“Which is more likely?” James asked.

“A runaway, most assuredly,” Nadia answered. “Oftentimes an old part of an immortal’s brain will spark, reminding them of the life they had before. Seeing the difference, immortals will often attempt to leave the skyscraper. Most fail. Some are resourceful enough to get out. Of course, none of them would be able to make it through the wilds outside. However, it provides us an opportunity.”

“Let me guess, all the undertakers are out searching for this immortal leaving the entrance to the skyscraper open,” James said.

“It seems you can learn, disciple,” Nadia teased.

“With no help from your teaching of course,” James shot back.

“You wound me, disciple,” Nadia said. “I’m afraid I must now go and sulk in a corner, leaving you to your own devices.”

“Ha ha,” James deadpanned. “Are you sure I should be infiltrating the skyscraper now? I’m not exactly the best at using my core.”

“You will have more time to train once inside,” Nadia said. “Once you have made it in, none of the systems will care about your existence. It is only when trying to breach a system will the undertakers and servitors respond. Until then, you can bide your time.”

“Guess I better get to it then,” James said.

He left his inner world, waving goodbye to his master. The wind outside greeted him, whistling through the broken stone. James exited his hiding place and looked up toward the pristine skyscraper in the distance.

“Alright, time to do this,” he said.

James trekked toward the skyscraper as quietly as he could. He stayed low, underneath bits and pieces of rubble. It didn’t sound like a good idea to try and run across the rooftops. Not if tentacled tigers were searching the area.

The journey took longer because of his caution, but James was able to avoid the undertakers because of it. He looked up at the skyscraper before him, craning his neck to see the top. The building was so tall it pushed through the floor above, which made James wonder just how many immortals were inside.

If James was honest, the whole idea of putting these people in one place didn’t sit well with him. A part of him understood that the immortals did it to themselves, or at least it sounded that way with how Nadia described it. However, the whole act felt callous, like the empire had decided to ignore the problem instead of address it.

Well, sitting and speculating wouldn’t get James out of this place. He dragged his sight down the skyscraper, searching for an entrance. He spotted a set of revolving doors on the ground, two servitors standing guard.

Unlike the courier servitors in Tower Ten, which had limbs designed for mobility, these servitors looked more like the guards outside of merchant buildings in Cyber Crane, except somehow more deadly.

Their bodies were humanoid, if only just. Digitigrade legs hissed softly as their hydraulics shifter their weight slightly while their square heads scanned the area. Two bright red glowing eye sockets searched the rubble for threats, a cannon of some kind in each servitor’s appendage. That wasn’t where the weapons stopped either. In the chest of both servitors sat a short barrel, which James just knew shot something deadly.

He entered his inner world and went to Nadia.

“I can’t fight that!” he exclaimed.

“Do not worry, disciple,” Nadia said. “Servitors are simple things, with rudimentary programming. A rock in the distance would make one investigate. From there it is a matter of using your refraction.”

“I’m not skilled enough for that!” James argued. “I can barely make the water cover my limbs. Now you want me to cover my whole body?”

“Two rocks, then,” Nadia said easily. “And a dead sprint. Once you’re inside the servitors will no longer care about your presence.”

“Somehow, master, I don’t quite believe you,” James said hotly.

“Disciple, the servitors care about one thing, keeping people out. You saw their heads scanning. How often did they look away from the doors?”

James opened his mouth to answer, but Nadia held up a hand. “Think, disciple, do not just answer.”

James did, grumbling. He even left his inner world to get another look at the servitors. The two robots had scanned the rubble before, yes, but as James continued watching he noticed there was a pattern to their movements. They would look out into the rubble for only a few seconds before turning back to the doors and walls of the skyscraper for minutes on end.

“So, disciple?” Nadia asked as he met with her once more.

“You’re right,” James grumbled. “Okay, I’ll try the rock thing.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Outside, James picked up two pieces of rubble and tossed both far off into the distance in opposite directions. The servitors instantly reacted, their square heads spinning around to scan for the source of the sound. When they saw nothing immediately, they turned back to scanning the walls.

“Once more, disciple,” Nadia said as he went to complain.

Grumbling, James did as she instructed, tossing two more rocks in the distance. This time, the servitors moved, their programming unable to ignore the sounds that were so close.

Once the servitors seemed far enough away, James took off, running for the doors in a dead sprint. He heard the hissing of hydraulics about halfway to the door. He pumped his legs faster, entering the Metastate as he did. James shot forward as he focused entirely on movement, his strides covering yards in no time at all.

He skid through the doors, sending them spinning as he tumbled through into the skyscraper. He looked back as he stood. Sure enough, the two servitors stood back in front of the door, their focus entirely on guarding once more.

James sighed, leaning back against the ground and looking inside the skyscraper. More servitors hovered around the area, traveling up a central shaft that seemed to travel the entire way up the skyscraper. A bright light from the top shone down, illuminating the area like sun through a greenhouse.

