Nar didn’t know how long he stayed there, looking out the window, but eventually he noticed the white arrows that he was following had, at some point, started flashing with urgency. Not knowing if he was about to be in trouble for not having arrived at his room yet, he reluctantly abandoned the window and followed the path once more, back into the dark bowls of the ship.

Not long after, Nar found himself on corridor 4GV. He walked by evenly spaced closed doors, which lined the corridor on either side, and eventually, the arrows ended in front of one such door, pointing towards it.

This is it, I guess, Nar thought, as the door opened with a slight hiss.

There were no more arrows inside, confirming that he had indeed reached his destination, and Nar walked in, with the door closing behind him as soon as he was clear of it.

A low clunk made him turn and frown at the door. So far, none of the doors he’d gone through had made that kind of sound…

“Nar? Is that you?”

Nar left the mystery of the door behind him, and followed the voice down a tight corridor. At the end of it, there was a round room, with a round table with several stools laid out around it.

A somewhat bright yellow lamp glowed from above the table, illuminating the room, as well as two closed doors to the left and to the right of the table. The whole thing formed a sort of Y shape, with the doors being at its tips.

And seated on one of the stools, his eyes looking dark and weary in the yellow light, was…

“Kur,” Nar said, grinning. “You’re alright! I mean, you are alright, right?”

Kur chuckled and motioned for Nar to join him at the table.

“I am, yeah. They fixed me up in like, less than five minutes,” Kur told him. “I’m not even sore. It was like nothing ever happened!”

“Damn…”

“How about you? What was wrong with you? It took you a while.”

Nar quickly related back what the healer had told him, and how this Master of Aura had put him right.

“Collapse…” Kur mused. “Sounds about right, I suppose. But to think that master person fixed you up in seconds… That’s insane.”

Nar nodded, his eyes bright despite the tiredness. “These healers… They’re real. And they’re crazy!”

“Yeah. Wish we’d have them on the Climb,” Kur said, rubbing his eyes. “I might’ve been tempted to pick healer.”

Nar scratched the back of his head. “Well, apparently, you can change your class and become a healer.”

Kur stared at him in shock. “You can?”

“Yeah. My healer told me that she used to be an archer. She’s an… Ex-Climber.”

Kur exhaled deeply. “Met a few of those, and yeah, that’s what they call themselves. And us. Ex-Climber. The Climb is over, gone, like it never even happened. And you’re no longer a Climber, but a combat delver apprentice…”

“Is that what we are?” Nar asked him.

“Hmmm,” Kur said, nodding.

Like it never even happened, Nar thought, bitterly, in the soft, humming silence that befell them.

Guardians, cannibals, bridges, Pressure, spiders. Blood of every color. Shredded bodies of every race. And now…

Ex-Climbers.

Free and forgiven.

Done.

Forgotten.

It didn’t feel right. The Climb deserved something. If not a celebration for having survived it, at least some form of recognition. Of respect, for the horrors they had clawed their way through.

He sighed.

What’s the point anyway? If it’s done, it’s done. No point in dwelling on the past.

However, he briefly wondered for how long he would be dreaming of that Ceremony…

“Anyways, you should go to sleep,” Kur said, breaking the silence. “We'll have a very busy day tomorrow, and you need the rest.”

Nar nodded, but he wasn’t quite ready to turn in just yet. “Are the others all here?”

“Asleep, yeah. Guys on the left and girls on the right, coming in from the door. We all got patched up pretty quickly, even Mul and Viy, who were apparently quite messed up. After that, we all came here together, and the door locked behind us,” Kur explained. “They told us that it was to make sure everyone rested for today, and that we should press one of the buttons by the door if we were out of crackers or jell-o.”

“So, everyone’s okay…” Nar said, sighing with relief. “And Rel? Have you heard anything about her? I heard that she was going to be okay.”

“Yeah, Rel’s fine. Apparently, they got her just in time to start the treatment and expose her to their Source, whatever that is. But they said she needs extensive care, and that she’ll be away for up to two weeks, recovering.”

“That’s… That’s good. In the end, we all made it somehow.”

Kur chuckled.

“Not somehow, Nar. You did it! And Rel did it! Without the two of you, we wouldn’t have gotten out. And if Rel hadn’t shot down that dragonfly thing when she did, I think our Ceremony would’ve had a much different ending.”

Nar tightened his jaw and remembered his nightmare. Pushed out of the bridges. Trapped against an entrance that wouldn't open to let them escape…

“Well, no use thinking about that kind of stuff now… We made it, and we’re out. That’s all that matters.”

“Yeah…”

Yeah, Nar told himself. Have to look forward now. The way forward is always forward.

Nar considered his party leader, who had gone silent, and now stared at his clasped hands.

