of her mind. She still held out hope.

Sixteen months went by. Tsukiko continued to work, but couldn’t ignore the doubts any longer. She had to accept the possibility that James wasn’t coming back.

Thirty-two months went by. Tsukiko had worked herself into a strong position inside the Archimedes branch house and had established a gang under Garret to bring in extra credits. She had accepted James was likely lost nine months earlier. Most of her day was spent going through the motions.

Her handheld pinged thirty-three months after James’s disappearance. Luckily the message came to her at night, because otherwise her coworkers would have seen her break down into tears.

Sorry it took me so long, the message said.

“Idiot,” Tsukiko whispered between sobs.

She met him on the lower floors the next day, in a recessed alleyway on the outskirts of the city. He looked different, less the lithe runner he used to be. His muscles were still lean, but they had a definite shape to them now.

His eyes were still the same, however. His hazel eyes looked at Tsukiko like she was the only one in the world. His black hair had grown long, and he’d tied it back to prevent it from getting in his way. Wisps of hair waved to her under the breeze of the vents above.

She dove into his arms. “What took you so long, you idiot,” she asked.

“It’s a long story,” James said, his voice relieved and sad at the same time. “I’m glad to see you’re alive. I thought something had happened to you.”

“I thought something had happened to you,” she said into his chest. “It’s been thirty-three months.”

“Like I said, it’s a long story,” James said with a chuckle.

“Then cut out the boring parts and tell me what happened,” she said.

“Of course,” James said. “But first, let’s find a nice place to sit. The short version is still going to take a while.”

She let him take her up a series of crumbling stairs inside a discarded building and into a makeshift camp he’d set up.

“It’s only temporary until I find my own place,” James said.

Tsukiko nodded, settling in next to James and leaning her head onto his shoulders.

James rubbed her back as he looked up into the artificial lights of Cyber Crane Megacity. He sighed. “I guess I should start with the worst of it.”

James recounted his flight from the megacity and Nadia’s passing. He choked up on the retelling, but worked through it enough to explain what came after. He told Tsukiko how Nadia crafted him a core, how they both learned that his ability to resist possession let him store her mind, and how he learned to use his unique constitution to learn to work with the core instead of overpowering it.

“It felt like things were looking up at that point,” James said. “Sure, I had lost my hand but I still had my master and her abilities.”

He flexed his left hand, Tsukiko only now noticing the slight gaps between the knuckles that revealed servo motors underneath.

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“Nadia had sent the train to a place called the Immortals Graveyard,” James said with a faraway look.

___

The Immortal’s Graveyard looked dead, that much was certain to James as the train screeched to a halt in the station. Choking vines had covered the outside of the skyscraper, held back only by a few shaking servitors that hovered outside the building. Many of the walls protecting the decrepit megacity from the outside elements had long since crumbled away to dust, the vines becoming the only buffer against the winds above the trees.

James stepped off, his master’s body in his arms. His electric burned hand ached as he carried her off the train. James ignored it as best he could, his meditation training helping him stay calm.

The train station looked like something out of an apocalypse show. The viewscreens hung above, cracked and discarded from use and the metallic floor had a layer of grime that almost sank into James’s shoes. A set of stairs led upward, the stops long overtaken by rust and decay.

A makeshift walkway stood to the side, likely erected by someone so they could cross without issue. James decided using it was a better idea than the decrepit stairs.

He exited the train station into the streets of the city. A whistling wind blew sounds of creaking metal into his ears, their music a chorus of ghostly wails. In the distance, James saw a lone skyscraper that still stood tall, its majesty untouched by the decay of the tower around it.

“Okay, not going there,” James said.

The only sturdy building in a run-down city sent warning bells ringing in James’s mind. Instead, the cultivator looked for an old park. He wanted somewhere nice to lay Nadia’s body.

She might still exist in his head, so she wasn’t technically dead, but he recalled his master’s teachings when they went out to hunt the beasts on the lower floors of the city.

It was about respect, and what sort of disciple would James be if he couldn’t show his master respect?

The search led him past a number of broken neon signs and viewscreens, the remnants of a thriving economy long dead. It looked eerily similar to the streets of Cyber Crane, and James wondered if this was how the city would look past its prime.

It didn’t paint a pretty picture.

Eventually, James found an open area filled with overgrown trees and bushes. Silver-tipped leaves swayed invitingly while short, shrublike ferns choked out anything else.

It wasn’t a perfect place, but it was better than nothing.

James went to work, grabbing a series of discarded branches and fashioning them into the close approximation of a shovel. He attempted to dig, but found the work slow going. His branches would often snap and the amount of dirt he could scoop at one time was paltry.