That was nothing compared to the varied people walking around. James couldn’t help but stare, never having seen such a variety in his life.

While Tower Ten had a rugged sort of style and Cyber Crane wove metals and circuitry into their outfits, the immortals walking through the skyscraper had almost nothing that seemed to link them together. Some wore styles similar to Cyber Crane, while others had garb that reminded James of Fu’s traditional dress. It seemed as if each Immortal came from a different time.

None of them paid attention to James. They walked along pathways without acknowledging others and turned at sharp angles like servitors. Some would walk in and out of the same store multiple times, never carrying anything but acting as if something was in their hands.

James shuddered at the uncanniness of it. It felt like he was looking at a computer’s interpretation of people.

He ducked into an alley, not willing to see more of the sight.

“Our next step is to find the communications line, right?” James asked his master.

“Correct,” Nadia said. “However, it will not be easy. While I was a hunter, our job simply involved dropping an immortal off at the door.”

“So we’re flying blind,” James said.

“Not completely,” Nadia said. “Effectively, there are two options. Wireless and wired. If the signal is wireless it likely has to sit higher up. Otherwise the forests would naturally block it.”

“At the top of the skyscraper then,” James said.

Nadia nodded. “If the signal is sent through a wire, the empire would have to have a physical cord winding its way through the forest. I consider this unlikely due to how dangerous the wilds outside the megacities are. But if it were the case the line would likely be at the bottom of the skyscraper.”

James groaned. “Either way, that’s a lot of traveling. Did you see how high up the roof was?”

“I did,” Nadia answered. “I suggest you climb first. It is much more likely that an antennae is sitting at the top of the skyscraper. If we break it the signal will get interrupted.”

“Got it,” James said.

“And be sure to stay out of sight as best you can, disciple,” Nadia said. “It is possible for an immortal to react harshly to outside stimulus.”

“I wasn’t about to go upset the robots, master,” James said dismissively.

“They are not robots, disciple,” Nadia said.

“They might as well be,” James said. “I wouldn’t consider what they’re doing right now living.”

“Perhaps not,” Nadia said. “But it is the life they chose.”

James highly doubted that, but he didn’t want to get into an argument with his master about it at the moment. Not when he had more important matters. Like getting back to Tsukiko. He was sure she was worried sick about him.

The alley James had ducked into was smaller than those in Cyber Crane, and James instantly clocked why. Only the repair servitors moved around back here, their smaller bodies giving them the maneuverability needed to fly up. However, there was enough space for him to climb. He’d moved through smaller spaces before.

The work was slow going, there were few handholds and little space for James to move his body. He entered the Metastate multiple times, using the precision the state gave him to get his body in the perfect position before moving.

Eventually, James found a line of servitor tunnels, ones much smaller than the ones he’d used in Tower Ten to ferry goods. A single servitor moved in and out of the tunnel at any time, their programming keeping them from crashing. James watched them for a while, determining which direction the tunnel headed before following a servitor inside.

The light from the central tower had dimmed by the time he reached the top, a blanket of dark quiet settling over the area. The servitors moved in the darkness, their sensors keeping them from crashing into anything. James, however, couldn’t see anything with all the lights off. He decided to settle in for the night, unwilling to climb the rest of the way without light to guide him.

The next morning saw James finishing the climb. A large glass pyramid roof lay above him, focusing the lights from the dead megacity inside through a series of mirrors. However, James stared at other things.

A group of undertakers lazed about at the top of the skyscraper, their metallic tentacles writhing in the air. The sorrowful faced animals rested like lions in the Savannah, perking their heads up periodically as if tasting the air. Every so often, one of the animals would stand and past James’s line of sight. James heard a soft thud on the side of the skyscraper, and he could only assume the creature was climbing down.

In the center of the pack sat a tall jungle gym of a tower. Metal bars moved in diagonal patterns, forming a thin triangle that soared even higher into the sky. It had to be the antennae Nadia talked about.

Cursing internally, James climbed down a short ways to talk to Nadia.

“What do we do?” James asked.

Nadia contemplated. “The appearance of the undertakers at the top is problematic but not unsolvable. Improving your skills with your core will allow you to take them on. Their bodies are not strong enough to withstand a water drill.”

“That will take forever,” James said. “I can’t wait that long. I need to get back to Tsukiko, and we need to get revenge for what happened to you.”

“I have made peace with what happened to me, disciple,” Nadia said. “You should as well.”

“Well, I’m not going to,” James said. “Don’t get me wrong, master,” James said as Nadia looked to argue. “I’ll still train my core skills. But I’m not going to treat it as the solution here. You deserve justice for what happened, and the longer I wait the more likely it will be that I can’t do that.”

“I do not wish to see you hurt for my mistakes, disciple,” Nadia said. She looked at James’s hand, reminding him of his wound on his body outside.

“Agree to disagree,” James said. He left the core in a huff.