“Why are you awake?” Nar asked. “And don’t tell me you're not wrecked.”

Kur gave him a shadow of a smile. “I did lay down, but I couldn’t sleep. My mind’s too awake.”

He scoffed and shook his head.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“Whenever I close my eyes, I still see those spiders... And those men back in the O-Nex.”

Nar clenched his jaw.

“It was a good thing Tys found us when she did,” Nar said, echoing Kit.

Kur made a face. “Yeah…”

Nar sighed and crossed his arms.

“It’s bothering you, isn’t it? That we brought the others here, when they were unconscious.”

Kur looked up to Nar with a startled jolt, and opened his mouth to reply. But then, he thought better of it, and looked back down.

“Yes. It is.”

Nar passed a hand over his face.

“Kur, come on! What else were we going to do? You saw what that guy did, with his [Presence]. He told me to put away my sword and I did it. He controlled my mind!”

“I know. I know…”

“I mean, Tys did the same but I have to hope that she did for a good reason. And we all got healed. The healer told me I was dying! And I didn’t even know about it! The person who healed me seems to be someone they respect, so who knows if we would’ve been able to find someone who could fix me back there. Or Viy, or Mul. Or you. And at what cost? Everyone seems to be obsessed with experience here!”

“Nar, I know that we had no choice,” Kur said, a touch of irritation creeping into his tone. “But I committed us all to two years of what’s going to be an extremely dangerous delve and an equally difficult apprenticeship. I signed the contract for all of us while you were out. Me! I committed all of us to this! And of course, Mul and Viy said that it was fine. That they understood. But you should've seen their shock! I… I…”

Nar sighed, and placed a hand on his party leader’s shoulder, and gave it a squeeze.

“Do you feel like you’ve made the wrong choice?” he asked Kur.

Kur pressed his eyes shut and clenched his jaw for a few moments, then he exhaled and relaxed, sagging across the table.

“No. I don’t think so… Tys wasn’t lying to us,” he whispered. “And I didn’t want that to be our life here, or for Rel to die. I want us to be happy. I want us to find ourselves new lives here. Free. Forgiven. Making our own choices. Finding our own happiness…”

“Then?”

“I know I made the right choice, despite the craziness of the take off,” Kur said. “It’s just, it was a heavy choice Nar. And it weighs on me.”

“I know, and yes, I’m sure delving is going to be dangerous. Very dangerous,” Nar said. “But look around you. We have a place to stay that looks better than any of our houses back in the cubeplant. We’re going to be safe here. Feed. Healed when we get hurt. And they’re going to teach us! Maybe you can even become a healer!”

Kur let out a surprised laugh at that.

“I don’t want to be a healer, man. I like being a party leader.”

“And I hope you can continue being our party leader,” Nar said, smiling. “My point is, I think we’re in a good place to spend the next two years. And at the end of this delve, we’ll be strong enough to make our own decisions. To choose what we want to do. Until then, we’re okay.”

Kur snorted, but he couldn’t hide the spreading grin that took his face. “It will still be dangerous…”

“We’re Ex-Climbers,” Nar intoned. “If we survived all that shit, we can survive this delve. I mean, what can be worse than all of that stuff we went through?”

Kur chuckled.

“I guess. Though I’m sure things are going to be crazy out here too.”

Nar shrugged. “Probably. But we’ll make it through.”

“Yeah. We’ll make it through.”

And then, a massive yawn took them both by surprise, and Nar quickly yawned right after Kur.

“Damn. I’m tired,” Kur said. “I think it’s bedtime.”

“Will you be okay?” Nar asked.

“I think that now, I will. Thanks man. I needed that.”

“Anytime.”

“Now follow me,” Kur said, smiling. “You’re going to love this!”

*********

“This, is a blaster?” Nar asked.

He looked dubiously at the apparatus before him.

Kur had taken him to the guy’s room, and they had tiptoed their way towards the bathroom at its front, after Kur had showed Nar the bunk beds where Tas and Mul now slept.

Inside, Nar had found rows of somethings called sinks, rows of cubicles that were toilets, and rows of cubicles that contained the device that Kur was now presenting him.

“It’s a lot better! It’s a shower,” Kur explained. “It pours hot or cold water on you, and you wash yourself with it and this stuff here!”

He passed a hand under a small protrusion on the wall, and a foaming pink substance squirted onto his hand.

“Woah! What’s that?” Nar shouted.

“Soap! So, get wet first, with the water, then stop the water, rub this stuff all over you, and then wash yourself up again. You can just say “Shower start”, “Shower stop”, to control the water.”

In response to Kur’s commands, a square curtain of water fell smoothly from above their heads, and Nar jumped back when it splashed him.

Kur laughed at Nar’s shock, the shower already stopping once again.