It wasn’t until James decided to use his powers that work progressed. He entered the space in his mind and called forth the waters. He felt a coolness wash down his hands, falling into the ground and turning it into mud. From there, it was a simple matter to scoop out the dirt.

The lights had dimmed drastically by the time James finished with his work, but when he’d finished with the grave he felt better for it. Tired, James climbed up one of the nearby trees and went to sleep.

He met Nadia before he drifted off.

“Thank you for your kindness, disciple,” Nadia said. “You did not have to do such a thing.”

“I’ll take advanced water teachings as compensation,” James said lightly. “You know, if you ever want to repay me.”

“Extorting your master I see,” Nadia answered blithely. “It seems you picked up some bad habits with that gang you sought out.”

“I assure you master, I am the pinnacle of righteousness,” James said.

Nadia snorted. “Indeed, disciple? Then you must have no need for this lowly cultivator’s teachings. After all, how could I dare to teach someone more righteous than I?”

“Wait, hold on now,” James said. “I never said that.”

“No,” Nadia said. “It was implied. You should do well to learn before you return. Many you speak to will misinterpret your words for their benefit.”

James sighed. “More etiquette training, really? Don’t I have more important things to learn?”

“I feel, disciple, you will find the breaks in training rather soothing. Training with a core is entirely different from training your body to enter the Metastate.”

James nodded. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t disciple,” Nadia answered with a smile.

James woke the next morning with a stiff back from lying in the tree. Grumbling, he jumped down and performed a few stretches to loosen up before meditation.

Nadia waited for him as he entered his mind.

“Now that things have calmed down, we must make a plan,” Nadia said. “The graveyard is a dangerous place, not even I know all its inner workings despite many years of visiting.”

James’s master looked on thoughtfully. “The first step is usually securing water, but your newfound powers have that covered. Therefore, your first priority is food.”

“Anywhere I should start looking?” James asked.

“See if you can find any roaming animals,” Nadia said. “The last time I was here I spotted a few quadrupeds in the distance.”

James’s master tilted her head to one side. “And there are always bugs.”

James made a face. “Roaming animals it is, then.”

“Shelter would usually come next,” Nadia said.

“But there are enough buildings here for that,” James said.

“Indeed,” Nadia answered. “In that case, your next steps are training and waiting.”

“Waiting?” James asked.

“There is no intranet here,” Nadia explained. “And nothing that would allow for external contacting either. We are stuck here until another train comes to deposit or collect dead immortals.”

“Where are these immortals anyway?” James asked.

“In that shining tower in the distance,” Nadia answered. “Do not go there.”

“I wasn’t planning on it,” James answered. “But in the interest of curiosity, why not?”

“Immortals are the result of mortals wishing to obtain an easy route to eternity,” Nadia said. “They use cybernetics and biomedical science to preserve their mind and body. In doing so, they become eternally youthful but require constant medicines. If an immortal fails to acquire enough medicine, their mind deteriorates. The immortal comes to live a sort of half-life, barely cognizant of the outside world but still able to perform tasks they knew when coherent.”

“That sounds terrible,” James said. “And no one ends their suffering?”

“They still have use even after they lose their minds,” Nadia said distastefully. “Many of the immortals here lived long before the current emperor’s time. Some are so old that only they have the knowledge to fix certain machines. The empire keeps them stashed here just in case they ever have need to call on them again.”

“And you sat by and let it happen?” James asked.

Nadia sighed. “To my regret. It was not as if I had the power to overturn the empire’s decision, and my work as a hunter was too important.”

“I’m going to destroy that skyscraper,” James muttered. “No one should have to live like that.”

“You will have to deal with the protectors first,” Nadia said. “The empire has a number of dangerous servitors stationed here. It is why I do not wish for you to get closer to the skyscraper. If the servitors find you, they will not rest until you are hunted down. You are not strong enough to resist them.”

“Not strong enough yet, right?” James asked.

Nadia smiled. “Yes, not strong enough yet.”

A plan started to form in James’s mind. “Do you think the empire monitors the skyscraper in some way? Like, would they know if something happened to it?”

“I am not sure,” Nadia answered. “I never had a link of any kind when I had to come here, but I also do not think the empire would let a place like this stay unmonitored.”

“Then I think,” James said, stretching his mental body,” that breaking that skyscraper is our best shot at getting someone to come over here, don’t you think?”

“I admit, it is a better plan than waiting,” Nadia answered. She moved next to James. “Come, disciple, let your master teach you her ways.”