Nar looked from Kur’s hand, covered in pink foam, to the square shower head above him, to the glistening, wet floor before him.

The concept of “water” itself was a strange one. Apparently, it was essential for life, and he himself should be drinking copious amounts of it throughout the day. According to Kur, the days of jell-o were soon to be behind them.

“And how do you know all of this?” he asked the party leader.

“They showed us an intro video. And a video is like, people, recorded on a screen doing things,” Kur said, frowning. “It was quite funny actually. Oh, speaking of which! Don’t let the pink stuff go in your eyes! It stings a lot apparently. Mul got some in his, and he shouted for a good while.”

Nar frowned in disbelief.

“How am I supposed to know the soap is gone if I have my eyes closed?”

“I know it sounds strange but you’ll know when it's gone. It will feel… Smooth?” Kur said, grasping at words.

“Great,” Nar said, looking back up with a displeased face.

Why couldn’t they just have the blasters? What was wrong with those?

“Anyway, give it a try. I’ll be in the room if you need anything. Oh, and wear a new gear set after drying up with the towel. Tomorrow we’re getting rid of the Climber gear and we’re getting better stuff anyways, so use in saving them,” Kur told him. “Alright then, enjoy. And don’t forget the teeth brushing part. Though they told us we don’t need to until we actually start eating proper food.”

Proper food… Nar thought, as he closed the door and found himself alone, facing the shower.

Real food. Like the workers had dreamed of for eternities. Finally, he would have it tomorrow, and the crackers and jell-o would be a thing of the past, just like everything else from the Climb and the cubeplant. He couldn’t wait for the so-called breakfast to come the next morning.

He undressed and stored what he now realized was an immensely dirty and nearly destroyed set of Climber’s gear.

“Alright, let’s get this done with,” he muttered, closing his eyes. “Shower start!”

Heat enveloped him, and his mind went blank.

For a few long moments, he didn’t move.

The water was hot, almost scalding, but not enough to burn him. It was like it was scouring him clean, but with gentleness, rather than the harshness with which the blaster peeled the dirt from him, skin and all.

My Crystal… he eventually managed to articulate. Fuck those blasters.

“First time parameters set,” said a strange, echoing voice, making Nar jump in fright. “Human, male, short hair overall. Water allotment is set for 7 minutes daily. Today, a special allotment of 15 minutes has been granted. You have 13 minutes left.”

“Oh shit…”

Kur had forgotten to mention that there was a water limit!

The soap! The soap! Where’s that… Ah here!

The pink foam covered his hand, and then, it was washed away in steaming water.

Nar tutted to himself.

“Shower stop!”

The water stopped coming down on him, and he reached for the soap again.

He lifted his hand to his face, to have a better look at it, and his nostrils filled with a subtle, sweet scent. He sniffed it, trying to understand what he was smelling, but all he managed to do was get soap up his nose.

Crystal’s sake! He thought with a sigh, rubbing his nose clean. Let’s just get this done.

He rubbed the foam vigorously across his body, making sure to go extra hard on the patches of dried blood and on his caked hair.

Then he turned on the water again, and like Kur had told him, he could indeed tell when the last of the soap was off him.

However, instead of finishing up, he decided that he might as well enjoy the rest of his special water allotment.

Damn… This thing is the best.

He was going to be looking forward to his daily shower from now on.

And to think he’d thought, even if for only a moment, that something they had in the B-Nex was better than its O-Nex counterpart.

Insanity.

*********

Sometime later, dried, dressed in clean gear, and with his mouth tingling from the brand new, but surprisingly pleasant experience of brushing his teeth, Nar quietly made his way to the bed that Kur had told him was his.

The familiar sound of Tuk’s snoring and Mul’s loud breathing was a welcome familiarity, though the gentle hum that seemed to permeate everything was new.

As for Kur, despite his promises that he would stay awake to make sure everything had gone smoothly for Nar, was passed out and sprawled face down on his own bed.

Damn. That looks comfortable.

And when he climbed up to his own bed, above Kur’s, he realized by just how little he had ever understood the meaning of “comfort”.

Good Crystal… This is insane. This is all insane.

What a deprived life he had lived up to that point.

Sure, he wasn’t sure if the Scimitar was just extra comfortable, and if life in the Nexus was actually nowhere near as cushy as what he had just experienced. However, it sure as the pile it wasn’t as bad as their living conditions down in the cubeplants. It almost sounded offensive to think of them as living conditions in comparison.

He gently closed the curtain that Kur had pointed out to him, and found that the feeling of comfort doubled.

As his head hit the amazing pillow that was a far cry from the bundle of clothes he was used to, a new word came to him.

Its knowledge spread through his brain like a warm embrace. A feeling of safety. Of being home.

Cozy, uh? He thought.

And within moments, he was out, lulled into sleep by the hum of the ship.